impala_chick | Entries tagged with challenge: meme

Jumping in on this because I like some of the questions :D

Day 6: Who was the first hero you wanted to be saved by? And from what would you need rescuing?

Clark Kent of Smallville. Maybe there's an assassin trying to kill me from afar because I'm giving an impactful speech, and Clark has to stop the bullet. ~~Maybe I've thought about this question before.~~

Day 7: Who was the first villain you admired, even if only a little? Why?

So for this question I looked up the difference between anti-hero and villain. It seems like the only major difference is that a villain has to have a foil/protagonist to fight against, whereas an anti-hero is the protagonist. I loved Lex Luthor in Smallville, and I think he counts as a villain since he's Clark's foil. He's not overtly the villain until much later on in the show. Watching his descent was so tragic but also I felt so much sympathy for him and his worldview. I guess that's what makes a powerful villain. I also remember really liking the Green Goblin in the Tobey Maguire Spiderman films.

Day 9: Who, from any of your fandoms, would you like to pluck out of their fiction-based universe and drop into this universe, in a role such as an elected official or the like?

Jed Bartlett and his entire white house staff from West Wing (for obvious reasons).

All of the questions for the June Something are posted here.

My total word count on AO3 for 2022: 59,065
Number of works: 35
Fandom I wrote the most: BBC Merlin, thanks to the Kinkalot challenge.

Those are low totals compared to the previous three years, but I also had a baby so they count as a personal win!

FANFICS:
Top 5 by hits
Find Me To Be Loyal (BBC Merlin, Merthur)
Give All My Secrets Away (9-1-1, Buddie)
Redemption for Sins I Can't Mention (Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher, Shyan)
Jarl's Orders (BBC Merlin, Merlin/Arthur/Gwaine)
Straight Flush (MCU, Bucky/Sam)

Top 5 by kudos
Find Me To Be Loyal (BBC Merlin, Merthur)
Give All My Secrets Away (9-1-1, Buddie)
Straight Flush (MCU, Bucky/Sam)
Redemption for Sins I Can't Mention (Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher, Shyan)
Workday Lunch (Teen Wolf, Theo/Liam)

Top 5 by Comment Threads
Find Me To Be Loyal (BBC Merlin, Merthur)
Long Enough Flight (BBC Merlin, Gwaine/Merlin)
Heading Towards Something (Cobra Kai, Johnny/Daniel)
A Certain Romanticism (SPN, Sam/Dean)
Straight Flush (MCU, Bucky/Sam)

Fic I'm most proud of?
Redemption for Sins I Can't Mention!! I got to participate in the Shyan big bang, and I got to finish an RPF fic that I've been thinking about for a long time involving demon!Shane going to hell to rescue Ryan. It happens to be the longest fic I wrote last year, and it very specifically caters to my interests, lol.

It's no surprise that my Merthur canon divergent AU dominated my stats. I felt good about that fic but I'm excited that some of my other ships showed up on my top five lists too.

( And an End of the Year Fandom Meme )

Challenge #8: In your own space, celebrate a personal win from the past year: it can be a list of fanworks you're especially proud of, a gift of your time to the community, a quality or skill you cultivated in yourself, something you generally feel went well.

My team tied for first over at the Merlin Kinkalot month-long challenge! I wrote 2 shyan fics for a Discord event, which was fun. I also felt good about completing

ficinabox, the longest fic exchange I've been apart of. And I got the captain rank before Loose Lips Sink Ships ended.

Challenge #9: Fandom Wrapped!

What are your top five fandoms for 2021 based on the amount of time you interacted with them?
1. Band of Brothers (participated in 2 events and prompt meme LLSS)
2. Merlin (participated in kinkalot)
3. Teen Wolf (a couple random tumblr events)
4. MCU (SamBucky events!)
5. random misc.

( the rest under here )

Challenge #5: In your own space, talk about an idea you wish you had the time / talent / energy to do.

I used to really love themed Land Comms! I'd love to bring back a challenge with some kind of team aspect that takes place over a period of time. The one I'm thinking of is A War of Roses, which was a Land comm for all historical fandoms. Participants were split into two teams, and then there was a weekly and a monthly challenge (I think?). Teams earned points based on participation. Each challenge was catered to totally different skills - there were fic or drabble challeneges, icon challenges, signature tags, puzzle challenges, recc challenges, maybe even some things that had to be completed as a team like a mini bingo? I think it's funner to do have broader themes, like Sci Fi or Historical - because then people aren't limited by fandom. On the other hand, I loved the way

fffc ran their anniversary challenge, where they would just pick fandoms at random and you'd have a week to create something. Fandoms with the least amount of participation got eliminated - although the scoring could be worked out a little differently. That format could work for a general Land Comm, too. I know there used to be Supernatural land comms too, like SPN Verse. Oh, and I really like the

kinkalot team challenge every summer. It's limited to Merlin fandom and fic, but the points and team aspects are great. I'm just worried that challenges that take place over a long period might not garner a lot of interest? It would be a lot of work to come up with team challenges and then do all the scoring.

Challenge #7: In your own space, tell us about 3 fandom resources, spaces, or communities you use or enjoy.

Not fandom specific:
•

fffc has some really fun writing challenges! And you can earn badges along the way. I especially love their bingo challenges, even though I haven't had the energy to do them in a while.
•

historium has some great people and interesting posts, including historical reference posts. I learn new things from the comm all the time.
•

recthething is an informal recc comm. There's a post once a week to post about things you love, and it's great to get to share random fanwork squee.
•I really like following

vidding even though I haven't vidded in years. There are so many creative vids and they post about vid events/exchanges, so I don't miss when collections go live :D

Challenge #3: In your own space, put some favorite characters into an AU, fuse some favorite canons together, talk about your favorite AU/fusion tropes, or tell us why AU/fusions aren’t your cup of tea.

Mostly I read canon divergence or canon adjacent fic, but I went through my AO3 bookmarks for inspiration. I do love reading different first meeting of the OTP/meeting prior to canon AUs for all of my fandoms. Also, role reversal fic! I love the opportunities for character study in these types of fics. Maybe these are really just more specific canon divergence AUs?

I think certain canons lend themselves to particular types of alternate universes, which is why I tend to like them more.

For example, I really like Politics AUs for Generation Kill fandom (probably because you get to know some of the characters' political views during the show), and Sci-Fi fusions with space battles or space marines. I can see the characters being warriors in any time/place.

For Merlin fandom, I love modern royalty AUs. I don't really read those much for other fandoms?

For Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher, I read and enjoy a much wider range of AUs. The guys have talked about so many random topics, the sky is sort of the limit. Serial killer or demon/magic AUs or gangster AUs are amazing. I read a Dirty dancing AU that was SO good! I like historical fics that show the guys as the historical equivalent of social media stars. Sports AUs would be fun. There's a ton of options.

My favorite fandom to fuse with is Supernatural. Probably because I like the aesthetic and the opportunity to borrow from canon lore. Greek mythology fusions are also super fun to read/write.

Challenge #4: In your own space, make a list of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, and/or that you'd like someone to create or do for you.

I love icons and I'm not good at making them myself. And now that I have a paid account, I can have even more icons! Icons with speech bubbles, minimalist icons, icons with vivid colors, icons with stock images - they're all great. I'm excited for Peaky Blinders s6, so I'm requesting any icons with Tommy, Ada, Esme, Polly, or all of the Peaky men or Peaky ladies. Or from the s6 trailer?

Also requesting icons with any images or quotes from the last season of Buzzfeed Unsolved: Supernatural. And Johnny/Daniel from Cobra Kai s4.

Challenge #2: In your own space, set some goals for the coming year.

I talked about my writing goals a little bit in my end of the year post, but my main writing goals are:
Mod a writing exchange (currently doing it!)

ficinabox

iddyiddybangbang
Possibly another longfic exchange? Triple crown is still way scary, but maybe I can do

fffx next year.
Complete a bingo this year, maybe for

seasonofkink
Write more words than 2021 (102,284)
ETA LJ Book Bingo??

I'd also love to write more of my original story that I started in 2019. I had a bunch of things outlined and I could probably finish it if I actively tried.

As for real life, work out at least 3x a week. Possibly start walking to work from the parking lot that is farther away (weather dependent). Visit friends that I haven't seen in forever. Make time for me.

This year I wrote and posted: 53 Fics (one less than last year)

Total wordcount: 102,284

( 2021 Fic Meme )

( End of year Fandom Meme )

Day 8: Crack!fic - We all know it. What's your opinion of it, and if you want, show us an example.

I love crack that has to do with fandom inside jokes. Instant depomine. I also like really outlandish premises that are taken seriously in fic. Here are my top 3 crack reccs! ( Featuring a Buzzfeed Unsolved Vid, a Stony fic, and a Turn fic )

Day 9: Drop the cast of a fandom you follow into a reality tv show - who/what/why? If you need a list of reality TV show examples, click here.

I've always had this vague idea where Scott and Stiles enter Derek into a home makeover show. Then a whole crew comes out to completely renovate the Hale house, and make it actually livable again. They would give the big staircase some dramatic railing, and then the living room would be this huge open-concept thing with a shiny new L-shaped couch. Of course the kitchen would get a trough sink and marble countertops. It would be very modern, like his apartment. Randomly throughout the show, people would show up and help or wonder aloud if Derek was actually going to be happy with the changes - sort of freaking out the makeover crew. But then when the big reveal happens, everyone is there. Boyd and Erika and Isaac call dibs on some of the new rooms, and Scott and Stiles won't stop grinning and trying to get Derek to admit how much likes it, and Allison and Lydia are pretty impressed but also giving Derek a hard time about "living in luxury now." And of course Peter shows up and claims that he owns at least half of the place, that is until Cora makes an appearance.

I couldn't really think of any off the top of my head, so I've collected links of resources I found reading through the comments of others at Snowflake!

Netlifx has an online gallery of costumes from The Crown and Queen's Gambit. It's very pretty, but there is a lot of clicking that you have to do.

Dramacool looks like a good place to watch Asian dramas.

Someone put together a great post with paranormal research links. I'll have to check out these academic webpages next time I want to write a cryptid or ghost story.

Stark Tower's floor plan in the MCU

A dictionary of names!

What America Ate - a website about American food during the great depression. And it's so pretty!

What's On the Menu - a real menu archive.

This post about writing resources seems really helpful.

**Minotaur's Sex Tips for Slash Writers, maintained by Squidge. Definitely NSFW but I can't believe I didn't know about this before!

For Video Games Specifically:
Before I Play wiki that lists things you should know about different games. I wish I had known about this sooner!

How Long To Beat gives me a comparison point to guess how much game playing I might do on a game. Useful to me right now, as I try to figure out if I'm going to start a new game.

I used about half of the text from my short Johnny/Bull Band of Brothers fic for the I Write Like... meme and this was the result:

I write like
Stephen King

About Stephen King | Analyze your text

I am proud of this result!

For this challenge I also looked through my old meme tag from 2009 on livejournal. Most of them seemed to be links to text threads where people left nice comments, "interview me" style things, or questions about why they were my LJ friend. I did find one that was basically like madlibs, but one section asked for your favorite show and this was the list. Reading it instantly rocketed me back in time:

6. What do you prefer to watch on TV?
Scrubs - Man
O.C. - Emotional
One Tree Hill - Open
Heroes - Frostbitten
Lost - High
House - Scarred
Simpsons - Cowardly
The news - Mongolic
Idol - Masochistic
Family Guy - Senile
Top Model - Middle-class
None of the above - Ashamed

I did find one I like! So, name an actor or a character we both know and I'll find 10 pictures that fit these categories: ( under the cut )

I watch The Voice mostly because it's fun and easy and relaxes me. But Bailey Rae and John Legend teaming up during Season 19 really felt special to me. Bailey Rae was 18 at the time, hailing from Roberta, Oklahoma. By the time it was her turn to audition, Blake Shelton's team was completely full. He is stereotypically the "country" coach, so I didn't expect her to be picked by anyone. She really crushed it with an older song, and John Legend was the only one to turn for her.

She became the very first country singer on John's team - he's stereotypically the R&B and soul coach. It was a totally flipped script, and I was surprised. But then as the season went on, John proved it wasn't just a move to break tradition. He was always so genuine with her and encouraged her classic country sound, and they seemed to genuinely warm up to each other. I respected the hell out of John Legend after, for reaching out to someone he did not have to pick. And then Bailey Rae made it all the way to the top 9! I'm probably reading too much into it, but with the state of the country right now, the metaphor seemed clear to me. A Midwestern woman from an ultra-conservative state forming a truly accepting and mutually beneficial relationship with a hollywood/famous liberal on live TV? I loved everything about it. Also, I totally loved her voice. These are my two favorite performances of hers:

Watch on YouTube

She's releasing her own music now!

I still don't really understand what hits mean on AO3? I'm assuming it means the amount of times my fic was clicked on, but for that reason I avoid looking at the hit count - it's always way higher than kudos. Oof, I guess people had to click away from it.

ANYWAY, this post is supposed to be about good things! So, I'm quite proud of the fic I've written with the most kudos on AO3. My top two stories are Merlin/Arthur stories, but even though they're in a huge fandom I'm proud of the way they turned out. Waiting is Such Misery has 792 kudos and Whatever You Want to Be has 673 kudos. They were written in 2019 and 2020, and both deal with a canon divergence scenario. Third place is a Stony fic I wrote for Marvel Trumps Hate. Interestingly for me, the top three are all rated T. Waiting is Such Misery also has the highest number of hits, but the rest of the list sorted by hits is significantly different from my highest kudos list. My first, second, and third highest kudos fics are also the three highest bookmarked fics, although in a slightly different order.

Thanks for taking a look! :)

•I really love listening to ship fanmixes or character fanmixes on 8tracks, Spotify, or Youtube. I'd love any reccs/playlists related to The Expanse, Queen's Gambit, Band of Brothers, or Veep.

•New icons! I love icons of ships, or even just quotes from shows/songs. I'd love some featuring:
1. Luke and Reggie from Julie and the Phantoms;
2. Shane and Ryan from Wacher; and
3. This picture or this picture from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier sneak peek.

•How to make a t-shirt quilt - I've cut my t-shirts up, but my initial google search hasn't been super helpful. Any tips?

(I have taken the liberty of shortening some of these summaries)

Angels Sing by great_whatsit
Fandom: Surfing RPF, The Endless Summer (1966)
Words: 4,946
Rating: G
Summary: Here’s what you need to know: The Endless Summer (1966) is a surfing documentary shot in 1963 and 1964; it’s widely considered the greatest surfing movie ever made. Robert graduated from high school a few months before the trip began; when it started he was 18, while Mike was 21. This is what happened between the moments depicted in the movie. Maybe.
Notes: I know nothing about surfing, except that I think it's inherently romantic? ANYWAY, this fic blew my socks off. It's so gentle and vivid, and I definitely get romantic pre-slash vibes.

Professor Tricia Would Have a Field Day by nausicaa_lives
Fandom: Letterkenny
Words: 2,697
Rating: E
Summary: Dumb fucking Shoresy, poking his deranged nose in everybody's business (and moms). They ought to shut him up one of these days, but who has time for that when Katy Cat has a free afternoon and ideas about how to fill it.
Notes: Totally plausible feelings exploration, while keeping the guys in character. This fic is both very funny and very sexy.

History says: here are the blankets, layer on layer, down and down by aqualined (inabstract)
Fandom: Puppet History
Words: 1,778
Rating: G
Summary: It’s 'The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants' except he’s the pants—wait, or is he the sisterhood? Well, that metaphor didn’t really land, did it?
Notes: Creative and fun mixed-medium storytelling! The Professor as a cryptid is *chef's kiss* perfection.

It's everywhere you turn by Philipa_Moss
Fandom: God's Own Country
Words: 2,408
Rating: T
Summary: “He is not your competition,” said Gheorghe. “He is a man I used to know.”
Notes: This is such a lovely snapshot of a committed relationship, heeding canon but still showing Johnny's progress as a person and as a boyfriend.

Content by magelette
Fandom: Arthurian Mythology
Words: 2121
Rating: G
Summary: While stuck back in the castle one night, while his foster-brother rides out on yet another quest, Cei questions the choices he's made in his life.
Notes: A great introspective piece about the relationship between brothers, and between a brother and sister-in-law. I love how lived-in this fic feels, while still highlighting just how royal and privileged Arthur's family became.

loose me when ye list, for i am bound by magpie mountains (hollowmen)
Fandom: Arthurian Mythology
Words: 2,580
Rating: M
Summary: “I married you for your lands,” she tells him, and Gawain thinks it a fine jest until they reach Blanchemal Hall.
Notes: Evocative imagery and mature medieval love! This fic feels like it could have come straight out of a het romance novel.

Afterlife by Wasuremono
Fandom: 17776: What Football Will Look Like in the Future
Words: 3,566
Rating: T
Summary: A young man dies six months before the end of human death; his loss saves five lives, which end up much longer than anyone expects. (A series of worldbuilding vignettes about original characters in the 17776 setting.)
Notes: A wonderful ode to canon and humanity in general. This fic brings to life some wonderful new characters that are totally plausible in canon.

I talked about my writing goals already, but this year I want to actually finish my reading challenge and read 15 books. I've been just shy of my reading goals the last two years. I also want to keep up with The Fitness Marshall challenges on Youtube, learn new fitness routines from some other fitness Youtubers, and complete the plank challenge at work.

As far as work goes, I'd like to get through the rest of this assignment, do the best cross examinations that I can, maybe write something professional, and try to leave my colleagues better off for having worked with me.

---

As for canons that I love? I'm still obsessed about The Expanse TV series. Season 5 is currently airing, and they've said Season 6 will be the final season. There are so many female characters to love, and the found family trope is executed so well - particularly with the Rocinante crew. There are also so many wonderful canon ships. The show portrays the various systems that support life way beyond Earth, and sure there is a lot of ~scifi~ metal, but they also show the strange and wonderful terrain of different planets, different levels of gravity affect people's movements in strange and wonderful ways, there's beautiful alien tech, so many stars, and really cool space fights! I love how the show isn't afraid to get political, and delve into classism and racism in a way that is very relevant to today's world. Oh, and there's a canon polyamorous family in season 5 that's been lovely to watch so far. I'm not sure how faithful the series is to the books, since I've only read book 1 so far, but this is a show where I can say I truly enjoy all of the main characters - and that never happens (Unless you count Inaros, but I don't). I love this canon so much it's hard to make fanworks for it, because I don't have a ton to add and I also don't want to do it a disservice (especially when it comes to fic about Belters). However, I still enjoy reading fanfic by others about the show.

Happy New Year, everyone! I've never been more relieved to make it to the end of December.

This year I wrote and posted: 54 Fics

Total wordcount: 129,389 (less than last year)

( 2020 Fic Meme )

( End of year Fandom Meme )

The next two questions involve NSFW answers about kink and smut reading, so I put them ( under the cut. )

Time to distract myself with a fun June fandom meme.

What's a new fandom that you've fallen into since the last June Something/in the last year?

The Expanse! And Schitt's Creek, but I'm not done watching the series yet. And I loved The English Game, although I have hardly seen any activity for that fandom.

Who is the first character that you fell in love with?

Tom Welling's Clark Kent. Holy smokes, I was so in love for all four years of high school. Then the show jumped the shark and I was heartbroken. He's probably the reason I still have a thing for dark haired dudes with blue eyes.

What is something that has surprised you about a fandom? Like, you expected the main fandom pairing to be X/Y, but the main pairing in fandom is actually X/Z. Or a pairing you expected to be slashed together isn't very popular?

The overwhelming popularity of S*terek makes little sense to me. It's my Notp for a few reasons. But when I first started watching (a total accident because it came up on Prime, I think?) back when season three had just started airing, I wasn't familiar with the fandom at all. I really thought Scott/Stiles would be the number one ship, because best friends turned lovers always seemed like a popular trope on LJ. Their dynamic is fun and Scott and Stiles are hot. I will admit that Stiles is shippable with a ton of characters, though, which is what makes the Stiles/Derek popularity even more confusing?

An introductory post for the HBO mini-series Generation Kill
This seven part series originally aired in 2008. The series follows a group of US Marines during the 2003 American invasion of Iraq. It is based on the writing of Evan Wright, who embedded with the First Reconnaissance Battalion and Bravo company specifically. The whole series takes place "in country," following the Devil Dogs on their journey through "Mesopotamia" as they call it.

If you like detailed modern war epics, this series is for you. If you like snarky and buff military boys singing early 2000's jams, this series might also be for you. If you like the other HBO war series, I think there's a good chance you'll like it. It's grittier and more upfront than Band of Brothers, but less depressing/dark than The Pacific imo. The language used is very crude (and probably true to life) so there are some potentially triggering comments relating to homophobia, misogyny, racism, and xenophobia. However, the show does not sugarcoat any of that behavior, nor is it depicted as idealic. I think the language serves a purpose - mostly to highlight American Masculinity TM and how the military industrial complex works within that type of hyper-masculine culture.

The series was created by Burns and Simon, the creators of The Wire, and stars Alexander Skarsgard, James Ransone, Lee Tergesen, and a ton of supporting characters. The actors were actually trained by real life Devil Dogs Eric Kocher and Rudy Reyes. Reyes plays himself in the series!

In true HBO war fashion, it is sometimes hard to keep track of the characters and the command structure, so here's a list. The series won Emmys for outstanding visual effects, outstanding sound mixing, and outstanding sound editing. The cinematography is beautiful and the linear nature of the show is easy to follow - it feels like a seven hour movie. Four of the episodes are directed by Susanna White. The entire series is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

The canon is composed of Wright's articles, which were eventually compiled into a book called Generation Kill, published in 2004. 1st LT Nate Fick, a prominent character in the show, wrote a book called One Bullet Away after he left the Marine Corps, which I highly recommend. The book covers his experiences and leadership in the modern US military as a whole, and Fick is a smart and thoughtful writer who isn't afraid to offer criticism.

And now the main reasons to love this show...

( Onto my main BAEs )

( And some resources )

I love this challenge! It's a chance for me to highlight a fandom medium that doesn't often get a lot of attention: fanvideos!

( MCU Fanvideo reccs of 2019 )

( 5 Fic Reccs from Yuletide )

Deep Conversations

at the waffle house.

Entries tagged with challenge: meme

June Something Days 6, 7, 9

Snowflake Challenge 9: Celebrate personal wins

Snowflake 8 and 9

Snowflake Challenge 5 and 7

Snowflake Challenge 3 and 4

Snowflake Challenge 2

End of 2021 Fic and Fandom Memes

June Something: Days 8 - 9 Silly edition

Snowflake Challenge 13: Resources

Snowflake Challenge 12: An Old Meme

Snowflake Challenge 10: Love Letter to Canon

Snowflake Challenge 9: Brag About Yourself

Snowflake Challenge 8: Wishlist

Snowflake Challenge 6: (Yuletide) Reccs

Snowflake Challenge 4 & 5: Goals and Canon I Love

End of the Year Meme

June Something Days 8,10

June Something Days 1, 3, 6

Snowflake Challenge #9: Generation Kill

Snowflake Challenge #8: Yuletide & Fanvid Reccs

Links

Most Popular Tags

Custom Text