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A Change of Pace
Tuesday, September 6 As a change of pace, I wanted to give a few recs just for fan fictions that I have been following lately. I am high off of Howl's Moving Castle, so most of them are of that genre. If you have not read the book or seen the movie, I suggest that you do NOW. The book is only $7 off of Amazon and is a very quick read. Revelations About the Birds and the Bees by Ina-chan (HMC) A darling piece about Sophie and Howl taking care of Megan's children. Explains some simple things of the book that were overlooked by Diana Wynne Jones. The first chapter is kind of rocky, but as the fiction progresses, the writing level raises. A Woman True and Fair by The S (HMC) The novel (from chapter 4 on) told from Howell's point of view. I did not think it was possible for me to love Howell more, but there you have it. I actually enjoy this version of the story more than the actual book! This Year: Bless Us by Western Ink (RuoKen) A very touching story from Ink. All of her fiction makes me feel so happy yet very sad at the same time, because most have a melancholy feeling to them. It is an element that is subdued into her writing, and makes her prose entirely hers. I really love this story. The ending almost made me cry it was so touching. Now I have to fight against myself, as I have a budding plot bunny that is a Labyrinth/HMC crossover. Bad, Hikaru, bad.
I am waiting for my hair to dry, so I thought I would take a moment to sit down and rant for a little bit. I think it is finally come time to touch upon Alternate Universes, or "AU" as we call it in the "fanfiction world" (with bunny-rabbit ears). It is no secret that I have an extreme distaste for alternate universes, especially that of a "modern" era for Aoshi/Misao fics. If that hasn't come across to you before, then I just do not know what to say. I hate them. Really. With that thought process in mind, please try to remember that these are my own personal opinions about fan fiction. They are not right, they are not wrong-- they are mine. I am only going out of my way to put this disclaimer up because I think, out of any of the entries I ever do, this will get me the most flames. Alternate universes are not my cup of tea, and I will make no secret of that in this entry. If your feelings are easily hurt, and you write AU, then read no further. All of you are accountable, and I am not going to hold anything back. If you are still with me, then you are probably wondering, if I hate AU so much, why am I writing She Left On A Monday? Simple. It is a parody of all the bad AU clichés blended together to make my own personal hell- but I make it fun (for me)! And I needed to write a few modern things for the 30kisses challenge, because there was no way around some of the objects. When the later chapters for the series come out, it will become more apparent that I'm actually making fun of the genre. So what is my big problem with AU? Well, for starters, authors have to ask themselves, WHY in GOD'S NAME are they putting characters from Meiji Japan into a different time period? To mix things up a bit? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but since most A/M writers are leaning towards AU stories nowadays, the AU approach is nothing new. Every once in a while, something will be fresh and new, and sometimes it is even enough to catch my eye-- but in most cases that is not true. Why take a world that is completely structurally sound and move it to a different environment and time period, and expect everything to remain just as solid? Normally, in the modern era, people are not part of a ninja fleet who also attend high school. I hate to crush anyone's dreams, but it is the truth (even in schools in Japan- so do not even try that angle with me). Yet I have read AU where just that happens. Misao and Aoshi are in high school, and part of a ninja fleet. NO! If you are going to move the characters to a new time period, then their characteristics should remain the same-- yes, that is the point behind AU. But that does not mean 100% of that character has to remain the same. A good example of sound AU is the game Kingdom Hearts. SquareEnix did a fantastic job of moving and adjusting characters to meet some focal point. Characters' pasts were changed, events may have happened in a different order, but they were still the characters that they were in a previous game/movie. If the characters do change, most of the time they change all too much. If an AU changes the character to a point where he/she/it is no longer even recognizable as said character, what is the point? Why not just change the characters' names and make it something original and not fan fiction? The character of Aoshi, for example: in AU he is either a Goth, model, businessman, or heartless-high-school guy-- or a combination of any of those elements. More often than not, he is described as a Goth because he likes wearing... purple? I really do not understand the constant relationship between Goth-Aoshi. I never have. In fact, if that element is thrown in, that is usually when I stop reading the story. Is it because Aoshi was evil for a little while? But this is an alternate universe! He could be anything. Aoshi could wear pink shirts and prance around with flowers in his hair if an author wanted (and which, by the way, I would love to read), but could still be construed as Aoshi as long as he keeps the elements of honor and his lack of forgiveness towards himself. Unless the element of Beshimi, Hyottoko, Shikijou, and Hannya's deaths are somehow involved in the alternate universe, then there is no need for Aoshi to be obsessed with death or evil or BLACK, unless it is EXPLAINED. An author's job is to create a world for readers. Readers require explanation on why a character has made such a choice, especially since if it is an AU- as readers are not familiar with the characters in this "universe". The reasoning cannot be 'just cause,' either, because that will confuse readers further. My other pondering is that the girls (because they are more times than not GIRLS that write Aoshi into this scenario) who write Aoshi to be the one all-clad-in-black are a touch attracted to Goth boys and are somehow turning that into Aoshi-hotness. Just say no. Aoshi can brood, because that is what he does. But it is not necessary to make him Gothic every single bloody time. Misao, I have noticed, usually tends to remain "in character" because her happy-go-lucky attitude is easy to transfer from one time era to another. Although, to be realistic, unless there were some underlying reason, Misao would not call Aoshi "Aoshi-sama" on a whim. The -sama suffix is not something to be used lightly. In the RK-verse, Misao definitely has reasons to give Aoshi that title. He is her Okashira, her mentor, and the one she looks up to. It is a title given out of respect and adoration, not of lust. Another pitfall of AU is the fact that the author, when deciding to move the characters forward in time, chooses an environment that they are not familiar with. Like Tokyo. Or [modern] Kyoto. If an author so chooses to select a foreign environment that they have never been to, he/she should do homework on said environment first. While I set She Left on a Monday in Tokyo, and I have never been there (yet), I am constantly looking things up, making sure I understand the layout of things, and asking friends who have been there, "Does this give the 'feel' of the city? Is something off beat?" If you are from the US, realize that Japanese and American cultures are extremely different, even now. What is construed in anime/manga is not always sound truth. Look things up! I probably could rant all day about AU, but this is a good place to stop for the moment. I am sure I will be touching upon this subject again, when the mood strikes me. For your suggested reading: Edodale by wombat The only AU I've ever adored, and Aoshi/Misao are not even in the story. Edodale is a prime example of adjusting characters backgrounds to reach a focal point. The pretense for the story sounds very odd, and I will admit to having my own reservations with it before I read it. However, Wombat immerses you into a world of fantastical myth and legend. Being familiar with Buffy is not required, but makes the experience even more fun. Family Affairs by Shin Sankai I have a love/hate relationship with Shin's AU pieces. I either really love what she is doing, or cannot tolerate it. This is one of her AU that I thought was sweet and well developed. Much Ado About...Stuff by Sher What initially attracted me to this story was the fact that it was a parody on Shakespeare. Sher does an excellent job of bringing the RK characters into the AU-movieverse (which will be an entirely different entry for me, I am sure). The Aoshi/Misao content, while brief, is worth the read. Fallen Blossoms by Mikomi3 An excellent example of proper immersion. It is very apparent that Mikomi3 either lived, or lives, in Washington D.C. Being from the area, I can attest to the authenticity of her environment, and she blends the characters of RK into it flawlessly. It is a shame she scrapped this story. Glazed Affections by Shin Sankai Remember that love/hate relationship I mentioned? This is the epitome of it. While I could never get enough of this story, it is most certainly a guilty pleasure. The characterizations tend to be all over the place, and Aoshi/Misao are portrayed as sex-crazed people who cannot stay out of each other's pants. Which is why I like it! Aoshi does tend to fall into the aforementioned pitfalls of black-clad-Goth, but with Shin's writing, she usually portrays Aoshi in this way. She and I just have different interpretations of Aoshi, I suppose.
I didn't receieve any questions on this blog, but I did on my LJ, so here we go: You make sure to write something at a certain time, right? What do you do when you have writer's block but still have to get something down on paper? Not necessarily. I try to set deadlines for myself with the chaptered stories, just because people demanding updates in reviews gets old after a while-- however that doesn't mean I always meet them. I have three stories that haven't been updated for over a year (and in one of the cases, two--almost three--years), because I just lost sight of the characters. I have to really feel like I am in the moment of the story, otherwise I'll lose interest, and I refuse to force myself to write something I don't want to. This is when you get horrid writing. When I have writer's block, I stop, breathe, and try to do something else. Usually, it ends up being an oneshot story, or sometimes it's not finished at all. I have a folder on my computer for unfinished oneshots that I just start up when I can't work on whatever I am working on. Will they ever get finished? Probably not. But it's nice to have them there. I have some of my best narrations (in my opinion) in those unfinished stories than I do in my regular serials. Do you imagine each character as an extension of yourself, taking a few traits of yourself and letting them develop into the new character; or do you place yourself as god above viewing separate entities which are wholly unrelated to you? It depends on the story and what point of view I decided to use for said story, really. Point of view, which is kind of what you are talking about, sets the mood of a story- so I try to vary back and forth from first and third. For certain fanfic, I try to keep the characters who do not act like me, unrelated to me-- but the ones that are like me, I put myself into. For example, in Sex and Sashimi is in first person. I will completely admit that Misao has part of me within her. Her mode of speech is very similar to mine, and that's completely obvious to anyone who's read the story and heard me speak. Usually, she reacts the way I would react to things, but in other ways she remains very much her normal self. Saitoh in the same story is abosultely nothing like me, as I try to keep him 100% in character. If I know a character well enough for fanfiction, I try to not put myself wholly into the character, but instead try to see it from the characters point of view. In the novel I am writing, the main character Juliet is much like how I write Misao in S&S. However, Juliet is more badass than I ever will be. But then you have other stories, like Of Magic and Matchmaking which is a omniscient third-person POV, where I just write as I am observer to the story, and make my own comments on how ridiculous the characters are acting, while the characters also take shots at me. Because Of Magic... is "theatre of the absurd" the third person fits better than, say, if I told it from Syaoran's POV. Which is more real, the world we imagine and try to project outward, or the projection of the outside world on our imaginations? Now you are trying to get deep on me. I believe that the projection of the outside world on our imaginations is far more real. My only reasoning is this: Tokyo. I haven't been there, but I know the city that I imagine in my head, and the culture, is going to be completely wrong when I get there. I have much disillusionment on that subject, so when I actually do get to go there, the results will be interesting. Who is your absolute favorite character to write? Either fan fic, or own creation. Why do you like writing about them so much? My absolute favorite character to write? Hm, that is a hard one. I think it has to be a draw between three characters: Saitoh from RK, Eriol from CCS, and Victor from my book. Each because of their attitudes. We all know Saitoh is a complete asshole, so I have fun abusing the characters in S&S with his snide comments that I think in the back of my head while I'm writing the story. The characterization I give Eriol in my head is one of those cartoon-y bad guys that tries too hard to be bad-- with a severe identity problem (since he looks so much like Harry Potter). That in itself is a fun scenario to write. It's just too bad I'm not hit by the CCS muse all that often. Finally, Victor. Oh, Victor. Originally he was going to be a bit part in the book, a vamp quickly killed off in the beginning. However, when I started writing him, I just fell in love with the pattern of speech that I gave him I couldn't kill him off. I am too attached to his character now to let go; I completely changed the plot of the three books just so he could stick around. What sparked your interest in writing? Or has it always been there? It's been there for as long as I can remember. I absolutely love to create stories, whether it be characters of my own, or another’s. When I was in third grade, I wrote my first "fanfic" for Aladdin-- Aladdin 2 and Aladdin 3 (whose plotlines were ripped directly from Full House episodes). I know I'm so fucking original sometimes it hurts me. I also wrote original things that had to deal with strong female heroines. They will forever be buried, and chalked up to "the creative process". I will never let those books see the light of day again. As for fanfic-fanfic it started at about seventh grade, when I wrote a Sailor Moon continuation. Once again, the plot was FANTASICALLY original, and dealt with a second set of sailor scouts (who have the Greek names of the gods, SHOCK!) and how they wanted to replace the original sailor scouts. Once again, that story is buried, never to see light again. From there, it only grew. I wrote the Ranma 1/2 fanfics (that I never finished), Final Fantasy 7 and 9, and then, by the hand of Tin, was drawn into Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction. That was four years ago. How did you get interested in anime? Everyone has some story of how they got here... Like any girl my age: Sailor Moon. It came on TV. It was great. I was hooked. Then I met my best friend Zoe, who's the big sister of my other friend Tabby. They introduced me to the Sailor Moon things that were never aired on TV, and in turn also to Tenchi Muyo. Then, one day, I found this magazine in Suncoast called "Animerica", followed soon by the discovery of Ranma 1/2, and downhill it went. When you're writing, do you make an outline first or do you just let it go where it goes as you're writing? I know you've said you usually start with a bit of dialogue and build around that, but do you map out more parts of the story, or just..go? I'd like to be a good author and say, "WHY YES, I MAKE OUTLINES!" But that is a load of crap, in most cases. Yes, stories I have done have had outlines. She Left On A Monday has an outline. Decay had an outline. Sex and Sashimi does not, and never had one. Oh, I had ideas in my head where I wanted the story to go, but I have never written down a solid plot. When I first started the story, I started it for fun. Since I knew I was only one of the authors on aoshimisaoficsML that actually used outlines, I wanted to try the other method and write it on the fly. If you were to ask me, two years ago when I first started S&S, if I thought the story was going to be where it is today, I would have laughed and said I would never write anything so long. But now look at it. Lack of outlining has made it extremely long and now it's so complicated I have to re-read certain chapters every time I write a new one. However, the outlines that came before, namely Wind Storm's, were so precise and to the point on what should happen, writing the story was no fun for me. That's why with She Left... (and others stories I am actively working on) I wrote general paragraphs on what should happen in each chapter, instead of every single thing. It makes writing easier for me, but I can also keep tabs on where I should be in the plot. This was a lot of fun. I'll probably do this again. Thanks for leaving your questions guys XD
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