#does this count as lambertposting? I feel like it does in a way

[solcorvidae]

(I can remove the tags you you'd like, prev, just let me know.)

I apologize in advance for dumping an essay in the notes of a silly post about the draw of mention-only characters...

HOWEVER, I feel like with Aiden specifically... I suspect that the degree of consistency in his characterization might come from people who have first taken the time to understand Lambert as a character before even touching Aiden. I think that many people who write and draw Aiden also have already put the effort into understanding what kind of person Lambert is, what kind of relationships he has and maintains, what he values in his personal life, and why Lambert expresses himself in the ways he does. 

Now, I'm not a Harry Potter fan, and I am just going off of the screenshot above... but it sounds like Daphne Greengrass is never canonically mentioned in relation to a well-known/main character. If Daphne is only brought up in a list, I would assume that she has only developed common character traits through the fandom, detached from the source material nearly entirely. 

With Aiden (and I am definitely biased because this is how I developed my understanding of his character,) it seems that The Witcher fandom has taken the handful of dialogue lines where he's mentioned and has tried to understand Aiden through the lens of a character we already know and love. 

After vaguely outlining to Geralt how he and Aiden met in Ellander after his contract with the Ogre went awry, Lambert had described Aiden as "the best man I'd ever met," and without going into an in-depth character analysis of both of these guys... I think the fandom understands what kind of person Lambert is and what type of person he would not only befriend but also defend in such a dramatic and emotional way. He told Geralt (to his face, mind you.) that despite the importance of their relationship --their history-- what he and Aiden had was "no comparison," and later (depending on if you allow him to kill Karadin.) that he doesn't know if he'll "be able to forgive" Geralt for what he has done. In my eyes, both these statements have huge implications. 

We have been given virtually no information about Aiden himself, but we sure as hell know a lot about Lambert. And through Lambert, we have developed a sense of understanding of who he might have been; a vibe, if you will. I think this is why he is so clockable in fanart as Aiden and not a ground-up built, wholehearted, original Witcher OC, no matter how unique his character design is and how drastically it varies, artist to artist. 

And I just think that's neat. (x)

I exposed all you lambden shippers on reddit lol