polivanova art blog

Meanwhile I'm here revisiting a teenage obsession series and wondering how the dude manages to be simultaneously an edgelord, a sopping wet rag of depression and genuinely cool.

He is both the most and the least character ever. He's a soldier, he's a pirate, he's fighting global tyranny, he only wants revenge, he's a philosopher, he doesn't give a shit, his ship has the reputation of being cursed, he runs the loosest ship in the skies.

He's a fascinating balance of unrepentantly scrungly, very depressed, tactically brilliant, and reckless enough to make it hurt. At what cost to him? He doesn't care. (Alex, please take several naps.)

He's got enough of a sense of showmanship to maintain and use that fearsome reputation, too. Silvana gets in deep trouble a few times, and it's often half real action and half show that resolves it. Alex's willingness to make it cost the enemy more than it costs him is a fearsome trait, and his ability to make them think it'll cost so high contributes.

I'm of the opinion that Alex has collected a group of astonishingly successful mid leadership (Sophia, Gale, Tatiana when she's not in jealousy-based failure mode) and largely lets them do their thing. The Silvana may be shambling onward on spite and teenage competition, but the coordination of everyone we don't get to focus on makes it work.

The Silvana crew runs smooth when they need it most, and that's as much a testament to good leadership as it is to good relations between the people aboard.