PoT: Mirror Writing: Ripple

[branchandroot]

Fic post from my archive.

Ripple

The day after the events of "Twist", Ryouma tries to sort out his thoughts. Drama With Slight Romance, I-3

Ryouma snorted a laugh. If he ever admitted to Momo that his protective streak made Ryouma feel better, he'd be doomed. Probably for life. Momo would never again believe Ryouma was serious when he grumbled or swatted Momo away.

Comments

[naanima.livejournal.com]

You know, this is incredibly cute, and a lovely insight into Ryouma, the fact that Tezuka is substitute father-figure made me feel very sorry for Ryouma.

Nanjiroh is one of those characters that I have major issues with. Not because I don't like him (I do! I do!) but because I see him training this amazingly talented boy into the most talented player ever, yet in the process deciding that the -talent-, the -player- was more important than father and son relationship. That hurt.

The fact that you are making Ryouma actively aware of it is much more painful.

*sniffles* love ya *huggles*

[branchandroot]

*huggles* But Momo will make him feel better!

I think the most heart-ripping scene in the manga that I've seen is in the first few volumes, when the first years go to play at Kachirou's dad's tennis club/school think and Mr. Goldtooth gives K-dad a hard time. Because, after Ryouma waxes the guy, he gives K-dad this itty-bitty smile and the same thumbs-up gesture that Kachirou and his dad do with each other, and I nearly cried. Just the implication of reaching out to a father figure who's a father, not a tennis god... owowowowow.

More cute and more angst, both, coming up next!

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Really? I had a different interpretation of that: I thought it was a sign of solidarity between Ryouma and Kachirou's dad (you know, us against jerks.) Maybe because Ryouma seems to be so damn independent, I honestly never thought of him of looking for a father figure before. Hm...

However... I do sort of like Nanjirou, the way you are entertained by jerks with whom you aren’t related. I don’t think he’s one of the tricky/crazy ones in trying to play with Ryouma’s mind where tennis is concerned. He does seem to take tennis very seriously, and he does push Ryouma quite a bit where it is concerned. It’s just that he’s at a loss to stop Ryouma from imitating his style, and that—I think the manga states it somewhere—was why he felt that sending Ryouma to Seigaku was a good idea.

There’s another episode somewhere in the manga, I think where Seigaku was playing some other school (name escapes me), and Nanjirou turns up, meets one of their coaches, whom he used to know. They have a talk about their sons and tennis, and Nanjirou says something like, ‘I think we’ve been worrying too much about our kids.’ To me, that’s a sign that he does think about the best way to help Ryouma become better, and I sort of think better of him for it. Another episode shows Nanjirou in America, where he later decides to retire from tennis. Partly because he’s not interested in chasing after titles, and partly because he’s beginning to see Ryouma—then a mere toddler, really—as a future opponent that he could play with. He takes tennis and the development of his son quite seriously, and I like him for it.

That episode of Nanjirou in America is quite revealing--I think there's a scene where Konomi draws Nanjirou challenging the bullying coach, much the same way we have Ryouma challenging Kirihara. I think even the words they used were similar ("teach me how to play tennis"?) The parallels are interesting to think about.

Huh. What a long comment for me. This is what happens when you obssess about the manga for a whole year before watching the anime.

I adore this arc, by the way. Looking forward to more.

[branchandroot]

The anime certainly plays that day as an us-against-the-jerks thing, but I saw that particular gesture as such a father-son thing, in the manga, that it really struck me when Ryouma used it.

*thoughtful* It's not that I think Nanjirou is total scum. Nor that he's deliberately fucking with Ryouma's head. More that he's managing the effect despite not meaning it. And, while I could forgive that in an opponent, when it happens in a parent it makes me see red.

Midoriyama is the team whose coach also has his son in the lineup. That's actually one of the places that gets my hackles up again, for Nanjirou's remark that kids are there for parents to toy with. Again, I don't think he's entirely serious, but I don't think he's entirely joking, either.

*grins* Obssessing about the manga is a perfectly good thing. Glad you're liking this branch! More on the way.

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Midoriyama is the team whose coach also has his son in the lineup. That's actually one of the places that gets my hackles up again, for Nanjirou's remark that kids are there for parents to toy with. Again, I don't think he's entirely serious, but I don't think he's entirely joking, either.

Eh-huh. I knew it had to be Midori-something.

Maybe it's just because my social circle is weird--and the books I read--but plenty of people around me say that they'd like to have children to 'play with'. And these are some of the most serious, devoted parents I've ever met. So I guess I didn't think of that remark as a sign of anything negative, just some shoptalk between parents.

[naanima.livejournal.com]

Go Momo!!! (I feel so terrible for typing Moomoo the first time. Please forgive me). And that makes me wonder, because Nanjiroh may be callous and at times stupid but he never smacked me as a fool. And it hurts on a fundamental level, because dammit, Ryouma is your son no matter how much of a mutant he may be.

Will attempt to download scans as soon as I get home. THANK YOU! LOVE YOU *huggles*