Yamaku Book Club (20220124 Dish Washing)

[Craftyatom]

Interesting read. Definitely set everything up well, and evoked the right emotions. The writing was simple, yet effective.

My biggest complaint would be that it stopped where it did - it's fine to imagine what happened next, but I would've enjoyed actually having that part of the story to read. That's a minor, personal nitpick, though. In the same vein, I wondered if we couldn't have seen more backstory for Tenura, but the whole point is that his actions don't make sense to Jigoro, so this approach probably fit better. I also wondered for a bit whether Jigoro could really be in the dark about pregnancy, but at the age of six, I guess it makes sense, even for a rather smart lad.

I liked the references to his nose, and the samurai. And, as Oddball mentioned, the parts of him that are clearly reflected in Hideaki. Raised from the same dough, baked in different ovens.

[brythain]

There aren't many Jigoro stories. This one was a good addition to headcanon. It made me suspect that Jigoro overcompensated, then learnt to use his overcompensation personality as a joke—one which he later inflicted on Hisao and many others.

[Mirage_GSM]

Well, that story didn't do much for me. For being so short there were quite a few inconsistencies in the setting that kept me from taking it seriously.

Besides I always have problems with stories of exaggerated bullying like that. Japan may have a culture of bullying worse than most countries, but this is extortion, theft and bodily injury. It simply breaks my SoD that a six-year old would be expected to deal with that by himself.

[Hanako Fancopter]

Not really sure how I feel about this one. I don't think I dislike it, but I can't say that I particularly enjoyed it either. My lack of interest probably stems from the subject matter. I just don't know if I can get excited about Jigoro as a kid... not the way it was presented here at least. Though it does explain Hideaki a bit, I suppose.

[Oddball]

For those of you who don't know, our next author has a rather unique reputation for a particular style of story handled in a way that's uniquely his own.

It's not going to be up everyone's alley, but for some people it will be very MUCH what they enjoy. To say there's a lot of sex would be an understatement. top say that it's porn without plot wouldn't be doing it justice either (close, but not quite justice.)

We will now look at what I consider the most kosherbacon of all the kosherbacon stories.

Afternoon Astral Projection



And since this one is a bit longer of a story, we'll let it go a bit longer than we usually do.

[PKMNthiefChris]

What did I just read? My brain feels like... my mouth does when I ate something I don't understand the taste of...

[Hanako Fancopter]

O.o

It is interesting to see how much wackier fics were back in the "early days" of this community. To say this one took some liberties would be... an understatement. Enjoyed it though. Definitely enjoyed it. Hard not to love someone that writes Hanako x Rin smut with no shame at all and only goes further from there <.>

[Mirage_GSM]

Well, that escalated quickly...

I think that was one of the first - if not the first - stories by Kosher, and it did a lot to cement his reputation as the most... unique purveyor of H-stories around here.

Personally I'm not the biggest fan of such stories in general, but I've mostly enjoyed those by Kosher, because a) he doesn't delve too deeply into the icky details and b) we always have to be ready for the direction of the story to abruptly go off at a 90° angle from where it was going without warning.

Also, now people might understand where my sig is coming from...

[Oddball]

Well, that escalated quickly...

I think that was one of the first - if not the first - stories by Kosher, and it did a lot to cement his reputation as the most... unique purveyor of H-stories around here.

Personally I'm not the biggest fan of such stories in general, but I've mostly enjoyed those by Kosher, because a) he doesn't delve too deeply into the icky details and b) we always have to be ready for the direction of the story to abruptly go off at a 90° angle from where it was going without warning.

Also, now people might understand where my sig is coming from...

To me Kosher's stories read as almost parodies of smut, and that's where a lot of the fun in them is.

[Craftyatom]

We will now look at what I consider the most kosherbacon of all the kosherbacon stories.

I definitely can't argue with this assessment. That was insane and ridiculous and hilarious the whole way through. It's an enjoyable read, because it's just so unpredictable, yet well-done; you never know what's going to happen next, but you know it's going to make you laugh. Certainly belongs in the archives.

Something that I realized partway through was how this was an interesting reversal: there are plenty of stories out there that forego smut (for various, generally understandable, reasons), and rely on the reader interpolating what, if anything, of significance happens under the covers. This was the opposite: show only the smut, and make readers try to figure out what's going on in the margins. Sure, they all banged, but why? How do they feel about all of this? What drives them? It's easy to disregard this as a crackfic because of the smutty and non-canon elements, but I actually really enjoyed trying to figure out exactly who these characters really were, because they're consistent across the story.

I know, I know, maybe that's a "high-brow" evaluation of a "low-brow" fic, but as someone who enjoys reading and writing (hopefully) high-quality unspeakables, I always love looking into the minutiae of stories like this.

"I'm joining a convent."

[NoticeMeOppai]

Well that was a wild ride! Had me chuckling out loud in a few places there! I agree with Oddball in that it reads more as a parody but it's a lot of fun exactly because it doesn't take itself too seriously.

Also Crafty, that smut reversal theory has got me thinking far too much for this early in the morning. I need another coffee before I even try and digest that.

[ProfAllister]

Birth of a Fighter

I like the idea of this fic, but not how it was executed. Setting aside the creative decisions and factual errors, which are both easily excusable, the issue is that the fic tried to do too much at once. Too many plot points and hooks crammed into the introduction - it short-circuits the brain and makes it difficult to prioritise which issues are important and/or need to be cared about. Had the author continued with another chapter or two, the rocky start could have been somewhat salvaged. As it is, all we have to look at is the rough first chapter, which doesn't have enough to stand on its own.

I'd categorise this one as "not necessarily good, but remarkable enough that it shouldn't be ignored."

Afternoon Astral Projection

The real strength of Kosherbacon's work is that it is completely and totally unapologetic - it maintains eye contact and *dares* you to object that the characters wouldn't act that way. Also important are its (relative) originality and baseline competence - those are missing from many attempted imitators.

Much more can be said about this fic (much, much more), but the rest of the discussion seems to have hit the key points.

[Oddball]

Why is everyone talking about the characters being out of character? It all seems perfectly in character to me.

[Oddball]

Cup and Saucer: A Rika Fan Route by Flopsy.

This time we look at a rather enjoyable Rika story from an author who was only with us for a short period of time before disappearing.

Sadly this means the story isn't finished. Still, I think it's worth a read as the characterization for Rika is quite well done.

[ProfAllister]

Haven't read it yet, but saw mention that it was initially posted to Pastebin. A lil' detective work later, and here you go: https://pastebin.com/u/Flopsy Two more chapters than were posted here.