When Shrine Essays Go Off-Topic (sorta)

[Robin]

How do you handle it when an essay you really want to include in a shrine is only tangentially related to your subject? (As in, you are probably one of the few who would connect these two subject matters together, but it's REALLY COOL?)

Also, how interesting do you find tangential essays when you're reading a shrine?

[Larissa]

Write it anyway! This is why I have a page about Terminator on my Squall site. It's kind of an off-the-wall page but I had fun writing it and that's what matters.

I find tangential essays really interesting, and it's always super cool if you can tie two disconnected things together in an interesting way, no matter what the subject matter. Expand your horizons and see what you come up with!

[Destinie]

I think they are GREAT! I love connecting the dots to things that are seemingly unrelated, especially if you have a shrine with very little information and not much to go on. I think my Ur shrine is basically full of essays like that - who would compare Bulls to a bishounen?

(Wow I am still shamelessly plugging that site, huh??)

I love seeing those types of articles because they are really my favorite essays!

[Lethe]

What Larissa said! From a shrine-maker's perspective, I say: GO FOR IT. For me, a shrine is a dump and storage for your thoughts - things you don't get to word vomit about in other places, and especially a collection of all your thoughts pertaining to the subject. That includes these "off-topic" things, since it wouldn't feel "complete" to you without them.

And really, from the perspective of a visitor, those essays are very entertaining and interesting to read. It can lead to learning new things, looking at things from a different perspective, or discovering related things. It needn't even be in essay-format: a series of pictures and lots of yelling, for example, do the job too. Not to mention that kind of essay really is what adds a personal touch to the shrine: a product of things that you have thought about, consumed or been through.

Personal example: The parallels page on my Dream Saga shrine. I drew comparisons to a bunch of series that are similar to Dream Saga in one way or another, and that was really fun. Things I had always thought about, but never really took the time to formulate in words before, some of them things that I wouldn't ever shrine or dedicate a full essay to - it's nice to "get them out of my system" somewhere.

I've also always had a weak spot for "look-a-like" and similar comparison pages in general, and I love how there are multiple ways to go about writing such pages. (They're one of the main reasons I really wanted to get into shrining ahaha...) Examples:

• Todd on Ripples
• Ava on Roses Have Thorns and Wishing Star
• Alex on Renaissance

I can't think of many examples of pages outside of this category though - or maybe everyone just does such a great job weaving the respective topic into their shrine that I don't remember them as "tangential" haha.

Some people also cover elements that aren't exactly "tangential" in the sense of "only I would have made this connection!" - elements that may have influenced a character's design, for example. It's common to cover those on Pokémon shrines in particular, but not necessarily on other sites since there are plenty of other things to talk about already, things that are more important to the subject in question and already take up a lot of time to write. But I do like learning about those things that are a bit "further away", too, and Megan's shrines usually introduce me to new things: types of dances on Shatter Me, for example.

[Robin]

@Larissa: AWESOME! Great way to put it! (I think your post should be a quote on our "Shrining for Newbies" page!!)

@AdriCULOUS: I hadn't thought about tangential essays in that way, but you're right, they do provide a way into the subject for people who aren't familiar with it! :)

@Destinie: LOL, plug away! (I, like you, love essays that help readers pull together the ideas from various subject matters and influences, and your site is a good example!) :D

@Lethe: YAAAS! :D I like that your post emphasizes how free-form shrining is. And your examples of tangential essays are great! :D I feel like such essays enrich the site for people who already know a ton about the subject matter, too :)

Also, I LOLed so much at these because they are sooooo accurate for my experience:

a shrine is a dump and storage for your thoughts

a series of pictures and lots of yelling, for example, do the job too.

[Lethe]

Haha! Another example is drawing comparisons between fandoms that existed at the same time or were often associated with one another, or pointing out similarities to popular series/characters. I really love the #GenkiJusticeParty joint project and it has... so many fun things that are between "further analysis" and "fun media section" (analyzing a character via tropes, setting up a Pokémon team, that kind of stuff). And then they all have dedicated pages to comparing the characters to Sailor Moon characters and it's ??? when you first look at it, but it's so interesting (especially since all shrines made for that project feature those pages)!

I'm not sure, but I think "look-a-like" pages have been somewhat on the decline...? I haven't seen them around much lately.

[Mikari]

I agree that you should write the page anyway. Maybe there's someone else that also makes the connection and will be happy to see they're not to only one, or maybe someone will see the page and make the connection then.

[Robin]

Haha! Another example is drawing comparisons between fandoms that existed at the same time or were often associated with one another, or pointing out similarities to popular series/characters. I really love the #GenkiJusticeParty joint project and it has... so many fun things that are between "further analysis" and "fun media section" (analyzing a character via tropes, setting up a Pokémon team, that kind of stuff). And then they all have dedicated pages to comparing the characters to Sailor Moon characters and it's ??? when you first look at it, but it's so interesting (especially since all shrines made for that project feature those pages)!

THIS IS SO COOL

so cool I apparently can't spell "cool" correctly the first time I type it xD

I agree that you should write the page anyway. Maybe there's someone else that also makes the connection and will be happy to see they're not to only one, or maybe someone will see the page and make the connection then.

YESSSSSS :D I love it when my sites give someone something new to think about :D

[Chibi]

I agree with Larissa and everybody else! Just go for it, write it anyway and have fun!

I personally love these kinds of pages because they add another layer to the character/pairing/etc. and give personality to the shrine! They're really interesting!