Autistic girl conditioned through a lifetime of trauma to be deathly afraid of waking people up because what if they're loud and angry and violent: uuhm,...,,., ma'am are you okay, the bus is, around the, corner,,,,,, ,, were you, waiting for thhe bus, ,,, ,
Umamusume is an extremely funny series to introduce to someone because not only is the core premise absurd (gijinkas of famous Japanese racehorses who run races that mirror the careers of the horses they're based on while also being idols), but it feels like every other writing and worldbuilding decision is somehow even more absurd than the last
The series takes place at what is ostensibly a high school but the umas have careers that occur years if not decades apart. The umas do not age, no one appears to ever leave Tracen Academy if they don't want to and there is no satisfying explanation for how this works
Despite, again, all of then ostensibly being in high school, some umas act like grown adults who pay taxes and others act like they're no more than 8 years old
Canonically, no one gambles on the uma races.
The creators had to patch some of the story dialogue because they accidentally created a timeline where the modern day Republic of Ireland has a monarchy
Super Creek wants you to do age regression with her because she likes playing mommy
Admire Vega had a twin sister who was aborted in the womb and said dead fetus is now a literal ghost that actively haunts her
Matikanefukukitaru also has a dead sister and she isn't being haunted but she does have religious psychosis
The creators get permission from the owners of all the horses before putting them in the game. The owner of Daiwa Scarlet allegedly approved her inclusion in the game on the one condition that she be given bigger boobs than her main rival, Vodka
Vodka drinks tea from a flask
Agnes Digital writes erotic friend fiction of the other umas
Since it's been about two months since I've started working on Raine, and a very detailed outline of her story covers most of the first game already, I think it's safe to finally fully introduce her.
Ever since I've started FFXIII and quickly realized that whenever I wasn't playing, I was thinking about the game, I knew I would try making an OC. After some experimentation with backstories, I ended up with Raine. At first, I was exploring her reactions to the events of the game as a potential party member, and her relationships with the rest of the characters, but it didn't take long until I've come up with a solid foundation for her story, and I've been hard at work on her ever since, enough to put my FFVII projects aside for the time being. I can safely say she's already joined the list of my favorite OCs, and I hope to extend her story to FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns, whenever I get around to playing them (soon).
Given the circumstances surrounding her creation, as well as my belief that FFXIII's strength lies in its characters, beyond talking events it's only fair to also cover about what lies beyond the surface, as well as how her story works with the game's themes, accidentally or not. I'm not sure how I'm gonna present her full story yet; if it's gonna be something like Aya's page or something completely different, or when that might happen, so I may as well let you in on some things now.
Raine Amaranthe is a rookie NORA member who has moved to Bodhum not too long before the Purge at the suggestion of her internet friend, Lebreau (thanks Lebreau). Given the previous experiences that made her leave her hometown in the first place, she's largely distrustful of people, and being new in the seaside town and her group of friends, she struggles with feeling like she doesn't belong.
She displays high proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, proving herself to Snow in person after he doesn't make a good impression and causes her to challenge him to a fight as a way to test her skills instead, to his reluctance. Taken aback by her speed and technique, compared to his reliance on raw strength, he ends up on the ground and welcoming her to the team. Her turbulent start with Snow causes her first days with NORA to be even more stressful than they should be, as she can feel other members' eyes on her.
Charismatic on the outside, reserved on the inside, at first Raine largely relies on Lebreau - now her roommate - for any warmth. At some point she meets Serah, who's already hanging out with Snow and therefore the rest of NORA, and they have a few friendly interactions, one of which marks the beginning of their friendship, which gives her hope that her new life can work out after all.
The day before the official start of the story, Raine gets caught by PSICOM after trying to run away with the other members of NORA, bound to board the same train as Lightning. Recognizing the soldier from her time in Bodhum and Serah's stories, she decides to keep close to her and Sazh, to stay safe and help her save her younger sister while at it, to Lightning's initial dismay.
After the group gets branded Pulse l'Cie, Raine takes it really badly and draws parallels between her current situation and previous experiences related to her identity. Put on a path with Lightning, who she's already acquainted with by this time, and Hope, who she recognizes from a pleasant interaction she had with his mom a few days back, getting progressively more worried about both, she's bound to bond with them and develop romantic feelings for Lightning, hopefully put her own differences with Snow aside, and conquer some of her own long-overstaying demons.
Themes
As a transfem, Raine fits the game's themes of hope and defying fate very well, as well as its themes of friendship and mutual support, though each of them presents itself in a unique manner compared to the canon characters, together creating something very personal for her.
Put on her last legs the moment she becomes a l'Cie, not only is she completely hopeless, but feels robbed of the life she had only started building for herself a few years ago. Having a target painted on her back, she can't help but draw parallels to her place in society as a marginalized person herself, which only emphasizes the hopelessness of her situation. She desperately tries to hold on to what's always been working for her - having a goal in mind and staying focused on it - and she relates to Lightning when she notices the similarities in her way of coping after Serah enters her crystal stasis. Still, all of her efforts are rendered insufficient and lead to further deterioration of her mental health, as seen through the development of her brand, being more accelerated than others', which eventually leads to her dramatic moment in Palumpolum, where alone, stranded and ready to call it quits, she encounters her Eidolon. Only after beating it, she decides to keep fighting as she has been for years by now, fully realizing the familiarity of her situation and settling on trying her best even if it leads to her death in the end.
Similarly, ending up in a new group of people, all branded l'Cie and put in the same situation as her - while at first doesn't mean anything to her, as she grows closer to them, meets Fang who instantly displays care for everyone, sees how Snow's presence positively affects Lightning and the others, and how everyone is there for each other, she's forced to reevaluate her distrust towards people that she's been defaulting to for years. This causes her to grow more hopeful over time, come to terms with her situation and feel like her place is with her new friends, whatever happens. With her newfound strength, later in the story she often becomes the voice of reason when others are in doubt.
Raine's personality and journey are further shown through more subtle things. Though capable of masking well, she becomes even further reserved after becoming a l'Cie. She seems to display maternal instinct when it comes to Hope, becoming another motherly/big sister figure to him as the story progresses, though she denies having it. As a result, she feels for Sazh's situation as well, yet she can't help but side with Hope and trust him when he talks about his father. For all of her history and proficiency in martial arts, she turns out to be a very delicate person - she ended up being quite similar to Tifa Lockhart in this regard - and still, she's disgruntled with Cocoon enough to side with Fang she's ready to destroy it herself to save Vanille and others, and she has her reasons for this as well. Her disdain for Snow put against times when she sees it fair to defend him is also supposed to further provide Lightning with a more level-headed view on NORA and Snow himself.
Her l'Cie brand is placed on the inner part of her right forearm, her Eidolon is Hades - a representation of death, based on an FFVII summon capable of powerful debuffs, for Raine to control it and use to her own benefit as she grows - and yet, mirroring her last name, her Eidolith takes shape of an amaranth flower - a symbol of endurance, immortality and eternal love.
It is important to note that they're blatantly lying, they are saying that (U+16CB) displayed as (U+03DF) which is untrue. Additionally they admitted in this reddit comment on the thread linked above that they were aware of the nazi connotations and went through with it anyway, but they claim that it wasn't sent to German patrons (because of said nazi connotations.) They knew what they were doing, and it was intentional and reviewed by their staff.
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