2,000 WORDS OF BLATHER. yey!
This isn't really one big essay so much as it is lots of little essays all rolled together and slightly interlinked, regarding Things About Albert that've been on my mind since he came to camp a week ago. I might... be repeating myself in places, so bear with me. I've also tried to keep this relatively spoiler free regarding major plot points, but obviously there are still going to be a few, so read with caution if you haven't seen the end of Gankutsuou and think you may want to.
On sex
Right. So. Albert is not completely innocent, even if he's still a virgin (snrrk)-- he's a 16 year old boy and he does have a sex drive. This is canon. See: Albert trying to get it on with Peppo at the end of the first episode, amongst other things. However, it's been kind of downplayed at camp for the moment for two reasons: the first being that it just simply hasn't come up in conversations with him. He's been making a lot of small talk with people who are new, and people who AREN'T new already know about the no-sex rule, so they don't bring it up either. The second being that Albert has been pulled from a few months after the main events of Episode 23, and if you've seen his canon, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Basically, all he's done in the last few months before coming to camp is mope about, so sex is really the last thing on his mind. Possibly this might change once he starts to lighten up a little, but by then he'll probably know about the no-sex rule. He'll still blush if a pretty lady flirts with him, but even then you'd have to get him to REALISE that she was flirting with him in the first place. In most cases, unless you're blatant about it, he'll mistake it for being polite and will be polite right back.
On love and Eugenie
I feel that these two kind of go hand in hand, and I'm not really sure where to start. If you ask Albert now about his sexuality, his first response would probably be to say that he's straight. And in terms of thinking about having sex with other people, I guess you could say that he is straight. However, sex is not love. That's a different issue. When it comes to love-- and this is just my personal opinion, feel free to disagree-- I don't think Albert is straight. Nor do I think he is gay, or even bisexual. I think Albert is person-sexual.
Does that make sense to anybody other than me? I feel like Albert is the sort of guy who, when considering love and not sex, would be in love with the person and what they mean to him and their personality, rather than considering their gender. Because that's what Albert is like. Augh, I feel like I'm doing a bad job of explaining this so maybe I'll just move on for now and come back to it when I can word it better.
Okay, so. Eugenie. With an accent on the second e that I don't know how to make, shh. Do I think that Albert loves Eugenie? Yes. Do I think that Albert is in love with Eugenie? No. Do I think that a relationship between them could work? Yes. Do I think that they're omgOTP4lyfe? No.
The love that Albert has for Eugenie is, in my personal opinion, that of a dear friend. Yes, he did kiss her in episode... oh christ, I forget the number, but yes there was a kiss. But Eugenie has crushed on Albert for years, and Albert (the dunce) has never noticed. Give Mr Oblivious a prize. He only notices her affections for him like, two episodes before she leaves the country. Not only that, but before that moment, he never even considered Eugenie in that light. He'd always just thought of her as his other best friend, and coincidentally the person he was engaged to. But he makes it very clear in the episodes beforehand that their engagement was his parents idea, not his, and that he doesn't think of her that way.
After Albert realises the way Eugenie feels towards him, suddenly everything becomes lovey-dovey. And on Eugenie's part, yes, that's genuine. But I don't believe it's so for Albert. I don't think that Albert would just fall in love with someone just like that. Love is something that takes time, and Albert has clearly stated on more than one occasion that he has never been passionately in love with someone else before, so it's not like they were just hidden affections that needed an excuse to rise to the surface. If anything, I think that he was mistaking dear friendship with Eugenie for love upon finding out how she felt, because he didn't want to let her down. Because Albert hates letting people down, least of all his best friends.
Another thing, as Franz-mun pointed out, is that after episode 23, Albert could have easily just run away to New York, find Eugenie, and live out the rest of his days with her. It would've been far enough away from France for him. But does he? No. He never once meets up with her for five whole years. I don't think that Albert would go five years without seeing the person he loved, no matter how depressed he was. And even if he would, you've also got the fact that at the end of the very last episode? Albert walks away. Alone. Without Eugenie.
So. In summary? Over time, I think that they could develop a cute and happy relationship, yes. But right now, I don't think he's in love with her.
... As for the Count and Franz? They're also related to this topic, but completely separate essays that ... you can maybe look for in the future. Aha. IT JUST GETS A LITTLE COMPLICATED :(.
On camp, and why he's remarkably optimistic about it for a new arrival
Okay. I touched on this before, but lets go at it again. We don't know exactly what Albert did in that five year gap between episodes 23 and 24, but from the information gleaned from episode 24, we can make some educated guesses. Mostly, he just moped. Alone and in self-enforced solitude, most likely. He read lots of books, but I doubt he took much of it in. We also know that from the fact that he was taking a shuttle in, he wasn't on Earth. Probably he went to some remote planet and found a quiet little town with a run-down house and locked himself up in it with a stack of books. And occasionally remembered to eat. I don't believe he stayed in the one place the whole time, either. Once he got too close to the local people, he'd probably move on. But he wouldn't see much of where he was going, either.
Maybe once a year or so, he might've visited his mother in Marseille at her insistence, but he never went back to Paris. If so, he might've spent an afternoon with her, but they'd just make small talk, like "Nice weather isn't it" and "Shall I make a cup of tea?" and then there'd be long silences where they'd both just sit and look out at the sea for long periods of time until it got dark. And he'd probably leave early in the morning, before she could say goodbye, because he knows that she'd ask him to stay if he had to say goodbye.
But that's going off on a tangent and is complete speculation and is also neither here nor there.
The fact is, before coming to camp, all Albert was really doing was trying to get to the end of each day. He had Serious Fucking Angst, and still does, though it's less obvious. But camp is really the best thing that has happened to him in months.
Not only is it so far removed from anything he's ever known, but it's sheer population, diversity and crackiness is such that it takes his mind off his moping for hours at a time. When he first arrived, he was only trying to be polite, but found people reaching out to him instead-- which in turn, caused him to make a little improvement on the emo front. In this place, he finds he doesn't even have time to mope, because there's always something crazy going on, which is good for him and he's making remarkable more progress already than if he'd continued on his mopey way.
Oh, he's still going to get his emo all over you at certain times. Albert is still a Leo through and through, and he feels everything very passionately and finds it hard to mask how he feels. If he's happy, sad, angry, confused, scared, whathaveyou, you'll know it. And he has certain trigger words-- mostly "family", "friends", "death" and "fate/destiny"-- that will either cause him to retreat back into mope!mode or blow up in your face (which one it is depends on the luck of the draw). But even when he's moping, it's almost like he forgets that you're there for a while. He's gotten so used to associating that feeling with being alone that he's really talking to himself more than you. But then suddenly he'll realise that you're there and clam up again. Even with people he trusts, he's going to be a bitch to get details out of-- heck, even with Franz, it was like pulling teeth. He just doesn't want to think about it, because he knows that if he does, he'll go back to being antisocial and emo, which... just isn't him. And he's trying so desperately to not change, for Franz's sake.
(As a side note, though, if the topic of dying for other people comes up, he will pick a fight with you about it. Not because he really strongly believes that it's wrong, but moreso because he wants to understand that line of thought. For Albert, as someone who has never been in love with someone or devoted to someone the same way Franz was, it's hard for him to understand why someone would do that. He wants to know just what the hell is running through people's heads when they make a decision like that, but so far all he's gotten is "There's no other way", which frustrates him to no end.)
And then there's Franz. Franz is an entire different essay in himself, but for now lets just summarise it by saying that finding Franz here fills him with joy and joyness. Yes, in a way, it does cause angst because Franz will always remind him of home and the events that happened at home, which is exactly what he's trying not to think about, but Albert's just glad for the chance to see him again. They say that you never realise just how important something is to you until you lose it, and for Albert I believe this is definitely true. I mean, Franz has always been his best friend and extremely important to him, but after his death... I think-- especially after episode 23-- he came to realise just how miserable it was, living in a world where Franz wasn't.
So yes. Albert actually likes camp. It's not that odd, when you think about it.
--
AND. THERE. I THINK I'M DONE? Is that everything? I think that's everything. Wow. I didn't intend for this to get so long, or to go on so many tangents. Oops.
And uh, if you disagree with anything, or have something else to add, please feel free to say so! Especially at the point in canon that I've taken him from, certain things about Albert are open to personal interpretation, so I'd love to discuss other people's points of view if they think differently. I do want to play him as IC as I possibly can, and discussion helps with that, so. Yes. Uh. I'm not sure where I'm going with this paragraph. DISCUSS WITH ME, BITCHES.
Phew. I'm glad I got all that out of the way. Even if nobody else reads this, it's good for my own reference |D;;.
On sex
Right. So. Albert is not completely innocent, even if he's still a virgin (snrrk)-- he's a 16 year old boy and he does have a sex drive. This is canon. See: Albert trying to get it on with Peppo at the end of the first episode, amongst other things. However, it's been kind of downplayed at camp for the moment for two reasons: the first being that it just simply hasn't come up in conversations with him. He's been making a lot of small talk with people who are new, and people who AREN'T new already know about the no-sex rule, so they don't bring it up either. The second being that Albert has been pulled from a few months after the main events of Episode 23, and if you've seen his canon, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Basically, all he's done in the last few months before coming to camp is mope about, so sex is really the last thing on his mind. Possibly this might change once he starts to lighten up a little, but by then he'll probably know about the no-sex rule. He'll still blush if a pretty lady flirts with him, but even then you'd have to get him to REALISE that she was flirting with him in the first place. In most cases, unless you're blatant about it, he'll mistake it for being polite and will be polite right back.
On love and Eugenie
I feel that these two kind of go hand in hand, and I'm not really sure where to start. If you ask Albert now about his sexuality, his first response would probably be to say that he's straight. And in terms of thinking about having sex with other people, I guess you could say that he is straight. However, sex is not love. That's a different issue. When it comes to love-- and this is just my personal opinion, feel free to disagree-- I don't think Albert is straight. Nor do I think he is gay, or even bisexual. I think Albert is person-sexual.
Does that make sense to anybody other than me? I feel like Albert is the sort of guy who, when considering love and not sex, would be in love with the person and what they mean to him and their personality, rather than considering their gender. Because that's what Albert is like. Augh, I feel like I'm doing a bad job of explaining this so maybe I'll just move on for now and come back to it when I can word it better.
Okay, so. Eugenie. With an accent on the second e that I don't know how to make, shh. Do I think that Albert loves Eugenie? Yes. Do I think that Albert is in love with Eugenie? No. Do I think that a relationship between them could work? Yes. Do I think that they're omgOTP4lyfe? No.
The love that Albert has for Eugenie is, in my personal opinion, that of a dear friend. Yes, he did kiss her in episode... oh christ, I forget the number, but yes there was a kiss. But Eugenie has crushed on Albert for years, and Albert (the dunce) has never noticed. Give Mr Oblivious a prize. He only notices her affections for him like, two episodes before she leaves the country. Not only that, but before that moment, he never even considered Eugenie in that light. He'd always just thought of her as his other best friend, and coincidentally the person he was engaged to. But he makes it very clear in the episodes beforehand that their engagement was his parents idea, not his, and that he doesn't think of her that way.
After Albert realises the way Eugenie feels towards him, suddenly everything becomes lovey-dovey. And on Eugenie's part, yes, that's genuine. But I don't believe it's so for Albert. I don't think that Albert would just fall in love with someone just like that. Love is something that takes time, and Albert has clearly stated on more than one occasion that he has never been passionately in love with someone else before, so it's not like they were just hidden affections that needed an excuse to rise to the surface. If anything, I think that he was mistaking dear friendship with Eugenie for love upon finding out how she felt, because he didn't want to let her down. Because Albert hates letting people down, least of all his best friends.
Another thing, as Franz-mun pointed out, is that after episode 23, Albert could have easily just run away to New York, find Eugenie, and live out the rest of his days with her. It would've been far enough away from France for him. But does he? No. He never once meets up with her for five whole years. I don't think that Albert would go five years without seeing the person he loved, no matter how depressed he was. And even if he would, you've also got the fact that at the end of the very last episode? Albert walks away. Alone. Without Eugenie.
So. In summary? Over time, I think that they could develop a cute and happy relationship, yes. But right now, I don't think he's in love with her.
... As for the Count and Franz? They're also related to this topic, but completely separate essays that ... you can maybe look for in the future. Aha. IT JUST GETS A LITTLE COMPLICATED :(.
On camp, and why he's remarkably optimistic about it for a new arrival
Okay. I touched on this before, but lets go at it again. We don't know exactly what Albert did in that five year gap between episodes 23 and 24, but from the information gleaned from episode 24, we can make some educated guesses. Mostly, he just moped. Alone and in self-enforced solitude, most likely. He read lots of books, but I doubt he took much of it in. We also know that from the fact that he was taking a shuttle in, he wasn't on Earth. Probably he went to some remote planet and found a quiet little town with a run-down house and locked himself up in it with a stack of books. And occasionally remembered to eat. I don't believe he stayed in the one place the whole time, either. Once he got too close to the local people, he'd probably move on. But he wouldn't see much of where he was going, either.
Maybe once a year or so, he might've visited his mother in Marseille at her insistence, but he never went back to Paris. If so, he might've spent an afternoon with her, but they'd just make small talk, like "Nice weather isn't it" and "Shall I make a cup of tea?" and then there'd be long silences where they'd both just sit and look out at the sea for long periods of time until it got dark. And he'd probably leave early in the morning, before she could say goodbye, because he knows that she'd ask him to stay if he had to say goodbye.
But that's going off on a tangent and is complete speculation and is also neither here nor there.
The fact is, before coming to camp, all Albert was really doing was trying to get to the end of each day. He had Serious Fucking Angst, and still does, though it's less obvious. But camp is really the best thing that has happened to him in months.
Not only is it so far removed from anything he's ever known, but it's sheer population, diversity and crackiness is such that it takes his mind off his moping for hours at a time. When he first arrived, he was only trying to be polite, but found people reaching out to him instead-- which in turn, caused him to make a little improvement on the emo front. In this place, he finds he doesn't even have time to mope, because there's always something crazy going on, which is good for him and he's making remarkable more progress already than if he'd continued on his mopey way.
Oh, he's still going to get his emo all over you at certain times. Albert is still a Leo through and through, and he feels everything very passionately and finds it hard to mask how he feels. If he's happy, sad, angry, confused, scared, whathaveyou, you'll know it. And he has certain trigger words-- mostly "family", "friends", "death" and "fate/destiny"-- that will either cause him to retreat back into mope!mode or blow up in your face (which one it is depends on the luck of the draw). But even when he's moping, it's almost like he forgets that you're there for a while. He's gotten so used to associating that feeling with being alone that he's really talking to himself more than you. But then suddenly he'll realise that you're there and clam up again. Even with people he trusts, he's going to be a bitch to get details out of-- heck, even with Franz, it was like pulling teeth. He just doesn't want to think about it, because he knows that if he does, he'll go back to being antisocial and emo, which... just isn't him. And he's trying so desperately to not change, for Franz's sake.
(As a side note, though, if the topic of dying for other people comes up, he will pick a fight with you about it. Not because he really strongly believes that it's wrong, but moreso because he wants to understand that line of thought. For Albert, as someone who has never been in love with someone or devoted to someone the same way Franz was, it's hard for him to understand why someone would do that. He wants to know just what the hell is running through people's heads when they make a decision like that, but so far all he's gotten is "There's no other way", which frustrates him to no end.)
And then there's Franz. Franz is an entire different essay in himself, but for now lets just summarise it by saying that finding Franz here fills him with joy and joyness. Yes, in a way, it does cause angst because Franz will always remind him of home and the events that happened at home, which is exactly what he's trying not to think about, but Albert's just glad for the chance to see him again. They say that you never realise just how important something is to you until you lose it, and for Albert I believe this is definitely true. I mean, Franz has always been his best friend and extremely important to him, but after his death... I think-- especially after episode 23-- he came to realise just how miserable it was, living in a world where Franz wasn't.
So yes. Albert actually likes camp. It's not that odd, when you think about it.
--
AND. THERE. I THINK I'M DONE? Is that everything? I think that's everything. Wow. I didn't intend for this to get so long, or to go on so many tangents. Oops.
And uh, if you disagree with anything, or have something else to add, please feel free to say so! Especially at the point in canon that I've taken him from, certain things about Albert are open to personal interpretation, so I'd love to discuss other people's points of view if they think differently. I do want to play him as IC as I possibly can, and discussion helps with that, so. Yes. Uh. I'm not sure where I'm going with this paragraph. DISCUSS WITH ME, BITCHES.
Phew. I'm glad I got all that out of the way. Even if nobody else reads this, it's good for my own reference |D;;.