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projectroxas2009-01-20 12:09 am
pearlet.livejournal.com) wrote in projectroxas2009-01-20 12:09 am
on simon
Simon is best described as a borderline sociopath. There are some characteristics that he meets almost perfectly & others that he doesn’t, but it’s a good umbrella term regardless.
Among the first things that someone would recognize about Simon is his arrogance & his utter lack of consideration for the feelings of others. The arrogance could be softened to overblown confidence since that’s pretty much what he was designed for, but even with that explanation, it doesn’t really help people feel anything nicer for him. And in fact, I don’t think he even needs it. He has such a grand & overblown sense of self/ego that he feels that the only reason he needs other people is to help with the boredom he feels too often than not. He’s not afraid of being alone ‘cause he doesn’t need others to help him foster his esteem or the sense of belonging — he believes that he stands at the top (second only to Sora) & since he doesn’t really care for the opinion of others, he’s pretty much set.
When he’s first released from the lab, the range of emotions that he’s capable of feeling is amusement, boredom, irritation (at others, never himself) & affection (which is more or less exclusive for Sora). Later on, he goes on to developing more emotions, but since irritation is the second strongest feeling that he can feel, he’d develop the negative things first such as hatred & jealousy, which could also technically be tied into affection (the strongest emotion in his arsenal). The more positive things would come only after he realizes that other people matter & that they can be and are connected to his world than he initially realizes.
But until then, because he only feels the need to be around others when he’s bored or he wants something, it could be said that he absolutely lacks any form of empathy for others’ feelings/opinions/etc. He doesn’t think twice about hurting them, can’t even comprehend that his jibes at their faults could hurt in the first place. He lacks the basic ability to superimpose himself into the shoes of other people, so he can’t understand their humiliation/embarrassment/hurt from step one. To add to this mess, he can’t feel those types of things even when he, himself, is criticized (which Riku probably does). When his own faults are brought up, he either ignores it outright, or listens & then ignores it anyway. Basically, goes right over his head.
The two exceptions is Sora (obviously) & Oliver (surprisingly). The former is pretty obvious — Sora is the only other person that really, truly matters in Simon’s world (the other being himself). The latter — I think it’s a matter of pride. Simon has long-since grown into the role of being Oliver’s dictator; if Oliver retaliates, it’d be a blow to Simon’s pride. Not only that, but Simon is starting to incorporate Oliver into his world (his “third favorite person”).
Simon, being Simon & how he was created, has this... huge boundary of buffer surrounding his ego. People who are outside this buffer don’t feel like they really exist to him. They’re just about the same level of animals, only more interesting & can talk back & can irritate him if they act stupidly or doesn’t bend to his will. They’re almost like mirages, existing right at that moment, but can be easily forgotten the next. Bringing the point back to Oliver — since Oliver has (unknowingly, somehow) bypassed that buffer, he’s become quite “real” to Simon & has the potential to hurt him.
But Simon also knows how Oliver is supposed (meant) to be, so doesn’t expect it at all. Almost ironic that the person he’s often meanest to has the ability to hurt him back but won’t (can’t) due to the same reason, that being only 1/5 of a person.
So beyond these two, Simon doesn’t really care for others. Even Anna, Rob & X get a little more than minimum attention, but that’s only because they’re technically “him” & “himself” is another person that matters in (t)his world. He forgets names & faces quickly. If his attention isn’t caught & anchored, he could easily ask who someone is several times within a given meeting.
This makes changing him very difficult, obviously. Humans learn from their interaction with others & their mistakes. Simon doesn’t understand that some of the things that he does/says are huge mistakes in the realm of tact, even if his words are true.
& I guess this is where Simon differs from the classic sociopath — he doesn’t lie. Most of his biting remarks are based around the truth; he won’t pick a fight without facts backing his statements (or, at least, the truth that he deems to be truth as truth can be subjective). He’s also not very aggressive. It’s surprising since he can be one of the meanest characters in the story up to date. He doesn’t say or do what he say/does because he wants to hurt; he does them because he wants others to know what he knows thus bringing them closer to his level, so to speak. It’s just another case of overblown confidence/just plain arrogance, but not malice. He gets irritated when people don’t understand what he’s talking about (which is seen most often in Oliver) & that gives him a reason to degrade their intelligence or pick at them where it hurts. But he’ll always, always have a reason to be irritated even if the reason might be warped & make sense only in his head. He’ll always tell the other party what he’s thinking afterwards & then continue on with the conversation as if he’s not said anything rude in the first place.
Which takes me to the next quirk in Simon — his inconsistent responses/reactions. He can be biting & sarcastic one moment, and be a relative sweetheart the next. This pretty much plays off his lack of any real malice when bullying people; he says those things because they’re true (in his head) & feels the need for others to share his sentiments. Thus, he voices them, even when they’re rude. But once that’s done, it’s done. He moves on, switching over to explaining his thought process so that whatever endeavor that he might be undertaking at the time can be continued. Then the cycle repeats.
That’s how he functions on a daily basis, pretty much.
Among the first things that someone would recognize about Simon is his arrogance & his utter lack of consideration for the feelings of others. The arrogance could be softened to overblown confidence since that’s pretty much what he was designed for, but even with that explanation, it doesn’t really help people feel anything nicer for him. And in fact, I don’t think he even needs it. He has such a grand & overblown sense of self/ego that he feels that the only reason he needs other people is to help with the boredom he feels too often than not. He’s not afraid of being alone ‘cause he doesn’t need others to help him foster his esteem or the sense of belonging — he believes that he stands at the top (second only to Sora) & since he doesn’t really care for the opinion of others, he’s pretty much set.
When he’s first released from the lab, the range of emotions that he’s capable of feeling is amusement, boredom, irritation (at others, never himself) & affection (which is more or less exclusive for Sora). Later on, he goes on to developing more emotions, but since irritation is the second strongest feeling that he can feel, he’d develop the negative things first such as hatred & jealousy, which could also technically be tied into affection (the strongest emotion in his arsenal). The more positive things would come only after he realizes that other people matter & that they can be and are connected to his world than he initially realizes.
But until then, because he only feels the need to be around others when he’s bored or he wants something, it could be said that he absolutely lacks any form of empathy for others’ feelings/opinions/etc. He doesn’t think twice about hurting them, can’t even comprehend that his jibes at their faults could hurt in the first place. He lacks the basic ability to superimpose himself into the shoes of other people, so he can’t understand their humiliation/embarrassment/hurt from step one. To add to this mess, he can’t feel those types of things even when he, himself, is criticized (which Riku probably does). When his own faults are brought up, he either ignores it outright, or listens & then ignores it anyway. Basically, goes right over his head.
The two exceptions is Sora (obviously) & Oliver (surprisingly). The former is pretty obvious — Sora is the only other person that really, truly matters in Simon’s world (the other being himself). The latter — I think it’s a matter of pride. Simon has long-since grown into the role of being Oliver’s dictator; if Oliver retaliates, it’d be a blow to Simon’s pride. Not only that, but Simon is starting to incorporate Oliver into his world (his “third favorite person”).
Simon, being Simon & how he was created, has this... huge boundary of buffer surrounding his ego. People who are outside this buffer don’t feel like they really exist to him. They’re just about the same level of animals, only more interesting & can talk back & can irritate him if they act stupidly or doesn’t bend to his will. They’re almost like mirages, existing right at that moment, but can be easily forgotten the next. Bringing the point back to Oliver — since Oliver has (unknowingly, somehow) bypassed that buffer, he’s become quite “real” to Simon & has the potential to hurt him.
But Simon also knows how Oliver is supposed (meant) to be, so doesn’t expect it at all. Almost ironic that the person he’s often meanest to has the ability to hurt him back but won’t (can’t) due to the same reason, that being only 1/5 of a person.
So beyond these two, Simon doesn’t really care for others. Even Anna, Rob & X get a little more than minimum attention, but that’s only because they’re technically “him” & “himself” is another person that matters in (t)his world. He forgets names & faces quickly. If his attention isn’t caught & anchored, he could easily ask who someone is several times within a given meeting.
This makes changing him very difficult, obviously. Humans learn from their interaction with others & their mistakes. Simon doesn’t understand that some of the things that he does/says are huge mistakes in the realm of tact, even if his words are true.
& I guess this is where Simon differs from the classic sociopath — he doesn’t lie. Most of his biting remarks are based around the truth; he won’t pick a fight without facts backing his statements (or, at least, the truth that he deems to be truth as truth can be subjective). He’s also not very aggressive. It’s surprising since he can be one of the meanest characters in the story up to date. He doesn’t say or do what he say/does because he wants to hurt; he does them because he wants others to know what he knows thus bringing them closer to his level, so to speak. It’s just another case of overblown confidence/just plain arrogance, but not malice. He gets irritated when people don’t understand what he’s talking about (which is seen most often in Oliver) & that gives him a reason to degrade their intelligence or pick at them where it hurts. But he’ll always, always have a reason to be irritated even if the reason might be warped & make sense only in his head. He’ll always tell the other party what he’s thinking afterwards & then continue on with the conversation as if he’s not said anything rude in the first place.
Which takes me to the next quirk in Simon — his inconsistent responses/reactions. He can be biting & sarcastic one moment, and be a relative sweetheart the next. This pretty much plays off his lack of any real malice when bullying people; he says those things because they’re true (in his head) & feels the need for others to share his sentiments. Thus, he voices them, even when they’re rude. But once that’s done, it’s done. He moves on, switching over to explaining his thought process so that whatever endeavor that he might be undertaking at the time can be continued. Then the cycle repeats.
That’s how he functions on a daily basis, pretty much.