The Party's Over, but I'm Still Dancing...

[cynchick]

I've been pondering something the past few days (though the seeds have been germinating for several months). So how do I put this without sounding whiny...?

Comments

[eldrfire]

Although I myself have been withdrawing from fandom, I have felt the opposite of you-- to me it looks like business is booming more than ever. People are posting stuff all the time over at the KakaSaku community. I mean, their last contest had over 20 entries!! I know that I haven't been participating as much because I have been working on an original novel. I tried to work on both fanfiction and the novel when I did the AU contest, but as much as I liked writing my entry, it really threw me off when what I really wanted to do was work on my novel

[cynchick]

I'm sure it's a combination of things that have put a damper on fandom; all the social media stuff on the web now, even the economy as people are working more and have less time for frivolous hobbies. But when an artist - be it art or prose - puts their heart and soul into creating something and it isn't well received, or the reception starts to dwindle, it's impossible not to wonder if it's personal, even if there are plenty of logical explanations for it. You know?

[eldrfire]

Yeah I know what you mean! But you're one of the most well-regarded artists of the fandom so from my understanding it's nothing to do with your work. Have you noticed a serious drops in reviews/faves on your stories/art?

If so it surprises me because the community seems more active than ever. However, there can be a difference between a lot of people commenting on the LJ comm and actually reading each other's stories.

[cynchick]

I have noticed a huge drop in both, even at the KakaSaku comm. On FFN I usually get a steady average of reviews per chapter, but the past several chapters have seen an over 30% drop. The exact same time the review avg dropped, the hits also dropped by almost 4k. To me this is a clear sign that a lot of people stopped reading at that point, and I don't know if it was a certain plot element or what. I've been getting a lot of Hinata bashing for some reason, but not enough to cause that kind of nosedive. It's no different with fanart; at DA the faves are about half what they used to be, and LJ posts never seem to get more than 4-5 comments. So when I see all of these things, of course I think it must be me.

[cynchick]

I don't think it's rude. Like I said, no one is obligated to like my pairings and read something just because I wrote it. I actually find the new crop of characters to be uninteresting, because Kishi hasn't bothered to flesh most of them out and he probably never will. It's hard to invest in a character that even the creator doesn't care about

[anat_astarte]

*__* Oh wow, you posted everything that I've been thinking lately! Yes, I've noticed a decline in the Naruto fandom activities as well, which includes participation in the fandom memes and discussion comms. Icons and graphics are going strong, but fic and art? Not so much.

I think that even though people are exploring other fandoms, the decline is also due to a noticeable disinterest (and even dislike) of the current canon that has been building in readers for a really long time. The Naruto fandom has been particularly expressive of their dislike of many issues in Shippuden, especially the silliness of the fillers, the dragging on of the arcs and the crappy quick-fix resolution to major philosophical questions that canon opened up, but in the recent chapters all the main people that we have grown to love have disappeared from the storyline entirely and the current chapters are focusing on secondary characters with no sign of the main characters that the canon has focused on for so long

[cynchick]

I stopped watching Shipuuden a long time ago. I don't consider anime-only characters, places, or plots to be relevant in any way. As far as the manga goes, I'm as disappointed as everyone else. I was just saying above that the new characters are uninteresting and impossible to care about, and the characters and storyline we've spent 10 years investing are is nowhere to be found.

The beauty of fandom is that we could take these many holes and fill in all the what-ifs with how we would like to see things go. But there's not much to work with now unless you're one of the few who like the new characters. I think Kishi is tired of this series. After the Akatsuki were gone, there was no emotional connection to any character or plot element left. He ditched all the old ones, and the new ones are completely uninspired.

[anat_astarte]

The episodes that are airing here are the ones that feature Sasuke, Guren and Yukimaru, so I am watching them simply to see Sasuke again (because he's been absent way too long from the manga now) and because the Guren-Yukimaru dynamic is great. I also love the Kabuto-Guren competitveness too, and Gozu's admiration and loyalty to Guren

[cynchick]

You can't even call whats going on now a war. It's been going for what, 2-3 days of actual timeline? The whole thing is ridiculous. The enemy is made up of zombies and nonhuman drones so no one is offended by our beloved (and underage) characters killing anyone? The lack of realism in Naruto in portraying a military society - particularly the shinobi culture, given their real history - has always bothered me. Like the fact that when Naruto was learning the rasengan he was blasting through tree trunks with it, and now when he uses the bigger, meaner version on real people, it just knocks them back? WTF is that? I know the target demographic is teenage boys, but I think in recent years, due to its global popularity, its being geared more toward Western teenagers and their culture's higher sensitivity to violence. Which kills all authenticity in a manga about ninja life. Being a veteran, glossing over the realities of war and soldiering is a particularly hot button for me.

[keysotosoto129]

I get what you're feeling about LJ seeming dead. I try to search for communities for something like a band I just got into, and sure there are communities, but they stopped updated years ago. It's saddening, it really is. A lot of my LJ is just updates on Doctor Who, Kuroshitsuji, and fics, so I tend to not even read that and just check to see if someone (such as yourself) has updated.

I've been bad about updating, too. I finally did two days ago for the first time in a month, it was insane. And I do go on tumblr for 90% of my internet time. But I also hear what you're saying about fandoms. I can remember when certain pairings were really freaking popular, and then when they simmered down and let non-canon ones come to light, etc. It makes me sad to just see everything sort of end in an equilibrium of silence.

But I am here! And I love to hear what you have to say, whether it's in terms of your real life or your writing <3

[mokulule]

I guess I'm a lurker, I don't really ship KakaSaku so I haven't read Will of Fire, but I still like your pictures, which is why I keep your livejournal in a feed, but that also mean I very rarely log in to live journal :/