[camp] Thoughts on an aging character.

[redhaired_anita]

It's coming up to the one-and-a-half year point for Anita's camp time. Now's a good time as ever to essay on how Anita's gradually changed from her first impressions to...something more personal and unique.

1. Love
   
   Before, Anita thought all those people who had relationships were freaks. To summarize an essay, Anita's lack of experience in the love department made her completely oblivious to what a real romantic relationship was like. It was weird for people to fall in love, both opposite and same-sex. (Both were equally ABHORRED.)
   
   Anita gradually changed in camp. Possibly the first indication was Kyon (the first one), who confessed to being Kohaku's secret admirer. She reacted badly to that, if I recall correctly, but temporarily stopped up her enraged/freak treatment to deal with the more present problem (Kyon telling her not to trust Light). It still hovered in the back of her mind, but it didn't change how Anita treated Kyon.
   
   The second indication was Rosalyn's relationships. The first would be with Stan, which was just fucked up. (Sorry, Ros-mun, but no thirteen-year-old's going to believe that a make-out battle is good.) Then there's Tayuya, who seems as normal as a Sound ninja could get. But Rosalyn hasn't changed for the worse being in love with Tayuya and Anita's happy that Rosalyn's happy.
   
   Anita has gravitated towards poking fun at people for crushes or dating, most noticeable when she keeps egging Sho about his not-relationship with Kei.
   
   Anita, however, isn't quite mature enough to actually hold a relationship. Most guys have an older-brother-type deal with her. Hell, I think there's something wrong if somebody wants a relationship with Anita.
   
   
2. Speaking of Love: Relationships
   
   Anita was a SHOUJO RETARD when it came to relationships. Like, REALLY retarded. She was raised in a library as a failed genetic experiment and then by her two bibliomaniac sisters who were, like, twice her age. NOT CONDUCIVE TO FORMING HEALTHY PEER RELATIONSHIPS.
   
   Anita reacted oddly to friendship. She'd be open to making friends with other people, but got confused over why these people would worry over her afterwards. SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU CARED, SO SAD.
   
   Anita has changed now, in that she reacts to different relationships like a normal human being. She'll be happy to see Rosalyn and flip when Kohaku tackles her; she looks up to Wolfwood, Minagawa and other older males while maintaining stupid childish arguments with Sho and Janaff.
   
   
3. Paper Powers
   
   Before, Anita kept them under wraps. At this point in time she knew that her powers were unusual, even for a person with powers in ROD-verse. Nenene pointed this out in canon and she arrived in camp self-conscious about it. There would be denial like no tomorrow unless someone pressed the case.
   
   Now...Anita's seen some freaky stuff. Not just camp stuff, but camper stuff. And in the world of magic and superpowers and living gods on Earth...a girl who can cut things with paper is nothing.
   
   Anita is a little less cautious about her paper now. She doesn't come right out and announce her abilities unless somebody asks for help or they come up. For Anita, it's like having green eyes or being short something: it's completely normal for her and she doesn't think to mention it because why should she? But more people are probably aware of the stuff she has than...not.
   
   I've also been steadily increasing Anita's paper strength: she would've been doing some training in her off time, right?
   
   
4. Amnesia, Hating Books, Sisters are Sekritly Awesome, Fear of Fire, Still Hating Books, Lack of Sex Education
   
   ...No change. NEXT.
   
   
5. Death
   
   Like any normal kid, Anita did not take the possibility of death well. Even though she participated in missions that involved life-threatening battles, the idea that she could actually be killed never occurred to her. At camp, the idea of death getting treated so trivially freaked her out.
   
   Anita did start using he moogles once old Kyon brought it to her attention. Not out of real faith that they'd save her, but it's nice to have a safety net when you plunge off the side of a building. It became part of a routine for her, much like eating breakfast or checking on friends. Not something she'd go out of her way to do, just something worked into her route.
   
   This paid off when in the fight against Gnosis, Anita was killed. After she revived and was told about what happened, I expected Anita to freak and start screaming. Instead, she didn't. Anita knew that she had been killed and brought back with no serious ill effects, what was there to complain about? More relieved than anything; an experience Anita could laugh about later, really.
   
   Death is not such a serious issue to Anita now. She's a little more light-hearted about it, although not to the point where she'd kill herself just to recover from an illness or something.
   
   
6. I'M NOT SHORT.
   
   Before, Anita reacted QUITE BADLY whenever someone made fun of her height. Mention anything about her shortness and she'd be all ass-kicking.
   
   ...Anita still does that, actually. But at least she's mature enough that when it comes up as a topic of discussion with an old friend, she'll just yell defensively instead of taking it out physically.
   
   Sometimes.

Conclusion: I think Anita's matured a bit in camp. Just a bit. Occasionally she regresses back into her childish self, but instead of going "WTF" at everything she sees she's finally starting to...get used to things. Huh.