Annotated 29-14
Speaking of inconsistencies…
It’s honestly pretty great to see anyone describe the Peacemakers, Our Heroes, the living legends, THE PROTAGONISTS, as “just a few guys.” But I’m not sure that reflects all Penk’s feelings on the matter. I mean, he was there when Harky was dragged, bloody and half-dead, from the field after two of those “guys” interfered with his plans. And the way he describes them in Chapter 30, he seems to have built them up in importance.
I think it’s more likely that he’s got jitters about facing them. Right now, he just wants to give his team, and himself, some confidence-building easy wins. That’s understandable, but probably not the best strategic move; it’d give the Peacemakers time to get the Champions’ measure.
And Goblaurence is right too. It’s kind of amazing how good he is at understanding people when it counts, at least when he’s talking to someone he knows will listen.
Think Penk and Goblaurence conversation is more important for the readers than anything else. The ‘champions’ do single out the ‘peacemakers’ but it’s not some sort of grudge match or out of scorn or that they see them as the major threat (that would incline some level of fear) They are really looking at the big picture vs Saturday morning cartoon villainy.
It also keeps us invested in these characters as ‘working class heros’ when they talk about the most practical actions after the story has clearly started walking towards some true ‘chosen one/few’ tropes as our protagonist are become more and more the center of not only their own story but of this universe.
I’m kinda thinking that Gob isn’t the correct person to make these observations. He’s always been the guy who knows better but keeps being ignored. That’s not (just) because ppl r stoopit, ,lol but also because he doesn’t understand them well enough to get through. You don’t (usually) become a misunderstood genius unless you also misunderstand the people around you. Granted, the people around him are different now, but I still wouldn’t expect him to be the expert on this matter now. Telling Penk what impresses the masses is usually Auraugu’s role, and it would have fit better (even though I get that the new characters in the group needed some more lines.
You’re correct that Auraugu could’ve taken Goblaurence’s role here easily; even Magda could have if it’d been Penk asking for her thoughts. Both those interactions would’ve been interesting. And you make a fair point about the concept of Goblaurence: we could’ve made him more engineering-focused and people-blind. Such a character might’ve been more relatable to many real-life engineers. But that wasn’t the guy who made it to the page: in earlier scenes with Harky and Magda, he was critiquing interpersonal dynamics at least as much as he was thinking about machines.
So, from what’s on the page, I think the reason he’s been misunderstood isn’t that he doesn’t get other people, in general; it’s that he’s so goddamn prickly regardless. I mean, the very first thing he says to Harky is an insult, which is like meeting the Pope and just going right into a crack about Catholic pedophilia. The way it’s normally gone is that his insults and irritability drove people away, which has left him isolated, which has made him more ornery, and repeat.
Sure, you’d think that someone who knew how other people worked would know you catch more flies with honey, but that presupposes some self-control that Gob doesn’t seem to have. I don’t think we decided whether he himself is aware of his self-defeating habits and just unable to help himself, or if his own behavior is a blind spot in his social perceptions. But one way or another, Harky and Penk are the first leaders he’s met in ages, maybe ever, who are willing to look past this trait of his, and that’s an opportunity he’s not going to waste.
I read it as Goblaurence considering most social interaction as an engineering problem – “do it right the first time and you won’t need to do it again.” He avoided entanglement with his family because their contempt for practical work made them ineducable.
What I don’t really understand here is Magda. I don’t get the sense she’s genuinely resentful of Goblaurence, so why is she trying (and more or less failing) to be sarcastic about him?
It’s not Magda’s best look. She’s a little insecure right now about the new team and her place in it, and she’s also a little uncomfortable with all this talk of killing heroes. She’s aware that she’s going off to war and that means people will die, probably by her own hand. But the idea of targeting an individual feels cruel, and Magda’s power is tempered by her sharp aversion to cruelty. Okay, THAT part doesn’t sound too bad, but it makes her a bit petty about Goblaurence getting the influence so long denied him.