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Apr. 27th, 2017 06:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedSpoke to Brian last night about Maria's situation in Starbound, and have seriously considered what to do about her, what's negotiable and what isn't.
For the most part, what I currently have planned for her would be basic enough to do away with. However, this "hip" image of Miyuki has been the basis for what she wears in the cover image, which pretty much renders that non-negotiable. To depict Miyuki in such an out-of-character pose and outfit in the manga was nothing more than a one-off gag in-between chapters, just like how Nyamo, the franchise mascot, would need some kind of pocket to appear in person somewhere in the main show.
It is no coincidence that I assigned that outfit to Maria, whom Chelle originally thought of something else for. Even before I read Bonds (more on that soon), Maria was already planned to start off as a socialite, and what Chelle thought up for her at the time was meant specifically to reflect that. What the cover image has her in has been planned to represent her rebellion against her parents and their expectations of her to inherit their company one day at the expense of her own desired path in life.
Brian equated that with certain things that went on between Marie and our parents, who are still on good terms, regarding past jobs she had. In truth, it's nothing like that. I already brought up the following points with Chelle before, and she said that Izumi's parents in Bonds are emotionally abusive:
Izumi Wakase to Hikaru Sakuraba (both manga-exclusive, although Izumi is canonically much better off than in this sequel to the anime):
"I think it's because people are cowards. Self-proclaimed, righteous, but worthless, spineless animals underneath, and the reason they demand reasons or explanations to…'craziness'…is because they need what they perceive as rationality to give meaning to their hollow, petty lives. And the reason they want explanations is because they're too damn cowardly to live with the idea that maybe they're not strong enough to live with mystery. Rationality, to me, however, is now an oxymoronic phrase. Please tell me…what is rational about people who will inevitably paint me as a heartless monster because of what I've done, yet they will also inevitably turn a blind eye to the cause of it and allow something like this to happen again eventually? If I say to you it was because I was bullied, people will look at me with a puzzled face and wonder why I didn't just suck it up. If I say to you it was because of the pressure my family put me under to conform to them because they were worried about their social status, people will tell me to grow up and make my own decisions without even thinking about how it would affect my life with my family. They would just tell me to grow up, move on, and make my own decisions, without even thinking about what that would do to me. So tell me, Sakuraba, am I a tragic end product of a world and society gone mad…or am I just crazy?"
Konata to her friends:
Her parents are these two grueling, demanding people that expect everything to be perfect; whether it's their home, their yard, their social status, or even their own children. Wakase used to open up to me in the beginning of the school year about no matter how hard or how much she tried, she could never please her parents, especially her mother. Wakase's mother had to second guess everything she did and if you weren't as good as she was then you were damned to Hell. It was always something. Whether her grades weren't good enough even though she was practically a straight A student, or if she wasn't in enough extracurricular activities and even if she was, they weren't the 'right' ones according to her mother. Nothing ever satisfied her and Wakase was almost always in tears whenever she talked about it."
Izumi to the protagonists:
"Fine. Then I'll tell you a little story and maybe it'll all come back. First thing you should know about me is that my parents were two of the most overbearing, grueling individuals you would ever meet. Everything had to be perfect…especially me. I was the chosen one to be the heir of their financial business because my older brother had fallen into the wrong crowd and developed a drug habit. My parents quarantined him from society to keep their name clean and simply swept him under the rug as if he was nothing." Wakase began telling her story, though no one noticed how much emphasis she put on "were" when referring to her parents. "As Kona-chan and Hiyori-n would be able to tell you, my strongest subject in school was home economics but do you think that those kinds of skills were appreciated by two white-collar parents who ran an international finance company and sat in meetings with some of the world's most powerful leaders and influential businessmen?"
Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, Miyuki, and Yutaka all exchanged looks with each other but didn't vocalize an answer, though Wakase saw they understood her point so she continued.
"Kagami…you were a first year here at Ryoo High School with your sister at the time. My father had just opened a new financial headquarters building in Tokyo and guess who the religious leader was who led the groundbreaking ceremony for it." Wakase snarled and her hostility began to return.
"Da…dad…" Kagami whispered with enlarged eyes.
Wakase nodded. "I remember my father having a very long conversation with your father after the ceremony. He thanked him for coming out and performing it…then he started to talk about me. He said that he wished that I could only be a third of what you are academically…then maybe he wouldn't be so pessimistic about my future. Your father didn't waste the chance to brag about you and all of your accomplishments. All of these clubs you were a part of when you were little, all the A's you would bring home, how many random people would just walk up to him on the streets and pay him compliments of how good of a job he did raising you, everything."
Kagami could see Wakase's anger was rising as her eyes and gritting teeth illustrated as she continued.
"After that, my parents never stopped with their prying into my school life. They wanted me to be just like you. The pride, joy, and academic splendor that was you…Kagami Hiiragi." Wakase spat with her breathing deepening and the hand holding her gun beginning to tremble. "The relentless tutoring, the ongoing scrutinizing about my home economics desires. I wanted to be a chef with my life! I didn't want to sit in some damn office building all day shaking hands with people I don't even know! I just wanted to cook! My mother would snub me and call me a pathetic child whenever my eyes would light up every time I would see a new stuffed animal in a toy store window. My father would scold me relentlessly if I ever got anything less than an A in subjects like math and economics and he would never stop telling me things like, 'why can't you be more like Kagami? Kagami is perfect so why aren't you? I bet Kagami could do it so what's your excuse? Why couldn't Kagami be my daughter?' It continued like this every single day…but it stopped soon enough…when I entered high school and I started to secretly enjoy anime and manga. But then I soon realized I just swapped one hell for another when I became the favorite target of a charming little group called The Hunt Club."
As for the kind of terms Maria leaves her parents on, I could see where Brian came from when he implored me to let things end much better between them. In Earthbound, only Pokey's parents are shown to be particularly abusive, and we only see them once throughout the entire game. Frank and Carpainter are the respective leaders of a youth gang and a cult, but get to reform themselves after you defeat them, as does corrupt businessman Geldegarde Monotoli after you destroy the Mani Mani statue in Fourside. Dr. Andonuts is mostly aloof as a father, but comes to recognize Jeff as his son in the endgame. This is all to keep the game relatively lighthearted, as are the only deaths being those of Buzz Buzz (whom Ness only knew for one night), the Flying Men (embodiments of Ness's courage), and Everdred (which is merely implied).
In stark contrast, though, Mother 3 has Lucas's mother, Hinawa, die (offscreen) in the very first chapter, and things only get worse from there. The same type of humor from both its prequels is still present throughout the game, but Tazmily gets corrupted and is eventually abandoned for a metropolis, Pokey and Fassad never repent for anything they do, and Lucas only gets a brief reunion with his twin brother Claus before the latter kills himself to avoid becoming the Masked Man again.
Back to Starbound, I already told Brian that such a toxic relationship Maria has with her parents would arguably make for a nice contrast to those of those already in the party. Ichirobei had expected Rokuna to step up while respecting any wishes of hers she might have had against that, Soujiro and his adult niece Yui also actively encourage Konata to do what she needs to do from the get-go, and Tadao, Miki, and Yukari also come to terms with their daughters' shared destiny with Rokuna after originally insisting that they remain. To have Maria directly sever ties with her parents, who then either disown her or pursue her on her initial quest to save her brother Peter from an abusive drug rehab center, would not only add to the variety, but show the others how much they had taken their types of relationships with their own parents for granted.
It could also line up with Avatar: The Last Airbender: Early in Book 2: Earth, Toph's parents insist on keeping her sheltered, and she flees them after meeting Aang and co., is subsequently pursued and captured by them, and is never shown to reconcile with them at any point after escaping. The show itself is similarly humorous in general to the Earthbound trilogy, and this particular situation is treated much more lightly than nearly anything directly involving Ozai.
But, that said, I am still open to anything Brian might actually suggest otherwise after we discuss how to go on about Magicant.
-----
As of last night, after he failed to find anywhere to load it onto the TV, Brian and I have pretty much decided to hold off with Popotan until next time we're together, and focus on certain other things while I'm still here. Only helps that I still have it on DVD back at home.
We did watch that particular episode of Rick & Morty, though.
For the most part, what I currently have planned for her would be basic enough to do away with. However, this "hip" image of Miyuki has been the basis for what she wears in the cover image, which pretty much renders that non-negotiable. To depict Miyuki in such an out-of-character pose and outfit in the manga was nothing more than a one-off gag in-between chapters, just like how Nyamo, the franchise mascot, would need some kind of pocket to appear in person somewhere in the main show.
It is no coincidence that I assigned that outfit to Maria, whom Chelle originally thought of something else for. Even before I read Bonds (more on that soon), Maria was already planned to start off as a socialite, and what Chelle thought up for her at the time was meant specifically to reflect that. What the cover image has her in has been planned to represent her rebellion against her parents and their expectations of her to inherit their company one day at the expense of her own desired path in life.
Brian equated that with certain things that went on between Marie and our parents, who are still on good terms, regarding past jobs she had. In truth, it's nothing like that. I already brought up the following points with Chelle before, and she said that Izumi's parents in Bonds are emotionally abusive:
Izumi Wakase to Hikaru Sakuraba (both manga-exclusive, although Izumi is canonically much better off than in this sequel to the anime):
"I think it's because people are cowards. Self-proclaimed, righteous, but worthless, spineless animals underneath, and the reason they demand reasons or explanations to…'craziness'…is because they need what they perceive as rationality to give meaning to their hollow, petty lives. And the reason they want explanations is because they're too damn cowardly to live with the idea that maybe they're not strong enough to live with mystery. Rationality, to me, however, is now an oxymoronic phrase. Please tell me…what is rational about people who will inevitably paint me as a heartless monster because of what I've done, yet they will also inevitably turn a blind eye to the cause of it and allow something like this to happen again eventually? If I say to you it was because I was bullied, people will look at me with a puzzled face and wonder why I didn't just suck it up. If I say to you it was because of the pressure my family put me under to conform to them because they were worried about their social status, people will tell me to grow up and make my own decisions without even thinking about how it would affect my life with my family. They would just tell me to grow up, move on, and make my own decisions, without even thinking about what that would do to me. So tell me, Sakuraba, am I a tragic end product of a world and society gone mad…or am I just crazy?"
Konata to her friends:
Her parents are these two grueling, demanding people that expect everything to be perfect; whether it's their home, their yard, their social status, or even their own children. Wakase used to open up to me in the beginning of the school year about no matter how hard or how much she tried, she could never please her parents, especially her mother. Wakase's mother had to second guess everything she did and if you weren't as good as she was then you were damned to Hell. It was always something. Whether her grades weren't good enough even though she was practically a straight A student, or if she wasn't in enough extracurricular activities and even if she was, they weren't the 'right' ones according to her mother. Nothing ever satisfied her and Wakase was almost always in tears whenever she talked about it."
Izumi to the protagonists:
"Fine. Then I'll tell you a little story and maybe it'll all come back. First thing you should know about me is that my parents were two of the most overbearing, grueling individuals you would ever meet. Everything had to be perfect…especially me. I was the chosen one to be the heir of their financial business because my older brother had fallen into the wrong crowd and developed a drug habit. My parents quarantined him from society to keep their name clean and simply swept him under the rug as if he was nothing." Wakase began telling her story, though no one noticed how much emphasis she put on "were" when referring to her parents. "As Kona-chan and Hiyori-n would be able to tell you, my strongest subject in school was home economics but do you think that those kinds of skills were appreciated by two white-collar parents who ran an international finance company and sat in meetings with some of the world's most powerful leaders and influential businessmen?"
Konata, Kagami, Tsukasa, Miyuki, and Yutaka all exchanged looks with each other but didn't vocalize an answer, though Wakase saw they understood her point so she continued.
"Kagami…you were a first year here at Ryoo High School with your sister at the time. My father had just opened a new financial headquarters building in Tokyo and guess who the religious leader was who led the groundbreaking ceremony for it." Wakase snarled and her hostility began to return.
"Da…dad…" Kagami whispered with enlarged eyes.
Wakase nodded. "I remember my father having a very long conversation with your father after the ceremony. He thanked him for coming out and performing it…then he started to talk about me. He said that he wished that I could only be a third of what you are academically…then maybe he wouldn't be so pessimistic about my future. Your father didn't waste the chance to brag about you and all of your accomplishments. All of these clubs you were a part of when you were little, all the A's you would bring home, how many random people would just walk up to him on the streets and pay him compliments of how good of a job he did raising you, everything."
Kagami could see Wakase's anger was rising as her eyes and gritting teeth illustrated as she continued.
"After that, my parents never stopped with their prying into my school life. They wanted me to be just like you. The pride, joy, and academic splendor that was you…Kagami Hiiragi." Wakase spat with her breathing deepening and the hand holding her gun beginning to tremble. "The relentless tutoring, the ongoing scrutinizing about my home economics desires. I wanted to be a chef with my life! I didn't want to sit in some damn office building all day shaking hands with people I don't even know! I just wanted to cook! My mother would snub me and call me a pathetic child whenever my eyes would light up every time I would see a new stuffed animal in a toy store window. My father would scold me relentlessly if I ever got anything less than an A in subjects like math and economics and he would never stop telling me things like, 'why can't you be more like Kagami? Kagami is perfect so why aren't you? I bet Kagami could do it so what's your excuse? Why couldn't Kagami be my daughter?' It continued like this every single day…but it stopped soon enough…when I entered high school and I started to secretly enjoy anime and manga. But then I soon realized I just swapped one hell for another when I became the favorite target of a charming little group called The Hunt Club."
As for the kind of terms Maria leaves her parents on, I could see where Brian came from when he implored me to let things end much better between them. In Earthbound, only Pokey's parents are shown to be particularly abusive, and we only see them once throughout the entire game. Frank and Carpainter are the respective leaders of a youth gang and a cult, but get to reform themselves after you defeat them, as does corrupt businessman Geldegarde Monotoli after you destroy the Mani Mani statue in Fourside. Dr. Andonuts is mostly aloof as a father, but comes to recognize Jeff as his son in the endgame. This is all to keep the game relatively lighthearted, as are the only deaths being those of Buzz Buzz (whom Ness only knew for one night), the Flying Men (embodiments of Ness's courage), and Everdred (which is merely implied).
In stark contrast, though, Mother 3 has Lucas's mother, Hinawa, die (offscreen) in the very first chapter, and things only get worse from there. The same type of humor from both its prequels is still present throughout the game, but Tazmily gets corrupted and is eventually abandoned for a metropolis, Pokey and Fassad never repent for anything they do, and Lucas only gets a brief reunion with his twin brother Claus before the latter kills himself to avoid becoming the Masked Man again.
Back to Starbound, I already told Brian that such a toxic relationship Maria has with her parents would arguably make for a nice contrast to those of those already in the party. Ichirobei had expected Rokuna to step up while respecting any wishes of hers she might have had against that, Soujiro and his adult niece Yui also actively encourage Konata to do what she needs to do from the get-go, and Tadao, Miki, and Yukari also come to terms with their daughters' shared destiny with Rokuna after originally insisting that they remain. To have Maria directly sever ties with her parents, who then either disown her or pursue her on her initial quest to save her brother Peter from an abusive drug rehab center, would not only add to the variety, but show the others how much they had taken their types of relationships with their own parents for granted.
It could also line up with Avatar: The Last Airbender: Early in Book 2: Earth, Toph's parents insist on keeping her sheltered, and she flees them after meeting Aang and co., is subsequently pursued and captured by them, and is never shown to reconcile with them at any point after escaping. The show itself is similarly humorous in general to the Earthbound trilogy, and this particular situation is treated much more lightly than nearly anything directly involving Ozai.
But, that said, I am still open to anything Brian might actually suggest otherwise after we discuss how to go on about Magicant.
-----
As of last night, after he failed to find anywhere to load it onto the TV, Brian and I have pretty much decided to hold off with Popotan until next time we're together, and focus on certain other things while I'm still here. Only helps that I still have it on DVD back at home.
We did watch that particular episode of Rick & Morty, though.