What lovely asks!
Jane
1. What sociocultural factors of your own life do you think influenced your choice of character and how you play them?
Jane has been very ‘what would I do in this or this situation’ in the beginning and when I actually play a character in the games. Lame and perhaps a bit of a cop-out, I know, but aren’t all our characters us in some way?
Alright, so some of these may upset some people, but if you know Jane, this might make sense.
First is her level of education. Much of that came from the thinking of ‘what if’ concerning my own generation. I finished school (though completed it only because the hospital I was in had a schooling program), but there were many girls who did not because of teen pregnancies. For some, it was even pre-teen, which often led to so many dropping out of school. What would happen to a character that did the same (though under different circumstances) and went into a darker life just to get by? And, being a woman and living with an obvious divide between sexes stemming from this thinking of ‘girls should so what the boy wants if she wants to keep him’ and other macho-man bullshit where I live, I didn’t see a young teen in the Reds as anything but used for her body.
Another factor that shaped her is her belief system. She’s mentioned it a few times in Parable of how she doesn’t believe in or follow a religion, but grants everyone their ideals. Hell, she sometimes envies that attitude of being ignorant and trusting in a higher power. To her, she has seen no reason to believe in a higher power, not because of her life or because of the hate that these beliefs (many with very few differences). She is a way to get that very same thinking of mine out. You can believe in what helps you cope with life and the many questions we can’t answer, but violence or pushing it upon others only belittles the values of your beliefs.
For something less controversial, but actually more personal, Jane has her give no shits attitude as a contrast to my own self-consciousness. My father has a way of making people feel shame for what they find interesting or like if it goes against what he thinks. He wasn’t physically abusive, but even hard words towards yourself or your mother can make someone feel like shit. As result, you see and hear the same disproval in others – often picking out those from the crowd while completely overlooking those who say otherwise. Jane still has some of that in her attitudes towards more feminine clothes in Juxtaposed, but she has Garrus to help her feel beautiful. When Jane jokes about walking around naked just to show off her scars, she goes against everything I’d ever do thanks to my raising, but it makes me love her all the more that I can open up through her. She’s also much more outgoing than I am because she just doesn’t care what others think.
Arcanus
11. What mythic deity do you think best embodies the core values of your character? How so?
While I’m sure I could find someone else if I really looked, I think the best answer is always the one that comes to mind without thinking. That being, Athena, the greek goddess. (Sorry Arcanus, but your god inspiration is a goddess)
Not only do I see practically every attribute of the goddess in him without trying, but I always got the vibe from Athena in the stories that she was a stern woman, not pulling punches when defied or insulted. She cared less about beauty and more in the substantiality of the mind, and I see so much of that in Arcanus. For him, skill comes first and looks will fall in line shortly after.