I've Seen So Many Takes That Portray Silco As Having Bribed Marcus In Act 1, But I Think This Detracts

I've seen so many takes that portray Silco as having bribed Marcus in Act 1, but I think this detracts from Marcus's corruption as well as Silco's intelligence and have some ice cold, rigor mortis takes for you under the cut:

Silco invites Marcus to the cannery to offer him information, and the audience can naturally assume that from the money Silco tosses at Marcus after Grayson's murder, there's been a transaction between the two of them.

Marcus, though, has little reason to be interested in money with a position like his. He's in a senior role despite his youth and his personal grooming is off the charts well-maintained, not to mention tasteless almost to the point of opulence. Depending on Ren's age and the timing of his wife's death, he may have a family to support, but he's still Piltovian. He's still a presumably wealthy man.

Indeed, Silco has his own resources behind the scenes, however, he does need to lean into the stereotype Marcus places on fissure folk in order to get what he wants.

Marcus doesn't believe people of the Undercity to be altruistic; he sees them as greedy criminals, and by playing into that bias, Silco is able to secure a higher degree of trust in him. In eliciting a bribe from Marcus rather than simply passing information along for no good reason other than an old grudge, Silco is leading Marcus to consider himself smarter than Silco. He instils false confidence that Marcus is ahead of the game, and in doing so gives him the extra push he needs to challenge Vander without Grayson's authorisation.

When it comes to Vander's arrest, Silco's gang pursues and ambushes the arrest party as a means of killing two birds with one stone. Vander and Benzo have been drawn out into the open, but so has a demoralised Grayson. Attacking this particular group at this particular time secures Silco a victory over both cities, but it also acts as a dialogue with Marcus in that he has been duped — that Marcus is not any more intelligent than a trencher, and that his own prejudice hasn't only allowed Silco to use him — he now owns him.

Failing to honour Marcus's deal is an attack of its own. Marcus's intellect, his ego, his beliefs come under fire when Silco throws his own money back at him and declares a change of plan. All this tragedy came about because Marcus's bias prevented him from ever considering that Silco might be playing him.

All Marcus is left with once Silco gets his way is his own fat tits and the knowledge that this particular moment is entirely his fault, and Silco drives this point home by returning Marcus's bribe.

Vi's kidnapping occurs not only as a last-ditch effort on Marcus's part to do right in a disaster he played a massive role in causing, but also because he himself has just learned how dangerous a man Silco is. Also like idk kind of poetic justice for both of them that the one barely-righteous thing Marcus does in his career before Silco has him 100% under his thumb eventually leads to Silco's total undoing.

Snape Fic Recs

@scverussnape, I hope you enjoy these!

Mentor/Teacher:

Harry Potter and the Enemy Within and Harry Potter and the Chained Souls by Theowyn of HPG - aka the holy grail of fan fiction, the first HP series I ever read and thought “I wish this was canon”. The characterization is so good, it feels as though I’m reading a different version of the actual books. I re-read this series at least once a year.

A Place for Warriors by owlsaway - the caption for this story does not even begin to do it justice. I cannot do it justice. The way the relationship between Snape and Harry grows is just *chef’s kiss*.

Emerald Eyes, Emerald Eyes: Fate’s Hand, and Mindful Eyes by JadeSullivan - Snape takes on a mentor role for Harry during his 2nd year. This author has an incredible way of describing the feelings in each moment that I find captivating. She hasn’t updated Mindful Eyes in a couple of years, but I have high hopes for her return!

O Mine Enemy by Kirby Lane - Snape is injured and ends up spending some time with Harry at the Dursley’s house. Once they are able to leave, Snape reluctantly takes on a mentor role for Harry. Harry begins having dreams predicting the future, causing him to question just how much he actually trusts Snape. Not only is this story excellently written - the writer just posted two new chapters for the first time in several years!

Walking the Line by hairballl26 - Snape is badly injured and turns up at the Dursley’s. He intends to hide from the muggles as best he can until he can recover or until help arrives, but inevitably, there is a terrible confrontation, and both he and Harry go on the run, trying to get to safety at Hogwarts and avoid the agents of the Dark Lord. ROAD TRIP FIC my favorite. Hasn’t updated since 2011, but I keep re-reading it anyway because I love it so much.

Behind Doors and Masks by dragonwriter24cmf - Headmaster Snape has decided to personally handle the troublemaker Neville Longbottom, but Neville uncovers his secret agent status. Now he has to help the boy survive an increasingly hostile Hogwarts, and train him to fight back. Ooooh boy is this fic all of the things I love. A close look at Snape during his time as Headmaster, and I love love love how she writes Neville.

Sectumsempra Splits the School by thegoldenfirebolt - Harry faces severe consequences for using the dark spell sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy. He has to work closely with younger students and the staff as part of his punishment. I didn’t expect to enjoy this fic as much as I do, but it offers this wonderful peek into the daily lives and relationships between the staff members that I greatly enjoyed.

Kept Behind and Dark Influences by LAXgirl - Harry is killed by a death eater, and only Snape can see his ghost. Through their connection, they try to find out if there is way to bring Harry back. I just really love any story that has Snape and Harry having to trust each other and work together, and these are really well written.

Severitus/adoption:

All the World’s a Stage by Alexannah - In a bid to gain control over the Boy Who Lived, Cornelius Fudge serves notice that he intends to adopt Harry Potter. Snape receives the notice, and since no one else is available, he manages to submit the paperwork just in time to adopt Harry instead. Now they just have to learn to live together. I very much want more of this story, and it hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, but it ends at a place that isn’t terrible.

The Unexpected Snape by Imablack - Harry Potter arrives for his first year at Hogwarts, but he doesn’t look like James Potter - he looks like Snape. It takes some time for them to address this fact. This has the most lovely slow growth of their relationship, from respect to trust to love.

Reading the Signs by goldencompass - During his first year, Harry is attacked and hurt by some older students holding grudges against the Boy Who Lived. Snape helps in his recovery, and Harry begins to trust and respect him, leading to a deeper understanding and relationship between them.

General Snape Fics:

The Pawn by ReeraTheRed - a short AU version of Snape’s confession to Dumbledore and the growth of trust between them in their early days working together. Makes me cry actual tears every time I read it.

The Wendell That Wasn’t by opalish - Snape’s ghost is stuck haunting Harry and Ginny, and they (or really Ginny) get their revenge. Absolute crack fic, hilariously funny.

The 11th Day of Hogwarts by lyras - This story is on livejournal, and is a short look at Snape’s time as Headmaster. He is supported by the portraits of the other headmasters, and trying to do what must be done under terrible circumstances. Very bittersweet.

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khayltille

1 year ago

The AU-blog Ankh-Morpork University is on summer hiatus, but I couldn’t resist making something for it and agentsandyquinn (whose art style I dearly love you should maybe follow them).

A la Colour of Magic, Rincewind has maybe kind of accidentally stolen the final exam answers, and is fleeing with his loyal Lug-gauge bike*, given to him by the exchange student Twoflower in his freshman year.

*Which is on a personal best this term of breaking seven legs of enterprising thieves, causing a few hundred shin bruises and severing one toe with the bike chain. This is a malicious bike ok. Rincewind always gets it back, because no one else can touch it without causing themselves injury.

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khayltille

1 year ago

Descriptions of Stannis' eyes throughout the books

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khayltille

10 months ago

What do you think of Death as a character?

Death of The Endless is straight up my favourite depiction of Death in literature and media that I've seen so far. It's so good to see a depiction of Death that is sweet and compassionate for once.

But what I think is rather unfortunate about her—as is also the case for her other siblings (or every fictional characters ever)—is that people tend to only remember a part of her and forget the rest

She is one of The Endless. She is Dream's big sister. But first and foremost, she is Death itself—and I think people tend to forget that part (and I am not exempt to that either). And Morpheus being so close to her says a lot about him.

At first, you'd see her as 'the voice of reason'. After all, she has a good head on her shoulders, and what she's saying sounds reasonable. But when it comes to Morpheus, everything she said made him stride closer to her. He followed her. He followed her advice. He sought her out. He felt at peace with her. That's not just a little brother looking up to his dependable big sister; She. Is. Death. What does it say when someone has that mindset and attitude towards Death?

panels from The Sandman comic 'The Sound of Her Wings' in which Death and Dream were sitting on a park as Death told Dream "Look. I can't stay here all day. I got work to do. You can come with me, or you can stay here and sulk. I don't mind either way."

to which Dream said "I'll come with you, I suppose."

and Death told him "Don't do me any favors."

It's written all over (which is why I don't buy people's complaints that the ending 'came out of nowhere') but of course, people tend to forget Death or what she is—both in real life and the story apparently. Especially when Death isn't depicted as terrifying I suppose.

Also, I love that she is compassionate and caring but she's still indiscriminate. She loves everyone the same way—which, in a way, is still cold and cruel to us humans; because in our context, being kind to the cruel is being cruel to the kindhearted. But that's what she is; she is not justice. She is not mercy. She is not punishment. She is just what she is; she is Death—and she is there for all.

panels from The Sandman comic 'Death: The Time of Your Life (part 3)' in which Hazel McNamara said to Death "yeah, but YOU love everyone" in response to Death telling her that she loves Hazel too, upon Hazel's confession of love to her

to which Death smiled and said "I know"

Also, I personally think the parts of her that many dubbed as her 'humanity' or the signs that she is 'the most human of all The Endless' has less to do with 'humanity' specifically and more about how she is so close and inseparable to life that we can't recognize her—which is, imho, what makes her so jarring as a non-human being, and what's so terrifying but at the same time, makes perfect sense about the concept she is.

Her speech bubble and dialogue font being the exact same as the regular ones in comics. Her dialogue—the choice of words—that are totally normal, casual, snd familiar (like someone we know. Like a friend). The fact that she has a house which she decorated to her taste—that she has her personal taste. How she keeps goldfishes as pets; it's all so 'human' but we recognise that because we are humans and that how we live—so maybe it's not just about being human but rather being alive.

panels from The Sandman: The Song of Orpheus in whis Orpheus came to Death's home and being confused by the modern decor.
Orpheus was seen looking around in the house that has a short wooden coffee table with a book laid facedown between its pages as if it was left in the middle of reading. a small vace with colourful flowers. and a white mug with a pink heart on it.

there was a small modern lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and a nightstand with the same lamp design as the aforementioned lightbulb. and there's a family portrait of The Endless siblings on the walls, being split in two parts by the panel border where Death was supposed to be; the left part of the portrait showed Destiny, Destruction, Desire, and Delight/Delirium while the right part showed Dream and Despair.

there was a window covered with window blinds and a pretty worn, green armchair with a brown teddy bear on it

Orpheus was confused by a pair of goldfishes in a fishbowl and a fishnet stocking he found.

Death greeted him with "Hmmmph. If I'd known I was going to have company, I would've tidied the place up.

Hi, orpheus. Looking for something?"

and Orpheus answered "Yes. You. I think."

Either way, we recognise her as one of us: be it as the same being we are or as a being who is alive. She is indistinguishable from what we perceive as normal and natural because that's what Death is: it is as natural to die as it is to be born. Nothing out of place and nothing unsettling about her that we forget that she is there amongst us—she is everywhere. She will always be there. We don't know when we'll see her. We can't recognize her until she said 'time's up'. Thus, many of us live our lives as if she doesn't exist. But she will be there for all.

And forgetting and denying that she has always been there and always will be might make it even more agonizing when she does come for us than it would be if we were to accept that. But either way, she is just what she is. We live our lives because she will be there for us. We live our lives according to how we see her. She is the reflection of our lives and what defines it, but our lives are our own.

That's such a cool depiction of Death, methinks.

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khayltille

3 months ago