Ohhh oh my god. ;; Admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of Nozomi (though her Watermelon card is one of my favourites of hers), but I do have a special place in my heart set aside for Maki, so seeing how many of her beautiful cards you have is making me tear up a little ngl LMAO. It's still early (and I just woke up...) so sorry if this is all over the place, but...

I've been trying to come up with a concise reason for why she's ended up meaning so much to me since seeing threads on here about 'why is your best girl your best girl,' and I think I've finally somewhat worked it out, thanks to a short clip of one of my favourite episodes from the first season that ended up on my timeline. When I first watched the episode myself it hit pretty close to home; I've had my fair share of disagreements and arguments with people I care about over the years and I've also lost some very close friends for no other reason than my own mistakes and bad attitude, and there isn't a single instance of that that I look back on and don't regret. It was hard to pinpoint at first, but I think Nozomi put it well -- Maki can be brash and abrasive and difficult to get along with, but in the end, Muse is as important to her as it is to the other girls, and she does honestly hold all of them close to her. I find it really relatable in an almost painful sort of way, because it reminds me of the times when I've behaved childishly or said stupid things and ended up pushing people away, even though those people meant the world to me. We're both not the best at opening up and being honest with our feelings and there are times when that can lead to a lot of misunderstandings, but the way that Maki has to look away when Nozomi points it out to her -- as someone who would react the same, I can tell that she doesn't mean to come off as brashly as she might sometimes. Seeing Maki gradually open herself up to the others more and speak her honest feelings is really inspirational to someone like me, who's always had trouble showing those closest to me exactly how much I appreciate and care for them before it's too late. It might not seem like much, but I think that's why I was drawn to her so quickly, and why I feel so attached to her now.

I'm already hoping to one day have all of her SR/UR cards on my ENG main, which is where I started SIF, but I'm also a bit greedy in admitting that despite trying for quite some time now, I haven't been able to really settle into JP SIF because my luck with scouting is awful and I can never quite seem to draw her. Her idolized Victorian SR is probably among my top five now -- it definitely didn't disappoint that, what, two weeks of anticipation? -- along with her unidolized Snowy Mountain and the Marine set, so, at the baseline, I would be honoured to be able to take root once and for all with some of my favourite cards of the girl who's come to mean so much to me. ;;

By the way, do you mind if I ask what prompted the giveaway? This is a really lovely account, so it's a surprise to see it being handed out!