#laz smith

[gunmaestro]

there are people who acknowledge my existence and accept it for what it is. that’s enough for me to live.

(gives him his hat back)

[gunmeister]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

i don't know what to tell you it's porn with plot about 2 extremely relevant and popular guys from baccano.

[saintgatsbys]

Day 5 :]

[gwaaaaar]

promotion for laz for the @baccano-gauntlet

[gunmaestro]

hey (catboys my faves)

[gunmeister]

gunmeister smith serves a very large and important narrative and symbolic purpose but you guys arent ready for that conversation

[gunmaestro]

( steals his hat ) ( steals his hat ) ( steals his hat ) ( steals h

[gunmeister]

OK OK OK i am home now so i can say this a little more properly and coherently.

i think there is a lot of potential in a deeper reading of laz as a character (i am allowed to call him that we are close personal friends) because he is the only in character whose narrative absolutely hinges on a complete and total unwillingness to kill as well as the fact that he has never killed before. recently i know i have somewhat endeared a lot of people to him as a character but i have talked to a lot of people who were genuinely annoyed by him when i first met them and i think that's a fair feeling to have but it prevents them from taking a deeper look at his character and that one particular fact.

i think the general annoyance about his character tends to stem from the contrast between his attitude and his actual accomplishments as a character; people don't tend to like characters who put up that kind of a front and act a lot more dangerous than they are. combine this with the fact that he has a lot more solid objective morality than like... most of the rest of the cast, and you've kind of got a recipe for annoying.

that said, i stand by what i said when i submitted that gunmeister smith is a genuinely interesting character to think about in the context of the wider cast, and he absolutely IS the best person to have taken in mark. first of all, i do truly think laz was acting in mark's best interest rather than his own by taking on the ice pick thompson name and sticking to his guns when questioned by nicola, because for reasons i have stated before i think laz gets absolutely nothing out of the ice pick thompson name.

second of all, he's the only person in his circle willing to hang up his guns and not deal the killing blow, and mark is not the sort of kid who wants to go down the path of killing. he's already only with laz because he wants to stick with the person who took on the ice pick thompson name for him, so the fact that he was lucky enough that laz doesn't kill is an incredible mercy on mark's future. carl might have ended up being a better guardian for mark, but laz is a pretty good one despite his living situation and general personality.

also, let's be real with ourselves, most of us are dumbasses who would never do a single violent thing in our lives but still sit ourselves down and talk with fascination about these absolutely insane characters in baccano. the only difference is that laz is also a character in baccano.