Snowflake Challenge No.2

[dasmims]

Challenge #4 Goals

I want to be more active in fandom spaces in ways that make me happy. I also want to write more.

Those are two big goals I've been carrying around with me since forever. Seriously, I think there was never a time when I was really happy about how I approached those two aspects of my life, even though they've been with me for a long time now. And if anyone tries to tell me "but you joined your first online forum at 15", hush. That's not what I'm talking about.

Writing starts with the attempt to put stories into words. My first story was written down by my mum, I was sitting on the washing machine while we waited for the laundry in the summer before I started school, and I dictated it to her.

Fandom activities starts with talking with your friends about it. Does it matter if you talk about theories for the next part in a series with your friends in school or in a forum or on discord or on dw? Is it really that different to make up scenarios for your beloved characters in your head or to write them down and share them on ao3?

Of course there are differences, but in spirit they are the same thing to me. The biggest difference however are the people. One might be lucky enough to find friends irl that share an interest in some of the same fandoms, but often it doesn't quite match in its entirety. I love my friend H., who likes many shows and books I like, but her taste in fanfiction is ... somewhere between confusing and concerning to me. The internet has so many other ways to find people and interact with people, who have similar interests, it's greats. The problem with both options - irl or online - is that one has to be open with the people around them, has to approach them and risk all the possible downsides of it. The same goes for writing.

To do this successfully I have to allow people to get to know me and that's a struggle. The Ordeal of Being Known, I suppose. (a phrase I learned from a Drarry fic out of all places)

Challenge #5 improvements thanks to fandom

As I mentioned two days ago I was dragged onto the E! discord server. It has been my only regular fandom activity in a while now and I love it there. The people on there got me to write and post a fic on ao3, which considering my history of never finishing anything, is a huge success. They also helped be to learn that new people aren't scary. It sounds weird to my own ears, but I have no other words for it. Some of the people on there also asked me to beta read fics for them and that's a lot of fun.

I think in general I can say the E! server helped me explore what I actually like doing when it comes to fandom activities, instead of doing the things I think I should do, cause I see other people doing them.