#Very good character its a shame hes associated with a certain infamous person on rz twitter

[deafknell]

For reasons and stuff I need Ricardo information. So I ain't wasting this chance. For the Ask i choose Ricardo. Gimme the Ricardo

Sexuality/Gender/Ship Headcanon: Honestly, I have nothing for most of these - completely valid for people who do hold these - but Ricardo to me is just a caring dad. I don't have a ship for him.

A BROTP I have with said character: Ohhh boy. Toxic brotp would be him and Reisel, the way it instantly goes from "Hey Ricardo's just a goofy dad raising Ana and the triplets" to "Okay we need more side content on his backstory immediately" is so good. Everything about Reisel is a red flag and yet still Ricardo chooses to nearly jeopardise his position working with Ana over an old debt owed to him.

Ricardo and the bar lady in Kararagi Girl Meets Cats/Kararagi Girl and Cats Eye have a pretty cute bond as Ana's parent figures. The bar lady is basically Anastasia's former employer who took care of her as a young kid, and she regularly talks to Ricardo about being a good role model for her. He seems to value her opinion a fair amount, but also insists on her keeping his involvement with Reisel private.

A NOTP I have with said character: Ana/Ricardo. I know it's said Ricardo was her first love, but it's just a childhood crush type thing. They met when Ana's 10-11 years old and Ricardo basically raised her.

A random headcanon: Ricardo isn't the best with tact or talking to girls, but he went out of his way to learn how to braid/do different hairstyles for Ana. I imagine the bar lady taught him so he could fix up Ana's hair when she started growing it out properly, something she then learned and did with Mimi when she grew up.

General Opinion over said character: He's 10000% team dad. Massive softie with a heavy backstory often left to the side because of his father-daughter bond with Ana in her backstory. People know she bought him out of slavery, but there's very little discussion on what actually happened to him before then.

Since you requested Ricardo information, I'll give a rundown of what exactly happened before he met Ana (From Kararagi Girl & Cat's Eye):

[Content warning for discussion of slavery/torture/abuse]

Ricardo was somebody who regularly rebelled against the slave owners and frequently angered the guards at the camp. He was often targeted and beaten for very trivial reasons solely because certain guard really didn't like the fact he had such a strong fighting spirit despite his circumstances.

For over two months each beating grew worse and worse, wounds overlapping and he was fully prepared to die during this time. But one day Reisel, a tanuki beastman looked in his cell and saw him still alive, came to visit him and spoke to him a bit. Because he was well known and liked by guards, a connection was made between Ricardo and Reisel, so the abuse towards Ricardo was lightened instantly.

There was still the threat of death, starvation, and hard labour, but Reisel's interference saved his life. Reisel admits he only interfered as he wanted some "muscle" to protect him in the camp, and Ricardo acknowledges this, feeling indebted while still disliking the guy for seeming quite two faced.

This hunch turns out to be true, as Reisel later organises a successful escape with a bunch of slaves. He does not invite Ricardo, and Ricardo is later tortured and left half-dead for that very association that saved his life previously. Ricardo endured through everything, never losing that spirit, and eventually became a free man after meeting Anastasia.

Later, when reunited with Reisel, Ricardo admits he knew Reisel leaving him behind was a calculated move to ensure the guards went after him and not Reisel. Despite knowing this, he still willingly honours his debt to Reisel, helping him with stealing cargo (later revealed to be on Capella's orders, as Reisel is one of her children.)

[Lore dump end]

There's a lot you can say about Ricardo, both in his appearances in arc 5, and his backstory with Ana. He's a very resilient character who puts up with a lot of shit, but never forgets his debts - someone both cold (only willing to help if given ample reason as a merc) and warm (never lets his burdens fall on others, keeps that positive slant on any interactions, rescues Ana from slave traders) that you have to wonder how exactly he got to the point he's at.

I haven't finished Cat's eye yet - maybe about a third done? - But there's a lot of questions I have about who he was prior to being a slave, and I'm not sure there's any concrete answers yet for them. Where was he prior to slavery? How long was he a slave? He's 39/40 in canon now, so would've been 30 when freed as a slave - what childhood did he have, his family life, it's all a bunch of ??? that's a lot of free real estate for interpretations.

Very fascinating character that needs a lot more love. Think a lot of people shy away from discussing him due to him being a "furry" but it's a real shame to neglect one of the coolest characters and best dad in the series, aside from Kenichi. I think there's a ton you can do with him given the right prompt and enough lore knowledge.

Hopefully this helped :D if you want more Ricardo or minor character info I'm happy to go in more depth/give more sources for info, being a lore nerd about the Ana camp is my main role in this here fandom.