More art by the lovely @merenge_doll
Protests have, sadly, been a constant part of my life growing up.
Some of my earliest memories involve, for example, the lead up and aftermath to the April 11th protests in Venezuela (feel free to google them, too much to explain in a single post here). I remember I had to sleep in my parents’ room, on a mattress set on the floor because things were… quite volatile.
And you’d think an 8 year old wouldn’t be affected by it or wouldn’t know enough to care, but then I spent the rest of elementary and middle school being teased because whenever there was a student protest in the city I’d have a panic attack even though the protest in question was far away.
Small sidenote, between September 11th (2001), April 11th (2002), and March 11th (2004’s train bombings in Spain, La Oreja de Van Gogh actually dedicated a song to it all); I remember as a kid I asked if there was some meaning to the number 11 because so many bad things happened on that day. And God bless every adult in my life, they didn’t dismiss the question and I apparently struck a nerve with a bunch of them.
The time during the development of VA-11 Hall-A was no exception. Early on (around 2014) I remember feeling this tingling inside of me that maybe, JUST maybe, these were the protests that did something… and then the guilt that came with feeling like I was too much of a coward to dare go to them, knowing how many people died in them.
I remember at that point I entertained things like plot lines about Stella (who was the second post-Prototype character we ever made) feeling like she might not have a place in whichever world resulted after the protests. A feeling I had myself from not doing anything while everyone was out there trying to make a change in things.
Those 2014 protests, sadly, didn’t achieve the lofty goals I hoped they would. But then again, I was also going through that period of your early 20s where it dawns on you that you live in a… *shudder* society.
And when VA-11 Hall-A’s story developed further you can tell that jadedness for the whole national situation had started to set in from the way the protests were treated by Jill. As background noise, as one more inconvenience in a world beset by them at every turn.
One she wouldn’t have cared much… if she didn’t know someone that got caught in that crossfire.
That’s what I wanted players to feel when shit hits the fan and Jill has to sleep in the bar. Like a major inconvenience of the “man, and my cat needs food…” kind that would be just that, if she hadn’t remembered that Sei might be involved in all that.
However, I don’t want you to leave this post thinking that I’m mocking anyone that has ever decided to go to a march, or a protest. Be it in Venezuela or anywhere in the world. On the contrary.
You see, I consider myself apolitical. Not in the coward “we don’t wanna turn off a section of our audience so let’s only add things we can plausibly deny” way (as you can hopefully tell by now), but more in the “I do not trust governments, I do not trust politicians, and I do not trust anyone that stands behind a single ideology of government because in the end you’re still putting way too much trust and power on a group of humans” way.
The only thing I stand for is for everyone’s right to live, laugh, and love. Ideologies are secondary to how that is achieved because no matter the system you choose, someone will learn to abuse it for their own gain and prevent those fundamental rights from happening one way or another.
As such I don’t believe in any one system enough to stand behind them, I don’t subscribe to any single ideology enough to call myself names related to them, I do not love any country or cause enough to put my life on the line for them… and maybe because of that I have a deep admiration for those who do on their own volition.
There’s nothing I love more than the spirit of rebellion. Because the only thing that can keep something as broken by design as government bodies is the mass discontent of those that deem the system above them unworthy.
The rebels can be as flawed as the system they fight against, but the fundamentals of the spirit behind rebellion are what I’m all about.
Why do you think this company is called “Sukeban Games”? A “Sukeban” is the name for the big boss delinquent girl in Japanese, and the media that romanticizes delinquents in Japan tends to paint them as rebels of the system, with their hearts in the right place but their ideals and hopes running against the grain of the status quo.
I might not care enough about any country or any ideal to go out and put my life and well-being on the line for them, but I deeply love each and every person that feels so strongly that the current system is doing them dirty that they’re willing to shout and kick and cry for things to change.
“Fighting for love” is the cheesiest phrase to ever exist but if cheese is so bad why do people eat it so much?
Even if Jill was jaded and didn’t care that much for the protests in VA-11 Hall-A, things DID change. The White Knights are disbanded in the aftermath, which might not be the be-all end-all solution to the woes of the city but it’s still a massive leap forward socially for everyone.
It isn’t pretty, it isn’t without consequence, but what in life is? I’ve talked a bit about how tough it was for me to move to Japan and despite all the strife that was a move for the BETTER still.
And so, I wanted to have something in this world changed. In honor of everyone that has put themselves out there to shout their discontent before and since. Even if Jill had her plate full and couldn’t afford to care if she tried, even if I’m too much of a jaded coward to put myself out there like that, even if it sometimes feels like the screams of those that only want to be able to live and love aren’t heard.
The city is still a hell hole, but there’s one problem less at the very least. I might not care enough to move my cowardly ass, but I care about those who care.
…this one got heavy, but in case you didn’t catch onto it, today we played Day 5 of the main game.
Just like in the game, things will lighten up tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s a favorite of everyone after all.
Wow. You, uh… very clearly and concisely summed up a lot of my own worldviews here… I wonder how much of those were rubbed off on me from playing your game?
your very well written description of being apolitical is exactly how I feel in this ever polarized world, its very nice to see that I’m not alone in that sentiment
I was the same age during 11 de Abril. I was privileged enough for my family to upend their entire life soon after and go live with my uncle in Miami until the subsequent paro petrolero bowled over; I remember my first experience with “distance learning” over the internet back then (we were PIONEERS!!! COVID children stand on the shoulders of giants…), but also this profound…helplessness. I wanted to go to the protests, but I also know if I went I very well might die, and if 11 de abril didn’t change anything then why would this next one, and so on. It was selfish, but in retrospect, surprisingly realistic for an 8-10 year old. I’m…glad that you gave this sort of closure within the game, to those of us who grew up among constant protests, for one that actually DID something for someone, that made life a little better. Sometimes, I wish I’d been able to, too.
I’m not a rebel. I always found rebellious spirit kind of alien to me, because I often felt not like I was rebelling against my parents or society or whatever, but simply trying to be my own true self against a bunch of people who keep telling me I’m wrong, probably influenced by my dad spending most of his post-11 de abril life trying to stop the narrative spun by the government about what that day was. He mostly lost, ultimately – but that spirit of fighting for the truth even within a broken system has stayed with me, and that’s why I like Sei so much, even through moments like this. She gives her all to fight for what she believes in – even within a department that is clearly corrupt and destructive, even though it ends with her great personal injury – and that’s…something I want to be.
I’m glad I can finally read your thoughts on this theme brought up in the game. During these years after finishing Va-11 I’ve been quite often wondering about your personal experiences which influenced the development of the game. So glad it finally unfolds just like this
I am a coward too. Someday we might not have the privilege to be so. I liked the write up <3.