#and that's indisputably the route that handled byleth/their arc best

[danzafila]

ok, so. there's two common complaints/arguments against Byleth: 1) that they're a self insert (and self inserts are inherently terrible) and 2) that they're a wooden plank with no personality (that sucks the life/decent writing out of every character they come in contact with)

and basically, I think the self insert complaint kinda misses the mark with what the biggest issue with their writing is and the wooden plank complaint is simply inaccurate

1) imo, there's two prevailing (very different) ways to do an RPG protagonist. either you provide a blank slate (or customizable template) for players to create their own character out of or you provide a predetermined character (or choice between multiple) that players will merely be along for the ride with, but have little/no influence over. neither is inherently worse, they just work differently (and require different things to make them work)

so calling Byleth a "self insert" is a misplaced critique to me partially bc, well, that's an entire style of RPGs you're criticizing there, but also because... I don't think that's even the issue with where Byleth went wrong? to me, it looks like what happened was they were attempting to blend the two styles, but did so poorly, fucking up Byleth's execution in the process

it seems like they wanted us to be able to play a create-your-own style PC, but wrote them into a story calling for a predetermined character. and they left too much of a defined backstory and hints at personality and all (and too little choice) for us to really be able to do the whole create-your-own thing, but still not enough for them to feel like a fully fleshed out defined character in their own right beyond generic player avatar

2) honestly, I think a big reason I disagree with the assertion Byleth has no personality is specifically bc I'm far more used to the blank slate ("self insert" if you wanna be derogatory) approach to RPG PCs and pretty quickly found I couldn't create my own character with Byleth.... because they do have a predetermined backstory and, yes, even personality

it's just.... weird lol. weird and, specifically, a big aspect of it is them initially being very emotionally reserved/stunted. but, like, they have an entire freaking character arc of developing stronger emotions/starting to feel things more, so idk how you can look at that and say they've got nothing going on lol

maybe I'm just a fool projecting a personality I've developed out of whole cloth that's not there in game here, but... idk. to me, it's subtle bc Byleth's a v muted/low-key character (by intention), but it's absolutely there. it's just that their personality is weird and muted and *intentionally* emotionally stunted at first, so I guess that comes off as weirdly blank to a lot of people

#i kept starting. writing way too much and never getting to the point. then giving up on this last night lol #but here we go i think these are my main thoughts on byleth #i think the create-your-own style of RPG PCs is far more common in wRPGs than JRPGs. it's definitely what I'm more accustomed to #so the ''self-insert'' aspect of Byleth's ch never bothered me as much as the fact you couldn't really control them as much as I wanted to #so going into the fandom and seeing the exact opposite complaint reign supreme was surprising/funny to me at first lol #hmm couldn't fit this in with what i ended up w/ up there but #also part of why i enjoyed byleth/my affection for their ch probably comes from the fact i played AM first #and that's indisputably the route that handled byleth/their arc best #bc it's a lot more subtle than dimitri's (understandably since he's the focus of the route) but works as a nice parallel/mirror to his arc #i can see how if you played one of the other routes first their arc might not come through as well tho (since there isn't that contrast) #(particularly CF where they do just devolve into yesman to el w/ no wants/needs of their own. but that's more a CF issue w/ every ch lol) #sto parlando #3h meta #3h talking tag #byleth eisner