#setsuayu word dump in 2024

[myonmukyuu]

stream stellar stream

🎀🎙 thoughts incoming

Watching the live version of Stellar Stream reminded me - man, I really love this song.

Although I still haven't been able to watch the movie (JP exclusive ....) I've been getting little blips of context here and there and there's this repeated emphasis on Ayumu's growth and I really like it!!

Ayumu starts out the series as someone who is very uncertain and prefers staying in her comfort-zone. Her anxious tendencies kept her firmly glued to Yu's side and as she grows we get to see her gradually bloom into someone more confident. Stellar Stream is a song about Ayumu running face first into the unknown and embracing it. Something that the Ayumu at the very beginning wouldn't even dream of. As well as a demonstration of what Ayumu has become, I think Stellar Stream is also a perfect sendoff for her. If the writers are cooking up some graduation arcs, Ayumu is probably in the perfect state to receive it ahahah.

Anyways, this isn't actually an Ayumu deep-dive word dump, it's a SetsuPomu word dump oopsies HAHAHAHA. I just wanted to set some context...

Stellar Stream Ayumu is very cool. There's the pink and prettiness we'd usually associate with Ayumu with this touch of cool that emphasizes her growing confidence and ambition. The black half-cape and finger-less gloves almost come off as 'heroic' (similar to SGbNamida).

It made me think about how Setsuna would think Ayumu is probably the coolest person alive. I can imagine her radiating with admiration from the backstage.

It reminds me of this magazine page about the 2L solo songs. It's hard for me to find the page but I do promise it exists. It featured some art of Ayumu in her Say Goodbye Namida costume and had a little comment from Setsuna. Setsuna compares her to a "hero" or heroine, I don't really remember the wording, only the sentiment. And it's not the only time Setsuna compares Ayumu to a "hero" . There's also this little short where Setsuna compares Ayumu to an "unassuming hero who slips from the darkness to defeat the villain". Setsuna has also compared Ayumu to, on multiple occassions, the heroine of a dating sim. This isn't really related but I think it says a lot about Setsuna.

Anyways, it makes me think... At some point Setsuna became captivated by Ayumu and started perceiving her as someone who is cool and heroic. Which is kind of at odds with Ayumu's usual perception of being cute, pretty and pink? When Ayumu had first met Setsuna, it was watching her perform CHASE for the first time. Ayumu had her world expanded... But when did Setsuna really "meet" Ayumu? If we go by the anime timeline, Setsuna didn't really get many opportunities to meet Ayumu until the climax of season 1. Ayumu largely kept to herself/Yu for most of the season too. My interpretation is that Setsuna was quietly watching from the sidelines before trying to make friends with her as the season progresses. My yuri-goggled interpretation is that Setsuna had a crush on a pretty girl and couldn't work up the courage to get closer until the end of the season.

So why does Setsuna feel this way? What makes Ayumu "cool"?

SetsuPomu is a funny ship to me... It's very easy to explain why Ayumu might have romantic feelings for Setsuna. (ie. Setsuna being so critical to her character growth helps) but it is a lot harder to definitively claim that Ayumu's feeling are romantic since she has other "targets". (But we're here in the LL shipping community so does this even matter???) I find it funny because with Setsuna it's probably the other way around. It's very easy to claim that she has a crush on Ayumu. Like pathetically easy. (Girl, you wrote a self-insert fanfic where you were Ayumu's childhood friend and a knight with her as the princess I think she really has it down bad.) but the "why" is a little more vague. Emphasis on "a little" since Season 2 and Nijiyon really nail the Setsuna-side of things. But regardless I'd like to go into deeper detail because that's what I do as the CEO of SetsuPomu.

As a disclaimer... though honestly this disclaimer should've been at the start. This is 60% headcanon conjecture! If I kept firmly planted to the concept of "canon" I wouldn't be shipping SetsuPomu.

I think Setsuna's admiration began from something really simple.

Ayumu listened to her.

Setsuna has a lot of anxiety related to being "too much" when it comes to her passions. She believes in "shouting her love" but is also very afraid of rejection and confrontation. When the idol club disbanded, I think this would've been the height of that anxiety.

I think Ayumu's very simple act of listening to her and being receptive to her interests really kick-started their friendship. It's so easy to find bits and pieces of this.

Some games over here.... some novels over there... and Ayumu isn't just politely going along, she has a genuine growing interest and I think it makes Setsuna feel very safe to be passionately herself around Ayumu. It's a two-way street too with how Ayumu has this tendency to be hesitant to try new things until someone takes her hands and guides her a little of the way. Then, before anyone knows it, Ayumu can fall into a similar kind of obsession as Setsuna and that really fires Setsuna up!

Setsuna and Ayumu have this friendship where they both feed into each others' passions. With Setsuna's lonesome nature before becoming a part of Nijigasaki, this is really new for her so yeah. An innocent crush on Ayumu isn't hard to imagine.

Okay so it starts with admiration but when does it become "awe" of Ayumu's "coolness"?

Setsuna sees in Ayumu what she thinks she herself doesn't have. And ironically, ones of those things is "courage". Like I mentioned before, Setsuna is very afraid of confrontation and conflict. She disbanded the idol club indirectly as student council president. She lives a double life in an effort to please everyone and that whole conflict she had with Shioriko in SIFAS was broadly caused by her being unable to keep up that double life.

Courage is something that Ayumu has. Even if Ayumu herself isn't fully convinced. In general Ayumu only needs a little push to get going, but once she does get going she actually is quite assertive and brave. Even in her conflict with Yu in season 1, Ayumu herself decides to confront Yu. (Setsuna needs to be chased and cornered to be confronted).

Setsuna is also has a hard time dealing with failure. When things fall through she tends to do rash things like disband the club or idk, cancel the school idol festival maybe? I view Setsuna as a little racehorse with blinders on. As she runs at full speed, things at the wayside tend to blur and if she trips its catastrophic.

But Ayumu takes it slow.

Unlike Setsuna, Ayumu isn't afraid of mistakes. Even at the very beginning with Yume e no Ippo, she might trip and stumble but she will always move forward one step at a time.

I think Setsuna holds deep admiration of this. Ayumu is cool because she doesn't let her doubts hold her back like Setsuna does. (<- Setsuna's perspective).

Ayumu, to Setsuna, is really cool.

And when Ayumu's courage takes her to doing things like... I don't know, flying internationally to spread school idol activities because a fan emailed her, Setsuna thinks that's crazy cool and something a hero would do!!!

While Setsuna very much wants to be the hero, she admires Ayumu for that very thing

after all, Ayumu saved her too.

Anyways, Stream Stellar Stream