Annotated 36-19
Aha, I forgot that Rabbit did sort of sneak a little crush-confession into panel 2 here. In an earlier draft, Bandit noticed this and tried to gently discourage it: here, she might just excuse it as Rabbit being himself. (“Who knows, maybe he’s ac’shally talkin’ t’ the deer that just ran past us, wouldn’t put it past his whole free-‘ssociatin’ shtick.”)
In any case, this will be the high point of the Brandbit ship: mutual terror and slight suspicion will alienate them for the rest of their time alone together.
Between Byron strangling Brother Tom, Brother Tom’s death-laugh here, and a horror from the end of this chapter that we’ll reflect on in the next, I’m starting to think a little piece of the original host personality does shape the actions of berserkers. Not that that’s enough to keep them from trying to kill everyone, but it makes the whole thing that much more macabre.
The bit I assume you’re referring to with ‘a horror from the end of this chapter’ is one of the most viscerally horrifying moments of the whole series, IMO. (Looking at it from the POV of both the character who survived and the one who didn’t.)
Absolutely. It still gives me the chills to think about it.
“I’m starting to think a little piece of the original host personality does shape the actions of berserkers.” Makes sense since, while it Is in the driver’s seat, the berserker spirit is just hitting the kill button constantly, so any secondary instructions have to come from somewhere and with us knowing that the brain is still working in some capacity (victims still remember what happens) it could easily be the source
Considering Braga being the only one to end someone the way he did, yeah I agree the hosts affects the berserker in some capacity.
“a little crush-confession”
In England, I got used to being adressed as “love” by female shopkeepers and the like. I don’t think they had a thing for me, it’s just how they talk.
“That’s five thirty, love” does not imply any degree of personal affection, sympathy or even interest, as evidenced by the fact that the sentence can be shortened to “Five thirty, love” without changing tone or meaning, even if it is both the first and last part of the exchange.
So, when Rabbit said “my dear”, I just put it down as a more-or-less generic address that he maybe uses sometimes. Maybe he just likes to be polite?
“Dear” also rhymes in a theatrical way.
I also don’t see any affection in Rabbit’s address, even when you point out you meant it as one. I’ve been addressed as “dear” by plenty of people, including total strangers, with no affection meant behind it.
Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? You can never be quite sure what it means to the person who’s saying it. With some notable exceptions of course.
But either way, the only person who knows if it’s meant to be affectionate is Rabbit. Seeing how Bandit is also being rather protective about him, I think it’s plausible the two don’t object to keeping each other company sometimes.
I’d view it as the host supplying the possessing spirit with some of the verbs they can choose between.