A guide on writing YamiChar (or, how I do it, at least)
I've tried to write this meta over and over and over, trying to put all my thoughts in order, (below is my best attempt at it) but the more I try to explain how I do them, the more I realise that writing YamiChar well really just comes down to making sure that they're their own separate characters, with their own motivations and conflicts and lives outside each other. Yami needs to give a damn and Charlotte needs to not be obsessed with him. That's it.
First things first, the most important part of writing them (and why it so often falls short in canon) is that they both have to care about each other. Exactly how this looks can vary depending on the plot of your fic, but you cannot have Yami not caring about Charlotte in some way. The biggest reason this ship calls short in canon is because Yami doesn't really seem to give a damn about her, when he is all Charlotte's internal monologue can really focus on. She gets possessed and he doesn't seem to give a damn. After the initial fight, he doesn't even think about her, even while he's running around with Charla. Comparatively, when Yami gets kidnapped, she can't think about anything else.
Personally, I tone down Charlotte's crush. Or at least how she expresses it outwardly. Her running away from Yami screaming isn't funny, it isn't cute and it isn't helping her in any way. It's just embarrassing for her and makes her look incompetent. This woman is a Magic Knight Captain. She has a reputation to think about, people her being incompetent will reflect badly on. She is the face of the Blue Rose Knights, if people lose respect for her, then they're likely to start losing respect for her squad and that just makes their job harder than it needs to be. Especially considering the fact that, the world of Black Clover, just like our own, seems to elevate men's accomplishments above women's. So, yes. Charlotte's panicked screaming needs to go.
This isn't to say that she can't get embarrassed or flustered or that she can't panic, Charlotte is still a dramatic person at the end of the day, but those sorts of emotions are far more likely to be expressed in private, or only around people she can trust. She is not going to run screaming into a room full of strangers making a fool of herself.
On Yami's side of things, I tend to go with him not quite realising exactly what he's feeling. he has no real reason to believe what he's reading in her ki, or what people are telling him she feels. He's a foreigner. People like Nozel have made it quite clear that he isn't really welcome. Why would he think that the woman who could have literally anyone she wanted would want him?
Yami acts like a big, confident guy, but there's a lot of childhood trauma buried under all the bravado. He jokes about being a soft sensitive princess, but there's truth to it. His love interest has to be willing to look under the big macho man facade and not many people do.
So. We've got two people with a whole host of childhood trauma hiding their real selves from the world. How do we turn that into a relationship? You give them something to connect over. For these two, they're in a very unique position to understand each other in a way nobody else really can. They've both been shunned for things they can't control. They've both had people terrified of their magic. They've both had countless doors slammed in their faces. They've both dealt with people judging them on appearance alone. They've both been placed on a pedestal with a kingdom that criticises their every move. There's a lot of common ground for them to bond over.
Importantly, they aren't fixing each other. Sure, they learn from each other, but Yami doesn't suddenly become a perfect gentleman, Charlotte doesn't lose her sharp tongue or general attitude towards men. They do not suddenly become a lovey-dovey mess. They are both people who would rather ignore their feelings and leave it to deal with another time, preferably never. "That's Future Yami's problem" ring any bells? Which, I suppose, is better than Charlotte just diving straight into denial. Anyway. My point is, their romance looks like friendly teasing and unspoken trust, "I've got your back" and meaning it, the calm confidence that comes with knowing you're stronger together and capable of utterly wrecking anyone that tries to fight you.
Also, if anyone is going to retire to raise the kids, it's Yami.
TL;DR write them the same way you would if they were best friends but with more flirting.
blakekathryn
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
