After the Storm - Kyou Sohma

[Megan]

Soooooooooo I am so happy that I finally completed this shrine! Some of you may know that I had planned making a site to Kyou since the days of dark-ocean.net (which feels like forever ago!) This marathon, as well as everyone involved (and MEGAN A AS WELL), have really helped keep me motivated to work on this site. So, I am pleased to show everyone my hard work and dedication!


AFTER THE STORM - a tribute to Kyou Sohma from Fruits Basket

Please let me know what you guys think! I may be adding a few more sections in the future but for now I am really pleased with how everything turned out. :)

[Robin]

First of all, CUTE SPLASH PAGE <3

Second, I love the explorations into different subject matters (mythology, astrology, etc.)--super insightful and in-depth (as always!) in both your character section and essay section. It really rounds out the site!

Third, I like the cute media page and the well-organized gallery--the visual parts of this site balance out the written content very well!

[Mikari]

The splash image is adorable! Though I never really got into Fruits Basket as a whole, Kyou was always a character I liked, probably because he's a redhead catboy and I'm... me. It's great that you finally got to make a shrine you've been thinking about for so long!

[Laura]

I LOVE HOW VASTLY DIFFERENT OUR KYO SHRINES ARE. *_*

Like seriously... this is a perfect example of why it's awesome for two people to make shrines to the same character, it gives a lot of unique viewpoints from different people, totally different experiences!

I love all of the essays you've written. <3 Especially the Tohru vs Kagura essay. <3 Your timeline of self-love is awesome too, very creative and unique. :) I can definitely see all the hard work you put into making the shrine~

[Lethe]

Haha I like the line-up of character boxes in the introduction part of your shrine as well - both you and wolfrun have that, but it's presented differently. <3 Okay I'll just be commenting on this as I'm reading, so I apologize for all the scattered thoughts, I'm having difficulty focusing right now.

I always LOVE the supplemental info on your shrines (it's partly what motivated me to do research about girl gangs for my Kyoko shrine, and make that a separate page). Thanks for collecting the stories for "The Year of the Cat" along with actual attempts at explaning why the Cat isn't part of the zodiac aside from those stories. I had meant to look into this since I wrote about the curse too, but these parts wouldn't belong on my shrine, so... Without you, I'd probably have forgotten to look it up at a later point haha.

Wow your physique/fashion page!! I started noticing the arrowhead cross more after you pointed it out. :D

Your personality page points out that Kyo's biggest flaw, to you, is his lack of self-confidence as well as his self-pity preventing him from growing. I had never really thought about it like that, I think, because Kyo is not a character I relate to, so I haven't given him as much thought, despite liking him as part of the narrative haha... Great to read.

I LOVE you including the number 13 in your symbolism page due to the connections you draw!! Wouldn't have come up with that myself. :O The grouping of several of Kyo's relationships under the theme of Acceptance is a very lovely way to write a "relationship" page. *-* I like it a lot.

aaaah I now we talked about the humanization of Tohru and Kyo being one of the few who acknowledges her as a person with her own issues, not just a guiding light, and I love how you set up your "Caretaker" page to summarize all those moments!!

I'm cracking up at your image selection when contrasting his relationships with Tohru and Kagura - the images are very well-chosen, and a great way to start talking about the subjects. ... I really like the contrast between the physical distance and emotional closeness in Tohru's pics, and the reverse in Kagura's pics. Reaaaally love this page.

Actually, this is one of my favourite shrines of yours - a lot of these themed essays are great due to the way you grouped different characters, relationships or moments... "Competition" is a page that unexpectedly shows off the many different moods in Fruits Basket's story. <3

I don't know whether you're taking suggestions, so feel free to ignore this, but some of your paragraphs are quite long, and I think it would have helped me orientation-wise if they were broken up some more. :O

I LOVE HOW VASTLY DIFFERENT OUR KYO SHRINES ARE. *_*

Like seriously... this is a perfect example of why it's awesome for two people to make shrines to the same character, it gives a lot of unique viewpoints from different people, totally different experiences!

THIS SO MUCH, from a visitor's perspective too!

[Crystal]

I love this! <3 I haven't gotten to read through all of it yet but I really enjoyed what I did read. Especially "A Selfish Request". I enjoyed that page so much.

[Jae]

It's been literal years since I read Fruits Basket, so there's this surreal feeling of reading through content that I remember like a hazy memory. Anyway, this was a good review and much more!

You're right - Kyou is a complex character, and complex characters mean dozens of interpretations. I enjoyed yours a lot, particularly the caretaker page where you sit down to discuss Tohru's in-universe treatment. Looking back on what I can remember, there is this dependence on Tohru as an outsider who's willing to lend a hand, and it's nice that Kyou reciprocates this treatment his own way. I never thought much about how the Sohma family looked at Tohru, but it's actually significant now that I think about it.

Tohru vs. Kagura was also an interesting read that juxtaposed Kyou's two main "love interests" in a format that was easy to understand. His relationships with the girls are like day and night, haha.

And I agree with everyone else - the splash page is cute!

[Megan]

@Robin - Thank you so much! I expanded on my media section on this site to offer more than I normally do like quizzes and games! I felt like it would be a nice touch, especially because I could find a lot of stuff to add! I am glad you thought everything was balanced out nicely! <3

@Mikari - Thank you! I really wanted a splash page because Kyou as a chibi cat is always cute xD But I didn't want to make the main layout out of it! I am also really happy to get this site up!

@Laura - Thank you so much! I was kind of nervous at first about us making a Kyou site at the same time but you are right, they both turned out extremely different! I think because Kyou is such a complex character, everyone takes him differently and we both show different opinions! I am glad you liked those sections! <3

@Lethe - Thank you so much!! You're right, I do often have those types of pages on my sites xD I never realized it until you started pointing it out on twitter and now here! I think background info/history to our world and comparing them to characters is so fascinating! Yes! When I read through Fruits Basket the third time I realized he had so many arrows and crosses on his back, so I figured I could attempt to look up a meaning and make a physique page a bit more interesting! I wasn't sure about including a basic personality page because I felt like I wrote a lot on specific pages in the essay section, but I thought a nice overview of what I felt about him might help! Glad you appreciated that as well!

I felt like a lot of his relationships needed to be grouped together into an angry childhood and acceptance page because the characters together developed Kyou in my opinion! So I am glad you also noticed that~ :D And thanks for helping me with that page with Tohru and Kyou as well! I really tried to take advantage of that page and find some selective moments where he humanizes her! I also compared it to his selfish-page as well.

I have noticed that I group a lot into one paragraph! I will try and go back soon and split things up a bit more where I feel like it makes sense :D Thanks for your comments and suggestions! I am glad you enjoyed the read!

@Crystal - Thanks so much! I am glad you got to skim through some of it so far! Yes! I was kind of nervous adding that page because I didn't want it to bash the ending between Tohru and Kyou but I felt like it was so sudden! Actually, the whole last few chapters in general seemed really rushed to me xD

@Jae - Thank you so much! I am glad to hear kind words from you! Especially coming from someone who was familiar with Fruits Basket, but needed a refresher! I am glad this site could do that for you <3

[Delphine]

I found myself reading your shrine out of curiosity :'D To be honest, I've read Fruits Basket a long time ago when I was younger but I wasn't particularly excited over it?? Moreover, I didn't really like Kyou back then because he was so angry and I really hated how he treated Tohru (especially at the beginning), then although he changed in the end (fortunately) but it still left me with a bitter taste for some reason.

After reading your essays, it kind of opened my eyes on a lot of points I missed on this character. I feel like I haven't tried to appreciate him. Now, I see him in a newfound light and I realize how deep his character is. Also, I really like how you explored the many aspects of his relationship with Tohru in the process, it was pleasant to read /o\

[Megan]

@Delphine - Well that makes me happy to hear! I am glad that you were willing to read my site, and that it sparked some curiosity within you! I was kind of the opposite of you, the first time I read it Kyou was my favorite. As I read it more and more, I realized that our personalities (as in mine and his) would never really mesh well in person! I realized I liked Hatori the best. However, Kyou is still near and dear to my heart because I try to understand where he is coming from! I am glad that you were able to see the light within Kyou hehe :p He is a weird angry cat, but he has good characteristics as well!! :D