The Visser One storyline is the strongest single arc in the series for me, up until the point where it crashlands into mediocrity in #45. I love that it introduces political mindgames to the series as early as #5. And Visser is my favorite book in the series, with either #30 or #15 being my favorite in the series proper. So, um, I like me some Edriss.
Edriss, to me, is the invert to Aftran. If Aftran's capable of empathizing with her hosts and capable of wonder at the complexities of the human mind. Edriss is too, with one caveat; just because she understands (or thinks she does) doesn't really mean she cares, or even better, doesn't mean she won't use it to get exactly what she wants.
Edriss thinks she understands human love. She doesn't. She doesn't even get close. The most chilling line in Visser besides "I made Jenny Lines breathe" is "...I could always infest Madra, place some well-trained Yeerk in her head. Then she would love me. She’d have no choice". I mean, seriously, WTF Edriss, that's not how it works you nutter. She sees the consequences of human emotion but doesn't really grasp the WHY. There's also a great series of lines where Edriss rages at Allison Kim for 'betraying' her, arguing that she treated Allison kindly and was used, betrayed, tricked. Edriss honestly doesn't see why her hosts all hate her. She has the reputation as the Yeerk who opened up the human mind, but she can't really shift her perspective to that of her hosts. She can only project what seems logical and rational to her onto them, and then gets flustered when they respond like humans instead of Yeerks.
That said, for those shortcomings, she's still better at it than other Yeerks, because she can predict what humans will do, as she did by creating the Sharing and by anticipating how Allison Kim would return to the hospital. That's part of why she hates Marco so much during Visser - she can't predict him, and then partway through the book he turns the tables on her in a way she didn't anticipate. Oh does she hate him. But she's easily smarter than Esplin and probably than a few of the Council Members, and is the most devious and intelligent Yeerk we see in the series.
In T9, someone brought up the idea that Allison may have been cultivating the love for Hildy/Essam and not Edriss, as a way to fuck with Edriss/assert autonomy. Upon rereading some chapters, it seems like that may be implied, that Allison is 'playing' Edriss by trying to push her towards Hildessam. Possibly Allison was even trying to set Edriss up for a challenge, sort of a 'bet you can't seduce him' sort of thing, because Edriss is totally in it for the challenge. I get the sense that while Edriss is ambitious and manipulative, it's not so much because she wants the glory, it's because she likes the challenge. She likes the challenge of ascending the ranks. She likes the challenge of finding a Class Five species, of being in a clever host, of trying to master human emotions. She absorbs knowledge like a sponge. She's outright disappointed in Jenny Lines for not fighting back.
I do love that she listens to her hosts' advice, though. The bits where she and Eva are piecing together what's going on in the trial are some of my favorites, and I can't see Esplin asking for Alloran's advice, for example.
Anyway, the point is that I love Edriss and find her absolutely fascinating. I have more thoughts on this, but I just want to put this up there because people are apparently psyched for Mah Magnificent Thoughts. <3
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-11-01 05:22 pm (UTC)Edriss, to me, is the invert to Aftran. If Aftran's capable of empathizing with her hosts and capable of wonder at the complexities of the human mind. Edriss is too, with one caveat; just because she understands (or thinks she does) doesn't really mean she cares, or even better, doesn't mean she won't use it to get exactly what she wants.
Edriss thinks she understands human love. She doesn't. She doesn't even get close. The most chilling line in Visser besides "I made Jenny Lines breathe" is "...I could always infest Madra, place some well-trained Yeerk in her head.
Then she would love me. She’d have no choice". I mean, seriously, WTF Edriss, that's not how it works you nutter. She sees the consequences of human emotion but doesn't really grasp the WHY. There's also a great series of lines where Edriss rages at Allison Kim for 'betraying' her, arguing that she treated Allison kindly and was used, betrayed, tricked. Edriss honestly doesn't see why her hosts all hate her. She has the reputation as the Yeerk who opened up the human mind, but she can't really shift her perspective to that of her hosts. She can only project what seems logical and rational to her onto them, and then gets flustered when they respond like humans instead of Yeerks.
That said, for those shortcomings, she's still better at it than other Yeerks, because she can predict what humans will do, as she did by creating the Sharing and by anticipating how Allison Kim would return to the hospital. That's part of why she hates Marco so much during Visser - she can't predict him, and then partway through the book he turns the tables on her in a way she didn't anticipate. Oh does she hate him. But she's easily smarter than Esplin and probably than a few of the Council Members, and is the most devious and intelligent Yeerk we see in the series.
In T9, someone brought up the idea that Allison may have been cultivating the love for Hildy/Essam and not Edriss, as a way to fuck with Edriss/assert autonomy. Upon rereading some chapters, it seems like that may be implied, that Allison is 'playing' Edriss by trying to push her towards Hildessam. Possibly Allison was even trying to set Edriss up for a challenge, sort of a 'bet you can't seduce him' sort of thing, because Edriss is totally in it for the challenge. I get the sense that while Edriss is ambitious and manipulative, it's not so much because she wants the glory, it's because she likes the challenge. She likes the challenge of ascending the ranks. She likes the challenge of finding a Class Five species, of being in a clever host, of trying to master human emotions. She absorbs knowledge like a sponge. She's outright disappointed in Jenny Lines for not fighting back.
I do love that she listens to her hosts' advice, though. The bits where she and Eva are piecing together what's going on in the trial are some of my favorites, and I can't see Esplin asking for Alloran's advice, for example.
Anyway, the point is that I love Edriss and find her absolutely fascinating. I have more thoughts on this, but I just want to put this up there because people are apparently psyched for Mah Magnificent Thoughts. <3