Katawa Shoujo Forums

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In a world of missing, delinquent, and otherwise dysfunctional parents and parent-substitutes...
In a world scarred by pain and riddled with disability...
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There is one man who will make the difference. For one little girl.
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THE FIREMAN
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Manly feels and loud explosions, in a cinema near you now. Rated PG-13.

I usually don't reply to this thread.. but after seeing that The Fireman was featured I had to chime in. This fic is hands down one of the best I've ever read. It's a short piece, but the amount of emotion that it brings out is out of this world.

I was wondering why I don't remember this story, then I noticed it's not on the forums, so mystery solved.

Well, it's nicely written for the most part. In the beginning a few things are overly dramaticized (fire-resistant trousers but no fire-resistant gloves? rubber gloves?) but nothing that sticks out too much.

The last part is where it comes apart a bit with a lot of things being extremely contrived for maximum tear-jerk impact.

Alright, let it begin!
I'm phyched about all the replies and interest we're getting over the latest story, hopefully we can get some more and different peoples in here to shake things up. We're starting early today because I have to be away for a day or two, but the next book will be chosen no later than the 22nd. Link is up.

That was absolutely fantastic. The first part kinda reminded me of a story about a paramedic who saved Emi in her car crash, but I digress. I'm aware of the pastebin, though I hadn't read this story yet. I can't really think of too much else to say, so I'll leave that to the people who are better at this thing than I am.

I like this piece in a shallow kind of way because it's cinematic. You realise there are flaws in it later, if you're doing a dissection-style review. But it carries you along with the feels while making a little contribution to your head-canon. I don't think I'd have the courage to try this; it's a prequel that works, and then is used to add a coda that ties it back to one possible KS epilogue. Definitely something to aim for in future, once I've enough Scotch in me.

The idea that hit me most was really when the eponymous protagonist essentially lost his working life, and then spent what was left rooting for the person who in some sense took it away from him. What a hero!

This is one of those stories that shows the type of person most of us wish we could be under similar circumstances, but in real life almost none of us would. Of course, it's also one of those ultra-schmaltzy stories that you might see on The Hallmark Channel or ABC Family (so, yeah, cinematic in the broadest sense) that almost none of us would ever watch if given the chance (if the girl in question didn't happen to be Our Hanako, I wouldn't even give it the time of day). So, the reverse of what I've said about several of these stories - works as KS fanfiction, but in any other setting would be utterly cringeworthy.

dewelar wrote:This is one of those stories that shows the type of person most of us wish we could be under similar circumstances, but in real life almost none of us would. Of course, it's also one of those ultra-schmaltzy stories that you might see on The Hallmark Channel or ABC Family (so, yeah, cinematic in the broadest sense) that almost none of us would ever watch if given the chance (if the girl in question didn't happen to be Our Hanako, I wouldn't even give it the time of day). So, the reverse of what I've said about several of these stories - works as KS fanfiction, but in any other setting would be utterly cringeworthy.

Yeah, I agree. To expound a little bit: I think the reason KS works so well is because it's so slice-of-life-esque. There's a story underneath, sure, but it's framed in what seem to be mundane events over a certain period of time — characters say and do things that aren't directly related to the plot sometimes. Rarely, however, is one person's life completely dedicated to another... especially when that other person doesn't even know your name. Just based on the context we're presented with, the Fireman himself is horribly two-dimensional. He exists for no other purpose than to service Hanako's own story. Which would be fine if he was a bit-part in some larger story, but he's the main character.

That being said, the piece is well-written and paced appropriately. Just a different animal than most other works. It's a Lifetime Original Movie™ in fanfiction form, not an Oscar-winning epic.

brythain wrote:I like this piece in a shallow kind of way because it's cinematic. You realise there are flaws in it later, if you're doing a dissection-style review. But it carries you along with the feels while making a little contribution to your head-canon.

That's pretty much my thoughts on it. I read it and fully enjoyed it for what it was and found it very emotional. I was even the one that posted a link to it here from the pastebin to begin with, but once you start looking at it logically, it doesn't hold up as well.

But logic is overrated anyway.

The epilogue hit it for me, damn, I liked the rest of it for what it is, and logically it doesn't really make sense with what happens, but its incredibly well written in my view, and the epilogue is damn feelsy.

Well, I was surprised how good the story was even with the lack of character development from the OC protagonist, Ryuichi Hamada. That tells me the plot worked well enough under the circumstances. Keeping a state of disbelief wasn't too hard, though the story had a couple of head scratching moments (safety protocols, burns through gloves).

As mentioned with comments that have been posted already, the plot feels cinematic (though treading on that Lifetime Original Movie™). Personally, it didn't bother me that much, but I feel that the emotional impact was being subdued the more I started relating the story to Ladder 49 (shudder) and other firefighting films/stories. It didn't help when the author decided to evoke as much emotion as possible throughout, which at times felt forced.

That being said, the author definitely got their point across. The plot was strong enough to keep things together, along with implementing the source material in opportune spots. The Fireman is a good read, though only really worthy reading once, as its flaws become more apparent going over it again.

EDIT:

Oddball wrote:But logic is overrated anyway.

Reminds me of movies in cinemas of where I leave my brain at the door.

I myself wouldn't add that kind of story to my head-canon as it kind of changes one big aspect about Hanako, even if that one is more or less out of her reach and wouldn't conflict with the story in KS. That aspect would be the loneliness of Hanako, the idea that she has lost every closer relative and got no one until she gets to Yamaku. Again, it wouldn't really change anything meaningful I suppose but it's less tragic to imagine that she had that kind of friend/guardian playing Santa and paying high school for her.

And yeh, it's also rather corny as was mentioned multiple times already.

Yet, I still enjoyed the read as the writing is quite good.

To be honest, it started to lose me after the actual fire rescue. The whole Santa Claus thing was a little too saccharine for my tastes. Almost gave me diabeetus. I could easily see the guy checking on her once in a while, but the added tinge of Christmas Miracle just turned it up to eleven. It's not that there aren't altruistic people like that in the world; the presentation just made it seem too much like a Christmas flick, or as others have said, a Lifetime movie. I could easily imagine this sitting on my shelf alongside It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.

That being said, cinematic melodrama has always seemed to be Mehkanik's thing.

To combat the stunning lack of Misha we've got going on in the club, our next fic shall be:

Closure by WetCrate (completed, 29.429 words)
PoV: Hisao/Misha; Pairings: Hisao X Misha; Begins: after Shizune end
Remarks:

Meeting on the 25th, cupcakes.

It's been a while since I've read Closure, so I am up to reading it again. Might catch a few things I didn't notice the first time.