for the asks: 2, 3, 21 (Choji) 💚
For the Character Ask Game
2. Favorite canon thing about this character?
I like that he's canonically shown to be soft and kind. He is pretty unique in that way and I think the canon does a decent job of exploring that? It acknowledge that it's not always a good thing and it hinders him sometimes, given the life that he's meant to live (like in the fight against Edo Tensei Asuma) but still never says that it's a flaw or a bad thing for him to be either. Just that he needs to overpassed it sometimes, but his friends still appreciate that about him.
I like the flashback with Chouza in that chapter too, and how it's hinted that Chouza doesn't have the same personality as his son. I like to imagine that Chouza as well never judges Chouji for this trait, but also probably worries about him and knows that he will have to find a way to toughen up if he wants to make it, both in physical fight situations, but also politically if he's going to be the head of the clan. He needs to be able to be firm and to make hard decisions.
I think in the context of the Naruto world, it's an interesting personallity for a strong and politically important character to have and to keep despite it all.
3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?
Can I run away from having to say bad things about Chouji by saying the worst thing about Chouji is Asuma? 😆
I'm not super fond of the "he gets upset when people call him fat" trope, I guess. I sort of get why he could feel like this, but also at the same time, this is his whole clan heritage, this is what makes him strong, this is the core of his techniques. Then again, it may take him time to reclaim that and find it empowering. I'm on the fence about it (but also because I don't think Kishimoto was thinking that much about chara development when writing it, and just thought that fatphobic jokes were funny).
However, I love that in chapter 700 Chouchou is shown super unappologetic about her wieght, which makes me think maybe Chouji has made sure to teach her that and made sure she would embrace her body and heritage more freely than he did at her age, and that's very nice!
21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?
The two worst part of writing Chouji are 1 He's too pretty I get distracted by the descriptions and I forget what I'm doing 2 For All Bones and a Beating Heart, I knew Shikamaru's chara development required to be able to formulate criticism about Chouji instead of idealising him too much, but I was on the same boat as him and I was very biased and it was very hard 😆
The fav part... I've been thinking about it for a while and I'm not sure, but I can say at least that one thing I've really been enjoying with his dynamic with Shikamaru in that fic is that I got to have a few very heavy scenes where they managed to pull through and be light with each other at the end. Like despite saying hard things they still eventually find the way to pick each other up if only a little. In canon they seem to be able to relax most when they are together and I like to imagine that they can create a bit of space to breathe together when they try, even in hard times.
Thank you for asking!
(And link to All Bones and a Beating Heart since I'm here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55060567/)
