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Points raised between me and Brian
Mar. 25th, 2015 10:11 amTo start with, the main reason I brought everything in the previous entry up with Brian, is due to conflicting feelings between how much I used to like Blood's old works and how badly ruined our friendship has been since then. To mind in particular comes the time I received copies of his works around this time last year, and read everything I had previously skipped of I Was Kagami Hiiragi.
Then again, this Photoplasty list is of all kinds of things similar involving stuff from people's childhoods. It's natural enough for one's fond memories to become tarnished in hindsight by either later events or learning certain things in their background, but Brian said that I shouldn't let them be.
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I've already mentioned differences in priorities two entries ago. So far, Brian is the second person to have told me not to get so worked up about school schedules (the first being Simply Hiiragi), and that Blood's focus may have been to face certain personal demons, unless he just has some kind of morbid fascination in the stuff he writes about. I do suppose that he might have just wanted to keep things simple, but that still doesn't excuse having ignored stuff that's been presented to him throughout a 24-episode anime and then-eight-volume manga (especially given how many references he drops to canonical events).
He also said pretty much the same thing about what I said regarding everyone's out-of-character behavior, saying that human relationships are more important than human-character relationships. He did say later, that all points I raised were still valid, but the way Blood handled Kagami and Tsukasa in particular is even more insulting than "seasons". With most anime or games, I just want to be entertained, and tend not to focus on how much things actually make sense. With Fanfiction, the reason one looks for fics of a particular fandom, is because they appreciated the work of origin. I liked the characters in Lucky Star for who they were, so barring AUs such as Fists of Rage or The Library, I want to see everyone act the way the would have in canon, changing only due to circumstances (such as how Tsukasa and Kagami's Face Heel Turns in The Loss of Innocence and I Was Kagami Hiiragi respectively result from being raped, the deaths of two loved ones, and the emotional overloads that they go through following those respective incidents.) Blood barely explains shit about the way Kagami behaves throughout chapter 3 of Crap Unread, and no, butterflies in the stomach might cloud one's judgment, but it doesn't cost them all regard for their friends' well being. (Kagami was warned about Yuka's intentions against Tsukasa in IWKH, but unlike Riku in CU, Yuka had yet to actually do anything to anyone, and Kagami had reason enough to trust her not to.)
(I will admit that while Soujiro is also a bit out of character by allowing Konata to date Kenji after "getting to know" him (he did object to her finding a boyfriend in episode 20 of the anime), I'm also guilty with him myself in Starbound. He gives Konata permission offpage to leave with her friends during a dangerous situation in chapter 1, even though Konata says in anime episode 7, "Fathers always worry about their daughters; it's what they do best," after the twins both receive a call from Tadao within only a few minutes. But, both cases are minor issues.)
Also, to clear something up, Blood did tell me before, that he just writes stuff based on curiosity, such as "What if Tsukasa was raped?" or "What if there was a shootout at Ryouou High?" I Was Kagami Hiiragi was an exception, because it was based on experiences he once had involving a cousin of his. (If there actually is an excuse for his disregard for continuity, that could be it. Crap Unread has none.)
-----
Regarding the way Blood reacted to my initial critiques, Brian said that, even kids aside, there are plenty of people who need nothing but validation, or else their self-confidence suffers. (I told him that this was actually a major point in I Was Kagami Hiiragi.) Even back in college, he himself couldn't accept any kind of criticism.
(Simple did tell me before, that he used to be Blood's favorite critiquist, back when he was active as bloodscorpion88, although he had given up on him after reading Crap Unread and seeing what a mess that fic really is.)
He also said that, with some people, it only takes one stupid thing to say for them not to take someone seriously anymore. Here, though, I'd say that what got to him was me bringing up schedule differences for a second time when I critiqued his work, and even spelling it all out. However, he did also say that by apologizing to him, I might've made him feel even worse by validating his feelings. (Yeah, I remember feeling that way when Dad told me early in 9th grade, that maybe I was right about Mrs. Bandows treating me like a kid when she was still with me before being let off half a year earlier.)
-----
One way or another, he did say that he wasn't trying to encourage me to make up with him, especially since I already have attempted that. It is possible that we might reconcile, but I won't be seeking that with him in the foreseeable future.
If for any reason he actually does apologize to me for having slighted me when I tried doing the mature thing first, then I probably would take down Stage One: Thwarted. Let's remember that what got to me is that he seems to want nothing more to do with me just because I said a few off things, and to just let that go wouldn't do any favors for my ego. Simple told me recently that the characters are still OOC in SOT, but that's not such a big deal, because the bigger point behind that fic was to piss all over Crap Unread and humiliate Blood on a public website for making me feel like I don't matter. (Of course I matter; that's the same reason why I write to this blog and write fanfiction.)
I still wouldn't read Crap Unread unless he actually were to start the fic over (something I said something about, and that Simple told me of having also suggested to him). Between the shoddy storytelling and the emotional impact of what goes on, I should mention that SOT, while written primarily to bash Blood, has also helped to deny most of what happened so far in CU, partly because if I were to ask him any further questions about that, he would probably say "Why should you care?", if even that. Removing that, though, there's still everything I've written in the Other page for TV Tropes: Wallbanger, although redlerred7 did cite possible psychological reasons why the antagonists play the games they play w/ everyone when I asked him about that recently. (Reasonable to assume Blood will explain those in due time, but his near-lack of an explanation for Kagami's actions in chapter 3 still stands.)
Also been considering commissioning for something of his aforementioned OC Yuka, mainly for my own reasons. If I actually do get around to that, I will likely ask the artist to keep me anonymous and share it with mariofan48 to share in turn with Blood, asking him not to say it was from me unless he asks. Yes, I still despise Blood, but not enough that I'd want him to miss out on something he be interested in otherwise.
-----
On a lesser note, Brian did say that what I had written had reminded him of another, apocalyptic fic I brought up with him and Marie a year and a half ago. I told him that he was thinking of No Birds, No Bees, in which all human males are dead while the female half is reduced to killing and torturing one another for survival. Chelle says that such a scenario wouldn't make sense after any kind of apocalypse, but I personally wouldn't know whether the key to survival would be to compete or to work together. Its author Arkytal told me that that whole thing was based on survival tactics used by soldiers in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, so who knows.
What was really heartbreaking about that fic, though, was that the idea of the entire male population dying inexplicably and all females competing lethally to survive could take place after just about any other fic, including my own. Arkytal did tell me at some point, though, that it actually departs from canon during episode 6, during the girls' offscreen trip back home from the beach, although this obviously should have been specified from the very beginning.
Then again, this Photoplasty list is of all kinds of things similar involving stuff from people's childhoods. It's natural enough for one's fond memories to become tarnished in hindsight by either later events or learning certain things in their background, but Brian said that I shouldn't let them be.
-----
I've already mentioned differences in priorities two entries ago. So far, Brian is the second person to have told me not to get so worked up about school schedules (the first being Simply Hiiragi), and that Blood's focus may have been to face certain personal demons, unless he just has some kind of morbid fascination in the stuff he writes about. I do suppose that he might have just wanted to keep things simple, but that still doesn't excuse having ignored stuff that's been presented to him throughout a 24-episode anime and then-eight-volume manga (especially given how many references he drops to canonical events).
He also said pretty much the same thing about what I said regarding everyone's out-of-character behavior, saying that human relationships are more important than human-character relationships. He did say later, that all points I raised were still valid, but the way Blood handled Kagami and Tsukasa in particular is even more insulting than "seasons". With most anime or games, I just want to be entertained, and tend not to focus on how much things actually make sense. With Fanfiction, the reason one looks for fics of a particular fandom, is because they appreciated the work of origin. I liked the characters in Lucky Star for who they were, so barring AUs such as Fists of Rage or The Library, I want to see everyone act the way the would have in canon, changing only due to circumstances (such as how Tsukasa and Kagami's Face Heel Turns in The Loss of Innocence and I Was Kagami Hiiragi respectively result from being raped, the deaths of two loved ones, and the emotional overloads that they go through following those respective incidents.) Blood barely explains shit about the way Kagami behaves throughout chapter 3 of Crap Unread, and no, butterflies in the stomach might cloud one's judgment, but it doesn't cost them all regard for their friends' well being. (Kagami was warned about Yuka's intentions against Tsukasa in IWKH, but unlike Riku in CU, Yuka had yet to actually do anything to anyone, and Kagami had reason enough to trust her not to.)
(I will admit that while Soujiro is also a bit out of character by allowing Konata to date Kenji after "getting to know" him (he did object to her finding a boyfriend in episode 20 of the anime), I'm also guilty with him myself in Starbound. He gives Konata permission offpage to leave with her friends during a dangerous situation in chapter 1, even though Konata says in anime episode 7, "Fathers always worry about their daughters; it's what they do best," after the twins both receive a call from Tadao within only a few minutes. But, both cases are minor issues.)
Also, to clear something up, Blood did tell me before, that he just writes stuff based on curiosity, such as "What if Tsukasa was raped?" or "What if there was a shootout at Ryouou High?" I Was Kagami Hiiragi was an exception, because it was based on experiences he once had involving a cousin of his. (If there actually is an excuse for his disregard for continuity, that could be it. Crap Unread has none.)
-----
Regarding the way Blood reacted to my initial critiques, Brian said that, even kids aside, there are plenty of people who need nothing but validation, or else their self-confidence suffers. (I told him that this was actually a major point in I Was Kagami Hiiragi.) Even back in college, he himself couldn't accept any kind of criticism.
(Simple did tell me before, that he used to be Blood's favorite critiquist, back when he was active as bloodscorpion88, although he had given up on him after reading Crap Unread and seeing what a mess that fic really is.)
He also said that, with some people, it only takes one stupid thing to say for them not to take someone seriously anymore. Here, though, I'd say that what got to him was me bringing up schedule differences for a second time when I critiqued his work, and even spelling it all out. However, he did also say that by apologizing to him, I might've made him feel even worse by validating his feelings. (Yeah, I remember feeling that way when Dad told me early in 9th grade, that maybe I was right about Mrs. Bandows treating me like a kid when she was still with me before being let off half a year earlier.)
-----
One way or another, he did say that he wasn't trying to encourage me to make up with him, especially since I already have attempted that. It is possible that we might reconcile, but I won't be seeking that with him in the foreseeable future.
If for any reason he actually does apologize to me for having slighted me when I tried doing the mature thing first, then I probably would take down Stage One: Thwarted. Let's remember that what got to me is that he seems to want nothing more to do with me just because I said a few off things, and to just let that go wouldn't do any favors for my ego. Simple told me recently that the characters are still OOC in SOT, but that's not such a big deal, because the bigger point behind that fic was to piss all over Crap Unread and humiliate Blood on a public website for making me feel like I don't matter. (Of course I matter; that's the same reason why I write to this blog and write fanfiction.)
I still wouldn't read Crap Unread unless he actually were to start the fic over (something I said something about, and that Simple told me of having also suggested to him). Between the shoddy storytelling and the emotional impact of what goes on, I should mention that SOT, while written primarily to bash Blood, has also helped to deny most of what happened so far in CU, partly because if I were to ask him any further questions about that, he would probably say "Why should you care?", if even that. Removing that, though, there's still everything I've written in the Other page for TV Tropes: Wallbanger, although redlerred7 did cite possible psychological reasons why the antagonists play the games they play w/ everyone when I asked him about that recently. (Reasonable to assume Blood will explain those in due time, but his near-lack of an explanation for Kagami's actions in chapter 3 still stands.)
Also been considering commissioning for something of his aforementioned OC Yuka, mainly for my own reasons. If I actually do get around to that, I will likely ask the artist to keep me anonymous and share it with mariofan48 to share in turn with Blood, asking him not to say it was from me unless he asks. Yes, I still despise Blood, but not enough that I'd want him to miss out on something he be interested in otherwise.
-----
On a lesser note, Brian did say that what I had written had reminded him of another, apocalyptic fic I brought up with him and Marie a year and a half ago. I told him that he was thinking of No Birds, No Bees, in which all human males are dead while the female half is reduced to killing and torturing one another for survival. Chelle says that such a scenario wouldn't make sense after any kind of apocalypse, but I personally wouldn't know whether the key to survival would be to compete or to work together. Its author Arkytal told me that that whole thing was based on survival tactics used by soldiers in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, so who knows.
What was really heartbreaking about that fic, though, was that the idea of the entire male population dying inexplicably and all females competing lethally to survive could take place after just about any other fic, including my own. Arkytal did tell me at some point, though, that it actually departs from canon during episode 6, during the girls' offscreen trip back home from the beach, although this obviously should have been specified from the very beginning.