[fic] MH: A Tangential Affair [Fujino Shizuru]

[greywing]

Title: A Tangential Affair
Fandom: Mai HiME
Rating: Hard PG-13/Soft R
Words: ~9700
Spoilers: Entire series
Tie-ins: Shizuru-Natsuki drabble cycle and "Orbiting"
Featured Character: Fujino Shizuru
Disclaimer: SUNRISE's. Not mine.
Notes: A possible sequel, of sorts, to the events in the Drabbles with a tie-in to Orbiting. Reading them is not

Comments

[kieli]

I am ever so grateful that you're still writing. Seriously. Truly. This was something that I've waited a long long time to read and I am very thankful it was you who gave us this gift. I'm even more tempted to go back and read the other vignettes.

You've written something that I've been wanting to write, dying to write, for a long time now. I'm glad to see that someone's muse has been very good to her.

I could relate to much of Shizuru's feelings and even more of Yamane's feelings (as a woman pushing 40, you can see why). I laughed outright at Yamane's mutterings about Shizuru's age, recalling my own snarky comments to younger friends about the same thing. Don't I wish I could be 20 again if not just to undo some of the damage I did as a hell-raising, flirtatious university student but to take the chances I wish I had taken. Those would have made for fun tales, to be sure.

Looking forward to more,
K.

[greywing]

You've written something that I've been wanting to write, dying to write, for a long time now. I'm glad to see that someone's muse has been very good to her.

I wish someone had written this before me then I wouldn't have had to write it! But thank you for your comments. I wasn't sure how Yamane would approach someone so much younger than she is, but I'm glad that you could relate to what I guessed would be her feelings.

I can't say there will be more--MH is a fandom I tend to run to when I want to actually write in another fandom but lack the same level of confidence to engage it. But as I pull these characters more and more away from canon, I hesitate more to write in it. It may be becoming too much of my personal playground.

[kieli]

But as I pull these characters more and more away from canon, I hesitate more to write in it. It may be becoming too much of my personal playground.

Really, though, what can be considered "canon" anymore? Their relationship wasn't as developed in neither Mai HiME nor Mai Otome as one would like in order to get a real sense of what it was like between the two of them. And I am growing ever weary of pedantic high-school drivel that people paint them into these days.

Maybe it is due to my advancing age that I prefer to see them as much more intelligent, maturing individuals who experience pain, confusion, alternating turns of love and fury, etc; that Shizuru is indeed human and not the monster others were so ready to believe she was for ONE episode in MH. I still grind my teeth to powder in remembrance at her being marked a rapist with such flimsy evidence as shadows on shoji. *takes a deep breath* But I digress.

I went back to read all of your drabbles. Is it bad to crave more? O_o

[greywing]

Their relationship wasn't as developed in neither Mai HiME nor Mai Otome as one would like in order to get a real sense of what it was like between the two of them.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but didn't they try to go with some short novels to "develop" Shizuru and Natsuki post-MH, basically, in fact, making them canon? I never read it, but I had that impression for whatever reason. I never read it knowing that it would go against how I saw them. (If I don't read it, I rationalize, I can pretend it doesn't exist.)

pedantic high-school drivel that people paint them into these days.

Do they? I have to admit that I avoid MH fanfiction in general. Like I said, I'm pretty happy in my own playground.

The argument about Shizuru still goes on. The way I see it, she must be at least traumatized by the entire experience. All of them must be to some degree--which is why I've always seen the relationship between Natsuki and Shizuru to be very tense post-MH.

I went back to read all of your drabbles. Is it bad to crave more? O_oFor you

[elwhyenen]

I should have been commenting on the beta post but like the bunch of fail that I am, I'm posting here.

Anyways, I wanted to tell you before you posted this fic up that I thought it brilliant. In short, I think the ending was a bit lacking (but lacking in the way that I'm not completely satisfied--you cockteasing prick) but that I really came to care for your original characters.

Which is rare. And odd.

..but good for you, none the less!

I wasn't really leaning towards Shizuru being "paired up" with anyone as I usually do in fanfiction but rather I found myself..letting the story flow? You have a good sense of control with the words you use and how you arrange them, so kudos to you for that as well.

I really enjoyed reading this, it has a tight feeling of awkwardness and some sort of desperation and it really gets to you. In a sad way. Bastard gaywing. :(

[greywing]

You weren't slow, I was just fast. I've been wanting it out of my hands. I got impatient. Sorry. =(

In short, I think the ending was a bit lacking (but lacking in the way that I'm not completely satisfied--you cockteasing prick)

I know. It was abrupt and a lot more open-ended than I had originally intended. Apologies. If I didn't end it there, though, this would be a novel, not a fic.

I really came to care for your original characters.

I'm glad. The original characters were the sketchiest part. I wasn't sure how people would react but I'm glad you didn't want to lynch Yamane.

I wasn't really leaning towards Shizuru being "paired up" with anyone

Good, because it wasn't supposed to be about that. =)

Bastard gaywing. :(

I love you, too.

[elwhyenen]

What's wrong with a novel? Nothings wrong with a novel! IN FACT YOU SHOULD WRITE A NOVEL! I'D BUY IT.

...:(

Hey, my lynching hobby is not to be ridiculed. That's a sensitive topic for me, gaywing.

And--you little--son of a--FUCKING--just fall in a hole.

..

And never crawl out. >(

[nemesisjk8]

*muzzles Lynn* Now, now. Play nice. I'm supposed to be protecting GayGreywing from possible lynching crazies. =(

[glazzal]

I really enjoyed that as original fiction. Became quite attached to all the characters. It leaves me curious about Sena, too, and I think it does read like a novel or a novella. If you ever wrote a book, count me in as one of those who might buy it. :D

What I missed, though, was the Japanese feel of the characters. But then, they aren't supposed in Japan anyway, yep.

[greywing]

I really enjoyed that as original fiction.

*laughs* I shouldn't have worried about characterization then. Sena is so crazy, in an artistic way, that I try to avoid writing her because it's bizarre for me to try and think the way she does.

I think it does read like a novel or a novella

I think it lacks the flow of narrative of either--and is much shorter. I don't have the feel for more expansive narratives of either sort.

What I missed, though, was the Japanese feel of the characters. But then, they aren't supposed in Japan anyway, yep.I always figured they were in Japan or some mysterious island or something just floating off the mainland, but I'm not well-versed enough with Japanese culture to nail that. I do know that I hate throwing in Japanese (it makes me feel like I'm in my early fangirl days making n00bie mistakes), so a lot of things like hajimemashita and such greetings got scrapped--and Japanese phrases tend to sound dumb directly translated into English. So I avoided it. I kept the honorifics because it's important and

[nekocia]

I thought that this fic will have more of a drabble climate. It wasn't something I was expecting, yet it was a great pleasure to read it. :)

you have amazing writing skills, and I agree with Lynn, you should write and publish a novel :)

[greywing]

I thought that this fic will have more of a drabble climate.

It still does, a little bit, mostly in the more compact segments.

It wasn't something I was expecting

*laughs* I'll admit in being purposefully misleading in my description of the story.

you should write and publish a novel

Not until I figure out how to write a novel! I wish, though.

Thanks for reading and commenting. =)

[sataniscooler]

...if you didn't know you are simply the best writer for this fandom before now, I hope you will recognize it for truth when I tell you so.

I found your drabbles on ff.net, which were easily my favorite piece of writing for ShizNat up to now, and somehow that led me here, months ago, never expecting to see anything else from you but checking every so often just in case. this was so amazingly done that I felt compelled to stop lurking if only to thank you for it. this story is just so many emotions swirling together in such a beautiful and elegant, yet perfectly natural way. it reminds me very much of how I feel when I reread my two favorite fan works on Wicked (incidentally, I see you've mentioned them both in previous posts: The Effects of/Defying Gravity and The Week of Ill Repute), which is utterly swept away

[greywing]

...if you didn't know you are simply the best writer for this fandom before now, I hope you will recognize it for truth when I tell you so.

Everyone has their favorites and I'm flattered to be yours.

it reminds me very much of how I feel when I reread my two favorite fan works on Wicked (incidentally, I see you've mentioned them both in previous posts: The Effects of/Defying Gravity and The Week of Ill Repute), which is utterly swept away.

That is beyond flattering, as I think I've got a long way to go before I reach either's grasp of emotional depth paired with narrative elegance.

I would love to see more-- I'm especially imagining Natsuki's reaction to finding out what happened between Shizuru and Nakamura and/or Yamane--

I've been wondering about how that might go but I've yet to figure it out myself. As a number of people will tell you, I'm much more focused on Shizuru when I write. =)

Thank you for coming out of lurkerdom and commenting! I'm glad you enjoyed this.