Fates Supports/Avatar(M) Mitama

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C Support

Avatar: Mitama? Mitama, you in there? She's not coming out, but I know I heard her...

Mitama: I've nothing to say / I will never come outside / Away from my bed.

Avatar: Oh, so you ARE in there! Perfect.

Mitama: H-hey! Were you not listening? I told you! "I will never come outside"!

Avatar: I know! That's why I came in.

Mitama: Oh. Right. So...what did you want?

Avatar: Nothing in particular. I just wanted to come chat with you, is all. You're always locked up in your room. I figured you must get lonely sometimes. I know I was.

Mitama: You were? Did you used to lock yourself away as well?

Avatar: Not quite. Unlike you, I wasn't exactly allowed to leave. Or...is there something keeping you in that I'm not aware of?

Mitama: To be all alone / Cloistered from the fallen world / It is a blessing. There is nothing compelling me to remain. I simply enjoy it.

Avatar: I figured as much. So what do you spend all your time doing inside?

Mitama: As you no doubt have guessed, I read and write poems. Haiku, in particular.

Avatar: Haiku?

Mitama: It is a poetic form belonging to the Hoshidan literary tradition. The first line contains five syllables. The second, seven. The third, five again. It lends itself to brevity and the juxtaposition of striking images.

Avatar: 5-7-5, huh? Maybe I can come up with one! Sweet Mitama / Loves to read and write haiku / A poetic form. How was that?

Mitama: You used four syllables in the first line!

Avatar: Oh. You're right. OK, OK! Let me try again. Courage and genius / Are less important in war, I think / Than weapons and foodstuffs. How's that?

Mitama: I am concerned for you. Do you not know how to count? The syllables were all wrong. And pointlessly so! You could have just removed the "I think" and changed "foodstuffs" to "food"! I do not understand how one could possibly be so inept. Thank goodness our victory does not depend upon your poetic skills.

Avatar: I'm sorry. This stuff is harder than I'd thought. But I won't give up!

Mitama: Slim expectations / A heavy sigh escapes me / Little more to say. *sigh* I will await your improvement with few to no expectations. Good day.

B Support

Avatar: Ate beef ribs last night / But they were not very good / Unmarinated. Woke up this morning / With a really weird cowlick / Isn't that something? How about those? Am I a master poet yet?

Mitama: Well, I suppose they do follow the 5-7-5 pattern. But... *sigh*

Avatar: What's wrong? Did I not do a good job?

Mitama: No. Syllable count is not the only thing of importance in the composition of haiku. You need to consider the images you invoke and the emotions you evoke. The ideas of transience, imperfection, and incompleteness are key here. Together, they embody "wabi-sabi."

Avatar: Wabi...sabi? Like wasabi?

Mitama: Teehee. No. Wabi-sabi is a Hoshidan aesthetic worldview. Good haiku always show an understanding of and appreciation for wabi-sabi. Here, allow me to compose an example for you: So long you've been gone / I will become young again / Before you return. This is a poem about a woman waiting for her husband to come back to her. She has grown old waiting and believes he will never come back.

Avatar: Oh, I get it! She says she'll be young again before he returns because it's impossible!

Mitama: Yes, but that's not the only meaning. His return would also bring her a youthful joy. Or, alternatively, it could mean she will die and be reborn before he comes back. The concision of the haiku form therefore allows for much ambiguity. And this is where much of a poem's beauty lies—in its ambiguity.

Avatar: Wow. You really know your stuff, don't you, Mitama? Please, go on. I'd like to hear another one.

Mitama: I would be happy to. Listen: A blast of cold wind / White crystals drift from heaven / The gray firmament. Observe how the word "winter" is never used, yet it is present throughout. Seasonal terms are used to indicate it without telling the reader outright.

Avatar: I see, I see! Very good! I think I'm starting to get it.

Mitama: That is the key to haiku—to subtly stir the heart through simple, suggestive images. I encourage you to try to use such seasonal terms in your own poems.

Avatar: I see. But this makes me wonder... If you write about seasons so much, shouldn't you go outside more?

Mitama: Huh?! W-well, I...I...

Avatar: It just seems like you'd have a better idea of what to write if you experience them.

Mitama: Well, that may be true, but—

Avatar: Splendid! Then let's go out next time and get some fresh air.

Mitama: Um, O-OK. Sure. I cannot say "no" / Inexorable logic / Compels me to go.

A Support

Mitama: The soul of Nature / Stirs in the stillest dewdrops / Gems on greening leaves.

Avatar: Hm. So with this one you're saying that water is the essence of all life, right? Because it's the "soul" of every living thing in nature?

Mitama: Precisely. Now, for something new: In red evening / When the crows caw their sad song / I contemplate time. Burning now through the mountains / Is the sadness of their song. This is a slightly different form, called the tanka. It's like a haiku, but with five lines. The last two have seven syllables.

Avatar: I see. It's very beautiful. And this one is about autumn, right? "Red evening" doesn't just mean any old sunset, does it?

Mitama: You are exactly correct. I'm impressed you caught that. It means you've been listening. It makes me very happy to see you've begun to understand haiku.

Avatar: Thanks! I think I've started to enjoy writing them too. Here, let me try one: The air glittering / In the spaces between trees / Sunlight dripping through.

Mitama: Very good! Such beautiful imagery. And you used a deft hand in indicating the season. The air glitters because there is both sunshine and rain; hence, springtime.

Avatar: Heh. Can't get anything past you, can I? OK, now I want to try a tanka. Here goes! A vision in dreams / The dark skyline of my home / Alights on my sight. Arms reach for this outer dark / But my legs walk in the light.

Mitama: Is this a poem about your home country?

Avatar: Haha. You got me. Last night I dreamed of Nohr.

Mitama: I see. You miss it so much, and yet do not abandon your task. That is true strength. Well, in any case, you have improved greatly. I have nothing more to teach you.

Avatar: You think so? Well, anything I've learned has been because of you. Though I admit, most of my images come from being outside, not from other poems.

Mitama: I...see. What an unpleasant way to write.

Avatar: Maybe you should spend a little more time outside too, Mitama. It can only help your poetry, right?

Mitama: I shall think about it. Somewhat. Maybe.

Avatar: You want to go on a hike tomorrow? Sounds great! I'll see you soon! Bye!

(Avatar leaves)

Mitama: ...Did he do all this just to get me to come outside more? Heh. The trickster prevails / But leaves his victim happy / For such are his charms. I think I like this man.

S Support

Avatar: ...

Mitama: H-hello? Avatar? I thought you wanted to read me a new poem of yours...

Avatar: Ah—uh—well, yes. I-I just feel shy, I guess.

Mitama: *sigh* I understand. It can be scary to share something you've created. You're also revealing what's in your heart. But that should not stop you. A true poet's work / Only reaches transcendence / By baring his soul. It is only through vulnerability that we learn to be stronger.

Avatar: OK. You're right. I'll read it to you.

Mitama: I am all ears.

Avatar: Only through poems / Did I come to understand / These feelings inside.

Mitama: Hm?

Avatar: I offer my love / To the woman I adore / Through these, my verses. Everything I feel / All that resides in my heart / Is for you, my star.

Mitama: What?! You mean...

Avatar: Haha. Yes. This was more than just a poem. It was a confession.

Mitama: I can't believe it. You really feel that way about me? I am overwhelmed / Such confusion in my heart / Foolish, wild, and blind.

Avatar: I'm sorry. I know this is sudden, but I could not hide my feelings any longer.

Mitama: Your poem, just now / Has shattered my very soul / With supernal might.

Avatar: Shattered?! What's supernal? I'm sorry, Mitama! Have I offended you?

Mitama: You left me stricken / Smote me with the blade of love / You left me stricken.

Avatar: By the blade of love... Wait. Do you mean stricken in a good way, then? So...you're actually happy about my confession?

Mitama: Yes. I am. I am so very happy, I could cry. This is the first time I've written poems with such emotion. Will you stay by my side forever and write poems with me?

Avatar: I would have it no other way.

Mitama: My heart is giddy / A new adventure awaits / We go together! Heehee. I love you, Avatar!

(Confession Scene)

Mitama: How can it be that at the happiest moment of my life, I cannot think of a haiku? Oh, well. You know I love you, right?