... yeah, you know what this is.
1. Reply to this post, and I will pick three of your icons for each of your characters.
2. I might ask specific questions about the icons! What context were they pulled from; what coloring technique you used, wtf is with those keywords, ect.
3. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
4. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
Hanajima
Megumi picked:
1. There's this scene where Hanajima runs into some of the Sohmas on Chinese New Year (well, not "runs into," I guess, because that would imply that it's accidental, which it's probably not) and... I think talks about how lonely Tohru must be since they've all left her behind? I forget exactly, and I can't check right now because my copies of the manga are at school and I'm not. Anyway, the scene ends with her saying "may you have good waves in the New Year" to them, and this is that panel. I'm pretty sure, anyway. The keywords ("don't look back again") are from the "whatever comes into my head first" school of keywording, so they have no real significance.
2. Actually, I'll talk about this in a minute, since Claire asked about it and also about another icon that comes from earlier in the same scene, so it's easier to explain them at the same time.
3. This is not from the actual manga, it's from... some supplemental-type thing, I'm not really sure what. I found it online and thought it was pretty. Keywords ("a little sketchy") are a really lame pun. (That was short, but there's no context to talk about, so...)
Claire picked:
1. This is from the anime, so... I'm not really sure about the context. I've never seen the anime; the only reason I have icons from it is that when I first got into CFUD, I didn't have a scanner. So I had to rely on Google Image Search for icon fodder, and what came up there was mostly anime caps, so that's what I used. I've been sort of phasing them out since then, but this is a pretty good scary psychic icon, so I still get some use out of it. Keywords ("Also? I can kill you with my brain") are a quote from Firefly.
2 and 3 are from the same scene. Hanajima is swimming, and her hair is floating around her all creepily, and everyone's freaked out... and then she gets out of the pool and complains about not being able to find a hairband. And since hair scrunchies are banned at camp, I get to use these icons at least once a summer. \o/ Though I try not to do it too much because I worry that it gets old. I colored the water on the first one because I was feeling Artistic; I was going to partially color all of Hana's icons but then I got lazy, so I only did two. Go me. Keywords ("I need a hairband" and "it keeps getting in the way") are self-explanatory if you know the context.
Yoshino picked:
1. See above!
2. This is from the chapter where it's the anniversary of Tohru's mother's death, so Tohru, Hanajima, and Uotani go to visit her grave. They run into several Sohmas there, and Hanajima eventually ends up explaining why she worries about the Sohmas and anyone involved with them (which is, specifically, where the icon is from) -- basically, it's because the Sohmas' waves are just that emo. Keywords ("the chaos in their souls") are directly quoted from what she was saying at the time.
3. Apparently, despite not being able to run for more than thirty seconds without being dramatically unable to go on, Hanajima can play badminton for hours without working up a sweat. She is a badminton fiend. And she seriously is saying something here about how there are no rules in badminton.
Shiki picked:
1. From the above-mentioned pool scene again. I- I just wanted a boobies icon, really.
2. There's a chapter where they go on a class trip, and Hanajima says something about the weather being so beautiful that it makes her want to recite a haiku. She proceeds to recite... well, I forget what it is, but it's definitely not a haiku. Someone calls her on it, and she goes "oh yes, how silly of me." Hence the icon, and the keywords.
3. Hanajima has just met Shigure for the first time, and after he's gone she says to Tohru something like "So that was your guardian? His waves... they were very strange..." and Tohru freaks out and then Hanajima just goes "... He is quite stupid." So. Yeah. Hence the keywords ("overwhelming waves of stupidity"), again.
Hyatt
Megumi picked:
1. From the cover illustration of an early volume -- not sure which one, because again, my copies of the manga are at school, but it's probably 1 or 2. The keywords ("another icon of generic happiness")are because... well, uh, I was really uncreative with the keywords back when I first started playing, so they were all descriptive. And eventually I ran out of new and different ways to say "happy" or "smiling", so... yeah. I should finish redoing her keywords one of these days.
2. Is also from a cover illustration, but a much later one -- 12? 13? I'm not sure. Maybe a little earlier than that. So again, no context. Keywords ("world go boom") are... me being dumb? The cover has explosions on it and looks vaguely apocalyptic, so.
3. This is... probably from the chapter where ACROSS goes to the swimming pool, because she's wearing glasses and that's the only chapter I can remember where she does. I'm, uh, not sure about the specific context, though. Keywords ("the better to see you with my dear") are a Little Red Riding Hood reference. Funnily enough, Excel has a glasses-adjusting icon with the same/similar keywords, which I didn't know when I was keywording this one.
Claire picked:
1. I'm... actually not sure about this one. Excel made it for me. HEY EXCEL, IF YOU READ THIS, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ICON? Keywords ("every day I crucify myself") are from a Tori Amos song, because Excel Saga and Tori Amos are kind of an amusingly inappropriate combination.
2. This is from the volume where Hyatt gets amnesia and becomes engaged to her loser neighbor, Watanabe. After Il Palazzo comes to fetch her and she regains her memory, I think Kabapu's people (that is, The Enemy) are chasing them? Something like that, anyway, and eventually Il Palazzo just... teleports them away. And this icon is from when they're about to teleport. The keywords ("blowing in the wind") are the title of a song, and also what Hyatt's hair is doing.
3. I'm a little fuzzy on the details of this one, but I think Excel has gone off on her own, and in the meantime Hyatt and Elgala take over a stadium, or something like that, and this is Hyatt delivering ACROSS's message via the giant screen thingy. Keywords ("secret agent girl") are a play on the song "Secret Agent Man," and are really just there because she's wearing dark glasses.
Lulu picked:
1. See above.
2. This is from a beginning-of-chapter splash page, so there's no real context for it. It's for the chapter where Hyatt is mysteriously even sicker than usual, and I think Excel ends up thinking she's dead for good, but... it's Hyatt, so of course she's not. Keywords ("in a better place") are... a cliche phrase referring to a dead person? Also she looks like she's in heaven in this picture, so.
3. This one has no context either -- it's a doodle that was stuck at the beginning or end of some volume or other. It doesn't look like Rikdo (that is, the regular mangaka) drew it -- maybe it was done by an assistant or something. Keywords ("follow the butterflies") are from... well, Harry Potter, technically, but I think of them as being from Potter Puppet Pals. \o/ And it's because she seems to be chasing a butterfly.
Yoshino picked:
1. See above! (If you don't feel like scrolling down to find the comment, Excel says it's from one of Excel's paranoid episodes where she worries about terrible things happening to Hyatt.)
2. This is actually from a fantasy that Watanabe has about her. He has quite a few. He's... kind of creepy sometimes! To say the least. I have no idea what I could ever use this icon for IC, but oh well.
3. This is... from the anime and I forget the context because it's been like a million years since I actually watched the anime. Sorry.
Shiki picked:
1. Excel has a toothache. This is Hyatt's solution. Yeah, I don't know either. Keywords ("League of Lady Conspiracists") are from The Tinfoil Hat Song
2. I think this is after one of the times when Mince/Menchi (the ACROSS girls' emergency food source, which happens to be a dog) tries to run away -- the attempt fails, and she ends up being so tired that she collapses onto a plate. Oh, the irony.
3. Excel leaves Hyatt unattended for a few minutes while they're out in the town, and Hyatt goes and gets herself kidnapped by some bank robbers. She (Hyatt, that is) doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.
Hisui
Megumi picked:
1. ... well. Once upon a time, one of Hisui's lines in the game had a typo in it. I think it was meant to be "あなたは犯人です" (anata wa hannin desu; "you are the criminal"), but got typed as "あなたを犯人です" (anata wo hannin desu; technically nonsense, but could be read as "I'll make you a criminal"). Thus, Brainwashing Detective Hisui was born! She became the subject of many a gag comic and piece of fanart, including this one. She was also embraced by TYPE-MOON, the makers of the game; there is in fact official art of Brainwashing Detective Hisui, and the brainwashing/hypnosis thing got worked into one of the stories on the Tsukihime Plus Disk.
All of Hisui's keywords are titles of I've Sound songs; there's not much to explain, because I just picked either titles which related to the icon or titles of songs whose mood fit that of the icon.
2. This is from a really pretty fanart wallpaper; it's probably my favorite non-crack fanart of Hisui. It was my desktop background for a really long time before it got replaced with Longcat vs. Tacgnol.
3. Another piece of fanart I thought was cute. I'll probably never get to use that expression IC, though. Dammit, Hisui, you and your drywall-ness.
Claire picked:
1. See above.
2. This is actually canon art, I believe, though not directly from the game -- it's from some artbook/companion book/thingy. Kohaku is giving Hisui a backrub.
3. Fanart of Hisui with a broom. I cropped it like that because... I was feeling artistic again? Or I just thought I had enough icons of Hisui going ":|" and wanted some variety. One or the other. It makes a good general cleaning icon.
Shiki picked:
1. I actually got this off of TYPE-MOON's official site -- go to "Extra" to see it (The stuff in the text box there is mostly boring, but that last line says something like "Then, try not to fall in love with me, baby!"). It's one of those icons that amuses me, but I never really get to use it. That kind of goes for about half of Hisui's icons. \o/
2. Official art again -- this is from the cover of something called the "Half-Moon Version" of Tsukihime, which I think only contains Arcueid and Ciel's paths. (So why put Hisui & Kohaku and Akiha on the cover at all, I wonder? Ah well, I'm not going to complain about extra icon material).
3. Aaand this is fanart... which I don't seem to have anymore. And I can't find it. Sorry.
Momoko
Megumi picked:
1. This is actually from a photoshoot by the actress who plays Momoko, Fukada Kyoko. She dresses up in Lolita-style outfits sometimes, so I have a few icons of her, because pictures of her tend to be cleaner and prettier than my caps of the movie. And hey, it works for Momoko style-wise, even if her hair is sort of dark red normally and Momoko's is blonde. Keywords ("rose of Versailles") are because... she's holding a rose, and likes France, and my brain does random things with keywords sometimes? Nothing really to do with the manga/anime of the same title.
2. There is, in fact, a Kamikaze Girls manga. I don't own it and don't have many icons from it, because I don't like the art style. The cover picture is decent, though, so I iconned it... and I never use it. The other person in the picture is Momoko's BFF/notgirlfriend Ichigo.
3. Momoko at school, eating sweets and daydreaming. Such an attentive student.
Claire picked:
1. This is from the end of the movie, after Momoko has saved Ichigo from her former gang (Ichigo wants to leave the gang, which is apparently Not Allowed) and they are riding off into the sunset on a scooter. Keywords ("like a lover") are a paraphrase of an actual line from that scene in the book -- the whole thing is "I put my arms around her as I might a lover" or something along those lines.
2. This one comes shortly before the previous one -- it's Momoko facing down Ichigo's gang. The blood, I think, is Ichigo's.
3. This is Momoko realizing that she's about to get hit by a truck. Don't worry, thanks to the power of friendship she isn't hurt at all.
Lulu picked:
1. Momoko flying through the air in slow motion after having been hit by the aforementioned truck. It's quite graceful, really, for... someone being hit by a truck. The keywords ("crouching tiger hidden loligon") are... uh. Well, first of all, the whole thing reminds me of the (more intentional) slow-motion-flying-through-the-air found in Chinese martial arts movies, so that's that reference. The "loligon" thing comes from this scene in the book where Ichigo and Momoko are on a train and some little kid points at Momoko and goes "what's that thing, Mommy?" and Ichigo tells him that she's a Loligon from Planet Frilly-Ass.
2. See above!
3. See above!
Shiki picked:
... all of which have been asnwered already, I think.
Maria
1. Manga art of Maria's hissatsu/ultimate attack. It's an ice-type spiritual power attack which for some reason takes the form of a pretty (and... apparently naked) girl. We don't question these things.
2. Game art of Maria as Andre (the male romantic lead, that is) from Ai Yue Ni, which is essentially Rose of Versailles with the serial numbers filed off. I usually try not to use her in-costume icons too much, but... it's pretty, okay.
3. I'm pretty sure this is from the episode of the TV series wherein Maria has to drill Sakura, the main character/newcomer to their pseudo-Takarazuka theatre troupe, on the basics of acting, singing, and dancing. In case you're wondering, yes, Maria takes musical theatre as seriously as she takes everything else. Which is very, very seriously. Oh, Maria.
Yoshino picked:
1. This is from the big musical number that the Teikoku Kagekidan (Maria's theatre troupe) do at the beginning of the movie. It never stops being amusing the way she can be all serious business one minute and be singing and dancing and going :DDD the next.
2. The villain of Maria's arc is this tiny mindrapist demon who keeps making her flashback to her angsty past. And in the manga, she eventually decides she has had enough of this and goes off to fight tinyrapistdemon by herself. Which doesn't go so well, and he ends up, well, crucifying her. Hence the icon. And then Ohgami (the male lead/guy-with-harem) has to come rescue her. (Interestingly, the anime has it the other way around, with Ohgami going off to fight tinyrapistdemon alone and Maria and Sakura having to rescue him. I can't remember what the game does, but I seem to remember that it's different, to some extent, from both of them. Oh canon, why must you have so many versions?)
3. In the first episode of the anime, Sakura interrupts Maria's nightly angst session in order to apologize for having messed up that day's performance of the play Maria is in. Maria is having none of it, and pretty much literally throws Sakura out of the room. Yeah.
Shiki picked:
1. This is from the same part of the manga as the manga icon Yoshino picked. It's Maria realizing she's about to get fuckowned by the aforementioned tinyrapistdemon.
2. This is from the scene in the movie where Maria is talking to Yoneda (the guy who's technically in charge of the Teikoku Kagekidan) in his office, and... I remember the scene, in general, and I remember which icons I have are from it, but I can't remember what they were actually talking about. orz
3. This comes shortly after #1, and is Maria actually getting fuckowned by said tinyrapistdemon.
Sara
Claire picked:
Note: Ever17 context is hard to explain without spoiling something, but I'll try. As a result, these may be a little vague.
1. Partway through Sara's path, the Kid (one of the two male main characters -- he has amnesia and doesn't remember his name, which is why he's called the Kid) finds Sara sitting in this little room under the infirmary, looking at a pendant and crying. She ends up telling him a bit about her childhood, which I won't go into except that she's an orphan and the pendant is the only thing of her parents' she has. This icon has two sets of keywords, because... I decided to try and stop using Japanese keywords, but for some reason just added English keywords on and didn't delete the original ones. Anyway, "涙の子守唄" (Namida no Komoriuta; "Lullaby of Tears") is the title of Sara's (musically peppy but lyrically depressing) image song, and "I couldn't stop the tears" is a line from the Shiina Ringo song "La Salle de Bain." Sara has a lot of keywords from "La Salle de Bain," because... it involves drowning and Sara almost drowns a few times.
2. This is from Sara's bad ending, where they don't manage to escape the underwater theme park they're trapped in before it floods entirely -- she's saying, I think, that she doesn't mind that she's going to die because at least she found the Kid first. This may also happen in the good ending, except that they don't die afterwards. Keywords ("so dear to me it hurts to think of them") are from "La Salle de Bain" again.
3. This is Sara's first real appearance in the game (she does show up very briefly before that, but we don't know who she is yet) -- she's been trapped in an elevator that stopped between floors when the power went out in the aforementioned underwater theme park, and the Kid has just pried the doors open so that she can get out.
Yoshino picked:
1. This isn't an actual scene from the game, it's a bonus unlockable picture. It, like quite a few of the other unlockable CGs, features the characters all floating around underwater. This icon features Sara's hands (on the right), Coco's hands (on the left -- she's... another character and I can't say too much about her), and Sara's pendant, which I mentioned above. I don't know what I could ever use the icon for, but it's pretty.
2. Another unlockable picture of the characters floating around underwater. In this one, Sara's skirt is flying up for no discernible reason -- she's kind of got the "Marilyn Monroe on an air vent" pose going on, except with more freaking out.
3. This one is from right after Sara almost drowns the first time -- the underwater theme park is slowly becoming completely flooded, a room or two at a time, and Sara happens to be in the Cosmic Whale Room when it starts flooding. Unfortunately, the room automatically locks down so the water won't reach the rest of the complex. Even more unfortunately, Sara can't swim at all.
Shiki picked:
1. Remember what I said about most of the unlockable pictures being of the characters floating around underwater? Yeah, this is another one of those.
2. Sara's good ending! That's her and the Kid, having escaped LeMU (the underwater theme park), swimming to the surface.
3. This is from a doujin game which crosses Ever17 over with a whole bunch of other games. Full picture is here. The character she's gaying it up with would appear to be Kotonomiya Yuki from some game called Suigetsu, according to the character page. Whoever made the game appears to really like Sara, because they've got tons of pictures of her, which means icon fodder for me. Some of them, like this one, aren't very IC, but they're cute.
Shuro
Note: may contain spoilers.
Megumi picked:
1. This is Shuro in ten'nyo form -- it's from the cover of... well, it's on my copy of volume 4, but I don't think that's where it's supposed to be, given that Shuro isn't introduced until volume 6. It's a very pretty icon, and one of the very few color pictures of Shuro. Keywords are from Vienna Teng's "Feather Moon" (all of Shuro's keywords are song lyrics, which turned out to be a lot harder to do than I expected). All of Shuro's ten'nyo icons are prefixed with tt so I don't confuse them with the normal icons -- zz would have been neater, but, uh... t is for ten'nyo so it made sense at the time?
2. This is from volume 6, where Shuro is first introduced. There's... not really much going on on the page it comes from, but it's right before Shuro has another fight with Kei (the other member of GeSANG, also Shuro's cousin/childhood love) over wanting to leave the music business? Keywords are from Anemotaxis by Chata (which... probably no one else has heard of).
3. This is from Shuro's last concert, and I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to use it IC -- I mean, it looks like a perfectly normal singing icon, but I know the context, so it kind of makes me go ;_; every time I look at it. Which makes me wonder why I even have last concert icons uploaded, since they depress me. I'm sort of dancing around the actual spoiler here, but it's pretty obvious, isn't it? Oh well. Keywords are from Sakamoto Maaya's "Kingfisher Girl."
Claire picked:
1. Aya (the main character) is trying to get back her amnesiac boyfriend's lost memories, and Yuuhi (the love rival) is tagging along and fuming. This is Shuro noticing Yuuhi's expression, right before teasing him about it (and about having crossdressed in the previous volume).
2. From volume 6 again. Aya transforms into Ceres (her ten'nyo form) in front of Shuro and Shuro's mom (the other person in the icon), and in her surprise, Shuro's mom... accidentally hits Shuro in the face, apparently.
3. I'm not sure where this is from, because Yzak made all my icons, so it's harder for me to remember the context unless it's something really clear/memorable. I've been rereading the manga to try and figure out where they're all from, but it's starting to depress me, so I give up. The keywords are from "The Light Before We Land" by The Delgados.
Lulu picked:
1. See above!
2. I'm not quite sure where this is from, off the top of my head, and see above comment on Claire's third pick. I'll try again later, maybe? I can only take Ayashi no Ceres in small doses. The keywords are translated lyrics from Shuro's song from the anime, "Mugen no Kaze" ("Eternal Wind").
3. ... Ahaha, I was hoping someone would ask about this one. This is from the volume where Shuro is first introduced, and... well, it kind of goes like this:
Shuro (on TV): By the way, I'm the descendant of a celestial maiden, and my family still has their hagoromo [heavenly robes, what the ten'nyo need to get back to where they came from]! :DDD
Aya [who is looking for the/a hagoromo]: !!! We must stalk this singer and try to get him to give us his hagoromo!
[Aya goes to Shuro's concert, finds him backstage]
Aya: I need your hagoromo!
Shuro: I'll give it to you in exchange for your body. ;)
Aya: Ew, no way, you perv!
Shuro: Look, do you want the hagoromo or not?
Aya: ... fine. :/
[later: they go to a secluded spot; Shuro starts undressing]
Aya: ... you have boobs!
Shuro: So do you, what are you staring for?
Aya: So you're a lesbian?
Shuro: No, I was actually just messing with you. Wanna come back to my place and see my hagoromo?
Aya: Sure!
... and this icon is from the part where Shuro almost molests Aya. \o/
Shiki picked:
1. Yuuhi is flipping out about Aya being late to school, because he is a silly little jealous man and thinks that it's because she and Tooya are at a love hotel or something. Shuro is trying to calm him down. Keywords are from OK Go's "Get Over It."
2. This is from another one of her arguments with Kei (which I mentioned above, I think). Keywords are from Lisa Loeb's "You Don't Know Me."
3. Another last concert icon; the keywords to this one are from "Kingfisher Girl" too. It's like I have a theme and stuff!
More may come later, since I left some comments that haven't been replied to yet. I think that's it.
Man, I really hope I didn't screw up the HTML anywhere.
2. I might ask specific questions about the icons! What context were they pulled from; what coloring technique you used, wtf is with those keywords, ect.
3. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
4. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
Hanajima
Megumi picked:
1. There's this scene where Hanajima runs into some of the Sohmas on Chinese New Year (well, not "runs into," I guess, because that would imply that it's accidental, which it's probably not) and... I think talks about how lonely Tohru must be since they've all left her behind? I forget exactly, and I can't check right now because my copies of the manga are at school and I'm not. Anyway, the scene ends with her saying "may you have good waves in the New Year" to them, and this is that panel. I'm pretty sure, anyway. The keywords ("don't look back again") are from the "whatever comes into my head first" school of keywording, so they have no real significance.
2. Actually, I'll talk about this in a minute, since Claire asked about it and also about another icon that comes from earlier in the same scene, so it's easier to explain them at the same time.
3. This is not from the actual manga, it's from... some supplemental-type thing, I'm not really sure what. I found it online and thought it was pretty. Keywords ("a little sketchy") are a really lame pun. (That was short, but there's no context to talk about, so...)
Claire picked:
1. This is from the anime, so... I'm not really sure about the context. I've never seen the anime; the only reason I have icons from it is that when I first got into CFUD, I didn't have a scanner. So I had to rely on Google Image Search for icon fodder, and what came up there was mostly anime caps, so that's what I used. I've been sort of phasing them out since then, but this is a pretty good scary psychic icon, so I still get some use out of it. Keywords ("Also? I can kill you with my brain") are a quote from Firefly.
2 and 3 are from the same scene. Hanajima is swimming, and her hair is floating around her all creepily, and everyone's freaked out... and then she gets out of the pool and complains about not being able to find a hairband. And since hair scrunchies are banned at camp, I get to use these icons at least once a summer. \o/ Though I try not to do it too much because I worry that it gets old. I colored the water on the first one because I was feeling Artistic; I was going to partially color all of Hana's icons but then I got lazy, so I only did two. Go me. Keywords ("I need a hairband" and "it keeps getting in the way") are self-explanatory if you know the context.
Yoshino picked:
1. See above!
2. This is from the chapter where it's the anniversary of Tohru's mother's death, so Tohru, Hanajima, and Uotani go to visit her grave. They run into several Sohmas there, and Hanajima eventually ends up explaining why she worries about the Sohmas and anyone involved with them (which is, specifically, where the icon is from) -- basically, it's because the Sohmas' waves are just that emo. Keywords ("the chaos in their souls") are directly quoted from what she was saying at the time.
3. Apparently, despite not being able to run for more than thirty seconds without being dramatically unable to go on, Hanajima can play badminton for hours without working up a sweat. She is a badminton fiend. And she seriously is saying something here about how there are no rules in badminton.
Shiki picked:
1. From the above-mentioned pool scene again. I- I just wanted a boobies icon, really.
2. There's a chapter where they go on a class trip, and Hanajima says something about the weather being so beautiful that it makes her want to recite a haiku. She proceeds to recite... well, I forget what it is, but it's definitely not a haiku. Someone calls her on it, and she goes "oh yes, how silly of me." Hence the icon, and the keywords.
3. Hanajima has just met Shigure for the first time, and after he's gone she says to Tohru something like "So that was your guardian? His waves... they were very strange..." and Tohru freaks out and then Hanajima just goes "... He is quite stupid." So. Yeah. Hence the keywords ("overwhelming waves of stupidity"), again.
Hyatt
Megumi picked:
1. From the cover illustration of an early volume -- not sure which one, because again, my copies of the manga are at school, but it's probably 1 or 2. The keywords ("another icon of generic happiness")are because... well, uh, I was really uncreative with the keywords back when I first started playing, so they were all descriptive. And eventually I ran out of new and different ways to say "happy" or "smiling", so... yeah. I should finish redoing her keywords one of these days.
2. Is also from a cover illustration, but a much later one -- 12? 13? I'm not sure. Maybe a little earlier than that. So again, no context. Keywords ("world go boom") are... me being dumb? The cover has explosions on it and looks vaguely apocalyptic, so.
3. This is... probably from the chapter where ACROSS goes to the swimming pool, because she's wearing glasses and that's the only chapter I can remember where she does. I'm, uh, not sure about the specific context, though. Keywords ("the better to see you with my dear") are a Little Red Riding Hood reference. Funnily enough, Excel has a glasses-adjusting icon with the same/similar keywords, which I didn't know when I was keywording this one.
Claire picked:
1. I'm... actually not sure about this one. Excel made it for me. HEY EXCEL, IF YOU READ THIS, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ICON? Keywords ("every day I crucify myself") are from a Tori Amos song, because Excel Saga and Tori Amos are kind of an amusingly inappropriate combination.
2. This is from the volume where Hyatt gets amnesia and becomes engaged to her loser neighbor, Watanabe. After Il Palazzo comes to fetch her and she regains her memory, I think Kabapu's people (that is, The Enemy) are chasing them? Something like that, anyway, and eventually Il Palazzo just... teleports them away. And this icon is from when they're about to teleport. The keywords ("blowing in the wind") are the title of a song, and also what Hyatt's hair is doing.
3. I'm a little fuzzy on the details of this one, but I think Excel has gone off on her own, and in the meantime Hyatt and Elgala take over a stadium, or something like that, and this is Hyatt delivering ACROSS's message via the giant screen thingy. Keywords ("secret agent girl") are a play on the song "Secret Agent Man," and are really just there because she's wearing dark glasses.
Lulu picked:
1. See above.
2. This is from a beginning-of-chapter splash page, so there's no real context for it. It's for the chapter where Hyatt is mysteriously even sicker than usual, and I think Excel ends up thinking she's dead for good, but... it's Hyatt, so of course she's not. Keywords ("in a better place") are... a cliche phrase referring to a dead person? Also she looks like she's in heaven in this picture, so.
3. This one has no context either -- it's a doodle that was stuck at the beginning or end of some volume or other. It doesn't look like Rikdo (that is, the regular mangaka) drew it -- maybe it was done by an assistant or something. Keywords ("follow the butterflies") are from... well, Harry Potter, technically, but I think of them as being from Potter Puppet Pals. \o/ And it's because she seems to be chasing a butterfly.
Yoshino picked:
1. See above! (If you don't feel like scrolling down to find the comment, Excel says it's from one of Excel's paranoid episodes where she worries about terrible things happening to Hyatt.)
2. This is actually from a fantasy that Watanabe has about her. He has quite a few. He's... kind of creepy sometimes! To say the least. I have no idea what I could ever use this icon for IC, but oh well.
3. This is... from the anime and I forget the context because it's been like a million years since I actually watched the anime. Sorry.
Shiki picked:
1. Excel has a toothache. This is Hyatt's solution. Yeah, I don't know either. Keywords ("League of Lady Conspiracists") are from The Tinfoil Hat Song
2. I think this is after one of the times when Mince/Menchi (the ACROSS girls' emergency food source, which happens to be a dog) tries to run away -- the attempt fails, and she ends up being so tired that she collapses onto a plate. Oh, the irony.
3. Excel leaves Hyatt unattended for a few minutes while they're out in the town, and Hyatt goes and gets herself kidnapped by some bank robbers. She (Hyatt, that is) doesn't seem particularly bothered by it.
Hisui
Megumi picked:
1. ... well. Once upon a time, one of Hisui's lines in the game had a typo in it. I think it was meant to be "あなたは犯人です" (anata wa hannin desu; "you are the criminal"), but got typed as "あなたを犯人です" (anata wo hannin desu; technically nonsense, but could be read as "I'll make you a criminal"). Thus, Brainwashing Detective Hisui was born! She became the subject of many a gag comic and piece of fanart, including this one. She was also embraced by TYPE-MOON, the makers of the game; there is in fact official art of Brainwashing Detective Hisui, and the brainwashing/hypnosis thing got worked into one of the stories on the Tsukihime Plus Disk.
All of Hisui's keywords are titles of I've Sound songs; there's not much to explain, because I just picked either titles which related to the icon or titles of songs whose mood fit that of the icon.
2. This is from a really pretty fanart wallpaper; it's probably my favorite non-crack fanart of Hisui. It was my desktop background for a really long time before it got replaced with Longcat vs. Tacgnol.
3. Another piece of fanart I thought was cute. I'll probably never get to use that expression IC, though. Dammit, Hisui, you and your drywall-ness.
Claire picked:
1. See above.
2. This is actually canon art, I believe, though not directly from the game -- it's from some artbook/companion book/thingy. Kohaku is giving Hisui a backrub.
3. Fanart of Hisui with a broom. I cropped it like that because... I was feeling artistic again? Or I just thought I had enough icons of Hisui going ":|" and wanted some variety. One or the other. It makes a good general cleaning icon.
Shiki picked:
1. I actually got this off of TYPE-MOON's official site -- go to "Extra" to see it (The stuff in the text box there is mostly boring, but that last line says something like "Then, try not to fall in love with me, baby!"). It's one of those icons that amuses me, but I never really get to use it. That kind of goes for about half of Hisui's icons. \o/
2. Official art again -- this is from the cover of something called the "Half-Moon Version" of Tsukihime, which I think only contains Arcueid and Ciel's paths. (So why put Hisui & Kohaku and Akiha on the cover at all, I wonder? Ah well, I'm not going to complain about extra icon material).
3. Aaand this is fanart... which I don't seem to have anymore. And I can't find it. Sorry.
Momoko
Megumi picked:
1. This is actually from a photoshoot by the actress who plays Momoko, Fukada Kyoko. She dresses up in Lolita-style outfits sometimes, so I have a few icons of her, because pictures of her tend to be cleaner and prettier than my caps of the movie. And hey, it works for Momoko style-wise, even if her hair is sort of dark red normally and Momoko's is blonde. Keywords ("rose of Versailles") are because... she's holding a rose, and likes France, and my brain does random things with keywords sometimes? Nothing really to do with the manga/anime of the same title.
2. There is, in fact, a Kamikaze Girls manga. I don't own it and don't have many icons from it, because I don't like the art style. The cover picture is decent, though, so I iconned it... and I never use it. The other person in the picture is Momoko's BFF/notgirlfriend Ichigo.
3. Momoko at school, eating sweets and daydreaming. Such an attentive student.
Claire picked:
1. This is from the end of the movie, after Momoko has saved Ichigo from her former gang (Ichigo wants to leave the gang, which is apparently Not Allowed) and they are riding off into the sunset on a scooter. Keywords ("like a lover") are a paraphrase of an actual line from that scene in the book -- the whole thing is "I put my arms around her as I might a lover" or something along those lines.
2. This one comes shortly before the previous one -- it's Momoko facing down Ichigo's gang. The blood, I think, is Ichigo's.
3. This is Momoko realizing that she's about to get hit by a truck. Don't worry, thanks to the power of friendship she isn't hurt at all.
Lulu picked:
1. Momoko flying through the air in slow motion after having been hit by the aforementioned truck. It's quite graceful, really, for... someone being hit by a truck. The keywords ("crouching tiger hidden loligon") are... uh. Well, first of all, the whole thing reminds me of the (more intentional) slow-motion-flying-through-the-air found in Chinese martial arts movies, so that's that reference. The "loligon" thing comes from this scene in the book where Ichigo and Momoko are on a train and some little kid points at Momoko and goes "what's that thing, Mommy?" and Ichigo tells him that she's a Loligon from Planet Frilly-Ass.
2. See above!
3. See above!
Shiki picked:
... all of which have been asnwered already, I think.
Maria
1. Manga art of Maria's hissatsu/ultimate attack. It's an ice-type spiritual power attack which for some reason takes the form of a pretty (and... apparently naked) girl. We don't question these things.
2. Game art of Maria as Andre (the male romantic lead, that is) from Ai Yue Ni, which is essentially Rose of Versailles with the serial numbers filed off. I usually try not to use her in-costume icons too much, but... it's pretty, okay.
3. I'm pretty sure this is from the episode of the TV series wherein Maria has to drill Sakura, the main character/newcomer to their pseudo-Takarazuka theatre troupe, on the basics of acting, singing, and dancing. In case you're wondering, yes, Maria takes musical theatre as seriously as she takes everything else. Which is very, very seriously. Oh, Maria.
Yoshino picked:
1. This is from the big musical number that the Teikoku Kagekidan (Maria's theatre troupe) do at the beginning of the movie. It never stops being amusing the way she can be all serious business one minute and be singing and dancing and going :DDD the next.
2. The villain of Maria's arc is this tiny mindrapist demon who keeps making her flashback to her angsty past. And in the manga, she eventually decides she has had enough of this and goes off to fight tinyrapistdemon by herself. Which doesn't go so well, and he ends up, well, crucifying her. Hence the icon. And then Ohgami (the male lead/guy-with-harem) has to come rescue her. (Interestingly, the anime has it the other way around, with Ohgami going off to fight tinyrapistdemon alone and Maria and Sakura having to rescue him. I can't remember what the game does, but I seem to remember that it's different, to some extent, from both of them. Oh canon, why must you have so many versions?)
3. In the first episode of the anime, Sakura interrupts Maria's nightly angst session in order to apologize for having messed up that day's performance of the play Maria is in. Maria is having none of it, and pretty much literally throws Sakura out of the room. Yeah.
Shiki picked:
1. This is from the same part of the manga as the manga icon Yoshino picked. It's Maria realizing she's about to get fuckowned by the aforementioned tinyrapistdemon.
2. This is from the scene in the movie where Maria is talking to Yoneda (the guy who's technically in charge of the Teikoku Kagekidan) in his office, and... I remember the scene, in general, and I remember which icons I have are from it, but I can't remember what they were actually talking about. orz
3. This comes shortly after #1, and is Maria actually getting fuckowned by said tinyrapistdemon.
Sara
Claire picked:
Note: Ever17 context is hard to explain without spoiling something, but I'll try. As a result, these may be a little vague.
1. Partway through Sara's path, the Kid (one of the two male main characters -- he has amnesia and doesn't remember his name, which is why he's called the Kid) finds Sara sitting in this little room under the infirmary, looking at a pendant and crying. She ends up telling him a bit about her childhood, which I won't go into except that she's an orphan and the pendant is the only thing of her parents' she has. This icon has two sets of keywords, because... I decided to try and stop using Japanese keywords, but for some reason just added English keywords on and didn't delete the original ones. Anyway, "涙の子守唄" (Namida no Komoriuta; "Lullaby of Tears") is the title of Sara's (musically peppy but lyrically depressing) image song, and "I couldn't stop the tears" is a line from the Shiina Ringo song "La Salle de Bain." Sara has a lot of keywords from "La Salle de Bain," because... it involves drowning and Sara almost drowns a few times.
2. This is from Sara's bad ending, where they don't manage to escape the underwater theme park they're trapped in before it floods entirely -- she's saying, I think, that she doesn't mind that she's going to die because at least she found the Kid first. This may also happen in the good ending, except that they don't die afterwards. Keywords ("so dear to me it hurts to think of them") are from "La Salle de Bain" again.
3. This is Sara's first real appearance in the game (she does show up very briefly before that, but we don't know who she is yet) -- she's been trapped in an elevator that stopped between floors when the power went out in the aforementioned underwater theme park, and the Kid has just pried the doors open so that she can get out.
Yoshino picked:
1. This isn't an actual scene from the game, it's a bonus unlockable picture. It, like quite a few of the other unlockable CGs, features the characters all floating around underwater. This icon features Sara's hands (on the right), Coco's hands (on the left -- she's... another character and I can't say too much about her), and Sara's pendant, which I mentioned above. I don't know what I could ever use the icon for, but it's pretty.
2. Another unlockable picture of the characters floating around underwater. In this one, Sara's skirt is flying up for no discernible reason -- she's kind of got the "Marilyn Monroe on an air vent" pose going on, except with more freaking out.
3. This one is from right after Sara almost drowns the first time -- the underwater theme park is slowly becoming completely flooded, a room or two at a time, and Sara happens to be in the Cosmic Whale Room when it starts flooding. Unfortunately, the room automatically locks down so the water won't reach the rest of the complex. Even more unfortunately, Sara can't swim at all.
Shiki picked:
1. Remember what I said about most of the unlockable pictures being of the characters floating around underwater? Yeah, this is another one of those.
2. Sara's good ending! That's her and the Kid, having escaped LeMU (the underwater theme park), swimming to the surface.
3. This is from a doujin game which crosses Ever17 over with a whole bunch of other games. Full picture is here. The character she's gaying it up with would appear to be Kotonomiya Yuki from some game called Suigetsu, according to the character page. Whoever made the game appears to really like Sara, because they've got tons of pictures of her, which means icon fodder for me. Some of them, like this one, aren't very IC, but they're cute.
Shuro
Note: may contain spoilers.
Megumi picked:
1. This is Shuro in ten'nyo form -- it's from the cover of... well, it's on my copy of volume 4, but I don't think that's where it's supposed to be, given that Shuro isn't introduced until volume 6. It's a very pretty icon, and one of the very few color pictures of Shuro. Keywords are from Vienna Teng's "Feather Moon" (all of Shuro's keywords are song lyrics, which turned out to be a lot harder to do than I expected). All of Shuro's ten'nyo icons are prefixed with tt so I don't confuse them with the normal icons -- zz would have been neater, but, uh... t is for ten'nyo so it made sense at the time?
2. This is from volume 6, where Shuro is first introduced. There's... not really much going on on the page it comes from, but it's right before Shuro has another fight with Kei (the other member of GeSANG, also Shuro's cousin/childhood love) over wanting to leave the music business? Keywords are from Anemotaxis by Chata (which... probably no one else has heard of).
3. This is from Shuro's last concert, and I'm not sure if I'm ever going to be able to use it IC -- I mean, it looks like a perfectly normal singing icon, but I know the context, so it kind of makes me go ;_; every time I look at it. Which makes me wonder why I even have last concert icons uploaded, since they depress me. I'm sort of dancing around the actual spoiler here, but it's pretty obvious, isn't it? Oh well. Keywords are from Sakamoto Maaya's "Kingfisher Girl."
Claire picked:
1. Aya (the main character) is trying to get back her amnesiac boyfriend's lost memories, and Yuuhi (the love rival) is tagging along and fuming. This is Shuro noticing Yuuhi's expression, right before teasing him about it (and about having crossdressed in the previous volume).
2. From volume 6 again. Aya transforms into Ceres (her ten'nyo form) in front of Shuro and Shuro's mom (the other person in the icon), and in her surprise, Shuro's mom... accidentally hits Shuro in the face, apparently.
3. I'm not sure where this is from, because Yzak made all my icons, so it's harder for me to remember the context unless it's something really clear/memorable. I've been rereading the manga to try and figure out where they're all from, but it's starting to depress me, so I give up. The keywords are from "The Light Before We Land" by The Delgados.
Lulu picked:
1. See above!
2. I'm not quite sure where this is from, off the top of my head, and see above comment on Claire's third pick. I'll try again later, maybe? I can only take Ayashi no Ceres in small doses. The keywords are translated lyrics from Shuro's song from the anime, "Mugen no Kaze" ("Eternal Wind").
3. ... Ahaha, I was hoping someone would ask about this one. This is from the volume where Shuro is first introduced, and... well, it kind of goes like this:
Shuro (on TV): By the way, I'm the descendant of a celestial maiden, and my family still has their hagoromo [heavenly robes, what the ten'nyo need to get back to where they came from]! :DDD
Aya [who is looking for the/a hagoromo]: !!! We must stalk this singer and try to get him to give us his hagoromo!
[Aya goes to Shuro's concert, finds him backstage]
Aya: I need your hagoromo!
Shuro: I'll give it to you in exchange for your body. ;)
Aya: Ew, no way, you perv!
Shuro: Look, do you want the hagoromo or not?
Aya: ... fine. :/
[later: they go to a secluded spot; Shuro starts undressing]
Aya: ... you have boobs!
Shuro: So do you, what are you staring for?
Aya: So you're a lesbian?
Shuro: No, I was actually just messing with you. Wanna come back to my place and see my hagoromo?
Aya: Sure!
... and this icon is from the part where Shuro almost molests Aya. \o/
Shiki picked:
1. Yuuhi is flipping out about Aya being late to school, because he is a silly little jealous man and thinks that it's because she and Tooya are at a love hotel or something. Shuro is trying to calm him down. Keywords are from OK Go's "Get Over It."
2. This is from another one of her arguments with Kei (which I mentioned above, I think). Keywords are from Lisa Loeb's "You Don't Know Me."
3. Another last concert icon; the keywords to this one are from "Kingfisher Girl" too. It's like I have a theme and stuff!
More may come later, since I left some comments that haven't been replied to yet. I think that's it.
Man, I really hope I didn't screw up the HTML anywhere.