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Old 2010-05-31, 15:11   Link #118
deathcurse
Queen of Tragedy
 
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
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Originally Posted by Merctrin View Post
Reading this was very unpleasant. Not that it isn't good, it's excellent, but... I think I much prefer Setsuna-angst (there was a fair chunk this chapter, leaving me very, very curious about her sleep issues, but it was still mostly Konoka's spotlight this time around). Konoka and unhappiness... sticking those two together brings misery. Konoka just shouldn't be unhappy. It's like shooting a bunny rabbit. Okay, no it's not, since bunnies don't really get caught up in anything remotely similar to all the moral complexities that come together to form the mess Konoka and Setsuna have entangled themselves in, but... um, just forget the stupid bunny thing.
LOL, don't worry, I got your bunny metaphor . Yeah, I found Konoka's misery really hard to write, since in canon she's normally a cheerful character, so trying to realistically give her problems and angst was really difficult .

And yes, Setsuna has many issues....

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I still like Kyo, and I'm praying he feels loyalty to Konoka as her husband and friend, but isn't actually in love with her, because for crying out loud, he hasn't done anything to deserve getting thrashed by Konoka and Setsuna's multiple issues. I think I might hate his grandmother, though. Or at least be developing some kind of grudge against her. And his father wanting a grandson made my skin crawl, but I suppose that's not really his fault. I don't like Ethan much either, but all things considered, his position isn't exactly surprising, and he isn't actively going out of his way to cause trouble for Setsuna. He's just irritating.
I'm glad you like Kyo , he's a character that I try to make likeable, and in a way likeable enough to replace Setsuna if need be (which RB seems to approve of! ), with just the little note of "love" getting in the way...

I'm trying for a "friend loyalty" with Ethan, but I ended up not having space to do lots of it in this chapter . Ah well, you guys seemed to have gotten the point fine .

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Flashbacks with Konoka and Setsuna being so obviously in love are excruciatingly painful, by the way. And the one with Rakan... ugh, the second Kyo got trapped by the snake demon I knew it was coming, but still. Ow.

Huh. I'm curious about how well Kyo and Setsuna know each other. I mean, he was friends with Konoka before this mess started, and even with him being completely oblivious--well, okay, I guess it's possible that he missed Setsuna and Konoka's close friendship, but it still seemed strange that he wondered about why Konoemon trusted Setsuna so much. Then again, most of the characters in canon are more familiar with how deep Setsuna's loyalty runs, so it could just be that it's strange to think that someone could not notice.
I was partway through this chapter when the Rakan-scene came into my head, and I went "ooooooooooh.......gotta do that!" . Glad you saw it coming!

I imagine Kyo to be a pretty close-mouthed character, who doesn't ask questions much unless it's relevant. I'd speculate that before he and Konoka got married Kyo just didn't think about it much, since he probably saw it as just schoolfriends stuff, so other than a bit of cursory interest he probably disregarded it. It was after Setsuna followed them after their marriage that he started to wonder why Setsuna was so devoted to Konoka.

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Oh, and Konoemon earns points for being aware and considerate of his granddaughter's relationship with her bodyguard, even if things didn't really work out well.

After reading the painful flashbacks, I think I might feel a little more sympathy for Konoka. It seems like Setsuna started pulling away after Halloween, and combined with the collapsing wards, that must have been a lot to take in, and I imagine it left Konoka in a worse emotional position than she might have been with Setsuna by her side. Also, has it occurred to her that if she had been able to hold onto Setsuna and call her her lover, she might not have had to marry Kyo? And that's ignoring the fact that she realizes that her actions had quite a bit to do with the collapsing of the wards. Even factoring in how awful she deserves to feel about that... that's a lot of stress and trauma.
I don't like stories where Konoemon is a clueless bastard to his granddaughter's obvious love, so I avoid it if I can ^^. Just too bad things didn't work out...

I know that people can look at the story and go, "Well, if this person didn't do that, then everything would be fine!" And yes, that's right: most of the drama and conflict comes from avoidable things that end up becoming huge problems , and I do that both for simplicity of writing (I mean, coming up with intricately valid conflicts are hard! ) and to show just how tragically avoidable this whole mess was, and how helpless the characters make themselves . I'm glad Konoka came off as more sympathetic after this chapter, I've been getting lots of reviews sympathizing with Setsuna, but not many for poor Konoka!

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As for Setsuna... she needed someone to bash some sense into her directly after Halloween. Go Asuna and Evangeline for being frustrated with her now, but it would have worked a lot better months ago. Also, I'm more willing to forgive Setsuna for angst-induced stupidity than I should be, so she has a better standing in my mind than Konoka.

...Setsuna-angst just appeals to me more than Konoka's brand. Self-loathing is more pleasant than pure, stagnant misery. Not that they don't each have flavorings of both. Gah.

Not pleasant by any means, but it still left me craving more. So... more please?
At that time, I imagine that Setsuna and Konoka were actually decently able to hide their issues .....but once Kyo entered the picture, everyone else started to notice, but by then it was too late...

It's interesting, but in my head I actually have a harder time forgiving Setsuna! I guess it's because Setsuna should have already moved past all this stuff from the events of the manga, so she's regressing here from issues that she had gotten over already! At least Konoka had never encountered these issues before .

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...And I think I'm starting to ship Hazan/Setsuna.
Just because.
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Originally Posted by RadiantBeam View Post
Watch it, you. I might start shipping Konoka/Kyo after this.
BWAHAHAHA , awesome! I should just make a Hazan/Setsuna and Kyo/Konoka ending then!

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Originally Posted by RadiantBeam View Post
The character development of Kyo is much loved and appreciated. Perhaps the greatest tragedy with him is that he isn't a bad guy; he might not be in love with Konoka, but he still loves her genuinely all the same, and while he might not understand why she supports Setsuna the way she does, he still is very kind to her a result. He himself isn't a bad guy, he just has the bad luck of being in a bad situation.
Glad you liked the Kyo development ^^. I had the sudden brainwave of making him slightly similar to Setsuna when Konoka first met him, to explain why Konoka treated him differently from all her other omiais .

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So it seems Setsuna started to pull away from Konoka not long after the incident occured. I can understand the idea behind it, but I still want to smack her. I'm usually more tolerant of characters with her personality, but God, is she annoying the ever living hell out of me in this fic.

....

*smacks Setsuna with Revy's Cutlass*

There, I feel better now.
......Glad you feel better .

I'm very, very curious though: just what is it about Setsuna that has you so annoyed and exasperated? =O

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Also, I didn't think it was possible, but while my dislike of Setsuna only deepens, you went and made me feel damn sorry for Konoka. She really got the raw end of the deal here, even if she managed to marry someone who can at least be her friend; Setsuna really up and abandoned her right when she was needed again.

....

*conks Setsuna over the head with Revy's Cutlass*

Sorry, I'm done now. I promise.
Thanks! I remember that you despised Konoka quite a bit earlier, so I'm glad that i've managed to convince you to shed some sympathy for her .

........

Now I'm imagining Asuna smacking Setsuna over the head with her harisen..... Look at what you started, RB!
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