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Several people have requested an example of the kind of modeling work that my Hakuba has done. You know, since he’s famous in London and has an agent that gets him gigs to help drum up work and international renown, getting him even more opportunities… Anyway, it’s mostly interviews for magazines that fangirls read, some […]
Day 9:
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How are they with technology? Very adept. Hakuba picks things up quickly, and isn’t at all afraid to learn the latest in technological advances. He also always has to have the latest iPhone even though it’s ridiculous.
Are they specially qualified in any particular field? Would they be considered at the top of the field? He’s a super high school level detective. I have him focused on homicide, with a special interest in cold cases, especially where drugs were involved.
Have they ever been publically acknowledged for anything? (Ex. Nobel Prize) Hella. Hakuba has been in many newspapers and probably won a lot of awards on a local level.
Is there anything they’ve deliberately sought to improve at? TONS of stuff. Hakuba is obsessed with learning, and is constantly looking for classes to audit and tutorials to read, even though he really doesn’t have time for it. A prime example would be the summer he begged his mum and Baaya to send him to a camp in Paris to learn culinary arts and came home with kickass cupcake making skillz.
Do they speak more than one language? He does! He’s fluent in English, Japanese, and French, and he’s trying to pick up the other romance languages on the side, starting with Spanish. He’d like to learn Mandarin some day, too, but who knows.
—
[source]
“Ah, there’s some debate with that, as I was always ‘solving’ cases from a young age, whether there were mysteries to solve or not. I do recall the first case in which I assisted, but my name was not involved in the official paperwork, so I won’t mention that here. Rest assured, it resulted in a successful arrest.
"The first official case in which I was actually named was one of a serial bank robber. I was fourteen, still short and ‘squeaky,’ having not yet "lost my spots,” as my mum would say, and recovering from some time in the hospital at home in front of the telly. Much of the time was spent watching movies and catching up on series that I’d been neglecting, but the rest of the time was dedicated to the news… which is how I caught the inconsistencies being presented about a serial bank robbery case.
“I find it fascinating how the different media groups will present the same information in completely different lights. Spin doctors, every one of them. It makes it difficult for the lay person to follow any particular story with complete accuracy, especially as they’ll usually stick to the newscaster that best represents their own bias.
"This is why I tend to switch between all channels, gathering bits and pieces of story in an attempt to compose a more complete version of the story from the differing viewpoints. Adding in research from the internet and some additional phone calls, as well as my own personal experience with the layout of London, I was able to catch on to a handful of startling things that were being missed or misrepresented in the reports… and so called Scotland Yard.
"Of course, they weren’t interested in listening to a young boy with his theories, though the receptionist did take my information down – or at least pretended that she was. I tried to contact them several more times, but was met with nothing but red tape. So, I did what any young detective would do, and left home on my bicycle, took three buses and then the tube up to Scotland Yard, and snuck in to yell at the police chief, myself. And I did, for the better part of ten minutes, with flushed face, clenched fists, and about every colorful word I could think, expressing my frustration.
"Looking back on it, I’m somewhat mortified at my conduct, but of course Mr. Hale decided to humor me and listen – such a splendid man – took notes, allowed me to point out the fallacies on which the police were operating under, and… to my surprise, he called in his team and asked me to explain it again.”
“Long story short, my observations were instrumental in proactively circumventing the crime spree, and all of the culprits were arrested without further complication. Chief Hale commended me in an interview and gave a strong PSA about trusting what you see on the telly, suggesting that everyone ought to give critical thinking a try.
"From then on, I was welcome in Scotland Yard as a sort of honorary detective, and it wasn’t long before they began calling me to help with some particularly difficult cases. I ended up becoming an intern there… probably for tax reasons, though they liked to joke that I didn’t quite have Sherlock Holmes’ ‘consulting detective’ status yet."
Day 10:
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Relationships and history:
What is their family history like? How does it affect them?
On the paternal side, the Hakuba family is small, but industrious. They take pride in blazing new trails in whatever field interests them and own their accomplishments duly. Each member of the Hakuba family is expected to take life’s reins in their own hands and be in control of your own destiny! …as long as you fit into society and are fully Japanese and respectable and not poor, etc. etc. etc.
The maternal side is actually quite similar, though they have a much larger focus on family. And while they are also rich, snooty, proud people, they don’t really care where you come from so long as you don’t cause a scandal. Oh, and you should probably be Catholic, too, but Grandmum Wickham isn’t going to ask for your records so it’s fine if you lie about it. Heaven help you if you do something that requires it, though, because she will claim ignorance and throw you to the wolves…
All of this makes Hakuba extremely conscious of his conduct in society because he doesn’t want to get ire from either side, which is so easy to stir. As frustrating as it would be to deal with bad press for himself, he is WAY more concerned with not wanting his parents to have to deal with the backlash on either side for something HE did or didn’t do. Alas, in order to be a great, self-made man, you have to take risks that can easily bite you in the ass, so there’s really nothing he can do but be perfect 24/7. No pressure, right?
How do they feel about their family?
Even though he and his father have a very strained, one-sided relationship, Hakuba greatly admires his father and becomes more and more like him each day. He would like him a lot more if Hakuba Sr weren’t such a flake, though he does understand that it’s due to the excessive tunnel vision and dedication to the Japanese police force that keep him so occupied.
He has very tense feelings in regards to the paternal grandparents, meanwhile. Almost every interaction with them has been unpleasant and markedly distant. He claims he would be content to never have to see them again, but I think that’s a lie, and he really wants to make them proud. Somehow. If that’s even possible.
Hakuba and his mother get along very well, though, and they’re close despite the turbulence and his reluctance. He has no siblings, but adores his four uncles, and is able to put up with his overbearing and controlling grandmother without much difficulty.
And, though Baaya isn’t family, technically speaking, Hakuba is closer to her than anyone else. So much love and adoration for her!
How does their family feel about them?
Hakuba Sr couldn’t be prouder of his son, even if he doesn’t really know how to express this in a way that Saguru will accept. He’d do anything for him (if he had the time), and will ALWAYS love and accept him for who he is, even the controversial parts, though he sort of hopes he never has to deal with that because…
Grandparents Hakuba, as mentioned in previous posts, still don’t even recognize Hakuba Sr and Marion’s marriage, let alone his ‘bastard’ halfer son. They don’t consider him part of the family, at least officially, though I strongly suspect that they are aware of Saguru’s achievements and accomplishments and are just waiting for him to stand up to them before they finally relent and accept him…
Marion loves Saguru to bits and pieces and thinks he’s just the greatest and should move back to England and be happy. She often fights with her mother about it, though, since Grandmum Wickham seems to think that Hakuba should come back, settle down with some nice girl, have tons of kids, take over the world… which is exactly what Marion thinks, but that makes her mad because no one should control his life and he should be free to do what he wants but he should probably want to do x, y, z anyway because CUTE GRANDKIDS~!
His uncles adore him and treat him like a little brother, and just like having him around.
Baaya worries about the young master constantly, since she knows more about what he’s going through than anyone else, and just… does all that she can to support and comfort him within appropriate means. Like insisting that she drive and regulating his cigarette supply…
—
[source]
Day 8:
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What are some of your character’s more notable merits and flaws (including physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, etc.)? How did they develop? How has this helped or hindered them in the past?
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Merits:
Flaws:
[source]
Ohhh goodness. I’m not sure what you were hoping for, specifically, but uh… here is a huge thing I wrote with links (and not all of them even exist yet but are drafted).
With canon Hakuba, we know very, very little. Uh. Here’s a not quite exhaustive list of what we know from canon. SO I have invented 90% of his history based on the little details from the manga/anime. I’m assuming that you’re asking about that, specifically, so here is a general breakdown, in chronological order:
In Japan:
Saguru James Hakuba was born in Tokyo, Japan a couple of years after his parents eloped. They lived there until he was about 7 years old, with frequent travelling (mostly spending summers and Christmas in England), then relocated “permanently” to the UK when his mother could no longer stand the racist comments/behavior directed at her son. Especially since his paternal grandparents refuse to acknowledge his parents’ marriage, and do not acknowledge Saguru as part of their family.
In England:
Hakuba started going by his middle name, James, as many had difficulty pronouncing ‘Saguru’ which resulted in a lot of teasing that he did not appreciate. He gets a Golden Retriever named Sherlock, is obsessed with dragons, and spends a good deal of his time reading anything he can get his hands on and playing out in the nature preserve behind the garden wall of his mother’s estate. He’s a chatterbox, very excited about learning, and studies the bible like a good little Christian boy, which pleases the grandparents on his mother’s side very much.
White Chapel Academy:
As smart as the little bugger is, he’s accepted into the prestigious (and very religious) White Chapel Academy boarding school and begins attending at age 9, which worked out well for his parents, as they’re dealing with martial problems and decided it would be a good opportunity for a trial separation. Hakuba Sr goes back to Japan, and Saguru is none the wiser. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long before Mr. Know-It-All gets himself in trouble with the headmaster, Father Ramson, who turns out to be an abusive creep. It take nearly two years for Hakuba to get himself out of the situation.
Aftermath:
Once the police got involved, the school was temporarily shut down and all children sent home. Little S. J. Hakuba realizes that his father hasn’t been living there, that his parents have been lying to him, and destroys all of his dragon army. For one year, he barely talks to anyone, and attempts to committ suicide. Baaya stops him, saves him, and keeps his secret, which is why she is the only one permitted to even touch him. He is eventually introduced to London’s Aviary Rehabilitation Institution, where he eventually meets Watson. His uncles also help, including Saguru in their annual deer hunt every autumn. He spends his summers helping Uncle Arthur with the horses, and goes to Paris with his mother at the end of August. They get him involved in a lot of classes, and he kisses a girl for the first time at the age of 13. At 14, he falls in love with John, another White Chapel victim, and they secretly go out for a month, only for things to violently fall apart. In the depression spiral that follows, Hakuba briefly lets himself be used for drug money, starts drinking, smoking, and a lot of experimentation.
Losing His Spots:
After a second suicide attempt, though (also stopped by Baaya), Hakuba is ordered bed rest for recovery, and spends his time watching the news and reading books about law. He catches an inconsistency in a national scandal and informs Scotland Yard, who decide to let him help from time to time from then on. He also volunteers at the Sherlock Museum, and eagerly tells them of his solved cases any chance he gets. That summer, he goes through a massive growth spurt, and at 15 is invited to start going to his mother’s high society parties to woo the girls.
There, he meets Laura O’Kello, who teaches him about The Game, which is a mutually beneficial agreement between the rich and privileged but tragically captured youth, allowing them to seduce each other at these boring events without any strings attached. He becomes very good at this game, and the practice he gets at being charming aids him in gaining favor with the media. By the time the car bombing incident happens, he’s beloved by England, has a gigantic fan following, an agent, photoshoots, and pretty much everyone adores him. He also buys a car out of pocket with money he’s saved from his detective work.
It’s also during this time that Hakuba meets Spider, and becomes obsessed with the assassin after a drug bust goes poorly and one of his former friends — who happened to be connected to one of Spider’s sources — is murdered in the process.
Return to Japan:
Hakuba’s father begs Saguru to come back to Japan for a year abroad. This is partly because his mother says that he doesn’t care about their son, and partly because Kaitou KID has resurfaced but he’s too busy to investigate, himself, even though he STILL thinks there was something suspicious about Kuroba Toichi’s death. He tempts Saguru with piles of cold case files (his favorite) and promises of far too much power for someone not a part of the police force, but ultimately, it’s news of Spider’s targeting Kaitou KID that gets Hakuba to leave his comfortable life in London to become utterly lonely and despised in Ekoda.
It’s, of course, during this time that he begins to investigate KID, finds out that he’s actually his classmate, decides to keep this boscombe secret after Nightmare, investigates the Sunset Mansion, is invited to the Koushien — which turns out to be a LIE — and falls for that stupid thief while feeling like it will never happen, not in a million years.
White Knight Widow:
This is technically the “current” arc that I’m doing with Hakuba in this timeline… I imagine that this is going on concurrently with The Call of the Raven story, since that focuses on Kaito and Conan teaming up, while Hakuba does his own thing… which just happens to be further drug investigations and the hunting of Spider, up until it crosses over into that story (which includes Hakuba and Akako being a couple for like a month).
I’m sorry if this doesn’t actually give you the info that you were hoping for. LOL. At least this reference is super handy for me! 8)
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zekkei-beautiful-scenery: 世界の絶景 Zekkei Beautiful Breathtaking Scenery
Hey, it’s not like they’re not allowed to have opinion and taste! XD *spends way too much time looking for all kinds of stuff for characters*
I know right
✾ – Why I chose my character.
Oh, goodness. Great question, Tintin! By the way, you are a super cutie in case you weren’t aware. I have really enjoyed following you and hearing of your exploits via Emi.
Let’s see. Why did I choose Hakuba, of all characters, to play?
Backstory:
A few years ago, I met a girl whom I’ll call Clover through a mutual friend (hi Krista!) who invited her along to one of my Conan parties. Those are basically ‘eat curry, sushi, junkfood and cookies shaped like Conan’s head while marathonning the movies/arcs/specials/etc’ all day long.
Clover and I hit it off and started to talk online, discovered we were both RPers, and had a mutual thirst for DCMK. It was her idea for me to start RPing as Conan, which I was hella nervous about because I’d really only RPed as OCs until that point.
BUT, with a little brainstorming, we came up with this incredibly epic plot to resolve the series once and for all, and we divvied up the characters accordingly. She picked Kaito (her favorite) as her MC, and took on the task of writing Heiji, Kogoro, the Detective Boys, Ran, Chikage, Gin, some OCs, and various other side characters etc… while I took on Conan/Shinichi, Yukiko, Yuusaku, Sonoko, Eri, Vermouth, Vodka, Akako, Aoko, Kazuha, aaaand… Hakuba.
The fun part of the story was that Clover, like many people, didn’t like Hakuba to begin with because he’s not only an antagonist for KID (her favorite), but also one for Hattori Heiji (whom we all adore). But, since my introduction to him was a bit different (Sunset Mansion was my very first exposure to him, followed by Koushien, then the MK cases), I saw a very different character than perhaps others did, and took on the task of engineering him to be a character that you (hopefully) can’t help but fall for.
Hakuba, to me, is very interesting because even though he’s one of the four Gosho Boys, he has very little exposure series-wise. He’s only in DC twice and only in MK a handful of times, and we know very little about his background. We do, however, know some very specific things canonically that allows us to extrapolate a LOT of possibilities.
As a writer developing a character, this is gold.
Here’s what we do know:
and so on…
All of these traits appeal to me because they’re interesting problems to have to deal with in terms of getting a profile down…
So I start getting these ideas, and I’m getting really excited. There’s a ton of material that I can work with, here, all derived from canon extrapolations.
…anyway, this is just an example of the process I’ve gone through to invent this character, but I guess you could say that I really love his type of character. That is, a young teenager trying to solve adult problems while struggling with a myriad of complications, many of them stemming from his own inexperience or miscalculation. I love that he has a TON of problems just because he is who he is, and he’s busily trying to solve them ALL by himself because he feels that he has to.
Hakuba is a walking contradiction. But in him I see potential for a funny, sensitive character who is competent, merciful, and helps to round out the team with common sense, determination, and a gentle hand.
…like really, I think he’s the only one of the Gosho boys that is a true pacifist, which is funny.
I hope this sort of answers the question. I guess it’s just… I really relate to him in a lot of ways, and I think I can bring a lot of insight to his character, and in a way that will not make people hate him so much.
The END!
I drew a better reference picture for OC John, aka Hakuba’s first boyfriend and… ugh I just… I’m going to go to jump in a fire and then put myself in jail okay? okay. This may well have been before The Belt, and is certainly a precursor to Dreams of Paris.
Under a cut because I find it disturbing, given what happens later. 14 year-old Hakuba, 16 year-old John. Nothing explicit, just ugh.
edit: hand fixed omfg