#mr. march

[derpidydooo]

Many Moodboards that I made of Evan Peters characters...

[greyallison]

Day 9 - Ricky Matsui, a.k.a. Mr. March, and his noble steed, Ox!

[maybealittlesnuggling]

Keepsakes from Gauntlet at the Garden! Shout out to the one (1) person in my section who traded dice with me, whose mushroom D 20 I will cherish forever, and the person who had no dice to offer so instead they gave me a Mr. March friendship bracelet!

(I was in a Sofia Lee inspired outfit so I Greatly appreciated it. I also called out to my section at intermission holding a large can of Angry Orchid, asking if anyone had any dice to trade, so I would like to believe I was successfully in character)

[dimension20official]

New in the Dropout Store! A Ricky Matsui “Mr. March” Poster!

Illustrated and designed by Kendra Wells

[princesssarisa]

Mr. March for the character ask 😊

Favorite thing about them: What a kind, generous, caring man he is, who does so much to help others, and what a loving and supportive husband and father he is. It's obvious that he influences not only his daughters' best qualities, but Meg and Jo's taste in men when they eventually find husbands: John Brooke and Friedrich Bhaer both mirror his gentleness, kindness, intelligence, and dependability. (Amy is the outlier by marrying Laurie, whose personality is very different from her father's, but even Laurie becomes a bit more like him after his character development.) His support of Jo's writing – and the fact that he helps her achieve her first real literary success by getting the short story she writes after Beth's death published, when Jo lacks the confidence to do so herself – is beautiful too. I also like the fact that he's a gentle, patient man who serves as a calming influence on his more fiery-tempered wife: it's a nice subversion of gender stereotypes, which avoids portraying gentleness and patience as just "feminine virtues," but as virtues for men too.

Least favorite thing about them: Well, some of his values seem a little old-fashioned. For example, the way his speech about Jo's improvement of character at the end of Part I revolves almost completely around her having become more feminine. Or the way he puts his finger to his lips whenever he sees his wife starting to get angry: even though she's grateful for it because she dislikes her own temper, my modern mind feels tempted to say "Who are you to hush a woman's anger? It's none of your business!"

There's also the fact that he lost his wealth by helping "an unfortunate friend," and his family have to suffer for it. Of course we don't really know if this was his fault or not. But some of the fandom is ready to blame him for being reckless with his money and view Alcott as making a covert statement about irresponsible fathers.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I like to read and study.

*I tend to be intellectual and spiritual.

*I love my family.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not a middle-aged man.

*I'm not a minister.

*I don't have children.

Favorite line:

His Christmas Day speeches at the end of Part I about the positive growth he sees in each of his girls.

And his proud words when Jo finally succeeds as a writer:

“There is truth in it, Jo, that’s the secret. Humor and pathos make it alive, and you have found your style at last. You wrote with no thoughts of fame and money, and put your heart into it, my daughter. You have had the bitter, now comes the sweet. Do your best, and grow as happy as we are in your success.”

brOTP: His daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren.

OTP: Marmee.

nOTP: Any of his daughters.

Random headcanon: Since Marmee mentions that she lost her mother at a young age, I imagine that her romance with Mr. March grew from his comforting her after her mother died. Much like Amy and Laurie's romance grows from his coming to comfort her after Beth's death.

Unpopular opinion: I think he's a good husband and father. A bit preachy, of course, but good, and not anti-feminist. The qualities I listed as my least favorite about him are minor to me, but sometimes the fandom seems to despise him for them. It seems that either they conflate him too much with Bronson Alcott, when he's obviously idealized compared to that complex and controversial man, or else, based on their similar bad-faith views of Friedrich Bhaer and John Brooke, they just hate men in general.

That said, when Alcott insists that he was the true head of the March family and the ultimate source of wise advice and comfort to his wife and daughters, I'm tempted to say "The narrator doth protest too much methinks." Alcott tells us this, but she doesn't show it. His role in Part II is only slightly bigger than in Part I where he's away at war, and as far as on-page conversations are concerned, the sisters' main source of wise parental advice is still their mother. Even his long, deep conversations with Jo in the months after Beth's death, which are described as so invaluable in helping them both work through their grief, are only summarized, not recounted on-page. Maybe Alcott wrote him this way because she idealized him so much compared to her real father, and so she had less real-life material to draw on than she did for Marmee.

Song I associate with them:

"Here Alone" from the 2005 musical, even though it's not sung by him (unless I'm mistaken, he never actually appears in the musical, but is only talked about); it's Marmee's song of longing for him while he's away at war.

Favorite picture of them:

This illustration by May Alcott Nieriker (Amy's real-life counterpart!) showing his return home at the end of Part I, with Beth running to meet him.

Leon Ames in the 1949 film, with June Allyson as Jo, breaking the news to her that Beth is dying. (Even though in the book, Jo realizes it before he does.)

Bob Odenkirk in the 2019 film.

[nakedphany20]

Why do we love scorpions men, and why is it him James Patrick March?

[spookievan]

partners in crime, mr & mrs march

[neveragainfools]

I call this my Zac Oyama-rama!

I definitely made a few executive headcannon decisions with this one, but hopefully they feel true to character. You can’t tell me Civic Duty paladin magic doesn’t appear as light shaped like an emergency services crest. I’ve put a detailed picture ID after the ‘keep reading.’

This is the third in a series of pieces for Dimension 20.

You can find Emily here, and Murph here!

[ID: A digital illustration shows Zac Oyama with a big, open mouthed smile. He’s posed as if running, with his left hand in a fist pump. The image is split into five triangular sections bursting from the center. In the top left green section, Zac is in the Dimension 20 dome. His short hair swoops away from his face. He wears a baby blue button-down with a floral pattern in pink and white. In the top middle magenta section, the back of Zac’s head becomes that of Lapin Cadbury’s, a chocolate bunny man. He sports long chocolate ears, and a white chocolate beard and eyebrows. He wears a purple and gold foil cape, and a blue and gold striped robe with a lightbulb symbol on the chest. His staff, the Lollistaff, sports uneven purple and pink swirls, as magic swirls and floating sugar plums emanate from it. In the middle right orange section, Ricky Matsui’s beefy arm reaches for the Questing Blade, a fireman’s axe. His hand and the axe glow with light, shaped like a fire department crest, both giving off waves of light. A red suspender flaps from his bulky uniform pants. The front of the axe dips down into the bottom right purple section, becoming Gorgug the teen half-orc’s massive Heavy Metal Axe. The slightly rusted dark metal axe sports a glowing rock in the hole of the blade. It’s decorated with thistle and spring motifs, and swings from a leather holster on Gorgug’s hip. Gorgug’s leg kicks off from the ground, his too-short purple pants showing some of his hairy leg. His crystal peeks out from his grey hoodie pocket, and the attached headphone chord swings and wraps around his leg, his headphones with copper flower motifs bouncing along behind him. In the bottom left teal section, Cumulous Rocks, a deep blue cotton candy monk, raises a knee, his foot surrounded by light pink cotton candy that swirls beside him. He wears a loose bright pink shirt and pants, tied at the waist with a purple tie. His forearm and foot are tied with purple bandages. The three pictures after are closer cropped shots of the same image. End ID]