(You Can Tell I'm a Writer When I Don't Have a Title Yet)

off the top of your head: notes for characterization? what are the most essential traits of this character to you?

adjacently—do you think fandom does the above traits justice? why or why not?

I think what's most essential to me for Iris's character, and what tends to be overshadowed by her other traits in fandom, is the fact that she's ruthless. And has only a modicum amount of foresight for her actions. Oftentimes I think people tend to forget these parts of her because they come through so much clearer in Dahlia, but Iris very much will cross moral (and legal) boundaries if she believes she's justified in doing so. This is the woman who said she'd kill her own sister if she tried to hurt the man she loved. In court. And she's also the same woman who transported and stabbed a corpse, I feel like that's something that gets glossed over a little when discussing Iris. The core of Iris's character is love, love as something to be feared. She has little love for herself, which is why she's willing and able to go so far for those she cares about. She will not preserve herself over them. This is vital to her character to me, and it links nicely to another part of her which I think gets overlooked in favour of Dahlia: Iris is a fairly competent criminal. I've posted about it before, but I think it's insane how she helped Dahlia with some of her plans, and even how well she performed during the BTTT murder. Iris is both a dreamy romantic and a relentless pragmatist; she will do what she thinks needs to be done to protect her loved ones. She gets caught because, in her mind, she has no need to conceal her own actions and, therefore, no need to think past the point where she may be indicted. It's a selfish mode of thinking that is blind to how these actions will affect the people she's so desperate to keep safe (because she doesn't think she deserves or is loved), and I think it's another form of contradictory doublethink that makes her interesting. She's always split between two forms, and I really like how that's also reflection of her relationship with Dahlia.

3. throw this character at any other character of your choice to bounce off each other as outsider pov to each other— regardless of timeline or logistics. why this combination? what insights would they have on each other?

She and Phoenix have such warped yet telepathically accurate understandings of one another that I just have to see them interact again. Please, Capcom, I'll give you everything I have. They're so interesting because I do think they see each other as their best versions elevated onto pedestals, but I also think they know exactly who the other is and what their integral flaws are. I think they both know how to ruin one another and that comes from how deeply they love each other, and ahhhhh!!!! crazy. crazy to me. They're my everything.

I also think that Iris as a whole is such a complex and intriguing character that most people in universe wouldn't know what to think of her. I wish we'd gotten to see what Godot thought of her properly -- this strange woman, sister of the woman who killed him, who was willing to do anything to keep the sister of her sister's executioner safe. I wonder what he made of her. What did she make of him? They clearly understood each other, but I wonder how much of themselves they saw and knew just from those brief interactions they had. It's such an under-explored part of the story, and I'm enraptured by it.

Also, like, Franziska. She spent so much time with Dahlia acting as Iris, I wonder what she thought of the real Iris once she met her. I've said it before, but I think there'd be understanding between them of loving people they shouldn't (Dahlia and Manfred, respectively), and that would be an interesting perspective to explore.

Other people I would like to see her interact with are Justine/Verity for the religious themes and willingness to bend the rules for those they love similarities and Simon Blackquill because he, too, is 100% willing to die for people he cares about, and I think it'd help both of them to have her provide a bit of insight on that.

4. how do you think you would react to this character in real life and vice versa? would you prefer be a million miles out of range, be amicable classmates, or fall desperately in love?

It would be the same: I would have a true crime fanblog dedicated to her, and she would never know I existed or find it terrifying once she did. I love you in every universe, Ms Iris 🙏

5. ideal flavor of rotating for this character? crack them open and dissect them— do you want them tormented, pining, or being loved + comforted? do you have any specific scenarios you like to think about?

I always want her rekindling her relationship with Maya and Pearl and building a future together from there. They're family. Also Phoenix is there, but I don't think they should ever officially get back together. They need to exist in a state of 'I will love you more and understand you better than anyone else forever and that is why we cannot go back to that', and everyone else just has to deal with it. Aside from that, it's just her and Dahlia all the time. What was their relationship like, were they ever uncomplicatedly happy with one another, what did their love look like... There's so much there, and I love thinking about them.

6. weave a web of dynamics through the cast for this character: which dynamics are you most interested in? both canonically and through extrapolation/speculation— which dynamics are the richest to you, and why?

Okay, NOW I can talk about her and Pearl. Phoenix and Dahlia are a given for this question, but I think her and Pearl are the dynamic that is most complex and, in a way, important after the events of BTTT. There is just so much to unpack between them, and I find it so important and telling that Iris doesn't tell Pearl that she's her sister by the end of the case. She allows Pearl to set the boundaries of their relationship, and I think that's so loving and sad. She doesn't want Pearl to have to live with the knowledge that she has had to her entire life, of how murder runs in their blood and how blood has run over her hands. It's hard enough with just knowing about Morgan. But I do think they come to terms with it quite soon after. Maybe through Maya, maybe through Phoenix, maybe Pearl just learns enough information and puts the pieces together herself. But I do think Pearl goes to her eventually, and they form a relationship. I'm not sure that Pearl ever knows how to truly feel about Iris. I would like to think they're easy and loving, but, realistically, things are just so strange and distant between them. I'm sure she loves Iris, but is it a love that can compare to her love for Maya, or even Phoenix? I'm not sure. Besides the years of simply not knowing Iris existed and the... everything that happened during BTTT, so much of their early relationship will be built with a wall of iron separating them. Pearl's had an odd childhood, but even she's likely to be affected by that. So I think maybe Pearl always loves Iris at arm's length. However, I do fully believe that Iris pours all of her love into Pearl. I think she respects and understands Pearl's need for that distance between them, but I think she was ready to die for Pearl from the moment they met, and I think that tendency of hers to risk everything for the people she loves might actually be part of what maintains that rift. I don't think Pearl appreciates or knows what to do with love of that intensity from her, even if she may not be distinctly aware of it on the surface. I also think it echoes the lengths Maya went to to try and protect Godot at the end of the trial a little too closely for Pearl. It's kind of done away with after its first mentioned, but Mia says something to Phoenix when Maya channels her for the first time about how she is both Mia and Maya in that moment. I tend to interpret that as the medium's spirit kind of going into a subconscious state during channelling, so even though Pearl wasn't aware of what happened during the trial in detail, a part of her retains a feeling of it and what happened, and she feels that anxiety again around Iris even if she may not know why. Ultimately, I think their relationship exists in a state of imbalance, with Iris always giving a little more than Pearl but being okay with that, much like how she was okay with Dahlia and how she used her. It's sad and complicated, but it is loving.

7. do you have particular niche takes on this character? defend those takes.