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Thread: Jillian

  1. - Top - End - #31
    Orc in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

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    Default Re: Jillian

    Jillian is a... traitor who runs to Wanda because she is needy.

    Hm. Better get this straight, since even in my head it's not working out like I want it to. Analysis, ho!

    I actually dislike Jillian. This is because she's such a weak character; she needs people, to sum up. She's run to Wanda, in my head, because she requires something that only Wanda can give- maybe the sheer strength of Wanda's character, perhaps. As someone with an "overwhelming" personality (a friend told me once that "if you were in D&D, your Charisma would be through the ******* roof"), I dislike those with weak personalities, who are needy or clingy. Jillian, with her actions outside Ansom's tent and towards Wanda, seems to fit that bill perfectly.

    Moreover, it would also explain just why she seems so indecisive as regards Ansom. Ansom is nto a forceful personality- he is rather gentle, deferring questions with jokes ("I forbid you from asking me hard questions"), and generally being a shining prince in armor. I'm sure there are parts of his life- like dissolving alliances- where he is more forceful, but in interpersonal relationships, he's not a strongman.

    Compare to Wanda, who, while utterly hopeless and lacking in a sense of humor, has so much raw personality that she dominates her own Tool. As she puts it, "let him have your way". Wanda's a genius, a powerful caster, and beautiful to boot. And she lets the whole world know, not through boasting, but by an aura of sheer confidence that overwhelms anybody else.

    Was there any doubt in her, ever, with the exception of summoning Parson? No. And that was because the spell was outside her field. In her field, I'd say Wanda either could, or at least believes she could, cast the highest level spells without breaking a sweat.

    And that's why I believe Jillian is not a traitor, to revise my former statement, but a cop-out. She cannot have that kind of inner strength and determination Wanda has, and so she goes to seek it out.

    Ansom just doesn't have the rock-hard strength Jillian needs.
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  2. - Top - End - #32
    Magnificent Boop in the Playground
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    Default Re: Jillian

    Quote Originally Posted by Silverlocke980 View Post
    I actually dislike Jillian. This is because she's such a weak character; she needs people, to sum up. She's run to Wanda, in my head, because she requires something that only Wanda can give- maybe the sheer strength of Wanda's character, perhaps. As someone with an "overwhelming" personality (a friend told me once that "if you were in D&D, your Charisma would be through the ******* roof"), I dislike those with weak personalities, who are needy or clingy. Jillian, with her actions outside Ansom's tent and towards Wanda, seems to fit that bill perfectly.
    Generally, I agree (except that it doesn't make me dislike Jillian). I'd guess that Wanda's initial interrogation after Jillian's first capture (using a standard mix of torture and mind games, with no particular objective other than getting Prisoner to talk) tapped heavily into a needy/submissive streak in Jillian's personality, and Wanda was observant enough to see some interesting long-range possibilities and start cultivating them.

    Another related point: Jillian's tendency to get into unnecessary fights might arise from a need to prove something to herself. Or, at this stage, it might be a subconscious desire to get herself captured for another session with Wanda. Not knowing anything about the circumstances of her first capture and captivity, we can't really say one way or the other.

    Moreover, it would also explain just why she seems so indecisive as regards Ansom. Ansom is not a forceful personality -- he is rather gentle, deferring questions with jokes ("I forbid you from asking me hard questions"), and generally being a shining prince in armor. I'm sure there are parts of his life- like dissolving alliances- where he is more forceful, but in interpersonal relationships, he's not a strongman.
    Hmmm... looking back to his conversation with Jillian on page 8, he starts with what looks from its wording ("No, you will not.") and his expression like a no-nonsense order, retreats to arguing the point, and retreats further to bargaining ("At least take a flight of orlies with you.") after folding in their (literal) head-to-head confrontation. To be sure, a competent leader should listen to reasonable arguments from subordinates (and Jillian does offer reasonable arguments), and change his mind if the arguments are convincing -- but that should be done before giving orders. In particular, it undercuts one's appearance of strength to emphatically reject a subordinate's suggestion up front, and then let yourself be argued into it. The way Ansom handled it does seem to fit your read.

    Edit: If my interpretation of of "Abjuration only" (as opposed to "dual use") is correct -- that the hat is a one-way rather than a two-way link -- that also fits. Ansom is implicitly throwing up his hands and giving up on the possibility of giving Jillian additional orders. The significance of this isn't so much his decision not to keep Jillian on a leash (dual-use metaphor intentional), but his doing so in a way that sidesteps the underlying issue of how far he is and is not willing to assert his authority.

    Ansom also seemed at a bit of a loss when Vinnie didn't let him deflect the question about his real motives for opposing Stanley (first answering a question with a different question, then falling back on social conventionality, and finally being rescued by the incoming hat-o-gram).

    Compare to Wanda, who, while utterly hopeless and lacking in a sense of humor, has so much raw personality that she dominates her own Tool. As she puts it, "let him have your way". Wanda's a genius, a powerful caster, and beautiful to boot. And she lets the whole world know, not through boasting, but by an aura of sheer confidence that overwhelms anybody else.

    Was there any doubt in her, ever, with the exception of summoning Parson? No. And that was because the spell was outside her field. In her field, I'd say Wanda either could, or at least believes she could, cast the highest level spells without breaking a sweat.
    It's notable that, weak "capacity for hope" or not, she put some effort into looking outside the box for some way to salvage the situation; that's how she discovered the summoning spell.

    And that's why I believe Jillian is not a traitor, to revise my former statement, but a cop-out. She cannot have that kind of inner strength and determination Wanda has, and so she goes to seek it out.

    Ansom just doesn't have the rock-hard strength Jillian needs.
    Last edited by SteveMB; 2007-04-24 at 03:59 PM.

  3. - Top - End - #33
    Orc in the Playground
     
    PaladinGuy

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    Default Re: Jillian

    You rock for replying to my message with intelligence, man.

    You beseiged me with Science!- to paraphrase my favorite demon cockroach line from OotS.

    Looking back, Ansom is weaker than I'd thought in personal terms- I'd forgotten the whole Ansom/Jillian debate.

    May have to brush up...
    Noble Axeman of the Roy fanclub. Why?

    Look at this face. That's why. That is one awesome face!

    " MAMA'S BOY!"- Kefka cosplayer to Sephiroth cosplayer.

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