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Post by redsycorax on Mar 11, 2024 22:44:00 GMT
Hmm. Makes Roland sound a little like Selina Kyle, also known for her ethical scruples in terms of her own criminal conduct. Perhaps Roland has a soft spot for the weak and downtrodden and never robs hospitals, orphanages or philanthropists venues because he's more inclined to give at least some of his criminal proceeds to orphanages, homeless shelters, alcohol and drug rehab centers and other good causes? He particularly gets fiercely protective whenever someone vulnerable is being attacked, perhaps? Would that be in character? You could make him devoutly religious in some ways: "Look, I know I'm a crook, but my ma tried to bring me up the proper way. I won't deliberately increase human suffering and if I can help prevent that or at least mitigate it, then that's some way to making amends to the wrong I do. Which I feel damned guilty about."* So, in other words, Roland is an amalgam of qualities, which leads to an eventual decision to permanently reform when the imperatives that led to his original quasi-criminality were sidelined. That might also lead to some animosities, given Roland's crooked past, especially amongst some of the Sentinels who had less conflicted, morally ambiguous pasts?
*I got the idea from Pinky, the criminal character in Graham Greene's Brighton Rock, who's a bad'un but a lapsed Catholic too. He knows he's probably damned, but still retains the faith of his childhood. However, the ethical mix needn't be toward the dark side of the moral compass. Roland could be a Catholic crook too, but a quite different sort than Greene's Pinky. Example: An orphanage/children's home is having trouble paying its food bills. Up drives a truck full of nutritious fare for the kids. From the shadows above, the Stainless Steel Cat looks down and smiles as the nuns find the feast has been paid for beforehand by an anonymous benefactor. Guess who?
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Post by dans on Mar 11, 2024 23:43:58 GMT
I personally think he is religious, and that is why he was particularly vicious attacking the demons who were escaping from Hell - they are agents of Satan. I think he might have justified being a cat-burglar at some point in his life by tithing a good part of what he stole, or donating to charities, and he only stole from people who he thought had ill-gotten riches. (yes, a food truck seems to me like something he might do...)
This might lead to conflict with Doc Yale when he learned that Doc Yale had made his living selling snake oil to poorer folks for years, but Doc has spent the years since then doing good deeds, so that might make up for it. Mac Maine seems to be a sort of generic Golden Age good guy who happened into the heroic role. We are still learning about the other members of the Sentinels, although Harry possibly is something of a martinet - he is supposed to have a terrible temper.
And none of our speculations about Roland have actually appeared in a story yet, so we won't really know what he's like until that first story about him is written. He might turn out to be a berserker...
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Post by redsycorax on Mar 12, 2024 21:45:53 GMT
It might sharpen things slightly if the demons who escaped were going to engage in active and tangible harm to others, especially that involving violence, homicide or attacks on the weak and vulnerable and Roland felt a strong moral imperative as a person of faith to actively intervene to prevent that harm. And if the demons fought back, and given they are inhuman entities, there'd be nothing to stop Roland using severe force to restrain them, as long as he didn't endanger others. I suspect that if he had a strong moral compass, he would do everything in his power to avoid danger or injury to innocent bystanders.
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Post by dans on Mar 12, 2024 22:37:23 GMT
The demons were invaders from Hell, who were trying to force a piece of the Darkworld into the 5 Earths universes in order to swarm out of Hell and invade. They are as evil as they come, and I agree that if Roland were strongly religious, that would add to fervor with which he combatted these demons. He was fighting for the future of ALL the people on 5 or more Earths - and all the other people in all those universes as well.
I think the story of Roland DeGrasso is probably beyond my writing horizon, so I've changed my mind and am not going to attempt it. Anyone else who is interested might find some useful concepts in this thread, or on the other hand, beyond the basic facts we know, start from scratch.
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Post by DocQuantum on Mar 13, 2024 0:26:24 GMT
We are still learning about the other members of the Sentinels, although Harry possibly is something of a martinet - he is supposed to have a terrible temper. I don't get this from the story at all. Hutch is shown to be the calm and unwavering one when explaining to young Gareth why he's not allowed to come on the mission with them. As the Sentinels' official leader, he's shown to have strong leadership capabilities, and when he has a conflict with Gareth Gallowglass (who at 12 years old is shown to have a bad temper due to his immaturity) he puts his foot down in a very calm way and tells him he needs to remain behind in case the team needs support. When Gareth deliberately disobeys the order and stows away, Hutch is frustrated but doesn't lose his temper with him -- described as "icy anger," which speaks more of his self-control as a leader, sticking to his guns once the decision is made, especially as a father figure to a moody child (trust me, I know all about that). The only weakness we really see is his fear of flying.
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