Felicity first because my thoughts on her are far less complex and numerous.
She's just. God. Punches wall. On one hand I wish she "survived" (as much as she can be considered to be 'dead'). On the other hand I understand why she died, from the perspective of the Themes and Plot of the Pre-Sequel. Through her treatment, you get to see more of the man that Jack truly is: a virulent misogynist who has no qualms about turning a woman into a breeding slave. It's cruel and fucked up, but like, I Get It, media can and will sometimes contain cruel and fucked up things.
I'm also a full believer of the theory that all the loaders which display greater humanity (LB, Mal, Joy, etc.) do so because they are made by constructors, and thus by "parts" or copies of Felicity, so they carry small parts of her within her too. She is like a nurse log in a forest: dead, and yet things grow on her, continuing the cycle of existence...
As for gagawa. Well. Prepare for yapping.
Just today I watched Radical Reviewer's review of American Psycho, which interpreted the entire thing as a metaphor of neoliberal capitalism (and as someone whose only previous exposure to American Psycho was tumblr and memes, it was very persuasive), specifically of its inherent violence (Bateman's murders and conspicuous consumption as the logical conclusion of capitalist exploitation; after all, that Rolex he wears was likely made from metal mined by slaves) and inhumanity (Bateman losing his compassion; becoming a cookiecutter copy of all the other yuppies; the endless loop of meaningless work, consumption, et cetera).
Also recently, I stumbled upon a Pre-Sequel era official design document for Borderlands, which stated outright that one of the defining features of the series is that it is human-centric, focused on the anthropic principle, with greater cosmic plots being relegated to the background (looking at BL4's ending, that didn't age so well huh).
Combine that with the theory I've read so far and my preexisting views, and... the result is that it's BAFFLING to me that Katagawa Jr. didn't get any development.
He is literally a Bateman, a "Batemanic "hero"" if you will. He is stuck in the fundamentally dehumanizing system of capitalism, and yet the clash between that and the fact he remains a H. sapiens is completely unexplored.
This dehumanization is acknowledged, btw. He has a FUCKING BARCODE ON HIS NECK. AND IT IS NOT ADDRESSED AT ALL.
HE'S LITERALLY THE INCARNATION OF BORDERLANDS BEING A "HUMAN-CENTRIC" CRITIQUE OF CAPITALISM THAT SOMEHOW REGULARLY FORGETS CAPITALISM IS AN INHUMAN SYSTEM, OR MORE SPECIFICALLY DOESN'T EXPLORE THE TENSION BETWEEN ITS INHUMANITY AND HUMANS NEARLY ENOUGH.
"haha look at this corporate villain who just wants profit" OKAY BUT CAN WE STOP FOR A SECOND AND REALIZE HOW RIDICULOUS IT IS TO WANT "PROFIT" AND NOTHING ELSE. PROFIT AS A CONCEPT IS DIVORCED ENTIRELY FROM THINGS LIKE CULTURE, NATURE, LOVE. IT IS AN ABSTRACT "NUMBER GO UP" AND THIS PERSON HAS MADE IT THEIR ENTIRE MORAL COMPASS. WHAT HAS DRIVEN THEM TO THIS? THE SYSTEM, THEIR UPBRINGING? DO THEY GENUINELY BELIEVE THE ACCUMULATION OF PROFIT TO BE THE HIGHEST VALUE OR ARE THEY SIMPLY A SLAVE TO THE ZEITGEIST/PEER PRESSURE?
[takes a deep breath] okay, Nikolai, this ain't the time to get philosophical, this is just a silly vidya game...
anyways, Hansuke Katagawa Junior you will always be famous and gearbox was diabolical for making you their SECOND Japanese man whose main trait is being obsessed with a white guy. The fandom is also diabolical for making a solid 70% of your ao3 tag be noncon yandere.
yknow, it didn’t even occur to me that people irl could be called felicity. the first time we met someone called felicity i was really thrown off, lol. like, felicity aka skipper aka constructor borderlands?
