#whoops i got caught up i have to go but tl;dr shes an actual character who needs a unique design but not like TOO out there

[peremadeleine]

JCS: The 50th Anniversary Tour

My dad and I just saw the touring 50th anniversary production of Jesus Christ Superstar! We both grew up with the music and know it like the backs of our hands, so frankly our expectations were high.

It was...amazing.

A long, detailed, scene-by-scene discussion under the cut!

As the overture stars to play, the lights come up slowly and you realize that you can see the band--the actual rock band--on the second level of the set. They weren’t highly visible, not intrusive, but we both thought that was so cool. True to the spirit of what is, after all, a rock opera.

The cast came out, during the overture, from two of the audience doors in the orchestra and began hopping up on stage. Also very cool--we weren’t the only ones leaning forward in the balcony to look!

Full disclosure, Judas is my favorite character, so “Heaven on their Minds” is a make-or-break moment for me. Didn’t love all of his delivery, but Judas still sold it. (He clearly took a lot of inspo from Carl Anderson.) He was trying to reach Jesus both emotionally and physically without being weird and clingy (a la the terrible 2000 movie).

Ciaphas and Annas were both Perfect. Annas was an annoying little shit who sounded a lot like Geddy Lee--the lead singer from Rush--and Ciaphas had a deep, menacing, beautiful baritone just right for the part.

Though Simon’s performance was not quite as passionate as I would’ve liked, his voice was wonderful. Probably the best strictly vocal rendition of “Simon Zealotes” I’ve ever heard.

Really liked the way the Temple scene was set up...I would’ve liked it more if they’d given Jesus some prop to interact with/throw around, but the glittery/seedy feel of the scene contrasted perfectly with the low-key, muted set design up to that point.

This was the first scene where Jesus actually caught my attention. His delivery of “my Temple should be a house of prayer!” was a real show-stopper--as it ought to be.

The Lepers sequence was clearly overwhelming/stressful for Jesus without being too unpleasant (that’s always how I remember it from the ’73 movie) for the audience. As with “Hosanna,” though, I would have liked a slightly bigger ensemble to magnify the power of the scene.

Mary’s voice was lovely. She played “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” a little bit delicately, and there wasn’t much for her to do--Jesus was sleeping way off to side of the stage--so I think it could’ve been just a little more powerful, emotionally speaking, but again, her voice was very pretty.

When Judas, beckoned forward by Ciaphas, takes his reward for betraying Jesus from a chest at the end of “Damned for All Time,” his hands become stained silvery-white. As the show progressed the silver paint crept up his arms almost to his shoulders. A small prop would’ve been hard to see, anyway, so the Lady Macbeth-style staining of his hands was easily visible from our seats as well as perfect visual symbolism.

During the Last Supper scene, the apostles re-purpose the cross-shape platform in the middle of the stage as a table. They all froze in poses reminiscent of Da Vinci’s painting (as in the ’73 film) while Jesus sang his solemn lines about consuming his body and blood.

This was the scene that most explicitly explored the bond between Jesus and Judas. At the beginning of the scene, Jesus comes up behind Judas and wraps him in a cloak. Later, an obviously-distraught Judas kneels at the edge of the stage and gazes with desperate hope at his friend, even reaching for Jesus’ hand with his stained one. He wants Jesus to stop him, to keep him there--but of course, he’s sent away to betray him.

More disclosure: “Gethsemane” is my favorite song from the show. It’s raw, it’s angry, it’s powerful. I watched a video of the actor playing Jesus performing an acoustic version in a studio and was not impressed, and so far I was on the fence about his on-stage Jesus, which lacked a little bit of the “drama queen” (or, I guess, the “superstar”) element I expect from JCS!Jesus. tl;dr This was THE big make-it-or-break-it moment of the show for me...

Oh, ye of little faith, Luth! All the hesitance and just-good-enough vocals went out the window; he sang with passion and power and conviction, improving steadily as the song reaches its climax. He didn’t try to imitate the vocal wizardry of Ian Gillan, but he hit the high note (“see how I die”) and held it.

At one point he ripped off his shirt and threw the microphone stand against another set piece in his anger, fear, and despair, which I thought was a nice visual for the audience.

I realized, by the end of the song, when the audience erupted into cheers/applause and my dad leaned over to whisper “He nailed it!” that there were tears in my eyes. I was actually crying! And I was so happy, despite my tears, because this Jesus had finally overcome my months-long misgivings and now I could enjoy the rest of the show for what it would be,

Pilate is usually played by an older man, sometimes in over-the-top flamboyant (often purple) costumes. Not so here. This Pilate was the image of a punk rocker in black leather, and he was young, and he was a certifiable rock star! What a voice!  He was the only one my dad “whooped” for at the curtain call.

Confession time...I’ve never truly seen the need for “Herod’s Song,” catchy as it is. But seeing the show live, the audience was into it. They clearly needed one wacky comic number. And boy was this one wacky. Very well-done, kind of had a cabaret aesthetic with Herod in a silver leotard and sparkly black boots.

Everyone clapped between Judas’ confrontation with the priests and his reprise of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” which meant the slow, sad beginning of said reprise was drowned out a little. Boo. It’s one of the most moving songs in the show. (“Does he love...does he love me too? Does he care for me? Oh!”) That said, the tension in the audience was palpable (or maybe it was just me) when Judas climbs the stairs and strings up his rope. Just the rope dropped as the lights went down, so it was tastefully done, but all I felt was dread. Which is the point, I imagine.

The ensemble did a great job of realistically haranguing and guilt-tripping Pilate until he abandoned his logical stance that Jesus had done nothing deserving of death and gave into their demands. The best use of the ensemble in the entire show.

I always skip the 39 lashes when I listen at home. They did it very symbolically--throwing “glitter bombs” of a sort at Jesus every time Pilate counted a lash so that he was covered in gold tinsel by the end of it--and it made it bearable to watch, though still tense.

When the instrumental hook of “Superstar” plays after the trial and before the actual song “Superstar,” Judas comes back out on stage and places the crown of thorns on Jesus’ head. An interesting choice. It certainly got me right in the feels.

Would have liked a bit more one-on-one interaction between J&J during “Superstar,” maybe a new costume for Judas, but otherwise a good performance of that, too.

That’s where I always end my listen...but of course the show ends with the crucifixion. Of course that’s never going to be a pleasant scene, is it? It was, again, fairly tastefully done, with Jesus ending up back-lit on the cross.

The final image of the show was also the single-most powerful one:  the rest of the stage was still dark, with Judas* sitting at the foot of the cross gazing up at the still-backlit Jesus. Reader, I wept.

*it occurred to me that it MIGHT have been Mary--the stage was dark, and our seats were pretty high-up...but I prefer the symbolism of it being Judas.

The set was very minimalist, with two unadorned two-story platforms on either side of the long, much shorter protruding cross-shaped platform. It worked for me. (Much better than the weird “industrial” look they went for in the live TV special.)

The costumes were hit-or-miss, but I did like the simplicity of the design. It was quite monochromatic, with Jesus and the apostles (and Mary) mostly in white or beige, Pilate in black, and Judas appropriately in gray. (There were some much-appreciated pops of color during the Last Supper sequence, when the apostles wrapped themselves in red and blue cloaks; and some glitter/sparkle added visual interest in the Temple, Herod, and Trial scenes.)

I could probably say more, including about what I didn’t like as much--there were a few things!--but I’ll save that for another post. Bless you if you actually read all that.

As sad as I am that I didn’t get to see the 2012 Broadway revival, I’m so glad I got to see this.

If you are a fan of Jesus Christ Superstar and have the means, I HIGHLY encourage you to check out the tour if it comes to a city near you. It may not be the greatest production of this show ever staged, but it’s very entertaining, respectful of the material, musically excellent--and it blows that televised one from 2018 out of the water! All in all, just a wonderful tribute for JCS’s 50th anniversary.

[thesummerstorms]

Rev Recaps Hard Contact (Chapter 17)

CW: series typical violence. discussion of a passage where the author decided to use a common slur against transgender people as an abbreviation of “Trandoshan”, which, what the fuck. 

TL;DR Recap: Hokan freaks because he doesn’t know how the commandos got in & he can’t get through the bulkeads to where Uthan is trapped with them. Atin and Darman get into a brief, intense fight against some Separatist personnel before capturing Uthan. Hokan finally manages to get the bulkheads down, but all that’s left are some of Uthan’s staff.

Beginning Kal Count: 32 Ending Kal Count: 35

Hokan, naturally, doesn’t take well to the fact that Darman and Atin finally breached his supposedly secure facility. In fact, he still has no idea how it happened; however, with the various blast doors down, he can’t get to Uthan or her team to figure it out, much less solve the problem. It’s revealed that the bulkheads were lowered automatically when Darman and Atin cranked up the other security door; it’s a precautionary measure on the computer’s part. What that means is Atin and Darman are cornered with Uthan and the Separatist fighters, at least unless they can escape through their previous tunnel, but Hokan also can’t get it to kill them.

The man also has an ego. 

His new favorite Lt. promises to keep trying to override security to raise the doors. Hokan tries a crowbar, but the gap is only about the size of a piece of paper flimsi, so it doesn’t work and he throws it to the floor and has a momentary fit. He doesn’t have explosives, so he pulls out surprisingly he can’t immediately cut through.

I’m very interested to know what the hell that door is made of, but given the kind of work Uthan is doing, I suppose it makes sense to Jedi-proof your entrance to the best of your ability. Still, it had to be REALLY expensive.

With Hokan otherwise occupied, we cut back to Darman and Atin, who are also not having a fun time, but more because Uthan is armed with a Verpine gun and has a few Separatist officer friends hanging around and their only way out is back out the tunnel into the sewers that they just dug.

CW: Canon usage of a word that is also a slur against transgender people.

There are some great small moments here, but unfortunately this whole POV section is liberally salted with the usage of the word “Trannie” disguised used as a short-form of “Trandoshan”. I barely remember 2004 and I had literally only just turned 10, so I have no idea what kind of prevalence there was to the knowledge that this was, in fact, a slur. 

But even if I wanted to look into that, that a) assume that KT literally ever thought to look into other people’s perspectives as a writer and would have cared or b) ask me to believe that a white English woman with strong conservative isolationist tendencies who writes books with pervasive misogyny and heteronormativity wouldn’t have purposefully slid that in under the radar.

And it really doesn’t matter in the end, because ultimately you still have the book you have. I’m just going to have to settle for minimizing my screencaps for this section because I don’t feel like endlessly repeating the word without need.

Back to plot:

Dar tells Niner that they have Uthan cornered but she has a gun on her. Niner tells her, essentially, to scare her into dropping it because Verpine rifles are fragile. I have no irl knowledge of guns to compare this to. Niner says that if Darman and Atin need help capturing Uthan, that’s probably too bad, because he and Fi will have a hell of a time getting in. Majestic is the only thing currently firing on the surface, but Niner’s hesitant about using the battering ram on the front door when Dar asks. Dar consents to trying to evac Uthan out the drains first, but wants Niner and Fi busting in to be the back up plan.

Oh, Fi. But that disagreement goes nowhere as Atin hears something and he and Darman realize Uthan isn’t alone. Since the only folks on Darman’s side are with Niner, that means that these are Separatist fighters. Darman is generally pissed, and apparently I’ve missed something about a locking door somewhere or misunderstood part of the scene, because we get this line:

Okay. Door opens. No Uthan. Door has Trandoshan thugs. Dar is in close contact range with said thugs.

Darman and the and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Darman feels like he just hit a brick wall, despite his armor, and only manages to make the first Trandoshan stumble. The second Trandoshan starts to advance on him with a knife, but looks at his armor for a second “bewildered”. Fair.

Lmao. There’s actually kind of a neat fight scene that follows, but I’m not screencapping any of it because word usage. Darman body charges the Trandoshan at ramming speed and tries to stab him in the throat with the vibroknife built into his gauntlet, but the Trandoshan grabs his wrist and is trying to stab Darman at the same time. Darman chooses that moment to wonder, “Hey- are our bodysuits stab proof? I don’t remember.” So since obviously that’s not a great risk to be taking, he uses “bar-brawl tactics that Skirata made sure they all learned” (Kal Count increase to 33) and kicks the Trandoshan in the shin followed by stomping on his instep. That loosens the Trandoshan’s grip enough that Dar can stab him, which he does “over and over, not sure what he was hitting” until the Trandoshan stops screaming. He notes that “Skirata was right. Stabbing someone was a slow way to kill them.” (Kal Count 34.)

He turns around and sees Atin covered in Trandoshan blood, but otherwise okay. Darman is about to explode the door in to get to Uthan, and Atin pulls out the Trandoshan shotgun array blaster.

Darman uses explosive to blow the lock on Uthans door, tosses in some EMP grenades, and they rush in.

“He had become used to Etain’s resilience.” Okay, y’all had to know I wanted to make a note of that. It’s good to have some positives acknowledged occasionally. Darman comms Niner and Fi “whoops” loud enough to hurt his ears. Darman realizes that Atin has killed three more Trandoshans and a lab assistant. There’s some weird shit there about the lab tech not being pretty anymore and Dar wondering if she’s Uthan’s daughter, which honestly makes zero fucking sense, especially since Darman apparently didn’t see her alive. Darman tries to ask how many staff Uthan has, Uthan groggily says something about them murdering her assistant-

and weirdly, Atin seems to be having a tiny moment of doubt now, as he’s staring at the bodies. It’s subtle, since we aren’t in his POV, but I think he’s having the same kid of reaction Dar had earlier in the book:

“Almost to himself”. I don’t know, I could be reading a lot into a tiny phrase where there’s nothing, but ... in the context of discussing how the book handles various characters reacting to killing, it caught my attention. Darman, on the other hand, currently has no fucks left to give.

.... okay. 

Darman asks again about the staff, and:

You know, I could do with out the Kal Count increase (35) but at the same time, I agree with Darman. It’s very, very rich for someone working on biogenic weapons to trot out the “They’re civilians” thing. Darman comms back, gets confirmation from Niner that he doesn’t need to capture Uthan’s staff. They gag and restrain her, Darman literally throws her over his shoulder, and now they have to find their way out of the tunnels with a captive scientist in tow. Darman is worried they’ll get lost.

We cut to Hokan, whose staff is finally getting the doors from their end open, too little too late.

Hurati, again, is the lieutenant Hokan had murder the previous lieutenant because Hokan didn’t like him. But the “whether he wanted to admit it or not, he actually cared what happened to him” line is weirdly funny to me?  Hurati, admittedly, has managed to override all the doors, so all the security bulkheads AND the front door open at once, which is bound to earn him favor. But then we get:

Even the weirdest, most extreme, got-kicked-out-of-Death-Watch-because-they-couldn’t-function Mandalorians have an adoptive instinct. Or rather, that’s how I’m choosing to read this line, because it’s funny to me. 

Hokan finds the rest of Uthan’s team, but can’t confirm whether any virus samples survived, and Uthan is already gone. He seems to be finally waking up to the situation, as we end with this quote:

:)

[misssamericanaaa]

My “Analysis”/Headcanons on Chaddick’s Family

Note before I begin - I typed this up in my drafts and it was a very long, unorganized, and rambling post and when I pasted it into Google Docs to edit it, it was three full pages! So this is still long but hopefully more organized and not as rambling!

Just a warning this does have some spoilers for Quests for Glory and The Crystal of Time so if you maybe haven’t read them yet but are interested in the series maybe don’t read this! 

Ok, so I’m aware I’ve only been on this blog a solid 7 hours but I was off work today and my classes for the semester don’t start until next week so I had absolutely nothing to do today, and I ended up spending about 4 of those 7 hours going through various SGE tags here (tl;dr - I’ve read a lot of analysis and headcanons today) and I’m still processing most of it but there was one thing in particular in A Crystal of Time that really blew me away and I actually haven’t seen any thoughts on it here (I may just be missing them) so I thought I’d share my own!

Mistress Gremlaine

So can we talk about Mistress Gremlaine? The lady who works at the Foxwood School for Boys and briefly talked to Hort and Nicola before they ran past her to find Dean Brunhilde and is, so obviously to me, Chaddick’s mother? Which also makes Lady Gremlaine Chaddick’s aunt but I’ll get to that in a hot minute.

What first clued me in was the two boys who came out of the school and talked to their mother, the older one saying that his younger brother started crying in his history class because they were discussing Camelot’s knights “and well, you know”. That line was the kicker, in addition to their named being Caleb and Cedric, following the “C” naming scheme. Going back to Quest for Glory, when the obituary Lady Gremlaine showed Tedros said that Chaddick was survived by his parents and his brothers, aged 17 and 12 (which is what Hort and Nicola approximated their ages to be when they saw them). The older brother took his younger brother to the park to comfort him, and Mistress Gremlaine paid the gardener to keep an eye on them in the park, who said he didn’t blame her for doing so. I’ll be honest, it struck a chord with me. She’s already lost one son, and even though their kingdom is supposedly under Rhian’s protection, who could blame her for wanting to keep her remaining children safe?

I will say, however, that I am a little surprised that neither Hort nor Nicola picked up on this very obvious clue, especially seeing as Hort went to school with Chaddick for three years and even though Nicola didn’t know him, she was with the group when they found his body in Avalon and seems to be very sharp and picks up clues easily. Considering the older brother was only one year older than Chaddick (16 at the time of death), I’d assume there would be some familial resemblance, even with the younger brother as well. That paired with the interaction about Camelot’s knights makes me think that one of them would have figured it out. They’re both smart and I feel as though they tend to pick up on clues such as that. Then again, maybe they were preoccupied with not being caught and finding Dean Brunhilde.

Who Told His Family?

I also have some thoughts about his family in general, particularly with how they found out about his death. I seem to remember in QfG that his death was reported to the Camelot Courier by one of the mongooses (mongeese?) that killed the snakes inside the castle in Avalon. That isn’t necessarily important here though, more just me trying to remember a book I reread only last week.

So who told Chaddick’s family? Are they even aware of how he died? That he was killed by the Snake while on his quest as Tedros’ knight? I have three main theories, all of which are somewhat plausible.

Professor Dovey

Could it have been Dovey? I know she was dealing with some side stuff with her crystal ball but could she have taken a trip to Foxwood to inform his family about his death in person? I remember her being very upset about his death (rightfully so), and I do like the idea of Dovey honoring Chaddick by telling his family in person how their son died.

Lady Gremlaine

As much as I love that headcanon, another more likely possibility is that Lady Gremlaine informed them as soon as she got the news herself. Chaddickw as her nephew after all, and I would understand her wanting to tell his family herself, because she’s also family.

The One That Makes Me Really Sad

Ok the last, most heartbreaking, possibility is that they found out on their own, by reading his obituary in his newspaper. I remember that Dovey was upset it had been printed in the paper without her consent, meaning she may have had the intention of informing his family herself and never got the chance. My heart breaks at the idea of his mother or father reading the newspaper in the morning and suddenly coming across an obituary for their own son. Their own son that they presumably hadn’t seen in 3-4 years and is supposed to be off on a magical quest and now he’s dead and they don’t even know how.

Or it was one of his brothers, flipping through the paper looking for news of Camelot and then there’s their brother, except it’s his obituary and he’s dead. Their own brother, who they grew up playing and talking with and loving, who’s supposed to be a knight for the most legendary kingdom, the king of Camelot’s liege, and he’s dead.

Or they don’t even know and someone mentions it in passing, or asks for more information and ends up breaking the news to them.

(I did not know I had this many feelings about this topic, but whoops here we are.)

“Aunt Grisella”

Ok now it’s time to talk about Lady Gremlaine as Chaddick’s aunt, because that really came out of the blue for me. For a hot second, I was pretty horrified that Rhian and Japeth were his cousins but I suppose we dodged that bullet, although Evelyn Sader as their mother just feels random but that’s for another day.

She’s obviously his aunt because a) Chaddick’s mother is Mistress “Gremlaine” and b) Chaddick’s brothers referring to their “Aunt Grisella”. That’s said and done.

It also connected a scene from earlier that seemed a bit random to me, when Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros found the crystal of Chaddick with Lady Gremlaine before leaving for his quest. That just seemed off to me, so that’s somewhat cleared up. Tedros also mentioned that Lady Gremlaine had taken a liking to Chaddick, unlike Tedros and Agatha. Which brights us to our next point…

Was Chaddick aware she was his aunt? I would initially assume he knew, as his brothers knew Lady Gremlaine as their aunt, but it seems odd to me that he wouldn’t say anything to Tedros that his new steward just so happens to be Chaddick’s aunt. Tedros and Chaddick were supposed to be best friends, and Tedros is now his king, so it’s weird to me that he wouldn’t mention anything. There’s something off there and I really can’t put my finger on it, and probably won’t be able to unless there’s more information released in One True King.

Also, just me thinking out loud, if Chaddick knew Lady Gremlaine as his aunt, was he aware of her being King Arthur’s steward before he was born/when he was young? I’ll go out on a limb and assume that Lady Gremlaine was very private about her time at Camelot.

I’m also feeling that there was some mystery between her and Chaddick, because she was the one that told Tedros of his death and nothing came up in that time about being related to him. That may not have been something to mention at the time, but if Chaddick was aware she was his aunt I feel like it’s really odd that Tedros didn’t know. Also, that has to suck big time for Lady Gremlaine to learn of her nephew being murdered and then having to break the news to his king and supposed best friend and comfort Tedros, all while mourning herself.

I really feel like I’m missing a major piece of the puzzle with Lady Gremlaine being related to Chaddick but I feel like I’ve picked apart all of the relevant information we have at the time...I guess that’ll be something to hope for clarification in OTK!

I think that’s about all I have to say on this right now, but I also just want to say that I already been knew what I’m about to say but writing this post made me think of it a bit differently. Chaddick was killed way too soon. His death was a mere plot device and didn’t fit his character (well, what little we knew about him anyway). There was such great potential for character development and so many ‘what-ifs” in terms of being a part of The Camelot Years while being alive...he was done dirty. I wouldn’t say I mourn the character mainly (although I definitely still do), but I mourn what could have been and what a great character he would have made to the story. But that’s a topic that’s been covered very well by many people and also not the main point! I’m really just starting out on here and I just wanted to put my thoughts out there and in one place! :)

[appleciders]

blindspot character sortings

okay, so, once again, this is entirely the fault of @zapatterson 

i’ve sorted the main five characters in blindspot into their hogwarts houses, with...very long analyses to go along with them. 

here’s the (very simplified) summary:

jane—gryffindor, for her need to be on the right side

kurt—gryffindor, for his morals dictated by his gut

patterson—ravenclaw, for her intellect and creativity

reade—hufflepuff, for his prioritization of others and his deep compassion

tasha—slytherin, for her need to protect her people

if anyone disagrees with any of my sortings, hit me up! i’d be pumped to hear your opinions.

(side note: i promise i have a life. i do, really. i just had a lot of time on my hands because i accidentally gave myself food poisoning. which...also means i wrote half of this with a 100 degree fever, so...don’t judge me too harshly, okay?)

Okay, first and foremost. Easiest for me to sort, except for maybe Weller. My moon and stars: Tasha Zapata.

Tasha is a Slytherin.

She is supremely loyal to her people. Supremely. We all know this, it’s like, her most defining character trait. She has her people, who she’ll sacrifice everything for, and then she has everyone else. See here:

Reade: You should have thought about that before you decided to steal evidence. Tasha: I did! You think I didn't realize that I could go to prison for this? But you are my best friend. That was the risk that I was willing to take to save you, but I will not go to prison to save Freddy. And that is exactly what will happen if we don't put that knife back.

In fact, the only person Tasha can prioritize over her team is herself. This isn’t a bad thing—selfishness can be good, especially when it means she doesn’t burn herself up for other people like Reade, or occasionally considers whether a risk is worth it before she leaps in, unlike Kurt or Jane. It’s also probably born out of her childhood, with her alcoholic mother, absent father, and her three brothers. She needed to be a bit selfish, because if she wasn’t, she wouldn’t’ve survived.

This selfishness is especially apparent in the first season. When she’s caught out by Weitz, blackmailed by both him and Carter, she does initially decide to give her team up.

Tasha: I gave you the file, that was the deal. This is over. Thomas Carter: But, little lady. But you already took my money. You already sold out your friends. If I tell the FBI what you've done... you won't just be fired, you'll be indicted. This is over when I say it's over. You're mine now, Agent Zapata. So you take care.

Another person—a non-Slytherin—might have weighed that and taken the high-road. Might have turned themselves over to be imprisoned for the sake of the FBI and for the sake of whatever plot was going on with Jane’s tattoos. But Tasha is a survivor; she needs to survive. She saves herself, even at the possible cost of whatever’s coming.

Then, later, she does find out the cost: Mayfair. She hears Weitz’s story, Mayfair’s corruption, the danger she might be putting the agency in. And she makes a judgement: she excommunicates Mayfair from her people. Mayfair is putting her friends in danger. Mayfair lied to her. In Tasha’s eyes, however hypocritical, however flawed, that is betrayal.

And we know how Slytherins react to betrayal.

Tasha: Thought about what you said... about Mayfair. If Mayfair's going down, she goes down alone. I don't want my friends to be dragged down with her. Matthew Weitz: You got it, partner. Tasha: I'm not your partner.

(Later this gets overturned when she discovers Mayfair’s true motivations and her side of the story. Regardless, it happened.)

It also happens to Jane at the beginning of S2:

Actually, yk what, I don’t even think I have to source this one. She shoots Jane, for crying out loud. And she doesn’t sympathize with her like Reade does—her being a pawn is not justification for her betrayal. Jane has to earn her way back into being Tasha’s people, just like Mayfair did.

It’s also interesting to tie when Tasha finally rebels against Carter to when she realizes she has lost control of the situation. Tasha prefers to control, rather than to be controlled (more on that later) and that is a very Slytherin trait.

As for the rest of her moral system, well, it’s very black and white. To steal words from @sortinghatchats, even if I was too lazy to use their system:

“But when the major part of your moral system that you feel viscerally is to protect yourself and your people, there are a lot of gaps in how you interact with the world and with moral situations. What do Slytherins do when confronted with wrongs that don’t touch their people? It depends on the Slytherin. Some Slytherins simply don’t care—they opt out of the moral complications of the rest of the world and what touches other people and choose a contented apathy about the things that don’t intrude on their space—but other Slytherins construct ways to interact with these situations.”

Tasha’s constructed system is very binary. Just look:

Jane: So, Gibson was a good guy. He just wanted the killing to stop. Tasha: He killed ten innocent people this morning. Good guys don't do that. Jane: You don't think good people ever do terrible things? Tasha: I think terrible people do terrible things. And the good people stop them.

Wow, okay. By this metric, none of the FBI team are good guys. They’ve ALL done morally questionable things to get through. Does Tasha consider herself a good guy? Does she consider the rest of her people good guys? She doesn’t treat them like she treats bad guys, that’s for sure.

And that’s because, for her, it doesn’t matter. Because herself and her people? They’re, by nature, exempt from her constructed morality, because it is secondary to her motivation to protect her own.

Okay, now on to the other “traditional Slytherin traits.”

The ones the wiki lists are:

Resourcefulness

Cunning

Ambition

Determination

Self-Preservation

Fraternity

Cleverness

Okay, moving through that—resourcefulness. The whole knife situation? Saving Reade’s ass after she thought he killed his ex-coach? Resourceful. When she was trapped in that basement with the women who were being trafficked, and managed to get everyone out, including herself? Resourceful. When she went undercover again, to the prison? And managed to execute all of Patterson’s plan for getting her out, as well as make Ronda Rousey (what was her character’s name again whoops) trust her, while being a prisoner, in a high security prison? If that isn’t resourcefulness, I don’t think I understand the word right.

Cunning—well, see above, and all the times she’s in interrogation. And doing, like, anything. She’s smart, and she knows how to use it, folks.

Ambition; less obvious, but yeah, she has ambition. As of S2, her ambition is I’m going to survive and so are my people, but we know that earlier she wanted more. See this conversation with Mayfair (also a huge, wonderful Slytherin deserving of love btw):

Tasha: I'd like to run a division one day, like you. Mayfair: Be careful what you wish for. Early on in my career, someone powerful approached me, asking for help. It was a big career opportunity. What he was asking me to do was... morally ambiguous at best. I went along. Told myself it was for the greater good, but in my gut, I knew that was a lie. Didn't sleep well back then. Still don't. Things went sideways and that powerful person was nowhere to be found. I was left alone to account for my actions, wishing that I'd trusted my gut. Whatever you're doing with Weitz, for Weitz, just make sure you can sleep at night.

Determination: well, she doesn’t quit. Like, ever. It’s both really impressive and irritating, especially when her people are trying to hide things from her—she gets on both Reade and Patterson’s backs when they’re not taking care of themselves, even when they would rather she not.

Self-preservation we’ve covered, as have we with fraternity. Cleverness has pretty much been covered, too, but if you need more proof: she can code, she has a remarkable memory, she’s quick on her feet, and she comes up with quips like nobody’s business.

Lastly, there’s the question of control.

In short, Tasha likes to be in it. One of the biggest things I kept running into while building the “self-preservation” section is that Tasha…is pretty darn self-destructive. We can divide that into two categories—personal self-destruction, and professional self-destruction. Professional self-destruction is kind of in her job description. She routinely makes the call that her life is less important than that of her teammates or her mission, which is also a part of her my team is the most important mindset she’s got going on.

But while the other characters on Blindspot are personally self-destructive for a greater purpose or for an escape, Tasha is self-destructive because she feels like it’s the only way she can keep her life in her own hands. See her speech during the one (1) time she went to Gambler’s Anonymous:

Tasha:  After [the death of her partner], I, uh... My life was a mess. His death was so random. So... You know, as dumb as it sounds, when I was gambling, I knew the rules. Even when I was losing, it was on my terms, it was something I could control. But it doesn't really feel that way anymore.

Also see the time in the prison where she let herself get beat up, with no back-up or safeguards:

Tasha: I was in total control. I could’ve put them all on the floor if I wanted. Kurt: Really? Tasha: Mm-hmm.

She’s reckless with herself, but only because it gives her something out of it. Control.

All of this isn’t to say that she’s not brave, smart, or hardworking—she is. But she’s also all of these things in a ridiculously Slytherin way.

tl;dr: Tasha is the most Slytherin character I think I’ve ever seen on TV and I love her with my whole entire heart. She’s also a lesbian, so jot that down.

Okay, next up: Edgar Reade.

My man Eddie is a Hufflepuff.

You might be thinking, hey, Sophie, did you just make this up so you could have Tasha and Reade reiterate the time-old Slytherin/Hufflepuff best friend duo? The answer would be no, but dude, this shoe fits like a glove.

But stop! you might think. Reade likes order, can be uptight. Isn’t that more Ravenclawish? And he’s brave…isn’t that more Gryffindor? And he can be suspicious of newcomers. Slytherin like Tasha?

Not really. The core question is: why does Reade do what he does? The answer is he cares about people. That’s what allows him to work, really:

Tasha, to Reade: Understanding, identifying with victims. That’s what makes you good at your job.

Reade tries to understand people—all people, from strangers to traitors to suspects. He cares about them, whether he should or not. That’s what makes him good at his job.

We see it especially in contrast to Tasha, when Jane and Mayfair have both “betrayed” them. He refuses to accept that at face value; he wants to believe the best in them. He’s loyal that way.

In Mayfair’s case, he starts here:

Tasha: [tells him her suspicions] Reade: Mayfair is the one person who always has our backs, I don't know where you're getting your information from. Who put a bug in your ear?

And then he continually refuses to suspect her, aiding and abetting her all the way. In one of their last conversations, he says:

Reade: Hey. Thanks. Mayfair: For what? Reade: For trusting me. Mayfair: Always.

For him, being trusted is one of the highest honors he could receive. And then, after Jane carries out Sandstorm’s plan and betrays the FBI—which Reade had long suspected and tried to stop, by the way—he still gives her reasonable doubt. The lens which he views her through is still fair.

Tasha: Mayfair's dead because of her. I wouldn't give her too much credit.  Reade: What do you mean?  Tasha: She lied to us, she's...  Reade: She's a pawn. She was a pawn for Sandstorm, now she's a pawn for us. Pawns get sacrificed. I almost feel sorry for her.  Tasha: [gives Reade a Look] Reade: Uh, be easy. I said 'almost.'

While he doesn’t absolve her of anything, he has the kindness to step back, even as he’s no doubt hurting from the betrayal just as much as Tasha.

He’s fair, he’s kind, he’s empathetic. He identifies with people and feels responsibility for them.

Unfortunately for him, that’s what fucks up his life pretty much constantly.

Take the whole Sarah shebang from S1, for example. Reade finds a girl he likes and who likes him. Reade is incredibly happy (Tasha: You were really happy with her. Like, happier than I've ever seen you). Weller tries to break them up, in a pretty douche move, tbh—Reade calls him out on his hypocrisy and won’t end it just for that. But then, he gets threatened. Sarah and Sawyer are put in danger.

He puts aside his own feelings, his own happiness, and ends it. Because he can’t stand to see his people hurt, not ever, and he will put aside himself in every situation to protect those he loves. And it damages him, but he does it anyway.

This is dialed up to the nines in S2.

(Disclaimer: none of this is a defense of the writing of Edgar Reade’s character, especially not in the second season. The writers were repeatedly lazy and dismissive of Reade as a person. However, I love him, so my analysis is going to look both at and through that to reach a conclusion about his character.)

Okay, here it comes, the biggie—the Freddy/Coach Jones situation.

The moment he hears Freddy’s side of the story, he immediately feels responsible. He feels guilty. And he knows he shouldn’t, but he still does.

Weller: I'm not much of a bartender. Hope you like your scotch neat. And in a paper cup. Reade: I know what you're gonna say. That none of this is my fault. There's no way I could have known the man I looked up to since I was a kid is such a monster. None of the lives he ruined are my responsibility. And you're right. I know all this. But it doesn't make it any easier to live with. And I can do without the lecture, to be honest.

He’s also a persistent guy. He puts in a ton of extra work to try and convince the prosecutor to take Coach Jones’s case to trial.

Then he gets hit with another bombshell—Freddy alleges that he was one of the boys that Coach Jones abused, too. And he loses himself.

And then Coach Jones is killed.

And he loses himself more.

All of that emotion that Reade is so good at feeling for others, all of that guilt and responsibility he felt for not being able to help Freddy with Coach Jones—it all magnifies back on himself in ways that he has no idea how to deal with.

Because Reade is great at caring about other people, but he is shit about caring for himself.

(This is where, if he were a Slytherin like Tasha, his self-preservation would kick in. But he’s not.)

So he turns to the one thing that makes him feel lighter again, and because knock-knock, hello, no healthy coping mechanisms here, that thing is drugs. They allow him to ignore everything he’s feeling without actually dealing with it. They make him experience some semblance of happiness.

Reade: For the first time in a while, I feel like I can breathe, like I can have fun again. Tasha: Who is she? Reade: It’s not even like that. Tasha: Well, you’d better not mess this one up. Reade: Tasha. Tasha: I’m serious. You deserve to be happy. So don’t let anyone get in the way of that, including yourself. I know how you get. Reade: I know.

This re-establishes that Reade putting himself behind others is a recurring character trait. See more:

Reade, about Freddy’s girlfriend who got him hooked on drugs: I just feel bad. I can tell she feels guilty, like she’s responsible or something. Tasha: That woman…she is not your problem. You can’t change what happened to Freddy, and you cannot change what he did. You gotta start taking care of yourself.

Again, there’s that intense commitment to others, loyalty to people in a more generalized sense, and dismissal of his own wellbeing.

If you need even more:

Reade, to Tasha: I can live with whatever happens to me, but I couldn’t if something were to happen to you.

Unfortunately for him, the drug route takes him away from his better nature. In trying to push people away, in attempting to remove them from his own mental health spiral, he ends up hurting and rejecting them. That’s a bad call, and one he regrets once he gets clean again.

Okay, now that that slight tangent is over, let’s review the wiki list for Hufflepuffs

Dedication

Repeatedly dedicated to his work, his friends and even to people he already knows.

Hard Work

As are all the people on this team, Reade is a lowkey workaholic.

Fair play

He’s fair, even to those who have betrayed him (Jane).

Patience

Less proof on this one, but hey, I’m a very impatient Hufflepuff so I’m letting it go.

Kindness

The man pours his heart out for every single person he cares about. Jesus Christ.

Tolerance

He seems tolerant? Idk we haven’t really gotten a good situation to grade this on, imo.

Loyalty

See the above twelve-hundred words for why he is loyal in both a personal and to-all-people sort of way.

One last, very ‘Puff speech:

Reade, to an emotionally exhausted Patterson: I know how you feel, Patterson, believe me. This job takes everything from all of us. But it gives back, too. It gives us a way to fight against all the garbage that’s piling up in the world. It gives us each other. It gives us family. And families fight. Sometimes, they lose hope. But what they damn sure don’t do is give up.

tl;dr: Reade’s a Hufflepuff, cool?

Next up: Patterson.

Patterson is…surprisingly hard? Because at first glance, she seems textbook Ravenclaw. If we were going to divide this into a primary/secondary model (primary: why she does things, secondary: how she does them) she would definitely be a Ravenclaw secondary. Everything she does is in a very Ravenclaw way. But are her motivations all Ravenclaw based? She’s actually pretty people-driven, and has quite a few Hufflepuff traits. And, because we know she’s also an avid Harry Potter fan, she might have seen herself a lot in Hermione growing up, especially because she is brave. But when it comes down to it, for a sorting, she’d get to choose.

And Patterson, well, I think Patterson would still choose Ravenclaw.

Okay, why?

She loves puzzles. She loves learning. And yeah, she could still pull a Hermione and be a nerd within a different house, but I think the appeal of Ravenclaw would be too much to resist. Could you imagine Patterson turning down the chance to answer a riddle every time she wanted to go to her common room? Or the chance to live with people who wouldn’t tease her for being nerdy, who might leave her alone every time she was hyper-focused on her new special interest?

(Girl wasn’t ready to let David, aka literal love of her life, live with her. She’s picky about roommates.)

Her sense of the world around her can also be described in terms of metaphorical puzzles. In this way, her point of view is partially constructed, like most Ravenclaws’. See here:

Patterson: Do you know what a tangram is? Jane: No. Patterson: It's a... it's a dissection puzzle consisting of flat geometric pieces, known as tans, which are put together to form elaborate shapes. This team has been one shape for a very long time. And you're a new piece. And we're just trying to figure out how you fit into all of this. But we're gonna find our new shape. It's just gonna take a second.

While her goal is to comfort Jane, to try and make her comfortable in the team environment in a welcoming, friendly way, she does so by making a comparison to an intellectual game. Morality = welcome new people, trust that they have a good heart; expression = clearly constructed, something Patterson doesn’t feel in her gut but has come up with in her head.

However, this constructed system always seems to involve people—she really loves her family, guys, like a lot.

Reade: The silent treatment, really? That's how we're playing this? Tasha: We said we were sorry. Patterson: I tell you guys everything! Tasha: We were aiding and abetting a fugitive. We were just trying to keep you out of it. Patterson: You were aiding and abetting Mayfair. Mayfair! I am happy to aid and abet Mayfair.

And then later in the episode:

Patterson: You guys are my family! If someone is threatening you, they're threatening me, but if you keep me in the dark I can't help you, and we're supposed to help each other, right? If something would have happened, and if there was something that I could have done and I... I can't take that.

Both of these quotes are remarkably close to quotes that Reade and Tasha have, and Patterson says them with such kindness, stubbornness, and protectiveness that I was looking at that badger awful hard. And then I got conflicted, because, as her gf Tasha points out, she’s also really darn brave:

Tasha, about Patterson: You just stopped a major terrorist attack. You’re one of the smartest, bravest people I know, and, uh, you’re allergic to cats.

So, again, a Hermione-Granger-Gryffindor scenario could have been back in the works.

But, as usual, her massive nerdiness won out.

Do you really need me to list all of the nerdy things Patterson says? 90% of her lines are either nerdy jokes or exposition. Do you really need me to list them?

She’s also, as we know, a genius. Like, bona fide.

Patterson: I have some preliminary theories, but obviously space is a little out of my wheelhouse. Patterson: [explains a really good fucking plan in space] Stand-in-FBI-Lady: And this isn’t your wheelhouse? Color me terrified.

And earlier, in an iconic line:

Patterson: Yes, you can for sure maintain enough airspeed. I did the math. Chief Inspector Fischer: How? Where? Patterson: In my head, where math is done. Please don't interrupt.

Morally, she’s also less gut-feeling than Jane or Kurt. She’s willing to budge the line a bit more, in the search of an end. To Patterson, if something makes sense, if it’s just an extension of something they’ve been doing, why not?

Kurt: How exactly did you crack the Bible verse tattoo? You told me on the phone you picked up the phrase on some chatter. Patterson: You're never this interested in how I solve the tattoos. Kurt: This one points to an off-the-book program being run out of this office, so I need to know what is happening under my watch, and I need to know now. Patterson: Uh, okay. I linked the tattoo database to a secret NSA data collection program. Kurt: Omaha? Nas told me it's very similar to Daylight. Patterson: Daylight on steroids is more accurate. Kurt: So you've been using illegal wiretaps to solve these tattoos? [Patterson is reluctant to say anything] Kurt: [losing his patience] Patterson. Patterson: This was the first one. Kurt: Really? Patterson: I know. It's just I have to use every resource that I have. We're running out of time to figure out what all of this adds up to. Kurt: That is my call to make, not yours. Understand?

This is a very interesting moral struggle that I’m definitely going to come back to in Kurt’s section. Regardless, the conflict here on Patterson’s end is clear; she needs to retrieve the knowledge that allows her to do her job, and NSA data collection is that retrieval tool. It’s helping her reach a greater end—to her morality, it makes sense, whether it feels wrong in her gut or not.

Very Ravenclaw.

Also, wowza, the culmination of the Borden ordeal. When she’s facing him, gun pointed at his face, and their conversation goes like this:

Borden: It’s okay, it’s okay. Any reasonable person would want to kill me. Patterson: Shut up! Borden: Your rage is completely normal— Patterson: Shut up! You don’t get to do that to me anymore! I’m not gonna kill you. I took an oath…. To my country, to the bureau. To uphold the law.

So Patterson’s not the best at processing her own emotions, right? Whenever she’s not sure how to face them, she kinda shoves them to the back of her mind and tries to outrun them with busywork. But here, there’s no time. Her constructed morality—which is pretty much mostly just ‘I trust the people I interact with unless they’re suspects” falls through when she’s confronted with a betrayal by someone she’s so close to. So she falls back on a different constructed model—guess what, another Ravenclaw trait—and speaks through the FBI’s code. Because for her, it’s both something she believes in and means she doesn’t have to process so much sudden interaction into her personal pre-existing program for how to deal with new situations.

Next—Ravenclaws are also very curious, right? Well, Patterson’s nothing if not curious. Curious to her detriment, even, especially about the tattoos. Patterson loves her job, dedicates an extreme amount of work to it—overworking chronically, and like, never taking a single day off—but she can be blinded to her duty by curiosity.

The David situation is a prime example:

Mayfair: Do you have any idea how dangerous your actions were? Those tattoos are not some Sunday morning crossword puzzle. They contain extremely sensitive, classified intelligence, all of which have led us to volatile criminal activity. You put the case, yourself, and a civilian at great risk. Patterson: I know. I—We were just trying to solve—I screwed up. I'm so sorry.

She was just trying to solve it. She just wanted to solve it. And in doing so, she was careless enough to put both David and her job in jeopardy. For her, discovering the truth behind the tattoos isn’t a matter of just saving lives or preventing attacks (though that’s definitely part of it). She is driven by her curiosity.

Here’s the point where I pull out that Ravenclaw traits list.

Intelligence

Wit

Wisdom

Creativity

Originality

Individuality

Intelligence—check.

Wit—

Mayfair: So, just a recap, ZOMO did or didn't design Jane's tattoos, did or didn't paint the burning rose, and then did or didn't steal it and try and blow us up? Patterson: Looks like we're making progress.

And:

Patterson: Does all the staring drive you crazy? Jane: I've never known anything different. Patterson: Right. Good point. Jane: Not like I can do anything about it. Patterson: Not unless... turtlenecks come back into fashion.

And:

Patterson: Do you see these propane tanks? What do you think “highly flammable” means?

And:

Patterson, nostalgically: I remember my first date. Took him forever to stop crying.

Wisdom—

Jane: [asks whether she can remove her tattoos] Patterson: As an agent, of course, I should tell you to keep them.  Jane: As... my friend?  Patterson: As your friend... I would say... it's your body. You should do what you want.

Creativity + Originality—the way she solves every problem ever.

Individuality—she’s got her own drum, and she fuckin marches to it.

tl;dr: though she’s more multi-faceted than some people like to think, I’m calling in Patterson as a Ravenclaw

Okay, this is like, an essay at this point. Fuck, this is seven times longer than the college application essay I should be writing right now. God why.

Next up is Kurt! Kurt is a Gryffindor.

This is pretty textbook. He’s got a gut, and he follows it without qualms. He’s headstrong, stubborn, and brave. He has a lot of machismo going on. He’s a very strong archetypal version of The Leader. He’s a bit of an idiot sometimes. His feelings can override his better sense.

Because this is my fourth one, this is probably going to be a little shorter than the others. Sorry, Kurt fans.

Okay, let’s start with his sense of right/wrong. According to sortinghatchats:

“Gryffindor Primaries trust their moral intuitions and have a need and a drive to live by them. They feel what’s right in their gut, and that matters and guides them. If they don’t listen to and act on that, it feels immoral.”

That’s very Kurt. Often—especially when he goes “screw the rules,” typically involving Jane—he’s behaving based on his gut instinct. Sure, as a trained FBI agent, he knows, logically that he shouldn’t do a lot of things he does. But when Jane asks for help, something about him goes, okay, yeah, that feels right. And when it doesn’t, he feels guilty, but occasionally does it anyway and then feels worse. And then takes it out on others.

(Not always, yeah. But more than a team leader/assistant director should, ngl.)

He can also be idealistic—he thinks there’s a concrete “right” way things should be done, and gets irritated if they’re not done that way. Kinda like Tasha—his morality is very black and white. Except Kurt…genuinely seems to believe it, and holds no one exempt from it.

Jane: You didn't have to... Kurt: Yeah, I did. It could've been you in that body bag. Jane: He was innocent. He never wanted any of this. Kurt: Someone puts my team at risk, or you at risk, I don't second guess. Jane: Things can be more complicated than they seem. Kurt: In this job, there are good guys and there are bad guys. It's not that complicated.

He doesn’t even hold his family apart—not Mayfair, when she betrayed him, not Jane, when she betrayed him, and not his father, when he thought he killed Taylor Shaw.

Kurt: The first time I came in here, remember what you did? You showed me that letter from the Bureau threatening Martin Luther King back in the corrupt Hoover days. A reminder not to abuse our authority. Mayfair: Weller... Kurt: You taught me how to do this job. Everyone here looks to me for what to do. I used to look at you. That's gone. I can't trust you anymore.

Kurt: Turn around, get on your knees, and put your hands on your head. Jane, raising her hands: I can explain. Kurt: You have the right to remain silent. Jane, on the brink of tears: Kurt... Kurt: Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Jane, crying: No, don't do this. Kurt: You have the right to an Attorney. Jane: You need to listen to me. Kurt: You said you remembered! You remembered what? Fishing? Camping with us? How? You lied to me. I let my father back into my life... into my home. I let him be around Sawyer! He killed her. And I let him back in... because of you. So turn around... get on your knees... put your hands on your head. I'm not gonna say it again. Do it. Put your hands on your head.

He doesn’t even hear them out, because they crossed his moral line. The line in his chest that tells him what’s right and what’s not. He even does this for smaller-scale situations, especially regarding his sister:

Reade: Look, I'm sorry it's your sister, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I... Kurt: Reade, don't. Reade: Kurt, I love her. Kurt: This conversation... this is the problem. I can't have your personal life interfering with our work. All right? Reade: A little hypocritical, but okay.

If Kurt were looking at it from a purely logical standpoint, he would understand that Reade’s right—he is being hypocritical. If he were vouching purely for his sister’s best interest, he would hear her side of the story. But because he’s been blinded by being told off for having feelings for Jane, because he’s always had this feeling that boys near his sister is not okay, he refuses to see all of that. It’s declared a moral wrong, even without external justification.

And wow, he can morally feel himself into ignoring of a LOT of proof:

Mayfair: Look, I know you want Jane to be Taylor Shaw... Kurt: This has nothing to do with what I want. Her DNA is Taylor's DNA. End of story. Mayfair: Kurt, you can't pick and choose evidence to suit your preferred narrative. I shouldn't have to tell you that. Have you told her yet? Kurt: There's nothing to tell.

Okay, but back to idealistic rights and wrongs—that passage from Patterson earlier, about the NSA surveillance program.

Kurt: How exactly did you crack the Bible verse tattoo? You told me on the phone you picked up the phrase on some chatter. Patterson: You're never this interested in how I solve the tattoos. Kurt: This one points to an off-the-book program being run out of this office, so I need to know what is happening under my watch, and I need to know now. Patterson: Uh, okay. I linked the tattoo database to a secret NSA data collection program. Kurt: Omaha? Nas told me it's very similar to Daylight. Patterson: Daylight on steroids is more accurate. Kurt: So you've been using illegal wiretaps to solve these tattoos? [Patterson is reluctant to say anything] Kurt: [losing his patience] Patterson. Patterson: This was the first one. Kurt: Really? Patterson: I know. It's just I have to use every resource that I have. We're running out of time to figure out what all of this adds up to. Kurt: That is my call to make, not yours. Understand?

This is black and white. For him, this is crossing a line. Greater good is gone, saving the lives this end could meet is gone, hearing out Patterson’s argument is gone. This is wrong to Kurt Weller, and he doesn’t need to think it through.

Okay, now we have the age-old wiki list. Here:

Bravery

Nerve

Chivalry

Courage

Daring

Now, if you ask me, these are all basically synonyms. And I don’t feel like I need to justify that Kurt is brave—the whole team is, they’re fictional FBI agents for crying out loud. They face bomb threats and shootings on the daily. Like…. Yeah, he’s brave. And he does let that bravery guide him, but he also lets his gut do that.

tl;dr: Kurt is a Gryff and I had more to say about him than I thought I did! Also for the record I think he should have less screentime, but no offense.

Finally, god, god, finally, we come to our last core cast member. And protagonist.

Jane is…also hard. Goddammit.

I’m going with Gryffindor, but I’m going to preface this with the fact that because she is reconstructing her identity, a lot of things about her are fluid. In fact, she may well be just modeling Gryffindor because Kurt is a Gryffindor, and he’s the first one she bonded with.

(I’m not going to be including any analysis of Remi, because, like, no thanks. She’s probably either a Gryff or Slytherin, though. Not gonna analyze it. Not gonna.)

Anyway, so. Jane. Literally shows up in a duffel bag in central square. Gets dragged into the FBI. Gets her entire body imaged. Finds out she knows like an entirely new language. Takes down an abusive asshole despite being like mentally 24 hours old. Doesn’t she like, get shot? And shoots a guy dead? And then she decides she wants to stay with the organization who put her through that? Oh yeah, she does.

Kurt: I don't think you were [a terrible person before all this], Jane. Whoever you were then... that's not who you are now. Jane: How do you know? Kurt: Your first instinct is to help people, Jane. Battered wife in Chinatown, Reade after the explosion today. You don't hesitate, you act. And you do the right thing. So, I don't know what it is you're remembering or what the context is. But I do think you're a good person.

She wants to do good, and she does so by immediately charging in and trying to set the problem right head on. Like, okay, the case for Gryffindor is pretty strong right off the bat.

It’s harder to make a case for Jane’s moral intuition, especially because it’s so flexible. A lot of her feelings are I wanna do what’s right but I don’t know what that is or who to trust!!!! Which, like, that’s understandable, babe, you were just popped out from the womb of a revolutionary extremist group into a corrupt facet of the American government. The idea of right is a pretty contentious one.

Like, repeatedly contentious:

Jane: I've seen the laws this country's willing to violate, and all I've seen Sandstorm do is expose corruption and save lives. How can you be so sure we're on the right side of this?

Nas: Look, everything they knew about you is a lie. You've got to give them time to forgive you. Jane: They handed me over to the CIA to be tortured and interrogated without charge or trial. As far as I can tell, this country runs on lies.

Oscar: Your colleagues, the FBI, they're into some very, very terrible things. Jane: No... they're good people and they're my friends. Oscar: Friends don't imprison you.

Part of her entire character is built on the fact that she doesn’t know what’s right, who to believe, and she’s trying to reorient her moral compass. Another part, though, is that that moral compass is a huge part of who she is—so much of her growth is centered around it, because she feels like she needs to determine rights and wrongs for herself. She needs to have her own internal sense of morality—unlike Slytherins or Ravenclaws, she’s not content to just adopt the models of others. That’s why, the moment she learns about choices (and choice is a BIG thing for Jane) she immediately starts to try and apply it to her ethics.

She’s always questioning complications, other people, how they figure out good and evil—

Jane: Her son killed three people and all she wants to do is hug him. Kurt: She got him back. That's all she cares about. Jane: Why haven't you forgiven your father. You know, he didn't - That you were wrong about that night. Kurt: It's more complicated than that. Jane: You always say that, But - Why? What's so complicated? Kurt: He was a terrible father. He was distant. He was drunk. Me being wrong about one night doesn't change any of that. Jane: But he's sick, right? [Weller hangs his head]

And she gets angry if someone takes that autonomy, that ability to determine her own self, away from her.

Kurt: Jane... I'm sorry that I brought you here, all right? I chose this life, you didn't. You never had a choice. Jane: Yes, I did.

Another defining part of who she is is her desire for a home, for a place to belong. She’s so achingly, achingly lonely. God.

Jane: So, the owl is just a personal thing? It didn't come from anywhere else? Because we can't find it referenced anywhere. Did you design it? Ana Montes: No. Jane: Well, do you know who did? Ana Montes: My brother. Jane: I saw in your file that he was killed last year. I'm sorry. Do you live alone now? Me too. It's hard, all that quiet. Ana Montes: I'm used to it. Jane: I'm not.

Damn.

Jane, in Russian: Let me help you. I know what it feels like to be alone and afraid. I was an orphan, too. The worst thing that can happen is not to have a home.

“The worst thing that can happen is not to have a home.”

God, well. Give me five minutes to recover my heart? I forgot how fucking devastating Jane was in S1.

Anyway. She obviously values having a home very highly. But she doesn’t do it like a Hufflepuff or a Slytherin would do it—a Slytherin or Puff would probably stay loyal to the FBI team, and would prioritize the people over the cause.

Jane needs to know that she’s joining the right side. That’s why she’s got so much conflict going on with Oscar and then later Sandstorm—while she loves her FBI team like family, she needs to make sure that she’s on the right side of any war, not just the side that they’re on.

(Gryffindor....)

As for the daring, nerve, courage, yadayadaya…well, the girl just like. Jumps off of fucking balconies and takes on guys five times her size. She was like the only female Navy SEAL. Like. Again, I don’t really think that’s the entire selling point of Gryff, but if you need pure bravery, she’s got it in spades.

tl;dr: I’ve pretty well convinced myself that Jane is a Gryffindor, but if you don’t agree, hit me up! I totally don’t think I’m the end-all-be-all of any of these.

I’m done now, so I should probably, go, like, be a functioning member of society or something.

[isaacathom]

i mean my issue is SHOULD the docs daughter get a unique design? like.... shes not a character. she exists, in the world, you can fight her in the big city and post game you can go to the little town where she and rhia live with Doc and you can interact with her about the stuff that happened (as she has returned home following the Chaos thing) but like.... shes not a haracter??? unless the ~post game~ involves her in some way, which it could, id be down for her being relevant in the post game, though idk how. esp considering i dunno what the post game would be. like... theres a couple of ideas. Hunting CEO, hunting Rhia, and finding the e4 member that fucked off. because like, the WHOLE reason you can have Rhia/Elliot as an e4 member is because someone left and on short notice they called elliot to fill in (and he could pass that duty to rhia in reconcile ending)

so like. what. docs daughter is only relevant to a Rhia hunt, which also wouldnt work in a reconcile end because Rhia’s in the e4 and shes fine. in an end where she and elliot dont make up, she COULD vanish, but i feel like itd be way more fun to have her whereabout be unknown in that case. besides, where’d she go? probably Unova to stay with the man whose legally her father but bear in mind theres fake paperwork involved. or shes out hunting CEO, which she can easily do anyway (though branching cutscenes in a Hunt CEO route based on whether shes there or not might be fun)

one idea is, Hunt CEO, and the docs daughter is in charge. why? her dear dads request. because now she knows he was in team whatsit (because of his ENTIRE FAMILY shes the only one who didnt know, poor thing) and she wants to get rid of all thats left of it so her dad can live a normal life, or something. she calls you to her home town, and she talks you through it, you go on a couple of lil trips around the region to fight team whatsit members. and you might encounter Rhia doing the same thing. like on one occasion, she saves your hide. her outfits change based on the end (which would be demonstrated in the Reconcile/Split cutscene with Elliot) so you’d have a visual signifier to tell them apart. but her purpose is different, too. sorta. in reconcile, her hunting down Team Whatsit is part of The Deal she’s made, like she’s doing this for the police. in split, shes doing it for herself. fun lil split. shed probably show up when you finally confront CEO at the end of the post game. the docs daughter would be there too. the doc is nowhere to be seen.

maybe CEO even kidnaps the docs daughter. that’d be fun. itd convince the Doc to join her in reforming team whatsit after its shattering at your hands, and it could also convince Rhia to come back. of course, it does the opposite. DOC is MIA for the postgame (in that hes in Extensive Talks with the Police) and Rhia is fucking livid at the daughters kidnapping, no matter what. she’d contact you for the final bit. you find her where you’d normally find the daughter. no matter what ‘end’ you got, shes dressed for a Fucking Fight. like, the outfits would be different to reflect the reconcile/split, but shes out for blood.

oh dude. i also wanna play up the ‘pokemon can hurt ya’ thing here. like, you and rhia approach CEO. you can see the daughter in a cell nearby. Rhia tells you to free her while she deals with CEO. heres the thing - ceo KNOWS rhia is probably better than her in a fight. she also knows you’re better than her in a fight, youve beaten her before. so what she does is she tries to take you BOTH out before you can summon pokemon. uses like, a carnivine to whack yall around. sends Rhia flying off screen to the daughters absolute wails. wraps you up and holds you high. shes not going to let you two ruin her plans. if you wont join her, you will be Removed. then. idk. legendary saves your ass. your bff appears. thatd be fun. idk i just like the idea of rhia, regardless of route, just getting fucking wasted for Drama. not something where Lance goes ‘move’ and is implied to have hyper beamed a guy whose totally fine, like you see a woman standing tall and proud and then shes vanished for like..... 5 minutes and all you can tell of her condition is the only other person in the room wailing while youre focused on the Big Bad.

then you beat Ceo with the power of your Divine Purity Of Heart and you knock her out, so that you can call the police. but they arrive very shortly after, before you can. Rhia, over in a corner, near curled into a ball, sent out a message to them while you fought CEO before she passed out. the Doc is there. you free the daughter and she and him run to Rhia’s side while the police take you aside and thank you while carrying CEO away.

no matter what end she got, you will go home and be called by the docs daughter back to her place. when you arrive, Rhia is there, with a few bandages but otherwise alright, and wearing her regular (per end) outfit. and then some gushy shit.

though i also like the idea of you directly saving her life too.  not just in the ‘oh i stopped CEO and she wouldve killed you if i hadnt’ im talking like ‘took a bullet for you babe’. though maybe Elliot should fill that role. ooh, that makes sense. means regardless of the ending they got (Reconcile/split) he comes to save her. like, rhia gets knocked away and you get a nice visceral thud off screen that sounds pretty brutal. daughter screams. youre frozen in place (or held in place, haha, there you go), and CEO taunts you and the aughter over it. the camera pans over to Rhia struggling to get up, and you see CEO prepare to deal Rhia a (probably) fatal blow. and then, BAM. its elliot. hes here. he’s in the way. he’s on the ground. Rhia screams. daughter screams. CEO screams. you scream too, probably, but less because of elliot and more because the carnivine was so surprised it just dropped you. not far, mind you, like half a metre, but you fall on your ass in surprise. Rhia freaks out immediately, like shes losing her shit, because even if this is split ending where she hates elliot, elliot just ‘took a bullet’ for her, holy shit, holy shit, oh my god, oh fuck, oh fuck, is he ok, oh my fucking god.

and then she makes eye contact with you. you nod. you charge CEO while shes distracted. a pokemon battle ensues. you cant see whats happening while youre battling, of course, because thatd be Ridiculously Unfeasible (beyond how unfeasible this shit is already). you fight CEO. she totters backward and recalls her carnivine (her last pokemon, like itd be programmed in that the pokemon that wrapped you up is the last pokemon she sends out). and shes furious. and she actually reaches for one of the doc’s daughters pokemon, which she’d comandeered when she kidnapped her. and she summons it. its the pokemon that Rhia gave to the daughter. it takes one look around. it fucks up the CEO’s day. just. whap. there she goes. seeya darl. immediate karma. it roars loud, nigh shakes the building.

you run forward and grab the cell key from CEO. you free the daughter. she sprints to Rhia and Elliots side, and you join them.

is elliot ok? probably not. not like, dead, but like, Fucked Up. in fact, itd be cool if this affected split route, because it means he cant perform e4 duties, and rhia’d take charge. meaning theres a change in the e4 in the post game if you do it. fuck. fuck imagine that. only in split ending though. him being out of action in reconcile doesnt affect the e4 because Rhia already took that role on his behalf. but like. hes fucked up. the daugher is a doctor, shes working on him, you grabbed her pokeballs while you grabbed the key and she summons like a chansey and shit.  everyones frantic. theres closure to the rhia/elliot thing, esp for split route, because now rhia has to accept that elliot has changed. on some level. hence she then takes his e4 spot like she does in reconcile. that’d be sweet. dunno how itd really impact a reconcile route though. idk thats dumb.

then the police come and they take elliot and CEO away. they came with some docs because they expected this wouldnt be pretty. maybe DOC is there. he and his daughter/s can have a brief reunion. you all leave, Rhia leaning on doc and daughter.

then the daughter calls you to somewhere else. like, the city pokemon center. you meet her there, and she takes you to the hospital. you get to go further in. elliots there. hes smiling. depending on rhia end, shes either at his side (reconcile) or standing outside the door (split)

theres not much to it after that but i do like the idea of the rhia/elliot thing progressing. involve the daughter as a supporting character. though again, it is weird to continue rhia/elliot past a reconcile route. split route is fun, because it forces rhia to acknowledge she was wrong about him on some level. but with reconcile, she already DID that, when elliot refused to run away in the skyscraper. so theres no point in having the revelation again. hmmmm. maybe it completes the thing for her. because even in reconcile, shes hesitant about elliot, shes not sure if him being ‘good’ was temporary or not. and him taking the shot for her just proves it to her that yea, elliot is a good guy, he did bad shit but hes a good guy, he’s changed, hes a better person. like, no matter what happened in the main story or back story, elliot IS a better person by the end of the game as a whole. at least by Rhia’s metric, though i imagine the player would agree that him fleeing from a person in need to saving that same persons life is a positive change, regardless of the fact that him saving rhia gets his ass so thoroughly whooped hes out of commission for the rest of the game (which is admittedly just post game sandbox but STILL you know)

idk. that stuffs complicated

so i should probably give the daughter a name and a unique design, huh. based on the other doctors (which is a trainer class, no doubt), but with a unique hairstyle and way of presenting herself. maybe she even has some similarities to Rhia. yknow. cause theyre a cute couple no matter what end you get.