snowynight

Challenge #14
sarajayechan's challenge:

My challenge: Talk about the most self-indulgent, joy-sparking scenario for your OTP, favorite characters, favorite show/game/book/etc. Something that could've been canon if the writers so chose, something that would never be canon but is why AU fics exist. Silly, horny, angsty, fluffy, as long as it scratches that itch and makes YOU happy.

My response:

Star Trek: the Original Series: James T. Kirk/Spock

- AU that events in Star Trek Generations & Star Trek: AOS never happens. Kirk and Spock are happily married, retired from bridge duty but still active, builing an oddball community and go on exploring. I can't have enough of fics that features them as a happy couple in movie era.

-Alternately, fic set after the Search for Spock that explores the impact of Spock's death to him and everyone else. He's revived, but he's not the same person as before. Maybe he can remember most of his past, but the emotional association is gone. How does he navigate and rebuild his life? How do you mourn for someone alive but your shared past seems gone forever? Maks me cry by making the happy/bittersweet ending hard earned.

 Challenge #11I have posted about this in previous years before, but pining is still my favourite trope. The pining person has good reasons to believe that their feelings is unrequited and stoically endures the pain. Sometimes the yearning lasts so long that it has become the background feeling in their lives, until it's awakened again. In fanworks, I'm a softie and wants my favourite characters to get together. In original work, I'm fine when the feeling remains unrequited to the end. The secret emotional pain just appeals to my id very well. 

There are so much fun variations: mutual pining, sex while pining and longs for more, A is pining and resigned while B thinks they're already dating, one-sided pining turned requited, flower vomiting disease, mutual "outside my league" ships ... As long as the piner doesn't feel entitied to be loved back, I love them all.

I once read a novel that A and B sadly know that they can never get together but for a night of passion. Then in the epilogue we find that C is pining for oblivious A and hides his feeling with a boisterous facade. C's feeling remains unrequited and a secret, but it's so strong that he refuses to forfeit this feeling. I still remember and love the reveal to this day, but it's harder to find things like that.

Challenge #7: Wish List

( Read more... )

• Rec for music: Languages don't matter. Any era is fine. I love a variety of music style: pop, metal, country, folk, instrumental, etc. I prefer band with female vocalists or female singers.
• Fanart recs: Just link me any SFW fanart that you enjoy. I want to be tempted. XD
• Fics that focus on characters stoically pining for someone that don't seem to able to return their feeling, and with a happy ending. M/M or F/F.I can read canon blind.

Challenge #8

( Read more... )

琴師 - 音頻怪物 | A Stringed Instrument Player - Yīnpín Guàiwu (Music Video)

It's only 5 minutes long and has English dub, so it's an easy watch: 

link to the video with English sub

The song tells a bittersweet story between a war captive stringed instrument player and the enemy court guard who releases him from shackles. Unexpected mercy, stolen moment of connection and eventual parting - so much yearning and potential for fanwork. 

Challenge #5

Talk about what has improved in your life thanks to fandom. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

- It inspired me to write, to learn to take feedback and criticism, and share my writing with others. It's fun to join exchanges and tailor my writing for my recipients who enjoyed them, and get gifts in return. It's great to get comments, kudos and recs for my works.

- It let me meet other people with very different backgrounds from me and expand my horizons, which made me think and examine my bias. I would like to say that I was an open-minded person thanks to fandom.

-It teaches me how to behave in a community, to read the room and look out for potential red flags. I have learnt better time management and coordination skill, and it's OK and even wise to admit that I'm over my head early.

Challenge #3

( Read more... )

- When I was a younger fan, I felt somewhat uneasy about ships with huge power difference. My feeling then was inconsistent, and didn't have a good rationale. I didn't talk about it nor judge others for their preference. I just thought that this wasn't a thing for me.

Then I came across and got intrigued by the ship manifestoes about Gibbs/Tony (CSI: Original), and Dumbledore/Snape (Harry Potter ). Nowadays I have quite a number of pairings with power imbalance. It's the feature, not the bug.

- When I learnt about the term OTP, it meant loving character A and B most and exclusively shipping them together. I was confused when people used a much looser definition and secretly judged them as being wrong.. Nowadays I accepted that meaning changes, and my way isn't the only way.

Challenge #15: 2023 Fandom Wrapped!

I was fannishly adrift last year, so I didn't really have 5 things to mention.

Your top 5 fandoms for 2023 were:


1. Star Trek: the Original Series: my forever fandom. James T Kirk and Spock still had a place in my heart.

2: Due South: I started watching and really enjoyed Due South season 3. I haven't finished it due to life, but I love the fics.

3. Cnovel: It's great to see fellow fans of Chinese web novels.

Your top 5 fandom spaces (Discord, Twitter, etc.) in 2023 were:

1. Dreamwidth: catching up with people, reading and posting posts. I appreciate that we can have time and space for longer discussion. The Snowflake Challenge is great for discovering and sharing with others.

2. Discord: talking to people In real time

3. AO3: reading and posting fics, giving and getting comments, joining exchanges



The top 5 things you did to contribute to fandom in 2023 were:

1. Reading and commenting on fanworks
2. Writing fics
3. Reccing fanart in fanart_recs
4. Posting episode reaction about Due South

Your top 5 most appreciated fandom contributions were:

- My Due South episode reaction posts get very kind comments and encouragement. Thanks!

- Several people like the fanart I reced on fanart_recs and let me know about it. I'm happy about it.

- My recipients left nice comments on the fics I wrote for them. 😊

Bonus questions:

Your fandom personality in 2023 was: Dreamwidth Hermit

In 2023, you discovered: It's more a re-discovery, but it's great to look at fanart.

Your fandom home in 2023 was: Dreamwidth

Challenge #13: Make a rec list of fanworks!

I love fanworks in unconventional POV and styles which tell stories in interesting ways. I also love to see fanwork for something I never expect to see. These following fics showcase fans' creativity and can be read canon blind.

Rec List

Title: Welcome to the Exchange Cafe, We've Got Loyalty Cards! by qkind
Fandom: Fandom Exchange Stages (Anthropomorphic)
Category: Gen
Rating: G
Summary: Normal cafe rules do not apply here.
Remarks:
It's ingenius to write fandom exchange states as a cafe AU. This description of creation period experience is so spot on.:
Watched kettle never boils and all. You’re pretty sure the water has boiled, after a certain point, and yet Creation Period continues to be engrossed in their book. 9 minutes after you sat down, they place a bookmark between two pages, and look up

You’ve never seen anyone look so harried. Where before they were laid back and patient, now they resemble a hurricane in human form.

Title: The Case of the Secluded Island Mystery by Grayswandir
Fandoms:Murdle (Video Game)
Pairing: Inspector Irratino/Deductive Logico
Rating: G
Summary: Logico wakes to the usual phone call. But why is Irratino so keen for him to investigate this new murder on a mysterious island?
Remarks: Murdle is a daily logic puzzle to solve crime. It's amazing how well Grayswandir incorporates the puzzle format in this interactive fanwork to tell an entertaining story.



Title: The Great Lunar Heist of [REDACTED] by Iapetus
Fandom: Warhammer 40.000
Category: Gen
Rating: PG
Summary: The official mission report says that there was an uncharted lunar eclipse on Compliance Celebration Day for world 63-[REDACTED]. The Mournival knows this is horseshit.
Remarks: It's presented as an in-universe mission report about a suspiciously missing lunar satellite. I really love the humour in characters' aside and the great use of [redacted]

Title: Lazy-Fancy Summer Recipes (by the Song-Covey Sisters) by Ashling
Fandom: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Movies)
Category: Gen
Rating: G
Summary: Three sisters, three recipes. Which is the lazy-fanciest?
Remarks: It's a fun story told through recipe and meal preparation. The second person POV effectively shows the sisters' distinctive voice. It's amusing how Margot decides the theme of "lazy fancy", but doesn't really know what to so other than wanting to invent a cute bruschetta in the colors of the Italian flag,

Title: AITA for disapproving of my brother’s high sex drive? by
birdsofthesoul, PlaidIsTheBestPattern
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester (mentioned)
Rating: PG
Summary: Edit: …Please stop DMing me to ask for photos of my brother.
Remarks: Sam posts on r/aita after recently discovering that Dean is gay. I love how it reads like a real reddit posts (including the comments insisting that he makes everything up). It's so fun to read.

Challenge #10

Five Things! The five things are totally up to you. 

Five Singers/Bands I like:

I prefer female singer and vocalist. I like dreamy, mysterious and eerie music, as well as catchy and upbeat songs. I usually listen to soft and quiet music in the background, but when I'm tired, I listen to intense powerful songs as stimulation.

I appreciate music recs so that I can check them out. Language doesn't matter. Invented languages are all right too. Signal boost for beautifulmechanical. I was exposed to a lot of great music there.

Loreena Mckennitt

Link to "The Mummers' Dance by The Mummers' Dance" video

Enya

Link to "Only Time by Enya" video

I love them for similar reasons. Their voice are beautiful. Their music is dreamy and mysterious, capable of transferring me to another reality.

Regina Spektor

Link to "Regina Spektor - Loveology [Official Lyric Video]" video

Ingrid Michaelson

I really love their band of indie/folk/alternative music. They are catchy and relatable, and their lyrics are evocative.

Onmyo-Za (Band)

Onmyo-Za is a Japanese synchronic metal band with traditional Japanese music influence. They perform in traditional costume, and their songs are often about mythological and historical themes. The vocalist Kuroneko has a powerful voice.

Link to "愛する者よ、死に候え (lit. Beloved, Death Awaits) by Onmyo-Za" video

( Challenge #8 )

In September, I have signed up for no_true_pair and written a crossover drabble series of Star Trek: the Original Series, Murdle, Fallen Heroes, and A Study in Steampunk called

Slipping into the Worlds

I didn't manage to write for a whole month, but It was a fun idea for Starfleet officers, superheroes, and consulting detectives to meet each other. Perhaps this year I can elaborate on that and write a story that they have to work together in a world hopping adventure.

... After I finish my wip.


Currently Planned Tabletop RPG related projects

- Character Creation Challenge: making characters preferably with different tabletop rpg systems. I have already made a spy OC and am thinking of doing more.

- I have bough a dozen of charity tabletop rpg bundles, but I haven't gone through most of them yet. I may do a "Let's read my collection" so I can find out what it's like playing a rat queen or space taxi passengers.

( Challenge #6 )

Let's talk about my favourite novella: Severed by Nate Crowley!

Servered is set in the grim dark space setting Warhammer 40K setting, but it doesn't require you to read other books in the franchise.

All you need to know is that the characters are necrons - space Egyptian style alien cyborgs created through copying minds to mechanical bodies. As the proccess is imperfect, most of them end up mindless. The luckier few who retain their mind often have problems from living through immortality.

Zahndrekh is a peerless tactician with peculiar mental degradation. He seems to still live in the distant past and thinks all necrons are flesh and blood. He also sees humans and other aliens as necron separatists.

The necron society is cut throat and dehumanizing. Most of Zahndrekh's subordinates want to stab him in his back to seize his position. One major reason Zahndrekh still survives is his Vanguard Obyron.

Obyron has stayed with hin from their earliest campaigns in Yama. He is devoted to Zahndrekh. He play alongs with Zahndrekh's obsession but very tired of it. He wants Zahndrekh to see the harsh reality, but he also protect him from it.

When they go on a dangerous mission with Zahndrekh's dubious old friend, their bond and Zahndrekh's grasp of reality is tested to the limit.

They literally defeat their enemies through their mutual love of each other. In the final fight, Obyron sacrifices the most important thing to him to save Zahndrekh.

( Spoiler )

Zahndrekh & Obyron are so in love.

There are only three fics with Zahndrekh/Obyron as the main pairing on AO3. Hopefully it can get more fics this year. /eternally hopeful.

Link to Severed:
https://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/novels/severed-ebook-2019.html