Hitomi:
I just thought of a fantastic reason for them to lose touch with each other during the intervening years. This adulthood characterstic, the desire to become normal and fit in to society, is especially strong in Japanese culture.
Rambling on with numerous "what if" statements is awesome ^^
Yamamoto Sousuke:
He will be an interesting character if I can just add some more to him. His name is composed of "mountain roots, world help". He's a man of a past era. A foil to Allen. I like to think of him as someone Van might have turned out to be, and Hitomi would be happy with him, in other circumstaces.
Van:
Van's father figures are rather problematic. There's Goau, who died when he was 3, so he couldn't have remembered very much about him. In fact, Van's only flashback during the series about him was his death. There's Folken, 10 years older, but disappeared when he was 5, and later discovered to be the traitor of his country. Then there's Balgus, who was father enough with his training and discipline, but never crossed the master-servant line in polite address.
If Van had never met Hitomi, I don't think he would turn out the same way.
Merle:
Many fanfic authors portray Merle in love with Van, especially in continuation stories. I don't really agree. Yes, she's very protective of him, cannot bear to be separated, and is jealous of his attention. But she was only 13. She was orphaned from a young age (she must have been less than 3 when Van tried to fly) and seemed to live in the castle as almost-sibling, despite the cultural prevalence of beastmen and humans living in separate communities, so she must have understood the significance of the family's trust and love in her. Like Balgus, she never dropped honorifics nor polite verb endings when she talked to Van.
And in her "Cat Delicacy" song, she said she dreamt "you" turned into a white cat--so I think, ultimately, that she must fall in love with a cat.
Progress:
- I've added in a crucial plot point into ch 2 that I failed to think about before. The chapter is much better, now.
- Needs more character plans for Sousuke and Yukari if I want to add in deeper developments into ch 1. Right now it's a little too fairy tale.
- This week's plan: finish editing ch 3 and 4. Add in adulthood. Develop Leal. Cut out slow parts: needs more focus.
1 comment:
Hahaha. "Lack of social graces" is such a polite way to refer to Van's behavior. You're right that Hitomi probably wouldn't have liked Van if she didn't have to stay with him for weeks. Van and Sousuke are the type of people who tend to grow on you as you learn more about them. I hope I didn't make them too much alike--Sousuke is very old-school Japanese--it would be bad of me to put Hitomi in such a position.
I like Yutaro. He seems like such a good-natured, generous guy.
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