Discussion thread for "Sharing is Caring" and related R+V works

[DrunkenScotsman]

Opening thread for discussion of DrunkenScotsman's increasingly-AU series of stories (in chronological order):

1) "The Witching Hour"

2) "Moondance"

3) "Study Date"

4) "Cut the Crap, Tsukune!"

5) "Living for Love"

6) "Sharing is Caring"

[Aysha c.c.]

I wanted to expound on the thoughts I was having in my review of chapter 2 of sharing is caring. Here is the review: (This was a short but enjoyable chapter, that made you do a lot of thinking. Mocha's musings makes her sound petty and selfish when you think about what she wants Tsukune to do. She describes the other girls in the Newspaper Club as her friends, yet she wants the man that they all love, to rip out their hearts and stomp them into pulp just because she wants Tsukune to herself; and that's not even taking into account the way Tsukune feels about the other girls. It makes her sound like the embodiment of the green eyed monster known as jealousy, which is ironic considering that she has green eyes.)

Continuing this thought: does Mocha really think the friendships she cherishes can survive the choice that she's trying to force Tsukune into making? I mean she did see what happened between Kurumu's and Mezore's mothers during Parents day; right?

Of course Tsukune has to see what choosing Mocha would do to the other girls, especially the potential harm it could do to Kurumu. does he really love Mocha enough to make a choice that could potentially kill someone that he loves? We saw in this chapter, for the first time he was forced to question the depth of his love for Mocha.

If I were Tsukune I would be forced to ask myself if Mocha really is the person I thought she was.

Like the title says sharing is caring, but selfishness is ugly!

Edited August 4, 2015 by Aysha c.c.

[DrunkenScotsman]

The questions/issues you just posed will be explored in later chapters, at minimum. Great minds think alike.

Also, welcome aboard, Jesusv! Thank you for your kind words in your review. I too am an avid member of the Kurumu Kurono fan-club (I'm just not a fat blob-guy who likes to stalk her and take pictures of her). I earnestly believe that she's the most deserving of the haremettes to have Tsukune's love (assuming he picks only one): she's sweet and kind and badass when she has to be; her personality is "lady on the streets" but as a succubus she's guaranteed to be a "freak in the sheets" - i.e., the best of both worlds.

Edited August 6, 2015 by DrunkenScotsman

[DrunkenScotsman]

Another week, another chapter, another set of reviews!

SpectralTime: Welcome aboard! I'm glad you got the 10 Things reference; I think I'd just rewatched the movie while writing the chapter, and it just seemed to fit. I'm a bit curious, though - what do you mean by "not really the target audience"?

EgoKiller: Welcome back, good sir or madam! I'm sorry to disappoint with the lack of bloodplay, but that's not something I find erotic, nor something I'd be comfortable writing, nor (I think) even remotely fitting the tone of R+V overall or my light and fluffy take on it. I agree - and my beta reader said so as well - that the inner Moka chapter was much stronger than the previous two.

Yukari's earlier solo chapter was repurposed from a chapter for one of the earlier stories, wherein she and outer Moka would actually make out and such; my beta said it felt way too OOC for outer Moka, and I ultimately agreed. Rather than let my work go totally to waste, I decided to recycle it as a masturbatory fantasy for Yukari in this story.

Outer Moka's chapter was something of an experiment: dialogue-free fiction. I wasn't terribly happy with it overall b/c it felt rather... bland. That blandness fit outer Moka in general, I thought, so it wasn't an unmitigated failure, at least. (For more on inner Moka's chapter, see next paragraph.)

Aysha: Thanks again for your kind words and thoughtful feedback. Inner Moka is a lot of fun for me to write, which is especially surprising since I usually can't stand Tsundere characters (I think it's an overused, lazy character archetype in anime). So I decided to pull somewhat from the manga's characterization, which tends more towards "defrosting ice queen"; and, as you pointed out, I wanted to get into her head and try to explore why she's so aloof.

Aristocratic upbringing, vampires' sense of their own superiority, a general lack of social skills, and having been sealed away for several years suggest, to me, that inner Moka doesn't really know who she is or what she wants (aside from Tsukune) or how to be around other people (who aren't vampires) or how to navigate everyday social situations that don't involve kicking people in the face. Some of Kokoa's angst stems from similar issues, minus the rosary. For inner Moka, the addition of the rosary is key: it's like she's been in prison, solitary confinement even; or maybe like those feral children who are occasionally found in the jungles and, when brought into civilization, just have absolutely no idea how to be around people (if old enough, they can barely learn how to talk). Throw in what I see as vampires' inherently violent temperaments, plus her utterly alien feelings of attraction, plus an inherently good nature, and we have an exceedingly potent swirl of conflicting motives and desires for our silver-haired heroine to wrestle with. Since she's also the strongest monster at school (and one of the strongest anywhere), there's also a poetic irony in making inner Moka her own greatest challenge - though I think that's just as true for us "puny humans."

[DrunkenScotsman]

Ego Killer: Glad you were surprised by the Kurumu/Mizore chapter! Inspired by one of the most famous single panels in the manga.

[Aysha c.c.]

In response to your last post to me on this board, I will simply say that you and I see inner Moka in exactly the same way.