#fan event resources

[soyouwannamakeafanweek]

Color combination cheatsheets for the current graphics guide-in-progress! It's a much more complicated guide than the initial step-by-step guide to running an event, and it's going to include a lot more resources (cheatsheets, fillable templates, glyphs, free-to-use backgrounds and accent images, etc.) so it's taking about as long as expected. In the meantime, it seemed like a good idea to release these into the wild for general reference!

The combinations listed will be slightly hit or miss based on your screen; if a combination marked as "yes" (with the check mark) doesn't look readable to you, don't use it! Conversely, even if a combination marked as "no" (with the X) does look readable, you still shouldn't use it because your screen is the outlier in this regard and you want to cater to the lowest common denominator here. If it's marked as "no," don't use it at all; if it's marked as "yes," use it only if it looks good on your screen.

These will be explained in more detail when the guide for which they've been created is finished, but that's gonna be a while.

[getvalentined]

Friendly note that I did the thing I said I was going to do and have started a comprehensive guide on organizing and running fan week events! You can see rough versions on @soyouwannamakeafanweek, but the fully edited iterations of everything will be up on the SYWMAFW website.

For the moment there's only the base guide, which is a little under 4000 words breaking down the 12 (+ 6 optional) steps needed to organize and run this kind of project. It includes basic information on just about everything I could think of, with more expanded secondary guides currently in-progress.

The next one is going to be entirely on graphics (because I've noticed that seems to be the biggest stumbling block for a lot of people in creating these projects), and will come with a host of free-to-use resources created by yours truly!

It's a pretty big undertaking, but I'm really saddened by the number of younger folk in fandom who seem to be under the impression that the only way to participate in a collaborative fan project is to get accepted into a big expensive fanthology (they aren't zines, can we stop calling them zines yet?) which means that anyone under the age of 18 is prohibited from participation entirely due to legal risks. This isn't the case at all, and I want to do what I can to help instill that understanding into modern fandom.

I'm licensing the entire thing under Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike 4.0, which means anyone can copy, modify and redistribute it for their own purposes as long as the original is credited, and the modified version is both free and licensed in the same way.

[sicktember]

In anticipation of the questions to come, we would like to go ahead and clarify the prompt ‘Pulling a Ferris Bueller’ for anyone who may not understand the reference.��

Pulling a Ferris Bueller is a pop culture reference born from the 1986 American teen comedy, Ferris Bueller's Day off.’ In the film, the titular character, Ferris Bueller, not for the first time, decides he wants to skip school. It’s a nice day and he’d like to go to Chicago with his best friend and girlfriend. He devises a complicated plan that starts with faking sick, after which he goes to great lengths to avoid being caught. These lengths include (but aren’t limited to) telling plenty of lies, creating an elaborate setup to make it appear he’s never left his bed, borrowing an expensive car and later rolling the odometer back, and hacking school records. This all becomes especially humorous as the school’s dean becomes increasingly desperate to prove that Ferris is continually absent despite the perfect attendance that had been recorded.  While out and about the trio hit several comical snags and engaged in a great deal of banter. During the film, Ferris often breaks the fourth wall to explain his choices and thought processes.

Basically, the saying, 'Pulling a Ferris Bueller' usually means faking sick to skip school/work for no reason other than to have a good time. As a trope, it tends to lean more heavily into the movie's plot and themes. You can use Either! ... or Neither!

Below, you'll find some resources to help you better understand the movie this prompt refers to. Or, you can swap this one out for one of the provided alternate prompts!

Resources ⬇

Official Trailer [Youtube.com]

Short Clip or Ferris' Sneaky Setup [Youtube.com]

Extensive Summary [Gradesaver.com]

Wiki Page [Wikipedia.og]

Tropes within the Trope [allthetropes.org]

[spnfanficpond]

SPN Reader Insert FanFic Writing Challenge: Gender Studies

In our Discord server today, we had a great talk about Reader Insert fics and what tips and tricks we use to entertain our audience without alienating them. At the end of the chat, the subject of Gender Neutral Reader Inserts came up. The main point we all agreed on was that we need to strip away gender stereotypes and just write a basic person in order for a GNRIC (Gender Neutral Reader Insert Character) to work. We tried listing some of those gender stereotypes and did not come up with many besides women being more emotional and men being less likely to discuss feelings. That discussion brought us to this challenge.

Because we want as many writers as possible to join us for this, all participants will be entered into a drawing to win prizes from the Prize List!

What (earns you one entry into the drawing) - Write a one-shot two ways: once with a Female Reader Insert Character (FRIC) and then write the same story with a Male Reader Insert Character (MRIC). Pick a trope and a genre (use your favorites or you can use our SPN Prompt Generator for ideas), figure out a scenario, and then write the same basic story for each gender.

Bonus (earns you an additional entry into the drawing) - Write a third fic but with a GNRIC.

Additional Bonus (earns you an additional entry into the drawing) - Once you've written both, tell us how writing each one made you feel. What basic differences did you keep in mind as you were writing? What problems did you expect to run into, were those the same problems you actually had while writing, and what unexpected problems did you encounter?

Fic parameters -

At least 1000 words.

The pairing does not need to be romantic, but you will earn an extra entry into the drawing if the pairing is romantic.

The fic does not need to have smut, but you will earn an additional entry into the drawing if there is any level of smut. (Kissing and some fondling or something like phone sex is the minimum to earn the extra entry.)

How to join - Send an ASK to the Pond blog here on Tumblr, DM @mrswhozeewhatsis here on Tumblr, or DM Admin Michelle on Discord!

Deadlines - No deadline to join. The deadline for posting is Monday, September 2, 2024, at midnight EDT. The drawing will happen on Tuesday, September 3rd, so there will be no extensions. All fics submitted will be added to a masterlist. Fics submitted after the drawing will still be added to the masterlist, but will not be eligible for prizes.

Other nitty gritty - This can be combined with other challenges and bangs or bingos. Must be SPN/The Winchesters. Can be a Pairing x Reader Insert, but it must be a Reader Insert. To submit your work, DM Admin Michelle. You can write multiple sets of fics to earn more entries into the drawing. If you have any questions, contact @mrswhozeewhatsis!!

We can't wait to see what you all create!!

(Divider by @glygriffe)

Admins

Michelle - @mrswhozeewhatsis

Marie - @mariekoukie6661

MJ - @thoughtslikeaminefield

Mana - @manawhaat (Founder and Admin Emeritus)

[harrysdimples]

I hope you’re all well ❤️

[humming-fly]

You played the FMA mobile game?? How???

oh it's actually fairly easy! someone made a whole slideshow document outlining how you do it but essentially if you have an iPhone you just have to make a japanese apple ID account and then log into it and download the app that way (then you can just log back into your english one you only need the japanese one when the app requires an update)

Here's the full slideshow outlining how to download the game as well as how to play it!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YBiaQYRkOK30xiCU_VrCVl_jjq5wgi5MyCXUqb6xLdU/edit#slide=id.p

[lululeighsworld]

.

[raviniaraven]

I've accidentally stumbled into making my Stardew Valley character a villain in a slice-of-life drama.

I have a bunch of mods that I've installed for fun, including some that let you romance characters that you normally can't, and it also adds Morris to the events around town. I'm a sucker for an evil old man with a redemption arc (one of the mods gives him a house and heart events that redeem him once Joja closes), and so I decided I was gonna romance him.

I also have this plan I've wanted to do in the game where I romance and divorce every single datable npc in the town, basically just giving myself the role of "everyone's ex".

I noticed Morris was added to the flower dance, and one of his dialogues if you talk to him sounds like he wants someone to ask him to dance, but since I'm not very friendly with him yet when I asked he said no. I thought back to my "divorce everyone" plan and started hatching an Idea.

I'm going to still try and be friends with him, but I'm gonna marry and divorce everyone else before I get to him. I'm gonna save him for last, and probably maybe not divorce him. I'm basically going to date everyone else to make him jealous and then pull a tsundere "I guess I'll marry you" at the end, effectively making my farmer the worst kind of person to date.

[wreckedhoney]

^^ "coming to the conclusion that positioning the "can people enjoy things that would be immoral IRL in their fiction" debate as a proship v anti fandom debate is akin to pretending that "should we have the death penalty" is a discussion that only matters in Death Note discourse"

not proshipper not anti but a secret third thing (person who has a career in the media and, through covering legislative politics, has watched "associating with problematic fiction or entertainment is an indicator of moral degeneracy" rapidly become a mainstream GOP position that they are encoding in legislation to target the queer community under the guise of protecting children, thus coming to the conclusion that positioning the "can people enjoy things that would be immoral IRL in their fiction" debate as a proship v anti fandom debate is akin to pretending that "should we have the death penalty" is a discussion that only matters in Death Note discourse — the extent and manner to which fiction affects reality is an issue that is immediately relevant to today's US politics, and to summarize my opinions on the matter in fandom terms would be to diminish the ways this debate is affecting america Right The Fuck Now. and i have stopped taking "this person is bad for shipping the wrong anime thing and being horny about it" in any sort of good faith ever since I saw it literally used as part of a GOP smear campaign against a transgender state legislator in an attempt to defend the right from backlash after they used their supermajority in the Montana house to prevent her from speaking on the floor. Anyway I think everyone on this site, especially Americans, could benefit from ceasing to think in proship v anti vocabulary and instead developing coherent political positions on the nature of fiction that do not directly align with current fascist political tactics)

[mx-pastelwriting]

Saving My Fanfiction Work

Due to the recent events in the United States. To clarify the recent events being Trump becoming president of the United States, Project 2025 more than likely going to be integrated. If you are not familiar with Project 2025 I urge you to look it up.

Along with the KOSA bill that has many problems and it has passed the senate now needing the finally vote in the house, which both are majority red. Go here to learn more on why it needs to be stopped and how you can. This is another component that will harm our communities. Go to: stopkosa.com

With all of its harmful plans some of the plans are to take down/restrict internet sites that have LGBTQ+ communities that means communities like the fan-fiction communities/sites in the United States.

I am only giving resources to those inside and out of the US in case they banned sites that hold fan-fiction. Better safe than sorry.

Being that I live in the US the possibly of mine and many others Fanfiction has the possibly of being in danger. Therefore I'm giving you recourses. (I'm not leaving or stopping my writing, I'm here for the fight!)

For those wanting to save my fanfiction, I give you permission to download them off of AO3 and to be used for your personal collection. Meaning, your eyes only. To clarify I’m saying this as others have asked if they could download my fanfic so for those who would like to you can.

If you do not know how to download them many others on online have tutorials on how to download them and add them to our phone libraries.

Here are some links to tutorials:

Downloading Fanfic

Adding to Iphone & Android Library

Adding to Kindle Library - Video on How (On TikTok)

Adding Book Covers (At the bottom) - Good EPUB Cover Changer (I use this)

Types of Files and What they mean

Please stay safe out there! Remember to follow the rules below.

DO NOT share the downloaded file anywhere online.

DO NOT repost the downloaded file under your name.

Fanfiction is protected under copyright law when plagiarism is involved. If you plagiarize my work, either a piece or whole in any language, I will take legal action. Inspiration or the same idea does NOT apply to this, only word-for-word plagiarism in any language.

♥ mx-pastelwriting does not consent to their fanfiction being copied, copied & credited, translated, used in videos and/or audios, screenshotted, used in AI, or reposted on any other platform without permission.

♥ mx-pastelwriting does give consent to "reblog," sharing links to direct work, and being in recommend lists.

Please stay safe out there friends! I love you so much! Know that there will always people that love you and in for the fight to make sure you are loved!

[witchermonstermayhem]

Check out the word prompts, picture prompts, song prompts, rules and FAQs for the even here.

If you need background info on a certain type of monster and how to fight it, this is a great place to look: Witcher Wiki

Or go here for lists of monsters from the Witcher games: The Witcher Monsters

Here another great Witcher Monster Bestiary.

Then there's the Netflix bestiary here and the Netflix bestiary "documentaries":

Have monstrous fun with Witchers & Monsters!

[soyouwannamakeafanweek]

Previews of a couple of the simple templates being made for the graphics guide-in-progress. These are by far the most plain of the templates, made in G○○gle Sheets* so as to be fillable even without any special software. The concept here is that if you can spell, you can make an event graphic, then just screenshot the page and post it.

There are much more graphically complex templates in-progress for CSP (and PS), but those are more advanced and operate under the assumption that the event organizer has some graphic design experience under their belt. The simple batch, which has six template styles in multiple color variations (for a total of 20 templates altogether), uses only base typefaces native to the platform and primarily utilizes glyphs for flourish rather than embedding a lot of images, which can be hard to place and scale and format correctly for folks with no graphic experience whatsoever.

If anyone wants access to these templates prior to the release of the guide (as it's a very complex work so it's not likely to be out until summer proper) drop me an ask here or on my main blog @getvalentined and I'll give you a link!

*I thought about using G○○gle Slides since there's more image editing options there, but I found spacing much harder to control, and the fixed aspect ratio was also a limitation I couldn't accept and don't want anyone else locked into either. Likewise, I didn't do anything in Canѵa or other online image editors because they're not as user friendly as "fill in and screenshot."

[arolesbianism]

Every day I shake and cry as I stare longingly at years old posts and threads abt oni lore knowing very well that even if the original poster still gives a shit abt oni lore they probably don't give as much of a shit as I do

[sicktember]

Hey content consumers!!

Did you know you can search for multiple tags on tumblr???

When you perform a search you can enter more than one tag with a comma in between to narrow down your results!

That means that you can totally search for the #sicktember 2023 tag along with your favorite fandom/alternative fandom tag! With any luck, something super awesome will pop up!

On a similar note- content creators are encouraged to use the #sicktember 2023 tag so others can find and enjoy your work!

Also, be sure to check out the 2023 collection on AO3!

And don't forget to like, reblog, comment, and kudos!!

[spnfanficpond]

Competitive Writing Sprints

Add words to your WIP and earn prizes at the same time!!! This session will be hosted by @heavenssexiestangel!

What time will it be for you?

UTC - Wednesday 18:00

Los Angeles - Wednesday 11am

New York - Wednesday 2pm

London - Wednesday 7pm

New Delhi - Wednesday 11:30pm

Melbourne - Thursday 4am

How will it work?

The exact number of sprints and length of each sprint will be decided by the host and participants. Be prepared to work on a WIP of your own, but the host has the option of offering a prompt.

At the end of the sprints, whoever wrote the most words in one sprint will get a prize. Whoever wrote the most words in all of the sprints together will also get a prize. More prizes may be given out on the day depending on how things go. If the host brings prompts, there may be opportunities to win more prizes for most creative, funniest, etc. Be prepared to be asked to share your work! You don’t have to if you don’t want to! (Prizes will be chosen from the Pond Prize Pool.)

Where will this happen?

In the sprint channel in the Pond discord server. (You must be a member to be in the discord server. Not a member? Start here and then send us an ASK!) For anyone who hasn’t sprinted before, how it all works will be explained before we start.

I have more questions. How do I get them answered?

Send us an ASK, or ask your question in the discord server (someone will get back to you later if no one is there when you ask), or send a private message to one of the admins!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

(Divider by @glygriffe)

Admins

Michelle - @mrswhozeewhatsis

Marie - @mariekoukie6661

MJ - @thoughtslikeaminefield

Mana - @manawhaat (Founder and Admin Emeritus)

[unforth]

Gentle reminder that very little fandom labor is automated, because I think people forget that a lot.

That blog with a tagging system you love? A person curates those tags by hand.

That rec blog with a great organization scheme and pretty graphics? Someone designed and implemented that organization scheme and made those graphics.

That network that posts a cool variety of stuff? People track down all that variety and queue it by hand, and other people made all the individual pieces.

That post with umpteen links to helpful resources, and information about them? Someone gathered those links, researched the sources, wrote up the information about them.

That graphic about fandom statistics? Someone compiled those statistics, analyzed them, organized them, figured out a useful way to convey the information to others, and made the post.

That event that you think looks neat? Someone wrote the rules, created the blogs and Discords, designed the graphics, did their best to promo the event so it'd succeed.

None of this was done automatically. None of it just appears whole out of the internet ether.

I think everyone realizes that fic writing and fanart creation are work, and at least some folks have got it through their heads that gif creation and graphics and moodboards take effort, and meta is usually respected for the effort that goes into it, at least as far as I've seen, but I feel like a lot of people don't really get how much labor goes into curation, too.

If people are creating resources, curating content, organizing the creations of others, gathering information, and doing other fandom activities that aren't necessarily the direct action of creation, they're doing a lot of fandom labor, and it's often largely unrecognized.

Celebrate fan work!

To folks doing this kind of labor: I see you, and I thank you. You are the backbones of our fandoms and I love you.