Quote Originally Posted by Absimiliard View Post
This is sadly true. Those of us that prefer a more nuanced approach to things are a minority. Most would rather get their feel goods from being the lolhero again.
This bothered me when I first read it, and I don't think it's a fair summary, but I wasn't sure what to say in reply. It's been on my mind since then.

Claiming there's a dichotomy between "people like you" who prefer "nuance" (by which I assume you mean the things you've said you want to see - Hydaelyn being 'not good', Zodiark being 'not evil') versus people who want Hydaelyn to be good so they can be the "lolhero"* is itself lacking nuance.

* whatever a "lolhero" is anyway. I'm going to assume you mean a "power up and save the day" kind of thing.

Hydaelyn can be good and Zodiark can be inherently-dangerous-if-not-willfully-evil and we can still have a complex story. They're still primals and it complicates things.

Hydaelyn can genuinely be the 'good', loving personality She has always appeared to be, who speaks to us as a "beloved child" - even if She isn't the creator-goddess we assumed She was - but we still might need to destroy Her in the end, whether despite or because of our love for Her and everything She represents.

How is that less nuanced than "She was bad all along and now we're going to kill Her", which seems to be the end purpose of wanting to see Her not 'absolved'? That sounds far more "lolhero" to me than the prospect that She's good and we're still going to have to kill Her.

She's a primal, but one that was born out of self-sacrifice and a desire to protect life. If a primal's mind is formed by the thoughts and intents of its summoners/creators, then there is good reason to hold onto faith in Hydaelyn's intentions, for now at least.

And Zodiark? There's a big question mark about His intentions until we hear more of the story - whether from Hydaelyn, Elidibus, the Echo, Zodiark Himself or some kind of neutral third party, as most of the sources are biased to one side or the other. (Hythlodaeus might be neutral, though I don't know if we'll see them again.) But there does seem to be an immediate contrast between Hydaelyn's summoners sacrificing themselves and Zodiark's summoners (the Convocation) calling for the sacrifice of other lives while keeping their own.


Yes, I want the pseudo-goddess I (and my character) have put faith in to be truly good. I want to see my character hold to those convictions and come through it all for those she holds dear. But it's not just about "playing the hero" - I feel like the core of my character isn't heroism but empathy and loyalty to others. That's what I think of if I have to define what she's like.

And in the end, not every story has to be shades of grey, and having a clear "good side" and "bad side" isn't inherently bad storytelling. Especially if there's still complexity within those clear sides, and I think this story has it.