I hate misunderstood fics. I mean, I LIKE Nakago-he's cool, ruthless, hot, charismatics and not remotely apologetic about himself and doesn't waste a lot of time whining about his lot-but I don't see him as being remotely misunderstood or redeemable. Watase made it pretty clear that Yui was essentially good, but weaker than Miaka and Nakago basically used her(understandably) thinking she'd been raped to brainwash her. The twins...well, Amiboshi wasn't "bad"(and wasn't portrayed as such) but just on the other side, and Suboshi was the same until his brother was killed. But Nakago? Nakago was never portrayed as someone who was anything but evil and ruthless, and his past wasn't "look, he's not so bad" but "this is why is is what he is." Fangirls want to look at his past and scream "misunderstood woobie!"? Whatever. Go read Basara, where Ageha basically has the exact same story and he turned out a good(if beyond messed up) guy, or just read Genbu Kaiden, Limdo's story is close enough. Just don't try to justify Nakago.
I have no problems with the IDEA of AUs, it's just that so many seem to be an excuse to justify their pairings with the excuse "A/B just won't work here" for it. One thing that stands out is moving historical characters to the present and not changing the ages, like with RK and SDK...as the age difference is unacceptable today, Kenshin/Kaoru and Kyo/Yuya can't happen if they're the same ages, and they can be paired off with whoever(as an aside, Kamijyo actually has some short SDK backups with the characters in HS, but they're all condensed to the same age group)
What you said is pretty much my stance on Hakkai/Gojyo...I'm not closed to the idea because, hey, Gojyo is the most important living person to Hakkai and there's never really been clear indication that Gojyo only likes girls(actually, in one of the mangas, Kazuya Minekura basically said that Gojyo might like the guys as much as the girls and we just don't see it) Like Ageha(sorry to keep bringing him up, but you know me when I get fixated on a character) I don't think Hakkai is really capable of romantic love anymore, but he IS capable of choosing and sticking with one character permanently in another context, and I could see him going along with it if Gojyo wanted to, but I don't see Gojyo ever wanting to. His behavior with Yaone is likely the closest we'll ever see to him "getting better." And please, Kanon came back, Hakkai'd be back with her in a heartbeat and Gojyo would be all for it. And Sanzo/Goku...*shudder* *points to original post*
What set me off were some SDK with Kyo fretting and worrying about Yuya's feelings(isn't it sad when fic in favor of your OTP sets you off?) and W Juliet twincest fics. The secondary OTPs there are tall/short/overprotective guy heaven...LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! And learning about such fic would kill both guys dead right there.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-04-25 03:49 pm (UTC)I hate misunderstood fics. I mean, I LIKE Nakago-he's cool, ruthless, hot, charismatics and not remotely apologetic about himself and doesn't waste a lot of time whining about his lot-but I don't see him as being remotely misunderstood or redeemable. Watase made it pretty clear that Yui was essentially good, but weaker than Miaka and Nakago basically used her(understandably) thinking she'd been raped to brainwash her. The twins...well, Amiboshi wasn't "bad"(and wasn't portrayed as such) but just on the other side, and Suboshi was the same until his brother was killed. But Nakago? Nakago was never portrayed as someone who was anything but evil and ruthless, and his past wasn't "look, he's not so bad" but "this is why is is what he is." Fangirls want to look at his past and scream "misunderstood woobie!"? Whatever. Go read Basara, where Ageha basically has the exact same story and he turned out a good(if beyond messed up) guy, or just read Genbu Kaiden, Limdo's story is close enough. Just don't try to justify Nakago.
I have no problems with the IDEA of AUs, it's just that so many seem to be an excuse to justify their pairings with the excuse "A/B just won't work here" for it. One thing that stands out is moving historical characters to the present and not changing the ages, like with RK and SDK...as the age difference is unacceptable today, Kenshin/Kaoru and Kyo/Yuya can't happen if they're the same ages, and they can be paired off with whoever(as an aside, Kamijyo actually has some short SDK backups with the characters in HS, but they're all condensed to the same age group)
What you said is pretty much my stance on Hakkai/Gojyo...I'm not closed to the idea because, hey, Gojyo is the most important living person to Hakkai and there's never really been clear indication that Gojyo only likes girls(actually, in one of the mangas, Kazuya Minekura basically said that Gojyo might like the guys as much as the girls and we just don't see it) Like Ageha(sorry to keep bringing him up, but you know me when I get fixated on a character) I don't think Hakkai is really capable of romantic love anymore, but he IS capable of choosing and sticking with one character permanently in another context, and I could see him going along with it if Gojyo wanted to, but I don't see Gojyo ever wanting to. His behavior with Yaone is likely the closest we'll ever see to him "getting better." And please, Kanon came back, Hakkai'd be back with her in a heartbeat and Gojyo would be all for it. And Sanzo/Goku...*shudder* *points to original post*
What set me off were some SDK with Kyo fretting and worrying about Yuya's feelings(isn't it sad when fic in favor of your OTP sets you off?) and W Juliet twincest fics. The secondary OTPs there are tall/short/overprotective guy heaven...LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! And learning about such fic would kill both guys dead right there.