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Challenge #1 was about making sure your fannish spaces were tidy, lists updated, permission statements visible, and all of the rest of the things that often come when there's a gentle nudge that perhaps some organization would be useful for you while you are taking a moment to breathe and prepare for the next year.
Challenge #2, on the other hand, asks for our villain origin stories. (Why do I say villain origin story? Because heroes often just are, or their origin stories can be summed down to a single sentence like "radioactive spider-bite gives spider-like abilities." Villains, on the other hand, usually have some kind of social structure they are railing against, or they are seeking a specific kind of revenge, or otherwise are grounded in situations where we might sympathize with their aims, but not their methods. And, in this world of copyright overreach, the act of creating fanworks is almost certainly seen as villainy in some way.)
Anyway, as I was saying, here's challenge #2:
( On the matter of Story. )
I think the way that Story in my brain is a bunch of interconnected things all smashed together is part of the reason why I like the exchange circuit. It gives me opportunities to exercise different parts of Story, I often get to think about different things than I might have otherwise, just so that things can be put together for the request in front of me, and it makes more connections when it's done, so that the next time I traverse the tunnels of Story, there's new pathways to walk down, or to pull into the next thing that shows up. And having written this bit about my origins and the way that I intend to continue, I realize that a lot of my creative endeavors have been less about creating the perfect thing that will vault me to the halls of fame and fortune (something that I have thoroughly been discouraged from seeking by seeing how difficult it is to achieve either of those things in a hyper-saturated market) and more about finding, as it were, Beginner's Mind about creative things, getting close to what I used to do as a kid without the worry that there would be resounding negativity that came from indulging in imagination, and sharing out imperfect things that are still loved and cherished all the same.
So, I suppose, if I were to become some sort of costumed villain, my aims would be toward the restoration of childlike creativity and changing the harshness by which creativity is judged, and my methods that would draw the attention of the local costumed hero/vigilante would involve firing the Mitty Ray, where people caught in the beam would be unable to stop following their flights of fancy or their imaginative impulses as they appeared in their brains. (I'd probably be stopped by a neurodivergent hero, who already has a brain that works that way and has learned how to work with it and still accomplish their goals. Next time, Captain VAST, next time!)
Challenge #2, on the other hand, asks for our villain origin stories. (Why do I say villain origin story? Because heroes often just are, or their origin stories can be summed down to a single sentence like "radioactive spider-bite gives spider-like abilities." Villains, on the other hand, usually have some kind of social structure they are railing against, or they are seeking a specific kind of revenge, or otherwise are grounded in situations where we might sympathize with their aims, but not their methods. And, in this world of copyright overreach, the act of creating fanworks is almost certainly seen as villainy in some way.)
Anyway, as I was saying, here's challenge #2:
In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story.
[…]
Whether you've been in fandom for a while or just discovered fandom, we'd love to know how you came to fandom! Was is that one book or a TV show or movie or anime/manga or a band/song that gave you that first spaek? Or a character or characters that you wanted more of but the canon material just didn't have enough of them? Or were you introduced to fandom by someone?
( On the matter of Story. )
I think the way that Story in my brain is a bunch of interconnected things all smashed together is part of the reason why I like the exchange circuit. It gives me opportunities to exercise different parts of Story, I often get to think about different things than I might have otherwise, just so that things can be put together for the request in front of me, and it makes more connections when it's done, so that the next time I traverse the tunnels of Story, there's new pathways to walk down, or to pull into the next thing that shows up. And having written this bit about my origins and the way that I intend to continue, I realize that a lot of my creative endeavors have been less about creating the perfect thing that will vault me to the halls of fame and fortune (something that I have thoroughly been discouraged from seeking by seeing how difficult it is to achieve either of those things in a hyper-saturated market) and more about finding, as it were, Beginner's Mind about creative things, getting close to what I used to do as a kid without the worry that there would be resounding negativity that came from indulging in imagination, and sharing out imperfect things that are still loved and cherished all the same.
So, I suppose, if I were to become some sort of costumed villain, my aims would be toward the restoration of childlike creativity and changing the harshness by which creativity is judged, and my methods that would draw the attention of the local costumed hero/vigilante would involve firing the Mitty Ray, where people caught in the beam would be unable to stop following their flights of fancy or their imaginative impulses as they appeared in their brains. (I'd probably be stopped by a neurodivergent hero, who already has a brain that works that way and has learned how to work with it and still accomplish their goals. Next time, Captain VAST, next time!)
