A character analysis regarding Regina Berry
it's quite clear the writers didn't handle Regina The Best in aa2, what with portraying the concept of pedophilia and her being groomed by three different adult men (Max, Trilo, Bat. btw a lot of people overlook Bat also being a grown adult man while she was still a kid) as a normal romance, however they did improve greatly with aai2 and I'd say you can even use what happens in aa2 to add to her character in aai2.
one of the key points that stick to me is how in aa2 she starts off being "naive" after being sheltered by her father for so long in the circus until Moe takes her to court and forces her to face reality head-on (which btw, if we're to criticize the pedos and Regina's father for indulging them despite AA painting them in good light, then we should also criticize Moe considering this also implies he did nothing to protect her from then). after she's faced with all of this she breaks down and blames herself for everything that happens (despite the fact none of it was her fault) and swears to go visit Bat every day. this comes as a rather big contrast when in aai2 she does show sadness at being betrayed by Simeon, but rather than dwell on it or blame herself she addresses feeling sad by it then choosing to move on.
but this brings to another interesting topic: terrible coping mechanism. her not blaming herself over something that isn't her fault is already a great improvement for her however the way she brushes it all off shows how she might also have a similar coping mechanism to Simeon which is to ignore her own feelings and pretend she is fine. she talks about Simeon being able to ignore something as big as the murder of his childhood best friend by just going to sleep and being fine the next day, and she talks about this as though it is a positive thing, such that even Miles Mr. Fake Your Death is weirded out by this.
this deal of hers can also be seen at the end where she talks about just "blowing away the competition and those bad memories away" (shown a few pictures above) rather than think about it any further. also interesting how she now refers to the others such as Max and Trilo as competition to knock over (though this is more obvious in the fan translation). which is why I hc her finally realising that they were bad for her and moving on from the idea of the "romance", which I think makes sense considering her reaction.
she also talks about enjoying being at the prison more than the circus in the second aai2 case, which I think is an interesting idea and could add up to the hc / theory that she genuinely doesn't want to be around them anymore.
and going further on this idea of Regina trying to shove down feelings / putting on a fake cheery persona (at least, in aai2) we also have Miles talk about her not batting an eye despite being accused of a crime, showing her resilience, yet afterwards Miles mentions her smile seems unable to reach her eyes as she pretends that everything is under control, making this seem more like something that she fakes.
she is also remarked in quite a few dialogues to have people fall for the cute, cheery attitude. the only one who seems to ever point out and notice her smile being faked is Miles, but even Miles falls for her "tactics" at one point, with her getting him to apologise to her without him even realising why.
another thing to remark about her being smart is her ability to quickly read not just animals but also people and figure them out in aai2. it's kinda crazy to see how far she comes along between aa2 and aai2, even if it doesn't seem noticeable at the start.
it also shows how good she is at this that she's also able to read Simeon brushing off his own feelings DESPITE him putting on a fake persona during the entire time they knew each other, and him trying to ignore his own feelings is also a fact, or at least try to get rid of them. numb them out. he equates feeling good with feeling numb.
summary: Regina is a very interesting character outside of just "poor victim" or "cheery silly girl". she shows a great change in behaviour (even if not noticeable at first) between aa2 and aai2, she goes from naivety to trying to drown out negative feelings, despite putting on a "silly" attitude she's still shown to be smart and being able to fake parts of her personality, and having an ease with both manipulating people and also reading them. it makes sense that she's positioned to be Simeon's sidekick and boss, as they're both very much alike. her cheeriness is something that she both fakes yet is also part of her real personality, similarly to how Simeon faked his weakness as a persona yet at the end his "weak side" was also part of his true self, showcased when he's reunited with Kanis again. they both play further into parts of themselves that are technically true but take it to an extreme, as a way to either shield themselves from any further feelings or (mostly Simeon's case) to fool others.
and under the idea that she was also abused as a child (even though aa2 doesn't intend you to take what she goes through as abuse, but it very much is) similarly to how Simeon was, it adds to the way they parallel each other too.
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