Fanfiction: Whisper Who Dares (Princess Tutu)

[nebroadwe]

Title: Drabble: Whisper Who Dares
Fandom: Princess Tutu (anime version)
Character: Fakir
Pairing(s): None (okay, maybe some implicit Fakir/Duck)
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Warnings: None.
A/N: Another Princess Tutu character drabble. This inspiration for this one actually preceded that of the other I posted; it just took longer to mature. Crossposted from nebroadwe to princesstutu and tutufic.
Dedication: Still for fmanalyst; I think you get all the drabbles this anime decides to cast up. :-)

---

      He walks in a circle of silence bounded by whispers. Once they were meant to be overheard: admiring, envious, laced with look-at-me-oh-no-DON'T! giggles. But now ... now he's discovering how much easier it is not to give a damn what people think of you when they consider you mysterious and aloof rather than unpredictable and vicious.

      Only one person crosses the circle as if it doesn't exist, tripping up to him without regard for his reputation -- or his privacy. He listens for her step, ready to give her alone a piece of his mind.

---

[Disclaimers: Princess Tutu was created by Ikuko Ito and Junichi Sato. Copyright for this property is held by HAL and GANSIS/TUTU. All rights reserved.]

Comments

[tasha-o.livejournal.com]

That is Fakir bang on! This is a awesome little fic, I especially love the Fakir/Ahiru implications:)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I rewrote the end a zillion times trying to keep it suitably ambiguous -- at this point in the story, Fakir and Duck barely have a working alliance (mostly because Fakir prefers to keep 'isself to 'isself), never mind a friendship. I wanted to build the push-pull of him welcoming/not-welcoming her irruption into his life into the language. Right now I feel like I have, but in two days I may be tearing my hair (and this drabble) apart again. :-)

[tasha-o.livejournal.com]

Well I for one think you pulled off everything you just told me. The Fakir/Ahiru relationship is one of my favorite aspects of the series. The reason being is that usually in shojos its all about the romance, and though it is an element I think the best part of Fakir/Ahiru is the bond that slowly grew between them. Haha, I totally know what you mean about pulling one's hair out, which is why for the past eight years I wear nothing but wigs:D

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

The Fakir/Ahiru relationship is one of my favorite aspects of the series. The reason being is that usually in shojos its all about the romance, and though it is an element I think the best part of Fakir/Ahiru is the bond that slowly grew between them.

I, too, like watching Fakir and Duck develop a solid and intimate friendship through their shared mission. I also think it's a clever move on the part of the script never to repudiate Duck's more conventionally romantic feelings for Mytho. I'm a medievalist, so the Duck/Mytho relationship always reminds me of troubadour poetry, which expresses passionate feelings of love toward a more-or-less unattainable beloved. It's all about the fantasy (there's even a cliche about how love enters through the eye, which just comes leaping into my forebrain every time I watch episode 1 :-). But however all-consuming it's made out to be, the fantasy doesn't preclude other kinds of love. Duck and Fakir have me pulling up Aelred of Rievaulx, the premier medieval theologian of friendship: "What happiness, what security, what joy to have someone to whom you dare speak on terms of equality as to another self; one to whom you need have no fear to confess your failings; one to whom you can unblushingly make known progress you have made in the spiritual life; one to whom you can entrust all the secrets of your heart, and before whom you can place all your plans!" (Aelred also says that "those who have no friends are to be compared to beasts for they have no one with whom to rejoice, no one to whom they can unburden their hearts or with whom to share their inspirations and illuminations" -- which in some ways puts Fakir in the same class as Duck at the beginning of the story, when he insists on doing everything alone and can only reveal himself to the cute little ducky who keeps turning up. No wonder he looks sick when she finally hands him the last clue. Bravo to the animators there!)

Whoops, sorry to leap up onto the soapbox. Academic training dies hard. :-)

[tasha-o.livejournal.com]

Hey do not worry about jumping on that soap box, I'm currently in my second year of a general History degree so I enjoy it :D First, I love discussing about Princess Tutu it's such a gem of a anime, and sadly one that is often ignored. Second, the lovely background info that you gave me reminded me about the concept of "Chivalry" that I learned in Lit. Class. About the idea that Chivalry is not about the Knight wanting to get up the maidens skirt (so to speak;), but that its a code of honor based on respecting and honoring a woman without being physical with her. Which I find Fakir to adheres to, perhaps he is more of a knight then he thinks he is ^___^

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Fakir doesn't adhere to the courtesy rules of the chivalric code, though. (Remember Mytho reminding him that he needs to be more polite to the girls? :-) He strikes me as being rather more modern than medieval in that respect, somehow. Possibly it's his constant struggle to discipline himself, to find his duty and stick to it with dogged persistence rather than heroic flair. (He has his heroic flair moment pretty early on in the whole story, after all, with Wagner playing in the background and everything. His "Shall we put it to the test?" line wouldn't be amiss in a medieval romance or a Norse saga. And then it's over and he has to move on to something else.) That kind of "cold courage" isn't really part of the whole chivalry schtick, as far as I can remember; the only place I can think of it turning up is Sir Gawain flinching away from the Green Knight's first blow and getting chaffed for it, so that he then declares he'll stand the second one without moving. And even then he doesn't agonize about what he's going to undergo; it's left to the side characters to lament his fate for him -- he just goes to it. Fakir flinches quite a bit, both as knight and artist; he stays the course with teeth audibly gritted together.

Good luck with the history degree! I was nearly seduced to the Dark Side myself, but English lit won the day instead. :-)

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

^_^ That's beautiful! I love drabbles, they're always so interesting. It captures really well the grumpy side of Fakir, as well as the more insecure side of him...and I love Duck being the one to break through the circle. ^^

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's among my favorite lines of character development in the show: Duck more-or-less blithely reaching out to Fakir once she's seen behind his mask and Fakir much more slowly working out how to respond. I was kind of surprised at how early the story decided to let Fakir put two and one together to make three about Duck's identity as Tutu, but the payoff for me came two episodes later when Duck literally hands him the remaining one so he can make four about the whole Duck/duck thing. :-) The story grants him no advantage over her in the exchange: before he ever penetrated her secret, she knew his. Heh. Excellent.

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

Poor Fakir. XD They really don't give him any advantage when it comes to the two of them interacting. It's nice, though--it really throws him off balance, and helps him grow as a character.

I absolutely love the scene when he finds out she's a duck, too. XD

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Poor Fakir. XD They really don't give him any advantage when it comes to the two of them interacting. It's nice, though--it really throws him off balance, and helps him grow as a character.

And helps keep our sympathy with him. I'm showing this series to my godchildren at the moment, and they're sure Fakir is the villain (we've reached episode 5 or so). I'm looking forward to their reaction to the bread-throwing incident. (I don't think I'll be showing them the second half of the story just yet -- it's too far over their heads and probably too creepy. I'm going to have to edit out the end of episode 11 as it is. They're used to this from me, though. We watched the first part of Pretear with cuts for age-appropriateness; also some of Fullmetal Alchemist. They just occasionally ask me whether they're old enough to see the rest of the story yet. :-)

I absolutely love the scene when he finds out she's a duck, too.

That gets my vote for the cutest visual on Duck-the-duck, when she pokes her head out from under her discarded dress and quacks. I don't know how the animators did it, but they got the most wonderful expression onto her face: a sort of sweetly gleeful "Here I am!" smile. And then she turns and marches, all seriousness, into the lake, leaving Fakir utterly croggled. Priceless. :-)

Peace!

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

I'm showing this series to my godchildren at the moment, and they're sure Fakir is the villain (we've reached episode 5 or so). I'm looking forward to their reaction to the bread-throwing incident.

Oh, I was absolutely sure Fakir was the Raven when I first started watching the series! The bread-throwing scene REALLY throws you for a loop when you first see it -- "Oh no! Fakir caught her! Wait, he's giving her bread?"
...Actually, after that, I decided he was a decent guy, but was going to fall in love with Kraehe and become the Raven's warrior. ...Wrong Junichi Sato magical girl anime, I suppose. XD (...Which reminds me that I need to see the rest of Prétear one of these days.)

That gets my vote for the cutest visual on Duck-the-duck, when she pokes her head out from under her discarded dress and quacks. I don't know how the animators did it, but they got the most wonderful expression onto her face: a sort of sweetly gleeful "Here I am!" smile. And then she turns and marches, all seriousness, into the lake, leaving Fakir utterly croggled. Priceless. :-)

Oh, I know! In one of the RPs I'm in, the girl that plays Ahiru uses that scene as one of her icons (basically her 'happy duck!' icon)...and every time she uses it, I just MELT. XD A lot of the expressions in that scene are really just absolutely great. ^_^
I think your observation in the other part of this entry about Fakir looking sick is a very good one, too. He really has absolutely no idea how to react to that sort of situation!

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

...Actually, after that, I decided he was a decent guy, but was going to fall in love with Kraehe and become the Raven's warrior. ...Wrong Junichi Sato magical girl anime, I suppose. XD

Coming from Pretear myself, I should have remembered that the dark-haired, prickly bishounen gets the girl. But after the bread-throwing scene, I suddenly woke up and said, "Hold it -- Chris Patton is doing this guy in the dub. Ha! He's the hero!" :-) Not that Chris Patton can't get in touch with his inner villian (I greatly enjoy his turn as Greed in Fullmetal Alchemist, frex), but ADV usually has him play heroic. If I'd known then that Sakurai Takahiro also voiced Sasame in Pretear (something I didn't look up until somewhere in the third disk), I might not have jumped so swiftly to that conclusion, though. :-)

I think your observation in the other part of this entry about Fakir looking sick is a very good one, too. He really has absolutely no idea how to react to that sort of situation!

It really goes to emphasize how intensely private those glimpses of his kindness and sadness were, too. There's no real reason to hide Duck on his way out of the changing room, except to conceal the fact that he's doing it. His reaction to being unmasked by Duck is also just a tad over the top -- it's amusing, but it's also perhaps a pointer to how invested he is at this point in appearing to all observers the Stalwart Protector he doesn't necessarily find himself competent to be inside his own head (all that flinching in the face of his impending doom) ... and maybe a pointer further down the line to the revelation that he's not only hiding his true self from others, but from himself as well. This series is very tightly plotted; all the small clues tend to line up like that, IMO.

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

Not that Chris Patton can't get in touch with his inner villian (I greatly enjoy his turn as Greed in Fullmetal Alchemist, frex), but ADV usually has him play heroic.

Well, not only does Chris Patton often play the hero in ADV dubs--a lot of times, he's the love interest for Luci Christian's character, too. XD (Prétear's dub almost seems like the acception to the rule). So it's one of those "...you know, I should've been wondering about it from the start" things, I guess!

It really goes to emphasize how intensely private those glimpses of his kindness and sadness were, too. There's no real reason to hide Duck on his way out of the changing room, except to conceal the fact that he's doing it.

You know, I had always wondered why he was doing that, but never connected it to the fact that he was actually protecting his image and not Duck herself.

I agree with you with how careful they were with the series--it's one of the things I love about it so much. It's a series that you can rewatch over and over and still find something new to see in it. (like the recent discovery of the connection between Edel and the Tree.)
I really like Fakir as a character for this reason, too -- he tries to force himself to be strong (because he knows, deep down, that he's actually a very weak and insecure person) and takes on the role that was given to him. But only when he truly accepts himself, insecurity and all, does he truly become strong. (Although I don't think he ever quite sees that in himself!)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

I agree with you with how careful they were with the series--it's one of the things I love about it so much. It's a series that you can rewatch over and over and still find something new to see in it. (like the recent discovery of the connection between Edel and the Tree.)

Now, this I missed. What's the connection? Other than them both being made of wood (which begins to sound horribly like a Monty Python sketch :-)?

I really like Fakir as a character for this reason, too -- he tries to force himself to be strong (because he knows, deep down, that he's actually a very weak and insecure person) and takes on the role that was given to him.

Yes: you can follow a logical line of character process for him that has him trusting too soon in his own powers and, after they fail him so catastrophically, rejecting them in favor of a "heroic" role that comes ready-made for him. When he finally rejects the sword for the pen, it's back to the struggle of bringing a real power to fruition, rather than borrowing the power of the story (as, similarly, Duck borrows Prince Siegfried's power as Princess Tutu, which has its visual correlative in those showers of flowers they both produce, just in case we missed the point :-), and figuring out how to use that power to heal, not harm. Which is why he can speak so authoritatively to Duck about not wanting the story to end, in spite of the fact the end written for him in the story was fatal. That end wasn't his responsibility; everything he himself writes is.

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

Now, this I missed. What's the connection?

Well, you know how the Tree says some of the same phrases Edel does? ("The birth of a story...", etc) One of the members here noticed this and asked Itoh-san at the Cast Party if they had a connection -- and Itoh-san confirmed that Edel is made from the wood of the tree. ^^

That end wasn't his responsibility; everything he himself writes is.

I suppose that's what he means when he says "I can't protect anyone. I've been protected since I was a child"? Since he was a kid he's avoided responsibilty for his actions by blocking memories and taking on the role of the knight -- and now he's having to make his own choices?

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Well, you know how the Tree says some of the same phrases Edel does? ("The birth of a story...", etc) One of the members here noticed this and asked Itoh-san at the Cast Party if they had a connection -- and Itoh-san confirmed that Edel is made from the wood of the tree.

Ah. Not readily apparent from the narrative, that. I had always just assumed that Drosselmayer was the link between Edel and the Tree -- that he had heard it speaking and passed on the phrases to Edel. But this works, too. :-)

Since he was a kid he's avoided responsibilty for his actions by blocking memories and taking on the role of the knight -- and now he's having to make his own choices?

I think so. He has reason to have taken up the knight's role so eagerly, but in the end he realizes that it's just been another way to sidestep his true calling, which is far more difficult and dangerous than the knight's role.

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

I had always just assumed that Drosselmayer was the link between Edel and the Tree -- that he had heard it speaking and passed on the phrases to Edel. But this works, too. :-)

That's what I thought, too, but I really like Itoh-san's version of the connection. ^_^

I think so. He has reason to have taken up the knight's role so eagerly, but in the end he realizes that it's just been another way to sidestep his true calling, which is far more difficult and dangerous than the knight's role.

Huh...I wouldn't've thought of his being a writer as being more dangerous, but when I think about it, it is--as the Knight, HE'S in danger, but others around him aren't really in the danger that they are as a writer. (Since the concequences of screwing up are much higher for him as a writer.)

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

I think this may be my favorite of your portrait drabbles, probably because Fakir is my favorite.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

It's always great fun to watch heroes develop, rather than simply having them landed complete in one's lap. I'm also fond of any work of art that reflects back on the process of making art (Whisper of the Heart, Kiki's Delivery Service, even the magnificent mess that's Jim Henson's Labyrinth) and Fakir's our point man there. This being Junichi Sato's baby, inspiration is valorized out of proportion to technique, but the story does manage to point out that one writes most easily the characters who live for one; that it's bad art for the story to jerk the characters around; that the line between cliche and archetype is very thin; that writer's block is hideously painful :-); and that there is a mystery at the bottom of the process of creation that renders it irreducible to craft. I always smirk over Autor's line about how many great ideas he has to write -- well, why hasn't he written them, then? If he really were a writer, he'd be writing regardless of whether his stories could control the world. Instead, he spends his time reconstructing the details of Drosselmayer's study, as if the trappings somehow contained the power. Heh. If only it were that easy ...

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

I hope you don't mind me jumping into this conversation a little, but...I can't help but comment on Autor. XD;;

I see Autor as someone that loves art, but can't be an artist himself because he doesn't really grasp the process quite right. He's obviously someone that's very intelligent and a good researcher -- I mean, for one thing he actually KNOWS what Drosselmeyer's study looks like, and he's also the only character outside of the main four to realize that their town is being controlled by stories. But despite his intelligence (or maybe because of it), he gets the idea in his head that the things that surrounded Drosselmeyer are what gave him his power.

(To top it off, in the AoD discussion thread we had a classical musician--that pointed out that when Autor's playing the piano, he's actually not playing very well. So not only does Autor's focus on trivial things affect his ability to write -- it seems it causes problems with his music study, as well.)

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

Autor's one of those characters I could wish had a little more screen time, because his character arc leaves us with (if you'll pardon the expression) a chicken-and-egg problem. Does he fail as an artist because he focuses on the trivialities, or is he focused on the trivialities in an attempt to compensate for his failures as an artist? I'm not sure the story gives us a definitive answer either way. At least when push comes to shove he defends Fakir -- though for my money the really significant moment in that sequence comes much earlier, when he pulls Uzura inside the house he had previously been adamant outsiders could not enter.

[haleysings.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Autor really could use a little bit more time in the series -- he seems to have a lot going on underneath the surface that we really don't get to see. (Although I DO appreciate that even a "minor" character like him is prevented from becoming two-diminsional.)

I think Autor's given a transformation that's almost similar to Fakir's -- He's introduced as a jerk that most people instantly dislike, only to show his true, more noble (and insecure) side in the end. Sadly, since he only has five episodes or so to really go through his story arc, in the middle of important revelations for the other characters, it gets sort of covered up and he's remembered mostly as the jerk. ^^;; I'm glad Puchiko convinced me to give him another look--once you focus on him more closely, he really seems like an interesting character to me.

[nebroadwe.livejournal.com]

By the way, how is/was the conference?