Letters from Circe’s Island: Dev Log #9

Letters from Circe's Island: Dev Log #9 | Developing Meaningful Narrative by Victoria Farrell

As outlined in the first letter from Circe's island, Αἰαία seeks to point out and resist the perpetuation of women being written into secondary roles. Often times the two dimensional and objectifying roles women are written into go unrecognized and undiscussed which allows the narratives containing them to perpetuate viewing real women in a similarly reductive manner.  Writing a narrative that both blends the traditional myths of Circe and a more nuanced, developed version of her has been both challenging and motivating as the Narrative Lead on team Circe.

Blending Narrative and Theme

Circe's goal within the story of Αἰαία is ultimately acceptance and self-discovery, though for much of the story she isn't aware of it. What Circe believes is driving her is the will to survive and to make Αἰαία a place for herself away from the unpredictability and judgement of others. In the beginning of the story, Circe is telling herself that she only helps her visitors for the goods they can give her, that eventually she will be self-sufficient and will finally shun the world that has shunned her. By having Circe's driving factor be the fantasy of total self-isolation, we are able to slowly reveal to the player what has made Circe so distrustful of the world. Moments from her past are retold by strangers, warped to fit her into the digestible two-dimensional role of a villainess by those who fear the Sorceress Goddess. Circe is humanized when she is able to reflect on her side of the story, juxtaposing the historic narrative role women have been forced to play with a three-dimensional character directly impacted by the harm those narratives cause. While Circe is herself a character, we hope to reflect the real-life impact of narratives perpetuating these sexist views of women.

Incorporating Mythology

Αἰαία's creation stems not only from the desire to create a meaningful discussion but also a love for mythology. Many members of Team Circe have been fascinated by myth since childhood, finding comfort and escapism in their stories as have many others. Because Mythology is so important to us, we want to incorporate as many stories from traditional Greek Mythology as we can into Αἰαία. While this is often used to show the flaws in the original stories' portrayal of women, it is also a way for us to keep these myths alive without perpetuating their more negative messaging. A large part of working with this source material is finding the balance between being faithful to what was written and reinventing the tales in a meaningful way. Ironically, the process of finding this balance pushes us to further dissect the myths we love so much and recognize the negative aspects they sometimes contain.

Filling in the Gaps

Circe's life as a mythological figure is not entirely outlined in any one source. Stories containing Circe often feature her only as a villainous lacking all nuance, hence why she is our games focus. The many gaps that Greek Mythology leaves in Circe's story, however, work to our benefit as creatives when it comes to retelling Circe's story. One large part of Circe's story that was not agreed upon was the precise reasoning behind her exile nor the history of Αἰαία prior to her arrival. These specific blank spaces, for example, have allowed us to take creative liberties in filling in these details, ones that differentiate Αἰαία from a collection of myths to an original retelling.