This is my life

Challenge #1

In your own space, update your fandom information. 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.

If you need ideas or inspiration, feel free to visit the challenge post and comments for examples of how others have done it. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so write what makes sense to you.

I love this one, it's always a good idea to update your intro sticky once in a while (mine is here), and I like to see what changes year to year. This is the fourth year that nothing big has changed for me - I'm a little surprised how hardcore I still am for my main fandom (MDZS/The Untamed).

In your own space, opine on the future of fandom. This can be positive, negative, ambivalent; about fandom as a whole, your own fandom(s), or your own plans. Alternately, what do you hope fandom will do? Imagine a best-cast scenario, and tell us what that would look like.

Well, I'm a terrible futurist, so I'm not going to guess where things are going to go. For some reason I can do this when writing fic, but trying to imagine it IRL is just a lot more difficult. I guess because it's fine for me to put my own desires on my fic - that's kind of the whole point! - but there are so many other people's desires and wants and I don't feel like I could even guess what those all are, so how could I then guess what the results of them would be?

So what I'll do instead is put up a few wishes for fandom in the future.

I wish that folks that engage in fandom hate will realize that it doesn't help anyone, and hurts themselves, too. I wish that they are able to learn how curating their fandom experience means more joy for everyone, and developing an open mind about other people's wants and needs will make them better, more compassionate human beings. That the diversity in fandom is a feature, not a bug, that the broader the scope, the more we can do in fandom.

I wish everyone more fannish squee, whether that means more canon material, finding their fannish spaces, or having the time and energy to engage.

I wish everyone positive interactions with fans and fandom, and I hope they get even a fraction of joy out of fandom that I have, because it has brought so much richness to my life and I want to share every bit of that with every bit of fandom I can.

In your own space, rec three fanworks that you did not create.

These could be your all-time favorites, fanworks that fit a certain theme, or the last three fanworks you read/viewed/listened to and loved. If you’re looking for a way to make today’s challenge more *coff* interesting, how about rec’ing in small fandoms or rare pairs? A compilation of fanworks that make a great introduction to a fandom?

For the purposes of this challenge, a fanwork is defined as any creative endeavor for a fandom – fic, podfic, art, crafts, vids, meta... If you love it and someone else created it, please share it!

Don’t feel limited (or obligated) to make three recs. One or two is good, and so is a dozen. Just share some fandom love!

A little late today; life's getting super busy. But I got an amazing gift, so that's definitely my first rec. I wrote it, but honestly, Jelly's read makes it 1000% better. She's just such a delightful reader, and the cold read format is also super hilarious.

[Coldread] Your Voice in My Ear by jellyfishfire
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF, UNIQ (Band)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Wang Yi Bo/Wang Yi Bo/Xiao Zhan | Sean
Characters: Wang Yi Bo, Xiao Zhan | Sean, Cho Seungyoun | Woodz, Li Wen Han, Zhou Yi Xuan, Kim Sungjoo (UNIQ)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Battle of the Bands, Radio, Getting Together, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic, Podfic Length: 1-1.5 Hours, Coldread
Summary: Yibo can hardly sleep with all the stress from school and UNIQ's upcoming performance. A late night radio station introduces him to a soothing voice and kind soul.

The second one is a truly lovely tentacle fic. I am a big fan of tentacles, and they're not huge in MDZS, but this is a good use of them - and not the kind we tend to see (resentful energy tentacles being the most common, I think). Good fun, lovely established relationship WangXian.

slip'n'slime (7764 words) by la_dissonance
Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Additional Tags: Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Tentacles, Slime, Kink Exploration, wwx's canon pain kink, wangxian's canon consent play, Roleplay, they are so horny for each other in any bodily configuration, Tentacle Sex, Anal Sex, xeno no-genitals sex, Post-Canon, Bottom!LWJ, Established Relationship, Light Bondage
Summary: The tentacle climbs up Lan Wangji's forearm and tugs him closer. This time it's his turn to shiver. The feeling is — like nothing he's experienced. Cool and slippery, strong but not the strength of muscles. Soft. He wants to feel it all over.

(Wei Wuxian accidentally gets cursed, which results in an impromptu sex vacation. It goes great for everyone involved.)

The third one is a lovely fic about losing a golden core and leaning into what that means instead of trying to figure out how to hide it from everyone. Wei Ying learning to make use of disability aids is really great here.

Elder, an Aesthetic (8359 words) by MarbleGlove
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Niè Huáisāng, Wēn Qíng (Módào Zǔshī), Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Lán Qǐrén, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Fix-It, Post-Sunshot Campaign (Módào Zǔshī), this might be crack
Summary: Wei Wuxian always enjoyed picking an aesthetic and really leaning into it. As an adolescent, he was joyous, entitled and high-born; during the war, he was dangerous and threatening. After the war, he was lost. But then he found his new aesthetic: Elder of the Jiang Sect.

There are many many more in the world, but it's late and these are three I have enjoyed in the last week, which is all I can do for right now. :)

In your own space, celebrate a personal win from the past year: it can be a list of fanworks you're especially proud of, time you spent in the community, a quality or skill you cultivated in yourself, something you generally feel went well.

This challenge is fairy open, and is based on people looking back on the last year and thinking about their personal wins.

What I want people to remember for this challenge is -- wins can be giant, small and everything in-between. Did you finally finish or publish that novel you've been working on for years? Did you get those bookshelves reorganised? Did you learn a new skill? Did you do something you were scared of? Did you post a certain number of fanworks at A03? Did you master the perfect gooey brownies? Those are all examples of wins and they all count. Just something you can look back on and think, I did that, and I'm proud of that.

But, we know life can be hard for us all at times, so please don't think you have to only share big, memorable wins. If you look back at last year and all you can think to say is, 'I survived' well that counts too.

Man, 100% last year was a survival year. This year will also be a survival year. Work is absolutely fucking bonkers. Despite that, I did achieve a few things. I worked my ass off for a really difficult but truly amazing concert in the fall. I recorded a 65 chapter, 100+k word fic over the period of a couple months. I did, somewhere in there, get a boatload of work done. My office (which I am only nominally supervising at the moment) has done well in my absence and is still flourishing.

I'm a little disappointed with my fanworks output last year (especially my writing), but I tell you what, I still did a hell of a lot, including and outside work, and that's pretty awesome.

In your own space, interact with a community or a fic.

This is a bit odd, as it's tough to interact with a community or fic in my own space, lol, but I get what they mean.

I read an adorable little short that I commented on last night, so I'll rec it here, as a way to bring my interaction to the community that is my dwircle. :D

Dazzle Like a Diamond (4118 words) by Tsukimiko_san
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Niè Huáisāng, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Lán Qǐrén
Additional Tags: Dragon Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Crow Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Cloud Recesses Study Arc (Módào Zǔshī), Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, No Angst, ok maybe a tiny sprinkle of angst but like, usual lwj thinking wwx is just teasing him, it doesn't last long, Getting Together, they are both so whipped, Boys Kissing, Courting Rituals, no beta we die like mdzs female characters
Summary: Wei Wuxian can't stop thinking of Lan Wangji having every single shiny thing he finds.

Or: crowxian unknownly courting dragonji. that's it, that's the fic.

This fic was absolutely as adorable as it sounds. Totally worth the read, I think, for anyone.

In your own space, tell us about 3 creative/fannish resources, spaces, or communities you use or enjoy. (One or two is fine, especially if you're in a smaller fandom or like many people at the moment, fannishly adrift right now).

I always think of DW communities here, but I realized that one of the last times I did this, I had started a reference list for MDZS and BJYX things.

It's out of date now, probably could use some updating, but I'm not going to bother at the moment. I am actually going to rec three DW communities.

For multi-fandom recs: fancake, which has found me some truly terrific pieces in a number of fandoms, including MDZS

For multi-fandom prompts: fan_flashworks is a delight and has a nicely organized structure

For multi-fandom fests, exchanges, and the like: fandomcalendar is a fandom staple

Okay, hear me out…

I know Snowflake is sunshine and rainbows and singing from the rooftops all the lovely and brilliant that is being in a fandom. But, let’s be honest. Sometimes--like with other things--there are sucky parts, heartbreak parts and just plain UGH parts. Rather than holding onto those slights and resentments, or burying them and pretending they don’t exist, just to have them slowly and almost imperceptibly seep into the rest of the challenges this month, why don’t we just let it all out?

For those of us who celebrate Festivus for the rest of us, this will be familiar. We call it “Airing of Grievances” and it is actually very satisfying, whether you do it tongue in cheek, get introspective or just literally scream.

In your own space, Scream Into the Void. Get it all out.

Okay, so my first thought with this was my frustration with antis. Then I just. Did not want to even deal with the exhaustion that brings.

So the next bit was my feelings about podfic permission requesting. I push for blanket permission/transformative works statements because it is a bandaid that helps people who really need those BP statements to feel comfortable recording and have some barrier to asking. But it IS just a bandaid.

Listen, I just do not understand how people can make transformative works and then be all precious about other people making transformative works about their transformative works. Like... YOU just did this without asking anybody at all. Why do *I* have to ask permission?

Especially in the case of podfic, because it is also an accessibility aid! You don't listen to podfic? SO WHAT. It's not ABOUT you. It is about a) the podficcer, because they were SO DELIGHTED with your work that it inspired them to create another work about your work (and if you don't think that podfic transforms the original text THEN DON'T EVEN FUCKING TALK TO ME) and b) the people who DO listen to (or NEED) podfic. Would you say no to art because you don't like art? OF COURSE YOU WOULD NOT.

Everyone says "Ooh, I'd love fanart, I don't care if you think it's terrible I want it!" and they're soooooooo flattered someone would want to make fanart. It's a compliment. TREAT PODFIC THE SAME FUCKING WAY, PLEASE. It is a compliment. If someone is inspired, they should just be able to do it. Why is this so hard to understand?

This is an exceptionally frustrating thing for me, that people who make transformative works are not fully supportive of people making transformative works of their stuff. You know what we think of authors who do that? Yeah. That's what I think about fanworks creators that don't allow podfic.

For those who don't like podfic but feel bad because they're not going to listen to it to comment, you do not need to listen to it to say, "this is so awesome my fic inspired something like this! thank you so much for making it!" and calling it a day. Podficcers know that not everyone listens to podfic. They get it. Just say THANK YOU and MOVE ON.

*breathes hard*

*steps off soapbox*

Thank you, and have a nice day.

In your own space, update your fandom information! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Done and done! This year's challenge includes some prompts to answer if you've never made an intro/sticky post before (or just need some ideas), and includes transformative works statements, which is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! And I will make the same offer over here that I made over there, which is: if you have a publicly posted blanket permission statement and want to be added to the Blanket Permission List that drives the AO3 widget that a lot of us podficcers use to find blanket permission fics, leave a link and I will add you. :D

In your own space, tell us who you would recast in a film, tv series or webseries, or maybe someone voicing a cartoon or videogame. Or who would you cast to play a character in a book, comic or maybe even your own fiction!

Oh, I do love a good casting. When I first started writing, it was basically only nominally fanfic, in that it took one minor character out of a movie I saw once and ended up with a cast of dozens from all over the place, and basically I just... cast actors in roles based on what I wanted. I knew what they looked like, but they were OCs so I wasn't concerned with their characterization. It was called Vampire Greg. It was actually, if I recall correctly, a crossover of two actors from two very old movies, and the original bit of it was written by a friend of mine, but it was then rapidly expanded to include all of our crushes from all of our fandoms and I ended up writing the bulk of it over the next several years. It survives, under lock and key (in this journal, lol), but it's probably not anything I'll take back up. If I can't get to Impromptu, which is a dozen years old, I'm not going to get back to Vampire Greg, which is almost twenty years old. But it was a blast to cast folks, and I now always cast OCs when I write them, just so I have a good idea of them in a scene.

I've seen some really brilliant recastings in my time, and I've done some mental castings of my favorite books, but it's been a while, and it doesn't really work for my current fandoms, so I'm going to opt out of doing a casting right now. I can't wait to see what other people come up with though!

In your own space, rec a fanwork (fic, art, vid, playlist, anything!) you did not create.

Oh my god there are so many. Okay, I am going to limit myself to one of each media type. So let's go!

[VID] The Black Parade: An Untamed Vid Album (5441 words) by helcinda
Chapters: 2/2
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Jiāng Yànlí, Wēn Níng | Wēn Qiónglín, Wēn Qíng, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén, Mèng Yáo | Jīn Guāngyáo, Niè Huáisāng, Niè Míngjué, Lán Yuàn | Lán Sīzhuī, Lán Jǐngyí, Jīn Líng | Jīn Rúlán, Ōuyáng Zǐzhēn, Xiǎo Xīngchén, Sòng Lán | Sòng Zǐchēn, Xuē Yáng | Xuē Chéngměi
Additional Tags: Fanvids, Vid Album, my chemical romance - Freeform, Canon-Typical Violence
Summary: I am not afraid to keep on living

REC: Each vid on its own is amazing, the individual lines and moments when they hit (there is a second chapter talking about the craft of the thing which is AMAZING) but the effect of the whole is just... astounding. When I finished I just had this... echo... inside me. Like, this open space full of feels and wonder and I am so in awe and also just filled to the brim with amazement at the skill and perfection with which this vid translates and entwines these two mediums because it adds so much depth to both of them for me. My insides have been scooped out and now I have nothing left but this contentment and reverence. Cannot recommend this highly enough, folks.

[podfic] Let the Streetlights Guide You Home (67 words) by jellyfishfire
Chapters: 7/7
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Módào Zǔshī Ensemble
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, references to drug use underage driving, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic, Podfic Length: 3.5-4 Hours
Summary: Wei Wuxian was the most infamous street racer of his generation. They still speak of him now, the stuff of legend: the reckless abandon, the hair pin turns, midnight races over dangerous tracks. His death, racing through the streets of Nightless City with his sister in the passenger seat, the moment when his luck finally ran out.

10 years later, Mo Xuanyu enters his first street race.

REC: This is the ultimate podfic. For serious, it's just. 4 hours of perfectly moody music, a fantastically paced and voiced read, and sound effects that add so much (even more than I imagined - seriously, the making of vids are SO COOL). This is my go-to podfic for long drives and it makes me ache every time. I love it. I've said it before and I will say it again: Jelly can take a mediocre fic and elevate it to something sublime. But when Jelly reads a really well crafted fic? There is absolutely nothing like it. This is just a stellar piece of work.

WangXian Pirate AU Art by sweetlittlevampire
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: None
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Additional Tags: Modern AU, Pirate AU, GORGEOUS ART

REC: I love pretty much everything Sweet's ever made and I ADORE the Pirate AU most of all. I love her art style, and the perfection with which she captures WangXian in particular. This series is just... all of the things I love about pirates, WangXian, and art all in one place.

we made space (19805 words) by MajorEnglishEsquire
Chapters: 3/3
Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Characters: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Qǐrén, Lán Huàn | Lán Xīchén
Additional Tags: Getting Together, Sleep, Sleeping Together, Lap Sitting, Marriage Proposal, Fluff, First Kiss, Sharing a Bed, Adopted Children, Exhaustion, Happy Ending, Sex
Summary: He came back two weeks ago. He’s been trying to say something the entire time.

It’s not that Wangji has been unwilling to hear it. And he will always make the time to wait for Wei Ying to speak. The words quite simply haven’t come out yet.

They’re in his throat, now. And he may well be too tired to swallow them down again.

REC: I think the thing I love most about this fic is that it has no true obliviousness. There is some pretending, but it's more people understanding and adjusting to the way the world is now. Gorgeous. Beautiful WangXian getting together and really lovely observations about them through glimpses of their family. Sizhui in particular is lovely.

NOTE ON THE FIC REC: I just picked my most recent one because trying to pick a favorite was going to give me a nosebleed. I am EXTREMELY picky about things I put in my bookmarks and I use extensive notes, so if you'd like to trawl other things I've recced, feel free to look at my AO3 bookmarks.

In your own space, celebrate a personal win from the past year: it can be a list of fanworks you're especially proud of, a gift of your time to the community, a quality or skill you cultivated in yourself, something you generally feel went well.

You know what? I tried something new last year, and not only was it honestly better than I thought, it ended up being a huge hit despite the untested format (which people seemed to enjoy almost as much as the story).

I'm talking about cold reading the whole And Time is but a Paper Moon story and then the resulting (multiple!) series. It was so many hours and hours and hours of time, I did it almost every single day for 5 months, and it was so much fun. I really enjoyed it, and I loved talking to people about the story, the cold read, and the other stuff I put in there.

And while I'm patting myself on the back, Jelly and I also started a podcast that's in a similar vein, where we just have a good time together and rec podfics and stories and make trailers and whatever. It's a blast. It's been a ton of fun to do.

I've been sick, so I haven't done much podficcing since I stopped doing the daily cold reads, and I'm hoping to get back in the swing of things as my work starts to slow down a bit.

We spend a lot of time in fandom spaces sharing the things that we can do, let’s spend today talking about the things we can’t do, the ideas for podfics we can’t record, the plot for an epic saga we don’t have the time to write, or an idea and music we want to vid, but don’t know how, or that WiP we started a millenia ago that still sits there mocking us…

In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do.

Oh. Dear.

So, I have an entire series of "stuff I just couldn't finish/get to work" and there are a bunch of half-finished fics in there, some with explanations of why I couldn't get them to work or full on DVD commentaries (with PODFIC, I can't even). My huge multi-fandom classical music AU isn't in there but it probably should be, and it makes me SO SAD. That is the one that I would like to finish most, I think.

Honestly, it's a huge, slow-burn, friends to lovers McShep with funny little subplots and cameos from other fandoms (there's an unfinished Losers Cougar/Jensen AU in the series too /o\) and I pretty much put all my fandoms in this universe.

The McShep plot basically is at the point where Sheppard is starting to realize maybe he's not straight, and maybe Rodney is the guy, like, oh shit, I'm gay, and I'm in love with this asshole? Which is always fun. It's Rodney POV so it's mostly oblivious, out-of-focus Sheppard panic. Next up was the two of them on the road together for a series of concerts while Sheppard was on sabbatical, then everything would come to a head around Christmas when they are playing huge concerti with Orpheus. They would get together, and then Jeannie and Madison would come to shop/hang out/see the concert in New York, and we would find out that the reason Weir hated Rodney is because she had a fling with Jeannie in college and then Jeannie went off and got pregnant and married the guy and she was brokenhearted and angry and could only really take it out on Rodney. Then John has an amazing performance (I was really looking forward to describing Rodney doing the Tchaik violin concerto and John doing Rach 2) and would be booked for a huge concert tour and happily ever after.

The Losers are a motley group of percussionists in the Boston area that make up a percussion ensemble and basically that was a Cougar/Jensen getting together story, there wasn't much beyond that. But Jensen was John's student and everyone knows Rodney McKay. The big music in this one was the title, Ionisation, which would've been great fun to describe.

MCU is the professional musicians in LA that sightread film scores. Good Omens is basically just Aziraphale and Crowley who are both soloists in their own right (Aziraphale on cello and Crowley on clarinet), who come to a PAC Northwest-like chamber music week and play Quartet for the End of Time with McShep. I never really did figure out a place for Leverage, though I tried for a long time. I haven't tried to do anything with my current C drama fandoms, though having them be members of the Beijing Symphony or teachers at the Beijing Central Conservatory would be cool, I think.

So yeah. That's my big "really desperately wish this could be done, but to be done I'd actually have to write it" WIP. :(