canonized lesbian

where do i even start.

i suppose i’ll preface by saying this may or may not start delving into my own canon but i’ll try to stay as impartial/game-compliant as possible

i think what makes dex the most compelling character to me is that he feels by far the most. human. he feels the most real. his struggles and emotions and actions and mistakes create a character that is undeniably understandable and relatable, even outside of the context of the game/plot. honestly i could make the argument that sr1 really does this best out of all the games for its cast as a whole, but that’s for another day. i think dex’s need to plan for any contingency, his problems w envy, his occasional tendency to kinda say the wrong thing or be too blunt, and the very clear passion he has for the things he cares about all come together to make a character so beautifully real. he’s someone i inevitably see a lot of myself in, and i think that understandability goes a long way. even if you don’t act like that, you’ve likely met someone who does.

he’s extremely well-rounded (at least in the context of sr1. sr2’s corporate warfare and money shot are not real) and provides a much needed balance within the cast. the way he uniquely works off of playa, troy, johnny, and julius is just fantastic. but even with my gripes w sr2 and its DLCs and the “conclusion” they pathetically wrote for him……the fact he left for ultor at all is, again, an extremely understandable (maybe not agreeable!) choice. dex works so well bc you can understand why he makes the choices he does, why he feels the way he does. and imo that’s one of the marks of a great character: even if i disagree, i know why they do the things they do. sometimes good people do bad things. sometimes bad people do good things. how do you even define that? it’s interesting, and dex lays such a good groundwork to explore these questions in the context of the sr universe.

kinda going back to what i said about how he plays off everyone else, again i just think his presence is so strong and opens up so many fascinating avenues of character/dynamic exploration. his dynamic w anteros is honestly one of my favorite pieces of expanded fanon(?) i’ve written in a long time, and it wouldn’t be possible if the foundation wasn’t already there.

“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.”