hindsightseeing (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hindsightseeing) wrote2026-01-14 08:25 am
hindsightseeing) wrote2026-01-14 08:25 am
Entry tags:
Lucky #7, Snowflake Style.
Skipped the Top Ten because I couldn't think of anything to list!
Was going to skip this one too, because talking positively about myself is terrifying and horrible, but dammit, if there was ever a good reason to step out of one's comfort zone...
Challenge #7
LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.
Sticking to fannishness for this one, for probably obvious reasons...
1) I like that I am generally pretty self-sufficient and self-sustaining. I talked a bit in a previous Snowflake post about being in tiny fandoms and the experience of spending time with a Thing solely for the love of it and without any thought for engagement or feedback or the like -- indeed, often with the knowledge that you won't see any of those things. I think that sort of environment is one everyone could benefit from experiencing at some point in their fannish lives, for a lot of reasons... but I also think it takes a particular kind of person to be able to thrive there.
Social anxiety can be a boon, fannishly speaking, when it comes to finding ways to sustain your own interest and engagement with a Thing, without being dependent on other people's reactions to you and your work -- something that is entirely out of your control anyway. It means, to an extent, that you need to enjoy your own company, or at least to be able to feel like it's enough, and I think, honestly, that's a pretty good way of surviving in a world where the worth and value of all things are measured -- more and more -- by numbers rather than actual emotional connections.
2) On a similar note, I am very proud of my ability to write in isolation. I am, firstly, the sort of person who thrives best when working on longer fic, and secondly, the sort of person who strongly believes in not posting a work until it's complete -- at the very least in draft form, ideally in its entirety. I know a lot of people post longfic chapter-by-chapter as they go, and feed off reader reactions to keep them going, but that has always struck me as a very... difficult way of sustaining momentum. If a chapter gets a poor reception, or none at all, that risks a hit to your motivation to keep going, and I just can't imagine working that way.
Writing a story in its entirety, even over the course of several months, without any response or engagement at all can, I imagine, seem very, very lonely to people who do thrive on feedback to keep them motivated. So I guess what I'm saying is, I feel very lucky and proud of my ability to let the story itself be all the company I need while I'm working on it... even if I do want to knock myself unconscious for the editing stage. I know that's not something everyone is comfortable with, but for me personally, it really helps with the writing process to know that the entire story will be edited, changed, and complete before it will ever be seen.
3) On a more petty note... I like that my general response to the inevitable "someone is wrong on the Internet!!!" moments -- fannishly speaking -- is not to confront or contradict the Wrong Opinion (TM)* in question, but to turn around and write fic that emphasises my own take on the thing -- whether that be characterisation, a point of canon, a ship dynamic, whatever. I think there is definitely a lot of productive conversation that can come out of saying "hey, I think you're wrong about this and here's why", especially when it's framed in meta, but it can just as easily turn into flamewars, belittling, etc.
As a general rule for myself, I tend to take other people's quote-unquote "wrongness" as inspiration -- rather than confronting them with how 'wrong' their view is, or how 'right' mine is, I'm much more inclined to go out and write a fic that emphasises and/or celebrates my own view without touching on theirs at all. Possibly this is just because I prefer writing stories to meta -- my attempts at meta often end up clunky and poorly articulated -- but even so, I do feel that creating stories out of conflicting opinions, rather than forming arguments is, at least for me, a much healthier way of dealing with that feeling.
Plus, ultimately, more fic is always good... and as many different fics that explore completely different takes on things, IMHO, makes for a much happier environment than "[insert universally accepted headcanon] is the only acceptable take".
*note: the word 'wrong', throughout this point, is used hyperbolically -- there is obviously no real 'wrong' when it comes to fannish interpretation!
Was going to skip this one too, because talking positively about myself is terrifying and horrible, but dammit, if there was ever a good reason to step out of one's comfort zone...
Challenge #7
LIST THREE (or more) THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF. They don’t have to be your favorite things, just things that you think are good. Feel free to expand as much or as little as you want.
Sticking to fannishness for this one, for probably obvious reasons...
1) I like that I am generally pretty self-sufficient and self-sustaining. I talked a bit in a previous Snowflake post about being in tiny fandoms and the experience of spending time with a Thing solely for the love of it and without any thought for engagement or feedback or the like -- indeed, often with the knowledge that you won't see any of those things. I think that sort of environment is one everyone could benefit from experiencing at some point in their fannish lives, for a lot of reasons... but I also think it takes a particular kind of person to be able to thrive there.
Social anxiety can be a boon, fannishly speaking, when it comes to finding ways to sustain your own interest and engagement with a Thing, without being dependent on other people's reactions to you and your work -- something that is entirely out of your control anyway. It means, to an extent, that you need to enjoy your own company, or at least to be able to feel like it's enough, and I think, honestly, that's a pretty good way of surviving in a world where the worth and value of all things are measured -- more and more -- by numbers rather than actual emotional connections.
2) On a similar note, I am very proud of my ability to write in isolation. I am, firstly, the sort of person who thrives best when working on longer fic, and secondly, the sort of person who strongly believes in not posting a work until it's complete -- at the very least in draft form, ideally in its entirety. I know a lot of people post longfic chapter-by-chapter as they go, and feed off reader reactions to keep them going, but that has always struck me as a very... difficult way of sustaining momentum. If a chapter gets a poor reception, or none at all, that risks a hit to your motivation to keep going, and I just can't imagine working that way.
Writing a story in its entirety, even over the course of several months, without any response or engagement at all can, I imagine, seem very, very lonely to people who do thrive on feedback to keep them motivated. So I guess what I'm saying is, I feel very lucky and proud of my ability to let the story itself be all the company I need while I'm working on it... even if I do want to knock myself unconscious for the editing stage. I know that's not something everyone is comfortable with, but for me personally, it really helps with the writing process to know that the entire story will be edited, changed, and complete before it will ever be seen.
3) On a more petty note... I like that my general response to the inevitable "someone is wrong on the Internet!!!" moments -- fannishly speaking -- is not to confront or contradict the Wrong Opinion (TM)* in question, but to turn around and write fic that emphasises my own take on the thing -- whether that be characterisation, a point of canon, a ship dynamic, whatever. I think there is definitely a lot of productive conversation that can come out of saying "hey, I think you're wrong about this and here's why", especially when it's framed in meta, but it can just as easily turn into flamewars, belittling, etc.
As a general rule for myself, I tend to take other people's quote-unquote "wrongness" as inspiration -- rather than confronting them with how 'wrong' their view is, or how 'right' mine is, I'm much more inclined to go out and write a fic that emphasises and/or celebrates my own view without touching on theirs at all. Possibly this is just because I prefer writing stories to meta -- my attempts at meta often end up clunky and poorly articulated -- but even so, I do feel that creating stories out of conflicting opinions, rather than forming arguments is, at least for me, a much healthier way of dealing with that feeling.
Plus, ultimately, more fic is always good... and as many different fics that explore completely different takes on things, IMHO, makes for a much happier environment than "[insert universally accepted headcanon] is the only acceptable take".
*note: the word 'wrong', throughout this point, is used hyperbolically -- there is obviously no real 'wrong' when it comes to fannish interpretation!
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However, 10 years ago when I joined AO3 there was such a lovely community in my fandom that I did post chapters as I wrote them, just as I felt inspired. It was like a collaborative work- I'd post a chapter, my friends would discuss it with me, then I'd post another.
I have noticed that the community aspect of fanfiction has decreased over the last 10 years, I think it's rather sad.
But anyway, nice to virtually meet you! 😊
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You're very right about the decrease in fandom as a community -- I've seen this discussed a lot, and much more eloquently than I ever could. I think current fandom is very much a reflection of the centralisation of the internet as a whole, and I really do feel like we lost so much when it stopped being about a million small spaces and became all about two or three giant ones.
It's like what you said about collaborative work -- I remember the days of 'round robin' fic, where people would take turns posting a paragraph and the story would grow that way, and the purpose wasn't to create a great fic, but just to participate in a fun creative exercise with other people in the fandom. I can't imagine even trying to organise something like that today!
It's definitely sad to lose that sort of thing, and doubly sad because so many of younger and/or newer people in fandom don't even remember those sorts of spaces, and thus have no idea what they're missing.
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Been there. It makes every piece of feedback even more cherished.
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3) fanfics as a form of fandom discourse! I love that!!
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#3 is also extremely relatable. Meta discussions can be amazing but it seems like it's harder and harder to be able to approach people and have them respond in good faith when we disagree on a given interpretation; there's a defensiveness, an underlying hostility to how some people express themselves in a medium where tone is already hard to gather that trying to talk to them doesn't seem worth the trouble or the risk of seeing it blow up in our faces. It's a shame all on its own as conversations get rarer, but at least taking the disagreement and crafting something from it somewhere else is a great thing. It seems petty but there's a lot of inspiration to be found in this sort of "back and forth", even if the other party doesn't realise it's happening (perhaps because they don't). I know I've written a good amount of stories as a "response" to other people's ideas within a shared fandom, haha, and diversity is good as well as healthy! Would that more fans followed this route instead of starting needlessly heated arguments over things that should make them happy...
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You're so right about conversation and good-faith debate in fandom is becoming rarer and harder to navigate. Like you say, so much of fandom at the moment takes 'disagreement' to mean 'attack' rather than just an interesting point for discussion. I'm definitely the sort of person who prefers to have those conversations with myself through fic than risk stepping on other people's toes, but I've seen so many great meta debates over the years that gave me food for thought and inspiration on both sides. It really is a shame we're losing that.
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Oh yes! I remember those days too! I had SO MUCH fun doing that with friends online. We used to write parodies of classics like Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. Each person would play one of the parts and write a bit in their point of view. We laughed so much, those were the days! The fics definitely weren’t great, it was just completely for fun.
Yes, the centralised, giant spaces we have now are good for convenience but not for community or collaboration, aren't they? AO3 is basically just an actual archive now.
Also I think the reason community has decreased is because it's now all about ‘consume and move on’. People don’t expect or want to give comments on fics now. They read them, leave a kudos (or not) and move on. I saw some discussions online saying ‘I like this really niche show and I only found 3 fics about it. Why don’t people write more fics?’ I just thought ‘have you tried commenting and encouraging the authors? Or writing a fic yourself?’ It’s like fanfic authors are content creators now, producing content for consumers instead of creative works for the community.
Sorry to go off on a bit of a rant! 😅
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Yep, this is it, exactly -- and something very rant-worthy, I'd say!
I really think the emphasis on Social Media as a Platform (TM) has done immeasurable harm to the concept of the internet as Just A Place Where You Hang Out With Your Online Friends. Everything has to be a Product, or a Hustle, or Content to be consumed and/or profited from, and it's all very... soulless, I guess.
That's actually one of the reasons I resolved to push myself back into using DW properly this year -- between the slower and more long-form nature of blogging and the fact that most of us here tend to skew more old-school than elsewhere, this place really does feel like one of the last bastions of Ye Olde Communal Internet.
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“I really think the emphasis on Social Media as a Platform (TM) has done immeasurable harm to the concept of the internet as Just A Place Where You Hang Out With Your Online Friends. Everything has to be a Product, or a Hustle, or Content to be consumed and/or profited from, and it's all very... soulless, I guess.”
I couldn’t agree more with that. Very well said. The early days of the internet were just hanging out with friends, now it’s all about profit, and it is soulless indeed. I really like your Use Of Capital Letters. I do that too for emphasis!😉
I only joined DW about 2 years ago, why on earth didn’t I find it LONG ago? What is wrong with me! haha. I really like the feeling that my journal is my home where people come to visit me, and I go out to visit them on their journals. I think long-form blogging is a lot more friendly than quick short comments like Twitter. That sort of comment just leads to drive-by-insults, arguing, hot takes and all the other worst parts of the internet.
I found this really interesting but sad article about what's happened to us now we've got the internet:
15 Reasons Hate Has Become A Sad Staple Of Modern Society https://www.bolde.com/15-reasons-hate-has-become-a-staple-of-modern-society/
I'm really enjoying our discussion!
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Thanks so much for the link -- depressing though it was, I think that article really hit on so many of the problems with the modern internet. Hatred and anger and extreme reactions are currency... and honestly, at this point, much like we've lost sight of the "random anons on the internet" as actual human beings, we've also lost sight of the fact that all that anger and hatred are actual, real human emotions, not just clickbait reactions.
Maybe that's another reason why long-form blogging feels more friendly -- it's all about sharing emotions as emotions! Even a small little DW post from someone saying "I feel sad today" or "the weather sucks right now" comes off as a million times more human than all the Twitter ranting in the world.
Anyhow! Sorry for all the rambling!
I hope it's okay, I took the liberty of friending you -- no need to add back, of course, and if you'd rather not I'll gladly unfriend again, no worries at all. :)
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That article sums it up very well doesn't it? It is indeed depressing but so true...What have humans become? Something not very nice. Internet life is now mostly about attacking for fun and popularity, not connecting with other people.
There is indeed a big difference between blogging for personal reasons and social media for attention and probably money. I think it's important for people to realise the difference.
I am on the social media site Mastodon. It doesn't feel like a social media site, because people are approachable and friendly there, I haven't seen a pile on. I think they happen but it's generally because people are enthusiastically discussing a concept, not just putting each other down. So Mastodon, Dreamwidth and AO3 are my go to sites to avoid hate, pile ons and attacking each other as some kind of sport.
I don't mind rambling at all. Talking about an interesting idea is far nicer than all those self-focused posts elsewhere that are all 'Me Me Me Me!' I like ideas, philosophy, theories etc.
I'm glad we met!