I guess it was a good thing that I wasn’t on here when the event was in full swing, because there are some really bad takes in the tag lol. I’ll do a proper write-up at some point, but for now I wanted to get some thoughts out about others’ early reactions without knowing the full story. (Note: Servant names have been slightly modified below to avoid showing up in tags or searches)
From what I saw, most of the takes were expectations based on incomplete information, hearsay, and the usual knee-jerk reaction to a genderbend. You can tell who read the event and its journey vs those who skipped to the conclusion without any of the context and reasons behind it. People hyped themselves up over her being Wil, but that’s just asking for another H0kusai scenario - something that’s already been done. The fact that she’s a patchwork Servant created by an outer god who only cares about the result and not the feelings of its vessel is a lot more interesting in comparison.
The characters within the event also knew that something was off as soon as she introduced herself. Plus the fact that she was confused and unsure about the obvious parts of her “history” that didn’t quite add up. But despite that, the MC and co. still allowed her to join the crew as whoever she wanted/claimed to be. She had baggage she didn’t want to reveal just yet, and the characters didn’t pry until it became necessary for the safety of everyone in the ship. They respected her decision, and she didn’t seem like an enemy. Not consciously, at least.
You could say that she wasn’t really fooling anyone with her identity. From the start, they knew that she was either someone else, or had unusual circumstances. It’s not something new to Chaldea, and her struggle throughout the event to decide on an identity is something I personally like seeing in fiction.
And I think what these people don’t understand is that it’s not like she’s either one or the other. She said it herself in the event:
“I can’t abandon the fact that I’m van G0gh! I can’t reject the fact that I’m C|ytie!”
She has his memories, experiences, techniques, and feelings. But her body is C|ytie’s to avoid killing herself. Maybe her personality is too, but we are shaped by our memories and experiences whether we like it or not. Whether we’re aware of it or note, even. She’s not any less of a van G0gh just because her physical form is a water nymph.
Deeper and deeper... Far, far away... That’s right, I did call her. I remember it clearly. I did it because I was lonely. Because I was unable to stop seeking others, seeking light.
Because I’m C|ytie.
There are no contradictions. It’s all natural. I’ve been wrongly assuming I was van G0gh this whole time.
Even so, I’m still van G0gh.
The memories I piled up in my short life, the experiences etched into me don’t let me identify myself as anyone other than van G0gh.
Even so, I’m a woman, a spiteful coward, a flower in a mourning dress, and a water nymph. My mind and body don’t let me identify myself as van G0gh.
How many times have I done this fruitless recapitulation already? How many times have I tried to tear myself apart?
But it doesn’t work, since I’m not van G0gh.
How many times was I almost driven to the point of drawing that picture?
But I can’t do that again, because I’m van G0gh.
Her profile does state that she’s 80% C|ytie and 5% van G0gh (with the other 15% being a black box of imaginary numbers), but it makes sense considering the distribution and what we knew from the event story. She has his memories, experiences and techniques, but the physical form and anti-suicide measures is C|ytie’s. If someone were to take that profile at face value without knowing what led up to it, I can see how they’d jump to conclusions and see red.
Saying that she’s basically C|ytie and not van G0gh disrespects the journey she made to reach the post-event point. Sk@di even asks her in the epilogue which name she’d rather go by since her new full name is rather long, and she explains that van G0gh is fine and it would be easier to think of her as a Greek girl using van G0gh as a penname.
It’s not as cut and dry as people make it out to be, and she clearly is still working towards figuring herself out and accepting herself (see: her voice line for Fran). There’s an NP she can’t use while she’s C|ytie van G0gh the Foreigner, which does imply that the van G0gh as everyone knows can be summoned as himself, so at least there’s that.
I’m not sure what else to say without taking longer, other than that I think people built expectations, jumped the gun, and got angry/disappointed when their theories were debunked. All without having the full story on hand.
There was a lot of thought and care that went into the event. From the CM’s choice in scenes, to the lyrics for the CM’s song, to the sea theme and naval terms, etc. I didn’t know about Point Nem0 and poles of inaccessibility until this event.
But I can talk about what I liked and how I felt about it overall some other time. I just vomited out words and feelings. Hopefully they made sense.
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