Yamaku Book Club (20220124 Dish Washing)

[Fardels]

Is it that a Hisao-centric piece would either replicate or contravene the canon? You'd have to change the assumptions for the canon character to avoid that. I'm playing with that now, but not for a Hisao-centric piece. Several of the KS-Of-The-Future pieces give him growth somewhat away from the canon character; it might work something like that. You'd have to come up with an event to explain the change, and you'd have to leave the Beta Hisao with some of the Canon Hisao features.

A "big Hisao" fic might be told from another point of view, but it's not the first thing that comes to mind. There may or may not be one out there, but the possibility for one exists.

[bhtooefr]

What about trying to write Katawa Shoujo 2, as in the April Fool's setup?

That could be argued to be a Hisao fic, possibly.

I've seen (and written) fics set after Hisao's fall, but most of them assume death, or there was that one that did something weird with Misha. But, what if it goes with Katawa Shoujo 2's setup, except Hisao fucks up his chances completely?

[dewelar]

A dedicated "Hisao" fic would, I think, have to focus specifically on Hisao's past, and on the Nakais—and, by design, Hisao doesn't have much of a past. Though I personally dislike it (), Weekend at Hisao's is the closest thing I can think of to such a fic—but, again, I think the sheer presence of Shizune in the story would lead most people to consider it a Shizune fic.

Despite the rather heated discussion () I had with ProfAllister over it, I think Closure falls into a similar place as WaH. However, I think Fardels' idea of a "Hisao's future" fic would work better. It would most likely have to take place after one of the bad/neutral ends (or perhaps begin with the crash-and-burn of one of the good ends?), giving the author at least a base from which to work. It absolutely could not be a BEFF, but would instead take Hisao away from the Yamaku fold, perhaps entirely. It would be a challenge, to be sure, but I can think of a few folks who could meet it if they were so inclined.

As a side note, I'm sure it's not much of a spoiler that Ch.60 of Developments will be exploring a fair amount of (my headcanon of) Hisao's past. Problem is that there's zero chance it'll be out before the end of June.

[Leaty]

Speaking as a writer, I think that, if I wanted to write an honest-to-goodness, original flavor "Hisao fic," I'd need to do one of four things:

A) Puzzle out how Hisao might have some kind of juicy secret that, was, somehow, never reasonably hinted at in any of the routes. I've been trying to think of scenarios that wouldn't be hackneyed or excessively convenient—in the five minutes I've dedicated to contemplating this, I've thought up a failed suicide attempt, a long-dead sibling, or some kind of disgraceful family connection to somebody in something like Aum Shinrikyo.

B) Write a story wholly within the four months Hisao spent in the hospital. Again, though, you'd have to wank out some kind of reason why anything notable from that period was never brought up in the VN.

C) Do something really nasty to Hisao's parents at some point during his time at Yamaku—maybe they die, or decide to get divorced, or one of them goes into rehab, or gets cancer, etc etc.

D) Do something really nasty to Iwanako during his time at Yamaku—maybe even something nigh-unbelievable, like she gets struck by lightning and put in a coma. I'll be honest and admit that this is something I've actually seriously considered, most likely because I have some kind of bizarre compulsion to do terrible things to her. (Don't worry, I'm receiving help.)

So I guess a true blue Hisao fic is possible, but for a lot of reasons just isn't attractive to writers. It reminds me a little of what I heard about the Lord of the Rings fanfiction community back in the early aughties—nobody ever wanted to ship anybody with Gimli.

[brythain]

For those new to the Hisao Big Fic (or 'Hisao Nakai: his life and times') discussion...
I would like to introduce our twin curmudgeon pundits, StatLeaty () and deweldorf WalDewelar ().

Cackling coupled curmudgeons can create conspicuously clever critical commentary concerning crippled coed characters chasing cathartic crisis.

Summary so far:

1. 'Big Hisao Fic' or 'Hisao Big Fic' can?
2. Well, sort of, but tends to be treated as 'Hisao x XYZ' => 'XYZ fic'.
3. Can. But would be pre-Yamaku, and thus might end up as 'Iwanako fic'.
4. Can. But would be post-Yamaku, and thus KS2 or Wasteland/Fallout problem.
5. Can. But would be post-Yamaku and into farther future, maybe without other KS characters.
6. ProfAllister invoked. Whoa, high intensity mano-a-mano debate.
7. Further Developments expected.
8. Do nasty things to Hisao's family, and stuff that most of us wouldn't do. Gimli.

As for the texts covered so far:

Reunion: Hisao and Akira Avoid the Family — by FluffandCrunch
Classroom Game — by Oddball
Observations — by Lost In The Fire
Boundaries — by Silentcook
A Walk In The Park — by Brythain

The remaining reading for 'Hisao Month' is here:

In Which I Have Been Reading Too Much Raymond Chandler — by TheHivemind (it's a four-parter: [1]—[2]—[3]—[4] )
The New Class Rep — by dewelar

I would have liked to include some Hoitash too, but I'm not sure which parts would be Hisao enough. Any suggestions?

[Mahorfeus]

Hm. Has anyone ever addressed Hisao's grandfather in a fanfic? It's a really, really tenuous connection, but IIRC, in Rin's route he mentions that his umbrella once belonged to him, or was given to him by him, etc. I could totally be making that up, though - it's been forever since I've read the routes.

Headcanon: He had the same heart condition as Hisao does and possibly died of it.

[Mirage_GSM]

Hmmm... A truly Hisao-centric Fic...

Of the suggestions so far I think I would go with Fardel's - maybe incorporating something of Leaty's A, C or D.

Set after his time at Yamaku - either after one of the bad ends or after a time at Yamaku devoid of any meaningful relationships - with a female OC without a disability. Could be a colleague or someone who meets him at random. Special case of "female OC without disability" would be Iwanako... Using her has pros and cons.
Con: It's not really original.
Pro: She already knows about his disability so the story could skip a lot of stuff concerning explaining it, which would otherwise be boring for the readers, and go straight to dealing with the fallout.

Then add some other plot hook - the arrhythmia alone would be a bit stale for readers who already know KS. Being set after KS allows for something like that to be included without having to explain why it didn't come up in the VN.

Summary: Interesting thought experiment, but I'd not write it anytime soon.

[dewelar]

So, we have TheHivemind's noir style parody fic. I have a hard time with this, because I am exceedingly more familiar with parodies of the style than I am with the style itself. Going off that minimal knowledge, nothing jumped out at me as being bad, but neither did anything jump out as being particularly good, either. It's competently written. The characters aren't actually themselves, so there's really nothing I can really critique in that regard. It was also unfinished, which irks me , but since TheHivemind never intended to finish it I can make a small allowance for that. However, points off for the lack of Rin .

Overall, I guess my reaction to this is...it's fine for what it is. *shrug*

[Fardels]

Okay, I have read Chandler, and liked him a lot. This parody is pretty good, not as bad as TheHiveMind fears. The one thing it lacks Chandler's analogs:

"Tall, aren't you?" she said.
"I didn't mean to be."
Her eyes rounded. She was puzzled. She was thinking. I could see, even on that short acquaintance, that thinking was always going to be a bother to her.
---The Big Sleep (Chapter 1)

"She smelled the way the Taj Mahal looks by moonlight." ---The Little Sister (Chapter 12)

"I'm an occasional drinker, the kind of guy who goes out for a beer and wakes up in Singapore with a full beard." --"The King in Yellow"

Like Dewelar, I miss Rin. I think a Rin-Phillip Marlowe encounter would be classic, if difficult to do. I'll have to think about that.

[Mirage_GSM]

So, we have TheHivemind's noir style parody fic.

Oh, I completely missed brythain announcing this.
Rereading the thing brings back fond memories and makes me a bit nostalgic when I see all the old forumites who aren't here anymore.

Also it's quite interesting to read it now - post-release - because it foreshadowed quite a few things about the finished novel, like Misha being gay (though not Shizune), the track captain being gay and the existence of the equipment shed.

Contrary to Fardel's opinion the thing does have a few amusing analogues, e.g. "Mostly because I know the threat of her killing me is as empty as the candelabra in her room."

Basically I think it's a tragedy that Hivemind's laptop got stolen as it deprived us of at least one further chapter of this story - though if he decided to continue it now it would probably become the story with the longest hiatus here

[brythain]

So... The Hivemind's Chandler pastiche was interesting, hey?

I found it interesting enough to essay a similar piece, but it wasn't very good at all, so it is nowhere on this site at the moment.

What then of dewelar's awkward little post-Lilly meeting here?

I'm ending Hisao month with the little bits, like the tasty crumbs at the bottom of a bag of chips/crisps.

The discussions we've had on Hisao have raised some interesting points, and hopefully inspired more writing. What's next?

There'll be some 'bridge' readings of the Hisao/Iwanako or other Iwanako-centric minor fiction, and then we'll be ready to take a longer break while we contemplate THE truly great (size and quality and bonuses, all three) Iwanako fic. Old-timers will know which one that is, while newer readers will quickly learn the truth.

[brythain]

The month of July approaches, and with it a change in management of sorts.

Here's what's happened. I always knew there was one BIG Iwanako story around here. That's Leaty's Mean Time to Breakdown (MTtB). As the cliché goes, there's nothing else like it, not even close. This is a Snow White without anything like seven dwarfs, because when I went looking for Iwanako-centered fiction there was precious little available. I've therefore scheduled the last week of June to be reading time for these minor Iwanako tales, with discussion in the first week of July (1-4 July or so).

Thereafter, Leaty herself will be joining the 'management team' to guide us through MTtB. Details on that, and the forthcoming Iwanako Event that she's planning, will emerge later.

For now, here's the list of Iwanako readings from now to the end of the month. I've added the dates of first posting for each story so you can trace her evolution.

1. The Past Catches Up by nimblesquirrel (17 Aug 2009) — this piece is pre-release and ends in a choice (that is never resolved). Early days...
2. Challenge Accepted by atw_ah (14 Jun 2012) — this piece is a kind of spinoff from discussion about Leaty's MTtB.
3. Finality by brythain (16 Oct 2014) — this is from the AtD-verse, set in 2028. There's an alternative minor ending, Slightly Different (20 Jan 2015), for those who are curious—Leaty commented on this, so it was a 'senpai noticed me' moment for me.

Note: NekoDude has Iwanako as a PoV character in parts of his big story. However I'm not quite sure if that qualifies as Iwanako-centered fiction. Similarly, other big fic writers such as dewelar have also included her as part of their larger tapestries.

[dewelar]

Similarly, other big fic writers such as dewelar have also included her as part of their larger tapestries.

That's okay, since nobody seems to want to review my work anyway. Guess they're all a'skeered .

[brythain]

Similarly, other big fic writers such as dewelar have also included her as part of their larger tapestries.

That's okay, since nobody seems to want to review my work anyway. Guess they're all a'skeered .

Heh, I think that they're all tuckered out from contributing to what might be (I think it is, right?) the most-commented thread in the fanfic forum!

[dewelar]

Similarly, other big fic writers such as dewelar have also included her as part of their larger tapestries.

That's okay, since nobody seems to want to review my work anyway. Guess they're all a'skeered .

Heh, I think that they're all tuckered out from contributing to what might be (I think it is, right?) the most-commented thread in the fanfic forum!

It is indeed -- although this very thread is in second place, and will presumably pass it sooner or later.