Did you ever play LBMR/ do you have thoughts on Alfendi?
(Just posting the other ask as a screenshot here too why not-)
BUT hi hello Thyme!
While I haven't PERSONALLY played LBMR on my own, I have watched the whole thing played out for me thanks to spending like 80 hours in VCs watching people play it lol.
But I'm the ambassador of system hcs (/silly) so I'll try to sum it up. :3 My thoughts are very scattered I have not had any caffeine yet this morning so apologies. Gonna start with my critiques on him and then my own headcanons.
TLDR I DO think Level-5 wanted to make a character with DID/OSDD but horribly fumbled the bag with it. And I mean surface level research, outdated terms (iirc they use "split-personality" a lot in the game), and very little care taken into the idea that this is a real mental health issue people struggle with and not just a plot point. It CAN be a plot point, but it needs to be handled with care.
I'll say the least offensive thing is the hair color change when either Al or Fendi is fronting. A LOT of media will do stuff like this. Yugioh, while Yugi Muto doesn't have DID, does take on a different appearance as Yami Yugi, albeit it's only for the audiences' perspective. In-universe, the characters see no difference between the two. It's a good way to show who is in control without making it obvious/dramatic to the rest of the cast!
Playing with hairstyles is a really good way to differentiate alters in media. I do the same thing with Marshall and his own alters, but I make it so the hairstyles are realistically in the same realm as each other, instead of changing his hair color when one alter fronts over the other.
Appearance wise, it could be worse.
The difference between Al and Fendi doesn't quite seem upsetting in the grand scheme of things. It's very interesting that Alfendi started out with a very ambitious, headstrong, and abrasive host, only to go dormant for a bit and have a more passive and soft host come to the stand. Usually in media it is the opposite.
The way he switches however is kind of unrealistic. Switching is a strenuous event in a system. If an alter is fronting in .5 seconds, usually it means something is very wrong and there is huge mental fatigue that comes with it. So having them play a mental game of ping-pong and being perfectly fine after is...Yeah.
I've saved the origins of it for last because........Hm. It's really bad.
I was really sad to see that they tried to cover their lack of research on the disorder with the idea of "oh we're just gonna have it so someone played audio cassette tapes that did psychic damage to him and then BAM split personality!" It's in very poor taste and not at all how this disorder works. It is not uncommon for a grown man with a dissociative disorder to develop a new alter after traumatic events, but the disorder needs to be there already.
All in all, Level-5 genuinely fumbled the bag with trying to utilize Alfendi's potential dissociative disorder as a plot point or to make his character interesting. I know that there's HUGE stigmas with dissociative disorders and not too many creators do their research when making characters with it (Cough Split Cough Toko Fukawa Cough) but there's no real excuse for the fact Alfendi is unfortunately a victim of bad DID/OSDD writing.
For my own personal headcanons I tried really hard to duct tape this character back together because I genuinely love Alfendi very dearly and want him to be a good character. OTL
I personally headcanon Alfendi with a dissociative disorder. I believe he came from a really rough situation as a little kid before being adopted by Layton and raised in a much more stable environment. Despite this he was still traumatized and developed DID. The events of the Jigsaw Puzzle Killings (and being literally SHOT) caused a new alter, Fendi, to form, and Al to go dormant for a period of time before the events of the game.
I like to believe that Alfendi has a lot of brain fog, headaches, fatigue, post Mystery Room. Rapid switching is no joke and can take a mental toll on a person. It's stress induced almost 100% of the time. I think he carries around a fuck-ton of painkillers, keeps his office (most of his home) cool and dark, and has notes and memos taped EVERYWHERE but never utilized. His lack of eating comes from Fendi not really feeling hunger due to intense brain fog (plus some alters just genuinely do not feel hunger as intense as others) hence a decline in health. I think Lucy genuinely has to remind him sometimes to eat, drink water, get up, and basically just "stop sitting there staring at the wall dissociating." He isn't incapable of living on his own, but having someone there to remind him to take care of himself definitely is a bonus in his life that only improves it.
Even in modern times, dissociative disorders are very heavily stigmatized, more than people want to admit, and there's very little basic, surface level research in the public eye. I think that Alfendi was absolutely isolated after being shot, and Lucy was the first person who didn't show absolute fear/disgust/sadness when seeing him switch and front, hence the close connection they have. I don't ship a lot of things in any medias (I just don't think about it a lot) but I genuinely believe that they have a close connection whether its platonic or romantic, just because Lucy was someone who didn't show (as intense) biases about Alfendi and his mental health.
Okay. I've yapped too much. Sorry if this is all nonsensical and not what you wanted. I'm just happy to talk about my opinions on games I like. :,3
