something something something about hairstyles and how Red/Quinn's hair is mostly loose while the queen only has her bangs loose and blah blah blah LOOK AT THIS.
Sooo... last few weeks have been... not ideal...
But we're back! I thought I'd finish up the council members now that episodes are dropping consistently! So please welcome the leader of our malevolent council: Dominic Malraux!
We'll prolly officially end this series with my interpretations/notes on Gabriel and Nathalie, before moving onto some other worldbuilding /character things here and there! :D
Background
Dominic = derived from Dominicus (Latin), meaning "of the Lord" - ironic for a man who believes God abandoned the world
Malraux = French surname, evoking the writer André Malraux (philosopher of absurdity, human suffering, and revolutionary identity)
Born 1952, Naples, Italy
Abandoned at birth - product of rape, never knew his father
Taken in by the Roman Catholic Church and raised in a southern orphanage run by Jesuit clergy
Displayed early intelligence, emotional restraint, and a preternatural ability to observe - traits mistaken for spiritual devotion
Molested by a priest at age 12; when he tried to speak out, was accused of “moral corruption” due to suspected homosexuality (reference Catholic Church sexual abuse cases)
Subjected to corrective discipline and spiritual reprogramming - forced to “confess,” pray, and repent for abuse he suffered
Developed a lifelong detachment from faith - but a deep obsession with systems of belief
Studied for the priesthood not because he believed, but because he needed a purpose, a reason to be wanted
Belief became irrelevant; doctrine, a script; became fluent in Catholic language and ritual - used it to ascend within the institution
Saw his priesthood not as service to God, but as training for something greater: control over the souls of men
Secretly believed saving the world might prove he was worthy of love - even if he would never admit it aloud
Mother:
Sought out his biological mother; found her in a small rural village, impoverished and haunted
She refused to embrace him - his presence reminded her of the man who violated her
Despite her rejection, he begged her to come with him - offering escape, safety, salvation
She refused; said it was “too late for dreams”
Days later, she was murdered by her husband in a drunken rage
The Church refused to bury her; Dominic buried her himself, weeping at a grave no one else would visit
This was the fracture - his final severance from the world as it was.
He realized then: the world didn’t need healing; it needed recreation
Earthquake & Alliance:
1985: Sent to Mexico City as a priest during post-earthquake relief efforts
Met a rescue worker and political dissident; they connected over shared disillusionment
Together, they formed the Council
Miraculous:
As a theology student and later as a Vatican archivist, Dominic dove deep into the apocryphal histories of sainthood - looking for anomalies, inconsistencies, unexplained "miracles" and sudden divine events
The deeper Dominic goes, the more he finds deliberate erasures - scratched-out pages, redacted papal notes, burned letters
He soon learns about the Miraculous; concludes that Miraculous users were the source of many early faith structures, including his Church - and decides that the only way to fix the world is to recreate it using the power of the Gods
Ideological Evolution:
Rose steadily through the Vatican hierarchy; by the 2000s, an Archbishop with international influence
Kept his radicalism secret, hidden behind decades of perfect priesthood
Had heard about Manson when he was convicted in 1971 - had been disgusted by the man and had no interest in him
However, the idea of a cult intrigued him, and he started reading more about Manson, including his own accounts
While he vehemently disagreed with many of Manson's claims and methodology, he found Manson strangely... relatable in more ways than he wanted to admit
He started poring over criminal profiles obsessively; his recruits started becoming case studies; and he himself, a master at psychology
Studied not just criminals, but cult leaders, insurgents, terrorist cells, philosophers
Saw his team as both case studies and family: a collection of beautiful anomalies he could finally understand; extensions of his will; children that owe him everything
His empathy never left - but he used it not for mercy, but for control
The others saw people as machines. Dominic saw people as insects: fragile, complex, and fascinating
“You are not my followers. You are my lambs. I suffer for you. I bleed for you. I would burn the world to give you light.”
Philosophy & Control:
Believes in love - but only the kind that he creates, he defines, he controls
To Dominic, the Council are:
Subjects in his grand experiment
Children born of his ideology
Tools to reshape the world
Found family who exists because of him - and for him
Offers affection, but laces it with guilt
They fear and admire him - not because he’s heartless, but because he still has a heart and chooses cruelty anyway
“A man who kills without feeling is an animal. A man who feels and does it anyway? That’s God.”
Present Day (2016):
Status: Archbishop in Rome with global influence
Publicly, a holy man, educator, philanthropist, spiritual advisor to politicians and leaders
Privately, a visionary megalomaniac who believes the world must be purified through fire to be reborn
Believes the Council is his greatest achievement - proof that human nature can be rewritten
Considers himself the only one who truly loves the Council members, even as he dismantles them emotionally
The other members find him unsettling, a contradiction: a man capable of deep compassion who also engineers catastrophe. His empathy makes them uneasy because it suggests choice - and choice implies intentional cruelty
The other members: "A madman is much more dangerous than a sane one - at least, the latter is predictable... and yet... this madman we all revere, fear, and hate... he is necessary."
Still keeps his mother’s rosary and her death certificate in a drawer beside his bed
“The others burn the world because they hate it. I burn it because I love what it could be.”
Design Notes/Character Study
White cassock - worn during Christmas and Easter to reflect purity, holiness, and light; alludes to the birth of his new world
Wears white in public; black attire when shown with the council
Purple vestments/ornaments - represents penance, preparation, and sacrifice; also a sign of seniority
Lots of gold and gilding
White hair threaded with black - inverse of (older) Victor
Sacrificial lamb imagery
Cincture around neck to resemble noose
Grey eyes that reflect the colors around him - reflects purple in the scenes where he dabbles with magic or shady businesses (purple eyes are often used as a sign of corruption)
Pinned poisonous insects - metaphor for the council
Should be able to switch between soft and harsh expressions easily
Tonight is night one of two of SPEEDTRAP Vol. II on the Hell Stage at Piranha Bar. Kicks off at 7:00 PM.
Tonight’s lineup is Spirit Unbound, Samuraï, Black Absinthe (Toronto), Killotine (Hamilton), The Scepter (Ottawa), and Castle (San Francisco / Toronto), in that order.
I literally finished all three in a week! While I was a little disappointed in the novellas (The Sword and the Scepter) because I was hoping to see more of Rooke's time in the Northern Lands, still glad to have read them.
But The Crown of Oaths and Curses?? I loved it! At first, I thought it was going to be straight up romantasy (because of those two novellas and the whole fated mates thing) but now it's just a fantasy to me with the aspect of romance not being the central thing (or least I hope so). I can't wait for the second book. I know there has been something going on where it's been delayed, but I'm waiting for the paperback version anyway.
Clint Barton, Dr. Selvig and S.H.I.E.L.D agents: *were mind controlled by the mind stone in the scepter given to Loki by Thanos. They killed people and/or helped Loki with his plans.*
Dr. Cho: *was mind controlled by the mind stone in the scepter and helped Ultron with his plans.*
Hulk: *was mind controlled by Wanda and attacked innocent civilians.*
Bucky: *his mind was tampered with by Hydra to obey their orders.*
Peter Quill: *was mind controlled by Ego to help him destroy the world.*
Fans: None of these characters can be held responsible for their actions when their mind wasn’t under their control. They are innocent and still heroes.
Wanda Maximoff: *Attacked and mind controlled the Avengers for revenge. She mind controlled Hulk and unleashed him on innocent civilians. All of this was done out of her own free will.*
Fans: She started as a villain but she was redeemed after she joined the Avengers.
Loki: *his mind was under the influence of mind stone to attack the Earth. He was under duress to bring back the Tesseract to Thanos and The Other. His mind was under constant surveillance by The Other through the mind stone and every time The Other contacted Loki through the scepter it caused him pain. There are indications of past torture and the threat of more pain if Loki can’t hold his end of the bargain.*
Fans: Loki is a VILLAIN! Stop coddling him!
Loki Fandom:
It’s been two years since Marvel confirmed that Loki was mind controlled in The Avengers movie and he is still called a villain. People don’t hold the hero coded characters accountable for their actions under mind control, and rightfully so. But when it comes Loki he is still perceived as a villain since he was portrayed as a villain coded character. Even before Marvel’s confirmation of Loki being mind controlled, it was obvious in the movie that Loki was under duress and threat of torture. There are even visible signs that he was tortured before he came to Earth.
Wanda’s story is a perfect example of people’s double standards when it comes to hero vs. villain coded characters. Wanda along with her brother chose to work with Hydra for revenge. She chose to join forces with Ultron. The way she mind controlled the Avengers and unleashed Hulk on people is a parallel to Loki’s actions in Avengers movie. With the difference that all of her actions was done out of her own free will. She wasn’t under duress, threat of torture or the influence of a mind controlling scepter unlike Loki. In spite of that, People are fast to forgive her as soon as she joined the Avengers. But they don’t do the same for Loki despite the fact that he was redeemed over and over after his wrongdoings (Part 2).
