geri_chan | 30-Day Fanfic Writing Meme, Day 3

3. For each of the fandoms from day two, what were your favorite characters to write?

Snupin: Of course it's Lupin and Snape! See my Snape/Lupin ship essay on Snapedom for my lengthy reasons on why I love our favorite Potions Master and werewolf. As supporting characters, I also enjoy writing Blaise and Theodore, and Draco and Narcissa, along with a number of OCs that I invented for my Always series--I'm especially fond of the werewolves Lukas and Ash.

Petshop: Leon and D, although I also love Jill, Chris, Tet-chan, and Ten-chan. But of course the Leon/D ship is the main attraction for me. I think that my reasons for liking Petshop are maybe a little similar: the two main characters, Leon and Count D start off as enemies, but gradually become friends (and in fanon, lovers).

Leon is a Los Angeles homicide detective investigating a series of mysterious deaths that seem to be linked to a petshop in Chinatown that is run by Count D, an androgynously beautiful young Chinese man who claims to be running the shop for his grandfather, who is traveling abroad. The reader knows, although Leon does not, that in addition to the normal puppies and kittens and birds, D sells very special and magical pets to certain customers--for example, a mermaid that appears to be the reincarnation of a young man's drowned fiancee. However, he makes the customers sign contracts listing very specific instructions on how they are to care for these "pets," and if these conditions are broken, the result is often fatal. Leon can never make any criminal charges stick against D, but that doesn't stop him from trying, and so he spends a lot of time hanging out at the shop alternately interrogating D and trying to coax information out of him with expensive sweets and pastries. (D has a huge sweet tooth, and part of the fun is watching him go into orgasmic ecstasies over the fancy pastries that Leon brings him.)

D is elegant, beautiful, and mysterious, and is (almost) always cool and collected--Leon seems to be the only one can make him lose his temper. As for Leon, he seems like a Japanese stereotype of the typical American: brash, outspoken, and often rude. And yet he can also be brave, kind, and compassionate. Is it any wonder that these two opposites attract each other?

The manga starts off seeming like it's going to be a monster-of-the-week episodic horror series, but what really got me hooked was the character development and the way that Leon and D and their relationship with each other slowly changed over the course of the series.

There's plenty of hints that Leon and D are attracted to each other, but in canon, their relationship never moves beyond friendship, so that was the main reason why I started writing fic about them: to satisfy my desire to see them finally become a couple.

Akino-sensei also writes an awesome supporting female character: Jill, Leon's friend and colleague, another detective in the homicide department. She strikes a nice contrast to him, being practical and level-headed when Leon often acts rashly without thinking things through. She also has a mischievous sense of humor and likes to tease him about his relationship with the Count, although she does help him with his unofficial investigation of the petshop.

Harudaki: Kikuchi and Onozuka, of course! It's funny that I love this couple so much when we never actually see them meet in canon. But they're both devious schemers, so they seem like they'd be well-suited to each other. If I can borrow an HP metaphor, they're Slytherin types, which really appeals to me. What I like about them is that they're so complex: Kikuchi is the villain in the one chapter he appears in, attempting to break up Iwaki and Katou out of spite, and yet, I couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for him. His own career was ruined when he was outed as gay in the media, so it's no wonder that he resents Katou and Iwaki, who are adored by the public as two straight guys who miraculously fell in love with each other. As for Onozuka, he's scheming and manipulative, but is deeply loyal to his friends, and most of the manipulating that we see is done to reconcile the quarreling Katou and Miyasaka--a fascinating combination of cynicism and altruism.

And of course I do love Iwaki and Katou, and I enjoy writing about them--they're the main characters and the reason that I originally got hooked on Haru, after all. But Nitta-sensei writes them so well in canon that I feel more moved to write about the supporting characters that we know less about but would like to see more of. I would also like to write more Mochimune/Miyasaka. Actually, I love all the characters in Haru and would love to write stories for them if only I had more time: Iwaki's family, Katou's family, Kaneko, and Shimizu. I think it shows just how great a writer Nitta-sensei is, that she can make even the supporting characters, some of whom appear only once or twice in the series, interesting and complex enough that we would love to see them get stories of their own.

Previous days:
Day 1
Day 2