I don't know why, but I much prefer this one to the previous one. Perhaps just the fact that this gives us an outsider's point of view on Adam, and besides, I've never read much Kaito at all and I do love his voice in this. There is something fascinating seeing how other people see Adam; only fragments, facets of him, and never the full picture. How could anyone encompass the full picture when it changes with every situation, and yet remains unchanged forever?

And I love that last line.

Thanks! I like the last line too.

the previous one

The one from Angela's POV or from Adams? Those two (hopefully) balance one another out. Kaito's is more stand-alone.

I meant from Adam's, as I hadn't yet read Angela's. Which I've now done, but I stick with this one being my favourite. Why oh why must I suddenly develop a fascination for Kaito, right when my fascination for Angela might just get fulfilled thanks to more onscreen time for her? (Hey, I'm still hoping.)

They're all incredibly strong, sad and powerful, but this one... I don't know. There is something about his voice, his words, something so inevitable. He is a character in a tragedy, with hindsight and the knowledge, that terrible knowledge, that nothing can be made right.

Finding out Kaito's ability was like see the piece of the jigsaw that makes everything makes sense. Of course Kaito would have been a leader in the Company when they were performing their "good works", saving the world as Bob said. He would have analysed what was happening around the world, seen trouble at the macro level, and the founders would have prevented that thing from happening but providing the "tipping point". It must be an amazingly God-like power, to be able to do that. But it would make Kaito extremely vulnerable to the "unknown unknowns" (re. Rumsfeld) - variables in those who are closest to him. Like Adam, keeping information about himself a secret.

Kaito loses his idealism after that, I think. He applies his gift to predicting the stock market, things in which he doesn't have too much to lose.

the knowledge, that terrible knowledge, that nothing can be made right.

Ironical, that his son should have the power to travel back in time. And yet I think Hiro will one day have to learn the same painful lesson, that even when you can change it, it isn't always right.

Angela is very fascinating to speculate about, in relation to Adam. Since Adam can block Maurey from his thoughts, Angela is probably the only founder who could have learned something about him that Adam didn't intentionally or unintentionally share. So unless Adam actually entrusted one of them with his secrets (Linderman, for example), or unless his immortality can be confirmed through scientific means (tests done by Victoria Pratt, maybe), then Angela is the mostly likely person to have leaked it.

Edited at 2008-09-04 03:01 pm (UTC)

He might lose his idealism, but there's a tiny part of it that will never die. The part that loves his son, I'd wager. And yes, Hiro will learn the same lesson, or I shall be very disappointed. I'm thinking that he might need to learn it over and over again, though. It's the way Hiro is.

It's notably the thought of Adam mentoring Kaito that appeals to me. That means a very specific sort of bonding, and for Kaito to betray it, when faced with such a wild card he could not predict... For Kaito to come to realise that the man he owes so much to is the one he must now go against. Talk about a loss of idealism. A facet of his idealism, anyway.

And Maurey is so sure of his power, what a shock it must've been to be of no effect to Adam. But yes, in that sense, it is a wonder that he has let Angela live this long. Because she is still one of the few ones that could truly be dangerous to him and his plans. She can upset everything - tip the balance in her own way. Gives a whole new meaning to the end of her drabble, "You have turned me into a loaded gun and aimed me at your heart." You're really amazing at fic endings. You should actually redo that "first lines" meme, but with "last lines". Yes, you should.

All things considered, Angela doesn't have a particularly nice ability. Precogs are mythologically guaranteed to be characters in a tragedy. Damn you, show, for conforming to the Cassandra stereotype! I finally got around to finishing Mary Douglas' Purity and Danger, and she puts forward this theory that a society's "conscious" magics, like sorcery, is usually ascribed to those within positions of authority in the social structure, while "unconscious" magics, like witchcraft and premonitions, tends to be the magics of those who can subvert the power structure - generally women.

Considering how much Angela likes to be in control, I had a feeling she would loath being reduced down to her power, which is something that she doesn't have control over.

For Kaito to come to realise that the man he owes so much to is the one he must now go against.

He feels betrayed - but then he has also done some betraying himself. Perhaps he doesn't ascribe full agency or even responsibility of his actions to Adam (the dilemma of many determinists) - Adam who is like a force of nature to him, the immovable object - Adam could only act as he has acted. Much more sharply than the others, Kaito can see what 400 years could have done to someone like Adam.

I want to know all about the Company, and the years that they spent under Adam's guidance.

Again, wonderful. I've also enjoyed reading the above back and forth. No Angela's power is not one that is "enjoyable". And what is also fascinating that as all the "boys" seem to talk about the past with some kind of nostalgia, Angela (or the way Cristine plays it) has a layer of disgust.

Thank you.

Angela (or the way Cristine plays it) has a layer of disgust.

Definitely. She, and to perhaps an even greater extent, Kaito. Or at least Kaito seems to regret the past, feel guilty about it, and at the same time know how useless that guilt is. Angela meanwhile seems to feel much more impassioned about what went wrong. I love that scene of her and Kaito on the rooftop, where they each discovered the other had received the death threat - seeing how differently they handled it. One thing I love about her is how unapologetic she is: to Nathan, to Peter, to Kaito.

Dude, I LOVE your icon. :)

Totally. But while Kaito things he can take action I think Angela doesn't think she can, she's stuck, its all enviable to her - she has sold her soul. I think she thought she was burning so her family didn't have to. I also wonder if Angela felt the bomb idea was going to save her, be her final act of something to finally bring good? Angela feels the ends justify the means and so she doesn't need to apologize because she's doing the right thing and getting results.

Writing Kaito and Angela in my story I really become fascinating with them. Here is Angela who only seems to look to the future. Like in the cut scene on the dvd with Nathan - she can't let the past eat her alive. While Kaito feels (from the comic) "

"When we remember and honor the past , we instill the qualities that we want to insure for our future."

I love that scene on the roof too, but also because I could see, even before we knew, that Angela cared a great deal for Kaito, the way she says "Let me see" - its almost like I don't want to believe it. She's lost her entire family and now him.

Its really interesting how Angela seems to have had lovely relationships with Charles and Kaito - two characters not just connected to her children, but characters "we" the audience see as the "good guys", so to speak. I don't like a categorize Angela - I think she's more complex then that, as Cristine says when she is asked if she is good or evil. "Yes."

Its so nice to talk with someone who has an intelligent view on Angela, I feel like my written skills aren't up to pare with you.

Dude, I LOVE your icon. :)

Thanks! Its my saying. There are a bunch of HGR funny icons at there so I wanted to make some Angela ones. I can't make icons so a friend of mine puts them together.

I also have "Angela Petrelli will get inside your head... unless someone is inside of hers." but this one gets the most attention. :)

I'm a HUGE Angela fangirl, its all I really post on my LJ - All company all the time. I'm fascinated with the whole thing. And spending the whole writer strike writing about them I've made it worse.