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yujeong · 5 months

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VegasPete and Childhood's End: a deranged attempt at connecting two completely unrelated things

Hello there, fellow VP enthusiasts. This post here is my remaining 2 braincells trying to come up with ways the silly, little book known as Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke and the silly, little couple known as VegasPete are connected, and how the show chose this book for Vegas to be reading in episode 11 for reasons beyond its title. I swear it's true, I asked Pond, he told me about it, trust me. I said in the tags of this post that I have started reading the book because I have a fic idea I wanted to write (which will happen next year now, after I finish the book), and after I shared my observations on the kindergarten mafia server, I thought to myself why not make a Tumblr post too? So, here I am. I would like to clarify that I will be spoiling major parts of the book, obviously, so anyone who doesn't want to get spoiled, don't read this post and the ones after it. Also, this is the version of the book I bought like 5 days ago from a well-known bookshop at the center of Athens, which sells English books too, bless them. Just so you know what my source is. (Unfortunately, getting the version Vegas was reading might be difficult - if not impossible - in Greece to find, because I believe it's one of the first editions? I'm not sure. Nevertheless, I have the book in my hands, which is what counts.) If I make any mistakes in regards to the information I'll provide about the book, the story and the characters, I apologize in advance. It'll probably be me not being careful enough while reading it and missing sth. So, without any further delay, here we go:

The basic premise of the book is a concept that's become cliche in the recent years: aliens called the Overlords have taken over the Earth, bringing prosperity to it but leaving humans with having no actual freedom in their choices. So, reading up to page 34, we learn that there's a specific Overlord called Karellen who's responsible for ruling the Earth, and we also get introduced to Stormgren who's the intermediary between Karellen and the human race, with the title of "Secretary". At first, I had made the connection of Vegas being Stormgren and Karellen (or the Overlords in general) being Gun, because Stormgren trusts Karellen with ruling the human race, just as Vegas idolizes his father who can totally bring prosperity to the family and make it better by force (an important element since the Overlords just came and declared themselves the rulers of the planet and took over). Also, there's an element of secrecy with Karellen, because it's been 5 years since he arrived on Earth but no one, not even Stormgren, knows what he looks like. This causes Stormgren to be a bit suspicious of Karellen, which he rarely shows and tries to push the feeling down when it resurfaces. In the same way, I thought this could connect to Gun who's hiding stuff from Vegas - Porsche anyone? - which Vegas will start having thoughts about post ep 11. All of that is fine and good, BUT I wouldn't be a Pete girlie if I didn't try to include my boy in this. I think all of the above I mentioned is more about Pete than Vegas. And, judging by how obsessed Vegas became with Pete post ep 10 - after their masks fell off and he saw who Pete truly was - I am confident in my belief that Vegas reading Childhood's End would think of Pete, not himself (sth he already does at this point but you get what I'm saying). SO, Stormgren is actually Pete, who follows Karellen's words almost blindly, and almost is an important word here because in the book, he does argue back about things and is vocal about his opinions, even if Karellen smartly turns them down. Karellen is generally very softly spoken, polite and very human like in the way he talks, so in my opinion he resembles Korn way more than Gun. There's also a character who calls Stormgren out on his blind faith in Karellen, and if this isn't Vegas telling Pete that "there's no such thing as honesty", I don't know what it is. Now, for the fun part: Stormgren gets kidnapped by a group of humans who want the Overlords to leave and not only is the dude semi-casual about it on the surface while keeping his panic under wraps, in the end his captors, after explaining how they got him and what their plan is, throw a pack of cards at him and ask him to play poker with him, which causes Stormgren to laugh like he hasn't laughed in years. I'm just imagining Vegas reading this and shaking his head, putting on his clown shoes, thinking: these guys are so stupid, encouraging their captive be this nonchalant around them, I would never.

#then ep 12 comes along and Vegas is humoring his captive who's a sassy little shit making fun of him for his blood type #Good thing Vegas is pretty because clown make up doesn't look good on just about anybody #this is the weirdest thing I've ever done in my life I think #but it's so much fun enjoying a book and connecting it to your blorbos at the same time #Childhoood's End is unironically a pretty entertaining book so far #I recommend it regardless of my brainrot #stay tuned for the next post when I get to read some more #kinnporche the series #pete phongsakorn saengtham #vegas theerapanyakul #vegaspete #Childhood's End #kinnporsche meta

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kinnspocketporsche · 2 years

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Metaphor Done Right: Childhood's End in KinnPorsche

Full transparency: I have not read this book. But I did major in literature which means I am highly proficient in Making Books Make Sense without reading them. Having said that, if anyone who has read this book calls bullshit on me - that's valid. If you read the book and think this post makes no sense, you're probably right. All I'm saying is I think I could pull off a decent grade in a KinnPorsche Lit Analysis course XD

Like any good metaphor, this one has multiple meanings: a tangible, in-universe meaning, and a broader, meta-meaning - so bear with me; as per usual, I have a lot to say.

The Title

I don't think the title is the only reason this book was chosen, but before we get to that - even if it was the only reason this book was chosen, it has more depth to it than the message it intends to send to the viewers.

Who is reading this book, in-universe? Who chose to read this book in-universe? Vegas.

Right, obviously I didn't need to tell you that, but y'all - we do choose books by their covers, I don't care what anyone says, and we choose them by their titles. I had multiple lectures on cover design and analysis during uni because of this and it was actually fascinating.

I also want to consider what Vegas is trying to get from reading. We might read for pleasure, to learn a new skill, or to learn something about ourselves and the world we live in. I look at Vegas's face here and I think about him asking his abusive father "What am I supposed to do?" and I think he's looking for answers.

The title of the book might be meaningful for us, the viewers, but it had meaning for Vegas and that's a lot more important. Do y'all think Vegas, who has grown up alongside death and amidst abuse his whole life, is morning the loss of his childhood now, in, what, his 20s? I don't. Do y'all think Vegas, who's tortured and killed repeatedly, is a child? Yeah, me neither.

So why this book? Daddy issues again, yep! Gun treats Vegas like a child! He even groups him in with Macau, who is very clearly more childlike in age and demeanor. And here's Vegas thinking he's getting this treatment because he's a failure, looking across the bridge at Kinn who's in the process of taking over for his father. Vegas does one thing of his own volition and his dad says he's ruined everything. He can't come close to being himself. It's insulting and painful for him. We might see the title Childhood's End and think "loss of innocence" but Vegas sees it and probably thinks "freedom." Most 20-something-year-olds with an overbearing parent would, and especially one with and overbearing and abusive parent. I don't think it will give him the answers he was expecting, but I think the book's answer does further the one that Pete ultimately provides.

The Book as a Book

Just real quick - the fact that of all KP characters, we're seeing Vegas read and be associated with books has meaning on its own. This goes back to him needing to look for answers beyond the ones he's been handed by the people in his life - but books can indicate intellect, knowledge, learning. Also, very relevantly, words and their meanings. Vegas reading a book, Vegas reading into Pete's words... They're connected. I also find it interesting that this would indicate, that, even though Vegas doesn't believe in honesty, words are important to him. I mean, if Pete used those double meanings with Porsche - even Kinn, probably - it'd be a lost cause, I think.

The Plot

My quick summary of the book, based off of its Wikipedia page: Aliens decide that humans need supervision. At first they're unobtrusive and seem to be a positive force, leading to great creative feats within the human race. Unsurprisingly, things go sideways and children start losing their identity and merge into a group consciousness - one which is powerful, and dangerous. They're isolated, physically, from everyone else. They eventually lead to the end of the Earth and the end of humanity.

My gut instinct was that Vegas would feel like an alien in the context of a sci-fi book. A victim of child abuse and he's also gay? I mean...

But nope, it's worse than that :) The aliens in this book end up on top, anyway. Vegas feels like a broken human. He's nearing his shattering point, the point of no return, the point of - like the children in the book - losing his whole identity to the demands of his father. Let's break down that summary line by line.

Aliens decide that humans need supervision. Just like Gun constantly supervising his adult son. Ah, Gun, the unnecessary supervision in Vegas's life. The sneaky little bastard that convinced Vegas that Gun was a positive force in his life, and that Vegas was the one fucking things up. Which leads us to the next bit:

At first they're unobtrusive and seem to be a positive force, leading to great creative feats within the human race. At first, it didn't seem so bad - it seemed like Gun was trusting Vegas with things, and Vegas felt pretty powerful kidnapping Porsche and having (seemingly) free rein to play his mind games.

Unsurprisingly, things go sideways and children start losing their identity and merge into a group consciousness - one which is powerful, and dangerous. There's a lot here, but Vegas is losing his identity here. He willingly sacrificed his humanity at (probably) a pretty young age, what with all the death and torture, but he'd come to embrace it. But when things go wrong, it's Vegas who's bad, it's his identity that's flawed. The little things that he chose to do of his own volition - even within the rules provided by his father - are to blame for any failures ("Why didn’t you do what I told you? Why did you defy me?").

They're isolated, physically, from everyone else. This one is obvious, right? Isolated from the rest of society, isolated from the main family, isolated from his own family (Macau) at the safe house. Isolated by the experience of growing up in an abusive household (What did he say to Pete? "You've never gone through what I have?" Huh.). Vegas is very much alone.

They eventually lead to the end of the Earth and the end of humanity. This is the direction Vegas is currently headed. Absolute destruction.

And the children in this book end up kind of in-between human and alien. Pretty nicely aligns with Vegas's monstrous human attributes, the way he's scary even within the mafia world, to everyone except his father. I think that's the abuse coming in to play, mentally he's in a very different place than Kinn and his brothers, even though they all grew up in the mafia. It makes Pete, who's had the same parental experience as Vegas and wasn't from the mafia world originally, especially interesting because he blends in so seamlessly.

It's also interesting that the book's plot twists the meaning of the title on its head. "Childhood's End" has multiple meanings: the children are warped to be these alien-humans, so the literal end of the human children and also the end of humanity's supposed utopia. Maybe utopia under alien supervision looks good, and maybe to Vegas (to any kid), having a father to guide him looks good, but both are leading to a stripping of identity that will end very badly.

Thematic Metaphors

Drive to Conquer

The "peaceful alien invasion" very much parallels colonialism and assimilation. I don't know how to read that summary and not get that vibe. Gun isn't trying to take over a country or a culture, but I think there's something there. The drive to conquer is a huge part of their family. In the book, the alien-human children ultimately consume the Earth, and I wonder if they inherited that from the aliens. I don't know if that's a real thing or just something that I'm incorrectly assuming/hoping for. There's something satisfying about that parallel with Gun and Vegas regardless, but if it's an inherited thing in the book it would really be a perfect fit.

Deception

Sparknotes actually gave me this one. You can probably see it already - the aliens deceived the humans into believing they were helping humanity grow; Gun deceived Vegas into believing he was a dad helping his son grow. Deception is a core part of who Vegas is. There's more of it in the book, but you get the point. Super on par with Vegas and his world. Made more interesting with Pete, who wields his honesty as power and intellect when talking to Vegas, but is also very much capable of deception, as we've seen with his duality.

Does the book give Vegas an answer?

Well... he didn't finish it, I assume, but also, I think the cover being knocked off was telling - I took it to mean that Vegas won't find his answer in books, or at least not in this one.

Also, the book ends with the destruction of humanity. He'd know this already, assuming he read the blurb on the inside cover or the back of the book.

But maybe we can say it would give Vegas a partial answer. It would tell him what not to do. The end of humanity in the book seems to be framed as an inconsequential, but net good thing... for the aliens. For Gun, that would be. For Vegas, following his father will only lead to destruction in the worst way possible - loss of identity, and then loss of, well, everything he currently cares about as an individual. Assuming his father's overwhelming power parallels that of the aliens, maybe fighting his father directly also isn't an option. So he needs to find a third option, which - as previously discussed - is provided by Pete.

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Okay that's all I've got for this post. Anyone who made it to the end here gets a little head pat and a big thank you from me <3 If I'm wrong, do please come shout at me about it (gently). My inbox and DMs are as always very much open for more discussion! :)

VegasPete Communication + Double Meanings Post

Follow-up VP Communication Post

Pete's Escape as a Final Test

#vegaspete #vegas theerapanyakul #kinnporsche meta #kinnporsche analysis #winnie's words #childhood's end #kp meta #kinnporsche episode 11 #kp ep 11 #kinnporche the series #kinnporsche #pete saengtham #gun theerapanyakul #vegas x pete

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