Characterizing Misato at 12/13 years old

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Characterizing Misato at 12/13 years old

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Postby Reichu » Thu May 21, 2015 12:21 pm

For the story I'm currently working on, Misato is at the oh-so-enviable ages of 12 and 13. (Not at the same time.) The show doesn't give a whole lot of insight into what she might've been like at this age. (Prior to being traumatized by her dad's lousy parenting decisions, anyway.)

We know that when she was four or so, she was struggling to be a good little girl and cultivating the beginnings of her Daddy Complex.

Episode 25 wrote:Misato:
I have to be a good girl.

TEXT:
"Why?"

Misato:
Because my dad's not around.
I have to help my mom and be a good girl.
But I don't want to become like my mom,
because she's always crying when my dad isn't here.
No crying, no being spoiled.
That's why I have to be a good girl.
And I'm going to do my best so my dad won't hate me.


By the time of the divorce, whenever that was, Misato had apparently abandoned her "good little girl" image to some extent, since she recounts to Shinji that she "laughed" at Daddy when he reacted to the news.

Episode 12 wrote:Misato:
My father was a man who lived for his research,
for his dreams, to the exclusion of all else.
I could never forgive him for that. I even hated him.

Misato:
He never took care of me, my mother or the family.
His friends always said he was very sensitive and delicate.
But the truth was that he was just a weak person
running away from reality, the reality called his family.
He was like a kid.
I readily agreed with my mother when she decided to divorce him,
because she was always crying.
It seemed to have come as a shock to him,
but at the time, I laughed at him because I felt he'd brought it on himself.


For my own purposes, I assume that Misato is 12 when the divorce happens. So, sometime between the ages of 4 and 12, Misato has essentially given up on her dad and doesn't feel like she has to be "good" for him anymore, since her efforts clearly didn't result in the reliable father figure she wanted. She's "sided" with Mom and is probably supporting her every way she can, but no longer has any reservations about expressing her disdain for Dad. "Yeah, get rid of that trash. We don't need him. Excuse me while I go laugh in his face."

Writing Misato as a preteen-going-on-teen has been quite difficult. The relationship with her dad is obviously complicated. Even though she grows to "hate" him, the underlying need for his love and affirmation never goes away (like with Shinji and Gendo). It's difficult to decide exactly how hostile to make her toward Dad. I'm trying to veer toward her being relatively aloof for now, with the repressed hostility breaking free at the divorce proceedings. I harbor sick fantasies of having Misato lay some very harsh language onto him at various points, as well, but I'm not sure how realistic that would actually be...

Also, considering the whole thing with Kaji later -- and that weird self-admission in HIP that she wants her dad to watch her bone a guy she's only boning because he reminds her of Daddy (good grief!) -- it seems hard to discount that there might be some repressed sexual confusion taking place. ("I hate him! But I also can't help but think about him when I touch myself!") This is an incredibly awkward thing to approach in writing and I'm still wringing my hands over how I want to do it. Even if Misato is repressing it, those weird urges are going to have some influence on her behavior, right?

Perhaps most importantly... There is more to Misato than her daddy complex. She has a life outside of domestic drama! She's still a (pre)teen with (pre)teen concerns and interests. What would they be? How typical a Japanese adolescent girl should she be? What sort of music would she be into? Does she like cars already? (I'm veering toward "yes".) Play any video games? What kind of TV shows does she like? Hobbies and interests in general? What sorts of after-school activities is she participating in? What are her strongest subjects in school? Does she show any interest in the opposite sex (her Dad aside)? Even if most of the details don't make it into the story, it's good to have them well-contemplated.

I'd love to know people's thoughts on this, since I'm willing to bet there are angles I haven't considered.

Thanks, all!
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Postby Kvanu » Thu May 21, 2015 3:20 pm

Also, considering the whole thing with Kaji later -- and that weird self-admission in HIP that she wants her dad to watch her bone a guy she's only boning because he reminds her of Daddy (good grief!)


But...Do we know why Kaji reminded her so much of her father? Was it looks or personality? Because the answer changes things. And also I'm not sure if saying the similarity is the only reason because that implies Misato wouldn't be attracted to Kaji if he wasn't like her father. That is doubtful.
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Postby Reichu » Thu May 21, 2015 3:51 pm

View Original PostKvanu wrote:But...Do we know why Kaji reminded her so much of her father? Was it looks or personality? Because the answer changes things.

For my purposes, I'm going for "a bit of column A, a bit of column B".

And also I'm not sure if saying the similarity is the only reason because that implies Misato wouldn't be attracted to Kaji if he wasn't like her father. That is doubtful.

Misato's personal template for becoming attracted to people of the opposite sex seems to be based on qualities her father possessed (which is a common IRL thing). Hence, if Kaji were not like her dad at all, she wouldn't have been interested in him.
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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Thu May 21, 2015 6:11 pm

To have a lighter approach to her mood/outside of the family drama, she must be a Sailor Moon fan.

Uh, I'll try to think of the more serious stuff later, though FWIW I always liked your approach in what I saw in your fic/RPs--Keeping her distance but blowing her lid around Akira when things got too heavy. If I remember right, she had some of (in-series) Ritsuko cynicism to her, which works at the pre-teen age.
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Postby NemZ » Thu May 21, 2015 7:15 pm

Hmm... a few guesses:

She's probably rather sporty (highly competitive), so she's definitely on a team or two at school. Probably a martial art as well. Most of her friends are probably from these sources. Due to that influence she likely played down her intelligence or just slacked off a lot. Official art suggests she did some skateboarding.

As a 90's kid she almost certainly played some video games... I'm guessing she had a gameboy rather than a console because she wouldn't want to spend much time at home if she can help it. I'd guess she would be a fan of strategy/rpg games, and almost certainly was a pokemon fangirl though she might have kept that on the down low. Too early for cellphones or laptops to be standard issue kid property.

Possibly a bit of a delinquent. Wouldn't surprise me if she tried alcohol or drugs, maybe some minor theft/vandalism escapades. Likely got invited to lots of parties but inevitably felt uncomfortable in such groups and would come up with a reason to escape or to not attend. May have had to beat up a guy who got too handy.

Giver her shame-based hangups I suspect she was an early bloomer, but because of the family drama and poor expectations of men (backed up by early interest from random strangers and older classmates) showed very little interest in dating. Likely a whole lot of private sexual exploration, which became even more shame fuel. Might have had a secret porn stash, and possibly wasn't just looking at the dudes. Maybe even a secret crush on a (female) teammate?

I think the daddy hangup is mostly due to father being largely absent and thus longing for that sort of affection, but confusing it with other types of love and projecting it all over the place. Also constantly comparing dudes to her dad in judgmental fashion, looking for reasons to write them off. Like it or not her dad is her standard by which all other guys are measured.

If her mother remarried or dated after the divorce I would not find it completely implausible that one of these guys may have tried something with her, which she would actively resist/avoid but be pressured to keep utterly silent about. Gives all that "have to be a Good Girl for mommy" talk a darker edge.
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Postby Reichu » Tue May 26, 2015 4:46 pm

View Original PostSailor Star Dust wrote:To have a lighter approach to her mood/outside of the family drama, she must be a Sailor Moon fan.

Hah, good call. How did I forget about that? :tongue: I put a reference to SM in the latest chapter.

NemZ: Thanks for the thoughtful reply! I'll just respond to some specific things.

It did occur to me to have Misato play sports after school, and I think I wrote in one reference to "practice" on her first appearance, but I haven't decided what specifically she's doing. I'm not sure if her adult self suggests one particular sport more than others, or if it doesn't matter all that much.

I haven't seen the art of Misato skateboarding (or can't remember it, anyway). Could you point me in the right direction?

Cellphones might have already been standard for Japanese kids in the late 90s. Even if they are, though, there's a good chance that Akira would be all, "lol, nope!"

The suggestions regarding early blooming, delinquency, partying, and such feel, to me, like they might work better for Misato post-3I after she's bounced back from her PTSD. It's obvious that, by that point, she's going hog wild and just doesn't give a shit anymore. While she's still living with her mom, though, I can't see her getting into too much trouble. Giving Mom something to cry about in addition to Dad would be total anathema. I just get the strong sense that Misato went out of her way to keep the stress in Mom's life to a minimum.

As for harassment by a post-divorce boyfriend/husband... yikes, that's a bit too "Adam Kadmon" for my tastes. :tongue:
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Postby Sailor Star Dust » Tue May 26, 2015 5:31 pm

Oh yeah, was also going to mention: Having a crappy divorce situation growing up as a kid (my Polish parents had my brother when they were 17-18, they separated when I was 6-7 and divorced in 2000's--tl;dr: They essentially hate each other), definitely Misato should have some kind of bitterness or anger at her parents. For me it was in my late teen/early college years (I eventually "grew up" out of those feelings, I guess).

I was a similar situation: Living with Mom and trying to be a "good girl" though Dad wasn't around--minus any Eva bizarre Freudian bits. :urk: I did live with both of them at different points in my life. Both controlling/overprotective in their own ways, though Dad's the easygoing one of the two.

IIRC, in Misato's room in NGE2 (probably same in PS2 and PSP?), she has a skateboard against the wall? She has her car posters at any rate...I could just be thinking of a scene in one of the NTE films or early series like Episode 4.
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Postby NemZ » Fri May 29, 2015 4:44 am

View Original PostReichu wrote:I haven't seen the art of Misato skateboarding (or can't remember it, anyway). Could you point me in the right direction?


Ahh, I got mixed up a bit there... it's not art, it's in the series! At the beginning of ep 23 while she's listening to Kaji's message and chugging ucc coffee, in one shot you can see a skateboard next to her desk.
Rest In Peace ~ 1978 - 2017
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