u/Ok_Fun_7733

I made this image

I made this drawing

earlier this week I did a big post on Roberta’s character and what she could have gone though before her time with the Lovelace’s using real world FARC treatment on women as examples. some of the comments I received mentioned that she doesn’t exactly feel like a redeemable character due to what she did, her lack of guilt to her victims and overall, her violent nature.

this schism I believe partially falls from Rei Hiroe and the anime writers not knowing what to give to her character probably due to them not being well versed in southern American politics during the time period the series takes place. To me personally, they are pushing two simultaneous narratives that both fail: a guilty monster who wishes to atone for her sins and a lost cause that will go off whenever something bad happens.

The former fails due to her actions and behaviours towards other people, her lack of guilt for what she did save for one person and how Roberta’s blood trail portrays her relationship with Garcia.

The latter fails because she not only gets her “happy ending” at the end of blood trail but it is heavily likely that the former was meant to be her character due to her brief appearance in the sawyer spinoff and in issue 120 despite being a bit manipulative for Garcia’s sake. But due to how they messed her character up, she comes across as more evil than the actual people living in the city of sin that is roanapur.

I still love her and will keep defending her, but I just want to see how other people feel about her and if she can eventually become a good character or at the very least a decent person. I’m just hoping the inevitable Roberta spinoff ruins her even more.

It has been a full year since I first made my Reddit account. Before I start discussing her, I should mention a shout-out to YouTuber CJDachamp for his Roberta video. Had I not watched that video, I may never have learnt about this fandom, nor would I have had the privilege of a hyperfixation on who could be the greatest character in the entire series, aside from Frederica Sawyer.

To give a rough summary of her character, Roberta is a former FARC guerrilla who became a maid to Garcia Lovelace and his late father, Diego Lovelace, after defecting. As well as being one of the few morally righteous characters in the series, she is also known to be one of its strongest fighters and is an easily recognisable character to people who look at the fandom for the first time.

In her first arc, she went on a mad dash to save Garcia from black lagoon company, who kidnapped him. A lot of people really hated how Garcia behaved in that first arc, mainly due to his acting whiny and not wanting Roberta to be killed by the black lagoon company. I mean....is that REALLY a bad thing? I mean, would YOU be happy to go with your kidnappers who would more than likely sell you to people who would use you as leverage for your politician father and even may kill you? I think not. Anyways, the arc showcased her skills and her past when Balalaika pointed her gun at her, along with her snipers. Something that to this day, REALLY PISSES ME OFF. Like seriously, there was no reason for Balalaika to do that other than to get it in her face how "strong and all knowing she is". It is through here that we learn that she committed terrible sins during her time and that the reason she became a maid was due to her feeling betrayed when she saw the fields the FARC were keeping for the mafia. Of course, we get the infamous Revy vs Roberta fight, and I cannot believe some people wanted Revy to win basically just as a fuck you to Garcia.

FUN FACT: Rei Hiroe apparently made Roberta as he wanted a flamboyant character to be in the series due to low sales. We clearly have very different meanings to that word, I can say.

Her second appearance in el baile de la muerte or as most refer to as roberta's blood trail, not only gievs a more in depth look at how her relationhsip with Diego was, but it shows her commiting several violent acts to get revenge on american unit grey fox after they kill Garcia's dad, including cavin in the skull of a FARC officer who wanted her to come back to FARC. of course Rock and eventually Eda both manipulate things to eventually put the thing to a stop.

ANOTHER FUN FACT: Rei Hiroe apparently wanted her injured in the manga, but was too lazy to do so when the anime started to adapt the story, he requested some changes, including the addition of her injuries.

something Roberta has, unlike every other character in this series, however, is that she wants to atone for her crimes. Revy is known to secretly despise her way of life, but unlike Roberta, she chooses the cowardly option of sticking to that path rather than moving on. Roberta was aware of what she had done, and despite being the most blood-soaked of all the characters, she became one of the most moral. Her relationship with Fabiola and Garcia is something different compared to other relationships. While relationships in the series mostly start with business or hostility, Roberta seemed to have cared greatly for both of these young characters. Especially Garcia, whom she would hate herself should he ever turn out like her. Roberta is also, oddly enough, friendlier and more cordial compared to other characters who would most likely kill you on sight or not give a damn how you feel. Of course, there are other realtionships in the series that are just as, if not more, heartwarming as theirs, such as Sawyer's friendship with Bunny the undertaker.

When I first looked through her blood trail arc, I felt slightly satisfied knowing she was still alive in the end. However, as time went on, I couldn't shake the feeling that she was extremely sidelined. Only showing up for conflict. Like, seriously, you mean to tell me only ONE ghost of her past is haunting her? And that's not even mentioning the number of people who felt that she and Caxton had sidelined Revy and Rock. Revy and rock. The two characters of the entire manga who show up LITERALLY EVERYWHERE. And that's not even counting her character arc. Something I had no idea existed because the only time we see her in Blood Trail is through flashbacks, fight scenes or just ways showing us she's crazy. What doesn't help is that the manga not only gives more depth to Roberta's thoughts but also makes her sympathetic. Compared to the anime, however, not only is the grey fox unit, excepcially shane caxton, more sympathetic, but they also spend a lot less time with Roberta's character as a whole, thus leading to only small pieces of her story coming to light.

And that doesn't even include the ending scene. The one where Garcia kisses her to make her snap out of her insanity. This has led to the infamous GarciaRoberta ship, which I hate! Even the author of the manga plays with that. Putting it in my perspective, I see Roberta as his mother figure. And the fact that so many people mischaracterise her is insane! Literally, there are some people who either call Roberta a "villain", consider her to be a complete and utter lunatic, even though REVY and the older brother from the Sawyer spinoff have done worse things on screen, and were actively committing crimes still and believe she is in love with Garcia. When GARCIA KISSED FIRST! That's also not going into one YouTube video where the guy says Roberta is "unfixable" before listing reasons that all had VALID explanations. Even the comments were atrocious. Nearly all of them involve people simping rather than stating obvious facts. It was like seeing the thumbnail from Rafe's epic world about Hazbin Hotel, getting over the initial shock and then seeing that, despite there being genuinely valid points, there are also a lot of answers to his questions that could have been easily solved if he had just read what was being said.

However, all that pales in comparison to the reasons most don't like her. First, she's unrealistic. As if the very FIRST arc didn't involve Rock using a BOAT to deflect a MISSILE back at a helicopter! Realism clearly wasn't intended to be as grounded as our world. Then there is the fact that, as a character, some people think she is too 2 dimensional. That cannot be further from the truth if you consider the fact that, unlike everyone else, she lives in Venezuela, which is an area that, at the time the show takes place, is facing serious problems with the government. The final reason people hate her is due to the fact that they find her out of place and consider her arc already finished. First of all, bloodtrail doesn/'t really handle her character that much for her arc to even feel like an arc, especially given the fact that only one "ghost" was haunting her. Then there is the fact that, as a former FARC terrorist, her life was probably more eventful than Revy's or even Balalaika's.

Speaking of Hironobu Satorou, it is likely that the only reason HE was on Roberta's mind on Bloodtrail was due to how he and Rock both look similar in terms of clothing and ethnicity. It is very likely that her first meeting with Rock led her to remember him and thus begin to feel guilty about what she did to him.

And as for her fanfiction, there is very little about her despite Venezuela in the time period essentially being shifted to what we now see today. And yet no one is making anything off of that soil. The fanfics I do see mostly involve either RobertaxGarcia or have an OC in them. One of my favourite ones and the first one I saw was black lagoon diary of a Rogue. Mainly cause Roberta and the MC have a pretty solid relationship. As of writing, the fanfic is still incomplete, though, which I personally feel is a shame.

Another fanfic series I saw actually had its own idea for Roberta. Instead of Garcia or an OC, Roberta was paired with...Lotton. The name of this fanfic series is beyond guns and bullets, and honestly, the fact that Lotton and Roberta are both portrayed as happy together is kinda cute. Also, I just love how in one of the series entries, Garcia, who is now a young adult, is tolerating Lotton. Kinda wish we saw them more. Maybe we could get a fan-fanfiction about how the dynamic between the lovelaces and freelancers are.

The fanfic fuel for Roberta mostly involves romance and fighting compared to most other fanfictions, where we get moments and different outcomes with the other characters, which makes me feel that Roberta in black lagoon fanfiction isn't just rare, but it's even rarer for her to even be a character. That actually goes for her in her appearances. In both of them, she is used by others for their own goals, with Garcia being the only one who doesn't want to use her.

And now, Roberta returned in issue 120 of the manga before her, and the lovelaces are absent once more in the recent issue of writing this, issue 122. And I am hoping we get to see more of her soon. Because while she may just be the "Terminator maid", she is also quite literally the character who has defined a series. And even though there are many people, including the person who asked Tabitha Germain if she thought Roberta was evil and the magazine writers of her debut anime episode call her evil, she may as well be the most humane person in the entire series. It's such a shame everyone, including Rei Hiroe, seems to underutilise her and not bother expanding on her background, despite hers being one of the more richly intertwined with our history. After all, if we got our look at Revy's childhood in ROBERTA'S BLOODTRAIL, got the backstory for why Balalaika is who she is, and the fact that Bao used to be a soldier of all things before opening the most bombed pub in all the lands, then Roberta should surely deserve to have an expanded backstory.

Speaking of history, this section of the post is a little history lesson. to start, I will be using Better-Lengthiness27's comments on my Roberta Q and A post 9 months ago. In his words and not mine:

"FARC made more money and news from kidnappings and murders of government officials than from guarding coca fields. My head canon is that she made her bones killing the bodyguards of those that FARC wanted to kidnap. She later turned into a full-on soldier when fighting the paramilitaries and government special forces.
The anime/manga got it spot on that FARC started as Marxist guerrillas, but morphed into a plain terrorist organisation. Their toughest enemy was not the government or even the narcos, but the paramilitaries that fought them tooth and nail, with both sides committing crimes against humanity. The EO company reminds me of paramilitaries. During those battles, entire indigenous villages were wiped out to the last woman and child to make sure there were no witnesses.
Colombia had the 4 sides fighting each other for over 30 years. In 2016, a peace treaty was signed. Only the worst of the worst were prosecuted for crimes against humanity. The rest were asked to come forward to a panel of truth and reconciliation, like South Africa.
Paramilitaries were never invited to T and R. Some of the higher echelons were suspected government officials. Later, some FARC members became members of parliament. I met a FARC member once who was a security guard at a big box store. He had hash marks on the very intricately engraved butt of his shotgun.
FARC was known to have badass women soldiers and operatives."

He also mentioned that if she survived to 2016, "there's no way that Roberta would have appeared before the panel of T and R because the FBI would have arrested her on site for that (real) fire-bombing of the US embassy in Tegucigalpa in 1988 as Balalaika said that Roberta was a suspect."

Of course, it would really depend on her level of involvement with the crimes the FARC did for humanity as a whole. "There are scores of villages that no longer exist in southern Colombia, and they are still finding mass graves."

He headcannoned that Roberta was self-reflective enough during her time with FARC that she didn't participate in those activities. He then went on to say she was a very skilled assassin and soldier, not a murderer, and if she went to a Tand R session, they would have shown her great mercy, especially if she was kidnapped to be a child soldier.

That is another headcannon of his as FARC went house to house in villages and took all of 10-16 year olds in those poor farming villages, an entire generation of those children who are now adults. Colombia has gone out of its way to try to integrate them back into society. They have psychological programs, they get automatic food support, and they get places to live. They never got an education and were exposed to war for years.

I also did another post on headcannons for Roberta, where ShadowLight56 said, "The reason Roberta is bad at cooking is that she's too used to subsisting on military rations and pre-cooked meals that she never learned. She has been trying to get better to varying degrees of success," which I could see as a reality for why she is that bad of a cook.

The next part of this is stuff I found on Google. So FARC was a far-left Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group involved in continuing the Colombian conflict starting in 1964. It was officially founded in 1966 from peasant self-defence groups formed from 1948 during La Violencia as a peasant force promoting a political line of agrarianism and anti-imperialism after Colombian populist leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was assassinated on April 9, 1948, to eliminate his immense threat to the ruling oligarchy. As a charismatic Liberal Party leader, he championed the poor, working classes, and land reform, which terrified conservative elites who feared his impending election would strip them of their power. Though his killer was identified, because of the lack of a conclusive judicial verdict, multiple theories emerged regarding who directed Roa Sierra. Suspicions have historically pointed to conservative political rivals, the Colombian Communist Party (who saw Gaitán as a rival for the masses' loyalty), and even U.S. intelligence agencies (the CIA), aiming to curb left-wing influence in Latin America during the early Cold War. That last part may help further explain her incredible hostility to Americans like Grey Fox and especially Eda. heck, she may not know she is a CIA agent, but for all we know, Eda may have had a role in the destabilisation of Colombia in the series'events too. Anyways, Gaitán's assassination triggered El Bogotazo, a massive and violent uprising across Bogotá, and plunged the country into La Violencia, a bloody, decade-long civil war that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and reshaped Colombia's political landscape.

This last piece of information is about women's conditions in the FARC. Given that she was a close advisor to the leader and founder, Manuel Marulanda, it is unknown how many of the points below may have happened to her, but some people have commented on what she went through to thatb of Hansel and Gretel. Let that line sink in. She likely went through the same shit as those two orphans and STILL wasn't as damaged as them!

The treatment of women in the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) was highly paradoxical, combining ideals of military equality with severe patriarchal control, systemic reproductive violence, and post-war marginalisation.

Many women joined the FARC willingly to escape the rigid gender norms and domestic constraints of civilian society. Within the ranks, they made up roughly 30% to 35% of the fighters and were extensively trained in combat, weaponry, and survival tactics. For many, fighting alongside men fostered a strong sense of empowerment and agency. Given how Roberta seems to betray the bounty hunters she used to go after Grey Fox, though, it's unusual for her to treat them like that unless her previous group was less than trustworthy. Given that she defected and managed to get to Venezuela, it showed she is very independent when it is called for.

Despite progressive rhetoric, the FARC enforced strict control over women's bodies. The Truth Commission of Colombia formally acknowledged that the group committed systemic reproductive violence against female combatants, which included forced contraception, forced sterilisation, and forced abortions. Pregnant guerrillas were often forced to abort to maintain their combat availability, and those who did have children were usually separated from their newborns. If this has happened with Roberta, then it is likely she may be unable to have children or, worse, have her children taken from her, though given we have no confirmation whether she had a child before defecting, it is likely up for debate.

I used Choice_Narwhal_2437's image of Roberta in a summer outfit and the thumbnail from this video here: Black Lagoon: Sinner to Saint, not only to express my desire for having Roberta content that doesn't always involve her being near another similarly OP or crazy person, but also to give people the chance to see the video so they can better understand her. Personally, as someone who plays Cookie Run Kingdom, I see Roberta as the true herald of change. For her existence is proof that even the most messed-up and depraved soldiers can change if they are given the chance to and feel remorse for their actions.

The thing is, Roberta, may just be the most tragic character in the series. think about it, her life at a young age, was doomed to be messed up thanks to two governemts screwwing her over. Also, aside from Garcia, Roberta is alone. Sure, she has Fabiola and the other maids, but the blank expression in her eyes when she saw her shows she doesn't seem to be that close to the younger maid. Revy at least has some contacts. Balalaiak at least has her men. Roberta...she has no one other than Garcia. And given how she wished for a peaceful life, she ironically would be the most trapped out of those women due to her needing to stay in hiding for her crimes.

One thing I want to mention are relates for fanfics about Roberta. First off, if you recall earlier in the post, I made a statement that she endured a similar experience to Ahnsel and Gretel. So what if, instead of dying, the twins were sent to Lovelace Manor, and Roberta takes them in instead? The idea of someone else handling them is already a pretty interesting idea. I also wish to send the links to three fanfictions I made for Roberta. The first one is completed. I am currently working on the other two, but I will post updates soon.

Forgiveness in roses, a black lagoon fanfic | FanFiction

Boston bloodhound Chapter 1: Prologue, a Black Lagoon + Team Fortress 2 Crossover fanfic | FanFiction

Black lagoon: The excursion Chapter 1: Part1: the new arrival, a black lagoon fanfic | FanFiction

So with that, I want to say that Roberta is my favourite character in the whole series.

blight's design was made to resemble his toy.

windrazor's design is a mix of his toy design and an image of a predacon from the nemesis scans in the cartoon,

If you recall one of my posts which featured a design for aligned gnaw, then you would know what he looked like. I decided to make 2 variants of this design based on two new sharkticons introduced in earthspark.

cryptic yokai are the classic yokai equivalent for merican yokai. To start off the series, I introduce you all to the cousin of snartle, quaiverpal!

He is based on the qalupalik from Inuit folklore. A creature known for abducting children if they get too close to the edge of icy shore lines. depending on the version they do this so the kids are kept in a sleep like trance so they drain their vitality or because they are lonely. quaiverpal leans more into the latter version being a fearsome yokai who is very lonely.

His function is similar to snartle where if the player gets to close to an icy shoreline, a quaiverpal jumps up and chases them. They are slightly weaker to their cousins in Springdale but are still powerful in their own right.

quaiverpal:

rank: A

favourite food: meat

medallium dex entry: snartle’s northern cousin, quaiverpal is feared by rural children up north thanks to tales of this yokai kidnapping them and turning them into quaiverpal‘s themselves. His feared reputation makes him a pretty lonely yokai though…

When receive meat: “Thank you!”

when receive candy: *groans*

when receive any other food: “….thanks”

befriend quote: “you…stronger than me. want to be…friends?”

cryptic yokai are the classic yokai equivalent for merican yokai. To start off the series, I introduce you all to the cousin of snartle, quaiverpal!

He is based on the qalupalik from Inuit folklore. A creature known for abducting children if they get too close to the edge of icy shore lines. depending on the version they do this so the kids are kept in a sleep like trance so they drain their vitality or because they are lonely. quaiverpal leans more into the latter version being a fearsome yokai who is very lonely.

His function is similar to snartle where if the player gets to close to an icy shoreline, a quaiverpal jumps up and chases them. They are slightly weaker to their cousins in Springdale but are still powerful in their own right.

quaiverpal:

rank: A

favourite food: meat

medallium dex entry: snartle’s northern cousin, quaiverpal is feared by rural children up north thanks to tales of this yokai kidnapping them and turning them into quaiverpal‘s themselves. His feared reputation makes him a pretty lonely yokai though…

When receive meat: “Thank you!”

when receive candy: *groans*

when receive any other food: “….thanks”

befriend quote: “you…stronger than me. want to be…friends?”

The images above showcase my designs of grimwing and blackbeak from transformers prime. they are both predacons who left predaking as they don't like his leadership and are extremely honorable.

To make them I used artwork of darksteel to help with the design and changed parts of it to make him different. grimwing's head for bot form was taken from his toy. The head for his beast form was done differently as I didn't want him to be just a recolour of darksteel. The turkey head design was done to make him uglier and less frightening than other predacons. fitting as he is very honorable and fair to others. Blackbeak though honorable is also incredibly grouchy and temperamental often known for cursing.

when doing the expressions I made grimwing's teeth very crooked which i liked as I felt that grimwing could speak with an english accent while blackbeak speaks in Scottish. I also have a head cannon that the reason why blackbeak exists is that he was actually meant to be the head of grimwing but at some point something went wrong and blackbeak grew out the body and gained a mini con like body while grimwing ended up getting a less than desirable head in terms of predaking.

overall I am happy with my design and would really like it if anyone who wants to write fanfics to utilise my designs so long as I am credited.