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Poincaré Recurrence Interview with Yuzhong & Writers (2022)

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Spoiler Warning

This interview features questions, answers, and information pertaining to the major story event Poincaré Recurrence.

Spoilers are ahead!

Introduction

Dear Commanders, Miss Weixin received lots of plot-related questions after the previous summer event ended~ Now that Fixed Point is about to begin, let's look at Yuzhong and the writing team's answers as we revisit old memories and look forward to a brand new story~

A new story is upon us, so is there anything you'd like to ask? Feel free to tell Miss Weixin, she'll pass the message on for you!

Fun Fact: A Doll in Project Neural Cloud was designed based on Miss Weixin or "Weibo-chan", named Willow.

Question 1

Question: The past summer event had lots of characters and factions taking the spotlight one after the other. How did the writing team divide up the screen time and plot between each character?

Yuzhong: After clearly defining the roles of each faction, we do our best to introduce as many characters as possible and use the struggles between them to expand the entire plot. However, the story scope now is much larger than before, so we need to strictly control the characters' actions, which places higher demands on our creativity.

Question 2

Question: Compared to Mirror Stage, which had a dual-thread narrative revolving around SKK and Ange, the narrative in the previous summer event was more fragmented and had more POVs. Is there a reason why the writing team did this, or was there some inspiration for it?

Writing Team: GFL's story has now entered a brand new phase. Unlike stories where different narratives took place in different cities, Berlin is a grand stage where many factions and plot threads are to be wrapped up.

With that as a backdrop, a single- or dual-thread narrative no longer fills our [storytelling] needs, which is why Poincarre Recurrence was presented in the way that is was. One could say it was a natural consequence of the story's development. The constant stream of story beats being introduced gave it a very "24"-like structure.

Note: "24" is an American TV show with each episode unfolding in real time, with the 24 episodes totaling 24 hours (1 day) in the main character's life.

For the writing team, attempting different styles of narration and storytelling was a challenge and form of practice for us. Being able to tell a story of humans and Dolls struggling to survive amidst catastrophe has triggered an infinite creative desire in us by its very nature.

Question 3

Question: After Mirror Stage ended, I thought "They're laying on the adversity because they're building up to something big", but finishing the summer event's story made me think that this was the calm before the storm. Now that all the various factions have made their debut, will "the big one" finally show up in the next winter event? (It's too hard to bear, can we have XX finally catch a break in the story?)

Writing Team: Perhaps we have a slightly different understanding of what "a big one" is.

When we see something we cherished being destroyed, writing a revenge or some kind of reversal feels good, but that's not the only option we have when it comes to the story's narrative.

Now that GFL's plot has developed to its current state, we - who create the story along with the players - would like to bring everyone deeper into the world with us and experience how every character has been changed, to feel their love and hatred, their joy and vengefulness or their indecision.

Using this creative thought process as a guideline and strictly controlling the pacing and development of the story instead of freely venting our emotions has been a massive challenge for the writing theme. After all, Paradeus wasn't built in a day, so we can't give them a slapdash sendoff.

Question 4

Question: Agent J got a lot of screen time during the story. I used to think he was just comic relief, but I didn't think he had so much depth to him. Will we have more in-depth NPC stories in future?

Writing Team: Right from the start, there was no way Agent J would turn out to be inconsequential comic relief. He's got his own way of doing things that lets him stand on his own.

While he used to skate by (not) in the Stasi, Light's death has changed him like a drop of ink falling into water. As everyone knows, a joke character getting serious is very dangerous. We'd like characters like that to be a form of reflection used to showcase how the weak people of the world handle the powerful, dark factions in it, as well as how they feel about it and what they do about it.

J is lucky, though. He's got a friend like the Commander fighting by his side and a colleague like K to help him out when he's in a bind, and we all have many people like that in our lives.

Question 5

Question: Many players liked Nele from the summer event. Will Nele continue playing a role in the upcoming plot?

Writing Team: As long as she's not dead, she'll have a part to play. We need to be optimistic, after all, this is a world of love and hope (cancelled).

Strictly speaking, there are no passers-by in GFL's world. Everyone is the star of their own story. Once the bonds are formed, the wheels of fate will begin spinning up. So it was for Light and Machlian, and so it will be for Nele as well.

Question 6

Question: A new story is going to begin in Berlin, what will Kalina's fate be like!?

Yuzhong: Aw, Kalina's just a little sick, she'll be able to play a part later on (I think).

Question 7

Question: How on earth does William have such a firm grasp on the players' fetishes and create those Nytos that the players love and hate?

Writing Team: Hm? Shouldn't you think about why the players' fetishes are so closely synced to William's?

Question 8

Question: M16's timely rescue was just too cool, but then she left too soon. Can you tell us what kind of special mission she has? How did M16 come back? Is Elisa back? We only saw her bike, but will Beak show her face too?

Writing Team: All this time, M16 seems to have been the sort of character who quietly takes on all the burdens by herself. She left Griffin to protect M4 and she once again faded from view in PL for M4 and went to an unknown world. When she reappeared in PR, she seemed a little changed, but she was still the same old M16.

She's always a step ahead of us and her sights are cast further, and similarly the burdens she bears are heavier too. Simply put, M16's special mission is to go to [redacted] to look for [redacted]and then [redacted], on orders from [redacted], while Elisa is [redacted] in [redacted], waiting for [redacted] (the blanks will be revealed in the next winter event).

Question 9

Question: Romy gave SKK AK-15's and AN-94's cores during the epilogue, and the easter egg in the Epilogue was deciphered to hint that the winter wolf would return. Does that mean Team DEFY will get a MOD during the winter event? If so, will the mod story cover DEFY's past, their developer Shaw, as well as the parts involving "Pandora"?

Writing Team: First off, everyone already knows AN-94 and AK-15 are getting mods, congrats (applause).

DEFY and Ange took a severe beating during MS, but an elite squad like theirs won't be down for long, and Ange's safety is their utmost concern, and when they return, they will (mouth is covered).

The easter egg following the epilogue of PR. The Russian text is translated as follows:

"Winter. Death. Spring. Resurrection. Snow Wolf. Return."

Question 10

Question: M4's been all shady and mysterious in the plot and she isn't like the little princess from before, and M16 also said she's not the M4 we used to know. So what exactly happened to M4. anyway?

Yuzhong: M4's disappearance and returns has a special significance for players who have experienced all of GFL, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows there's a huge mystery surrounding her.

In this event, we're going to handle it by giving the players and SKK uneven access to information, which means SKK might know more than we do (laughs).

These important clues will be steadily revealed in the future, so please look forward to them.

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About the Author(s)

aka Mars, Discord: Mars#9409 

Lore writer and content creator for Girls' Frontline. I love all the Nytos.

Suggestions and feedback can be sent via DM on Discord. Can also be found on Twitter.

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