Libertatem (Sohma Isuzu - Fruits Basket)

[Laura]

Thank you so much, Andrea! :) I'm glad you love the layout!! As I said above, I'm a little unsure of how well received it'd be because it's so pink but hearing more positive feedback like this is making me feel a lot more confident about it. XD

I'm also really glad you like the organization. :) You're very right about the heart of the series: it's about relationships, moving forward, etc. For Rin, I feel that she struggles more than most of the characters in the series and I really wanted to represent her journey from being hurt to being healed. I always thought it was amazing just how much we're affected by those around us more than anything else and Rin's life really reflects this (as does Fruits Basket as a whole, but to me she stands out more than the others). <3

You almost don't need to even read Fruits Basket anymore after reading all these shrines! XD If you do, I think you'll enjoy it though. <3

[Lethe]

Congrats on the first entirely new site in so long wow!! HOW DO YOU EVEN GO TEN YEARS WITHOUT MAKING FANSITES WHEN YOU STILL OBVIOUSLY LOVE THIS SO MUCH OMG. And yay for finishing your Onigiri Box project ehehehe! <3

I hope you don't mind, but it's really interesting to contrast this site with your Kyo site since they were created back-to-back and are on the same series! I really like how you did the navigation on this site - the "Cursed" and "Healing" columns, and how you put "Health" there instead of, say, under "Isuzu", and how you split Akito and Shigure from the rest. It not only speaks of her relationships to them, but also their role within the narrative of the curse, rather than just in Rin's life.

I actually learned some new things thanks to Libertatem! I never figured out (or perhaps I did, then forgot?) why Rin was called Rin rather than Isuzu, so I'm glad you explain that on the site haha. I... also actually never made the connection between Rin's reaction to Kagura hitting Tohru and Rin being triggered. I thought it was "just" because of how much Tohru means to Rin, but now the way Kagura apologizes makes so much more sense, and I appreciate the scene all the more for that. (Especially since Kagura has some of the weakest writing in the series.)

My favourite relationship pages on your site are definitely Kazuma and Yuki's, because they're really not the first persons you think of when you talk about Rin's connections (and vice versa, especially in Yuki's case), and their few interactions never really take the spotlight. But when you're in the process of healing, that quiet support has a lot of meaning...

The "Health" page is such a unique and great subject to address on a site too, especially because Rin's scenes are all over the place, and she's so often hospitalized. It really puts into context just how frail Rin is physically, in stark contrast to her mental fortitude and resolve.

BUT YEAH OF COURSE YOUR FASHION PAGE TAKES THE CAKE. YOU ALREADY KNOW MY OPINION ON IT. JUST WTF. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THAT PAGE. Also wtf hospitalization wear getting their own section. And the analysis and contrasting of her styles. <333 This one's my fav! What's yours? :D

I'll link you on my Kyoko shrine tomorrow. <3

[Laura]

Aww, thank you, Lethe!! <3 I'm not sure how I went so long without making shrines either, to be honest... I think it had a lot to do with playing WoW and being gone from my house for 11 hours out of a day for work + commute. x_x I stopped doing all artwork, too stressed out. BUT I'm glad I'm back to it. xD

I'm glad that it's markedly different from my Kyo shrine! I was worried they'd end up being too similar, having worked on them back-to-back like you say. I definitely wanted to break out of the normal habits for organization (I have you to thank for that), so I looked at what I feel is Rin's major themes... and it's not just breaking the curse, but coping with trauma and abuse. I felt that her getting her hair cut off was a very huge milestone in her life; where she changes her motivations and really begins to move forward from the pain. :D So I'm glad that you liked how I chose to organize everything~

Re: Kagura... she really does have some of the weakest writing in the series after her being rejected by Kyo. I find her relationship with Rin to be really interesting because she does seem to genuinely care about Rin, but Rin wants to distance herself. Plus the whole "strangle Kagura" thing was really interesting for Rin's character. XD

I'M GLAD YOU LIKE THE FASHION PAGE. I want to go back and edit it a little but all in due time. XD THAT OUTFIT IS ALSO MY FAVOURITE. SUCH GOOD TASTE. XD

[Chibi]

This is amazing! I can totally relate to the feeling of getting a shrine done after literally years (I've had Eternal-Wings since 2009 and still made none of the sites that I have been meaning to make ever since I bought it), real life can really be a pain and suck away all your free time between work, uni, other hobbies, keeping up with friends and having a social life... it's really hard to find the time for everything so I completely get how happy you must be to finally get a shrine online! :D I'm super happy for you as well!

First off, the layout is amazing! I love layouts with huge headers and text and the changing headers were also a really nice touch! And the way you organised your content! Everything was just really well done on a technical standpoint.

Secondly, I haven't read Fruits Basket (I've been meaning to for ages though) so I knew nothing about this character and now I feel like I know the character inside out! There is really a lot of information here and there's a nice balance between "just information" and your thoughts, which is also a nice touch. I must say, everything about Rin is so bittersweet and I can relate to her on various levels.

(The only page I can't read is "Cursed" under the Cursed section, whenever I click on it, it just shows me a blank page.)

Congrats on getting such a great project done! You did an awesome job, Laura!