#punishing gray raven analysis

[lunaefall]

I really love the symbolism in Liv's Empyrea outfit with her resembling an angel sent to help humanity and provide a sense of hope.

They even put the imagery with her descending from the skies towards a church, with the setting shrouded in darkness while Liv is the embodiment of the light shining in the skies, and it looks like she's radiating it to provide a sense of hope and salvation.

But then you look into her eyes, and their pink colour is gone. And they match the white of the rest of the outfit, but in contrast, they look lifeless and like a far cry from the sense of hope the rest of the outfit brings, pretty much reflecting the hidden struggles and the consequences of Liv using this frame at her own expense.

In many traditions, eyes are said to be windows to the soul. And in Liv's soul, there's just pain, sadness and torment now.

[palmett-hoes]

We Need To Talk About Kevin

excuse the silly title, but it’s time for another long character analysis, this time on a character who holds a complicated place in the fandom consciousness: kevin

like every other character in aftg, i have a lot of criticisms for the way that the fandom tends to characterize kevin, because i feel like it tends to reduce a very complicated character down into very binary terms, that of either anal-retentive comic relief or a perfect, underappreciated innocent, both of which ignore his important flaws and the nuance of his character arc throughout the trilogy

now this meta is probably going to sound very, very critical of kevin, as i am focusing on his flaws. but i want to be clear that i don’t hate kevin, i don’t even dislike him. in fact i far prefer the deeply “problematic” kevin from canon to the highly sanitized version in the fandom, just like i prefer my andrew violent and unethical, my neil rude and messy, and my upperclassmen ableist and permissibly homophobic

one thing i really LOVE about aftg is how hypocritical every character is, because it’s honest. they all stand for something but fall a little flat of it in practice. they all hold the people around them to standards they don’t hold themselves to

they’re not simple characters. they reflect their trauma in ways that are not pretty or harmless, and they even reflect wider societal flaws that may not be logical or justifiable.

just like i do.

just like you do.

just like real people do.

---

so with that all squared away: kevin

let’s start with this: what is the essence of kevin’s character? what does he stand for? what is he about? when you simplify him out into a single idea, what is he?

answers will vary, but for me, kevin is an analysis of the idea that you can have everything, you can be rich and famous and talented and immensely lucky on top of it all, and you can still be abused

neil repeats this idea over and over. how he’s jealous of kevin. how he resents kevin. how he wishes he were kevin. because kevin had everything and neil had nothing

remember this?

and this?

and this?

kevin the star. kevin the sensation. kevin the media darling.

lucky kevin, talented kevin, beloved kevin

and then neil gets a little bit closer and learns that that’s not the whole story. kevin was isolated, his worth tied to his performance, his whole personhood tied to exy. the perfect boy who was forbidden from being too perfect, who had to walk on eggshells so as not to incur the wrath of his brother and guardian

but at the same time that doesn’t totally erase everything he did have

i think the fandom focuses a lot on kevin’s inferiority complex from being assigned second best, and not nearly as much on the idea that kevin was SECOND BEST, above everyone else

the fact that kevin had power and sway in the nest makes us deeply uncomfortable, because it complicates kevin’s status as a victim, but it’s the truth. kevin was the third most powerful person in the nest, above dozens of ravens, and not even an owned person like jean

we should attempt to reckon with the fact that kevin was not a passive player in the ravens’ power structure, but someone who was actively involved and benefited from it. the ravens were his pawns, too. his subordinates, there to critique and punish as he saw fit. they weren’t his equals and he didn’t have to view them as fellow people

even if you choose not to believe that kevin took advantage of this power in the way riko did, you still have to accept that it very much shaped his perception and way of connecting with others, which is obvious in how he interacts with the foxes

so let’s talk about kevin and his superiority complex

kevin is arrogant, self-centered, and entitled

it’s not all he is. he has other, better qualities. he’s dedicated, passionate, and - in his own way - caring. that doesn’t ERASE his flaws however

kevin believes himself to be correct 100% of the time. he thinks that his methods and his opinions should work for everyone simply because they work for him, and he tries heavily to push them onto other people. andrew remarks that neil will drive himself crazy trying to do things the way kevin tells him to, because he is simply a different kind of player than kevin. kevin’s methodology will never work for neil no matter how hard he tries and will just end up holding himself back if he keeps trying

andrew notices this, not kevin, because kevin believes that neil is simply not trying hard enough to do things the “right” way.

neil.

who tries harder than anyone to live up to kevin’s standards

he’s worse with the rest of the foxes, who unlike neil do not accept his methods unquestionably and don’t do backflips to make him happy.

the foxes recognize that kevin is talented and could have valuable things to teach them. kevin however thinks that he should have absolute authority over their training because his methods are “superior.” he thinks the foxes fail because they don’t listen to him and conform their playing styles to him

kevin also only approaches the upperclassmen on the court, and even there only with criticism and derision. he has never made any attempt to befriend them or get to know them in any way. he doesn’t need a rapport with them, he’s entitled to their obedience simply because he’s Kevin Day, The Son of Exy, The Best And Most Talented Of Them All

i’ve also written meta before about the assumptions kevin makes in his relationship with andrew. they have a deal that kevin will give andrew something to live for after he graduates. kevin, being who he is, decides that this thing MUST and WILL be exy, no matter how directly or indirectly andrew tells him this isn’t what he wants.

yet kevin never considers an alternative. he never asks andrew what he might want or never attempts to find anything else for him. they spend nearly every second of every day within arms reach of each other, yet kevin has never taken a moment to pay attention to andrew’s interests or preferences, anything that makes him tick. they know almost nothing personal about each other because kevin doesn’t believe any of that matters in giving andrew a future that makes him want to live. no. if it works for kevin it must work for everyone else. if kevin wants it everyone else must want it too

kevin’s relationships often become exclusionary. first with andrew, which i’ve just discussed. then with neil, kevin continually vies for more and more of his time, without regard for his health or concern for any other part of his life. he leaves neil with minimal time for school, pushes their practices late into the night depriving him of sleep, and discourages his efforts to spend time and make connections with the upperclassmen

now if at any point while reading this you, reader, wanted to argue that these things are because of the nest and kevin’s raven indoctrination, yes, you’re absolutely right, they are. it’s abundantly clear where and how each of these qualities developed, but once again, that doesn’t mean they’re not present. in fact, the clear connection between kevin’s flaws and his trauma is a sign of good character writing, showing the multiple dimensions of how our environments and experiences shape us

kevin’s anxiety, his obsessiveness, and his fear all come from the nest, but so does his condescension, his self-involvement, and his overbearing nature.

kevin was raised in a cult, but he was also from the very highest level of it. he comes from immense privilege in terms of his wealth, his influence, his fame, and his access to resources. materially, kevin has wanted for very little in his life, and his entitlement is very prominent in his character. none of this cancels out the abuse he suffered, but it’s also something i very rarely see addressed outside of being hinted at vaguely in a jokingly dismissive manner.

in fact, i often see takes on kevin that fully deny he has these traits at all, and that annoys me. i don’t like to see these wonderfully round characters flattened out, and there’s a particular irritating irony out of changing or misinterpreting a character’s personality in order to make them more palatable or more sympathetic in a series about how even people traumatized in unsympathetic ways are still deserving of help and decency

so

kevin can be a little morally gray,, as a treat

[lunaefall]

I'm just thinking about how much Liv's colour palette contrasts against so much of PGR's setting being so dark and gloomy. She basically embodies the light she tries to bring into the world, with her pink and white colours standing out like a beacon in the dark night.

Then there's this artwork of her vision of earth, which for once is in lighter colours, but Liv herself is in shadows. This reflects her vision of a better world even if it comes at the cost of losing herself, whether in terms of her M.I.N.D breaking or even her death.

I'll never be able to express just how much I love Liv and Surviving Lucem, goddamn it.

[lunaefall]

Rosetta's Underrated Beauty

Copy pasted my hyperfixation reaching from my Tumblr danhengsimping, so you all have to bear with it as well.

Gonna ramble about Rosetta because she's one of the best built up characters in PGR as a playable unit, and honestly deserves more appreciation as a character. She's my 5th fave for a reason.

Her design is just so unique in gacha games in general, I love the centaur inspiration mixed with her being a Construct leading to something pretty unique.

Also her boss fight is one of the most viewed pre-GLB launch vids for PGR on YouTube, you can tell they really sold off their combat in general as a great appeal (and that doesn't even hold a candle to the new bosses legit).

The way she also showed up in the first event Frozen Darkness and was built up since then as a character, so there was a lot of hype. I remembered seeing that she would be playable and wanting her instantly due to the unique playstyle and design.

Also she's SUCH a sweetheart who doesn't even have a grudge against those who hurt her in the past. And God she REALLY went through shit as a child, I just think that's a strength in itself and should be appreciated more. She's so kind and likable as a character.

The way she didn't want to kill Amberia but had to fucking BROKE me. That EX chapter was so good, I was really emotional playing it. It just made me want her even more, man. She's got a lot of strength to shoulder so much shit in her life, actually.

Anyway yeah, this was kinda motivated by the recent . . . disaster 💀 but tbh I wanted to make a Rosetta appreciation for a long time cause she never gets talked about outside her meta in PHYS teams. Her story, character, design and combat style are all amazing.

[lunaefall]

Wow, Nanamecha patch is heavier than I expected.

The exploration of the future and it's hopelessness felt so bleak and heavy. It was so uneasy being in the timeline where most of our playable characters were dead.

I think what fucked me up the most was the group euthanasia scene, with Nanami memorizing the name of everyone before euthanising them one by one. That was so dark.

(Also fellas is it gay to offer your heart quite literally to a girl as you say "I love you")

Definitely one of the heaviest patches by far, and had a lot of Nier nods and vibes too. One of my favourite chapters (Surviving Lucem is still peak fiction tbh).

[lunaefall]

I didn't expect to love the bond between Pulao and Hanying as much as I did but holy shit, they're so wholesome. The best sisters next to No. 21 and Vera.

The way Pulao could no longer lose the ones dear to her, so she became a construct by trading the memories of her parents to save Hanying . . . she was just a child but she was SO brave and strong.

I want these two to get a happy ending so bad, you have NO idea. They deserve so much better after the shit they both went through. God, FUCK Villier.