State of the QR...
chomaisky said she was going to post weekly, so I figured that's not actually a bad idea! LJ needs a little more action anyway, so here. Have a brain dump.
Cancer. I swear to GOD. First Bowie, and now Rickman. My dad died of cancer when he was in his mid-50's. I'm 51. I'm looking at cancer and I fucking hate this fucking disease.
One of my cats is sick. Like, SICK sick. Taking her to the vets today or tomorrow; wish me luck.
Why do sons think they don't have to do their homework? Our eldest is a senior in high school, quick as a whip (like, AP classes all 'round and clearly a little farty-smarty) and YET...he refuses to do his homework. Aces his tests, neglects nearly every piece of homework assigned. Consequently, his college selections are looking really slim. *bangs head on wall repeatedly* He's been this way nearly all his high school history, eking by on his charisma. We've done EVERYTHING to motivate him, to no avail. Guess this is one of those lessons he's going to have to to learn on his own. The little shit.
I had to quit my boxing gym due to surgery and finances. This so sucks. My body was finally looking the way I liked it, and now, well. My sciatica, combined with hot flashes, is making sleeping a thing of the past and whatever muscle tone I'd developed is slowly seeping away. MUST self-motivate to exercise and ease off the caffeine, or I'll be running on steadily decreasing fumes and in increasing pain. I hate being old and poor-ish. Stupid Powerball.
Okay, enough with the total downers. Let's move on to the so-so stuff.
The spn_reversebang is starting to post! \0/! As most of my fandom friends know, I mod two big events: spn_summergen (which started featuring art last year and I think it went swimmingly!) and the ReverseBang. This year's RB has been ... weird. Lots of drop-outs, both confessed and no-call/no-show. I just kinda don't get it. The minimum word count is only 3k, and there are easily twice as many authors signed up as artists. Why on earth would you sign up for a coveted exchange event, and then dump it? Okay, I don't mean the folks who get seriously sick or have a death in the family; we all know there are instances that are completely understandable. (So if this is you, YOU AREN'T WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT!) And yeah, this is just a hobby, so if you don't do it, it ain't the end of the world. But see, here's my rub: there's another human being who has worked to create a fanwork/gift and deserves their gift in return, because that's the deal. When you signed up for an exchange, the understanding was that you would give something in return. You knew this. If you tend to bounce out of these things, just don't sign up. Pick events w/o a recipient on the other end, PLEASE. Not only is it dispiriting for the abandoned person, it's added stress on the mods (who are already doing hours of paperwork and organization as is.)
Every year I look at my workload and bemoan "Do I want to mod this again??" And every time, I do it because I know it's a fandom cornerstone and it makes people happy. Most often, I'm a participant too, so I understand what everyone is going through. I don't always feel like my muse is cooperating. I have a busy life. But there's a PERSON on the other end. That's what keeps me chugging along. Not the fear that I won't make something 'nice' enough, or I'll be embarrassed by the product. (If you don't mention how unhappy you are with your own handiwork, 99 times out of 100, no one will notice!) But the fact that I have a responsibility to another fan, to a friend possibly, that's the thing that helps me get back on track. I know, this sounds like soggy self-righteousness (as Levia!Sam might say), but I just had to get it off my nearly-nonexistent chest. Don't feel obligated to agree, okay? It's cool. :)
Hiatus is almost over! Even though Carver's reign hasn't been nearly as enjoyable as what came before, I've vowed to not take it quite so seriously and just glean from SPN what I love and accept that it simply isn't the show it once was. But this is okay. Nothing gold stays, and there are still pretties to admire and squee to be had. I may complain about this, that, or the other but be assured, I'm in it 'til the end. We can all like things more or less, but we're still partners in Supernatural crime. Codicil: I will always be a Sam!girl and although I try to be fair and balanced, my Sammeh will trump just about everything else. BE FOREWARNED. ;)
The Good Stuff™!
This year, I'm going to be finishing all my outstanding fandom commissions! I will be contacting you patient lovelies a little further down the line, as your turn comes up. (Wooohooo!)
kalliel decided to list on her journal the fandom projects she's currently looking to tackle in 2016, and in the interest of keeping things organized and NOT taking on a ridiculous number of events (might be too late already), I'll do this too:
~ sammybigbang - art and writing. I have a half-finished h/c fill that I'm gonna try to inflate into a minibang. And of course, all the art. :D
~ Spncasefic - art and writing. Well, art for sure; writing if I can think of something. I love creating original monsters, though, so it's time to put on my thinking cap.
~ spn_j2_bigbang - OF COURSE! Arting, as usual.
~ rarepairbb - gonna score me some Sam self!cest, baby... (arting)
~ Supplying art for spn_reversebang, as per usual
~ Not sure what I'm doing yet for spn_summergen; might just pinch-hit, like I did last year. (To which my recipient has yet to respond. So glad I made the effort. :| )
~ If spn_cinema runs this year, I sooooo want to finish my 'Cat People' idea. (cassiopeia7 is gonna crack the whip and feed me kibble, right, Deb?)
~ There's an 8k unfinished J2 wingfic I have to do something with. Somewhere.
TOUGH MUDDER VIDEO!
I'm really REALLY gonna try to get my pro art career squared away. Serious website. Branding. New work. I'm ever-so-slowly coming to terms with how I want my style and subject matter focus to congeal. Really excited about this, actually! I want to participate more with my art buds and carve out a career. With freelancing, there is no direct route, there is no set job. You gotta make your own path, which is hard for someone who can't settle on a damned anything. Like me. SO. Here I go again...
So that's that! I promise most posts won't be this windy. I just haven't written in a while and had to do a bit of a purge. Feel free to leave whatever response you want, so long as it's respectful; you know the drill. *tapdances away*
Cancer. I swear to GOD. First Bowie, and now Rickman. My dad died of cancer when he was in his mid-50's. I'm 51. I'm looking at cancer and I fucking hate this fucking disease.
One of my cats is sick. Like, SICK sick. Taking her to the vets today or tomorrow; wish me luck.
Why do sons think they don't have to do their homework? Our eldest is a senior in high school, quick as a whip (like, AP classes all 'round and clearly a little farty-smarty) and YET...he refuses to do his homework. Aces his tests, neglects nearly every piece of homework assigned. Consequently, his college selections are looking really slim. *bangs head on wall repeatedly* He's been this way nearly all his high school history, eking by on his charisma. We've done EVERYTHING to motivate him, to no avail. Guess this is one of those lessons he's going to have to to learn on his own. The little shit.
I had to quit my boxing gym due to surgery and finances. This so sucks. My body was finally looking the way I liked it, and now, well. My sciatica, combined with hot flashes, is making sleeping a thing of the past and whatever muscle tone I'd developed is slowly seeping away. MUST self-motivate to exercise and ease off the caffeine, or I'll be running on steadily decreasing fumes and in increasing pain. I hate being old and poor-ish. Stupid Powerball.
Okay, enough with the total downers. Let's move on to the so-so stuff.
The spn_reversebang is starting to post! \0/! As most of my fandom friends know, I mod two big events: spn_summergen (which started featuring art last year and I think it went swimmingly!) and the ReverseBang. This year's RB has been ... weird. Lots of drop-outs, both confessed and no-call/no-show. I just kinda don't get it. The minimum word count is only 3k, and there are easily twice as many authors signed up as artists. Why on earth would you sign up for a coveted exchange event, and then dump it? Okay, I don't mean the folks who get seriously sick or have a death in the family; we all know there are instances that are completely understandable. (So if this is you, YOU AREN'T WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT!) And yeah, this is just a hobby, so if you don't do it, it ain't the end of the world. But see, here's my rub: there's another human being who has worked to create a fanwork/gift and deserves their gift in return, because that's the deal. When you signed up for an exchange, the understanding was that you would give something in return. You knew this. If you tend to bounce out of these things, just don't sign up. Pick events w/o a recipient on the other end, PLEASE. Not only is it dispiriting for the abandoned person, it's added stress on the mods (who are already doing hours of paperwork and organization as is.)
Every year I look at my workload and bemoan "Do I want to mod this again??" And every time, I do it because I know it's a fandom cornerstone and it makes people happy. Most often, I'm a participant too, so I understand what everyone is going through. I don't always feel like my muse is cooperating. I have a busy life. But there's a PERSON on the other end. That's what keeps me chugging along. Not the fear that I won't make something 'nice' enough, or I'll be embarrassed by the product. (If you don't mention how unhappy you are with your own handiwork, 99 times out of 100, no one will notice!) But the fact that I have a responsibility to another fan, to a friend possibly, that's the thing that helps me get back on track. I know, this sounds like soggy self-righteousness (as Levia!Sam might say), but I just had to get it off my nearly-nonexistent chest. Don't feel obligated to agree, okay? It's cool. :)
Hiatus is almost over! Even though Carver's reign hasn't been nearly as enjoyable as what came before, I've vowed to not take it quite so seriously and just glean from SPN what I love and accept that it simply isn't the show it once was. But this is okay. Nothing gold stays, and there are still pretties to admire and squee to be had. I may complain about this, that, or the other but be assured, I'm in it 'til the end. We can all like things more or less, but we're still partners in Supernatural crime. Codicil: I will always be a Sam!girl and although I try to be fair and balanced, my Sammeh will trump just about everything else. BE FOREWARNED. ;)
The Good Stuff™!
This year, I'm going to be finishing all my outstanding fandom commissions! I will be contacting you patient lovelies a little further down the line, as your turn comes up. (Wooohooo!)
kalliel decided to list on her journal the fandom projects she's currently looking to tackle in 2016, and in the interest of keeping things organized and NOT taking on a ridiculous number of events (might be too late already), I'll do this too:
~ sammybigbang - art and writing. I have a half-finished h/c fill that I'm gonna try to inflate into a minibang. And of course, all the art. :D
~ Spncasefic - art and writing. Well, art for sure; writing if I can think of something. I love creating original monsters, though, so it's time to put on my thinking cap.
~ spn_j2_bigbang - OF COURSE! Arting, as usual.
~ rarepairbb - gonna score me some Sam self!cest, baby... (arting)
~ Supplying art for spn_reversebang, as per usual
~ Not sure what I'm doing yet for spn_summergen; might just pinch-hit, like I did last year. (To which my recipient has yet to respond. So glad I made the effort. :| )
~ If spn_cinema runs this year, I sooooo want to finish my 'Cat People' idea. (cassiopeia7 is gonna crack the whip and feed me kibble, right, Deb?)
~ There's an 8k unfinished J2 wingfic I have to do something with. Somewhere.
TOUGH MUDDER VIDEO!
I'm really REALLY gonna try to get my pro art career squared away. Serious website. Branding. New work. I'm ever-so-slowly coming to terms with how I want my style and subject matter focus to congeal. Really excited about this, actually! I want to participate more with my art buds and carve out a career. With freelancing, there is no direct route, there is no set job. You gotta make your own path, which is hard for someone who can't settle on a damned anything. Like me. SO. Here I go again...
So that's that! I promise most posts won't be this windy. I just haven't written in a while and had to do a bit of a purge. Feel free to leave whatever response you want, so long as it's respectful; you know the drill. *tapdances away*