Dawn [Inferno] // Luke fon Fabre (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
heliokleptic) wrote2011-01-23 04:28 am
heliokleptic) wrote2011-01-23 04:28 am
Entry tags:
Brattiness Essay and Quick Relationships
In Tales of the Abyss, Luke fon Fabre is one of the most enduring, understanding, selfless, well put together, non-judgmental characters you will ever find.
But that's at the end of the canon. Right now, Luke has no memories.
Luke is the brattiest brat you are likely to find. I am not kidding. Tales of the Abyss is not a cast of jesii. There are a number of terrible characters, including a lying swindling thirteen year old, a snooty princess, and a snarky sociopath who gets his kicks mocking he entire cast regularly. Luke is by leaps and bounds the most obnoxious of them. I didn't exactly REALIZE Luke would quickly alienate his entire team, but I am not surprised either, especially at first. After dealing with Luke for a while, his canon teammates do genuinely seem to like him, despite his NUMEROUS flaws. But particularly right in the beginning pretty much everyone just endures him for one reason or another.
In Aather, Ruby doesn't have those reasons really. No one needs Luke for anything, no one is really responsible for him either. So he's just some annoying brat in an already annoying situation and yes it makes PERFECT SENSE that half his team wants to strangle him 8D;
However, the odd thing about Luke's brattiness is it really doesn't... come from where people might expect! Luke actually doesn't assume he is better than anyone, he isn't really greedy, he has no special desire to be in charge. So when Luke is doing something that YOU JUST WANT TO SMACK HIM FOR, it usually comes from one of tow places:
A) He is super incredibly insecure and compensates by overacting how much you totally don't matter to him.
B) He is actually THAT STUPID about social everything
Luke is almost never intentionally a dick in canon, even when he is at his worst. Anytime he is actually being a dick knowing he is being a dick and just to be a dick it's usually childish and prankster level. The rest of it pretty much entirely one of those two things.
EXAMPLE: Early one, Tear sacrifices an incredibly pricey necklace to rent a coach so Luke doesn't have to walk to the next town. It IS sort of Tear's fault that Luke is in the middle of nowhere, and she is taking responsibility for that! But a common person would probably not let a decent and responsible young girl sacrifice a pricey gem for a CARRIAGE RIDE, or miss the fact that it obviously has emotional importance to her since it's apparently the only thing of value she carries.
Luke just sort of goes 'WHOO HOO' and sleeps on the ride to the next town.
Because Luke is rich and spoiled, has ZERO concept of money, and very little concept of sentimental value. He's pretty much incapable of seeing something from someone else's perspective. It literally doesn't occur to him that its important to her and EVEN IF you pointed it out, he still wouldn't get it. Because obviously it's just a ROCK and when I get home my dad can buy you ten like it whateeeverr. If it has no value to HIM it has no value period.
EXAMPLE 2: The reason Van manipulates Luke so well in canon is because Luke literally does not get anything. And Van is one of the only people who takes the time out to explain things in a way he can understand, to explain other people's perspectives, to repeat Luke's so Luke knows Van understands him. NOW, it's true Luke totally fails to take any initiative on TRYING to understand other people. If you do not sit him down and tell him in detail what he is not getting, he will usually fail to put any thought into it, and any thought he does put in will be stupid. But at the same time, basically everyone in canon fails to understand the complete level of Luke's ignorance. Even Guy and Natalia often skip on this. But just telling him something is rude has no meaning unless you explain why, because Luke wasn't TRYING to be rude, he was just saying what he thinks. What's bad about that??
This all kind of ties into something Ion says about Luke later in canon! That Luke was always kind, he just didn't know how to express himself.
Which is pretty much exactly it. Luke is incredibly kind, and I imagine it will come up at various points later. He is just extremely self absorbed, in the sense that he literally CAN'T see outside his own bubble. He's extremely insecure, and subsequently responds to even the slightest amount of criticism with defensiveness. But he doesn't think he is better than anyone, and isn't trying to control or manipulate anyone; in fact I'm not sure he even understands those concepts. He doesn't have enough confidence in himself to act the way he really is, so he shuts people out a lot and generally is a jerk. But because he is SO INSECURE people who are nice to him TOTALLY OWN HIM. In fact smiling at him is pretty much enough to make him get all blushy tsundere. He's already soft on Jacuzzi because Jacuzzi (once he stopped crying) has been exceptionally nice and humble.
EVENTUALLY. Memories will happen and Luke will grow into a highly decent human being. But FOR NOW he is going to be continue to be the most obnoxious, inexcusable brat everrrr. It won't be intentional, he won't even realize he's doing it! And subsequently won't have any idea why people start to hate him 8D;
THAT SAID. With some patience Luke is actually very easy to work with. Guy innately has that type of personality. Other people on Ruby may or may not figure it out. Because Luke isn't REALLY bossy, and doesn't really think he is better than anyone, and is basically a pushover, you can make him do almost anything provided you aren't a dick to him while telling him, and if you put up with his bitching for a few seconds.
He is also actually perfectly capable of understanding anything that is explained to him in detail, like why you are an asshole when you eat the only strawberry and steal your teammate's cot to make a double cot for yourself. Just MOST PEOPLE (correctly) assume that is common sense and don't go further than "You're an asshole!" which is not sufficient for Luke to understand anything.
Because really, Luke's canon changing event is when he decides to start thinking about things and questioning them for himself. And thus, up until then, he never did that. So unless others do the thinking and explaining FOR HIM. All is lost 8D; However! Once you learn how to sort of move him, he is actually pretty tolerable, which I think is why Guy cares about him even though he's such a brat, and why the canon party eventually starts to like him even tho he is not any less of a brat.
BUT ENOUGH ON BRATTINESS. Let's talk relationship first impressions.
Dusk/Asch- BROTHER??? As much as Dawn feels KIND OF WEIRD about this and doesn't know what to about it. He inherently wants Dusk's approval WAY MORE than all of the other people who he also desperately craves to like him. He'll mostly follow Dusk's lead and probably do as he is told provided they don't degrade into fights.
Spark/Guy- Someone Dawn remembers! And even tho he hasn't admitted it, because he's afraid of what will happen if Spark is like "We aren't friends" he THINKS of Spark has his friend because even tho he has only bitched about the memory, IN the memory he was actually really happy that his friend was ignoring his Father's orders to come hang out with him. But at the same time even Dawn realizes they don't actually know anything about each other so they probably aren't really friends and this is probably stupid1!! So he will just pretend like he doesn't really care >.>!! But what this means is Spark also owns him a lot, if slightly less than Dusk.
Despair/Jacuzzi- Like I said, Dawn is secretly kind of dere for him and protective of him because Jacuzzi has been nice to him since he stopped sobbing. This doesn't mean Luke won't be a jerk to him by virtue of being Luke, but he'll be a BIGGER jerk to anyone who is a jerk to Jacuzzi 8|;
Wrath/Gokudera- Kind of unsure about, generally likes him, and considers him the most go-to person on the team for conversation, but doesn't really feel comfortable around him.
That Thing/Ahiru- WHY IS IT USELESS? At least it won't eat a lot of food 8|; I wonder if I can take it's bed? And why does it like that stupid asshole Dick anyway!!!
Dick/Mukuro- 8||!!!! Mukuro is the only person who openly constantly frustrates the hell out of Dawn and ALSO makes him feel insecure all the time but it's sort of just becoming a cranky bitch rivalry on Dawn's end. He absolutely still wants Dick's attention and approval as much as anyone else's, he just... yah. Not happening. GOING TO BE TSUN INSTEAD. But Dick still owns him to a certain degree by virtue of being Team.
AND FINALLY. As much as dawn will get in ALL THE CRANKY BITCH FIGHTS. He is actually physically unable to hold a grudge. This is consistent throughout all of canon. He gets over things INSTANTLY, or if he is having a super bad day he might rub your nose in something a few times. But he is not a revenger and is not a holding onto angerer. Which is also why he can keep talking to people like Mukuro who are consistently dicks to him: even tho he REMEMBERS the last time he is also actually over it.
But that's at the end of the canon. Right now, Luke has no memories.
Luke is the brattiest brat you are likely to find. I am not kidding. Tales of the Abyss is not a cast of jesii. There are a number of terrible characters, including a lying swindling thirteen year old, a snooty princess, and a snarky sociopath who gets his kicks mocking he entire cast regularly. Luke is by leaps and bounds the most obnoxious of them. I didn't exactly REALIZE Luke would quickly alienate his entire team, but I am not surprised either, especially at first. After dealing with Luke for a while, his canon teammates do genuinely seem to like him, despite his NUMEROUS flaws. But particularly right in the beginning pretty much everyone just endures him for one reason or another.
In Aather, Ruby doesn't have those reasons really. No one needs Luke for anything, no one is really responsible for him either. So he's just some annoying brat in an already annoying situation and yes it makes PERFECT SENSE that half his team wants to strangle him 8D;
However, the odd thing about Luke's brattiness is it really doesn't... come from where people might expect! Luke actually doesn't assume he is better than anyone, he isn't really greedy, he has no special desire to be in charge. So when Luke is doing something that YOU JUST WANT TO SMACK HIM FOR, it usually comes from one of tow places:
A) He is super incredibly insecure and compensates by overacting how much you totally don't matter to him.
B) He is actually THAT STUPID about social everything
Luke is almost never intentionally a dick in canon, even when he is at his worst. Anytime he is actually being a dick knowing he is being a dick and just to be a dick it's usually childish and prankster level. The rest of it pretty much entirely one of those two things.
EXAMPLE: Early one, Tear sacrifices an incredibly pricey necklace to rent a coach so Luke doesn't have to walk to the next town. It IS sort of Tear's fault that Luke is in the middle of nowhere, and she is taking responsibility for that! But a common person would probably not let a decent and responsible young girl sacrifice a pricey gem for a CARRIAGE RIDE, or miss the fact that it obviously has emotional importance to her since it's apparently the only thing of value she carries.
Luke just sort of goes 'WHOO HOO' and sleeps on the ride to the next town.
Because Luke is rich and spoiled, has ZERO concept of money, and very little concept of sentimental value. He's pretty much incapable of seeing something from someone else's perspective. It literally doesn't occur to him that its important to her and EVEN IF you pointed it out, he still wouldn't get it. Because obviously it's just a ROCK and when I get home my dad can buy you ten like it whateeeverr. If it has no value to HIM it has no value period.
EXAMPLE 2: The reason Van manipulates Luke so well in canon is because Luke literally does not get anything. And Van is one of the only people who takes the time out to explain things in a way he can understand, to explain other people's perspectives, to repeat Luke's so Luke knows Van understands him. NOW, it's true Luke totally fails to take any initiative on TRYING to understand other people. If you do not sit him down and tell him in detail what he is not getting, he will usually fail to put any thought into it, and any thought he does put in will be stupid. But at the same time, basically everyone in canon fails to understand the complete level of Luke's ignorance. Even Guy and Natalia often skip on this. But just telling him something is rude has no meaning unless you explain why, because Luke wasn't TRYING to be rude, he was just saying what he thinks. What's bad about that??
This all kind of ties into something Ion says about Luke later in canon! That Luke was always kind, he just didn't know how to express himself.
Which is pretty much exactly it. Luke is incredibly kind, and I imagine it will come up at various points later. He is just extremely self absorbed, in the sense that he literally CAN'T see outside his own bubble. He's extremely insecure, and subsequently responds to even the slightest amount of criticism with defensiveness. But he doesn't think he is better than anyone, and isn't trying to control or manipulate anyone; in fact I'm not sure he even understands those concepts. He doesn't have enough confidence in himself to act the way he really is, so he shuts people out a lot and generally is a jerk. But because he is SO INSECURE people who are nice to him TOTALLY OWN HIM. In fact smiling at him is pretty much enough to make him get all blushy tsundere. He's already soft on Jacuzzi because Jacuzzi (once he stopped crying) has been exceptionally nice and humble.
EVENTUALLY. Memories will happen and Luke will grow into a highly decent human being. But FOR NOW he is going to be continue to be the most obnoxious, inexcusable brat everrrr. It won't be intentional, he won't even realize he's doing it! And subsequently won't have any idea why people start to hate him 8D;
THAT SAID. With some patience Luke is actually very easy to work with. Guy innately has that type of personality. Other people on Ruby may or may not figure it out. Because Luke isn't REALLY bossy, and doesn't really think he is better than anyone, and is basically a pushover, you can make him do almost anything provided you aren't a dick to him while telling him, and if you put up with his bitching for a few seconds.
He is also actually perfectly capable of understanding anything that is explained to him in detail, like why you are an asshole when you eat the only strawberry and steal your teammate's cot to make a double cot for yourself. Just MOST PEOPLE (correctly) assume that is common sense and don't go further than "You're an asshole!" which is not sufficient for Luke to understand anything.
Because really, Luke's canon changing event is when he decides to start thinking about things and questioning them for himself. And thus, up until then, he never did that. So unless others do the thinking and explaining FOR HIM. All is lost 8D; However! Once you learn how to sort of move him, he is actually pretty tolerable, which I think is why Guy cares about him even though he's such a brat, and why the canon party eventually starts to like him even tho he is not any less of a brat.
BUT ENOUGH ON BRATTINESS. Let's talk relationship first impressions.
Dusk/Asch- BROTHER??? As much as Dawn feels KIND OF WEIRD about this and doesn't know what to about it. He inherently wants Dusk's approval WAY MORE than all of the other people who he also desperately craves to like him. He'll mostly follow Dusk's lead and probably do as he is told provided they don't degrade into fights.
Spark/Guy- Someone Dawn remembers! And even tho he hasn't admitted it, because he's afraid of what will happen if Spark is like "We aren't friends" he THINKS of Spark has his friend because even tho he has only bitched about the memory, IN the memory he was actually really happy that his friend was ignoring his Father's orders to come hang out with him. But at the same time even Dawn realizes they don't actually know anything about each other so they probably aren't really friends and this is probably stupid1!! So he will just pretend like he doesn't really care >.>!! But what this means is Spark also owns him a lot, if slightly less than Dusk.
Despair/Jacuzzi- Like I said, Dawn is secretly kind of dere for him and protective of him because Jacuzzi has been nice to him since he stopped sobbing. This doesn't mean Luke won't be a jerk to him by virtue of being Luke, but he'll be a BIGGER jerk to anyone who is a jerk to Jacuzzi 8|;
Wrath/Gokudera- Kind of unsure about, generally likes him, and considers him the most go-to person on the team for conversation, but doesn't really feel comfortable around him.
That Thing/Ahiru- WHY IS IT USELESS? At least it won't eat a lot of food 8|; I wonder if I can take it's bed? And why does it like that stupid asshole Dick anyway!!!
Dick/Mukuro- 8||!!!! Mukuro is the only person who openly constantly frustrates the hell out of Dawn and ALSO makes him feel insecure all the time but it's sort of just becoming a cranky bitch rivalry on Dawn's end. He absolutely still wants Dick's attention and approval as much as anyone else's, he just... yah. Not happening. GOING TO BE TSUN INSTEAD. But Dick still owns him to a certain degree by virtue of being Team.
AND FINALLY. As much as dawn will get in ALL THE CRANKY BITCH FIGHTS. He is actually physically unable to hold a grudge. This is consistent throughout all of canon. He gets over things INSTANTLY, or if he is having a super bad day he might rub your nose in something a few times. But he is not a revenger and is not a holding onto angerer. Which is also why he can keep talking to people like Mukuro who are consistently dicks to him: even tho he REMEMBERS the last time he is also actually over it.
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Rapunzel super likes Guy so maybe she will come check out you Ruby kids at some point and be adorable at you!
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...so Mint acts pretty similarly to Luke, but for all the above reasons instead. THEY SHOULD MEET. Clash of the bratty redhead protagonists.
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IT'S OKAY ONE DAY I'LL BE OVERLY PROTECTIVE OF YOU IN RETURN