noyabeans | >> at gloaming | idolish7 (also: a mini-Mitsutenn manifesto) (Reply)

here I am with yet another new fandom, and this time it's wildly different from all of my other fandoms... while still feeling like I've come full circle back to my kpop days. anyway, I got into i7 not expecting that I would want to *write* for it, but apparently... not... I should have known that I would tumble right back down rarepair lane since that's What I Do but I didn't expect to end up with a rarepair that would intrigue me so much even with barely any canon interaction... sighs... also of course the two of them are my favourites, so ending up shipping them was a natural progression. I guess.

at gloaming, featuring Izumi Mitsuki & Kujou Tenn!! Mitsutenn!!

I usually don't write when I'm not fully caught up with the canon story, but for i7 I made an exception because I was told that part 3 and part 4 of the main story would be really rough and I want to spare myself the heartache after already suffering through part 1 and part 2 in the span of a week (dead eyes)... so I decided to jump the gun and write it first.

I jokingly called it the Mitsutenn Manifesto while it was still stewing in my mind, expecting it to be another of my usual fics with ~1k at most. I was NOT to know that it would turn out 3k long... sighs.

hmm. I'm not sure where to start with this reflection because it was, overall, an accumulation of many thoughts about Mitsutenn that I ended up not fleshing out in full, if they were touched on at all. rereading it last night, I think this particular fic wasn't so much a "study" of their characters but a study for me, the writer, to know how their interactions would look.

so far, Mitsutenn's only known interactions to me are 1) the confrontation in the Okinawa hotel 2) the co-hosting of Re:vale's anniversary show 3) their Shuffle Talk 4) off-screen interactions that are made aware to the player via Rabbit Chat, so I really didn't have much material to work off.

the Shuffle Talk is arguably the ONLY time I had a glimpse of how their interactions are like, so a huge part of gloaming was based off of it - in particular, the second part of their Shuffle Talk was most important to me because it's the only time we get to see them interact as "themselves"... and it's not a very long conversation either orz

nonetheless, some core themes I think I did manage to present:

Vulnerability, and the tearing down of walls. this is a theme that I always, always gravitate towards in my faves, and it's clear as day in i7, especially with Tenn being directly likened to a hedgehog.
sibling relationships - I wanted to explore the perception of each other as brothers, and as individuals. I feel like there's this subconscious tendency for the i7 guys to look at Tenn not just as a rival idol, but also as "our center's brother", and I think it does/would colour their interactions to an extent - and Tenn is sensitive enough of a person to be able to tell. there's also a... um. tendency to hmmmmm want to Meddle in their relationship, I guess? (or maybe this is just Iori and Tsumugi lolololol) and so I think he would be especially sensitive to possible meddling, or feel like Mitsuki tries to bring him to the office because Riku is there, or something like that. and like, he's probably told often by i7 members that "you're so similar to Riku" in this aspect or the other! and I think he probably doesn't like it, even though he feels reassured by it? that he's not too different from Riku even after all this time, but he also doesn't like being constantly being compared against Riku, if that makes sense? he gives me the sense that he wants to bridge his relationship with Riku in his own time... (knowing how much of a hedgehog he is, "his own time" = never, possibly) idk.
continuing on from that point, I think Mitsuki of all people would understand that desire to be recognised as his own person. obviously Mitsuki has a complex of his own with Iori, and he recognises that in Tenn as well, which is why he makes sure to point out that he is speaking to Tenn as "Kujou Tenn", not as "Tenn, Riku's brother". I think this distinction matters a lot to Tenn.
I also think Tenn is keenly aware of, and acknowledges, Mitsuki's place as an older brother - he sees through Tenn's joke easily exactly because he is Iori's older brother. Iori and Tenn are similar in some ways, and Mitsuki as Iori's brother would have experience in navigating a stoic personality like that, which Tenn recognises.
I wanted to explore their communication dynamic as well because mmm. Tenn is a hedgehog, he's prone to pushing everyone away to protect himself. (i obviously have a Type) meanwhile Mitsuki is a ray of sunshine. Tenn has stated in a Rabbit Chat that he does get carried away with Mitsuki's energy and I think that would also apply here; and Mitsuki is clearly the kind who won't prod at things he knows people don't want to share (see: the way he reacts to Yamato and Nagi acknowledging they both have secrets, and yet never pushing further - again, maybe this gets uprooted in part 3, so we'll see). he's sensitive to other people's needs, he's observant of everyone's preferences in the team, and he knows how to step around conversation with them. after all, he's stated to have a good rep within the industry because he can carry conversation well, and even in the Shuffle Talk you could see that where other people would have been shut down by Tenn's answers, Mitsuki wasn't even the slightest bit fazed and carried the conversation on, even prodding at Tenn's personal life at times. this particular dynamic 1) makes Tenn a little easier to write 2) MAKES MITSUKI BLOODY DIFFICULT TO WRITE.
...which is also why I wrote the story from Tenn's POV lmao. at first I thought Tenn would be really hard to write, but I discovered soon enough that he really isn't that difficult (this might change in part 3 and 4 though? fear.jpg) - it's probably Mitsuki who is more challenging, for me. I struggle with outgoing sunshine characters in the first place (see: Noya, Naruko) and when they have the kind of baggage that Mitsuki has (ie. a bit too relatable for me) it's even harder to pry inside his head. I want to eventually write something from his POV though, but this time was not the time.
I also wanted to acknowledge this one moment in a side story where Mitsuki caught Ryuu's slip-up at calling Tenn a big brother on program. he was clearly aware of it being an NG topic, and immediately, without missing a single beat, brushed it off. that sensitivity not just for the public eye, but for Tenn's feelings, caught my eye the first time I read it, and I wanted to pay it homage in the part where he consciously refuses to associate Tenn and Riku at all in public, even if they're what is supposed to be a "safe place" for them. I think Tenn would recognise it, and be thankful for it - and that would, in turn, make him trust Mitsuki a bit more.
Tenn and Mitsuki have A LOT of similarities tbh:
"honesty", although it manifests very differently for both of them Tenn, obviously, can be harsh and blunt, but he has no qualms about putting on a facade for his fans, because that's his "job". meanwhile, Mitsuki absolutely refuses to market himself as a person he is not.
underneath this, they both have very firm moral codes, and they are both are stubborn enough to fight for what they stand by if they are pushed to do so, instead of backing down: Mitsuki fighting Kaoru, of all people - a rival group's manager, seriously?! and Tenn being... Tenn. which is why I threw in the hint of them fighting their producer about a decision that sat wrong with them.
Pride and attitude - Mitsuki and Tenn have pride in SPADES. i didn't really get to explore this as much as touch on it, but they're both very aware of their own goals and the roles they play. the way both of them divide personal and professional interactions and their consciousness of their roles as idols shines through a bit, I think, especially with the progression of their dialogue through the story and setting - from a dressing room, when both of them are in "work mode", to the restaurant, where they're just there as "ourselves", all too aware that the clock is ticking down to the end of the fairytale, when they have to go for the work party and resume their work personas.
anyway, in summary, I wanted to write a story where Mitsuki would be able to gradually coax Tenn into letting down some of his walls, where Tenn would recognise the multifaceted sides of Mitsuki (as acknowledged by him multiple times in Rabbit Chats), where they would be able to navigate the space between their personal and professional lives a little more. it was an interesting exercise and I'm pretty pleased with the end result, even though I think my Mitsuki isn't quite Mitsuki Mitsuki yet. I'm still searching for his voice..

I'M VERY FOND OF THIS PAIR AS YOU CAN TELL, THIS TURNED INTO A MINI MITSUTENN MANIFESTO. it's not even everything that I wanted to explore of them, either - I listed down a whole range of things I wanted to touch on in the Google Doc and this is probably less than half of what is listed (though of course not in such detail, lol).

I'm really looking forward to starting part 3 and finding out more about both of them, though... I am mainly Fear.jpg at all the vague spoilers I've glimpsed. I definitely hope I can write more before my fandom timer runs out!!