The Genderbending of Haruhi Suzumiya [Spoilers Aplenty]

[Aaron008R]

>.>

<.<

>_<

My first try...

Spoiler for Day of Sagittarius: Genderbent Version. tentative first part.:

“…”

“I can’t see a thing…”

Only the dark expanse of space registered before my eyes…

Have you ever tried hanging out outdoors during a bright day and then entering a very dim room? Yes, it’s exactly as dark as what I’m seeing now. The only thing is; the darkness in here isn’t fading like that in the room. A galaxy without any stars… It sounds romantic if you look at it a certain way… Unraveling the stars sounds nice… Except I can’t see the stars right now because of more worldly reasons…

“Alright! Let’s bust them up good!”

Sigh… Too worldly for my tastes… But then, since were talking about Haruki Suzumiya here, things are far from what I’d call worldly…

“I don’t get why they need this darkness for.”

I grumbled onto my screen. Everything except for a few dots here and there is complete darkness. It makes me wonder if my screen was the one with the defect… They call this 'Fog of War'...? I don't think real wars even have these! And fog is supposed to be white as far as I'm concerned...

And then, a bright dot began moving forward from my screen. I decided to report to my commander…

“Haruki, won’t you slow down? You’re going too fast.”

And he replied…

"Call me Supreme Commander, First Officer!” he thumped his chest confidently in an annoying way, “The SOS Brigade possesses the highest military ranks; after all, we're the greatest ever!"

Then who’s the Supreme Commander and First Officer between us?

“Commander Suzumiya~!” Intelligence Officer Nagato-kun reports that the enemy fleet is moving suspiciously. What will be our response?

Itsuko Koizumi, the annoyingly-smiley ‘Please continue!’ girl, reported promptly the findings. Haruki’s response was, “Bah! We’ll get them with a surprise attack!”

A bold statement as to be expected from Haruki, but no one obeyed him. Or rather, we didn’t want to obey him. Because even somebody who doesn’t even play games like these in the first place should find that facing the enemy head-on was suicide to be a very obvious thing!

Asahina-sempai raised his hand and asked nervously, “Ahh… What was I supposed to do again?”

“Somebody as wimpy as you would just get in our way, Mitsuru. Just get your butt and your supply fleet over there, since you have not yet reached the level of manliness to participate here. Kyon, you, Yuuki and Koizumi-chan are in charge of the enemy’s front guard, while I finish them off with a powerful shot. A one-hit-kill shot that is!”

Anybody, please save us from this guy~!

And wait, why am I and Koizumi here in the first place if manliness is needed? We're girls, dammit!

Thinking in a female mindframe was more difficult than expected.

Anyway, I tried making Kyon-ko sound as someone who doesn't know about these types of games. I hope it works...

[Jintor]

"Reached our level of manliness"

I lol'd.

Asahina-sempai needs to take a level in badass.

/EDIT Personally, I find the idea of a Kyonko well-versed in strategy games appealing. But that's just a me thing, i haven't given any thought as to whether it's, you know, applicable.

Although Kyon, Yuuki and Itsuko need to be the only people who can actually fight, if I remember correctly. Haruki's too hotheaded and Asahina-san doesn't have enough badass levels.

[sosoft]

Originally Posted by Kaisos Erranon

What would you suggest?

Also, WHY is no one else making comments about this?

I think its fine for kyonko fangirling asakura. It gives him a more 'perfect' kind of feeling, and it sounds normal for it to come from kyonko. we don't really have to match kyonko's personality to kyon 100%. After all females and males see things very differently. I especially liked the part where kyonko got the stares from the other girls in the classroom

[panzerfan]

Well, Kyon might take that kind of fancy at Asakura up until Asakura tries to kill her.

@Jintor: I don't suppose staring at a computer monitor is painful to the point that you wouldn't continue on reading Haruhi, and take additional punishment as one bear with run-on sentences galore?

[Jintor]

All I can say is, I hope you monkeys like my editjobs.

I praise Baka-Tsuki for, you know, actually translating these novels so I can enjoy them, but in many many ways their mode of writing causes me physical pain.

@Panzerfan - Nah, the Haruhiism is too great. I was working on rewriting everything Baka-Tsuki did for the novels though... making them flow better... I've brought quite a bit of that to this project. In my initial run I stopped just after the Integrated Data Sentient Entity infodump because of a combination of Real Life and nobody on here giving a shit. : /

(This whole GB thing is a way of getting me remotivated, to some degree. Also, Kaisos does most of the legwork. )

[Aaron008R]

Kyonko getting fangirly seems like a good idea. Though I'd expect her to be just silent+dere-dere... But how about Asahina-kun? Should we give her two crushes? Or maybe just admiration for Asakura?

BTW, thanks for reminding me about the remaining elligible fighters, Jintor. But for now... if Kyonko won't be good in strategy games like in my initial draft, how does the idea of being a quick learner sound? Though considering all the practice rounds failed...

Originally Posted by Jintor

I praise Baka-Tsuki for, you know, actually translating these novels so I can enjoy them, but in many many ways their mode of writing causes me physical pain.

Paragraphing?

Then I'll just redo the paragraphing of my future works to be less Baka-tsuki slighty disjointed-like...

[octoberasian]

I've seen a YouTube video of a genderbending Haruhi, and I admit, and I being a straight guy, Kyon as a female is utterly attractive. >_<;;

I agree, too moe and cute to resist. XD

They should do this for a second season instead-- switch the genders around and change the story a little bit. ^^;;;

It would possibly make for an interesting show.

[sosoft]

Originally Posted by NejinOniwa

Last thing I do today, then...

Chapter 2, part 1 completed! Doing this stuff is either getting faster and easier, or maybe I just worked a lot more on the first one? Well, whatever.

Spoiler for Chapter 2, Part 1 - Club Room:

It seemed like my horrible premonition had come true.

After class, Haruki didn't disappear instantly from the classroom as usual. With no other warning than the sound of his footsteps approaching from behind, I was suddenly plucked off the ground as if I weighed nothing, with Haruki holding me like a trophy in his grasp. He then proceeded to carry me (kicking and yelling) through the corridors, up the stairs, and all the way to just in front of the door leading to the rooftop.

This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to be swept of my feet by a handsome prince! And I don’t even want to imagine what the rest of the class must have thought…

The door here is usually locked, and the staircase above the fourth floor seems to have been used as a storage room by the Art Club. Giant canvases, near broken picture frames, statues of war gods with missing noses and such are all piled up in this little staircase, making what is supposed to be a narrow space even narrower, and giving me a slight sense of claustrophobia.

What is he trying to do to me by bringing me here? Is he going to make me his bride? I’m no alien! Put me down!

He did.

"Help me out."

...Haruki said with both his hands on my shoulders, looking straight into my eyes. This feels like a confession.

Great, now I’m blushing.

"Help you with what?"
I feigned ignorance.

"Help me make a new club!"

My head hurt as it was reminded of what had happened to it yesterday.

"OK, then tell me, why must I help you complete something that you just suddenly thought up?"

"I need to secure a room for the club as well as members, so you need to find out what paperwork needs to be done for the school."

He wasn't even listening to me. I cast off Haruki's hand.

"What club are you trying to make?"

"Why does that matter!? Important things always come first, and making the club is what's important. Other unnecessary things can come later!"

I really doubt that the school would let us form a club whose activities are unknown.

"Now listen! After school today, you go and find out what needs to be done, and I'll go and find a room for the club. Okay?"

'NO!'

If I had replied like that, Haruki probably would've tried to convince me physically. While I was hesitating on how to answer, Haruki had already turned and walked down the staircase, as if he'd gotten a sound approval from me already – which, in his head, he probably had – leaving a disoriented and dumbstruck female student standing all alone on the dust-filled staircase.

"But... I haven't even agreed to help..."

Gah! There's nobody here to say it to anyway, except a plaster statue, which would be entirely pointless. All I could do was moan and drag my feet while walking down the stairs, thinking about how I the HELL I could explain all this to my curious classmates.

• Requirements for organizing an "association":
• Five members or more. A sponsor teacher, club name, chairperson for the club, and club activities/goals summary are required—which then requires approval from the Student Council Executive Committee. The club's activities must fit in with the school philosophy of creativity and vivaciousness. Based on the activities' records and results, the Executive Committee would debate on whether to promote the association into a "study group." Furthermore, as an association, the school will not provide any funding.

I didn't really have to explicitly search for the requirements because they are all listed out on the back of the student handbook.

Members would be easy, especially with Haruki around; we can just find anyone to make up the numbers, so that won't be a problem. A sponsor teacher is harder to find, but I think I can manage that. As for the name, something inoffensive would do. And the chairperson for the club is, no doubt, Haruki himself.

I am willing to bet, however, that our club activities/goals summary is definitely not going to agree with “creativity and vivaciousness” – at least, not in its intended meaning.

That being said, it's not as if Haruki is the kind of person who cares about the rules in the slightest.

As the bell rang for the end of classes, Haruki showed off his brutish strength and total lack of consideration of others, by grabbing my ponytail and pulling me out of our classroom – with me staggering backwards – at kidnapping speed, which made my head feel like it was going to fall off. It was by sheer luck that I managed to get my school bag with me.

“Let go of me, you blockheaded idiot!”

Naturally, he didn't even react to that.

“Where the hell are we going!?”

I asked that in order to at least get some answer from him, in hope of getting him to let go of my hair as well. Really, I CAN walk by myself!

"The Club Room."

Haruki, who was moving so fast that he just mowed away or even trampled those who didn't dodge fast enough, answered curtly, and with no inclination at all of letting go of my hair. Could he at least let me walk forwards? After twisting about a bit I managed to ease up enough to be able to walk in the right direction. Haruki didn't even notice it, and just went on at the same brutal speed as before, which I had a very hard time keeping up with.

After we exited the first floor hallway, we went into another building and up the stairs. We walked into a dark hallway and at its center, where Haruki stopped, and finally let go of my hair. I collapsed from the exhaustion on the doorstep to Haruki's “clubroom”.

Literature Club

The slightly crooked name tag was the only thing on the otherwise nondescript door.

"Here it is."

Without even knocking, Haruki opened the door and walked into the classroom without any consideration of anyone inside, or the panting me on the floor outside. I didn't have much choice but to follow, though, so I got myself up and took the few steps inside, breathing heavily. Really, that guy is too rash!

The room seemed surprisingly large, but that might be because the only things in it were a rectangular table, metal chairs, and an overly filled bookshelf. A few cracks on the ceiling and the walls showed the age of the building itself.

Just as if he came with the room, a boy was sitting alone on a metal chair, reading a very thick hardcover book. He didn't seem to even take notice of us as we entered.
"From now on this will be our club room!"
Haruki opened his arms and announced formally. His face was shining with a rare energetic smile. For a second I thought he looked quite handsome like that,but I didn't dare to say it out loud.

“Wait a second, what is this place?”

“The Cultural and Arts club building. This place has art and music rooms for the Art Club and the Orchestra Club. Clubs and associations without a regular club room all hold their activities here in this building, known as the Old Complex. And this classroom belongs to the Literature Club.”

“Then what about the Literature Club?”

“After all the third year students graduated this spring, the club had zero members. Since there were no members left, if no new members were recruited, the club was going to be canceled. And this guy is the first-year who joined.”

As I'd finally regained my breath and stopped panting, my brain seemed have regained normal functionality as well.

“But then they haven't been canceled yet!”

Haruki scoffed.

“Close enough! A club with only one member is the same as none.”

You damn idiot! Are you trying to take over other people's club rooms? I took a quick look at the Literature Club boy.

He was a boy with glasses and short hair.

Haruki had been going on in his all-out noisy mode from the start, yet, he hadn't even lift his head once. Apart from occasionally flipping the pages with his fingers, he appeared stationary, completely ignoring our presence. Oh, great, another oddball to the whole mess! Isn't there a single normal person around here!?

Frustrated, I lowered my voice and asked Haruki:

"Then what about that guy?"

"He said he's fine with it."

"What, really?"

"I asked him already at lunch time. Told him I needed him to lend me the room and he said 'go ahead'. He doesn't care as long as he can read his books here in peace. Now that you mention it, he is pretty weird."

You're one to talk, you damn lunatic!

I sighed and shot an observant look at the Literature Club boy.

He had pale skin and an expressionless face. His fingers were moving rhythmically like a robot's. Just covering his face – which looked quite pretty – his short hair made one want to take off his glasses for a clearer view. He gave the impression of an inconspicuous puppet. In other words, a mysterious and expressionless weirdo!

Perhaps noticing my intrusive observation, the boy suddenly lifted his head and pushed the nose bridge of his glasses up with his fingers, with the same robotic movement as before.

I saw his deep-colored eyes staring at me from under those lenses, and despite his face being like a mask, with neither eyes nor lips showing any kind of emotion, I got a slight urge to blush and lick my lips. He was fundamentally different from Haruki – his face is the kind that fundamentally shows no sign of emotion.

"Nagato Yuuki."

His matter-of-fact tone suggested that he expected his name to be forgotten by most people within three seconds of hearing it.

Nagato Yuuki stared at me for a moment; then as if losing interest, he turned his attention back to his book.

"Say, Nagato-kun," I called out, "This guy here wants to use your club room for a yet-to-be-named club. Is this all right with you?"
"Yes."

Nagato's gaze never ceased tracing the lines on the pages of his book even once.

"But it might be troublesome for you."

"That does not matter."

"You might even get evicted!"

"Go ahead."

Even though he answered promptly, he showed no expression at all. It seemed to me that he really didn't give a damn about it.

"Right, then it's decided," Haruki suddenly interrupted.

His excited tone gave me an uneasy feeling.

"From now on, we will meet in this room after class. Be here! Or else, heads will roll!"

He said with a shark-like grin plastered on his face. I reluctantly nodded my head.

Please, I don't want to die yet!

So we've found – or rather, acquired – a club room, but there was absolutely no progress with the paperwork. We still hadn't decided on a club name, what activities it intended to hold or anything like that. I had asked Haruki to sort these things out first, but he brushed it off as unimportant nonsense of no urgency at all.

"We can deal with those things later!" Haruki declared loudly. "Right now the most important thing is to recruit members. We still need at least two more people."

So, you've already counted the Literature Club boy in as well? You couldn't possibly have treated Nagato Yuuki as a mere club accessory, could you?

"Don't worry about that. I'll be able to gather people soon; In fact, I already have someone in mind!"

How can I not worry, with you behaving like this? My unease is getting more and more justified by the minute!

There we goes. Any thoughts?

Oh and also: Tangowr, you deserve a damn medal. Also, buttmark -> HILARITY. XD

Sounds abit too painful for Kyonko. Maybe pulling her hand is enough. Or pull hair-> she shouts let go > shifts to pull arm. I just don't like the pull-hair method to last for the entire trip to the other block.

[Jintor]

I still prefer the pick-up-and-run-off-with method Haruki's got going there from the Kaisos job. Hair pulling is only good for the shorter trips, and even then Kyon's got to be thinking "ZOMG WHAT A JERK!"

Originally Posted by octoberasian

They should do this for a second season instead-- switch the genders around and change the story a little bit. ^^;;;

It would possibly make for an interesting show.

Nuh-uh, need that second season animated RIGHT NOW.

NEED MOAR SUGITA TOMOKAZU + AYA HIRANO

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Paragraphing?

Then I'll just redo the paragraphing of my future works to be less Baka-tsuki slighty disjointed-like...

Your paragraphing is fine, methinks. I do think you're overusing elipsises (...) and still translating a bit too literally, but it's all cool. I think you get the 'female mindset' thing better than I do, though. It's a freaking bitch to do.

[Roger Rambo]

Originally Posted by sosoft

Sounds abit too painful for Kyonko. Maybe pulling her hand is enough. Or pull hair-> she shouts let go > shifts to pull arm. I just don't like the pull-hair method to last for the entire trip to the other block.

I agree, for long distance Haruki should just pick Kyonko up, and run off.

[NejinOniwa]

I'm aware of that, yeah ^^
Thing was, I'd seen the ponytail thing and gone "ZOMFS MUST HAVE!" over it, and when I imagined Kyon-ko pulled BACKWARDS over a ways I went off in ZOMFS HILARITY mode and let it get the better of me.

However, the "pick-up-and-run" mode was used once already, and I don't think it's that great to use such a thing more than once - at least not in such concession. Anyway, I'll do the editjob on it before I start on Ch2-2, which is, um, now.

[dkellis]

Originally Posted by Jintor

I praise Baka-Tsuki for, you know, actually translating these novels so I can enjoy them, but in many many ways their mode of writing causes me physical pain.

Baka-Tsuki keeps very faithfully to the novels, and I suspect that it's the difference between typography in English prose and in Japanese prose. Using completely made-up examples, generally English prose style for dialogue goes something like this:

"If you're really an ESPer with paranormal powers," I said, "make this cup of coffee warm again. Then I might believe you."

Itsuko favoured me with a genuine smile. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. My powers only work under rather specialized conditions." Seeing my look of skepticism, she added, "Even so, I believe that you'll probably be able to see them one day."

Whereas Japanese prose style, at least for the MoHS novels, go something like:

"That's strange."

Haruki said, hopping on the bed. That guy seems to like high places, probably so he can look down on the rest of us.

"I thought that she'd be lost in drawing her fan comics. Maybe she went out to the convenience store? Kyon, what do you think?"

Dialogue is given its own individual paragraph. In fact, in many cases, the dialogue is left unpunctuated. It's a bit jarring to read when one is used to English language novels.

This is apart from the usual translation laments of the Japanese language being able to describe a reaction without mentioning who had that reaction. Entire paragraphs might consist of a single "Surprise." instead of a "He was surprised." in the same paragraph as the relevant action.

So basically since I'm writing in English, I use English style conventions. Which means that I'm not as faithful to the translations as I probably should be, but it's a lot easier on the eyes for me.

Originally Posted by Aaron008R

Kyonko getting fangirly seems like a good idea. Though I'd expect her to be just silent+dere-dere... But how about Asahina-kun? Should we give her two crushes? Or maybe just admiration for Asakura?

Personally my view is that Kyonko should be developing a highly favourable reaction to Mitsuru, admires Asakura from afar, and gradually starts to find Yuuki eligible, but overall finds herself sticking with Haruki despite her own complaints.

I don't quite agree that Kyonko should have a crush on Asakura, since Kyon doesn't have one on Female Asakura. Yes, Kyonko would be happy if (Male) Asakura expresses interest in her, but if not, no big deal.

If Kyonko does have a crush on Asakura, then there should probably be some mention given during the battle scene of the Hell Hath No Fury trope. I don't think Kyonko is the sort to take (perceived) betrayal lightly.

BTW, thanks for reminding me about the remaining elligible fighters, Jintor. But for now... if Kyonko won't be good in strategy games like in my initial draft, how does the idea of being a quick learner sound? Though considering all the practice rounds failed...

Being a quick learner may not help if your teammate is Leeroy Jenkins, which I believe Haruhi (and by extension Haruki) acts like in DoS3.

[NejinOniwa]

Dialogue is given its own individual paragraph. In fact, in many cases, the dialogue is left unpunctuated. It's a bit jarring to read when one is used to English language novels.

This is apart from the usual translation laments of the Japanese language being able to describe a reaction without mentioning who had that reaction. Entire paragraphs might consist of a single "Surprise." instead of a "He was surprised." in the same paragraph as the relevant action.

So basically since I'm writing in English, I use English style conventions. Which means that I'm not as faithful to the translations as I probably should be, but it's a lot easier on the eyes for me.

Well, it's true that it's hard on you to suddenly switch between the two, but in my edits I've tried using the same style as Baka-Tsuki, since I just think it's both too much to rewrite otherwise, as well as unnecessary editing that might not even come out well at all - while I'm quite used to writing in long paragraphs with my other works, I feel that for this writing style it works better with the original way...

GENSAKU DOORI DA!
XD

Personally my view is that Kyonko should be developing a highly favourable reaction to Mitsuru, admires Asakura from afar, and gradually starts to find Yuuki eligible, but overall finds herself sticking with Haruki despite her own complaints.

I don't quite agree that Kyonko should have a crush on Asakura, since Kyon doesn't have one on Female Asakura. Yes, Kyonko would be happy if (Male) Asakura expresses interest in her, but if not, no big deal.

If Kyonko does have a crush on Asakura, then there should probably be some mention given during the battle scene of the Hell Hath No Fury trope. I don't think Kyonko is the sort to take (perceived) betrayal lightly.

Hmm, hmm, huh...

I think it's easier to just have Kyon-ko fangirling in general - she doesn't need to have romantic interest in a person in order for her instincts to kick in on HEAVY MODE. I mean - resisting Asakura-kun's dazzling bishie mode is impossible. Really. But there doesn't need to be any crushed heart in the whole thing, just the same surprising "I never ever thought he'd do something like this" thing as the original.

On the others; In my CosRaep writejob i had Kyon-ko go into a slight shota-fangirlish mode over Maid-Mitsuuru, just to have something that way - don't think it's going to work in the long shot, though, so it's probably better to have her gain interest as time goes, both for him, but more importantly, Nagato-kun, as he gradually gains emotions outwards.


Oh and also, Editjob on the ponytail thing, GET. Nothing else has been done though, as I'm moving on to the next part now.

[Poulp]

Originally Posted by sosoft

It seemed like my horrible premonition had come true.

After class, Haruki didn't disappear instantly from the classroom as usual. With no other warning than the sound of his footsteps approaching from behind, I was suddenly plucked off the ground as if I weighed nothing, with Haruki holding me like a trophy in his grasp. He then proceeded to carry me (kicking and yelling) through the corridors, up the stairs, and all the way to just in front of the door leading to the rooftop.

This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to be swept of my feet by a handsome prince! And I don’t even want to imagine what the rest of the class must have thought…

The door here is usually locked, and the staircase above the fourth floor seems to have been used as a storage room by the Art Club. Giant canvases, near broken picture frames, statues of war gods with missing noses and such are all piled up in this little staircase, making what is supposed to be a narrow space even narrower, and giving me a slight sense of claustrophobia.

What is he trying to do to me by bringing me here? Is he going to make me his bride? I’m no alien! Put me down!

He did.

"Help me out."

...Haruki said with both his hands on my shoulders, looking straight into my eyes. This feels like a confession.

Great, now I’m blushing.

"Help you with what?"
I feigned ignorance.

"Help me make a new club!"

I'd just change the "Help me out" into "Hear me out" in order to build up the suspense a little bit longer

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Jintor

I still prefer the pick-up-and-run-off-with method Haruki's got going there from the Kaisos job. Hair pulling is only good for the shorter trips, and even then Kyon's got to be thinking "ZOMG WHAT A JERK!"

She's going to be thinking a bit worse then "ZOMG WHAT A JERK!" really. I'd be surprised if she was even willing to help him at all, getting your hair pulled already hurts like hell when its short, if its longer it only hurts more.

[NejinOniwa]

Originally Posted by Keroko

She's going to be thinking a bit worse then "ZOMG WHAT A JERK!" really. I'd be surprised if she was even willing to help him at all, getting your hair pulled already hurts like hell when its short, if its longer it only hurts more.

Well, it's true that short hair-pull hurts a LOT. However in my experience long hair isn't as bad (and I'm pretty sure I can judge that fairly, since I have a ponytail the length of Kyon-ko's of my own), and with a ponytail it's even less - from what I know, just pulling a few hairs hurts FUCKSHIT BAD, while many is actually possible to stand for a short while. Plus it's not like he'd pull her by it for itself - she's walking along quite much (wisely enough) as well. Plus, shock and exhaustion prevents her from giving much of a ZOMFS JERK reaction - besides, doesn't she pretty much think of him like that already, anyway?

[Kristen]

"Dear Diary,

Don't you hate how long it takes for your hair to dry? I swear, I want a quick five minute shower, and it takes like forever for my hair to look acceptable. Should I try something new today, diary? Minoru would be certain to notice if I tried pigtails instead of the usual ponytail. But, that is like so much more effort!

Did you hear of that school dance coming up, diary? I really really want Minoru to ask me to it, and if not, I may try to ask. But Itsuko warned me against going to it with anyone other than Haruki. Something about the world ending again. Gah! Why can't I live the life of a normal girl! If you like Haruki so much, Itsuko, just ask her yourself! Don't pull me into your drama!

Oh, and you should have seen Yuuki today! He was, like, SO out of order. His tie was crooked, his hair was a mess, and he seemed so asleep! It was just too cute! Do even aliens get drunk, or does he have something else up his sleeve?

Now, if you excuse me, my brother is knocking really loudly against the door. He must want to play baseball or something. But, why baseball in the winter? Can't he just stay inside and knit or something? And, why does he always have to walk in on me when I'm doing "that"?

Sincerely,
Kyon-ko"

[NejinOniwa]

"Dear Diary,

Don't you hate how long it takes for your hair to dry? I swear, I want a quick five minute shower, and it takes like forever for my hair to look acceptable. Should I try something new today, diary? Minoru would be certain to notice if I tried pigtails instead of the usual ponytail. But, that is like so much more effort!

TRUTH.
One of them big downsides with having long hair; that you'll need at least an hour for it to get dry, or a marathon with the hair-dryer...

[dkellis]

I'm erring on the side of making Haruki not so much of a jerk that Kyonko just ups and leaves him, especially before she discovers the bit about him being a Reality Warper. I mean, I've never quite figured out why Kyon didn't just say "no way", unless either he has no objections to the concept of Girls Treating Guys Like Dirt, or he just didn't think about it. (Or maybe he's just thinking about Haruhi's looks rather than her personality.)

If nothing else, at least have Kyonko not remember that Haruki is a jerk. This is one reason why I had Itsuko pay for the drinks in my version of the SOS Brigade's day out, since now Kyonko will remember that day as "Haruki was a jerk, but no harm done" rather than "Haruki was a jerk, causing me actual material loss". It's not logical, but humans (male and female) seldom are.

Ponytail-pulling works just once, for a very short while, before Kyonko recovers from the shock that someone would actually do such a thing. After that, never again.

-

Random: I'm trying to figure out another part of the novels to convert, and I'm kind of drawing a blank. Should I range outside of volume 1? Should I start with what has already been converted by others? How much can I change of the canon before someone cries foul?

[panzerfan]

I frequently venture out of the range of volume 1, heck... even out of the TV broadcast material! I am pretty sure that people will cry spoilsport before they cry foul at me!