>The entire sequence is a bit self-congratulatory without context, but
>that one exchange with Utena messin' with Corwin about his 'cousins'
>is totes adorable.

There is indeed a bit of missing context (there are specific reasons why Utena's having that particular reflection at that particular moment), and there's a second part of the conversation later in the story. That's the trouble with picking out these teaser fragments.

>I feel like Gryphon sort of accidentally backed up into
>the first couple of big relationships in his life (and his one with
>Kei was rather dysfunctional for a long time, to boot) and didn't end
>up with his truly huge grand passions occurring until after he'd been
>around for a long time and had gotten the whole 'understanding
>himself' thing more or less locked down.

He's just a soul whose intentions are good. :)

There's an element of truth to that, though. Part of it is because G's policy, which I'm sure was informed largely by the way he blundered into his thing with Kei, has long been to just... see what happens. (He wouldn't really understand until he studied kenjutsu that this is essentially a Zen approach to romantical adventure. :)

By and large this has worked for him, though it does mean that the bulk of his relationships have been with markedly... proactive women. Even in his 400s, I'm not sure he really knows how to "pursue" a relationship in the traditional sense. (Probably, by that age, if he did he wouldn't consciously attempt it anyway, because it would make him feel predatory.) The downside to that, of course, is that those women who are expecting to be, how to say it, come after a bit tend to find him frustrating. I think that's probably why his on-and-off thing with Sara never quite happened. [N.B. It's four in the morning and the preceding may not actually make any damn sense. It doesn't have to, though. Sense is not the boss of me.]

Mind you, Corwin doesn't really know what he's doing in that regard either. He just managed to Be In The Moment for a series of moments that added up to a courtship. It's a neat trick if you can manage it. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.