fandom snowflake: day 1 + 2

[karanguni]

Gonna jump on this snowflake_challenge bus...

Day 1:

In your own space, talk about why you are doing the Fandom Snowflake Challenge? What drew you to it as a participant? What do you hope to accomplish by doing these challenges?

I've been out of fandom a long time! I've never totally gone, except maybe in 2012, but I've effectively been a ghost since 2009 for a whole host of personal/professional/educational reasons. It's strange, considering that I've made very good friends through fandom, learned my voice through fandom, and been given more joy/hilarity/wtf in fandom than a lot of things in my life.

While it'd been very nice to sort of have five years of not caring much about what was going on online, I suppose fandom is... a great big creativity dump? No matter how good my RL friends are, unless I'm creating with them, something's missing. It's the special K, the little something-something, the rocket fuel for my brain, and I'm so glad I got my writing together because of fandom and the people I've met through it. Serendipitous things have happened to me because of fandom, and coming back is a bit like... coming home?

I'd like to just get writing more, honestly. Once a day, even if it's just a post like this, and since fandom_snowflake runs for the first half of January that should be easy enough!

Day 2:

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts.

• A sort of object-permanent no-frills chat space where fandom people can just hang out. I'm thinking of putting together a Slack for it! Since sometimes it's nice to just see if people are about and to talk, regardless of common fandoms/whatever.


• Porn prompts! I read a ton of it, but I never write a lot of it publicly - I'd love to just get (back?) into the groove of it and get used to writing pieces I'm proud of, because god was it a fun way to explore things and it's still fun and I hope it continues to stay fun. COME LEAVE SOME, random comm people! I have really got no squicks, and if I don't know the fandom I'll just say "pass." Or be convinced...


• More canon/ship introduction posts. Pimp posts, manifestos, whatever they're called these days - it feels like on tumblr I'm just meant to get into something by virtue of having had my eyeballs bombarded with a bunch of gifs and fanart and it just straight up doesn't get me involved the way a good post or fic used to?


• ONE DAY, TO COMMISSION ART FOR MY OCs. I have a whole... series and set planned out.

This is oddly cathartic! Looking forward to day 3.

Comments

[jiksa_x]

*shakes pom poms* You should publish that porn, you know :) I hope the challenge helps you to reconnect and find ways to be creative again - that stuff is important!

[karanguni]

Alas, all the porn is OC stuff, and relies on a hysterically long backstory - and is co-written. I need to get jazzy with some actual fic stuff. *g*

[jiksa_x]

You got this! \o/

[ardyforshort]

I love your point 3. I sometimes feel like writing a manifesto for my favourite ships, but I'm never sure there's a market for it. So it's good to know there is!

[karanguni]

I used to write them a lot myself! I have a whole tag for it, though linking it this tag is vaguely embarrassing, since my peak fandom/manifesto days were in... '08 and '09, and I've changed as a person enough over the years that while I still grin I sometimes also wince looking at this stuff. xD

What are your favourite ships! Or canons? :D

[ardyforshort]

I made a canon primer for one of my favourites today: The Confessions of Dorian Gray, an audio drama.

I'm a multifandom whore so my favourites change very fast. If they're not Holmes and Watson, or maybe Aubrey and Maturin from the Master & Commander books/film. I could spend forever reading about either of those.

At the moment I'm also quite into the tv show of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, specifically Strange/Major Grant, whose ship manifesto may be the next thing I write when my fiction won't co-operate. And Black Sails, which is a show about pirates which has many awesome things, inclusing Toby Stephens as main male character, and canonically LGB and/or polyamorous leads.

[karanguni]

Mmm, Aubrey/Maturin. I've found the M&C makes great audiobook material, randomly, just because it's got such a great lexical line.

I've got to get my act together and actually read JS&MR. Or get past page 40 or wherever I'm stuck at. Everyone tells me the slow burn is worth it...

Ooh, tell me more about Black Sails?

[ardyforshort]

Ooh, this is useful knowledge. Thanks!

I have to say personally I enjoyed the TV show of JS&MN a lot more than the book, but YMMV!

Black Sails. Black Sails is an American drama show and a prequel to Treasure Island. It has canonically queer and polyamorous lead characters, great acting and fab production values. There are two seasons out at the minute with I think eight or nine episodes each, third series is coming out in a couple of months. There's a good primer here: Black Sails recap

[karanguni]

/gleefully collects canons to read

[scripsi]

I returned to fandom a year ago after 7 years. I was great fun and I'm very happy I found a way back. :)

[karanguni]

It's a pretty awesome feeling, eh?

[scripsi]

Oh yes! :D

[momijizukamori]

As far as I know, Slack requires individual invites per person - though I've considered trying to maybe set up IRC channels with a good web interface, because that's pretty conducive to coming and going randomly

And yeah, I find myself missing the old ship_manifesto posts because I could just dive in without having to spend tons of time sifting through AO3.

[karanguni]

The invites are what's stopping me - I was going to post on tumblr and just harangue people into signing up, but it is a certain amount of effort. That said, it persists and is far more user friendly than IRC. Oh well! One day! Maybe this year!

Manifestos were the best. I really miss reading long-form posts with a hilarious number of caps!

[momijizukamori]

Yeah, that's true - it's kind of unfortunate that IRC remains probably the most stable group-chat platform I've seen, because interface-wise it hasn't changed in ten+ years and yeah, ease of use is not a feature. I mean, I'm not put off by having to do a sign-up for Slack, so you can count me in, at least.

They were GREAT. That and crack_van, which was my go-to for more general canon stuff. I should see about doing posts for some of my newer fandoms, really. Tumblr has the occasional 'this is a slideshow of why you should try this canon' but most of them aren't particularly in-depth and rarely have recs.

[karanguni]

I'll see if I can get a sign-up going sometime mid-January! :D

OH CRACK_VAN. OH MEMORIES. Yeah, it's weird to me that Tumblr seems to be prime for manifestos, but it ends up being sort of incoherent gifs and no, I want you to give me the low-down, the cracktastic low-down...

[momijizukamori]

'incoherent gifs' is a pretty good summary of tumblr as a whole, I think.

[sarasa_cat]

Nodding at your Day 1 response. I know those feelings. That shared creativity thing is what makes fandom work for me and what is currently missing in my fannish life.

(now I want to do this meme except that is one more thing I can use for procrastination... gah!)

[karanguni]

Do it! Even if it's procrastination, it's something done, and weirdly nice directed thought blabber.

I need a freaking... Tindr for co-writers. Or something.

[karanguni]

Amendment: Grindr? "Looking for pwp m/m sounding co-author; 2k long..."

[sarasa_cat]

Dying!

I am picturing the app and omg yes please.

Honestly, I sort of want this for finding fic because after the gutting of LJ and the big switch to AO3 I feel like I am drowning in a ton of fic I don't want. The fic I want is too much effort for me to find.

Also, it doesn't help that I am in a fandom that has been traumatized by the most militant members of its fandom...

[karanguni]

A-fucking-men. I am reading fic like I used to read books, now, which is strange: I pick an author, exhaust their stuff, then sit around bitching that there's nothing new to read because the influx is scary and the payout is low. I need a bit of a personal kick to get mentally involved in something any more, so yes, grindr plz.

"WANTED 50K HARDCORE WORLDBUILD SUB, MUST BE DISCIPLINED, WILL TREAT YOU RIGHT"

[sarasa_cat]

Tindr for co-writers <--- brilliant idea!

[sevilemar]

*flutters in on a random snowflake*

I would love to see a porny Ogata solo, something like this Hannibal solo. For some reason, Ogata strikes me as the kind of person who loves himself very much and isn't ashamed to act on it, too.

*flutters out*

[karanguni]

I-I-I may just have to write Ogata getting himself off while playing Go. Against himself.

FLUTTER ON BY MORE OFTEN, SNOWFLAKE.

[sevilemar]

Oh, Ogata would, he totally would^^ And it would be damn hot, too. Him, sitting in front of the board, getting more and more excited by his own strategies, and coming all over the board. Can you imagine his face the next day, when Touja Meijin comes over and challenges him to a friendly game on the very same board? *giggle*

Are you gonna write it? If you do, please, please, please drop me a line, because the more we talk about it, the more I want it in my life^^

And, well, I might have checked out your journal a bit? And I might check out your fics when I have a bit more time, though I have no idea about most of your fandoms, but that has never really stopped me, anyway^^

[karanguni]

I'm super flattered you dug through my journal! Though it's a million years outdated, since I kind of followed the tide over to tumblr, but I did throw up some HnG fic on AO3. *g*

Oh, I'm totally going to get around to writing some Ogata goodness. Hopefully this weekend!