Luce's Fanfiction Blog: February to April 2005
Luce's Fanfiction Blog: February to April 2005
26 April 2005
After, the HnG/DN crossover by Alita, brings up a wealth of
possibilities and makes me think of writing more DN fic. I hate it that L
died, but lookie! He came back as a ghost and is haunting people! That's so
appropriate. Why didn't I think of it?
Mousapelli's Claiming Authority is the fic I wish I could have written, except I'm terrible at writing Akira. I love the emphasis on Go, and the claiming of the tengen at the end is just so appropriate. Plus lines like:
...he tries to figure out whether 'Akira' is mother-code for
'you harlot'.
In the last four years, Touya has envied Sai, has been amazed by Sai, been
frustrated by Sai, been insanely curious about Sai, but right now Touya hates
Sai with every fibre of his Go-obsessed being because, whoever Sai is, he has
clearly broken Shindou's heart.
It makes me want to write my own fic... I'm stuck between choosing In Vino snippet or a totally different one, such as the epilogue to Finding Sai, especially the part about how Hikaru will always have an affinity to ghosts--duly inspired by After, heh. And there's my middle-aged Hikaru 'n Akira fic. Though I think I got an idea about how to tone that fic after considering the drabbles. It should work if I draw on the drabbles as a guide. I think.
Jenny's fic, Learning to Dance is a Tactics fic that I beta'ed some time back--it improved so much, and so nicely. Although part of me still prefers the HarukaxKantarou action to be less angsty, I can see the beauty in the way she writes this.
25 April 2005
Karabana's Hover is gorgeous. Heartfelt use of the paper
crane as a symbol for health, and between Akira and Hikaru, it becomes a symbol
of intimacy--not the physical kind, but the emotional type. Very, very
nice indeed.
Pru surprises with a snippet about Connor, a painting, a non-existent chastity belt and Geoffrey's long, long eyelashes. Cool.
Just scrolling through my lj and realized that except for the drabbles, I haven't been writing much fic recently. Being busy is a factor, though I must admit that I. Need. A. Plot. Where can I blag one? I mean, really. Two crossovers in the planning and I need time to write it. A future!HnG fic needs a plot. And characterization. How much do I want to torture Hikaru? And Akira? Should Hikaru be a total loser who can't get a title? Good for angst, yes, but I can't do that. And what is there to write about otherwise? Hikaru's life is Go and Go title and professional Go.
24 April 2005
Aishuu manages to surprise me all the time. She wrote Captain, My
Captain (DN-PoT crossover)! Remember when I speculated, Rikkai is such
a weird school that Raito could have well studied there? Well, she wrote
it. Lovely meshing together of the two universes, something that was long
overdue ever since the tennis scene in DN. It's plain good writing, strong
and staying its course. I'm excited that Aishuu's writing has developed
further since I last read her stories (all of two weeks ago!) That's so
cool: I wonder what impact this will have on her ongoing stories. I really
hope she writes more soon (especially Brightly Burning!)
Part of me is really, really amused at the thought of Yukimura fangirling over Raito, of all people--and the thought of Yukimura and co. fangirling anyone at all--and yet I can see how easily that could have happened: the way Aishuu writes it, Raito is near-perfect, dominating the school, and out to change the universe. It would be strange if Yukimura didn't admire him at least a little. Perfectly written, this crossover.
Some Shuusaku trivia from Sensei's Library:
Shusaku's surname was Kuwahara. "Shusaku" was
the personal name he adopted early on. Later he became Honinbo Shusaku. (You
could possibly consider "Honinbo" to be a surname
....
Shusaku was not nee anything as he was male (the androgynous nature of Fujiwara
no Sai notwithstanding). The names for him are as follows (his father was called
Yasuda but he married in to a richer family called Kuwahara): Kuwahara Torajiro
1829~1835, Yasuda Eisai 1835~1841, Yasuda Shusaku 1841~1848, Kuwahara Shusaku
1848, Honinbo Shusaku 1848~1862. In only 5 games was he known as Kuwahara
Shusaku. Invincible is misleading in this respect, although John Power was
following the then latest Japanese collected games edition. The newest edition
has corrected all this. It is standard practice in Japan even today to name
people who belong to schools such as Honinbo by their style (Shusaku). The
situation was complicated in ancient Japan as not everyone was entitled to a
surname. The simplest way to find out which name is the surname is to get my
MASSIVE Names Dictionary on the GoGoD CD. John Fairbairn.
Source:
http://senseis.xmp.net/?NamesInGo%2FDis
***
In other news, Madelyn (lj: svmadelyn?) emailed and said she wanted to do something special for Pru, so asked for reviews or quotes or favorite moments from Pru's fic. Extremely lovely gesture: now if only I could pick out what I liked most about Pru's fic. Ooh. On the Road. Every word. And recently, of Visiting Hours chapter 8: kudos for blinding me (verbally! I didn't know that was possible) with the yellow-and-red decor of Smallville High, through Connor's eyes. She has such an eye for detail--journalism training or natural talent? Either way, the details, not to mention the deft way she weaves them into the narrative, add so much more force into her writing, making it visceral somehow, and all this tempers her authorial voice beautifully. (Argh. I'm so envious.) A feting is in order, all right.
20 April 2005
Maya's Underwater Light, chapter 20. Goodness knows how often I
refreshed that page at Schnoogle until it was FINALLY UP. Splendid chapter,
though perhaps I shouldn't say that about a chapter that has trauma, Dark
Lord-related disappearances, and hints of possible death and torture. On the
other hand, there is making-out of Draco and Harry, an expresso machine, more
Draco, a necktie and a fistfight. What more could one ask for?
I adore the way she builds a tiny moment of trepidation-filled haven--only Muggle students on an outing, nothing more--and brackets it with devastating news for Draco, and a make-out session between Draco and Harry. I grit my teeth at the cliff-hanger, but strangely I don't feel disappointed (unless, of course, the next chapter takes another four months) but this is right. This is where the story should be building towards, and regardless of what will turn out (though I wibble, please let Draco and Harry be together!!!) I feel that the story will be true to itself. I love UL so much.
***
Also, I read, Camwyn's Hellblazer: Hogwarts, wherein John Constantine finds himself in the Wizarding World, and is appointed the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. Pity the chapters come up so slowly, but I like the way Camwyn does it: Constantine's field notes, then actual 3rd person narrative, and Constantine's viewpoint of the way the Wizarding World works is rather ingenious, at times.
19 April 2005
Mira's Jacking Gehenna, HP/Movie!Constantine crossover.
Harry/John. Oooh. Definitely one of the times I'm sorry that my
family isn't into m/m. They loved the movie, and they would have got a
kick out of this. So good. I love Harry in this. Haunted,
powerful, angry, determined, with all the integrity (strange word for him?) of a
hero and with none of the fluff. John is his sullen, bitter self, with a
heart of, if not marshmallow, then decent human kindness. And the part
about Voldemort is convincingly Bad, and shows the disgusting side of evilness
all too well. Very nearly a perfect crossover.
15 April 2005
The Rumor Mill by Harukami. Strong writing, and both made me
smile and become excitable. Harukami's dialogue is almost always
spontaneous-sounding, acute and is worded in a way that rings true to my ear.
I get the effect she is after immediately, without being conscious of it, until
after I start to contemplate how the fic works. Then A Game for Three,
which introduces a delicious scene, somewhat eye-opening for me (who never
realized this could be possible), and made me giggle.
Blossoming by The Hoyden. Ah, hanami. Lovely way of writing it, and I like the turns of phrases she uses, and the sensitivity she pays to certain aspects in HnG, like between Ashiwara and Ogata.
Meanwhile, Murinae has this line:
Akira never would admit it aloud, but if there was a cure to the mid-age crisis, it could be found in Shindo Hikaru.
Which is rather intriguing--I wonder if it would be possible to write it up for a fic. Hee hee. She's invited me to use it, and I think I shall, once I think of a good storyline for it. Akira, middle-age crisis. Funny concept. What, he wants to trade the goban in for a sports car? So, needs planning.
14 April 2005
I've actually been wanting to talk about some of the HP wips I've been
following. Prominent among them, though I don't mention it, are A Year Like
No Other and Cambien Potentes by Aspen, the next Tea Series (title
escapes me) by Telanu, and a more recent one, Another Snape Meets the
Dursleys Story by Rabbit.
I like AYLNO more and more, because the story is beautifully drawn out, and I like the freedom of just enjoying the thrill of a well-crafted story without wondering when the lovers are going to get together. That's the shortcoming of slash stories, I suppose; you wait for the couple to get together, for misunderstandings to resolve, incidentally saving the world, then the stories ends on a happy-together-ever-after for the lovers. Enjoyable, but certainly it's fun to have the novelty of a general story once in a while. Reading it, I'm struck by the changes in Harry's behaviour, and his growing maturity. He seems to take more responsibility for his actions, and that is a very welcome read indeed.
CB is something different. As I said before, the plot device of enslavement made me wary, because it's potentially squicky, for one thing, and for another, it almost smacks of being too plot-contrived. What Aspen brings to the fic, though, is the way she charts Harry's reactions, and how he decides to deal with the situation.
Telanu's newest chapter for the Tea series throws up a few surprises. I admit, I was getting tired of the angst and the intensity, but in the new one, we have Harry making an alliance of sorts with the Furies. Good touch, that, though I wonder how plausible that would be in the Wizarding World. Nonetheless, it's whetted my interest again.
Yet Another... is unexpectedly good. Snape goes to the Dursleys and ends up imprisoning the Dursleys, then turning them into a shrew (Petunia) and a frog (Vernon). He also goes 'dormant' because he's not completely human. What's interesting about Rabbit's approach is that the events take place over only a few days, and she has Dudley becoming less of a bully. Somehow, this reminds me of The High House, which is certainly a refreshing effect.
And I wait for the next chapter of Underwater Light with bated breath, as always.
8 April 2005
I was actually surprised to see a number of emails in my inbox, then I
realized that they were comments on my final chapter of Finding Sai.
To be brutally honest, I deleted about three-quarters of that final chapter
before I posted it. I realized that I was just explaining and being terribly OOC
about everything, so I went for cryptic instead. If I were a perfect
writer, I would have ripped that final chapter to shreds and rebuilt everything,
but I'm not perfect, and I was afraid that if I ripped it apart, I'd never
recover it.
As expected, the chapter puzzled people. At least, I should have realized that it would puzzle people. I was honestly frowning and thinking, "Yeah, it's weird, but it makes sense, right?" so it's a learning experience to find out that I do not have telepathy and my reasoning skills are not transferable via fic. Aishuu suggested an epilogue--the idea is intriguing--though I wonder what else I need to explain. I mean, Hikaru is fine, right? One of the crazy titles I once had for this story was "Hikaru's Amnesic Adventure"--which tells you how I approached the story. It was only later that I realized that it was serious in tone, and a little too cryptic for its own good--all that after writing half of it.
7 April 2005
Jedirita wrote a marvelous Neville fic which is lovely to read, and so much
in character from Neville's point of view. And it has a realistic Harry,
in his snippy, bad-tempered, prejudiced self, which is just great. So many
wips. I think, instead of making a key to writers, I shall make a key to
the wips I'm following. That'd make more sense, right?
4 April 2005
Aishuu's newest chapter (6) of Brightly Burning is posted. My
comments to her on lj:
I have to say that this chapter was very deftly handled. I
realized after a while that you were setting the stage for the second
confrontation between Akira and Hikaru, and you did this by relating what the
fallout from the Wakajishisen, the anticipation of the pro exams, and then
swiftly moving to Hikaru's first day at the Pro exams. So although it seemed to
be a little disjointed to me, it actually connects quite well.
(I just had the incidental thought that Akira, who would not have missed the
first day of his pro exams, would have passed with perfect scores! How is Hikaru
going to beat this record? ^_^ )
To go back... I like the way you wove in the genius/idiot impression that Waya
has of Hikaru, when the latter declares that he breathes and lives Go, which is
a good reminder of how strange this Hikaru must seem to others. I was amused at
the reminder, too, that Hikaru had a different life before Sai came/left--the
yellow soccer shirt was just right for this--and I found it significant that
this particular shirt doesn't have a "5" on it, but an ireverant slogan. After
all, shirts with '5' motifs on them were all that Hikaru wore in the anime at
the beginning before he even started playing Go. I think it's a sign that this
Hikaru is more obviously aggressive.
As a number of posters said, your characterization of Akari is lovely. I can
feel how helpless she must feel, to be growing apart from Hikaru, not just in
age but also in interests. He's become another person, and even his house is
unfamiliar. The relationship between Hikaru and his mother made me think,
too--we don't often see him talking to his mother.
And you brought in Ijima! His presence and his hostility really brings home how
terrifying (and annoying) Hikaru must seem. I feared for a moment Ijima was
going to yell at Hikaru. Good tension.
A slight quibble I have is that while there is mention that Akari and Waya are
dating, there is no reference at all to this in the last part, where Akari walks
Hikaru to the station. I guess it doesn't affect the story, because the last
part deals with Akari and Hikaru's relationship, but it does make Akari sound
very alone.
Stuff that amused me:
Hikaru is still poor at yose. Tsk, no 'special' training for him at the
Dougenzaka this time round. I wonder if this could be significant later
on--could explain why he would lose a game, because he miscalculated, etc.
The Go Weekly reference, and the 'missing' Akira.
I'm now wondering what the Beginner Dan Series would be like.
1 April 2005
Pru's chapter 3 of Inertia is good. Pru's hallmark is a thoughtful,
articulate narrative voice with a keen understanding of the characters' psyche
(neurosis?) and this makes her Touya Akira a dream to read about. Under her hands, Touya's confusion
comes to light. Also, Hikaru gets a boyfriend that isn't Akira, and I'm jealous of her for creating such a likeable boyfriend
for Hikaru. Haruka, the boyfriend reminds me of Sai, though the name also
makes me think of Tactics.
Pru's style comes across firmly here. She is good in that her narrative is strong, and she not only understands the characters well, but she characterizes them well. As as result, her stories have a strong authorial presence which is very attractive. Still, I don't know if I want to read such a didactic tone all the time.
In other news, I taught an ex-student of mine to prepare for her literature exams, and to my slight amazement I remembered even more of the material than she did, even though I hadn't seen said material in two years and she'd been studying it for the last 12 months. I win!
29 March 2005
So, currently what bemuses me most is the fact that a 100-word drabble has
managed to generate more than a dozen comments, the total length of which is
definitely more than 100 words. But rather nice comments, so much so that
at one point I thought with understandable delusion: hey, maybe I can write good
drabbles! Luckily, I came to my senses about five seconds later.
It's still not sharp enough, but I don't know how to make it better. Or
rather, I don't think I can make it better without vivisecting it, and the
thought of doing that makes me think, "I doing this for a drabble?"
Laziness...
26 March 2005
Haven't been reading much fic because I've been writing Tactics fic. I
dunno. For the last few months it's been one of my silent... not
obsession, but fascination. Then thehoyden talked about it on lj, and I
got excited, and then I wanted to write fic. So Shimmering, as
gift-prize to lady_addiction, who answered my question about the person who,
like Kantarou (or Kantaro?), is also childlike, powerful and has money problems.
(Tsuzuki Asato). It's not that good a fic--I hate to admit it, but there
you are. But it's a pretty okay one for a first fic, and though I'm
wondering if I can actually improve my writing of Tactics fic, I'm thinking of
writing more. Also more Hikago fic. And DN, when we come to that.
21 March 2005
A measure of how much I love Tokyo Crazy Paradise can be found in my
constant surprise that the fandom for TCP is er... not very substantial.
Even though I know this intellectually, I keep getting taken aback when I find
very little stuff on it. Zabrina and Yuki-chan have a great website with
translations, character profiles, and I love it so much. Surely a labour
of love when I look at that website. When I think about it, it seems a
little strange, because TCP doesn't lend itself to yaoi or slash like the other
fandoms I'm in--and I defy anyone to conceive of m/m relationships out of it
(maybe Nidaime and Kamo-san, ahem)--but I still love it so much. It's got
a kickass heroine, for one thing: her antics are good crack, but she's still
cool when it counts, and she's got that genki outlook that always makes me
smile, and she looks great all the time. I don't honestly believe she can
hide her boobs under that school uniform (which is for boys), but hey, it's
manga. Ryuji, aka Sandaime, is just as cool. Yes, I don't believe
he's only fourteen years old. The way Nakamura-sensei draws him--and ages
him, in 23 vols--it looks like he's capable of anything. And I love it
that he goes for Tsukasa right off the bat, from the first time he saw
her naked, heh they met in elementary school. And then before they even
start dating, they've already made a lifetime pledge. Awww. I'm
absolutely soft for this.
Anyway! I've got a new idea, while in the shower, for my beaten-to-death plan for the DN-HnG fic. Must explore how that turns out. Once I'm done with Finding Sai. I've also discovered that my long fics have become shorter and shorter. I shall resolve to break this barrier with a new fic. Possibly the crossover fic. Or another HnG one?
OMG. Nidaime and Kamo-san...
20 March 2005
I'm puzzled by people (in the PoT fandom) who say they dislike Ryouma
because 'he keeps winning'. Because damnit, I like Ryouma, and I like him
winning, and please, it's a junior high tournament--there're plenty of chances
for him to be defeated when he hits the big leagues. I would actually be a
little disappointed if he gets trounced now--how is he going to win the US Open
by 15 (like Michael Chang) if he can't manage a bunch of Japanese junior high
players, national level they might be? PoT is circular in a different
way--the hero keeps overcoming fresh obstacles and challengers--which is a
refreshing from the hackneyed device of "defeat first, then sweats blood, then
loses, then wins", and which amazingly, going by some of the responses on the
fandom, is what some people want.
What brought this on? Nothing. Suddenly felt like ranting after reading vols. 26 and 27 of PoT, and realizing anew that Sanada? Is batshit insane. That laugh of his made my skin crawl, and it was just a black-and-white picture (and word balloons). When a teenage boy laughs like that, it's time to check him carefully for a concealed automatic weapon.
Also, I re-read Maldoror's Whisper arc. Heero, you are so robotic, but I love you so much.
19 March 2005
Someone from lj sent me a message about my fics today. I thought it
was a new reader of my stories, which it was (yay!) and I was happy, and being
me, curious, I took a look at her lj too. Was slightly taken aback to find
that she had linked to my unfinished fanfiction page, rather than the one that
contained only finished fics (that link up there). I only put in the link
to the unfinished page because for some reason, I can't remember what I named my
own pages, and I work on fanfic at work sometimes. I can't remember what I
called my unfinished fics either. The curse of having a memory like mine.
Oh, well. The unfinished fics aren't that interesting to read anyway.
Enough about me! Have just been reading While We're Waiting, by Sasha, a Big Wolf on Campus fic. This fandom tickled my funnybone a whole lot when I first came across it on crack_van, mainly because I remember Merton and Tommy so well, and to my disappointment, there weren't that many fics on it. Sasha does a nice, deft job of writing about Merton's feelings, and the process he comes to realise he (and Tommy) are gay is understated but always sincere.
Oh, yes! Trinity Helix's Moving Forward, which is still in process, is a lovely InuKai story that manages to combine strong writing with sensitivity to Kaidou's thoughts and emotions. The pairing did occur to me when I first saw them on the anime, but I assumed that Kaidou's reticence would prevent anything from happening. Besides, Inui's evil-scientist schtick was a little annoying, and the few times I read this pairing, Inui was superior and streamrolled over Kaidou's objections, which just made me go, gah. Here it's a surprisingly frank look at what a relationship could have been like, and how Kaidou's reticence towards his senpai doesn't prevent him from growing into an independent person. Yes! I love that.
16 March 2005
Posted my fic about 'what happened after Hikaru and Kuwabara had their first
game'. It was pointed out that my definition of shidougo was wrong, which
surprised me, because I thought for sure my definition of shidougo was
undisputed as it was totally unremarkable and derived from the manga and
supported by Sensei's Library, which is a great website for Go-related stuff.
Anyway, Lady_Addiction, who objected, said handicap Go is also shidougo, to
which I firmly take exception.
Handicap Go is just that: you put stones before you play if you're weaker, so both you and your opponent can play, and you have a fair chance of winning. I thought that was a great thing about Go, in fact. Certainly it isn't shidougo, which is going easy on your opponent so that he or she understands the game better--this is why it's usually played between people of vastly different skill levels (and therefore the weaker player wouldn't resent being talked down to, instead). I mean, that was why Touya was so shocked when he realized Hikaru (Sai) was playing shidougo the first time--it indicated that Hikaru (Sai) presented himself as having so much higher in skill level than him.
Overall, we agreed to disagree. It's for the best. So, in other news, Tari Gwaemir recced Jinei by Aki, or Absence of mind (I think she also wrote Saiyuki… woo!). PoT fic, (Jinei, I mean), Tezuka/Fuji, very good, love the pacing and the way she writes Fuji, am deeply envious about her talents.
Still… I guess it’s my basic antipathy to Fuji. A lot of the characters written about of PoT don’t click with me: especially Fuji, Tezuka (gah), and the Rikkai team. I don’t really know why. I’ve said before that I think that the Rikkai team is seriously disturbed, and not in a crack!fic kind of way. Whereas Tezuka is just blah to me. That leaves Fuji. Honestly, I kind of took him for granted at first, when I read PoT. I mean, a character named “Fuji” (“not-second”), who smiles all the time, doesn’t show his eyes, looks nice on the outside and has mad skills, acts mysteriously, and shows his ‘real’ self only to a selected few? Clichéd. Have you heard of Himura Kenshin? Sakurazaka Seishirou? They were the main characters of their series, which was a big thing at the time. The most popular Japanese anime stereotypes of the 90s were these deceptive-looking characters who smiled all the time, sometimes hiding their eyes, and who turned out to have a fount of hidden super!skills, which are revealed only in times of extremity. Occasionally I like to speculate that Japan liked these characters because they had an economic crisis, and a person who looked weak on the outside but turned out to have superpowers was actually quite appealing. But I'm being ridiculous because I know so little about Japan.
Forward to the next century (I’m generalizing, of course), and characters like that are so clichéd that they have become a type. So naturally in a school setting with a ‘natural leader’ (Tezuka), the joker (Kikumaru), the token ‘typical’ guy (Momoshiro)—plus the boy-hero of Konomi’s focus—naturally we get a Seishirou-type, to rile the authority figures. What’s more, just about every manga school story I’ve read has one of those. Often, it’s shoujo manga, and the mysterious person turns out to be after the heroine (usually together with the club president, but the club president gets the girl), but there he is, in his double-character glory. And that is why Fuji isn’t interesting to me. I think, what’s with the photography? And the cacti? I think portrayals of Fuji hit closest when they focus on his ‘evil’ side. I’d love to see a good inversion of ‘evil’ Fuji, though.
The other thing that does bother me about PoT fic, especially PoT fic set in the future, is that the adults are so melancholy. I don’t really know why. It’s sports manga and anime, right? Shouldn’t it, I don’t know, celebrate sportsmanship and all that? I admit Konomi doesn’t help when he gives backstories and those reek of more backstory and ancient histories, but… it’s rather tiring to read angsty stuff all the time.
10 March 2005
Pru has part 5 of Visiting Hours, her current Smallville AU-fic. Conner
deals with knowing his father is sick, knowing that he is coping in a very
painful way, and knowing Clark and Lex find it hard to deal. Then he picks
himself up. Hm, I do like the way he picks himself up, but at the same
time grr, being decisive in such an expected manner isn't making me feel
comfortable, if only because behaving as expected has never been the way he or
the Luthor household operates. Still, Pru's writing is more immediate,
despite Conner being slightly out of his mind, and that brings forth the
confusion and the struggle Conner faces in controlling himself nicely.
8 March 2005
Discovered this lovely little thing, Go Fish, HnG, by Laziness
Incarnate, who writes about Waya, Touya and Shindou thinking about Shindou, Sai, and the Go world.
Really, once in a while you really get pleasantly surprised (and envious!) and
the stuff that can touch your heart.
Because this was what Shindou was all about: strong tides and swift
currents at the surface and secrets lying still and deep below.
When Touya Akira looked at Shindou he saw the ocean.
6 March 2005
Posted my next chapter of Finding Sai. Argh, it's more difficult than
it needs to be. I think I'm hampered by the fact that the resolution comes
first. Guess that's what happens when you write for the sake of writing.
Hm. Nice experiment, but I really want something plotty next time.
5 March 2005
Argh. Utterly exhausted. What a week.
Hoyden posted her AkiraHikaru fic, One Thing, which, while nicely hot and brought a smile to my lips, wasn't what I was expecting, exactly. Which is strange because I don't know what I expected either, except I knew I wanted my heart to be wrung, just a little, and it didn't quite happen. Hoyden's Ashiwara fics, by contrast, are great because she writes with insight into Ashiwara's character, especially his and Ogata's relationship, which makes me feel warm inside, as though we've been given a valuable glimpse into Ashiwara's life and thoughts.
Pru also had the next chapter of Inertia, which did make my eyes light up, because while it's still slightly uneven--the sections about Touya thinking about Hikaru, delicately done, jar with the crowd-pleasing scenes of domesticity with Michi, and comparisons between Hikaru and Natsumi are a tad old (though the argument between Touya and Natsumi is harsh and abrasive to the narrative, as it ought to be)--it makes lovely inroads into Touya's personal thoughts and sensitivities, and Hikaru's actions at the end of this chapter somehow bring a dynamism into the entire story which makes me feel like the intermittent meandering of the earlier sections are all worth it. Wah, I'm so envious.
Also discovered that Leareth has the newest chapter of Nukume Dori,
which is solid and wrenching enough for me, though. Leareth writes some of
the most evocative TB fanfics I know. She has this talent of absorbing canon and
letting new stories appear through her understanding of the characters and by
developing the innate meanings behind Tokyo Babylon. She's been writing
Nukume Dori for the last two years or so (it's unfinished yet), a story
wherein Subaru, after the Final Day, inexplicably finds himself transported back
in time, into his sixteen-year-old self, where Hokuto is still alive and his bet
with Seishirou is still running. Seized by the thought that he might finally
change history, Subaru plunges into his old life, and the cases of TB take on
new interpretations.
In chapter 9, Subaru argues with his
sister, and starts to have an inkling just how much his own change is affecting
the people around him, and wonders if the cost to protect Hokuto could be too
high. Strong development, which I love, and I really hope it doesn't take
another six months for the next chapter!
***
Suddenly it strikes me that HnG makes good use of the internet thing to develop its plot. Cool.
26 February 2005
Conduits of Sorcery, HP, by Penumbra, posting still progress but
fortunately finished. At first I simply enjoyed it as a well-written Snape/Harry,
but the scene where Snape is callous and pretends that Lucius's attentions are
still welcome so as to get some needed information--despite having developing a
sort of relationship with Harry--that scene was rather memorable. And
having just read chapter 10 (it has 12 chapters, I believe), I found the fic to
improve on second reading. Snape is certainly callous here, but
believable, and Harry, thankfully, has a wiser head on his shoulders and can
take fame, love and evil wizards in his stride. Good story.
25 February 2005
Pru's continuation of her line of thought about Akira getting married,
Inertia, has cute moments of baby. And Shindou's wisdom about how
people get sad--good and flowing.
Argh, have been too busy to write fic, and when I get a bit of time, I'm too flustered and distracted to get down to it. So I've been watching anime instead. Sigh.
24 February 2005
Ooh. Has been tiring week (and it isn't even over yet). So, I
learnt that in DN, L dies. Gah. I don't wanna L to die! He's
so much fun. Forgot what I was about to say... except I want to write more
fic. I keep having ideas and wanting to write them. Like Hikaru
playing all the way to the title in the Honinbou league. Or about the
measure of a rival, and how Hikaru and Akira measures their rivalry, which would
be easy to write from a retrospective stance, except I don't want to write
retrospective stuff. I want to write something where something happens.
Although today, I came across something mildly infuriating. I was browsing in a bookstore, and saw that they had the novelisation of the movie Electra. Not interested in the movie, but I wondered how they had written it up. So I thumbed through it. Blah blah, and then the last page, the word 'Go' caught my attention. Naturally I looked more carefully. To my indignation, two characters were beginning a new game (in the few lines, I mean) and the one named Stick "placed the white stone" first.
What the?
You start from BLACK.
Okay? Black goes first; 'tis a rule of the game. I was so annoyed.
Though I guess it's possible that the two characters developed their own rules (though I don't think it likely) in the course of the book, but I was too annoyed to check
This got me thinking of writing a rather ridiculous fic involving Hikaru, letters to movie studios and getting stopped in a US airport.
20 February 2005
Had an insane idea while re-reading HnG 12:
See, this is Kurata 7-dan:
And this is L:
Family resemblance, no?
18 February 2005
More add-on ideas: Raito tries to kill Akira 4 times and fails,
rendering him no longer vulnerable to the DN. Although why such enmity?
He doesn't try to kill Hikaru. Why?
17 February 2005
Need a new title like mad. "Death in the Hane"? There's the word "death",
and I'd have to explain "Hane". Strike. About death yet not using that word?
Black stars? Murder? Murder in the stars? Too bad I've already used the word
"universe" elsewhere. Or can I use it again? After all, if it's a sorta
sequel... "Stars in the Universe"? Cheesy. "Masters of the Universe," hee hee?
Something to do with names? "Name Your Universe." Ooh.
In other news, both Pru and Hoyden (is that the right name to refer to her?) posted stories. I've been anticipating Pru's HnG fic for quite a while now, though I'd say I was also a little reluctant because she's a good writer, and often has very strong writing, and I wasn't looking forward to feeling demoralized by the eventual product.
Well, having read the HnG fic... I must say the feeling of slight disappointment outweighs any potential schadenfreude-ish thoughts. I mean, it's still very good, especially the way she draws out the characters' interaction, and her style is as distinctive as ever, and her descriptions were deft and nicely sketched, at times evocative and powerful. But I confess that I wanted more. I'm just so greedy for new plot-ish stuff. The crack about the Go community using Hikaru and Akira as walking advertisements, hence causing a huge sensation? Has been done. Hikaru and Akira's attraction, some experimentation? Akira getting married? Also done. I hope that after having wrote all of those out of her system, though, she'll come out with something that has good plot. I guess I tend to take her strengths for granted, having read so much of her fic, but it IS a little disappointing because I was hoping--despite my own ambivalence (and dare I say it? Raging jealousy...)--that she'll really write something great, not just good and fun and touching and love-confession-inducing. (Though I did declare the latter, so I'm to blame?). She managed to break through from her usual style for some parts of the Bruno and Boots fic, which impressed me, and it looked like she would have done it for Visiting Hours (though Part 4 was rather uneven), but it hasn't happened for this HnG fic. I do want better fic from her, though. If she's going to continue to make me envious of her capabilities, she might as well do it with a bang.
Hoyden's fic is, well, on further thought, an object lesson about how Pru's should have been. A Game for Two is polished and beautiful, and solidly in-character, but more than that, it nudges gently at the limits of what Hoyden has written before, and the fluidity that results makes everything that is familiar about HnG fresh again. Sure, we know about the how it takes two to play Go. But her first line, "Akira had been waiting all his life for Shindou Hikaru" bursts through this almost-cliché, and even though it's old news, it sounds like it's new news. What I really like about the fic is that it hangs on a seemingly insignificant part of Akira's life--school--but goes on to talk about how Akira felt reluctant to give it up because of his parents' obvious approval (even Touya Akira needs parental support), which is adorable and poignant at the same time. Hikaru's obvious acts of kindness, which become even more obvious as Akira realizes them for what they are, are touching... and for all the fannish writings about how Hikaru sees it as his mission to introduce Akira to 'a life outside of Go', it's wonderful to see Hikaru stating his concern for Akira in terms of Go and their rivalry. (My god, I can't criticise this fic, it's too good.) Even the declaration of love, the type of scenes I always snigger at, manages the feat of being both sweet and frank. Because coy scenes just don't seem to fit in HnG. And even the side-note with Ogata and Ashiwara are worth noting.
Argh! Why can't I write like that?! I just love her Akira and Hikaru. I love how her Akira is observant and measured in his behaviour, only he's really unraveling due to work and school stress. I love how it is Ashiwara that points out the facts of life to Akira. I love how Akira gets Hikaru's concern, all of a sudden, and processes that in his way, and I love how Hikaru cares but does not intrude, but tries to help in his way, and only reveals his relief when Akira decides to quit school. (Fics that have Hikaru 'dragging' Akira out to 'relax' perplex me--what is this fascination with 'a life outside of Go'? Why would Hikaru think that there are things more important than Go? Why would Akira?) And the more intimate scenes. I love how just a confession of love and a kiss can seem more powerful than any scene of love-making. And the final scene of them on the train makes a perfect ending. Sigh. When I try to write tender scenes, it invariably ends up being ridiculous. Why?!
14 February 2005
Add-on ideas: Who's the person who can see things that are not there, for
example, the bloodstains.
Hikaru declares: "Kira can only control death. But in my universe, I control life and death, and I fight for life." Whereupon Raito cannot bring himself to kill Hikaru because that would prove Hikaru right, even if Hikaru doesn't know about the DN.
Still zero on a good title.
13 February 2005
Got nice comments about my fic from Murinae, and this caused me to revisit
the idea of HnG/DN crossover fic. Murinae really wrote a fantastic scene,
and my god I want to write like that so much. The details in both series
dovetail so well, such as Raito's noticing that there was something unusual
about Hikaru, and Ryuka noticing how Hikaru had been 'steeped in death.'
So good. I don't think it's vanity to
say that my fics are, well, okay. Some parts I'm rather fond of, a few I'm
proud of--most other parts I'm still grappling and yelling at the monitor:
Why aren't you better??? Why won't it be better, damnit? And
back and forth I go, pouting and being jealous of other people's talents, and
coming back to sulk at my own writing: why are you like this?! as though
to an incompetent lover.
Hm, is it too wishy-washy to think stuff like: 'I have to write what the story wants! I have to write what my inspiration demands!' ? Seems to me that writing what the story 'wants' or what my inspiration 'demands' should produce writing that is of a higher standard. But damn it, I just can't break that ceiling. At my current level, I'm getting more comfortable about playing within several ranges of meaning--I can do a bit of drama, or mystery, or a bit of humour even, but I can't break through that! GRRR. I'm being deadly honest here. I like the praise, I like it when my writing works, but I feel like it's a bit stuck. Like the difference between a penny novel and a masterpiece. And damnit, I want to be masterpiece! GRRR GRRR GRRR.
Must make real effort to work harder. Also to remember that this is fanfiction I'm writing, I MUST be faithful to the spirit of the series and its characters--no haring off on wild set-ups!
(Though I wonder guiltily if I should spend so much time on fanfiction and fandom when I have so many other stuff waiting to be done. There's the English and business admin tuition, my own course, my teaching, RL, and not to mention, WORK: the stuff that pays the money for food.)
Drat.
Back to the crossover thing. Yup, back in the days when I was writing A View of the Universe, I was going to write an epilogue of Raito dropping into the Touya salon, and sort of not realizing he's talking to the other half of "Touya Hikaru"--hm, good potential for slapstick here--when getting flattened by Akira. Alternatively, getting into a meaningful discussion with Akira. Or no, even better, their competitive spirits clash and completely destroy the world--metaphorically. And Hikaru races to the rescue with the "I'm the master of the Universe!!!" schick. Ooh. I mean, oops. The horrible thing about this scenario is that it could really work.
Wait, why not? If I were going for a longer crossover fic, and in that ragbag of mixed-up ideas that live in my subconscious, I once wanted Raito to go on with his plans for destruction, and meet Hikaru (again? same universe as View, or a different one?), and between deciding whether to kill him or ignore him, and hiding his Kira identity, while Hikaru would make more astute observations about Raito (and Kira) but miss the point of DN altogether, or simply be too blur to catch on, the stuff with Akira could happen. And Hikaru would do his rescue thing, and still be oblivious. That'd be great fun. Hehhehehhe. Now all I need is a fun title.
Task#1: Think of story title.
Some rather unrelated thoughts: come to think of it, maybe one of the reasons I can't break through is the fact that I'm very concerned with telling the story. I don't usually take a step back to ponder things, or to develop my tone (style?). I think this stood out in the preamble to View. I tend to leave all of this behind when I'm intent on a scene, so I don't work in the support scene and exposition. So the parts that give substance to the story end up being rather piecemeal. Because I don't think about it when I plan the scene, and so it doesn't flow in naturally, and when I try to do exposition in the middle of fic, it doesn't stand out, and clutters, and impedes the pace of the action instead. Could this be one place I could try to make it better? I wonder a bit because I'm philosophically opposed to writing obviously. I don't want clutter at all. I'd rather have story, but then I want atmosphere and thematic stuff too. Then I want my style to be invisible. And spare. Sarcastic, good too. Ironic, even better. Tongue-in-cheek, always an ideal. So, an invisible, thin, sarcastic, ironic elephant with its tongue in its cheek? Weird image.
10 February 2005
CNY is absolutely the worst time to have a fic started. You don't have
the leisure to think, and yet you have a plot boiling, and you want to plan it,
then you want to write it, but you can't. Gah.
On the other hand, I managed to read a really great fic, Driven, by Murinae, a HnG/DN crossover with a concept that I always thought was seriously cool: Raito and Ryuuku come across Shindou Hikaru, their world views clash (or mash), and Hikaru espouses his views on Go, the universe, and possibly Kira. Also, Hikaru is the only one who can sense Ryuuku, so what will Raito make of that? Murinae not only managed to write it, she managed to write it with a real kick, and that's made me an insanely jealous reader. Why can't I write like that?
4 February 2005
A Year Like
No Other, HP, by Aspen in the Sunlight. (lj: aspenlight). Fantastic. 65
chapters, general fic, still in progress, annoyed at the use of "shite" rather
than "shit" for swearing, Harry gets adopted, Harry acting rather more maturely
than I expected in the later chapters, dramatic, Death Eater activity, some
chapters rather heartwarming for me, Draco acceptable, Snape good, Hermione
studious and bossy but intelligent, Ron still apt to sulk, Slytheriness, and
Harry finally shares my opinion of Remus.
Okay, done. No spoilers. But it's definitely worth reading if you're up for some
non-romantic fic in HP. Very long. I'm amazed at the writer's fortitude,
actually.
3 February 2005
So, on Christmas eve last I wrote a HnG fic about Bae Yong-jun, called
Korean Idol. My brain was weird from the numerous Christmas ads--I take no
responsibility. At that time the glimmering of a follow-up was there, but
I didn't have a good angle for writing it until about a week ago. Thus was
Korean Idol 2 born. Then I succumb to popular (popular?) demand and wrote
Korean Idol 3. Now I have a smidgen of an idea for part 4. This
thing is growing in a way I hadn't anticipated.
I'm just wondering if it's really good and if I should continue writing it. I mean, I'm definitely no great shakes at humour--I was lucky the right ideas came along--and my main fear is that I'd be flogging a boring piece that is meaningless and annoying to boot. After writing part 3, I thought it was okay--a few parts, I was satisfied with, but only a few--so wondering.