﹒⌗﹒Interview with Darby ⸝⸝

Tell me, how did you come to your selfship?

Darby: I’ll start from afar and say that I came to yumeshipu as a phenomenon since childhood, so the appearance of the US is not news and I have been involved in yumeship for as long as I can remember! I found out about Eden a little earlier than I started playing it: I liked it, but the focus on the other FD was too strong, so I put it on the back burner. I remembered about this game thanks to a friend who decided to show it to me, I don’t remember the details, but I know that I liked Andrew from the very beginning and they tried to keep my interest in the game through him. And when I started playing, barely a week passed and I realized that he evokes too many emotions to call him just a favorite character, and although I didn’t know about the existence of yumekmas then, that’s where it all started

That is, it was love at first sight. At what point did your sleep appear? Immediately after the appearance of love for Andrew or after some time? How did you come to her? Were there problems with lore or design?

Darby: Well, we can assume that yes!
The story with Sona is interesting... Creating a SF for yourself and your loved ones is both a tradition and a hobby even outside the US, because if the fandom is interesting to me, then the development of Sona is a matter of time, even if in the end it is not implemented, the main thing is to enjoy the process and brainstorming. In short, the first dream was created a couple of months later and initially not even for Andrew, so there were no particular problems with creating the design. I simply dressed the sf according to my preferences and did not delve into how appropriate it would look in the Eden setting; for some time I even used it in the sshkm, but then I changed it when I decided to take the lore more seriously. Naturally, difficulties arose with a meaningful redesign - I had to give up certain things for the sake of time frames, but at the same time make sure that I still felt a connection with Chardiz and that he resonated with the profession.
But compared to the lore, the design difficulties are nothing... Although I announced the SS publicly at the right time, because I didn’t have to redo it 100 times due to the fact that I didn’t have enough information about Andrew, writing the story is the same headache for me as for the rest of the Yume (I swear, I haven’t seen anyone in my circle who would have found it easy).
As I already said, at first there was only a dream made for the soul, I only knew that she would be a scientist and that’s all... It was very difficult for me to come up with a story and a story of meeting Andrew, everything was stuck mainly on the fact that I didn’t know why she went to the estate, and I still couldn’t remember what was so traumatic for me so that Selfsona had a background and I felt a connection with her, for me this is very important since this is still not an OS, but a dream! I also carefully avoided any connection with the aristocracy, because it seemed to me that it would alienate me from Andrew, plus, then I was not close to such a trope. The very first motive for the SF was boredom and the search for inspiration, but I didn’t like it... Then, a friend came up with options, in one of them Darby was an aristocrat and her family owned a cemetery, the motive for going to the estate was Andrew, whom she met during his work, but I decided that this was also not suitable, then I temporarily abandoned the lore for the estate and prescribed the dynamics precisely during the arrival there. I really wanted to convey that Andrew is literally my ideal and type, I really clung to this idea, but developed it through pictures, not lore texts; in one of the options, Darbt, by the way, was supposed to die at the hands of Andrew, but I couldn’t decide how exactly, because I had already abandoned this idea. Then there was a pause because I was just studying school, ironically, I came up with and wrote the story exactly when I stopped resisting connecting Sona with high society

You have a very rich history of sona creation and very interesting! Have you ever seen Darbth as a playable character even though she didn't originally fit into the Eden setting?

Darby: Thanks, it's been quite a journey and I'm glad I can share the experience!
Regarding the question, my answer is yes! The creation of Sona began with the fact that I thought of her as a game character, but later this idea faded into the background

You mentioned that Andrew is your ideal and type. What attracts you most about him?

Darby: I'll mention it again for those who don't understand - THAT'S MY TYPE! 😊🌟🧩
Honestly, it’s incredibly difficult to choose just one thing, you really need to think about it...
I like the concept of his story about rejection and prejudice, as a person who has been considered strange since childhood and who cannot fit in anywhere, this really resonates with me, especially since his “unusuality” lies not only in albinism. I like the fact that even after being seriously injured, his values ​​include doing good deeds and fighting against prejudice. His gentle nature, which is hidden behind his gloomy appearance and aloof behavior, I appreciate when this contrast is preserved on the skins. But what struck me most was the ambiguity of his decisions, gray morality, hypocrisy - call it whatever you want. The way he rationalizes his immoral act using a phrase from the temple... I REALLY love it when Andrew does objectively bad things, it makes him alive and complex, and also breaks the stereotype that he is white and fluffy.

This is very nice! Tell me, how important is the canon to you? How do you feel about fanon?

Darby: The canon in Iden is a very funny and relative thing, especially when the developers themselves tend to rewrite and change it... But for me personally, it is important to respect its framework; I measure the quality of my humme content precisely by getting into the original character and lore. If we talk about fanon, then I’m calm about intentional deviations from the canon by others or some kind of jokes where the character of the characters can reasonably change, although special respect to people who, even with a bias towards fanon, leave the characters recognizable.
That's what I don't like - when it goes into mischaracterization, but people still need to learn to distinguish it from a personal and harmless interpretation

What is the difference between misscharacterization and personal interpretation for you?

Darby: Personal interpretation still has a connection to the canon and does not harm the character, it rather complements or helps to look at the character from a certain angle, does not contradict. We all, one way or another, see everyone in our own way and within the framework of our experience and perception, I think that a different interpretation is when you come to one thing in different ways and with different approaches, but it is equally complex
Misscharacterization for me means not understanding what a character is all about, endowing him with qualities that go against his values ​​and behavior, provided that we have enough information to build a certain idea about him. Misscharacterization is harmful because it creates a false impression and can go to extremes, and it also often greatly simplifies or ignores important details

We all know that you are fond of typologies. How do you type Andrew and why?

Darby: I type him as EII SP4 4-6-1 (trifix, not tritype) and melancholic in temperament. Since people are now fussing more about the Enneagram, I’ll analyze it
Many people type Andrew as sp6, but I see in him a clear e4 core and heart triad. With e4 in mind, I’m talking about the feeling of false lack, defectiveness, impoverishment of oneself and one’s qualities compared to others, or some unattainable ideal in the head e4. These often include the desire to recognize uniqueness, but I believe that this is a secondary trait and, most importantly, it is precisely what implies a feeling of defectiveness.
Andrew's character is built on shame about his identity; you don't have to go far to draw a parallel between his childhood and these attitudes. Shame is basically a joke of the Hart triad and to a greater extent e4, in the case of Andrew, his way of dealing with shame is to gain recognition through a place in the Laz cemetery, he remembers that only good people rest in the temple, and there is no place for the evil here, he wants to deserve to be called a good person and therefore saves money, thus trying to redeem himself.
I want to clarify that the "temple" is not only a material place in which he can find safety, in the third letter it is touched upon as something in his mind that he is trying to achieve. This fits well with the unattainable ideal e4 to which they cannot come because of their sense of self, and Andrew in the same letter is described as a person with extremely low self-esteem, impostor syndrome and sensitive to criticism, although on the path to redemption he still makes efforts (and in contrast with co4 who “want and cannot” and cx4, who would use destructive and destructive methods, sp4 has no difficulty in doing something since action this is their basis)
For e6 Andrew seems to me too uninterested in using intelligence to ensure his safety. He died because, due to a traumatic experience with people, he did not get close to anyone and did not consider other people's intentions, did not collect any information and was absorbed only in the goal of getting to the temple. Everyone can have problems with socialization and experience bullying, but for an e6 not to analyze the environment and collect objective data - this contradicts the very idea of ​​sixes.

Have you encountered any misunderstandings from others regarding your interests?

Darby: I was very lucky with my surroundings, so personally, not yet. Ironically, it was more difficult for me to accept that I am a student than for any of the other people with whom I communicate. However, I hid this for a long time or did not disclose it openly, since I understand perfectly well that this can cause ambiguous reactions and misunderstandings

How does the US affect you in general?

Darby: VERY POSITIVE!
I began to draw more and devote time to creativity, and in a variety of ways, I began to approach what I do more meaningfully, I also consume and learn more new information, try myself in something new, I was able to open up from an atypical side and share my feelings
I met a huge number of wonderful, pleasant and interesting people, I became more relaxed and gained interesting and new experiences.
This also affected the step towards my future career and helps me move on, helps me get through difficult times and, along with the development of the United States, I myself change, this also had a positive impact on my views