FOREIGNER: Discussion Post #5

[krait]

Putting this up a bit late today; sorry to keep anyone waiting!

How have chapters 7 and 8 been treating you? Any new observations, theories, sore points, fabulous quotations?

Comments

thoughts

[krait]

Apologies for being a day late with my own comments; though I see I'm in good company. :D

Thoughts!

1. Bren with the tourists: how can he be so adorable? How can atevi tourists be so adorable? :D "Sign a card for me, nand' paidhi! Can I have a picture taken with you, nand' paidhi? Please remember my grandchildren, nand' paidhi!" Heeheehee! I melted. Wish Bren could meet the "average ateva on the street" more often, after this. He has a knack. :D

2. Proof Bren's security is highly trained and professional: the instant response to both the intruder and the social situation proves they aren't junior or incompetent staff... Making me all the more wildly curious about what went wrong earlier when Bren received the dowager's invitation.

3. Mild spoilers? Bren's reactions and, er, reactions.

4. The tenuous safety of Bren's position always startles me: his office might know he's not [insert excuse for why they couldn't reach him here], but they won't challenge the Bu-javid over the lie; they'd just try to find him so that they can make him a scapegoat and replace him.

5. Tabini's the "easiest" aiji humans have ever had to deal with! ...Why do I not feel terribly reassured? I suspected right from the first chapter, when Bren thinks about their little shooting vacation, that Tabini has studied humans intensively and is very, very good at manipulating them; I'm not sure how he did it, but I'm more convinced than ever now.

6. Banichi invites himself to dinner with Bren? After refusing to accompany Bren to breakfast with Ilisidi on the grounds that it was rude?

7. Chilling discussion with Banichi over man'chi!

"And how can you defend anything? No one understands your associations. [...] Even I don't know that absolutely, nadi. I know only what you tell me."

Re: thoughts

[pebblerocker]

Reading through this time, I'm really starting to believe that Tabini has a better interspecies understanding than the paidhi or anyone else. I wonder, if he is using tactics that don't have any emotional weight for him to manipulate Bren, how he narrates his actions to himself, and how he gets it so consistently right.

Re: thoughts

[krait]

I had that same impression when Bren was telling the reader all about how he had so much fun with Tabini at his shooting retreat and they were getting "close" and it was something like friendship, the relaxing of formality - my brain went *blinkblink* This aiji has put intensive study into learning how to manipulate humans emotionally.

I bet he spent a LOT of time studying Vasaji(?not his name, but can't remember the spelling) and Wilson.

Oooh, and just this instant my brain hit me with: That brings a whole new meaning to Wilson's "just the same as the rest of them" comment to Bren!! Was Wilson-paidhi the subject of intensive subtle emotional-reaction-testing from the aiji-to-be? No wonder he seems bitter about Tabini's being "just like" all other atevi...