sophiapixel45

[sophiapixel45]

I don't get all the Sonia hate

I know there's a lot of criticism raised against the sdr2 survivors (a lot of which I feel isn't really fair), but most of it is against Sonia.

Admittedly, her character arc isn't near comparable to Fuyuhiko or Hajime but I think its kind of close to Akane's. Likewise, why would you say that Sonia didn't get a character arc when Kazuichi is right there.

I'm gonna talk about him first because sometimes he annoys me. Sometimes.

Kazuichi has some of the clearest character flaws out of everyone, the only people who are more clearly flawed are Fuyuhiko, Nagito, and Hiyoko. They all have this addressed several times in the narrative, even if they don't fully develop from it in the end. Kazuichi doesn't even really have it acknowledged by the narrative. It's been a while since I've played his FTEs, but a key part of that is that he's got trust issues and he's a coward. He's still a coward at the end, but I don't care too much about that. What's worse is that he still can't trust others.

At times, it's suggested that he outgrows his trust issues, with how clingy he can be with Fuyuhiko and Hajime. Yet, he'll still turn on either of them at the drop of a hat. Kazuichi suspects Fuyuhiko a lot during the fifth trial, and very openly voices that without hesitation. He still doesn't trust him.

Still he spends more time with Hajime throughout the story and turns on him far more often. Not only does he accuse him of being the traitor constantly in chapter four due to the advice of someone he knows he shouldn't trust, but he clearly still thinks this until the beginning of chapter five.

The two worst cases of this that go unaddressed is trial five (again) and chapter six. Of the cast, he's the only one to immediately blame Chiaki for being the traitor, accusing her of tricking them. The others are only willing to believe she's the traitor because they trust her first and foremost. Not him. He takes it and runs without to doubt the entirety of Chiaki's character.

Again, this would be fine if he ever grew from it.

Yet, not only does no one really care about it, but he does it again in chapter six. When Hajime's accused of being the mastermind, he's the first to accuse him of tricking them. In contrast, Sonia says that she doesn't want any last minute plot twists (I'll come back to this later). He doesn't apologise for being so sceptical and everyone just knows this is how Kazuichi is at his core.

He comes out of chapter six having being the same person he was in chapter one, just having cried a little more.

Now onto Sonia.

Sonia is relatively actively compared to most other characters. She sets up the get together between the girls in chapter 2, trying to bond with them all in the way that no one else has really been doing in Imposter's absence. She's more upset than most others for Mahiru's death and seems to feel more guilt and responsibility for that. It seems those feelings directly lead into her being more active during the investigation and later contributing a good amount of evidence in the trial.

Even if she's not as active in chapter three and four, there's still substance for her here.

I always liked how the connection between her and Gundham felt real. They're both kind of dweebs who get a chance to bond over their shared interests, especially since they are each somewhat different from the rest of the cast. Obviously Gundham speaks in a way that no one else does and people generally don't take him seriously because of it, but Sonia's a foreigner who doesn't really understand the culture that she's in. What's more, she's never been treated normally even in her home country. Kazuichi pushes that narrative of her difference; Gundham doesn't care. The romance is cute without being too over the top.

Kazuichi never has any meaningful relationship with another character (that isn't entirely one sided). He's the only survivor who doesn't do so and thus loses the chances for emotion.

Sonia's actual character development doesn't start until the end of chapter four and well into chapter five. I think this is more so because of the cast I think that Sonia's more down to earth in the fact that her character flaws aren't glaringly obvious. She's overly emotional to the point that it inhibits her ability to act in a rational way, but this only becomes clear as the game continues and she actually becomes closer to the others. She defends Gundham, but she also is the only one to defend Nagito in trial 4 because she - in one way another - has faith in his character.

It starts with not just Gundham's sacrifice but the reason that he did it. Gundham believed in living.

Sonia doesn't just cry over Gundham, but she takes what he said to her to heart. Like Fuyuhiko, she takes what the person she loved thought seriously. She carried Gundham's wishes for her survival and everyone else's through into chapter five and refuses to give up as a result. Even when the others do, she doesn't just follow what they think but is trying to outsmart Nagito. Even if she fails, she keeps going. Her lack of faith in Kazuichi's more aggressive solution makes her use her own intelligence and the logical people she can trust (Hajime) to continue taking matters into her own hands without undermining the decision of the others.

But still, despite her efforts, she's still flawed by the end of chapter five. She, along with the others, fails to stop Nagito. She struggles against Chiaki's confession more than anyone else.

In chapter six, she's grown since the start of the game. When Hajime is accused of being the mastermind, although she's unwilling to believe such a thing, she's no longer too emotional to even consider the idea. She's grown, but not quite enough yet; she wants to cling onto a fake image of the past than the future. Gundham told her to keep living and so did Chiaki but, for a moment, she wants to see them both again. She still has her overly emotional mannerisms, but the influence of Chiaki and Hajime in the end pushes her to overcome it, just as she grew throughout the story to be capable of.

Although pretty subtle, her choice at the end is one of the most meaningful to her overall journey.

I thinks there's one final thing to be said in that she came to Hope's Peak, in a way, to hone her talents and become queen. But, instead, at the end, she's left with no kingdom to inherit by the time she's grown up enough to be capable of it. I think she's another testament to a character being more than a talent; choosing themselves over talents, just like Hajime. She grew into her own person in the end independent of everything she had come from.

Anyways, she's definitely worthy of having survived the game. And, for the record, I still like Soda.

[sophiapixel45]

I haven't finished Evangalion yet but I did get spoiled, so I must be qualified to speak on this topic

[sophiapixel45]

When will politicians learn to invest their campaign budgets in providing every eligible voter with one of these bad boys?

[sophiapixel45]

Me coming home from school and realising ao3 is down is the modern equivalent of a soldier returning home from the crusades to find his village burnt down, his wife's corpse by his fireplace, and his infant son (fellow fanfic readers) crying in her cold, unfeeling arms but y'all aren't ready for that conversation