[Sol Falling]

Sorry, I disappeared for a while. Am waiting for the next chapters, but I'll do some late replies for now.

Originally Posted by frubam

I, upon first instant impressions, thought that the fact that Saorin warmed up to Yoshino so easily was because she was simply into people who crossdress, as I half-heartedly stated earlier. Perhaps being persuaded by Sol, I've come to think about how Saorin might be looking for someone who has the potential to be cut off from everyone else. Once Sasa began to hang out with everyone, more particularly with Sarashina, Saorin stopped hanging out with her. Originally, she(supposedly) hated Yoshino, but now knowing that Yoshino wont be hanging out with Shuu, she perhaps sees this as a chance to have a deeper relationship of her own that is on a different level than with everyone else; a relationship that only belongs to her.

This was pretty much in line with my own thinking, but right now I'm a bit stumped. Although Saorin and Yoshino used to hang out together, we haven't seen anything since the karaoke (or, more accurately I suppose, since Shuu went to school dressed as a girl). Actually, the latest events seem to have shifted quite a lot of things: for one, if Anna isn't visiting Maho because Maho asked her not to, then she probably hasn't seen Shuu for a while either. I dunno if this could be counted as an opportunity for Chiba (since at the very least, the push for exclusivity in her interactions with Shuu has disappeared), but she does seem to have focused her attention on him again.

Well, to summarize my new thoughts on Saorin and Yoshino. After finding out about Anna, I think Saorin to a degree avoided Shuu. Takatsuki made a conscious decision to do so as well, so maybe the foundation of their closer relationship was the absence of Shuu. Their meeting at the karaoke bar sorta resolved all of that though (for Chiba, by coming to terms with Shuu seeing someone else and finally having a chance to speak with him; for Takatsuki, recieving permission to 'go out' with Shuu again), so they've sort of lost their reason for sticking together. As a result, Takatsuki actually seems pretty lonely right now, 'cause everyone's busy supporting Shuu while she can only struggle with her admiration/envy (or whatever it is that's preventing her from seeing him directly).

Originally Posted by Kieli

I don't know I would go so far as to say there was yuri involved...just a simple, typical crush on someone that she admires on some level and probably wants to emulate. I don't know about you but, as a young teenager, there were several girls I had a crush on, not necessarily for pure romantic feelings but for their "aura", for lack of a better word. They were cool, competent, intelligent and had their head together. I think this might be something that Takatsuki may feel for Chiba, in some way.

Hmm, well I've laid out my interpretation of Chiba and Takatsuki's connection above ('cause it honestly doesn't seem that strong to me) but I'll admit that Takatsuki admiring Chiba (on some level) seems plausible. :P Not to get on your case though or anything, but if you can even describe Chiba like that (from Takatsuki's perspective, at least), why do you dislike her?

I'll also clarify your implicit question there in that I'm a guy. :P Sorry if the avatar is misleading.

Originally Posted by frubam

Spoiler for chap 68 - 69:

Damn, when I saw Saorin come to the door at the beg of the chapter, I thought that would be her chance to get closer to Shuu or something, esp since she was once part of the "Stay home!" club. It was nice for everyone else to want to come and see how Shuu was doing, but where was Yoshino? Is that all she can do, send a letter? I was kinda disappointed in her.

I'm feeling sorry for Maho now. Before, i thought it was amusing that she was angry because the girl Shuu looked better than her. Shedding some light on her feelings a bit, I can understand why she doesn't like Shuu[in a sense]. Maybe she just feels lonely and is jealous that Shuu has so many people around him despite his hobbies that she takes it out on him. Poor Maho .

I'm not surprised that Shuu's getting bullied. Actually, as cliche' as it is, I expected it so long ago, now it's more like 'It's about time!' more than anything. I don't know why, but Sarashina has been having this air of maturity about her IMO since she and Shuu talked together. I feel like she's doing exactly what Yoshino SHOULD be doing; supporting his decision and being by his side for those first steps to school. Then again, Yoshino supporting him would make it cliche, thereby inferring that she would 'love' Shuu because she's protecting him, therefore, in actuality, it's better this way.

I wonder how Yoshino's gonna take getting confessed to? Well, that kid is pretty ugly, so she should just brush him off. I HIGHLY doubt it, but it'll be upsetting if she ended up going out with him just to get away from some unnoticeable lingering feelings she might have for Shuu.

With regards to Maho, I wouldn't really say I feel sorry for her but I do understand her. She's just struggling with the idea that she's not a good person. Being jealous, pushing her friends away, when indeed she realizes that Shuu is going through tougher times than her and that she's really been a bit of a drama queen. Shuu gathering up the courage to go back to school before Maho because of his friends, when Maho was the one who told her friends not to come in the first place, must make her feel pretty dumb.

As for Yoshino not supporting Shuu, I think part of it has to do with them being (as far as wanting to be a boy/girl) in the same situation. Yoshino's shown a bit of cowardice with regards to being ostracized by her peers, and thus her staying back makes sense when you consider that her crossdressing is already somewhat known. If she were to stand up for Shuu as blatantly as Sarashina, that would open her up full blast for the kind of treatment he is getting. This actually almost feels like the exchange diary all over again, except with Yoshino feeling bad about it from the beginning (well, given the letter I'm just assuming. My interpretation is basically 'You're amazing for having the courage to do this' --> 'I'm not amazing' --> 'I'm too scared to stand together with you' ).

Speaking of 'protecting' though, I was just rereading today (result of making this post, heh) and do you guys remember that Yoshino used to be pretty violent? She slammed some kid's nose into his desk (after they fought because he teased her about her period). Haven't really noticed that kind of stuff lately.

Originally Posted by Kieli

These chapters were shorter than I thought they were going to be.

Spoiler:

I still have no real feelings for Maho. Sure, she may be embarrassed but he's going through far worse...and sadly, she wouldn't even stick up for him in school either (that whole "family sticks together" mantra is apparently lost on her) so it's probably best at home doing what she does best: sulk and blame him for things that are beyond his control (i.e. him having a lot of friends that support him). If she weren't such an ass to her own friends, they might have come to support her. She told them not to bother and they didn't. What did she expect? Doi's true colours have finally shown through. Part of me is a bit brassed at Shuu for being so damned gullible and not having any ability to know when people are taking advantage of him. His desperation to find someone who understands and validates him is making him a target of the bullies and straight-up a$$holes (see jerk boy who is trying everything he can to get Chiba to notice him and fails miserably every time. I have to say, I like how Chiba handles him. I thought she was going to knock his block off for being an twit to Shuu).

Sarashina is still cool but totally nuts in my book. She seems like one of the few that would take on the whole school for Shuu. And Mako...his hilarious way of viewing things and supporting Shuu always makes me laugh.

Bringing up Shuu's gullibility is interesting. I was just talking, above, about how Takatsuki admired Shuu for coming out with being a crossdresser but from with his gullibility in minde it might not be courage but rather just a naivete about the world.

Also, speaking of assholes, you've already brought up 'jerk boy' (lol I can't even remember his name, guess that'll have to do) but Momoko (Sarashina's friend) is also pretty annoying. I dunno why, but they give off a similar vibe for me. Something about how they don't really care what Chiba/Chi-chan think but act clingy around them for their own reasons.