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There were some very cheering words from the challenge prompt today that I think deserve reproducing, and I think they can be repeated across many other vocations and professions. Swap a few words, and it's just right for open source and technology, too.
When I was looking for the previous entry to do recommendations with, I ended up coming across a guest post I had written about Twilight as a story where Isabella Swan desperately just wanted people to stop paying attention to her, because her formative experiences of attention would have been almost universally negative, given her traumatic upbringing, unstable family structure, and the near-constant negative attention she would likely receive for, heaven forbid, being smart, female, and occasionally, as we all are, wrong. The post was about the suffering that goes on when your coping mechanisms tell you that the only way to avoid negative attention is to do everything flawlessly. In a social-media magnified world, it's that much easier for someone to get attention, both positive and negative, and the fear of the latter, especially for women, might keep them out of fannish circles they would otherwise participate in, because very few people want to invite the trolls and dudebros in and would rather just create without sharing.
Today's challenge is, then, a prod to try and overcome all of these things getting to get in your way:
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.
Which, stuff above might qualify as a fanwork all by itself, being a fanwork about fanwork. But it's really an extended riff on "You know, putting your creative self out there is really fucking hard." With a side of "Going back and reading your own work is highly recommended, but also quite a trip." Because I recognize my own writing, but I appear to have changed some in the intervening time.
Anyway, here's a shot at something more akin to traditional ficcing, most likely classed as a ficlet by virtue of a low word count. It's Welcome to Night Vale. If you're not familiar with it, think of it as a town where all the conspiracies and horror stories are true, and the residents don't notice. Too much, anyway. The only glimpse you get into the inner world is through the community radio station and its charming host, Cecil Palmer. And the occasional guest, or guest host, as the case may be...
---
"Hello, listeners. Um, it seems like Cecil isn't back from his petting session with Khoshekh, the cat that's still floating in the men's bathroom, and station management is sounding very irritated that they can't sell their advertising spots as quickly and thoroughly as they want, so I guess it falls to me to sit down at the microphone and try to make a little magic. I'm......not going to say my name, since just thinking about it just caused the station management office door to display a sigil that looked unmistakably like a threat to move on, unless I liked having my entrails removed from my body and then used as the City Council's holiday decorations. I'm an intern here at Night Vale Community Radio, and this, I guess, is the Community Calendar."
"A-hem. Monday is scheduled for the Apocalypse of Saint Bernard. Night Vale will experience a rain of adorable domestic animals, with fluffy coats, fuzzy features, and a vicious killer instinct. Citizens approaching the domestic animals will be eviscerated. The Sheriff's Secret Police are looking for volunteers to help them herd the domestic animals to the dog park. If you are chosen, the Secret Police will contact you by dragging you out of your home during the rain."
"The City Council would also like to remind you that dogs are only provisionally allowed in the dog park. People are not allowed in the dog park. Personally, I don't see the point of having one of you can't go in, but I'm told the Hooded Figures use it to keep the town safe from...things, so I suppose that's okay."
"Tuesday is the Apocalypse of Saint Basil. Night Vale will be flooded with waves upon waves of detectives, investigators, sleuths, old women who write mysteries, and meddling kids. The Sheriff's Secret Police will employ street sweepers, helicopters, and volunteers to herd the deluge of people into their proper home in Radon Canyon, where they will be able to attempt solving the greatest mystery of all - life. That sounds kind of grisly. Couldn't we do something more humane with them, like sacrifice them at Eternal Scout ceremonies?"
"Wednesday is a time correction day. You will feel like you have had this experience before, but you will be unable to pinpoint exactly why. Don't worry about the why, and instead try to right previous wrongs or get yourself out of any pesky time loops."
"Thursday is a figment of your imagination. Pay no attention to it, and it will eventually go away."
"Friday is a time correction day. You will feel like you have had this experience before, but you will be unable to pinpoint exactly why. Don't worry about the why, and instead try to right previous wrongs or get yourself out of any pesky time loops."
"Saturday is the day when the heavens open and things of unspeakable beauty rain down on civilization. That is, if you are part of the underground civilization currently living under the pin retrieval area of Lane 5 of the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex. For the rest of us, the City Council reminds you that Saturday is Earthquake Preparedness Day and that there will be several drills with real earthquakes to ensure all citizens are fully compliant with Council Ordnance 23-B."
"This has been...what's this? Listeners, I am informed by a note on the desk that Station Management has enacted a policy that declares no interns are allowed to broadcast over the air, for...insurance purposes. Any interns violating this policy will proceed directly to termination."
"Well. No wonder this station keeps losing interns. I'm going to talk with Cecil about this. Maybe that will finally pull him away from the cat. Since I'm already in trouble enough as it is, and I've always wanted to say this, I will take you to...
"...The Weather."
One of the things that's hard to remember is that you don't have to be a creator to be a fan. It's not a requirement, there's no rule that says you must be this *holds hand up chest high* creative to be in fandom. Lurkers (who totally support me in email) are just as much fans as those who run challenges and create fanworks.This is important, and one of the ways that you might figure out there's a place in fandom for you is by dipping your toe into the pool of fandom and reading material, viewing art, and following recommendations for things. Doing that, though, can be very scary, because you immediately encounter all these talented people doing great things, and there's clearly more than a few people with lots of followers. It can be intimidating to be confronted with the likelihood that your stuff may not be as good as their stuff, and may never be as good as their stuff.
Don't let an arbitrary definition of fan keep you from claiming your space in fandom.
Having said that, keep in mind that what constitutes a fanwork shouldn't be limited to a small handful of formats. Fanworks are more than fics and art. Maybe your fannish creativity takes a different path. Don't discount yourself just because you don't write or make art.
When I was looking for the previous entry to do recommendations with, I ended up coming across a guest post I had written about Twilight as a story where Isabella Swan desperately just wanted people to stop paying attention to her, because her formative experiences of attention would have been almost universally negative, given her traumatic upbringing, unstable family structure, and the near-constant negative attention she would likely receive for, heaven forbid, being smart, female, and occasionally, as we all are, wrong. The post was about the suffering that goes on when your coping mechanisms tell you that the only way to avoid negative attention is to do everything flawlessly. In a social-media magnified world, it's that much easier for someone to get attention, both positive and negative, and the fear of the latter, especially for women, might keep them out of fannish circles they would otherwise participate in, because very few people want to invite the trolls and dudebros in and would rather just create without sharing.
Today's challenge is, then, a prod to try and overcome all of these things getting to get in your way:
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.
Which, stuff above might qualify as a fanwork all by itself, being a fanwork about fanwork. But it's really an extended riff on "You know, putting your creative self out there is really fucking hard." With a side of "Going back and reading your own work is highly recommended, but also quite a trip." Because I recognize my own writing, but I appear to have changed some in the intervening time.
Anyway, here's a shot at something more akin to traditional ficcing, most likely classed as a ficlet by virtue of a low word count. It's Welcome to Night Vale. If you're not familiar with it, think of it as a town where all the conspiracies and horror stories are true, and the residents don't notice. Too much, anyway. The only glimpse you get into the inner world is through the community radio station and its charming host, Cecil Palmer. And the occasional guest, or guest host, as the case may be...
---
"Hello, listeners. Um, it seems like Cecil isn't back from his petting session with Khoshekh, the cat that's still floating in the men's bathroom, and station management is sounding very irritated that they can't sell their advertising spots as quickly and thoroughly as they want, so I guess it falls to me to sit down at the microphone and try to make a little magic. I'm......not going to say my name, since just thinking about it just caused the station management office door to display a sigil that looked unmistakably like a threat to move on, unless I liked having my entrails removed from my body and then used as the City Council's holiday decorations. I'm an intern here at Night Vale Community Radio, and this, I guess, is the Community Calendar."
"A-hem. Monday is scheduled for the Apocalypse of Saint Bernard. Night Vale will experience a rain of adorable domestic animals, with fluffy coats, fuzzy features, and a vicious killer instinct. Citizens approaching the domestic animals will be eviscerated. The Sheriff's Secret Police are looking for volunteers to help them herd the domestic animals to the dog park. If you are chosen, the Secret Police will contact you by dragging you out of your home during the rain."
"The City Council would also like to remind you that dogs are only provisionally allowed in the dog park. People are not allowed in the dog park. Personally, I don't see the point of having one of you can't go in, but I'm told the Hooded Figures use it to keep the town safe from...things, so I suppose that's okay."
"Tuesday is the Apocalypse of Saint Basil. Night Vale will be flooded with waves upon waves of detectives, investigators, sleuths, old women who write mysteries, and meddling kids. The Sheriff's Secret Police will employ street sweepers, helicopters, and volunteers to herd the deluge of people into their proper home in Radon Canyon, where they will be able to attempt solving the greatest mystery of all - life. That sounds kind of grisly. Couldn't we do something more humane with them, like sacrifice them at Eternal Scout ceremonies?"
"Wednesday is a time correction day. You will feel like you have had this experience before, but you will be unable to pinpoint exactly why. Don't worry about the why, and instead try to right previous wrongs or get yourself out of any pesky time loops."
"Thursday is a figment of your imagination. Pay no attention to it, and it will eventually go away."
"Friday is a time correction day. You will feel like you have had this experience before, but you will be unable to pinpoint exactly why. Don't worry about the why, and instead try to right previous wrongs or get yourself out of any pesky time loops."
"Saturday is the day when the heavens open and things of unspeakable beauty rain down on civilization. That is, if you are part of the underground civilization currently living under the pin retrieval area of Lane 5 of the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex. For the rest of us, the City Council reminds you that Saturday is Earthquake Preparedness Day and that there will be several drills with real earthquakes to ensure all citizens are fully compliant with Council Ordnance 23-B."
"This has been...what's this? Listeners, I am informed by a note on the desk that Station Management has enacted a policy that declares no interns are allowed to broadcast over the air, for...insurance purposes. Any interns violating this policy will proceed directly to termination."
"Well. No wonder this station keeps losing interns. I'm going to talk with Cecil about this. Maybe that will finally pull him away from the cat. Since I'm already in trouble enough as it is, and I've always wanted to say this, I will take you to...
"...The Weather."
