Discussion: Samuel Peters

Hi guys! 

We’re pretty much coming closer to the end of the blogsary; we’re only eight days shy before we end the month and move on to September. Following today, we’ve got two more characters and I’ll wrap up the entire thing! 💙  I hope it’s been a nice experience for you guys. I’ll hopefully explain everything in my closer post, so look forward to that! 

For now, though, we’ll be focusing on Samuel Peters. Again, similar to Jian and Mack, Peters’ name has remained the same despite the shift towards original fic. To prevent confusion, I’ll just insert “Coa” or “DNAU” in front of Peters’ name! 

Feel free to click down below if you’d like to know more. 

"I bet you want to know more."

I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but I think it’s nice to take note of the fact that Peters was the second original character I came up with during the time of the DNAU! The growth of his character is actually a curious one; back when I posted on my Livejournal account about the adventures of the early Squad A, DNAU!Peters was actually a more quiet, more fumbling character who had conflicting feelings for his Squad Head. Believe it or not, his character was more Mack (in regards to personality) than it was Peters; I specifically remember him having a tall, wiry frame and his hair being messy as well as a light brown. He and DNAU!A got along much better, in addition—reading between the lines, it would feel that he had a great deal of respect for her while DNAU!A merely treated him as a co-worker who she eventually came to be friends with. 

That version, though, didn’t last too long—I decided to give him a bit of a revamp as well, and the newer version of DNAU!Peters was way more different than the quieter guy who had a tendency to ramble. This new version of him was pretty much the exact opposite; he gained a lot more confidence (maybe too much) and shifted from someone who kept to himself to someone who put himself out there even more. To be completely blunt, this version of DNAU!Peters was a borderline jackass. His character was known to be a notorious playboy who was frequently seen with a new woman on his arm whenever he went home during the weekends. DNAU!Peters never quite had a stable relationship, and while he seemed to be okay with that, it was something that hung on his mind heavily from time to time. 

Cockiness aside, this was also the version where his insecurities about living in his brother’s shadow was integrated into who he was as a character. The early rivalry between Jake and DNAU!Peters was something that intrigued me then, and still does until today. While he refused to admit it, it was something that irritated him quite often; thus convincing him to distance himself from his own family in hopes of being his own person and being better for himself.  

"I'm better than that now, I promise."

With all of that in mind, I think I can safely say that among everyone in the M9, it might just be Coa!Mack and Coa!Peters who have made it without too many changes to their overall character. Their prior DNAU versions, for me, served as some kind of base or foundation for me to build their characters on. While this seems not as interesting as changes that happened to Mathieu or Tadashi (who we’ll be discussing in the coming days), I actually find it to be pretty nice—I like it when there’s some sort of consistency being kept. While witnessing characters grow and adapt is one joy of mine, seeing how they still maintain whatever essence they had back then is just as sweet. 

Coa!Peters is still cocky, but not overwhelmingly so compared to his previous counterpart. Most of his cockiness is played up for laughs; while he does know his assets and makes sure to use them to his advantage,it doesn’t quite reach the same level of jackassery that DNAU!Peters’ did. Rather, instead of his cockiness being his downfall, it might just be his impulsiveness and recklessness that gets to him. Cos!Peters also has a huge hero streak, and this may pose as potential conflict as he’s actually the type to do whatever he can for the sake of the greater good. As we know, though, this isn’t the case, and the end doesn’t completely justify the means. 

Flaws aside, if we look at everyone from Squad A, it can be said that Coa!Peters is who keeps the rest of them stable. While this is hard to comprehend considering that we haven’t looked into Coa!Tad and Coa!Aether’s characters yet, it might make sense considering their emotional state during the course of the story. As we’ll see, Coa!Tadashi and Coa!Aether aren’t exactly the best despite the former being the eldest and the latter leading them. As for Mack, his cynicism tends to get in the way. This leaves Peters as the one to ground and keep them at bay, oftentimes dragging them back to reality when needed. This might not be exhibited as much during his arc, but I feel that it would be something worth taking note of come the main plot. 

Overall, while the Peters of DNAU and the Peters of Coa seem to be vastly the same, the current Peters has matured into a potentially better of himself. The old elements remain, but they've been tweaked if that makes sense. Coa!Peters is a vital force to the M9 and is essential as one of their few strong pillars come the main plot. 

That's all for today! We're down to our last two characters—please keep an eye out for them! 🌻