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Beam's Blog of Writing and Other Things.

Beam's take on Shirou (Or, why I always write lesbians and never write about the hero).

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RadiantBeam
, March 23rd, 2012 at 10:50 PM (4192 Views)
So, on my blog post about why I tend to write so much about lesbians, I made a comment about how I found Shirou 'boring'. At the time I left it at that, mostly because my post then wasn't about Shirou. But recently I have been wondering why the guy doesn't click with me much when it comes to writing; I really just rarely write him, even when I usually end up giving him a happy end with his girl of choice.

I want to start off by saying that as a character, I don't dislike Shirou. I actually like his character types a lot. I'm a sucker for the idealistic, kind hero who keeps on fighting even when they get kicked down, and stick to what they believe in because dammit, it's gotten them this far and they aren't about to abandon it and quit now. This is probably why I love UBW Shirou the most out of all Shirous; he's the one that I truly felt grew and matured the most, while staying true to the ideals he had at the start of the game.

What I don't like about Shirou is the way he's written, most of the time, and I blame this more on Nasu's abilities as a writer than Shirou as a character. I don't know if Nasu got too many complaints about Shiki being a rapist dick in Tsukihime or what, but it seems like he tried to dial it back to make Shirou more likable, and ended up writing the guy as a complete and utter dumb ass most of the time. It was a bit endearing at first, but after a few hours of it.... it starts to grate. Just a teensy bit. His character development does eventually move him beyond that point, but it's pretty damn painful to sit through at times.

(Nasu's constant OH HAI GUYS DID YOU KNOW SHIROU HAS IDEALS BECAUSE HE HAS THOSE THINGS didn't help much, either. I'm starting to think subtle writing is not one of his strengths.)

So, if I like Shirou a lot, why don't I write about him?

Simple. We already were told Shirou's story in FSN; we were told three different versions of Shirou's story in FSN (possibly four, if you count MoS bad end). We got to see Shirou grow and develop, we got to see him start and finish, we got to see him get the girl. It's fun to read and amazing to see when it gets awesome, but it doesn't leave much desire to actually write him out in other scenarios because to me, there's really nothing left.

So, for me, it's as simple as that. Shirou already got his story told, and far more skilled writers than me (*cough*Moczo*cough*Chaos Theory*cough*) are telling yet another version of his tale. Why should I bother?
Tags: lesbians, Shirou
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Comments

  1. Aiden's Avatar
    This lady speaks truth.

    I'd complain about lack of Ilya route, but as noted, Moczo has that covered.

    (not that we can't do with more Ilya routes)
  2. Kotonoha's Avatar
    There's actually a genre of writing based around characters who have already had their story told.

    It's called "fanfiction".
  3. Dark Pulse's Avatar
    Why bother? Because that's no excuse for not trying. I'd say if you want to do it bad enough, do it. At the same time, make sure you're into it, or it'll turn out middling at best and awful at worst.

    That said, it generally is more interesting for me, too, to write fics that aren't focused on the "original" protagonists so much.
  4. Moczo's Avatar
    ... Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeez. I was thinking of a thing to say to this and then at the end you totally destroy my train of thought with one little comment. You are making me blush so hard right now, you have no idea. Um... thank you. Coming from you that's a compliment that is simply beyond amazing. ^^;;;;;;;
  5. RadiantBeam's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kotonoha
    There's actually a genre of writing based around characters who have already had their story told.

    It's called "fanfiction".
    Wonder what it says when I still don't feel the urge to write fanfiction about Shirou, eh?
  6. Kotonoha's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Radiantbeam
    Wonder what it says when I still don't feel the urge to write fanfiction about Shirou, eh?
    It means you should just not write him instead of making weak excuses about why you won't. *shrug*

    No need to say people "shouldn't bother" just because you can't do it bro.
  7. Elf's Avatar
    I pretty much agree with you there, Beam.

    (Even though an older, post Fate Shirou could be interesting . . . )
  8. food's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kotonoha

    It means you should just not write him instead of making weak excuses about why you won't. *shrug*

    No need to say people "shouldn't bother" just because you can't do it bro.
    Ouch.

    Searing rod of fire right in the chest.
  9. RadiantBeam's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kotonoha
    No need to say people "shouldn't bother" just because you can't do it bro.
    More like I'm saying I won't bother because other people can handle him far better than I could. :P

    'Tis all. I like Shirou, but others write him far better than I could, so I feel no urge to really try my hand at it outside of Rain.
  10. Lycodrake's Avatar
    *tilts head* Ah...okay? Fair enough I guess. A bit confusing to me, though...
  11. Tobias's Avatar
    eh, people who think shirou is a simple shounen character are either not paying attention, lying to themselves, or stupid. or some combination thereof. in his own way he is just as batshit insane as tohno shiki was, just less obvious about it because suicidal tendencies are pretty standard for shounen heroes and survivor's guilt is harder to immediately recognize then thinly veiled homicidal urges.

    watch him nearly break the fuck down at the end of his date with rin because he realizes he is honestly enjoying himself and that is REALLY BAD and tell me again how he got all is character development out of the way in fate. Because he really, really didn't.
  12. Lycodrake's Avatar
    @Tobias: Agreed, but if Beam doesn't want to write him, I don't see why she should have to...though I'm still confused as to her reasoning...
  13. Techlet's Avatar
    Disregard protagonist, write lesbians.

    Do you really need a reason for more lesbians?