#adventures in fandom

[ralkana]

Dreamling Lemon Lavender Rosemary Biscuits!

These are SO delicious!

So first @softest-punk wrote a fic called Catching Up, where Hob bakes some lemon lavender rosemary biscuits for the New Inn, and newly-returned Dream greatly enjoys them. It was one of the first maybe dozen Dreamling fics I read, around Christmas time, and really helped to set my new obsession!

Then @carnelianmeluha baked the biscuits!

Then @tj-dragonblade wrote a fic called Love, Rain Down on Me for her Umbrella Boys series, where Hob bakes the same biscuits for Dream while they're apart.

And @carnelianmeluha baked the biscuits again!

And so, I was inspired. I used a slightly different recipe than @carnelianmeluha's because they are a surprise for @ladytian, my bestie and partner in crime, who dragged me into Dreamling with her enthusiasm, and she loves shortbread. The recipe I used didn't have lemon, so I added some lemon zest and lemon juice. More zest next time, I think, because I will definitely be making these again. They're so yummy!

Here's a few more process pics and pics of the finished goods!

[banrions]

regarding transformative works of my stuff

hey yall, a lil while back i found out that some of my fanfics were listed up on goodreads, and i felt very weird abt it. and did not want them there, and took steps to get them taken down. (they're not published works, i'm not a published author, and i don't want them up there). some fic writers might be cool with this (for fucks sake ASK THEM FIRST) but i am not.

i also fell down a bookbinding rabbit hole a few days ago, and just went and bought a bunch of supplies and want to get into fanbinding. SO, i figured now is a good a time as any to just make a general statement that ppl can find with what i'm cool with and what i'm fucking not.

*clears throat*

i welcome most transformative works, such as podfics, translations, handmade bind-ups, fanart, playlists, etc. and would LOVE, nay, ADORE to see the results! You do not need to seek individual permissions for these things. (but pls pls pls show me them!!!!)

however, no one has my permission to upload my works to goodreads, or to any other fanfiction site (ao3, ff.net. DW, LJ, wattpad, YOU GET THE POINT) in english. if you want to translate one of my works into a different language, then you may do so freely, so long as you credit me properly and link it back to my original fic. if you do so, please let me know! (i'll want to link mine to it as well).

seriously, please do not post my works onto goodreads again.

i absolutely do not give permission for anyone to monetize any aspect of my works. including, but not limited to: for-profit fan merch, or fanart, commissioned book binding/commercial printing of any of my works, locking access to typesets (or other transformative products of my work) behind subscription paywalls, or otherwise profiting from a product based on my works.

you do not have permission to attempt to fanbind my works with barnes & noble, lulu, etc. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THIS WAS A THING, but it is, and it's verging on illegal/copyright shit that i DO NOT want to deal with, and at the very least it’s DEF not ethical.

fandom is, and should be, free and collaborative. stop monitizing shit that you don't own.

at this time, i do not feel comfortable with allowing any of my works to be commissioned for fan binding. as such, i ask that any binders currently offering any of my works for commission remove them. this does not affect anyone who wishes to bind my works for themselves, (so long as it's not the above, B&N etc) or as free gifts (as in, zero exchange of money in any capacity). you have blanket permission to fanbind in that regard. if you do, PLEASE tag me/show me your creations, i'm trying to learn fanbinding myself and would very much love to see them!!

i think that covers it? if you're unsure on anything and you want to make something, just shoot me a dm and ask, i'm not on this site as regularly as i once was, but i promise that i will see it eventually!!! (most other places to find me are linked on my blog somewhere, but here, just in case you're feeling lazy).

[t3andcrumpets]

Darklands has been renamed Line of Fire for the North American market and will debut on multiple VOD platforms on Feb 7.

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

You know when you’re reading some fluffy clone revolt fic and then they’ll be like ‘oh and we killed all the Kaminoans and the planet is ours now! :D’ and you’re like, *squints* er, dude,

[sunlitsorrows]

Edit: I had this Q’d before I’d ever even HEARD of murderbot how fitting it should be spat out RIGHT NOW

[scarlet-witchery]

I get that not everyone is going to have perfect grammar but I literally have two requests/pleas for fic writers: learn where to put commas, and stop using epithets. please. I am begging you. just use the characters' names. it will not hurt you to do so. pleeeeeeeeeeaseeeeeee. life is too short not to learn where commas go in dialogue.

[charlesoberonn]

[sonic-channel]

my favorite part about this is that this is more of an explanation than we ever got canonically

[calam1typann3]

THIS SHIT IS HILARIOUS

[callonpeevesie]

I'm onto something I'm telling you

[banrions]

fans are demanding to be in the rooms, in the minds, and to exert control over the people who tell their stories, and it has only ever worked to our collective detriment

lots of fans have made valid points and written well-thought-out posts about the trop ai drama, so i'm not gonna rehash them, but i do want to bring up something that no one seems to be talking about and it's the impulse that leads people to plug these things into ai generators in the first place.

fandom over the last year especially has become increasingly toxic to the point that actual billion-dollar corporations are afraid it. the result is subpar, pandering films, books, and television shows that break no new ground, recycle old tropes, and sacrifice story integrity to avoid catching heat from the loudest, most entitled people in the room. i'm calling this an issue of entitlement first and foremost because the idea that the audience should have any say over a non-crowd-created media project is preposterous. deciding that the cons outweigh the pros of watching something and choosing to walk away without making a fuss is a lost discipline now because everyone with an internet connection and a social media account believes that their vision reigns supreme. "how dare this show downplay my favorite ship! they were supposed to kiss! that was the whole point! the absence of this one thing i had on my wishlist is a crime against me personally!" so they turn to ai and click some buttons and now these gifs exist and are being circulated with an air of "i've righted a wrong." worse, the use of ai in this way is being conflated with the creation of fanworks???

there are reasons why i don't believe the ai saurondiel kiss is on the same raft as, say, making them kiss in a drawing or a published fanfic, but my main concern is with the spirit behind each. fanworks are made in homage to the source material, even the fix-it fics. there is an acknowledgment, a separation even, between the television show and the fanwork. this separation is necessary and i would say even integral to the nature of fan creation, while ai closes that gap until it no longer exists. the elimination of space between creator and audience also happens on social media, when disgruntled fans who have taken umbrage with a fictional character or creative decision directly harass the writers or the actors involved. more and more, fans are demanding to be in the rooms, in the minds, and to exert control over the people who tell their stories, and it has only ever worked to our collective detriment. now i'm not saying that if you liked and shared the saurondiel ai kiss that you're the same as the internet trolls who harass (mostly) women and people of color online. but i'm begging you to do some self-reflection and ask yourself why you feel entitled to seeing what you want on your screen.

what has changed in the last few years that would make you dissatisfied with, say, reading someone's fic or making your own drawing? is it a matter of "the tool is there, so why not use it?" is it "i believe it should have happened and it didn't and i feel cheated?" or maybe there's been a pattern you've noticed in your recent media "consumption" (god, i hate that word) where, unless a show or television series goes the exact way you want it to, it feels like you've been defrauded somehow? i'm not being facetious. i'm inviting you to notice that what you're feeling is probably discomfort, disappointment, maybe even cognitive dissonance because you imagined it going one way, and now you're at a loss because it didn't. you built it up in your head, you had something to look forward to, you were convinced that it would happen, it was exciting and you were so eager to get to that point, and then.... and then...

we've all been there. and it sucks. but i also want to remind you of how important it is to preserve the separation. this space is ours. the writer's room, the filming set, the editing room, those spaces are theirs. the actors' likenesses are theirs. thinking beyond trop, the separation is how we get creative works that challenge us politically, emotionally, that make us uncomfortable and tell us important truths. writers shouldn't have to - and shouldn't FULL STOP - do what we want them to do. sometimes that means knowing when to walk away, when to say "i no longer enjoy this show, i will no longer support it" or "i will continue to watch but pretend things went differently," the latter of which has been the spark that has moved so many online fans to draw, paint, write, or sew. it's a type of creation that allows "canon" and "fanon" to exist parallel to one another. moreover, the effort it takes to make anything with your own two hands, with your own time, and with your own energy increases your appreciation for the creative impulse. films and books and television stop being "products" for your "consumption" because you're aware of what goes into them, and it becomes easier to look at things you don't like or disagree with and say, "you know what, i'm gonna pass," or "not in my headcanon."

oh, and by the way plugging things into an ai generator? is theft. the same way that it's generally frowned upon for people to use ai to, say, write the rest of an unfinished fic without the express permission of the fanwork creator, using the actors' likenesses to make them kiss goes against everything the actors' union fought for last year. i'll also add that it's incredibly creepy. almost all of us are in agreement that intimacy coordinators are a good thing because they act - again! - as a separation between what's "real" and what isn't, the same way going on ao3 and reading a fic that very clearly says on the tin that it's a fanfic, unaffiliated with the official ip, is a separation. it's another beast entirely to normalize fan-use of ai, to say you support creatives, support actors, support unions, and then do this in your personal life. i repeat the question: what impulse leads anyone to believe that this is okay other than a feeling of misplaced ownership?

tl;dr: ai nonsense does not belong in fandom spaces. (in my home state of california, it is illegal to use digital replicas of an actor's voice or likeness in place of their actual services without their informed consent [which, in spirit, is what you're doing by using ai to make your gifs]). we all just need to mind our own business and go back to writing our fix-it fics and complaining to our friends in relative peace. if you're finding it impossible to do so, ask yourself why. remember that fanart is our longstanding tradition. stop outsourcing it to an unregulated technology just because your two faves didn't kiss.

[ralkana]

Most of my pins are finally, FINALLY up. My dad is visiting and helped me with hanging them. Well, he did most of the work, and I held the tape measure and handed him things. They look so good, and I'm so, SO happy!

I still have most of my non-Phlint Marvel pins, my Star Trek pins, and most of my deandraws pins to hang. They might go over the TV. I think if I put anything else in this section, it will look too busy.

I'm SO happy!

[banrions]

not me, going down a fanbinding rabbit hole over the last two days, buying (over a hundred j FC) dollars worth of supplies today, and very excited to try and bind my own and maybe some of my fav fanfics...

[t3andcrumpets]

**blows down cobwebs**

My little corner looks a touch disused over here.

Maybe I should do something about that. Or not.

I've been rewatching Spooks and I love Ruth and Harry so much. But I'm discovering that the older I get, the more like Ros I get: completely stone-faced and ball-busting till the job is done. Bitches love me (not).

[painted-lemon]

um can we make this a real thing??????

please tag any other fandom that could use this meme format