Challenge #12

Make an appreciation post to those who enhance your fandom life. Appreciate them in bullet points, prose, poetry, a moodboard, a song... whatever moves you!

Is it silly to say that reading today's challenge actually kind of filled me with a genuine sense of dread? Imagine my internal sense of self running around my mind palace in circles, screaming, "NOOOO, BEING BAD AT THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I HAVEN'T STARTED RESPONDING TO COMMENTS ON MY WRITING AND ART UNTIL RECENTLY AAAAHHHHHHH"

But! I think it's important to make fancreators feel appreciated. There's been an issue worsening with the online climate, where people just want to consume, consume, consume, and then just... leave. Comments on fanfics are down significantly compared to the early days and, although I don't have any proof of this, in my experience, it certainly feels like fanart is being shared less. On Tumblr, this issue is especially bad, where likes don't even really do anything to help with reach. I don't like it. I don't like that the fandom community is feeling less like a community.

That's exactly why my New Year's resolution this year is to comment on fanworks (and general art) more. Specifically, I want to comment on at least one piece of art or writing, every two days. I've kept this up so far, and, you know, it's easier than I thought it would be! I spend most of my time on Tumblr where there's a very quick and easy reply feature, so I've just been replying to the art that I've come across that I think is especially impactful in some way. And that's the sort of thing that I like to do! Instead of writing thank-yous (and making myself throw up in the process, probably), I like to show that I'm thankful for somebody's contributions to fandom by supporting them in other ways (that don't make me want to throw up).

Does this response even really meet the letter of this challenge...? I dunno, but it's true to myself and how I interact with artists online, at least, hahaha!

Title: Long Long Ago, 20th Century
Universe: Kamen Rider Black RX, Kamen Rider Ryuki
Character(s): Morita Yousuke, Kanzaki Shiro, Kishida Tomoko
Series: The Unspeakable Oath | Between To-day and To-morrorow | Pagliacci | The Ghost of a Flea | Dangerous Days | dérive | In Accordance to Natural Law | Shadow Moon | Wake Up the Hero! | Rêve | Channelling the Power of Souls | Evanescent Quietude | Pearls Before Swine | One Day Closer to the End of the World | The Nobodies | Breath, Held | Collectors | International | Vice-Versa | Lonely, Lonely Heart | Life Eternal
Rating: U
Warnings:
Summary: “I read your paper on Crisis technology,” the younger man continued. “I was especially interested in your personal experience with the Crossover Mirror Technique.”
Length: 974 words
Author's Notes: I have so many things I haven't posted yet and I'm desperately trying to force myself into sharing them. also: external link.



( Long Long Ago, 20th Century )

I first really became conscious of Shimada Haruka whilst Oba Mina was in disgrace. A member of the ninth generation alongside her former classmate, Nakamura Mariko, Mori Anna, Yamauchi Suzuran, Yokoyama Yui, and, of course, Oba herself, Haruu was brought in as temporary captain of Team 4 during 2nd September 2011 through to 4th January 2012 when Oba finally made her triumphant return. This wasn't her only brush with leadership either, as in 2015, she was appointed as co-captain alongside Kitahara Rie as she was moved to Team K, a position she held for several years until it was done away with in 2017 and she announced her graduation. Haruu was always a smart girl, having no catchphrase, just a simple "I'm Team K's Shimada Haruka," and having some prior experience of shepherding wayward members in her school's tennis club. It's no surprise then that she went on to become the CEO of clerical and IT related company DCT.inc, based in Shibuya-ku... wait, looking at this, maybe I should try and get a job here?

Haruu joined AKB in 2009 as a kenkyuusei member and several months later debuted in the theatre during a revival of Team B's fourth stage, Idol no Yoake, during which she performed Itoshiki Natasha, a song that also featured on Sashihara Rino's debut single, Soredemo Suki da yo. As with Kato Rena, the only A side she appeared on was Manatsu no Sounds good!, yet that didn't stop Haruu from fast becoming popular with fans even if she wasn't able to rank in the successive general elections that followed. In 2010, however, she was moved to Team Unknown, and from that moment, the irrepressible Team 4 was born.

In 2012, having returned captaincy of her team back to Oba, she was moved to Yokoyama Team K during the fateful Tokyo Dome Team Shuffle, and from here she built her career as a Team K stalwart, appearing frequently on B sides during the years before she announced her graduation during a 2017 SHOWROOM stream. Having taken a break from the entertainment industry, Haruu has gone from strength to strength, with the establishment of DCT.inc, her marriage in 2023, and the birth of her first child in May 2024.

Since last year, I thought briefly of maybe staying in Atami for a longer period of time than just a daytrip. When I discovered that Haruu was the owner of a guesthouse in Atami, I thought very briefly about what it would be like to stay there, but I really don't have the courage for guesthouses, let alone guesthouses run by former Team 4 captains, I'd absolutely make a fool of myself.

Yet still, maybe one day...

Challenge #9

Talk about your favorite tropes in media or transformative works. (Feel free to substitute in theme/motif/cliche if "trope" doesn't resonate with you.)

Since I already talked about my all-time favorite trope last year, internalized homophobia, I'll talk about another favorite: character studies!

"Character Study" is actually my most-used tag on AO3 (if we're not counting "Betaed", which I don't), and that's because I absolutely adore both writing and reading them. The name of the game is exactly what I love about fanfic: getting into a character's head.

In writing, it's a very fulfilling exercise. It's an exploration of the character in question, and how you (you, specifically!) interpret their actions, their motivations, and their mental state. And, in reading, it's a fun way to explore how other people interpret the character, helping you appreciate your faves through a fresh set of eyes!

Beware the potential spoilers behind the cuts. And if by any chance you are a fan of any of these, please let me know your thoughts!

Starfleet Academy - watched the first two episodes of it tonight and I enjoyed it. It was a little weird, 'cause it was a different set up than I was expecting (I did not watch any trailers going into it, nor any news articles other than the fact that Tig Notaro and the Doctor from Voyager would be in it). ( Read more... )


The Hunting Party - Season 2 started airing, and I'm enjoying it so far, I really loved Season 1 so I was excited to see it return. I just did a rewatch it (first season is only 10 episodes so it's a semi-quick rewatch) - still love it! It stars Melissa Roxburgh (from Manifest and Tracker) as Bex Henderson, Nick Wechsler (aka Kyle from Roswell) as Oliver Odell, Josh McKenzie (from La Brea) as Shane Florence, Patrick Sabongui (David Singh from the Arrowverse) as Ryan Hassani and Sara Garcia (apparently also from The Flash) as Jennifer Morales. ( Read more... )The fandom for the show is super small but hopefully it grows more. I definitely recommend it if you enjoyed the Blacklist or Fringe or Mindhunter or other procedural type shows.


Animal Control - came to Netflix and it made me realize I missed a whole season (season 3), so I did a rewatch of the series and am currently up to date. I laughed out loud a lot with this show and I really enjoyed it. If anyone likes animals and enjoyed Community, I'd say you'd like this. This is also a small fandom? Not a lot of fanworks (gifs or fics that I could find). I did come out of this rewatch shipping completely different ship ( Read more... )


Stumble - NBC's newest show that reminds me a lot of early Glee (and weirdly Pitch Perfect). It's sitcom show filmed mock-documentary style for the most part I guess like the Office but it's about the cheer coach and her cheerleaders. Jenn Lyon (Esther Finch from Dead Boy Detectives) portrays the coach, Courteney and I absolutely love her (definitely on my favorite characters). Kristin Chenoweth is Tammy Istiny, former assistant coach to Courteney and even though her storyline is predictable - I like her. I think my favorite cheerleader on the team are Peaches and Madonna though. But the whole team is great. Definitely check it out if you like sitcoms, although like Animal Control might not be for everyone. Again super small fandom.


DMV - enjoying this sitcom a lot and I am appreciating that it is not a mock-documentary type show - while I like Stumble, I do not enjoy that concept of a sitcom. Now this show reminds me of Parks & Rec, so I recommend it if you enjoyed that show or Community.


Fallout - THE LATEST EPISODE MAN. So many feelings. Did I expect what happened would happen? Duh. It's not that huge of a surprise but the WAY it was shot was. Beautiful. I do of course want like fix-it Ghoulcy fics right now though... 


Doc - these last few episodes are so emotional, and I did not really expect to see where it took them. ( Read more... )


High Potential - I really liked this episode, and I enjoyed the Morgan/Karadec scenes of course. ( Read more... )

  @ xmen100  @ mcu100 
Submissions for the Bi-Weekly Prompt will be accepted until January 24, 11:59PM EST. 

   @ xmen100
   @ mcu100
Submissions for the Monthly Challenges will be accepted until December 31, 11:59PM EST. Also check out the new dcfemslashevents community, they are having a February Comment Fest - I love the concept of it and the whole community and because of it:




Found out a "fanweek" happening next month that I'm interested in DC Rarepair Week (Feb 8-14), we shall see if I remember it. I'm interested in participating because I tend to ship a lot of rare or rare-ish ships for DC. I'm going to try for pairings I haven't written before... or maybe just any since I technically haven't written any DC stuff in 6 years (the last being Courtney/Henry Jr. of Stargirl TV series and Kara/Maxwell of Supergirl TV series). Both are actually extremely rare pairings.

Also discovered a DC Fandom Events tumblr, which lists & tracks various DC challenges & when they are happening which is helpful because I've been wondering what other "fanweeks" would be happening this year since I know a good portion of fandoms are located on other platforms such as AO3 or Tumblr or Discords now and not everything is promoted to fandomcalendar or whenisitdue or one of the other communities about events. Usually I stumble upon them way after they are done - plus fanlore's fanweeks category are mostly about ones years past and as far as I can tell on all the ones I was interested in only happened once or twice.  Discovered Raven/Dick apparently has their own "fanweek" in the past so hopefully a new one happens this year - I just have to remember to check in April. According AO3 tags, there is less than 700 works for Raven/Dick so they can be considered rarepair for the DC Rarepair Week.

Are there any "fanweeks" you are looking forward to this year? Or one that you hope will happen again? Doesn't have to be DC or Marvel...

So over at fandomtrees, I made a book rec comment for someone, but I don't think I have one here (unless you read my profile),  so I figured I should post it here. I'll probably add to it if I remember any other favorites. They are not ordered in any particular order.

I usually do Romance just FYI, so if you're looking for something "new" (but probably old), check out below!

Queer Love Stories:
( Read more... )
Non-Queer Love Stories:
( Read more... )

YA or Younger Stories:
( Read more... )

One of those bucket list fandom achievements happened to me this month: fanart of a fic I wrote!! Turns out the trick is returning to an impossibly tiny fandom and enthusiastically joining the local fanartist in their enclosure, lol. You need to be logged in on Tumblr to view it at this link, so I'll also share a direct link to the image itself. It's for the epistolary Hello From the Magic Tavern fic I wrote for Yuletide, and I love the artist's attention to detail, like Dripfang's ripped sleeve. <33

I'm nearly done with Midst season 3 (a sci-fantasy audio drama) and I must apologize to the person who recced it on the strength of its M/M mentor/mentee ship, because I was instead bewitched by the most toxic, disgusting, mutually manipulative het duo ever, Moc Weepe and Imelda Goldfinch. I love that he thought he was getting the better of her, only for it to turn out she was (smilingly) playing him like a violin the whole time.

Spoilers, but there's a moment when this scumbag mafioso-type man is begging and begging for mercy as a much older woman tortures him nearly to death, genuinely thinking it's "for his own good" even as she weeps in sympathy...idk it scratched my id something fierce. Characters who do terrible things with gentle sanctimonious earnestness, eyes wide open, are so much fun. And then the fact that he becomes a repulsive walking corpse with translucent skin that grosses out everyone who sees him EXCEPT Imelda, who wants to ride that thang—sorry! I'm obsessed!

Writing update: I need to check in at ushobwri and inkingitout but the gist is that writing smut is hard and every potential word choice is annoying me right now. (Disappointed that the several years I've spent writing smut does not cancel out this problem.) I'm writing still, it's just not at the clip I want. BUT I did adjust my desired emotional arc for one of the characters, so I think that should help things flow a bit better. After this installment, the series will be done, yayyy.

Some other things...

• seasonsofdrabbles signups close soon! I haven't properly signed up to an exchange in years but I stuffed the tagset with things I like, because who knows.
• Having a lot of fun using snowflake_challenge to meet people and check out new-to-me journals! I'm not fussed about participating myself, because I already have my own topics I want to journal about, but might respond to a prompt if I feel particularly inspired by one.
• I became enamored with the idea of a hanahaki-flavored rewrite of one of the HFTMT miniseries' seasons. It would be really fun, but also time-consuming when I am trying to get languishing drafts out the door. In due time, hopefully.

How are you doing? What's happening in your neck of the fannish woods?