Quote Originally Posted by ChaoticCrimson View Post
The thing about Yotsuyu and Fordola is, while I can't forgive the awful things they've done, I understand why they did what they did. I mostly pity them more than anything else. The main problem I have with their character arcs is more the problem I have with the story pacing of Stormblood in general. I think a lot of things suffered by jumping back and forth between Doma and Ala Mhigo.
This pretty much reflects my thoughts on them and SB. If there is anything I am invested on with Fordola is the budding relationship between her and Arenvald. There's a connection there, and their upbringing along with the both of them frequently being at the same place at the same time isn't something I can ignore. They've been on both the opposite and same sides on the battlefield. She might be able to be redeemed through him much like Yotsuyu was headed with Gosetsu before her half brother came along and threw a monkey wrench between the cogs.

She's far from redeemed, but I am hard pressed to call her a true monster. She's not made of pure evil and has not let the monstrous side of her personality to consume her entirely. She's a very interesting character and I am glad she is still around. She is well on her way to filling the anti-hero slot. Many lives were lost as a result of her actions, but all of them were soldiers and this is war. I'm not saying this justifies her actions, but she was clearly conflicted with firing upon her own men because she's knows right from wrong and monsters don't care about this. She would sooner abandon her allegiance to whomever to save a civilian than take his or her life.

I pity Yotsuyu because she has been deprived of choice her entire life, so much so that when it is actually given to her, she still feels she doesn't have one and must act in a way that suits her image. I pity her because she's so beautiful on the outside, and just so very rotten within. Like opening up a fresh cantaloupe only to find maggots at the core. I pity her because she never will never know what friends, family, love, compassion, empathy, and kindness are. All of it was taken from her and witnessing them herself is foreign or alien. Just so very, very sad.