HEY, I did a lot of random stuff with Lafayette and Dmitri, yesterday. :^Y Idk why, but I’ve been thinking about them lately and think they’re actually pretty interesting…!!! Honestly, I never expected to do much with Dmitri… although, I had some stuff with him and Jessica planned, which was somewhat interesting... but I never got around to drawing it. (Which I will eventually maybe, aha;;) But since I ended up making Lafayette Dmitri’s childhood friend (I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER WHEN AND WHY I DECIDED THAT HAHA), I feel like I understand Dmitri a little bit better since I’ve thought about his childhood a bit. So yeah, I’ve been thinking about Lafayette and Dmitri’s backstories.
ALTHOUGH,
I’M STILL NOT REALLY SURE IF A LOT OF THIS STUFF IS CANON… My main issue with coming up with backstory stuff between Dmitri and Lafayette is Lafayette’s gender;;; As far as Nerdy and Jock goes, I kind of want to keep Lafayette’s birth gender ambiguous, or even leaning toward female since Dmitri uses feminine pronouns with him. But yeah, creating a concrete backstory for Lafayette and Dmitri will kind of demystify Lafayette’s birth gender… so idk, maybe this isn’t cannon, I haven’t decided. WHO KNOWS.
But anyway, here’s some comics. I’m gonna be revealing a lot of stuff THAT MIGHT BE CANON BUT MAYBE NOT here, which might be a problem ‘cause I might make a short oneshot comic about Lafayette and Dmitri. SO IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS… IDK… WHO CARES ABOUT SPOILERS THOUGH AHAH.
Anyway, I’ll start with the childhood ones, since that’s what I was blabbing about up there. :U
LAF AND DMITRI AS CHILDREN.
This is like the first conversation they ever had… Idk how old they are, I think this is like the summer before 4th or 5th grade. Lafayette’s family moved next door to Dmitri’s before the two of them started 5th grade. It’s canon that Lafayette is Japanese, btw, no dispute about that. :U He’s fluent in English now, but I think he mostly spoke Japanese to his mom before moving here (though idk where he went to school and stuff before moving to Nerdy and Jock land.)
HONESTLY… I JUST REVERSE-ENGINEERED LAFAYETTE’S ORIGINAL ENGLISH NAME FROM DMITRI’S NICKNAME FOR HIM… Originally I was trying to find a Japanese name that had “rafu” in it, but of course that didn’t exist. So I just went with Raphael, ‘cause whatever. He didn’t start going by Lafayette until middle school-ish (IF THIS IS CANON). Also, sorry if it seems like I’m making fun of Lafayette’s accent, here, ‘cause I’m not trying to;;;
Dmitri had such a generic short spikey hairstyle as a young babe. Lafayette’s mom’s always let Lafayette wear skirts and dresses, btw. (Though he also wore tutus and ridiculous costume stuff to elementary school like a NERD WHAT THE HECK’S WITH THAT)
More things of them as kids. The top one’s of Dmitri when he’s in middle school. THAT ONE OF LAFAYETTE ON THE RIGHT LOOKS WAY TOO YOUNG.
Dmitri didn’t find out Lafayette’s biologically a boy (IF THIS IS EVEN CANON) until school started, where at some point they had to break off into groups between boys and girls. Although, Dmitri still thought (/thinks) of Laf as a girl ‘cause that’s just what he was used to. (And even as a kid, Laf didn’t really care if he was a girl or a boy to people.) …idk what I’m saying here, I feel like I’m being confusing. WHATEVZZZZZZZZZZZZ
ALSO, Dmitri and Lafayette used to like playing pretend a lot (what I called “The Game” up there ‘cause whatever), when they were little. (This is actually kinda based on my own childhood, haha. I used to really like playing pretend with my sisters and friends. We called it “The Game of Games.”)
Lafayette’s very into taking on different personas, it’s really fun for him. :U Even as he got older, he just wanted to play all the time (which is kind of why he’s really into acting, now). Dmitri thinks it’s fun to play, too, but he started to get self-conscious in middle school when everyone wanted to start growing up and be adults. It was ‘cause of this that sometime in middle school Lafayette and Dmitri started to drift apart. In high school, Dmitri didn’t really talk to Lafayette as much because he joined and made friends on the football team, while Lafayette spent most of his time in drama club.
It’s worth noting that any sort of COMING OF AGE DRAMA AND POTENTIAL BULLYING goes away in high school, because Nerdy and Jock takes place at a mysteriously beautiful and kind high school. (??? I just want to avoid drama like in A Life Like This when I draw Nerdy and Jock). Personally, I think it’s because Brodney is there and is just SUCH A GOOD HUMAN… A GOOD ROLE MODEL FOR ALL. And since he’s the most popular/known person in school, almost everyone just follows his example. (??? UNREASONABLE, BUT WHO CARES. I LOVE BRODNEY.)
Okay, I’m confusing myself, idk what I’m talking about. NEXT DRAWING.
Laf and Dmitri eventually reunited as friends during Nerdy and Jock… idk really why it happened, but hey whatever. DMITRI… IS SUCH A BABY, IDK WHY THIS HAPPENED…
Lafayette is so short, though. He’s 5’2, btw, while Dmitri’s 6’1. LAFAYETTE LOOKS SO YOUNG…
**KIND OF WEIRD (?) TALK, MAYBE: I WAS THINKING… MAYBE LAFAYETTE HAS THAT THING WHERE YOU DON’T FULLY GO TROUGH PUBERTY…?
Originally, I kind of perceived Lafayette as like… a eunuch, I guess. But considering there’s no reasonable ethical way for him to be a eunuch (besides being born without reproductive organs which is extremely rare), I got bored and looked up stuff about delayed puberty/etc. Initially I was wondering about Kallmann Syndrome (??), but I’m looking up stuff online again and I’m thinking the less-specific “hypogonadism” is probably more accurate to Lafayette… and is also not associated with specific health-threatening complications. (also this might be kind of immature of me, but I’m so surprised that “gonad” is a technical term.) ANYWAY.
But yeah, I feel like if Lafayette has hypogonadism, it could explain a number of things… including why Lafayette is so short and youthful-looking, his gender ambiguity (to a degree), and also why he’s disinterested in sex. (I know these things don’t need specific genetic explanation or anything, but it’s just what I was thinking about.)
Regardless, I don’t feel like it’s something Lafayette would ever get officially diagnosed for, because experiencing TROO PYOOBERTY isn’t a big deal to him.**
ANYWAY MOVING ON.
Some losers. Dmitri is Lafayette’s biggest fan. ALSO THESE TWO ART BOTH POTTY MOUTHS… I know Dmitri’s not swearing here, but he does…………. He’s also just rude in general. They’re both rude. Rude fools.
TOO BAD I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SWEARING AHAHAHSLDFKJ “”orz I just write based on my intuition, but I can’t help but feel it’s ALL! UNNATURAL!!!!
Some random comic where Dmitri wants to have a sleepover with Laf for the first time in a while. SEE, I TOLD YOU DMITRI WAS A POTTY MOUTH TOO….
Idk if it wasn’t already obvious, but Dmitri’s usually pretty self-conscious and concerned with his image and being normal (or specifically, not-weird). He’s embarrassed here because he feels like it’s not normal for a teenage boy and a teenage girl to sleep in the same bed without any implications (even though literal sleeping is all they’re doing.) Idk. I’M SO BAD AT TALKING ABOUT MY CHARACTERS, THESE DAYS!!!!
Last one. It’s so brief. I’VE TALKED SO MUCH ALREADY, I’M SO SORRY…!!!
There’s actually more to this conversation here, maybe I’ll draw it later. BUT YEAH, it is canon for Lafayette’s Japanese name to be Ritsu. Originally it was going to be Ryuuichi, but Ritsu’s apparently androgynous. So there you go. Bluh. I’m so tired of talking.
Laf doesn’t care if people call him Ritsu, but he somewhat prefers Lafayette.
I WISH I HAD A NICE CONCLUSIVE WAY TO END THIS, BUT TOOOOOO BAD.
HERE’S THIS DUMP OF UNORGANIZED INFORMATION ABOUT MY CHARACTERS. If something didn't make sense... maybe ask questions, if you're interested....... /WEIRD STATEMENT
I feel like this post would be more organized if it was arranged in like a questionnaire format, haha. xD; SOMETIMES IT'S EASIER TO SAY SOMETHING IF YOU KNOW THE QUESTION YOU HAVE TO ANSWER!
