clonecumber (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clonecumber) wrote2022-01-15 11:13 am
clonecumber) wrote2022-01-15 11:13 am
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You come home middle of the night and mereel's upside down on your couch snackin' on cheetos
I want to talk about Mereel's introduction, because I think it's one of my absolute favorites in the whole series. It's like the Jaws theme in written form.
So Kal goes off to meet up with a gang about selling some explosives, whatever, whatever. The gang gets smart and Kal's stuck having to go to a secondary location to complete the deal, which alarms everyone because they weren't prepared for Kal to essentially have to fall off the map, but honestly, it's a mild tension pretty in-keeping with the beat of the rest of the novel.
But then.
Jusik and Fi are attempting to (without authorization because that's their Thing now lol) tail Kal so they don't lose track of him entirely, when suddenly Jusik goes on alert:
Alarming.
So Jusik says he doesn't get any sense of malice, and that, “...Whoever it is, they’re focused on Kal.”, which makes him certain it's not the strike team. But he also describes the sensation in a way that's a little creepy, like the awareness that someone you don't know is standing directly over your shoulder, staring at you.
Mixed messages, is what I'm saying. Not the first time he'll do this.
Now, my second time reading this, I didn't remember how Mereel was introduced but I knew the character, so I have a note following the above quote that's nothing but "mereel???" HOWEVER. The first time through, the reader won't really know who Mereel is, right? Ordo's talked about him a few times, we know he's around, and that he was one of the non-Ordo kids in the prologue who had a slightly bigger role than the others, but he isn't really a character yet. There's no real reason to suspect it's a friendly, and the fact the best Jusik's instincts say about the guy is "probably not malicious" and "focused on Kal" doesn't help dial down the tension at all, and as Fi notes later, malice doesn't mean shit about actual intent to do harm. It's really fun.
They reunite with Kal and there's no sign of the mystery tail, but Fi's still nervous. Jusik insists again that he doesn't sense ill intent, but just take a look at his actual actions:
Clearly he's feeling wigged about something, and Jedi instincts are nothing to shake a stick at. Jusik's description of how he felt before I'm sort of taking as a subconscious interpretation of this, describing the feeling in a way that sounds uncomfortable and nervewracking because to him it is uncomfortable and nervewracking. Because it sure reads like Jusik's instincts do, in fact, seem to be telling him there's a threat without necessarily telling him there's danger and that it might confusing the shit out of him.
And I love it.
“Very close.” Jusik looked past Skirata. A young man with short white-blond hair was striding toward them through the sparse crowd, arms held a little away from his sides, a large bag over one shoulder.
It's such a great introduction. And it's especially great because that cheerful, heartfelt reunion sort of pulls attention away from the fact that Mereel up until that point, whatever was going on in his head, was enough to make the empath nervous. Not that I'm saying Mereel had any intent to do harm to his allies at all, I'm just saying that whatever emotion, whatever intensity Mereel was riding on the op didn't really go away even as he was approaching them, it's just that Mereel dropped a smile over it and turned on the teariness and just...in an instant shoved it out of sight so thoroughly that no one really thinks of it again.
Which is a bit scary, that degree of skill, when you consider that these guys didn't even know Mereel was there until he, presumably, let them. Jusik and Fi were tailing Skirata? Mereel was tailing all of them and they didn't even know. A Jedi. How long has he been doing that? How many of their watches, how many of their tasks up until this point, was Mereel just...hanging around in the background, out of the reader's perception because he was out of the POV character's perception? Just there? Of course, Ordo's been in contact with him, he knows he's around, but nobody else does. It doesn't come up either, but Mereel's been on Coruscant for awhile at this point, nearly as long as they all have, and he just...avoids that ever coming up. He avoids a hell of a lot of things ever coming up.
Makes me think of the discrepancy in how Kal thinks Mereel's the most well-adjusted while Ordo (I think it's him, anyway) at one point plainly states like it's just a fact that Mereel took everything about Kamino the hardest. How Mereel manages to actually scare Kal for the first time in True Colors, but by the next book Kal's right back to thinking Mereel's just dandy? I feel like a lot of that's lampshaded in his intro. Mereel's got depths, and if he doesn't want you to see them, you just won't.
I just really love this introduction on the whole. It's so very, very Mereel, and I think it says a ton about how his character operates in just a few barely-there scenes, how much of what Mereel does is off-page, and where he's like...this horror movie monster looming up in the background which then gets tucked away behind a cheery smile like a sleight of hand trick as soon as you turn to look, hiding so many of the implications of his actions and sudden appearance in a performance*, and it's one of my favorite parts of the book.
*I say performance with the understanding that Mereel absolutely is happy to see his dad again, but with the belief that Mereel's capable of using his own perfectly genuine emotions to his own advantage because Mereel is...very ruthless, actually. The sentiment isn't the performance, the way he chooses to express that sentiment is. Mereel's fun.
So Kal goes off to meet up with a gang about selling some explosives, whatever, whatever. The gang gets smart and Kal's stuck having to go to a secondary location to complete the deal, which alarms everyone because they weren't prepared for Kal to essentially have to fall off the map, but honestly, it's a mild tension pretty in-keeping with the beat of the rest of the novel.
But then.
Jusik and Fi are attempting to (without authorization because that's their Thing now lol) tail Kal so they don't lose track of him entirely, when suddenly Jusik goes on alert:
“There’s somebody following him,” Jusik said.
“Yeah. You, me, Vau …”
“No, not us.”
“Yeah. You, me, Vau …”
“No, not us.”
Alarming.
So Jusik says he doesn't get any sense of malice, and that, “...Whoever it is, they’re focused on Kal.”, which makes him certain it's not the strike team. But he also describes the sensation in a way that's a little creepy, like the awareness that someone you don't know is standing directly over your shoulder, staring at you.
Mixed messages, is what I'm saying. Not the first time he'll do this.
Now, my second time reading this, I didn't remember how Mereel was introduced but I knew the character, so I have a note following the above quote that's nothing but "mereel???" HOWEVER. The first time through, the reader won't really know who Mereel is, right? Ordo's talked about him a few times, we know he's around, and that he was one of the non-Ordo kids in the prologue who had a slightly bigger role than the others, but he isn't really a character yet. There's no real reason to suspect it's a friendly, and the fact the best Jusik's instincts say about the guy is "probably not malicious" and "focused on Kal" doesn't help dial down the tension at all, and as Fi notes later, malice doesn't mean shit about actual intent to do harm. It's really fun.
They reunite with Kal and there's no sign of the mystery tail, but Fi's still nervous. Jusik insists again that he doesn't sense ill intent, but just take a look at his actual actions:
“Nobody with ill intent,” Jusik said. He slid his hand to the opening of his jacket, suddenly edgy. Fi took his cue and swung off the speeder to stand in front of Skirata. “And they’re very, very close.”
Clearly he's feeling wigged about something, and Jedi instincts are nothing to shake a stick at. Jusik's description of how he felt before I'm sort of taking as a subconscious interpretation of this, describing the feeling in a way that sounds uncomfortable and nervewracking because to him it is uncomfortable and nervewracking. Because it sure reads like Jusik's instincts do, in fact, seem to be telling him there's a threat without necessarily telling him there's danger and that it might confusing the shit out of him.
And I love it.
“Very close.” Jusik looked past Skirata. A young man with short white-blond hair was striding toward them through the sparse crowd, arms held a little away from his sides, a large bag over one shoulder.
DUNNNNNNNNNNN!
Notes: MEREEL!!!!!
And then they have a heartfelt reunion, yadda yadda yadda, and I suppose if this were a movie it would be the point the audience is meant to startle and then relax, maybe laugh at themselves. The giant, scary shadow looming around the corner of an alley actually being a mouse, the rattling slam of trash cans that's only the cat, etc. etc. But okay, look. The tension, all right. It's like the Jaws theme that climaxes upon the front door of a suburban house opening on a friendly, cheerful woman who later turns out to be a Stepford Wife. That little bit of creepiness doesn't quite go away.
Notes: MEREEL!!!!!
And then they have a heartfelt reunion, yadda yadda yadda, and I suppose if this were a movie it would be the point the audience is meant to startle and then relax, maybe laugh at themselves. The giant, scary shadow looming around the corner of an alley actually being a mouse, the rattling slam of trash cans that's only the cat, etc. etc. But okay, look. The tension, all right. It's like the Jaws theme that climaxes upon the front door of a suburban house opening on a friendly, cheerful woman who later turns out to be a Stepford Wife. That little bit of creepiness doesn't quite go away.
It's such a great introduction. And it's especially great because that cheerful, heartfelt reunion sort of pulls attention away from the fact that Mereel up until that point, whatever was going on in his head, was enough to make the empath nervous. Not that I'm saying Mereel had any intent to do harm to his allies at all, I'm just saying that whatever emotion, whatever intensity Mereel was riding on the op didn't really go away even as he was approaching them, it's just that Mereel dropped a smile over it and turned on the teariness and just...in an instant shoved it out of sight so thoroughly that no one really thinks of it again.
Which is a bit scary, that degree of skill, when you consider that these guys didn't even know Mereel was there until he, presumably, let them. Jusik and Fi were tailing Skirata? Mereel was tailing all of them and they didn't even know. A Jedi. How long has he been doing that? How many of their watches, how many of their tasks up until this point, was Mereel just...hanging around in the background, out of the reader's perception because he was out of the POV character's perception? Just there? Of course, Ordo's been in contact with him, he knows he's around, but nobody else does. It doesn't come up either, but Mereel's been on Coruscant for awhile at this point, nearly as long as they all have, and he just...avoids that ever coming up. He avoids a hell of a lot of things ever coming up.
Makes me think of the discrepancy in how Kal thinks Mereel's the most well-adjusted while Ordo (I think it's him, anyway) at one point plainly states like it's just a fact that Mereel took everything about Kamino the hardest. How Mereel manages to actually scare Kal for the first time in True Colors, but by the next book Kal's right back to thinking Mereel's just dandy? I feel like a lot of that's lampshaded in his intro. Mereel's got depths, and if he doesn't want you to see them, you just won't.
I just really love this introduction on the whole. It's so very, very Mereel, and I think it says a ton about how his character operates in just a few barely-there scenes, how much of what Mereel does is off-page, and where he's like...this horror movie monster looming up in the background which then gets tucked away behind a cheery smile like a sleight of hand trick as soon as you turn to look, hiding so many of the implications of his actions and sudden appearance in a performance*, and it's one of my favorite parts of the book.
*I say performance with the understanding that Mereel absolutely is happy to see his dad again, but with the belief that Mereel's capable of using his own perfectly genuine emotions to his own advantage because Mereel is...very ruthless, actually. The sentiment isn't the performance, the way he chooses to express that sentiment is. Mereel's fun.