#also thanks for the ask I love characterisation and analysis

[thatmooncake]

I am genuinely confused on what Moon is supposed to be. The cookbook basically says he sucks. However in the security breach DLC Cassie says she slept better in the daycare so that's gotta mean Moon was good at being the nighttime attendant. So like why would the cookbook portray them as sucky if they were good at their job as nighttime attendant?

But then there are the complaints you can read about in security breach where Moon is scaring kids (but that's when the virus started right? Or no? I am not familiar with the new fnaf lore).

But then there's also the fact where Moon played the villain when they used to be in the theatre (I say fact but I am not actually sure if this is cannon or just a popular headcanon that I am confusing for cannon)

I haven't even read the books yet so I am not sure how they characterize Moon there. I figured I would ask you since you seem to like Moon a lot and know way more about them than I do. Sorry for bugging ye

No bugging done here :) my take on this is that it’s all a matter of the perspective - so for characters like Moon you’ll get some things painting them in a bad light and others more favourable.

(More explanation under the cut as I tend to get carried away when it comes to character analysis)

So generally speaking the FNAF games and books heavily play into the “creepy” “uncanny” aspects of the characters - it’s a horror franchise, it’s gonna play up any spoopy vibes it can and in Moon’s case sadly he gets the short end of the stick because he’s depicted as the darker half of Sun, so a lot of general descriptions will point out how Sun is the good one and Moon is the evil one and leave it at that. However, that doesn’t mean that’s as far as Moon’s characterisation goes or that that’s all he’s intended to be.

The FNAF guidebooks and cookbooks and stuff are written for a broad general audience who aren’t necessarily hardcore FNAF fans but maybe just like the vibes of FNAF, so when those books mention the characters in passing they’re like cameos playing up to what you see if you casually play the game (like “you better watch out, Moon’s gonna get you” “Sun turns evil when the lights go out” - that kind of thing).

The Ruin descriptions are from Cassie’s perspective, and Cassie likes the animatronics and clearly isn’t all that creeped out by them. Could be something to do with her dad working on them making her more curious and less frightened of the way they work and all the “uncanny” vibes other people are getting from them. Either way, it definitely adds more nuance and tells us Moon wasn’t written just to be the evil side of Sun, even if a lot of descriptions and cameos play to that.

In the Tales of the Pizzaplex book, The Bobbiedots (spoilers ahead) Moon is written to be the darker side of Sun that staff in that pizzaplex tried to erase when Sun was updated from being a theatre bot. Even in the theatre, Bobbiedots Moon was the stricter side telling people they’ve been naughty and need to go to bed. This was all a theatre gimmick using the lights and would likely use Sun as kind of a playmate but then he turns into Moon, and suddenly he’s chasing you telling you you’ve been naughty. The thing is, I think some kids would have kind of loved villain Moon. I mean, kids (and adults) generally like booing pantomime villains, they love when they come onstage and tell them they’re all naughty and need to do what they say. I don’t think Moon’s theatre persona necessarily took away from his being liked or made him a bad guy offstage, it just made him inconvenient to staff as a daycare attendant because of power outages they were too cheap to fix. Honestly, I think that characterisation says a lot more about how cheap Fazco were than how evil Moon was destined to be.

Then in another tale, Somniphobia, we have (spoilers ahead) Moondrop and his dream sphere. So two things about this one: Moondrop, the little Moon inside the dream sphere that seems to look a bit like a snowglobe and supposedly “helps you study” (toootally not a ploy for some soul stealing) …he is never strict, he is never harsh, he never tells you what to do. Getting sucked inside the dream sphere is entirely a matter of getting in too deep on our protagonist’s side. He’s given several opportunities to put the thing down and gets called out for overdoing it by basically most of his friends and family yet he never stops because the dreams are too enticing. Moondrop just takes him with him for the ride. It should be said that the dream sphere in the book is wildly popular as a prize and teens love it as a study aid because it literally takes you (in your head) to historical places like ancient Egypt and to the bottom of the ocean etc. it’s just very addictive. So basically Moondrop in this story is neither good nor bad, he’s just a lure. He even takes the guy by the hand at the end - if anything, he’s a quiet and gentle and reassuring presence, for better or worse.

Moon in Security Breach absolutely scares some of the kids - and chances are, so does Sun.

Here’s the Fazwatch message about the daycare attendant:

“Night Terrors CUSTOMER COMPLAINT -

My son never had sleeping problems. But after spending an evening in the daycare, he refuses to sleep with the lights out anymore! He just cries. And then when I do let him keep the lights on, he wets the bed!”

Poor kid can’t win either way. (This message absolutely could mean that the kid can only sleep with the lights on but still has nightmares about Moon - or it could mean neither of them provided a reassuring presence for the kid. Maybe Moon hunted them for sport. Maybe both Sun and Moon’s mannerisms creeped the kid out. For all we know Sun insisting on the lights being on in a dark tone and forcing the kid to remain in his sight might have terrified the kid. There’s really no clear cut way of telling but we do know from this message that the daycare isn’t going great for some kids.)

And then in contrast to this is Cassie’s message about the daycare - sounds like she loved it there both at playtime and naptime. So this is definitely a point against Moon just being pure evil. I really think the guy got a bad rap in Security Breach due to the virus - he has a ton of merch and a whole line of candies. Would you eat a candy based around a guy who’s always trying to kill you? Would you hug a plush of a guy who’s just pure evil?

I think Moon was very convenient for Afton and Vanny since he’s pretty strong, fairly graceful, operates great at night and he basically has a retrieval protocol to get naughty kids to go to bed. Tell him everything is a naughty kid who needs to go to bed and he’ll round up anyone who’s acting out of line because the virus insists he has to. Make him hurt whenever the lights are on (and we know it hurts him intensely, he says as much in Ruin) and he’ll fight ferociously against Sun for his freedom to stop the pain, and won’t listen when Sun tells him something is wrong. Sun kind of confirms Moon isn’t evil in Ruin by insisting they need to be whole. And Moon isn’t trying to be evil in Ruin, he’s in pain and can’t stop himself. Once Eclipse is activated, Moon (as well as Sun) can start healing.

So in summary I think that basically if Moon makes a cameo appearance, it will usually be as “the dark side of Sun”, but that isn’t all he’s supposed to be and the writing shows there is supposed to be reasoning behind his actions and contradictions to the idea that he’s just a bad guy.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

HIIIIII

Omd I love your work so much the analysation between Kaveh and Alhaitham is just so ??? (Beautiful wth I probably read like 99.9% of your work bc I just love reading the analysis between them) literally EVERYTIME you post I get so excited like it just makes me smile

Anyway if it’s not rude to ask, Ive read some of your fanfics about them and I just wanted to ask how you make them so.. accurate? Ive just recently started writing fanfics and do you have any tips?

Also knowing how much you analyse these two are there any like details about them you found out abt the pair? I would normally do it myself but im not even up to the Sumeru archon quest 😭

And another thing, do you have any head canons revolving the two or do you just stick by the canon? (If you do head canons i would LOVE TO HEAR THEM.)

Hope this isnt too much to ask!! (Also ignore my horrible punctuation it’s normally better than this i swear)

Anyway like i said your work is amazing and byebyeeee have a good night/day/afternoon

-🍀

hiya!! AHHHH i'm so glad you enjoy my brainrot analysis of these two <333 i'm way too invested so i'm happy that people are invested in them just as much!! HELPPP now i'm kicking my legs and giggling that's so sweet :'''')

firstly !?!?! thank you for checking out my fics!! and !!!!!! i'm glad you like the characterisation! :'''') when i first got into haikaveh, all i was doing was reading fics before i got to sumeru. i had ideas for writing, but i was way too scared of actually getting them up in full in case they were inaccurate, because i felt that i didn't have a great grasp on their in-game characters? (not that this fear should stop anyone - where would haikaveh nation be without the authors who wrote for haikaveh before kaveh was even released??)

personally i spent a lot of time going over their individual character stories and voice-lines, as well as constantly rewatching character trailer videos and clips where haikaveh are together onscreen, and also apart, so i could start the essay, and this definitely also helped me develop a voice for both of them in fic in terms of dialogue and inner monologues.

for me kaveh's inner monologue is going to be almost the complete opposite of alhaitham's, where kaveh's empathy comes out in overthinking, and is fuelled mainly by emotion as he tries to rationalise his perspective (in relation to interpreting alhaitham), whereas i write alhaitham's inner monologue to be more observation based, and where emotion is implied rather than stated - which i find is used in his character stories, particularly character story 5 where his past is given. although no emotions are mentioned, it's evident how essential his grandmother is to him, only there is no detail about how he felt when losing the last of his family, and having to arrange her funeral, and enrolling in the akademiya when he previously believed it to be boring, and the years spent after his graduation, up until the point where kaveh moves in - in contrast to kaveh's character stories which are extremely detail heavy in these regards.

there's a clear contrast between kaveh and alhaitham's experiencing of emotion in inner monologue, especially when it comes to alhaitham's grandmother's last wishes, as it's an impactful line about her wanting him to lead a peaceful life, and there's no further elaboration on this; the emotion is there to be interpreted, whereas kaveh will be explicit about his exact feelings at the time, and how these feelings change, or don't change.

for me, both are interesting to write, as kaveh's empathy ensures that he will be in constant motion, avidly aware of each shift of mood in any conversation, or aware of a thought that alhaitham might be chasing. if writing when alhaitham and kaveh are not in sync, then justifying kaveh's mindset and his interpretation of alhaitham can fuel the dialogue (whether it be typical banter or strained conversation). on the other hand, alhaitham's emotions are more subtextual, perhaps he'll notice kaveh beginning to frown when working, which shows that alhaitham has been staring at kaveh rather than reading, or something. i interpret his inner monologue as him being thoroughly aware of how he feels towards kaveh, and therefore he has no need to reiterate this when thinking - again, in contrast to kaveh, whose mood and feelings fluctuate depending on those around him.

those are just my personal approaches in case it's of any interest to you! if you're hesitant to write because you feel like things won't be 'in-character', i'd argue that fanfiction as a medium ensures that works can't be in-character as it won't be the game's canon; especially as characters can be reinterpreted for each person depending on the plot and the themes. in general, i'd say write whatever, and however you want, so long as you're writing something. you can come back and edit it later, and you may find that new ideas come to you as you start writing. so long as you're having fun!

as for things i like about them in terms of in-game canon(?), i would say that aside from the writing of their dialogue and their character stories, their arguments on the bulletin board posts around sumeru are so sacred and special! when you get to sumeru i highly recommend running around to find them! it feels very rewarding to click through each post to find alhaitham responding to each and every post that kaveh makes <3

additionally, there's the idea that as alhaitham accidentally created an aesthetically pleasing rug print design, with (supposedly) kaveh doing the same by creating a practical, affordable rug, mirroring each other's traits of artistry vs practicality (thanks to haikavehtimely). the devs being thorough in their haikaveh propaganda is so insane, but if i had made haikaveh i would be doing the exact same thing???

as for design inspiration, the idea of them resembling plato and aristotle in terms of their beliefs is rather interesting?? especially with kaveh talking about beauty having a whole form, in that it's a concept intrinsically understood! especially with their splash art poses in mind (which is written about in the haikaveh bible)

blessed be headcanons! i end up writing them into my fics, but i think the spaces in canon leave a lot to interpretation, so i think i end up working around that? a lot of them are domestic for me, for example, kaveh definitely has a skin/hair routine, and i think while alhaitham may not go to such lengths, he values cleanliness and has a lengthy bath time (alhaitham likes the smells of kaveh's skincare and kaveh likes the subtle smells of alhaitham's bath oils).

also!! that kitchen is TINYYY!! i think it's !?!?!? that alhaitham canonically had that research lab redesigned into a house, and approved a design that had TWO bedrooms, even after kaveh rejected the building?? i think he prioritised his dreams of a reunion over realistic living conventions and that kitchen is atrociously small, and kaveh complains about it all the time and clowns on alhaitham, so they have to scrunch up when cooking, or they establish a cooking schedule, which, a lot of the time, goes out the window, as they go to the tavern or get take away <3

thank you so much for your ask! it was really interesting to explore all these questions, i hope it's been useful to you in any way :''') and thank you for your support!

[tonydaddingham]

Hi! I'm kinda here to ask for clarification on something you said; hope you won't mind^. You say that Crowley's dark grey comment is one of the more honest and introspective things he says: that kinda comes across to me like you saying that Crowley's saying he's mostly bad with a capacity for good* and that's a fair assessment of him. I would have said it's more that he's mostly good with a capacity for bad**, baggages worth of issues and a bunch of flaws, primarily related to arrogance***, but that's technically beside the point: I also felt like that was the direction your character analysis of him was going. I'm now wondering whether I misunderstood the dark grey comment or misunderstood the analyses... what does your exactly mean, exactly?

*Concepts decapitalised because I'm talking about more human than Heavenly or Hellish standards of good and bad.

**Concepts decapitalised: see above.

***Blinkered was the word you used, I believe? It's a lovely expression.

^This isn't meant accusatory and I did my best not to sound like it, but I know you've had to field a few asks about yes, you do like Crowley very much, your criticism of him doesn't mean that's not the case, and I can only imagine how annoying that must be: feel free to can this if it comes across that way.

oh anon sweetheart 💕 don't worry about the tone or wording - your tone is perfectly polite and courteous, and i thank you for that!!! others have not been as conscientious 💀 though, be careful what you wish for in asking this, because it's gonna be lengthy 🫠

how you interpreted it is exactly as i meant it; i do think, when taking crowley's characterisation in the show (his book characterisation, for me, is rather different), crowley for me is a darker character with the capacity for light, rather than the other way around. and im going to specifically use darker and lighter, as opposed to bad and good respectively, because upon reflection, maybe that's more accurate.

yeah, to me, he is a dark character; if you've read any of my other asks/metas, please forgive me for repeating stuff, but imo the narrative tells us that he is more commonly swimming in darker tendencies than light. feel free to skip the next part and scroll to here*, because i will be recounting specific scenarios off the top of my head (going in chronological order):

not really explored fully in the pre-fall scene, because it runs throughout the show as a prominent theme; crowley is either unaware of why he fell (possibly true), or blatantly lies to himself and others about why he fell (equally plausible). his story about it changes, or at best is simply told in fragments... but his overall demeanour of when (e.g.) he's confronted with news of the apocalypse ("why me?"), when coupled with this, suggests a tendency towards blame avoidance, with a hearty dose of chip-on-your-shoulder complex

tempts aziraphale into eating in job; it doesn't really matter whether or not aziraphale ends up liking food and wine or not - he rejects the wine, and crowley immediately changes tack to offer food instead, citing that he can't get drunk on it, and of course he's not tempting him (absolutely is) so it's fine. aziraphale may have been curious about it, and this may be what crowley picks up on, but compare this scene to where aziraphale offers muriel a cupperty, and doesn't push when they refuse drinking it... hmm. (perceived feeder kink or not, crowley's face at the end of this scene screams satisfaction at his corruption)

this one is a little iffy, granted, but adding it anyway - blatantly dismisses aziraphale's concerns about the arrangement (heaven would be rather angry, but nowhere near how hell would retaliate - "they'll destroy you!), and pushes anyway. it's again another case of pushing for what he wants (and yes, true, what aziraphale secretly wants - which crowley detects and capitalises on), dismissing aziraphale's worries that, as we can surmise later on, were not unfounded

lets the french guard be taken off to his death. this is debatable, depending on whether you consider the guard to be a good or bad person in the context of the reign of terror, and deserving of execution as a result, but they could have easily escaped the cell unscathed without unfreezing the guard - ultimately, who are they (yep, including aziraphale here too, he's equally as culpable) to decide if he should die?

in the same vein, sends two watchmen falling to their deaths down a deep pit, and his only remark is, "might have slightly overdone it on the hole..."

(this one is tricky, but it rubbed me up the wrong way on first watch and thereafter so im including it) when morag dies, crowley's handling of the situation only really serves - imo - to rub it in aziraphale's face, when he already feels guilty enough for the both of them. i realise that he had to labour the point to aziraphale, and was just being honest - fair, he has a point! - but it came across as simply unkind and uncharitable... again, towards someone we are assuming he cares deeply about...

this one is in fact going to lean on some interpretation, but i think it's one that is so widely implied in canon that i think it might as well be; something happened to crowley between 1827 and 1862, and within that time, i don't think he was on best terms with aziraphale, given aziraphale's coldness when he arrives in st james' park. so, we could - could - surmise that he just suddenly asks for holy water from aziraphale, something that would be dangerous for them both and seems to exploit their friendship. he doesn't adequately explain why he needs it ("just insurance" is not sufficient at all imo), and taking offence to aziraphale's use of 'fraternising ' then contextually feels a little hypocritical

lies to aziraphale about having experience with a gun, banking on using a miracle if need be - which ultimately puts aziraphale's 'life' on the line, rather than being honest. he may well just want to make aziraphale happy, sure, but aziraphale goes into the bullet catch without all the facts - his face when crowley admits he's never shit (edit: meant to say shot, obviously, but leaving it in for @fabledshadow💕) a gun before says it all, really

when aziraphale saves his life with the photo trick, he doesn't thank him, or acknowledge any kind of gratitude at all, that it saved him from a rather bleak fate at the hands of hell. he may well be insulting aziraphale's skills to dissuade him from a repeat occurrence of the bullet catch (fair!), but he is also insulting the very thing that got him out of danger... and the very thing that aziraphale obviously takes a lot of joy, pleasure, and pride in (and, yk, what crowley was actively encouraging just a few hours previous). it was justified, to a certain extent, but it was... unkind

(the Big One - so let's get it over with) tries to tempt aziraphale into killing a child - antichrist or not - and continues to persuade him into it despite aziraphale evidently being uncomfortable with the prospect. it also indicates how little he knows aziraphale in this respect; regardless of whether it would be the antichrist or not, this is the angel who tried to preserve humanity by offering a sword to pregnant eve, and was ultimately crucial in protecting job's children. even in mesopotamia, you can see how subtley appalled he is with killing children - despite him trying to rationalise it by saying it's the great plan etc. killing a child, id wager, would destroy aziraphale. i digress, but if crowley loves aziraphale as much as he (and the fandom) likes to think by s1, it's rather dark that he would try manipulating aziraphale into doing this in the first place, and return to the suggestion again not once (bandstand) but twice (airfield)

sets up an elaborate trick just to make a point to aziraphale on the use of guns, and then lets innocent humans get arrested on what i would say would be very serious charges in s1 (i mean, let alone firearms offences, arguably it could be charged as attempt murder 💀)

hits anathema and acts in such a way that he probably understands that he equally hit her and she hit him, yet is more preoccupied with fixing the bentley, something he could miracle repaired later on... as opposed to helping her back to her feet and ensuring she was alright. he also is prepared, after all this, to reject offering her a lift, excusing that there's nowhere to put her bike

backhands "clever" with "stupid", because aziraphale is doing something (trying to reach god directly as a last resort) he doesn't think is worthwhile. aziraphale finds out that that is true, but once again, im gonna ring the 'unkind' bell

doesn't tell aziraphale about what went down with gabriel, or how closely hell is keeping an eye on him, or the threat of the BOL, or that he's living in his car, or what happened in heaven/the issue of the second coming. there are loads of other little things too, but he lies by omission, whilst maintaining that he doesn't lie to aziraphale, and routinely keeps information from aziraphale - not only information that would be beneficial to share in the general sense, but information that directly impacts aziraphale, and comprises both of their safeties. has a tendency towards a hero complex that ends up either going wrong/unfulfilled ("i won't leave you on your own" then immediately buggers off to heaven) or attempts to remove aziraphale's agency and dismisses him outright ("i have a suggestion-" "ive got this.")

abandons aziraphale when he is set in doing something that is not only in his very nature to do, but when he does it because he doesn't have all the facts (hides jim). despite his assertion that aziraphale shouldnt do it because jim poses a threat, he then leaves aziraphale to face it alone. it's unknown how soon crowley would have come back to the bookshop if it weren't for the BOL threat - we literally do not know this - and he reluctantly does the apology dance (arguably when he wholeheartedly believes he was in the right) in order to be allowed near aziraphale again. it's also implied that aziraphale always does the dance, whereas crowley doesn't - which suggests to me once again the whole thing about crowley avoiding blame

pushes jim into remembering stuff despite it obviously causing him pain and discomfort - on one hand, sure, he's not certain that gabriel isn't lurking about in there, but he does it again in ep5 when, as far as he's assessed with the whole jump-out-the-window thing (a whole other thing that need addressing), jim is in fact... just jim

plays around with maggie and nina (the both of them do, and they're both at huge fault for this, it's insane) like they're toys, without any regard for their personal thoughts or feelings, as if they have the right to do this

encourages jim to jump out a window!!! okay fine, yes, he fears that gabriel is lurking in there and is doing it as a test, but even he looks somewhat alarmed when jim is clambering over the windowsill - and objectively it's an atrocious thing to do. and ultimately it doesnt exactly prove anything more than what he already knows; if gabriel was chilling in there, and was so committed to the bit to drink hot chocolate, call crowley his friend with a straight face, speak to crowley as such as friend, and generally act the way he does... if gabriel is that good an actor? well, i can't imagine jumping a window would be beneath gabriel to do, to maintain his cover. so to me, crowley realised that what he's asked has crossed a line

and, im sorry, but - kisses aziraphale. now is probably the worst climate imaginable (ie. the "do that again" era) to be discussing my take on the kiss, but my read has largely always been that it was a temptation, and a cruel one at that. it was desperate, and heartbreaking, and i understand why crowley did it - but it was imo a largely cruel and selfish manipulation for aziraphale to betray himself, and stay with him. i love the kiss for what it is and represents, but as a result i just... yeah, im not a "do that again" girlie, because i think aziraphale absolutely recognised the kiss for what it 'was'.

anon, if you have made it this far... im so sorry. it's been helpful to summarise all of it though, so thank you for giving me an opportunity to do so!!✨

*now. the thing is, the vast majority of these incidents, these actions and behaviours (and probably loads besides that ive missed) are not evil. they are not even necessarily bad, not in the classic sense. a lot of them have well-founded explanations, sometimes outright justifications, and it's totally understandable why crowley makes them (even just narratively ie. even without speculating or inferring in any kind of trauma he may have suffered behind the scenes if the story as it currently stands).

id argue, personally, that each one of these is dark in their own way - dark, in the sense that they are morally ambiguous at best, immoral at worst. they might not be bad on their own merit, but arguably it is possible to see them as wrong.

we can absolutely look at crowley and think he is good - and i agree!... to a certain extent. even if you oust a good few of the above examples, there are a few that, imo, if ignored or excused, kind of strays into blatant mollycoddling of the character. crowley absolutely has the capacity for good and right - his objection to the flood, saving job's children, stopping the apocalypse, helping aziraphale many a time, are all prime examples (even if you could argue against each of these which... well, this ask is long enough so another time, maybe) - and i think will ultimately be guided by what he considers to be the right thing to do.

but when i say that his assessment of being "very dark grey", the above is why i think this is him being either extremely honest, or accidentally incredibly insightful about himself. it's not necessarily a dislikeable thing to be - crowley being more dark than light - but given the evidence as i see it, he's aware that he's not a wholly good person, more one that leans towards the objectively immoral than otherwise, giving more weight to when he does do good. and the thing is, he regularly asserts this - being 'bad' - to aziraphale.

in doing so - constantly saying he's not nice, rejecting thanks etc - maybe, actually, it's not as humble or self-effacing as aziraphale, or the fandom, likes to think it is. why shouldn't we consider that crowley might, actually, be a bit of an anti-hero? it doesn't make him any less of an empathetic, likeable, or compelling character - it just simply acknowledges that he may not be as irreproachable or scrupulous character as we might like to think he is!✨

[luvrodite]

Hi, Ro! Do you have any advice for someone who wants to write for Jason Todd as a beginner? Have a lovely day!🥰❤️

hiii honey!! i'm going to put it under a cut but also if any of my lovely mooties who write for jason have any advice please sound off in the comments!!

these are in no particular order, but i think it's important to be yourself and have fun!!!! i think every iteration of jason is going to vary and if you're writing fic, make sure you keep that in mind!! if anyone gives you shit, tell them to get lost or give you money to shut up !

if you're worried about characterisation, i'd probably say there are 2 things to keep in mind:

characterisation varies with every iteration. jason has been written probably hundreds of thousands of ways, so if you're stressed about whether something you're writing feels too self indulgent or not 100% true to his character, don't worry too much because there really isn't like. one singular version of him that is interpreted the exact same way because literally everyone sees him in their own way. you're here to have fun and express yourself, so do that!!

this goes hand in hand with that first point, but there was a post i saw which i found really helpful, which basically said something along the lines that anything could be in character if you played it right. if you get the psychological component right, and ask yourself what it would take for this character to do xyz, you can basically make them do anything!

for character referencing i found the source content and also his character wiki really helpful, but also i think that there are a lot of creators on here whose headcanons and character analysis' of him really contributed to my understanding of him!!

i think engaging with other writers and fans and fleshing him out in your mind really really helps – because i think when you start writing fanfiction about a character, the version of them you're writing is kind of your own and so you'd probably follow the same procedure as when you're writing an OC by figuring out what makes them tick etc etc.

ummm i think that's pretty much it that i can think of, my angel!! thank you for asking me, i'm just a silly person on the internet but i'm sending you love all the same!! good luck with your writing endeavours, i know you're going to smash it!! xx

[nazuna-tunnel-vision]

Kohaku analysis

Hi anon, sorry for taking more than 5 months to reply. Kohaku just has so many things going on that I really didn't have a firm understanding of his character and don't know where to start. Still don't actually, but I'll give it my best shot.

Kohaku's main appeal imo is his numerous gaps. There’s a ridiculous amount of them, but the main ones are that he's pink, he's 160cm, he's the youngest character at 15, and yet he has no qualms about killing a man.

He could kill a man and yet was locked in his house until just this year. He could kill a man and yet he's terrified of zombies and wouldn't be able to kill them.

He talks like he has his things together (and he sort of really does), and yet he is still the youngest in the cast and so many people around him nurture him and watch his growth with warm and loving eyes.

Everyone who lays their eyes on him immediately treats him like their cute little bro, and yet he seems to be the more emotionally stable and mature one in Double Face - where his partner is literally the self-proclaimed Mama in the series.

I think the most confusing part about Kohaku is his maturity and simulataneous lack thereof. How he manages to be emotionally mature in DF, and yet is still the baby in Crazy:B. So for this post I'm going to delve into how and why Kohaku manages to do this.

---

(Please bear in mind that I haven't read the !! main stories and the stories for No Name Yet and Ariadne, so i might be missing important characterisation.

Also be warned that I will be referencing events in Dark Night's Passing, Secret Service and Sudden Death. Spoiler warning!)

I feel like most people get really blown away by the shock factor of Kohaku being trained as an assassin. And together with the way Kohaku carries himself, a lot of fans forget that there is a lot he doesn't know about the world.

He grew up in isolation and could only physically step foot into the rest of civilisation at the end of the ! era. And then he promptly got lost. (He asks Anzu for directions to ES in his first character story.) He doesn't know how to choose his own modern clothes either. The clothes we see him wearing were picked out by the salesperson, and for his Feature Outfit he chose traditional wear similar to what he wore growing up.  

Kohaku is honestly very similar to Hiiro in this respect. I think it's just not as obvious to non-KohakuPs because:

Kohaku has less questions. This can be explained by how he grew up on the internet, so he had the advantage of familiarity with technology.

Screentime differences:

Hiiro’s ignorance was emphasised throughout the novel that was !! Main Story 1

Kohaku had one (1) introductory chapter that highlighted his ignorance. The rest was sprinkled in mini-talks and event stories.

Differences in other characters' responses to their questions:

Hiiro gets Aira loudly yelling, without fail, that he's stupid and ignorant. And then Hiiro yells his apologies in response. The whole exchange is very noisy and impossible to ignore. (It also happens multiple times.)

Kohaku’s interactions, however, tend to go very smoothly. They’re always along the line of, "Oh, what is this? Ohh so that's it. Thanks for teaching me!". Clean and simple, no jabs and just question > answer > thanks. Or he'll say, "I've only known about this through the internet! I'm looking forward to experiencing this myself this year." And no one comments on it, except for maybe a “Fufu I hope you have a good experience.” It’s all very short and pleasant. Nothing you would take note of unless you’re a KohakuP and realised you’ve seen them lots of times

So anyway, in contrast to Kohaku’s general cool and judgemental "Madara/Rinne-han you’re so stupid” vibe, he really is not that wise in the ways of the world. To be frank, I think his cool-as-a-cucumber behaviour is very boyish of him. You know, when you're a teen and pretend to be more grown-up than you actually are.

And Kohaku is acutely aware of how little he knows. Kohaku has low confidence in making his way through the world, even though he generally acts very capable. This low confidence is the focus of the Honey Bee scout story. It's a very, very cute story where Crazy:B finds ways to push him out of his comfort zone while still respecting his 15 year-old pride. Basically Kohaku was going to shy away from something and Rinne goes "Ha bet you can't do this!" Kohaku reacts very much like a kid by immediately biting the bait. So cute! Another point for the KohakuPs who love the cute and child-like Kohaku. I wouldn’t call Kohaku immature, but he sure isn’t a mature adult either. He has a lot of growing left to do!

Kohaku just generally exudes this little brother energy as easily as breathing.

I think part of it is his size and pink hair colour and baby fat.

Another is probably how open he is about how little he knows. Like Hiiro, he’s not shy about asking for clarification. If you hang around him for long enough, you probably come to expect and accommodate the gaps in his experience.

He’s also super forthcoming and genuine with his praise, admiration and gratitude. The instant he thinks of something nice, like "wow this person sure is skilled!" he'll just let the person in question know. (Unless you're Rinne - you tease him too much for him to want to praise you genuinely to the face orz.) I think people just like being around him and being nice to him because of this habit, and they become nicer and better people in his presence. ((I am looking at HiMERU in particular.))

And despite what I said about his teenage pride, Kohaku's also very gracious and accepting of being consistently assigned the little bro. His attitude to realising that people adopted him is just "huh? well okay I guess. Thank you for your help." He doesn't see it as being patronising; he recognises that people just want to be nice to him and lets them + is grateful for it. (Again, Rinne is an exception because his modus operandi is to bully Kohaku and Kohaku Knows This.)

I think these factors form the basis of his relationships with everyone (minus Madara and his family) where he’s the little baby Kohaku-chan that everyone loves to dote on. And he lets them, and also lets them know that he is grateful for their care! It's super wholesome and cute. Ra*bits-esque, even.

---

But despite all these child-like parts of him (especially him not knowing a lot of common knowledge), he also has a lot of. I don’t know what to call it, I guess emotional maturity in his interactions with others. He's always very genuine and sincere and respectful, and this doesn't ever change unless you're deliberately fucking with him (Rinne).

It's most obvious when you look at Double Face and his interactions with Cagiest Bastard in the Whole Series, Mikejima Madara.

This part requires a good deal of understanding about Mama's issues and Oh Boy Is It A Lot! But what you need to know is that Madara's family is involved with the police and the Shinkai Cult and Madara was been elbows deep in that world from birth. He beats people up off screen and sends the mafia after them and doesn't blink. And his emotional walls reach stratospheric heights. He calls himself Mama and is extremely friendly, but he never really lets anyone close. Headcanon that it's bc he wants to be as close to others as a Mama, but is purposely assigning himself a role that most ppl reject bc he is afraid of actually being that close to people. He's been in a solo unit for the whole of the ! era and was acting alone even before then. Talking about his issues and true feelings are simply not something he does. He buries it under layers of Wasshoi Wasshoi Festival Man Mama. Sometimes he alludes to how estranged he feels but before anyone can meaningfully respond, he jets off to another part of Japan/the world and is uncontactable for a few months.

There's no time to really go into what Madara's issues actually are, but basically Anzu (and the enstars writer Akira) created DF because she wanted Madara to have a friend. Kohaku as an assassin and Madara as the kid of a mafialord just Get Each Other the way others don't. Just look at Dark Night's Passing. It's about feeling too dirty with sin to truly assimilate with the bright sparkling world of Ryuseitai/Tsukasa. It's about not being able to talk about their feelings about their involvement with the underworld because they don't want to sully their friends. Madara sort of talks about it with Kuro, but Kuro is an ex-delinquent and beating other misguised youths up is nothing compared to what Madara is still involved in. Kohaku is probably more comfortable with Crazy:B than any other unit because of their themes of being rejects and rulebreakers, but that's still not the same as assassination. I don't think Kohaku ever came clean to them about his family. Kohaku & Madara just truly do understand each other in a way no one else can.

And despite all that, Madara still tries to distance himself from Kohaku. 😡👎👎. Kohaku has to chase this mf ""unit leader"" down to get updates of their shared unit's work. Kohaku has to call Madara and gets sent to voicemail every time. He has to call up everyone he can think of who could be in contact with Madara and then fly his ass across Japan to beat up Madara up. (He doesn't actually beat Madara up because he's a good kid. He just joins Madara in whatever he was working on and helps him and reminds him that he is no longer alone.)

Anyone in Kohaku's place would be completely justified in thinking that Madara's more effort than he's worth and give up or lash out at him. Just the way Madara likes it! With people so far away from him that he can't hurt them or vice versa (Madara ignores the fact that the act of pushing others away is in itself hurtful.)

But Kohaku doesn't abandon Madara. He takes things pretty damn well imo.

---

Kohaku re: dirty jobs & the Underworld is just so. He's so hopeful even while being born in and knowing the shit side of the world. It breaks my heart and fills me with awe with how disillusioned and yet hopeful he is with the world.

Kohaku in the early stories constantly talks about how the world & people's hearts are dirty. And yet, whenever he receives help (...often, bc of his politeness and little bro energy) he also always comments that kindness still exists in this world. Kohaku, especially in Dark Night's Passing, is a very jaded child. He thinks that his family's line of work is pretty dirty and hates being born into it, but still says he is okay with sacrificing himself for the Suou's. He thinks the world is rotten, that injustice will always exist, and that sacrificing himself is okay, but does whatever he can to ensure that the good people in his life don't suffer.

Kohaku doesn't roll over and give up. He finally has freedom after 15 years and he is so excited to experience all the good things the world has to offer. He knows it comes with bad things too, and accepts it like a champ! Takes it as a foregone conclusion.

It contrasts so sharply with Madara that I just gnnh. Madara is tired. He has given up. He's just floating along trying to help his loved ones while fighting a war in his head and heart against the instinct to also push them far away.

Madara and Kohaku initially connected over their shared understanding of the rotten world and their roles in it, but their attitudes towards living in such a world and with such a role couldn't be more different. Madara believes that he never belongs in the sparkling world everyone else inhabits, and he tries not to "sully" it by never entering it. Kohaku accepts the world, both its rotten and good parts, with an almost zen-like countenance that you really wouldn't expect from a 15 year-old freshly entering the world. Kohaku is excited and accepting and open-minded of all the world has to offer (as long as he doesn't look stupid, because he is 15 and freshly interacting with people irl, he cares about appearances.) Kohaku uses his assassin role to protect himself and those he cares about; it's not something that he even conceives as holding him back.

This really uniquely positions him to set Madara back on the path to heal, because he shares a similar background and yet offers perspective that Madara would not have accepted from any other person. Yes this turned into a DF dynamic analysis but Kohaku was literally created to be a Madara foil, so. That probably just means I'm doing my Kohaku analysis right.

---

Explaining Kohaku's emotional maturity

From a meta perspective, Kohaku's emotional maturity can be attributed to the fact that he was explictly written to be Madara's friend and confidant. He had to be a character that could make Madara feel comfortable enough to let his walls down. He also had to be a character that didn't have the same trauma response and who could handle Madara's.

Lorewise, I think Kohaku's emotional maturity when it comes to relationships (being so open, honest and respectful) can also be explained by his upbringing.

The fact that Kohaku is so open and honest and respectful can be a bit surprising, considering how he was, y'know, locked up for 15 years and all. You expect him to have some very tragic backstory, where he was abused and went through grueling and traumatic assasin training like Killua from Hunter x Hunter or something. You expect him to be cagey and defensive, like Madara or worse. Then you read Sudden Death and it becomes apparent that the chances of Kohaku having been abused are abysmally low. Kohaku is very, very loved by his family. There are still things that don't add up, like Kohaku still having been locked up in a dimly-lit room for 15 years and speaking of his growing up years so negatively. But I'm inclined to think that against all odds, his family treated him very respectfully as a little man and he was raised well. Maybe his distaste for his upbringing was because his family never really tried to justify it or gaslight him into thinking that it was normal and okay. The Oukawas are pretty cool!

---

TLDR for this whole post; Kohaku is very accepting, genuine and forthcoming. He can put even the most guarded people around him at ease and inspires them to be better people just by being himself around them. He was written perfectly to bounce off Madara (and Rinne).

He is also very small and cute. People can't help but dote on him. He is also so excited to finally participate in the world, but feels the tiniest bit of trepidation. He is growing bit by bit every day! Basically he would belong at Ra*bits is what I'm saying. If you ignore the whole assassin thing.

[montypng]

new follower here, love your art so much it's filled with so much character! I saw your tag on the lovely ghoul art; so, thought I'd send an ask: I'd love to hear your thoughts on danger days! Any things at all, feel free to ramble if you want! I always love hearing others hcs/opinions/etc on the series!

HELLO this ask has been sitting in my inbox since january sorry..its mostly bc i have sooo many things 2 talk about and i wasnt sure what i wanted 2 say in this answer but whatever im just gonna ramble SO!!! U get a bunch of random hcs and maybe thematic analysis yippee!! and thank u soo much for the kind words :]

imo all the kjs have some form of body focused repetitive behavior because this is my world and i do what i want.. poison and ghoul have dermatillomania (compulsive skin picking), and kobra and jet have trich (hair pulling) maybe. I think constantly being on the run + adrenaline highs and lows would lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms for all of them and desert living leads 2 pretty shit skin (poison+kobra have at least had bad acne for sure) which is conducive to skin picking..i think the venom siblings and ghoul are bat city runaways too so the withdrawal from bli pills (+shakes and sweats) contributed to them developing bfrbs.

ghoul also gets really bad shakes and jitters from withdrawal, so when it gets so bad that they can’t work on their explosives he blasts mad gear as loud as it can from its speakers and lets himself scream all the frustration out.

also ghoul definitely has hearing loss from bomb detonation in too close proximity. tell me it would know abt proper hearing protection safety protocols with a straight face its impossible.

kobra was born w microform cleft lip, which means he has a little deformity/groove in his upper lip kind of similar to a snake’s . also he broke his nose at some point and it healed wrong so crooked nosebridge↴

both jet and kobra are prone to migraines bc of eye strain and sensitivity (jet is nearly fully blind in his right eye and both kobras eyes are extremely sensitive to light, hence the sunglasses).

sometimes when the migraines are too much they both lie down in the trans am seats together at night and close their eyes and breathe in the dark

prior to jets eye injury they were the teams best marksman, and im not sure yet how greatly that changes after they lose depth perception, but one thing i like to believe is that jet is also a great sniper (stereoscopic vision due to retinal disparity is also only effective up til about 30 meters too so he wouldnt need to rely on binocular vision for that), so maybe they focuse on that skill post-injury. how i picture their scar ↴

this is so long already but 1 last thing more in a thematic analysis vein: i need ppls opinions on the girl and her story PLEASE. she has so little agency in the canon narrative but . Where r the girlposters around here i need to hear others thoughts on her guilt complex from the fab 4s sacrifice and her running away from her own role as the protagonist of a story she never wanted 2 be part of and her blowing up the city that killed her family and whether or not that alleviated her neuroses and brought catharsis or not and her characterisation as a literal bomb and destructive force even though shes just a kid and ughhh. Linking this girl post i made a while ago w an anne carson quote that makes me crazy ANYWAYS. Talk 2 me about her. Im begging.

[pynkhues]

Hi! I just read an extremely popular Brio fic and it was wonderfully well written but I found I kept losing interest. I realized it’s bc while Rio felt somewhat authentic for the AU, Beth seemed like a completely different character. There wasn’t really much background information on her so the changes didn’t really make sense to me, even in an AU setting.

How do you approach AU settings to make sure the characters feel connected to the originals? Like in your pornstars AU I can still see Beth in there, even if it’s not something I would have ever expected of her! So I’m curious as to how you approach that.

Also why do you think this seems to happen more to Beth versus Rio? Are people just projecting themselves onto her you think? Idk I just feel like she has such a strong personality that I’m curious why I seem to feel that way in some fics.

Anyways, love your work 🩷🩷🩷

Hi! Thanks for your lovely words, although I'm sorry for your experience with that other fic. It can be such a bummer when we're overall enjoying a story - whether fic, or books, or shows - but for whatever reason it's just not quite landing. I know the feeling pretty well, haha.

For me, I find that capturing a character in all writing is basically about distilling two things:

What they want

What they need

These two factors in so many ways embody the main narrative arc of a story. In fact, many author talks I've been to suggest that plot in its entirety is a matter of asking three questions - what does a character want? What's standing in their way stopping them from getting what they want? And how will they overcome this obstacle? I don't entirely agree with this, and it's not a method of plotting that I personally subscribe to these days (although I have used it in the past and still sometimes find it helpful when I'm stuck), but I do think it can be useful to think about in terms of the role character motivation contributes to story overall.

More to the point though, I find dividing a character's wants and needs to be super useful, both in terms of analysis and writing, as to me, it's those wants and needs that really feed into everything when it comes to characterisation.

Beth's actually a great example of this as her want vs need are both complimentary and frequently in conflict with each other:

What Beth wants is to earn enough to save her house, provide for her children and get herself, her sister and her best friend to a point of financial security that doesn't leave them in a state of constant free fall.

What Beth needs is to feel real self worth, to connect with the woman inside of herself beyond wifehood, motherhood and even sisterhood, and to be seen and acknowledged as that woman by people she respects (i.e. Rio, but not just him). She needs to be seen as capable, and to feel autonomous and in control of her future.

Both of these wants and needs have greater implications when filling in the details of a character. In Beth's case, her adultification as a child in raising her sister feeds her lack of identity as an adult at the start of the series and her need to find herself (she's been raising children her whole life!), Dean's cheating compounds those feelings of self-worth, and him losing the family house is what becomes the catalyst for Beth to act. Her wants are created due to the situation Dean forces her into, her needs have been there for a lot longer than that.

When writing fic in general, but especially AUs, I try not to change the wants or needs of the characters. Like I said, I tend to view them as pretty crucial to the character overall, but I also think those wants and needs are what makes me feel connected to them as opposed to other characters or other shows. Those are the things I like! Why would I want to change them?

And anyway, I tend to find it super fun figuring out how those wants and needs might guide characters in a different setting. In both the porn star AU and the pirate AU, I really wanted to use the time period, the industry and the context of those story worlds to see how Beth might navigate her needs and wants, and to see how those factors might influence the shape of her story arc. It was pretty interesting to realise that I didn't think much changed, even in the pirate AU which is set so far in the past. I hope that means I understand her as a character, or at least, I guess, my interpretation of her, haha.

As for other writers - - yeah! I mean, in some ways I do think Rio's probably easier to write because his own wants and needs are more ambiguous on the show and he's therefore a little more malleable in fic. A lot about him can be true when we ultimately saw so little of him, whereas Beth, as you said, has such a strong personality and defined character that to change elements of her voice or her background, or to make certain decisions for her, can leave us with the age old feeling of: 'she wouldn't do / say that'.

I do think that, especially by the end of the series, there was a not insignificant portion of the fandom who didn't like her so ultimately wrote her differently (I personally had issues with the fact that so many people wrote Rio as punishing and Beth as both taking and deserving that punishment, which is why some high profile fics in the fandom aren't of particular interest to me), but I think there are other factors as well.

Yes, some projection, yes, some who mostly wrote her to be able to write about Rio, yes, some who were simply disinterested in her interiority, but I also think GG was a lot of people's first fandom, and a lot of people's first time writing fic, and that ultimately, Beth was a complicated character who only got more complicated over the four seasons of the show. She's not easy to write, and I do think the fandom was chockfull of talented writers, but a lot of talented writers who were still ultimately pretty new to writing.

I've been writing for a long time (man, I think I worked out that I posted my first fic when I was about 13 which was like, twenty years ago now, haha, and I had my first short story published in a journal at 19 too), and ultimately writing is a skill like anything else - you get better the longer you do it. :-)

[a-forbidden-detective]

hi there! :3 if i may ask, how differently do you think of the ron and toto in manga vs the anime? i found the series through the anime first and read the manga second, so i feel like my perspective might be different from someone like you who'd been following the manga for a long time. is it the individual characterization of ron and toto you find different or the way ron and toto's relationship is presented to us?

for me, reading the manga pretty much convinced me of how close ron and toto's relationship becomes as the story goes on. but i also know from rereading/rewatching and some of your posts as well that the anime has made little changes that really favours the rontoto agenda.

from the top of my head i recall this scene:

and this one (a personal favourite!):

if i remember correctly, the execution and dialogue in both of these scenes are much less personal in the manga compared to the anime.

do you prefer how these scenes plays out in the manga or the anime? i don't know if i can choose personally. i like both versions.

so many questions in one, i know! i'm just curious to know your thoughts :'3 have a nice day!

Whoah! Thank you for this ask. Somewhere in my drafts folder is a post about the differences between the manga and anime for the whole season one. It means I have to get back to it and post it before the second season starts. Ack. I should do it now.

Anyway, I find RonToto happened in anime much faster than the RonToto in manga. Thing I love both versions, I also find that both RonTotos move both in a different yet similar directions.

Moreover, the Ron in anime is much warmer, kinder, more dependent on Toto anime. The Ron in manga takes a few more chapters before he has reached that same level in anime.

Maybe, it is the localisation editor’s fault, the English translation in anime. But that particular 11th episode where Ron “welcomed” Spitz as his first official client both the Japanese and English translation had the same meaning. Whereas the German translation, which I am watching right now is loyal to the manga. It followed the same route word for word. (I’ll probably post a separate analysis on this to continue my watching in German language session bc it is amazing how they also change some things.)

Anyway, i don’t think I can choose between the two. Like what I’ve said, though anime RonToto’s characterisation is a different beast for me, I like the way the anime series composition writer played it out but at the same time I cannot deny that Akira’s storytelling first moved me, maybe she could tell us more about Toto’s background. That would be wonderful. But all in all, it is difficult for me to make a decision.

[fanaticsnail]

AAAAAAAA!!! The WIP list!!!!

I'm really looking forward to the dance series and Storyteller AU stories, I just really love how they're an analysis of the characters themselves as well as a fun AU ripe with fun dynamics.

I love the sound of Kissaphobic (I love the song and it suits Kidd so well) and Hanahaki (I love me some Hanahaki au).

Cooking with you sounds like a sweet slice-of-life/domestic bliss piece as well as an analysis of the characters which I just know you're going to knock out of the park bc you always reflect characterisation so well in every part of your writing.

Behavioural conditioning sounds so cute and fluffy

Also, may I suggest "The Maiden and the Selkie" by Heather Dale for the one shot? It's a fitting song.

(side note: I just realized that since in the Bear and the Bow Reader is an archer, and Shanks is trying to best her in archery, him losing his arm will either be at best an ironic moment down the line after they're together or a heart wrenching moment during the story and I'm scared. But also excited. But also scared. But mostly excited.)

Snaillll!!! Twice in one day? You spoil me!!

I have a fair few Sapsorrow spinoffs in the works. Sir Crocodile's is the one I have been drawn to the most, which is fitting considering he's next.

The dance series, I only have three more: Shanks, Koby & Garp - but I feel like there's two more I need in my life:

Burn it to the Ground: Portgus D Ace x Reader

Despiértame mi Corazon: Donquioute Rosinante x Reader

The "Kissaphobic" was brought on by your ask way back in the day. Now that I've got a little taste for the burly man, I feel a bit more confident enough to handle an ask or two for him.

A hanahaki with KidKiller x Reader is going to be so much fun to write for. I never knew I needed hanahaki until I wrote a Mihawk for it. It's a grand ol' trope, almost as good as the 'one bed' or 'marriage for convince' trope 😩👌.

Thank you for your compliments about my characterisation, I try very hard to match their OPLA and AniManga auras alongside the vibe they give off in my head. Sweet domesticity is also a love of mine, even better with Mihawk, Law and Shanks -- three different types in one fic!

Donquixote Rosinante. Corazon. Big, tall, clumsy man who has his heart out in his sleeve. Please. He needs some attention. I have been meaning to write for him for a while now, and I adore him.

I will give this one a little listen to get myself in the headspace for that request. I love a whispy, spoken-word melody!

"The Bear and the Bow" was another request you made way back when! I have been wanting to write for it so, so much. How is Shanks going to shoot for her hand when he only has one? It's gonna be a fluffy, angsty, fluffy piece.

I always adore hearing from you, snail! My heart is with you with your hectic uni schedule! 🖤🖤

[admirxation]

do you think general Magath has a family? If so what do you think they’re like?

Hey anon, I didn't expect this question but oh my god i'll answer most things that are aot related so thank you for giving me the opportunity to yap about my favourite series. Obviously this answer will have aot spoilers but im willing to bet most people that follow my aot content know the story haha. I'm just gonna do a cut off because this answer is long haha <3

I don't think much of general magath, in the sense I can appreciate the characterisation especially with how his story ends alongside Keith but he doesn't make me think to the same level other characters do (e.g. I have way too much personal analysis on Jean, Armin, Erwin, Floch etc.). I don't dislike him I just mean I don't think much of him in the aspect of quantity/amount of my thoughts of him.

Thinking about it, I genuinely do not believe he has a family, the only supposed family he has is a chosen one with his comrades with the care he is presented to have for the warrior candidates and takes on a paternal role. But I am presuming you are asking about a biological family, to which I do not think he has the conventional biological family with partner and children (I could be missing a scene where is shows he has a family, it's been a while since I've rewatched the series so there could be scenes that show a family which I have forgotten about so I am working on my memory which I hope is correct).

Usually characters, especially in war/hard times are often depicted as wanting to go back to a family with a mention of a wife and/or child or other family roles such as parents and siblings, and sometimes even a flashback to them. I have been watching solo levelling (which I strongly recommend to people) and they do the same thing when people are panicking to get out the dungeon there is a flashback to a family to go back to with one of the characters, the same as in aot there is a flashback of annie and her father (a family to go back to), focus of reiner and his mother (a family to go back to) etc. So without a scene like that or just blatant showing of him with a family or dialogue of going back/mentioning of the family, I doubt he has one. Granted, the family could not be important to the story but there is usually a mention if characters have a family even if they're not important to the story, like we know Armin used to have a grandad then went, we know Jean has a mom etc. (this is just in general obvi we don't know the insides and outs of every character's lives I'm just using it as an example to support my hunch that he does not have one).

There are obvious made parallels to Keith, especially in his ending scene with him, and I think he is also similar to Keith in the familial aspect as well. Keith is presented with no partner or children, driven by a goal, and the only connection to that imaginative future with a family is the hinted feelings he had for Carla. Keith was the 12th commander of the scouts and the scout commander's have an ambition to explore the word and have an undying curiosity (think back to Hange's speech before handing it over to Armin). Magath has a different ambition of wanting support over the invasion of the island. Both have different goals but both come from that military background and having an end goal of what they want to happen, whether that be finding answers or getting rid of what they believe is evil. I think both characters are focalised on their ambition (whether audiences think right or wrong) that they forget/don't have the time for making a traditional family and end up connecting with the comrades but being isolated from the conventional and biological idea of family. A side note as well, we do also see a common trend of the commanders in the scouts with Erwin and his lack of love story (I'm talking about canon not shipping, I THINK there is possible mention of him loving a woman called Marie but he had to leave that for his dangerous ambition of the scouts to which his friend Nile managed to get to marry Marie because he was an MP and in the safer route), and Hange doesn't have a partner as well. They have an ambition that takes over them but also the idea that they know they have a strong chance of dying for that ambition so they dont want to hurt and leave a family behind, which I'm sure Magath would have too since he knows an invasion of the island is risky and dangerous. It's either fulfil the dream or die trying, or give up and live a normal life.

I do believe though, if Magath was to have a family, he would definitely be a girl dad. Especially with his care for Gabi, I see him with little girls with a wife who is a young love/sweetheart type of relationship meeting. I just see him in that kind of unit, with the wife worrying about him but him being driven by an ambition. Him having a lot of love for them but not being able to show it properly with the overriding ambition he has for the invasion of the island.

I hope you like this answer, I know I yap a lot but aot analysis is one of my favourite things to do, and I am hoping my memory serves me well.

[kidflashimpulse]

this is a little random BUT: imo Ed having Catholic guilt/religious trauma is basically canon. he has lines in s2 that point in that direction anyway (wanting a "cure" for his powers, etc. being a meta-human isn't a one-to-one allegory for any irl minority but in ED'S case it def reads like a queer metaphor), but in s3 he outright states he used to pray to try and get rid of his powers. there's no way the guy doesn't have baggage tied to (canonically, according to Greg) growing up Catholic

this is such an overdue answer of mine especially because at the time it was crazy i was literally drafting up a post the same week before u sent in the ask so i was originally going to try to answer immediately lol here’s a SS within a SS of it 😭😭😭

both times i didn’t finish my sentence is cause DC took me out before i had the chance omg

okay LOL but fr apologies for the delayed answer! this sounds a bit silly but i genuinely rlly like to always answer asks especially these ones which i find so interesting properly and that ends up with me just taking forever

back to the actual topic though:

I entirely agree !!! I think it’s incredibly reasonable to characterise Ed with catholic guilt exactly because of the outlined reasons. Him explicitly stating in Outsiders that he used to try to pray his powers away was just a little too on the spot for it to NOT be interpreted as an extension of religious baggage and growing up Catholic.

also totally agree with ur understanding of his S2 attitude!! Especially with the whole “meta-gene being an extension of minority” aspect because I feel like it only really shines as an allegory when it’s used in combination with real-world minority identity exploration/issues. Because these r the exact people who r very familiar with those type of struggles and complexes.

Eduardo starting off by being steadfast on wanting to have a cure for it as his immediate reaction to something that is clearly inseparable from one’s being, it reads all too easily as like u said a queer metaphor only in combination with what we know of his background and being gay. It’s a very natural way of story telling that people can interpret it as, so it rlly does make sense.

It’s also rlly cool that by S3 he says that “he used to”, he’s clearly done a lot of growth since S2 and having that extend to his catholic guilt and how he has overcome it to an extent during the time skip and being more at peace with himself and be happy for a change, we love that for him.

thank u for sharing ur thoughts with us <3 i love these type of discussions and analysis so much, especially when it ties so nicely together with his development

[zahri-melitor]

Crossposting but I just finished my 2023 Fic Roundup and Analysis.

I often end up doing these late, so look at me getting this out in January for once! (Didn’t want to put it out in December while I was still publishing)

Previous years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

I like to ask myself some questions about what I've written in the past year. Here's my thoughts.

Stories published: 13

Fandoms published: 3 (technically if you look at my AO3 tagged fandoms for the year it’s 8, but I’m just going to group all the DCU together).

It’s ended up being my biggest year in terms of story output; being back in a fandom which is causing me brainrot as far as prompts go and where I have a bunch of mutuals has definitely been helpful for the writing. My longest finished fic ever is now 24,306 words, and I’ve cleared 40k this year. 

In terms of my all time stats: I’ve got three new stories in my top ten as far as kudos go (at 5,7 and 9 as I write this): all the Vorkosigan has dropped below 10th now.

Most popular story: there’s an endless road to rediscover. Given how I wrote this then fussed worrying for several months over what its reception would be, I’m glad it went well, especially as it was my first time tackling Damian characterisation and I wasn’t confident with him yet. It’s doing better than I expected, ranked next to everything else. 

Favourite story written: Um. Hmmm. Part of me wants to say Orange Juice, because I just really enjoyed how fast that one came together, but really it’s the picture frames have changed and so has your name, no question. My most ambitious project, the source of so much brainrot and theorising. The day I figured out how the solution to ‘what happened to Dick’ (because that was the last big moving piece that came together to make the story work - the solution) was a wonderful one, because I kicked my feet with delight and then had to work really really hard not to reveal the secret to everyone I immediately wanted to tell how clever I was. I was SO SMUG.

Best reception: the picture frames have changed and so has your name definitely gets the award here. Everyone was super nice about it, I got to see so much theorising, it’s currently sitting on 116 comment threads, and honestly all the support to push through and get it written was worth it. Came out so good! You were all really generous!

Favourite underrated story: Tea for Two. I just like the balance of how much stuff I layered into it and that it was detailed enough I sent someone who I KNOW is hugely into No Man’s Land scurrying off to the comics to check I had got certain details correct. It was a fun write with very specific goals to hit, and stylistically exactly what I like doing. I also love the concept of the Mother’s Day series and am thinking through what additions I want to make to it in 2024. 

Favourite title: I actually really enjoyed some of my title choices this year, but I absolutely cannot go past I’ll hold your memory in my hands tonight in terms of title. I came up with it, then I giggled, then I thought about how dark the joke was, then I giggled again. Helena held the thank you letter from Tim! Barbara held the plushie of Tim! Dick held Tim’s brain! I’m so awful.

Hardest story to name: bones of a dinosaur, bones of a city I honestly did not know what to call this story, so I ended up essentially opting out of naming it. I think it works, and has joined the storied realms of ‘story titles I’ve invented quotes for’.

Themes I noted in my stories this year: ‘Let’s write about mothers and sisters’ popped out a lot. There’s a lot of death (and discussions of deaths), which unfortunately ties back into the mothers and sisters thing. And a lot of Tim and his relationships with his older siblings: Dick, Barbara, Helena and Cass.

Commentary: well look who fell back into DC fandom and wrote fic. The bunnies attacked and the fandom itself enjoys short stories. On top of that I had, hmm, two ‘sort out the draft I have sitting here and publish it’ stories that went out this year. Becoming Miss Burgeson had been hanging around as an idea more than a story since I finished Invisible Sun in 2021, because not only is Rita Douglas a fascinating character, but also there are SO MANY identity shenanigans over the years in the Burgeson family. Erasmus’ comments on being a Burgeson in particular were the heart of the fic (because everyone forgets Erasmus ALSO is an assumed name). Nobody using the name was born into it and everyone chose to adopt it as a cover. Now Rita’s not nearly the most complex figure here (Miriam’s name situation is even wilder), but due to the complexities of Miriam/Helge’s names, Rita acquired three extra surnames by the transitive nature of being Miriam’s natural daughter. Actually I SHOULD sit down and work out what Rita’s braid name should actually be. I also dusted off Just Skate Figures enough to post the main bits of it, because I was tired of not having the Axel and Minami scene, at least, posted where other people could enjoy it. 

[quidfree]

It's mentioned in one of the extras in bnha (by Horikoshi himself) that Bakugou isolates himself on the path to greatness as a defence mechanism since he's actually a sensitive soul...

You've written the 🌟best🌟 true to character Bakugou in all the fanfics I've ever read, so I wanted to ask how you balance Bakugou's brashness with his sensitivity, and his harshness with his specific brand of kindness. He has strong moral code/values that he staunchly follows but that's still different from the occasional bouts of care he shows to people.

Thank you 😊

hmm you know i don't know if i think that's the best 'in' to bakugou's character because while he is sensitive to a degree (dramatic crier, big emotions, not a bad people reader if he cares) i really feel like that quote is sort of overplaying that angle. bakugou's definitely got his depths but i'm leery of leaning too far into the idea he's some kind of scintillating empath that no one gets.

in terms of characterisation i'm glad you feel that way! i've written breakdowns of my characterisation before so those would be a good starting point on my analysis. but to your specific points, and focusing on teen canon bakugou:

so his base attitude is like….. constant intense commitment to his goals (🤝bakudeku) mixed with pretty solid awareness of self (will elaborate). which means at repose he’s just super serious & then you layer in the brash persona (not feigned, just exaggerated and sometimes blustering, lot of it comes from (unjustly lol) holding everything to his standard). that’s base level bakugou i think. he gets half the personality from his mom & the other is all his.

by self aware i don’t mean he’s like psychologically healthy. but he has a good grasp of his own abilities and skills. early days his blind spot are his limitations but that’s mostly bc up to that point he’s never been confronted with the fact he has any. that’s why he’s allowed so much arrogance / confidence, even when facing down sports fest or the league. he knows what he can do. rmr even early on he got worried when seeing todoroki’s abilities; he’s pissed at him at sports fest bc he’s well aware that would have been a fair fight. by now in canon that’s obviously reached a more mature self-awareness.

ig that’s kind of tied to the sensitivity point. i think bakugou isn’t bad with people; he does have a good read on them & has established leadership skills (amplified once he stops being so domineering; he and izuku have long been coded as 1A coleaders). that said younger bakugou certainly did not give a shit abt other people’s interiority so hes not exactly a bleeding heart lol. i think he’s more perceptive than empathetic (can understand but does not relate), which colors his nicer moments- and i say that with love, bc i think that’s more interesting.

bakugou is just a harsh / brash guy- very direct, abrupt and in your face with it. that’s his fighting style, his personal style, his communication style, even his choice of hobbies; he doesn’t tolerate wishy washy bullshit and isn’t one for niceties. that said he can keep in line / watch his approach around authority figures, bc he’s a pretty pragmatic guy. that also comes thru in his fighting. he will mouth off within reason.

the interpersonal struggle for him is that in UA he was forced out of his top dog role real quick and it made him extra aggro/tsundere bc he spent way too long only interacting w peers from a superior position or as extras, so having to connect on a genuine level w people he would once have seen as below him feels weird and overly exposing. it obviously starts going better for him as development marches on, especially when there’s like a concrete common goal involved. i think he’s consciously trying to find a happy medium by later in canon- see the ‘casual’ way he hangs around cracking jokes abt dabi when they’re trying to support todoroki, snarky but present. from what i gather his current default is to veer overly serious but that’s also bc canon is very Dark and Serious rn.

the moral code thing is funny bc OG flavor bakugou has less of that and more of an understanding of the rules he’s playing by to win. the league disgusts him bc theyre baddies yes but also bc they’re losers. bc bakugou at that point is an asshole teen bully who told his childhood bestie he was less than nothing as a daily hobby, and i don’t doubt that he could have gone down the endeavor route had he not had common sense knock him around a few significant times. that said he does certainly always have sort of a personal code of, idk, self-discipline and aiming to exceed all expectation, but that ties back to what i’ve already addressed. anyways by present day he’s obviously recalibrated his moral compass massively but it’s always most interesting to me in the minor personal detail- for example, his kneejerk “my mom used to knock me around and i’m fine!” reaction to justify beating kids up but then begrudgingly letting todoroki lead their approach because he recognises his input on the subject. it’s consistent writing because it’s not that he’s a perfect saint now, but he is growing.

this is very long and very late, but tldr those are my takes on your questions!

to me bakugou is one of the best written parts of bnha, but he is a complicated character to get right if you don’t have a good handle on why he works so well- i don’t know if i’ve made that more or less confusing for you but i’m hoping the latter.

[sophsun1]

I hope it's okay to keep coming into your ask box but I have another question about QAF. I've just started my watch of S5, got thru 5x05 last night, send help please I'm scared lol, but why does Brian say only 4 weeks when the couple from Britin's 4-way in 5x04 asks them how long they've been together? Does he think he and Justin were on a break while Justin was in LA? Also, really not loving whatever the fuck is happening with Justin. I've seen a lot of tags and analysis about it, but seeing it on screen hits different I guess. Ugh. Thank you kindly for humoring me!

Hey!

Welcome to the fandoms most disliked season - Season 5!

I would say that for the most part you kind of just have to sigh and shake your head at the contradictory characterisations which swing wildly from one point of view to another.

Justin definitely suffers from this a lot and he was kind of sacrificed for their overall story arc. All in all the writers wanted a conflict to split britin up again and giving Justin a personality transplant and wanting to be a happy homemaker was the route they took.

They were trying to go for a more mature, grown up Justin who was ready to settle down played against Brian's regression to season one commitment-phobe. So there had to be a disconnect between them like the breakup in S2 the rehashing of old plots was such a weak and unnecessary decision.

I would say that's why Brian said they'd been together 4 weeks to Justin's 4 years, which is the *correct* answer as when they were apart they still orbited each other and were just as connected tyvm. The scene in question has the couple saying they got married and were together for 10 years and Justin is really impressed but then they go on to say monogamy wasn't for them and they decided to be open and Brian agrees that monogamy sucks and you see Justin's face kind of fall. So it was just to further the conflict between them in my opinion.

This season is the one I rewatch the least but there are some beautiful moments to come so it's not all bad!

[rollercoasterwords]

Loved your little essay on your characterisation of Bellatrix and all your interpretations of the Black sisters are like just wow 10/10 I 100% agree.

I was wondering if you could talk a bit about your opinion on Narcissa’s relationship to her sisters and how that affects her thoughts on like love and the pureblood system. Like do you think she resented Andromeda as much as Bellatrix did?

Basically I just love reading your character analysis posts + your opinions on them. If you’ve already spoken about this though pls ignore this ask 😅 love your writing xx

thank u!! i enjoyed writing that little bellatrix essay lol

for narcissa i actually have a whole fic from her pov where i get into a lot of this stuff about her relationships + worldview, but!! i love talking about it so i will take any excuse to do so xx

okay so for narcissa in a canon universe, there are a few key details about her that i really focused on while writing her character. one is that she is, of course, a youngest sibling and the baby of the family. the other is that while bellatrix and andromeda look so similar that they can almost be mistaken for each other, narcissa is canonically blonde, pale, and blue-eyed, meaning she looks very different from the rest of her family.

taking these details into account, i interpret narcissa as a character who desperately wanted to fit in to her family as she was growing up. i imagine that--again, because of the pureblood patriarchal emphasis on carrying on family names--her father, cygnus, would have been disappointed to have three daughters and no sons, and as the last child, narcissa is sort of like...the final, greatest disappointment, in a way. she was his last chance for a son, and she let him down. i also imagine that because narcissa is described as looking so different from the rest of the family, she probably takes after her mother--meaning she's just another reminder to her father of what a disappointment she is. not only is she not a son, but she doesn't even look like someone who carries the family name, instead taking after her rosier mother who failed to produce an heir.

so from birth, i imagine narcissa grew up with just this...constant awareness of her father's disdain. as a young child, of course, she couldn't understand what she'd done wrong, only that there was something wrong with her, which i think would have pushed her to desperately try and fix whatever it was that was wrong by doing her best to be the perfect pureblood daughter that everyone said she should be.

i also imagine narcissa as someone who sort of lived in the shadows of her older siblings. based on what little canon information we have, bellatrix and andromeda both seem a little more fiery and intense, whereas narcissa is a bit more quiet and passive (or at least, she seems that way until she's backed into a corner). i imagine narcissa as someone who was sort of babied by her older siblings, with bellatrix taking on that older-sister sort of motherly role that i described in my little bellatrix essay that made her seem larger than life and like the epitome of a perfect pureblood woman, everything narcissa was trying so hard to be. i imagine that andy was a bit more of a rebel, sort of like the fun older sibling who narcissa could goof around with, because andy didn't have that same crushing pressure that bellatrix was dealing with. still, i think both bella and andy would have been very protective of narcissa while growing up, and while i think they would have all been incredibly close and loved each other very much, i also think that protectiveness would sort of...emphasize this feeling that narcissa isn't quite their equal. like, she'd always be the baby of the family in their eyes. and to her, that felt a lot like she would always be trapped in her sisters' shadows.

i think as narcissa grew older, she--like both her sisters--would feel this growing dissastisfaction and unhappiness with her life within the pureblood system. but in the same way that bellatrix couldn't question the system itself without having to confront her own powerlessness, i think that narcissa also couldn't bring herself to really question pureblood culture and tradition on a fundamental level, because her whole life--her whole self--had been so fundamentally shaped by trying to fit in so that she could make up for what was "wrong" with her (being born a womannnn). so like, if trying to uphold pureblood tradition is making her unhappy, it's not because the tradition itself is fucked-up--it just means that narcissa is getting it wrong, that she's failing to do her duty, that she isn't being a good pureblood woman. y'know? like, she's been primed from birth to blame herself for any failure to fit into this system, rather than take a step back and ask herself if this system is even something that's worth fitting into.

when andy runs away, i think narcissa would feel just as betrayed as bellatrix, but it would be like...a different kind of betrayal. for bellatrix, it's the betrayal of feeling like you've given your whole life to protecting and raising this little sister so that she can have a good life as a pureblood woman, and then having that little sister throw it back in your face--your protection, your guidance, your love. like everything you sacrificed for her was worthless, meaningless. that's the kind of betrayal bellatrix feels, imo.

but for narcissa, it's the opposite. it's the person who was supposed to love you, supposed to protect you, supposed to always be there for you--and she suddenly abandons you, with no warning, completely blindsiding you. and leaving you all alone for the first time in your entire life. for narcissa, andy's betrayal is more about abandonment than anything else. and similarly to bellatrix, i think andromeda running away would have pushed narcissa further into the arms of pureblood tradition, just because it hurt her. and it's easier to turn that hurt on the muggleborn who lured her sister away than it is to question the entire system they're all so embedded in. it's easier to believe that her sister's been corrupted by blood traitors and the impure, because what else is she supposed to think? that andy just didn't love her enough to stay? that andy abandoned her in a fucked-up house that they all knew was fucked-up, even if they never said it out loud?

and personally, i really like the idea that andy was engaged to lucius malfoy and ran away to marry ted, meaning that narcissa was then engaged to lucius in her stead. i just think it's a fun little way to twist the knife on all this!

but yeah, after andromeda left...well, i think it would have been pretty much unthinkable to narcissa to do the same. because she was angry, and hurt, and so of course she was never going to do what andy did! of course she wasn't going to abandon her family, and her duty, and her sister. of course she was going to be a good pureblood woman and marry lucius malfoy and make her family proud.

and then once she marries lucius i just. imagine narcissa being so incredibly unhappy. and it's like. she's done everything she was supposed to do. and she finally starts to realize that it didn't matter. that no matter how hard she tries, abiding by all this pureblood culture and tradition is never going to make her happy. but by that point the war is raging, and lucius is getting in deeper with voldemort, and...i think narcissa just would have kinda. checked out. just not really cared about who's fighting and who's winning and who's losing, because she's already lost the game. and the only person she really has left (aside from, in my fic, alice) is bellatrix, who's becoming more and more fanatical about voldemort, and it's like...even if narcissa knows, now, that it's all a sham, she can't leave bellatrix. bellatrix is the only person who was always there for her, who always protected her, who never abandoned her. and so i think that's part of the reason that narcissa, though she never became a death eater herself, would stand by her death eater husband and her death eater sister. because for her it all becomes less about the greater good and these systems of power, and more just about the individual people left in her life that she loves.

i think this sort of characterization tracks for a lot of her actions during the second war in canon, where narcissa herself seems less invested in the actual blood purity rhetoric and more just. focused on keeping her son safe, at all costs, no matter what it takes. because by the time she has draco everything else is falling apart, and i think her son would have essentially become her entire world and pretty much the only thing she had left. and those are my thoughts on that!

[goldenteaset]

📝 and 👀 for the ask game if you please ☺️

Thanks anon! :D ...I'm going to assume you mean every S/I OC, you probably don't but hey, fun for me here we go~

How would your story in canon go? How would you influence the events of the original story?

For Cammy: she'd probably be in some of GBF's story events, most likely post-000 and likely VS Rising too if that becomes semi-canon. The biggest way she'd influence canon would be in how she and Belial met, i.e. Belial and Lucilius would be split up and doing their own things. As Belial's rebound girl, she'd be getting all of Belial's love displays for good or ill... (mostly good for the Skies though)

For Rose: Since Vash's story with Rose is set post-Badlands Rumble, that'd mean BLR...2! A whole new movie, with a much more romcom tone I think. Heck, it might even be on the mellower side of a Trigun '98 episode...like a "B Side" if you will.

For Legato (Stampede especially): Honestly I'm not sure. Maybe he lives longer, maybe Doll is in the background hanging out in his dune buggy getting charged, maybe we have a scene of Legato self-soothing by fumbling his way through "understanding child's play" with her.

How does your ship with your f/o influence both of your characterisations and the world? Would there be any interesting metas written about your dynamic?

So first of all, the metas with Legato and Doll would be insane in a (mostly) good way. XD Lots and lots of analysis about how she gave her personhood up to make her beloved happy in a similar way to Legato himself, but Legato refuses to take it away fully. Also how body-wise he designed her "older" than him and thus is this "Problematic" hybrid of mother figure/lover/playmate/soothing toy. (On the other hand, I hope there'd be people going "Legato isn't Legato without overly-complicated forms of attachment.")

With Vash and Rose I'm not sure what the meta would be like, they're pretty straightforward so far? ^^; Maybe some scene analysis?

For Belial and Cammy, I think the most common theme in meta would be "Is Cammy making Belial too soft, or is he always like this with those he loves and Lucilius just made him manifest that differently?" I'd hope the answer would be "It's complicated", because it is. XD; (I do write Belial differently with him than I do other characters, but then again one of my favorite "romantic" themes is "Love as a form of mutual insanity", so...)

Actually, now that I think about it, another theme might be "Cammy is more messed up than she looks"? Results unclear, but interesting.