Fanfic Better than it sounds; the fanfic. (tw; sexual abuse mention)
this really isn't the type of fic I usually read. But somehow, this is an exception to the point it become a special interest after I binged the fic up to the recent updates at the time (granted I skipped some chapters/fics partly to avoid spoilers, and partly one plotline I read stung when I saw the tropes about it until I got the courage to read it for myself).
it have some fic clichés, but the writers somehow are able to make it work. the strongest thing about them is the characters. they feel real, and in some cases are handled better than the canon source material (like making Myrtle have more depth than just being a generic bratty kid that keeps treating the main character like shit). It makes me happy that we get side stories that explored their day-to-day life outside of the stories told there. I like them, especially the sweeter ones.
the chapter the got me the hardest was the Encanto chapter, mainly the Mirabel section. My heart broke over how terribly she been treated, even by otherwise decent people, for a disorder she had no control over. I would be even more pissed if weren't for the fact that the cat's out of the bag and statements chapters about Mordecai finally discovering Doug's ruse posted earlier and the fact that she have someone be able to testify for the truth about at least one story (and the fact these people tend to parallel canon abit in a more mundane [well, mundane for here at least] way often and in the movie Alma regrets how badly she treated her and the rest of the family when she called her out and tried to save the miracle at the cost of her life) that I know eventually things will most likely improve for her.
if you can handled the content, I recommend it. it's heavy, and there's some hard pills to swallow, but it's a good read.
Fanfic Just barely hitting an extremely delicate balance
CW: Sexual abuse vaguely discussed.
I'm very picky when it comes to fanfiction dealing with subjects like child molestation. Way too often it can appear gratuitous, or even outright romanticized which is disgusting. WPARG doesn't romanticize its subject matter, but I'm not sure if one could say it's not sensationalistic to some degree, though this varies from series to series.
I've only read parts of the main series and a few side series. I don't know every film that's referenced here but the stories I recognize I really appreciate. My absolute favorite is the Adaptational Mundanity and anthropomorphism. It's pulled off very well, especially when it comes to queer and disabled representation as I think the films' fantastic elements can really resonate with those communities. The characters are believably human and it's fun to recognize which characters in the fic represent the canon characters, and how their settings are translated (like making Sully work in a toy factory).
I also really like the writing style. It's the kind of series you could easily imagine writing for, because it has a very straightforward formula, but the language is really evocative without getting too explicit. Sometimes it veers into Purple Prose, and it can feel the tiniest bit pretentious, but most of the time it hits the spot just right. Apparently a lot of this graphic material is inspired by real world stories, and while that's very sad, it helps the fic feel very real. It really tugs at my empathy and that's important to me.
However, as is to be expected with a fanfiction with this subject matter, I think there are times in which it goes too far, mostly when it comes to the content not directly adapted from a film. I think the God's Will First cult can get a bit too narmy at times because it's so over the top, but I do like the way they're written in the POV series about the cult's victims. But I think the constant police rape is a bit over the top, mostly because it tends to happen in stories that already involve sexual abuse, so at that point it just feels like throwing more abuse onto the character for the sake of it. I get that this is a thing that happens in real life, and it's often as unsubtle as written here. But god, it's just too much to read sometimes. I really don't like the police series because the villain POV feels too gratuitous and I don't think it's an effective satire either. A lot of chapters know when to stop with this, but some of them just pile on the abuse and it's often not even relevant to the character's development.
So this fic isn't for the faint of heart. I don't even know if it's a helpful read to cope with sexual abuse, because only a few chapters really have happy endings (though some side stories, like the one focused on Boo's friends and drawings, are quite wholesome). But I like the psychological horror of it all. Just as long as it's psychological and not "BAD BAD BAD."
Fanfic Maybe It's Just Not For Me
Apologies for negativity.
I am not a stranger to sensitive subject matters in fiction. I do not shy away from works that contain examinations of such behaviors. But unfortunately, the way the fic handles it, I cannot recommend this story to anyone.
I like to look at media like it's a dish. If a fic has too much of one ingredient, it'll be difficult to digest. And the authors put too much rape in the kettle when they were making this and I can't eat it. Sorry for the bizarre metaphor, but I think that's my big critique here.
WPARG is a story about tragedy in a world of cartoons gone through Adaptational Mundanity. And how do they use sensitive subject matters to get you to feel bad for the characters? Why, Rape as Backstory for everyone! A little rape for you, and a little rape for you. It can almost (almost) get comical at times. The overwhelming usage of Rape as Backstory is frequently difficult to swallow, if only because all of the stories use it so damn much.
And also, I think my problems lie in the fact that these are happening to silly and wacky cartoon characters, many of whom go under Adaptational Villainy. Yeah, I can definitely take seriously the comic relief villains from The Lion King raping Timon. Yeah, that's something I can stomach with a straight face.
Is it wrong to say sometimes this story feels like it's wallowing in its own misery? It's just sad event after sad event. There's happy endings, sure, but more often than not I don't feel happy by the end of it.
Maybe I should have listened to the "Dead Dove, Do Not Eat" tag, but I think it's less that I am overly sensitive to dark topics and more that this fic is not for me. Oh well.
At least the writing's good.