Happy birthday and some random stuff!

[ciircee]

Firstly: Happy birthday, Erin!

I posted a comment fic over at shoneenclub in celebration. Shoneenclub. I love that name. ♥

In other Arashi news: New single. I'm tempted but I'm not going to shell out for the limited edition until I know if I like both songs.

Random stuff: The contest at ohmiya. I have an entry for the drabble contest. I hope to have one for the short story contest, too. I would not object to any of you joining in. I AM JUST SAYIN'.

Also: The Road Trip AU. ♥♥♥ One day it shall be posted and that day shall be AWESOME.

Stripper Pole: I...I just can't post it when I'm so unhappy with the transition. It's written but I wrote it in two parts, the smut first and then the lead in. Hence my trouble joining them. I want to get it out of my head but I know that my 'i don't like it' is actually factual and not just my usual 'i don't like it' that I feel for my own work.

Finally: I have a fic rant.

I am really tempted to name names. I'm not going to but I am REALLY TEMPTED. Besides, you should be able to figure it out.

I don't mind OCs. I don't even mind Arashi marrying girls. I do mind if you create an OC for the sole purpose of getting yourself into your favorite's pants. MALE or female. PS. This includes killing off a character and replacing them with your OC. ESPECIALLY this. Especially this if you're trying to pretend that maybe your OC is the dead member. Jesus.

But far worse, in my opinion, is 'character' bashing. Look, if the best version of Ohno/Jun you can write involves making Nino a total jerk, Jun a total saint, and Ohno as uncaring about Nino's feelings because he loves Jun better, then you are NOT DOING YOUR PAIRING A FAVOR. You are saying Ohno/Jun can't work unless Nino is jerk.

It pisses me off that people would trash the very real love that every member of Arashi has for every other member.

But aside from that (and I say 'aside' but seriously, it's sort of rage inducing for me): When you base your fic off of 'this person is a jerk, therefore my favorite should have everything he wants' you are ignoring all the awesome about your pairing of choice. Let's go back to Ohno/Jun:

You know what is awesome about Ohno and Jun's relationship? Jun is gentle with Ohno in a way that he isn't with the others. Jun will whack at Ohno, sure, but he also touches him sweetly, taking his hand, putting his hands on his shoulders, leaning into him. You can see how much love and respect Jun has for Ohno and how much it means to him when Ohno approves of him. And Ohno talks about Jun and it's so...he respects him so much, he's so impressed with who Jun is, who he has become, and he's moved by Jun's warmth and gentleness. Plus he likes to fuck with him. Ohno fucks with Jun and totally gets away with it. He makes Jun laugh.

This is off the top of my head, too. I'm not a real fan of Ohno/Jun. There were times when Jun touching Ohno seemed to really get to Nino and I felt bad for Nino (obviously, Nino is a bit of a nutcase, and he makes up for his issues by inappropriately touching Jun on concert tours). I think that Ohno and Jun love each other but I think Jun had a point: They don't have a ton of stuff in common and they probably really WOULDN'T be friends if it hadn't been for Arashi. I think they would have NEEDED to be in Arashi (whereas, say, Nino and Sho would have got along no matter what) to come together. And despite all this I can write Ohno/Jun that doesn't involve making Nino a jerk and Jun the perfect man.

SO STOP IT. You'll make me utterly, utterly hate your pairing and I don't want to hate any Arashi/Arashi pairing.

PS. I don't object to Second-Generation Arashi but speaking as a woman with four kids whom I love and enjoy: YOU DON'T NEED A CHILD TO BE A REAL FAMILY/A PERFECT FAMILY. Wanting kids is one thing--Sho would want children no matter what his sexual orientation because that is who Sho is.


ETA: I feel like changing out icons but I hate looking for them. If you want to throw icons at me, please do.

ETA2: I just finally got into my e-mail. Do you know who is totally awesome? ZEL. a;lsdkfja;dfj OMG I LOVE HER FOREVER. I LOVE HER LIKE BURNING.

Comments

[blood-opal.livejournal.com]

First of all: UGH. MARY-SUES. YOU CAN HAVE YOUR FANTASY BUT PLEASE DON'T SUBJECT THE REST OF US TO IT. DDD:

Second: UGH. CHARACTER BASHING. I have a problem with character bashing in general but bashing in Arashi just pisses me off because I just cannot see it. Arashi are INCREDIBLY fond of each other, no matter which way you pair them up, and to think that anyone would believe that they would willingly backstab each other or badmouth each other just.. hurts my heart. STOP RUINING MY HAPPY GAY RAINBOW BAND WITH YOUR STUPID PLOT DEVICES BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MAKE A RELATIONSHIP WORK, DAMMIT. LIKE, WHAT THE HELL. DDD:

I don't think I've read the fic you're talking about and I don't even want to. Nino can be a bitch but he's also a total squishy for his bandmates. He will totally back off if he thinks he's jeopardizing one or more of his bandmates' happiness. SO DON'T HATE ON HIM.

[beckerbell.livejournal.com]

Oh, lord. I very nearly wrote a comment limit-breaking rant right here because I really dislike the idea of making Nino into a jerk and that it's turning you off Ohno/Jun. But if I got started, I'd be here all night. D:

But. Well, I'm obviously a ridiculously huge fan of Ohno/Jun and I hate the idea of making Nino a jerk to make it work both for the sake of the pairing and for Nino's sake. But mostly because they all love Nino and Nino loves all of them, that's what makes me love Arashi! That's the whole point to me.

....see, this is why I stopped reading fic in the fandom outside my flist. I was not getting enjoyment out of infantile!Aiba, mean!Sho, evil bastard!Jun, crying on the inside!ANY OF THEM, non-evil-little-bastard!Ohno. I miss getting fic to read, but I've never been happier in the fandom.

[lazulisong.livejournal.com]

well if you think it would help you could send it over to me and I'll see if I can't make a suggestion? Not that I'm much good with transitions myself. Er.

[honooko.livejournal.com]

I love that I know exactly which fic you are referring to. And it's actually one that has stuck in my craw for a while now, because when she started it, she was releasing chapters almost every day (complete with huge ugly banner!) and suddenly, that became the "standard" multi-parter release time.

So those of us who actually, you know, want our writing to be nice were nagged endlessly by readers in comments to "update really soon!" because we looked slow in comparison.

And I know it started then, because the commenting timing lines up perfectly.

And agree with you 100% on the pairing thing.

here were times when Jun touching Ohno seemed to really get to Nino and I felt bad for Nino (obviously, Nino is a bit of a nutcase, and he makes up for his issues by inappropriately touching Jun on concert tours).

Nino's jealousy is such a tricky thing, too, because it's really easy for fandom to take it too far and make him creepy and possessive when he's not. Nino may show jealousy and discomfort, but he isn't starting fights over it or crying over it. He's surprisingly inverted, in that sense; he'll sulk or brood rather than erupt. Fandom just sort of... misses that. Plus there's the part where Nino likes Jun too, and jealousy or no, he wouldn't attack his friend over it.

Junior highschool girlfriends, they are not.

[nicefinalbeam.livejournal.com]

I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AND YOU KNOW I DO BECAUSE I'VE BEEN ANGSTING ABOUT THIS FIC FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS AND MAYBE EVEN MONTHS AND NOW THERE IS GOING TO BE A SEQUEL PLEASE DEAR GOD SAVE ME.

[nicefinalbeam.livejournal.com]

Okay, now that I've calmed down a little, and by calmed down mean I'm not distracted, I can say this:

There was also a blow job with a small child a few feet away, calling Jun DoS over and over in spite of the fact that Ohno was calling all the shots from the bottom, 'let's make you feel better with sex at completely inappropriate times' TWICE (once after he confessed he'd been raped by Johnny - and I'm not even going to get started on THAT one - and once saying "take out your anger on me" which is... no, I can't talk about that either).

And though Ohno cheated on Nino SEVERAL TIMES before finally breaking up with him and IN A NOTE, we are supposed to feel that Nino is the bad guy for getting angry and trying to break up their eternal looooove. Sorry, but Ohno acted like a fucking ASSHOLE through the entire fic in his treatment of Nino, and had the balls to say, "You didn't care about me enough. You neglected me."

Wah wah, cry me a river. Also, way to be completely out of character.

Now, I get that people should be able to write fic how they want, but it just pisses me off that there is stuff like this in fandom. That people go "OH WOW THIS FIC MAKE ME HATE NINO A LOT" because... god damn. You HAVE to be 12 or something. I hate, seriously hate, when one of the members is made to look bad in this way. It's not right if you care about the band dynamics and understand what makes them amazing.

There are so many ways to write this without bashing characters and other pairings. As someone who liked Juntoshi least anyway, this just pretty much makes me want nothing to do with them. I've been struggling with NOT saying something to this girl since she started.

/end rant

But... thanks for my happy birthday wishes. LOL. AND THE FIC WAS AMAZING OH GOD. I should reply there when my brain clears. ♥

[anoudegozaruna.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure I know what fic you're talking about and it physically hurt to read any of it. I skipped towards the end in hopes that she filled in some of the numerous plotholes and frustrating factors that made me want to tear my hair out, but no, it got worse. The characterizations and situations she invented were so ridiculous that I physically wanted to bash something after skimming through it. That fic...just UGH!

[blueandflawless.livejournal.com]

obviously, Nino is a bit of a nutcase, and he makes up for his issues by inappropriately touching Jun on concert tours

This is hilariously and amazingly true and makes me want to write fic about all the weird ways in which Nino is wound just a little too tight and how Jun exploits it all for his amusement & Nino's own good.

By which I mean, Hi! How are you?! I am going to go nose through those links up there. :)

[rinalin.livejournal.com]

Hear here!

I know what fic(s) you refer to. And I have refused to read it. Actually, just seeing it posted irritates me to know end and makes me just as inflamed.

[fluttering.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, fic rantings. :D I have to agree with lazulisong's comment; there will always be bad fic, so it's best to stick with your flist and whatever they recommend. I know this sounds elitist or whatever, but people will write whatever they want and sometimes it will be character bashing. There's no way to stop it. :x It's sad that people would actually go so far as to dislike the actual person because of some shitty fic, but freedom of speech blah blah. D:

Don't let them make you hate Jun/Ohno shfsklfjs;;s I love my baby/leader fics, okay... :'(

[happenstanc3.livejournal.com]

I- I don't know this fic you speak of! D: But now I kind of want to read it for shits & giggles.

I think I more or less got over my rage a few fandoms ago. Wherever you go, there will be 12 year olds who are glued to Gossip Girl and are most convinced that life works just like that, and then there are those who simply don't have the emotional intelligence to even begin to understand that loving friend A who is in love with friend B does not mean friend B should be hated upon and killed off in a fire asap.

[satsumatsu.livejournal.com]

i *know* that fanfic and i totally feel with you. that jun/ohno fanfic is just.... so much OC and so.... bad i can't even believe it.
i quite like jun/ohno pair actually but making nino a jerk for it is just... so wrong!
besides the fact that neither of them would leave arashi or let it happen as far as THAT!

... i just wanted to ... *head*desk*

[kailice.livejournal.com]

These are some of the reasons I shunned fanfiction for so long. It doesn't matter how well it was written otherwise; a self-insert or Mary Sue can completely ruin a story. I agree 100% on everything you said, and I know exactly which fic you're referring to.

Honestly? I don't mind too much when Arashi is written out of character - you can make Nino a huge jerk, fine, go ahead. Based on real people or not, this is fiction, after all. And, such as in some AUs, sometimes creative liberties in the Arashi personalities can be a good thing. WITHIN LIMITS. Very, very strict limits, and never without good reason. Making Nino a jerk, or even unreasonably jealous, isn't the problem: using it as a plot device is the problem. Doing so to make your OTP seem wonderful in comparison is the problem.

Because you NEVER justify character bashing, and canNOT say that your OTP lives happily ever after, so everything else is excused. Arashi loves each other. Do you (and I don't mean you - I'm speaking generally) think that either Ohno or Jun would be able to watch Arashi fall apart calmly, thinking it's okay since they're together? Do you think Nino, the guy who was indifferent towards bullies as a kid because he didn't want to cause others trouble, would tear apart Arashi and be physically aggressive because he was jealous?

This is one of my biggest pet peeves in writing - you can't just have your characters act irrationally and do things they would never do for the sake of moving your plot along. Can't find a way to write Ohno and Jun together? I know! Let's make Nino cold and neglecting, then a freakishly jealous bastard! Sure, it doesn't make sense, doesn't fit Nino's personality, and doesn't give any depth to his character, but I wanted a plot. Love triangles are plots, right? And hm, it seems we've made Jun look like a jerk, instead. Solution: he may mistreat almost everyone in humanity (and maybe mistreating ohno, too), but he's doing it for Ohno. And when Nino explodes in his face, he's so understanding. Wow, he's so perfect and romantic!

Of course, there are always people like this, who act like OTP > group, and all of the other fandom horrors. I usually tuck away my inner critic, but... I used to hate groups like Arashi because of those kinds of fans.

Oh. Um. We've never talked before. Uh... hi?
Not the best post to reply to as a hello how did this reply get so long?, but you've unleashed the aspiring English professor in me *chains it back down*. So, nice to meet you. And thank you for writing fanfiction that reminds me that I love this fandom, despite the moments of wanting to bash my head into my desk XD

[waxrose.livejournal.com]

I love the Road Trip AU so very much. Your lastest parts made me laugh over breakfast this morning and totally neutralized some of my nerves for starting my block today. I'm dying to respond to your amazingness. ♥

It pisses me off that people would trash the very real love that every member of Arashi has for every other member. - VERY VERY VEEEERY TRUE. I can't stand that at all. I have no diea what specific fic you speak of, but ugh.

[primroseshows.livejournal.com]

UH ROAD TRIP AU? I went back to it today and my brain exploded, there was soooo much new stuff I went starry eyed. All of it, I just -- be still my beating heart

Also I really enjoy reading fic rants, for some reason, l-lol. You can really learn a lot about what readers like and don't like, and since there's no naming of names, no one has to feel under the spotlight. Sometimes criticism can be harsh, but sometimes things just sort of call for it, right? :| Anyway, I don't know who the author is, but I hope that she'll grow out of that phase soon. :| :| :|

Um. And this:
obviously, Nino is a bit of a nutcase

Truer words have never been spoken, and I have never loved him more. ♥

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

...that would be why I refuse to read fic that wasn't recced to me anymore

[alexiela.livejournal.com]

I know that fic and I agree SO HARD with everything you said.

[aatash.livejournal.com]

You know, that's the thing. There are people who, with limited plot ideas, will think that their OTP can't work unless the third party involved -- mostly likely a character that fandom loves to see sexin' up with half of their OTP -- is made to be the "bad guy" and tossed out like rubbish.

And then there are Arashi fans who manage to let all the member-ai fly right over their heads. They would bash the hell out of one member for "disrupting" their dream pair. (I kid you not; I know of an Ohmiya fan who constantly bashes Jun in her posts, just because Jun enjoys touching Ohno from time to time. Talk about giving the rest of us a bad name. >:)

S-So, what I really want to say is: the writer of the fic you mentioned could just, hopefully, be going through a phase, but in general, don't expect too much of fics on the comms 'cause people can be very strange. ^^;

Other than that, I totally agree with your points on JunToshi - especially the one on Ohno loving to fuck with Jun. ♥ I love it when Ohno does that, since Jun will have the silliest, most affectionate smile on his face even when he responds by hitting Ohno. *____*

... road trip AU? *curious*

[b00kw0rm79.livejournal.com]

This is the first time I'm commenting here even though I've read your great writings before. I even love reading your rants and imagine my surprise when I realized you were talking about something I have knowledge about. (And by have knowledge I mean I've read the story)

I thought long and hard about what to write since I like the story and don't want to get bricked. It's not that I like it because Nino was portrayed as a jerk who would betray the group, thereby making my OTP look good in comparison, but because when I'm reading it I honestly don't think Arashi. It's all too unrealistic for that.

Fan fiction are not based on reality and this one is just the same. Yes, I questioned Jun being portrayed so great but it worked for me when I read it as simply a story and not an Arashi fic. Plus after reading MANY Ohmiya fics that bash Jun it was a nice change to read the opposite.

Having said that, you're right, there is no need to turn Nino into such a bad guy to make Juntoshi work. In a perfect Arashi world there would be no bashing of ANY member.

Sorry for the long comment. I can just feel all the bricks coming my way. Please be gentle.

[kegom.livejournal.com]

I know that JunToshi fic you're talking about and ...yeah, it's BAD. >.<" It's so bad that, when I read it (skimmed over it, after a bit), I just sat here, staring at my screen and basically going: "What? Did you try to write a Gackt/insert-random-j-rock-guy-here story and accidentally ended up fishing Arashi's names out of your pairing hat?"

Because this is what it looks like. :( And that's especially galling, because it's the only long JunToshi fic there is out there and it's my favourite pairing, except that these are not my guys, these aren't Jun and Ohno, they're ...I don't know, bad yaoi plot devices! >.<"

I read the first chapter and I already wanted to leave a comment about how those guys were rather OOC - and then I read the second chapter, and the chapter after that... and I realized that at that point, the only thing I could say would be "U R DOIN' IT WRONG!", which wouldn't have been criticism but wanking, so I decided not to say anything. W-which might have been not so good an idea, since the author has apparently done a sequel? -_-" Oh, dear.



I think the only good thing to come out of that fic is that it gives me a BURNING desire to write my own JunToshi multi-chapter fic, just to show all those fangirls who actually liked that fic that you CAN write Jun/Ohno fic, even with a bit of power-play between them, and NOT MAKE IT BAD. >.<"

Which of course is a rather large assumption - that I wouldn't make it bad, I mean - but I'm totally convinced that I could do better than this author, at least. v-v"

(Actually, I'm REALLY tempted to write that JunToshi fic. I shouldn't, because I haven't even finished the "Sho-gets-hit-by-a-spell-and-humps-everything-in-sight" multi-chapter fic, but - so, so, SO tempted. I have this whole thing in my head where Ohno and Nino retire to the bathtub together for a serious talk about Jun and Ohno's relationship, but then they end up sitting in the water and making high-pitched noises at the room and listening to their echo, until Jun comes barging in - mainly because Aiba and Sho were convinced Nino and Ohno were having sex and they were too polite/mentally scarred to open the door - and basically goes "it would be so easy to just drown you two right now" at them. XD)

[chrestomanci]

Um, hello :">! Anat suggested you to me here, and I've seen you around a lot, so uh, how's about it? Friends? ♥?

[salwaphoenix.livejournal.com]

well, i love juntoshi, most probably, my OTP
*but somehow sakumoto and junaiba and matsumiya always crawl themselves into my tiny lil brain*

the only reason why i read the fic, and read the sequel too, is because of the scarcity of juntoshi fics.
*and she's a good person herself ^^*

that said, i have to agree that to a certain extend, i do not agree with the idea, and i did tell her sometimes, as a feedback. i wish the sequel is more of a juntoshi rather than Arashi-get-together-again fic.

cuz i really love her for writing the longest juntoshi fic around, but i really do not want to not like her writing just because i don't like the idea *even when they're having sex >.<*

long comment O_O my 2nd comment to you in a day, after lurking for so many months XD you should write a juntoshi XD