Nilop's Concept, (04/09/2024)
Leahy was the first ship given a real characterization in OV's universe. This was late 2019 and OV was in its infancy. Rick had made the mistake of introducing me to things, and given my interest, how could I stop myself from jumping in?
The philosophy back in the day was pretty simple. Make a character design, then make a character afterwards. It would be changed into the future once we gained more experience, but at the time, I was left looking at this blonde anime girl and wondering just what kind of person she would become. With that in mind, and having done my fair share of reading into Leahy's history, that thought process defined her character.
As I continued to read more about the USS Leahy, I deepened my understanding of what this "shipgirl" genre meant to me, personally, and as a result, this learning was extrapolated onto her, too. Leahy inherited my deepest enthusiasms every day, learning alongside me as I dove into a world of nautical nonsense, philosophy, religion, and civilization.
In the end, that's just who Leahy was. She was the name ship of her class of double ended missile destroyer-turned cruisers, a manifestation of a philosophy that returned to bite her in an confrontation with a Soviet spy ship off California. She traveled the world and was the first US ship to visit the Soviet Union in 30 years in her historic visit to Leningrad, pursuing peace when the rhetoric of war was near its height.
The spirit of "Sweet 16" lived with me, even as I began to dive into all the other ships that we were juggling in Oceans Ventured. She, and her heart of gold, was left behind - a time capsule of a period when I was enthusiastic, full of hope and too idealistic for my own good.
Leahy inherited that, too.
It took four years to come to conclusions regarding her character. For what all those years are worth, I will come to say, loving and hating all the time I would be so happy to give again, “Look! You get to live again. You will come to live forever. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”
Ship Story Brief:
If you have to say that there is one protagonist, one core character at the heart of OV, I would probably say it's Leahy. She's a busybody, idealistic to a fault and the kind of person whose life goal is to teach you to love again. This is the way she always wanted to be, and every day, she makes it clear that nothing can take it from her.
In her world, all people are full of an inherent good, everything is beautiful, and each and every moment is to be cherished. In her world, everyone deserves the best. Everyone.
It's this very personality that brings her to open up to her human handlers upon her acquisition by the US Navy. As a bridge between her people and the Navy, it is Leahy who allowed the US Navy's shipsoul program to prosper at the rate it did, and it is her voice that encouraged the kind of cooperation within the Joint Task Forces that was necessary, given the tension at the time.
CG-16 Leahy |
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| Nickname: Sweet 16 Nation: USA Personality checkup: Personality: Childhood's end. Desire: The impossible. Weakness: Cream and caramel. |
