My recommendation: WORTH READING. But: 1) The art can be off putting at the beginning, then Art Evolution kicks in, 2) This level of meta is not for everybody, 3) Dramedy.
OK now that this is done. Let's begin at the beginning. This will be a highly personal Wall Of Text anyway.
I found the Building-verse through TV Tropes (yes, it ruined my life), or to be precise Girls Next Door, but I was "lucky" enough to stumble upon it in a period of Series Hiatus (after the Risk game arc, if someone's wondering)... and I run out of pages and patience quickly. So I began reading the related series: First Down The Street and then (what I really want to write about) Roommates.
Quite frankly I didn't like it that much first... when you come from the hilarity that is GND, Roommates isn't that funny or pretty or or or. I really can understand why most people prefer that. But there was still something about it that spoke to me. I just couldn't place what... until the Dark!Jareth arc°. There I finally got what I found so irresistible. The Meta. There are not many (or at least I don't know many) pieces of fiction that deal with the inherent tragedy of fictionality, and what a terrible curse Medium Awareness can be, in the serious, respectful and poignant manner Roommates does in it's darker arcs. And also with the power of fandom / audience / us... as no art exists in a vacuum.
Stories are living words and can only survive if remembered... being forgotten°° means death. So being a fan is a responsibility we keep the stories and characters alive. Welcome to the Building-verse!°°°
How did I end up here...
My recommendation: WORTH READING. But:
1) The art can be off putting at the beginning, then Art Evolution kicks in,
2) This level of meta is not for everybody,
3) Dramedy.
OK now that this is done. Let's begin at the beginning. This will be a highly personal Wall Of Text anyway.
I found the Building-verse through TV Tropes (yes, it ruined my life), or to be precise Girls Next Door, but I was "lucky" enough to stumble upon it in a period of Series Hiatus (after the Risk game arc, if someone's wondering)... and I run out of pages and patience quickly. So I began reading the related series: First Down The Street and then (what I really want to write about) Roommates.
Quite frankly I didn't like it that much first... when you come from the hilarity that is GND, Roommates isn't that funny or pretty or or or. I really can understand why most people prefer that. But there was still something about it that spoke to me. I just couldn't place what... until the Dark!Jareth arc°. There I finally got what I found so irresistible. The Meta. There are not many (or at least I don't know many) pieces of fiction that deal with the inherent tragedy of fictionality, and what a terrible curse Medium Awareness can be, in the serious, respectful and poignant manner Roommates does in it's darker arcs. And also with the power of fandom / audience / us... as no art exists in a vacuum.
Stories are living words and can only survive if remembered... being forgotten°° means death. So being a fan is a responsibility we keep the stories and characters alive. Welcome to the Building-verse!°°°
° to be honest I did develop an insane fangirl crush on the Erlkönig a "bit" earlier, but that probably isn't on topic here.
°° Or becoming a "classic" that nobody reads/watches/etc. so poor works whole existence is reduced to bragging material of snobs for why they look down on popculture and/or to being dissected and analyzed by the academia again and again and again.
°°° And sorry for the Footnote Fever... and the Pot Holes! And now I feel like writing fanfic!