big ass mozepost
big ass mozepost because she is me and murderised is also part of my standard vocabulary
okay so something i really like about the bl3 vault hunters is how theyre subversions of classic character archetypes. amara is a monk, but rather than being humble and calm and pacifist shes a bloodthirsty diva. fl4k is a beastmaster, but rather than being one with the wilds and/or very empathetic towards nature theyre a robot and all their pets are equipped with cybernetics, and they view most animals as prey. zane is a mix of james bond and john wick (literally, according to an official promo article from before the games release those two were his direct inspirations and yeah i can see it) but rather than being a suave british charmer or a coolheaded badass killer hes an irish maniac and absolutely pathetic (though not unsuccesful) with any woman he meets.
Moze is, obviously, the soldier. like thats very clear from her appearance, she is the soldier vault hunter like axton and roland and wilhelm before her. she plays into that with her aesthetic and her dialogue, using lots of military slang, speaking to mission givers like theyre commanding officers, and singing marching songs when idle. even her gameplay resembles military action heroes, with all the explosions and unlimited ammo (her 'spray and spray' playstyle as i like to call it. you dont need to pray when your bullets outnumber your enemies' hitpoints). there are some obvious ways she subverts this role, such as her being a woman of colour rather than a macho white man, her being queer (though thats very subtle), her deserting vladof rather than being loyal and dutiful to the flag, etc. but imo the most interesting thing moze does with the soldier archetype is the way she combines it with that of a gamer.
fps games have a habit of creating military narratives and pushing militaristic ideals. like theres a very long history between the military and video games (specifically fps games) and their use as tools for military propoganda. moze is a caricature of what you get when you teach possible recruits to view war as a game (thats what my thesis was about). almost all her military speech vanishes during combat, instead she talks about kill streaks, multi-kills, and calls people scrub a lot. like a lot a lot. her action skill lets her pilot iron bear, and iron bear literally digitalises the battlefield for her. he has no windows in his armour, what moze sees in the cockpit is a livestream from his external cameras. while outside of combat she carries herself with some semblance of military professionalism, during combat she is completely unhinged.
and i honestly love that.
zane, fl4k, and amara have a clear continuous behaviour in and out of combat, they just get pumped up by the adrenaline imo. zane remains a jokester, fl4k keeps talking about his pets and devotion to Death, and amara remains a diva eager to test her strength. with moze its like she uses her military etiquette as a fallback when talking to people she isnt comfortable with, like strangers or people she sees as outranking her. i headcanon that when she gets flustered she starts calling people sir and ma'am. when shes with friends, like her fellow vault hunters or iron bear, she can relax a little, but its when shes fighting that she can really just let herself go. the gamer slang makes very little appearance outside of combat, while military slang during combat is almost exclusively triggered when moze or an ally is downed or dies. Moze does not view battle as a military operation, she views it as a game and one she enjoys immensely. a competitive game to be specific, because she calls her enemies scrubs and tells them to get good, they are players too in her eyes. it is funny to imagine this triggerhappy killing machine as a socially awkward disaster lesbian who uses military etiquette as a guidebook for human interactions. also when you point out a loot chest she will sometimes say 'chest spotted' and then do a gay ass goblin laugh. marissa lenti's voice acting gives me life.
and i didnt even mention her dialogue during the psycho krieg dlc, its so good moze really gets into that psycho brain and is like fuck it we ball and then she balls so hard she might as well be cast in space jam. i also like her relationship with iron bear, how hes like her trusted friend and closest family and safest space. i want a mech armed with nuclear warheads.
moze is so cool eh kills cov and doesnt afraid of anything
