Getting Revenge

I’ve seen some writers mention killing off people they don’t like in their stories. I don’t know if this is revenge, per se, or just letting off some steam that can’t be done any other way. And I mean, I’ve done this. I once wrote a female version of my brother’s therapist, only to kill her later in the story. It felt good.

That’s not necessarily the type of revenge I want to get into here, though. Instead, I’m going to talk about my main man Ari, his origins, and how they created a personal quest for revenge that has spanned many stories and at least a decade of my life.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned Okage: Shadow King in my blogs thus far, but it was one of the many games that inspired me HUGELY. Of course this includes writing, and of course I’m here to tell some stories! Mostly, these involve the main man himself, Ari (as the game pre-names him, and as I later steal for my own uses).

Okage follows the story of this boy named Ari as he is possessed by the shadow of a once-great Evil King named Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV…or just Stan (Master Stan for us fanatics). Stan’s big plan is to use Ari to fight other Evil Kings, who have stolen his power. In the end, the story is about finding strength in yourself (and your friends, I guessss, there’s a theme here…), and young me resonated so hard with this message. Ari is a dull, unassuming, and unnoticed boy, and of COURSE I was like “me too! wahhh!”

Ari is the main point of this post. He became my own character in the form of Kari’s lover, though my Ari is much stronger and louder about his thoughts and desires (I mean, nowadays. He started off much less defined). I couldn’t say what exactly drew me to use Ari in this sense. He isn’t exactly attractive, except in a very base sense. (Although…PS2 graphics, is anyone really “handsome?”) Maybe I saw myself in him in a way I’d never related to another character. Maybe Ari is the manifestation of my core in a way Kari was…she is my stubborn strength, and he is my figurative white knight persona, wanting to save others.

You know, maybe. Or maybe Ari is my Main Man because of another character in Okage: Shadow King. Maybe it’s because of a very-much-side character named Julia.

Julia is a funny one, and I’m not sure how many people that played the game would recall her. She has a couple of scenes in the beginning, then disappears for most of the game after that. DESPITE THIS, Julia is my most hated game character to date.

I didn’t stutter. I HATE JULIA MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. EVEN SEYMOUR FROM FINAL FANTASY X. EVEN THE NASTY OLD MEN IN PERSONA 5.

For those of you who have not played Okage, Julia is a girl from Ari’s village of Tenel. She is the girl all the boys want, and she knows it. But her eyes, for whatever reason, are set on Ari. At least…her glance is. Like many people in Okage, she has a hard time noticing Ari, even when you’ve spoken to her multiple times. In the end, you get a chance to ask her on a date to a circus (which she prods HEAVILY for), only for her to say “haha, NOPE, I’m already TAKEN!”

God this woman, my rage is uncontrollable.

Julia represents all of those women (damnit, I’m included sometimes) who pine and sigh, but never say anything, then throw their hands when it’s too late. “It’s your fault! You never said anything!”

Once Ari is surrounded by girls, however, Julia becomes a jealous fool. “You’ve changed, Ari! You’re not the man I wanted to love! The one who quietly does the dishes and cooks while I shop!”

OH MY GOD WHAT

I could go on for a while about Julia and how much I hate her. But to bring us back around to writing and revenge in that writing, well…I took out my frustrations in the only way a writer can. I created my own Julia! For Ari! In his village!

And you know what? MY Julia pines after my Ari (who is Lord of his people), and yet can NEVER HAVE HIM. I cackle as I write this, friends, because it is, in my opinion, my greatest victory. To forever be able to write scenes in which she prostrates herself before him, or perks up whenever he walks by, only to know that he is unattainable. He is taken. Julia has lost.

And I WIN.