MAIN ROUND 1 SUBMISSION: TEAM CHIHAYAFURU - DUALITY

[psiten]

TITLE: Luck of the Draw
SERIES: Chihayafuru
SHIP: Ayase Chihaya/Mashima Taichi/Wataya Arata
RATING: T
CHARACTERS: Ayase Chihaya, Mashima Taichi, Wataya Arata, cameos by other canon characters
SIDE PAIRINGS: none
MAJOR TAGS: Manga and Anime Spoilers, Canonical minor character death
ADDITIONAL TAGS: Angst, Depression, Drowning (non-literal drowning imagery), Happy Ending, Friendship, Found Families
SUMMARY: Like two banks of a river, you and I may be nothing alike, but what ties us together will bring us to the same place in the end.
WORK COUNT: 2616 words, 5 images, one total minute of video in three sections
SCRIPT: Entry script and image list
NOTES: Readers on mobile will automatically see a simplified version of the linked webpage, optimized for vertical screens. Certain image-hover features may only work in Chrome, but the central aspects of our team's project work in all browsers. Due to changes in pronunciation between Heian era Japanese and modern Japanese, readers looking closely may notice differences between words spoken allows and the written pronunciation on Karuta cards. READING JAPANESE IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS WORK! <3 All story-related audio is accompanied by an original translation. Thank you for reading!



Standalone webpage link: Join us on the tatami mat.

Comments

[elucidatedlucy]

The entire structure of this entry was absolutely beautiful. Intertwining the three of them between prose, art, and music, in this tightly structured way, creates a wonderful atmosphere. Creation is just as much about presentation as it is what goes into it, and your presentation caused your baseline work to rise even further above what it is.

Beyond that, each of the three's voices coming through like intertwining rivers as the work goes on is, in of itself, soothing. You invoke the theme for the round so well, literally and metaphorically, while also setting to the sense that Chiyahafuru itself gives in spades. It's a beautiful piece of work!!!

[psiten]

Thank you so much! ///blushing on behalf of the team///

[karahashi]

Join us on the tatami mat.

Ooh so firstly I really liked your intro! It really sets the mood and the atmosphere of the piece :) The format of this entry is really nice and unique, and the POV switching is a good way to bring out the theme of this round :) This feels like a lovely character study and the music/videos really add to it!

I really like how watery the artwork is, like brush strokes and ink. It ties well into the atmosphere and like the entry says, it's as if they're karuta cards. That final pic with Chihaya and the river of autumn leaves was really pretty!

And the imagery in your prose is really beautiful - I love the how that first section introduces the idea of rivers and currents, and how you carry that movement in your choice of words.

Karuta ties us together. It's like a river. You know that, right?

This is a lovely, wise line, with such a lovely, pondering rhythm. I love how the characters grow throughout as they come together - Arata's lines towards the end were so beautiful:

I've called you a coward, Taichi, when you wouldn't rise to the level I'd set for myself.
/
Chihaya, I've called you a Queen. How long has it been since I've had a dream for my life that didn't have you in it? Even though I'm the one who told you to dream for yourself.

This is beautifully written. I really love how this feels like conversation. And I love how you save Chihaya's voice for the very end, linking all the imagery and the symbolism.

This is a lovely entry, quite different! All the best for the voting :)

[psiten]

Thank you so much!!! Everyone worked so hard to put this together, and it's just great to see that what we were attempting came across <3

[alphahelix]

This entry was so beautiful *___* the way all your different media intertwined was really wonderful to experience! Thank you for such a lovely work!!!!

[arranjar]

Ahhh what a great entry! The format of it was really cool and helped convey the tone of the work really well. I thought the contrasting voices of the characters were captured nicely, but it didn't feel confusing to follow due to the timeline that they all operate on, and the connecting imagery of water throughout. The drawings were also really nice (and I liked how they were black and white till you hovered over them-- something about the monotone transitioning to color is like a weirdly fitting description of the tone of this piece). Excellent job!