Snowflake Challenge #3

[ravensilversea]

Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

Love is stored in the pencil marks on notebook pages gleefully handed over into a friend’s hands. It is stored in the emails and discussions and too-late chat messages rambling on and on about plots that never come to be. It’s stored in the art and vids we share, the characters we love, and the worlds we create.

And “What if” holds so much capacity for love. What if they didn’t die? What if something changed? What if they fell in love again and again? What if they were somewhere else, someone else? What if all that went wrong went right, and just this once: Everybody lives!

What if our ships never passed in the night? Where would we be without each other?

Where would we be without the comment chains between us. Our gleeful excitement of sliding into each other’s DMs to ramble deep into those good nights. The endless waves of boop notification as Tumblr descends into April Fools madness, and we are both determined to win this war. Where would we be without our gifts to each other and our “I thought of you”s?

Today, I scroll through an event tag in awe of the fanart being made and the comments being left, knowing I had a hand in creating this opportunity. I find love stored in the stick figures and first baby steps of an artist just as much as it is stored in their masterworks. In the “this is my first time trying _” and the “back on my bullshit” tags, in the shared celebrations of everyone’s achievements, and in the server-wide “Happy Birthday!”s.

Fandom is trembling hands reaching out across a seemingly endless chasm only to realize it’s really not that big at all. And when I think of love for it, I think of all this. How it is a network of connections waiting to be made and an endless fountain of creativity waiting to burst forth. And all you have to do is pick up a pen, a paint brush, a keyboard, whatever you want, and reach out—

Love is stored in the distressed emoji reactions from my friends when they realize I chose That One Prompt, even as they vibrate in excitement because I am finally, properly joining them in their fun.

Comments

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Well said.

Fandom is ... what we create to fill the gap between what has been and what could be, and gaps between each other.

Re: Yay!

[ravensilversea]

Exactly! :D

[lightbird]

This is such a great post!

[ravensilversea]

Thank you! ^-^

[soricel]

I really love this sentiment: "I find love stored in the stick figures and first baby steps of an artist just as much as it is stored in their masterworks."

[ravensilversea]

It's about the love art is made with, and the joy it sparks!! That particular line was inspired by Fanart Frenzy, which is an event I helped organize. We were literally telling people that even if all they could draw were stick figures, they could participate. And to me, that's important because fandom is for everyone, and if fandom is for everyone then not only must it be open to beginners, we have to welcome and encourage them.

[soricel]

i love that! especially since i'm still very much a beginner when it comes to writing fic, and even more to recording podfic. this kind of encouraging, welcoming energy is very...well, encouraging! :D

[ravensilversea]

We all have to start somewhere! :D The podfic community in particular has a lot of resources to help you get started (it actually makes me tempted to try recording some podfic myself tbh). If you haven't stumbled across them already, you might like Azdaema Pods' A Newbie's Guide to Podficcing and this Podfic Resource Site

[mekare]

Wonderfully put.

[ravensilversea]

Thank you!

[scribblemoose]

"Fandom is trembling hands reaching out across a seemingly endless chasm only to realize it’s really not that big at all."

- This, exactly!

[ravensilversea]

The way I have realized all I had to do to become friends with some of my favorite writers was to show up in their spaces and talk to them XD

[fairyniamh]

Very well said. Thank you.

[ravensilversea]

Thank you! :D

[author_by_night]

This is gorgeous.

[ravensilversea]

Aw thanks <3

[nightfalltwen]

Lovely <3

[ravensilversea]

Thank you! <3

[pattrose]

This was wonderfully written. I read it twice.

[ravensilversea]

Ngl, this made me laugh a bit (positive). I'm glad you liked it so much! ^-^

[dustbunny105]

This is so beautifully written!

[ravensilversea]

Thank you!

[teagan_starfarer]

What a lovely description of fandom! Thank you for sharing.

[ravensilversea]

Of course! Glad you enjoyed it :D

[svgurl]

Fandom is trembling hands reaching out across a seemingly endless chasm only to realize it’s really not that big at all.
Wow, what a lovely way to phrase that and so accurate too. This whole post is a beautiful tribute to what fandom is and what it means. :)

[ravensilversea]

Thank you! It really is about taking that chance and reaching out to someone because sometimes that's all it takes to turn the Cool Writer™ into a friend <3