ilien

Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 14

Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:52:36 GMT

In your own space, share your love for something fannish: a trope, cliché, kink, motif, theme, format, or fandom.

Every fandom has this character who Did Not Deserve It (I'm pretty sure that's not my statement; I heard it somewhere. Doesn't make it less true.) Some fandoms have more than one character like that, and some have this Thing That Needs To Unhappen. I mean, the only fandom I've ever came across that never had such a thing was Leverage, and that might be just because I didn't notice something.

Which is why one of my most favourite trope is fix-it. Fix-its are what drew me to a lot of fandoms: I needed stories where Ianto didn't die, and neither did Marcus and Richie, where Charles and Erik didn't break up and Blair got his PhD. I mean, I can see why the authors needed that particular plot point. Most of the time they entirely make sense. But that doesn't mean I don't want them gone.

Of all fix-its, I especially love those that actually fix the stuff, instead of creating an AU in which The Thing never had a chance to occur: Ianto did die the way we saw it, but later regenerated, and it took him so long because Reasons. Marcus... well, the authors actually fixed Marcus (and also Carson Beckett and some others) well enough. Richie's death was an illusion that everyone saw the way it happened, and they only discovered the truth years later, Charles and Erik did break up, but got together again (not fifty years later, thank you very much), Blair still declared himself a fraud, but Jim's father sued everything and everyone to have that fixed. I mean to say, I love fixes that actually deal with the feelings the canon evoked, rather than ignore them completely by pretending it never happened.

In some fandom (such as X-Men) I can only read fix-its and AUs. Others make me desperate for a fix-it that never happens (late last year/early this year I actually write a Babylon5 OT3 fix-it, because no one else would, and I wish I could do that more often). In any case, pretty much any fandom need a good fix-it from time to time.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 13

Wed, 03 Feb 2016 11:13:49 GMT

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Okay, I know it's been weeks since the challenge was posted, but I wanted to do this particular thing for the entire year, so I'm going to do this now, since real life prevented me from participating in time.

If I had to appoint my personal fandom of the year and ship of the year for 2015, I'd go for X-Men movies and Cherik - that would be my most beloved fandom among the ones I discovered in 2015 - and that's saying something, because in 2015 I also discovered Hannibal and Leverage.

1. Not really a single fanwork, but an X-Men meta blog: charlesanderik2016.wordpress.com. The title is pretty self-explanatory; it's a blog based on the premise that Charles/Erik will become canon in X-Men: Apocalypse. Regardless of whether or not you believe that (The Charles/Erik Conspiracy?), it's an amazing source of information on subtext, details of X-Men universe and the upcoming movie. To be honest, when I ran into the blog, I was quite sceptical, but it almost persuaded me that there's going to be something in the movie that's going to make the pairing.. well, at least as canon as Hannigram, and it definitely persuaded me that there's a lot of subtext in the X-Men movies.

2. Continuing the topic of Cherik, there are quite a lot of fanvids I absolutely loved. My most favourite of them are Sink or Swim by IntoTheHarkness (I know there are several fanvids for this pairing with this particular song, but this one is my favourite), Arms by JediJanine, Can we start again? by LonesomeMultiAngel.

3. And, finally, my most favourite Cherik fic of all time is The Timelime Series by Unforgotten. It's the best fix-it I've ever read (although most fix-its in this fandom are entirely awesome).

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 15

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 10:35:41 GMT

In your own space, talk about what you're taking away from this challenge. Did you learn something? Did you interact with new people? Or did you try out different fandoms or formats or relationships? What's changed between Day 1 and Day 15 of this challenge? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I'm deeply disappointed in my participation in the challenge this year. I did almost all of it last year and the year before that, I met a lot of amazing people and had lots and lots of awesome short interactions - enough to keep me energized for a few months, at least.

This year, as soon as my winter holidays were over on January, 11, I ran our of time. I have so much to do in real life lately, and so little energy and concentration, that I barely managed to find two minutes to read the challenges, let alone ten to write something.

Day 13 is the challenge I've been waiting for the entire year, but I haven't completed it yet. Day 14 is a great challenge I'd really love to do, but I don't have the time to sit down and think about it. I like doing challenges the day they come up - this way, you get a chance at some interesting discussions, and no one (understandably) ever comes back to discuss something that's posted a few days later. Of course I'm going to do Day 13 and Day 14 when I get the time, but I don't think that's going to happen before Monday. Even now, I'm stealing the time from something rather important, at the risk of being late for a commitment, but, well, I guess I need to vent.

Nevertheless, it's been fun. I'm going to answer all the comments I left unanswered, except for Day 1 (because what can I say? Yeah, I'd love to have a weekly snowflake-style challenge, I'm happy there are people who want that, too, but I'm in no position to offer any help running it, so, really, thanks for commenting, let's hope someone will be nice enough to do it? :) ). I hope I'll find the time next week to go through other late fills to make sure I didn't miss anything interesting (if I don't comment, it doesn't mean I don't find it interesting, of course, I just barely ever know what to say).

So, my snowflake challenge, hopefully, isn't over yet. I guess I'll get back to you when it is :)

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 12

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 10:23:19 GMT

What makes you fannish? And by that we mean, what is it about a tv show/movie/book/band/podcast/etc that takes you from, "Yeah, I like that," to "I need MOAR!!!" Is it a character? A plotline? The pretty? Subtext that’s just screaming to be acknowledged?

In your own space, tell us what it is that gets you to cross that line into fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

For quite a while, I used to get into canon for its world - I'm a big fan of fantasy and science fiction - and stay for the characters. I love complicated worlds with their own religions, social structures, geographies and politics, but it was never enough to get me to stay in the universe I've just found out about; it's always the characters; I love them diverse and complicated, but not in a "the world sucks, so it's okay to be an asshole" way.

Over the time, I discovered that I actually enjoy the characters and their relationships much more than the worlds they live in; the worlds turned out to be a one-time thing for me: yeah, it's great to discover them, but if there's no one to keep me coming back to that world, I won't become a fan. For example, Silverberg's Majipoor series was fun to read, but none of the characters caught my eye enough to want to come back to it. Quite often all it takes is one character (for example, in Suits I don't really enjoy the world or the plot, but I'm a huge fan of Donna, and that's enough to enjoy the entire show), but what draws me more to the world, makes me want to live in it a little (by rereading the books, or rewatching the movies and TV shows) is the relationships between the characters. I don't think I would have found Stargate Atlantis all that enjoyable if not for Rodney as a character and his relationships with John and Carson.

Much later (as a socially awkward person, I've always been slow to catch subtelty), I discovered subtext. I'm still trying to find out whether or not I really enjoy it - I seem to only enjoy the subtext when it's more or less obvious, like in Hannibal or the latest Sherlock, while the more subtle subtext (like The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes) frustrates me for my inability to capture it. All the same, when I am able to catch said subtext, it's a lot of fun for me.

All that rumbling is meant to say that there are plenty of things that make me fannish. It's, to a point, the world; it's the characters and their relationships; it's the subtext, provided it's visible enough. It's also the fandom itself: how would I be fannish over Mystrade, or Clint/Coulson without the fandom? There are lots of tropes, pairings and entire worlds that would make no sense whatsoever without their respective fandoms.

What really makes me stay is a good combination of some of those things. I don't really like the worldbuilding in Hannibal, and I enjoy the characters in the movies much more than in the show, but the show has amazing relationships, a lot of easy-to-read subtext, and the most amazing fanbase in the world; so I was hooked the moment I let myself peek in it despite the fact that I'm really not a big fan of gore. Barrayar series isn't big on subtext (at least, the kind of subtext I'm able to read), but the world is awesome, almost every character is amazing and their relationships are endlessly enjoyable. Some canons have everything: Babylon 5 has awesome worldbuilding, a lot of great characters with complicated relationships and a bit of subtext I'm able to enjoy. It doesn't have much of a fanbase these days, but I've yet to meet a Babylon 5 fan who's not an awesome person themselves.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 11

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 16:58:00 GMT

In your own space, make a list of at least 3 things that you like about yourself. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I did a thing like that about a year ago - five things, even. Those five haven't changed much, I still love those things about myself. For this day, I'd like to mention three good things about myself that happened last year.

1. I started learning Swedish. I wanted to learn it since I was about twelve, but kept telling myself "someday". This summer I realized that "someday" isn't going to come unless I do something about it. I'm not really doing much - just listening to some online podcasts and doing some random grammar exercises (any recs, by the way?) - but it's better than just waiting for the someday to come. I'm also learning French (much more actively than Swedish, because it's easier to find an affordable tutor of French here), and that makes me feel awesome: one day I'll probably speak four languages!

2. I turned to be rather good at putting both of my degrees to use. Using both of them at the same time is what makes me pretty much unique at the (otherwise, trivial) thing I do, and I'm kind of proud of that.

3. I realized that a lot of people come to me for emotional support. I think that means that I'm generally good at it - and that makes me happy. Although recently I had to distance myself from some people's problems (not from the people, though, hopefully), I've always felt very honoured by their trust, and I'm happy to know that, when I have the energy, I can help people feel better.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 09

Mon, 11 Jan 2016 16:29:32 GMT

In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

1. I want to finish at least one of my long-ish WIPs. I have no idea what's keeping me from it, but I seem to be unable to write those final 2k words in the middle, it's like a curse. I need to learn to overcome that.

2. I want to write more. I'm going to try writing (completing, posting) one fic a month - I'm already pretty sure I'm going to fail, but if I don't set any kind of goal, I'll fail for sure. I have no idea how you people manage to keep up with your "write every day" and "a fic a week" things - I'm sure that's some sort of superpower I don't possess.

3. Improve my French. Right now, I'm able to read simple texts and blog posts, but I can't speak it, at all - and definitely can't write (spoken French feels easier to me than written). I'd like to be able to hold simple online conversations in French this time next year. By they way, any recs for friendly fannish blogs (on any platform) in French?

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 07

Thu, 07 Jan 2016 16:11:17 GMT

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This is a very hard challenge. I mean, how do I pick a single part of my numerous canons? How do I explain why I love it so much (probably avoiding words like 'squeee' and 'justlookathowcutetheyare')? Is that even possible?

One of my favourite pieces of canon — a book I return to quite often, as it's one of my favourite "feel good" stories — is A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold. I adore each and every book of the Vorkosigan saga (Barrayar and Komarr share a second place among my most favourite Bujold books), but A Civil Campaign is the one I get back to very often.

It has everything I love in my comfort reading: a bit of adventure, some romance, a lot of family, main characters being silly and awesome, side characters being equally awesome, some hilarity, and a happy ending. There's also a lot of politics, and this might be the only place where I actually enjoy the politics.

I love Miles in this book: so confident and competent one moment, and completely lost the very next one. I love Ekaterin here, taking her life in her own hands, after a decade of an abusive marriage, and I love how she deals with the whole mess, never losing her dignity. I love Dono and By, Olivia and Karen, Gregor and Nikki — especially Gregor with Nikki. I love Cordelia through all of it, both when she's physically present and when she's not a part of a particular scene, but still there, being such a huge influence on her children's (and, through them, the Empire's) life.

It's a really amazing book.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 06

Wed, 06 Jan 2016 13:55:14 GMT

In your own space, create your own challenge. What’s something you want to see more people doing in fandom? Is there something you’ve tried that you think other people would enjoy if they gave it a go? Dare your friends to try it out, and have fun with it. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Do a roundup. January is a good time for a year roundup - so, do that. A roundup for all the fics you wrote last year - or bookmarked, or liked, or commented on; of all the fanart you created, or all the metas you wtore, or all the discussion you had - a roundup of anything you did in fandom last year. If you don't feel like you did much last year (although I'm sure you did more than enough) - do an all-time roundup. If you feel like you did too much for one post - do a "best of the best" one.

If you don't feel like speaking solely about last year, do a five-year meta roundup, January art roundup, challenges roundup of your entire fandom existence, a Fandom Snowflake roundup - just make a list of everything you've completed for a given period. Collect it all in one handy post, so that everyone could see how amazing you are for doing all of that.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 04

Tue, 05 Jan 2016 20:08:55 GMT

In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a drabble, a ficlet, a podfic, or an icon, art or meta or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Draft a critical essay about a particular media. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of a Broadway show, a movie, a concert, a poetry reading, a museum trip, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Compose some limericks, haikus, free-form poetry, 5-word stories. Document a particular bit of real person canon. Take some pictures. Draw a stick-figure comic. Create something. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Okay. I did a weird thing here.

The thing is, exactly two years ago cadenzamuse took part in Fandom Snowflake, and requested, among other things, a Famous Blue Raincoat OT3 fic. I really loved the idea back then, but I didn't feel like I could do the song the justice it deserved. To be honest, I still don't - but it's just a thing I had to do, sooner or later. So, for this year's Fandom Snowflake, I've written a small Jane-centric Famous Blue Raincoat fic no one asked for.

Fandom: Famous Blue Raincoat (a song by Leonard Cohen)
Title: Winter End
Author: ilien.dreamwidth.org.
Rating: PG-13.
Characters/Pairing: pre-Narrator/Jane/Thin Gypsy Thief
Word count: ~800
Summary: Jane, New York and some hope.
Author's notes, Disclaimer:I had to give the “thin gypsy thief” a name, because I felt like if only two of the participants are named, the triangle isn’t equal; the third party is either idealized or left out, and that’s not what I like in my OT3s. As for the narrator's name, he did, in fact, sign it - which is what I used. This is in no way intended as a real person fiction.
Also posted on: AO3

( Read more... )

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 03

Sun, 03 Jan 2016 17:02:17 GMT

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

1. My most favorite fic of mine (and also the most underrated fic of mine, in my humble opinion) - Another Day, a Methos/Rebecca Highlander fic I wrote juniperphoenix's last year's Fandom Stocking. Highlander is my very first and still most beloved fandom, and Methos/Rebecca is one of my most beloved ships. I know the story isn't perfect, but I'm very proud of it, nevertheless.

2. An MCU/SG1 crossover Brotherly Advice: You're Doing It Wrong is my favorite crossover story of mine. I have an entire universe in my head, in which Jack O'Neill is Howard Stark's son whose mother chose to raise her kid with someone else, and I'm still hoping to finish at least one more story in that universe. For now, there's just this one fic - written for HYPERFocused's Fandom Stocking last year.

3. Shards is my latest (so far, until the Fandom Stocking reveals) story; it's a Wanda&Loki story in a world that's a crossover between MCU and XMFC. It turned out weird and not at all the way I pictured it; I'm not entirely pleased with it, but I still like it.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 02

Sat, 02 Jan 2016 18:59:13 GMT

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. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wish-list if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.

1. One of my most favorite stories of mine - We'll Cross That Bridge - needs an illustration. I really want a picture of Steve stealing a bottle of cough mixture.

2. Rec me some post-AOU Steve/Tony, please? Post-Civil War trailer would be especially nice.

3. I know it's only been one day, but have there been any nice new (post-Special) Mystrade fics? We got a lot of new footage! :D

4. Can someone please rec/write a post-season3 Hannigram story in which Will does not become Hannibal 2.0, but they end up together, anyway? Maybe Hannibal stops killing, or maybe they kill only the people why deserve it even by Seaso1!Will's opinion. Or, well, some other scenario I can't think of, just one that doesn't end with Will becoming exactly what Hannibal wanted him to become.

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Fandom Snowflake Challenge 2016 - Day 01

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 16:37:06 GMT

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? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

It's January,1, people, how am I supposed to white something coherent on January,1?...

It's my third time participating, and each year I since the first time, I find Snowflake Challenge the most amazing fannish event of the year.

When I first tried it, it was perfect for me as a place where I can, on the one hand, meet a bunch of new people, and on the other - try to assign myself a daily chore, of sorts, without actually committing to some event where me failing to complete it would be upsetting for someone else. I'm generally not very good at commitment, unless it's a work-related deadline (with real-life consequences of bailing), and it was important to me at the time. It turned out to be much more fun than I initially expected, I had some nice discussions and felt very energized.

In 2015 I found out that some of the challenges were very nice for an "end-of-the year" roundup of sorts: what did I write last year that I want to share with everyone? What did I read that I'm still excited about? The first year, I just shared my all-time favorites, and in 2015 I realized that it's more fun to stick to just one year of my fannish life. Sometime mid-summer I caught myself thinking "yeah, I'm definitely sharing it during Fandom Snowflake (I am, once the appropriate challenge comes up).

I love that it gives me a reason to write something every day. I love that it gives me a chance to socialize - I think (in fandom) I socialize more within the first two weeks of the year than the remaining eleven and a half months; it's amazing. I love that it's low-pressure, even though I end up doing most of the challenges on the day they're posted (at least, that's how it was in 2014 and 2015). It's a great way to start a fannish year.

I'm not really sure what exactly I expect to accomplish - there are so many things. I always hope to find some new friends - or reconnect with some old ones. I want to have some good time, get some nice discussions, or, if all else fails, just to, you know, talk to myself about fannish stuff I like, because that's, oddly enough, fun, too.

I really miss Snowflake Challenge the rest of the year. I could really use some sort Sonwflake-style one-prompt-a-week year-round event :)

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Snowflake Challenge

Tue, 29 Dec 2015 21:08:08 GMT

Guess what? It's back!

Isn't it awesome?!

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