5 female characters that changed my brain chemistry
I got tagged by @blueclanmarkings I have never been tagged for anything I feel very honoured.
and now that I'm having to think about it this is actually very difficult and in no particular order (except at the end, it gets really sappy, sorry, Bioware protags mean a lot to me personally):
Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVI (Final Fantasy 9), my first and truest female character love. She goes through a lot over FF9 and at such a young age, and I just rly respect her for that. I almost put Freya here, but I'm trying to keep it to one lady per game/series, otherwise I'd just list all of the female characters from Final Fantasy which would defeat the purpose of the list (Beatrix, Tifa, Aerith, Yuna??? I could go on.)
Valerie (aka FemV, Cyberpunk 2077). First of all, the performance is unreal, not to take away from MaleV's performance at all, but FemV has a tenderness and vulnerability in her performance that really touches me in all the right places, emotionally. My partner has told me he prefers FemV for this reason, her performance and portrayal are both Quintessentially V in the way that both of them are, but is also incredibly aware that she's a woman going through these things. I adore Valerie.
Paige Mahoney (The Bone Season). I saw no rules that said video game characters only, so I'm taking this opportunity to scream at the rooftops about how much I love this series. Paige is incredibly traumatised for plot reasons and she isn't dealing with it but she is dealing with it and just, ugh. I'm going to be gutted when it's over, I just want her and Arcturus to be happy. She deserves it.
Penultimately, I have to include Inquisitor Lavellan (Dragon Age: Inquisition). She truly changed me in a way that I will never have the words to thank her for. I owe everything good in my life now to the way her story touched me. She's the reason I have the confidence I needed to get out of a bad situation, and a decade later I don't think it's too much to say I owe her my life. Thank you, lethallan.
Finally, to Commander Shepard (Mass Effect Trilogy), the version provided by the text, and not the unhinged version of you that lives in my head: A strong, capable woman who takes a licking and comes back pissed. The woman who reminds me that my actions speak louder than my words, and my actions ripple out in to the universe no matter how small. Thanks for reminding me how to get back up again after hardship. To Hera specifically: thanks for letting my freak flag fly through you, you freaky little menace.
This got a little off-track at the end there. I don't think whoever invented this tag intended for me to lay my feelings at the altar of fictional women.
For some levity, here's some Honourable Mentions: Rhapsody "Full Name Not Included Because Spoilers" (The Symphony of Ages), Bella Goth (The Sims), Fortuna (The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood), The Hero of Ferelden (Dragon Age: Origins), Rosalyn (Okage: Shadow King), KOS-MOS (Xenosaga 3: Also Sprach Zarathustra, specifically).
I can wax poetic about incredible female characters in media for days and days. I just fucking love women.
I forgot to actually tag anyone, but @meglosthegreat, I know you've got Thoughts. Let's hear em. :P and you know what, fuck it, if you got far enough in to this ramble to see this, consider yourself tagged.
