Amassment

Hello, i was directed here from a topic i started on TAFL forums, but before i get to posting my questions i want to introduce myself. I'm Rika24 (sometimes Rikafire or Kaida Spirit if Rika24 is taken). I've always found shrines/fansites interesting and in the past i've tried to make ones that were interesting and showed my love for the character or series i'm shrining.

Now onto my questions:

i'm planning on updating my Obito Uchiha fanlisting/shrine with a new layout (and now that i have time, i can actually get the content done as well). i already have the layout planned mostly in my head. i'm thinking victorian style, only with multiple shades of grey, with orange being the only color.

so i have two questions for those that own shrines and/or like to visit them. what type of content do you like to see on a shrine?

and my other question is, which do you think is the better menu style? everything out as a sidebar like my Obito shrine currently has: http://hokage.fifteenth-moon.net/obito/ or have the menu condensed with only categories listed and further content under each, like my Masaru shrine is: http://rikafire.fifteenth-moon.net/masaru/

i used to like the side bar because going through multiple pages got annoying after a while when i visited shrines (especially when i had a slow connection), but now i kinda like the cleaner look of the condensed menu (the sidebar can make it look too cluttered, or in the case of my Obito shrine, make the page too long.

i also want to expand on my Fuuko and Raiha relationship shrine, but don't know what else to add http://hokage.fifteenth-moon.net/storm/shrine.php i'm new to relationship shrines so i don't really know what to add other than the current content.

thanks in advance!

Hello, fellow shrine-makers! :D I’m posting here today because I have a question that I want to ask and discuss with all of you, but first a little history on how this question came to my mind.

A friend of mine has recently introduced me to the Scott Pilgrim comic/graphic novel/book/whatever-you-want-to-call-it series, obviously thinking that I would like it (since I am a geek and I am into video games). Well… I read them all and I honestly couldn’t say if I like them or not. Some bits of the story and some characters sometimes make me cringe, but I can kinda see a more serious side of this series as well, which I like.

Recently, in an attempt to find something to dedicate a little shrine to without having to read 10/20+ volumes of a manga or watch 100+ episodes of an anime, I considered making a shrine to this series — I’d have plenty of content to write, especially about the characters and the relationships between them. The series is not very long, it’s just 6 novels the size of a normal tankobon, I’ve read them three times already (in order to decide whether I like this series or not — unfortunately it didn’t quite work, as I’m still confused) and even if I needed more info, it would take less than an hour to read each book.

However, the only problem I see with this idea is — I don’t know if I like the series 100% and I’m afraid the shrine might “suffer” because of that. As I said, this series does sometimes annoy me, although it’s just some aspects that annoy me. If I made this shrine, though, I wouldn’t be focusing on the parts that I enjoyed less, but rather on the more serious aspects of the series and the characters. However, sometimes the characters themselves act in a way that I don’t like at all and it kind of worries me, because I don’t want any of my shrines to have any type of “bashing” in them. I wouldn’t really bash the characters anyway, because I’m against all forms of bashing, but I would probably end up pointing out the things that I think are “bad” about them, or what could have been improved about them (and the series in general), in my humble opinion, of course. However, I would be pointing out the good things, too, and I’d try to be as objective towards the characters as possible — my opinions might just go under a separate section to avoid confusion and possible death threats from fans of the series /shot.

But all shrines are somewhat based on people’s opinions of a certain series or character, or the way they perceived said character or aspect of the series, right? So should I even worry about my opinions being in my own shrine just so I don’t upset possible hardcore fans? As long as I support my statements and opinions with my reasons, then that shouldn’t be a problem, right? Also, I think one of reasons people make shrines/fansites is because they want to show other people what they think about the subject of their site, and I kind of want a place of my own where I can discuss and write all my opinions about this series, as weird as it may sound. (Just to repeat or clarify, this series has both aspects that I like and that I don’t like, though I would never turn it into a “bashing” site of sorts, or a place for me to “destroy” the series or its fans — that is not, and never will be, my intention with any of the sites I make. If anything, me pointing out the things I din’t like or felt like could have been done better will just be a bit of my humble criticism.)

It’s the first time I feel like this — like I want to make a shrine, but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea — and I’m kind of worried I will end up making a “bad” shrine because of that. So, my questions are — have you ever felt like this before — like you thought a shrine about a series/character would have lots of (hopefully “good”) content and essays that you wanted to write, but still weren’t sure (for whatever reason) that you should make the shrine at all? What did/do/would you do in that case? Do you think shrines should be objective, subjective, or a mixture of both? What if there’s an aspect of a subject you’re making a shrine for that you don’t like, but still want to write your opinion on it? Do you think you’d be comfortable making a shrine to something that had aspects you didn’t like? Or would you just not make the shrine at all for fear of seeming like you’re “bashing” that subject (even though it’s not at all your intention)? Do you think a shrine basically reflects (or should reflect) the opinions and thoughts of the person that made it? Does making a shrine without your own opinions and your own essays on a certain subject refrain you from making said shrine in the first place?

Some of these questions might have been already asked in the past. If that’s the case, then I apologise for writing them again. Also, any advice on my situation is very appreciated! ♥ :)

You'd think that all you need to make a fansite is a subject you love...however, I've found myself in a quite unpleasant situation as I found out that this anime series I adore was never localized in English. Basically, its fan base would be in Japanese and the few languages this series was localized in, so if I made an English-language fansite my real target would be at least bilingual people who were familiar with this series through the original Japanese or their own dub. That could still make some sense, except that English-only speakers stumbling upon this site would have no way to enjoy the source material at all, which is the last thing I want considering that one of the main purposes of a fansite would be to spread the word about things that make you enthusiastic...

What do you suggest, Amassment?

I haven't made a shrine dedicated to a manga character since...well maybe never. I've been working great, I have a ton of ideas for what to write about, and the shrine is well in progress. However, I am having trouble finding any sort of information on the manga-ka. So far, I have about a paragraph blurb about the creator's work but nothing really about them. My question is: How do you deal with this in your shrines? (For those of you who are creating animanga sites or sites) Do you simply leave it out or do you have any suggestions or referrals to good sites that would have information on the author? I kind of consider this section of the site to be important in order to give some sort of background so I would love any suggestions or advice. Thanks in advance! :)

I've been looking around online lately to see what sort of buttons people are using to link to sites with. It seems like 88x31 is still the default for most people, but I've been seeing a lot of different sizes pop up all over. I think the second most common one is 200x40.

The reason I'm asking is because I'm finally getting around to working on my sites again. I only stopped because I recently moved back to Toronto and just haven't had the time to get back into it. I'm currently at the point where I want to start making linkage buttons but I have no idea what the current standards are for the community as a whole. I'd like to provide people with a nice selection of graphics to link with. :3

If you guys could share some insight, I'd be so very appreciative. <3

Well after finally doing some updates, writing new content and re-writing some old and similar, I came to a stop - I'm trying to find a way to write about the relationships, I'm not even sure those that I already wrote are ok - i think I miss things like more in-depth, and believe me I don't know what to do, what actually in-depth means when speaking about a relationship? *headesks* I really feel stupid.

I actually revamped everything and divided in more parts the shrine dedicated to Oscar - I wasn't really satisfied about it as I already said about it, but in last months I've been working on more decent content and well I finally got it up - but two things are missing: the relationship with marie antoinette and the other relationships - everything I wrote about it I ended up deleting it.

I would appreciate any help, comment, that you can give me! I just want the shrine to be decent and showing my appreciation for this great character.

So, here I am, and I'm sorry if this was already asked, I tried to find it, but I probably sux at searching so i decided to ask directly about this thing that I really need help with.

When you shrine a character (major or minor) with a mysterious aura and that the mangaka/game/tv show doesn't offer much about their life, and it's everything hidden, how do you write content about it? And for example, if there is no, or you don't have the possibility to get your hands on artbooks or guidebooks how do you do it?

I'm asking it because I'm trying to make better shrine for both Reborn and for Yuuko, and those who know the characters and the series, even thou both are major characters, there is really almost no information about them. For Yuuko luckily I was able to put my hands on a gude book, but even there, I couldn't find more then stuff I already knew from the manga. And the same goes for the Usami x Misaki shrine. 

Hi guys! I'm back from my trip and it's almost the New Year for me (a little more than an hour left!), so .... Happy New Year! I guess ... lol anyways so I was just talking to Todd about this shrine I'm thinking of making but am having difficulty trying to figure out how I should approach this character.

The thing is, this character doesn't exactly have a lot to him that I can analyze, which I like to do. Thus far in the series he hasn't exactly had any Life Changing Experiences or Symbolic Haircuts and honestly I don't think he ever will. lol. He doesn't really have any Major Relationships I can talk about except for with the main girl, and even then it's not that complicated. He's just a really refreshing character that I really enjoy ;) So I kind of want to make a little thing on how I like him. But I want it to be more than just a description of who he is. Any suggestions? I was thinking of maybe comparing him to similar character in the genre ... or how he's different, or something, idek.

In essence ... What do you do when there's not a lot to analyze?

* The character I'm referring to ... if you didn't catch the hint .... is Kazehaya from Kimi ni Todoke .... if that helps any. lol

Soooo...hello again and oh-look-my-first-shrine-post!
I was wondering...I was writing some content in my Hiruma shrine when at some point I thought about adding a paragraph of personal comments in each category that could require it (eg. Personality, or Hiruma's relationships sections), saying how I personally feel about that particular subject. At the beginning I've also planned a "My opinion" section, but I fear it to become extremely long if I were to put everything there.
So my question is: do you think I should put my personal opinion directly in each section and maybe use the "my opinion" section for just a general opinion about Hiruma as a character, or is better if I just put everything in the "my opinion" section and maybe divide it in sub-paragraphes to keep it organized?
Thanks for the help to anyone that will come across this post. :D

ETA: to Masao: I've edited the entry and took off the link to the shrine (I was confused about the "being an active member" part regarding the plugging), but I can't take off the !plug tag (also, is it ok to use the !help tag? *now she feels paranoid*).

ETA2: I wanted to thanks everyone for their answers! X3 Now I've much clearer how I should organize the content of the shrine and how much a shrine should or should-not be objective. Thank you so much for all your help! ^O^