As long as it is not another Kimahri.

[jecca_mehlota]

I was just tackled by Rapid Onset Writer's Block. I don't know why.

Obviously, the thing to do is post to LJ.


I'll be using the Transformers fandom for most of these examples, but most of them are things that annoy me anywhere in writing.

You know, I still like the movie that came out this summer. Yes, it has its problems, but I think it's fun, in its own way.

I like that it was a big event for the fanbase, and I really love that it brought a lot of people into the fandom. New ideas circulating, some really good stories have cropped up... I like that, I really do.

Not so fond of the massive amounts of less good stuff that's popped up, and it bothers me that I find myself avoiding movie-based anything, but you can only see so many robot and/or human original characters paired up with canon characters or "the Allspark is reborn in Random Human OC" or "so-and-so helps revive [insert dead character/s here]" before you get really sick of it.

Or, at least, I can only see so much. Really, that applies to any fandom. The excess of Advent Children-based stories that flooded the Final Fantasy VII fandom nearly a year prior to its release was what finally caused me to flee that fandom. I don't even really miss it that much. Most of the authors I'd liked had stopped writing already, or were jumping on pairing/plot bandwagons and whatall...



...There're a few references to "slash" pairings. I know that sort of thing upsets some people, though I rather doubt any of them are reading this. But to put my stance on it out there anyway, I don't really care either way. I don't seek out things solely for slash or het. If a pairing clicks for me, it clicks, and it doesn't matter much to me whether the characters are male, female, or something else, or canon or fan created, or if they look good together. If it makes sense to me, I'll 'ship it, and if it doesn't, I'll ignore it. (I'll admit my idea of what "clicks" may be considered a bit deranged, since I happen to absolutely adore Squall/Rinoa and I know that one freaks a lot of people out.)


One pairing (and, yes, it's a slash one, as so much as you can "slash" robots that don't really have gender-as-we-know-it [unless we're talking sticky-fic, but we're really, really not. Ew]) has, for whatever reason, suddenly grown and taken over the fanbase. It's always been a bit popular, as far as I can tell, but suddenly it is everywhere. This is one of those ones I really want to like and understand, so you'd think I'd be happy about that, but I'm not, really.

I'm a picky brat and I don't like how a lot of these people are writing them.


(There are also a few pairings suddenly turning up everywhere that just confuse me, but that's neither here nor there.)


I'm not really a big fan of smut, NC-17, sex, whatever you want to call it, or anything of the sort, be it between robots, humans, or anything else. I don't know if that's because I identify as asexual, since I know others of the same who do like that sort, or if it's because I'm just weird, or what, but that's how it is. A lot of people are writing that.

I don't mind it implied and I don't care that it happens, but when it's graphic, I just have absolutely no interest in reading about it. I find it boring at best and incredibly amusing at worst, just because it looks so silly to see people writing such things out (well, it looks silly to me, anyway).

So there's that, which I find annoying. I'd just rather have other interaction. Action or emotions, or whatever you will, are things I find vastly more interesting. If the sole purpose of your story is the build-up to character/s getting it on, there's a chance (maybe even a good one, if I know I like your writing) that I'll read up until that point, but then I just leave.

I really don't care that people write it. People should write what they want, not what I want. I'm just a bit disappointed that half of the influx is composed of things I can't be bothered to read.


And then there are the plots being used. There are about three that I see, and they keep being recycled. Some people are still going it well, but give me something new. Or at least change the setting. (It's not all movie-based. There's a lot of G1, and a lot of G1-influenced movie, which is the one that irritates me most. I've mentioned it before.) G1 is not the movie. The movie is not G1. Borrow from G1, but don't carbon-copy the characters. It's a whole new reality! Play in it! Explore it!

I am so, so sick of the "children" angle. They're robots. We know how new robots come into being! They don't necessarily go through the stages we as humans go through! They come online fully functional and capable of moving about on their own. I don't mind some sort of mentor-thing, but parents? I'm sick of it.


Next, written out accents? I don't mind cuttin' off the occasional "g" or so, but when ya start writin' ev'rythin' like this, Ah start ta git a bit annoyed, ya know? (Especially since the character doesn't talk like that.) I can even handle "ya know," but when every instance of the word "you" is replace with "ya," there's a problem. I have, on occasion, copied stories into a word document and done through and edited dialogue to make it something I can stand to read.

Maybe I should star'dyping ou'h my Verm'awh ack-sen.' See how people like drying do read THA'H.

... No. I can't figure out how to convey the sound I make in place of "T," anyway. It differs word to word and I've no patience for such idiocy.

Really, this essay sums it up better than I ever could, I think.


The clincher is that then I very often disagree with the portrayal of one of sometimes both of the characters. I can take a lot of things, really. I'll take repetitive plots, as long as it's still well-written or interesting. I can handle bad spelling and grammar, and the visual assaults that are written accents. I can take the movie universe being treated like G1.

But when someone writes a character in a way I perceive as out of character, they lose me. Some characters I can take it in small amounts, especially if they just have a minor scene or so, but when I disagree with how one of the main characters is being portrayed? I can't take it. And one half is almost always written in a way I perceive as "out of character," anyway, regardless of who - if anyone - sie's written with.


So I don't read most of it.


Part of me is worried we have people come in, see others writing it, and then write based solely off of that. It would explain why the same traits keep turning up.

We're turning into Gundam Wing. Primus save us all.


I actually suspect my frustration here is related to the block that's set upon me, since Aniko appears to have blackmailed me into writing something featuring the pair. I think I'm avoiding some of the worse clichés... I know I've got past a few of them, anyway. It's based pre-Earth, which takes out at least a third of that army.

I'm having a harder time with characterization than I'd like, though, since the situation I've unleashed is difficult to manage at best.

Hopefully I don't mess it up completely, but maybe for now I need to take a step back and work on something else.

I am open to suggestions.


...(And, before you ask, yes, actually, I'm well aware of how absurd it is for me to be at all interested in making this pairing work, especially when there are all of maybe two authors/stories out there that write them in a way I find believable.)


I am updating all the time again already. I do not mean to spam, but I did come to the realization while typing this entry up that I'm avoiding Things. I thought the trip to California might help, but it seems to have made things worse. I'm worn out. I'm tired of fighting.

At least I've finally figured out there is another problem, even if I'm not entirely confident I know what it is yet. At least I'm not just running this time.


Also, despite my computer checking out clean, the Final Fantasy XI hacking has me so frightened. I read a few stories of people who've had their accounts taken from this before I freaked and started boycotting all FFXI-related sites, and it is extremely distressing to me to think of my characters being taken over and used to farm gil and harass other players. I probably shouldn't be so emotionally invested in these digital characters, but Hisi, at least, as been a constant for a little over four years now and I can't stand the thought of losing her here and like that. (Though, really, I'd never lose her, I'd just lose the account.) I don't think that I could take it, and I'm going to go knock on wood until my knuckles bleed now.

I just want things to be okay. I don't understand why that's so hard. And now I'm whining like some eight year old. Good grief.