LooneyToons
Since: Jan, 2001
02/04/2012 16:28:38
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FanficRecs Comment by Looney Toons
Fun subversion of the self insert fic genre. One of the authors, who was genuinely unfamiliar with the series at the time, wrote the actions of the pseudo-Author Avatar Skyler Sands, while the other wrote the rest of the fic around him. Acting out of true ignorance, Skyler manages to thread his way through the main action while still ranging far afield (such as ending up joining the Shadow Girls' avante-garde theatre group). Skillful execution on the parts of its authors — and ignorant yet Genre Savvy Skyler — make this an entertaining read. Sadly it's (everybody in chorus now) a Dead Fic, abandoned nearly ten years ago. Even so, there's about half a megabyte of inspired work there.
FanficRecs
It's a real shame this was never completed. What is there is a fascinating deconstruction of self-insert fics long before deconstruction was a phenomenon. Inbetween geniunely fun scenes and serious dialogue are truly wonderful references to the very early days of fanfiction writers, and its evident that this was posted to old bulletin boards. There's an overuse of Japanese for no real reason, complete with footnotes to explain the significance of *sama* as an honorific — and I love it. To be fair, the one anime where I'd accept it is Utena, as the show uses language heavily for its storytelling. Fics like this will never be made again, and it's worth reading for the historical factor alone.
As to the fic itself, and not just its meta aspects, is a really interesting fic that I haven't seen explored — that is, a secondary character in the form of an OC. Sadly, the fic stops being updated just as the Utena-tastic analysis and deconstruction of Sands is explored. His friendship with Juri begins in the way one would expect self-inserts to go, but quickly becomes very tangible due to Skyler being a canonical adult with teen hormones. The story ends before the series escalates, so we sadly are robbed of what would be the most challenging and interesting aspects of its premise. Still, I could not stop reading for the few hours I was able to enjoy it.
Lastly, there's this lovely motif of the post-credits teasers and a pre-op "letter" that I just adore. It's incredibly immersive and written just like an anime would do them!
Sadly, this fic will almost certainly never be finished, and the unique quirks and appeals it has will never be replicated. However, if someone were to make a fic inspired by this one, I'd be the first to read it.