#i actually take less umbrage with this scene than i expected because it doesn't feel like a knife in the heart

[cannibalisticskittles]

okay, having now seen it in context, i remain convinced that the 12 lovers thing is bullshit. most of this is bullshit, in fact.

i mean, arrogant as he is -- and as much as he does enjoy speaking of the attention he gets from supposed fans -- the idea goes against how.... genuinely touched he seems all throughout his the beginning of his romance. not that that means that it's impossible for it to be true, but that would be quite a lot of effort put into maintaining a persona as a sincere partner while also still being a bit (read: a lot) of a self-absorbed shithead. like if he doesn't feel the need to hide the shithead part, why would he feel like he would need to come across as loyal to you, unless that part is also not really an act? why would he feel that putting on an act like that would be worth the effort?

(plus, i mean, bro needs you to battle an ocean of robots with him before he feels like he can agree to date you. from a logistical standpoint, what the fuck is he going to get 12 other people to match that kind of zeal for battle??)

anyway, that part's less important. just because i take umbrage at certain characterization doesn't mean that characterization is necessarily inconsistent. people are complex, characters are complex, maybe it really was all just an act in his romance, whatever.

the more important part is the fact that he's absolutely lying about most of what he's saying in this scene, if not all of it. grace even says she can't definitively sniff out whether he's telling the truth or lying throughout this despite her knack for it, to the point where she usually knows which part of what someone is untrue.

and we very quickly learned that he was lying about at least part of what he says immediately -- we discover that he was the one writing telegrams to miguel before coming to sandrock, which completely nixes everything he's saying about being fooled by miguel. so yeah, technically "ooh, i have 12 lovers who i keep separate and ply with gifts" COULD be true, but it could not be the justification for why he's working with miguel in sandrock; he was already working with duvos well before arriving in town. it very much comes across as a ploy to get you and grace to think of miguel as the source of all the blame by relying on his Very Well Known Persona/Reputation to concoct what feels to him like a an excuse you'll accept

anyway, do you know which part i think has the highest chance of actually having a grain of truth in it? this shit.

i think he's genuinely down to be called big daddy love sponge.

[majorpepperidge]

#i actually take less umbrage with this scene than i expected because it doesn't feel like a knife in the heart#it fully feels like he's concocted a cover story to shift as much blame as possible

It also helps that this is all still very in-character for Pen. To talk and act like this is the same as he's been doing since you met him. It's the stuff that comes a little later that pisses most everyone who enjoys "Big Daddy Love Sponge". Like the writers had to give more justification for [REDACTED] so they make him into some kinda mustache-twirling, puppy-kicking, shallow-ass reasoning big bad. Like they were in a hurry to get him out of the game so they could shove Logan into town and railroad you into rebound romancing him.

okay, having now seen it in context, i remain convinced that the 12 lovers thing is bullshit. most of this is bullshit, in fact.

i mean, arrogant as he is -- and as much as he does enjoy speaking of the attention he gets from supposed fans -- the idea goes against how.... genuinely touched he seems all throughout his the beginning of his romance. not that that means that it's impossible for it to be true, but that would be quite a lot of effort put into maintaining a persona as a sincere partner while also still being a bit (read: a lot) of a self-absorbed shithead. like if he doesn't feel the need to hide the shithead part, why would he feel like he would need to come across as loyal to you, unless that part is also not really an act? why would he feel that putting on an act like that would be worth the effort?

(plus, i mean, bro needs you to battle an ocean of robots with him before he feels like he can agree to date you. from a logistical standpoint, what the fuck is he going to get 12 other people to match that kind of zeal for battle??)

anyway, that part's less important. just because i take umbrage at certain characterization doesn't mean that characterization is necessarily inconsistent. people are complex, characters are complex, maybe it really was all just an act in his romance, whatever.

the more important part is the fact that he's absolutely lying about most of what he's saying in this scene, if not all of it. grace even says she can't definitively sniff out whether he's telling the truth or lying throughout this despite her knack for it, to the point where she usually knows which part of what someone is untrue.

and we very quickly learned that he was lying about at least part of what he says immediately -- we discover that he was the one writing telegrams to miguel before coming to sandrock, which completely nixes everything he's saying about being fooled by miguel. so yeah, technically "ooh, i have 12 lovers who i keep separate and ply with gifts" COULD be true, but it could not be the justification for why he's working with miguel in sandrock; he was already working with duvos well before arriving in town. it very much comes across as a ploy to get you and grace to think of miguel as the source of all the blame by relying on his Very Well Known Persona/Reputation to concoct what feels to him like a an excuse you'll accept

anyway, do you know which part i think has the highest chance of actually having a grain of truth in it? this shit.

i think he's genuinely down to be called big daddy love sponge.