DPP, Day Two -- Best. Ship. Ever.
(Again, LJ cuts are FAILING, so apologies for super-long post)
Today is a very special assignment, one that's best prefaced with a story....
Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Real Life, there lived a Bee. She was a good little Bee, honest and true, and went about her business as a little Bee should. But she got bored one day---it was the week after Christmas and she had run out of things to do---and so she picked up some DVDs of a little show about killer robots from outer space. And so she watched.
And she watched.
And watched some more.
And four days later, after taking a break for food and water, she realized that something remarkable had happened. She was hooked. On a TV show. About killer robots from outer space. Giving herself another few days to get over this fact (and a few more days to laugh at the insanity/hilarity/ridiculousness of it all), she realized this love wasn't going away. On the contrary, it seemed quite determined to stick around. So she figured she should do something about it.
And so she ventured into the wilds of Ye Olde Internet.
And so began her descent into madness fandom. She first discovered the TWOP recaps, and then the boards, and then they mentioned this thing called "fan fiction" and this site called "Live Journal." The Bee was mystified, for she had never heard of such things. But a clicky of the mouse and all sorts of things appeared. She found people called "shippers" and discovered wonderful things to read.
And so she read. And read.
And she lurked. And lurked.
For the longest time, she lurked, just reading and watching. She wanted to be a part of all the excitement that was going on, but she didn't know where to begin. She wasn't a writer. She wrote things, sure---for school and for work. But she wasn't a writer. She couldn't tell stories. Not like that. Not ones that made her stay up until dawn to finish a last chapter or or ones that left a big stupid inexplicable grin on her face the rest of the day. Not ones that made her cry or giggle or sigh with delight. And certainly not ones that made her blush.
She wasn't a writer. She just observed.
But then...
Then one day, a post was made. It asked for essays. Essays on pilots. On a ship and why you liked them. It wasn't hard---in fact it was quite easy. Just write up the reasons why you like the ship you ship and share it with others.
And the Bee thought. And thought some more. She could do that. She could say why. It wasn't a story, it wasn't even close. It was just talking about characters and why she loved them. Why they had captured her imagination. Why she couldn't let go.
And so she did. She even set up a little LJ account just for that purpose. And she posted her little essay.
It was one of the best decisions she ever made.
****
There you have it. In case you haven't guessed already, I'm bringing back the old essay contest idea that appeared on SASA so many ages ago. (Original post was here.) The rules are simple:
1. Write and post an essay about why pilots are your best ship ever (or something thereabouts).
2. Post it on or before Jan. 15, 2012.
3. There's no word limit. It can be long or short. Hell, it can be a haiku---well maybe not, as that is technically a poem, and we're going for prose here. But you get the idea.
4. Present it any way you want. If you're graphically inclined, go for it. If you need to add pictures to illustrate important points, the GO FOR IT. If you're like me and do best with words, just roll with that. This is free-form. I just want to hear what you have to say in any way you want to say it.
ALSO-- I'm totally open to collaborative work too. If you look back on the original post, they had several team categories, and I think that would be awesome to do as well. If you're interested, tell me in the comments and we can come up with some topics (or hey, I hear everyone loves a poll... *g*)
My goal:
I want to hear from shippers all over. Old peeps and new peeps. The vocal and the silent. Please come out and share with us. Fandom moves in cylces, which is a wonderful thing. New folks are always discovering ship and show and it's a really exciting thing to see. Personally, I'm getting to a point where I feel like I've kind of said most of my thinky thoughts already and I'm so excited to see what the next generation brings to the table.
And for those people thinking about participating but haven't yet been ready to do so, now is the time. Step up and make fandom your own. I think you'll be wonderfully surpised/pleased/delighted with the results.
So in today's discussion---
So there you go. Happy Tuesday, everyone.
Also, Monday's REC-O-RAMA post is still going strong, so keep those recs coming. I've already read several new stories as a result and they've been fantastic. So go check out the reading list and keep on adding! God bless rec days. ; )
Today is a very special assignment, one that's best prefaced with a story....
Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Real Life, there lived a Bee. She was a good little Bee, honest and true, and went about her business as a little Bee should. But she got bored one day---it was the week after Christmas and she had run out of things to do---and so she picked up some DVDs of a little show about killer robots from outer space. And so she watched.
And she watched.
And watched some more.
And four days later, after taking a break for food and water, she realized that something remarkable had happened. She was hooked. On a TV show. About killer robots from outer space. Giving herself another few days to get over this fact (and a few more days to laugh at the insanity/hilarity/ridiculousness of it all), she realized this love wasn't going away. On the contrary, it seemed quite determined to stick around. So she figured she should do something about it.
And so she ventured into the wilds of Ye Olde Internet.
And so began her descent into madness fandom. She first discovered the TWOP recaps, and then the boards, and then they mentioned this thing called "fan fiction" and this site called "Live Journal." The Bee was mystified, for she had never heard of such things. But a clicky of the mouse and all sorts of things appeared. She found people called "shippers" and discovered wonderful things to read.
And so she read. And read.
And she lurked. And lurked.
For the longest time, she lurked, just reading and watching. She wanted to be a part of all the excitement that was going on, but she didn't know where to begin. She wasn't a writer. She wrote things, sure---for school and for work. But she wasn't a writer. She couldn't tell stories. Not like that. Not ones that made her stay up until dawn to finish a last chapter or or ones that left a big stupid inexplicable grin on her face the rest of the day. Not ones that made her cry or giggle or sigh with delight. And certainly not ones that made her blush.
She wasn't a writer. She just observed.
But then...
Then one day, a post was made. It asked for essays. Essays on pilots. On a ship and why you liked them. It wasn't hard---in fact it was quite easy. Just write up the reasons why you like the ship you ship and share it with others.
And the Bee thought. And thought some more. She could do that. She could say why. It wasn't a story, it wasn't even close. It was just talking about characters and why she loved them. Why they had captured her imagination. Why she couldn't let go.
And so she did. She even set up a little LJ account just for that purpose. And she posted her little essay.
It was one of the best decisions she ever made.
****
There you have it. In case you haven't guessed already, I'm bringing back the old essay contest idea that appeared on SASA so many ages ago. (Original post was here.) The rules are simple:
1. Write and post an essay about why pilots are your best ship ever (or something thereabouts).
2. Post it on or before Jan. 15, 2012.
3. There's no word limit. It can be long or short. Hell, it can be a haiku---well maybe not, as that is technically a poem, and we're going for prose here. But you get the idea.
4. Present it any way you want. If you're graphically inclined, go for it. If you need to add pictures to illustrate important points, the GO FOR IT. If you're like me and do best with words, just roll with that. This is free-form. I just want to hear what you have to say in any way you want to say it.
ALSO-- I'm totally open to collaborative work too. If you look back on the original post, they had several team categories, and I think that would be awesome to do as well. If you're interested, tell me in the comments and we can come up with some topics (or hey, I hear everyone loves a poll... *g*)
My goal:
I want to hear from shippers all over. Old peeps and new peeps. The vocal and the silent. Please come out and share with us. Fandom moves in cylces, which is a wonderful thing. New folks are always discovering ship and show and it's a really exciting thing to see. Personally, I'm getting to a point where I feel like I've kind of said most of my thinky thoughts already and I'm so excited to see what the next generation brings to the table.
And for those people thinking about participating but haven't yet been ready to do so, now is the time. Step up and make fandom your own. I think you'll be wonderfully surpised/pleased/delighted with the results.
So in today's discussion---
- Sign up and tell me that you're in. (Please? I'll make cookies and everything.)
- Also, if you've got more specific topics you want to cover in your essay (specific K/L character stuff, fanon stuff, etc.) Let me know. I want this to be as free-form and creatively encouraging as possible.
- And if anyone wants to share their "How I got here story" I never get tired of reading those too.
So there you go. Happy Tuesday, everyone.
Also, Monday's REC-O-RAMA post is still going strong, so keep those recs coming. I've already read several new stories as a result and they've been fantastic. So go check out the reading list and keep on adding! God bless rec days. ; )