1a. Alfons is great for that. XD I really want to reply more to this, but I feel like I can't until the final chapters of TCR are out and posted. XD
1b. Thank you, I try really hard with that! Often I find myself liking genuinely heroic characters better when teamwork and nakama is emphasised, over the ONE MAN approach where the hero is ultimately isolated and sidekicks are just that. I like that Arakawa's characters, even the one-scene wonders, all have their own motivations and problems and reasons for doing things. So I've tried to go with that! I want to know something of why Ross and Brosch and Rebecca and Miles and Private Fieseler are taking these risks and making these commitments. I feel like all the characters can counterpoint each other in pleasing ways, too.
Re: WordPad has this really accusatory little "CAP" box to pass judgment on serial caps lock abusers
1b. Thank you, I try really hard with that! Often I find myself liking genuinely heroic characters better when teamwork and nakama is emphasised, over the ONE MAN approach where the hero is ultimately isolated and sidekicks are just that. I like that Arakawa's characters, even the one-scene wonders, all have their own motivations and problems and reasons for doing things. So I've tried to go with that! I want to know something of why Ross and Brosch and Rebecca and Miles and Private Fieseler are taking these risks and making these commitments. I feel like all the characters can counterpoint each other in pleasing ways, too.