sevendials: (a kitty!)
laila ([personal profile] sevendials) wrote2005-08-19 11:03 pm

How To Waste Time, part 1,435,077

Today, I sing the praises of the primary function of the Internet.

The Wasting of Time.

It's sad but true. To think of the noble purpose for which Al Gore created the Internet (whose creation alone is enough to illustrate why he will never become President), and then to think of the use which we its denizens have occupied ourselves putting it to! Oh, the fun we have had sitting here, staring at our screens, typing nonsense for the world to enjoy. All you need is a modem and you too can have endless fun doing Not Very Much when you could be doing something marginally constructive.

To this end, I present to you a list, in no particular order, of the Top Ten Magnificent Seven Sites which I feel have been responsible for utterly wasting my time when I could have been spending it on something far more productive, like picking lint from my pockets or staring into space, or actually, you know, writing something in recent months.

  • Live Journal

  • Well, just LOOK at it. Look at what Live Journal has done to me! That said, I find this site far, far too fun to want to stop posting. Besides, I absolutely love my flist and their multiple internet presences. I'm inordinately grateful that I possess an LJ account, because it's cheap enjoyment from the comfort of my own home and provides me with a Ranting Outlet, but it's probably the Biggest Time Waster in the World Ever.

  • Candybar

  • Otherwise known as That Damned Korean Doll Site. It's pink and cute and oh it's like CRACK. Crack of the very highest order. Every so often I find myself going back there and making dolls for hours and hours, for the sheer hell of it. I've fallen into the trap of trying to 'recreate' my (multiple) OCs and their (very strange) clothing tastes using these dolls, and the more I do it the worse things become. This site scares me.

  • Fanfiction.net

  • The place where fangirls go to die. I cannot believe how much time I spend on this site. Reading Mary Sue fiction, no less. Considering the nature of fanfiction, this thing wastes an inordinate amount of my time too, both on- and offline. But I love it, I love it so much even though it's insane and eighty percent of the work there is unreadable. It's still my spiritaiual home... which says a lot about my poor, abused spirit.

  • Clone Army

  • Do not, for the love of God do NOT visit this site if you are of an even remotely sensitive disposition. I'm not kidding. Don't do it. Thank you. Not only is the time-wasting potential of this site immense (I spend a fair amount of time just staring at the forums) I hesitate to recommend it to anybody at all nice. Yes, folks, this is my favorite web comic site, run by an artist who is both exceptionally talented and extremely sick.

  • Something Awful

  • Something Awful's philosophy is 'The Internet Makes You Stupid'. I second that. I can feel my brain atrophying even as I type (duh... what does 'atrophy' mean?). That said, though, this site Does Not Help, for all it pours scorn on every Internet subculture out there. I have this site to blame for introducing me to the sad, sick world of the Furries, and for that reason alone I cannot wholeheartedly recommend it to anybody.

  • Gaia Online

  • Describes itself as 'an anime roleplaying community' which says it all. The time-wasting trick employed by these forums is that its members earn 'gold' for posting with which they buy virtual clothes and accessories for their ludicrously cute avatars. Neat trick. I haven't been there for ages, largely because this site addicts and eats time in a way even Live Journal can't manage. It's horribly insidious. Stay away. Really.

  • Rotten Tomatoes

  • The reading of lousy film reviews make me a happy obsessive Ken Hidaka fangirl, ergo I visit this site, which collates links to reviews of pretty much every film on general release out there. I like the clunkers the best. You wouldn't believe how much fun I had with the reviews for Battlefield Earth. I know, it's a relatively old film, but the bad reviews... oh, the bad reviews! How they made me smile.

There's more.

Lots more.

For example, I read a whole slew of web comics (some more from habit than because I'm really that bothered about them any more), a handful of movie review sites, a serious site on why Scientology is an dangerous cult and the church hierarchy deserves to have their heads metaphorically kicked in. I read current affairs sites, the occasional intriguing headline on MSN, stupid comedy sites, lame forums, god knows how many Weiss Kreuz websites... the list continues. But if I listed all the sites that killed my free time, I really would be here all night. I don't have all night. I've got other things to waste my time on, dammit!

Comments now. Whee. Wasting time, thou art my friend.

[identity profile] quentin-w.livejournal.com 2005-08-19 11:04 pm (UTC)(link)
i could not live without the internet...i wonder how i even lived without it before...

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Blind faith and dumb luck? That's pretty much how I lived without the Internet. I was Little Miss Computer Nerd all the time I was at school, and all my interests marked me out as a fangirl in embryo... the Internet is therefore my spiritual home. 'Tis sad but true. I was always going to turn into a complete geek, really. Oh well...

... I kind of suspect that my spirit animal would have to be a cable modem. With wings.

[identity profile] kay-cricketed.livejournal.com 2005-08-20 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
Web comics and fanfiction. XD What a waste of my time. But I'll never stop the love, yo. Preach it! ♥

Oddly enough, I'm also attracted to FF Net repeatedly despite the lack of good stuff there. It's where I first posted fic. It's where all the old days of reviewing and interacting and learning happened. It has a lot of stories on it still, despite everything that's been restricted. *shrugs* I don't know, but I always end up going back to read for fandoms I know there will only be three good fics a week or so for. XD

Mmmmm. Web comics. *heart* I read so many... you have excellent taste! I should catch up with all my older ones. (Something Positive, MacHall, CTR ALT DEL, Friendly Hostility, ect.) I go a few weeks without reading at all and then I can't get enough and catch up. XD XD

*bounces* I love wasting time.

^____^

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I know. I KNOW. The twin tine wasters of webcomics and fanfiction will continue to rock my tiny world for years to come. Or at least I suspect they will given that theoretically I am a grown adult and I guess my interests will stay pretty much consistent for a few years yet. Which at least means that I have a good chance of actually finishing 'Seuche' sometime before the Last Trump.

... It's around 175 pages long right now. And still it comes. What have I created? I've awakened a monster!

I've been posting fic to ff.net since about 2001, I think. It would take a lot to make me stop posting there altogether in spite of the fact that it's not what it was. It's funny, really. When that site started there was a fair bit of badfic on there, but there was also a lot of stuff that was at least worth reading even if it wasn't good, but nowadays it seems like more and more good writers are steering clear, which is a pity. It used to be a fairly good place to go and post your work, but now... well, it's kind of eh.



That's much like I am with webcomics. I'll ignore them for several weeks then go back and read the archives for all of them in one fell swoop. It's almost the best way to do it, because it's kind of annoying only getting one strip at a time. It makes it kind of hard to follow a narrative that way. Embarrasing confession: yes, my first webcomic was Megatokyo. But I have an excuse, I found it back in 1999 (or thereabouts), when it was still a four-panel strip which had gags about gaming in it, before it became the webcomic all other webcomic authors love to hate... I have an excuse dammit--

HEY LOOK, A DWARF EATING A POTATO. ON ROLLER SKATES.

[identity profile] kay-cricketed.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 11:28 pm (UTC)(link)
*whistles* That's truly impressive (your page count on Seuche). I could never manage that, I think. XD You're brilliant stuff, though I know I've said so before.

Yeah, FF net back in the day was always a great place. You could learn to ignore the really bad, and you enjoyed the really good, and you even managed to enjoy the okay but not that good. And everyone was there-- it was the place to be, in the end, for a fanfic writer. *sighs* I kind of miss it. I still post there, too, but... eh, a lot of the people have left it for scattered sites that usually stick to single fandoms. It's a little disappointing, because it's hard for me to follow.

But it still has its gems of glory there. *hearts* Like Seuche. Eeeeee~.

Mmm, YoKen. There really does need to be more of that. *_* (OTP-- is it... one true pairing? One something pairing? I don't remember.) SchuKen, too, is a yummy and lovely thing for reasons I can't possibly explain. O.o It's my secret soft spot.

Waaah... I loved Megatokyo, too, though, so you don't have to explain. I still luff it a little, though not as much anymore.

HEY LOOK, A DWARF EATING A POTATO. ON ROLLER SKATES.

*terribly amused* *DIES*

... NO MORE FROSTED FLAKES.

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-22 12:51 pm (UTC)(link)
It's 179 pages at present count, actually. Nine point Arial, 2cm margins. If I used a bigger font and kept the default margins... well, I hate to think what that thing would look like. You know, it's probably going to take the best part of a day to do my final proof-and-edit when I finally finish the thing. And oh god, I'm going to have to re-HTML-ize and re-upload the LOT (Word's html-izer doesn't like ff.net's uploader, so I have to do my html by hand). Well, I'm trying not to think about that because it would slay me. I'm scared.

Anyway.

Ah yes. ff.net. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed the exponential growth of complete nonsense on that site - but it seems to me that ff.net are near as dammit chasing away their adult users. They've got this 'think of the children!' attitude and it bugs me. They won't archive fiction intended for adult audiences (would it be so hard to get an age check on that site?), the admin sometimes force stories that are rated for mature audiences to delete any scenes that actually contain mature themes... (I've been worried about losing 'Seuche' ever since I posted Chapter 7) - they're getting damned didactic and it all more or less guarantees a sizable proportion of writers will start steering clear because they don't want to be dictated to, leaving ff.net with archives full of Mary Sues, lame comedies and silly romantic fluff. Safe choices, in other words, which won't offend or challenge anybody. It's like they don't want to archive good, edgy fanfiction any more.

But that's what you get if you target a service at fourteen year olds.

And there is not enough YoKen fiction there, but there never bloody well is! Grr. Speaking of, I have a horrible feeling that if I wrote RanKen fiction I'd receive considerably more feedback than I have done. I was actually worried I'd lose readers when I started making it apparent 'Seuche' wasn't going to be Yet Another Aya x Ken Angst Fest, of which there are many. There's a reason why I don't list pairings on my multi-part fiction, though. I'd like people to take it on its own terms, not just because of who gets paired with who... a vain hope, perhaps.

SchuKen! Oh, I love it. I wish I didn't, though, because I like it best when the charas remain IC. And I think we all know what that means given that canonically Schuldich and Ken hate one another. I am such a little sadist, but I can't help it, I love the ANGST and Ken's so pretty when he's tormented. Oh well, I guess you knew that already. SchuKen is my secret Utterly Out-There Pairing shame.

I still read Megatokyo but it just isn't as funny any more, is it? I love the artwork and the style of it (it's one of the best manga-style webcomics out there in terms of its artwork), but I kind of miss the funny. Still, at least Dom's got a bigger part now. I like Dom best.

Yay, I amused you! NO MORE FROSTED FLAKES DAMMIT!

[identity profile] kay-cricketed.livejournal.com 2005-08-25 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
That's exactly it, too-- FF Net wants to be a family site, but it's like having a bookstore devoted to children... no sane adult's going to step in there except to appreciate, maybe once a year, how far they've grown in the world to have gotten away.

-_- It's not like kids can't find mature content easily, anyway. FF Net just copped out, that's all-- sometimes I understand (okay, not that much), but mostly I just wish they'd have not lost all of their common sense. The more rules they impose, the less their popularity will remain.

Erk, it would NOT be fun to lose Seuche... but I think you're safe so far. The mature stuff is definitely there-- the entire story is dark and foreboding and full of that kind of edge-- but it's not graphic when it counts, and that'll save it probably. ♥ If not, we'll find a way to get you on a better site anyway.

Yeah, everyone's out for RanKen. *sighs* Ch'. Though, you know, there's still a nice chunk of YoKen in the Japanese fandom? Sometimes I think they get it easier than most fandoms do-- they always seem to like my pairings more, damn it.

SchuKen! ♥ *wobbles* ... it's my weakness. Eek.

And Dom was the bomb. Not to make lame rhyming jokes, but... yes.

*tacklehugs*

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-26 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Seconded on the 'children's bookstore' simile. Nice one. :)

I don't think ff.net will ever lose popularity, sadly - there'll always be clueless adolescents (and equally clueless adult idiots who just plain can't write) wanting to archive their stuff on that site, but what they will lose - what they already have lost, if you listen to the way 'serious' fanficcers talk about that site now (check this conversation out for starters!) is credibility. Lots of people still post there, but for a lot of people it's more through habit than anything and they don't really take it or its content very seriously any more.

Why they think fanfic should be a 'family preserve' anyway I don't know. Couldn't they assume from experience that most twelve- and thirteen year old authors are going to be shit? Why any fanfic site would want court such an audience at the price of to chasing away older writers, who may not make up the bulk of their users but will provide the backbone of decent writing that any fanfic site needs if it's going to maintain its credibility, I don't know. It's counterproductive if you ask me - more, it's a vicious circle.

I think it's stupid because there are loads of fanfic sites out there with mature content on which don't warn about their content at all, and I think it's stupid because most kids out for cheap sexy thrills aren't going to go for a text-based medium like fanfic but a visual one. They're not really protecting anyone anyway.

The reason I'd be pissed if they deleted 'Seuche' is that I've gone for the highest rating I can, I've got content warnings saying it's meant for mature readers at the start and I stuck a second content warning at the start of Chapter 7 because of the rape scene. I fail to see what more I could do. I genuinely do not think it contains explicit depictions of anything. Dark, yes, but graphic? No. But I worry, because it seems like they don't like archiving work that even explores more adult themes, no matter how they go about it. Sigh.

The Japanese are lucky, then (at least they know a good thing when they see one). I demand more YoKen fanfic. I honestly don't understand how come RanKen is so inordinately popular. They've got nothing in common, they only tolerate one another, they look good together but not right together. How does all that add up to a popular pairing? Youji and Ken, though... well, at least they like one another!

Oh, yes. I share that same weakness. ♥ Even though I'm a sadist, and I like it best when it's IC. Major bleak angst, here we come!

[identity profile] devida.livejournal.com 2005-08-20 07:20 pm (UTC)(link)
ok, first of all you once told me that you've never seen Blade Runner the movie. if that's still the case how can you listen to the soundtrack of a movie you've never seen?
i'm not saying that you can't, just that without watching the movie you may have little or no point of reference or context to which piece of music lends appropriate emotion to which scene?
see.
to the internet..
well, Dr. Cox said a few weeks ago that if all the porn was taken off the internet then it would shut down and there would be one website left which would be campaigning to bring back porn.

but i must admit the internet does make football more available, rather than using teletext and a weekly magazine that was 2 weeks delayed with 'breaking' news.
plus, if you're in North American culture (and i am) it's easier to order things from the states and CA. all my birthday presents came from the CA this year.
and i'm trying to order a cheap copy of 'The L Word' on dvd too, cos i can't live without Shane any longer *drool*
xx

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I've seen about half of 'Blade Runner' and I have seen the scene the track I was listening to comes from (I want to see the rest). However, that I listen to the soundtrack anyway comes pretty much as a result of my rather bizarre background. I'm kind of used to hearing OSTs long before I get anywhere near their associated show/series/movie/whatever thanks to my father's status as A Performing Arts Teacher. I know he used to play the soundtrack to 'The Draughtsman's Contract' all the time when I was a kid. Never seen the film, though. Thanks, dad!

... I also got the soundtrack to 'The Rocky Horror Show' played at me when I was... what? Eight? Younger? Way too young to see the thing. But I'd seen 'The Rocky Horror Show' before I got round to watching 'Grease', which says an awful lot about my family, my upbringing and me in general...

Funnily enough, I don't go to porn sites on the internet (um... does NC-17 fanfiction count as 'porn'? If it does, then I DO go to pron sites), largely because here I am on a shared computer. No internet porno for me. Boo. I'll get there, though, just give me my own PC and a private room to view it in and I will start becoming just as Internet-Normal as you could wish. Unless, of course, the NC-17 fanfics count as porn, in which case I'm doing it already. Just discreetly, and in text only.

With you on the 'into stuff that is not readily available in the UK' thing, too. Though I have Japan to thank for the size of my overdraft, as if that wasn't horribly and blatantly obvious. I need to get myself some more Japanese stuffs, but first I need moneys with which to acquire it. Must get part time job, I want disposable income dammit. Good luck with finding that DVD!

[identity profile] devida.livejournal.com 2005-08-22 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
we all want disposable income girl.. plus see if you can transfer to the degree scheme, cos the non-honours course has EXACTLY THE SAME funding as the diploma, fact.

there are a few porn sites that i've visited in my time, and as there is a thing called 'history' on your Internet link i never worry about unwanting eyes seeing what i've done cos i just go through google to begin with and erase my misgivings after i leave the site.
i'll have to give you the addresses of a few sites when i see you again.

you haven't seen the end of Blade Runner? I'm bringing you the dvd when i get back. for yonks i thought i was Ray Batty (testosterone will do that to you when you're 11) and the bits between him and Pris make me cry every time.
*sniff*

[identity profile] trucizna.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 08:07 am (UTC)(link)
Upon reading your post I immediately proceeded to click the link you described as 'extremely sick'. (Wow, suprised anyone? Not really.) And it's very confusing. But now I have it to Waste Time on and muddle through and figure out. Hooray!

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that site and its sickness. Hah, 'tis like a challenge. Anyways - yeah, that site can be a bit confusing. But, in a nutshell: webcomics, perversion, sickness, utter lunacy, blood on the walls, fun.

If you're looking for the sick stuff: it's 'Tomoyo42's Room' you're after (the other comics are kind of sick, but that one takes it to another level). I read the archives in a state of detatched horror, unable to quite believe that any normal human being could come up with this kind of stuff. Then I went back to read it again. To borrow a phrase: it's indecent, and like all forms of indecency it's irresistible. I love that site, but I have a sneaking feeling that I shouldn't, and that loving it probably means I am Not A Nice Person.

As for Dan Kim, the artist... well, he's either a genius or a lunatic. His 'proper' art is absolutely gorgeous, even if he is one sick kitten with it.

[identity profile] trucizna.livejournal.com 2005-08-23 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Oh yeah, I found Tomoyo42's Room. It's one of those I'm-laughing-but-I-know-this-isn't-supposed-to-be-funny kinds of things. It's great. I spent about two hours last night reading the whole thing straight through... and now I feel like my brain is on crack. (That might have been today's Invader Zim marathon, though. Hard to tell for sure.)

Thanks for showing it to me, man. /sigh. Hooray for talented sick kittens.

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-23 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
I felt much the same about T42R. First I couldn't believe what I was seeing, then I couldn't believe that I was actually laughing at it. I guess it's just so excessive you can't take it seriously, even though you know you probably should be and that there is no way in the world something so twisted should be funny but it is. Glad you liked it!

(Though I did worry about posting it if only because of what liking that site says about me...)

Invader Zim! Oh I love that show. No wonder you feel like your brain is on crack. Hours of T42R and Zim in a 48-hour period would be enough to do that to anybody. I cannot believe that was meant to be a kids TV show... in a lot of places that show's really pretty sick as well. But it's funny.

*wanders off thataway singing the Doom Song*

Hi.

[identity profile] goddess-triad.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)

Yeah... I go to CandyBar too to make doll versions of my OCs. It's a lot of fun. I can make dolls for hours and hours, too.

Oh, yeah... Just in case you're wondering. I'm just a big fan of your fanfics. So, I'm going to add you to my friends list in case you don't mind.


Re: Hi.

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-21 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
That's probably no bad thing. I feel so pathetic when I do that. It doesn't help that all the faces are wrong, and I can't make them look anything like the characters they're supposed to be if I try (there's not enough punky/EGL stuff for that, and being able to change the color of the hairstyles would be a help, too. So annoying to find a decent hair in completely the wrong color... oh well.

It really is like crack.

No problem friending me, by the way. I'm flattered that you like my fanfiction enough to want to do that, honestly. I'll endeavor not to kill you with the condensed stupid that is my Live Journal... ^^

Re: Hi.

[identity profile] goddess-triad.livejournal.com 2005-08-22 08:49 am (UTC)(link)

I loved Kleine Weiss Kreuz! I absolutely died laughing. You're so cool. ^^

Thanks! I was praying you wouldn't think I was some sort of stalker or weirdo or something. I'll add you to both my LJs. The fictional one and the non-fictional one. Writerbitch is the fictional one, this one is the real one. Just so you won't get confused.

Nah... you're pretty cool already. XD

Yay! You have OCs... I'm gonna check out your account in Fictionpress. ^^

Re: Hi.

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-22 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks! That fic was... well, I dunno where it came from. I tried to do a condensed thing for Angel Sanctuary (but only got up to Book 7), and you know what they say about the Devil and idle hands. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway I like it (Don't tell ff.net it's script format! They don't like script format. But it doesn't work any other way, so...). *shrugs* You have it to do. I love WK, but it does make me wonder sometimes.

Don't worry about the stalking thing; I didn't think that for a moment. I met most of the people on my flist through fanfiction and hey, I'm the one who decided to maintain a Live Journal and stick the address on ny ff.net profile. It's not exactly like I'm trying to hide. Besides, I don't really have a problem with fic-author stalking. I didn't even know it existed until I read a thread about it on mediaminer. Guess I'm just not a terribly stalk-worthy individual or something... kind of a relief, that. I friended you back, by the way. It just seemed right. *shrug*

Ah, that's okay then. I try... though I have a horrible feeling that I just come off as crazy in this LJ thing of mine. The Ken obsession makes itself felt in every other post or thereabouts, but I'm doing it deliberately now. I've got a reputation to maintain, dammit.

I like my OCs, though I haven't written any OC stuff for a while, I'll admit. Weiss fiction ate my brain. Besides, the OC-presence in 'Seuche' keeps me busy enough. OCs are okay if they're villainous, right?

Yayness! A new friend

[identity profile] goddess-triad.livejournal.com 2005-08-22 01:22 pm (UTC)(link)

OCs are very okay if they're villainous... if they're pulled off well.

I never really liked Weiss Kreuz enough to make it one of my favorite series' as there were too many plotholes that I fell into - but hey, who am I kidding? There are plotholes everywhere. But the Weiss Kreuz ones seem to be the size of USSR. It makes me wonder A LOT My friends and I get started on debates on the real goal of estet out of nowhere most of the time, or maybe what was the point of Weiss Kreuz Gluhen when every assassin group known to man seemed to show up towards the end, is Aya's hair color natural -- that stuff. But I kept following it for the characters. I learned to love the characters no matter how inconsistent the plot got. And as you would know, it got VERY inconsistent at times.

The Ken obssession is cool, Ken's a cool guy anyway. XD I like him. I myself have a Genjo Sanzo from Gensoumaden Saiyuki obssession going on. -points to her avatar- see? But my favorite among the Weiss guys is Aya... even if most of the time I DO want to smack his face with a frying pan.

Wait... that wasn't the point... Ah, yes. Ken is very cool. XD

Fic-author stalking can be flattering at first till it gets really, really weird. XD

I've written tons of Weiss fiction... never posted one up though. I want to, it's been a while.

And I will personally go on a murder rampage if they take Kleine Weiss Kreuz down. Grar.

Re: Yayness! A new friend

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-23 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
I like villainous OCs. I don't like 'new team members' though. Forewarned is forearmed: I hate Mary Sues. Hate. I wrote a Weiss Mary Sue Litmus test, I hate them so much. Damn Sues, get out of my fandom! Stop hooking up with Aya!

Weiss Kreuz and the plot holes... oh yes, the plot holes. Ever-present bizarrenesses. But let's be honest, how many people are going to be watching Weiss Kreuz for the plot? You could count them on the fingers of one hand, if you ask me. People watch it for the characters. Or more exactly they watch it to stare at the characters and not mind that much about what they're doing. Largely because what they're doing doesn't always make a lot of sense anyway. Speaking of plot holes, I'm still bothered about one incident in ep. 13 where Ken is the first person injured and the last one to stop moving. Especially seeing as he was shot in the leg. I know he's stubborn, but...

I like Ken too, she said obviously. Can't quite explain why, though, but I've got used to it now. Aya... well, yeah, I will admit that smacking him in the face with a frying pan might help matters sometimes. Aya's at cross purposes with everything if you ask me. He's a rather unusual soul and broody beyond the call of duty, though I will admit that he's certainly lovely to look at when he's being pissy. Ah, pissy Aya.

The oddest thing about Ken and his coolness is that he's a long way from cool and yet somehow that makes him very cool. For example, I think the cutest thing about him is that he doesn't have the first idea that he's cute. And I absolutely adore his tendency to state the obvious.

And there is something weird about the whole concept of stalking a fanfic author. I mean... it's fanfiction. Even a good fanfic is just a fanfic. It's a story about a story. People really shouldn't freak over fanficcers (she said, having recently posted an 'OMG I love your work squee' comment to a new member of a WK fic community - even worse, it's the first time I've posted anything at all to that community so I suppose I look like an insane idiot). We haven't really done anything that special, though we have had a fair bit of fun in the process.

Good luck with your writing, by the way... Funny thing about Weiss. It's a rather strange little show in a lot of ways but it's spawned some fantastic fanfiction. Very odd the way an anime series will do that - but I suppose it's all about the characters again, so...

Weiss ramblings

[identity profile] goddess-triad.livejournal.com 2005-08-23 01:57 pm (UTC)(link)

OMG. You hate Mary-Sues too, You're officially one of my favorite people like ever. But unfortunately for you and I, dear -- Sues will never get out of fandoms like ours, they get everywhere. Especially on your nerves. No, they won't stop hooking up with Aya. But sometimes, I think Aya just makes it SO EASY.

The characters get you hooked, it's true. Especially the main four - Uh, as far as I'm concerned - I just wanted to smash Schwartz with two by fours. But they're damned sick bastards, whatcha gonna do about it? That's how they are. Besides, they give the necessary conflict. I guess they're a necessary.

There are a LOT of instances in Weiss Kreuz episodes that make my head spin. The series makes you think... sometimes not in a very good way, but at least it's got your brain working. For example, that episode with Sakura and her freakin' kidneys. Okay, I know the whole psychopathic doctor thing is an excuse on why he couldn't have just taken Sakura's organs all at the same time the first time he captured her or what not - but it just got really stupid when I thought about it. (That was episode 6, I believe) Yes, Episode 5, with Ken and Yuriko seemed like a pointless episode as well.

Yes, Ken is cute that way. ^_^ I really like it when he gets slightly irritated by Youji's remarks and antics. Especially that part towards the end when Omi told them to be careful, Youji patted his head and he blushed and almost yelled at him. XD
He doesn't seem to know he's cute though... You're right there.

Weiss, with all it's plothole glory, wonderful characters and what not is one of the animes that generate the best, worst and most interesting fic ideas. Even though I cringe at it sometime, I can't help but love it as well.

Re: Weiss ramblings

[identity profile] sevendials.livejournal.com 2005-08-23 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd say we're well and truly stuck with Mary Sues in the Weiss fandom (and probably in Saiyuki as well - gah). Any show where the recurring characters tend toward the young, attractive and male, none of whom are exactly overburdened with canonical romantic entanglements, is going to have 'em coming and coming and coming like evil space aliens until all the sane fangirls out there want to beat their heads against their desktops and do so HARD.

(If you want to see my Weiss-brand Mary Sue Litmus Test, by the way, it's here (http://www.palemovies.com/marysue/). Okay, blatant plug requirements met...)

Perhaps Aya does make it easy for them to come and shatter his little world, but why the same should hold true for Omi I don't know. Omi and Romantic just don't quite sit right together if you ask me. He and Ken both, actually - they both have to be browbeaten into dating and it's amusing. I love the Weiss boys. I must admit to a fondness for Schwarz, too, but it's partly because they're so gleefully evil. If they stopped being evil, they wouldn't be as fun.

(Schuldich needs to be smacked in the face for being a complete bastard, but he's just so good at it!)

I wish he'd taken all Sakura's organs at once personally, then we'd have been spared her joyous moping presence (no, I don't like Sakura). And then there's the thing about Masafumi wanting to be God (ep 9, I think). How does turning yourself into a baboon equate with deity in any way? Why does he start killing Schreient and how come they don't actually die even though they should? Why does the house burn down? Is the fight scene uncomfortably like something out of tentacle hentai? The world may never know (well, actually the answer to the last question is yes, but the point stands).

Confession time: I liked the ep with Ken and Yuriko, pointless or no. It had Ken in.

Oh, God, that bit. I love that. It's a pure and classic Ken moment, though probably not the right time to start an argument. Or for Youji to pat his head, all things considered (I must admit to loving it when Ken, like the medical genius he is, points out that if they get killed that's it. No, really, Ken?). I adore the way he interacts with Youji, it's just so funny. If it's possible to have friendly arguments that's what they do, and frequently. I'm sure Youji only does half the things he does because he's trying to wind Ken up.

I think one of the things that helps Weiss fic along is that the premise is good, not to mention infinitely sustainable and that the cast are good (to say nothing of infinitely slashable) but don't have too much revealed about them. Which is really all you need for decent fanfic.

... now if only we could spork the Mary Sues before they started, we'd be all set.