Character Development: Mikkel

[Nimphy]

I'm also a Lalli-type. People tend to think I do not eat enough, and teachers often tell me that anorexia is not a good condition to be in, and I should start eating. Truth is, I eat a lot. Quite a lot. I probably eat more than two normal girls combined, I just love eating. Yet not only am I almost underweight (couple of kilos less and I could really be underweight - not too normal for a 14-year-old to weigh about 40 kilos), but I am also fairly scrawny, not very tall, and generally less "developed" along the areas of chest and hips. It's just constitution. I like to call it the Balkan Constitution for fun, since I know a lot of guys my age from around the same birthplace who also manage to eat a lot and be incredibly thin.
My father, on the other side, and his entire side of the family, have quite a heavy build. They would probably be thin only if they starved themselves, and dad has no intention of renouncing food any time soon, that much is sure.

That's an interesting account!

May I indulge in speculation hushpiper? Are you the sort of person who feels warm when wearing two layers less than everybody else - and wonders why they are complaining about the cold? If that's the case then you may be slightly hyperthyroid - not necessarily enough to cause illness, but enough to supercharge your metabolism. It can be a genetic thing, which seems to fit the family history you mention.

It's probably nothing nasty, but it might be worth asking to see an endocrinologist, since hyperthyroidism can lead to heart problems such as arrhythmias.

Er... Sometimes I do feel quite comfortable in the cold... But I'm sure I've got no heart disturb at all, I've spent quite a lot of time in hospitals and took hundreds of tests, and was never diagnosed with anything really serious.

[Superdark33]

Lots of Lallies here it seems. I was the skinniest and narrowest guy and also taller than averege in high school (Id say prettiest too but thats not for me to decide or on topic) and i was at least twice confronted with "Boys have anorexia too" and a teacher thought of telling that im "not fed enough at home" before i told her not to becuase not every male needs to be built like a garbage truck that breaks through a brick wall of a proccesed meat factory.

- not too normal for a 14-year-old to weigh about 40 kilos -

Back when i was 14 i was lighter than that. It was School measurements, i went to mine, got 39-35 cant remember, went back and everyone were already discussing their numbers, all in the 40s, one even 50s (The above mentioned garbage truck) except my friend back then who also had 40>Him>Me>35.

[SeaAngel]

Lots of Lallies here it seems.

I wonder if Lalli is actually Lalli type XD
Yes, his two cousins are definitely well fed, but they both get less exercise, he's the one who has to run around each night. From what we've seen of him, he basically scouts, eats, attempts to sleep, and the circle repeats. Maybe the lack of actually pleasant and/or relaxing activities, coupled with occasional lack of sleep due to visions, are not the best for his health?
I cannot see him getting chubby, EVER, but maybe a more relaxing lifestyle would make him a bit less scrawny.....?

[Solovei]

I wonder if Lalli is actually Lalli type XD
Yes, his two cousins are definitely well fed, but they both get less exercise, he's the one who has to run around each night. From what we've seen of him, he basically scouts, eats, attempts to sleep, and the circle repeats. Maybe the lack of actually pleasant and/or relaxing activities, coupled with occasional lack of sleep due to visions, are not the best for his health?
I cannot see him getting chubby, EVER, but maybe a more relaxing lifestyle would make him a bit less scrawny.....?

Well, when they were on the train and Emil asked if they wanted anything from the dining car, Tuuri said that Lalli "doesn't like anything". The only think we've seen him eat so far is a sandwich, as whenever the others were eating he was either too sick or asleep to join them.

... I just realized this post doesn't actually really say anything, but... yeah. There you go

[Fimbulvarg]

Well, when they were on the train and Emil asked if they wanted anything from the dining car, Tuuri said that Lalli "doesn't like anything". The only think we've seen him eat so far is a sandwich, as whenever the others were eating he was either too sick or asleep to join them.

... I just realized this post doesn't actually really say anything, but... yeah. There you go

Actually, IIRC he ate only the meat that was meant to go with the sandwich. He seems oddly picky for a survivalist.

[Superdark33]

I wonder if Lalli is actually Lalli type XD
Yes, his two cousins are definitely well fed, but they both get less exercise, he's the one who has to run around each night. From what we've seen of him, he basically scouts, eats, attempts to sleep, and the circle repeats. Maybe the lack of actually pleasant and/or relaxing activities, coupled with occasional lack of sleep due to visions, are not the best for his health?
I cannot see him getting chubby, EVER, but maybe a more relaxing lifestyle would make him a bit less scrawny.....?

His bones are very small, i doubt that he would be chubbier if he ate for that purpose.

Also his hunger might be sporadic (like mine) (like a cat) so he doesnt eat """""Normally""' ''' '., , ."

[Hrolfr_2]

Hmmm

Emil, Turri and Lalli 19years olds ,  Sigrun 32  Mikkel 40.

In my experience active 19 year olds cannot keep weight on, and can eat all the time.   

• Lalli is wee fey type who spends all night stalking every night in lighter clothing than you'd wear outside, he probably burns 2500 calories a night just keeping warm.
• Emil is more normal active 19 yo
• Turri is a chubby  Finnish girl.  they exist
• Sigrun is an hyper active woman
• Mikkel is a "big farm boy" reaching middle age, looks normal sized to me.

As a side note:
My dad attended a agricultural college in 1950's rural Quebec, he was astonished at seeing the young men men learning how to log ( without chainsaws, with horses and pull saws and axes) eat 12 fried eggs, 1 lb of bacon or ham and 1/2 a loaf of dense bread. Plus a litre of coffee with heavy cream and sugar.  EACH.  (My father counted.)  They were all smallish, skinny as rails, Quebecois, but when you are nineteen, are about to do heavy manual labour all day outside  in -20C weather for the 2nd week in a row then having a 12 000 calorie breakfast seems like a splendidly good idea.

[Oskutin]

*Tuuri

Turri basically means 'furry'.

[hushpiper]

Well, when they were on the train and Emil asked if they wanted anything from the dining car, Tuuri said that Lalli "doesn't like anything". The only think we've seen him eat so far is a sandwich, as whenever the others were eating he was either too sick or asleep to join them.

My impression is that Lalli is both picky and inconsistent in his eating habits. He probably eats in bits and bites whenever he feels the need, and refuses whatever's offered him as a matter of course most of the time. I doubt he eats for the pleasure of it. None of that necessarily means that he doesn't eat enough--though that would explain his half-gaunt appearance--just that he doesn't follow the usual social customs around food and mealtimes. Having him over for dinner could be very awkward.

Emil, on the other hand--he's been remarkably dainty about eating so far, and probably has quite good table manners. However, you'll be hard-put to convince me he doesn't put away food like a black hole when his physical activity levels ramp up, for example during the fall when he's out with the cleansers lugging flamethrowers and hauling fallen trees around and basically putting those muscles to good use. If he ends up doing that sort of hard labor on this trip, I suspect he'll be eating more than anybody else on the team--Mikkel included.

Actually, that's a question--how do the physical activity levels of the different combatant professions compare? My impression has been that cleansers have to undergo a lot more sustained physical activity than scouts or hunters: to me scouting implies both sprinting across open land and nesting up in a tree for hours at a time, watching. Hunting implies more or less the same thing--long periods of waiting, or slowly creeping about while searching for one's prey, interspersed with periods of frantic activity when actually in battle with said prey. Cleansers, though--there's the treeline. Work until it's gone. The only reason to stop is if the fire's out of control and you need to wait for it to burn out, or if you're about to collapse from smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion. Or, I suppose, if you come across an area that's gonna require some dynamite. Thoughts?

[Sunflower]

Madsen is totally my type of guy. I'm a bit like that myself, not Tuuri chubby but fairly tall and big-ish all over. But I bet Mikkel could still carry me.  I hope he loses his razor out in the wilds and grows a beard!

Your intro mentioned experience with Viking beards, Oda.     Can you share any details with us?  The fangirls would love some basis for comparison between Norwegian and Danish facial hair...

[Peridotal]

I'm actually REALLY looking forward to the point  when the guys start growing facial hair; though I don't think Lalli could really grow much of anything, and I feel like Emil might just be able to grow out a mustache. But I'm only basing this on the amount of facial hair that 19yr olds in Canada can grow.

But I am hoping that Mikkel will have a beard at some point!

[Mayabird]

And now we've seen Madsen wearing the tight black shirt without the jacket and yes, he's built like a tank.  Looks almost straight off that illustration on page 1.   The extra layers make him look pudgier like Superman wearing a bunch of layers to look like a chunky Clark Kent. 

[Solokov]

eat 12 fried eggs, 1 lb of bacon or ham and 1/2 a loaf of dense bread. Plus a litre of coffee with heavy cream and sugar.  EACH.  (My father counted.)

Sounds like breakfast at firecamp for the forest service during summer. Also the tools haven't really changed much since the 40s and 50s, especially if a fire crew gets into a protected area and then it's an act of congress to get permission to use anything mechanized and the crewboss gets an evil gleam in his or her eyes and calls in for a crosscut saw.

Actually, that's a question--how do the physical activity levels of the different combatant professions compare? My impression has been that cleansers have to undergo a lot more sustained physical activity than scouts or hunters:... Cleansers, though--there's the treeline. Work until it's gone. The only reason to stop is if the fire's out of control and you need to wait for it to burn out, or if you're about to collapse from smoke inhalation or heat exhaustion. Or, I suppose, if you come across an area that's gonna require some dynamite. Thoughts?

From a forester's perspective, I would say a cleanser's job would probably be some of the roughest and dangerous work available. Not only are they dealing with managing a fire and keeping it from jumping lines (I'm assuming they use similar tactics to wildland fire crews to keep the fire from burning back into areas they have already cleansed), but they would also have to worry about any angry beings that they manage to stir up and piss off or attract from all the noise (fire is not quiet. Get enough of it and it rumbles off canyon walls like a freight train), and from my experience, working fireline is tiring enough without the additional risk of angry amalgamations of flesh and bone trying to rip you apart.

[Mayabird]

We have character thread for the others, but only a thread about his size (which is Strong Man, not Obese, BTW) for Mikkel Madsen.  I like this guy so I'll start it now.

The big guy from Bornholm is the oldest of Our Motley Heroes, with a wide variety of experiences and knowledgeable about many topics (to the point that I suspect he's the smartest one there).  Mikkel also has a history of getting fired from jobs.  To be fair, from his ancestry and personal history, it could be a family virtue to get fired.  His apparent great-grandparents met after getting fired, and frankly only survived by getting fired (great-grandad by going off on a trip, great-grandma by getting fired lots of times before so she happened to be on the last boat to Bornholm).  He himself likely would've died when the Danish defenses were overrun if he hadn't been "relocated." 

He seems to have a history of pulling pranks which are related to his many firings.  I suspect that, in addition to being smart, he gets bored easily and amuses himself by tricking others.  Although there's absolutely no evidence to support this, I get a feeling that he might have been the youngest or among the youngest of many siblings, and while he may have picked up a farm boy's sturdiness, he was never going to be the one inheriting the farm and thus was free to be a bit more immature, even if it doesn't show as much.  Learning to roll with the punches might've been one way to handle getting picked on for being the smallest/youngest, as well as getting back at people later (leading to pranks).  But maybe I'm reading waaaaay too much into a big calm stoic guy. 

EDIT: I originally missed this entire thread somehow so I made this as an OP to a new thread.  Thanks for merging!

[Sunflower]

Comments re: Mikkel 'fessing up on p. 237 to his "face-cancer" joke on Emil:

Crazybean
Mikkel in panel 5, I just wanna go up and cuddle him. He's so adorable. Hehe, I thought he'd let Emil stew far longer.
...
I just had a dark thought. Look at how apologetic Mikkel looks, what if he fears Emil might not make it out alive and that's why he want's to make his peace with him first.

It's the first mission and the first time Emil's heading into danger. He probably feels sorry for picking on the guy now. He's even sabotaging his future pranking opportunities by letting Emil on to the fact that he makes stories up.

Euodiachloris 
I think he's just moved targets. Or difficulty level. Educating Emil is just part of the Medic package.

Crazybean 
XD yes, picking on the guy who's as defenseless as a newborn puppy in the wits department is probably not as rewarding as getting one over Sigrun.

Look how serene and apologetic he is in panel 4.
Mikkel's Panel 5 face seems to say "He might be dense, but he's a good kid."

Alternatively:
"Sniff, my oldest heading off to get married. They grow up so quickly. "

or: "Daww, he's actually pretty adorable when he's being clueless"

Timni16
Emil, you are a giant dork. This is what happens if you don't go to school.

Frank Royce Harr 
Big-time. You're at the mercy of those who did.

Euodiachloris 
It's worse than that: little school vs medical school. Everybody knows that junior doctors minor in Black Humour and the Dark Arts (pranking while chronically fatigued). Emil is way outside his weight class. xD

Mikkel also happens to be an unholy chimera: he's an Agric and a Medic united in one body. That, my friends, is seriously dark magic.  

(Agric: one who studies or practices agricultural science.)  Traditionally in Northern universities in Britain... there's a bit of drunken rivalry between both Medics and Agrics.