I'm liking the Absolute event so far, it has pretty much everything I wanted from it including lore dumps, a more in-depth look on how Absolute as a squad feel about their own strength and each other, turning Emma into an actual character so it isn't just the Eunhwa Vesti show where Emma occasionally goes "Eunhwa..." after she finishes calling Vesti a nigger, and just working towards the growth that was hinted at when they finally made peace with Rapi's decision. The inner monologues have been amazing and I'm glad I kept asking for that type of stuff in surveys. The flashbacks can seem a bit silly but I like how they're used to provide context and show a proper train of thought rather than a few brief descriptors that leaves you guessing just what exactly are they pondering out of that entire instance.
My favorite thing about it so far has to be how it emphasizes that Eunhwa's perfectionism isn't just sourced from goal-orientated elitism but more importantly because she cares. Absolute wants to retake the surface together and she wants to ensure none of them are the pawns tipped over to make it happen. She wants a perfectly executed plan to get her perfect ending and in her worries she's attempting to shoulder the entire burden, or as much of it as she can, on her own. She wants to be Atlas holding up both her squadmates after seeing them both nearly die. Sure she "trusts" them but from a distance.
Vesti's perspective hit me hard too as she, befittingly as the youngest, openly romanticizes her squad's future progress in front of Rapi like a proclamation of war just for it to be dashed momentarily due to her own developments. She's changed from that timid girl that used to constantly being bullied by Eunhwa into fitting the right mold to questioning her motivations openly leaving her stunned but also unfortunately leaving a bit of a valley between the two. It's nice to see that kind of growth, change leads to conflict and it makes the characters feel real. Both of them need that conflict too. Eunhwa to stop blindly attempting to hold up her world on her own and for Vesti to reinforce that confidence by fighting for her squad's ability to move forward, by fighting for her dream.
Then there's Emma, oh Emma, for the longest she's been kinda just... there. If there was ever a word to describe her stance within the squad it would be "neutral." When Eunhwa gets on Vesti she'll attempt to cool the situation if it's too much but mostly is hands-off. When Vesti starts making fun of Eunhwa or puffing her chest at her(literally) she'll again be pretty hands-off. She's the mediator in the group, the big sister, the glue who holds them all together and this event has set that in stone. When Eunhwa's alone and needs help sorting her thoughts who's there? Emma. When Vesti is full of doubts and regrets standing up to Eunhwa because she feels they're stuck in a rut who pulled them back together? Emma. But in being the glue she's put herself as a sort of side accessory to her squad which can leave her to seem a bit shallow as a character but by paying attention to her lines and seeing how much she actually does you realize just how integral to this squad she is as the big sister. So far the chapters have been named Eunhwa and Vesti's perspectives so I'm hoping there'll be a third for Emma which gives more insight into her thoughts. Do that along with a few internal resolutions and this event might actually end up being my favorite so far.