Hello again! It’s your quasi-absent pal Nekochan here! NoMoshing has run out of topics to talk about (unless you want him to gush about another game again) so has asked me to step in and write…something else.
While searching my brain for topics, I kept returning to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. You see the season finale is tonight [Ed. Note: As of this writing] and I am (somewhat) excited for it. I haven’t enjoyed all of this first season, but there’s been some very great bits. One thing I’m sure NoMoshing is very sick of hearing about (aside from my predictions about who I think’ll get killed), is how much I dislike the character Skye.
Now my reasons for this generally centre around her Mary-Sue-ness but this did get me to thinking about characters I don’t like in Harem Collector.
Ah yes. Him.
Felix. Healbot. Stupid.
Okay so, you may wonder, why don’t I like him? Well personality wise, he’s a stick in the mud. Don’t capture that girl. Don’t be mean to children. Don’t do that cool thing. Ugh. Yet at the same time, I need him. He’s the only person who starts with healing spells. The only one who can cure most status ailments. Isn’t overly squishy like the other mages. Just ugh.
Moving on, while I know these traits bother me, I know MagicWhiteLady likes Healbot. She sympathizes with his plight to try and keep the hero’s id in check. NoMoshing likes him too. Then again, seeing as he created all the characters in the game, I don’t think he dislikes any of them. I’m sure the guy has lots of fans. So why does he piss me off?
I then thought a bit about one of the other loves in my life, Persona. One of the central themes of the Persona series (especially P4), is the idea of facing yourself. In P4, this manifestation was the Shadow. The Other Self. The True Self? The thoughts and traits that characters rejected or struggled with. Now the idea of Persona/Shadow is not unique to aforementioned game series. The ideas borrow heavily from Jungian psychology. But Jung went a bit further than that. The Shadow could also explain why you may dislike other people.
If you’re a procrastinator, and hate that you do it (hell, who likes procrastinating?), you may dislike other people who also do it, even if you know it’s hypocritical. Why? Since you hate that you procrastinate, you also hate anyone else who does it too. After all, it’s easier to hate someone else then do the harder thing and look inward and try to do something about your own procrastination.
So with that said, let’s return to Healbot. As postulated above, if I dislike him so much, is it possible I’m projecting something I don’t like about myself onto him? Why did I say I don’t like him again? He’s a stick in the mud. Maybe I think I’m a stick in the mud. Maybe I worry that people only tolerate that trait because I’m somehow needed. When my friends drink, I often don’t preferring to remain the “sane” mind in the room. When we plan gatherings I worry about how everyone will get there and get home and who has work tomorrow so we shouldn’t be out that late and for that matter what is the weather doing that night, is that rain, maybe we should stay home. I play the “ego” to NoMoshing’s “id”.
Maybe instead of irrationally hating a fictional character I should let loose a little more.
PS: This is mostly a thought experiment. You’re totally welcome to disagree. I don’t necessarily subscribe to Jungian psychology myself but I find it fun to overthink things.
PPS: Skye is still a Mary-Sue. I don’t think I’m projecting there.
PPPS: Oh yes, No Moshing did ask me to add one thing unrelated to this post. Backers, please check your email for the Backer release of Harem Collector~! I even got off my lazy ass and got the Player’s Guide (mostly) caught up!