So when it comes to writing characters, is it okay to not give certain characters big backstories if you don’t plan on them serving large roles in the story or are mostly background characters? I’ve been trying to write a story and I’m not sure if that counts as lazy writing.

It’s totally fine! It depends on the writer and the story. I know some writers supposedly fill out pages and pages of background information for characters that will never be relevant to the story, and while I generally have a rough idea of what their backstory is, I definitely don’t do that. It comes down to their role in the story, and what you are comfortable with. If they are a major character, I think backstories are important to understanding them, but they aren’t everything. 

Rewrite the Stars Ch 3- Hamliet – Banana Fish (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 3/15
Fandom: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji, Sing Soo-Ling/Lee Yut-Lung
Characters: Ash Lynx, Okumura Eiji, Lee Yut-Lung, Sing Soo-Ling, Shorter Wong, Blanca (Banana Fish), Max Lobo, Ibe Shunichi, Nadia Wong, Charlie Dickenson (Banana Fish), Lao Yen-Thai, Jessica Randy
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe – High School, Bullying, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Depression, Friendship, Redemption, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Rewrite the Stars Ch 3- Hamliet – Banana Fish (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

BNHA thoughts, about Hawks. This idea came from reading a fanfic that pointed this out, and it got me thinking, made me start analyzing. Hawks and Shigaraki are foils in a sense. I mean, the panel of child!Shigaraki and the panel of child!Hawks are similar – they’re even sitting in the same “lost child” pose. Both are sitting in awful-looking conditions, and are “rescued” (yeah, NO) by an authority figure on either the Hero or Villain side, again, another set of panels that look similar. Part 2>

Hawks-Shiga Foils, Part 2. Shigaraki is raised as a successor to AFO,
one who will become an “Ultimate Villain” like his “Sensei” had been.
Shigaraki is wanted for his absolutely devastating Quirk, his
psychological/symbolic value as Nana’s grandson is just a nasty
cherry-on-top. There’s not much past to go on with Hawks (yet). He was
been taken in by the Hero Commission and raised to be a “Hero” first and
a person second. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his real name
isn’t known. Part 3>
       
   

Hawks-Shiga foils Part 3. The way Hawks was raised to be a Hero by his
“handlers” feels like grooming. It’s skin-crawly. The whole “faceless
dudes in suits” trope is one way to immediately make an organization
seem far less trustworthy to the audience, and who are the Hero
Commission (not actual Pro Heroes) so far? Faceless Business Suits. In
short, Shigaraki and Hawks have been groomed by the opposite sides – but
it says much more when it’s a supposedly “heroic” organization doing
it. Part 4>
      

Hawks-Shiga foil Part 4, kind of. A Disclaimer I Probably should have
put at the start: This talk of foiling applies to canon material, I
brought up the fanfic because it explores this bit of foiling and gave
me the spark to do some thinking of my own. Having said that, If you
ever want to discuss fanfics in a meta way, I’d be up for it.) The
fanfic, series actually, is “Keep Your Vigil” by pariahpirate on Ao3.
Considering it inspired a meta/discussion out of me, I /really/
recommend this one.
       
   

   

Thanks for the recommendation! And I do agree that it does apply to canon material as well. Hawks and Shigaraki do have a lot in common in terms of being raised for the opposite side and their less than fortunate backgrounds being taken advantage of. Like, we don’t need much to tell us that we’re getting cringey vibes from the brief flashback we had of Hawks, that people were eager to have him stoke his quirk while he clearly has very little control over his life (even now, what with being forced to infiltrate the League of Villains and all). I’m curious to see how this gets developed further, as I am still dreading Hawks’s fall to villainy.

Rewrite the Stars Ch 2 – Hamliet – Banana Fish (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

Chapters: 2/14
Fandom: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji, Sing Soo-Ling/Lee Yut-Lung
Characters: Ash Lynx, Okumura Eiji, Lee Yut-Lung, Sing Soo-Ling, Shorter Wong, Blanca (Banana Fish), Max Lobo, Ibe Shunichi, Nadia Wong, Charlie Dickenson (Banana Fish), Lao Yen-Thai, Jessica Randy
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe – High School, Bullying, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Depression, Friendship, Redemption, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Rewrite the Stars Ch 2 – Hamliet – Banana Fish (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

neferp1t0u:

Something I love about Hunter X Hunter is that Gon’s determination is NOT portrayed as his best feature. It’s his flaw.

In most shonen, the protagonist never gives up and that’s how he wins (along with the power of friendship). It’s seen as admirable, something that viewers should strive for.

But in HxH, that refusal to give up is terrifying. Gon goes past his limits and hurts himself and others in the process. It gets to a point where you don’t want him to win anymore, if this is what winning means. You take one look at Gon, and you think, “He needs to stop. This isn’t healthy.” And even when he does win, it’s bittersweet. You aren’t left with the high of a power fantasy. You’re left with concern for this small child who is continually destroying himself, over and over.