#from artem's sweet chapter/personal story ssr

[maladaptivedaydreamsx]

[actualbird]

// spoilers for marius' sweet chapter event storyline

hey so i just finished playing thru the phase 2 story and

holy moly, that was good and made me so emotional jhvJKVKSHFVJSDF. once again, i cannot emphasize enough just how much i adore grief narratives and themes, and all the parallels to cyrus brown (also lol at how they changed his name from chris brown jHVSKJFVJSD) to marius' own experience with giann

but the whole brother parallel is obvious and clearly tackled within the story. what i wanna talk abt instead is how a very specific portion of this story made me realize smthing that marius has done over and over again across so many of his stories.

and thus

mini character analysis (or maybe character observation?): marius and emotional distancing

wc: 1.1k obligatory disclaimer that these are just my own thoughts and interpretations. contains spoilers of marius' sweet chapter event, his personal story 4, and several of his cards

anyhoo, the part of the sweet chapter event that piqued my interest and made my brain.

in the last part of the story, when talking about how timmy's experience with cyrus reminded him of his own life, marius opened up on his his father and giann were busy when he was younger and that made him feel like nobody cared (before giann noticed and played a more active role guiding and encouraging marius). but when marius is telling his story, mc notes that:

the wording here nagged at me, because it felt so familiar. and i realized that mc notes something similar in marius' personal story 4, after marius opens up after nearly dying as a child because he was locked in a basement freezer, which, sidenote, im never getting over how fucked up that is!! marius are yOU OKAY???

mc was also hella concerned as i was, and notes the manner in which marius tells her about this:

theres two more examples i want to bring up.

in SSR Sweet Wonders (marius' dreams of childhood card), marius opens up about how, due to the psychological impact of him blaming himself for his mother's death, he got really sick for a while as a child. mc once again notes on how he tells this story:

and last example, SSR All Through The Night (marius' xmas partyland card). i dont have a screenshot for that because what i wanna add from there is speckled across the entire story:

mc learns about a picture book marius had drawn when he was a child, one that told the story that parelleled his own journey to learning about why his mother died.

whats my point here? that on many moments where marius recalls and explains very heavy things on his past, theres two things that stuck out to me.

first, the calm, collected demeanor. and second, the concept of him telling a story, one that belongs to someone else, one that he has detached himself from.

this peaks my interest for two reasons.

the "I'm Totally Over It" vibes

marius minimizes the concern that mc could possibly feel by masking any negative emotion he could possibly show.

this is hugely in line with how he is as whole, because he likes to present himself as carefree, light, easy-going, teasing and playful and nothing gets to him. tho by virtue of playing thru mc's perspective, we know this isnt true because marius' story themes are also chock full of the facades and personas he needs to don to survive as a public figure. marius had to learn how to be a good actor, and he succeeds, and this is again is super aligned with how he masks negative emotion with the mask of "i am unaffected by these objectively messed up experiences i had! This Doesn't Bother Me. I'm Totally Over It."

i found this interesting in contrast to luke. who also masks his negative feelings, but leans toward less of "This Doesn't Bother Me" and more of "no need to worry about that because it's Not Important." it's emotional minimization that could possibly leave room for "yeah, this maybe does bother me, but me being bothered is nothing of value."

but marius circumvents that process at the beginning by simply acting that he isnt even bothered in the first place.

now, this is something that maybe artem and vyn do too, but my knowledge of stories for them isnt as encyclopedic as my knowledge on luke ajhvfasjkhfvajsh so i wouldnt be able to accurately get a read on how they do on this sphere.

idk it's just cool to me to see the subtle variations in how the boys deflect and omit their vulnerabilities!

but back to the concept of "I'm Totally Over It", one way marius achieves this calm collectedness is through the next recurring commonality

the "story" involving the character who is separate from the storyteller

marius speaks of past experiences like hes a detached narrator telling another person's story. he even does this in an near-literal way with his picture book in SSR All Through The Night.

[EDIT TO ADD ONE MORE EXAMPLE of near-literal storytelling and distancing that was later pointed out by milkyway!anon: marius also does this in his very first character pv introduction, ever since the beginning

how he frames all this in his pv is pretty clearly in a playful storybook/bedtime story kinda way, both in the visual execution and writing. i always adored his character pv for being so different and cute and playful, but now in light of how The Rest Of What We Know and what i mentioned in the rest of this analysis, it's now way more interesting and...sad

i use this screenshot in particular detaching himself blatantly. while this part of the pv does this in regards to how the public sees him as a symbol instead of a being (and thus distancing who he is from like, his inherent Being A Person), marius also does it to himself by virtue of telling the story and walking away from it, albeit cutely, as he is a cat

heres the story. hes the narrator, and the character within the story is him but not him as well.]

in doing this, he once again seemingly relieves himself of any "bother" or negative emotions that he could experience, because all stuff that happened? it's not him. it's a character in a story, one that is not him and specifically separate from him because he is the one telling the story.

i fear im not making sense now (tho tbh when am i ever making sense jHVJSHDVFJ) but let me try and explain it through this post (which no longer exists on ops blog so i have to link my rb of it huhu) that shows a collection of quotes that hit the nail on the head, regarding this concept.

when you tell a story, as the storyteller, you are ultimately the one in control. part of being in control means that, if you know how to tell your story, you can ultimately lay all the details down while also leaving it, disconnecting from it, and distancing from it.

distance, imo, is the most fitting word to me, for how marius goes about his heavier experiences.

he distances from the emotions he felt and could possibly still be feeling, he distances from the fact that it was him who went through it, and he distances from mc's worry that could happen as a response.

of course, since mc is the best and an angel, she always takes the time to reassure marius that shes here for him and that hes not alone, that shes with him every step of the way (both him as the "character" he is Not in his stories and the person he Is in the present)

still, it's really fascinating on a characterization level that distancing and detaching is marius' go-to method. hes already somebody that has so many layers of facades and "different" selves, and here he is once more creating another self:

one that didnt go through all of what he went through.

[diverseotaku]

Tears of Themis Offical Artbook - Voice Actor Interview: Zhao Lu (Artem Wing)

Do note that this is a fan translation and I am not in any way affiliated with Mihoyo/Hoyoverse. I'm just translating out of love and support for the game and Zhao Lu. Please do NOT repost my translations anywhere, and do correct me nicely if I've made any mistakes! Do remember to read the footnote for translator notes too :) Enjoy!

Zhao Lu's Voice Actor Interview

There are actually some differences between the Artem that I initially met and the current Artem. “Tears of Themis” is a plot-focused game, where within many small details, everyone can sense Artem’s growth. During the process of “Artem’s” growth, the voice actor also goes through constant growth as well. During recording, I will revise my tone of voice and state (of voice), trying to figure out Artem’s speaking habits, breathing rhythm, way of thinking… using all these details to show that “this is Artem”. This isn’t just me, there is also the joint effort of all the staff who gradually pieced together “a straight line” [1], and this straight line refers to the word “Artem”. Actually, during the creative process, we actually thought of trying to give everyone something different. In order to fit the different sides of Artem, I’ve also made some adjustments to my interpretation style.  For example, the Artem in “飞雪落红尘” (Gufeng event), the story was required to give Artem a huge character contrast, at that time during creation I came up with two versions. In one version, the discrepancy was still something one could expect within Artem’s core character, the other version transcended Artem’s normal core character.  The choice that was presented to everyone was actually the latter version, which was the version that had the bigger difference in Artem’s core character.

Since the first encounter, besides his professional and capable side at work, his emotionally delicate side is also becoming more and more felt. For example, in the second chapter of the personal story (Sweet Chapter), Artem and MC had their first argument. Perhaps due to MC’s sense of justice as a lawyer, she overlooked certain potential dangers. Artem, who was always concerned about MC in his heart, thought about MC’s safety, and therefore argued with MC, but this type of argument stems from good intentions, and also allows both parties to understand each other, the process of becoming even more connected with each other. In terms of work, Artem is a top student, but when it comes to emotions, Artrem actually has an inexperienced side. When I interpret the way he conveys his emotions, I will also add some thought, some prudence, some cautiousness. He previously took some “detour” [2] when showing MC his feelings towards her, for example, “Introduction to the Psychology of Love and Attraction”, “I am not a good person” [3]... However, these actually clearly showed Artem’s simplicity, kind-heartedness, and uprightness.

For Artem, his love for MC changed from “you’re someone who I can encounter but not seek for” to “you are the theme of my life”, the most important change is the word “distance”. From “‘Por Una Cabeza” (“One Step Away”, Xmas Partyland SSR), the Artem who was always one step away waiting to show appreciation (towards MC), to “Two Hearts as One” (1st year birthday SSR) where “we’re partners, so the both of us will always be two hearts as one” [4], and again with “Eternal Yearning” (1st anniversary confession SSR) where Artem confessed his love for MC in a public space with many people around. This kind of subtle change in “distance” allows for these feelings to be even more wonderful.

Artem is “a straight line” in every aspect only because he is such a simple and pure person, such that everyone can admire and like him. However, as the saying goes, “water which is too clean has few fish, and one who is too severe has no friends” [5], so the question arises, for such a limpid person, when something goes against his values, how would he choose? Not only me, I believe that everyone is really looking forward to what happens from now on in the story, when Artem encounters a dilemma, would he hesitate, be at a loss, struggle, how should he make his choice?

Finally, what I want to say to everyone is still the same line as before, choose Artem (serious face)! [6] I’m really grateful to everyone for being able to meet in this big family of Themis City, everyone’s concern, opinions and even criticism, are all embodiment of “love” towards this world (of themis), this is also all of our non stop motivation for us to keep improving.

Zhao Lu

Translator Notes

[1] He says “一条直线” here which literally translates into “ a straight line”. Zhao Lu often describes Artem as a straight line in many of his ToT related interviews and events as Artem doesn’t deviate in his actions, thoughts, and decisions in all aspects of his life before meeting MC. You can find Zhao Lu’s interview subbed here.

[2] The word he used here is “弯路” which literally means detour or roundabout route, but it can also figuratively mean the wrong way of doing something. 

[3] Reference to Artem’s personal story chapter 1 (Blossom Chapter)  episode 3-01. In the EN version, they translated this line as “I’m a bad guy…duh”.

[4] The line said here was “身为搭档，永远要两心无间” where  “两心无间” is the name of this card. This directly translates to “as partners, we must always have no distance between our hearts”, where  “两心无间” means no gap between two hearts. I referenced the official English version since I didn't know how to translate this line smoothly.

[5] The sentence he quoted here is “水至清则无鱼, 人至察则无徒” which is an idiom literally translates to “the water is too clear there is no fish, one is too strict won’t have a partner”. It can indicate that one should not be too demanding.

[6] He ended his ToT VA interview asking people to choose Artem over the other male leads, which can be viewed here, and here if you need subs. Ever since this has been a recurring line that keeps being brought up (by both him and players).

[cheri-carnival]

the ferris wheel ✧ artem wing

a tiny world carved out for two.

[ private messages ]

✧ choice / 抉择

✧ sentiments / 心意

✧ stretch / 舒展

✧ fond admiration / 眷慕

✧ pseudo-heart / 拟心

[ en vs cn ]

✧ personal story 2-08

✧ autumn dreams

[ comics ]

by _dellar34

✧ just artem

✧ eavesdropping

✧ stare

-

by gan shen jie by you de xian yu nuo / 肝肾皆不够的咸鱼诺

✧ moments from personal story chapter 1

-

by hun luan hun dun za shi bot / 混乱混沌杂食bot 

✧ in court

-

by jun le yan / 君楽研

✧ moments with rosa

✧ young artem

✧ sketches

-

by kao xian yu wan chu zi / 烤咸鱼湾厨子

✧ a strange dream

✧ increasing artem’s affection levels

-

by koeda / こえだ

✧ when mr wing turns into a doll

✧ a passer-by in themis law firm

✧ when the lawyers see the new ssr

-

by ni kan wo tou xiang shuai ba / 你看我头像帅吧

✧ time travel series

1 l 2 l 3 l 4 l 5 l 6 l 7 l 8 l 9 l 10 l to be continued...

✧ wedding registration

✧ a day of cohabiting

✧ mr: fond admiration

✧ kiss

✧ the morning after

-

by qq liang hang lei / qq两行泪

✧ mr: stretch

-

by shu qiu a / 书秋啊 

✧ visit him

-

by te mi si cha shui jian / 忒弥斯茶水间

✧ valentine’s on a monday...

✧ sweet potato

-

yi bai / 亦白

✧ artem’s attempt

-

by yi tuan lin hu / 一团凛狐

✧ back from an overseas trip

✧ love bites

-

yin yuan er / 银圆儿

✧ when two blockheads date

[ memes ]

✧ tragic scene in dreamful melodies card

✧ artem stuttering in three languages