Etymology (Digital Devil Saga, Roland/Argilla, Roland->Greg)

[puella_nerdii]

ROLAND. IF YOU EVER DO THIS AGAIN I WILL KILL YOU.

Well, no, I won't, but I didn't expect this thing to get so -- um, devouring. And it doesn't even have sex in it.

I think I like it, though. I really do.

Also, I wrote something that isn't fuck-all depressing, for once. In this fandom, no less! Yay!

Title: Etymology
Author: puella_nerdii
Rating: PG-13

Comments

[mithrigil]

Worth every word, and not one wasted.

So this is what happens with you take a theme and devour run to the ends of the earth and back with it. I love how the idea of education and learning and congition pervades everything, not just the parallel stories but how Roland perceives, how he processes--I love Overeducated Underclassman Syndrome as the thread it is, all of Roland's literary asides, and how they fall flat not just with Argilla but with humans as well. Crush hopeful idealism under a mountain. The research, the discussion, the thought that's in all of this. It's gorgeous

[puella_nerdii]

Belated reply is belated. Woe.

I blush. And flail. And yes, Roland's literary asides falling flat -- he's always reaching for the familiar, trying to seek stability by clinging to things he think won't change, but literature (or more precisely, its contexts) changes with time until the original meanings get lost or obscured. Roland's education, or at least his Overeducated Underclassman Syndrome, is a defense mechanism as much as the alcohol is, and like the alcohol, it doesn't exactly work.

And yes. YES. You caught that about the essay. *grin* Love it when you grok. Our culture is fucking weird, tries to attach a commercial value to everything and quantify what can't be quantified. The disconnect between us and the natural world is especially jarring in a canon like DDS, when nature (our own, God's) started to fight back. Congratulations, we've pissed off the divine. Can you tell I think about the apocalypse a lot

[daniela_lynx]

I read this one yesterday and I'm still trying to think of a coherent comment that doesn't involve flailing and keysmashing... at all. It's. This one must be the best Roland fic around, if fits so beautifully into the canon. Roland's feelings for Greg, and his Overeducated Underclassman Syndrome struck more than one chord inside of me. The meta here is strong, but the fic in itself, the way it evolves and what it does with the characters (Greg's characterization! I will never be able to imagine him otherwise!) is stronger, and make it into such a complete, powerful work and. Damn, I'm rambling. I love it. Really, really love it. My brother is a fan of DDS too, though he's not into fandom, and I made him read it too. He loved it as well, told me to congratulate you. So here I am!

There was a sentence there that reminded me so much of Delirium. It made me smile, even if it wasn't a reference. Oh, Roland.

[puella_nerdii]

I, um. I am blushing redder than Agni right now. Just so you know.

Thank you so much. Roland's feelings and the Overeducated Underclassman Syndrome -- especially the latter -- are both drawn from a very personal place, and I'm glad they resonate with people who are not me. And I'm glad the meta works with the fic rather than against it.

Greg was fun to write. He is an honorable man, and a principled one, and unwilling to back down from what he thinks is right, and Roland, who sees himself as neither of those things, is fascinated and attracted beyond belief.

And tell your brother thanks for me, and that I'm honored he took the time to read this.

Roland and Del are well-acquainted, I'd imagine. Actually, I imagine Roland has a lot to say to most of the Endless. -- fuck, might have to write that.

[daniela_lynx]

I don't think it's possible to write Roland without meta, really. He's an intellectual, and his behavior makes so much sense when you think of him as such, thrown suddenly in an adventure in which he has to bring his ideals from theory to practice. That's part of the attraction Greg himself does on Roland: Greg is facts incarnate. Perhaps I'm projecting too, but I think he would've make Roland feel real, less than a skinny bookworm living different lives through literature. No facility for poetry, indeed, but when Greg pursues an ideal, he does it wholeheartedly and without hesitation. (That's his strength and his weakness at once, god, the scene in which they almost-but-not-quite discuss Greg's own feelings for Roland was painful).

... He would, and I'd be happy to read that. SO FUCKING HAPPY. I finished The Sandman a couple of months ago. The story is wonderful, and so is its potential for crossovering.