the great wall (of text)
So. Just a note, but apparently, Dominic got promoted from second lieutenant to captain at some point in the series! This is despite what fansites/wikis/etc will tell you, as those typically list him as a second lieutenant. Admittedly, this is not wrong, but it is more of an early series sort of thing. While it's never explicitly stated anywhere, I imagine he got promoted when Dewey either a) was released from prison and given his own division or b) was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel.
I know, I'm terrible for not making note of this earlier. My apologies. :(
+ People are addressed by first name! (ie. Colonel Dewey and Captain Dominic.)
+ The military uses titles from the Imperial Japan era (for instance, Dominic is first a shoui and then later on a taii). These are different from the self-defense force titles that Japan now uses.
+ There is really only one military branch in the E7 world--there are no armies, navies, or air forces. They have ships in the sky, robots that are either in the air or on ground, and their world doesn't really have any large bodies of water to speak of except for [spoiler].
+ The previous point then begs the question of whether they are following navy or army ranking conventions. (There is no Imperial Japanese Air Force, and current naming conventions don't match either.) In Japanese, the titles are exactly the same save for a handy dandy "army" or navy" tacked onto the front. Of course, the E7 universe does not offer us this, so it's really up to the translators to choose one or the other. As far as I know, though, translators have traditionally gone with the army versions (ie. second lieutenant instead of ensign). This could lead to issues if anyone tries to pull rank (ie. an army captain is lower ranked than a navy captain), but well, I rather doubt that this would matter that much anyway. Dominic is more likely to throw codes and rules out to support his cause than his rank in any case.;;
+ The highest military rank we see in the series is colonel. I haven't a clue as to whether that's as high as ranks go in that world or if Dewey gets special points for being... Dewey and doing terrible things.
ANYWAY. Relationship timeline essay thing wall of text for Anemone!
Canon - Pre-update:
Dominic is already in love with Anemone by the start of the series.
Toward the start of the series, Dominic displays very little open affection toward Anemone herself. However, even then, there are these little things he does or says when she's not around that hint to the viewer that he's not just keeping his thoughts totally platonic. For instance, when Dewey says that they are going to pick up "that" (that being Anemone), Dominic immediately lights up and looks like a five year-old who just got told that they're going to a candy store. Upon getting to Anemone's place though, Dewey goes to greet Anemone for the first time in years and she hugs him, there's this sort of "...why not me?" look on his face. Because instead of hugs, Dominic gets punched in the face, and well, he wants some hugs, too. :(
A little later on, Anemone goes to confront Eureka and typeZERO in the Coralian cloud. While Dominic had been completely calm and composed during everything leading up to the disappearance of theEND, he freaks out the second that Anemone gets in trouble. He ends up running all over the bridge, yelling at all the officers there, and attempting (in vain) to get someone to do something to get her out of there. In the end, Dominic tries to pull a rule card to force Jurgens into doing something, but when that fails, he ends up breaking a few rules and more or less stealing a shuttle to go help Anemone himself.
Now, it should be noted that at this point in the series, Dominic is pretty well-ground into the military framework. Breaking rules and challenging superior officers is not really typical of him at this point in the game, so for him to go that far for Anemone is, I think, saying something. He doesn't lift a finger for any of the other KLF fighters, so why this one?
Well, Dominic goes on to answer that question himself in episode 13.
After getting lost and beat up in a grand adventure with Renton, Dominic goes on to say that both of them have fallen in love with two troublesome girls. Considering that there are only two girls there, and Dominic sure as hell isn't into Eureka, it's... a bit obvious as to whom he's speaking of.
However, as noted before Dominic does not openly show any affection toward Anemone at this point in time. It's always when she's not around, not looking his direction, or well, unconscious. This, unfortunately, does not change for a long, long time. I personally think it's because he knows he's got no chance what with that Dewey being the object of Anemone's affection and the objection of his admiration (Kyaa~~~ The Colonel's so amazing! There's no way I could match up to him!). So, he keeps mouth shut! Plus, Anemone is the Colonel's Anemone. No touching your superiors stuff, especially when you're a goody-two-shoe dog of the military.
As the series progresses, interactions between Dominic and Anemone are (sadly few and brief and) tend to have some form of abuse or drug-usage involved. During these times, Dominic continues to maintain his largely professional demeanor toward Anemone. He does, however, feel sympathy toward her, especially when he has to give her meds, but he still sucks it up and drugs her up. Why? Because without them, it seems like she's always on the verge of breaking down or having emotional troubles or sleeping problems. Dominic sedates her not because he knows the medicines are great but because he doesn't want to see her suffering the way she does with her headaches, nightmares, and other such issues.
Even so, I would not be surprised if he subconsciously drugs her for a little personal relief of his own at this point. If Anemone's feeling better, than so is he--after all, she's not suffering at the moment, so he doesn't have to feel bad about not being able to help her.
So the series continues, and Dominic starts to see Dewey's true colors (not really). His blind adoration of the Colonel keeps him from seeing the horrors immediately, but you can tell that there's this sort of nagging feeling of wrong that eats at him until he eventually defects. However, at this point in time, he's still loyal enough to shut up about the Ageha Squad and do as he's told, and this feeling of loyalty does actually overrule his desire to let Anemone do as she wishes.
Case in point? Directly prior to Anemone's defeat at the hands of typeZERO spec two, Dominic is being held back by two members of the Ageha Squad while a few of those other creepy kids drug Anemone up. She's throwing a fit, begging him to do something, and stop these kids from giving her her medicine, and Dominic does try to stop them!
Until they mention that this is Dewey's wish.
At that point, he deflates, and Dominic just sort of watches helplessly as the meds kick in. And once the medicine is at work? Well, then there would be a probably trying to keep Anemone from going out, so he lets her go. Unfortunately, it's another loss for their team, but hey, she came back in one piece; that's what Dominic cares about--her safe return.
I think he does acknowledge the "oh shi--" nature of typeZERO's upgrade, but he certainly does NOT understand the repercussions for Anemone. Dominic doesn't understand why Anemone is so terrified after she comes back, and I think he puts it down to nerves and just being shaken up by the battle.
So what's he do? Like any responsible caretaker, he writes up a big, fat report for Dewey saying how There Might Be Problems in taking out Nirvash now and that he recommends giving Anemone a break. This is a very bad move on his part. Not only does it demonstrate how little he knows about Anemone's situation, but it shows how blindly he believes in Dewey.
In his head, he is doing a good thing for Anemone! Dominic is showing that he ~*~cares~*~ and that he wants her to live as good of a life as she can, given the circumstances. Which is why he is absolutely shocked when Anemone berates him so much after she finds out that he had written to Dewey about how she had lost. His attempts to reassure her that she'll win the next round do nothing to comfort her, and the stunned expression he wears just shows once again that... he is totally naive and out of the loop when it comes to Sociopaths Who Don't Care About Their Subordinates.
And that was about where Dominic came in from canon originally. He was confused about why Anemone was so mad at him, he didn't think the Colonel was totally right about his plans to bring about the Second Summer of Love, but he was still too loyal to the military to really do anything about it or really, truly believe that there was something wrong with the idea.
Camp - The Arrival
ANEMONE PUNCHED HIM UPON ARRIVAL.
This was not new. In fact, the punch was kind of like a nice "hello" to Dominic. If there was no punching at all, that would have been weird, especially with how antsy and angry Anemone had been around him (and... other people) of recent. So this was... a refreshing welcome in a not so refreshing way!
But hey, at least it was normal.
What wasn't all that normal, though, was this entire two and half year difference thing that Anemone brought up. See, Dominic had just seen her the other day, but she clearly wasn't lying either: she knew a whole lot about camp. Admittedly, it was a bit surprising that she gave up all that information to him, but Dominic wasn't going to complain. If it helped to keep him from getting eaten, transformed, tentacle-raped, then huzzah! Plus, the guy's not going to give up spending some time with an Anemone who was clearly not disturbed or bothered or even on meds!
This felt fantastic to Dominic. Anemone was happy, which was such a delightful change from back home. If camp sucked less, he probably would've thought about that more, but as it was, he was too preoccupied trying to avoid getting badtouched by Marcy.
Camp - The Christmas Party
This is the story of Dominic finally having the guts to admit his feelings.
After being camp for a few months, Dominic discovers interesting things like boys having crushes on Anemone. This... This does not sit well with him! It is one thing to like the Colonel, who is someone Dominic (still) admires to varying degrees and sees as a superior. As mentioned before, Dewey clearly claims Anemone as his own, and what's a wee little officer like him to do about it? Plus, Dominic is still under the (dumb) impression that Anemone adores the Colonel!
So Anemone liking the Colonel is fine! Dominic will suck it up and just... pine in the shadows. However, the average boy is something else. An average guy is someone he can confront and do something about! There are no rank issues to deal with, and by this point, Dominic's plucked up a little courage because things with Anemone have been going... well. Well in the sense that it doesn't seem like she wants to kill him or strangle him anymore! He wants to believe he has a chance against his romantic rival!
The only problem is that his competition is Capell, who, try as he might, Dominic can't really bring himself to hate with any real fervor. (They are amazing romantic rivals, really.) So even if he wants to try and start something (BACK OFF MY GIRL, DUDE. SHE'S MINE. SHE JUST DOESN'T KNOW YET.), it... ends up not going through so. Dominic tries a different method of Getting the Message Through.
He tells Anemone!
Which... is not that great of a plan as that would typically end up in violence. But lo and behold, Anemone was kind enough to bestow him with no violence coupons, for Christmas even. So he busts one out, kisses the girl, blurts out his feelings, and braces for impact. Because sure, he used a coupon, but a part of him still believed that she'd smack him a good one because hello, kissing.
In any case, Dominic was rejected. This was not that big of a surprised to him. What was weird, though, was Anemone's response. She brings up a flower and a party, and Dominic hasn't a clue as to what she's talking about. He's thinking that he's done something else wrong, but well, he gets the feeling that something is just sort of off here. What exactly that is, he's not sure.
While it doesn't sit all that well with him, Dominic calls it a night. After all, he's at a tentacle alien's Christmas party with the girl who just rejected him. That's just plain uncomfortable to him.
Camp - Valentine's Day
Dominic's grand plan for Valentine's day was to simply drop a lot of goodies on Anemone's doorstep and leave.
Things have returned to something akin to normal for he and Anemone, and well, he didn't exactly want to break the mood. At the same time, though, he still loves her (like the fool he is;;), so why not leave some stuff anonymously? This way, she would be happy, and he would be happy that he was the one to make her happy (even if she doesn't know it). A great plan, right?
Well, Dominic being Dominic fails something fierce and ends up crashing into her door, dropping all his gifts, and getting discovered. He is absolutely horrified and sort of wants to crawl under a rock and die because how much more pathetic can he get!? But... Things end up okay! In fact, they turn out better than okay.
See, with their impromptu dinner not!date and cake-making excursion, that was quite easily one of Dominic's happiest days at camp. Easily! Sure, he felt embarrassed and awkward at times, but he truly enjoyed just being by Anemone's side like that. It gave him hope that maybe he had a chance of winning her over eventually. Eventually being... some distant dream! Like retirement in a bad economy!;;
And well, Dominic felt like he was doing something right for Anemone once. There were no drugs, no Dewey, no orders. He's known this subconsciously for a while, but I want to say that this would be the first time that he's actually taken a moment to think about how and why he loves Anemone. He likes her smile, the way she laughs, her love for sweets... He likes her for perfectly normal reasons! That are unrelated to the military even!
Plus! He secretly feels happy that Anemone hasn't done any Valentine's stuff since coming to camp except for that one time with that guy, Capell. It's a little like a kick in his gut that's telling him that he can't slack off if he wants a chance with Anemone. True, he already confessed, but it's sort of a little nudge saying that he can't give up!
So he doesn't! But... he doesn't do a heck of a lot in regards to moving toward a relationship either.;;
Camp - The Cultists
As these things seem to always go, normalcy came back to Dominic's relationship with Anemone. There was no flirting (not... that Dominic flirts to begin with) and no awkwardness! However, what with camp being in danger, this sends up red flags in his mind. Why? Because Anemone's in danger, of course.
As per his norm when she's in trouble, Dominic panics and proceeds to freak out. It could be said that he was especially bothered seeing as, well, Anemone can't use theEND here! That's not to say that he considers her piloting that thing to be entirely safe, but he at least knew that unless it was Gekko State that she wouldn't have any trouble protecting herself with it.
So he leaves the safety of ZEX's ship (which is where he would've stayed if he was here in camp alone) and heads out to find Anemone, partially out of an obligation to "protect his ward" but mostly out of his own personal worry for her well-being. While he's out and about, though, he runs into Crow, whom he ends up helping to the hospital. During this trip, Crow asks Dominic whether he knows where Anemone is, to which he responds that he doesn't.
And then Crow deals a critical blow to Dominic by commenting that he's not a very good caretaker if he doesn't know where Anemone is at a time like this.
That by itself shakes Dominic to his core. It makes him feel like he's failed at his most basic of duties during a time period where he doesn't have an excuse: he's not running errands for Dewey, he's not on the other side of the planet, and there's nothing pressing that should have called his attention away. For all he knows at this point in time, Anemone could be dead because he wasn't paying attention.
This feeling ends up leading him to issues of insufficiency towards Anemone. Sure, he ends up finding her, and sure, he gets both of them to the hospital without any big problems. But by the then? The damage's been done. If he can't even do his job right when there's nothing but his job to do, then well, he feels that he's not worth Anemone's affection.
After all, if they go out, she'll rely on him more, right? But apparently, he can't handle that responsibility.
Camp - Loveless Weekend
Dominic is still suffering from feelings of insufficiency. He initially feels like he's going to be a weight on the team, but hey! That's not too big of an issue if he's just there to be a meatshield. Oh wait, except for the fact that he is actually the damage dealer this time around.
That realization was filled with all sorts of "OH SHIT" because a) combat is, truthfully, not his thing and b) that means that Anemone is going to be taking damage based on how well he performs. This scares him! He wasn't there for her when there was real danger in camp, so what about now? What's to say that he won't totally fudge things up this time around.
And it's with that sort of mindset that he goes into their first battle. As time passes, though, he develops a little more confidence, and well, with Anemone egging him on, he does okay! Dominic's not the best fighter out there, but at the very least, he was able to use some of his dork and his nerd to supplement and cancel out his fail. Writing all those reports helped! Dominic has a way with words! Sorta!
So when Anemone's happy and into the battle, he is, too. Dominic wants to make her happy, and if beating people with words does the trick, so be it. At the same time, though, when the battle doesn't go so well (ie. the fight against Byakuran and Percival), he goes into panic mode. He loses his concentration, which makes the battle turn even more against their favor, and really, at that point in time, he's less interested in battling than he is in running over to help Anemone.
That was, shall we say, a mini episode in which he was reminded of how he can't help her out sometimes and that he is quite powerless in some situations. So even while there wasn't any lasting damage done to Anemone, Dominic still felt like it was another blow. He'd failed again. Failed Anemone again.
Canon - The Update
So Dominic goes to bed one night and has a whole lot of dreams about his home world and what he's doing back there.
His canon update sees him finally balking at Dewey's actions. FINALLY. Dominic's hate for the Ageha Squad increases exponentially because of the way they treat people. The world around them is like a plaything for Dewey to toy with, and while he's not exactly that warm-hearted toward the general populace either, Dominic is not soulless. If testing of Orange had to be done, fine, but it should have been done elsewhere where no one would have been killed. This is provocation of the Coralians around a city full of innocents, and that is totally different from fighting against the Coralians themselves or even Gekko State.
This is not what the military does. They're supposed to protect people after all.
And while it might be the Ageha Squad being disgustingly happy with their numbers and results, it is, in the end, Dewey calling the shots. This is probably like a kick in the gut to Dominic, considering how much he admired the man before. But that image is quickly crumbling. Not only is the Colonel killing thousands of innocents, but his treatment of Anemone is taking a drastic turn for the worse.
Dominic still doesn't get what's happening with Anemone, but he doesn't approve of how Dewey seemingly is letting Anemone do all of these reckless things when she is clearly not okay. He likely feels that if Dewey were a responsible guardian that he would let her take a break, but what's he do instead? The Colonel puts Anemone up as the poster child for the Ageha Squad, which is one giant lie, really--Dominic knows the numbers about the Antibody Coralians and how long they can remain active.
Really, Dominic doesn't approve of how Dewey is treating Anemone like a tool. He even reminds the Colonel to speak of her as a person, not a thing, and when he laughs? It's a blow. It's like a laugh showing that Dewey really doesn't give a damn, and if he doesn't? Well, Anemone's just going to suffer in this one-sided relationship.
Yep, Dominic's still deluded that she's got some desperate love going for the Colonel. (In truth, her more recent behavior in canon only strengthens this idea, which is kind of going backwards from how she had been acting in camp.) The way she smiles and pleads and does everything in her power to make him happy and to receive approval from him strikes Dominic this way, and well, he's pretty far off, as Anemone's just trying to survive now. But hey, he doesn't know, and he's way too naive to figure it out.
I'd say that sort of mentality reaches its peak when Dominic finds out that Anemone had injected herself with the medicine. This is absolutely absurd in his mind considering how she had always fought tooth and nail to avoid getting drugged up in the past. But she did it herself for Dewey. This breaks his heart because she is doing so much for the Colonel who doesn't even love her back or think of her as a human being.
It's kind of like a demented love-triangle in his head: he loves Anemone, who loves Dewey, who doesn't love anyone.
And then there's the battle at the Great Wall. Dominic goes there after the fact to do some in-person investigation. He is stunned and horrified by what he sees there, and the amount of deaths shakes him pretty badly. It's bad to the point that he, a fairly seasoned soldier, vomits.
I want to say that the massacres that he witnessed hit a button and made him open his eyes (at least a little). Dewey's shedding blood for his own sake, to satiate his own madness, and the people are suffering for it. And then there's Anemone who's failed Dewey again. Dominic knows she's depressed, but he doesn't quite get the reason--it's still all about some weird drive she has for his approval and affection.
Still, Dominic picks some flowers--anemones, even--for her and brings them to her. For a moment, he thinks he did the right moment because Anemone asks him if she can rely on him. Naturally, he says yes, thinking that this might be his big break. But boy, did he misjudge and make the wrong move. So instead of sealing the deal and becoming Anemone's knight in shining armor, Dominic ends up bitten and with a whole lot of "back off, you ignorant fool."
Not quite as planned, but then again, plans never seem to work for Dominic.
All the same, he does his duty and drives Anemone to a party to be with Dewey. When they get there, he sees her all smiles for the Colonel, which continues to drive his delusions about how she feels about Dewey. So when he gets the orders to find a replacement and apologizes to her back, I think that he's apologizing for pulling her away from him. He's decided on his own that the love is unhealthy, so he's going to break it up by whatever means necessary in order to "help her" and get her out of her unhealthy relationship with the military.
And it's off to Warsaw where he gets another shocker: Dewey is a total dick and supports kidnapping and human experimentation! Dominic finally sort of kind of gets where Anemone is coming from now! I say sort of because he still doesn't get the "Dewey is probably losing patience with your losing and is going to off you soon" bit. He's just shifted into a "wow, Anemone, your life really... sucked" sort of thing.
So sure, Dominic understands and has lived through being a war orphan. But! He has never known the pain that Anemone went through or what those other girls in the Joy Division are facing--and he wants to help! The only issue is that to save Anemone he has to screw over other people, which he can't bring himself to do either.
Which then causes him to lose faith in himself and his abilities. He misunderstood Anemone, had no idea what she had been through, can't help the girls in the Joy Division, and allowed himself to be fooled by Dewey for several years. BUT HEY, some good came out of it: he knows Dewey is a total dick now! Dominic is, shall we say, finally ready to part ways with his Colonel and see him for the monster that he is.
The only issue is that he's still stuck in the military with nowhere to run. Really, there is nowhere safe in the world, and the military is everywhere. Plus, Anemone is still there with Dewey which is unsafe in many, many ways.
In any case, Dominic had a busy night with those dreams. o/;;
Camp - The Aftermath
Dominic "returns" to camp with a whole host of new memories that make him unhappy. He apologizes to Anemone for the flower and kiss because he... well, still doesn't get why she was so pissed, but he apologizes anyway! It's kind of him trying to make up for his fail and failing even more because haha, apparently he was supposed to apologize for ditching Anemone at the party instead.
But really, he didn't because well, he did honestly think that he had gone to Warsaw to help her. Admittedly, he wasn't able to, but it wasn't something Dominic felt that he really had no reason to apologize for.
And then conversation gets more awkward because Dominic then goes on to claim his hate for Dewey and how he's going to go against the grain. Anemone yells at him, and he doesn't understand why. The conversation shows him that she knows Dewey's not alright, and were this any other time, he might've seen that as a bit of a "whoa, so she's not in love with him and she might have actually been doing all that stuff to save herself" but he's pretty distraught.
Plus, he's. Just dumb that way.;; He's still incredibly naive for all that he's been through. Even Renton probably could've figured it out by now.
Anyway, Dominic is all "I AM GOING TO GO AGAINST DEWEY NOW. SOMEHOW" because he has no plans, which just makes him seem suicidal in Anemone's eyes! But really, he's doing it to save Anemone! Come hell or high water, he's going to do it! That's his promise to himself. In Dominic's mind, he just has to get her out of Dewey's grasp before a) the world gets destroyed by a certain Colonel's not so brilliant plan or b) Gekko State defeats Anemone in a way that leaves her, well, dead.
The idea that Dewey would send her on a suicide mission is not there. In his mind, the Colonel would not purposely kill her off without a replacement. Put her in very dangerous situations, yes, but not into scenarios with a zero return rate.
But yes. Dominic promised Anemone that he wouldn't go anywhere, and while he's at camp, he won't. He wants to make up for his mistakes and see her happy. In the meantime, Dominic will be spending his time trying to think up ways to save Anemone back in their home world. Currently, though, the best idea he's got is probably along the lines of like. Assassinating Dewey.;;
He needs a Jurgens moment. :(
TL;DR
Dominic loves Anemone, is a naive idiot, and his desire to do right and fix things might lead him down a path of self-destruction!
SO YES. WAS THAT ENTIRELY TOO LONG OR WAS THAT ENTIRELY TOO LONG? Questions/comments/dot dot dot's/bricks? I WILL TAKE THEM ALL. :|b ...holy shit that thing was 4.6k words long. >_>;;
I know, I'm terrible for not making note of this earlier. My apologies. :(
+ People are addressed by first name! (ie. Colonel Dewey and Captain Dominic.)
+ The military uses titles from the Imperial Japan era (for instance, Dominic is first a shoui and then later on a taii). These are different from the self-defense force titles that Japan now uses.
+ There is really only one military branch in the E7 world--there are no armies, navies, or air forces. They have ships in the sky, robots that are either in the air or on ground, and their world doesn't really have any large bodies of water to speak of except for [spoiler].
+ The previous point then begs the question of whether they are following navy or army ranking conventions. (There is no Imperial Japanese Air Force, and current naming conventions don't match either.) In Japanese, the titles are exactly the same save for a handy dandy "army" or navy" tacked onto the front. Of course, the E7 universe does not offer us this, so it's really up to the translators to choose one or the other. As far as I know, though, translators have traditionally gone with the army versions (ie. second lieutenant instead of ensign). This could lead to issues if anyone tries to pull rank (ie. an army captain is lower ranked than a navy captain), but well, I rather doubt that this would matter that much anyway. Dominic is more likely to throw codes and rules out to support his cause than his rank in any case.;;
+ The highest military rank we see in the series is colonel. I haven't a clue as to whether that's as high as ranks go in that world or if Dewey gets special points for being... Dewey and doing terrible things.
ANYWAY. Relationship timeline essay thing wall of text for Anemone!
Canon - Pre-update:
Dominic is already in love with Anemone by the start of the series.
Toward the start of the series, Dominic displays very little open affection toward Anemone herself. However, even then, there are these little things he does or says when she's not around that hint to the viewer that he's not just keeping his thoughts totally platonic. For instance, when Dewey says that they are going to pick up "that" (that being Anemone), Dominic immediately lights up and looks like a five year-old who just got told that they're going to a candy store. Upon getting to Anemone's place though, Dewey goes to greet Anemone for the first time in years and she hugs him, there's this sort of "...why not me?" look on his face. Because instead of hugs, Dominic gets punched in the face, and well, he wants some hugs, too. :(
A little later on, Anemone goes to confront Eureka and typeZERO in the Coralian cloud. While Dominic had been completely calm and composed during everything leading up to the disappearance of theEND, he freaks out the second that Anemone gets in trouble. He ends up running all over the bridge, yelling at all the officers there, and attempting (in vain) to get someone to do something to get her out of there. In the end, Dominic tries to pull a rule card to force Jurgens into doing something, but when that fails, he ends up breaking a few rules and more or less stealing a shuttle to go help Anemone himself.
Now, it should be noted that at this point in the series, Dominic is pretty well-ground into the military framework. Breaking rules and challenging superior officers is not really typical of him at this point in the game, so for him to go that far for Anemone is, I think, saying something. He doesn't lift a finger for any of the other KLF fighters, so why this one?
Well, Dominic goes on to answer that question himself in episode 13.
After getting lost and beat up in a grand adventure with Renton, Dominic goes on to say that both of them have fallen in love with two troublesome girls. Considering that there are only two girls there, and Dominic sure as hell isn't into Eureka, it's... a bit obvious as to whom he's speaking of.
However, as noted before Dominic does not openly show any affection toward Anemone at this point in time. It's always when she's not around, not looking his direction, or well, unconscious. This, unfortunately, does not change for a long, long time. I personally think it's because he knows he's got no chance what with that Dewey being the object of Anemone's affection and the objection of his admiration (Kyaa~~~ The Colonel's so amazing! There's no way I could match up to him!). So, he keeps mouth shut! Plus, Anemone is the Colonel's Anemone. No touching your superiors stuff, especially when you're a goody-two-shoe dog of the military.
As the series progresses, interactions between Dominic and Anemone are (sadly few and brief and) tend to have some form of abuse or drug-usage involved. During these times, Dominic continues to maintain his largely professional demeanor toward Anemone. He does, however, feel sympathy toward her, especially when he has to give her meds, but he still sucks it up and drugs her up. Why? Because without them, it seems like she's always on the verge of breaking down or having emotional troubles or sleeping problems. Dominic sedates her not because he knows the medicines are great but because he doesn't want to see her suffering the way she does with her headaches, nightmares, and other such issues.
Even so, I would not be surprised if he subconsciously drugs her for a little personal relief of his own at this point. If Anemone's feeling better, than so is he--after all, she's not suffering at the moment, so he doesn't have to feel bad about not being able to help her.
So the series continues, and Dominic starts to see Dewey's true colors (not really). His blind adoration of the Colonel keeps him from seeing the horrors immediately, but you can tell that there's this sort of nagging feeling of wrong that eats at him until he eventually defects. However, at this point in time, he's still loyal enough to shut up about the Ageha Squad and do as he's told, and this feeling of loyalty does actually overrule his desire to let Anemone do as she wishes.
Case in point? Directly prior to Anemone's defeat at the hands of typeZERO spec two, Dominic is being held back by two members of the Ageha Squad while a few of those other creepy kids drug Anemone up. She's throwing a fit, begging him to do something, and stop these kids from giving her her medicine, and Dominic does try to stop them!
Until they mention that this is Dewey's wish.
At that point, he deflates, and Dominic just sort of watches helplessly as the meds kick in. And once the medicine is at work? Well, then there would be a probably trying to keep Anemone from going out, so he lets her go. Unfortunately, it's another loss for their team, but hey, she came back in one piece; that's what Dominic cares about--her safe return.
I think he does acknowledge the "oh shi--" nature of typeZERO's upgrade, but he certainly does NOT understand the repercussions for Anemone. Dominic doesn't understand why Anemone is so terrified after she comes back, and I think he puts it down to nerves and just being shaken up by the battle.
So what's he do? Like any responsible caretaker, he writes up a big, fat report for Dewey saying how There Might Be Problems in taking out Nirvash now and that he recommends giving Anemone a break. This is a very bad move on his part. Not only does it demonstrate how little he knows about Anemone's situation, but it shows how blindly he believes in Dewey.
In his head, he is doing a good thing for Anemone! Dominic is showing that he ~*~cares~*~ and that he wants her to live as good of a life as she can, given the circumstances. Which is why he is absolutely shocked when Anemone berates him so much after she finds out that he had written to Dewey about how she had lost. His attempts to reassure her that she'll win the next round do nothing to comfort her, and the stunned expression he wears just shows once again that... he is totally naive and out of the loop when it comes to Sociopaths Who Don't Care About Their Subordinates.
And that was about where Dominic came in from canon originally. He was confused about why Anemone was so mad at him, he didn't think the Colonel was totally right about his plans to bring about the Second Summer of Love, but he was still too loyal to the military to really do anything about it or really, truly believe that there was something wrong with the idea.
Camp - The Arrival
ANEMONE PUNCHED HIM UPON ARRIVAL.
This was not new. In fact, the punch was kind of like a nice "hello" to Dominic. If there was no punching at all, that would have been weird, especially with how antsy and angry Anemone had been around him (and... other people) of recent. So this was... a refreshing welcome in a not so refreshing way!
But hey, at least it was normal.
What wasn't all that normal, though, was this entire two and half year difference thing that Anemone brought up. See, Dominic had just seen her the other day, but she clearly wasn't lying either: she knew a whole lot about camp. Admittedly, it was a bit surprising that she gave up all that information to him, but Dominic wasn't going to complain. If it helped to keep him from getting eaten, transformed, tentacle-raped, then huzzah! Plus, the guy's not going to give up spending some time with an Anemone who was clearly not disturbed or bothered or even on meds!
This felt fantastic to Dominic. Anemone was happy, which was such a delightful change from back home. If camp sucked less, he probably would've thought about that more, but as it was, he was too preoccupied trying to avoid getting badtouched by Marcy.
Camp - The Christmas Party
This is the story of Dominic finally having the guts to admit his feelings.
After being camp for a few months, Dominic discovers interesting things like boys having crushes on Anemone. This... This does not sit well with him! It is one thing to like the Colonel, who is someone Dominic (still) admires to varying degrees and sees as a superior. As mentioned before, Dewey clearly claims Anemone as his own, and what's a wee little officer like him to do about it? Plus, Dominic is still under the (dumb) impression that Anemone adores the Colonel!
So Anemone liking the Colonel is fine! Dominic will suck it up and just... pine in the shadows. However, the average boy is something else. An average guy is someone he can confront and do something about! There are no rank issues to deal with, and by this point, Dominic's plucked up a little courage because things with Anemone have been going... well. Well in the sense that it doesn't seem like she wants to kill him or strangle him anymore! He wants to believe he has a chance against his romantic rival!
The only problem is that his competition is Capell, who, try as he might, Dominic can't really bring himself to hate with any real fervor. (They are amazing romantic rivals, really.) So even if he wants to try and start something (BACK OFF MY GIRL, DUDE. SHE'S MINE. SHE JUST DOESN'T KNOW YET.), it... ends up not going through so. Dominic tries a different method of Getting the Message Through.
He tells Anemone!
Which... is not that great of a plan as that would typically end up in violence. But lo and behold, Anemone was kind enough to bestow him with no violence coupons, for Christmas even. So he busts one out, kisses the girl, blurts out his feelings, and braces for impact. Because sure, he used a coupon, but a part of him still believed that she'd smack him a good one because hello, kissing.
In any case, Dominic was rejected. This was not that big of a surprised to him. What was weird, though, was Anemone's response. She brings up a flower and a party, and Dominic hasn't a clue as to what she's talking about. He's thinking that he's done something else wrong, but well, he gets the feeling that something is just sort of off here. What exactly that is, he's not sure.
While it doesn't sit all that well with him, Dominic calls it a night. After all, he's at a tentacle alien's Christmas party with the girl who just rejected him. That's just plain uncomfortable to him.
Camp - Valentine's Day
Dominic's grand plan for Valentine's day was to simply drop a lot of goodies on Anemone's doorstep and leave.
Things have returned to something akin to normal for he and Anemone, and well, he didn't exactly want to break the mood. At the same time, though, he still loves her (like the fool he is;;), so why not leave some stuff anonymously? This way, she would be happy, and he would be happy that he was the one to make her happy (even if she doesn't know it). A great plan, right?
Well, Dominic being Dominic fails something fierce and ends up crashing into her door, dropping all his gifts, and getting discovered. He is absolutely horrified and sort of wants to crawl under a rock and die because how much more pathetic can he get!? But... Things end up okay! In fact, they turn out better than okay.
See, with their impromptu dinner not!date and cake-making excursion, that was quite easily one of Dominic's happiest days at camp. Easily! Sure, he felt embarrassed and awkward at times, but he truly enjoyed just being by Anemone's side like that. It gave him hope that maybe he had a chance of winning her over eventually. Eventually being... some distant dream! Like retirement in a bad economy!;;
And well, Dominic felt like he was doing something right for Anemone once. There were no drugs, no Dewey, no orders. He's known this subconsciously for a while, but I want to say that this would be the first time that he's actually taken a moment to think about how and why he loves Anemone. He likes her smile, the way she laughs, her love for sweets... He likes her for perfectly normal reasons! That are unrelated to the military even!
Plus! He secretly feels happy that Anemone hasn't done any Valentine's stuff since coming to camp except for that one time with that guy, Capell. It's a little like a kick in his gut that's telling him that he can't slack off if he wants a chance with Anemone. True, he already confessed, but it's sort of a little nudge saying that he can't give up!
So he doesn't! But... he doesn't do a heck of a lot in regards to moving toward a relationship either.;;
Camp - The Cultists
As these things seem to always go, normalcy came back to Dominic's relationship with Anemone. There was no flirting (not... that Dominic flirts to begin with) and no awkwardness! However, what with camp being in danger, this sends up red flags in his mind. Why? Because Anemone's in danger, of course.
As per his norm when she's in trouble, Dominic panics and proceeds to freak out. It could be said that he was especially bothered seeing as, well, Anemone can't use theEND here! That's not to say that he considers her piloting that thing to be entirely safe, but he at least knew that unless it was Gekko State that she wouldn't have any trouble protecting herself with it.
So he leaves the safety of ZEX's ship (which is where he would've stayed if he was here in camp alone) and heads out to find Anemone, partially out of an obligation to "protect his ward" but mostly out of his own personal worry for her well-being. While he's out and about, though, he runs into Crow, whom he ends up helping to the hospital. During this trip, Crow asks Dominic whether he knows where Anemone is, to which he responds that he doesn't.
And then Crow deals a critical blow to Dominic by commenting that he's not a very good caretaker if he doesn't know where Anemone is at a time like this.
That by itself shakes Dominic to his core. It makes him feel like he's failed at his most basic of duties during a time period where he doesn't have an excuse: he's not running errands for Dewey, he's not on the other side of the planet, and there's nothing pressing that should have called his attention away. For all he knows at this point in time, Anemone could be dead because he wasn't paying attention.
This feeling ends up leading him to issues of insufficiency towards Anemone. Sure, he ends up finding her, and sure, he gets both of them to the hospital without any big problems. But by the then? The damage's been done. If he can't even do his job right when there's nothing but his job to do, then well, he feels that he's not worth Anemone's affection.
After all, if they go out, she'll rely on him more, right? But apparently, he can't handle that responsibility.
Camp - Loveless Weekend
Dominic is still suffering from feelings of insufficiency. He initially feels like he's going to be a weight on the team, but hey! That's not too big of an issue if he's just there to be a meatshield. Oh wait, except for the fact that he is actually the damage dealer this time around.
That realization was filled with all sorts of "OH SHIT" because a) combat is, truthfully, not his thing and b) that means that Anemone is going to be taking damage based on how well he performs. This scares him! He wasn't there for her when there was real danger in camp, so what about now? What's to say that he won't totally fudge things up this time around.
And it's with that sort of mindset that he goes into their first battle. As time passes, though, he develops a little more confidence, and well, with Anemone egging him on, he does okay! Dominic's not the best fighter out there, but at the very least, he was able to use some of his dork and his nerd to supplement and cancel out his fail. Writing all those reports helped! Dominic has a way with words! Sorta!
So when Anemone's happy and into the battle, he is, too. Dominic wants to make her happy, and if beating people with words does the trick, so be it. At the same time, though, when the battle doesn't go so well (ie. the fight against Byakuran and Percival), he goes into panic mode. He loses his concentration, which makes the battle turn even more against their favor, and really, at that point in time, he's less interested in battling than he is in running over to help Anemone.
That was, shall we say, a mini episode in which he was reminded of how he can't help her out sometimes and that he is quite powerless in some situations. So even while there wasn't any lasting damage done to Anemone, Dominic still felt like it was another blow. He'd failed again. Failed Anemone again.
Canon - The Update
So Dominic goes to bed one night and has a whole lot of dreams about his home world and what he's doing back there.
His canon update sees him finally balking at Dewey's actions. FINALLY. Dominic's hate for the Ageha Squad increases exponentially because of the way they treat people. The world around them is like a plaything for Dewey to toy with, and while he's not exactly that warm-hearted toward the general populace either, Dominic is not soulless. If testing of Orange had to be done, fine, but it should have been done elsewhere where no one would have been killed. This is provocation of the Coralians around a city full of innocents, and that is totally different from fighting against the Coralians themselves or even Gekko State.
This is not what the military does. They're supposed to protect people after all.
And while it might be the Ageha Squad being disgustingly happy with their numbers and results, it is, in the end, Dewey calling the shots. This is probably like a kick in the gut to Dominic, considering how much he admired the man before. But that image is quickly crumbling. Not only is the Colonel killing thousands of innocents, but his treatment of Anemone is taking a drastic turn for the worse.
Dominic still doesn't get what's happening with Anemone, but he doesn't approve of how Dewey seemingly is letting Anemone do all of these reckless things when she is clearly not okay. He likely feels that if Dewey were a responsible guardian that he would let her take a break, but what's he do instead? The Colonel puts Anemone up as the poster child for the Ageha Squad, which is one giant lie, really--Dominic knows the numbers about the Antibody Coralians and how long they can remain active.
Really, Dominic doesn't approve of how Dewey is treating Anemone like a tool. He even reminds the Colonel to speak of her as a person, not a thing, and when he laughs? It's a blow. It's like a laugh showing that Dewey really doesn't give a damn, and if he doesn't? Well, Anemone's just going to suffer in this one-sided relationship.
Yep, Dominic's still deluded that she's got some desperate love going for the Colonel. (In truth, her more recent behavior in canon only strengthens this idea, which is kind of going backwards from how she had been acting in camp.) The way she smiles and pleads and does everything in her power to make him happy and to receive approval from him strikes Dominic this way, and well, he's pretty far off, as Anemone's just trying to survive now. But hey, he doesn't know, and he's way too naive to figure it out.
I'd say that sort of mentality reaches its peak when Dominic finds out that Anemone had injected herself with the medicine. This is absolutely absurd in his mind considering how she had always fought tooth and nail to avoid getting drugged up in the past. But she did it herself for Dewey. This breaks his heart because she is doing so much for the Colonel who doesn't even love her back or think of her as a human being.
It's kind of like a demented love-triangle in his head: he loves Anemone, who loves Dewey, who doesn't love anyone.
And then there's the battle at the Great Wall. Dominic goes there after the fact to do some in-person investigation. He is stunned and horrified by what he sees there, and the amount of deaths shakes him pretty badly. It's bad to the point that he, a fairly seasoned soldier, vomits.
I want to say that the massacres that he witnessed hit a button and made him open his eyes (at least a little). Dewey's shedding blood for his own sake, to satiate his own madness, and the people are suffering for it. And then there's Anemone who's failed Dewey again. Dominic knows she's depressed, but he doesn't quite get the reason--it's still all about some weird drive she has for his approval and affection.
Still, Dominic picks some flowers--anemones, even--for her and brings them to her. For a moment, he thinks he did the right moment because Anemone asks him if she can rely on him. Naturally, he says yes, thinking that this might be his big break. But boy, did he misjudge and make the wrong move. So instead of sealing the deal and becoming Anemone's knight in shining armor, Dominic ends up bitten and with a whole lot of "back off, you ignorant fool."
Not quite as planned, but then again, plans never seem to work for Dominic.
All the same, he does his duty and drives Anemone to a party to be with Dewey. When they get there, he sees her all smiles for the Colonel, which continues to drive his delusions about how she feels about Dewey. So when he gets the orders to find a replacement and apologizes to her back, I think that he's apologizing for pulling her away from him. He's decided on his own that the love is unhealthy, so he's going to break it up by whatever means necessary in order to "help her" and get her out of her unhealthy relationship with the military.
And it's off to Warsaw where he gets another shocker: Dewey is a total dick and supports kidnapping and human experimentation! Dominic finally sort of kind of gets where Anemone is coming from now! I say sort of because he still doesn't get the "Dewey is probably losing patience with your losing and is going to off you soon" bit. He's just shifted into a "wow, Anemone, your life really... sucked" sort of thing.
So sure, Dominic understands and has lived through being a war orphan. But! He has never known the pain that Anemone went through or what those other girls in the Joy Division are facing--and he wants to help! The only issue is that to save Anemone he has to screw over other people, which he can't bring himself to do either.
Which then causes him to lose faith in himself and his abilities. He misunderstood Anemone, had no idea what she had been through, can't help the girls in the Joy Division, and allowed himself to be fooled by Dewey for several years. BUT HEY, some good came out of it: he knows Dewey is a total dick now! Dominic is, shall we say, finally ready to part ways with his Colonel and see him for the monster that he is.
The only issue is that he's still stuck in the military with nowhere to run. Really, there is nowhere safe in the world, and the military is everywhere. Plus, Anemone is still there with Dewey which is unsafe in many, many ways.
In any case, Dominic had a busy night with those dreams. o/;;
Camp - The Aftermath
Dominic "returns" to camp with a whole host of new memories that make him unhappy. He apologizes to Anemone for the flower and kiss because he... well, still doesn't get why she was so pissed, but he apologizes anyway! It's kind of him trying to make up for his fail and failing even more because haha, apparently he was supposed to apologize for ditching Anemone at the party instead.
But really, he didn't because well, he did honestly think that he had gone to Warsaw to help her. Admittedly, he wasn't able to, but it wasn't something Dominic felt that he really had no reason to apologize for.
And then conversation gets more awkward because Dominic then goes on to claim his hate for Dewey and how he's going to go against the grain. Anemone yells at him, and he doesn't understand why. The conversation shows him that she knows Dewey's not alright, and were this any other time, he might've seen that as a bit of a "whoa, so she's not in love with him and she might have actually been doing all that stuff to save herself" but he's pretty distraught.
Plus, he's. Just dumb that way.;; He's still incredibly naive for all that he's been through. Even Renton probably could've figured it out by now.
Anyway, Dominic is all "I AM GOING TO GO AGAINST DEWEY NOW. SOMEHOW" because he has no plans, which just makes him seem suicidal in Anemone's eyes! But really, he's doing it to save Anemone! Come hell or high water, he's going to do it! That's his promise to himself. In Dominic's mind, he just has to get her out of Dewey's grasp before a) the world gets destroyed by a certain Colonel's not so brilliant plan or b) Gekko State defeats Anemone in a way that leaves her, well, dead.
The idea that Dewey would send her on a suicide mission is not there. In his mind, the Colonel would not purposely kill her off without a replacement. Put her in very dangerous situations, yes, but not into scenarios with a zero return rate.
But yes. Dominic promised Anemone that he wouldn't go anywhere, and while he's at camp, he won't. He wants to make up for his mistakes and see her happy. In the meantime, Dominic will be spending his time trying to think up ways to save Anemone back in their home world. Currently, though, the best idea he's got is probably along the lines of like. Assassinating Dewey.;;
He needs a Jurgens moment. :(
TL;DR
Dominic loves Anemone, is a naive idiot, and his desire to do right and fix things might lead him down a path of self-destruction!
SO YES. WAS THAT ENTIRELY TOO LONG OR WAS THAT ENTIRELY TOO LONG? Questions/comments/dot dot dot's/bricks? I WILL TAKE THEM ALL. :|b ...holy shit that thing was 4.6k words long. >_>;;