GG: Why not just turn it off then? TT: Keeps them both on their toes. GG: Who? TT: Jake and the responder. TT: Jake needs to be more skeptical. Rather than take a Pollyanna jackknife ass-first off whatever turnip truck is blowing through town that day, he's got to apply more critical reasoning to shit. TT: I keep telling him. TT: I keep telling him, dude, you got to be more like Jane. GG: These lectures I presume are roughly similar in complexion to those I'm familiar with? GG: Those wherein I have, and I quote, "got to be more like Jake?"
So, here's my initial read on Lil' Bro:
In simple terms, he's the kind of person that Rose thinks she is.
Skim Rose's conversations, and you'll get the impression of a cool-headed, impartial leader. She directs John's activities in the early Acts, 'coerces' Consorts and Sprites to do her bidding, and generally behaves as though she's in possession of all the facts, holds all the cards, and has the nerve to make the tough decisions.
All of this is false.
Rose Lalonde spends her entire session in an escalating state of barely-repressed terror. She has no idea what's happening, and spends most of her time backed completely into a corner, forced to rely on increasingly dubious sources of intel to stay abreast of events.
After her 'informants' run her around the Medium like a headless chicken, Rose finally snaps, sacrificing herself in a desperate last stand against Perfect Jack - and once her Dream Self wakes up, the first thing she tries to do is sacrifice herself again. Lalonde likes to talk a big game, but it's abundantly clear that she was never in control of the situation.
Lil' Bro, though?
This dude has robots monitoring his co-players. He's trained an AI secretary to manage his conversations, who apparently doubles as a tool to train psychological weaknesses out of his friends. He's even got an automated alert set up for Jane's own protection, and I'd bet Boondollars to donuts that Jake and Roxy have 'em too.
This guy actually is in control. He's deploying his forces, consolidating his resources and shoring up any perceived weaknesses in his allies. This is a type of Player I don't think we've ever seen before, and I'm very interested in what Sburb might have in store for him.
The closest analogue I can think of, really, is Vriska, who also captures and deploys her resources carefully. But while Vriska may take an occasional pawn, Lil' Bro is the first Player we've seen who's building an entire board.
