[Haruhi] Ephemeral

[Arakawa]

In further answer to sarsaparilla:

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Actually, the imaginary approaches she described would have been advertisements designed by her instead of her being physically being present to make the sales pitch. However, the assumption would still be true -- she *is* rather capable of projecting a persona that she finds suitable for the situation, and this goes hand in hand with her ability to regulate her own urges.

Right. I was under the impression her company does some kind of market analysis / forecasting thing; the description put me in mind of Asimov's psychohistory somewhat, only used for trivial corporate ends... however, the passage at the beginning is specifically highlighting her abilities in communicating on a firsthand basis.

Now that was pretty interesting, and has direct contact points to many ideas discussed in the story. It is not an interpretation that was consciously written in, but it still fits remarkably well. From the story point of view only 'a' theory was needed, to give the characters a framework in which to address the issues, and thus 'the' theory doesn't even exist -- yours is just as good as mine.

Indeed, my explanation is also consistent with the fact that Kyon and Sasaki don't come up with it, not the least since it would raise as many questions as it resolves. But it lets me indulge the wishful thought that Haruhi et al. might still be involved in their lives somehow, if in an imperceptible/incomprehensible fashion. Perhaps the moment near the end where they suddenly notice Haruhi's presence in a photograph where they didn't expect her to be, might serve to sum up this line of thought.

[sarsaparilla]

This isn't really about writing as such, but -- I am drawing an illustration based on this story, and would like to hear opinions on the lineart sketch before I move on to the next phase, since I have learned that it is always hardest to see one's own errors and idiosyncracies.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I guess that the question in my mind is, can the used models be accepted as Kyon and Sasaki as adults, or is the initial reaction more on the lines of, "Huh, who are these characters?" I used the Disappearance movie version of Kyon as my primary reference, and then aged him for the story time frame. Concerning Sasaki, there are very few canon images of her, and to suggest that even those images are wildly inconsistent would be an understatement. Thus, I don't have a good idea of what Sasaki is supposed to look like as an actual person.

[Muphrid]

My initial reaction was that Kyon looks a little rounder in the cheeks, which actually doesn't seem all that unusual for people as they transition from teenagers to adults, so I don't think that's beyond the realm of plausibility.

To my eye, Sasaki is recognizable.  The curl of her hair and the way it stays close to her face are what I think of when I think of Sasaki, and you've captured that. Her eyes are not all the way open, right?  Otherwise they would seem to me a bit small (Kyon's are fine, I think; his eyes are typically drawn smaller, aren't they?).

[JonBob]

Sasaki looks fine to me, since like Muphrid said, there aren't many pictures of her. I think it's mainly the hairstyle that kinda defines her. As for Kyon, I have two potential issues: chin and hair. The chin seems just a tad rounded for him. As for the hair, I could see it moving to that, but normally I think of his hair as more spiky and less... pretty? It currently does have a kinda tossed look to it, but it gives me vague Koizumi vibes.

[sarsaparilla]

To my eye, Sasaki is recognizable.  The curl of her hair and the way it stays close to her face are what I think of when I think of Sasaki, and you've captured that. Her eyes are not all the way open, right?  Otherwise they would seem to me a bit small (Kyon's are fine, I think; his eyes are typically drawn smaller, aren't they?).

Yes, her eyes are about 1/3 closed, to suggest a dreamy or introspective mental state. Still, they are intentionally drawn slightly smaller than in canon, for two reasons. It is a common convention in manga that the relative size of female eyes is inversely proportional to the age of the person. While the same rule applies to male eyes to an extent, the effect is smaller, as are male eyes in general. So, since Sasaki is an adult in the drawing, it is to be expected that her eyes are smaller than when she was a teenager. The second reason, then, is that I find excessively large eyes somewhat goofy. *looks at own avatar* Oh, right, I should draw a new one. >_>

As for Kyon, I have two potential issues: chin and hair. The chin seems just a tad rounded for him. As for the hair, I could see it moving to that, but normally I think of his hair as more spiky and less... pretty? It currently does have a kinda tossed look to it, but it gives me vague Koizumi vibes.

Again, both the rounded chin and more 'neat' haircut were intentional decisions, but I must have gone too far if we are going into Koizumi territory....

So ... thanks for these opinions; I'll keep Sasaki as she is, and trim Kyon's jawline a bit and ruffle his hair.

[Brian]

Though she's been too busy to mention it, Sars has completed the picture:

Spoiler: ShowHide

There's a much smaller sized version in the html version of Ephemeral on my site, at the bottom of part two:

http://www.soulriders.net/brian/fanfic/ephemeral/