Night Island

COME PLAY @ THE [ FIC POSITIVITY FEEDBACK MEME ]
my thread here


I just spotted this meme on fandomcalendar, and I thought I'd give it a try since I hardly ever link to my fic on this journal. Go read my inconsequential fluff and angst and leave feedback if you can. Concrit is welcome and encouraged!

I have also come to the conclusion that I don't need to bother with tumblr to enjoy fandom. There is a lot of fun and friends here if you know how to look. Sure, I may be missing out on new shiny things on tumblr, but I'm not going to be too upset about being active there. This may change in the future, but if DW stays as my main fandom hangout, that will be okay.

On the other hand, I've been kicking around the idea of turning anelusivedreamer into a writing journal. The posting interface still gives me grief, but time will tell, I suppose.

Do I contradict myself? Well then, I contradict myself. I am large; I contain multitudes!

I made the last minute decision to go to the OC Fair to watch full-contact jousting. Here is an article about it. This may not be such a good idea because I am officially sick, so I probably won't spend as much time at the fair as I normally would even though full fair admission is included with the tickets. Regardless, I am psyched. My medieval/early modern England/fantasy-loving heart is made happy. <3

On a related note, there is a Shakespeare fic exchange going on! I probably shouldn't participate based on the schedule, but it will be hard to resist. I will try to participate in the madness collection at least. I will be taking another Shakespeare class this fall, so this can count as... um, research?

JOIN THE hp_creatures Halloween Fest 2017!
Claiming: July 20 - September 20
Fest Posts: October 15

Visit the comm at: hp_creatures for more info!

I... will probably participate in this. I haven't had the best luck with writing as of late, but a fair few of the prompts have caught my eye...

st_aurafina is hosting a friending meme. Those of you who are reading this probably already know about it, but I thought I'd share anyway because I think it's neat. :D I've never participated in a friending meme before, so I'm pretty excited. I already posted there, but I have yet to look through all of the other comments and start friending. Go check it out if you haven't already! This is the perfect time to make new DW friends after 2016 had so many nasty surprises for us and after whatever the hell is going on with LJ right now. Let's stick together in 2017.

How may I fail? Let me count the ways...

Well, because of my persistent lack of time management skills, some setbacks have come on the heels of my other successes. I had to default on all of the exchanges that I signed up for. I think this is a matter of biting off more than I could chew and not taking into account that my assignments would be due not long after finals' week. Plus, I'm still not a very disciplined writer. I had quite a bit of anxiety to deal with regarding both school and fandom as well. I feel like I'm getting past that now, and I'm hoping that I will be able to be more productive this summer.

In the future, I think I will focus on writing treats for exchanges. That way, I can simply focus on the writing aspect without any consequences. I really have loved the gifts that I have received from the few exchanges that I've done, but my purest joy comes from writing itself. I don't need something in return to be happy.

In other annoyances, something is very wrong with the Internet here. The speed is really slow for some reason. I'm convinced that it's down to dial-up speeds, but I don't remember what that was like except that it was horrible. I remember that it took ~30 minutes to download a 4 MB song, and anything larger was out of the question.

In spite of everything, I was able to finish some writing, so I'll post that shortly.

I've done some of my homework today, but the entire time I have been anxiously awaiting my assignment for space_swap. ;3 The exchange is going to be smaller than I originally thought. Apparently, there will be 25 participants including myself. I'm guessing that I'll be writing something for Doctor Who or the Star Wars prequels because I'm the only one who requested Madoka. I'm probably not going to get a Madoka fic either, but that's okay because I haven't even read any of the fics that are already out there.

Signing up for this exchange has made me wish that there was a fantasy-based counterpart. Maybe that is too vague of a subject, but I'm tempted to start one of my own. If I did, I might want to call it magical exchange, so that it contains some kind of magic in the fandoms as a theme. I would be tempted to call it Equivalent Exchange, but I'm sure that something already has that name and that it might be too specific to FMA. Besides, is the alchemy in FMA really magic? From what I remember of the 2003 anime (even though I have watched Brotherhood), alchemy is supposed to be a kind of science that just doesn't exist in our world. I would want my exchange to be focused on real magic rather than technology that is so advanced that it appears to be magic. There is a name for that, right? Magic that is really just new technology? I must investigate...

I received my chocolateboxcomm gifts last night and read both of them this morning. With one main gift and a treat, I feel like I really got more than I deserved. The FMA fic that I received was over 3,000 words! I wasn't even expecting a FMA fic at all, so that kind of knocked me off my feet. The Harry Potter fic was a real surprise as well. I'd never even thought of Millicent/Hermione until I requested it, so I was happy to read something new. I guess these can both count as rare pairings, too. I've already left comments and kudos, so I hope that my mystery authors continue to get lots of love for their work.

( Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter )

Fortunately, I was able to give two gifts in return. I've already gotten some lovely comments and kudos, so I guess that means that they don't suck!

What next? halfamoon is extending its run until the end of February, so I may do something for that. I'm also seriously considering participating in once_upon_fic.

Day 11

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.

Be kind to yourself today. Say some nice things about yourself, without any caveats.

This kind of thing is slowly becoming easier for me as I learn to recognize and appreciate my strengths.

1. My resilience: There have been so many times when I wanted to give up or could have given up. In fact, there were times when I did give up for a while, but I never let it stay that way even if it wasn't easy. I continue to pursue my dreams even though the path has been twisted and forked to the point that it has led me through territory I never thought I'd cover. At times, I have struggled with depression and anxiety that felt soul-crushing, but I never let either of those things destroy me. Now, I realize that some of my best experiences come from times that felt both good and bad in the moment. If I hadn't stuck it out through the difficult times, I would have never experienced the high points. It's this quality that allowed me to sit through my two-hour Intermediate Spanish class tonight even though I felt like running away or hiding under the desk.

2. My intelligence: I am a self-proclaimed Ravenclaw, so of course this is important to me. ;) It's not just the knowledge that I've obtained but the curiosity that has led me there. I'm proud of my grades and what I have accomplished because of them.

3. My writing: I can now call myself an award-winning writer, but I'm just happy that I'm still writing. after all of these years. I'm proud of where my writing has taken me for the last three years. I realize that each attempt is one step toward becoming better and remembering that I have words worth sharing.

I just realized that I typed "words worth" and immediately thought of Wordsworth. It must be my subconscious trying to get me to think more about poetry.

Day 12

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.

There usually has to be at least one character or characters that appeal to me. I feel like I need to have someone to root for. I'm trying to think of examples where the plot has been more appealing to me than the characters, but in those cases, it seems like I would be less fannish. I love a good plot and a world that I can play around in as much as the next fan, but I feel that the characters can make up for a lack of those things. I'm not so sure that a good plot or world-building can make up for not liking the characters. As soon as I start enjoying a new fandom, I'm trying to pick out who will be my favorite character. It's typically that love of characters that drives me to seek out fanworks.

Day 09

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.

I've been meaning to write up a New Year's resolution post, so I'm glad that this was today's challenge.

( Goals for 2016 )

I could put more, but it's good to start small, isn't it? I will have my hands full with these goals already, and any additional goals could probably fit under the above categories. At least I know that many of these goals are common, so I won't be alone in trying to live a better life in 2016.

Day 6

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.

To be honest, this is kind of hard. What do I want to have more people doing in the fannish world? Well, this is a new year, so it's the perfect time to try new things. I was finally able to sign up for chocolateboxcomm, a multifandom fic and art exchange. I am still in the process of editing my sign up and thinking about writing a letter for it, but the point is that I've never participated in an exchange before. I wanted to participate in Yuletide, but I was too busy/intimidated at the time to do so. Even though I missed out on that opportunity, I took advantage of this new one.

My challenge is to try something new in the fannish world. Make afanwork in a fandom you have never created in before, or try a new type of fanwork altogether. Is there a fandom that everyone's been talking about that you haven't tried yet? Give it a try. Heck, participate in the above fic exchange if you are so inclined (although I must warn you that the deadline for sign ups is tomorrow). Start playing Falen London because before that was what was consuming my mind before this challenge. Do anything you want as long as it's new to you. Kudos will be given if you feel like posting about it here.

I got this idea from analise010, so I will give credit where credit is due.