#i love azumaaaa i could talk about him all day

[aftokrator-official]

AZUMAAA, 2, 4, 13, 14, 21 and 26!!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I LOVE that he's literally the only person besides Yuuma, the actual child soldier, who is so calm and detached in battle that he doesn't trigger Kageura's side effect. That's insane. And I swear you can see it in his eyes when he's shooting, too.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

In general I think he'd be an INCREDIBLE character for any kind of survival horror setting. He's got a lot of the skills that would keep him alive in that kind of story, but he's also so much softer than the typical gun-toting, hard-edged, lone badass survivor archetype. Even if he was surviving in isolation for a while, I think he'd be more just... quietly traumatized, and quick to show warmth to other (especially younger) survivors he encountered even if he's still savvy enough not to trust too quickly.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

HM that's a tough one, I don't think he'd use emojis too much aside from the occasional ^^ or :) (etc) to convey tone. One time he drops a ":3" and the entire sniper groupchat collectively loses their minds for a week

For just one that reminds me of him, though, it's gotta be the Man Feeding Baby👨🏻‍🍼 like come on

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Azuma is so poised and dignified and mature that I really enjoy putting him in situations to utterly overwhelm him and strip away that sense of calm. Obviously true for whump - Azuma Endures Terrible Suffering With Dignity is something I come back to again and again for good reason - but also useful in lighter fics, especially when it's his POV, or when it's to give one of the kids a "oh, he's NOT an invincible badass who can do anything, he's actually got limits" moment about their mentor. I don't like to subvert expectations with him to the point that he's not actually kind or humble or competent, but I also think he's the sort to internalize his flaws and hide his problems (ESPECIALLY in a setting like Border, where he's in a position of authority and doesn't want personal problems to get in the way of his work), so it's easy for him to appear more perfect than he is until you get closer or see him from another angle. I really like the idea that he's prone to over-extending himself, and that he's rather like Osamu in the way that he prioritizes others to the point of not considering himself. (takes one to know one!)

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

Azuma unflinchingly, without hesitating, shooting Koarai in the head to save him from the Rabbit. That whole scene, especially with Koarai just immediately screaming for Azuma when he's in real danger, lives rent free in my brain and I will never forgive s1 for ruining it. However much he's used to working with Trigger weapons and even taking down his own former students in Rank Wars, that has to have fucked with him, even if it only really hit him later when the crisis was over. He's sooo calm and collected under pressure and it's honestly scary if you think about it... Azuma could do a lot of damage if he was a worse kind of person.