Courses, writing, etc.
Jul. 10th, 2006 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirDeWolfe Apts., on the Feast of Stes. Rufina and Secunda
The course catalog for the upcoming school year is finally out!![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
schwimmerin and I have spent the past two hours poring over the document, laughing over course titles and descriptions and trying to plan out our senior year. Alas, there is not enough time to take all the courses we want, and more than ever, new courses galore are being offered in upcoming years.
It's kind of bizarre how thoroughly the course catalog has elevated my mood. I was feeling irritable all last week, but my mood abruptly swung to downright bubbly as soon as I started looking through the new courses. My main source of excitement comes from the fact that there is a new Moral Reasoning course on Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Philosophy. I've dreaded the Moral Reasoning Core so much and postponed fulfilling the requirement until now...and the wait was worth it! My chief complaint with the selection was that all the Moral Reasoning courses dealt with Western philosophy, but I must not have been the only one because two new courses focusing on Chinese moral philosophy have been created. (The second one is in the spring and deals with Confucian humanism.) Yes! Moral Reasoning need not be a painful trial anymore, but something to be anticipated.
I'm also excited about Microbial Evolution, which is being taught by a new professor who used to work in Richard Lenski's lab. (Lenski does brilliant work with experimental evolution in E. coli; some of the CGR post-docs referred to one of his recent publications as one of the most beautiful papers they've ever read. I have to agree; I summarized the paper here way back in 2004). I didn't think I'd want to take another OEB course after Molecular Ecology and Evolution but I'm definitely going to take this one.
Expect a list of hilarious course titles and descriptions once I get a paper copy of the catalog in the fall.
I was looking through my files of unfinished fic snippets, of which there were more than I expected, not counting the ones I've partially posted on this journal, and came across this Tenipuri fic. I can't decide whether it's finished or not; I certainly can't think of what more to write even though it seems unresolved. What do you think?
Genius
In his third year of high school, they stopped calling him a genius. No one else noticed the change, but he felt it like a knife. At tournaments, as he eavesdropped on the whispers around him, they said, "That's Fuji Shuusuke--", an unconscious pause replacing what had once followed so naturally, as if it were part of his name: "the tennis genius". But his title had passed onto other shoulders. Now he was only "Seigaku's Fuji" or once, in a laughably ironic moment, "Fuji Yuuta's older brother." He had smiled until it felt as if his face had frozen.
He didn't know when the change began, only the point when he first noticed it. In the final ranking tournaments of second year, he had played carelessly against a teammate, blithely watching the balls pass by within arm's reach until to his surprise he heard the referee call out the score: 4-4. He frowned for one startled moment, a quick motion at the corner of his mouth, and changed his racket. He had never lost control of a match before. He won, 6-4, but he paused to look more closely at the student who had upset his balance so badly. The face was still unfamiliar--a student who had entered the Seigaku school system from a different middle school and had never played competitive tennis before joining the club. Fuji vaguely recalled his solid but unexciting tennis in first year and wondered when the improvement had occurred.
"Senpai? Something wrong?" Momoshiro asked nervously. Fuji blinked and plucked the strings of his racket. He smiled.
"No, nothing."
He had kept his spot among the regulars--of course--but something had shifted. The captain set him to practicing doubles, which bored him. The serves, the returns, the coordination of movement--he executed each formation flawlessly and effortlessly and watched in amusement when his partner faltered. Later, in private, Tezuka reprimanded him, "You do your part and nothing more. Doubles is about cooperation; your strengths should make up for your partner's weaknesses."
"Yes, /fukubuchou/," he replied demurely.
Third year began, and Fuji played Kikumaru in the first ranking tournament of the new season. Kikumaru was in fine form, as flexible at eighteen as he was at fourteen, and Fuji found himself focusing on the game, his feet moving faster, his returns growing sharper. He ended the games quickly in a combination of perfectly executed counters, and Kikumaru pouted as they shook hands at the end the game. "That was mean, Fuji," he complained and stuck out his tongue. "You didn't need to /crush/ me."
Fuji's smile grew thin. "Just keeping you on your toes."
Inui scribbled furiously in his notebook. Oishi looked at both of them worriedly and opened his mouth to speak, but Fuji turned away quickly and began putting his rackets back into his bag. Echizen, on the other hand, left the crowd of open-mouthed freshmen watching from the sidelines, and asked him, with his usual lack of tact, "Fuji-senpai, since when did you start playing everyone so seriously?"
Fuji gave him his broadest smile. "Echizen-kun, I always play seriously. Didn't you know?"
"Not in middle school--"
He interrupted smoothly, "But we're in high school. It's been three years, Echizen-kun. People change."
Echizen's eyes narrowed at that, and he studied Fuji carefully, as if assessing a new opponent. Practice ended, but the words still echoed strangely in Fuji's mind. "People change. People /change/. Change."
He played doubles in the first round of the districts tournament that year. They lost, despite Fuji's late attempt to concentrate on the game. Tezuka stared at him grimly, as they left the court, but didn't say a word. Fuji forgot to smile during the next set of doubles. Seigaku won the round after all, in spite of everything, and advanced. The next round, the coach announced the lineup--"Second singles, Fuji Shuusuke"--and before his match began, Tezuka came up to him, and in an uncharacteristic gesture, grasped his arm. "Fuji," he began, his voice oddly hesitant. The grip tightened. "Don't--"
"What is it?" He slid his arm out of Tezuka's grip.
Tezuka studied him, his eyes unreadable behind the lenses. He seemed to sigh, though there was no sound or movement, just a subtle change in the tension of his face. He stepped back and said distantly, "Do your best."
Fuji crushed his opponent. 6-0. The spectators forgot to clap or cheer at his victory. As he passed by the sidelines, on his way back to the stands, he heard someone ask, "Who was /that/?"
Another voice answered, "Oh, that's Seigaku's Fuji Shuusuke. Haven't you heard of him?"
"Familiar name. Seigaku's always a powerhouse. Didn't they make it to the Nationals once?"
"You're thinking of the middle school. Although I hear that the current high school team has many of the same members on that star team three years ago."
"The likes of us aren't any competition for them, I'll bet. That was a frightening game--does he always play hard like that?"
"Fuji?" A pause. "It's odd; his style's changed. He usually makes his games look so effortless. They called him--they used to call him--"
He hurried back before he could hear the end of the conversation.
END
team7 linked to this...manifesto? by djseverus_snape on Why Gen is Better, to which I have no particular reaction except that most of my fanfic can't qualify as anything except gen, and unfortunately, they don't really have rich plots or thoughtful explorations of canon. I suppose I lose all gen credentials then. ^_^
But more seriously, I guess the OP's perspective is interesting to me because I find it really difficult to write 'ship fic, even for pairings I adore. (The only pairing where I don't feel such discomfort is Akira/Hikaru.) On the other hand, I can see why it's more difficult to find the motivation to write gen fics, particularly those of any length, since so much of fandom is focused around character relationships rather than situations or even ideas. I do admire those writers who are able to write idea-centric fanfic (quite a few of you fall in that category) though.
Yours &c.
The course catalog for the upcoming school year is finally out!
schwimmerin and I have spent the past two hours poring over the document, laughing over course titles and descriptions and trying to plan out our senior year. Alas, there is not enough time to take all the courses we want, and more than ever, new courses galore are being offered in upcoming years.It's kind of bizarre how thoroughly the course catalog has elevated my mood. I was feeling irritable all last week, but my mood abruptly swung to downright bubbly as soon as I started looking through the new courses. My main source of excitement comes from the fact that there is a new Moral Reasoning course on Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Philosophy. I've dreaded the Moral Reasoning Core so much and postponed fulfilling the requirement until now...and the wait was worth it! My chief complaint with the selection was that all the Moral Reasoning courses dealt with Western philosophy, but I must not have been the only one because two new courses focusing on Chinese moral philosophy have been created. (The second one is in the spring and deals with Confucian humanism.) Yes! Moral Reasoning need not be a painful trial anymore, but something to be anticipated.
I'm also excited about Microbial Evolution, which is being taught by a new professor who used to work in Richard Lenski's lab. (Lenski does brilliant work with experimental evolution in E. coli; some of the CGR post-docs referred to one of his recent publications as one of the most beautiful papers they've ever read. I have to agree; I summarized the paper here way back in 2004). I didn't think I'd want to take another OEB course after Molecular Ecology and Evolution but I'm definitely going to take this one.
Expect a list of hilarious course titles and descriptions once I get a paper copy of the catalog in the fall.
I was looking through my files of unfinished fic snippets, of which there were more than I expected, not counting the ones I've partially posted on this journal, and came across this Tenipuri fic. I can't decide whether it's finished or not; I certainly can't think of what more to write even though it seems unresolved. What do you think?
Genius
In his third year of high school, they stopped calling him a genius. No one else noticed the change, but he felt it like a knife. At tournaments, as he eavesdropped on the whispers around him, they said, "That's Fuji Shuusuke--", an unconscious pause replacing what had once followed so naturally, as if it were part of his name: "the tennis genius". But his title had passed onto other shoulders. Now he was only "Seigaku's Fuji" or once, in a laughably ironic moment, "Fuji Yuuta's older brother." He had smiled until it felt as if his face had frozen.
He didn't know when the change began, only the point when he first noticed it. In the final ranking tournaments of second year, he had played carelessly against a teammate, blithely watching the balls pass by within arm's reach until to his surprise he heard the referee call out the score: 4-4. He frowned for one startled moment, a quick motion at the corner of his mouth, and changed his racket. He had never lost control of a match before. He won, 6-4, but he paused to look more closely at the student who had upset his balance so badly. The face was still unfamiliar--a student who had entered the Seigaku school system from a different middle school and had never played competitive tennis before joining the club. Fuji vaguely recalled his solid but unexciting tennis in first year and wondered when the improvement had occurred.
"Senpai? Something wrong?" Momoshiro asked nervously. Fuji blinked and plucked the strings of his racket. He smiled.
"No, nothing."
He had kept his spot among the regulars--of course--but something had shifted. The captain set him to practicing doubles, which bored him. The serves, the returns, the coordination of movement--he executed each formation flawlessly and effortlessly and watched in amusement when his partner faltered. Later, in private, Tezuka reprimanded him, "You do your part and nothing more. Doubles is about cooperation; your strengths should make up for your partner's weaknesses."
"Yes, /fukubuchou/," he replied demurely.
Third year began, and Fuji played Kikumaru in the first ranking tournament of the new season. Kikumaru was in fine form, as flexible at eighteen as he was at fourteen, and Fuji found himself focusing on the game, his feet moving faster, his returns growing sharper. He ended the games quickly in a combination of perfectly executed counters, and Kikumaru pouted as they shook hands at the end the game. "That was mean, Fuji," he complained and stuck out his tongue. "You didn't need to /crush/ me."
Fuji's smile grew thin. "Just keeping you on your toes."
Inui scribbled furiously in his notebook. Oishi looked at both of them worriedly and opened his mouth to speak, but Fuji turned away quickly and began putting his rackets back into his bag. Echizen, on the other hand, left the crowd of open-mouthed freshmen watching from the sidelines, and asked him, with his usual lack of tact, "Fuji-senpai, since when did you start playing everyone so seriously?"
Fuji gave him his broadest smile. "Echizen-kun, I always play seriously. Didn't you know?"
"Not in middle school--"
He interrupted smoothly, "But we're in high school. It's been three years, Echizen-kun. People change."
Echizen's eyes narrowed at that, and he studied Fuji carefully, as if assessing a new opponent. Practice ended, but the words still echoed strangely in Fuji's mind. "People change. People /change/. Change."
He played doubles in the first round of the districts tournament that year. They lost, despite Fuji's late attempt to concentrate on the game. Tezuka stared at him grimly, as they left the court, but didn't say a word. Fuji forgot to smile during the next set of doubles. Seigaku won the round after all, in spite of everything, and advanced. The next round, the coach announced the lineup--"Second singles, Fuji Shuusuke"--and before his match began, Tezuka came up to him, and in an uncharacteristic gesture, grasped his arm. "Fuji," he began, his voice oddly hesitant. The grip tightened. "Don't--"
"What is it?" He slid his arm out of Tezuka's grip.
Tezuka studied him, his eyes unreadable behind the lenses. He seemed to sigh, though there was no sound or movement, just a subtle change in the tension of his face. He stepped back and said distantly, "Do your best."
Fuji crushed his opponent. 6-0. The spectators forgot to clap or cheer at his victory. As he passed by the sidelines, on his way back to the stands, he heard someone ask, "Who was /that/?"
Another voice answered, "Oh, that's Seigaku's Fuji Shuusuke. Haven't you heard of him?"
"Familiar name. Seigaku's always a powerhouse. Didn't they make it to the Nationals once?"
"You're thinking of the middle school. Although I hear that the current high school team has many of the same members on that star team three years ago."
"The likes of us aren't any competition for them, I'll bet. That was a frightening game--does he always play hard like that?"
"Fuji?" A pause. "It's odd; his style's changed. He usually makes his games look so effortless. They called him--they used to call him--"
He hurried back before he could hear the end of the conversation.
END
team7 linked to this...manifesto? by djseverus_snape on Why Gen is Better, to which I have no particular reaction except that most of my fanfic can't qualify as anything except gen, and unfortunately, they don't really have rich plots or thoughtful explorations of canon. I suppose I lose all gen credentials then. ^_^But more seriously, I guess the OP's perspective is interesting to me because I find it really difficult to write 'ship fic, even for pairings I adore. (The only pairing where I don't feel such discomfort is Akira/Hikaru.) On the other hand, I can see why it's more difficult to find the motivation to write gen fics, particularly those of any length, since so much of fandom is focused around character relationships rather than situations or even ideas. I do admire those writers who are able to write idea-centric fanfic (quite a few of you fall in that category) though.
Yours &c.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:35 am (UTC)from Godto bring Confucianism to the West as something you can use like other philosophies. I was favorably impressed by the latter, but that was only over a day, so....(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 02:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 02:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 03:44 am (UTC)I mean, I don't want to go as an elitist, but the characterization lately has gone to hell, but your Fuji looks perfect to me. He keeps part of what makes him Fuji but he has changed, and that's just right, because it's true that people change, and I think the way you made him change is good and Fuji-ish. I know I don't make sense, sorry, but I had to congratulate you, anyway ^_^
I think it's good enough to be finished there. Although if you decided to continue I'd definitely keep reading :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 05:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 04:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 06:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 06:38 am (UTC)they don't really have rich plots or thoughtful explorations of canon
What about the Swords AU? That was a decently complicated plot. Anyway what I love about your genfics is that they're beautifully written, thoughtful explorations of fanon. Your take on the characters is never the same as anyone else's, but it always works wrt canon. If you weren't thinking, you'd use someone else's characterizations.
Isn't this an idea fic? The idea is that Fuji got lazy, and fell behind. Even natural genius has to be maintained somehow. Before, Fuji didn't care because he can afford not to, and now that he can't afford it, he does care. This really reminded me of coming to college, and being shaken up by how much harder it was. If you took that feeling, and applied to Fuji, you're definitely thinking pretty deeply (is all I'm saying).
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 06:11 pm (UTC)I guess I always consider the Swords AU to be an anomaly--not in terms of writing style necessarily but because it's long and plot-driven, which definitely doesn't apply to the bulk of my writing. I'm still not sure how I managed it, which may be why I still can't write the sequel, nearly a year later. Heh.
This really reminded me of coming to college, and being shaken up by how much harder it was.
That's exactly what I was going for. XD I guess this fic is an idea fic in that respect. I think idea fics are something I aspire to write but I often have trouble coming up with ideas that can actually propel a fic rather than an essay. Actually, one of the things I admire about your writing (both fiction and blogging) is that it's driven by so many interesting ideas. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 01:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 06:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-11 04:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 06:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 08:09 pm (UTC)But I feel like I would if I had read it.
Unless you didn't show it to me.
But if you find an email or LJ comment that I did, then feel free to beat me up!
^__^
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-12 08:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-13 03:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-18 01:22 pm (UTC)I just had to comment because I really liked the way you write Fuji, the way he loses his edge, and the way he seems unable to stop it, and the way he becomes almost ordinary as the time goes by. It's a very settled form of narration that you have, and it just adds to the friction of Fuji finding out that he has changed inspite of himself, and the world has changed too. You are wonderfully multi-talented!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-19 12:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-19 02:41 am (UTC)I think you could keep it how it is, but leave the "TBC?/END?/
HELP?" because it made me laugh. XDI have nothing constructive to say, really. But the point about gen; I don't know if gen pwns 'ship fic overall, but I know I am in some ways more comfortable liking gen fics than 'ship fic because, often, I know I like the fic for the pairing more than any brilliance in the writing—it presses my buttons, but that's sort of like cheating, and it can taint my enjoyment of other fics of that pairing, or any pairing I happen to like. Well not so much, but I'm still aware of it, and kind of suspicious.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-19 01:35 pm (UTC)I like gen and 'ship fic pretty much equally, but yes, I'm often more willing to read bad 'ship fic if it's for a pairing I like.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-25 05:16 pm (UTC)Anyhow, thanks for making me take a double look at PoT. :)
And yes, I agree. Most fanfiction of PoT seems wildly out of character (not just Fuji). So I'm very glad that you made this Fuji... connected, I guess would be a word, with the Fuji I've been reading in the manga. I think it's fine left as is, but if you would like to write more... I'm not sure I could suggest a brilliant no. 3, but no. 4? No. 4--Something happens to Fuji that makes him take a relook at tennis--instead of letting it pass him by most of the time, to re-immerse himself in tennis, for better or for worse.
I don't think it's because he's moved onto high school (or any sort of allusion to college or university). I can see that, but that's not what resonates here for me. It's the drifting quality and only focusing when something grabs at his attention, and then playing catch-up. (Maybe because that's something I'm feeling/I've felt.)
Before I go rambling on (and end up editing most of it out), I liked your story. :) Thanks for posting! And thanks for nudging me to retry PoT.
-AKung
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-30 06:48 am (UTC)It rings in true with so much of growing up, with the things that once came effortlessly, you eventually ahve to work at them, as the compitition around you gets stiffer.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-10-12 02:22 pm (UTC)This is beautiful. Like a splash of fresh cold water from a mountain stream. I'm... I'm speechless, really. I love it how Fuji had the wake-up call, got serious, and *pull it off*. That no, he cannot afford to be lazy anymore, but damn, is he *still* good. Because that is realistic. If he go become totally pathetic, it would be angst, but implausible. Somehow his being good-but-not-genius gives the piece a sort of broken-wing tragic sense (<--is that an expression...?)
Thank you for sharing.
mon.