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Snowflake Challenge #2-4
I'm skipping Challenge #1 for now because I don't really want to do blog maintenance at the moment.
Challenge #2: In your own space, set yourself some goals for the coming year.
Already done 🔒here (friendslocked).
Challenge #4(a): IceBreaker Challenge! Tell us about yourself.
I might split this into two posts with a post later on introducing some real life aspects of me. But for now, basic intro:
- Basics: Tako / she/her / American expat living in the UK / 35 years old (at the time of this writing).
- Fandoms: Star Trek is the big one at the moment (my focus is mostly Quodo but I think I can talk intelligibly about all of the series, although not the films which I largely have not watched yet). I also have some forever fandoms like Soulcalibur and the Mana series (especially Trials and Sword of Mana). I've played most of the Kingdom Hearts series and various Final Fantasy games (I, VI, IX, X, XIII, Tactics, Mobius, Dimensions, Unlimited (anime), and parts of IV, VII, X-2, and XII). Bravely Default is also a game I like and am fannish about, but the fandom is kind of dead. Older fandoms I like talking about but I'm not sure the fannish creative drive is there anymore: ASOIAF, Disney.
- Some more minor things I love but aren't big fandoms for me: Gunnerkrigg Court, Old Kingdom series, The Prisoner (60s TV show), Revenge (TV), Ghibli movies, Satoshi Kon's filmography, various CLAMP series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Chrono games, Puyo Puyo games, Princess Maker games, lots of western animation including A:TLA, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Dragon Prince, Miraculous Ladybug, ReBoot, Steven Universe, and Young Justice. Nina Paley's filmography (she is a huge TERF, though 😭).
- Fanwork media: Used to be more of an artist, but I do a mix of fanart and fanfic nowadays. I also like writing meta and making icons, although I don't often have time to do the latter much anymore.
- Other hobbies/interests: Personality quizzes and typing systems (I also just have an interest in psychology in general), dress-up games/KiSS dolls, making games (super time-consuming, though), blogging, watching movies/TV shows, reading fiction and nonfiction books, playing video games (struggling to find time for this recently, though).
- I always like taking requests and making gifts, but I generally have, like, psychological issues doing commissions/making fanworks for money, so I don't do them. But I am always open to requests.
Also, here's a little icebreaker game: Ask me some questions about my fandoms or tastes! Some options:
- Make me choose [between two things A and B].
- My favorite / least favorite thing in [category].
- Rank all of the [x].
Challenge #3: Create a wish list of fandom things (podfic, graphics, playlists, canon recs translations, research help, vids, sky's the limit!) that you'd like to receive.
1. Recs/self-recs - Rec me something you don't think I've seen/read yet but which might be to my interests. For self-recs, rec me something you've made that I might not have seen yet -- could be a journal entry or a fic you've written that you think might be relevant to my interests or you're interested in my thoughts on.
2. Questions for the above game.
3. Icons - I'd love icons for any of the fandoms listed above (or recs of existing icons!), especially for canons or characters I don't have any icons for, such as the Old Kingdom series or SanSan, but I think I'd especially love Star Trek icons with meaningful quotes on them? Or even just suggestions for memorable Star Trek quotes/moments that would be nice on an icon.
4. Advice - I've been thinking recently about prompt/kink memes, like the type that used to be popular in LJ and kind of died when LJ collapsed and DW failed to get the same level of traction. One thing I've noticed about prompt memes is that you kind of need to see other people's prompts in order to get inspiration for more prompts, which is a bit of a bootstrapping problem.
I have an older prompt meme I'd like to revive, and part of that is that I would like to encourage people to leave more prompts so that there's more of a pool for people to work with. I was thinking about having like a prompt-leaving event where I encourage people to leave a bunch of prompts. I was thinking of having some prompts for prompts to get people's ideas flowing (e.g. leave a prompt for a ship that doesn't exist on AO3 yet, leave a prompt for your favorite kink, leave a gen prompt, leave a prompt involving a minor character, leave a prompt matching a fic/work you have already written/created or plan to write/create, etc. etc.), plus some kind of incentive for people to leave a lot of prompts like making the prompts worth different points and goals point thresholds to hit or a bingo card or something to ensure people try to leave as many prompts as they can think of -- like achievements but for prompting.
But the problem is that I don't want the prompts people leave to be TOO identifying, you know what I mean? I don't want any one person leaving a bunch of prompts to be super identifiable (because that might discourage them from leaving a bunch of prompts at once), nor do I want it to be obvious from the prompting pattern whether it's just one person leaving all the prompts or multiple people leaving some prompts -- it should be underdetermined from the set of prompts left how many people are playing.
I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to run this event. In order to make it anonymous, for example, things like scoreboards would be out -- it'd have to be more of an honor system how many prompts someone left. I would probably also want to announce the event and the prompt prompts/achievements in advance, and then maybe have like a really short period for leaving the prompts (e.g. a 48-hour period) so that it's slightly more likely that people will time their prompts in a way that mixes with other people's prompts?
Anyway, I'd love some thoughts/feedback/suggestions on how to run this and whether you think it would work, or things I need to think about if I want this to succeed.
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I don't think there's anything wrong with you or you + a couple ringers seeding a bunch of prompts (a team of two to four people really helps), but I do think seeding fills is more important, especially if there's an AO3 collection it can act as an add for the collection, and show people there's stuff happening.
I also found that seeding prompts works better if you put a bunch down for stuff you know is popular in the fandom, over what you might personally enjoy.
But it IS hard to get that momentum going, and there's always the risk of just ending up with 10 pages of prompts, and like 2.5 fills that the mod wrote.
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I also think that having the rules for prompts be relatively broad is good. One of my fandoms has a meme that's specifically kink-only and I find it pretty off-putting. Not that I don't like kink! But that's not usually the locus of a story for me and so it makes it difficult to be inspired by anything. It sounds like your criteria is already pretty broad so you're good there, but just wanted to mention it.
And yes, AO3 collection!
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And yeah, I'm used to things being called "kink meme" but allowing anything under the sun. Having a broader scope than just kink is helpful for keeping all the ideas you might come up with for a fandom in the same place, which is handy!
Thanks for the advice!
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So, how about: your favorite and/or least favorite Disney villain?
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For villains, it's hard for me to pick one favorite. Near the top for me would be the Evil Queen from Snow White, Ursula, and Frollo. I like villains who are very campy in aesthetic and also look like they make a good Halloween costume. Those ones also have great/memorable personalities.
At the bottom would be, like, plot twist villains who look very generic or just, like, a normal guy. So like Charles Muntz from Up, Callaghan from Big Hero 6, or Stinky Pete from Toy Story 2 would be pretty down there, if those count. From like bigger/more classic movies, probably Ratcliffe or Shan Yu -- I've always hated their designs and thought they were kind of boring as villains.
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Ooh, that's a good metric! And I definitely see how your favorites fit it. I have actually not watched Hunchback of Notre Dame or Snow White in its entirety, but I am of course familiar with the villains from them. And Ursula is one of my favorites -- and as far as costumes go, she'd definitely the best one! (I've seen a couple of amazing Ursulas at cons and as part of Halloween group costumes)
Agreed that your least favorite villains are very forgettable! I literally could not remember who the villain was in Big Hero 6 -- not just his name, but what he looked like or what his deal was, oops (and this is a movie I enjoyed and remember other parts of pretty well). And L and I were just trying to remember Shan Yu's name the other day and ultimately had to look it up, lol. I also strongly dislike his design -- he is very creepy, but not in a fun way.
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Hmm, as for the icebreaker question itself...favorite Studio Ghibli film you've watched or least favorite one? :)
Ah, I'm afraid I can't offer much help on the advice front as I've never done a prompt event before like that. Still, I think it could be worth perusing and could very well work depending on how it is approached. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful with that though!
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Favorite Studio Ghibli film: It's probably Princess Mononoke overall (I think a lot of things come together well in that one -- music, symbols/themes, emotional story, etc.), but Kiki's Delivery Service is very dear to my heart and is nice when I'm in the mood for something lighter!
Least favorite: Hard to say. Maybe either Howl's Moving Castle (I just didn't get into this one, probably because I had just read the book before seeing it) or My Neighbor the Yamadas (not a bad film but kind of unmemorable and I probably wouldn't watch it again).
And no worries! I think I've got some ideas, although I don't particularly have high expectations of success here but nor do I really mind if it falls flat on its face again. XD
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1. House of Quark -- This episode I think is a contender for one of the most solidly entertaining Star Trek episodes ever. Klingons + Ferengi make a great combo; Gowron is great in this episode. Quark gets to shine in this episode -- it shows off both his rakeish and noble sides -- and I like the feelings in how his relationship with Grilka starts off so antagonistic but ends
with eyefuckingin something more tender.2. The Magnificent Ferengi -- Quark doesn't have the biggest role here, but I love getting to see all the Ferengi characters in one place, and seeing them bounce off each other and try to pull off an operation together. The "getting the team together" sequence is so fun, and Ferengi + Vorta is also a great combo, apparently! It's also fun seeing Quark get to be the leader of the Ferengi team. Just a pitch perfect episode.
3. Business as Usual -- I think this one is probably my favorite of the many, slightly darker, "Quark suffers in trying to be a Good Ferengi" flavor of Quark episodes. Gaila and the guest star villain are great -- I just love the cynical speech Gaila gives to Quark when he's experiencing doubts. I also like the dynamic of Quark kind of (for once) openly doing business that the DS9 administration disapproves of but they can't really do anything about it (as part of that, Odo harumphing disapprovingly at Quark in the background during this episode is also a great dynamic). Also, I just love the outfits Quark wears in this one! He gets to wear such a good set of them.
I'm a bit sad Little Green Men and Bar Association didn't make the list here... u_u What about you -- which ones would you pick? :D
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1. Family Business - This is my favorite feel-good episode for the entire series, and I watch it a lot when I'm feeling down. I love Quark's relationships with both Rom and Ishka, so this episode was an instant favorite for me. (Also, Rom's despondent "Mooo-gieee," when when he says goodbye to her at the end of the episode lives rent free in my head, lol.)
2. The Magnificent Ferengi - And my second favorite feel-good episode, lol. As you said, watching all of the Ferengi bounce off each other is great. (The scene where they run to the ship and back is so amazing, I laugh every time.) From a Quodo perspective, I love the interaction the two have after Quark's spotlight is stolen by the bridge crew returning from the war effort. Odo says something along the lines of, "Well of course everyone is going to pay attention to them. They're heroes." But I feel like Odo's surprisingly soft when he says it? Like, he easily could have been haughty and condescending about it, but instead he seems to be trying to maybe even comfort Quark a bit? Idk, I just think it's cute. (And then pair it with the whole bit where Rom asks Quark "What's it like to be a hero?" at the end? SO CUTE, UGH!)
3. Body Parts - This episode has special personal meaning for me, and I either cry or get misty-eyed when everyone shows up with stuff for Quark's bar at the end every. single. time. Also, gotta love supportive baby brother Rom bidding his life savings on desiccated Quark discs. <3
Thoughts
DW has activity, but it's not necessarily in the same styles. Many people miss the older ones, though. You just need to look for those people. Put that in the description when you advertise your event on
For general advice, see:
How to Run a Fandom Event Through Dreamwidth
>> One thing I've noticed about prompt memes is that you kind of need to see other people's prompts in order to get inspiration for more prompts, which is a bit of a bootstrapping problem.<<
Options include:
* Ask a few friends for seed prompts.
* Recycle some prompts from LiveJournal. Some of the old comms are still sitting there with dust on them, you can reread their prompt memes.
* Look for prompts around Dreamwidth. I posted a whole string for Snowflake because someone asked for plotbunnies. And I can do that for a wide range of fandoms. Plus there's a bunch of us who do prompt calls, and
* Feel free to use anything from the many lists stored in the Bingo Card Generator. There are kink, romantic, and other sex/gender lists among others.
* I made a batch of bingo-type prompts, episode hooks, and promising crossovers for Wednesday which you are also free to use.
* Use the "X and Y in Z" format. "John Watson and Sherlock Holmes in Antarctica" or "Miraculous Ladybug and an umbrella in the zoo." You can random-generate that with a list of characters, tropes, and settings.
>>I have an older prompt meme I'd like to revive, and part of that is that I would like to encourage people to leave more prompts so that there's more of a pool for people to work with. I was thinking about having like a prompt-leaving event where I encourage people to leave a bunch of prompts.<<
That's a great idea.
>> I was thinking of having some prompts for prompts to get people's ideas flowing (e.g. leave a prompt for a ship that doesn't exist on AO3 yet, leave a prompt for your favorite kink, leave a gen prompt, leave a prompt involving a minor character, leave a prompt matching a fic/work you have already written/created or plan to write/create, etc. etc.), <<
If you make a list, it's easy to go down the list and do one of each. That's exactly what I did with the plotbunnies, I made prompts for all the things I liked, and threw in a couple from the "nobody else knows these canons" set.
>> plus some kind of incentive for people to leave a lot of prompts like making the prompts worth different points and goals point thresholds to hit or a bingo card or something to ensure people try to leave as many prompts as they can think of -- like achievements but for prompting.<<
Worth a try, but honestly some of us think it's fun just to leave prompts.
>> But the problem is that I don't want the prompts people leave to be TOO identifying, you know what I mean? I don't want any one person leaving a bunch of prompts to be super identifiable (because that might discourage them from leaving a bunch of prompts at once), nor do I want it to be obvious from the prompting pattern whether it's just one person leaving all the prompts or multiple people leaving some prompts -- it should be underdetermined from the set of prompts left how many people are playing.<<
That's going to be hard. Some of us have a distinctive writing style. I mean, to make so my fans couldn't clock me, I'd pretty much have to resort to things you could get off any bingo list. However...
1) You could have people send prompts to YOU at first, then mix them up yourself and post them as a starting batch. If you have at least 3 people giving you at least 3 prompts each, or working from a similar list of prompts-for-prompts, that should work.
2) You could stage the prompting with a different theme each day for a week or so, which would encourage different people to participate. This is less good for getting big lists though.
>> I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to run this event. In order to make it anonymous, for example, things like scoreboards would be out -- it'd have to be more of an honor system how many prompts someone left.<<
Making the prompts anonymous is harder, unless you have people send them to you, or you make them hidden -- there's a way to screen comments. Do you NEED the prompts to be anonymous? Or are you just copying that out of habit because it was common before? If you don't see a problem solved by anonymity, then just let people prompt openly.
>> I would probably also want to announce the event and the prompt prompts/achievements in advance, and then maybe have like a really short period for leaving the prompts (e.g. a 48-hour period) so that it's slightly more likely that people will time their prompts in a way that mixes with other people's prompts?<<
That could work.
>> Anyway, I'd love some thoughts/feedback/suggestions on how to run this and whether you think it would work, or things I need to think about if I want this to succeed.<<
It's a lot easier to run an event with a group then alone. Are any of your friends interested? Do you know folks who miss the old prompt memes? I've seen several people posting on Snowflake about stuff they miss from the good old days. If you can rustle up at least 3 people who will commit to giving you prompts, and at least 3 (not necessarily the same) who will commit to making fanworks from said prompts, then you've got enough to get the ball rolling.
What fandom(s) do you wish to feature? Anything goes can cause choice paralysis, so think about what targets would help your goals. To maximize the pool of participants, I recommend including one or more of the biggest fandoms. Include some that handle crossovers well, like Stargate, and that'll hook folks who like fusion fanworks. You might throw in a few things from the last year or two, like Nimona, to entice folks who chase the newer fandoms sequentially. Featuring a high-diversity canon like Dragon Prince will broaden appeal too.
I hope this helps. I want to encourage activity on DW.
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I'm happy I could help.
>> I'll need to consider it because the kink/prompt meme I want to revive is for a small fandom and so doesn't have much Dreamwidth presence at all.<<
There are several communities devoted to small fandoms in general. That way they can maintain a regular audience so it's easier to run an event than if you had to start from scratch. Frex,
Similarly,
>> I could reach out to the few people who have (e.g.) requested that fandom in exchanges or are watching the comm and see if they're interested in participating, but yeah, I'll need to think about it. <<
That's an excellent plan. Lots of people like to be asked.
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