Night Island

Resurfacing for the annual snowflake_challenge!

Challenge #2

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.

Hm, let me see.... I have a lot I would like to accomplish in theory, but I don't want to overwhelm myself and set myself up for failure. I tend to view my goals as all or nothing, which isn't the best. Maybe that should be my first goal?

( Read more... )

That seems like enough for now. I can add more later if I feel like it. A lot of these echo my goals from last year, but I hope I can have better luck with them this time around. I *did* manage to socialize more last year, but most of it wasn't on DW. I also feel like I am in a better headspace this year, which bodes well.

Challenge #13
In your own space, tell us about 3 fandom resources you use or enjoy. (One or two is fine, especially if you're in a smaller fandom!) Leave a comment in
this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Truthfully, I think I use pretty much the same resources as I always have. None of them are fandom-specific.

access_fandom: A community about improving accessibility in fandom. There haven't been many posts lately, but I'm glad they're still there. ♥
TV Tropes: This one may be terribly passe by now, but I still use TV Tropes a lot. Whenever I find a new fandom, I go over there to see what others have said and enjoy browsing the tropes. It helps me refresh my memory on canon or pick up on things I might have missed. Plus, if I'm getting into an older series, it can give me an idea of what has been said about it in the past and what everyone's reactions were. I've found some good recs there, too.
Fanlore: I see this as the more fannish version of TV tropes. I *love* reading about fandom history. Since I am often late to fandoms or don't have as much time to devote to them as I like, Fanlore can help me catch up. I want to start editing it soon because I feel that there is a lot that still needs to be documented from what I remember of the 2000s. I also use it to find older fic recs that I never got around to reading.

Challenge #9
In your own space, brag about yourself. Tell us what things you've done that you're proud of; the things that make you the wonderful person you are. Leave
a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

You know what? I've had a long week (even with the holiday on Monday), so I'm going to celebrate myself. Here are three oldish Night Vale fics that I thought turned out well. Concrit is welcome since I didn't know how to find a beta for these, but please be gentle.

( 3 Night Vale fics )

Challenge #7
In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing
so.

I was at a loss for what kind of challenge I wanted to do. If I couldn't think of anything unique, I was going to echo what muccamukk had to say in this post about including image descriptions. While I still encourage you all to check out that post and do that, I *did* come up with a challenge of my own. It says that we can come up with challenges for ourselves so that's what I'm going to do. My challenge for myself is to start posting recs in order to be more active in fandom this year. Even if my writing does not go as planned, I hope to contribute in this way.

I've wanted to start posting recs regularly for a while, but I've felt self-conscious about it. What do people expect from recs? What kind of notes should I include? I get that I should talk about why I like something, but that's hard to articulate sometimes. I want to write something more insightful and detailed than "this is good; I liked it." I imagine I'll get the hang of it the more I do it, though.

Still, if you wouldn't mind indulging me, what do you generally look for in recs? If you post recs, how do you approach them?

Challenge #5
In your own space, promote a canon/talk about a part of canon that you love. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post
if you feel comfortable doing so.

Okay, this one is hard. I love so many canons but which one to choose? I'd rather not preach to the choir and talk about something everyone has already heard of. I don't think I can stick to just one.

( Ramblings about Good Omens, Six the musical, and N. K. Jemisin's The City We Became... spoilers and CW for talk of religion in the second paragraph )

Challenge #3: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
In your own space, tell us who, from one of your fandoms, would you most want to have dinner with (or tea, or a random afternoon visit), And why? This
could be a creator, an actor, a costumer, a set designer, a director, a character, a composer, anybody! What would you talk about? What are you dying to
know? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

The first character to pop into my head is Aziraphale. We could have tea or visit his bookshop. We could chat about life, the universe, and everything. Since he's been around since the dawn of creation, I'm sure he has some amazing stories and insights about history. Also, I could use a comforting figure to hang out with during the pandemic and Aziraphale seems like he would be good at that. Maybe Crowley could drop by, too.

I could have chosen a creator of some sort, but if I'm going to be wishing for impossible things, why should I stick to the real world? My fondness for Good Omens hasn't waned, and I still have so many feels that I haven't worked out yet because I didn't have enough time for fandom when the initial fervor hit.

Wow, I'm actually posting this somewhat early... but I'm procrastinating on other things.

Day 1

In your own space, talk about your Happy Place—the things that give you joy, calms you or keeps you sane. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it.
Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Well, I know joy has felt elusive for many of us last year. I think I may have actually had a better year than usual, but there's still all the stuff going on in the world. Through it all, I've been able to keep my head above the water, and this is how.

Writing: Unfortunately, I did not do much in the way of fanfiction last year, but I did take two creative writing classes that honestly kept me sane. Once I take a break from writing, it sometimes feels difficult to get back into the swing of things, but the classes helped. Writing is the best way to organize my thoughts and bring order to a cluttered and chaotic mind. I love how the musical Hamilton frames Hamilton's story as someone who was able to write his way out of a bad situation, and I hope to be that person, too. In particular, I love writing poeotry because of the precision and attention to detail that it requires. I feel that my poetry writing just clicked into place last year, and I hope to continue experimenting with forms and ideas in the new year.

Reading: Especially poetry. It can really bring a sense of clarity to my life. Robert Frost says that poetry should be a "momentary stay against confusion" and good poetry can be that for me. I also want to get back into reading fanfic because that can be a lot of fun. I did not do as much reading for pleasure last year, especially during the fall semester. It wasn't so much that I didn't have the time; it was more that I felt guilty for reading for fun instead of school. I want to give myself permission to enjoy reading purely for pleasure this year.

Music: When it comes to music, almost polar opposites have brought me joy as of late. The first is classical music because it calms my soul and allows me to feel more deeply. I'm listening to the local classical radio station right now, and I want to do that more during the year ahead. Streaming is not the best for classical music because it tends to get all the movements and different parts mixed up, so I can turn to traditional radio for that. I just got done listening to a glorious choral piece. I swear, if I had a church that sounded like *that*, I would go every Sunday. No more crappy, half-assed CCM, thank you.

The other type of music that has brought me a lot of joy this year is k-pop. I was familiar with older k-pop stars such as S.E.S. and BoA, but the current k-pop scene was foreign to me. It didn't help that I wasn't particularly interested in boy bands although I will admit now that some of their stuff is quite catchy and fun. However, I discovered BLACKPINK at an event this year and loved them immediately. Since then, I've been listening to more k-pop to find more stuff that I like. If anyone has any recommendations, I would be glad to hear them! <3

Welcome to Night Vale: I realize that this fandom hasn't been super popular for years, but I guess I never got the memo. Honestly, I don't think some of the later episodes are quite as good as the earlier ones, but there have been some great stand-outs and developments. I've been listening to the episodes so many times as I try to fall asleep that it feels like they have become part of me, and I'm still attached to the characters and world. Twice a month, I have a new podcast to listen to, and it has become almost a ritual for me. I also still really love Disperition's music. There may be other great podcasts out there, but this one is special as it helped get me back into fandom after a hiatus during a rough patch in my life. For that, I am eternally grateful. ^_^

I will also give a shout-out to the Amazon Echo and Alexa. I know all about the privacy concerns, but this device has been a fun and convenient addition to my life.

Day 03

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.

Yay, goals! I was going to post about them sooner or later. I didn't do a great job at keeping my goals for last year, but I did make some good progress, and I am happy with everything that I accomplished last year. I don't want to make the exact same goals this year, but some of them will probably be the same.

( 2017 goals )

Again, I could add more, but I don't want to overwhelm myself. If I accomplish more, that's great, but I won't force myself to do so.

It's already a few days into 2017, so I think it's time to dust off this old journal and post for once! Since I enjoyed doing snowflake_challenge so much last year, I think it will be a great way to start off this new year in a positive light.





Day 1

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.

I felt a bit weird about this challenge this year because I have yet to write something substantial, but I understand that is not the point of this challenge. Still, it should be pretty easy to rec my stuff this year because I believe that I have nearly everything reposted on AO3.

( All under a convenient cut )

That was actually kind of fun! I'm glad I did it. ^^;

Day 14

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

Is fanart about the Avengers being fluffy and domestic your jam? Are tentacle fics your thing? How about podfics that have characters talking dirty? Is
your Pinterest filled with images of knitted fanart? Make a post about it! Squee to your heart's content, tell us why you love it, gives us some examples.

Then, leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. You might be surprised to find out
that other people are head over heels about those things too. :D

I had to look through a few of the other posts, but I finally feel like I have an answer: AUs.

I haven't read as much of them as I would like to say, but I love the idea of wondering "what if" or putting our beloved characters in different situations. How would they react if this, this, and this were different? If you're not happy with canon, fix it. If you are happy with canon, imagine how it would be if it had gone in a different direction. I love any kind of AU--no matter how far they deviate from the source material. Sure, there are some fandoms where I'd rather see something set in canon, but for the most part, I enjoy the chance to see what kinds of new situations and worlds the characters can inhabit. This is probably one of the tropes I've loved the longest because I would always love to let my childish imagination wonder what would happen next or how the story would be different if something else had happened.

I think what really got me interested in AUs was the Phantom of the Opera modern retellings, especially those of Quiet2885. There really is not enough time in canon to squeeze in too much fic. You could set it before Raoul appears, but Christine doesn't meet Erik face-to-face (or, in this case, face-to-mask) until after that. If you are an Erik/Christine shipper at all, you need to make it an AU because no matter how much Love Never Dies wants to tell us otherwise, they do not end up together. That's not even taking into consideration the original Leroux novel. When All is Lost is the longest fic I've ever read, and it is pure AU. Although I haven't read it in about five years, I remember loving it to bits at the time.