This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
Didn't see this thread around, so I thought I'd post it up. Write about your favorite pairings, whether it's because you love the psychological issues and emotional resonance between the characters, the bittersweet one-sided love, or whatever else floats your boat. Don't worry about how unlikely a pairing is, since a good fanfic writer can make anything work (noncanon ones are often the most interesting to me).
Anthy/Utena - The good old standby, and one of my favorites. Usually I don't like the main pairing in a series, but this one just works so well that I never get sick of it. The artwork is lovely, the fics are great, and it leaves me with a sad, bittersweet feeling that I prefer in my pairings. Utena is always depicted as the dom one in artwork, but I think in reality the role would be reversed at first. I believe it's possible Anthy developed romantic feelings for Utena first, and she would have to be the one to initiate it. And it's pretty much fact that Anthy tops. Once they got comfortable with each other, however, I think they'd switch. I like a good Anthy/Utena PWP, but in general I like introspection fics that deal with the characters' inner thoughts and nothing physical needs to happen for me to like it, or even have the feelings returned by Utena. Prefer Anthy POV for this one, probably because I find it so difficult to try to get inside her head and love it when writers get it.
Really, after them, the only other pairings with an emotional quality to them are Juri/Shiori and Ruka/Juri. The others, eh, not so much.
Juri/Shiori is probably unhealthy in the long run even though there's a part of me that wishes they could work it out post-series, because I'm one of those people that thinks Shiori cares for Juri, deep down. Or at least feels bad for what she did. But I really want Juri to be happy, and I want Shiori to gain confidence in herself.
B-ko/A-ko. Who cares if they're merely narrative devices? These gals/aliens/plot elements have great chemistry, and I'm sure their relationship is very fun and affectionate and quirky.
Tokiko/Nemuro - I would have liked to see more of this in the series. The cold emotionless Nemuro meeting a woman whom he can respect and love appeals to me. It was short and bitter, but affected Nemuro/Mikage for many years to come.
Tatsuya/Wakaba - Ish kewt. Don't judge me. I like happy endings!
Utena/Wakaba - It was mostly an Alan Harnum fanfic that led me to liking this.
I think Wakaba/Saionji could be really good if written well.
A few years down the road: Nanami/Mitsuru. You know it's gonna happen.
And these ones are just delicious for no good reason:
Anthy/Nanami
Juri/Utena
Kozue/Juri
Touga/Miki
Juri/Kanae (Has anyone thought of this, yet?)
Shiori/Miki - He thinks she's such a sweet girl...
And my personal fave:
A-ko/B-ko/Utena/C-ko. Whoo!
Also, pretty much any pairing with Juri, Akio, or Kozue is bound to be hot for me, as long as the characterization doesn't make me cringe.
Last edited by Like_Autumn (08-23-2008 09:16:40 PM)
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C-ko is mine and mine alone!
My favorite couples would have to be...
Utena/Anthy - classic, magical, beautiful.
Saionji/Touga *unrequited* - because I love to watch Saionji suffer, but in a good way!
Mikage/Mamiya - forgetting that Anthy is Mamiya, it's just so romantic and fucked up.
Tatsuya/Kanae - THEY DESERVE LOVE. Don't judge them.
Ruka/Juri *unrequited* - he's an asshole, but it's the thought that counts. Not the ends. Or the means. Or the death.
And lastly Touga/Miki in a purely sexual way. No love, just experimentation.
I'd actually love to see Shiori/Miki now. She starts using him as a way to get back at Juri then starts forming an inferiority complex around him too. Then Kozue pushes her down a flight of stairs... Poor Shiori. At least Juri visits her in the hospital.
Edit: I forgot Tsuwabuki's unrequited love for Touga! My old passion...
Last edited by NajiMinkin (08-24-2008 07:52:18 AM)
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Juri-Shiori: They're like a train wreck you just can't pull your eyes away from...
Nanami-Tsuwabuki: Oh come on, it's cute. He's so devoted, and she clearly needs better treatment than she's getting from Touga.
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hmm...my favorite would probably be Nanami/Saionji. They'd be good together, eventually.
I'm also a fan of Wakaba/Tatsuya, as cliche as that would be.
Anthy/Utena, of course. And yes, I do mean the movie version. Fuck you Saito.
A-ko/B-ko is a good one though, not sure about A-ko/B-ko/C-ko, but then, why the hell not?
I'm gonna have to piss some people off by saying I do like Ruka/Juri, though I'm pretty sure that she's actually gay. So this is kind of anti-canon, them ever being together, but I do like the pairing.
Back to something vaguely plausible, I like Juri/Kozue an awful lot. Yeah, they'd be fucked up together for a while, but I think they could take care of each other maybe.
Also, Miki/Shiori is one I'm fond of as well, good call there Naji.
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Shiori's been hanging out with Utena a lot in my head lately, I would like to see Shiori hanging out with Utena since Utena is convinced she's the pinnacle of goodness and deserving of forgiveness, and I'd like to see Juri and Anthy's reactions to it.
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Chu-Chu/The Frog - For all we know, the Frog is really Dios trapped by Anthy. If only he were kissed by Utena. Then the Prince would come back and everything would be okay. In lieu of that, however, he always has Chu-Chu to attack and hump. Think about it. They even say goodbye to each other at the end of the series. Now that, dear friends, is sentimental.
Plus the gratuitous BDSM sex is hot.
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Utena/Anthy: Not just my favorite pairing in this show, but one of my favorites of all time. I personally like that it was left ambiguous as to whether they were getting it on offstage or just close friends edging toward something more, because honestly? That doesn't matter. What matters is Utena's attempts to understand Anthy and determination to treat her like a human being no matter what, and Anthy frantically trying to force her friend away from the dueling game as the end draws near. What matters is the trust and betrayal and confusion and sacrifice and the way that they work together, help and look after each other, and come so close to saving each other. And, of course, what matters is, "The tea is poisoned." "So are the cookies."
Wakaba/Saionji: Because she was kind to him, and he was able to focus his dedication and fragile sense of fairness, even honor, in order to return her kindness. Because I'm a horrible sucker for Good Girl/Bad Boy pairings - but, I hasten to add, not the type that are based on corruption of the Good Girl or the complete and straightforward redemption/woobification of the Bad Boy. We did glimpse her well-hidden dark side (though that was turned against Saionji, not towards him) and his rarely-seen considerate side, but both of those things evolved naturally from what had already been displayed or at least hinted at. They weren’t different people when they were around each other, just more of the same people… both for better and for worse, as Saionji discovered when he made the deal that would return him to his own life. Their relationship was very tentative, very one-step-forward-and-two-steps-back, and they never got a chance to strengthen that fragile connection and acceptance, move past the idea of what they could give each other and toward the possibility of the real thing. And that makes me sad, but not devastated, because I’m not entirely opposed to…
Wakaba/Tatsuya: Because they’re cute, and much more stable than any of the other relationships in the series, which is probably why canon didn’t spend a whole lot of time on them.
Ruka/Mikage: Well, yes. They never actually get a chance to meet in canon, and my fondness for this pairing is probably a result of – among other things - having read Jamais Vu a few too many times. But even in the series timeline, they have very similar worldviews, with just enough discrepancies to keep things interesting. I think that they’d get each other, appreciate each other’s intelligence and determination, in the way that few other characters would get either of them… and, either despite this or because of it, be able to both accept each other’s scheming tendencies and keep them in check as needed. I think that Ruka would be up to the challenge of mediating between Mikage and approximately the rest of humanity – also as needed – and Mikage would be a good test of Ruka’s ability (I am firmly convinced that it’s in there… somewhere) to care for someone without trying to “fix” him. Also, it would be hot.
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Coco Melancholy wrote:
Shiori's been hanging out with Utena a lot in my head lately, I would like to see Shiori hanging out with Utena since Utena is convinced she's the pinnacle of goodness and deserving of forgiveness, and I'd like to see Juri and Anthy's reactions to it.
I suspect that's precisely why they don't hang out. Like, Shiori's got the whole "if only they could see my inner dark side, if only they knew the real me" thing going on; she'd just interpret it as a wildly deluded view of Utena's rather than reflecting any actual positive qualities on Shiori's part. This would be ineffective for Shiori's morale at best, and a match thrown on a powderkeg at worst.
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Jellineck wrote:
Chu-Chu/The Frog
I totally spaced! SKU OTP 4EVA!
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Oh god, my favorite?
While Saionji/Touga is always good and fucked up, I'd have to concede to Saionji/Akio. There is just way too much fun there.
And Chu-Chu X The Frog is sweet and sexy in the series, but there is just so much damn fluffy and ooc fanfiction for it. I mean, jeez, how come my Chu-Chu never gets to top?
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Duelist Megu wrote:
Coco Melancholy wrote:
Shiori's been hanging out with Utena a lot in my head lately, I would like to see Shiori hanging out with Utena since Utena is convinced she's the pinnacle of goodness and deserving of forgiveness, and I'd like to see Juri and Anthy's reactions to it.
I suspect that's precisely why they don't hang out. Like, Shiori's got the whole "if only they could see my inner dark side, if only they knew the real me" thing going on; she'd just interpret it as a wildly deluded view of Utena's rather than reflecting any actual positive qualities on Shiori's part. This would be ineffective for Shiori's morale at best, and a match thrown on a powderkeg at worst.
I think that's the exact reason why I'd love to see it happen, I could see Utena approaching Shiori out of concern for her when seeing her looking down or all alone and trying to be her friend while convincing Juri on the side that she's "a nice girl" at heart and "you should give her a chance" all the while being estrangled from Juri means that Shiori could well feel close to Utena (the girls pretty damn endearing) and the likeness between the two might prove an attraction, the thing that makes it hilarious is that it's probably worse than JurixShiori with Utena's obliviousness and all, and Anthy and Juri's passive agressivessness might make for some interesting reactions, especially since Shiori is in the same position Anthy is in regards to Utena/Juri and that Anthy being the possessive girl she is might not like another student stepping on her terrirtory.
Also, C-ko is
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Like_Autumn wrote: Anthy/Utena - The good old standby, and one of my favorites. Usually I don't like the main pairing in a series, but this one just works so well that I never get sick of it. The artwork is lovely, the fics are great, and it leaves me with a sad, bittersweet feeling that I prefer in my pairings. Utena is always depicted as the dom one in artwork, but I think in reality the role would be reversed at first. I believe it's possible Anthy developed romantic feelings for Utena first, and she would have to be the one to initiate it. And it's pretty much fact that Anthy tops. Once they got comfortable with each other, however, I think they'd switch. I like a good Anthy/Utena PWP, but in general I like introspection fics that deal with the characters' inner thoughts and nothing physical needs to happen for me to like it, or even have the feelings returned by Utena. Prefer Anthy POV for this one, probably because I find it so difficult to try to get inside her head and love it when writers get it.
Soz for such a long quote...but...I agree with every BEAUTIFUL word!
Autumn, you explained so well just why I like this pairing the best, and also (amazingly) the reasons I like it and the kinda fic that is great fun to read. Of course insert shameless self-plug here - I'm trying to write some of said fiction and it is living at: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4464277/1/Roses_Grow
Neva Caruso, your comment on A/U is also great, and I agree that one of the strengths of the anime is leaving the relationship ambiguous. What I always notice is that it seems to make it mean "more" that it's not spelled out in definite terms. After all, if Utena was Anthy's lover (like the fun drugged out movie) than she'd be almost obliged to save Anthy. The love between them becomes much more hmm symbolic?, and somehow meaningful, and even *coff* epic because the motivations seem more complex. (It's late at night okaaay? ) And of course there's tension. Good old tension.
Apart from *sigh* Utena/Anthy (I like this far and away the most, and whether Anthy turns out evil or good ) I like my...
Akio & Anthy because the psycho-analysis can go on and on and on and on...
Saionji & anybody as long as it's angsty, cos he's angsty, and I can only see him having angst
Mikage & Mamiya (not forgetting that Mamiya is Anthy, unlike NajiMinkin )
Juri/Shiori because it's so unhealthy it's a dark thrill, like Duelist Megu said(I don't want them to be happy - I hate fluff pieces between them which I usually find unrealistic)
Juri/Utena who will be dominant? *drumroll*
Akio/Touga because evil men mind-f*&king each other are fun to read about
Miki & Kozue because I feel like my innocent eyes shouldn't be delving into the mysteries of their undefined relationship
Wakaba & Utena because you can't help but feel for such a great best friend who doesn't seem to get the girl (not to mention becomes "2nd string" best friend pretty quickly when Anthy shows up)
Akio & Utena because hey, watching Akio play prince and Utena play princess is wild. But er, keep me away from fanfic where Akio is suddenly sincerely nice & romantic and head over heels in love with Utena! Because WTF that didn't happen, couldn't happen.
Part of the reason the show is great, is most if not all of the pairings on it are fascinating!
When it comes to fanfiction (or fanvids) I just want realism though. I'll read pairings that I don't like if they're well-written enough.
My pet hate is unrealistic fanfic.
What I mean is:
I don't mind if it is as non-canon as it comes, as long as you CONVINCE me that it could happen under *blah blah* circumstances, or because of this character's *in-character* motivations...
And if Anthy winds up sounding like Wakaba, or Akio like Miki, I just want to shoot myself. Unless of course it's comedy, in which case I lmao at your deliberate cleverness.
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Neva Caruso wrote:
Utena/Anthy: Not just my favorite pairing in this show, but one of my favorites of all time. I personally like that it was left ambiguous as to whether they were getting it on offstage or just close friends edging toward something more, because honestly? That doesn't matter. What matters is Utena's attempts to understand Anthy and determination to treat her like a human being no matter what, and Anthy frantically trying to force her friend away from the dueling game as the end draws near. What matters is the trust and betrayal and confusion and sacrifice and the way that they work together, help and look after each other, and come so close to saving each other. And, of course, what matters is, "The tea is poisoned." "So are the cookies."
Wakaba/Saionji: Because she was kind to him, and he was able to focus his dedication and fragile sense of fairness, even honor, in order to return her kindness. Because I'm a horrible sucker for Good Girl/Bad Boy pairings - but, I hasten to add, not the type that are based on corruption of the Good Girl or the complete and straightforward redemption/woobification of the Bad Boy. We did glimpse her well-hidden dark side (though that was turned against Saionji, not towards him) and his rarely-seen considerate side, but both of those things evolved naturally from what had already been displayed or at least hinted at. They weren’t different people when they were around each other, just more of the same people… both for better and for worse, as Saionji discovered when he made the deal that would return him to his own life. Their relationship was very tentative, very one-step-forward-and-two-steps-back, and they never got a chance to strengthen that fragile connection and acceptance, move past the idea of what they could give each other and toward the possibility of the real thing. And that makes me sad, but not devastated, because I’m not entirely opposed to…
Wakaba/Tatsuya: Because they’re cute, and much more stable than any of the other relationships in the series, which is probably why canon didn’t spend a whole lot of time on them.
Ruka/Mikage: Well, yes. They never actually get a chance to meet in canon, and my fondness for this pairing is probably a result of – among other things - having read Jamais Vu a few too many times. But even in the series timeline, they have very similar worldviews, with just enough discrepancies to keep things interesting. I think that they’d get each other, appreciate each other’s intelligence and determination, in the way that few other characters would get either of them… and, either despite this or because of it, be able to both accept each other’s scheming tendencies and keep them in check as needed. I think that Ruka would be up to the challenge of mediating between Mikage and approximately the rest of humanity – also as needed – and Mikage would be a good test of Ruka’s ability (I am firmly convinced that it’s in there… somewhere) to care for someone without trying to “fix” him. Also, it would be hot.
I am glad I am not the only one who supports RukaxMikage I fully agree on the worldviews take on why they would be good for each other. Their complicated relationships would make for another valid reason, too. As far as ability goes, the psychological workings of their minds as well as their desire to protect the people they really care about as well as birth reasons to gain "eternity" makes for another reason these two would work well together. Yes, I, too, agree that this couple is hot.
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Trench Kamen wrote:
Miki/Mikage
Think about it.
Love it!
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How 'bout Akio/Mikage? Crack pairing is crack, but I can kinda' see Akio manipulating Mikage into it (probably be promising something related to helping him achieve his goals) if he's feeling devious enough. Of course Mikage would only be doing it for the bribe and the consent would be dubious at best, but that's what'd make it hot IMHO.
(plus it's my new favorite proxy for one of my Gundam OTPs, which is sadly nonexistent in the fic/art/anything department)
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Utena/Anthy is pretty much the only anime "couple" I've ever felt emotionally invested in. Maybe the only fictional couple.
I don't think they were ever sexually/romantically involved during the series, though.
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I'm very much in favor of Juri and Shiori as well as Juri and Ruka But never Ruka and Shiori... There was a fic I read once concerning Touga and Juri in a 'need' based relationship that turned me on to that particular coupling. I also like Miki and Kozue and Nanami I know it's...odd, but I like the dynamics. Either way there's alot of forcing Miki to do stuff >_>. I once toyed around with Shiori and Saionji, but that story is for a different time.
Alithea is guilty of making me a Juri X Kozue fan.
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OnlyInThisLight wrote:
Oh god, my favorite?
While Saionji/Touga is always good and fucked up, I'd have to concede to Saionji/Akio. There is just way too much fun there.
I'm involved in a Utena RPG on Gaiaonline that has quite a bit of Akio/Saionji action in it. I play Saionji, of course.
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Utena/Anthy: Once upon a time, not too long ago, a girl prince met a witch. They suffered many trials at the hands of many people, including the Ends of the World, but their love pulled them though time and time again. They did not get what they wanted, but instead what they needed, and they both lived happily every after. The End.
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Um well here are mine
Utena/Touga
Utena/Mikage(Weird yes,but as he said they were similar.)
Utena/Saionji(Odd I know but really she ws the one who made him want something eternal.)
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You know, there are WAY to many really great pairing ideas. But I’m disappointed no one is mentioning any of the game characters! So I’ll throw my hat into the ring *toss’s knight helmet, lands with clang* Chigusa / Ruka, because in my mind they are MADE for each other!… Maybe Chigusa / Mikage, if I wasn’t so into Mikage / Mamiya. For canon? Utena / Anthy always! (That's what made me start watching in the first place!) And Mitsuru / Nanami
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Chigusa looks cool but I don't know much about her personality,and Ruka loves Juri anyway,though I'll admit he is a player like Touga,only he goes one at a time where as Touga likes orgy's.
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