Fifth try at posting this because LJ lost it over and over ASDFHASDHAHFUCKIT

[sophrosyne31]

So this is going to be the shortest version yet of this post because first *charmingdrollselfdepracatingdiscursive* then lj lost it. Then *charmingdrollslightlyshorter* because it was 11.30pm already. Then lj lost it. Then we had *justmakeyourpointokaySoph* but then lj LOST IT and then it LOST IT AGAIN and then (yes I had some problem with C&P) so

Comments

[mirabile_dictu]

Hello! Look at you, back on LJ! Lovely to see you!

I am by no means an expert on anything in social media but I'll tell you what I do: Yes, AO3 is the place for fan fiction these days. There are other places, but I don't visit them so someone else will have to tell you. The only way to find out who on LJ is who on AO3, that I know, is to check their LJ profile and their AO3 profile. What irritates me is that lots of people don't include that information in their profiles.

Re Tumblr: I finally got one and started following people. Lots of fan fiction shows up there which is a pain in the ass to read, but hey. Fortunately, lots of people put links to their stuff on AO3 there, so that's a good thing. I don't know anything about how people name themselves, if there is some sort of Tumblr naming convention of not. I named my Tumblr after an artist, an author, and a television show I love: bbc-sherlock-afghanistan. Lots of people use their LJ names, though, which I should have done

[sophrosyne31]

Mirabile! Oh my lordy it's nice to see you too. I always thought of you as one of the classiest dames on LJ. :)

Thank you SO much for the helpful guidance. Really this is amusing to be so clueless. But I'll look you up on thingamy and cast about for anyone else who looks familiar. It's weird, trying to suss out all the social mores by induction. Fearful of making some dreadful faux pas!

I hope you're all good dear Mirabile. It's really cosy, coming back to LJ.

[mirabile_dictu]

You are not the only person popping back up on my LJ flist lately -- I think we all miss the camaraderie of the LJ days. Tumblr has its uses, but it's so difficult to carry on a conversation there, and people can be reeeeeally touchy. Jesus. I carefully curate the people I follow because I just do not want any drama. There's enough of that in Real Life; I don't need it for recreation. Good luck and have fun! (PS: You know who is now on Tumblr? Apple-p1! I was so happy to see her again.)

[sophrosyne31]

Ahah thank you for the warning. I dread the flames of social media. A quiet life, me. LJ was such a kindly induction back in the day.

Apple P1! Oh I adored her. Will track her down forthwith!

[verylisa]

Tumblr has a lot of Discourse but you can avoid it if you want. I have the same username there as I do everywhere. I am not really into the fics these days so much, and mostly use tumblr for keeping up with the memes and the pretty pictures. I don't know if there is any definitive place for written fannish squee. Probably the kids are still using photoshop but to make graphics for the tumblr-ing of rather than making icons.

[sophrosyne31]

Ah, le Discourse. Lisa! Bless you for setting me on the right path. What long time it has been! I'm so glad you're still here.

[verylisa]

I am a Lurker who will support you in the comments.

[sophrosyne31]

Lurkity lurk lurk...

[mysteriousaliwz]

Gimp is meant to be good for making graphics, and it's free.

AO3 is very reader-friendly, and has loads of fic. Unfortunately people tend not to comment as much on there as they used to on LJ, as the 'kudos' button makes it easy just to click a button to say 'I liked this' so the temptation is there just to do that instead of racking one's brain to produce an insightful comment. I have to admit I do that a lot as I'm horribly lazy and tend to lurk. I'm MysteriousAliWays on there.

Being an Old Fogey I haven't used Tumblr much but get the vague impression that it's very visually-focused.

[sophrosyne31]

Ah what good advice I'm getting. Ali bless you. I notice the lack of comments on AO3 but I guess we *are* all so busy these days... I was always the worst at thoughtful comments, but I loved getting them! I'm such a lurker now. Must try harder even though I lurk! All that gorgeous work on some fics, and only a few kind words at the bottom of the page. Seems a shame. But on the other hand *pictures self tiredly thumb-typing at midnight on phone with sleeping child on other arm*

[fitofpique]

Soph, wow! It's so lovely to see you! I'm so happy I decided to look at lj today! I hope you've been well

[sheldrake]

Thank god pique got here first so I didn't have to bother saying any of this. ;)

Honestly, it's such an effort trying to use words on Tumblr that most people have given up and try to communicate in pictures. It's not very efficient, but the pictures are soothing/funny/infuriating, so we don't notice and just sit there, entranced. Also, it's all recycled. It's mostly reblogging cool stuff you saw somewhere that someone else reblogged because they thought it was cool.

I am old. And I'm sheldrake on AO3 and sheldrakus on Tumblr. Soph, you should come and be old with us there.

[sophrosyne31]

Ahah, the visual hive. I see. Well this all seems very efficient. *nodnodnods*

Duckie I am totally old too! And you know, I think it's okay.

[lazlet]

*joins in the old fandom peeps solidarity*

I'm everywhere as Lazulus [except here obviously!] Tumblr is good for pretty pictures and, if you curate your feed [who you follow] properly, it can be a perfectly serene place to be. but you HAVE to only follow people who don't give you stress with what they post! I use XKit which is a web browser plugin to blacklist certain tags and posts. As a result, I have a basically stress free Tumblr experience. :)

[anonymous]

Hi! Nice to see you! I see some old friends coming back to LJ and that's heartening.

I spend most of my time on tumblr, where I've found myself blogging a lot about US politics (so I will be glad to take a break after tuesday) I'm in the Avengers fandom of all things right now.

Alas, there is no place online that is like old fandom, fun and comments and discussion, (which is why I think old pals are coming back to lj) Tumblr is fun, but no one interacts, and you can't just keep content to friends, it's all out there, which is why I guess I miss old LJ, you could cultivate people and get them together.

I do art mainly these days, I've stopped ficcing, I mean to get back, not certain what will spur it. What fandom do you think you will get into?

Lovely to see you again!

[sophrosyne31]

Hello! This is nice news about the returnees. Some kind of cyclic thing? We can all tumble back into the den together.

I'm not really that fannish anymore but wee!george and Vikings fandom has come up and walloped me (a little late, I know, but whatever). There's so much of it! Always satisfying.

But mysterious person, who are you?