I don't doubt for a minute that Gracie cares about everyone. It's just the way she cares and the reason she cars that I suspect.
It's like the analogy I made a few pages back. To a psychopath, you and me are just videogame NPCs. Like what Luna and Gracie are you to and me.
We all felt horrible for Luna when we played her flashback story....despite the fact she doesn't effing exist!! lol. She ain't real but we all still hated what "happened" to "her".
Because Luna may be a non-existent figment of the imagination but she has become one of the favorite non-existent figments of the imagination of everyone here.
But if Hope killed her off in the next update...would any of you truly mourn her? Mourn her the way you would mourn an actual loved one like a good parent or spouse? Heck, would you even mourn her as hard as you'd mourn your dog?
No. I hope. If any of you answer that 'yes' then please get help.
But for the sane people reading this, the answer is No. lol. Of course not. We might be mad enough to boycott the game and leave a bag of burning dog poop on Hope's front door but that's about it.
Well I suspect that right now...THAT is how Gracie sees Cordia, the MC, Wilfred and even the MC. Maybe Antonio too.
Luna i'm not 100% sure about. I THINK Luna may be the one person Gracie truly loves...but i'm not 100% convinced. The way she obviously manipulated Luna even as a little girl during the pacifier flashback was the scene that made me realize even as a child Gracie was willing to manipulate her big sister into doing something that got her hurt and look at her with total cold indifference. By the time Gracie hugged her I figured she was just doing what was expected, and ingratiating herself to her favorite NPC. Scoring some "Affection Points" just like we seek to do with both the girls when we play. lol
This goes to my theory about why Cordia is letting the MC cat his way around her daughters. Just as she wants him to help Isabel heal from her losses and help Luna overcome her Trauma/Self-loathing...she wants MC to help Gracie connect to her empathy. Cordia is hoping MC can help Gracie discover her humanity. Learn how to truly connect to people other than Luna(if indeed, her connection to Luna is authentic).
In the real world that might not be possible but in a world with rollerskating bubblegum ninjas, who knows? Never under estimate MC's co...lossal love.
I'd have to disagree there.
You're questioning whether all of Gracie's affections are genuine. Don't know about her affections towards others, but regarding them towards her family and Wilfred?
I'd say it is (and Gracie isn't even my favorite girl).
With kid Gracie in a pacifier faking a cry and getting an anger emotion out of kid Luna (that Luna tried to kick Wilfred and hurts herself), I interpret it simply as Gracie's own ways to play a prank on Luna (I mean Gracie's greatest strength is her intelligence, so it makes sense that her pranks would have some degree of manipulation), like how siblings growing up plays prank on one another.
When I saw that event, all I felt was the siblings having fun which got a little bit out of hand with Gracie's prank.
Didn't feel anything malicious by it.
Also, there is the fact that (as stated by Wilfred to MC) Gracie was the only person Luna could trust and relax around when she returned from the captivity of the Mysterious 6 as a child (Luna couldn't trust anyone, including Cordia, Antonio or Wilfred due to what she went through).
Wilfred says Gracie was "Luna's Light" & this is further emphasized by Luna as she finishes telling her flashback story. She basically says the following (while Gracie cuddles on her lap, sleeping or pretending to sleep):
"She (Cordia) was never the same after that (Lucan's death).....I didn't just kill my dad.... I also killed my mother...... Gracie...... she's the only one I have left.....She's my light..... she's my Sofia."
That kind of trust from Luna and being able to relax, is incredibly difficult to maintain unless their love is genuine both ways.
Even other than that, there are several other instances where Gracie shows affections towards Luna (whether it's body language, like getting a piggyback on Luna's back on Portend or volunteering to help Luna with her vengeance against the Mysterious 6 etc). They may argue, tease, prank (in Gracie's case, manipulating Luna by her words), but I'd say it's all genuine.
So let me try to understand you correctly........ you don't think Gracie genuinely loves her mom (Cordia), or her Uncle Wilfred, or her brother Antonio or MC?
Uhh, that I'd have to disagree again.
I mean, Gracie already has a scene with MC, when he drives both sisters to town where Gracie tries to make new friends (event "The Friends of my Friend are my Friends").
Gracie worries she might not be able to make new friends, and MC touches her thigh comforting her saying "That's hurtful."
Gracie replies saying "Sorry, you'll always be my number one friend." and whispers to herself in affection saying "I'll never let go of you (MC)."
At worst, Gracie sees MC as her number one friend, and most likely something more than that.
Regarding other members of the family (Cordia, Wilfred, Antonio), there might have been decisions made that Gracie herself doesn't agree with or understand (as to why Cordia doesn't let her work for the Family), but the game till now has shown no scenes hinting at deception with malice or others that may harm her family (or Gracie thinking her family as playthings or chess pieces. No scenes like that either).
In the end with Gracie, all I see is a brilliant yet troubled girl who has some issues that need to be solved.
Issues which Wilfred aptly points out in the "Portend" event, that she is "rather incompetent on matters regarding human interaction & socialization." (along with Luna, Isabel, and Cordia's issues as well).
I'd guess this is due to living a very sheltered life of not interacting with much people outside Luna, or her Family.
Hence she just doesn't know how to properly behave around people in general (and both Cordia and Wilfred are relying on MC to improve Gracie in what she lacks to have a more normal human relationship).
And due to this, she clearly is not very good at displaying her empathy.
But I don't think that automatically means she completely lacks empathy or is void of humanity (resulting her being an antagonist or deceptive mastermind in all matters). That feels like way too much of a leap in my eyes.
I don't mean this as any offense, but it kinda feels like you're taking that one scene in "The Blizzard Princess" event where Gracie pulled a joke with her twisted sense of humor on MC (with the cold, killer eyes look) a bit too literally, letting it influence how you view Gracie's other scenes (which to me looked pretty harmless for most part..... shrugs).
