let's start with Maya. Her situation is perhaps the most complex. See, her family theoretically comes from money. Old money, from when the Kurain family was in it good with the government-- theoretically both of Japan and of the US, in contexts of the translated game
But even before they fell from grace as a result of Maya's mother's framing as a fraud, Kurain was losing favor with the government, and as a result losing money. But they have all this old shit, y'know? old, valuable artifacts that are a part of Japan's history as well as their own
A lot of Morgan's behavior comes from this need to act as though they still have a lot of money, despite how often Maya mentions that the village is struggling and that being primarily why they show Kurain's "treasures" as a part of an exhibit in game 3
it is Known that Kurain is struggling, but for respectability politics, there is the need to appear of wealth. They essentially have to put on airs and look like a "respectable" family and do all the artsy things and learn piano and take care of the farms and put out the finest sweets for the rare visitors and keep anything gold clean rather than selling it
so we also see a lot of behaviors from Maya that could be considered "money-grubbing" or stingy when one doesn't consider the upbringing she's used to, where spending money needlessly could get her in trouble, where not charging enough for services could get her in trouble, and where doing either could also be seen as rebellion
so in Ryslig, where she does have money, there's this kind of back and forth where she gives where she can BECAUSE she can, she splurges because she's ALLOWED to, but then also doesn't want to charge too little for services, or pay too much for things, and honestly feels her safest when other people are buying things for her
to contrast, Souda comes from an even poorer place that's a bit in between Maya and Spike. He comes from a working class family that, during his lifetime, became down on its luck as a result of his father's skills becoming obsolete. His father wasn't as skilled a mechanic as he is, or if he is, had lost all passion for his work
this lead to Souda being the one primarily manning the bike shop despite getting punished for skipping expensive school trips. His father clearly wanted him to not end up "useless" and have some kind of proper schooling, but in his own despair it just led to neglect of Souda and then punishment for Souda responding naturally to that neglect
we also see in the comic that he's good at repairing clothes as well and says that he has learned this from his mother. This likely shows that his family was reusing and repairing clothes as often as possible-- and that Kazuichi's true talent extends to the very act of repairing.
from what little information we are given, it is erasonable to glean that he and his mother probably worked as a team most of the time to fix what was going on with their family; his mother likely repairing clothes and cleaning things around the house and maybe even making actual payments with the money Souda earned, and Souda manning the shop to earn the
I do think a strong part of why other characters mistreat Souda is because he has a blue collar job compared to the more artistic and white-collar talents the others have
he and those closest to him might not see his class as an issue, but others definitely treat him as though it is, and when people don't see him as a friend but as a mechanic, they treat him like shit
int he Fun house, when he starts to see Hajime as Crap, he is obviously mean to Hajime when he sees Souda as a mechanic who is not doing his job well enough (why didn't he bring a SCREWDRIVER to a FUNHOUSE after all) he treats Souda like shit too
he tasted richness through street fighting as a preteen into his teen years, holding stacks of money but sleeping in hovels, in dorms, or motels by then
when he finally got an apartment it was a shithole where the bathroom is so small you can't close the door properly until you're like, on top of the toilet
he also grew up with someone who was born into generational wealth but wasn't allowed to access that wealth until his adulthood and through a series of several agreements
he doesn't hate Vicious for being rich, but he does hate the rich. He has a lot of very anti-capitalist sentiment evident in his narration, but he's no activist
he's got an empty stomach, so he doesn't have time for activism. He hates the system, but he lives in it, so he can't change it. There isn't time to change it. He has to sell another man's freedom so he can still have his for a little while longer.
I had a thread with Freddy where he's looking for shoes for him in a charity shop and bitching to himself about how no one ever donates shoes to these things, that everyone's always patting themselves on the back for being so generous as to donate their out of season clothes but no one donates shoes when what homeless people need are shoes
because that's the kind of thing Spike notices, gets mad to himself about, and then lets pass by. because he can't change it. because that's the way the world is. But he isn't going to pretend the world doesn't suck.
5 ) Is your character religious? If so, do they follow the (or one of the) major religion(s) of their culture, or a different one? If not, are they more of an atheist, agnostic, or spiritualist (or none of the above)? For Spike
at some point in the book he expresses that he believes that, essentially cosmically, he's not ever meant to be loved. He gets very frustrated by a lot of things and is convinced that he is not unloved because he was abandoned, but that he was abandoned because he was never made as a being that was intended to be loved, is how i took it
we also see him be very sensitive to others' spiritual beliefs in the anime, so i believe that he's essentially supposed to be a deist of some kind but he doesn't necessarily believe in morality's tie to spirituality
he doesn't necessarily believe that Jesus needed to save us from our sins, but rather that all people regardless of sin will meet their cosmic end and have some kind of thing to deal with upon dying
( 6 ) How does your character feel about their culture’s mythology and/or legends? Do they enjoy learning about them? Or do they find them boring? for all three
Maya and Spike love it. Souda is scared of everything he believes in and bored by everything he doesn't. (he believes in most of them and tries to pretend he doesn't)
Maya is not very fashionable but because of a lack of exposure. She only got to wear her uniform growing up (until she was 19 even!) and now that she can wear anything she wants, she has the outlook of a child on it and WILL wear anything she wants, for better or for worse.
Souda is...... fashionable, but only to certain standards. He WANTS to look like a scary punk and he pulls that off. His blue coveralls are a form of uniform, though, as accepted by HPA, and the garish yellow ones were apparently a gift from his mom (probably in encouragement of his new look?)
Souda is achieving goals with his fashion that are considered fashionable to some, but are considered very unfashionable to others. So, it's.... subjective.
( 9 ) Does your character speak any languages other than their native tongue(s)? If so, where did they learn it/them? Do they use it regularly?for Spike
Spanish and Japanese are both regularly spoken on Mars, and it actually seems like almost everyone in Tharsis can speak some of it. Road signs are often in Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian. Signs all over space are in MULTIPLE different languages.
We see Spike use Japanese a few times and he speaks to people who are assumed to use Spanish regularly. We also know that he grew up alongside what was basically Tharsis's Koreatown.
So! It stands to reason that Spike can speak Spanish and Korean in addition to his ability to speak Japanese. He likely knows them all conversationally as opposed to Vicious who likely learned them more academically
I would say he knows enough of each language (and used them regularly enough in Tharsis specifically) to hold good conversations, but couldn't, say, write a term paper in
honestly i don't think they intended to, but SPike's affinity for numbers/gambling + rejection of most written information in the series (probably through impatience) kiiind of implies that his upbringing made him
I don't think Vicious let him continue to be illiterate after learning of it while they were children, BUT i don't think Spike puts himself in the position to be questioned about his literacy
( 14 ) AU time: pick a different culture or social class than the one your character is from. What might they have been like if they’d grown up in that place/position instead?
i'm not sure that wealth would have improved Maya's situation, but I do think she'd look way different as a Death-related Spiritual Practitioner from literally any other culture,
Money would have improved most of their circumstances, but it wasn't the reason morgan hated Maya nor was it the reason Misty left, so it might not have changed hers at all
partially because their attitude and power struggle was born while they were still in a place of wealth and its intensity even grew as a desire to reachieve that wealth,
morgan thinks she lost her chance to be a better leader to Kurain just because Misty was the one with the stronger spiritual powers, ones born to her by blood, that in Morgan's eyes she didn't work for
one works to be a leader, they work hard to learn shit, they keep at their training, and it sounds to me that Morgan was likely frustrated that despite her more intense training, spiritual power came more innately easy to Misty
i think as Deauxnym Misty even cites, or it might have been Bikini, some regret that the process of choosing a new leader of Kurain between sisters inherently fosters resentment, and Bikini does mention that Mia likely left not only to pursue her goals but to ensure she would never drive herself and Maya apart in that way
but yes. like. it's shit money couldn't solve, it's shit that hurt them DEEP, it's politics an dpersonal inadequacy and a need to establish an egalitarian society focused on the wellbeing of the community rather than the wellbeing of their image
( 3 ) Describe your character’s social/economic class. How do they feel towards people from other classes? Their own?Ok so this one's really interesting
when he sees Souda as a mechanic who is not doing his job well enough (why didn't he bring a SCREWDRIVER to a FUNHOUSE after all) he treats Souda like shit too
5 ) Is your character religious? If so, do they follow the (or one of the) major religion(s) of their culture, or a different one? If not, are they more of an atheist, agnostic, or spiritualist (or none of the above)?For Spike( 6 ) How does your character feel about their culture’s mythology and/or legends? Do they enjoy learning about them? Or do they find them boring?for all three( 8 ) Is your character fashionable by the standards of their culture? If not, is it a choice, lack of money, or something else?for all three( 9 ) Does your character speak any languages other than their native tongue(s)? If so, where did they learn it/them? Do they use it regularly?for Spikeless literate than other people
( 14 ) AU time: pick a different culture or social class than the one your character is from. What might they have been like if they’d grown up in that place/position instead?79 responseshey do you guys think i care a lot about poverty or