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>> eclipse of the sun
2 years and a day to the moment I fell into Atsuhina hell, I finally wrote them!
of course it was gonna be a MSBY Jackals fic. I've been thinking about writing them ever since Atsumu straight up called Hinata his spiker (to be fair, it actually translates more to 'our' spiker but I'll take it) and I was hoping Furudate would write their backstory in the latest chapter so I could fill it in but noooo Atsumu had to be all cool and go "Let's greet them properly" what the HECK dude look at how freaking proud of himself he was!!! SHOWING OFF HIS SPIKER LIKE THAT!!!!!! oh my GOD do you see that smile on his face he, MIYA ATSUMU, Arrogant Shitmuffin of the Finest, willingly took a step back from the limelight in a game against the top team in the country to let his spiker take all the spotlight!!!!!!!!! do yOU SEE-
anyway. (clears throat) the building blocks of this fic:
1. Atsumu telling Hinata he'll set for him some day
2. I kept thinking about how Bokuto and Atsumu must have reacted to Hinata turning up for tryouts - it certainly doesn't seem like Hinata would have informed either of them beforehand, so they must've both been shocked and surprised to see him!
3. Hinata telling Tsukishima in flashback that he wants a setter who can let him fly - someone who can unleash his full potential, against Kageyama. And the fact that he had his sights set on the Jackals, of all teams, means that he knew Atsumu would be that person to give him wings.
4. Atsumu being so hopelessly obvious in how excited he is to be finally playing on the same side as Hinata, so much that his teammates and his brother call him out on it. Also, MSBY dynamics!
5. Trust between a spiker and setter
YEAH SO HONESTLY THE WHOLE FIC BUILT ITSELF FROM THERE... I didn't really do much planning, it was a linear story from start to finish, but the one line I really wanted to include was the line in answer to Hinata's request - “You want to fly? I’ll let you.”
When I started doing preliminary fic research back when Ch 379 had just been released, I noticed that Atsumu's name indicates hunger/the urge to eat. That led me to think of the Japanese word for eclipse - 日食, which combines the kanji for sun and food. It eventually found its place in its title - eclipse of the sun, but it's not so much the sun being eclipsed as it is the sun eclipsing (I KNOW that is not how eclipses work).
One thing that leapt out to me was also - the years of absence between Atsumu and Hinata seeing each other. They first played each other in January 2013; they would meet again the following year, then Atsumu graduated and started moving towards going pro. He would presumably watch Hinata play for his last Spring High over TV or stream, before Hinata moved to Rio. Hinata returns to Japan in March 2018, and probably goes for the tryouts the following month.
Meaning - five years would have passed since he told Hinata that he would set for him some day. Five years isn't a long time, in the grand scheme of things, but to high-schoolers and young adults, five years can change everything. That Hinata still remembered his words, and even made them come true, definitely means a lot more to Atsumu than he'd like to admit.
In terms of characterisation, I had a BALL of a time. The only time I've ever written Atsumu's POV was for mirror, back in 2017. Writing him post-timeskip, very done with life (and Bokuto), being dragged by Sakusa and Osamu, and generally less of a shitmuffin but no less a volleyball lover, was so so so fun. I actually felt like I was writing Futakuchi at one point LMAO. Getting to throw in Sakusa and Osamu raining on his parade was really enjoyable!
Anyway, his interactions with Hinata have been highlights of the chapters for me, and I wanted to translate them over into my fic - Atsumu can deal with bullshit, but he can't handle Hinata's blunt honesty. Hinata doesn't notice it, but Atsumu gets caught off-guard time and time again just by how straightforward and sincere Hinata is. I was also very happy with how Hinata my Hinata turned out to be! Between this and my Ennonoyas, I'm almost certain that I've improved a lot at writing moodmaking characters. .........though I have to admit I chickened out of writing Bokuto...
I also wanted to highlight the theme of trust between players here. It's the first time Atsumu and Hinata are playing on the same side, and yet Hinata trusts him to send the perfect quick to him. Hinata's over the moon at how perfectly Atsumu sets it to him, because once upon a time only Kageyama could do that, and he immediately calls Atsumu amazing (have I mentioned Hinata just always being on Atsumu's side throughout the current canon chapters has me LIVING) for being able to do that.
And Atsumu finds it incredible that Hinata trusted in him so blindly, but the twist here is that Atsumu himself doesn't realise how much trust he has in Hinata.
Trust, in volleyball, is a two-way thing: that someone will set the ball to you; that someone will spike the ball you give them.
The fact that he makes the split decision to send Hinata, someone he's never played with, a quick that only his own brother has ever hit - with the unyielding belief that Hinata will hit it. Not even Atsumu realises how matter-of-fact he took it into his own stride, how much a fact he took it to be. He doesn't even regard that trust in Hinata to be anything shocking, even though he does acknowledge that it's more ridiculous that Hinata could hit it at all and that Hinata shouldn't be turning the spotlight on him when it's the spiker who's being incredible here.
BASICALLY Atsuhina have finally gotten the better of me, two years on, and I am very happy with both what I have written and the response I received. My AO3 inbox was blowing up all evening, much to my delight and also horror. I am glad that there's so much enthusiasm about them and I'm definitely gonna write more of them as the arc progresses. Timeskip has truly unleashed my writing once again, what with all the new dynamics and missing scenes to explore. I'm really, really enjoying myself.
of course it was gonna be a MSBY Jackals fic. I've been thinking about writing them ever since Atsumu straight up called Hinata his spiker (to be fair, it actually translates more to 'our' spiker but I'll take it) and I was hoping Furudate would write their backstory in the latest chapter so I could fill it in but noooo Atsumu had to be all cool and go "Let's greet them properly" what the HECK dude look at how freaking proud of himself he was!!! SHOWING OFF HIS SPIKER LIKE THAT!!!!!! oh my GOD do you see that smile on his face he, MIYA ATSUMU, Arrogant Shitmuffin of the Finest, willingly took a step back from the limelight in a game against the top team in the country to let his spiker take all the spotlight!!!!!!!!! do yOU SEE-
anyway. (clears throat) the building blocks of this fic:
1. Atsumu telling Hinata he'll set for him some day
2. I kept thinking about how Bokuto and Atsumu must have reacted to Hinata turning up for tryouts - it certainly doesn't seem like Hinata would have informed either of them beforehand, so they must've both been shocked and surprised to see him!
3. Hinata telling Tsukishima in flashback that he wants a setter who can let him fly - someone who can unleash his full potential, against Kageyama. And the fact that he had his sights set on the Jackals, of all teams, means that he knew Atsumu would be that person to give him wings.
4. Atsumu being so hopelessly obvious in how excited he is to be finally playing on the same side as Hinata, so much that his teammates and his brother call him out on it. Also, MSBY dynamics!
5. Trust between a spiker and setter
YEAH SO HONESTLY THE WHOLE FIC BUILT ITSELF FROM THERE... I didn't really do much planning, it was a linear story from start to finish, but the one line I really wanted to include was the line in answer to Hinata's request - “You want to fly? I’ll let you.”
When I started doing preliminary fic research back when Ch 379 had just been released, I noticed that Atsumu's name indicates hunger/the urge to eat. That led me to think of the Japanese word for eclipse - 日食, which combines the kanji for sun and food. It eventually found its place in its title - eclipse of the sun, but it's not so much the sun being eclipsed as it is the sun eclipsing (I KNOW that is not how eclipses work).
One thing that leapt out to me was also - the years of absence between Atsumu and Hinata seeing each other. They first played each other in January 2013; they would meet again the following year, then Atsumu graduated and started moving towards going pro. He would presumably watch Hinata play for his last Spring High over TV or stream, before Hinata moved to Rio. Hinata returns to Japan in March 2018, and probably goes for the tryouts the following month.
Meaning - five years would have passed since he told Hinata that he would set for him some day. Five years isn't a long time, in the grand scheme of things, but to high-schoolers and young adults, five years can change everything. That Hinata still remembered his words, and even made them come true, definitely means a lot more to Atsumu than he'd like to admit.
In terms of characterisation, I had a BALL of a time. The only time I've ever written Atsumu's POV was for mirror, back in 2017. Writing him post-timeskip, very done with life (and Bokuto), being dragged by Sakusa and Osamu, and generally less of a shitmuffin but no less a volleyball lover, was so so so fun. I actually felt like I was writing Futakuchi at one point LMAO. Getting to throw in Sakusa and Osamu raining on his parade was really enjoyable!
Anyway, his interactions with Hinata have been highlights of the chapters for me, and I wanted to translate them over into my fic - Atsumu can deal with bullshit, but he can't handle Hinata's blunt honesty. Hinata doesn't notice it, but Atsumu gets caught off-guard time and time again just by how straightforward and sincere Hinata is. I was also very happy with how Hinata my Hinata turned out to be! Between this and my Ennonoyas, I'm almost certain that I've improved a lot at writing moodmaking characters. .........though I have to admit I chickened out of writing Bokuto...
I also wanted to highlight the theme of trust between players here. It's the first time Atsumu and Hinata are playing on the same side, and yet Hinata trusts him to send the perfect quick to him. Hinata's over the moon at how perfectly Atsumu sets it to him, because once upon a time only Kageyama could do that, and he immediately calls Atsumu amazing (have I mentioned Hinata just always being on Atsumu's side throughout the current canon chapters has me LIVING) for being able to do that.
And Atsumu finds it incredible that Hinata trusted in him so blindly, but the twist here is that Atsumu himself doesn't realise how much trust he has in Hinata.
Trust, in volleyball, is a two-way thing: that someone will set the ball to you; that someone will spike the ball you give them.
The fact that he makes the split decision to send Hinata, someone he's never played with, a quick that only his own brother has ever hit - with the unyielding belief that Hinata will hit it. Not even Atsumu realises how matter-of-fact he took it into his own stride, how much a fact he took it to be. He doesn't even regard that trust in Hinata to be anything shocking, even though he does acknowledge that it's more ridiculous that Hinata could hit it at all and that Hinata shouldn't be turning the spotlight on him when it's the spiker who's being incredible here.
BASICALLY Atsuhina have finally gotten the better of me, two years on, and I am very happy with both what I have written and the response I received. My AO3 inbox was blowing up all evening, much to my delight and also horror. I am glad that there's so much enthusiasm about them and I'm definitely gonna write more of them as the arc progresses. Timeskip has truly unleashed my writing once again, what with all the new dynamics and missing scenes to explore. I'm really, really enjoying myself.