Stevano | IMDB v2.3

stargazer1682
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Stevano Jan 14, 2020 4:22:14 GMT

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Post by stargazer1682 on Jan 14, 2020 4:22:14 GMT

I have to say, as lame as the writing is overall, i'm actually sort of okay with the whole, "Steve is Stefano" thing. Like, obviously it's not going to stick, yet, I kind of wouldn't care if it did. Maybe I'm just that bored, maybe I've become so disinterested that I just don't care what happens anymore; I don't know, but I'm like, fuck it, Steve is Stefano now.

I mean, I've said elsewhere that the core concept is one that they've kind of had locked and loaded for a while now; just by virtue of the technology that turns John into the Pawn and Hope into Gina - the most logical extension of that would be for Stefano to achieve a sort of immortality by perpetually implanting his consciousness into another body. Back in the heyday of Rex and Cassie, I even took that theory to a new level and suggested that the whole reason he created the twins and was so obsessed with the Bradys and Hortons was that he wanted to used them as sort of test subjects in pioneering his genetic engineering technology, so that he could not only pass on his consciousness to another body, he could build himself the best body possible. And that, I think, is the only thing in-narrative that doesn't entirely make sense with the recipient being Steve. Don't get me wrong, Stephen Nichols doesn't just look good for 68, he looks like he's in good shape for 58....but if you're going to snatch someone's body and make it your own, why chose a body who already has so many miles on it? Someone like Chad or Stefan would make a lot of sense, being young and part of the Dimera bloodline.

But there are some intriguing implications that would be worth exploring; which I'm sure the show won't even focus on and would screw up if it did - like, what would it even mean from a legal standpoint for anyone, whether it be a hero or villain, who claimed that Stefano had usurped Steve's body? How do you prove that in court and would it even break any laws if somehow you could?

They're really leaning heavily into some of these subtle and not-so subtle Star Wars references in the scene between Stevano and Kristen though. First with his proclamation of "I am your father" on Friday (I think there was another one on Friday between two different characters, but I can't remember what it was) and then today (Monday) Stevano practically tells Kristen to "search your feeling you know it to be true" when he tells her to search her heart.

"Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It raises the dead."

glozone
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Stevano Jan 14, 2020 21:09:42 GMT stargazer1682 likes this

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Post by glozone on Jan 14, 2020 21:09:42 GMT

I always wanted them to do this story with E.J. That as a result of almost dying permanently destroyed E.J.'s mind and sense of self so Stefano decided to implant his consciousness into his son. But the results weren't perfect and this Stefano is more unhinged and becomes increasingly more erratic and dangerous. Initially Sami comes back to town with him but ultimately realizes something's wrong and has to work together with Lucas to stop him and it leads to Lumi reuniting.

In the end, I'd have Stefano about to kill Sami but then E.J. regains just enough of his consciousness to realize what he's doing to realize he needs to be stopped and he'd kill himself instead.

stargazer1682
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Stevano Jan 15, 2020 0:02:57 GMT

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Post by stargazer1682 on Jan 15, 2020 0:02:57 GMT

I've had similar ideas for stories; more often with just a clone of Stefano purporting to be Stefano's son, because obviously he's younger. One idea would explore the whole identity issue and free will vs innate behavior - if you had a blank slate of a mind, a body that never had a personality or identity of their own and legitimately implanted them with someone else's mind, are they set down that singular path the other person had set in their original life, or could this "second chance" of a person have the capacity to actually choose another direction. And it kind of cuts to the core of the nature of identity; do any of us really get a say in our choices or are they a product of our circumstances and how our brains are wired and the decisions get made for us?

Your idea is similar to one I'd like to see done with Rafe; or rather I would have liked to have seen it a few years ago and it may be too late now. Basically Rafe would start to have these odd memories and dream; and there'd be gaps in his memory too, things Rafe should know and for some reason he doesn't. He comes to realize that somehow it's all connected to the time that EJ or whomever had Rafe imprisoned and replaced with a look alike; and he remembers Rolf performing some sort of procedure based on the personality transplant technology he developed for Gina. In this case it would be a wireless link worn by Rafe and the impostor so that the fake Rafe could access the real Rafe's memories quirks to better pose as Rafe; and was really just an opportunity for Rolf to use Rafe as a guinea-pig for the advancement of his mind altering technology.
As Rafe's investigation deepens, there's one dream or memory that keeps coming into sharper focus the more often it happens; the image of someone hold a gun on him, point blank, aimed at his head and firing. It starts as a recurring dream that feels more and more real, until he finds the location where the dream is set - a secluded part of the ground of the Dimera property. More of the memory starts coming back to him, how he managed to escape where he was being held and he's being chased across the ground - except he's not, he's the one chasing....somebody. And the images in his head go back and forth, he's the pursuer, he's the pursued, he's the hunter, he's the prey; it's dark, it's raining, Rafe slips and falls in the mud and the person chasing after him manages to catch up. The pursuer has a gun, the pursued man lunges and there's a struggle.
"I've got the gun," he thinks.
"He has the gun," he thinks.
And like so many times before, the other figure trains his gun on Rafe, aimed squarely at his head. Rafe looks up and this time he makes out the face of the person holding gun; it's his face. And no sooner does it register, the other Rafe pulls the trigger.

A shock rings out through all of Rafe's body; the recollection of this event has sent him into seizure. An ambulance is called and he's taken to the hospital to recover, but when he comes to he doesn't know what to make of the experience. How can he remember running and chasing after the person that was running; how could he be the person firing the gun at himself?
The answer of course, is that the person doing the pursuing was the Fake Rafe and they were linked by the mind mapping tech Rolf was using - that's how fake Rafe managed to track the real Rafe so effortlessly, the closer they got the easier it was to see what Rafe saw. Whichever of the two Rafe's got the gun, it's a jumble in Rafe's head, though what came next would suggest that it wasn't the real Rafe; the real Rafe wouldn't shoot an unarmed man in the head at point blank. Yet in doing so, while mentally linked and at such close proximity, it caused a neural feedback that completely fried the mind mapping tech both were wearing.
It was a tantalizing stroke of luck for Rolf to see what would happen; and he was even more delighted to discover that the fake Rafe woke up believing himself to be the real deal, a delusion Rolf was inclined to encourage to test the boundaries of this exchange; especially since the imprinted personality wasn't being actively sustained, as the switch from Hope to Gina required.

And so Rafe goes forward knowing that he's not truly Rafe, even though the majority of the memories he has are still Rafe's - the man he killed.

"Do you like my mask? Isn't it pretty? It raises the dead."