Yamaku Book Club (20220124 Dish Washing)

[Mirage_GSM]

Still haven't found that discussion on how unrealistic a Hisao X Meiko pairing would be, and I'm starting to think I might have imagined it^^°

While searching I came across the old "Limits of Fanfiction" thread... Ah... good old times

[brythain]

My conclusion after reading all the things people have to say about Nurse and Meiko is that they're like a dash of spice on the dish that is KS. If that's the case, Rin Tezuka is like the odd but substantial ingredient that some people just can't identify, but which gives the dish a distinctive character.

By the end of this week, we'll have Rin readings up. Anyone who has a favourite Rin reading is welcome to tell me about it by PM. If the piece has already been served on the Book Club menu, we can always think about how else to dress it up.

Edit: Sorry to have extended my own deadline. Will be up by 31 May. Personal trials and tribulations.

[Sadako]

My conclusion after reading all the things people have to say about Nurse and Meiko is that they're like a dash of spice on the dish that is KS. If that's the case, Rin Tezuka is like the odd but substantial ingredient that some people just can't identify, but which gives the dish a distinctive character.

Rin is Umami.

[brythain]

The next discussion should be up soon, apologies again for delays. Real life etc...

Rin Tezuka: I Have No Arms To Hug You With

That said, I have a scheduling idea that would be much improved by feedback. I would like to do Muphrid's 'Direction', an interesting and longish (c. 50k words) Rin epilogue, and/or perhaps a couple of shorter Rin pieces that haven't been discussed. This will last till about end-June, after which with summer well under way, I'm thinking of looking at some of Hoitash's fascinating ensemble pieces (Summer Specials, anyone?) — with Hoitash himself as guest co-chair.

[Hoitash]

I'm thinking of looking at some of Hoitash's fascinating ensemble pieces (Summer Specials, anyone?) — with Hoitash himself as guest co-chair.

Along with my own guest co-chair, whatever bottle of alcohol I happen to have handy. Er...

Um... yeah sorry Rin fans, I got nothing to come back from that. I will say Rin fics are few and far between, but then again she's such a tricky character to write it's not surprising (hell even I only wrote her once.)

[brythain]

The new round of discussion at your friendly neighbourhood Yamaku Book Club is...

Rin Tezuka: I Have No Arms To Hug You With

We'll begin with reading Muphrid's Direction (completed 08 Feb 2013).

It runs to about 18 chapters and 50k words, so that's at least a week's reading. We can start discussion at any time, though!

A few weeks after that, we'll be looking at (much) shorter Rin pieces until we're into July and the Summer Specials.

Enjoy!

[brythain]

Anyone out there with comments on Muphrid's masterpiece of Rin?

[kaserkin]

Anyone out there with comments on Muphrid's masterpiece of Rin?

I've read it a while a go, but I don't really know what to say about it, to be honest (this happens a lot lately, huh?). It's very well-written, and I love its own little university microcosm and some of the OCs, but I have very conflicting feeling about this. Maybe it's the physics.

Maybe it's because the concept of stories set after Rin's neutral (or second bad, but I strive to be an optimist) ending in which Hisao and Rin end up together in the end always feels strange. I think is the one of the best endings in the game, and certainly the saddest (Shizune's bad is also very sad, but I prefer Rin so hers touched me the most). There is some finality in it, but you have the hope that maybe one day Hisao and Rin will meet again and try to patch up their relationship, but I don't really want it to happen. Is it sadism to enjoy the bittersweet ending and wanting to leave it like it is, even if the bitter drowns the sweet?
I think that if they meet up again, it should be an acknowledgement that both failed to understand each other and deepen their relationship when it could have happened, and that they have gotten over it, with the possible start of a new, healthier friendship being the main point of their reunion, with no romance involved. This happens in the story, but Hisao was still held down by what could have happened, which probably hindered his attempts to start new relationships in the years before reuniting with Rin.

Maybe I'm just weird, since I generally enjoy stories of Hisao returning with the other girls after a bad end.

[WillDfly]

First of all: great story, well written (even if some parts require polishing), loved the setup. Rin's my favourite character of the bunch, right there with Mutou. I'm just a sucker for her personality, bouts of philosophy and her non-apologetic attitude towards the world. Also, on my first time, I did pick the option for the neutral ending (but quickly loaded back when I realized what Hisao was saying), so I'm really glad to see one of those futures work out.
I noticed quite early something about her, and it frustrated me to no end that Hisao didn't: that Rin didn't require a different attitude, or understanding, but a paradigm shift. What he learned from birth was not going to work for this truly unique girl. The word gets tossed around a lot, but he never seems to realize that a unique problem requires a unique point of view. As the physicist he is in this fic, Hisao should know: no single theory works for everything, and sometimes tweaking it won't do. As when Pythagorean mechanics didn't work with planets, and Newtonian took over, only to give way to General Relativity, which goes side by side AND directly against Quantum Theory, so he couldn't use his usual rules for her unusual interactions.
His attitude on the studio, answering each question immediately as asked and getting offended by a intimacy breach, were, as he describes, "...as reasonable as I can be", to which I caught myself almost shouting at the screen "THAT'S NOT THE FUCKING POINT!!" what's reasonable in quantum mechanics is complete bogus on any other perspective, as it should. On the other hand (or lack thereof), the moments that captivated her were the ones where he stumbled on the right actions: stopping dead in the middle of an overwhelming conversation, almost slapping her brush away and manhandling her. Those border the socially unacceptable, but were proper ones for the occasion. He reaches a beautiful equilibrium on their intimate moments, making sure she's alright (as he should), but ignoring what's reasonable in deference to what's right for her/them.
My two cents on the rotten orange: she couldn't look at/eat oranges the same after the special moment they shared, hence it being discolored and abandoned.

[brythain]

Thanks for the comments and PMs so far. I've been reading the previous discussions on Rin material (see below). It's interesting to see what people make of Rin, both as writers and readers.

2014-03-12 When Hisao was Rin by Oddball (completed 21 Feb 2013)
2014-05-09 After The Dream (Rin's Story) by brythain (completed 05 Apr 2014)
2015-03-20 Rin: Hisao's Gift by cosmicmustache (completed 17 Sep 2013)

Here's the promised list of short Rin readings of interest.

Tripping by Mirage_GSM (ongoing, last update 2013, author still very active)
(I want to reserve this for its own slot, actually, because it is unique and not all about Rin )
Me, My Yoke, and I by Scissorlips (completed 26 July 2012)
Heat by Ozymil (completed 27 Jun 2014)
Interesting Work by brythain (completed 13 Mar 2015)
Rin's Dream by Observer (completed 15 Apr 2015)

I like Tripping a lot, I have to say, but I do think it deserves proper discussion for its structure as well as its content. Perhaps we can reserve it for its own discussion, and yet at least the prologue deserves some mention here. Scissorlips' Rin piece is interesting because S is best known for the Suzu pseudo-route, and yet, here's Rin in her own little thread. The rest are very short pieces. Enjoy yourselves, and comments are always welcome here, as well as close readings, expressions of outrage, and whatnot!

[Mirage_GSM]

Here's the promised list of short Rin readings of interest.

Tripping by Mirage_GSM (ongoing, last update 2013, author still very active)
(I want to reserve this for its own slot, actually, because it is unique and not all about Rin )
...

Well, then let's keep it to the prologue for this discussion. It was originally written to stand on its own and it is very much about Rin.

[WillDfly]

I'm new to this, so I want to read some other comments before analyzing the short stories, (also got entangled in some Mutou threads, gotta check if the Book Club did something on him too), but I wanted to comment on the diversity of Rins. Everything about her being so unique and untranslatable, each attempt comes out different, like facets on a crystal or blind men describing an elephant, or a crystal elephant describing the facets of blind men. Something like that.
The comments on these have both flattery and rejection (in many levels) at the author's way of writing Rin. Maybe it's the medium. Words not being her natural way of expressing, might be unnatural to try and put her into them, any attempt merely an account of an impression of Rin, even if they're all very nice. Mirage wrote it very well: "Every painting has as many names as there are people looking at it." Every story has as many Rins as there are people reading it, and perhaps that's Rin at her Rinnest. Or not. I might have immersed myself too much into this, i kept forgetting words mid sentence or going back on my points. Still loving every moment of it.
Here in Brazil there's a song, heavily quoted/sung by artist-types and misfits, that roughly translates into "I'd rather be this walking metamorphosis/ Than having that same old opinion set about everything/ About what love is/ About what I don't even know who I am". It's somewhat fitting.

[brythain]

... like facets on a crystal or blind men describing an elephant, or a crystal elephant describing the facets of blind men.

Are you really new to this? It sounds like something Rin would paint.

[Oddball]

Tripping is a fun story. ... or are we supposed to wait until later to talk about that one?

Direction is certainly a lot bleaker than your average Rin story, which I feel fits the mood of her route well. The side characters are mostly well used, but I remember one of the characters subplots seeming to wrap up too neatly and a few of the cast sort of blended together in my mind.

[brythain]

Tripping is a fun story. ... or are we supposed to wait until later to talk about that one?

We can start with the prologue. Mirage_GSM has blessed us.