You know who I’m most impressed by? Chuffy McAvoy-Dauntless. Who would have thought that behind the bloomers and the giraffe-spoon lurked the soul of a savvy political activist?
Ah, thank you for the echo. So that seems pretty unlikely - he only did it because he lost a duel, and he personally made it there. Good enough for him, I bet. We’ll just have to wait and see what FBG decides to do with his story.
Edit: Chuffy is a good Stag. :)
edited by Sara Hysaro on 7/24/2017
i know you mean this in derogatory way but my gods, anne, the stabby mummy should pay you for the advertisement because, in a way, you’re selling his "chaotic (evil) badass" pitch better than anyone at failbetter does ;)
I dunno about that - the combination of public ferocity and private frustration at the limitations of his power make him seem like the sort of villain who’s defeated at the end of the first act, but whose downfall reveals to the hero the greater forces at work, and the powers behind the scenes whose machinations will concern them for the remainder of their quest.
oh, I meant that purely about Anne’s wording. You know, "illegal casino", "vicious games", "ominous conspiracy". It just sounds undeniably cool. Like something out of an adventure book.
as for Feducci’s actual in-game situation, well. don’t underestimate the potent mixture of opposition hostility and a high-ranked government official’s frustration at the limitations of their power, not to get Too Real[color=rgb(84, 84, 84)]™ [/color]but it’s a main building block of a current-day political stink in central and eastern europe, and it’s rather heralding a start of villainry than it’s swift ending. though I gotta say it’s…, heh, therapeutic, to be on the governing "side" at least in a fictional world ;)
Feducci honestly seems kind of small and spiteful to me with all this lashing out. Like, it’s not all that impressive to try and instigate a fight between heavily armed supporters and peaceful protesters. That indicates, 1) the protesters shouts are actually getting under his bandages and 2) he’s a bit of a sneak and a bully when things aren’t going his way. His little conspiracy is also a sign of weakness, as it follows directly from his inability to pass any meaningful legislation.
I don’t think Feducci is having fun :P
Oh, I think the story and the situation are cool - the writing is simply wonderful and I want to see where it goes ^_^ But then, I’ve always had a fascination with crisis situations.
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edited by Anne Auclair on 7/25/2017
[quote=Anne Auclair]He honestly seems kind of small and spiteful to me with all this lashing out. Like, it’s not all that impressive to try and instigate a fight between heavily armed supporters and peaceful protesters. That indicates, 1) the protesters shouts are actually getting under his bandages and 2) he’s a bit of a sneak and a bully when things aren’t going his way. His little conspiracy is also a sign of weakness, as it follows directly from his inability to pass any meaningful legislation.
I don’t think Feducci is having fun :P[/quote]
This sounds really familiar … but I just can’t figure out why.
[li][/li]
edited by Lady Sapho Byron on 7/24/2017
As always, in the interest of civility, let’s keep contemporary real-world politics off the table. I’m always up for a good political discussion, but this isn’t the place for it.
I still don’t think it was him who tried to instigate the fight. I mean, there was a "platoon" of his supporters chilling there, military-li speaking that’s less than thirty people. Unless the crowd of protesters was also rather small (which would be hilarious, in hindsight. just a handful of people yelling at each other.), they’d be easily swarmed. That definitely wouldn’t look good.
If he were irritated about the shouting, he’d use the constables to get the protestors off his back. Even if they didn’t listen to him as a mayor, the Constables are so easily corrupted he could’ve probably buy and sell them five times and his ledger wouldn’t feel the slightest impact. The fact that the protesters are allowed to chill outside his crib rather gives off a "the moon doesn’t care for baying dogs" vibe.
edit: Sorry abt the real life politics. I’m also of the mind they should be kept off the forums, but the pararells are so temptingly good sometimes. Won’t happen again, pinky promise ;)
edited by gronostaj on 7/25/2017
It clearly wasn’t the other side, the protest leaders calm things down in both versions (the DTC tells the crowd to disregard the angry gossip and Chuffy defuses the fight before it can start). That leaves Mayor Feducci as the would-be instigator.
The Constables don’t take orders from him, they take orders from the Commissioner of Police. The Commissioner is rather close to Society (you ask him for favors at the Shuttered Palace) and probably sympathizes with the protesters. So dispersing the protesters is undoubtedly a bridge too far, but being absent at a convenient time on the other hand is doable.
The protesters are chilling outside his manor because they are yet another thing that Feducci can’t do anything about :P
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edited by Anne Auclair on 7/25/2017
It’s a good explanation, but also a boring one. Failbetter spoiled me with their previous plot twists. Besides, I find it weird that a guy who has a back-up in lethal duels, the back-up being that he’s practically immortal, would court the public humiliation of his supporters getting their asses kicked by protesters. Unless the protesting crowd is small enough to manage by thirty armed people or he genuinely doesn’t care and just wants to see some blood, no matter whose, or who wins. Both options acceptable ;)
edit: you know what that was a mean thing to say about police, even a fictional one, scratch that.
edited by gronostaj on 7/25/2017
Small groups of heavily armed people regularly overcome much larger groups of unarmed people, so it could have gone either way. Sure, it would have been a bit of a gamble…would have been a bit of a gamble, there we go.
(laughs) fair enough, you win that one
Unspecified revolutionaries seem to have just as much to gain by instigating violence.
you know, I was about to joke that they’re just camping there because they’re salty about not being allowed into the fun zone- but actually, now I’m curious. I distantly recall that Jenny had dialogue variants on her "assist the mayor" option depending on whom you voted for.
Any non-supporter tried to fight before the murder voyeur yet? did he even. notice you’re one of the "i didn’t vote for you" crowd?
Unspecified revolutionaries seem to have just as much to gain by instigating violence.[/quote]
You mean the same violent revolutionaries who the Mayor is openly palling around with in Blythenhale?
[quote=gronostaj]
you know, I was about to joke that they’re just camping there because they’re salty about not being allowed into the fun zone- but actually, now I’m curious. I distantly recall that Jenny had dialogue variants on her "assist the mayor" option depending on whom you voted for.
Any non-supporter tried to fight before the murder voyeur yet? did he even. notice you’re one of the "i didn’t vote for you" crowd?[/quote]
I’m also curious about this. I haven’t participated in any of his games because I have zero interest in Revolutionary favors and a high interest in Society favors.
Madison supported the Implacable Detective during the election, and got this text when she won the duel. It definitely seems like he doesn’t take any special notice of which candidate you backed during the election.
Unspecified revolutionaries seem to have just as much to gain by instigating violence.[/quote]
You mean the same violent revolutionaries who the Mayor is openly palling around with in Blythenhale?[/quote]
Not necessarily: "Some call them the dynamite faction, but they’re very far from united. Socialists, anarchists, foreign agents: only their hatred of the Masters unites them."
Just because it looks like Feducci is the most likely instigator does not make it so. It could also be someone who wants it to look that way.
I’m not sure if Feducci even cares enough to pay off the police, to be honest, or do anything else about these guys camping outside his casino. Obviously protests might be a problem for someone who seriously wants to be a mayor, especially long-term. But Feducci seems to mostly treat being a mayor as something between a hobby and a temporary stepping-stone. To…- something. Collecting the names of eager and lucky murderers, for now. The more he can pass what Anne charmingly calls his "hunger games" legislations, the better he can test people at the murder-ready angle. London changing with it is just a welcome side-effect.
personally I think he might want to take another shot at Arbour. This would explain why he’s chilling with dilmun club, asides for fake-coughing at the implacable detective every time she tries to say something about presbyterate. The arbour city from his confession is a clear reference to arcadia (et in arbour/arcadia ego), and arcadia is often depicted as a garden. the garden, actually. the last time he went, he took with him friends, lovers, attendants, and all sorts of colourful, presumably not very well-versed in the art of combat, and currently extra-dead, crowd. Maybe he decided 77 accomplished duellists with guns, swords and plenty luck would be a bet with better odds.
No, the garden is closer to Nidah.