Amassment Message Board

Do it!!! I have never seen that movie! I'm such a bad fan! Maybe I will find it on youtube tonight!

Ai as in Amber? I think I visited that one before. :)

Destinie you must watch it if only for the chibi Mewtwo!

Yeah that one...I'm working on the layout right now. Well...expect a surprise for when it reopens, I think I accidentally invented a new type of layouts...

Awesome! Looking forward to it!

I really like what Destinie had to say here, because it's something that I've been thinking about a lot lately and wondering how I can approach shrining differently in the future:

Destinie wrote:I think shrines back in the day were a way for people to connect with each other using interests they had in common. These days, we have things like facebook and twitter, so connecting through a shrine is less common. I think this has given way to their evolution. (Just a thought!)

I really enjoy shrining, and I really enjoy reading shrines, but with shrines + means of networking (twitter, tumblr, facebook, livejournal, etc) becoming such separate entities (whereas before, like Destinie mentioned, they were often the means of networking), I feel like the act of creating a shrine can become really masturbatory--for lack of a better word, lol. I'm really interested in seeing how shrines can become more participatory.

In any case though, I like to think of the term "shrine" broadly! I think there's definitely a standard for what a shrine is that we have all set, and follow (an informational and analytical collection of essays, done by an author on a subject). What I'm more interested in seeing is what else can be considered a shrine! For example, lots of artists often times dedicate galleries of their work to particular series, or even characters--and in my mind, that's as much of a tribute to a subject as a collection of essays is. Dd also mentioned Tumblr, and I think for a lot of people that is their way of dedicating themselves to a subject in an alternative way. I've been so busy as of late, but I'm really interested in finding alternative approaches to writing shrine content (as opposed to the stereotypical character information + analysis), or even finding new ways completely to represent my love for subjects on the web.

I guess that was a little tangential--my point is that I don't think I have particular guidelines for what constitutes a good shrine, but rather, I like being surprised at others' approaches to how they choose to shrine. I think however people creatively choose to show their love for a character--whether that's writing, art, or a crazy gif blog dedicate to them--is a "shrine" it its own right.

Aku wrote:In any case though, I like to think of the term "shrine" broadly! I think there's definitely a standard for what a shrine is that we have all set, and follow (an informational and analytical collection of essays, done by an author on a subject). What I'm more interested in seeing is what else can be considered a shrine! For example, lots of artists often times dedicate galleries of their work to particular series, or even characters--and in my mind, that's as much of a tribute to a subject as a collection of essays is. Dd also mentioned Tumblr, and I think for a lot of people that is their way of dedicating themselves to a subject in an alternative way. I've been so busy as of late, but I'm really interested in finding alternative approaches to writing shrine content (as opposed to the stereotypical character information + analysis), or even finding new ways completely to represent my love for subjects on the web.

I completely agree with this. I am actually looking forward to seeing non-conventional fansites with various forms. I actually considered this before: what about a general blog (no fancy layout) that had a lot of articles about a series/character? Or a media-centered fansite? Unfortunately, I suck at those, and just stick with what I got. I like making layouts too, haha.

Though, I wonder - wouldn't they become...something else entirely? Like, you could make a fansite that's completely based on someone drawing a comic about this character, but then I guess it would be a fansite just by broad definition, because people would refer to it as a fan comic.

Sorry if I butt in with my shit again, but I have an example I've been working on: Isaac Clarke Hugging Stuff. Is this still a shrine?

Varen wrote:I actually considered this before: what about a general blog (no fancy layout) that had a lot of articles about a series/character?

This is actually something I've thought about myself and wanted to try! XD I just haven't had the time to invest in it. I'm interested about the concept of a character/series-focused blog as a "shrine". I think there's an interesting approach to that idea, as writing can become really really micro-detailed as opposed to looking at the big picture. I also think it opens up a platform for discussion that could lead to a more interesting dialogue in future posts.

dubiousdisc wrote:Though, I wonder - wouldn't they become...something else entirely? Like, you could make a fansite that's completely based on someone drawing a comic about this character, but then I guess it would be a fansite just by broad definition, because people would refer to it as a fan comic. Sorry if I butt in with my shit again, but I have an example I've been working on: Isaac Clarke Hugging Stuff. Is this still a shrine?

I wonder too! There's really no doubt in my mind that we have all set a standard for what a shrine is (something more like this and less like this.) We've all set up rules for ourselves on what constitutes a shrine, even to the point where certain kinds of essays re-appear on all different kinds of shrines (most people have relationship pages of some sort, for example). I think in some ways, a shrine will always be expected to be some kind of writing... but maybe it's also because of that definition that we get too narrow minded about what a shrine could be? It's kind of interesting to ponder.

dubiousdisc wrote:Sorry if I butt in with my shit again, but I have an example I've been working on: Isaac Clarke Hugging Stuff. Is this still a shrine?

In a broad definition, to me, a fansite is a dedication to something as a fan. So yes, it would count.

I agree with Aku. I think we should start breaking away the strict rules of what a fansite should be and shouldn't be. It's fine to have those rules to ourselves, but I personally don't like keeping everything in tight categories, and I know it's unfair for others too. I think we should honestly consider opening Amassment to different possibilities.

Another thing to consider is that many people say that they aren't writers. Therefore, writing isn't the best way to express themselves. Why should we ignore those who prefer to express their love through art, music, or graphics, etc.? I suppose you can argue that it would be new categories like fanart, etc. But in a way, our articles are simply editorials in a website, that makes a fansite. So as long as it's in a collective of sort, I think they should count as fansites too.

Like Varen said, a lot of people say they aren't writers, like myself and it's one of my weakest areas. I have this sense of "well a shrine/fansite is writing and I can't write! What else am I supposed to do?" I don't have any brilliant ideas to bring to the table when it comes to making something new in the terms of shrines. All shrines I've visited are mostly writing/essays/articles and analyzing things. I don't understand how to do these things so I couldn't write about them.

I also don't like how there are those who don't recognize the design/writing talents of people who just build fanlistings. We sort of get pushed to the side since we don't build shrines. Some of us run over 100 fanlistings, that's dedication I think! Time and effort goes into making ALL those layouts! I'd give the same credit to someone who had 100 shrines. The dedication is there, does it matter the content?

I think fanlistings are small tributes so I don't discredit those. That is the best way I felt I could express my love for something since all I know I am good with making graphics and coding so displaying these at least on a fanlisting showed a little bit of dedication. The elitism gap between shrines vs fanlistings bothered me a little, though that's starting to diminish.

I think any dedication to a subject is considered a tribute/shrine/etc regardless of content. What matters is the person's intention.

There was a book I read called "They became what they beheld" and it's got so many good points about knowing your audience. The author had no idea about the internet (this was 70s mind you) but it fits so well with any creative endeavor. There's an interesting video by Vihart on youtube that you can watch here that explains better than I can. I apply this to anything so writing and fan dedications as well. Vihart discusses this with youtube videos but can be applied to anything.