Stupid
I have no time to write headcanons which means I have to write headcanons. First Free!canon ever! Inspired by this post.
Blargh I wrote a Free! thing wow whut?
Omfg, imagine Rin antagonizing Rei to his face and calling him pathetic and stuff and Rei just kind of quietly stands there and Rin thinks he’s won until Rei pushes up his glasses and says “my calculations suggest that you’re a little bitch.”
I actually kind of see this happening, maybe not to the extent of Rei calling Rin a bitch, but saying something in that way of his that pretty much means, “You’re an asshole,” or something to that extent. Actually, probably something worse, like, “I feel sorry for you,” which I think would hurt more than, “You’re being a jerk.” I expect a confrontation, of old swim team member and new swim team member, whether it’s privately (like in the locker room at regionals or something) or in front of everyone (because Nagisa would try and tell Rin to stop being mean but Rei would stop him and fight his own battle). And Rei just standing there, letting Rin ramble, and finally saying like one sentence that breaks him.
Honestly I love all the boys, even Rin and his jerky ways. I feel like he’s going about things the wrong way, and I even think that part of him doesn’t want to make it to the Olympics. He really does want to swim for fun, you know? Like Haru does? But he’s stuck on this idea of making it to the Olympics because it was his dad’s dream and now his dad is gone.
Which also makes me wonder… did his dad want to have him?
Hear me out on this.
When he’s talking to Nitori he says that his dad had a dream of going to the Olympics, then he had him and that dream was gone. Something about the way he said that gave me this vibe of his dad not planning on having a kid. I mean he didn’t say, “My dad had me and Gou and settled down,” he said, “My dad had me,” and, “He couldn’t pursue his dream after that.” I’m not saying his dad didn’t love him, but it still is a bad feeling to know that your mom or dad had this grand plan then put it on hold for you. Then, instead of going back to this plan, his dad… died. This last episode (episode 9) shows that Rin definitely, definitely still cares. I mean we all know he does, but this just really hit the mark on it. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, I just think he’s trying too hard.
And you know what, honestly? It sucks when you go off and try your hardest to make something work, then you feel like you have nothing to show for it. For example, if you go to school for something and get a degree, then you see someone getting further than you but they didn’t go to school at all. Add that to the whole, “My dad died without living his dream,” and… yeah, it sucks.
So when this Rin and Rei confrontation happens (which I really think it will), it will be the last thing to push him over the edge. Makoto being disappointed in him is one thing, but I think when his “replacement” stands up to him that’ll be too much for him.
And that’s one of the reasons why I love Makoto. He doesn’t need to raise his voice or anything to get to you. He just… gives you this look, and is so soft spoken, like, “How could you,” and you really feel like you fucked up. Badly. Like I’m pretty sure Rin already knows what he’s done and that he’s hurt Haru somehow (and I think he does feel bad for that even if he doesn’t show it), but… Makoto? Makoto’s like, the guy who gets along with everyone, and cares for everyone, to have him just… look so disappointed?
That hurts.
Oh god, just this moment of empathy.
Rin has spent so many years feeling not good enough, feeling second best, feeling like he has failed his father, failed to be a good son, failed his own dreams because he is so torn up over his inferiority complex and losing to Haru all those years ago. And here is Nitori, able to verbalize those feelings more honestly and truthfully than Rin EVER could. And for the first time it’s like Rin can SEE him, really SEE him, because he realizes he’s looking in a mirror.
That moment when the cute side character becomes vital to one of the main characters.
Free episode 6: Aside from thinking “omg makoto did you just confess to haruka owo” I can’t help but be reminded of that other scene with Rin & Haru during the 4th ep, idk
This is a good point! Makoto wants to swim with Haruka. He can push past his fears to do this. He wants to enjoy this with Haruka, and be a part of it. Rin doesn’t want the same thing. He wants Haruka to swin for him, to prove to himself that he’s improved.
Makoto doesn’t want to prove anything, he just wants to enjoy something with his friend.
I also remember the second episode. Don’t forget, Rin BEAT Haruka, but that wasn’t enough. Haruka didn’t even care, in fact, I think it’s a bit more tragic than that (omg tragedy in my swimming anime whut?) Haruka beat Rin when they were kids and it hurt Rin so much, that Haruka couldn’t stand what it did to him. He even stopped swimming because of it (which points back to this scene with Makoto, who wants to swim with Haruka, because he knows he loves swimming and he knows why he stopped, so maybe he wants those happy times with his friend again). So you’d think that, hey, this time Rin beat him, maybe Haruka can have his happy friend back?
No :(
I don’t think Rin is a bad guy, though. Who knows what happened while he was away. He’s cold, yeah, but you can tell he still cares. He jogs past their tents on the beach, after having woken up at 2 am to see the storm, so you know he jogged past to make sure they were o.k. You can jog anywhere, right? Why did he jog there? He also talks to Gou (finally) and showed concerned for Makoto when he found out they were swimming in the ocean. So it’s not just Haruka, it’s everyone. They were all friends and Rin remembers that.
