[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

[kieli]

*thuds head on the desk* You're killing me. Eh well, it was worth a shot. I don't normally beg, plead or offer chocolate in return for good art. That should tell you something ;-)

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.)

Perhaps they have. If so, I can't imagine the outcome being good....or at least satisfactory to me personally. It may be well and good for others. Who can say? *shrug*

[greywing]

You do realize that this fic has come out . . . oh, more than a year and a half after I stopped working on the drabbles? And I hadn't planned this fic to appear some time in the future after I finished with the drabble. Unfortunately, fics will happen as they happen with me. =( It's why I don't try to do any more big projects because I tend to lose steam pretty quickly. =/

I'm not even sure the post-novels exist but I keep wanting to say they do. I swear someone was translating them. I know there's a prelude about Natsuki, but I avoided that translation, too.

[kieli]

Oh I'm well aware of the timeline. I just look at my own lack of updating and the year or so difference between what I wrote last versus the attempts to finish those projects now. Unfortunately, I'm not getting anywhere fast. -_-

Anyway, just wanted to pop on and thank you for your gift of well written art. It made my night.

[greywing]

Ack, good luck with that. And thank you for all your comments. I'm glad you liked it. =)

[ifuritka]

I'm not even sure the post-novels exist but I keep wanting to say they do. I swear someone was translating them.
They don't.
*thinks*
Maybe you think about "Mai Hime Destiny"?. It is translated by MakiMaki. This is another, new, alternative story with the same characters, like was Otome to Mai Hime before.

[greywing]

*sigh* I still wonder why I think they exist. What happened in my past that has so firmly planted this idea in my head?