Quick update before bed

[petronia]

My Fantasia schedule in LJ to-do list. Quite a lot of boring data entry as you can see. Montrealers on my flist, feel free to bug me before or after any of these, if you happen to be attending the same screening or in the environs of Guy-Concordia.

Will blog about my weekend tomorrow, at length. Meanwhile Mirage-reading-wise I wanted to note that after I finished Exaudi Nos (the story not the entire book, trying to do the in-continuity ones first) I read the Chiaki-centric story in Shinku no hata wo hirugaese, because I'd read half of it already and wanted to know what happened. ^^; Basically, it goes like this:

Naoe: Leonardo da Vinci was a genius at psychological portraiture.
Chiaki: Um.
Natsumi: Hey, little brother!
Chiaki: You're hot.
Natsumi: Actually I have a pseudo-incestuous crush on my other brother who's not really related to me.
Chiaki: Well, damn. What are the odds?
Takaya: I will be as perceptive concerning your relationship problems as I'm dense concerning my own.
Chiaki: Okay, now that's just annoying.
Ranmaru: Mayhem and destruction! I mean, just to remind you there's a plot to this series.

She's an odd lady, is Kuwabara-sensei. But I liked it quite a bit. It's set between books 9 and 10 but written quite recently - late 2003 - and it feels like her writing's improved even since Karin no oukoku. Also I'm amused to note that even when Naoe and Takaya's relations were at their absolute nadir they were still perfectly capable of holding a civil conversation, as long as it was gossiping about Chiaki's private affairs. :P

Now I'm reading the first story in the book, Futari no botan. It's set between books 2 and 3, and ARGH SO CUTE. Like reading Initial D. T_T Except with ghosts in the girls' locker room and... I don't think it's really supposed to be scary, but believe it or not I was kind of freaked out walking home through the park tonight. XD Maybe because it's July, and summer nights are for ghost stories - so say the Japanese methinks, and I'm on that calendar thanks to Fantasia. My Julys see enough drowned girl-children in white (her tangled black hair hanging in her face no doubt). Of course Chiaki didn't turn a hair.

Comments

[ayatsujik.livejournal.com]

Chiaki sparklies! I really must get back to Mirage. Er, after I get to Fourth Stage in IniD manga. *omg is so not going to get it done with these books before flying off*

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Dude, you gotta read this one. It basically is Initial D.

[kuroraka.livejournal.com]

Basically, it goes like this:

That summary just cracked me up!XDD

they were still perfectly capable of holding a civil conversation, as long as it was gossiping about Chiaki's private affairs.

Never underestimate the social importance of gossip!.*wants to know more about Chiaki's private affairs now, too*

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention in the summary that Chiaki tells his "sister" he's totally skanky.

Natsumi: So what is this "work" you keep talking about? You're nineteen, you're not in school, how come you're living in a hotel room in the middle of Tokyo?
Chiaki: Um. It's...... nightlife-related. You know.
Natsumi: YOU'RE A BAR HOST?
Chiaki: Yes?
Natsumi: No, you're not! If you were you'd be going to work right about now instead of coming back to the hotel!
Chiaki: (shit.) Uhhh they're RENOVATING THE HOST CLUB THAT'S IT I'm on vacation at the moment.
Natsumi: ...Really?
Chiaki: Would I lie to you?
Natsumi: Okay. :) Here, have some more riceballs.

Afterward she meets Takaya and is all like "Does he work at the same host club as you?" and Takaya is like "W.T.F." and I am like "This calls for an AU!"

...Otherwise, Chiaki has no private affairs. You'd think he'd have no difficulty in getting laid whatsoever but I cannot think of one instance in the books where he actually succeeds in getting the girl.

[kuroraka.livejournal.com]

Takaya is like "W.T.F." and I am like "This calls for an AU!"

Mirage meets Love Mode?!XD


You'd think he'd have no difficulty in getting laid whatsoever but I cannot think of one instance in the books where he actually succeeds in getting the girl.

Aww, poor guy. But that somehow explains why he offered so willingly selflessly to fuck Takaya...*giggles at the memory of that dj scan lcseifhoan posted*

[narugami.livejournal.com]

I'm going to see Otaku in Love too, actually. :)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Great, see you there. :D

[sargraf.livejournal.com]

That first story was so much fun. ^^ But didn't the Chiaki story break your heart? (Or am I just a total sap? ^^;; I ate it up..)

I wonder if she had Chiaki's story in mind while she was writing the Vol.9~10 arc, or if she added it on later when fangirls wept over Chiaki. ;__; (Sometimes I wonder how she feels about him. Nagahide, I mean. She's written him as such an intriguing character, but we rarely get any insight directly from him... or, rather, about him, from those close to him. She seems to save it all for side books and prequels. So far...? o_O Maybe I should start reading the atogakis, but I skimmed after Vol.19 and nothing.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I did find it really touching - I thought it was well carried off, for the sort of story that can often be rather awful in execution. ^^; You're left with the sense that Chiaki's feelings for Natsumi are the result of the "original" Chiaki's love for his sister triggering a sort of latent Philip Marlowe style hardboiled romanticism in Chiaki's personality, which seems about right to me.

You should read the atogakis, they're v. insightful. XD In the one to Shinku, for instance, she actually talks about how she finds it daunting to write from Chiaki's perspective, and that she had a sort of "finally I've reached the point where I can accomplish this" feeling when she wrote that story.

She wrote also that as the books drew on you get the impression that Chiaki's really a big softie at heart, but before Kagetora and Naoe "softened" him he always had that unfeeling, outsider aspect to him, which (as you said) comes out much more in the prequels. Said that his character story would probably do nothing to dispel his image as ii hito but that Chiaki himself would be more insulted to be thought of that way than the author. XD

[sargraf.livejournal.com]

Oooh. Chiaki as Philip Marlowe. *_* That fits.

I took your advice and read the atogaki for Shinku. ^^ I'm having to soften my opinion of Nagahide in the prequels, though, after re-reading (or, skimming deeper) Vol.4. He's not unfeeling so much as he's (seems to me?) respectful with disinterest. ^^; (Does that make sense..?) Even in the prequels. Sometimes, it feels like his respect for people's freedom of choice is what puts him apart from the others, as they're all sort of passionate about stepping in. Maybe not Irobe as much as the others.. but then, he almost feels like a different character in the prequels. :/