I hereby officially pronounce the Slam Dunk category dead. Yes, it's now officially and completely dead. There's no more hope now. I'd striven to rejuvenate the category and revive the fandom but it appears as though Slam Dunk is too old an anime/manga to have much of a following anymore, which is sad. That means Naruto and its likes have stolen the limelight from Slam Dunk for--what was earlier feared but presently has proven--ever. I've given up on my efforts, which proved futile. That's right. I shan't be writing anymore. I will sit and watch the last mast of the ship which is the category sink to the deep and dark depths from where there is no turning back.
The Slam Dunk anime began airing here around this time of the year in 2007. But I began watching it only from March of this year. The anime was on its second run then. That was also the time I joined fanfiction.net as an author for the Slam Dunk category and wrote my first (shitty) story, A Gap Between Two Friends. By and by I became a full-fledged author and I can sincerely tell you I never had as much fun as I had this summer, writing. I spent the summer writing stories such as When The Clock Strikes One and Nights at Kainan, and even now when I hark back on that summer break, I can catch a whiff of my former excitement that is now dead and buried. Authors and reviewers alike were active in the Slam Dunk category and it gave me a feeling of security on behalf of the same to witness the level of activity that was present. Little did I know it wouldn't be long before the activity would die out. It wasn't gradually, but suddenly that the authors on the Slam Dunk category seemed to have begun, uh, dying. I supposed back when the summer was getting over, people were getting back to work, etc. and were too busy to write. And I contented myself with the thought that the writers would return in the winter, when it's the holiday season. But now it all seems so unlikely.
I've been an author on fanfiction.net for almost seven months now, which is nothing compared to how long some of the others have been, but a lot nonetheless. Enough to have been able to grasp the actuality of things. The dying category died. And I have concluded that nothing anybody does will revive the fandom again. If I wanted to I could post story after story and fill several pages in the archives with just my stories. But there is no use in pretending a dead man is still alive. Shove all the food you want down his throat, yet he won't bat an eyelid. All the willpower in the universe can't resurrect a dead person, and it will work for this category either.
At the end of the day my experience in writing for the Slam Dunk category has been very nice. I made friends through this site, and enemies as well. It was a very colorful experience and I'll remember it forever. But goodbye now, Slam Dunk.
6 comments :
You can set the year to even 87, so that wouldn't be a problem. I mean the friendster. Lol. I've long considered the category to be dead honestly. It was back in 2004-2005 when it was flourishing, chock full of flames and reviews and stories and all that. I'm always looking forward to future works by you and Pollux and others, but then I can't read them because of work. Although I have the holidays off, so maybe I'll try to write another crappy one. Lol.I'm not working out my master's degree yet, as it would probably take me two years' worth of tardiness to even apply; corporate life is such a drag. Lol. :)By the way, I haven't updated any settings in my blog, although you can visit the only blog I manage to update. It's my pen name, dot blogspot dot com. They're all cheese if you ask me. Lol.:)
I see... Well, 'kay then, I'll make one and notify you when I do. Lolz!Well it was relatively alive when I joined. It's kinda fun going through your past flames and stuff. Makes me wish I were there. Thanks a bunch (future works)! Although even Pollux is busy now. Strider'd posted a new story some time back. Did you read it? Haha. I'll be looking forward to when you'll be writing it then! Haha!Ah, two more years is a looong time, man. Haha I suppose It won't be that long before I suffer it, too! Lolz Here in India people tend to, uh, suffer corporate life earlier than most other places. But I'm not planning on staying back here anyway, so... yeah.Oh, is that so? Well I've just visited your free VERSES blog. You're <>really<> into poetry, dude! And they're all really good. :) I write poetry occasionally, too, although they always rhyme uniformly. XD Nursery-rhyme-like. Personally I'm not all that fond of blank verse unless it's by Shakespeare. So who's your favorite poet then? Mine're Keats and Wordsworth.So I guess I'll see ya. And once again, I'll contact you once I get through the tedious process of making a friendster account. -_-
Ivy! Fancy seeing you around here. Where are you taking up your MA? UP? Please attend Ateneo instead!!! Haha.Kaiser, well, just go on writing. What should it matter if SD category is dead or not? I still wrote even after admitting that it'd been dead. I can't say I really cared that good writers here stopped writing so long as I could still come up with fulfilling ideas. Your creativity should not be hindered by anything, not even by the scarcity of readers. :)
Hey Strider, thanks a lot. :) Those were really encouraging words. Yeah, well, I've decided, too, that my language will deteriorate if I stop writing. ^^ Thanks again. And if, no, <>when<> you publish a new story, I'll be the first to read it. =)
hey i've added you to my blogspot's friends' list. sorry it took quite a while; i wasn't checking on it haha. strider said she's working on a new piece, dunno if she's planning to actually finish it, though. i still like going through the SD category, it's always been like a habitual propensity for me.but hey, you shouldn't stop writing. i won't. that is, if i still have things to write. i mean, i'd still write something if i had the motivation and inspiration, even in knowing NO ONE would review or read it. like, i've long ago had grown used to it.this is as good as saying we should write for paying homage and expressing tender tribute to the fandom. dead as it is, it has been one of the most entertaining media out there.
Oh, haha. I'd forgotten I'd even commented there. ^^ Yeah, strider has already posted the prologue for her new story, which is an AU. And hey, strider, like i'd promised, I was the first to read and review it! Haha. Well, at least review. :P True. I actually even come online nowadays only to pay a visit to the SD category and hope something new has popped up. All right, I haven't been reduced to <>that<> yet. =) Yeah. Motivation, fine- It all lies in the will. Inspiration is hard to come by. I'm really worried my works will turn into a cliche of another of my works. I mean, if you've gone through, like, the first 5 pages of the SD archive you'd have noticed how frequently I posted stories back than. That frequency has come down owing to the fact that whenever i open MS word i find myself typing out unintelligible crap that would appear as philosophy to an untrained eye but meaningless shit to mine. Most of my stories are just happenstances, and so, well, one-shots. Those few multi-chap fics i've written... I dunno how I did them. I'm rambling over here. Hehe...Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to spend my days in peace and completeness if I abstain from writing. I have this strange, uh, dunno what you'd call it, but i'd call it a... thing. So I have this strange... uh, knack (?) of losing touch in something in no time. It happened with b-ball and now i've managed to force my way back to the level I was in the summer vacation, and I don't want the same to happen with writing. Aw, i'll still read and review your stories! Haha. That's right. I'm so jobless that i'm practically ubiquitous in the SD category. XDVery true. Slam Dunk is one of a kind. I'm a capricious person and my preferences, etc. are invariable variable (strange paradox), but Slam Dunk is constant in my life. I suppose it sounds like my life revolves around it. XD Well, it's managed to hold my interest for a long time. (Well, 8 months. :D) So kudos to Slam Dunk and let us have a toast to the SD category. XD XD XD!!
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