On the topic of fandom burnout
Sep. 16th, 2009 09:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseAs ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nekonexus pointed out today, I keep saying that I’m hitting fandom burnout and have been for some time. And up to a point I probably have. I’ve slowed up in my writing especially with Trinity Blood. That’s not to say that I can’t pick up the thread again just as easily as I can with Meine Liebe but things are slowing down considerably. In some ways my issue with Trinity Blood might even be closer to the closure of my interest in the Matrix fandom where I just ran out of stories to tell.
As far as Trinity Blood is concerned I’ve told most of the stories that I wanted to tell: I’ve looked at Süleyman’s background, Radu’s motivation, Ion’s relationship with Radu. I’ve even looked at the environment around Dietrich, Isaak’s relationships with Cain and William, Mirka’s sacrifices for the greater good. Granted, I still have the background of Isaak and William’s relationship to finish off as well as the birth of the Orden but beyond that most of the stories have been told. Characters like Radu and Süleyman had a limited run in canon so there was only so much of the story I could extrapolate from. Dietrich’s on a crash course with his self-imposed destiny. Isaak shows every likelihood of simply fading from the tale. Even William’s seemingly stable world will eventually become too stable until such time as he goes out with a bang.
In a sense it’s like the Strahl candidates evolving. Once they move beyond the self-contained environment of Rosenstolz the area becomes so wide as to make it unchartable. Ludwig, Orpherus and others will be defined by their character rather than their environment and as such that’s already been examined within the framework of Rosenstolz. Examining Eduard’s personality and development in that transition between being a Strahl candidate and becoming Strahl has as much currency as examining Radu’s plummet towards the end of his existence. Both are constrained by a time limit, after which the dynamism of their conflicts levels out, adjusts and stops being fodder for dramatic writing.
Of course I’m not closing the door on the possibility of ever writing anything in those fandoms again and in fact I am still, slowly, turning out writing for each but it is slowing down. I’m taking longer to tumble things out because there isn’t the pressure build up of a million and one ideas behind that I need to get on the page right now, this instant. And Trinity Blood does feel like it’s coming close to the Matrix in it’s completion. I did pack up my cabling and go home because the setting changed far too much and the Agents I wrote about naturally came to a point of closure. I’m not sure how far that comparison will stretch since I do still have some Trinity Blood pieces in the works, I’ve no idea if once written I’ll find that there’s no more for me to write or if, like Meine Liebe, the idea of the series will lurk until something pricks at my interest. I simply can’t tell.
Tomorrow I might find that my train journey is interrupted by a few more pithy Sunshine drabbles or an epic about Mirka’s forbidden affair with Radu’s father. It’s hard to tell. Or maybe I’ll stare out of the window and be inspired to write something about Greek gods, a monster in his tower or a mechanical system that’s given himself a German name. Maybe I’ll just come home with a mental note to add to the weekly shopping list or to burn some CDs. Whatever the outcome, I really can’t guess what it will be as yet and maybe, just maybe, that’s the best part.
nekonexus pointed out today, I keep saying that I’m hitting fandom burnout and have been for some time. And up to a point I probably have. I’ve slowed up in my writing especially with Trinity Blood. That’s not to say that I can’t pick up the thread again just as easily as I can with Meine Liebe but things are slowing down considerably. In some ways my issue with Trinity Blood might even be closer to the closure of my interest in the Matrix fandom where I just ran out of stories to tell.As far as Trinity Blood is concerned I’ve told most of the stories that I wanted to tell: I’ve looked at Süleyman’s background, Radu’s motivation, Ion’s relationship with Radu. I’ve even looked at the environment around Dietrich, Isaak’s relationships with Cain and William, Mirka’s sacrifices for the greater good. Granted, I still have the background of Isaak and William’s relationship to finish off as well as the birth of the Orden but beyond that most of the stories have been told. Characters like Radu and Süleyman had a limited run in canon so there was only so much of the story I could extrapolate from. Dietrich’s on a crash course with his self-imposed destiny. Isaak shows every likelihood of simply fading from the tale. Even William’s seemingly stable world will eventually become too stable until such time as he goes out with a bang.
In a sense it’s like the Strahl candidates evolving. Once they move beyond the self-contained environment of Rosenstolz the area becomes so wide as to make it unchartable. Ludwig, Orpherus and others will be defined by their character rather than their environment and as such that’s already been examined within the framework of Rosenstolz. Examining Eduard’s personality and development in that transition between being a Strahl candidate and becoming Strahl has as much currency as examining Radu’s plummet towards the end of his existence. Both are constrained by a time limit, after which the dynamism of their conflicts levels out, adjusts and stops being fodder for dramatic writing.
Of course I’m not closing the door on the possibility of ever writing anything in those fandoms again and in fact I am still, slowly, turning out writing for each but it is slowing down. I’m taking longer to tumble things out because there isn’t the pressure build up of a million and one ideas behind that I need to get on the page right now, this instant. And Trinity Blood does feel like it’s coming close to the Matrix in it’s completion. I did pack up my cabling and go home because the setting changed far too much and the Agents I wrote about naturally came to a point of closure. I’m not sure how far that comparison will stretch since I do still have some Trinity Blood pieces in the works, I’ve no idea if once written I’ll find that there’s no more for me to write or if, like Meine Liebe, the idea of the series will lurk until something pricks at my interest. I simply can’t tell.
Tomorrow I might find that my train journey is interrupted by a few more pithy Sunshine drabbles or an epic about Mirka’s forbidden affair with Radu’s father. It’s hard to tell. Or maybe I’ll stare out of the window and be inspired to write something about Greek gods, a monster in his tower or a mechanical system that’s given himself a German name. Maybe I’ll just come home with a mental note to add to the weekly shopping list or to burn some CDs. Whatever the outcome, I really can’t guess what it will be as yet and maybe, just maybe, that’s the best part.
