That essay
Mar. 23rd, 2015 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dmxratedAppreciation...
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.
-----
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.
-----
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.
-----
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.
-----
(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.)
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.
-----
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.
-----
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.
-----
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.
-----
(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.)