do u think modern day garen would have loved beyblades as a kid
Short answer: No, I don’t think so. The ‘spinning’ motif is strictly about his sword usage.
Long answer (and what sorts of toys or childhood activities he would partake in and enjoy): We can see in his color story that he enjoyed playing with ‘action figures’ as a child, but it’s unclear whether he was fascinated more with the ‘glory of the Demacian army and knights’ (as Qui.nn and Cal.eb were stated to in their lore) or had more of a fascination with the actual toys.
I think that, growing up in a strict household ( as we can assume that Augatha is still quite strict and controlling ) but without the taboo of magic and allure of the knights or army, he probably would have gotten into strategy games as a kid. In this case, it probably manifests as a light appreciation for trading card games, though this hobby would probably be curbed by his family and molded towards more ‘refined’ games like chess.
I would go on to say that on some level, he would probably have some envy for any toys that other children have that are especially whimsical, from the tamagotchi to the beyblades and so on. He also would not have had friends with which to borrow or play these games, as they would all be in similar social spheres. I would hope that he is friends with the like of Ta/ric again, who will hopefully help him and Jar/van as kids to just run around outside and enjoy playing.
I would say all of this, but something yet more important occurs to me.
We all know that Ga.ren more or less supports his younger sister, and that perhaps they still grow apart as adults for whatever reason ( even though magic is not it, perhaps social expectation ). However, we also know that the most important person to the elder Crownguard is his little sister. We also know that in his color story, he used to play action figures and ‘war games’ with Lu/x. In other words, he was not the sort of elder brother to exclude his younger sister.
So, my final answer is that I think until he was absolutely forced to or unable, he would try and engage in activities that his younger sister could also enjoy. That still means strategy games since I think Lu/x has the potential to be a very smart tactical cookie, but it also means sitting down and painting little house people for a house or grabbing Lu/x’s hand and making sure to include her when he goes around with Jarv & Tar/ic. I do not think he would be the kind of brother to be embarrassed of his little sister or wanting to distance himself from her as a child.
I also don’t think it would be on brand for my blog to not point out how much Ga/ren values his little sister or to miss that he tries to be very inclusive and this would fundamentally shape the sorts of activities he enjoys. Especially because as an adult, he would considerably mellow out.
