so I was thinking about it the other day and I've come to the conclusion that the reason I stopped watching the mbs show was because sq was curtain's son. like there were other reasons but that was the straw that broke the camels back. and of course being interactive with the fandom on here I understand that that in and of itself presented a really interesting relationship, but at the time I just... it really irked me, because of the way they just completely tossed the book dynamic in the trash
I mean, they're messed up. right? like, we've already covered the sq canon that he was constantly having memories erased, the sq theory that before then he was genuinely very bright and intelligent, and I mean how else would he have become an executive?? if he wasn't someone who could reach the top, he would've simply graduated and moved on with his life, orphan or not. but no. curtain kept him. but not only did curtain keep him around, he was constantly "cleaning up" so to speak, making sure that sq didn't realize what they were really doing. but not only that!!! he let the other executives tease sq, sure, but they also had to be careful around him, not let information slip. and then afterwards, after the fall of the institute, after the cave and after all his other executives had left, after the whisperer had been lifted for two, maybe three years sq was still with curtain. but not just that, because curtain was still with sq. even after everything he was still doing everything possible to make sure sq didn't find out, even though by then he surely knew. don't talk to mr benedict, dont talk to the children, dont let them feed you lies, sq. lies about what? there were no lies, but sq had spent so much of his life following curtain and idolizing him, and even now that the walls in his mind were crumbling and he himself was probably starting to piece together why he had gone so quickly from sharp-tongued to dull-witted, even after he helped the children escape he went back. he went back for curtain. he went back for curtain. they have such a complex dynamic of this kind, empathetic orphan making a father figure out of a power hungry control freak. and yet somehow this messed up man finds himself feeling affection for the younger too—he shouldn’t be doing that, that’s a child, and children are- they’re- (they were, him once: him, too smart for his own good, put down by others, studying day and night. but he never had someone to look up to, starry-eyed. he had never been looked at that way before either. ever. and yet. and yet. somehow, this child (a child!) that seemed to match his own brilliance, could keep up with his ideas, excelled well above the other students and yet was humble for it—and looked at him like he was the entire world. which was as it should be, of course, and how it would be soon but- well. something about this felt different.) and then he gets too greedy. he lets sq in fully, tells him everything despite that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that reminds him that sq’s morals are different. the way sq treats others is different to how he does. but he pushes that little voice aside in favor of the idea that he and sq are exactly alike. but they’re not. and now curtain has to do damage control. and then he keeps having to do damage control, and then it’s been years and he’s still doing this dance and no one knows why sq is still here, all they know is they’re not allowed to bring it up, but he just can’t lose him. he can’t. he can’t. and after the dance has been disrupted sq can't either. he can't. they both can't. they're so co-dependent on each other and they never even realized until it was far, far, far too late.
but yeah sure make them father and son. throw it all out the window. yeah of course they act like father and son they are. and yeah, curtain is toxic, but what else would you expect? it’s not weird that sq is still here, he lives here and he’s completely normal. he doesn’t mess up words and phrases and trip over his own feet and forget door codes all the time and yet still remain in a position of power granted to him by a man whose password is literally ‘control’. he’s just curtain’s son.
