a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
Ah, Tsuzuki was tricky: I started writing him before I liked him. Hisoka was the character I loved, and that happened to entail writing Tsuzuki. But for his own sake I was basically indifferent, dismissive -- in a way, I bought into the surface that Tsuzuki works so hard to maintain (and later this became one of the things I love most about him as a character, how that surface is so good; how he's so totally closed off even though he seems friendly and open and transparently shallow). But Tsuzuki has always written himself more or less, and he's such a great narrator/POV character for me that once I started, I couldn't stop. All I needed was to stumble over the realization that, dude, Tsuzuki is old and I was hooked. It snowballed until he became indispensable to me and I found myself madly in love with a character I hadn't even liked much.
b. One of his/her best traitsHis kindness, which is obvious, yes, but how
( ... )
I do so love your Tsuzuki, particularly that air of time passing (or not) that you always manage to give him. And I'm glad to hear you're writing more YnM!
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
Is it terrible to say I don't quite remember? I saw the anime first, years ago, and Hisoka was the character I liked best -- because young characters who desperately want power they don't have was my basic type at the time -- but YnM as a whole didn't particularly impress me. One of the great loves of my fanish life, and I was all, oh well, might as well sit through this as not. I somehow started reading YnM fic, and I got so tired of reading and then sex solved everything Hisoka/Tsuzuki stories that I couldn't help but write my own version
( ... )
As ever, I am fascinated by how similar our takes on Hisoka are, and how they lead to such different places, in many ways. For what it's worth, I think you have an excellent grasp on the character, even if you feel like you haven't quite got him.
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
Maybe if I'd read the manga first I would have found him more interesting, but the thing is, I've never liked Muraki. I've never been able to feel any sort of sympathy towards him and the choices he's made. I don't buy the justification that a grand ideological war with death drove him to this and that it in any way ameliorates or excuses anything he's done. I think I'd like him a little better if he wasn't a rapist, so there's that. And frankly I think he's simply insane, no longer meaningfully connected to reality and not even terribly rational. He has all these grand elaborate plans, sure, but they don't even really make sense anymore, they're confused and contradictory, garbled, and because he's crazy everything still makes sense. It always makes sense. That's insanity, for you
( ... )
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her
I've been a Han/Luke shipper in a small way for several years, but although I feel a certain tug to write them, it's not a ship that plays well with the events of canon. And then there's the whole way my feelings for Star Wars teeter between reluctant fondness and irritation. But I've always sort of liked Luke. Sure he's canonically whiny, but he's a character with a lot of potential -- dreamy, imaginative, young and inexperienced and incompletely formed but with a combination of openness, intensity and vision that would enable him to become a mystic. I love a character who looks around at the flat expanse of mundane life and refuses to accept it, who's seeking something more, who can see past reality to the limitless imaginative space beyond, who goes through life haunted and driven by this double vision.
And, let's face it, I have a kink for compassionate characters. And heroes. And damn fool idealists.
a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
What I loved about Starsky? He was an original; he has such a distinctive way of looking at things and using language, a certain rhythm, a great deal of creativity and self-confidence. I love how he was capable of letting things just roll off him, how he bounced back, how insightful he could be. I loved the way he moved.
And above all, how he loved Hutch like crazy. I love that he could see Hutch's faults, and get irritated and baffled and disappointed, and still -- on some level that had nothing to do with sex or romance or even friendship -- Hutch was just it for him.
*sigh* S&H is all about the love.
b. One of his/her best traits
Energy and creativity and insightfulness, which I admit are three traits but they're all wrapped up together for me, like they're all facets of a single trait I can't quite put a name to. From another perspective maybe you could call it vitality: Starsky's just so alive and in the flow of things.
And above all, how he loved Hutch like crazy. I love that he could see Hutch's faults, and get irritated and baffled and disappointed, and still -- on some level that had nothing to do with sex or romance or even friendship -- Hutch was just it for him.
I love the way you said that, and I totally agree. It makes S&H the most gen-slanted slash fandom for me because seriously, the romance and sex is just an afterthought to all the other stuff that is going on.
And for Starsky you had the whole macho bullshit, which is always irritating...Awww, but he's so cute with it
( ... )
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a. What initially prompted me to like the character enough to write about him/her.
Ah, Tsuzuki was tricky: I started writing him before I liked him. Hisoka was the character I loved, and that happened to entail writing Tsuzuki. But for his own sake I was basically indifferent, dismissive -- in a way, I bought into the surface that Tsuzuki works so hard to maintain (and later this became one of the things I love most about him as a character, how that surface is so good; how he's so totally closed off even though he seems friendly and open and transparently shallow). But Tsuzuki has always written himself more or less, and he's such a great narrator/POV character for me that once I started, I couldn't stop. All I needed was to stumble over the realization that, dude, Tsuzuki is old and I was hooked. It snowballed until he became indispensable to me and I found myself madly in love with a character I hadn't even liked much.
b. One of his/her best traitsHis kindness, which is obvious, yes, but how ( ... )
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Is it terrible to say I don't quite remember? I saw the anime first, years ago, and Hisoka was the character I liked best -- because young characters who desperately want power they don't have was my basic type at the time -- but YnM as a whole didn't particularly impress me. One of the great loves of my fanish life, and I was all, oh well, might as well sit through this as not. I somehow started reading YnM fic, and I got so tired of reading and then sex solved everything Hisoka/Tsuzuki stories that I couldn't help but write my own version ( ... )
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Maybe if I'd read the manga first I would have found him more interesting, but the thing is, I've never liked Muraki. I've never been able to feel any sort of sympathy towards him and the choices he's made. I don't buy the justification that a grand ideological war with death drove him to this and that it in any way ameliorates or excuses anything he's done. I think I'd like him a little better if he wasn't a rapist, so there's that. And frankly I think he's simply insane, no longer meaningfully connected to reality and not even terribly rational. He has all these grand elaborate plans, sure, but they don't even really make sense anymore, they're confused and contradictory, garbled, and because he's crazy everything still makes sense. It always makes sense. That's insanity, for you ( ... )
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Or Mara, whichever's easier.
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I've been a Han/Luke shipper in a small way for several years, but although I feel a certain tug to write them, it's not a ship that plays well with the events of canon. And then there's the whole way my feelings for Star Wars teeter between reluctant fondness and irritation. But I've always sort of liked Luke. Sure he's canonically whiny, but he's a character with a lot of potential -- dreamy, imaginative, young and inexperienced and incompletely formed but with a combination of openness, intensity and vision that would enable him to become a mystic. I love a character who looks around at the flat expanse of mundane life and refuses to accept it, who's seeking something more, who can see past reality to the limitless imaginative space beyond, who goes through life haunted and driven by this double vision.
And, let's face it, I have a kink for compassionate characters. And heroes. And damn fool idealists.
b. One of his/her best traitsOpenness, ( ... )
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What I loved about Starsky? He was an original; he has such a distinctive way of looking at things and using language, a certain rhythm, a great deal of creativity and self-confidence. I love how he was capable of letting things just roll off him, how he bounced back, how insightful he could be. I loved the way he moved.
And above all, how he loved Hutch like crazy. I love that he could see Hutch's faults, and get irritated and baffled and disappointed, and still -- on some level that had nothing to do with sex or romance or even friendship -- Hutch was just it for him.
*sigh* S&H is all about the love.
b. One of his/her best traits
Energy and creativity and insightfulness, which I admit are three traits but they're all wrapped up together for me, like they're all facets of a single trait I can't quite put a name to. From another perspective maybe you could call it vitality: Starsky's just so alive and in the flow of things.
c. One of his/her ( ... )
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I love the way you said that, and I totally agree. It makes S&H the most gen-slanted slash fandom for me because seriously, the romance and sex is just an afterthought to all the other stuff that is going on.
And for Starsky you had the whole macho bullshit, which is always irritating...Awww, but he's so cute with it ( ... )
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