GTS – Page 134 – Kidd Commander!

GTS – Page 134

by Aria on May 11, 2022 at 8:42 PM

they had a bit of a tiff

Transcript

Ulrich:
Which is not entirely unfair,
given you work with a capricious minor deity and ah.
Me.
Hm. I only met phineas a couple weeks before we went to Decodenn.
I’m not sure I know her well enough to guess her exact motives, but she is a little in love with all of us, I think.

Agatha:
I don’t.
Not want.
Her to love me.
I’m just not sure I want to be . . .owned, again.
I don’t want to be someone else’s thing again.

Ulrich:
Certainly not.

Agatha:
But this isn’t working either.

Ulrich:
. . . pledging yourself to anyone is frightening, if you’re smart.
But it goes both ways.This is a transaction, not a theft.
When you went down in the labs,phineas was ready to burn to death rather than go without you.
We couldn’t get you out. I, ach.
I thought you were dead and she was being stubborn,I tried to get her to leave you behind.
(Nothing personal.)

Agatha:
(It was the smart thing to do.)

Ulrich:
It was, and I could do it when she couldn’t herself. that’s the contract, do you see?
. . . I also saw the way she was looking at you, after the interrogation.

Beach Fox

Look at these two, trying to work out their vast vast ocean of issues through open and honestish communication like semi-functional adults. I love it.
Also: “Sorry about trying to leave you for dead that time.”
“Eh, I would’ve tried to leave you for dead in that situation too, it’s all good.”
- Aria
  
  Agatha’s a bodyguard before she’s anything, there wouldn’t have even been an argument she would have just hauled Phineas out like a flour sack lmao
caribouchat

A capricious minor deity and ah.
Me.
D

It interesting to see how Ulrich addresses this again. The relationship is still unclear and I don’t think Phin fully grasps it, or maybe even wants it. They all want a relationship, but not necessarily this relationship.

Looking back at the event linked, it is like easy for some to say Phin was “right” or that Ulrich was “in the right”, but it was a very specific scenario with very specific parameters, and if changed slightly, it may’ve gone unnoticed, but ended disastrously.

Ulrich speaks of their relationship being a transaction, but in the moment he refers to– the transaction, it would seem, was broken. It almost seems like he’s… “sunk cost” his way of seeing things. “I already put a great deal of emotion into this vision of our relationship, this must be how it works.”.

I’m not saying that he is wrong, nor that it is wrong to use this to sooth Agatha’s discomfort, but I do think that, assuming he isn’t just addressing this point of view to make things simpler, he should review his thoughts at some point.
- Aria
  
  heee i LOVE this
  
  Ulrich does seem to have a weird tendency to view relationships in business terms, or as transactions; this isn’t the first time he’s mentioned A Contract with Phineas. Probably not the ideal way to navigate the world but Ulrich and Agatha both have an amount of weird shit going on with them, it’s lucky they manage to discuss these things at all haha
  - D
    
    Honestly, They’re doing a better job of it than a number people I know.
    
    The number of conversations I’ve had where it’s either “I wish my other relationships were as open this one”, or “I wish I could be more open, but–” are HHHHHGGH–!
    
    Like I’ve got my own… Ulrich-ness (minus the obvious copious trauma) that make personal stuff hard to communicate, but wrt relations, talk is easy for me, safe. But I’ve known a lot of people to whom talking about their feelings is akin to glass chips on glass chips, as though they and whoever they talk to will come out abraded.
    
    Ulrich and Agatha seem to be open to communicating– scratches and weird shit and all –and I love that.
    - Aria
      
      god i feel that, i’m obviously a wordy person in general so i know i’m biased but it seems like i’m ALWAYS going “Just Talk To Each Other jfc” at everyone lmao. communication is important!!!
      
      I’m especially into it in fiction though because GOD i hate a plot that could have been resolved by two people having a three sentence conversation jesus CHRIST
      - D
        
        Behind you 100% there.
        
        I think I’ve mentioned it in the past, but that’s a big part of why I just can’t with comedies/romances/dramas/etc. I’ll watch them if I’m with someone else, but a plot like that makes my viscerally uncomfortable unless it is very very well executed, and I tend to… shut down isn’t the right term, but not do well with it, even if it’s in a show I like. I’ve dropped a few, even if I knew I’d enjoy the rest because destructive communication is painful.
        
        I’m an empath and someone who learned the values of good, clear communication early, and by goodness, I will always choose it if I can get it.
- Beach Fox
  
  Both of these folks seems to be viewing relationships in general (and their relationship with Phin specifically) in terms of what they know. Ulrich sees it all in terms of transactions and what it owed. Since he is still hecka-coy about his multilayered backstory trauma, details are scarce, but it’s clear that Working for Patrons and I Did This For You, You Owe Me Your Service relationships are what he knows best, and it’s how he’s viewing this emerging team dynamic.
  
  Meanwhile Agatha, the poor poor woman, is only familiar with relationships where she’s been owned and exists for the purpose of another. First her creator/mother who accidentally enslaved her in a solid body but still loved her, and then her cousin who… really left a lot of “Being loved/in a relationship means the other person owns you and can and will do whatever they want with you” baggage behind.
  
  And both are interpreting Phin through these very specific lenses. Whereas Phin herself seems to be viewing the world through a Shonen Jump filter where I Like You We Are Now Best Friends Forever And Will Kick God’s Butt With The Power Of Our Camaraderie.
  
  And none of the sweet beautiful idiots seems to have fully grasped that everyone’s operating under a different relationship paradigm. Which is why I’m so happy to see these two at least trying to hammer out how they feel about stuff and hopefully avoid even further miscommunication issues where Phin says they should do something and Ulrich views it as a Payment of Debt order and Agatha views it as an Order From Your Owner and so forth.
  
  (And I cannot wait for Vines (who’s name I can never remember and he’s not up on the Cast chart yet) to come in and add his own spin on things.)
Gay Kitty

I just want you to know that I’ve been really enjoying this awkward messy stilted conversation about wants. Taking a little breather like this and talking isn’t unheard of, but I do feel like it doesn’t get done enough and also people talking to each other is always good
- Aria
  
  I’m so glad!! I totally agree, I wish more shounen stuff took time for characters to just relate to each other. how are you supposed to kill god with the power of friendship if you’re not friends lmaooo
  
  (that said i do always get a liiiittle worried about the slower scenes, the response has been really nice hee)
Chromoid

I don’t know how storytellers convey such sticky concepts like “relationships” and all the baggage (good and bad) that come with them, but it’s amazing to read every single time.
caribouchat

All of us
hm, could be Noon and you and me but maybe Ulrich already includes Toulouse in the crew, maybe…