#this has been in my drafts for ages and i can't really articulate my thoughts or make them coherent so just have this collection of images

[fascinationstreetmp3]

"boredom is death" (text from interview with the vampire & the vampire companion)

[kardia-library-official]

"How the hell old are these people?"

(Another riff off that one post, but this time it's about a tangent in replies and hopefully contains less of my unserious ass trying to articulate serious concepts.)

I won't be commenting on every character, just the ones where I've been given reason to think about it in any sort of depth. (Lucas, Vishnal, Livia, Russell, Terry, Cecil) My opinions are my own, and are barely even opinions, because I'm not actually super invested. I just thought thinking back on a few of the assumptions I've made was interesting, and could be interesting as an example of one person interpreting this stuff.

Okay! Let's get into it.

Lucas: So, @darkacey mentioned that it's weird that people keep calling him "old" because he has facial hair, and yeah, he's not old. Just going by appearance, I'd guess anywhere between late 20s and early 40s. Which is weirdly realistic, because people in that range tend to all look the same to me even now that I'm in it. But also wrong, because of course he's unknowably ancient. BUT his current form might not even be as old as he looks. AND we know his life basically restarted yesterday. idk. He's Lucas.

Vishnal: I mentioned him in the replies, because I am absolutely haunted by that "he's 6' tall and a lot younger than he looks" comment from his VA. It makes no sense! How old does he look? 17? 23? 31? The artstyle isn't detailed enough to tell. And what would that make him? 12? 18? 25? For my own peace of mind, I've just decided that he can make an uptight first impression that gives him kind of a "22 going on 40" vibe until the illusion almost immediately shatters. Also, maybe this was more of a problem in his former life? Like maybe he got a lot of "excuse me, are you their father?" because he's on the tall side, perhaps hit his adult height early, and was often shepherding all his younger siblings around.

Livia: It's bizarre that she has cut romance dialogue, because the age difference feels sooooo awkward... But not in the direction you might think. See, even though I know the whole joke is that she's an ancient powerful dragon who can't even go to a bar because she looks like a kid, my brain refuses to parse her as anything but a tiny middle-aged woman. I feel like I have encountered many, many Livias, a surprisingly large number of which were running some event or operation like it's the Navy. It's a whole type of person!

Russell: I've said this before, but I refuse to believe that guy is under 30. He has a whole implied tragic backstory, which had to take place after he was old enough to be drafted (or enlist, I guess, but he Would Not Fucking Do That), and before he took in Cecilia, who is whatever age she is now. Even wiggling the numbers a little (how old is Cecilia, how old do you have to be to be in the military in this world), I don't think he could be as young as even the game itself seems to want you to believe. Fun fact! He's one of the few characters on this list that I have a specific number for! In AtNG, he is roughly 32.5. Sabrina is about the same age, and Edward is about a decade his senior (I tacked them on because I had estimates for them but nothing else really to say).

Terry: At first, back when the world made sense, I had him estimated at "about Russell's age idk." But Word of God is that he's 25?? And apparently even at least one person working on the game was kinda stunned by this, if I recall correctly? I dunno, that's just not very many years, and it's implied he's been through so much shit! How I ended up making this work for FSCB was a) giving him a really rough upbringing and very early adulthood, and b) working from the assumption that he's 25 at the start of the game and quickly turns 26. And you know what? Now that I have all that worked out, I like that he's in his mid 20s. I feel like that's just one more burden he has to bear. :P And some of the things in FSCB I had most fun writing are the moments where he's interacting with Cecil and it becomes really obvious that they're not that far apart in age. (Also, if anyone ever points out that he and Lucas seem to have a slight age difference... I don't think either of them would ever stop laughing.)

Cecil: ...Look. We've been over this. That boy is 18. Anyone who says otherwise either forgets what being 18 was like, or is so close to being 18 themselves that they have no perspective. But I remember. I remember wearing some really goofy hats, and wanting so badly to be included in all forms of adult business, but ending up getting railroaded into running around with the kids and actually really enjoying myself. (Okay, so that last thing still applies, and might just be personality-mediated.)