snowflake 2k26 #12

[queenslayerbee]

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!

A lot of My Fandom People are disseminated in other sites, most prominently tumblr and discord. Though I do try to get them into dreamwidth, trust me xD. The environment here is one I prefer, frankly: it's slower, and feels calmer, less prone to the kind of drama that plagues those others. In some cases we follow and talk to each other across all platforms, taking advantage of the benefits of each (curse discord as I might in many areas, in terms of direct messages, it's definitely the best one, for example).

I don't think of myself as a gregarious person; I get exhausted quickly by large crowds, especially. In fandom it's much of the same: I feel more comfortable in small fandoms, and whenever I join a larger one, I set to find a small corner of it where I'm in my element. 

My preferences often make this easier, because they're rarely in alignment with fandom majorities. Thanks to that I've found My People in numerous corners, from the chill group I gathered while The 100 (a large, wank-prone fandom) was airing, to the buddies I've made in the DC fandom (Even Worse xD), to the ones I met in the tiny environment of writeblr, when I was still around those parts, or that I'm meeting now with Pluribus, for example. My oldest fandom friends, I met in the Shadowhunters fandom, my first active one. A trainwreck, but again, I met a lot of people there that I'm still friends with today :D

In many cases we've followed each other through several fandoms, sometimes meeting, sometimes diverging for a while. Sometimes following each other beyond fandom, taking interests in each other's professional pursuits, in each other's personal lives. Some of the people I've met here know things about me that I wouldn't tell those I personally know off-line, and with their mere presence, support, and engagement, have helped me through Some Shit. 

I'll always be glad that I took the leap from lurker to active fandom participant (and creator). I genuinely don't know how I would've stayed sane through my early twenties without the people I met around here. Some of them, I no longer talk with; some just follow me on tumblr and we only sporadically like each other's posts. But others have become lasting friendships that sustain me to this day, And I'm extremely grateful for that!

Comments

[kitarella_imagines]

Yes, we never know where our love for fandoms will take us next, do we? Gosh it was such a long time ago I watched Shadowhunters! I think my favourite character was Simon the vampire/ daywalker.

Those officious shippers and anon haters sound very tiring and annoying. Why do people think it’s okay to control other people’s likes and dislikes, it’s none of their business. And liking a ship in A Wrong Way, how silly! You’re allowed to like fictional characters any way you want. I’m not sure whether to be annoyed or laugh at such silly people.

I hope all these attitudes didn’t put you off writing and interacting, it’s like a minefield sometimes isn’t it.

I was luckier because the popular ship I stumbled upon was when I wrote a tiny oneshot which wasn’t noticed, then 10 years later suddenly became very popular. So I did an experiment and wrote a longer, fluffier fic about the same couple, and it was even more popular. No one really commented or gave me any trouble, I just noticed the stats going off the charts.

Although I did get corrected by someone in another fandom because I wrote character X with character Y, and this commenter went on a long rant about how X should never be with Y, he must always be with character Z. They went on and on about it…and then went round to every other fic where X wasn’t with Z, and ranted at those authors too. I marked the commenter as spam. It’s weird to go to every fic and insist it should be about their favourite pairing, isn’t it!😅

It’s a good idea to screen anon comments.

I feel like I've just lost patience with rude people on sites, I stick to DW where people are polite, and also Mastodon, which is friendly. I won’t even try Discord as I've heard so many bad things about it, I’m so tired of people arguing with me online.

Thank you, I’ll try not to woffle too much but I often write a lot 😊

[queenslayerbee]

I liked Simon too! More than I expected, because I remember in s1 he gave off some Nice Guy TM vibes lol. But I really liked him in s2 (and I liked Simon/Maia too, even if it was obviously doomed. I think it worked really well).

I'm a combative person by nature so they didn't manage to put me off. If people act like I can't ship something it's more likely to make me double down on it than anything else lol. It usually leads to spite-fic, too xD

OMG that person. I've had some commenters that in the same breath that they told me they liked my fic, told me they wanted me to write (practically demanding) a different one, usually with a different pairing or dynamic than the one I wrote. The entitlement some people have... impressive, honestly xD

I'm going to try to stick to DW more this year precisely because of that. It's an environment more suited to my preferences. Now I just need to keep it up/get people interested xD

[kitarella_imagines]

I suppose Simon was the most relatable to me—a random nerd who happens to get turned into a vampire. I really liked the episode where Simon nearly died and Jace let him feed off him, and Simon was hero-worshipping Jace after that. I like the idea of them as a ship.

I used to be combative but over the years I got tired of all the stupid arguments. But yes, if people act like I can’t ship characters I’m more likely to write about them. For example in my main fandom, Motorsport RPF, there is a very popular but toxic ship that about 1/3 of all fics are written about. But I hate that ship, so I never write it, I write almost any other ship to avoid it. And I’m always making snarky comments in my fics about that toxic ship. 🤭

Oh yes I've had commenters like that, one of them asked, could you write a few more chapters (of a long fic) just for me? Well no, because the story is finished and I can’t see inside your brain and know what you want, so I’m sure to disappoint you. All I replied however was, sorry I wasn’t planning to add more to this fic, maybe you could try writing a fic for this couple yourself? I’d love to read your ideas. But of course they disappeared!

And those people who say WHERE are the fics about ship XYZ? I want them NOW! Perhaps if they encouraged us writers and interacted, we’d be more confident to write fics.

But generally I only get nice comments, the vast majority of AO3 commenters are polite and friendly, so it’s not too bad.

Yes I stick to Dreamwidth now days, those other places are too aggressive. I am old and tired, I need nice friends and comfortable, relaxing places where I don’t have to fight 24/7.

[queenslayerbee]

One of my friends from the Shadowhunters fandom (and the one I still talk to pretty much every week) shipped Jimon too! I didn't really ship them myself, but they were a cute pairing.

Oh, same. In the SH days I would argue back (sometimes), but now I'm quick to block people who clearly can't be reasoned with. Spite can still be a good fuel for writing LOL. When I have a bit more time later this year, I want to revise some old fics, starting with the ones from around then, to polish them a little & cross-post them here in dreamwidth, you might get to see them LOL.

maybe you could try writing a fic for this couple yourself? I’d love to read your ideas oh, why did I never thought of that? I'm going to use that from now on :P

But yes, the vast majority of ao3 commenters are incredibly friendly. It's a bit like DW, the culture is not skewed to the entitlement and rudeness of other sites.

[kitarella_imagines]

Yes, I just thought they went well together for some reason. Two dorks together😅

I decided some people actually don't want to have a genuine, polite conversation...well that applies to a lot of people online. Life's too short to spend arguing, isn't it? Oh I'm always revising my fics, I recently almost rewrote one because it was based on a show episode and I'd got the details totally wrong. 🤦‍♀️Oh I hope to see your fics!

With those bossy commenters, it's like...people, I don't write to order. I write what III like. I know there are people on Tumblr who send in requests and Tumblr writers fill them instantly, but my brain doesn't work like that, it's a fun hobby for ME, not a job.

So true! AO3 isn't based on algorithms and getting clicks and follows and what have you.

[queenslayerbee]

I've done inbox prompts sometimes, but always limited (i.e. to specific fandoms, or types of fics -drabbles, etc.). And it's something I've done at a particular moment in time where I felt up for it, not something I do by default. Frankly, unless someone explicitly says they want to receive prompts, I find the idea of requesting a story from them pretty rude.

[kitarella_imagines]

I only really do my own prompts, I run my own challenge Funuary to cheer us up in the cold, dreary month of January, and let my own list of prompts inspire me. Anyone can join the challenge btw! As long as the fic is funny and makes us laugh.

Yes I only write when I feel like it, I support enough people in real life, I don't want to be supporting online strangers as well. I mean by fulfilling their wishes and needs, I have no more energy to give online. If that makes any sense?

I agree, I don't even request stories from my friends unless they say 'which ship would you like a fic about as a Christmas present?' or something. I'd say 'characters X and Y if you're not too busy?' I'd never request or demand.