I'm gonna be pretend bold and say some thoughts about Roathe . Teehee or something
I think dismissing him entirely as a character as just some gross, annoying weirdo is sort of like saying you whole heartedly cannot handle any nuance or narrative reasoning for why he may exist. Even if you're like me and didn't really want more protoframes to think about. You can dislike characters, I really don't care if you do or don't, but to say he isn't fascinating is hurting my soul a little.
Roathe is, to a degree, an implied former antagonist and now he's just some de-fanged former military-flavor sadist. The devil and dealing references are very heavy handed, as well. If he's dead in the water as a character from that in terms of taking anything he says in KIM chats seriously you're sorta falling for the inversed halo effect. Just because he IS a devil doesn't mean he's always lying. It doesn't mean he always has the worst intentions... but most definitely ones that benefit him.
He wasn't an all powerful guy either. Depending how far you get in the chats the implication is pretty clear he was at his best, a high achieving fucktoy with a military title. He wanted to do the same thing the Tenno did and be rid of the Orokin, even if it was not as easily executable by him or as trustworthy.
I forced myself to not spoil myself with reading ahead with the kimulacrum but it seems to me he's being set up as a self-hating sort of guy and being given the chance at redemption. With how badly people want Entrati to come around to being a good character or not having to kill him for their own reasons, in comparison I feel like Roathe is rather small potatoes given he's just another one of Entrati's victims where the power imbalance wasn't in Roathe's favor in their society. I genuinely do think it's a good thought generator - PURELY INSIDE THE CONTEXT OF THE GAME NOT AFFECTED EXTERNAL BIAS - as why the game is prompting you to converse with Roathe. To potentially forgive him. Why Entrati picked HIM to decipher if their caste of people are forgivable. Will you forgive Roathe? Will you understand Roathe? Will you forgive Entrati, and understand him as well? Are you willing to learn and bear the weight of what it means to have the naked and horrible humanity of the people you dislike face you and measure that against their crimes? Is it making you reflect on anything else in the game or in real life? These are things worth exploring.
Anyways, I'm gonna continue enjoy this stupid blue brat and see what happens.
i am very ill today, which actually allowed me to finish umbra in 1999 fic's next chapter since im stuck in bed, but now i am languishing and thinking about my headcanon on how umbra and ballas's relationship was like before umbra got warframed
though you only get breadcrumbs through that flashback scene, it really did give enough bones to make a truly interesting yet messed up dynamic between ballas and umbra imo so anyway here's my deranged thoughts on the matter:
Umbra was a very highly regarded Dax, and had earned that regard as well, considering he single handedly fended off a Sentient attack, which is impressive for a Dax since they were by and large outmatched by the Sentients' ability to rapidly adapt to threats. You could say Umbra had an affinity for sussing out their weakpoints, hence why his howl ability is able to strip away Sentients' defence adaptions. I wouldn't be surprised if he was one of the Orokin's most prized Dax, and probably used as a symbol of what A True Dax Should Be.
Now Ballas. Throughout the flashback, Isaah and Ballas's commentary implied that Ballas and Umbra had some sort of """"friendship"""" that from the outside seemed genuine, but in reality was probably the most 5D chess mind game trolling on par with Light and L. Ballas was not low-ranked either amongst the Orokin, so for Umbra, a Dax, to have a 'friendship' with him is already significant. Hell, Isaah wasn't surprised that Ballas would go out of his way to 'help' Umbra with his 'illness' and considered he suspected absolutely nothing about Ballas's motivations, meant that from the outside it really did look like Ballas and Umbra's """friendship""" was genuine.
So my HC is that Ballas and Umbra actively despised each other, but they never outwardly expressed this. There was an unspoken agreement that they would try everything in their power to undermine the other, but not in a way that would have the other Orokin - or others in general - cotton on, because it'd be that much sweeter for the other to stumble if it wasn't known to be due to active sabotage from the other party.
I like to think that Umbra snagged Ballas's attention because Umbra had, unknowingly, one-upped him in some way, and ever since then Ballas has just had it out for him while Umbra is oblivious as to what this asshole's problem with him is. Ballas just grinding his teeth at this lowly Dax constantly outmanoeuvring him in this or that, and being so renowned that he somehow managed to become a shining role model for all Dax. I can see Ballas wanting to knock someone like that down a few pegs for no reason other than malicious pettiness.
Meanwhile Umbra is just mentally wishing for Ballas to fall down a flight of stairs and break his neck in a tragic accident or whatever because if he had to sit his way through another komi game while pleasantly giving Ballas backhanded praises to his face, Umbra might give into impulse and just fucking stab him lol
So it all really came to a head when Umbra began suspecting Ballas betraying the Orokin to the Sentients. Ballas pounced on an opportunity to finally destroy Umbra once and for all, who ended up falling for Ballas's trap for the first time ever because he rushed his work to try and finally bring Ballas down (thus winning their 'rivalry').
I still think Umbra was in shock that Ballas would do something that depraved though. I think Umbra would've believed only himself to be the casualty of whatever the fuck he and Ballas had going on, but no. Only Umbra survived, and it was in the worst possible way because Ballas was just that much of a petty bitch.
Anyway somewhat incoherent, but that's the vibe I'm going for whenever Umbra thinks about Ballas in the umbra in 1999 fic. Like. Umbra knew so many random personal details about Ballas under the guise of 'friendship'. He also never hated anyone more and kind of wished that he got the chance to stab him a few more times before he died. Maybe one day he'll take a page out of Quincy's book and just shoot a portrait of him repeatedly lmao
