User blog:ARB/Deciphering Tightrope

Hello and welcome to Tightrope Annotations. Literally can't be bothered to read The Tightrope Act because it's so obnoxiously long and it's pure torture? Don't worry, me too. I honestly don't know why I write stuff so long but alas, here we are. To aid me in organizing and understanding the tiny details of Tightrope, have this breakdown of everything you need to know about the story. This will be where I will be declassifying everything I have in my notebook, a certain Google document, and my head. This page may be used as a reference point in the future for writing any of the mentioned characters or in reading the story with some well... subtext.

While at it, I acknowledge that Tightrope is currently the longest story and article in the wiki, and with that, I am very honored to hold the title as that story's author. I know that some would want to know my styles and tricks in order to weave together a lengthy and complex story such as Tightrope. For that, I discuss here as well my process and creative thought, as well as give some little tips about how to go about writing.

As of May 18, 2021, this decipher page is in progress.

The Characters
Of course, characters are your primary choice in getting a plot going simply because they are doers of action, meant to propel the plot through certain directions throughout situations they're stuck in. Diversity in your repertoire's characteristics is key if you want to have interesting dialogue, decisions, perspectives, etc. Unfortunately (but fortunately) for yours truly, I had to write out Tightrope with a good chunk of characters, most of which I had to flesh out or consult heavily. Speaking of consultations, a big thank you to both Weez and Nick for helping me out on heavy details. You two have no idea how much fun it is fleshing out characters with y'all.

You'd think that since these are a bunch of intelligence agents, they would all follow some sort of formula as do all stereotypical spies and agents. The problem with this notion is the fact that it tries to make everyone bland and inflexible, which is not really the target of writing a story. While they are all somewhat like-minded enough to work harmoniously as a group in the Taskforce, there are factors and reasonings in their actions and personalities that distinguish them, as well as backgrounds that become underlying roots to their best and worst qualities. Digging deep and forging things from there is always an essential thing to do as both writer and reader, and my best-recommended method in understanding character development.

This section discusses mainly the personality, motivations, and brief backgrounds of each of the characters. Included as well is the commentary on how I want to work on them more and how to further explore them.

Main Respondents

 * Lydia Brandt (SSS)
 * Initially born in Alemania, Brandt is the breadwinner of a family of three, with her mother stuck in a wheelchair following the incidents of one of the many GSWs, and her sister barely out of high school. Her father is one of the many casualties of the wars, hence her current position as the eldest born and most functional. Since Snowzerland basically annexed them in around the 2009/2010 time, she sought out work where pay would be good and employment is most stable: the government. It's best to say that she didn't necessarily finish college, what with the sudden annexation and all, and the country didn't exactly survive the sudden wars and conflicts that followed. Despite her mother's wishes, she joined the SSS in hopes of earning enough to comfort her family and see the world. It was surprising for everyone to see her shoot through the ranks seamlessly, unhesitant with whatever and whoever she's had to go through in the name of excellence and family.


 * Brandt is, well, not your stereotypical execution of what an SSS agent is supposed to be. She's a seeker of information, knowledgeable of every method necessary to get what she needs to know. Strong-willed and inflexible to whims, she knows what she wants to do and how to execute it, regardless of the circumstances and the opinions of others. These characteristics make her frowned upon by the Taskforce as someone who cannot be trusted, especially with her affiliation with the empire and the fact that her organization's not exactly the kindest. Due to this, she constantly has to push herself, prove herself worth the trust, until ultimately wrecking herself in the process.


 * What I'd like to point out is that she's meant to be a parallel to Tvarkov, except homegrown and designed to be more of a field agent rather than a caged bird. She's not your standard heterosexual character either, often blindsided by her undeniable crush on Dr. Ilsa Lindholm, one of the top neurologists in the empire. To write her out is more than just representation to me - it's not often we see awesome, kick-butt LGBT characters in media. I wanted to present her as a multifaceted character: a loving daughter, a fearsome agent, and a pursuant suitor.


 * Mia Carter (UAN)
 * Carter was born as the only daughter of a single mother in Polaris, who was a simple secretary in one of the many law firms dotting the country's capital. With the difficulty of raising a daughter at such a young age, her mother sought the help of her parents - Carter's grandmother and grandfather - so that she can work in the day without worrying over how her daughter's been. With that, Carter mostly grew up engrossed in the large books filling her grandpa's bookshelves and the vinyl in her grandma's little boxes. She eventually found her calling after jumping around interests for several years, finding her love in writing mid-college and having to shift programs for that. At the time of her hiring as a journalist, she was mostly a war correspondent who covered countless stories, especially during the GSWs. She was approached by the UAN afterward to become an observer and member of the Internal Integrity and Transparency Office, a position she happily accepted.


 * The thing with characters like Carter is that well, constructing them to be a polar opposite of your standard characters is not easy when you're used to having a certain way around these people. She's more... emotional and normal compared to most of the characters on this list, though made of a rigid moral code that doesn't seem to grasp the Taskforce's lack of one. While primarily serving as an observing and narrative character, Carter fills in the role nicely as someone who's questioning the rigid standards that have allowed things like the Public to slip from political attention, making them resort to things such as intelligence agents to get the job done.


 * Of course, putting a civilian in the midst of a bunch of hardened, clinical intelligence officers would mean entail some sort of reaction and a different opinion, doesn't it? She's already seen the aftermath of battle when she was still a journalist, it was high time she learned what it looks like to orchestrate one.


 * James Cueva (Orion Initiative)
 * Cueva was born to a couple of Magbanua origins. His mother was a skilled weaver who had the capacity to weave spells into any cloth she made. His father, meanwhile, briefly served as part of the magical council of the country. In contrast to his parents, however, Cueva lacked magical ability. His skills were limited to being capable of identifying the presence of magic, but beyond that, manipulation of such magic was a lost cause to him. In his youth, he was targeted by Maharlika executives to turn him into a soldier to their regime, tempting him with the promise of "getting his magic back" in exchange for his services. Of course, it never quite worked, and Cueva found himself working on the wrong side of history. This only changed when an incident put him under government custody, where he changed allegiances and eventually became the head of the reformed Orion Initiative.


 * I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that I don't have a soft spot for Cueva. I enjoyed crafting his story -- the only son of two powerful mages who couldn't practice magic, the sheep who lost his way, the levelheaded Director. If he were more cynical I would've described his characterization as "wolf in sheep's clothing", but that would be wrong. Cueva's character works more along the lines of "hiding in plain sight", capable of pretending to be remotely diplomatic when even he becomes complacent to the shady business the other agents have to do to get the information needed. He's not gonna pretend he condones or condemns what they do, he simply looks away. Plausible deniability, after all, helps him pretend to be innocent.


 * But that's a fun thing to explore, something I want to explore in the near future. If he kept pretending to play the neutral card, when will it come to catch up on him? When will he decide to spoil the carefully constructed reputation he built around himself? Everyone knows that James Cueva has nerves of steel underneath his placid exterior. It's merely a matter of when he wants to make that known.


 * Jian Liang Heng (MSB)
 * Heng was the only child in his family, growing up mostly in his lonesome in the company of his parents. He entered the MSB early and quickly rose up the ranks, characterized by many as ruthless and witty in his strategy and might. For this, he was known as a rising star in the agency, quickly gaining traction among the higher-ups as a formidable and promising operative. He may come across as rather standoffish, quick to anger, and yet capable of making the right decisions at the most critical of moments. He was sent to the Taskforce following the unavailability of Nick Tang, the initial MSB respondent considered for the operation.


 * After discussing with Nick about how we wanted to throw Margate into the story, we sort of agreed to throw a wrench into the Taskforce by sending someone new, someone we're not really aware of from past stories or interactions with other characters. It's been previously established that Tang, Kowalski, and Tvarkov all work well together as a triad due to past experiences, however, this cannot be achieved in Tightrope due to the introduction of Heng. He's supposed to stand as a contrast to Tang's calm leadership, the fire to his cool waters. I wanted to see how this contrast would affect the rest of the Taskforce, as it would tip the scales to agree more to the heat of Wolfe compared to Cueva.


 * At the same time, I wanted to explore what it's like to be the "new kid in the block". All these folks, one way or the other, have worked with each other in Theta. What happens when you come in out of literally nowhere because the original guy wasn't available? Big shoes to fill, much to catch up on. Heng's there to prove that he can.


 * I04 (9)
 * Not much is known about I04 for the UAN and its affiliates, beyond the fact that he's somewhere in his late thirties and he's been in Munijoch for as long as anyone knows. To us readers, however, he's one of the two known surviving Alphabet Squadron members, which was formerly used as experiments during the era of the WhiteBloods. He currently leads the Intelligence department of the SI:9, wielding multiple rings that are used to manipulate countless nanomachines to do what he needs doing. Aloof and unbothered by anything and everyone (Taskforce included), he's notorious for getting the job done with sheer accuracy and stealthiness no one can ever expect.


 * You're most likely wondering why that first paragraph is so sparsely detailed when usually I'm so abundant with content and lore. What I appreciated most while doing heavy consulting and work with Weez is that his past basically comes out as irrelevant to the whole point of his existence despite it being the key reason why he's in this position. I04's a different sort of material to work with for me, it's much like a constantly shifting Rubik's cube whenever I'm evaluating where to next put him. He's not the sort of character you can just play with unless you have a good reason to, making it more difficult to conceptualize him. This is also the result of working with a character you did not design or develop, especially since I04 is filled with blanks and shrouded in mystery and my usual "???". He's meant to be difficult to work with - both for me, the author and the Taskforce.


 * So how do we remedy this? Well, I did mention the heavy consulting work I had to do. The thing with characters like these is that you have to drown in them, sink yourself firmly into their story until you're sure of what this character is capable of and how they execute this and that. You gotta anticipate near everything they could possibly do in the story and then some - maybe the basics of their physical appearance, their strengths, weaknesses, what their childhood was. From there, we can progress to things like what keeps them up at night, what motivates them, what makes them burn. It involves excruciatingly building up a profile on them and picking carefully when to best use them until they're an effective component of the overall storytelling and mood.


 * Mason Kowalski (SAD)
 * Kowalski was born and raised in Mattress Village, living a rather aristocratic life before he became a doctor. There's irony when you consider that for a man who dedicated himself to saving lives, he would quickly take a turn for the worse when he develops a hypodermic needle that can slow the heart, take on leadership as the Bureaucrat of the SAD, and overall become a highly dangerous operative disguised as a harmless doctor. Don't take it all as that, however. Kowalski still practices medicine as a civilian in a clinic or two. It's just that when the time comes for him to serve his country behind enemy lines, he'll do it without hesitation.


 * This sweet, sweet contrast made him fun to toy with in the first place because of the duality of his position. Should he save a life or end it? What defines "saving"? Can you save a life by ending one? There's a bit of a god complex question hanging in the air with Kowalski. I wanted to see how he would work as someone who regularly breaks the rules in a place where every action they'd make would be heavily scrutinized and put under rigorous moral and ethic rules before being considered "good" or "bad". Why would they even want them there in the first place when he's someone who already fluctuates between moral codes?


 * At the same time, I also found it hilarious that he'd be the sole medic in the entire main cast. We get to see him complaining left and right about it during the first raid, to the point that he flat out refused having a second or third one after how terrible the first one went. He needs more help! Everyone around him is a bunch of offense/defense brats who keep getting injured! A man can only save so many lives without considering ending some first.


 * Rogue Tvarkov (EPF)
 * Born in the outer throngs of the Arctic Kingdom, Tvarkov comes from a prominent line of military and government officers, who pride themselves on being efficient and powerful in Rusca. After briefly forgetting her identity due to an incident, as well as falling under prey of the Ruscan Syndicate, she ran away to the USA where she was detained and eventually offered a position in the PSA. Rising through the ranks with an efficiently unparalleled, she soon garnered the rank of Commander over a specialist division following the events of Operation: Blackout. Since then, she's become a known figure in the global law enforcement scene, a relentless agent going after some of the most heinous terrorist rings.


 * While I understand how this is still her story, it never quite felt that way while plotting the entirety of this behemoth of a tale. Sure, she had her moments, but more often than not she found herself swept around by the sheer force of the events before her. I wanted to explore the concept of Rogue in a collaborative environment, where she has to act friendly with people she didn't inherently trust. I wanted to see how she'd play out dealing with the consequences of her actions, a thing I've been wanting to explore since the beginning of Theta.


 * Also, I'm not just gonna sweep away the minor personal development I put her through with Jason. That was a long time coming, a literal decade in the making. My skills in slow-burn know no mercy, and even I had to give in and give it to them.


 * Robert Wolfe (SIA)
 * Wolfe was born in the USA in one of the many villages along the southern parts of the region, the youngest out of five brothers. Not much is crafted out of his early days due to their sheer insignificance, since he was he did not do much but study, play with his four older brothers, and learn how to handle the ax whenever it was time to cut some lumber. His family eventually migrated to Shops Island with the promise of better opportunities, only to find themselves stuck in the island's Great Depression. While the rest of his family scrambled to find jobs that would keep them afloat, Wolfe joined the SIA as a soldier of the armed forces.


 * Constructing Wolfe is a process I'm frankly proud of, consisting of reading Bro's stories and how he constructs his characters so I can get the general feel of a grouchy, stubborn Shopper agent. I can say with confidence that he can best be likened in behavior and appearance to Broseph, who also shares a similar background to him. Both are haunted by the horrors they saw during the conflicts they had to fight through, with Wolfe's latest nightmares consisting of the Frosian War, when he joined the SIA Special Forces after calls were sent out that they needed men. With years worth of trauma and sleeplessness building up, it eventually turned him into a live wire just waiting to be tripped.


 * Wolfe's exact division is the SIA's Red Herring Division, set up to dissuade and manipulate enemy spies within his country. I think it's worth pointing out that despite this clear line of work, the UAN still sent for him. His heavy military background, combined with his skills in manipulation and persuasion, makes him the best bet in all matters concerning offensive measures and deflection. He can be brackish and aggressive at times, but he can be a fast solution to solve everything should the media attention become too extreme. Finally, I'd best compare him to a storm surge, the last thing in calamities you'd expect to cause the most destruction.


 * Lyudmila Zarkova (NRR)
 * Born in the seaside city of Vostok, Zarkova is the only girl of three children, squarely found in the middle of the lineup. Her father, a navy man who has strong aspirations for his sons to become part of the fold, tried to get them interested, with little results to show for. He was pleasantly surprised to find, however, his only daughter taking interest and often begging to come with him whenever he went to the port to observe ships. With an affinity in marksmanship, Zarkova was put in the sharpshooting brigade and shipped off to multiple posts, eventually being brought to the site of multiple battles that the country participated in. Due to her eventual need to be protected, she was returned to the country and transferred to the NRR to do covert work for the agency. This would quickly earn her the callsign of Firebird, after the mythical bird that rebirths itself every few centuries or so.


 * Now, Zarkova is unabashedly a historical reference to Lyudmila Pavlichenko, celebrated as the best female snipers in military history and one of the few most effective snipers in general. Listen to me, this is what happens when you're plotting a story and you have a big girl crush on someone, you end up writing about them in a shameless display of love and admiration for the person themselves. Pavlichenko's story can best be summarized and read about here, which is also the site where I get a lot of historical girl crushes. I really want to sit down and watch the movie she has, one day, and gush over how pretty she is and how awesome she is and how I want to be like her one day minus the bad trauma and all that.


 * Anyway, to fashion a character out of a historical figure's something that requires a little bit of... finesse. Maybe a little bit of cherry-picking, but that's to avoid having a direct parody of this person which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Zarkova's designed to be a military soldier who was suddenly brought into the intelligence community, learning how to distrust everyone after knowing traditional camaraderie values all her life. It's much like having a fish out of water, with this one being mildly uneasy while trying not to let everyone know about it. Zarkova can do her job just fine, but she is unsure of how to execute it when she's been made to learn different methods for her common tasks. She's a division between the military and intelligence, her military side appearing with her care for her peers especially in their welfare. She's the living embodiment of "no man left behind."

Secondaries

 * a6 (SI:9)
 * Dexter Hoffman (SSS)
 * Piri Perez (EPF)
 * Jack Reyes (EPF)
 * Nick Tang (MSB)
 * Nadir Valentino (SIA)
 * Jack Reyes (EPF)
 * Nick Tang (MSB)
 * Nadir Valentino (SIA)
 * Nadir Valentino (SIA)
 * Nadir Valentino (SIA)

Multiple Conflicts
[breaks fingers]

Well. Ain't this gonna be quite the time.

Let's start with the central plot question: the exploration of the difference between activism and terrorism. That's been something I've been struggling to come to terms with, especially with the current events unfolding in real-time in my life, and I guess in a sense I gave this story the opportunity to help me unpack those thoughts. I wanted to see and understand how media would depict radicalized activists, how law enforcement would respond, and how they in turn would retaliate. I figured something complex and morally grey would soothe the questions in my mind and straighten out what's been bouncing around since asking the question.

It's interesting, how the motives of the Public sound perfectly reasonable. They want answers for what happened during the Theta leaks, they want freedom for political prisoners, and compensation for those who never came back. That's the first facet of the problem. They sound perfectly reasonable. After all, when confronted with all the rot your country has done and the extent to which they hid the rot, who wouldn't rage? Who wouldn't organize? To want accountability isn't a bad thing. It's how you ask for it that makes the difference.

Tightrope answers the question on what the difference between activism and terrorism early on through Rogue's dialogue: "Interesting, how methods can define the difference between activism and terrorism." It's the most innocent line thrown flippantly in the air, but we end up hearing resonation of it throughout the rest of the story. Methodology is the only thing that defines the given difference, and even then, defining either activity becomes highly subjective. What still counts as activism? What still counts as terrorism? As the saying goes, "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

But we become quick to defining The Public as terrorists after we find out they're behind the hostages and the subsequent bombings. It's the UAN, the national governments, the Taskforce that labels them as such. I wished I explored on it, but I want to understand the chilling effect doing so would've had to the activists on the streets who agreed with The Public. Did agreeing with them also make them terrorists? Did sympathy rope them into their acts? Another thought for a different time.

I find it interesting how in the end, none of The Public's pleas are answered. There is no accountability, no monetary compensation, no freedom for the political prisoners imprisoned. It raises the question to the second conflict of the story: who exactly are the Taskforce working for? They say they work for the protection of the greater masses, but who were they really protecting here? Again, The Public had perfectly reasonable demands. The Taskforce asserted that they did not negotiate with terrorists and consequently wiped them out. In the end, it becomes questionable wondering who exactly was the villain in this story when both angles are examined.

A third and more minor conflict I wanted to go through in this story was the dealing of consequences. The Tightrope Act is a direct consequence of The Theta Contingency, the previous story where Theta hacked and leaked sensitive documents that sent shockwaves throughout the world. For a year these people have been cleaning up the mess he left, only to be brought together when his mess culminates in a larger, bigger threat. Each character brings with them the trauma and struggles they've carried from trying to undo Theta's work. It raises the stakes as they understand the context of where this conflict comes from.

Scene Breakdowns
If you're gonna say that I'm gonna break down literally every single scene in this story I'm gonna start crying at you while laughing hysterically. There are only a select few scenes that will be mentioned here for the sake of my sanity and because those scenes are very, very vivid throughout my writing of Tightrope.

The Flowers
It's been a continuous motif throughout Tightrope that flowers are mentioned in passing as a side detail, not really given much attention unless you know... I do. What's not totally taken into consideration yet is the fact that all of these flowers have a meaning that reflects either the character associated with it or the mood. This table basically simplifies everything for your convenience.

The Music
Currently used or music that's yet to make its appearance in The Tightrope Act with the additional footnotes of why they've been used for your convenience.


 * 1) Twin Crimes - Maximum Love : If we're being honest, the scene was built around this song rather than the other way around. It best portrayed the necessary attributes of The Hubris and the weight of the scene: finality, deafening bass, warped wording.
 * 2) Blast Doors - Everything Everything : I literally have no explanation to this besides that it's one of the many songs I run laps to, so a6 gets to rightfully use it.
 * 3) Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics : a6 utilizes classic rock for sonic incapacitation, so this was literally the first thing I had in the mind for the sequence. Also have you seen that redheaded man in the video? Literally screaming androgynousness, a6 is shookt.
 * 4) Che Vuole Questa Musica Stasera - Peppino Gagliardi : Literally lifted from "Man from UNCLE" though without the sinking boat scene with Superman eating a sandwich in the background, took a second interpretation of it being an intimate fireplace song to tap into Mia Carter's Ligurian roots.
 * 5) Undecided - Ella Fitzgerald : Mia Carter's music taste can best be described as incredibly old and laid back that even Cueva is surprised whenever she picks the music for the day.
 * 6) Neat Neat Neat - The Damned : Previously used in "Baby Driver", literally have you seen that sequence? It was so cool don't argue with me.
 * 7) Tightrope - Janelle Monaé (ft. Big Boi) : Y'all thought I wouldn't drop a song called Tightrope in this story but you were all mistaken. Also, this is such a bop it's worth the chase scene.
 * 8) Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees : Because it's most likely that Rogue's never heard Despacito in all her life, she's probably heard this because the poor kid's old enough to know it. Also it's an ideal song for someone who's trying to survive a chess game.
 * 9) Ruby Rider - Charlyne Li (Steven Universe Soundtrack) : Alright so I picked this song both because it's so painfully "yeehaw pew pew cowboy" that Reyes would be crying in his seat, and because I love this episode of SU so much. I mean, Ruby got to realize that being together with Sapphire made everything extra fun and better? That's why these two are my favorite couple ever, thank you.
 * 10) Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra : Listen to me, there was only one way I can cut scene and skip that fight altogether because I cannot be bothered to figure out how two Alphabet Squadron kids fight . Additionally, this has been requested per Weez since why not so we have this.
 * 11) What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong : Hey it's a globe/world/earth-pun to The Globalist and it's super calming, thanks for asking.
 * 12) Dream a Little Dream of Me - The Mamas & The Papas : You can come back to me when you're done reading Hang the Fool to understand the reference to this, thanks. But honestly, this song delivered as something so soothing and so terrifying that I had to put it in.
 * 13) 我問天 - 翁立友 : Per the request of Nick, I had to find something that would suit the cultural richness and atmosphere of a getai, a large concert occurring during the evenings during the Hungry Ghost Festival. After asking, I've found that this is a classic to be sung during the event and plays a nice good irony tone for me.
 * 14) Square Hammer - Ghost
 * 15) Fire - BTS : Listen to me I was discussing plot points with Nick and when he mentioned that character Nick would combust from the anger I cried for a solid minute because this popped in my head and I couldn't be bothered to not put it in. Also that sudden outburst of music in the start after the buildup? The time between Nick realizing what's happened then combusting and charging like a madman. I rest my case.
 * 16) In Our Bedroom After the War - Stars
 * 17) Till Death - Japanese Breakfast

Final Words
Overall, this just proves how very extra and meticulous I am when I get down to writing stories. Any further questions are welcome in the talk page.

-- A R  B    january's the trial month  14:12, 12 January 2019 (UTC)