u/Working_Answer7196

I decided to make this post on Reddit, after seeing a lot of toxic and nonsensical videos and users trashing E-Day out of nowhere around different medias (particularly on YouTube), claiming that the game is actually "woke". I already saw the whole campaign of E-Day, and I still don't understand what the f*ck all these brainless and toxic moronoic people are talking about against the whole campaign and even with the game itself. Seriously, could someone really explain to me how E-Day can be actually woke just by having women as gears in the campaign? Have these people who call themselves Gears Of War "fans" and/or "veteran fans" actually remember or even know that Gears Of War 3, the Raam's Shadow DLC and Judgment already had female Gears, even before the events of Gears Of War 1, or are they just acting stupid and hypocritical, while having their heads inside of their own @sses? Without mentioning that in the comics of the game there were also female Gears, and nobody said anything about it back then, or at least not in the same unfair scale like with E-Day.

I saw many actual woke and forced inclusive nonsensical stuff in other IP's, such as Call Of Duty WWII and Battlefield V, in which they portrayed female soldiers fighting in WW2, when that's completely historically inaccurate. While portraying them as this OP Mary Sue characters with little to zero character development whatsoever. But the female characters shown in E-Day, such as Mags, Grey and the mayor Shaw are NOT actual woke characters, nor forced inclusive Mary Sue female characters in any way, shape or form. And if these "fans" claim that the game is still "woke" just by the fact that there are female gears fighting in war. Let me tell you this: unlike in WW2 games, which women were not actually involved in combat during the homonym war (without counting the Soviet Union) being historically inaccurate and being actual woke and forced inclusion in that type of genre, Gears Of War timeline is completely FICTIONAL for cry out loud! So having women fighting in a war that never happened in real life is not actually being woke. So you better forget your ridiculous and pathetic excuses already.

And before some users who actually believe and support the "woke" bullsh1t against E-Day starts to trash me in the comment section, I'm gonna say this now. I AM a Gears Of War veteran fan myself, whether you want to believe my words or not, no matter what kind of claims and insults are just going to say to me. I played Gears Of War ever since the first game was launched, loving the franchise from 1 to 3. With Judgment heavily disappointing me in the gameplay perspective and with some particular redcons in the campaign and with Gears Of War 4 and 5 making me done with series. And compared to actual awful Gears Of War campaigns like 4 and 5, E-Day definitely is one of the best Gears Of War campaigns so far, ever since Gears Of War 3.

One of the few things that I actually didn't like about Rage 1, even to this day, is how restricted and limited were the car customization in the main campaign. More specifically with the number of car themes that we can actually purchase for our personal vehicles, along with the number of races and modes that we can actually participate for each vehicle class. The NPC's (both racers and bandit cars driving around the wasteland) have very unique and distinctive themes for their vehicles, with a very good variety. But for the players we are restricted to have just 2 or 3 themes to purchase and select for each personal car that we unlock. With the Buggy/Dune Buster having just its default Second Hand theme, the ID theme (which is just a theme restoration of the Second Hand theme with the ID Software logo over the doors) and the Skull theme (which is the coolest theme for the Dune Buster). The Cuprino also has its own Second Hand theme, the Patrol theme (White & Black) and the Orange theme (Orange & Black). And the Monarch just having the Starky theme as its default theme and the Scorchers theme (unless that we can count the heavy armor for the Monarch that fully covers any of the 2 themes with a black and red theme for the vehicle).

And don't get me wrong, I actually liked all the themes that we have available for the campaign, despite how limited it was. But I would be lying if I don't say that I would have liked more alternatives. Like the "Light Blue & Orange", the "Silver with Red Rains" and the "Desert Camo" themes for the Cuprino. And even the "Second Hand" looking theme for the Monarch, which you can only see from another Monarch parked in Wellspring, and another one drove and crashed by the gang leader of the Wasted clan inside of their garage.

However, when I decided to check how the Rage multiplayer actually looked like. I just barely realized that in the multiplayer mode known as Road Rage, not only you can also unlock and purchase the themes for all the personal cars from the solo campaign, but you can also unlock and actually use the other themes that are exclusively for the NPC's, along with some other themes that I never saw before. Even some of the themes for the Dune Buster actually add some additional armor and other parts for that vehicle, which are also completely absent for the Dune Buster to purchase in the main campaign. And not only that, but the mode also allows you to use both turrets and missiles at the same time with the buggies, having other types of turrets and missile launchers to choose from. I was actually very surprised that in the multiplayer you can actually use the other car themes from the main campaign, along with other themes and types of turrets and missile launchers that I never saw before. But sadly, unless that you have friends that are willing to play the Rage multiplayer with you, you will not be able to unlock any of those themes and weapons to use in Road Rage. And even if you do, you will only be able to use them in the multiplayer, but not in the solo campaign. Which is a massive disappointment to be honest.

I mean seriously, I don't know how ID Software thought that it would be a great idea to restrict the players by being able to purchase just a few themes for their personal vehicles, while the NPC's not only can have the same themes that we can purchase, but also other unique ones that we cannot use nor purchase in the main campaign. Even if the game just has a couple of semi open world maps with very linear paths to drive around, having more themes and more types of weapons for your vehicles would have make the game more inmersive and replayable. And I know that you can use the buggies with the Stanley Express and Mutant Bash TV themes. But just like with the customized quad/Jetter that you can actually take after attacking the garage of the Wasted clan to get them essential parts to fix the buggy, before it disappears from the map. Those buggies are not actually part of our personal vehicles, and we can only use them just for a few missions and then we can never use them ever again. Although by purchasing the Anarchy Edition of Rage 1, you can also have a Hot Rod/Rat Rod that is classified as a buggy vehicle like the Dune Buster. Which you can use freely as another personal vehicle, that one just have 2 themes (with the default theme being the coolest one). And unlike with the Dune Buster, the Rat Rod doesn't have any physical change of appearances by purchasing upgrades for the vehicle, like with the case of the Dune Buster, without counting the suspension upgrades and the types of wheels.

For some time I was actually hoping that someone would make a mod for Rage 1 that it will allow us to purchase and use the other car themes for our personal vehicles, and even adding the other weapon options from Road Rage in the main campaign. Or at least trying to swap the textures of the car themes that we can purchase with the ones only used by the NPC's and in the multiplayer as simple re-skins. But sadly that didn't happen. I even try to check if I can do it myself by finding the scripts of the objects that you can buy from the traders in the main files of the game. But unfortunately, I didn't managed to found those scripts. Also unlike other games like the GTA titles, most of the files in Rage 1 are actually encrypted, and the official moding kit tools for the game, as far as I understand, it only allows you to add new models and textures just in moded files disconnected from the base game and from your save files. But let me know your thoughts about this topic.

Do you like the pistol and assault rifle that the player can use in the game? Or would you have liked to use the NPC's pistols and assault rifles instead? Or would you have preferred full fictional weapons in your arsenal? Or both of the real-life weapons of the AK47 and the M1911? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

Although these aren't the maximum upgrades for the Cuprino (more specifically with the Hammer grill, the medium armor and the non-spiked Performance tires) this selection of upgrades for the Cuprino makes it look like a police truck in the wasteland. With the Patrol theme giving a white/black look, like a police car; the Hammer grill looking very similar like the ones that many police units use in real life as additional protection for the front bumper of their vehicles; an with the medium armor not only adding some improvised armor for the rear bumper, with the same number "3" as the Patrol theme over the doors, but also with some police sirens and additional lights over the roof of the Cuprino. With this combination of upgrades making Raine/The Ark Man look like if he was an undercover cop working officially for the Sheriff Black and his police department in Wellspring. But what do you think about this design for the Cuprino?

The reason that I liked this is because Wellspring is my favorite city in Rage 1. And although Subway Town was also a very good and memorable city in the wasteland, I loved the warm and friendly atmosphere from Wellspring much more, along with the old west and cowboy vibes on it.

But after Raine had to leave Wellspring, due to the increase of the Authority's presence in the city, and move with the resistance to Subway Town. And then if you decide to go back to Wellspring with an airship, the NPC's walking around Wellspring actually turned verbally hostile towards you again, like when you came to Wellspring for the first time as an unknown outsider. Even if you replay the races from Wellspring, the NPC's will continue acting hostile towards you or ignoring you. And you cannot destroy more bandits' cars for Sally, because after bringing major attention to the Authority in the wasteland, the bandits' cars in the first map will no longer respawn. So you cannot restore your respect towards the NPC's of Wellspring either by destroying more bandits' cars for Sally, once you unlock the second map of the wasteland.

Someone might say that it could be a developers' oversight, or even if it wasn't, it's just a simple coding for NPC's AI reaction towards the player, so who cares, right? Well, even if the game and its world is obviously fictional and all that, I couldn't help but find it kind of sad, that the pedestrians used to be more friendly and respectful towards the protagonist, after winning many races, destroying bandits' cars for Sally, making the north of the wasteland more safe, and even saving the whole people of Wellspring from poisoned water by the Ghosts clan. It was also always so warming and gratifying how the pedestrians that you encounter congratulate you for the races that you won, for helping to destroy the bandits' cars across the wasteland and for saving them and the potable water of the city to be poisoned. Even a simple "Hi" or "Good morning" coming from them made you feel that you accomplished something, having now a good reputation towards the people of Wellspring, no matter if those walking pedestrians were literally just copied-pasted models of static NPC's from the city. Only to "lose" all that respect that he earned from them, right after moving to Subway Town. Like if the pedestrians of Wellspring now hated him for bringing the Authority into their city and then moving to another place far away, like if he just abandoned them on their own.

However, when I returned to replay the whole game again at some point, after some years since the last time that I played it, I ended up rethinking a little bit about that specific event, right after moving to Subway Town. To the point of making a personal theory of mine about it. My theory was that a possible reason that the pedestrians of Wellspring now turned hostile towards Raine, wasn't because they hated him now, nor because they blamed him for bringing the Authority into their city, but as a cover to protect his identity from the Authority. Just think about it. If the pedestrians of Wellspring would have continued acting friendly towards him, after moving to Subway Town, and say friendly quotes like "Great race!" or "Thanks for making the wasteland safer" or "Thanks for saving the water of the city", that would bring too much attention for the Authority to search about this particular individual that the people of Wellspring are talking too much about. And it would be a matter of time that the Authority would put all the pieces together and realize that his description fits perfectly with the person that they were looking for. Discovering that he was the same person who attacked their prison, freeing the leader of the resistance, Marshall, and killing many of their men in the prison, and also in Dead City and where his ark was located, putting Raine in a vulnerable position towards the Authority. Without mentioning that some of the citizens of Wellspring actually supported the resistance, and with most, if not, all of them hating the Authority. Even Mick says to Raine that as much as he hurt him to say this, he needed to leave the city for his own safety. Also the vast majority of the citizens of Wellspring very well knew about all the things that Raine did to help the community of Wellspring, being always grateful towards him. Only to forget all about it that easily, that would be very unlikely from their part.

I also ended up a little bit concerned about what happened to the mayor Clayton. Because after the Authority took over the city, you no longer hear him talking to his people through the speakers around the city, but instead a member of the Authority. And if you try to go to his office, it's now closed, having some thoughts that the Authority probably captured him, like what happened to Redstone, the mayor of Subway Town. And unlike the mayor Redstone, who from the very beginning he looked more like a crooked cold-blooded mayor, who cared more about what is better for himself, over his own people, the mayor Clayton was definitely a good mayor, with some NPC's claiming that he genuinely cared for his people. It's unknown what exactly happened to the mayor Clayton between Rage 1 and 2, but considering the fact that Wellspring ended up making a statue of the man who the Authority was looking for. And on top of that, with Raine's statue stepping on a vigilant's helmet, it's very likely that at some point the Authority moved from Wellspring. Or in more extreme cases, with the Wellspring people actually kicking them out of their city by force, after Raine weakened the Authority enough to make the people of Wellspring to reveal themselves against them, recovering their city back in the end. And with Clayton ruling his city again, and since he knew Raine personally, and all the good things for the city, and across the wasteland he (and/or the sheriff Black) must have been the one responsible of the creation on Raine's statue. With him sadly passing away at some point, not because of the Authority, but because of natural causes. Which makes me feel more happy that the mayor Clayton at least didn't get the exact same fate as the mayor Redstone.

When the base game of Rage 1 just came out back in 2010, I always thought that the unknown group of bandits that Dan mentions, who attacked his settlement, while Raine was taking care of the Ghosts clan, was probably the British looking bandits of the Wasted clan. Since it was the other faction of bandits very close to the Hagar settlement, and even closer to the Outrigger settlement.

Another possibility was the Shrouded clan, since a group of them were trying to isolate the Hagar settlement from Wellspring very early in the story. However unlike the Ghosts and Wasted clans who were more savage and reckless against settlers, the Shrouded clan was smarter than those factions, being more like post-apocalyptic terrorists than mindless anarchist bandits. So it wouldn't make too much sense that they will do something so reckless like attacking a settlement, just try to kill the settlers, without even trying to take any kind of valuable resources for their RC bombs.

But when the Scorches DLC came out later, with this new bandit faction of the same name, then I thought that they might be the actual unknown bandits clan that Dan was talking about. Especially considering that the first mission of the DLC is unlocked right after finishing the first mission against the Ghosts clan, being located in some caves owned by the Hagar settlement. Maybe ID Software actually wanted to include a sixth bandit gang in the base game, but they didn't have a proper name for them or enough time to develop them as an interesting and distinguished gang yet, so they probably ended up adding them later in a DLC, but what do you think about it?

On one hand, Maximus not only betrayed the Brotherhood Of Steel by killing Xander, the representative of the Commonwealth Brotherhood, and the only person that Quintus ordered him NOT to kill. But he also started a civil war in the Brotherhood, causing a massive and chaotic mess between all the different chapters from the Brotherhood and who knows how many deaths indirectly and unintentionally inside the faction as a whole, without being necessarily a good way to get good karma, even with his merciful and compassionate intentions towards Thaddeus and the Ghoul children. But on the other hand, allowing Xander to kill Thaddeus and the Ghoul children and doing absolutely nothing to stop him, would have been so evil and cold blooded to definitely get bad karma, specially against the Ghoul children. But what do you think?

For me personally, I can imagine Bill having this type of conversation with each L4D2 survivor:

🟩🟦 A conversation between Bill and Nick:

-Nick: "Hey, Bill. I hope that your flashbacks don't come back any time soon. Because I don't want you getting distracted in the middle of a horde, while feeling yourself guilty, for the bad choices that you made during that war."

-Bill: "Very funny, coming from a cheating gambler. At least I never got myself into massive debt by gambling irresponsibly with very dangerous people, before all this sh1t happened. Unlike you, Nick."

-Nick: "Whatever, old man."

🟩🟨 A conversation between Bill and Ellis:

-Ellis: "Bill, I've got to tell you about the time my buddy Keith wanted to join the 'Nam war too? His parents even bought him a complete military uniform, with a helmet and an M16 when he was just 8. Until he realized that the war was over many years ago, before he was even born and..."

-Bill: "Ellis, do you also have some kind of PTSD or are you just making pure horsesh1t on purpose with this character "Keith" of yours?"

-Ellis: "What do you mean?"

🟩🟪 A conversation between Bill and Coach:

-Coach: "Senior William, my sincere respects to you. It surprises me how an old vet like you managed to survive this whole apocalypse, while leading an entire group of survivors too."

-Bill: "The same thing towards you and your group, Coach. Although you are not exactly the same as old as I am, I would lie if I don't say that I would like to have at least the same age as you at this moment now."

-Coach: "Maybe if you stop smoking and eat some chocolate, or a cheeseburger or something, you would feel young again, Bill. He, he..."

🟩🟥 A conversation between Bill and Rochelle:

-Rochelle: "Wait, so you are a veteran from the Vietnam war? You know, I used to work in the News before all this zombie sh1t started, and I actually wanted to interview an actual veteran to do some documentary footage? Although, my former job is now irrelevant, can I ask you just one personal question, Bill?"

-Bill: "I never talked to anyone about my experiences during the war before. But I guess it's now pointless to continue hiding it when the world already fell apart. Go ahead, what do you want to know, Rochelle?"

-Rochelle: "What was like being involved in that war in particular, compared with this zombie apocalypse that all of us are fighting now?"

-Bill: "Let's just put it in this way, Ro. The enemy actually never dies, no matter how many times you kill it. It just sheds its skin and changes its form. The NVA and the VC are not so different to a normal or a special infected, to be honest. They'll never give up, until they kill every last one of us."

Before you start to read, this post of mine is gonna be a HUGE AND LARGE TEXT giving a deep character analysis of Carmilla, one of the main companions of Zenos, the protagonist from the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows. But to try to make this whole text more readable for you to digest, I decided to make a color system separating the different topics of this post:

🟦🔵Introduction

🟩🟢Carmilla's backstory

🟨🟡Carmilla's personality

🟪🟣How meeting both Zenos and Lilly changed Carmilla's way of "life" as a wraith

🟥🔴Conclusions

🟦Introduction🟦

🔵On first glance, you might think that this character of Carmilla from the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows is actually some sort of rip-off of Miku (one of the most popular characters in that media in general) just because she has light blue/turquoise eyes, hair and clothing too. But in reality, she has her own unique charm and personality, being relatively the most popular character from this underrated series.

🟩Carmilla's backstory🟩

🟢It's unknown how exactly Carmilla became a wraith, but it's revealed that her full name is actually Carmilla de Lamelle, and she was actually a former member of a forgotten legendary party, once known as the greatest sage in all the continent. She also used a magical staff as her adventurer weapon, which she uses now to move from her own house since it was a personal object that was attached to her from her previous life. Her party also defeated a Demon Lord during a war known as the great human-demon war that happened 300 years ago, before the events of the series. She used to be an adventurer and also a heroine, before she became the Queen of Spectre.

🟨Carmilla's personality🟨

🟡One of the reasons that Carmilla became the most popular character in this particular series, is not just because of her waifu appearance, but also because of her level of charisma and sense of humor, and the way that she behaves and reacts to multiple situations around the series. She likes to float and often turns herself invincible, while laughing and making fun of Zenos when he gets himself in the middle of a conflict. Like when Zophia (the gang leader of the lizard men from the slums) and Krishna (the vice commander of the royal knights from the capital) ended up meeting and confronting each other face to face at Zenos' clinic, with Carmilla describing that "cop vs thief" scene as a "husband getting himself caught cheating" situation. And also making other jinx and threatening, but also funny comments at the same time through the series. Even if you are not interested in the story, and you only want something entertaining to watch, Carmilla has the best moments in the series. She is the character who shines the most than any of the cast members, including the protagonist of Zenos. However, she can be a comic-relief character but she also has some deep backstory and character development.

🟪How meeting both Zenos and Lilly changed Carmilla's way of "life" as a wraith🟪

🟣Before meeting Zenos and Lilly, Carmilla used to be a very hostile and blood thirsty wraith, killing anyone who walks into her territory, often turning them into her spectre minions, calling herself also as the Queen of Spectre. But once she met Zenos when he and Lilly came into her house and then she tried to attack him with all the forces that she had on her power to kill him for invading her home. Only to realize that Zenos was actually an extremely powerful healer, having no chances to defeat him. Luckily for her, Zenos wasn't interested in eliminating a wraith like her and taking her entire home for himself. He only wanted just a bedroom for him and Lilly to live and sleep, and a room to heal his future patients, by turning her house into a clandestine clinic. Carmilla had no choice but to share the place where she lived, by giving them the first floor of her house, while taking the second floor for herself. Being basically forced to be their housemaid from now on.

🟣At first Carmilla hated the idea of having to share her home with a couple of living kinds that she barely met, while having them as her roommates. But then she started to appreciate the company of Zenos and Lilly, especially by their kindness and hospitality. Like when Lilly started to make some tea, not just for herself and Zenos, but also for Carmilla. She really appreciated how considerate Lilly was towards her, despite the fact that Carmilla tried to harm them both when she first met them. She also loves her cooking, to the point of getting pissed if someone dares to eat her entire food, without giving her a slice to taste it herself also. Like when the 3 demi-human leaders of Zophia, Lynga and Loewe ended up eating the whole stew that Lilly was making for her, Zenos and Carmilla in the first episode. Although it might seem that Carmilla was just taking advantage of Lilly's generosity and cooking skills just for her own benefits, she really ended up liking her and caring for her, like if she was the little sister that she never had when she was an actual living kind herself. A great evidence of that is when she told Zenos that Lilly was still sleeping, while the golem was attacking the slums, and that by waking her up, only to see that giant golem attacking the slums, she would never sleep again. She was genuinely concerned for her sake.

🟣In the case of Zenos, Carmilla in the beginning definitely disliked Zenos, after he took half of her home to make his clandestine clinic, while bringing more strangers into her house. She also considered Zenos irritating to some degree, while constantly having to obey his orders, like if she was his lapdog now. Wishing that Zenos ends up failing on healing some of his patients so they will die and take their corpses as her meal. Or also wishing that Zenos ends up dead, so she will have the whole house for herself again. But the more time she spent with Zenos, the more she started to respect him, sympathize with him and care for him, just like with Lilly. She might have claimed that she is always disappointed that Zenos always manages to heal all his patients successfully, and with him still living. But Lilly can actually tell about her actual feelings, as a lie detector to tell when Carmilla's claims are true or not. With her telling that Carmilla must have been secretly happy that Zenos actually avoided the death of every single member of the 3 gang factions of the demi-humans from the slums, during their final battle against each other and finally finishing their long-time war between each other peacefully, with everyone loving and respecting each other from now on. And also when Lilly revealed to Zenos that Carmilla was so worried about him, when he was fighting against Aston as the golem that was attacking the slums, and that she couldn't stop flinting from room to room. Carmilla also saw some of herself on Zenos, because she was also a member of a forgotten party of adventurers when she was a living human.

🟣Carmilla constantly denies caring for Zenos in particular, but you can tell by her body language and voice tone that she is actually lying every time she claims that. If Carmilla wouldn't have cared for Zenos at all, she would have never bothered to do some particular actions to actually help him and protect him. Like when she shared with him, along with Zophia, Lynga and Loewe her knowledge about the golems and how to defeat them in order to save the people from the slums. And when she put the red flag of emergencies outside the house to warn the 3 demi-human gangs about a possible threat, when Becker and his niece Umin came and discovered his clandestine clinic in the slums. Carmilla could just ignore those events and do absolutely nothing, while leaving Zenos on his own to solve his problems by himself, but she didn't. Without mentioning that she already admitted that she was more comfortable in her house ever since Zenos came to her "life".

🟣Also the few events where Zenos had to leave his clinic for some time, Carmilla instead of staying at her house to enjoy the peace and quiet from her place for some time while she had the chance, she decided to follow Zenos outside of the house and the slums, through a personal object that was attached to her from her previous life, being her old staff as an adventurer, that Lilly brought with her, all the times that she and Zenos had to leave the clinic. Carmilla became too attached to both Zenos and Lilly, as if they were part of her family now.

🟣And just like with her relationship with Lilly, Carmilla became like the older sister that Zenos never had either. She might keep herself entertained by the events surrounding Zenos, including his "romances" with Lilly, Zophia, Lynga, Loewe, Krishna and many other female characters that he ends up interacting with, while making fun of the troubles that Zenos gets involved with, one way or another. But she also showed some concerns towards Zenos' worries in his personal life.

🟣For example, like when Zenos ended up meeting Aston and Guile, having passed just 2 months since those oblivious and egocentric scumbags kicked him out of their small time party of adventurers, and he refused to rejoin them and the Golden Phoenix. Just when they were very desperate at that moment, and with Aston managing to escape after he tried to attack him for refusing to rejoin him; Or when Zenos only wanted a peaceful trip just to relax himself, after he had to fix the whole mess that Aston caused in the slums, because of his vengeful intentions and his obsession towards him. Only to have a stressful day at the hot springs, with Zophia, Lynga, Loewe and also Krishna competing each other to try to seduce Zenos to see which one manages to have him as their boyfriend first. And while Carmilla took a personal enjoyment with that funny event, she also advised Zenos to make most of those times while they last; Or after Zenos had his "going away" party with Umin and Cress, after finishing his quest with Becker, he reflected about how his former party always hated him for being a nobody from the slums, but with them didn't seem to care about it. Realizing that people like them exist, while being sad to part with them, but being also got used to saying goodbye. With Carmilla telling him that the cycle of meeting, parting and meeting again, if the fates allow, is the foundation of human life. Being how we learn how wide and deep the world really is. So even if Carmilla often says some jinx comments towards Zenos just to play with him a little, she also says some wise and philosophical comments towards him.

🟥Conclusions🟥

🔴Carmilla might have been a cold blooded wraith who eats the human corpses of her victims, but only doing it for her own survival, even as a wraith. However, deep inside of her, she was actually way more "human" than a wraith. And it's not actually her whole fault to be this way. In a world where wraiths are seen as inherently evil ghostly kinds, with everyone fearing them and wanting to eliminate them, she was actually very alone with no one to socialize or rely on for literally centuries. But after she met Zenos and Lilly, they ended up accepting her for the way she was, without needing to hurt them nor fear them either. They saw her not just as a wraith, but also as someone who has actual conscience and feelings. That meant so much to her, which is why she ended up developing this deep love and care towards them. While she constantly denies it, but only to keep her territorial figure as a wraith. But both Zenos and Lilly know how much of a true good hearted kind she was, no matter if she was a wraith or a human.

A couple of days ago I made another post asking if the third image from this actual post was actually a fanart of Spy x Family based on one of the official arts (the second image) from the FPS (first-person-shooter) videogame of Wolfenstein The New Order from 2013, along with the name of its actual artist. Only to barely realize that it was shown in both the anime (the third image) and in the manga (the first image).

For the Spy x Family fans who don't know about Wolfenstein The New Order, it's a videogame published by Bethesda and developed by Machine Games about an alternative timeline in which the N4z1s ended up winning WW2 through some science fiction technology that they found, stole and made some reversed engineering with it to win the war. And you are a very tough American soldier called William BJ Blazkowicz who after being 14 years in a temporary vegetated state, he woke up in a retro-futurist world in the 60's ruled by the N4z1s and you need to help the resistance to take them down in this alternative timeline. Taking place mostly in a retro-futuristic and powerful n4z1fied Germany in the 60's.

Now I don't know when the creator ever made and published Spy x Family as a series for the first time, but Wolfenstein The New Order came in 2013. And I don't know either if he/she actually took inspiration to Bethesda's/Machine Game's work to give a similar vibe of an oppressive German environment in the 60's to his/her project. Even if that particular franchise was based on a fictional timeline in which the infamous Third Reich of Germany never collapsed, while ruling the whole world in the 60's. But I would like to know your thoughts in the comment section.

I liked the symbolism from the whole scene between the intelligent Super Mutant and Cooper/The Ghoul. By saving him and bringing him to his camp, which was an abandoned church. Like if the Super Mutant was some sort of God's courier (no pun intended towards the character that you play as in Fallout New Vegas) sent from the heavens, not only to save The Ghoul's life, but also to guide him, by making him reflect about his mistakes, what was doing wrong in his life, and what he really need to do in order to get his goals and find his family.

Some months ago I remember watching some YouTube videos talking about topics related to Spy x Family, and one of them showed a cool fanart (or an official art?) showing Loid, Yor and Anya as this black "shadow" figures with bright white round eyes over a red background. I found it so cool that I took a screenshot from it.

Some time passed out and I ended up rewatching this fanart once again in my photo gallery, only to barely realize to find something similar with its art style. Then I remember a 2013 videogame that I played many years ago called Wolfenstein The New Order, having a particular official art (the second image of this post) looking exactly like the art style of this particular fanart of Spy x Family. And it was so cool the similarities between the 2 images.

For the Spy x Family fans who don't know about Wolfenstein The New Order, it's a videogame published by Bethesda and developed by Machine Games about an alternative timeline in which the N4z1s ended up winning WW2 through some science fiction technology that they found, stole and made some reversed engineering with it to win the war. And you are a very tough American soldier called William BJ Blazkowicz who after being 14 years in a temporary vegetated state, he woke up in a retro-futurist world in the 60's ruled by the N4z1s and you need to help the resistance to take them down in this alternative timeline.

Unfortunately, I don't remember which YouTube video was the one where I found this particular fanart of Spy x Family. I tried to check my YouTube record from my account, but I couldn't find that specific video between many that I saw through some months. The fanart also didn't have the sign of the artist, or its name, or even if it is actually an official art for the Spy x Family series as a hidden reference of the Wolfenstein series. So if by any chance any of you know the origin of this fanart and the actual name of its creator. Please let me know in the comment section.

Before you start to read, this post of mine is gonna be a HUGE AND LARGE TEXT giving a deep character analysis of Aston, one of the antagonists from the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows. But to try to make this whole text more readable for you to digest, I decided to make a color system separating the different topics of this post:

🟩🟢Introduction

🟦🔵Backstory and origins about Aston's personality

🟥🔴The beginning of the end for Aston and the Golden Phoenix

🟨🟡The final nail in the coffin that actually finished the Golden Phoenix entirely

🟪🟣Aston's treatments towards the whole members of his party

🟧🟠Aston's ending

🟫🟤Conclusions

🟩Introduction🟩

🟢One of the most obnoxious and scummy characters in the anime/manga of The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows is none other than Aston. The arrogant, opportunistic and narcissistic leader of the small time and now dissolved group of glorified adventurers known as The Golden Phoenix, who just kicked out the protagonist of Zenos out of his party, thinking that he was just a useless peasant from the slums who became a liability while bringing a bad image for him and his party. When in reality he was the one who made his whole party successful and famous in the first place. Having all this time one of the most powerful and useful healers in the entire world and he never realized it nor recognized it, until he lost everything and confronted Zenos himself.

🟦Backstory and origins about Aston's personality🟦

🔵Despite that it was revealed that Aston actually had a tragic backstory that turned him the way he was, having a younger sister who sadly passed away because he didn't have the money or resources to afford a treatment for her illness. Which caused his main motivations revolving around social climbing and gaining favor with nobility, mostly from aristocrats, so he can get to the top and become an aristocrat himself, even at the expense of others to get his goals. That doesn't justify any of his bad and awful actions that he committed through the series, while behaving like an arrogant, narcissistic, opportunistic, smug and selfish scumbag who perceived himself as a superior adventurer, while exploiting those he seems beneath him. His treatment of Zenos, whom he recruited from the slums, he always treated him like dirt, paying him less to nothing, while making him overwork without acknowledging his contribution to his whole party.

🟥The beginning of the end for Aston and the Golden Phoenix🟥

🔴When Aston kicked Zenos out of his party and threw that single gold coin as his severance payment, Zenos was actually surprised and he really thought that he and Aston were friends. And Aston, along with Guile, Yumi and Andre just laughed at his response, while calling him dumb and gullible. Then Aston referred to him as a disposable piece of trash, being a lot easier for them to use him as their human shield, because if he gets killed nobody would care about him. Claiming that they are now in the big leagues now, becoming one of the most famous parties around, thinking very obliviously that their success had absolutely nothing to do to Zenos, calling his unique healing abilities just as shady self-taught healing magic, having a lot of ignorance and ego on himself. He also claimed that his party had to look good for the aristocracy and wealthy from here on out, and they were not getting passed over, because they have got some slum-born peasant in their crew. His severance was also a bribery to pay his silence to make sure that he never talks about having been a member of the Golden Phoenix party. And when Zenos accepted being kicked out of the Golden Phoenix party and walked away, Aston, along with Guile, Yumi and Andre laughed at him, like a bunch of obnoxious and selfish scumbags, without ever realizing that they just committed the worst and biggest mistake of their entire lives, that just ended up destroying their own lifestyles, their reputation across the nation and causing the entire dissolution of the Golden Phoenix party itself.

🔴Although it seemed that between the 2 months after Zenos was kicked out of the Golden Phoenix, Aston and his party were actually doing pretty well for themselves. With Guile saying that they just had a wine party at night, Andre talking with Yumi about a barmaid that got her eyes lit up like a torch after they told her that they were from the Golden Phoenix, and with Aston claiming like a smug that they were still famous for continuing slaying a gaggle of magic beasts and walk away without a scratch, being like living legends at that point, even after all this time without having Zenos healing them with his magic anymore. I'm guessing that they just made a bunch of pretty easy quests that even an average party of adventurers could do without a healer on their crew, while spending irresponsibly most of their money that they have earned from their quests in expensive parties for themselves, just to glorify their fame and success across the nation, without administrating properly their own resources and rewards, thinking that they will always gonna make even more money, no matter how much they spend. Which can also explain why they ended up broken pretty quickly after failing in that last quest twice.

🔴But unlike their previous quests that were "peace-of-cake" for any average crew of adventurers to do, this last quest was a massive favor from one of the seven great nobles (Lord Fennel, who Zenos ended up meeting later in the story), and also a way more dangerous quest to do. Which was killing a fire-fox located in a cave very far away in the middle of nowhere, to make a scarf with it for his spoiled daughter as a birthday gift, which her birthday was going to be very soon. So not only did they have limited time to do that quest for a big shot like Lord Fennel, but they were also going to fight against way more dangerous and lethal savage animals, like a herd of fire-foxes inside of a dark cave. But Aston, being the arrogant and narcissistic person that he was, he was so over-confident with that quest, calling it a waste of time and energy. It wasn't until he and his party were heavily injured for the first time ever, with Yumi being the most critical one by the fire-foxes, becoming crippled for the rest of his life, with no possibilities to adventuring ever again. After they retreated from the cave, Guile was the first one to ask the crew if Zenos was really the reason that The Golden Phoenix had been so successful in the first place, and Aston continued rejecting to believe that a guy from the slums with no medical license like Zenos had anything to do with their success.

🔴Later they decided to hire an official healer with an actual medical license, being Umin (the girl with glasses who also ended up meeting Zenos later and becoming a closest friend of her). But even with a healer on their quest, Aston and his party couldn't defeat the fire-foxes, having Andre also heavily injured in the process, retrieving once again from the cave. Aston being furious, grabbed Guile and yelled to him, accusing him for almost making them all killed. But Umin claimed to Aston that Guile's defensive magic actually worked, otherwise Andre would be dead already. Aston then told Umin to fix Andre already, but she responded to him that his injuries were heavily severe and that he needed to be taken to a hospital with specially prepared magic circles right away. But Aston considered that just as a nonsensical excuse and that they were in a time crunch. Then Umin, being surprised by how ignorant Aston was about the healing magic, told him that even the upper echelon of healers couldn't restore Andre on the outside, only a select few elite or a saint could pull off magic like that. Aston being finally out of his box of ignorance, was actually shocked to hear that those kinds of healing magic powers were extremely rare to have, with Zenos being actually one of them that has it. But for Aston all of this was like some sick nightmare, and refused to believe that a kid from the slums like Zenos, who was just their party slave, could have achieved something incredible.

🔴At the end, Aston and the Golden Phoenix couldn't bring a fire-fox for Lord Fennel right at time, for his daughter's birthday, being Lord Fennel heavily disappointed towards them, and turning down on Aston and his whole party, for failing him on his quest. The last person who really wanted to avoid failing on his quest was to an actual aristocrat who finally noticed him and his small group of adventurers, and they just blew it. But Aston didn't want to admit defeat when it was his chance to cozy up to a big shot aristocrat, so instead of taking responsibility for failing on his request, he tried to make some excuses towards Lord Fennel's servant by framing Zenos for betraying the Golden Phoenix. Until the idiot realized that for many years he always avoided mentioning Zenos to make sure no one found out that they were adventuring with a nobody from the slums. So instead he decided to "suck-up" the servant of the aristocrat and begged him to give his party another chance. While hating to humiliate himself towards a servant, who also considered him inferior than him, and promised him to make amends to Lord Fennel for their momentous failure, even after they just lost half of his party and being broken and desperate at that point. Even Guile, the last adventurer intact from his party, was actually concerned about the promises that Aston just made towards the servant. But Aston already had a plan to recruit their trusty slave of Zenos again, thinking so naively that Zenos must be desperate, with him probably weeping with gratitude. Once he offers him the proposition to rejoin the Golden Phoenix.

🔴Although Aston continued refusing that Zenos really had anything to do with their party's success, he at least recognized that things were smoother when he was around. However, he admitted that he would use him like when they first began, continuing treating like dirt with no respect nor recognition for his healing abilities, and regain all the fame that he and his beloved party lost. He truly believed that the Golden Phoenix would rise again, while having the nerves and audacity to expect that Zenos should be grateful towards him, once he and Guile find him, by hiring the 3 demi-human slum bosses to help them to find his current location. Without having any idea of what Zenos did all that time that he was kicked out of his small time group of The Golden Phoenix, making a name of himself in the slums as the now famous underground healer for the entire demi-human community at the slums. Finishing also the long-time war between the 3 factions of demi-humans of lizards, werewolves and orcs, by making them friends between each other through his magic healings. With their gang leaders of Zophia, Lynga and Loewe being heavily loyal and respectful towards Zenos, after everything that he did for them, and with the vice commander of the royal knights of Krishna being also on his side.

🔴Aston was nothing more than a narcissistic and a opportunistic manipulator with a lot of pride and ego on himself. And nothing hurts a narcissist like Aston more, someone who thinks they are better and smarter than everyone, than having their own ego destroyed. The ironic thing about this is Aston thought he hold all the cards in his favor, and he thought he had the power to persuade and control everyone, like if he was manipulating a chessboard, with everyone respecting him and admiring him as this "great", "respectful" and "famous" adventurer leader that he saw on himself, who was also going to be a rich and powerful aristocrat at some point. When in reality he was a nobody for the people from the slums, with Zophia, Lynga and Loewe seeing him and his small party as nothing more than a bad joke formed by insufferable scumbags who just kicked a legendary healer like Zenos for pure stupidity and nonsensical reasons to do it. So all of them ended up refusing to help Aston and Guile to locate him, while being hostile toward them, protecting Zenos at all costs. Remember when Aston claimed to Zophia "Do you know who you are talking to?"? He always thought that he was himself a big shot, just because of his fame as the leader of the Golden Phoenix, like if he was an actual noble already. But it was his own fault he never became a big shot to begin with. A smug and a narcissist that acted tough and had nothing to back it up with, and also a complete ignorant and buffoon who just kicked a healer so powerful like Zenos out his glorified small time crew. And now that they are in a desperate situation, he, as the over-confident opportunistic person that he was, really expected that Zenos would actually rejoin The Golden Phoenix to reborn their whole party, to finally make amends with Lord Fennel and to restore the fame that they just lost since he left.

🔴So Aston not only was a complete idiot for kicking Zenos out of his party in the first place, but he was also so stupid and gullible for truly believing that Zenos would actually rejoin The Golden Phoenix immediately without hesitation, while continuing using him and treating him the exact same way as before. Without recognizing yet that he was completely wrong about Zenos for not valuing him as a valuable part of his party before, for not acknowledging his powerful magic healing abilities that heavily contributed to the whole party's success, and for mistreating him all those years ago. All he cared about was his image and being on top that he didn't bother to look into Zenos' actual skills, until it was too late, and he deserved for what he got in the end.

🟨The final nail in the coffin that actually finished the Golden Phoenix entirely🟨

🟡Although, Zenos by refusing to rejoin Aston and The Golden Phoneix, right after Aston and Guile found him by themselves, walking casually at the streets with Lilly, ended up destroying what was left of Aston's ego and pride on himself, losing his only chance to go back on track as a prestigious adventurer once again, that wasn't the last action that officially collapsed the Golden Phoenix as an adventurer party entirely. The action that actually destroyed the Golden Phoenix at the end was when Aston unwisely tried to attack Zenos in a rage, after he refused to join his party, while he was turning his back on him and ignoring him. With Krishna witnessing the crime scene and stopping his attempt to assault Zenos, turning himself into a wanted criminal by the royal knights. Aston didn't want to receive any kind of punishment for his own actions, so he decided to frame Guile of forcing him to hurt Zenos, abandoning him and letting him the whole blame and punishment to take instead, while running away from the scene. That was the last nail in the coffin to finally kill the Golden Phoenix. Aston attempting to attack Zenos and betraying and abandoning Guile destroyed any chances to reborn his small time party, to make amends with Lord Fennel and to get back on top. He just dissolved the Golden Phoenix party entirely by himself, by selling out and leaving Guile behind, his last member of his party, and turning himself into a wanted person by Krishna and the royal knights after that.

🟡This is the type of person Aston really was. Even the last member of his party, who was always completely loyal to him, he just screwed him over at the end, in order to save his own skin. While acting so agitated and desperate after everything didn't turn out the way he was expected, and Aston paid for it. Not only was he completely broken now, but he was all alone, turning himself into a wanted fugitive and having nothing left to lose now. Being now at the lowest point of his life, Aston decided to get to the Underground Guild to exact revenge on Zenos, along with Zophia, Lynga, Loewe, Krishna and everyone who was ever affiliated with him. By asking an evil sorcerer known as The Guide to help him on his personal quest without paying any single coin. With The Guide tricking him and turning him into a giant golem that ended up destroying and attacking the slums.

🟪Aston's treatments towards the whole members of his party🟪

🟣Guile, along with Andre and Yumi, were the same as idiotic and scummy as Aston, for following and supporting a narcissistic scumbag with a huge ego like him, who he never cared for them at all. And everyone of them deserved what they got for their greed and pride. However, they also had a very important trait in them that not every person has, especially towards an obnoxious person like Aston, and that's loyalty. Guile, Yumi and Andre were always loyal to Aston, even on his stupid decisions like kicking Zenos out of his party, and they gave their lives for Aston and for the Golden Phoenix, all for the same goal to get to the top all together. And what did Aston do? He couldn't even say anything nice to any of them. Like when Yumi got crippled for the rest of his life after the first attack against the fire-foxes. But instead, he blamed him for not being an actual Golden Phoenix "material", with an archer like him being thoroughly expendable, like if he was a disposable tool. The same with Andre and Guile. A true good leader understands that he is responsible for the lives of his men.

🟣What Aston didn't seem to understand is that it was a team effort, he needed to work together with them as a team, that includes Zenos. Unfortunately, anyone who worked with, Aston didn't see them as equal partners, he saw them as disposable tools, as worthless pawns, as liabilities, nothing more. That's exactly how he saw Zenos, that's exactly how he saw Yumi, Andre and Guile. He never actually valued any of the members of his party. And when everything went wrong for him, he desperately used any of them as his "human shields" and blamed them for all of his own mistakes. Like when he tried to blame all of it to Zenos with the aristocrat's servant, or when he falsely accused Guile of forcing him to attack Zenos. And his whole revenge against Zenos and his allies, wasn't an actual revenge, he just wanted to punish them for his own failures. The Guide also guessed right when he thought that Aston didn't have any actual friends with him. It wasn't until Zenos defeated him on his golem figure that Aston barely realized that he spent his entire life using others, only to wind up getting use himself in the end. If Aston would have realized much earlier how essential and special Zenos truly was for him and his whole crew, and treated him and the rest of the members of his party as equal partners, maybe things would have turned different for him and The Golden Phoenix.

🟧Aston's ending🟧

🟠Although Aston finally recognized his whole mistakes that he did in his life. Having a change of heart after he was defeated and saved by Zenos, putting himself on his hands and knees willingly, without complaining nor believing that elitist, classist or supremacist crap anymore, to sincerely apologize to Zenos for how badly he mistreated him all this time, even if he didn't make a difference by doing that. And for people criticizing Zenos for brutally punching Aston, after he became a harmless and repentant person for his actions, he was 100% right on doing that. Not just because of all the awful mistreatment that Aston did to him, but also because Aston's personal resentment towards Zenos and his vengeful intentions against him just put the lives of many innocent people from the slums in danger, losing their homes in the process. And if it wasn't for Zenos, many of them would have ended up dying because of Aston, with Zenos not getting any single coin for doing all that healing for the whole people from the slums. Aston just caused so much damage by his selfish goals that Zenos didn't want to let him off with an apology. Aston then ended up waking up a few hours later, after being heavily punched by Zenos, with Krishna staring at him, only to realize that he Zenos was missing and took his valuable sword while he was unconscious. Which was a fine item retrieved from a labyrinth that it will fetch a decent price to at least covering the cost of the damaged housewares of the people from the slums. Without mentioning that the sword belonged to Zenos, since he actually founded it first and Aston just took it from him like a thief.

🟠Aston should have developed conscience much earlier in his life, before all the stupid, selfish, arrogant and scummy decisions that he just made around the story. But now he just lost everything. His whole crew of adventurers, his freedom, his reputation, his sword, with his beloved Golden Phoenix party being fully dissolved and over, losing any chances to get to the top as a prestigious and famous adventurer and as a future aristocrat now, like he always dreamed of. With Zenos only giving him a golden coin over his hand, not just as his last good gesture to an obnoxious person like him to start a new life after Krishna and the royal knights let him out of prison. But also as Zenos' own "severance pay" for Aston, as some sort of karma and as a good taste of his own medicine. So Aston will remember how badly he treated Zenos, letting very clear that he doesn't want to see him or hear from him ever again, while making him feel what it's like to be abandoned and left on your own with nowhere else to go, with nobody on your side, nor purpose in life anymore.

🟠Now despite that Aston didn't manage to murder anyone, owing that to Zenos for the rest of his life, he also had many serious charges against him. Like attempting assault, fleeing from a royal knight, vengeful intentions, massive rampage, property damage, and even public indecency, along with many other stuff. With his punishment being commensurate. And I wouldn't be surprised that Guile also ended up testifying against Aston, after he sold him out, by framing him for a crime that he didn't commit and abandoning him in the process. But even if Aston ends up getting out of prison at some point in his life, he had nothing left from his previous life as an adventurer, and all the capital and especially the people from the slums will always remember him as the narcissistic, arrogant, selfish, reckless, opportunistic and insufferable moron of an adventurer leader who misvalued, mistreated and screwed the members of his own former party, having a criminal record now and being the one who turned himself into the golem that attacked the whole neighborhood from the slums. With no other adventurers wanting to join a scumbag person like him, nor following a leader like that, with no other parties allowing him to join them as their companion either, and with Lord Fennel caring less about him and his dissolved Golden Phoenix party at this point. So his career as an adventurer is practically ruined because of him. And if Aston ended up crossing paths with Zenos, Guile or any of his former crew of his already collapsed and forgotten Golden Phoenix party, he would definitely end up suffering way more punches over his face.

🟫Conclusions🟫

🟤And that's the story of how Aston and his Golden Phoenix party fell apart. A guy so blind, smug, gullible, opportunistic, manipulative, naive, selfish, scummy, ignorant and arrogant, with a lot of narcissism, pride and ego on himself who never realized that he just had one of the most powerful and unique healers in their entire world working for him and his party, helping them with the whole success and fame of the Golden Phoenix. While treating him like garbage, without being able to see the bigger picture, until it was too late. Thinking that Zenos was just a nobody, a useless peasant, and a piece of trash all the time. When in reality, Aston was actually all of that instead, for not recognizing his mistakes much earlier, while blaming others for his own failures, and seeing everyone surrounding him as disposable tools, worthless pawns and as liabilities, rather than equal partners as him. While being capable of screwing them over very easily if they are no longer useful for his party anymore, or by using them in desperate situations against him as his "human shields" to frame them and blame them for his own mistakes. He just brought that all on himself.

🟤The few good things that this scumbag actually did was taking Zenos from the streets when he had nowhere else to go (even if he ended up treating him like dirt later on), giving him that golden coin as his severance pay, which actually helped him to save Lilly and start his new life as an underground healer, avoiding to kill that little werewolf girl himself when he was a golem, and recognizing all of his mistakes at the end.

Unlike other Mafia titles, including The Old Country, Mafia 3 tells most of the story of Lincoln Clay like a documentary style, in which they show a few characters in the "present" timeline (2016), except Donovan in which his cutscenes after the end of the story were just one year after that (1969). With the ones appearing in the "present" timeline being Jonathan Maguire (the FBI agent who was obsessed with capturing Lincoln Clay), Father James Ballard (the priest who saved Lincoln from Sammy's bar in flames, after the Marcano's betrayal) and Nicole "Nicki" Burke (Thomas Burke's daughter and Danny's sister).

However, unlike Maguire, Father James and Donovan, Nicki appears just once in the whole documentary footage. More specifically in the prologue, describing a little bit about his father and blaming him for Danny's death in the night of blood inside of Sammy's bar. After that, we never see her again in the documentary footage. Maguire mentions her in Burke's Ending, but we never saw her on her present/older appearance ever again.

And like I said in the title, I think it was a waste of potential for her character. Because unlike the other underbosses' lieutenants (Emmanuel and Alma), Nicki was also a main victim of the Marcano's betrayal, just like Burke and Lincoln, so it's kind of a shame that we didn't see more backstory about her, besides her lesbian relationship with this girl Darlene from her optional missions after taking over Point Verdun for Burke. While Maguire, Father James and Donovan, not only have multiple cutscenes of them in the documentary footage, but they show some additional backstories about them also. Like how Maguire was recruited by the FBI and how he was sent to New Bordeaux; Donovan's actions during the Vietnam war, along with his knowledge about it; and Father James being a WW2 veteran and how the trauma from the war made him become a priest and his opinion about the American dream versus the American reality about their society and its lack of compassion and empathy towards others, along with the aftermath after Martin Luther King's assassination. Without mentioning that in the 3 story expansion DLC's (Faster, Baby!, Stone Unturned and Sign of Times) Maguire, Donovan and Father James got even more additional cutscenes with them in the documentary footage, but none for Nicki.

Now, don't get me wrong, I liked all the documentary footage cutscenes of Maguire, Father James and Donovan, but I think Nicki could have also told more of her backgrounds and knowledge about the events of the main storyline and its DLC's like all of them, and not being reduced just as Burke's daughter in the documentary footage.

For example:

-She could have another cutscene in which she describes more deeply her relationship with her brother Danny and her friendship with Lincoln, Ellis and also Giorgi, and how and when exactly she and her brother met them and ended up developing a genuine bond and friendship towards them, no matter their different races or nationalities, even during the most racist atmosphere in the deep south of the US during the 60's.

-Another cutscene in which she describes more deeply her relationship with Darlene and how tough and complicated it was for both of them to hold their relationship, when the US society during the 60's not only was more racist but also homophobic back then, and how difficult it was for them to finally marry very recently in the early 2000's when it was finally legal to marry a LGBTQ+ couple.

-And another one, in which Nicki expresses a deep hatred and resentment that she had towards Giorgi in particular, after Lincoln told her that he was the one who killed Danny by shooting him in the head. Expressing how Giorgi not only was fully ok on supporting his father's plan with the casino, but he was also willing to betray and kill all of his long time childhood friends without hesitation nor regret whatsoever. While describing how the Italian mob doesn't really care about old time friendship with its loyal associates, only businesses and its own interests and benefits is what matters. Revealing also to the camera that she actually asked Lincoln offscreen to give Giorgi a slow and painful death once he finally confronts him, along with his father Sal. Because a snake like him, who just destroyed a whole friendship doesn't deserve a quick death, even if he gave Danny a painless death, unlike Sammy and Ellis' deaths. So the way that Lincoln stabbed Giorgi slowly in the gut with his combat knife would become more meaningful for both Lincoln and Nicki, for what Giorgi did to Danny in particular.

-And as for cutscenes of her in one of the story expansion DLC's, I think she could fit in the Sign of Times DLC. In which after Lincoln finished restoring Sammy's bar fully and after his final speech towards the customers, it will show a documentary footage cutscene of Nicki along with her now wife Darlene in Delray Hollow, while putting some flowers over the parking lot where Sammy's bar used to be, to pay respects not just to Danny, but also to Ellis, Sammy and to the whole place that Lincoln worked so hard to rebuild from its ashes, only to be demolished in the present timeline regardless. With Nicki explaining how exactly Sammy's bar ended up being demolished and turned into a parking lot, despite that Lincoln's efforts to restore the whole place, so the last official mission from Sign of Times of rebuilding Sammy's bar wouldn't feel like a pointless oversight from the developers. Especially since in the main game it was revealed that the place was actually demolished in the present timeline.

Also, something that I noticed is that there are like a couple of rackets that after you take them over (no matter the type or the order that you took them, just some very specific numbers that you ended up controlling) the game doesn't show you any documentary footage cutscene with Maguire, Father James or Donovan, so I think Hangar 13 could have at least added a couple of cutscenes with Nicki in her present/older appearance for those numbers of rackets being taken over that doesn't show any cutscene after controlling them. If Hangar 13 not only ends up making a Mafia 2 remake for its 20th anniversary in 2030, but also a remake for Mafia 3 in 2036, I really hope that they add some additional documentary footage of Nicki that we never saw in the original Mafia 3.

But what do you think about it? Do you really think that Nicki was wasted as a character for the documentary footage cutscenes? Do you think that she would have brought more information and backstory about the events of Mafia 3 story? Or do you think it was okay having just one cutscene on her present/older appearance? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

Nanami Tsubomi is probably one of the most tragic characters that I've seen so far in the Kakegurui series. Although she wasn't the only victim of the housepet system, I think she was the one who suffered the worst mistreatments that a housepet could ever have, especially by that brute of Jun Kiwatari. From becoming Kiwatari's personal mascot against her will, with Kiwatari cutting her beloved long and beautiful hair just for his own sick pleasure, to being constantly abused both psychologically and even physically by Kiwatari also.

Man, Kiwatari was really a disgusting, sadistic and evil bully. Like if he wasn't enough to behave like your typical narcissist sports athlete bully, taking advantage of the weakest ones, like he did with Suzui when he became a mascot in the beginning of the story, he also likes to abuse girls in that awful way too. Although, Yumeko saved Tsubomi in a way, by deceiving Kiwatari (with the help of Saotome), turning him into a housepet now and bringing some justice for Tsubomi. I still can't help feeling quite upset towards Kiwatari for what he did to her. If I was an actual Kakegurui character and with a similar strength like Kiwatari, I would have liked to give that piece of sh1t a lesson by giving him a good taste of some of his own medicine against him, like he did to Tsubomi.

Just to recap a little. Jun Kiwatari was the tough and massive guy who tried to strip and r@pe Yumeko when she became a mascot. The one who used Tsubomi as his personal mascot and the same one who just lost against Yumeko and Saotome in the debt exchange gambling game, turning himself into a mascot. He also bullied Suzui when he became a mascot in the very beginning of the story, shown only in the manga and in the first live-action adaptation.