Kitty mentioned that Hokaze’s name was not only strange for a woman, but also that it was hard to find a connection with her name and the theme the rest of the Alicein have. Now I’m no expert at Japanese names (much less Japanese itself) but I had fun digging to see what I could find, and I found quite a lot! So let’s get to it :D
Interpreted to the best of my ability, Misono’s mom has a name which roughly means “one who is quick to overcome ups and downs”
Which is why she was drawn holding Jane Eyre when she and Lily met
She’s an inversion of Jane’s story, just like the Alicein brothers are an inversion of Cain and Abel
For anyone who’s never read Jane Eyre, a quick and dirty plot summary of the relevant parts is that Jane, an orphan girl, eventually ends up in the employ of a rich man who she falls in love with, however he is married and because of that, she refuses to continue their relationship. The man of the house reveals that the reason he didn’t tell her this is because his wife was insane, and she screams and barks and growls and runs around like an animal. Eventually the woman in her insanity burns down the manor, but her husband escapes and, now a widow, it would no longer weigh on Jane’s conscience to marry him. The books ends with Jane writing about how they’re expecting their first child together. The book’s themes of morality and class differences are echoed, to the result of tragedy, in the story of the Alicein
Hokaze doesn’t manage to overcome her status of being born a penniless orphan by marrying a rich man and joining the upper classes. Instead she is murdered by his wife who has been driven mad with jealousy. Her story is one of an idealistic dream, executed in a self serving manner, confronted with reality that cost her her life
Also, the 歩 part of hokaze’s name can also be read as “fu,” a pawn in shogi :))
Mikado is the emperor, kiriko is the princess, and Mikuni the kingdom they made together
Hokaze wanted to be queen but was merely a pawn, and ultimately playing a very different “game” than the royalty around her
It’s also notable that the one who put her down that path is Lily, who shares a name with the white pawn Alice takes the place of during the chess game in Through The Looking Glass.
Her scheme also gives the name she gave Misono a very different light.
She gave him a character from Mikado’s name, “proof” of his infidelity, and the one for garden, because he is the “fruit” of her labors, the beautiful rose of the future queen of Wonderland
The extreme irony here is that Mikuni is much more like Hokaze in his actions, while Misono closely resembles Kiriko’s loyalty and ability to forgive others (at the cost of himself)
Also, Mikuni is going to hate this, but
His desire to protect misono from the harsh truths of the world, even going so far as to burn down part of his own home, is… Very, very Mikado. It’s fine if he cheats, manipulates, and even hurts Misono, so long as the result is Misono continues to be able to live with such a simple and idealistic view of love and life
They look like their mothers, inherited behavior patterns from each other’s, and also share quite a lot with their father
It’s a very beautiful way of weaving them together as a family, and also Strike’s use of word play to set Hokaze apart from the Alicein cast while also giving her name something to tie her to the theme is extremely clever. Boy is it mean though xD
Thanks for reading! Lemme know what you guys think :)
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The BOLD THE FACTS tag with Imani
tagged for my choice of oc by @pralinesims and @raiiny-bay <3
The Rules are simple! Tag people and name a character you want to know more about! If you want to let the person you tagged decide who to showcase, then don’t name a character and they can pick somebody. Easy! The person who is tagged will then bold the remarks below which apply to their character and, if they want to, include a picture with their reply!
[ PERSONAL ]
$ Financial: wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty / other
✚ Medical: fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non applicable
✪ Class or Caste: upper / middle / working / unsure / other
✔ Education: qualified / unqualified / studying / other
✖ Criminal Record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no (despite his attempts matthias has never successfully roped her into any of his mess lmao) / has committed crimes, but hasn’t been caught / yes, but charges were dismissed
[ FAMILY ]
◒ Children: had a child or children / has no children / wants children
◑ Relationship with Family: close with sibling (but it's complicated... imani has real love for her baby brother but she's also aware of the difference in how her parents treat the two of them and it's definitely impacted their relationship) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased
◔ Affiliation: orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parents / not applicable / other
[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES ]
♦ extroverted / introverted / in between
♦ disorganized /��organized / in between
♦ close minded / open-minded / in between
♦ calm / anxious / in between
♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between
♦ cautious / reckless / in between
♦ patient / impatient / in between
♦ outspoken / reserved / in between (she's more outspoken when she's just with romeo or matthias, but when she's around her parents she gets quiet)
♦ leader / follower / in between
♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in between
♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in between
♦ traditional / modern / in between
♦ hard-working / lazy / in between
♦ cultured / uncultured / in between / unknown
♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown
♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown
[ BELIEFS ]
★ Faith: monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic
☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care
✮ Belief in an Afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care
✯ Belief in Reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care
❃ Belief in Aliens: yes / no /don’t know / don’t care
✧ Religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious
❀ Philosophical: yes / no
[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ]
❤ Sexuality: heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual
❥ Sex: sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naïve and clueless / other
♥ Romance: romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naïve and clueless / romance suspicious
❣ Sexually: adventurous / experienced / naïve / inexperienced (she's had sex before but her experiences have been few and far in between) / curious
⚧ Potential Sexual Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all
⚧ Potential Romantic Partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all
[ ABILITIES ]
☠ Combat Skills: excellent / good / moderate (she's taken a self-defense class before and matthias has taught her a couple nasty tricks in case she ever needs them) / poor / none
≡ Literacy Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none
✍ Artistic Skills: excellent / good (she sketches while she's waiting around; she's often drawing her own designs, fairies, flowers, snakes, pointy scribbles, or spirals) / moderate / poor / none
✂ Technical Skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none
[ HABITS ]
☕ Drinking Alcohol: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / alcoholic
☁ Smoking: tried it (disliked the taste and the smell) / trying to quit / quit / never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / chain-smoker
✿ Recreational Drugs: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / addict
✌ Medicinal Drugs: never / no longer needs medication (used to take meds for an old ballet related injury but she's good now) / some medication needed / frequently / to excess
☻ Unhealthy Food: never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater
$ Splurge Spending: never / sometimes / frequently / shopaholic
♣ Gambling: never (she's too disciplined for that) / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gambler
tagging @cowboycid for val, @helltrait for chris, and @tau1tvec for isa! and let me just rapid fire some of you who i think might have fun with this tag game!! @birdietrait, @wildmelon, @diwns, @fangs-trait, @deehya, @bunmou, and @spurgees
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