Learning To Fly - A Saki pseudo-route (Completed)

[TheNexus97]

Great chapter as always!
It would be super sweet if Hisao and Saki got married in an unofficial wedding, just the two of them, since she won't be gettin' a real one 'cause of her condition

[calcifer]

It would be super sweet if Hisao and Saki got married in an unofficial wedding, just the two of them, since she won't be gettin' a real one 'cause of her condition

Too sweet, I'd say, saccharine even. For a teenager who has her mind set on early suicide to avoid the horrors of a nursing home, getting married would feel very out of character. Saki is all about carpe diem and marriage is pretty antithetical to that.

But in any case, I'm sure wherever euro takes us will feel right

[Mirage_GSM]

Great chapter as always!
It would be super sweet if Hisao and Saki got married in an unofficial wedding, just the two of them, since she won't be gettin' a real one 'cause of her condition

I wasn't too clear on that bit earlier:
Why would her condition prevent her from marrying?
The only thing that might prevent that is her own views on the topic - and Hisao's of course.
I also don't really see why her desire to live life to the fullest should contradict a wish to marry. For many "becoming a parent" is one of the greatest experiences there is, period. Whether it is for Saki... I'm honestly not sure. She doesn't seem to have given the topic any thought - or she did at some point in the last five years and I just don't remember

[calcifer]

I also don't really see why her desire to live life to the fullest should contradict a wish to marry. For many "becoming a parent" is one of the greatest experiences there is, period. Whether it is for Saki... I'm honestly not sure.

Leaving aside the idea that marriage is a prerequisite to "becoming a parent"...

If I knew I won't live to see my kid beyond a year or two, I would never ever consider having a baby. I would suffer not just my own disease, but also the helplessness and frustration of losing a child. Not to mention the child itself losing a parent at a very young age. It's long term suffering for everyone involved, in exchange for a few blissful moments for the parents.

I'd imagine someone like Saki who has fully accepted her situation and decided on ending her life long before it becomes a problem would never entertain the idea of a kid. In the last chapter, she specifically talks about how she doesn't make long term plans and what's more long term than having a child?

Still, this is all my POV and if euro does end up writing a kid, I'm sure it will fit in great.

[Mirage_GSM]

It wasn't meant to be a prerequisite. I was just following my own train of thought without stopping at every station...

[PKMNthiefChris]

I also don't really see why her desire to live life to the fullest should contradict a wish to marry. For many "becoming a parent" is one of the greatest experiences there is, period. Whether it is for Saki... I'm honestly not sure.

Leaving aside the idea that marriage is a prerequisite to "becoming a parent"...

If I knew I won't live to see my kid beyond a year or two, I would never ever consider having a baby. I would suffer not just my own disease, but also the helplessness and frustration of losing a child. Not to mention the child itself losing a parent at a very young age. It's long term suffering for everyone involved, in exchange for a few blissful moments for the parents.

I'd imagine someone like Saki who has fully accepted her situation and decided on ending her life long before it becomes a problem would never entertain the idea of a kid. In the last chapter, she specifically talks about how she doesn't make long term plans and what's more long term than having a child?

Still, this is all my POV and if euro does end up writing a kid, I'm sure it will fit in great.

Saki herself mentions that she and her relatives know she couldn't have a child without risk when telling Hisao about her past. Whether that means risk to herself or of the child having Ataxia I'm not entirely sure of, in that context I think it was her child having her condition. But yeah as far as marriage, that does sound more like either Saki's personal preference or at least to the fact that she'd been planning to break up with Hisao when she mentioned it. I mean, if you break up with everyone you start to fall for it is pretty unlikely you'll marry.

[calcifer]

It wasn't meant to be a prerequisite. I was just following my own train of thought without stopping at every station...

Ah, my bad. Looking over it again, I was reading between the lines and perhaps jumping to conclusions a bit...

[Eurobeatjester]

Ataxia has a lot of as-of-yet-not-understood (even today) genetic components. There would be a great risk to having it passed on to a child, or at least passing on the ability to be a carrier of it.

That's what I was trying to convey with Saki talking about all the testing her family went through to try and find who was the carrier (if there was one) and who was at risk.

There's nothing physically preventing her from having a kid, but it would be very irresponsible of her to do so both genetically and emotionally.

Went back and changed a few lines in the conversation both related and unrelated after having some time to sleep on it.

[Send Help]

Damn, this was good, and definitely a satisfying follow-through to Here's To The Night. It also hit pretty close to home, as my mother's recent death due to cancer. Saki's lament about the assisted living home dredged up some painful memories of watching her wither away into nothing in the hospice house that will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was difficult for me to read, but the fact that it got an emotional response of of me definitely shows how effective this is. Well done, and I look forward to the fourth act.

[Craftyatom]

Naming your acts after launch sequence elements, and including Sagan quotes? You're a man after my own heart.

It was pretty obvious, before the chapter even started, that it was going to be a big, rough, emotional one - and you absolutely didn't disappoint. Saki's perspective on death made sense, and was pretty much what I expected from her, both in terms of making the most of the time she has and in terms of loathing the late stages of palliative care. What really surprised and resonated with me was the line about "I killed the part of me that wanted to die." I've had a similar (though also very different) experience, and this story once again surprised me with how deep and relatable it can be.

All of the things you've done so well in previous chapters carried through here, but they are somewhat overshadowed by the emotional hard-hitters in this chapter. The conversations flow well, Hisao's parents act as expected, and the little details all work. An excellent chapter, as always, but also a brilliant end to a wonderful act.

[yanivp]

As always, beautifully written. Saki and Hisao really seem to wrap up all our feelings of what we can't have, and how to deal with it. I'm scared how this story will end, but I'm sure you're gonna keep us along for one amazing ride. With that in mind Saki seems to be a surprisingly literal embodiment of a storybook character, actually - here now, touching us deeply, and then gone.
I like the atheist stance of eternity here, too. We're all just automatons that exist to keep existing, having borrowed parts from around the cosmos to allow us the brief chance to "live", whatever that means, and when we're done we give it back to the cosmos we took it from. A brief instance of order winning over disorder. When we die, we give back to the Earth. When the Earth dies, it gives back to the galaxy. When that dies, back to the universe. And when the universe goes cold, another will spring in its place (multiple universes exist, did you know? With their own rules and physics, too). And that one might have something like us, doing something like us, but maybe only slightly different. Saki's and our life isn't defined by how long it is, or how able it is, or how much we have, but how good it is. That little thread we're given is one we have to make count, and you caught that idea perfectly.
10/10 would recommend.

[powercore007]

Just read this whole story so far and its one of the better ones I've see looking forwards to seeing more I do however have a question once your done with this Route do you plan on doing another story i'd enjoy seing more of your work. I also wanna thank you you inspired me to write my own story which i posted on here it's not good but your story inspired me to take a risk and post it anyway

[PanzerKommander]

This is the best damn story I've ever read... your skill as a writer, your dedication after so many years. You're going places...

I'm both sad to know the end is coming, yet I'm anxious and can't wait to see the end... but I think that it's going to hit me so hard in the feels...

Keep up the good work!

[Redgodzilla]

This is the best damn story I've ever read... your skill as a writer, your dedication after so many years. You're going places...

I'm both sad to know the end is coming, yet I'm anxious and can't wait to see the end... but I think that it's going to hit me so hard in the feels...

Keep up the good work!

Don't worry man, at the rate the Jester writes, we still have a few years until it's over!

[PanzerKommander]

Don't worry man, at the rate the Jester writes, we still have a few years until it's over!

I'm a Star Citizen backer, trust me I don't mind the wait for a a good product.