#brain empty only mimebomb

[inkdroptea]

Mime bomb☆

Honestly there was barely a day where I didn't doodle or thought about him excessively.... my point is I'm not obsessed.... you are (・・;)

[aestheticaxolotl]

Lets Talk about Roundabout

I have... Opinions about this man. 

Let me start with “Nigel  Braithwaite” Roundabout first as seeing the Carmen Sandiego Wiki, starting with appearance and personality (Excluding the comments around his action in the show)

“Roundabout is a man of Asian ancestry, with short cut black hair that is graying at the temples. He wears round glasses, a suit, and a bow tie.”

His has to be around the same age as the youngest member of the Faculty, this is complicated seeing as we never get exact ages in the show, so I’m going to go with the easy option of mid to late forties. That’s SUPER AMBITIOUS seeing as this man is in HIGH profile. This is also provided on the wiki with his very, very, very high profile job as a MI6 Agent in the United Kingdom.

If you don’t know that the MI6 is, then let me provide you with this

“ The Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence in support of the UK's national security.”

Roundabout is the UK’s Secret Services.

I don’t know about you but I’m now even more interested in how this man met V.I.L.E. But as of this point I can only theorize.

Now, let me move to the Personality section of the Wiki page, I had to really filter out a lot to leave out the sections of the show, so please bare with me!

He seems to be very proper in his speaking, as seen when he is talking to Professor Malestrom. Like his namesake, "Roundabout" speaks in a roundabout way with people, making sure to imply something without saying it, and covertly having people tell him what he wants to hear. Such was the case with a British Intelligence worker, as Roundabout had informed his department to be on alert for any suspicious or illegal criminal activity.  He is a man of elite education and standing, having both the intelligence and foresight to maneuver parties within British Intelligence to give him information to monitor possible actions against V.I.L.E. from afar. Due to this, while not physically present for Faculty votes or discussions, he still shows interest in holding the position now empty by Shadowsan's betrayal.  His pride has diminished and was replaced with nervousness after he was placed under the threat of mind-wipe. He was clearly fearful of the other Faculty and his punishment after his failure, only to be dragged away to the dungeon for his punishment.

Let me take a second to point out the bold font. These are the bullet points that I would like to take a second (Or more) to focus on. “ Roundabout" speaks in a roundabout way with people, making sure to imply something without saying it, and covertly having people tell him what he wants to hear.” Roundabout as a vocabulary term means “ To imply or convey something in an indirect, vague, or evasive manner.”  This is very indicative of the character of Roundabout seeing as (with his position in power) and his way of speaking causes people to trust and listen to what he has to say, and causes them to give him what he wants to hear. It’s a form of Gaslighting.

Next lets move to the next bold mark. “He is a man of elite education and standing” This is less of a focal point and more of a fact. I MEAN THE MAN WENT TO OXFORD. Come ON! Okay, that’s all for this one-

“ While not physically present for Faculty votes or discussions, he still shows interest in holding the position now empty by Shadowsan's betrayal.” Update, in reading the history of Roundabout in the wiki (Link will be at the end), it is pointed out that Roundabout did attend V.I.L.E, then was Faculty instructor who had infiltrated Her Majesty's secret service. Roundabout teaching is an important detail seeing as we have only seen the Faculty (Maelstrom, Cleo, Shadow-San, Brunt and Bellum) teaching classes. WHAT?! In retrospect this has to be a retcon for him but I have found NO confirmation of this. I have a feeling, a theory perhaps, that during the same time as Shadowsan was hunting Dexter Wolfe, Roundabout was starting the one  illegal diamond mining operation in Botswana. I believe that this was to see who would take Wolfe’s place at the table. As we all know Shadowsan ended up taking this place and it ended up shoving Roundabout to the background where he literally, began to plot his over throw of Shadowsan (Which never happened because he defecated before Roundabout go the chance to kill him).

Now, onto my favorite point in character. “He was clearly fearful of the other Faculty” But what? He was part of the faculty for a portion in time! Perhaps but just because you can respect people, but also fear them.  Roundabout is about to have his memories wiped for his failure, but is fortunately spared due to Dr. Bellum’s malfunctioning tech. This was a gift sent from GOD to him as this gave him the ability to prove his worth, and makes it clear that he will not be forgiven if he fails again to Maelstrom and the others. I mean he obviously failed because Mimebomb and Neal do NOT work well together (Also no bias at all because of my Axoleelship). But I assume he was ‘rescued’ at the end of the series? The never wiped his brain so I have... Many questions about this.

Now onto the most painful part of my day, We are going to talk about the abilities and advantages of Roundabout.

As one of the five masterminds of V.I.L.E., Roundabout had near supreme authority in the organization, and with his former position in British Intelligence, he was perhaps Carmen's most formidable adversary. As a high position agent of MI6, Roundabout was able to access and monitor information not easily accessible to others. He made use of his position to gain intelligence on when authorities arrive and keep track of both V.I.L.E. and A.C.M.E. movements and coordinate V.I.L.E. operatives to stay one step ahead of A.C.M.E. upon learning of Carmen's "alliance" with them. Appropriately for someone filling the position held by Shadowsan and Dexter Wolfe, he too is a master of stealth, but his stealth expertise is by avoiding detection through diversionary tactics, diverting attention away from himself rather than avoiding it altogether. In combat, Roundabout is shown to be a highly capable fencer, claiming he was previously the captain of the Oxford fencing team and was skilled enough to overwhelm Shadowsan, a skilled swordsman in his own right

Again take note of my bolded marks.

“Roundabout had near supreme authority in the organization.” As a V.I.L.E faculty member I hope this doesn’t have to be explained.

“He was perhaps Carmen's most formidable adversary” On the other hand is a very interesting thing to take into account, and the proof behind this is very reliable. This man is part of the MI6, in a high position, has access to many different reliable sources that relate to A.C.M.E. AND V.I.L.E. He’s playing a massive game of chess with HIMSELF. And I LOVE THAT FOR HIM. I’ll link the second bolded quote here as more proof. “He made use of his position to gain intelligence on when authorities arrive and keep track of both V.I.L.E. and A.C.M.E. movements and coordinate V.I.L.E. operatives to stay one step ahead of A.C.M.E.” 

“He too, is a master of stealth, but his stealth expertise is by avoiding detection through diversionary tactics, diverting attention away from himself rather than avoiding it altogether” I find this as one of the most telling things about Roundabout. He is not one for direct conflict unless it is absolutely needed, I’ll point to the battle between Shadowsan and Roundabout on Big Ben. He’s got to be on really good terms with the Cleaners with how often operatives get caught or mess up.

Finally, may favorite thing to point at.

“Skilled enough to overwhelm Shadowsan”

WHAT?! Roundabout is SKILLED enough to fight off Shadowsan, WHO WAS PART OF THE YAKUZA?!  I LOVED watching the dream daddies duel. It was so impressive and smooth and perfect. 

In conclusion, Roundabout is a really awesome character who doesn’t get as much praise as he deserves. He doesn’t really get as much screen time as I think he needs and was possibly a retcon, but one done fairly well. I’m not gonna finish with anything too fancy or great, except for the fact that I like this character. 

Welp, thanks for reading!