#SORRY FOR PUTTING THIS ON HOLD FOR SO LONMG Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[crane--here]

hey. hey. hey. give ur thoughts on juan and waltz and aitor :3

as you wish :3 going to put this under read more for long post convenience and HEAVY spoilers for the game, i'm not holding back lol

okay.

he's a VERY intriguing character. with the added benefit of being hilarious (he's fucking with the colonel of all people. power move of the century)

in all seriousness though, i appreciate the way he's written. he's morally grey as all hell. i love his approach to life, when every single other survivor cares mostly about survival, juan among the few citizens can appreciate the beauty of art and food.... and people. does he come off as a bit pretentious? sure but it makes it even better IMO. i think there's a lot of untapped potential here! i want to see ALL his layers. i mean just HOW deep did his connection to renegades go to have him as the only resort to make them rule the city??

one thing i'm pretty salty about is that juan was supposed to lead HIS OWN FACTION that we already know as the suppliers. the way it's currently written it gives an idea that he operates within the peacekeepers only, when in fact (as per jonah's words) he was supposed to be the leader of it as a wildcard faction. think how much fucking cooler it would be to underline that juan genuinely is influential enough outside the pks, because that bitch can bargain

also bisexual king. i am ignoring he fits the slutty bi stereotype criteria he's my scrinkle

aitor was such a surprise to me when i first played! from the very beginning the pks were painted as the "inherent bad faction", with their authoritarian rules and treatment of the bazaarians. and while, yeah, it has some merit to it with characters like anderson not winning my sympathy for them, aitor and his attitude made me realize "holy shit, the pks aren't some one-dimensional video game 'baddies' here. they're actual diverse people". he added that humanity aspect to this faction (later reinforced by squad 404). he's so so caring my heart just melts. also i really love his family?? like rip to him for getting divorced but his kid is fucking hilarious. i love british "people"

one thing i'm also curious about though is his development during the game making, because from his artbook depiction we can see that he used to be... MUCH different

an abusive asshole and the very pk that would immediatelly turn me away??? lol no thanks i love the aitor we have now <3

now, let's waltz!

AGHGHHHHH sorry grandpa for what you got from techland because it was not ENOUGH. there's been so much more potential for his character in the overarching story because it was not utilized enough! he (and williams but that's a discussion for another day) are always told to be these menacing forces that can destroy the city with just a command... which they absolutely can! however, the issue with the writing here is that.... we're never shown any real reason to believe that besides some renegade thugs (which were underwhelming). techland failed to go with the effective "show don't tell" route that would give a BETTER lasting impression of him. they succeeded at the start, sure, i was shaking when i met him in the prologue and then moments before going into central loop and then..... nothing. that's all we get from him really. this is why the story feels so LACKING in this regard, we're not given enough reasons to care about the threat that is waltz and his plans (and by extension we never really don't get to care about mia who is linked to him in every way)

as for his character... well i talked about it here before. he's painfully inconsistent so it's really hard to tell what his deal is. we learn that he was... supposedly a caring person before, to the point where some of the kids liked him a lot. he gave reassuring words to aiden and was shown to care for him too?? and it's hard to tell if it all genuine or all an act - if he put on a caring facade only for the sake of mia. after all, no npcs really tell good things about him - the one instance i remember is that he spared aitor when he was on patrol, but commented that "why is he working for matt when he should be working for him". it's. giving mixed signals to the players. he's a real shitty dude. like. he's selfish with his goals, hurting everyone else around him in the process - even MIA. how much pain did she have to go through because waltz didn't know how to let go...?

but it does make you also think of the possibility that grief and loss is what drove him to such extents. the trauma he endured even as a little boy was enough to give a lasting impression (never letting go of horse lover waltz) and only a faint crack in what is his psyche. it's a possible read on him, and i can see it's what makes him likable to many (hi silas), so even while i personally lean more to the first option i SEE the vision

either way he's still an incredibly tragic character, which i adore. he's also incredibly fucked up which is THE selling point for me tbh <3