#Atticus concord

[skwittles821]

The parallels between Coda and Baron: a yap

Most of this is copy and pasted from the discord with some adjustments. I figured I might as well post it to the world for others to see, so enjoy!

When you really think about it, Coda and Baron are pretty much the same episode. Besides the obvious parallel of Kozma and Concords fates, there’s A LOT of other similarities. They’re both about a meeting between Weepe and his current main opposing force. Both Concord and Lazlo have ulterior motives and want something more from him. They both attempt to have the power in the conversation before it quickly and suddenly gets shifted to Weepe, and then there’s also just Weepe. In both meetings, he is self medicating either with his own Syringe Nutcracker Combo™ or with the Big Ass Machine™ in his mansion. And then, both times, he uses his own fold blood to jellify the rival. Also, both episodes HEAVILY focus on the mystery of “what the fuck is going on with Moc Weepe”. Coda introduces his fold ailment and his connection to the mothers (thanks to the appendix), and Baron fully explains the story.

Furthermore, identifying the differences between the two scenes is just as interesting, because to me it really represents everything in Weepes life that has changed between the two episodes. In Coda, he’s at the Cabaret, he’s not (super) fucked up and the biggest thing in his life at that time is the exact subject of the conversation: the breach route. He kills Concord in order to continue the one real thing on his mind, being his own rise to power.

And then in Baron, he’s in his new mansion with his new status that he now has purely BECAUSE of what he did to Concord in Coda, he’s all fucked up and weird thanks to his rise to power, the scope of his life has gotten a lot bigger and the conversation topic is, again, the biggest thing in his life currently: The Trust, and him getting revenge on the very person who fucked him over all those years ago.

I feel like this could be used to make a secondary yap about the parallels of Kozma Lazlo and Atticus Concord as characters, but I’ll leave that for someone else to pick up.

Yap over.

TL;DR: I fucking love this podcast.

[kendaizhai]

Midst for... Halloween? (or cosplay in general)

Hello! I'd be willing to work with anyone in the NYC metro area who is interested in embodying a Midst character.

I have a workshop! Raw materials! Space to work with weird and stinky glues and materials! LEDs and circuit boards!

Message me and we can meet up irl and talk about your idea. We'll get the videogame armor, however stupid, to work.

My current project is to make a "levitated" shard of Midst-cosmos mica... will post pictures as work progresses.

[elfietheespeon]

I'm curious to see where the Midst community's heads are at regarding this overarching mystery!

We do not have all the pieces yet, but it's safe to assume that a significant amount of the clues were present in seasons 1 and 2. It goes without saying that this is the mystery at the heart of this storyline, and there are no shortage of suspects to choose from.

(Excluding the final entry, this list has been set in alphabetical order so as to avoid personal biases)

[jestersloverre]

Now that we’re so close to midst s3 e17 I’m once again wondering what the fuck is up with Meryl concord???? And also Atticus concord???? And how this is all going to bite Weepe in the ass???

Are they actually siblings? Were they previously one person and now got split into two people? Is Atticus going to be raised from the dead thru fold magic? Will Barty and Lloyd be okay if he is raised from the dead??? Has Meryl been a red herring this whole time????

I have no idea but god the speculation is so fun, I really don’t know what to expect

[saintfu]

That nutcracker really was a shitty gift.

[elliesgaymachete]

Atticus Concord in my brain the moment the Narrators said he wears a bowler hat

[playerkingsley]

in the spirit of narrative symmetry: one hope I do have for the finale is that meryl concord appears after the climax, as enigmatic as ever, and whistles for barty and lloyd to clean up what’s left of weepe

[kerosene-in-a-blender]

One thing (among many) that Midst does incredibly well is that the narrators use character death as a narrative tool expertly. Every death in the series does something and each death tends to have a narrative weight that's proportional to the narrative weight the deceased character had while alive.

Stationary Hill's Postmaster and Agatha Ledge are both minor characters whose deaths, while they are felt by the characters who knew them in universe, mostly serve to highlight the danger the other characters find themselves in, as the Moon Tearror hits Stationary Hill and the remaining Breach members (and Jonas Spahr) are plummeting through a razor-sharp mica field respectively. Meryl Concord is likewise a fairly minor character whose death serves both to mirror her brother Atticus's* (more on him later) and usher in the final phase of the conflict against Weepe by showing the how dangerous the heaving mass of tearror unleashed from his puppeteered body is. All these deaths serve to establish the lethal stakes of the situations each death occurs in, but are ultimately not dwelt upon too long by the narrative. This works because these are minor characters; they had little enough presence that the story can swiftly move on in their absence without feeling like a disservice to them.

Milton Fleit Sr. and Imelda Goldfinch are both antagonistic characters who ultimately die fairly ignoble deaths that the narrative doesn't dwell too long on, largely because, as the finale itself points out in regards to Imelda, none of the living characters we follow care enough about either of them to dwell on their deaths. But despite his both their deaths are heavily symbolically loaded. Milton Fleit Sr. dies in the same moment that Valor dies and the Trust begins bleeding out. Imelda Goldfinch dies in the moment that all her scheming to get Weepe in control of the Trust because she believes the Trust needs a man like him to lead it comes to nothing because Weepe at this point is a dying, broken man aggressively lashing out at everything around him. The narrative spends little time dwelling on the deaths of the characters themselves, and that works despite how important of a character Imelda in particular was, because it serves to highlight that ultimately, both of their lives, spent devoted heart and soul to the Trust, came to absolutely nothing because the Trust died with them.

Atticus Concord, Fuze Peabody, and Kozma Lazlo are important secondary characters whose deaths end up as catalysts for major plot developments later in the story. Atticus, in his attempt to blackmail Weepe and Saskia over the Black Candle Cabaret's role in the Breach route, ended up both murdered by Weepe and providing him with the means to facilitate his raise into the upper echelons of Trust society (in the form of his meticulously documented notes on every Breached employee of the Cabaret). His death is also the reason Meryl enters the story and avenging him is the reason she stabs Weepe and in doing so directly shapes the final confrontation between Midst's three protagonists. Fuze's murder after informing Phineas and Spahr via letter that he had information about the Trust's most infamous murder case resulted in Phineas' attack on Sherman in the Cabaret, Phineas impulsively running off after Tzila in a desperate bid to avoid Spahr saying he'd failed, Sherman selling Lark out to the Trust, and the Trust's focus throughout season 3 on finding Lark in order to solve to the economic crisis caused by Midst's moon exploding. Kozma's death at the hands of Weepe after threatening the Upper Trust is the trigger for the Breach's attack on the Central Vault, which is what ushers in the final act of the story. It is also the moment in which we learn that before he was Moc Weepe that character was a Fold Baron whom the other Barons, spearheaded by Kozma, attempted to murder by throwing him into the Fold Depths in a mica sarcophagus.** These characters were all major drivers of certain aspects of the plot in life, and they remained so in death, with each one of their demises having ripple effects that lasted through to the end of the story. The deaths of all three of these characters were also very heavily telegraphed. Weepe threatens Atticus on their first meeting with death if he's fucking with the Cabaret, Fuze is introduced as a man who is going to be murdered before too long, and Kozma's death is foreshadowed in the episode icon for "Baron", which shows someone's red blood in Weepe's pump apparatus.

The two most plot-central characters to die***, Moc Weepe and Saskia del Norma likewise had their deaths telegraphed to the audience in advance of them actually happening, with the narrators describing Weepe's happenstance first meeting with Imelda Goldfinch as spelling his doom and the way Saskia looks at Sherman, and tells him to go on without her at the end of "Shindig" signalling that something major is happening with her other body in the Highest Light and that whatever it is is not good for her. These deaths also were both given a lot of narrative breathing room. Saskia's death is in many ways the primary narrative subject of not only "Ghosts", the episode in which she has her final confrontation with Weepe before expiring, but also "Shindig", the episode that showed us why she made the choice to shred the remaining explosive beads at the cost of one of her bodies (and eventually her life). This post here is a great breakdown of how key an episode "Shindig" is in understanding Saskia and her motivations at the end. As mentioned above the narrators called Weepe's doom as early as season 1, and in many ways the entire series was a slow build towards his demise, especially after Imelda's actions (and Spahr's inactions) in "Inside" lead to a drastic worsening of his Fold condition. Weepe's immanent death hangs over "Ghosts" as much as Saskia's does, as Mother Trauma says, Saskia doesn't have long, but neither does Weepe. The finale also takes time out of the frenetic pacing of the final battle to have a quiet moment with the last remaining exhausted flicker of Moc Weepe, to show that above all else he is just tired and wants to finally rest. These deaths are given a lot of time to sit and settle because these are central characters, and their deaths have as much narrative weight as their lives do. As well, in Saskia's case, she remains central to the plot after her death, as it is what drives Weepe into the despair fueled rampage that he spends the final two episodes of the show in, and it is in her name that the Stationarians charge Weepe and the Company.

Every character who dies in Midst has their death count for something, in a narrative sense, but how much that death is doing is proportional to the weight the character had in the narrative while alive, and that helps make each death feel appropriate, narratively earned and appropriately impactful.

*Meryl Concord is Weepe's last onscreen victim, just as her brother is his first, and they both die the same way, being horribly dissolved by the Fold strain in his blood.

**The word "sarcophagus" is also used to describe what Lark creates to contain the leaking Fold from Weepe's corpse. Moc Weepe began and ended in a sarcophagus of glittering material, the first which excited Fold and the second which calmed it.

***It's debatable whether or not Lark's fate counts as "dead", as it seems she more became a permanent part of the Fold than anything else. Regardless, the pattern still applies, Lark's acceptance of the Fold and it's acceptance of her has been a part of her arc from the beginning of the show, and the moment where she joined it was another quiet moment in an action packed finale that was allowed to breathe and settle with the audience.

[soath]

something sooo interesting about saskia is how she’s defined by indirect violence. it’s part of that dangerous noir dame archetype, obviously, but there’s more to it with saskia. i’m thinking in particular about how she writes off phineas at the beginning of season 2—she doesn’t refuse him safety outright, she just gives him a quest that will almost certainly kill him. how when we first see her at atticus concord’s meeting at the black candle she lets weepe take the lead—weepe who ends the meeting with a “we’re gonna fucking kill you”. it was her business first and this is who she chose to run it with her, this is her appointed partner and proxy. her threat to weepe in moonfall was an indirect one too—she had his medical case and he didn’t. when she goes to hieronymous about the big bank explosion it’s to soften the blow, but critically never to limit its efficacy. saskia who never looks people in the eyes, whose art has her in gloves, who is repeatedly distanced from violence while still driving it. saskia whose most direct act is still in some ways oblique—milton fleit set the beads to shred and she just pulled the final lever—and yet is also the most involved we’ve seen her. classic detective noir to put a previously opaque female force behind the trigger in the final act.

[captainofthetidesbreath]

Now that we're through season two of Midst and are looking forward to the trailer for season three this week, I thought it'd be fun to return to the season two trailer to take a look at the "questions you may have" after the season one finale that it listed and see how many of them we got answers to and which are questions we still have!

——

Why the fuck did the moon explode? This is still a question we all have, audience and characters alike.

What's gonna happen to utterly doomed Midst and everybody trapped on it by an incoming wave of reality-devouring fog? Just as when Saskia was asked this, it is not really possible to answer this one succinctly—but we do get an answer.

Are Lark and Tzila gonna be okay? Yes! Physically, at least. For the time being.

Are they gonna figure out that Sherman's not dead? They did. It was harrowing.

What's Phineas gonna do now that he's been abandoned by the Trust, the very institution that raised him and gave him purpose and his sense of self-worth? And like, what is he gonna do? Go to therapy. I cannot believe, in the best way, that the answer is literally "go to therapy" here. After that, it's go to the Un (!!!) to rescue Sherman. He's always running after one Guthrie or another.

Will Jonas Spahr do the right thing? He's done a lot of things. Some of it was definitely not the right thing, and some was an attempt at the right thing, and some of it was a failure to commit to the right thing. So, mixed bag at best. It can be said that, ultimately, Jonas Spahr has come to a place where he is trying to do the right thing.

What even is the right thing? This is highly subjective, both in reference to Spahr and in general, so whether we received an answer to this is up to interpretation. There are few clear and unequivocal answers in this story.

What is Imelda's deal? Zealotry!

Why did the Trust even bother rescuing Moc Weepe even though he's this weird sleazeball piece of shit who stabbed his closest friends in the back? That massive ridiculousness of an abacus was more than just an inconvenience, it represented the fact that Weepe has enough Valor to be a member of the Upper Trust! Also, Imelda sees his cunning and ruthlessness as an asset and something that the Trust needs, which should concern everyone.

And what is a mirrorhawk? This has not gotten clearer, and I suspect never will! They're apparently edible though, given herbed mirrohawk dip was served at an Upper Trust luncheon.

What is a bocular horse? "You really know what it is. It really barely needs mentioning. You've seen science fiction. Yes, that picture you've got of the bocular horse in your mind right now, that's it."

What is going on with Weepe's voice? Apparently the same as what's going on with the rest of him, given his voice has gotten more gravelly lately against all odds.

Is Landlord gonna die? They told us this one in the season two trailer directly: no. He does make a couple of lovely reappearances.

Why did Lark kill Fuze? What is she trying to hide? Tying up loose ends, trying to prevent him from identifying her as the one who killed Maximilian Loxlee. Why she killed Maximilian, however, is a new question we've got.

Is the nutcracker okay? It was! Then Saskia threw it out, so...

Will the rapidly depreciating value of Valor ever restabilize, or is the market doomed to implode? Still waiting on this one, and the Trust is sure trying to stablize the market. It's not looking great though, gonna be honest.

Is the Trust bad? It's pretty bad over there, to put it mildly.

Did Saskia's dogs really eat the melted corpse of enterprising businessman Atticus Concord? The answer to this hasn't changed since season one, so it's still at: apparently! Also, we learned the dogs' names: Lloyd and Bartimaeus.

[squirrel-stowaway]

I’m relistening to midst and it truly is so funny how stressed out weepe got about imelda blocking the post office traffic after perfectly handling atticus concord’s questions about his cabaret’s illegal operations

[ariadne-mouse]

Narrators in s1e2: Atticus Concord is ATTRACTIVE and also CREEPY. Did we mention the creepy part. This man is hot but he is distinctly fucked UP

[illusion-of-death]

Clearly Atticus and Meryl Concord’s last name had to be that specifically because it’s a type of grape jelly

[elfietheespeon]

Before Season 3 comes out...

I might as well write the predictions/theories I had back in season 1. I doubt most of them will come true, but if nothing else, this will be a good reference point to look back on; see where my headspace was at, that sort of thing

-Imelda and Atticus were working in cahoots from the beginning

-Hieronymous Loxlee was responsible for the moon explosion

-The acquisition of Midst was/is for the purpose of expanding the Trust into the fold

-There is something sinister going on with Loxlee lights. The Trust is experimenting with ways to expand their control into the fold for a purpose yet unknown. (More Tearror weaponry, like the fold grenade back in s1e17?!!)

-The Trust has access/knowledge of the prophecy abilities of the fold (Supported in s2e19; Lark's mom was/is working for the Trust, and had even stronger fortune-telling powers) and are using it for some larger plot. (Possibly connected with the death of Max Loxlee)

-Before the end of the series, Imogen Loxlee will be assassinated

-Moc Weepe is related to Kozma Laszlo

-Saskia will become the new mayor of Midst (probably won't happen, but it SHOULD)

-The conversion rates of Valor were deliberately tampered with behind the scenes to prevent Phineas from breaking even (the media was sent, meaning it was supposed to happen); all in an effort for Hieronymous to get control of Phineas.

-Phineas has been crushing on Jonas Spahr for a really long time. By the end of the series, he will confess his feelings for Jonas. (I'm willing to make a blood sacrifice if it means they have a hug by the end of the series. They need it.)

[jestersloverre]

Alright guys, humour me for a little bit. So far on Midst, things have ended pretty badly for the people Moc Weepe has had it out for.

Atticus Concord never got to live his blackmail fantasy, and Kozma Lazlo (rip) went from girlboss to girlsauce.

Now, this looks pretty bad for our boy Jonas Spahr who Weepe has previously deemed a big important shiny man in fancy armour who would go down real fast in a fight for his life (paraphrased).

no spoilers beyond the public release please, ty!

[iiitsnotbase]

is 'weepe' atticus concord?

there was a tearror when he killed him so was there a strange switch??

*I AM ON PUBLIC RELEASE SCHEDUAL*