#lalna is valid to be dad and nano is valid to be loved so goddamn much

[fluxedbuds]

Do you think you could do something similar with Nano? Just vomit about their character development?? I'd pay to read it

People asking me to rant about character’s psyches is a dream come true goddamn

Nano’s given me some trouble in figuring her out for sure- she’s not as horribly transparent as Lalna- but I’ve realized one of her biggest themes could be considered to be family.

Think about it, this is a lady who was literally found in the Nether with no concept of her past, possibly not even having one, and the FIRST person she met who wasn’t made of flux and straw BLEW HER UP. You can see how she’d be wanting for some familial bonds in her life- she wasn’t even given the choice to abandon her blood family, if she even HAS one instead of being, like, an elemental construct or something. Still not sure whats up with that tbh but thats a different post.

Through this lense, it makes sense that a being calling itself ‘Mother’ would have such an easy time getting to her, and makes it WAY sadder! By FB2, Nano seems to have lost nearly all her resistance and resentment against Mother.

And Five! Oh my god, Five!! She wants to be sisters! She wants a family, and Five basically only ever hated her due to Lalnable doing that thing shitty awful parents do where they compare their kids and make them compete to be valued at all. And they’re gonna be great goddamn sisters, and I’m so happy for them, and aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It’s not really a dynamic I considered before FB4, but it’s such a good one, and such a good end/near end point of both their arcs. Theres probably a post I could make here about Lalnable unlearning the same sort of comparison obsession that he taught himself and then took to batshit levels but eh

Now if you’ve been following me for like, any amount of time, you’re probably aware that I stick firmly to the take of Lalna and Nano having a platonic relationship, and a lot of my explanations are going to be coming from that perspective. I just really don’t think these two could possibly stand each other in a romantic relationship, Nano would literally kill Lalna two weeks in with minimal regret. OKAY BACK ON TOPIC-

My point is! I’ve made jokes about Lalna being a proud PTA dad before, but he really does talk about Nano in that way, and besides it being adorable, it’s also something Nano desperately craves. She literally kills Death on her own, with no backup, just to make Lalna proud of her. And he is!! He thinks Nano is the coolest shit on earth and he’s not shy about it. Nano has a lot of self doubt in her abilities to be on Lalna’s level, so that kind of unconditional supportiveness makes my heart cry. Lalna fills the role of father/older brother figure without being someone Nano feels scared of, or feels she can’t disagree with. They argue like, all the time! This is why you Do Not Separate Them! Sure, Nano keeps Lalna’s inability to comprehend morals in check most of the time, but Nano could easily kill the entire server if she didn’t have something to lose. She gives up on her revenge quest against Sjin because she doesn’t need that form of validation to feel okay anymore. And because they bullied him a bit but you know she was gunning for more than that at first.

And all this makes the end of FB4 even more Fucking Ouch than it already is, because not only is she sacrificing herself for her best friend, there’s a little bit of that feeling of inferiority left. Feeling like Lalna is more important in the end, that this is the best thing she can do with her life now. And I HATE IT because that’s so wildly untrue and Lalna would’ve done anything to have things be different. I really, really hope, if they make another season, Nano realizes how important she is to Lalna

Honestly, her friendship with Lomadia is really good too, although it’s not very much a part of the FB canon. Monster Hunters is a very cute series, and learning witchery from THE goddamn owl witch has gotta be a confidence booster for anyone. It’s something I want to give more focus in PIP, even though it’s not about the Buddies.

In summary, Nano has problems believing she’s capable of anything but Lalna loves her anyways, and she’s also the ultimate example of the found family trope