"Rec me a fandom" meme
Jun. 26th, 2023 18:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
superborbAfter some thought, what I'm really looking for right now is a not a canon for which to feel fannish about, but the community around a fandom. I have no idea if going about things in this direction is reasonable or will work! But I've never tried it before and maybe it will work for other people too! (Or maybe no one has a fandom to rec in this way.)
(Note if the answer is tumblr, please provide guidance on tags to follow and use.)
Signal boost on: tumblr, twitter, mastodon
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* REC ME A FANDOM *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
You may define a community any way you like here, but I'm kind of envisioning... in the lines of ship_manifesto but much smaller in scale? In other words, some words about what the canon is about and why it's awesome, (optionally fic recs,) and most importantly, where people hang out. (Note if the answer is tumblr, please provide guidance on tags to follow and use.)
Signal boost on: tumblr, twitter, mastodon
no subject
Date: 2023-06-26 22:43 (UTC)Nirvana in Fire is a story of revenge and political manipulation, nominally set during China's Liang dynasty. Our main character's whole family dies as traitors as a result of betrayal, and he has come back to clear their names!
A three fic sampler:
apples in the trees, by lastwingedthing https://archiveofourown.org/works/16211501: Gong Yu centric fic where she joins Nihuang's army after the events of the show
Handfast, by emilyenrose https://archiveofourown.org/works/13747836: Nihuang finagles an arranged marriage to Mei Changsu
lift your head up in the wind, by Katharos https://archiveofourown.org/works/10360008: Xinliu and Xinyang backstory
Bonus vid! Легенда о волшебной вуали, by LANGYA_Ink https://archiveofourown.org/works/29218929: Excellent use of footage from the actors' other shows!
This fandom's heyday was probably a few years back at this point, but there's an annual exchange, and I find the Discord https://discord.gg/f8jjCjyK to be a welcoming and active place. (Last year, spinning off that discord, I ran a book club where we read the original novel in its entirety!)
no subject
Date: 2023-06-28 06:02 (UTC)There's also a Dreamwidth comm
Motorcity
Date: 2023-06-27 03:04 (UTC)Why is it awesome? This is one of those fandoms you get into for the fan content, not the other way around. Motorcity's a light, simplistic children's cartoon, albeit one with great animation; the fandom took its basic building blocks and ran queer, kinky and wild with it, creating epic AUs, filling in an incredible amount of worldbuilding, mining the characters' barely-supplied backstories for fantastic angst, and putting tons of focus on the wonderful found family/polyship between its group of teen rebels. I got into it through its fic, and I think you could easily join in without ever watching the show.
A three-fic sampler:
Werewolves of Detroit: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8365426
An AU where supernatural creatures are forced into surgeries to conform in Deluxe.
Save a Horse, Ride a Dragon: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221082/chapters/27760704
A fantasy AU where the main character, Mike, is desperate to hide the fact that he's a dragon from the mercenary group he leads.
It's About Damn Time To Live It Up: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12455376
Julie, Mike and Chuck are on an undercover mission, which means Julie gets to lead one of her boys around on a leash for the night.
Unfortunately the fandom's not that active anymore, but there's still a trickle of fic and art. You'll want to follow the Motorcity tag on Tumblr, and there's a small Discord called Live Fast, Live Free which you can join with an invite (ping me if you try the show/fic and are interested!)
Re: Motorcity
Date: 2023-06-27 03:05 (UTC)The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Date: 2023-06-27 03:45 (UTC)Why is it awesome? SVSSS's fandom is goofy, welcoming and remarkably drama-free for its size, unlike the fandoms for the author's other two books. The fic runs dark, comedic or shamelessly smutty, with the benefit of canonically taking place in a world written by a lazy author and specifically designed for smut. You can add any ridiculous trope you want without justification (or doing a ton of research, unless that's your thing).
A three fic sampler:
I Wish You Were My Husband: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17568758/chapters/41405300
A sprawling AU in which the novel Shen Yuan transmigrates into is a tragic harem danmei instead. Does not require knowledge of the original.
I (immortal, M) think I might be developing feelings for my roommate (27M). Help!!!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26467660
In a world where everything is exactly the same except Reddit exists, Shen Qingqiu posts to ask for help with a relationship problem.
acquiesce: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35090440
The original Luo Binghe tries to fit his own Shen Qingqiu into the mould of the one he found in the other world.
Where do people hang out? You should be able to find fans on your preferred social media site, but it's especially popular on Twitter (where you can follow #SVSSS or just branch out from your favourite fic authors). There are also tons of Discords, including ship-specific ones, but I'll put in a good word for the delightfully horny and lively Scum Villain's Self-Saving Server. There's also an actual web forum made by a BNF that's fun if you like to kick it oldschool.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-27 13:05 (UTC)The Silmarillion
Date: 2023-06-27 21:18 (UTC)Allow me to pitch you the Silmarillion fandom! The Silmarillion is for if you liked -- or alternately hated but were compelled by -- the Lord of the Rings and want more of the wild mythology, more women, and a more active fandom presence. There's a little bit of something for everyone, whether you like rare '&' gen, a classic slash juggernaut, shitposts, star-crossed lovers of multiple varieties, femslash monsters, or just a large sandbox to play in. I love it for the fact that it contains multitudes, and you can take and leave those multitudes almost whatever way you like. The fandom is pleasantly medium-sized.
Fan-humor-style primer | Primer as fic
Four-fic sampler:
A stepping-stone from LOTR to the Silm: the sky to talk about and the earth to lie upon by
Great entry point for orienting, also a good take on one of the juggernauts: These Gifts That You Have Given Me by
Exemplary gen, and a cool take on the instigating characters: The Last Spring by
Meta-fannish character studies, something I think this fandom is particularly good at: woman into bird by
Places for community:
Dreamwidth: me! also the community
Tumblr: I've been off tumblr since 2017, so I'm not super up-to-date, but my favorite author
Discord: I enjoy the community at the Silmarillion Writer's Guild Discord server, particularly for its (IME) even-handed and active moderation that keeps things civil. One does not have to be a member of the SWG to participate. It also hosts discussions of LOTR, Rings of Power, and other Tolkien fandoms. Here's an invite.
Re: The Silmarillion
Date: 2023-07-02 13:20 (UTC)