He did seem to foreshadow that a little bit here during the roster scene with Musubi's comment. It's hard to tell whether he was actually foreshadowing, or just using Musubi's comment to add weight to the impetus for Shirou to reveal his past. That's the best kind of foreshadowing.

There was also foreshadowing that Rin and Saber are in trouble and going to need rescuing. Whenever the main character says "I'm sure that they're doing fine" it's usually a big neon warning sign that they're not. There were some other thoughts about Rin being "on thin ice" with the association, etc.

That might be a stretch. So far we haven't seen much of anything from the FSN world, but we've been waiting for the inevitable clash. If I'm right, then the stakes might be higher and more personal for Shirou than he'd envisioned.

 

Which would be very sweet in my opinion, especially if MBI get's involved with the Clock Tower, because of Shirou's parents. Minaka is a crazy enough bastard to try it.

Edit: I'm actually kinda interested in Luvia's thoughts on this, she and Rin are kinda like rival/friends aren't they? She was also on good terms with Shirou last I checked...

 

True, and at the very least, it's now finally out of the way.

And now, things get to happen!

 

I think you're right Cruentus. This reveal would've had much more impact without the earlier partial reveal in chapter 10 or whenever it was. I can't help but feel that the wild speculations and behaviour of the Sekirei was in part a mirror of the readership's wild speculations and behaviour.

 

This definitely feels correct to me; it's nice that he has a devoted fanbase, but when it gets to the point where their badgering actually affects the quality of the plot... Bleh. This chapter was necessary, but it could've been done better.

 

Well I guess that means we have to wait about another month and a half and read through another 200,000+ words before we get to the plot...

:facepalm:facepalm:facepalm

Can't really complain though. This only confirms that this story is, in fact, going places. Potentially good places.

It'll just take a while to get there...

 

I'm not so pessimistic. If there are going to be big reveals and Shirou unable to keep magecraft a secret from his flock, then it's going to be because something external forced his hand [or he contracts with/wings Akitsu]. What external events could cause magic to be undeniably revealed? It's not going to be all talk.

 

Okay, forget everything I said before.

:awesome update was :awesome

This shindig just got kicked into high gear!

 

Oh boy, shit's gonna get serious.

 

He's getting too good at cliff hangers :fire

 

[yak called it]

 

LOLOLOL.

This chapter was longer than most of the others. It was full of win[g]: Shirou's experimenting with Akitsu; her strength tying back to the constant bondage references throughout the story; Miya being free about her in-depth knowledge of Sekirei; Miya getting flustered about bondage; the 'Congratulations on Losing Your Virginity!' banner; gossiping Sekirei; Shirou screwing Akitsu so thoroughly that she couldn't stand up straight "Well, it looks like he did a good job of it".

After waiting so long, this was a worthy pay-off. :awesome

 

Think Musubi might be just a tad jealous? Or maybe it was the remnants of Yume acting up? Either way twas lulzy. Can't wait for the bad stuff to come in chapter 24, unless Gabe's chapter get's too lengthy again.

 

That was my first thought when reading it. I've been wondering if/how Yume's existence would show up. In canon it happens after Musubi is defeated by one of the Disciplinary Squad and loses her Sekirei crest during the In Flight-averted Escape Plan arc. Musubi losing her crest seems unlikely to happen with Shirou as her Ashikabi, so I guess Yume's soul will make a few other odd appearances until he can work it out.

According to the Sekirei wiki, amongst other things Yume has "light-based powers to produce effects such as exceptionally powerful blasts" which fits with the "sun over the Sahara" description we got from Shirou.

tl;dr: It is probably Yume.

 

I think there's also the fact that Yume was a scrapped number obsessed with love, and Akitsu, also a scrap, managed to get wing. I think that'd be enough to trigger a response.

 

Is Yume a scrapped number? I haven't read the manga, only the wiki, but Yume is listed there as Sekirei #08. The wiki isn't exactly up to date.

edit: Gabriel's written her into the story as scrapped and I missed it. It's explained in ch19's author's notes. He makes a case for the possibility of her being scrapped with canon evidence.

 

In the fic, Shirou listed #08 as the other Scrapped Number that died.

As for the chapter, well I'm still skipping huge portions of it but seeing something finally happening is pretty alright. And I cheered inside for Akitsu, which more than made up for any griping I may have had.

 

Should plot elements which aren't explicitly stated in the narrative, but are instead explained by the author be considered spoilers? I'll include spoiler tags here just in case. BTW, if you're reading this via email then spoiler tags won't work for you.

These quotes are Gabriel Blessing's and from the past day or two.

What was up with Musubi's change in scent when she first saw post-winged Akitsu?

Spoiler

I'm gonna hold off on commenting just how the Matsu situation is going to turn out, seeing as I'm still hashing out the exact details of getting what I need out of the ensuing blow up, but I have no problem clarifying another point people have been wondering about.

Yes, that was Yume alright.

One of the important elements of Musubi's character is Yume, and without the escape arc to push her to half dead and manifesting the Sekirei of Destiny, I couldn't really think of a way to bring Yume to the front. It was actually one of the reasons I had Yume be listed as one of the Scrapped Numbers, so I could work this little twist in.

It does make me wonder though. I've already had Shirou cross the line that neither the original Sekirei could step over, or I could before in Hill of Swords. Now that Shirou has been with one of his flock Akitsu isn't going to be the only one he boinks. The question is, when Shirou boinks Musubi, does that count as a threesome with Yume as well?

Some vignettes from other character's POV might be appearing on the "Mechanics of In Flight" forum:

In regards to Shirou's attitude towards "an Ashikabi's death results in auto-defeat for all of his sekirei [including Akitsu now]" affecting his frontlines fighting:

Spoiler

Actually, I think even with the knowledge that his death is the end won't stop Shirou from risking his life to protect his flock. yeah, its stupid, yeah its bad sense, yeah its paradoxical.

But then again, this is Shirou. I might have given him a bit of streetwise and a little bit more experience, but do you think for a second Shirou would ever stop to think in a situation where throwing himself in front of a bullet for someone he cares about is the only way to keep them from getting hurt?

Add's an interesting twist to the upcoming conflicts, that's for sure.

Also, anyone good at drawing? I just keep getting this image of Shirou in his 'kiss the cook' apron, with chef hat, holding a spatula, looking very very nervous, and surrounded by his flock whom all look very very eager....

The best I can do when it comes to drawing is stick figures, so I think my own attempt at illustrating the image would fall a bit short...

Is Karasuba an adjustment failure [like the scrapped, but due to being the first one, MBI handled it differently] who's too powerful to take a human lover, and that's the reason for her disdaining love between Sekirei and humans?

Regarding Gabriel's Kim Possible/Warhammer crossover, Ruinous:

 

Thanks for the digest, I'm personally way too lazy to parse the deluge of posts on the ff.net forum, so something like this is highly relevant to my interests. The bit about Shirou being desensitized to sex was something I'd already assumed given his past threeway relationship and those pesky mana sharing rituals.

 

The deleted scene that explains how Matsu knew Shirou had sex in Ch 23.

Edit: just to make clear it's written by GB. I merely posted it her for those who aren't following In Flight's forums.