I saw this up when I was at work. I was VERY tempted to read it there, but I knew taking time to read it AND leave a comment would be impossible, so I managed to control myself and wait until I got home ^^
I... have mixed feelings about this. I've told you before, it's very hard for me to empathize with Ryo because I can't relate with anything he went through. I do applaud your ability of writing stuff so unbelievable sad without ending up wangsty.
See, somehow, he doesn't sound broken. Because you started this story in the lowest point of Ryo's life (almost the end!) and the previous narrator was Koyama, who didn't like Ryo very much, my image of Ryo was a lot more... awful. But he DOES have decent memories with his stepmom and summertime, and Yamapi and his guitar. And all his memories of Shige seem to be... happy (what he remembers when he looks back, I mean). Characters (and real people too, for that matter) with dark past and a bleak perspective on life are very hard to save. Impossible, even. I pretty much know they are (and I'm not even talking about the friend that actually kill herself). Ryo, I think, can be saved... he was, when he was with Shige. I mean, he said it himself, right? that Shige saved him, but before it sounded like an unbelievable, amazing task... And it is amazing, but Shige saved him because he *could* be saved! There was *something* to saved. It isn't Shige being awesome, it's Ryo being... hopeful. Somehow. It's how I see it, in any case. NOW I believe it when the story says he saved him. It makes sense to me.
Of course, we also know the relationship goes to shit and Ryo will go downhill and there's no healthy way to keep him sane, least of all, *happy*, really. I do wonder, though. Ryo had something he was passionate about, he had *friends* (and a pretty good one in Yamapi), why it was only with Shige that he felt at peace with himself? It's a stupid question because, again, I know people pretty much like him and it doesn't matter that they do have stuff going for them *and* pretty decent friends, they still don't find the way out of their issues, except thanks to very specific people or situations. So yeah, I get it, I just don't understand it. It isn't fair, really. You do everything you can, and it still doesn't help, because you're not "it". No wonder I relate with Yamapi so much in this fic. Sigh.
On a happier note, my favorite part was the way Ryo "rationalized" his meeting with Shige. How it was so easy for him to come to the conclusion that Shige was a non-stranger because they met in a previous life. I don't believe in that stuff, but it makes Ryo's feelings for Shige more understandable, and it's a little bit amusing, too. I liked it a lot ^^
Take your time writing if you're busy. I love reading this, but school and work and real life kinda have to come first. Plus, the anticipation is also the fun part ^^
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I... have mixed feelings about this. I've told you before, it's very hard for me to empathize with Ryo because I can't relate with anything he went through. I do applaud your ability of writing stuff so unbelievable sad without ending up wangsty.
See, somehow, he doesn't sound broken. Because you started this story in the lowest point of Ryo's life (almost the end!) and the previous narrator was Koyama, who didn't like Ryo very much, my image of Ryo was a lot more... awful. But he DOES have decent memories with his stepmom and summertime, and Yamapi and his guitar. And all his memories of Shige seem to be... happy (what he remembers when he looks back, I mean). Characters (and real people too, for that matter) with dark past and a bleak perspective on life are very hard to save. Impossible, even. I pretty much know they are (and I'm not even talking about the friend that actually kill herself). Ryo, I think, can be saved... he was, when he was with Shige. I mean, he said it himself, right? that Shige saved him, but before it sounded like an unbelievable, amazing task... And it is amazing, but Shige saved him because he *could* be saved! There was *something* to saved. It isn't Shige being awesome, it's Ryo being... hopeful. Somehow. It's how I see it, in any case. NOW I believe it when the story says he saved him. It makes sense to me.
Of course, we also know the relationship goes to shit and Ryo will go downhill and there's no healthy way to keep him sane, least of all, *happy*, really. I do wonder, though. Ryo had something he was passionate about, he had *friends* (and a pretty good one in Yamapi), why it was only with Shige that he felt at peace with himself? It's a stupid question because, again, I know people pretty much like him and it doesn't matter that they do have stuff going for them *and* pretty decent friends, they still don't find the way out of their issues, except thanks to very specific people or situations. So yeah, I get it, I just don't understand it. It isn't fair, really. You do everything you can, and it still doesn't help, because you're not "it". No wonder I relate with Yamapi so much in this fic. Sigh.
On a happier note, my favorite part was the way Ryo "rationalized" his meeting with Shige. How it was so easy for him to come to the conclusion that Shige was a non-stranger because they met in a previous life. I don't believe in that stuff, but it makes Ryo's feelings for Shige more understandable, and it's a little bit amusing, too. I liked it a lot ^^
Take your time writing if you're busy. I love reading this, but school and work and real life kinda have to come first. Plus, the anticipation is also the fun part ^^