What’s some of your funniest characterizations to the Winter Brothers?
Posting the Diagram again for Clarity:
I'm going to include things that aren't funny on their because I want to talk about them in general. They're my favorite Cave Shadows, and also I think giving them any kind of extensive characterization is inherently kind of hilarious. In Descending Birth Order...
KYLE: I can't really call any of his added Characterization "funny", more so just an expansion on/further labeling of how he is in the game, but a few things from Least to Most Funny are... >Crippling need for Approval and Affection, which he doesn't like about himself, so he tries to bury it under 12 layers of a facade of aggression and apathy, and also just self-sabotages about it constantly. You see it the clearest with his father, though. He really looks up to Charles, and wants to be just like him. He's recently learned he wants to be better than him, though, so that's been fun to work through. >100% has Unregulated, Undiagnosed BPD, which is making the previous point way worse, and is contributing to it significantly. I say "Undiagnosed", but do not mistake that as him having an ability to get it diagnosed. Firstly, I do not think the field of Psychology exists in the Monster Hunter world in the same way it does in real life. There's not much of a DSM to consult. Secondly, the Winters family has a lot of Social Prestige, and Charles is quite occupied with Keeping Up Appearances, and has tried so hard to raise his children into Normal, Upstanding Men that he doesn't react too well to labelled aberrations from his personal idea of Normalcy. >Closeted, In-Denial Gay. You'd never guess it, but that's also making the previous things worse. This can lead to hijinks but is ultimately kind of a big gaping wound that's doing a whole lot of internal bleeding. A somewhat funny consequence of this is that he's accidentally built somewhat of a reputation of himself as a Heartbreaker, Two-Timer, and Player. He's not any of these things on purpose, really, he just keeps failing to do Conversion Therapy on himself and also failing to say "no" to girls who ask him out out of some weird, paranoid idea that if he doesn't, rumors will start circulating, and they'll Figure Him Out. Deeply funny battles with Internalized Homophobia where you kinda have to laugh or else you'll cry. >Demiromantic. It keeps getting worse. Dear God, the constant dates with random girls keeps getting worse. I'm AroAce myself, but I don't think the language for this even exists in the Monster Hunter world. And if it does, they're probably locked away in some deeply, deeply obscure Zines. It's, like, funny, how bad the struggling is. >Bratty Twink. Sorry, it kind of just makes a lot of things make sense. This isn't a statement on his "preferred position", mind you. He's just a Brat (Gay Definition) and a Twink. I don't think he knows what being a Brat even means. He's new to the whole "gay" thing, he doesn't have a lot of knowledge about the culture or terminology. This tends to get interpreted by the girls he's gone out with as him being a Dommy Bad Boy. Not true. He's a Brat. We love him.
CHASE: From here on, the lists aren't in any order. >Has NPD. Not a slight against him, mind you, having NPD isn't a federal fucking issue or a war crime in the way the whole Internet apparently wants everyone to think it is - I swear, bigotry against those with Cluster B Personality Disorders specifically is just fucking derangedly bad - but it is definitely a fact about him that effects the way he interacts with the world. Him and Navirou can shake hands on this. NPD Warriors. >ADHD. He just looks it. >The sense of Sibling Rivalry between the Winters is at its absolute strongest with Chase and Kyle. They've probably thrown chairs at each other before. Part of it is recognizing aspects of themselves in each other that they don't particularly like, but being dogshit at communicating this, so they just resort to arguing or violence. >Wannabe Manwhore. I say "wannabe" because he just, like, sucks at it. He's a bit more offputting to women than Kyle is, which is really funny, because Kyle is already offputting to women. This is probably because Chase is likely a bit of a misogynist. In an XBox Live Chat kind of way. >Dual Blades user. Once again, he just looks it. >This one is extremely specific, and mostly only applies literally to a Modern AU, though in standard form it's a bit more of a way to sell his vibe... He's the fucking Ghostface Thirst Trap guy. He's that guy. You know, the guys who post thirst traps of themselves with no shirt on, but a Ghostface mask on, and probably a knife in their hand? And they've got the abs to indicate they fasted for this pic for a fuckin' week or something? That guy. He's that one. I'm gonna throw him around.
WILLOW: >Obligatory Transmisogyny-Applicable Winters sibling. Nonbinary and on Estrogen about it. Likely christened as William or something, but their mom started calling them Willow as a nickname when they were a child, and they adopted it as their actual real name. Uses They/Them and gender neutral terms of address predominantly, not fond of He/Him or masculine terms of address but will endure them (not happily, mind you. It's a good way to make Willow decide to put emotional distance between you two), and She/Her or feminine terms of address is a pleasant surprise that they will not object to, but defaulting to it also won't make them happy. >Hilariously, Besties with Kendrix's Older Brother, Mateo. No one realizes this, because Kendrix and Mateo do not talk about each other often or in any clear terms. They're in a little Hunting Trio together. >Primarily a Hunting Horn user. No further notes. This was information decided upon through the fact that my friend @sssantostyle is actually playing as Willow for his playthrough of Monster Hunter Rise. It's also just fitting, I think. They look like a Hunting Horn user. >One of those people who's just fucking obsessed with the color Purple. People who have their favorite color as Purple are insane about the fact that their favorite color is Purple. It's awesome. Their second favorite color is Pink. They like pretty things. >Favors "Cute" Monsters over everything else. Kyle gained a strong appreciation for Mizutsune through Willow. >Doesn't really talk to their family much these days. Low Contact, though no one is "disallowed" from reaching out. Chase does this the least, Liam the second least. Kyle didn't reach out much until he started to understand himself more, and suddenly realized exactly what it's been like in Willow's shoes the entire time. Henry has the highest level of contact. They are besties. Will elaborate in Henry's section.
LIAM: >Probably Bisexual. I don't know his life, that's not my business. Though his method of attraction to men is probably completely identical to his attraction to women, which is really funny. He's like this:
>Another one of those "Vibe Sellers", in the same vein as Chase being the Ghostface Thirst Trap guy, but he has the energy of a guy who played Varsity Football in school. I don't have further commentary on this. You understand. >You know how Kyle's a Player on accident? Liam's a Player on purpose. He's having fun with it. He's living deliciously. Slut rights! >Most definitely Neurotypical. He just looks it. He's also aggressively Cisgender. I think he doesn't really "get" anything otherwise, but generally tries to be respectful about it. He's a bit of a Krillin. Would be soooo into the Marvel Cinematic Universe if he knew what it was. >Enjoyer of Leviathans. He just seems like a guy that can enjoy a good Leviathan. You can't beat classics like the Lagiacrus. >Primarily a Great Sword user. Again, he just looks it. Probably gives him really good shoulders. Bitches love his nice shoulders.
HENRY: >Transgressive Horror Fan. I cannot stress that enough. He's super duper into Horror in general, but he has a hardcore soft spot for Transgressive Horror. This means he not only gets saddled with the baggage that being the Eldest Son + Firstborn Child always gives you, but he's also given Family Freak baggage. This makes him quite "with it", so to speak. >Easily the closest to Willow. Willow is also something of a Black Sheep, having had some obvious gender struggles as a child, and thus resulting in not exactly being Charles' favorite kid. No one truly tried to "get" Willow, or properly show support, outside of Anastasia - their mother - and Henry. Henry genuinely did do his best to help Willow sort themselves out, and was legitimately instrumental in Willow actually being able to do so. Henry isn't equipped with terminology, nor is he good with comfort, but he does have some Horror Novels that deal heavily in matters of Gender. Think like, some Monster Hunter-y, novel equivalent to I Saw The TV Glow, or something. That. >Autistic as fuuuuuck. Holy shit. I mean, kind of a given considering the Transgressive Horror Hyperfan thing, but it's gotta be stated. This does contribute significantly to him not being very good with his words or with comfort. He just prefers to talk as little as possible because of this. >Heavy Bowgun user. Just thought it'd be funny. It's adjacent to Charles' love of Archery, but just... Not quite. It's symbolic, really. >Him and Willow have totally opposite taste in Favorite Monsters, as one could probably guess. He prefers the scary ones. You just know his favorite Elder Dragon is, like, Vaal Hazak. Henry is also likely where Kyle gets his appreciation for the Bazelgeuse. Impressionable young man.