another possibly doomed crusade
HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT
I'm going to be 30 in two weeks. HOLY MACKEREL, YA'LL. I'll be old enough to be a US senator. But instead of hiring a skeezy campaign manager and printing up yard signs, I'm proposing a whiny, tactless plea POSSIBLY-DOOMED (props to Nay) FANDOM PROJECT.
I've been in fandom for over five years now. That time has mostly been really awesome. The people! The fic! The arts! The abundance of non-functional fashion belts!
But lately, I've noticed a serious dearth of feedback. Now of course, there's a lot of things to blame: an already fragmented fandom, people being busy, people moving on. And while that makes me a sad badger, it makes me even sadder and badger-ier to know that a lot of us have stuck around producing great fanworks while the feedback has atrophied into...something really scrawny. The bicep of a snail.
And that lack of feedback can get in the way of improving as artists or writers. Worse, it can significantly reduce our ability to have a good time. It can break up a community. And personally, I can say that it's the community that's kept me around this long. I only had one story to write when I first started in on fandom, and I thought that's all I'd do. If I didn't love the community, I'd just keep all the stories in my head.
So here's my proposal. Find fanworks. Leave reviews. However many you want, however new, however old, however who. Just say a few words (or tl;dr, since that's how some of ya'll roll *coughs*) to let the artist know you saw it and that it made some kind of impact. At least, that's what I'm planning to do. And it'd be nice to have some company. :)
While I don't expect you to leave feedback on any of my fics, I would of course super appreciate such a gesture. :D If you're interested, I even assembled a master fic list for this very purpose. My apologies on the crap HTML, I am not feeling very motivated to make it pretty after finishing up such an intense archeological job. If you're looking for something in particular, I'd suggest picking out one of the higher-rated ones. Because I'm pretty aware of what's wrong in the ones I like less, you know? In particular, I just finished a slightly AU Jecht-Braska-Auron semi-epic that only has only seen one lonely reviewer, so this monkey would be especially pleased to hear from you. And if it's not obvious, I welcome all types of feedback, including critical.
And if my stuff isn't your style, no worries! I happen to know some pretty excellent writers and artists I can point your way. In fact, I have a tasty heap of recs you might be interested in. And yep, you're probably on there. ♥ All of my FFX-fandom mutual friends who have updated their journals sometime in the last year are on here. Even if you haven't done any FFX stuff in years. Even if we don't talk much anymore. If you're not listed it's because I can't find your works anymore :(((( or you keep your stuff under friendslock. Or being because I just plain screwed up, and if that's the case, tell me! And yes, most of these are old, and it's not because you haven't written anything great since then, it's just these are the works that really stuck in my head since I lapped 'em up when I was new to fandom. These works have been the most influential on the way I interpret and remix canon. Even if my exploration of canon is Auron monumentally narrow.
So yes. *waggles eyebrows* Will you do this with me? I hope so, because a lady don't get to 30 by being all alone. ♥
P.S.
And as is always helpful in these crusades, feel free to signal boost! :)
ETA: If anyone would like to link back to this entry in your reviews, feel free to use this HTML:
This review brought to you in part by the http://muggy-mountain.livejournal.com/98483.html">Final Fantasy Review Project.