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Behind The Scene - ver 0.5
🕑 Added 2024-06-04 20:35:42 +0000 UTCAfter a few days of rest, I finally have the time to write this. This is to cover the feedback of feedback and anything that is out of the scope of a normal size game. Please complete the update before reading this.
Let me reveal the answer to the Twitter quiz first because I feel it’s too hard for anyone to get it - the theme of this update is Symbolic Interactionism. You met this phrase twice at a later stage of this update when you talk to Maid A in her random talks.
But before explaining what is symbolic interactionism, I want to explain why a lot of you feel Maid A is so out of character at the end of this update, suddenly treating you like an irrelevant existence.
On one hand, I admit that Made A is a bit hard for me to write because I am not the gentle type, to begin with. On the other hand, it is very easy for you to feel alienated because you don’t know what she’s doing when she is not around.
On the first day of your arrival, she was very excited to finally have the opportunity and the motivation to implement what she has always been reading in books, such as building a maze and using the ritual. But she never stopped there. Her curiosity led her to interact with a lot of her friends while you are trapped in her pet cage. There are a few hints in the game that she talks about how her friends treat the tinies and what is the "social norm" of treating a tiny. She gradually accepted those opinions, especially seeing how vulnerable and weak under her care, while there is no way for you to know all this is happening.
This is where Symbolic Interactionism comes into play. Symbolic Interactionism is a sociological theory, a way of understanding how people create and interpret meanings through social interactions. It focuses on how people communicate and create shared meanings through symbols (words, gestures, and expressions) in everyday life. It suggests that our reality is constructed through these interactions and that the meanings we attach to things can change based on our social interactions.
For Maid A, her reality is constructed through her interaction with her friends, who generally think tinies are worthless. For other tinies in Maid A’s pet cage, their reality is solely constructed through the interaction with Maid A, their only owner. The tiny pets, as a whole, can only accept the interaction and information from Maid A. That’s why:
Imagine, if you are not the tiny hero, but a random tiny who is born in the pet cage, do you still have the courage to escape the cage?
[Disclaimer]
I’m not an expert in this field and I do not guarantee every major update will be designed like this. I am unlikely to reply to comments on this page.
For more about Symbolic Interactionism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux2E6uhEVk0
Comments
loukenshrew
I actually interpreted it as a sort of puppy love, she clearly thinks a lot of the hero and is still fixated on that version of them. However, as she interacted with him day after day that image inevitably started to wane as she could only hold those little talks with him. There was almost nothing heroic he COULD do. (That and maybe she got annoyed by my performance in the maze, I swear I'm not ignoring her on purpose I just could not find the route.) Admittedly I was kind of disappointed to see that side of her wane since it's a part of what I enjoyed with her, but that's just a personal taste thing.
Jonathan
I didn't think I'd be watching a Khan Academy video on my free time lol. Yeah it makes sense to me. I understand how Maid A is influenced by her friends and I understand the perspective of being born into the city only having the information from the Maid. I believe I too would be scared to leave the city if I were born into it. But just as Miss. Khan Academy said, the meaning someone gives isn't permanent and can change. It'd be interesting if the Hero can somehow influence her that not all tiny people are worthless/needing of protection from the world. I appreciate the amount of thought that's put into the story. It taught me something new after all while I get to enjoy the game. So thanks for that :) The two people that were the reason the phrase Symbolic Interactionism exists both happened to have the name Herbert in there. I now think all Herberts are smart
Archbishop of Vainglory
Hmm, that's interesting, and does make sense for the most part. I really do like that explanation quite a bit, but; I guess that brings up the major question of: "Why now?" From the fact she's kept a whole town of tinies, we know she's kept people here for at least a generation (I'm basing this off the fact the child doesn't know much about the outside world). It can't have been that she hadn't seen her tinies being submissive and the sort and hung out with her friends over the generation she's had them. Is it because the MC is a Hero? Supposed to be "the strongest" just becoming another one of the pets that caused her to rethink her stance?
