Fandom Snowflake Challenge - Day 2

[kenaz]

Day 2

In your own space, create a list of at least three fannish things you'd love to receive, something you've wanted but were afraid to ask for - a fannish wish-list of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your wish-list if you feel comfortable doing so. Maybe someone will grant a wish. Check out other people's posts. Maybe you will grant a wish. If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.


1) I would love it if someone dropped a little something in my Fandom Stocking! (I have low expectations-- I don't know anyone writing in this fandom, and my requests are weirdly specific!)

2) I am as guilty of it as the next person, but I wish more people would leave feedback after reading.  It is the currency of the realm, so to speak.  This is especially true of GIFT FICS.  I have recently had an extensive discussion with fandom friends about people who have been shafted in gift exchanges when their recipients never left a comment.  As a moderator for the Slashy Santa/My Slashy Valentine/Ardor in August exchanges, we have made leaving feedback for your gift a REQUIREMENT of participation-- and even so, we still get a couple of folks in every exchange who can't be bothered to leave feedback. It's gutting! Recipients ought to at least reward the effort, even if the result is not what they had hoped for-- and if your desires are so very specific, WRITE IT YOURSELF! Don't expect your gift-writer to be a mind-reader, too! As we say in the Slashy Santa Rules & Regs:
"Manners are mandatory!! Be kind to your readers, be kind to your writer, be kind to your overworked admin. . . Even if you *hate* the story you are given common courtesy dictates that you should at least say "Thank you for writing this for me." If you cannot gracefully thank the author who wrote for you, you may be asked to sit out the next round and contemplate the meaning of the word "Courtesy."

3) If I had one wish...I think it would be to just put a kibosh on the hating.  I see more of this on Tumblr than on LJ, Dreamwidth, or elsewhere, and perhaps it's the one-to-many platform that facilitates this sort of thing, but I have come across more intolerance for other peoples' fanon/"headcanon"/interpretation of various fandoms-- and yes, ok, the Silmarillion fandom seems to be particularly virulent-- on Tumblr in the last year than I have in over a decade of LJ.  EVERYONE is entitled to their interpretation of a fictional universe. And EVERYONE'S interpretation is the right one for them. It doesn't mean it has to be mine, or that I need to like it or even agree with it.  I have recently been challenged by an old fic by someone who, sadly, isn't involved in fandom anymore, and I really dislike their interpretation of a particular character in one of their works-- and yet, I am so engrossed by the beauty of the writing that I'm willing to accept that their rendering of this character as utterly, profoundly different than my own, and I'm enjoying it on its own terms.  And that just makes it different, not better or worse... and certainly not RIGHT or WRONG! (This doesn't mean we can't debate endlessly, or that we aren't free to like or dislike what we instinctively...well, like or dislike!...but "Meh, I don't buy it" and "Hmmm...not my thing" are a far cry from "OMG YOU'RE WRONG AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD.")

So my big wishlist item for 2016 is that we all step back and consider tht one of the things that makes Fandom as a concept worthy of a big capital letter is that we are, each of us, interpreting someone elses' universe through our own unique lens(es), and that there are no wrong answers, no bad 'ships, no implausible scenarios, and no indisputably correct interpretation of canon. If a certain fic ain't your cuppa... MOVE ALONG. Life is too short for negativity.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

That Fandom Stocking link does not work for me. Don't know if it is a bad link or personal to me or something wonky going on with Dreamwidth at the moment.

Feedback is the currency of Fandom; using without ever reciprocating is simply just not right. No one can always write a piece of world-class literary criticism in response to a story, but a simple response of some kind is always welcome! People work hard on their fanfics.

Could not agree with you more about people declaring they are right and others are wrong or expressing hate for other people's interpretations or taste in fanfiction! OMG! I really thought that was going away when the intense bias for or against het or slash or gen fic was fading, but it seems to have resurfaced in a myriad of new and different ways. It's the antithesis of why people write fanfiction--to interpret another world in a highly personal manner and one which is relevant to the individual writer.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Fixed link -thanks!

re: Canon Pharisees and Canon Heretics, etc., I really do think a lot of it is a direct result of the Tumblr platform. Livejournal/Dreamwidth, BBS systems, even the old yahoo groups were set up, to a greater or lesser degree, to facilitate discussion and conversation. By design, Tumblr is simply a soapbox and a megaphone. It is nearly impossible to have a lively debate, let alone an intimate discussion. So I think people frequently come to it clearing their throats and ready to make very loud, declarative statements. And like any other soapbox and megaphone combo, this may give some people the illusion (delusion?) that they are, in fact, GOD SPEAKING FROM ON HIGH, and not just some crazy person on their soapbox with a megaphone.

Also, there's the age factor. SOME (I don't want to make ageist generalizations!) younger folks seem to come to fandom via Tumblr with the righteous fervor and hi-contrast vision of Fëanor addressing his throng: If you are not for me, you are against me. That 'ship you 'ship is BAD. That 'ship I like is the OTP. Thus Spaketh ME!

"The fire of their hearts was young," such as it were. ;) Perhaps in time their vision will be tempered by shades of grey.

But The Gospels According to ____ approach never really flew here on LJ. People had animated debates-- and even outright flamewars!-- but it never seemed quite as nasty as it seems to get on Tumblr. Or maybe I just missed some of the really grand LJ shenanigans of ye olden days.

(edited for more appropriate icon usage! And to make references to crazy headcanon evangelism gender-inclusive!)

[pandemonium-213.livejournal.com]

re: Canon Pharisees and Canon Heretics, etc., I really do think a lot of it is a direct result of the Tumblr platform.

Hmmm. I'm a self-described Canon Heretic*, whicht was a direct response on my part to seeing plenty of Canon Pharisees when I first actively entered Tolkien fandom in 2007, e.g., ALL OFCs ARE MARYSUES! YOU CANNOT DEVIATE FROM CANON! ELVES NEVER [...fill in the blank].

Hence, I took a contrarian path...heresy, in other words. Soooo, being lumped in with Canon Pharisees is *ahem* problematic, to use beaten-to-death Tumblr-jargon.

* I consider myself a heretic in the sense that I bend or break so-called canon freely.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Oh, I would never lump you in with anything! And I'm right alongside you with the Heretics. Where's the creativity of being a Pharisee? I wrote Marchwarden and had fingers wagged at me that OC's ARE BAD. If their preaching had reached me *before* I started writing, it probably would have scared my timid ass out of writing anything at all. I avoided the Silm/extended text fandom for years and stuck with LOTR because I was intimidated by the possible abuse I might receive from the purists because someone might have waved some post-script scribbled on the back of one of JRRT's letters in my face to show me how WRONG and BAD I was. It wasn't until I "met" people like you and Dawn and Oshun that I manned up enough to wade into those waters, and by then, most of the militant purists had quieted down.

My point is mainly that Tumblr has taken us back to the Bad Old Days in terms of people shouting into the digital echo chamber that THIS IS CANON! or THIS IS *NOT* CANON! And in a way, it's almost *more* tiresome, because they're not even trying to back up their ridiculous claims with textural support; the justification is simply BECAUSE I LOVE TOLKIEN MORE. It becomes a zero-sum game, and an absurd one at that.

[silsbee329.livejournal.com]

#'s 2 and 3: Hear, hear! Kindness is such a simple thing. And MOVE ALONG indeed.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

TWO THUMBS UP!

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

Recipients ought to at least reward the effort, even if the result is not what they had hoped for-- and if your desires are so very specific, WRITE IT YOURSELF! Don't expect your gift-writer to be a mind-reader, too!

100% agree. I don't participate, but I have too often seen people sad at not getting any response from their recipient :(

"Meh, I don't buy it" and "Hmmm...not my thing" are a far cry from "OMG YOU'RE WRONG AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD.")

One of the best things I did on Tumblr was get Tumblr Saviour and just blacklist anything like that, especially 'Headcanons' - which, unless some-one writes them into a fic, I am not interested in anyhow. I have so much blocked, in fact, that about the only things I see on my feed (without clicking on them) are nice scenery pictures.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

OMG, what is this Tumblr Saviour thing?! I don't know if I need it yet, since 95% of the people I follow are either LJ people, and about 3% of the remainder are strictly photo blogs (because I need my daily dose of Elves and Tom Hiddleston, plus the occasional John Taylor and Nick Rhodes nostalgia!) but I feel like if I expand my circle any wider, it will become necessary...

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

If you just google Tumblr Saviour (because I think it depends on your broswer) - I use Firefox - and then just instal it - it takes half a minute if that. Then what I get is a little T on the top right hand of my screen next to the downloads/start page/bookmarks etc. When you're on Tumblr and click the little T it comes up with two columns , a blacklist and whitelist, on the blacklist type and save anything you don't want to see, on the whitelist anything you want to appear on your feed. The blacklisted names will show as so-and-so person posted something containing those words, but you have to click on it to see it. It is quite useful for me as I follow hundreds of blogs and as others have said the Silm and LOTR feeds contain some aggravating stuff!

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything above you wrote above.

#2 It doesn't take much for people to write a thank you note for a story that another person took time to write. It's good manners, and I am sure that not all non-responders have been dragged up :)

#3 It amazes me how possessive some people become so locked into an interpretation that they honestly believe others are wrong when they show an alternative POV. I wonder if they have read the books sometimes.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

#2 feels like it has just become a sad fact of life for me. #3 is a mystery. I mean, I have definitely read started to read and abandoned fics that I have totally disliked either due to the writing style or the characterization, but I just MOVE ALONG. Who the hell am I to condemn someone's obsession with Woobie!Draco Malfoy or Evil!Bilbo or AutismSpectrum!Tony Stark just because it doesn't make sense to me?!

[independence1776]

2. Yes a thousand times! Even if you don't like something, just say, "Thank you" and move on. It's the online equivalent of being polite to someone who gave you something that you don't want: unless you want to offend a friend/family/coworker/whatever, you act politely!

3. This one I just want to quote in its entirety. I actually left the Tumblr Silm fandom because of the hate and intolerance. I don't need to be constantly made to feel bad simply because my interpretation of a fictional world is different from someone else's. So yes: focus on what you like, ignore what you don't. It really is that simple because fandom is large enough for everyone.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

I said this above to Oshun, but as it's relevant here, I'll copy-and-paste:

re: Canon Pharisees and Canon Heretics, etc., I really do think a lot of it is a direct result of the Tumblr platform. Livejournal/Dreamwidth, BBS systems, even the old yahoo groups were set up, to a greater or lesser degree, to facilitate discussion and conversation. By design, Tumblr is simply a soapbox and a megaphone. It is nearly impossible to have a lively debate, let alone an intimate discussion. So I think people frequently come to it clearing their throats and ready to make very loud, declarative statements. And like any other soapbox and megaphone combo, this may give some people the illusion (delusion?) that they are, in fact, GOD SPEAKING FROM ON HIGH, and not just some crazy person on their soapbox with a megaphone.

[independence1776]

Yup. Add in the fact that some reblog or only see early posts rather than the entire "thread" makes everything spiral out of control rather quickly. And there's no filters, either. Tumblr Savior/XKit/New XKit only lets you blacklist words and phrases so those posts only show up with a placeholder post on your dash-- but it doesn't actually change the fact that the site is still a soapbox full of people who don't understand that it's perfectly okay that people have different interpretations and that some things are impossible to filter out.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Tolkien fandom didn't just suddenly attract (mainly young) writers with strong ideas, they were there in the old days on Yahoo too and yet I don't recall the kind of intolerant snark you see on Tumblr. What the heck happened to hitting the back button and moving on if you don't like/agree with something? I write Gil-galad a lot, I know how I like to read him, if someone wants to write him as stupid or abusive or whatever and do a bad job of it, I don't have to read it, just agree that their opinion and mine differ, remember it for future reference, and move on. I don't feel any need to Convert them. Jeez.

Hit send too fast ---- * and if your desires are so very specific, WRITE IT YOURSELF!* Oh god, yes. If the prompt is two paragraphs long with examples of your personal head canon, why on earth are you asking someone else to write it? You will just be disappointed. Go away!

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Forgive the copy-and-paste of my reply to Oshun, but I think it's relevant here in regards to the Hatorade-drinking on Tumblr--

re: Canon Pharisees and Canon Heretics, etc., I really do think a lot of it is a direct result of the Tumblr platform. Livejournal/Dreamwidth, BBS systems, even the old yahoo groups were set up, to a greater or lesser degree, to facilitate discussion and conversation. By design, Tumblr is simply a soapbox and a megaphone. It is nearly impossible to have a lively debate, let alone an intimate discussion. So I think people frequently come to it clearing their throats and ready to make very loud, declarative statements. And like any other soapbox and megaphone combo, this may give some people the illusion (delusion?) that they are, in fact, GOD SPEAKING FROM ON HIGH, and not just some crazy person on their soapbox with a megaphone.

The fic I was referencing in my post was Claudio's "Never Speak Nor Sing." It's been years since I read it (and I don't think he finished it?) and I don't remember how it turns out, but in the present point in the story, Fingon is pretty much an angry sleazebag who is bitter about his father's forcing him to break with Maedhros, and he is pretty much installing an under-age, recently-arrived-in-ME Glorfindel as his bedwarmer. I am totally not on board with this interpretation. And yet, because I remember Claudio's writing as being subtle and skillful, I'm going to stick with it and see where it goes. And maybe I will still be put off by the characterization in the end, but even if I am, I have the option of either deciding not to continue reading it, or sticking it out, seeing if the character evolves in the story, and if not, well, it won't be an interpretation of Fingon that I agree with, but I will feel absolutely ZERO need to complain about it, or take to my LJ for a wankfest. What's the point of that?

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I didn't finish it for mainly the reasons you've mentioned above, but that's all that happened, I just stopped reading. I didn't flame it (he'd have laughed anyhow), I didn't complain on my journal, I didn't tell everyone I know not to read it, I didn't write an indignant post about why those types of characterisations are WRONG -- I just found something else to read.

You're right, of course, it is the whole soapbox thing. That and a lack of -- I don't know what the right word is. Mentoring? If no one's told you that you should be discussing things, not demanding compliance, and if that's all you see around you, then it's all you know. God, I miss the old days.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I did the Snowflake Challenge for the first time a year ago and what I really took with me was to be better at commenting. I read fics at a much slower rate, but I think I have made a lot of people happy by giving them a nice review. After all, they make my day when they review me. :)

I don't get hating and flaming at all. I had a really nasty rewiev a couple of months ago where the reviewer objected to my interpretation of a character, that it was sex in it and the kinks. My first reaction was that I had somehow managed to not tag the fic properly. It was a very explicit fic with themes that may very well be seen as disturbing, so I popped over at once to remedy any mising information. Turned out the fic was labelled "Explicit", was tagged as it should and had extra warnings both in the summary as well as in an auhtor's note. So this person must have read a fic they hated just for the purpose of flaming. They then went on and flamed all my fics with that particular character, claiming my interpretetation was wrong, wrong, wrong and theirs was the only right one. Very strange behaviour...

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

ARGH! That is MADDENING!! That's what tags and warnings are for! I don't understand people who go into stories that they have already been explicitly warned contain subject matter that may not be to their liking, and then bitch about it. WHO HAS TIME FOR THAT?! Every minute they flamed on your story (and taking it to your other stories really goes beyond the pale!) is a minute they could have spent reading something that appealed to them, or writing something of their own.

I used to feel compelled (less with fic, but always with published work) to finish every book I started, even if I hated it. I felt like I had an obligation. Since I now have Amazon Prime and library cards from 4 different library systems, I have acquired literally thousands of e-books. I will QUITE LITERALLY not have enough days in my life to read all the books I have accumulated. So if I can't get into it after two nights' attempts, I move on. Because life really is actually TOO SHORT to Read ALL The Things! I don't understand the logic of wasting our limited moments with spreading hate and actively seeking out things you KNOW you won't like! The mind: it boggles!

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Oh, she followed me to Deviantart too! Even if nothing there was explicit I got a slew of comments there as well about the badness of my interpretation. After peeking at her fanart I came to the conclusion she must either be a very young person or a very immature one. I resisted the urge and comment that her soppy interpretation on the character was ALL WRONG!!! :)

It's a bit mind-boggling. I know I write a lot of things people may find triggering which is why I'm very particular about tagging as well Writing quite a bit about why I write it.

I have stopped Reading books I don't care for as well. :)

[lynndyre.livejournal.com]

#2 I would agree with anyway, but I'm agreeing really hard right now. I drew for two different people for LOTR SeSa, and didn't hear from either one of them.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

I'm SO sorry! That's so disappointing!! Have you let the mods know? I'm going to go look RIGHT NOW...

[lynndyre.livejournal.com]

!! Thank you so much. I thought I was fine with it, but I almost teared up at your lovely comments.

I had drafted an email, but hadn't managed to convince myself to send it- now I have. Thank you.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

That is just plain horrible! I hate that people do this!

[lynndyre.livejournal.com]

The SeSa exchange is pretty low on comments in general this year, it felt like. I'm trying to catch up with more of the stories where I know the characters.

[kenazfiction.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm a complete hypocrite because I *still* haven't finished reading and commenting on all the AinA stories from this year! Yikes!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

It's a lot bigger than usual and there seem to be several clearly defined circles that don't overlap much. I admit I'm also first looking for writers and characters I know.

[ysilme]

I really hear you on the feedback thing.

I've always tried to do my best (as in, I usually write a review to anything I read), and often failed. When I really love a story (which happens often) I want to leave a thorough, detailed review in thanks. But not only because I'm mostly reading offline it often takes me a long time to manage it; it also takes me ridiculously long to write one of the kind I love best. Writing fic comes easier to me in English than writing feedback, my words always feel totally inadequate and I continually ask myself if I'm hitting the right tone or not. I'm kind of afraid all the time that what I mean as praise sounds anything but... I actually managed that a handful of times, and since them, I'm a bit wary. (I swear I've thought occasionally to ask somebody to beta my reviews.... ;o) ) When I realised this one or two years ago, I started to write simpler reviews, which are not what I want to give the author, but as I manage them sooner and more of them, I think that's preferable.
I'm also having this probably absurd idea that fandom karma works this way: the more reviews I give, the more others will give, no matter to whom. (And eventually perhaps even to me... I usually try not to dwell on it, particularly not since I'm getting more and also often so kind and lovely reviews these days; but sometimes I need a certain good friend telling me firmly that how much my fics are read or reviews isn't an indicator of their qualities or lack thereof. But the lovely reviews I'm getting lately make a true difference; quality instead of quantity. Which then makes me work a the quality of mine as well, to give the same feeling back if possible.)

Ahem. Sorry for having drifted off to so much navel-gazing. Leaving that side, it really, really sucks how some people go about exchanges and such, and how they "honour" (not) their gifts and what the authors did for them. I was very positively surprised about the rules to that subject in the Slashy Santa exchanges, and when I was confronted with similar problems lately also as a mod, I le myself be guided by what the Slashy Santa exchanges demand or suggest, because it works so well in my eyes.
In one of the exchanges I participated in my Potterverse days it was mandatory to react to your gift within three days, and to let people know if RL prevented you from doing so (by way of email to one of the mods or so). We once travelled during the reveals of a fest, which were also over two weeks without knowing the date of your gift in advance, and I asked the mods to let the author know that I was without internet connection for two weeks, which they gladly did.

and if your desires are so very specific, WRITE IT YOURSELF!
So very true!

I'm still not on tumblr - I so often read in friend's journals about the problems there and the unfriendliness, which rather repulse me, and what you write here sums it up perfectly. I simply don't get it why people can't leave everybody their headcanons and interpretations, it's so absurd to me. Like you say, nobody is forced to like or read/watch them, it's not as if there weren't such an amount of stuff around that people would ever run out of fannish things to read, watch and listen to!

To me, this behaviour also feels like a lamentable likeness of our whole society these days, and I cannot help myself but find that the fast pace and the "getting a like"-mentality of social media are having a huge influence on that. I'm finally on FB, too, albeit reluctantlcy (became necessary for organisational and communication matters of our Tolkien Society smials), but I'm not really using it; or rather, I'm doing the occasional sharing and liking more from an observant point of view. It's sometimes appalling how some things work out; with the recent refugee-related problems we're having in Germany, it's so well to see.

tbc

[ysilme]

Transported back to fannish behaviour, this inability to view the other side of the coin, antd to see the world in shades, and not only in black and white, illustrates so badly where we stand. To be honest, this sometimes frightens me and motivates me to do my best to be different from that, and to do my tiny bit to swim against the stream. I'm just glad there are so many others swimming in the same direction. *hugs*