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On top of my birthday, we have also decided to celebrate Easter early while Brian and Marie were still here. Mom had put the Easter basket on the table before we woke up, and also made us all some French toast and bacon.

And for lunch, we all had some fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, pineapple slices, and Italian bread together.

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Played one round of Kiratto Kaiketsu. Ryoko won with a score of 2410, beating Kenta by just one, single point.

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Marie continued working on the Gorey puzzle, and I joined her and helped her finish all the way up. Mom also got in on it briefly, before watching an episode of Gilmore Girls.

Upon finishing up, we found out that three of the pieces don't fit like they're supposed to. Mom was just as "puzzled" by that as we both were, and asked Marie to Google it (which I took upon myself to do as well). You'd think the assembly line would be arranged to prevent something like that? As in, cutting one copy up into all the little pieces and then loading all of them into a box before cutting the next one up?

In any case, it was a nice way of bonding with Marie while she was still here, instead of playing yet another round of Kiratto Kaiketsu all by myself just to pass time. Obviously, that was the motivation I needed in order to continue with it, after all this time of Mom begging me to work on it (and even offering me $10) and me saying "sure" each time while rarely actually doing it.

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As far as the soundtrack document goes, neither Chelle nor Brian had much to say about it. Brian told me that there were just too many songs to listen to, and we should have more of a look at it when it's time to actually utilize it, and I can see his point perfectly.

Jake, though, while not having any particular opinion on any songs, did mention not for the first time how my fixation on Earthbound tends to become somewhat of a detriment of some kind. Yeah, I should mention that while I didn't list that many songs from the Earthbound trilogy to utilize, I did compare a number of songs from other games to songs of equivalent context in those three. For example, if I were to create any equivalent to Moonside during Starbound's run (not that I'm actually planning on it), I would (hypothetically) use Dark Dizzy's theme from Mega Man X5. (I just so happen to like that song among a million others, and it just seems appropriate enough for such a possible setting.)

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Another point that came up between me and Jake, is opinions on characters. He asked me for mine on the mains in Xenoblade Chronicles (which I've recently been watching a playthrough of), and I told him that not only do I lack any, but I usually don't bother forming opinions about characters or even actual works themselves when I consume anything. He replied that I ought to, if in order to better myself as a writer.

For all I wrote the other day about the concept of appreciation (and that's something I plan on bringing up today while it's fresh), I tend to just go with the flow whenever I watch something. In fact, different priorities that different writers and consumers alike place importance on is exactly one point that Brian brought up when he and I were discussing that essay, and I had already mentioned to Jake and Chelle before that my particular interests happen to be gimmicky ones, as opposed to the stuff that actually matters.

I will admit, though, that what I've written so far of Starbound, is a lot better than I probably would have thought up during my teen years. Back then, my sense of actual creativity was really underdeveloped, and I had no clue how what I would eventually refer to as Monster Collection Chronicles would actually play out (at least if it were ever to actually go through at some point). Fanfiction is where I sought ideas, and I also owe a great deal of my creative improvement to both Jake and Chelle.

So, yeah, my inability to form opinions about characters or works might get better over time. Not sure whether I'm just a late bloomer there, or if my brain just isn't developed right for it, so only time will tell. Chelle did ask to hear my opinion on Princess Tutu when I started watching that around New Year's of 2010, and I was barely able to form one.

That essay

Appreciation...

What exactly do I mean by that?

Well, to start with, it was two years ago that I first browsed the Lucky Star archive on Fanfiction.net, after having published Starbound to it and becoming part of a new community. People who might read my own story, and whose own stories would be worth taking in in exchange. I had the good pleasure of reading such stories as To Blossom In Winter, Miyuki Magic, A Cluster of Stars, and several much darker stories. Even one of my least favorite stories in hindsight, StarCrossed, was interesting, to read about the fates of various characters and the events leading up to them.

Initially, bloodscorpion88's fics The Loss of Innocence and Broken Dreams were just two more for the taking, already complete when I decided to read them. Next came Bonds, which I read along as it went, although what made that one, and subsequently Blood himself, special would occur later still.

And then came I Was Kagami Hiiragi. At first, I only read the prologue, not buying that Kagami would actually do drugs for any reason at all. I tuned in later, when she finally decides to make an appointment w/ Dr. Nagisa Kishimoto, and it was from there that I learned why she started drugging and thus went back to read what I previously skipped [until coming across the point where she sells some family heirlooms for drug money]. (Keep in mind that Blood and I were on much better terms back then.)

(Still, how did I fail to notice the Americanized school schedule way back then? If I actually paid attention to that, I would have likely stopped reading during the first chapter.)

Anyway, what I mean by appreciation, is really several things.

First of all, certain scenes in three of his old fics are some that I enjoy thinking about in particular. Can't really say the same about any other stories, besides Starbound (one of my own).

Second, comparing certain things across the different stories, such as what becomes of two different characters in particular.

And, also how similarly dark the subject matter is in what he writes. The Loss of Innocence begins w/ Tsukasa being raped, and focuses on how she gradually breaks down before causing all kinds of trouble for her friends and family. Broken Dreams is about terminal illness and an abusive boyfriend. Bonds is about a school shooting. I Was Kagami Hiiragi starts with the events leading to two characters' deaths, which in turn establishes why Kagami delves into drugs and subsequently destroys all her relationships. Blood's current LS fic deals with the yakuza, and he's also writing an Azumanga Daioh fic in which Tomo has committed suicide, leaving all her friends to deal with her death.

Really, though, I cannot appreciate his current fic, Cries Unheard (or, Crap Unread, given how broken the storytelling is and my current lack of respect for him). His utter disregard for not only the school schedule (as was shown throughout canon) but for everyone's character (especially Kagami's) just so everything could play out is simply insulting.

Even putting aside the way he treated me, this is like James Rolfe's take on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. It's a disgrace, and he has pretty much jumped the shark at this point. This could have been an interesting new installment, had it been done right.

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Even apart from Lucky Star fanfics, I appreciate Lucky Star itself, by citing all kinds of things from the anime and the manga. I once appreciated this Sonic fic called Ancient Ways, Ancient Evils, by thinking about various scenes in its events; while I did notice a few errors along the way, it wasn't until I shared it with Chelle, who then began sporking it, that I would learn how much was really wrong with it.

I also appreciated all the different mons that a site called Digidex offered info on, enough that I then wanted to write my own Digimon story, the same way I had appreciated the Pokemon video games enough to later plan Parasitic Trio.

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One thing I never truly appreciated, despite enjoying nonetheless, was Mon Colle Knights. Rather, I was obsessed w/ its two main characters, mainly because they were cute and I was still relatively new to anime as a whole. I planned my own kind of stories out to involve them in, but never really paid attention to rules and other stuff already in place, or even involved any canon mons in most of what would have happened. In retrospect, I realize that I would have likely done much more with them, if only there was an archive of all mons in the Monster Collection franchise.

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To like something and to appreciate something, despite the similar definitions, are two different things. There is a trope called So Bad It's Good, which describes anything poorly designed and/or written but still enjoyable in general. Furthermore, some works are not meant to be appreciated, but to cater to simpler interests such as fanservice or fetishes.

Inversely, while I ended up not liking StarCrossed or Bonds in hindsight, I did find them interesting nonetheless. Both of them were written quite believably, rushed as the former may have been, and despite the contrasting atmosphere to Lucky Star canon. Bonds was also a nice installment among Blood's different darkfics, and Crap Unread could have also been, if not for a dozen Wallbangers in its storytelling.

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(And, if I can remember enough of them, I'll be sure to make another entry describing certain points Brian and I discussed in response to all that.)