Something I just thought about was the trolly problem, and that it’s basically Eva Stratt
To do nothing - to watch humanity die slowly, withering away from cold and starvation. She would know humanity was doomed to fall to war, that’s how history always played out
Or to pull the lever - to send Ryland off to space against his will, nuking the arctic to increase the green house gasses and global warming, paving the Sahara to breed enough astrophage for the Hail Mary to even stand a chance.
Eva Stratt loved humanity, and she would pull the lever every single time, no matter how much it hurt
I utterly adore Keller and Anna, not as a ship obviously, but their relationship is just so incredible. Like do you hate each other? Is she your adopted daughter? Is he your older brother? I would do anything to keep you safe, even if you don’t know your own worth to the world (to me)
Slight Hench/Villain spoilers
Where I’d expected a career-long rivalry to take root, a weird, rough affection was growing between us. Every time I suggested something ridiculous, he grew warmer
~~~~~
The pile of presents was dominated by a massive teddy bear from Keller and his goons.
~~~~~
Whatever the official protocol was never happened; Keller came instead
~~~~~
“I won’t lie—it’s more difficult at the beginning, kiddo,”
~~~~~
No one listened like Keller did when he really felt like it.
~~~~~
I don’t know how much time passed, but it was dark when I realized there was a hand on my shoulder, someone calling my name calmly and steadily. My mouth felt cottony and consciousness was a fight. For a moment I didn’t know where I was.
“Anna. Come on, kiddo. Anna.”
~~~~~
Keller was on his haunches next to me, forearms resting on his knees. He looked downright concerned, his thick eyebrows turned upward and his frown lines especially deep.
“I’m all right,” I said, rubbing my face. “Just tired.”
~~~~~
“I will prove it.” “I know.” “I swear.” Keller wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. I let him hold me up for a minute, closed my eyes.
~~~~~
Keller was screaming gleefully into the comm in my ear. “That’s right, girls, tear that motherfucker apart.” He sounded so proud.
~~~~~
“There is NO WAY—”
“Not even a hello.”
“On god’s GREEN EARTH—”
“Here we go.”
“That you are going anywhere near—”
“Keller.”
“That fucking building.”
“I didn’t commit to anything.”
“Don’t give me that horseshit.”
~~~~~
“It isn’t worth your life.” He looked up at the ceiling for a minute. “Do your own math. Run it. Tell me it’s worth you maybe dying over.”
~~~~~
Like you can’t tell me that if Leviathan was ANYONE else Keller wouldn’t have squared up or told him off already. Was Leviathan concerned about Anna walking right into a Draft building to meet with Mom? He signed off on it right away, yknow who didn’t want her to go, to potentially put herself in danger for seemingly no good reason? Keller.
Speaking of Mom why did he keep calling Anna “kiddo”, that’s Kellers kiddo not yours, lay off
I'm thinking about the way "Mom" will casually drop the legal names of people with code names. The Auditor, Black Pill, he just says them, Anna, Douglas
and I guess I'm just wondering what that says about his character
a lack of respect for the dance between heroes and villains? Making him incredibly dangerous as with his position he doesn't play by the absorbed, unspoken rules of capes and scars
a lack of respect towards identity? as Identity seems to be a huge theme of Villain, where Anna is viscerally aware of her steady transformation. It would make him a foil
This also speaks on our Auditor, as even though she knows his real name, she continues to call him Mom, respecting that pseudonym he's given himself, as she respects all the names she is given, such as with Decoherence
It's definitely some kind of power play, taking names which he hasn't earned: Anna, Douglas, Kiddo, Mom
He asserts his perspective, in his domain, he shapes the narrative.
Call me crazy I almost want to believe in Mom's mission, maybe Anna gets an unlikely alley, but also- he's so SO suspicious right? Like even if he's genuinely this friendly, he has to be malicious right?? there's gotta be some bad behavior here, or a back stab...
I KNOW, I’m still conflicted about him but I think that’s the point of his character- although only Keller gets to call Anna ‘kiddo’, Mom doesn’t deserve that right
I just finished part 4 of Villain and I’m literally crying, my boy you only wanted Anna back
I’m never forgiving Leviathan, I know that might be the point, and I’ll have to sort out my feelings once I finish the book, but right now I can only think of Greg and that stupid villains union certificate
I saw your art. When did you get into Villains Code? Who are your favorite characters?
Have you read any other of Drew's books?
@drewhayesalyzer
Hi!!
I'm a pretty new fan, I started the first book a couple weeks ago, listening to the audiobook!!
My favorite characters are Chloe cause I think she's so fun, and so silly, she's the sort of person I want to be. Also her power is so so SO cool, I like trying to interpret what she can do. I also obviously love Ivan who he is and also just thinking about the twisting path of past he had to lead him here. I love rolling him around in my brain. Then of course Tori and Beverly and Xelas, and Donald, and Wade, and AHHHH all the characters are just so good, I'm delighted by everyone, they're just so dynamic, and so cool, and the multi-perspective narrative really lets them shine in so many unique ways because we're seeing them from all these angles: Terrors, Doofs, Heroes, Goofs, etc.
I haven't read any other of Drew's books, I actually started Villains code because I was waiting for another (similiar but darker) book to release, but I might have to see his other stuff after finishing Villains Code!!!
I’m so glad you like it!!! I was going to recommend it after seeing your posts about Hench but it seems to have found you itself, my favorites are Wade and Tori
AND, if I said that Keller is one of the few people who actually cares about Anna, is capable of owning up to his mistakes, loves and protects Anna without completely ignoring her wishes or undermining her, acknowledges who and what he is, and is overall just the person who understands Anna and fully appreciates her the most? What then
I’ve always loved their dynamic but even more in the second book, their banter is amazing and I wish we had more of them together
How intimately writers get to know their characters. Like, mercifully due to the ways books work, we are delivered so much information, practically hand fed, through exposition and omniciant narrators, but, a writer will never be able to say everything within 400 pages, 1 book, 3 books, 15 books (maybe in 15 books)
But writers tell us everything they can conceviably fit without derailing the story, AND THEN THEY GET TO KNOW ALL THESE SECRET DETAILS!
There's this character in the book I'm looking at "Hench", and no huge spoilers, but she accidently did some body horror at a very early age
she mentions it, and we get NO more context as to what
and I just KNOWWWW the author has gone through the moment in her brain in painstaking detail, the build up to the event, who she did it on, why, and as readers we may never find out why
There are children planned in excruciating detail that we will never know because a writer will never have an organic chance to tell us about them
there are reactions to movies characters would like, that the Author has mulled over, that we will not know because the author set it in a medevil fantasy realm
There are wild game nights, bizarre hobbies, and eulogies we don't get to experience, secret knowledge to which only their god is privy
This is such a good point especially considering we don’t even know WHAT OUR MAIN CHARACTER LOOKS LIKE
Anna’s hair color? Lightish, idk. Eye color? Couldn’t tell you. Anna’s best friends last names? 🤷
Anna doesn’t have a good relationship with her parents, and as a kid wouldn’t have minded minimal contact under heavy supervision, why? No one knows but her
(Also can you tell me what you meant by her doing some body horror at a young age? I remember she broke her wrist when she was young but nothing besides that, sorry it’s been a while 😅)
How intimately writers get to know their characters. Like, mercifully due to the ways books work, we are delivered so much information, practically hand fed, through exposition and omniciant narrators, but, a writer will never be able to say everything within 400 pages, 1 book, 3 books, 15 books (maybe in 15 books)
But writers tell us everything they can conceviably fit without derailing the story, AND THEN THEY GET TO KNOW ALL THESE SECRET DETAILS!
There's this character in the book I'm looking at "Hench", and no huge spoilers, but she accidently did some body horror at a very early age
she mentions it, and we get NO more context as to what
and I just KNOWWWW the author has gone through the moment in her brain in painstaking detail, the build up to the event, who she did it on, why, and as readers we may never find out why
There are children planned in excruciating detail that we will never know because a writer will never have an organic chance to tell us about them
there are reactions to movies characters would like, that the Author has mulled over, that we will not know because the author set it in a medevil fantasy realm
There are wild game nights, bizarre hobbies, and eulogies we don't get to experience, secret knowledge to which only their god is privy
This is such a good point especially considering we don’t even know WHAT OUR MAIN CHARACTER LOOKS LIKE
Anna’s hair color? Lightish, idk. Eye color? Couldn’t tell you. Anna’s best friends last names? 🤷
Anna doesn’t have a good relationship with her parents, and as a kid wouldn’t have minded minimal contact under heavy supervision, why? No one knows but her
(Also can you tell me what you meant by her doing some body horror at a young age? I remember she broke her wrist when she was young but nothing besides that, sorry it’s been a while 😅)
How intimately writers get to know their characters. Like, mercifully due to the ways books work, we are delivered so much information, practically hand fed, through exposition and omniciant narrators, but, a writer will never be able to say everything within 400 pages, 1 book, 3 books, 15 books (maybe in 15 books)
But writers tell us everything they can conceviably fit without derailing the story, AND THEN THEY GET TO KNOW ALL THESE SECRET DETAILS!
There's this character in the book I'm looking at "Hench", and no huge spoilers, but she accidently did some body horror at a very early age
she mentions it, and we get NO more context as to what
and I just KNOWWWW the author has gone through the moment in her brain in painstaking detail, the build up to the event, who she did it on, why, and as readers we may never find out why
There are children planned in excruciating detail that we will never know because a writer will never have an organic chance to tell us about them
there are reactions to movies characters would like, that the Author has mulled over, that we will not know because the author set it in a medevil fantasy realm
There are wild game nights, bizarre hobbies, and eulogies we don't get to experience, secret knowledge to which only their god is privy
This is such a good point especially considering we don’t even know WHAT OUR MAIN CHARACTER LOOKS LIKE
Anna’s hair color? Lightish, idk. Eye color? Couldn’t tell you. Anna’s best friends last names? 🤷
Anna doesn’t have a good relationship with her parents, and as a kid wouldn’t have minded minimal contact under heavy supervision, why? No one knows but her
(Also can you tell me what you meant by her doing some body horror at a young age? I remember she broke her wrist when she was young but nothing besides that, sorry it’s been a while 😅)
I need to speak this into the void, but I think it’s so cool how the further in the book you get more and more blatant details of what he really is as the books transitions from plainly describing sounds as odd, to deliberately honing in on insect-like imagery, to full on bug
Not only does it subtly create a creeping trickle of information
but also replicates how Anna is slowly learning about Leviathan, her perception of him becoming more detailed as she knows him more in deeply
I'm only on Chapter 6 and I haven't looked at Hench in almost six years, but, so maybe he dies in the next chapter
but think about it. Vesper loves/loved Anna which can make people do crazy things, both in passion and in jealousy
Vesper used to be a kick, giving him connentions to Dove
early on in the book, Anna mentions how she has to let go of drivers when they start getting attached and getting a savior complexes, turning you in. What is Vesper? A pilot, a driver of sorts. That could be a bit of foreshadowing.
(I'm kinda scared that is the case cause Vesper is such a sweet character)
hench is getting a sequel, hench is getting a sequel hench is getting a sequelhenchisgettingasequelhencHISGETTINGASEQUELHENCHISGETTINGASHENCHISGETTINGASEQUELHENCHISGETTINGASEQUELHENCHISGETTINGASEQUELHENCHISGETTINGASEQUELHENCHISGETTINGASE-
