Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3631 to 3635 (11th to 15th December 2017
OldGoat:
--- Quote from: sitnspin on 17 Dec 2017, 00:18 ---What in the nine hells makes you think Beatrice would go through pregnancy again?
--- End quote ---
To breed another heir, of course. She's the sort to have Plans B through Z, and she certainly has the resources to continue a pregnancy in an incubator if she found it inconvenient to carry it to term. Where the child or children developed would be of little interest to her, but the right genetic material would be of vital importance. Hanners and that infernal sensitivity and conscience of hers is no doubt a concern to Beatrice if not an outright disappointment. Having tried to breed one heir with an ethical if scatter-brained genius, she may well have opted for a second attempt with a fellow brigand. (It occurs to me, did Jeph model Beatrice on Gaius Helen Mohiam?)
I'm not predicting that this is where Jeph is taking the story, but it's certainly consistent with the personality of the "[a]lmost completely amoral" character he's created.
TheEvilDog:
The problem I'm seeing with that idea is that given what we know about Beatrice and Hanners, its quite clear that Beatrice has long been aware of Hanners' state of mind and the associated problems. So if Beatrice had a "Plan B" in place for an heir, then why hasn't she enacted that plan instead of foisting a PA on Hanners.
I imagine that Beatrice didn't actually plan on having children. Given Beatrice's previously saying she didn't know how she got pregnant, than Hanners' was just... an accident. Yes, Hanners is loved, adored even, by her father, and there is some certain maternal love from Beatrice, well, love in her own way, but I do believe that Hanners wasn't planned.
Beatrice has always struck me as the kind of character that would want to achieve immortality rather than trust the future of her company to a successor. But she has a daughter, one that could be moulded into an almost worthy successor, hence why Beatrice keeps pushing Hanners. Sadly, this has the effect of pushing her only daughter away.
Case:
--- Quote from: OldGoat on 17 Dec 2017, 10:36 ---
--- Quote from: sitnspin on 17 Dec 2017, 00:18 ---What in the nine hells makes you think Beatrice would go through pregnancy again?
--- End quote ---
To breed another heir, of course. She's the sort to have Plans B through Z, and she certainly has the resources to continue a pregnancy in an incubator if she found it inconvenient to carry it to term. Where the child or children developed would be of little interest to her, but the right genetic material would be of vital importance. Hanners and that infernal sensitivity and conscience of hers is no doubt a concern to Beatrice if not an outright disappointment. Having tried to breed one heir with an ethical if scatter-brained genius, she may well have opted for a second attempt with a fellow brigand. (It occurs to me, did Jeph model Beatrice on Gaius Helen Mohiam?)
I'm not predicting that this is where Jeph is taking the story, but it's certainly consistent with the personality of the "[a]lmost completely amoral" character he's created.
--- End quote ---
Hmmmh - I wouldn't exactly characterize Hannermom as "the sort to have Plans B through Z", rather than "used to solving problems with the time-honoroured Elephant bull method". That which she can't bully, intimidate, or simply ignore into getting out of her way quick enough, she solves by throwing lots of money at. When faced with problems not amenable to those strategies, she's even more out of her depth than Hannelore or Hannerdad - both are eccentrics, but at least they try to adapt to the world around them. In fact, outside of the corporate shark-tank, Hannermom appears a little ... not naive, but unfinished maybe? Hanners freaks out when out of her comfort-zone, Beatrice throws a tantrum, that's the main difference between them besides the conscientiousness - and conscientiousness can be an adaptation to/by-product of living with OCD (Which, in turn, can be a reaction to/co-morbid with AD(H)D, which is hereditary, to a degree - and Hannerdad is the classic "scatterbrain").
And Gaius Helen Mohiam cared enough about her daughter to take a Gom Jabbar to her throat in person (Also, Jessica was Mohiam's PA before the latter married her of to Leto. IIRC, their fairly intense love/hate-relationship was already established by Herbert the Elder).
--- Quote from: Cornelius on 17 Dec 2017, 09:37 ---Well, in 922 Beatrice did mention that she didn't know how she got pregnant. It doesn't entirely rule out IVF, but at least it seems highly unlikely that it was planned by Beatrice. Then again, there's her father...
--- End quote ---
I don't think that line indicates she's unclear about the errrrh ... "how" of the process of Hanners arriving in this world, rather that it might have involved alcohol & recriminations ("Scatterbrain, meet Martini").
Edit: Just found this under 913: "Hanner's mom finally makes her appearance! Apologies to William Gibson for borrowing heavily from his Tessier-Ashpool characters." So the person who suggested the TA's as inspiration for the E/C's was right!?!
snufflebottoms:
--- Quote from: OldGoat on 16 Dec 2017, 10:42 ---
--- Quote from: snufflebottoms on 15 Dec 2017, 15:03 ---Plot twist: Tilly is Hannelore's sibling.
--- End quote ---
I was thinking half-sib. "Ewww, an infant. If you want it, Brontdyn, take it and go," is completely in character for Queen Bea.
--- End quote ---
Yes but I was actually thinking they share a father not mother and Beatrice is negotiating with her ex husband.
OldGoat:
--- Quote from: snufflebottoms on 17 Dec 2017, 16:51 ---Yes but I was actually thinking they share a father not mother and Beatrice is negotiating with her ex husband.
--- End quote ---
So Brontdyn Birch and John Ellicott-Chatham are one and the same? I dunno, Sufffs. John's a brilliant nerd who probably fits at least a couple DSM-5 descriptions, but I doubt if Dissociative Identity Disorder/Multiple Personality Disorder is among them.
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