Since Shinji Mikami and the team at Tango did such a piss poor job on covering the plight of burn survivors in a game that dehumanizes one - Ruben - based on his (untreatable, let’s be honest) mental illness and actions as a serial killer, I’m going to attempt to shed some light on some details that they tried and failed to explain through vague ass flashbacks and Ruben’s character design/appearance/disfigured posture.
We’re not here to pat Ruben on the back and say he’s a good person, he isn’t, but what we are doing is acknowledging that Ruben never had a fair chance at a normal, productive life, and mental stability, and that his disfigurement was the symptom and reason - aside from Laura’s death - for why he spiraled. It was the reason his father rejected him and locked him up, it was the reason he hid himself from the rest of society once free after almost a full decade of abuse and neglect, and it was the reason his mental health deteriorated when he was isolated.
I apologize if my tone is patronizing and rude in this discussion, I’ve had to swallow so much hateful, opinionated idiocy and bullshit from the people I’ve roleplayed with (and even just new and old fans in general) over the years, and yeah. It’s made me a bit bitter and I now realize how ableist people are about Ruben. People are horrible and shallow - surprise!
