duo, pay attention.

[kaigou]

This is my personal theory - we discussed it in passing at dinner on Saturday evening, but despite Sharon & Jana (I think) demurring, I hold to it. Duo, next time you come with, 'cause I want backup on this. Casey was too busy talking to DC to be much help.

Heero - suicidal not by virtue of choosing death, but by virtue of not wanting to continue the life he'd led so far; there's a subtle but important difference
Duo - far from suicidal at any point, but homicidal? hell yeah. Only willing to contemplate self-destruction when his back is against the wall and he's assured he's going to take plenty of the enemy with him.
Trowa - suicidal because he can't think of anything better to do with his time. I know that sounds odd, but that seems to be his attitude: "Oh, well, guess I'll try this, then."
Quatre - altruistically homicidal. Again, back against the wall, but he takes that route as the last option, and knowing that in doing so, he's making sure the cause itself continues.*
Wufei - the only one IIRC who never even considers the option of self-destruction, let alone tries, but that fits with his character. Knowing you're the last one surviving of your family puts a heavy burden on ya, I'd think.

*I think this is the main reason Duo later has no issues listening to Quatre's lead, and in fact seems to turn to Quatre on Peacemillion as de facto leader. If Quatre is willing to be so ruthless about his own life, he's clearly a leader who won't ask you to do something he himself wouldn't do. Compared to Heero, who may be 'the heart of outer space' but has the leadership qualities of a brick. Heero won't bother asking another to do what he'd do; he'll just go do it himself!

---

Every now and then I contemplate writing an essay or two for Zania's site, just because she doesn't have enough to code already. Gotta keep those archivists busy. *smirk* Which reminds me, I still have to post girl_starfish's new story, and if it doesn't get finished, I'm going to be stringing her up when I get to Japan next Spring.

And wah, there went my brain. Watch it go. Will add more later, when I'm done with the one-shot on Relena for A Very Late Addition to Psyche's Before the Beginning challenge. I kept meaning to write it, and then I'd get distracted, but right now I'm finding it almost impossible to make the mental leap necessary for Celia in Dancing. I've got the scene, I've got the setup, I've got Keegan ready and willing to be all supportive-y friend, and Celia won't behave. *kicks characters* More later.


EDIT: whew, got it done. only been promising for what, two months now?

( one secret )

for psyche's before the beginning challenge. rated PG, no warnings, no pairings, no cussing...just a rite of passage.

Comments

It's not even my turn....

[sarolynne.livejournal.com]

Though I get kinda giggly when someone starts digging deeply into the characterisation or the politics of GW. I love the series. I saw it twice, bought the box set and watched it again with my husband. It's adorable, it refuses to take the easy way out (ie Good vs Bad), it raises some interesting questions, it has plot holes you can drive a Gundam through. Hmmm, love it.

*laughs!!* One of my friends watched GW because her husband is into anime. I told her that it was one I enjoyed.

She called me a week later after watching the first DVD and said, much confussion in her voice, "I can't tell who the good guys are." The only person she was pretty sure was good was Quatre. After much laughing on my part and that particular silence that means that someone is looking at the phone as though it has lost its mind in lieu of you, I managed to ask if she included Duo in that.

When she took that question seriously, I laughed some more.

There is a point to this, believe it or not, and it's not even that not everyone can spot Gundam Wing's charm. My friend never did get into it, and a big part of it was that she never could really pin down the dynamics of it. She wanted to be able to say, These guys are good, and these guys are bad. She wanted the heroes to be real heroes, which they are (I suppose) at the end, and in EW. When pressed, my friend was fairly sure Relena was the real protagonist because she was the character who grew the most in her mind, and had the clearest epiphany.

*sniffles* She never did really warm up to Duo.

She then asked me how I could devote so much time and energy to contemplating fictional characters that aren't even that deep, but very ambiguous.

When I told her the ambiguity was why is was so interesting, it led to more of that phone silence.

Re: It's not even my turn....

[solitude1056.livejournal.com]

I find people understand better if you tell them, "these aren't characters so much as archetypes." Putting it all into the realm of myth - where it's not always clear how or why so-and-so does such-and-such, but that this is simply the next step in the myth. I mean, just why does Inanna (IIRC) throw the wrench in the friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu? Why does Maeve decide she has to have those five bulls? Who knows! There's no visible motivation or character development, but that's okay. It's myth.

So, yeah. Ambiguity is the best thing about the series. Oodles and oodles of hours of 'why', 'how', and 'what if.'