never apologise for fixating. tell us about the character 🎤
DISSOLVES INTO DUST!!!!!!!!!! A.B.A (and paracelsus by extension) ISN'T USUALLY THE KIND OF CHARACTER THAT BECOMES MY FAVORITE BUT FOR SOME REASON A LOT ABOUT HER JUST TICKS THE HIDDEN BOXES INSIDE MY BRAIN THAT MAKES ME WANT TO EXPLODE!!!!!!!! (their dynamic, especially. i'm having brainworms)
a.b.a's just a very endearing character to me i think there's something really fun with obsessive characters (same) and when it's pushed to an extreme i think it's incredibly fun to see them suffer and spiral (i'm sorry [same again]) but despite her violent tendencies she's also socially-inept and is just trying to deal with the complicated thing that is interpersonal relationships when she has zero frame of reference for them, and it just so happens that the first opportunity for connection that she was able to form was also deeply unhealthy for her and OUGHHH!!!!!
(bonus segment: her design is so freaking cool too i love her sunken eyes and her outfit which is just two shorts repurposed AWESOMEEEE)
despite the abrasive exterior she has, she's pretty timid and somewhat sympathetic (but her possessiveness over paracelsus is interfering with it) and i really like how she's also book-smart but not people-smart LOL how she uses and messes up known proverbs, how she's interested in fashion!!!! ohhhh it gives me so many drawing ideas .... but also something about her just hits for someone who grew up sheltered, who may be a little weird in the head, and was just terrified of everything (can't relate to this, convincing laughter)
MOST IMPORTANTLY, I FEEL SO NORMAL ABOUT HER LONELINESS AND HER ABANDONMENT ISSUES!!!!!! I THINK OF HER OPENING HER EYES FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN AN ABANDONED LAB WHERE THERE IS NO ONE THERE TO WELCOME HER. 10 YEARS IN ISOLATION, DREAMING OF FREEDOM AND CONNECTION. AND WHEN SHE FINALLY GOT THAT, SHE WAS USED! I FEEL SO NORMAL ABOUT IT!!!!!
ok dies again cam i'm abt to infodump like crazy ok i'm sorry if none of this makes sense LOL but i didn't realize how much the trope of "i'm in love with my weapon" speaks to me bc man. does it just add a layer of delicious codependency to everything else. so her weapon (paracelsus, named by a.b.a, formerly flament nagel) is sentient, right. and (in the past) has made her (a.b.a) act even worse by driving her to harm herself (by going into battle to feed into his bloodlust) (also feeding him blood. and her blood too actually doesn't he drain her health when she's in like moroha mode) and how in exchange for this wielder-axe partnership, a.b.a has then placed him in this idealized role of her husband, as her companion, as this symbol of freedom for her and that they're both together (originally) for their own selfish reasons and isn't that fucking juicy!!!!! (a.b.a doesn't necessarily want to fight she kind of just wants to chill with her husband but paracelsus yearns for the battlefield ....)
Do you remember? Flament Nagel had the power to subdue the mind of his wielders and control them like marionettes. Had he really wished for, he could’ve completely controlled that girl A.B.A or any passerby to indiscriminately kill as many people as he wanted. However, he didn’t. Despite claiming with empty words that he hated that young girl and yearned for the bloody battlefields, Flament Nagel was actually suppressing his destructive power. I wonder, what could have been the reason for that magical battle axe, that berserker that once used to be always present on the battlefield, to develop a more kind and gentle heart? It was probably due to the influence of that young girl named A.B.A. She was the one that called what once was branded as a death god, “the key that would open the gates of her future”. Depending on how you look at it, this may seem like a nonsensical joke, however, I believe it was precisely that “magic” that bound Flament Nagel and nurtured his heart. From now on, I’m sure those two will continue to grow and support each other as they go through life together. An axe… no, a “key” needs to be used by the right person. And that young girl needed a weapon… ah, a “key” to help her open the gates of her tomorrow. As they make up for each other's shortcomings, their inner strength will surely grow as well. - Slayer, from a fan translation of Guilty Gear XX Drama CD Night of Knives Vol. 2
and i love how that former dynamic of theirs had progressed into strive where a.b.a is just paranoid and combative now, and that, in a sense, she has become the bloodthirsty wielder paracelsus wanted (even if it is fueled by jealousy instead of the love for violence) and that as a response to that, paracelsus had to make himself be the normal, level-headed one in the partnership (despite the bloodlust and being a demon axe) (apologies if i'm misremembering but in the strive arcade mode, paracelsus does also admit to manipulating a.b.a at the start of their partnership so like look at the monster you made dude ...) and that even then he feels reluctant to admit that he's also grown fond of her and his hunger for violence has been sanded down and softened by a.b.a’s unyielding devotion to him but the damage has been done!!!!
in one of the arcade endings, a.b.a (with the help of testament) does acknowledge that she's always known that their relationship was unhealthy and is even fine with parting with paracelsus (even if she's so distraught over it) if it means he'll be happier but then paracelsus says that he wants to stay with her but start anew and learn to talk it out this time ..... no more manipulation and violence, they'll figure it out together..... and i dunno .... i really like their story ..... i like how they started off just rock-bottom terrible but actually grew to care for each other ............... i just wanna root for them ......................
