Trismegistus

Continuing to work through this year's remaining challenges, we have:


Challenge #9

In your own space, create a fanwork.


Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3
Relationships Astarion/Tav
Summary: Standing in the sun, wading through a river, wandering into homes without an invitation... The world abounds with novelty for Astarion after his infection with a mind flayer tadpole, but this? This he could do in his sleep.
Notes: Takes place early-ish in Chapter 2, with spoilers for a specific scene. Assumes a female tiefling Tav urchin from Baldur's Gate.

Title: ( Away with words )

これで以上です。

Challenge #15

Talk about an unexpected joyous moment you experienced last year.

( PJ Harvey went on tour last year. )

So not only did I have that experience, but I can listen to it at will. And if I (or you!) want to see it, some wonderful soul has posted of video of the entire show here.



これで以上です。

Talk about what has improved in your life thanks to fandom.

Here's a very prosaic answer: my Japanese proficiency. Sans fandom, I would have had textbook Japanese, which is fine but focused on prosaic topics like self-introductions, ordering food, making travel plans, and discussing hobbies and work. Thanks to fandom, I can talk intelligently about demons, magic, curses, and force fields (Seimaden, The Ice-Cold Demon's Tale, Mushishi, Saiyuki, Yami no Matsuei); science, technology, military, and space (Planetes, G-Defend, Fullmetal Alchemist); policing and criminal investigations (Death Note); land and sea travel (Saiyuki and One Piece); and a billion varieties of high school drama (Bleach, DNAngel, and Mikan no Tsuki). I can also curse fluently (Bleach, Saiyuki, and Trigun) and handle historic speech modes from the Heian through Edo periods (Onmyouji, Ouchou Romanse, Yukimura-dono ha En nite Sourou, Ooku, and Takemitsu-zamurai).

And sure, I could have learned some or all of this from other sources, but it would have taken longer and been far less fun.



これで以上です。

Challenge #10

In your own space, talk about one of your fandom firsts. This could be your first fandom, your first fandom friend, the first fanwork you created, the first fanwork you interacted with... The options are endless!

Why not talk about all of those?

First fandom: In terms of the first media that I later made transformative works for, this would have to be The Lord of the Rings, which mon pere gave to me to read when I was still in single digits, although more than a decade would pass before I wrote anything for it.

The Vampire Chronicles was first fandom that I wrote transformative works for alongside other fans, and The X-Files was the first fandom that I participated in online.

First fandom friend: Or more accurately, friends, because there were four of us writing that Vampire Chronicle stuff for one another back in the day. None of them are on DW, but all of them are still friends IRL, which is quite excellent.

First fanwork: That would be a series of Lord of the Rings character study poems I wrote for a grade school assignment, complete with calligraphy, illustrations, and an illuminated cover.

The first fanwork that I posted online was an Alex Krycek-centric humor fic that is definitely a product of both its time and my age when I wrote it.

First fanwork you interacted with: I emailed torch to gush that I loved Ghosts and ask when part four would be available. I was so new to fandom that I didn't realize what a big faux pas that was. Oops...





これで以上です。

Challenge #6

Share your favourite piece of original canon. 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.

I have so many favorite original canons and so many favorite pieces from each that this is an impossible challenge. That said, this clip is both a favorite piece of canon and a major inflection point in my life.

( Good morning, Dr. Silberman. )



これで以上です。

Challenge #3

In your own space, talk about a fannish opinion you hold that has changed over time.

This one's easy: I had not initially imagined that I would enjoy reading manga, largely due to two factors.

My plan was to go into museum conservation and so, unlike many of my classmates, reading manga in Japanese wasn't a motivating factor for my desire to learn the language. I was, however, a big fan of western comics and those are in color. While I did just fine with black-and-white comic strips (Calvin & Hobbes, Boondocks), I felt like longform illustrated storytelling would lack something in monochrome.

Then I got to Japan and discovered that there was far more out there than was available in the States (thankfully, this is nowhere near as true now), and that was all she wrote (or drew, I suppose). Now I'll read a black and white manga as readily as a full color graphic novel.



これで以上です。

It's that time of year again ✨

Challenge #1

Update your fandom information.

And done. I always look forward to having Snowflake to do in January.

これで以上です。