#But I think it fits Clemont very well here

[nutsandlightningbolts]

23, 41

42 CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS!

23. How do they respond to difficult social moments? What makes them consider a social situation difficult?

Clemont is someone who does not thrive well in social situations in general. He’s already pretty shy and reserved except towards those he knows well. Put on top of that an awkward social situation that he (or maybe even others) don’t know how to deal with, and he’ll either just stay quiet, or try and say something to dispell the tension. However, his choice of topic tends to be even more awkward because he’ll draw on something obscure or tailored to his own interests that the other parties don’t know how to reply to either. That or he’ll simply just kind of slip away awkwardly.

In general, a difficult social situation for him entails trying to maintain a conversation surrounding a topic which he’s not familiar with (which is a great many topics, because he has a very narrow set of interests), or talking about anything regarding his past, and sometimes his own work (especially if he’s forced to bring up his various failures or mishaps). In general, he likes to keep the conversation off of him as much as possible.

41. What associations do they bring to mind? Words or phrases, images, metaphors or motifs? Why?

If you’ve read my timeline, you’ll notice that I theme all my timeline eras on titles based on Lions. Considering that Lysandre is the character from XY whose imagery tends to be more closely associated with lions (hence my old url for my old Lysandre blog being Maneofscience… hahah… puns), you wouldn’t expect me to make this comparison with Clemont, but there are a few reasons why:

a) Clemont in the anime gets the Lion imagery thrust upon him with the addition of Luxio/Luxray entering his party. On the surface, Luxray seems quite the stark contrast to Clemont in personality (fierce and instinctive versus calm and calculating). However, if you look deeper, you notice that Luxray is a very protective and loyal pokemon. Clemont embodies much of this too, being very protective of his creations, his family, his friends, his gym, and even his city. As well, you won’t find anyone more loyal and dedicated to all those same things.

b) As I developed Clemont’s story over the years (that is to say, alterations to canon, as well as post-canon development, I noticed parallels between Clemont and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. As such, I continued with that character allusion in my writing and classification of the various ages of Clemont’s life. He starts out quite meek, timid, and afraid of even the simplest things (talking to people, establishing relationships, and failure in general). But as he continues on, he discovers the courage he needs to face all these fears head on. He grows stronger, more confident, and is better able to deal with his own follies and shortcomings, and exudes greater bravery. This is even apparent during the progression of the XY-XYZ anime, and is further exposited in my own post-canon narrative. It’s a journey of growth from a lion cub into the fierce, powerful and confident adult that he becomes.

Some of his insecurities will always be there and he can still fall prey to old habits and feelings, but he’s far more able to handle these challenges than he once was.