Emo Champion: One Disturbed Little Girl

The Emo Champion Award goes to the character who most players agree provided the most emotional drama through roleplaying through the entire season. This prestigious award is accompanied not only by the trophy emblem (right), but by 5, count them 5, of the coveted green Never Gems. The honored recipient of the second ever Emo Champion Award is Rei, the psychosis made flesh.

Player characters as a species are not known for being psychologically stable, but Rei really exemplifies the unhinged protagonist role. From her shaky concept of self to her sadistic passions brought on by an abusive childhood, Rei gives expression to the breadth and depth of the DSM IV.

"That girl's invented whole new ways to spell 'Fucked up'," Moses told me, in a rare candid moment when he employed his miner vocabulary.

"Indeed, I think we all thank the First Minds that we are not ourselves telepaths and thus we have been spared greater insight into the working of her twisted mind." Even as Kiyoshi said it I could see the others were in agreement.

"We definitely do not want to know what's going on in there," HD added, pointing to Rei and then indicating a giant Sygola nut with eyes full of significance.

But being mentally disturbed by itself is not what earned her the title of Emo Champion this season. Some of her companions have mental issues of their own (Una). What really made Rei stand out above the others was her recent childlike discovery of morality.

"There have been times when I was not certain if Rei was any better than the Oni we are trying to destroy, but lately she has given some hopeful signs," Mokuzai admitted when speaking with me one-on-one. "Occasionally she suggests nonlethal ways of resolving conflicts nowadays, which under the circumstances is pretty miraculous."

There may be hope for Rei actually becoming a good person, as indicated by recent epiphanies - but it's too early to tell.

"I definitely think she has a shot of coming around. I mean, she's threatened Kiyoshi with a shovel various times out of some kind of misguided loyalty to her assassin sister. That's almost noble," Una suggested hopefully.

But not all the signs point uphill for Rei. Her emotional rollercoaster included laughing in glee at the pain of everything living on Karia. Whatever her moral choices in the future they will doubtless lead to further bizarre emotional displays. While she's not exactly the kind of girl who wears her heart on her sleeve, her feelings are still readily apparent. They come boiling out through her eyesockets like virulent acid.

She is Rei. She is our Emo Champion. She is one disturbed little girl.

1 comment:

Douglas Underhill said...

Meta-comment on the awards: these continue to be cool, and I like the little interludes.


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