Wow. This is excellent. You wrote a wonderful alternate universe--Soubi as a psychologist with his own demons in the past to deal with works so well. His relationship with Ritsuka is so much the same, while different, a bit saner.
I've also thought for a long time that Soubi and Ritsuka could heal each other, and in your story you've shown that so beautifully.
Seimei's arrival was a surprise--and he's perfect. The way that he "changes Ritsuka back"--brilliant psychological writing there.
Thank you for writing such an incredible, beautiful story. It's one of my favorite Loveless stories now, and I'm saving it to my memories.
Soubi gets so beat up in canon he deserves a little love. ^^ *snuggles Soubi*
And yes, I completely agree that they could heal each other. They both such battered people but it's precisely because they're so hurt that I think they'd be able to understand each other and give each other happiness.
Seimei is creepy. Enough said. xD
Thank you for the lovely review! If you like, you can always check out the other Soubi/Ritsuka I wrote - titled Munchausen's Shadow. That one is less of an AU - based in the canon universe, but probably derailed by recent events in canon. xD Click the 'soubiritsuka' tag on this journal. ^^ (It's NC-17, though.) Again, thank you for the review!
This is beautifully written and beautifully constructed. I'm new to Loveless, but this story was compelling enough that I didn't feel like an outsider to it. I don't even know which parts are AU and which are canon, but it's gorgeous!
The premise itself is AU - the whole psychologist!Soubi and patient!Ritsuka thing. But I tried, as best as I could, to retain the original feel of Loveless. Thank you for the wonderful review, and welcome to Loveless! It's a wonderful little work that really stole my heart. ^^
That's quite a big compliment to me, that you would spend so much time thinking about this. Thank you!
I hesitated over writing that too - the point about Soubi falling in love with Ritsuka - but like canon, I think love isn't always that convenient, especially when you're dealing with people as dysfunctional as these two. To my mind, Ritsuka and Soubi could never be your typical couple falling in love. The age gap is one thing that makes their relationship so tentative and bittersweet, and in canon, the other thing is the unequal power balance and how they're unsure of how to act around each other. I tried my best to replicate that here.
As for Soubi being selfish - well, yes, he is. In that sense, he's not doing anything different from Seimei. But I think between the two, Soubi is the far more sympathetic character (because Seimei is just creepy), and my main motivation was to highlight that you can't just forget the unhappy things in life. (Go Ritsuka!)
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a long and wonderful review. ♥
Oh, this was so beautiful. ♥ I've always loved the psychology of Loveless, and placing the characters in an AU like this made a nice fit.
I adore your writing style, as well, and the way you managed to portray Ritsuka's split and the difference between Seimei's Ritsuka and Soubi's was wonderful.
Sorry for the late reply! School (and my upcoming promotional exams) got in the way. I'm glad you liked it so much - I've always loved the psychological subtlety of Loveless as well. Thank you so much for the compliment!
*Sniff, sniff.* What's that I smell. Oh my, it's the smell of UBERTASTICALLY DELICIOUS GENIUS WRITING! AAAAAAAUGH! <333333
Forgive me for fangirling, but that was just GORGEOUS. Considering I just watched a thing on the Discovery Channel about Nostradamus, I'm in a more mature mindset and that was DELICIOUSLY PRETTY.
It just makes me sad how Seimei is always the villain. Sure, he is a villainous figure, but he's just such a sly bastard. >:3 Regardless of that, I failed to find anything unsatisfactory about this writing. It was pretty and it was gorgeous and it was enough to make me go squee.
I hope you can write more genius again sometime soon. 8D
Sorry for the late reply! School (and my upcoming promotional exams) got in the way. But thank you for the compliment - it made my day. *blushes* I'm not half as fantastic as you make me out to be. xD
Seimei... I used to think he wasn't the villain, but recent canon developments have gone otherwise, so... Nonetheless, he's not the villain per se - if you look at it objectively he's just trying to get his little brother back (incestuous overtones not withstanding, xD), but it's from Soubi's perspective that I wrote this, and to Soubi Seimei just screams danger.
I'll try and write! If school doesn't interfere too much, that is. xD
Oh, it's fine. I can understand the stress of school and what-have-you. It's especially a pain when your radiator might as well have exploded. -_-;
I really think it was quite lovely, but maybe it's because you managed to make an A/U without making it seem so, "... o-O"
Unfortunately, Seimei is a villain, but it does not make me love him any less. He's just such a sly bastard! >:3 Yes. Soubi + Seimei ÷ Ritsuka = controversy.
I can understand if you can't write for a while, but I shall wait patiently for your next writing! 8D
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I've also thought for a long time that Soubi and Ritsuka could heal each other, and in your story you've shown that so beautifully.
Seimei's arrival was a surprise--and he's perfect. The way that he "changes Ritsuka back"--brilliant psychological writing there.
Thank you for writing such an incredible, beautiful story. It's one of my favorite Loveless stories now, and I'm saving it to my memories.
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And yes, I completely agree that they could heal each other. They both such battered people but it's precisely because they're so hurt that I think they'd be able to understand each other and give each other happiness.
Seimei is creepy. Enough said. xD
Thank you for the lovely review! If you like, you can always check out the other Soubi/Ritsuka I wrote - titled Munchausen's Shadow. That one is less of an AU - based in the canon universe, but probably derailed by recent events in canon. xD Click the 'soubiritsuka' tag on this journal. ^^ (It's NC-17, though.) Again, thank you for the review!
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I hesitated over writing that too - the point about Soubi falling in love with Ritsuka - but like canon, I think love isn't always that convenient, especially when you're dealing with people as dysfunctional as these two. To my mind, Ritsuka and Soubi could never be your typical couple falling in love. The age gap is one thing that makes their relationship so tentative and bittersweet, and in canon, the other thing is the unequal power balance and how they're unsure of how to act around each other. I tried my best to replicate that here.
As for Soubi being selfish - well, yes, he is. In that sense, he's not doing anything different from Seimei. But I think between the two, Soubi is the far more sympathetic character (because Seimei is just creepy), and my main motivation was to highlight that you can't just forget the unhappy things in life. (Go Ritsuka!)
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a long and wonderful review. ♥
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I adore your writing style, as well, and the way you managed to portray Ritsuka's split and the difference between Seimei's Ritsuka and Soubi's was wonderful.
Thanks so much for sharing this. X)
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Forgive me for fangirling, but that was just GORGEOUS. Considering I just watched a thing on the Discovery Channel about Nostradamus, I'm in a more mature mindset and that was DELICIOUSLY PRETTY.
It just makes me sad how Seimei is always the villain. Sure, he is a villainous figure, but he's just such a sly bastard. >:3 Regardless of that, I failed to find anything unsatisfactory about this writing. It was pretty and it was gorgeous and it was enough to make me go squee.
I hope you can write more genius again sometime soon. 8D
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Seimei... I used to think he wasn't the villain, but recent canon developments have gone otherwise, so... Nonetheless, he's not the villain per se - if you look at it objectively he's just trying to get his little brother back (incestuous overtones not withstanding, xD), but it's from Soubi's perspective that I wrote this, and to Soubi Seimei just screams danger.
I'll try and write! If school doesn't interfere too much, that is. xD
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I really think it was quite lovely, but maybe it's because you managed to make an A/U without making it seem so, "... o-O"
Unfortunately, Seimei is a villain, but it does not make me love him any less. He's just such a sly bastard! >:3 Yes. Soubi + Seimei ÷ Ritsuka = controversy.
I can understand if you can't write for a while, but I shall wait patiently for your next writing! 8D
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