All I can say on the KKJ fic I recently sent is

that

it is shoujo.  It is meant to read a bit cliche.

<clip>

Shoujo is meant to be repetitive;

I'd have to disagree; lately I've been watching
Escaflowne for the first time, and neither
"repetitive"
nor "cliche" seems to fit this series at all.

Escaflowne... doesn't classify, to me, as true
"bubbles and gum" shoujo.  I was at AX for the movie
premier- and TRUST me- there were more guys in line
than girls!  When I refer to shoujo, I mean the things
that make the guys CRINGE... ne?  The stuff that
doesn't walk the line...  Some things are hard to
classify- Ranma, Escaflowne... to some extent, GW
(come on, think of the fandom!)

I'd rather not, thanks. Yaoi? Okay, fine, if you enjoy
it (take that any way you like)... but not around me,
please? Yeek.

By definition, "shoujo" is material calculated to
appeal to a female audience.  This has consequences
in the choice of material, but does not (or should
not) affect the normal criteria by which we judge
whether it is good or not so good.  And "repetitive"
and "cliche", if true, are both ways in which an
artistic work falls short of what it could be.

True.  But sometimes repetition strengthens a piece...
after all, can you imagine Sailor Moon without the
henshin sequences?

Well, I could... but it wouldn't be the same anime.
THose sequences are "trademark" of the mahou girl.

And Oh-so-much fun to watch. h_h

Anyway, that's not so very relevant to our purposes -
it's rather harder to describe a decent stock transformation
in text than it is to throw it up on a screen.

I think... there is a bias against shoujo on this
list-<clip>
The Sailor Moon that comes through this list is

hardly

recognizable as the anime the Takeuchi Naoko

wrote.

Actually, Takeuchi wrote the manga.  But I
will agree that I don't think I've ever seen SM
fanfic
which is recognizable as Takeuchi's style, or really
uses her content that closely.

Correct- I mispoke- I know she wrote the manga, and I
should be smacked.  I was just thoroughly wound up
after catching up on my FFML email where it seemed
that people were shoujo bashing- AGAIN.

I've hardly EVER seen shoujo recieved well.

This is bad. Shoujo is nifty, and should be treated as such.

I seem to be playing a game called "how obscure a
series can you find" and it's a hoot to see

people's

reactions.

It can work either way.  Fanfic based on obscure
series can often get looked at by people who would
pass you over if the fic were Ranma.

Yup.  I realize this when I play the game.  Still-
getting canned by someone unfamiliar with the series
BECAUSE they are unfamiliar with the series (it has
happened to me, if I look through my saved Emails, I
can probably find some examples).

People are morons. Fact of life.

It does, of

course, depend on the series, as almost nobody is
going to read a fanfic based on a series they've
never seen.  (People will, however, read a crossover
where they haven't seen all of the series involved.)

And I realize this as well.... I've written... quite a
few xovers.

Is that an understatement I smell? ^_^

 I drift, naturally enough to shoujo.
There's fodder for fiction there.

Agreed, at least with regard to the series
themselves.
How many Himechan no Ribbon fics are there out
there?

Himechan never inspired me- it's a series I hate.  Not
enough depth.

Battle Athletes Victory, Fushigi Yuugi, Kamikaze
Kaitou Jeanne, Kaitou St Tail, Kodomo no Omocha,
Gravitation, Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Rurunin Kenshin,
Yami no Matsuei, CLAMP Campus Detectives, Card Captor
Sakura, I Me My Strawberry Eggs, Fruits Basket,
Pretear, Kare Kano, Full Moon wo Sagashite, Hana Kimi,
Tokyo Babylon, X:1999, Chobits, Real Bout Highschool,
Princess 9.... I could come up with something for all
of these... and more.  Even Escaflowne, since you
consider that shoujo!  I consider it "middle of the
road"- it was one of those they couldn't quite
decide..... (I actually am five chapters into an epic,
ne?)

Mmm... Fushigi Yuugi. I'm currently inspired by it,
and rather hoping the effect lasts.

It'd be a wonderful series, if only they cut out all those
flashbacks... of course, then it'd only be about twenty
episodes long, but that's life.

Of course, then I wouldn't have so many chances to get shouted
down for being the only Yui fanboi in the room, so maybe it's
a wash?

Sa.  I think the FFML is a frying pan, and I just
inadvertantly let my big mouth move me into the
fire... I really DREAD posting my next fic- I post
about once a week....

I'll promise to C&C, if you like? Providing I'm familiar
with the series, of course.

However, I think you can give the same feedback in
nice and in not-so-nice ways.  For instance, to
some recipients it might make a big difference to
write "your writing ..." or "your text at this
point ..." instead of "you (personally) ..."

Saaa.. people are overly hyper sensitive.  And this, I
think, is their intro to the real world.  I've HAD it
with prima donna contributing writers!  They wanna be
coddled, they should find a different list.  The FFML
is good for that; honesty is what I value from it.

Getting hammered hurts. There's no way around that. But
the real choice that makes a writer is whether to flinch
away or suck it up and fix the f$@ker.

So have people scared me off?  Hell no.

Good for you.

No- just stubborn... and maybe a bit stupid.

Like the man said.

I'm going to keep ramming shoujo down people's
throats.  Why?  Because- someone might appreciate

it.

I usually assume that at least ten people have read
any given fic for every one who has bothered to
reply.
The ratio goes up for later chapters in a series.

I've found that counters on websites both help and
damage self esteem.  I KNOW YOU'RE THERE PEOPLE!
JUST SIGN THE GUESTBOOK!

GB? Sorry, where?

Wish I hadn't stepped on this landmine in public!

And I wasn't supporting CLICHE or REPETITIVE fics - I
was saying that repetition can be used in some
situations- particularly the shoujo!

Well, I think that there's repetition and there's repetition.

A television series can show a critical scene three or
four times over the course of its run, just making sure
that everyone who's tuned in since last time knows what's
going on.

A text piece, otoh, might go over the same scene a similar
number of times - but would do so from a different viewpoint
each time, getting each involved character's thoughts and
reactions thereon.

Likewise, repetition of plotlines can vary - how many times
has Akane been kidnapped? Enough that it's familiar. That's
repetition.

What matters is who's doing the kidnapping - -that's- what makes
it -good- repetition.

Or maybe I'm just all the way off base.

I've said SAAA at least four times- we can tell it's
gonna be a LOOOONG night...

You'd rather be bored?

Anyway, in conclusion, I'll say something that's become a bit
of a mantra/running joke for me:

Real men watch Shoujo, because they have nothing to be afraid of.


Blessed be.
-n




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