Unorganized Thoughts
So . . . it's been a while. A long while. But I was reminded of the existence of this lj by several new friends from Goldenlake (an awesome Tamora Pierce fan community), and so here I am.
Since I've already mentioned Glake, I'd like to talk about it a bit. This welcoming, friendly community is a joy to be a part of, and has already had a significant impact on me. First of all, it finally taught me how to write drabbles/ficlets, which is something I previously could not do. I've always been a long-format ficcer, which becomes a problem when I want to actually, you know, finish something. Right now, however, SMACKDOWN is happening! For those not in Glake, that's a massive fanfic competition, wherein pairings fight in a sort-of bracket system. Because the community already has quality standards, it's judged on quantity of fic produced for each pairing, so the methodology of a winning team is write like mad, generally speaking. Given that my first fight in the first round was also the most intense so far (Dom/Evin vs Jon/Zahir, which tied at first and then went through a sudden death round), I suddenly had to crank out fics to support my team, and in doing so I learned how to write quickly and concisely. I learned how to draw inspiration from anything and everything. Random word generators, songs, Shakespeare, the lighting in my room . . . you name it, I probably wrote fic about it. And I was not the most prolific writer by a long shot. I supported Jon/Zahir (Team Bend-a-lot), and we sadly lost, but it resulted in some fic I'm incredibly happy with and a ton of ideas for the future.
The only winning team I've been on so far is Gary/Raoul, which is a little sad, but just reading and reviewing the fic, no matter the pairing, has been a lovely experience. The average quality is astonishingly good, and the sheer volume of fic means that every genre, idea, unexplained bit of canon, and plot gets explored, probably multiple times.
So that's Goldenlake! Yay!
What else is new, you ask? Well, I'm back at school. After spring break. Which was after my term in London. Which I would write about now, but there is too much to say, and so I shall simply assert that it was awesome and mind-blowing and made of win.
As incredible as last term was, though, I do adore my college, and being back is lovely. I'm in fascinating (albeit difficult) classes, I love my friends with ever particle of my being, and the campus atmosphere is so comfortable and welcoming and homey and exciting. Just in hanging with the sci-fi and fantasy interest house, over the past week or so, I've ended up watching Inception, a German expressionist silent film called Metropolis, the first three Die Hard movies, and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus. I think this is a good barometer for how awesome life here is. I've also returned to social dance, begun attending swing dance, picked up my violin again, gotten back into voice (which is really awesome because my voice suddenly decided to mature a bit and everything is easier and I love it), and stayed up late having ridiculous conversations.
So life is good. Great. Busy. But amazing.
Since I've already mentioned Glake, I'd like to talk about it a bit. This welcoming, friendly community is a joy to be a part of, and has already had a significant impact on me. First of all, it finally taught me how to write drabbles/ficlets, which is something I previously could not do. I've always been a long-format ficcer, which becomes a problem when I want to actually, you know, finish something. Right now, however, SMACKDOWN is happening! For those not in Glake, that's a massive fanfic competition, wherein pairings fight in a sort-of bracket system. Because the community already has quality standards, it's judged on quantity of fic produced for each pairing, so the methodology of a winning team is write like mad, generally speaking. Given that my first fight in the first round was also the most intense so far (Dom/Evin vs Jon/Zahir, which tied at first and then went through a sudden death round), I suddenly had to crank out fics to support my team, and in doing so I learned how to write quickly and concisely. I learned how to draw inspiration from anything and everything. Random word generators, songs, Shakespeare, the lighting in my room . . . you name it, I probably wrote fic about it. And I was not the most prolific writer by a long shot. I supported Jon/Zahir (Team Bend-a-lot), and we sadly lost, but it resulted in some fic I'm incredibly happy with and a ton of ideas for the future.
The only winning team I've been on so far is Gary/Raoul, which is a little sad, but just reading and reviewing the fic, no matter the pairing, has been a lovely experience. The average quality is astonishingly good, and the sheer volume of fic means that every genre, idea, unexplained bit of canon, and plot gets explored, probably multiple times.
So that's Goldenlake! Yay!
What else is new, you ask? Well, I'm back at school. After spring break. Which was after my term in London. Which I would write about now, but there is too much to say, and so I shall simply assert that it was awesome and mind-blowing and made of win.
As incredible as last term was, though, I do adore my college, and being back is lovely. I'm in fascinating (albeit difficult) classes, I love my friends with ever particle of my being, and the campus atmosphere is so comfortable and welcoming and homey and exciting. Just in hanging with the sci-fi and fantasy interest house, over the past week or so, I've ended up watching Inception, a German expressionist silent film called Metropolis, the first three Die Hard movies, and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus. I think this is a good barometer for how awesome life here is. I've also returned to social dance, begun attending swing dance, picked up my violin again, gotten back into voice (which is really awesome because my voice suddenly decided to mature a bit and everything is easier and I love it), and stayed up late having ridiculous conversations.
So life is good. Great. Busy. But amazing.