this. it’s simultaneously fascinating and heartbreaking to watch it, especially as she’s known for being the optimist in every situation. she already knows Mostima won’t stay, so she won’t bother in this situation to ask.
all of her Mostima-related dialogue is strangely sad for someone like her, especially since this is the only instance (along with her ‘tell her for me I’ve never forgotten her’ voice line, and even then she’s referring to Mostima anyways) where she’s not shown as being upbeat as her usual self.
she’s also rather serious during all of this, and if you look at her dialogue when Mostima is also present, it’s as if she’s already steeling herself for Mostima’s (inevitable) departure.
you have Mostima on one end, talking to Exusiai as if nothing had happened, and Exusiai responding distantly as if they were strangers. by the end of the event, we do eventually end up with Exusiai letting herself get closer to Mostima again, only for Mostima to leave her while she’s asleep without so much as a ‘goodbye’. and sure, it’s implied Mostima will be returning soon anyways and that the Emperor has another job for her, but even so, imagine how Exu’s feeling in all of this.
also I have to add that this bit was honestly just kind of sad, what with Exu sleeping with her head on Mostima’s lap and then presumably just waking up alone in the end anyways. but it was also very cute, that scene was so well-drawn.
here’s some dialogue examples, by the way:
Exusiai is known for being cheerful and yet here she is. she’s been counting the time since she last saw Mostima, she’s willing to pull the wildest risks and yet when they do finally end up speaking she seems to be keeping herself distant (‘I’m fine. thank you.’) and polite. and Mostima definitely notices. (‘it’s like we’re strangers now.’)
it’s not like that lasts long anyways since it’s Mostima and Exusiai is naturally quite chatty but it’s enough of an effort for us to notice. and can we talk about how all of the others already know about this, especially Texas? ‘what are you all looking at me for?’
some lines that specifically caught my eye were:
‘it’s just a few hours for you, but for me…’
‘I’ve since given up.’ (let me put it out yet again: this one is supposed to be the optimist.)
‘even if we didn’t let her go, she would just disappear at some point.’
‘he told me you already left Lungmen. you know how that made me feel?’
-
and then when Bison asks Exusiai if she’s upset, she brushes it off and refuses to talk about it. it’s such a wild mix of conflicted emotions, along with the final scene in the bar.
‘if I take my eyes off you for one second, you could vanish.’
the most interesting thing to me about Exusiai’s character is that she does have the capacity to be serious, though she often isn’t, and I think deep down all of this does affect her in some way. but she’s the best at brushing it off and letting her optimistic side shine through instead of her negative emotions.
even her earnest comments like the one above are accompanied with phrases that are designed to make everything seem a lot more light-hearted (‘fine, Mostima! but you’d better buy me dinner! really!’) and carefree (‘and I got a lottttt of questions to ask you’), but it seems like she’s really waiting for the response. it’s not just a throwaway line, even if it’s disguised as one.
I think things really do bother her, like they do for everyone else. but if you go through all of her voice lines she really does keep herself bright-spirited and happy in the midst of it all. her response to an operation failure: ‘even a well-crafted gun will jam sometimes. life is no difference, so don’t worry about it.’ isprobably trying to comfort the Doctor, who in context, would be disheartened.
she’s a mix of selflessness and carefreeness and I think while a large part of her character is centred around enjoying life, hence the way she is shown as wild and reckless on the surface, a lot of it is also focused on taking care of others. watching over Texas, keeping others in a bright mood even when things are going pretty bad, being the kind of person that encourages others to lighten up and enjoy themselves.
I think my favorite part of Code of Brawl (apart from everything Emperor says being hilarious) was seeing an emotionally vulnerable Exusiai. She’s become such a meme with her apple pie shouts and machinegun attacks, seeing her attempt to keep her cheerful attitude while silently begging Mostima not to leave her again was fascinating.
I really would like some more content on Mostima and Exusiai, probably on their relationship or at least how it was in the past. to me, along with Texas and Lappland, Exusiai and Mostima are definitely one of the most intriguing areas of the Arknights lore.
“What about you? Where did you go? Do you know what it felt like when I met the boss and he said you already left Lungmen? Like tripping right before the finish line in long-distance running?”
If those words are from Mostima’s POV, it implies that all her actions are done for Exusiai’s sake.
Mostima comes off as blithe and casually dismissive of the concept of bonds, but I don’t believe she’s heartless. She came back during a holiday for mourning the deceased, and was last seen praying to what we can probably assume to be Exusiai’s dead sister. Whatever happened, be it trauma from the aftermath of losing her Sankta status, it changed her from the Mostima Exusiai knew. We also know that Laterano is keeping an eye on Mostima thanks to Phoenix being appointed as her overseer.
Exusiai doesn’t know why or how Mostima became a Fallen Angel, but she said she tried looking up info on Mostima (and her step-sister) before. But whatever went down involving Mostima and Exusiai’s sister has been covered up as a state secret.
Mostima’s archive file: “From the moment she aimed her gun at another of her kind, her fate was already decided.” Phoenix’s dialogue: “It’s because you aimed your gun at the captain you fell.”
Either Mostima shot and killed Exusiai’s sister (unlikely), or something happened to Exusiai’s sister that caused Mostima to shoot and kill a Sankta captain. After that, she subsequently lost her gun privileges and became a Fallen Angel.
Mostima kept her mouth shut about these incidents and avoids Exusiai, giving her non-answers, etc. which in my opinion, I theorize to be a means of protecting her, in case Exusiai is also being monitored (I wouldn’t be surprised, since she was digging around state secrets). Phoenix mentions that if Exusiai continues to pry or if Mostima tells her everything, Exusiai would get in trouble, or punished. Laterano law is absolute.
Maybe one of the reasons why Mostima took the job as PL’s long distance messenger was so that she couldn’t accidentally blurt out the truth in proximity to Exusiai? Despite having a proverbial trigger pointed at her, the scene where a drunken Exusiai falls asleep on Mostima’s lap shows that Mostima came surprisingly close to spilling secrets before Phoenix stopped her.
Generally, no. However, on the rare occassion I do, requests will only be allowed up until 24 hours have passed after the initial post. There is also no guarantee that every request will be done.
“Why don’t you post about X anymore?”
Times change, and so do people. Either I lost interest or something happened that gave me negative feelings about the thing in question. Respect that.
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