Franco's Ma

Not to yuck anyone else's yum or anything, but it actually bothers me whenever I see Franco genuinely being depicted as infantile/child-brained. It's very clear to me whenever I run into someone who has never age regressed themselves or only consume idealized/romanticized fictional agere content, because they always seem to perceive characters who age regress as literal children.

Not only is Franco a grown man who commits vile crimes, on purpose, for fun—he's also arguably one of the most lucid and self-aware Prime Assets in the game's canon. He remembers his past in vivid detail, he's consistently lucid, he mentions Murkoff and the trials themselves several times in his in-game dialogue, and he acknowledges the Reagents as fellow (mostly) autonomous adult humans. The reason he's one of the scariest Prime Assets is literally because he's fully self aware of the cruelty he's committing and enjoys it. I feel like there's the smallest chance Reagents could appeal to other Prime Assets' delusions to get their way, but negotiating with, or even attempting to speak to Franco, would require appealing to his grounded sense of reality.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I can't stand when Franco is depicted as a baby-brained hornball who turns into a crying puddle when he sees 1 (one) tata. This dude literally kills people and steals their nipples and looks at naked bodies all day, I PROMISE you he isn't turning into a puddle over ONE bare chested woman. And regardless of this, this dude's pride is the size of Mt. Everest and more fragile than a porcelain teacup; he's more likely to feel insulted and made fun of by someone trying to appeal to his fetishes than he is to readily jump at the opportunity.

Do I think Franco age regresses?? Yes, absolutely. But I also think he's a complicated grown man who struggles with this fact and clings to his adulthood and "manliness" like his life depends on it. I don't think Franco would ever be happy being infantilized 24/7, and I think this is WHY he is infantilized ao heavily in Sinyala/by Murkoff—because it keeps him tense and on edge, and forces him to make desperate attempts at weaponizing this infantilizing against other people (like using childish behaviors to scare, disorient, and intimidate Reagents.) To me, Franco craves the validation of being perceived as a hard-working adult man just as much as he craves a safe space to indulge in his age regression and fetishes/fantasies.

Hey guys this is Marzia!!! She used to be a Reagent but she's on those real freak hours and did whatever it took to rizz Franco up. So now she (mostly) just follows him around everywhere and helps him out during his trials.

I feel like she WOULD be a Prime Asset if Easterman didn't despise her ass, so I guess she's kind of sort of a Grunt who only shows up in Franco's trial zones. In my head she acts as a sort of imposter type role and tricks the other Reagents into thinking she's one of them, usually to lead them to Franco, but occasionally to stab them herself, just for funsies I guess.

In all seriousness, she's highkey a freak and I think she managed to bag Franco by just repeatedly openly flirting with him and probably getting herself hurt many, MANY times before he was like "okay let me see what this crazy broad is all about." They definitely bonded over childhood trauma and a general craving for "normalcy" within the facility. Easterman can't deny Franco SHIT methinks, so he probably cried and threw a fit about Marzia's wellbeing until Easterman concened (... kind of) and repurposed her into an asset.

LOWKEY I'm kind of wondering if I should keeo her title as the Mistress, or if it should be like. The Nanny or the Babysitter, or something. Idk comment if you think I shoukd change it 💔

Anyway!! This is the Mistress. She used to be a Reagent but kinda isn't anymore, but she's also not a Prime Asset?? I wouldn't say she's Ex-Pop either. She just kind of exists? Idk lol she WOULD be a Prime Asset but Easterman despises her

She's called the Mistress, despite not really being a PA, because it's meant to be derogatory/an insult, in a way.