tag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635narya_flamenarya_flamenarya_flame2025-08-30T11:53:57Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:103043Carry On The Story: Innumerable Stars 20252025-08-24T16:00:29Z2025-08-30T11:53:57Zpublic0<strong> 24/08/25 - This letter is a WIP. I will continue to update it throughout signups.</strong><br /><br /><br />***<br /><br /><br />Dear IS creator,<br /><br />Hello and thank you so much for making a gift for me! I can’t believe it’s this time of year again and I'm slightly terrified by the speed time is passing, but I am SUPER excited to see what you make. I like lots of canons and characters and all kinds of fanworks so you really can’t go wrong. <br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/103043.html#cutid1">Key Info - DNWs, Summarised Likes, Canon and Character Preferences</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/103043.html#cutid2">Detailed Likes</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /> <br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/103043.html#cutid3">Requests and Prompts by Fandom</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=103043" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:102259Happy new year!2025-01-01T22:20:08Z2025-01-01T22:20:08Zpublic11Wishing you all health and happiness for 2025. <br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=102259" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:101630Tumblr question...2024-11-27T21:34:24Z2024-11-27T21:34:24Zpublic10 Has anyone else noticed an uptick in spam in their inbox?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=101630" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:101092Book Meme2024-11-18T22:00:53Z2024-11-18T22:00:53Zpublic0Swiped from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://independence1776.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://independence1776.dreamwidth.org/'><b>independence1776</b></a></span> .<br /><br /><strong>Last book read:</strong> A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr.<div> </div><div><strong>Currently reading:</strong> The Loki Variations by Karl Johnson.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Most recently added to read:</strong> The White Goddess by Robert Graves.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Most anticipated read:</strong> I have a handful of "old faithful" winter reads that I rotate through every few years. I always look forward to coming back to them with new eyes and seeing what they reveal to me this time. This year, the first on my list is Jane Eyre.</div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=101092" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:100272The Fear of the Beautiful Fay: Trick Or Treat 20242024-09-14T06:51:13Z2025-08-24T16:06:16Zpublic0<strong>NB - this letter is a WIP. I am behind schedule finishing it and may not have chance before 25th Sept. If you're making an early start then do not panic because I promise I will love whatever you make as long as you avoid my DNWs <3 if you are so inclined, you're welcome to browse my old letters for inspiration, but please don't feel obliged!!</strong><br /><br />*<br /><br />Hello, dear Trick Or Treater!<br /><br />Thank you very much for making me a gift. I haven't themed my requests this year (not that I ever really do, despite best intentions), but I was definitely drawn to tags and canons that play with faery, folklore, and strange worlds that touch our own.<br /><br />I've made my choices with escapism in mind, so please make me something beautiful, magical, fantastical, sweet, bittersweet, mildly creepy, scary-but-hopeful, dark-but-cosy, happy-for-now, tragic-but-cathartic, fluffy, funny, uplifting or comforting. Any rating is fine. Don't feel you have to go out of your way to use my list of likes if they aren't your style or if they don't speak to you (I'm really not picky, they're only there for ideas), and feel free to combine requested fandoms and characters if you're so inspired. Just have fun, and thank you for making me a gift <3<br /><br />DNWs:<br /><br /><div>E-rated art</div><div>Unrequested AU that significantly changes the canon setting (e.g. mundane AU, omegaverse – canon divergence is fine, as is post-canon exploration)</div><div>Pregnant characters/childbirth/babies</div><div>Focus on bodily functions and fluids (blood from injuries is OK but no scat, vomit, etc.)<br />Permanent non-canon death of requested characters<br /><br /> </div>Art Likes:<br /><br /><div>Portraits</div><div>Action shots</div><div>Calligraphy/illumination</div><div>Clothing, jewellery and hair</div><div>Close ups of tiny details like stitching, beading, engraving, etc.</div><div>Focus on a part of the body that isn't the face</div><div>Art as character study</div><div>Comic panels; sets of linked drawings that tell a story</div><div>Depictions of the natural world; tiny characters in vast landscapes</div><div>Facial expressions conveying more than one emotion at once</div><div>Unusual perspectives – through a window, over a gate, down a tunnel, from a distance...</div><div>Experimental styles</div><div>Mixed media</div><div>Limited colour palette; jewel tones; monochrome; monochrome with one colour added</div><div>Beams of light; strangely shaped shadows</div><div>Basically anything that plays with colour, light, shadow, space and movement</div><div>Abstract art </div><div>Craft, collage and sculpture</div><div>Maps, architectural drawings etc.. (tricky for this exchanges as it's character focused, but if you can make it work then great!)</div><div>Tarot or playing cards</div><div>Stained glass window effects</div><div>Marginalia</div><div>In-universe art</div><div>Calligraphy<br /><br />Fic Likes:<br /><br /><div><div>Adventure and peril</div><div>Canon divergence AUs</div><div>Capable/competent characters being casually excellent</div><div>Complex character dynamics</div><div>Conflicting motivations</div><div>Curious characters who just want to know things (even/especially if this has Consequences)</div><div>Fables</div><div>Fairy tale motifs</div><div>Found families/families of choice</div><div>Hope</div><div>In-world myths and legends</div><div>In-world meta / in-universe documents</div><div>Mercy/pity/kindness</div><div>Mysteries and investigations</div><div>Philosophical musings; academic discussions and debates</div><div>Solace</div><div>Unexpected friends/allies/relationships</div><div>Unreliable narrators and quirky narrative structures – for example, epistolary, fragmented narratives, stories told through found documents, framing devices, stories told out of chronological order; playing with canon narrative bias/intent</div><div>Unusual perspectives, minor characters and textual ghosts</div><div>Wry humour; finding something to smile over when times are bleak</div></div></div><br />General Likes:<br /><br /><div>A sense of history and wonder</div><div>Communication and travel between worlds and across time</div><div>Immortal beings in history</div><div>Fic, art etc. inspired by my own fanworks: remixes, based on, set in the same 'verse, using the same plotline, borrowing an OC, podfic recording, etc.</div><div>Food, drink and celebration</div><div>Fusions of science and magic</div><div>Ghosts, hauntings (literal and metaphorical)</div><div>Liminal places; portals; the borders of the numinous</div><div>Myth, folklore and fairy-tale</div><div>Objects and places with special significance</div><div>Original characters</div><div>Setting as character - feel free to take this literally, I love sentient nature and architectural horror</div><div>Shining a light into places canon doesn't show us, or barely touches on – going off the edge of the map</div><div>Suggestion and implication, whether this is hints of backstory, a figure hiding in the shadows, or a slightly ambiguous ending – I love it when my imagination can get to work filling in the gaps</div><div>The supernatural and the uncanny</div><div>Unprompted crossovers between requests</div><div>Witchy, fey and eldritch beings</div><br />Relationship Likes:<br /><br /><div>Ambiguous relationships</div><div>Banter and teasing</div><div>Bedsharing; huddling for warmth</div><div>Characters being utterly fascinated by one another (doesn't have to be romantic; could be admiration of craft/skill, or being impressed by someone's intellect, or something else altogether)</div><div>Developing friendships – especially unlikely friendships</div><div>Emotional reunions after long separations</div><div>Enemies/rivals to lovers/friends</div><div>Fierce loyalty and devotion, to the point of one character doing something incredibly stupid to help or save somebody they love</div><div>Fighting back-to-back<br />First hugs being as important as first kisses</div><div>Forehead kisses</div><div>Grey relationships that don't sit neatly in a box</div><div>Hurt/comfort</div><div>Quiet moments between people who care about each other, especially during or after huge events shaking their world</div><div>Situational relationships – enemies having to work together, or people who wouldn't normally be drawn to each other forming a bond through circumstance</div><div>“The little things” - light brushes with fingertips, smiles across a room...</div><div>Tempestuous, complex or unhealthy relationships (see section on darker stuff)</div><div> </div>Smut Likes:<br /><br /><div>Aftercare</div><div>Banter in bed</div><div>Bathing</div><div>Biting and scratching</div><div>Blood play</div><div>Breath play</div><div>Comfort sex; sex between friends who are just having fun</div><div>Differing experience levels</div><div>Drinking wine in bed together</div><div>Enthusiastic consent</div><div>Gags; blindfolds; light bondage</div><div>Hair brushing/washing/braiding</div><div>Helplessness</div><div>Knifeplay</div><div>Neck kissing; collarbone kissing</div><div>Nipple play</div><div>Orgasm delay/denial</div><div>Piercings</div><div>Pillow talk</div><div>Porn as character study</div><div>Reading erotic literature together</div><div>Sensation play</div><div>Sex exploring power dynamics and/or deeply informed by characters' history together</div><div>Sex in or near water</div><div>Swimming</div><div>“Thank god you're alive” sex; sex after serious injury</div><br />Darker Stuff:<br /><br /><div>Apocalypse</div><div>Apotheosis, consensual or otherwise</div><div>Abandoned places; ruins; haunted houses/objects</div><div>Being trapped in a small dark space, possibly with something terrifying lurking nearby</div><div>Body horror. Especially pretty body horror, like flowers growing out of bodies, or being consumed from the inside by starlight.</div><div>Body modification</div><div>Canon divergence that initially seems like it will fix things but then makes everything worse.</div><div>Dark fairy tale elements</div><div>Dark magic and curses</div><div>Dreams and nightmares bleeding into reality</div><div>Dubious consent</div><div>Folk horror</div><div>Incest</div><div>Malevolent ghosts and hauntings</div><div>Memory loss, or memories being fake/unreliable</div><div>Murder - mysteries; studies of killers; any of it</div><div>Possession</div><div>Resurrection and necromancy</div><div>Ritual and sacrifice</div><div>Seances</div><div>Sentient nature, especially if it loves you and also wants to eat you or drown you</div><div>The road to hell being paved with good intentions</div><div>Torture</div><div>Trauma and survivor's guilt</div><div>Unhealthy relationships/relationships with troubling dynamics, including obsession, jealousy and co-dependency</div><br /><u><em><strong>Fandoms and Prompts</strong></em></u><br /><br />The Adventures of Tom Bombadil<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br /><br />You may ignore my Trick/Treat preferences for extra gifts.<br /><br />Requested Characters:<br /><br />Prompts:<br /><br />The Hobbit<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br />Trick - Art<br />Trick - Fic<br /><br />British Mythology and Folklore<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br />Trick - Art<br />Trick - Fic<br /><br />The Garden of Death<br /><br />Treat - Fic<br />Trick - Fic<br /><br />You may ignore my Art/Fic preferences for extra gifts<br /><br />Mushishi<br /><br />Treat - Art<br /><br />You may ignore my Art/Fic preferences for extra gifts<br />You may ignore my Trick/Treat preferences for extra gifts<br /><br />Queen and the Soldier <br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br />Trick - Art<br />Trick - Fic<br /><br />The Selkie's Wife<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br />Trick - Art<br />Trick - Fic<br /><br />Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù (Heaven Official's Blessing)<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br /><br />Do not ignore my fic/art and trick/treat preferences for extra gifts.<br /><br />Wulf and Eadwacer<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br />Trick - Art<br />Trick - Fic<br /><br />Crossovers<br /><br />Treat - Art<br />Treat - Fic<br /><br />You may ignore my Trick/Treat preferences for extra gifts.<br /><br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=100272" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:100057Innumerable Stars 20242024-08-19T08:14:51Z2024-08-24T16:14:17Zpublic0 <p class="MsoNormal">Dear IS creator,<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Hello and thank you so much for making a gift for me!<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am very easy to please; I like lots of canons and characters (hence the ridiculous number of tags) and I enjoy all types of fanwork – brief character studies; quiet conversations; what-ifs; plotty adventures; horror; romance; smut; portraits; comics; moodboards...I'm happy with anything. I'd be equally thrilled to get something about any of the tags and characters I've selected so please don't read anything into the length of the prompts, or whether I've requested the characters or fandoms for previous exchanges.<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">(NB – all of the requests are for art or fic. If you are kind enough to be contemplating a treat, then any medium is welcome, including podfic, vids, fanmixes, etc..)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/100057.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=100057" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:98693Ask Anything: Answers (6)2024-01-20T14:53:12Z2024-01-20T14:53:12Zpublic7Whoops, I did my classic "go back to work and lose all track of time, comments and posts." I'm sorry <3<br /><br />These were from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://saelind.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://saelind.dreamwidth.org/'><b>saelind</b></a></span> :<br /><br /><div><strong>What is your favorite part of writing?</strong><br /><br />It varies from story to story. Sometimes the initial rush of an idea is incredibly exciting - but then execution turns out to be a slog. Sometimes a piece will just write itself, or so it seems (my most recent example of that was <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/52725136">The Marsh Where the Dead Sleep.</a>). Sometimes I get so completely lost in a story that I forget where I am. Both of those things are thrilling - but, consistently, the thing that delights me is looking back at a first draft. Not because it's always good (it often isn't) but there is a quiet satisfaction in looking back at pages of my own handwriting, knowing that I made a thing.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Favorite vacation spot?</strong><br /><br />Galloway. I've been going for years with university friends. Wigtown with its second hand bookshops; miles of unspoilt (and practically empty) coast; the Isle of Whithorn, with its ruins, and history, and its links to all of the rest of the British Isles. When the light is right you can see five ancient kingdoms - Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Excellent food too - locally caught fish, farmhouse cheeses, salt marsh lamb...oh, and the best place in the UK I've found to really see the stars.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Is a hot dog a sandwich?</strong><br /><br />Not according to the British Sandwich Association, apparently!<br /><br />I feel like some things break free of the basic "thing in bread" definition of a sandwich, and become their own separate category. A hot dog is one. See also burger, fajita, etc..</div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=98693" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:98506Ask Anything: Answers (5)2024-01-08T16:52:19Z2024-01-08T16:52:19Zpublic2These are from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://fiachairecht.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://fiachairecht.dreamwidth.org/'><b>fiachairecht</b></a></span> :<br /><br /><div><strong>1) A character you've wanted to write but haven't yet, and why?</strong><br /><br />So many!!! <br /><br />I have Ideas about Ungoliant that I haven't quite managed to work into anything yet. The main thing stopping me is I need to button down my thoughts on the cosmology and creation myth as presented in the Silm, and what the 'reality' might be. Bits and pieces have crept into my 'verse but it's more hints than anything.<br /><br />There are whole groups that I want to give more time and thought to but haven't made time to do appropriate levels of worldbuilding for. The Éothéod, the Woodsmen of Mirkwood, the Lossoth, the Haradrim...<br /><br />There are characters outside Tolkien I would like to write more of too, mostly from Penny Dreadful and Castlevania.<br /><br />Time, really. It's always time. </div><div> </div><div><strong>2) Favourite coffee/tea/cocktail/beer/etc to order when you go out? (Or feel free to pick several from different categories if one overall is too hard)</strong><br /><br />Ooooh.<br /><br />Coffee - black coffee all the way. Nothing beats a really good espresso, though finding one is a different matter.<br /><br />Tea - I actually really love jasmine tea. I tend not to order breakfast tea out and about because it's never as good as when I make it at home.<br /><br />Cocktail - dirty martini or Aperol spritz, depending on the weather and occasion!<br /><br />Beer - I really love a black IPA, not that you see them that often.<br /><br /><strong>3) Best discovery of 2023?</strong><br /><br />Perthshire!!!<br /><br />I never spent much time there when I was a student; if we were leaving St Andrews we would go further afield, rather than just heading across the Tay. But we went for a short break there this autumn - completely by accident, actually The place we were supposed to go to, up in the Highlands, had flooded, so we had to scramble last minute to find somewhere - anywhere - that would let us bring the dog. It was wonderfully quiet, the hills are amazing, we <a href="https://lindoresabbeydistillery.com/our-story/">visited a distillery we hadn't been to</a>, found some gorgeous farm shops...it was perfect, exactly what we needed.</div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=98506" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:98224Ask Anything: Answers (4)2024-01-07T17:01:09Z2024-01-07T17:01:09Zpublic16More responses from <a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/97271.html">this post.</a><br /><br />First, from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://pattrose.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://pattrose.dreamwidth.org/'><b>pattrose</b></a></span> :<br /><br /><strong>What is your favorite fandom and why?</strong><br /><br />Tolkien. Always has been, really, and I don't see it changing at this point. It's had a grip on me ever since I was tiny, and I first saw the Bakshi cartoon. That little film, weird as it was, grabbed at something inside me that nothing else since has been able to reach, and it hasn't let go. There's <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/naryaflame/705683354875543552/inklings-challengethe-value-of-the-myth-is-that?source=share">this quote</a> by CS Lewis, which explains some of it, but those words could equally apply to Narnia, Doctor Who, and plenty of other fantasy/scifi canons. While I like - love! - lots of other books, films and shows, nothing else has had quite the same effect on me.<br /><br />With Tolkien, I think - though I certainly wouldn't have had the words for it as a kid - the appeal is that the whole thing is primarily about grief, and loss, and the consolation and the very specific kind of hope that grows out of that. It was the idea of accepting that there are things in the world beyond our control, that you will lose things (friends; places; ways of life; the natural world itself) despite your best efforts, that everything won't necessarily be OK, but that you keep on in spite of that, and do what you can to make things better. You grieve for what's gone, and then you walk on as best you can, because it's the only thing to do.<br /><br />From <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://grundyscribbling.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://grundyscribbling.dreamwidth.org/'><b>grundyscribbling</b></a></span> :<br /><br /><strong>Favorite characters?</strong><br /><br />Maglor is the easy one! He's had a grip on my imagination since I first read the Silmarillion, when he wandered out of known canon and into the realm of fair imaginary game.<br /><br />I love lots of characters, though. Most First Age Elves. The Hobbits. Weird cryptids like Old Man Willow and Tom Bombadil. Characters that only get a brief mention in an appendix somewhere, but it's so tantalising (Eärnur! Faramir son of Ondoher! Malbeth the Seer!) Characters that are just echoes of possibility, like the Lady of the Blue Brooch. <br /><br />Beyond Tolkien, I love Amy March, Sydney Carton, Alucard and Hector from the Netflix Castlevania show, the Eleventh Doctor, Vanessa Ives (actually basically all the Penny Dreadful characters), Lady Mary Crawley, Charlotte Lucas, Spike from Cowboy Bebop...the complicated ones, the ones whose choices we don't always agree with, but nonetheless those choices feel true to them and what life has done to them.<br /><br /><strong>And how are your pets doing?</strong><br /><br />Mostly pretty good!<br /><br />Balto seems to be out the other side of his stroppy teenage shepherd phase and is back to being (mostly) a total delight. He's so much fun to train and work with - desperate to please, super smart, so loyal. He can still be spooky with people he doesn't know but that's fine. I don't love everyone the first time I meet them either. <br /><br />Kaspar is his usual chaotic-mischievous self. He's getting a little stiff; he's 8 now, so into the senior years for his breed. We're taking him to a new vet soon who offers hydrotherapy, so we'll see how he goes on with that.<br /><br />The bunnies - we lost our oldest boy, Quill, just before Christmas. His best pal Layla, our gorgeous Belgian Hare doe, promptly fell out in lumps with Thena, the other doe she was sharing with. So now we have Layla temporarily by herself, Thena and Loki (siblings, black Dutch x Conti) together, and Peggy (mini lop) Happy (Angora x lop) and Misty (chinchilla rex) in the big aviary and run. I think Thena got jealous, having to share her brother with another doe, so now we're trying play dates for the trio and Layla to see if we might be able to bond them into a quad. I'm not super keen to go for one big group again as Thena's health is a little precarious (another reason why she can be rather grumpy) and our vet won't board more than 4 rabbits in a group, so if she needs to go in overnight for anything, we'd have to split the group up and then start the bonding all over.<br /><br />If we really can't get Layla to take to the trio then we will look at rehoming another bun to bond with her, but I would prefer it if we didn't have to go that route. We never planned to have seven rabbits in the first place. It just sort of...happened.<br /><br />We also have a small aquarium now, home to a betta named Curufin and a snail named Brian. And we almost ended up rehoming a gerbil recently, but decided against it. Kaspar just about copes with the rabbits, but something that to all intents and purposes looks like it should be his dinner would, I think, be challenging to manage.<br /><br />From <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://hhimring.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://hhimring.dreamwidth.org/'><b>hhimring</b></a></span> :<br /><br /><strong>Maybe talk a little bit about Hidden Paths?</strong><br /><br /><3<br /><br /><a href="https://hidden-paths.dreamwidth.org/">Hidden Paths</a> is an annual event that I run to celebrate the smaller (i.e. non-Middle-earth) Tolkien canons. It's deliberately low key; I post two sets of optional prompts during the event, but creators are welcome to make anything they like, as long as one of the small Tolkien canons plays a significant role. <br /><br />I started running it last year, mostly because I've wanted an event dedicated to the smaller Tolkien canons for some time. Plenty of other events allow and even encourage content for these canons, but matching on them is challenging. I didn't want to run the event as an exchange because I didn't want people to feel pressured and nor did I want to give myself a heap of admin work, hence the loose format and lack of minimum requirements for the event. <br /><br />The Tumblr promo post this year has been reblogged much more than last year, so fingers crossed for plenty new fanworks. In the meantime, the AO3 collection (which is always open) is <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Hidden_Paths/profile">here</a> if anyone wants to browse or add something.<br /><br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=98224" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:97704Ask Anything: Answers (2)2024-01-07T10:34:16Z2024-01-07T11:00:11Zpublic2 #2 of responses to comments on <a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/97271.html">this post</a>!<br /><br />This one was from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://spiced-wine.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://spiced-wine.dreamwidth.org/'><b>spiced_wine</b></a></span> :<br /><br /><strong>How did the (OC) characters in ‘Paradox’ come into your writing mind? Gradually, or did they just ‘appear’ on the scene acting in their roles and speaking their lines? (so to speak).</strong><br /><br />So I wanted to write Paradox almost ten years sooner than I actually did. I'm glad I waited because the concept needed a bit more weight than I'd have been able to give it when I first had the idea.<br /><br />Claire was, for some reason, originally called Catriona and she was Irish. In the very early drafts I think she lived with other postgraduates, but they never really came to life as characters. I think in the earliest days she may even have been related to Tolkien, but I canned that fairly quickly; I'm not sure it even made it into a draft. <br /><br />When I started writing it "properly", she began to speak and behave rather like one of my friends from secondary school, although I didn't deliberately set out to recreate that. There are bits of my own experience in the mix as well; that's hardly a secret. She also, on occasion, behaves a bit like my husband, which I didn't realise until quite recently. Anyway it was silly continuing to force her into a persona that made her <em>feel</em> like a made-up character, so I let her be who she was telling me she was. Once I had her voice and personality nailed, the rest of it was easy.<br /><br />The first housemate on the scene was Theo. I knew a lot of Theo types at university and in my early years at work, many with a lot of wasted potential, one of whom is sadly now dead (he overdosed). I suppose Theo was a composite of all of them, and a fictional means of exorcising some ghosts. <br /><br />I couldn't work out, though, why Claire would live with someone like that, unless there was some sort of pre-existing connection - hence, Harrison, who wasn't really meant to be much more than a side character and a sounding board for Claire. He developed XD<br /><br />Rosie - I don't quite remember. I think I wanted another female character, and she seemed to "fit" with the group. People wonder how like Claire I am, sometimes, but the truth is at twenty I was far more like Rosie, despite studying a different discipline!<br /><br />Luc turned up partway through the story, uninvited, and refused to leave. <br /><br /><br type="_moz" /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=97704" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:97374Ask Anything: Answers (1)2024-01-06T12:01:05Z2024-01-06T12:01:05Zpublic6These were from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://spiced-wine.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://spiced-wine.dreamwidth.org/'><b>spiced_wine</b></a></span> - I'll come back to the others in batches!<br /><br /><div><strong>How old were you when you first read Tolkien?</strong><br /><br />Encountered - tiny! My uncle showed us the Bakshi cartoon one night when he was babysitting for us, back in the early 90s, and that was it, I was hooked. My favourite part was where Frodo got stabbed - make of that what you will.<br /><br />Read - seven or eight when I read Fellowship for the first time. My uncle (same one!) bought me the trilogy as a late birthday present to keep me quiet on a long car trip to Cornwall. I think I read The Two Towers and possibly RotK the same summer, as I remember asking lots of questions about Shelob, and worrying about finding her down a Cornish mine shaft. </div><div> </div><div><strong>What was your first fanfic?</strong><br /><br />Published - <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/31777831">this one.</a> <br /><br />A lot of the stories I wrote growing up were basically fanfic, though - not that I knew what it was back then! I remember one about a girl named Ethel going off to an academy for witches, which owed far more to Jill Murphy's Worst Witch series than it did to Harry Potter. I'm not even sure Harry Potter had come out at that point. <br /><br />I also had an English teacher whose favourite creative writing exercise was getting us to write from the POV of one of the characters in a book we were studying, or encouraging us to write what was effectively canon divergence fic - what might have happened if the friar had refused to marry Romeo and Juliet, that sort of thing. And I wrote a gothic romance when I was thirteen/fourteen that was a thinly veiled crossover between Flambards and Jane Eyre.</div><div> </div><div><strong>What was the first fanfic you read?</strong><br /><br />I used to read a lot of Harry Potter fanfic when I was at school. When we were waiting for my Mum to finish up I would obsessively scour the JK Rowling website to find clues or announcements about the next book (I feel like I shouldn't need to say this but just in case it's necessary, this was literally decades before her views on the trans community emerged). She had links to some of the more popular fan sites on there, I think, and that was my gateway drug.<br /><br />I didn't go looking for Tolkien fanfic until I was into sixth form and procrastinating when I should have been studying! <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/10082/chapters/12817">Dark Prince</a> was the first one I remember reading; it may not have been the very first, but it was the first one that stuck. I also read Adora's tenth walker series, which I don't think she ever finished, and, a little later, Pink Siamese's <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/219118/chapters/329701">A Dawn of Many Colours</a>, which gave me the multiverse bug!</div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=97374" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:97271Back on my DIY Snowflake bullshit.2024-01-05T21:20:39Z2024-01-05T21:21:25Zpublic7Stealing this idea from <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://fiachairecht.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://fiachairecht.dreamwidth.org/'><b>fiachairecht</b></a></span> - ask me anything. Stuff about my writing, my characters, my wips, favourite canons, favourite anythings, my pets, the state of fandom, life in general, whatever you fancy. No politics please but anything else is fair game.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=97271" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:96936A Gentle Note of Caution2024-01-05T07:37:52Z2024-01-05T07:37:52Zpublic12Tis the season for making fannish friends and exploring new journals and communities, via the Snowflake challenge and through other means. Wonderful! I've met some amazing people this way, and continue to do so.<br /><br /> However, the anonymity of the internet does unfortunately afford protection to the small minority of folks who are not quite as they seem. I'd encourage anyone reading this and happily engaging with new acquaintances to have a look at <a href="https://elwinfortuna.dreamwidth.org/614036.html#cutid1">this post</a> by <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://elwinfortuna.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://elwinfortuna.dreamwidth.org/'><b>elwinfortuna</b></a></span> . Neither Elwin's post nor this one are intended as scaremongering, but - once bitten, several times shy. Trust your instincts and take care out there, gang.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=96936" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:96715Fandom Snowflake 2024: Day 22024-01-03T10:13:33Z2024-01-03T10:13:33Zpublic25<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/WR86Fx9.jpg" alt="Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of igloo and northern lights. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31." width="300" /></a></div><br /><strong><br><br /><br /><br type="_moz" /></br><div>Challenge #2</div></strong><div> </div><div><strong><br /></strong></div><div><strong>In your own space, set yourself some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.</strong><br /><br />I am setting precisely one goal this year. There are lots of other things I intend to do, but my "north star", if you like, is being enrolled in a Creative Writing masters by the autumn of this year. <br /><br />Obviously this is contingent on being accepted, but I would hope somewhere will want me. Or at least want my money...</div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=96715" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:96319Hidden Paths 20242024-01-02T11:58:57Z2024-01-02T11:58:57Zpublic0Just a heads up to any small canon fans that I will be running Hidden Paths again this year, same dates as previously - 14<sup>th</sup> -28<sup>th</sup> Feb. Links below!<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none"><a href="https://hidden-paths.dreamwidth.org/"> Dreamwidth</a><br /><a href="https://www.tumblr.com/take-the-hidden-paths"> Tumblr</a><br /><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Hidden_Paths"> AO3</a></p> <p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none">I am also looking for help with writing promo posts for the small canons – similar to the ones Elwin and Grundy co-ordinated for Innumerable Stars last year. More info on that <a href="https://hidden-paths.dreamwidth.org/1983.html">here.</a></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=96319" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:96051Fandom Snowflake 2024: Day 12024-01-01T17:56:01Z2024-01-03T10:07:00Zpublic6<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/lPhDeM2.jpg" alt="Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of metallic snowflake and ornaments. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31." width="300" /></a></div><br />I am back to doing the official Snowflake prompts this year, after choosing to do a DIY version last time. <br /><br /><strong>Challenge #1: In your own space, update your fandom information.</strong> <br /><br />My <a href="https://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/user/279">SWG profile</a> has minimal info in it, as does <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/naryaflame">my Tumblr bio</a>, which is mostly me being lazy. My <a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/37008.html">Dreamwidth sticky</a> and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narya_Flame/profile">AO3</a> profile are slightly more detailed and contain my transformative works policy, which I have reflected on and tweaked.<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=96051" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:95882Happy New Year, folks.2024-01-01T15:38:01Z2024-01-01T15:38:01Zpublic12Wishing you all things peaceful and healing in the months to come.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=95882" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:95555Wouldn't you like to see something strange? - Trick or Treat 20232023-09-16T14:17:16Z2023-09-16T14:19:50Zpublic0Dear Trick or Treater,<br /><br />Hello! I'm so glad you're going to be making something for me and I'm really excited to see whatever it is you have in mind. These are all art requests; please rest assured that I am not at all fussy about styles and I'm bound to love whatever you make, as long as you stay out of my DNWs. As always, don't read anything into the number of characters requested, how long the prompts are, or whether I've asked for a particular fandom before. Don't feel you have to go out of your way to use my likes or suggestions if they aren't your style or if they don't speak to you (I'm really not picky, they're only there for ideas), and feel free to combine requested fandoms and characters if you're so inspired. Just have fun, and thank you for making me a gift <3<br /><br /><div><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/95555.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=95555" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:95460Dipping The Ladle: Innumerable Stars 20232023-08-21T12:33:22Z2023-08-21T13:14:40Zpublic0Dear creator,<br /><br />It's this time of year again and I for one am absolutely delighted. Thank you so much for making a gift for me; I'm so excited to see what you create.<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/95460.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=95460" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:93037Hidden Paths: A Celebration of Smaller Tolkien Canons2023-02-05T13:43:12Z2023-02-05T13:43:12Zpublic7I took a break from writing policies and FAQs for The White Tree by, er, writing more FAQs and creating a new fandom event! <br /><br /><a href="https://hidden-paths.dreamwidth.org/">Hidden Paths</a> is a low-key, prompt-based event for the smaller Tolkien canons - e.g. Roverandom, Farmer Giles of Ham, Sellic Spell etc.. I will post two batches of optional prompts during the event (one batch on Feb 14th and the other on the 21st) but any fanwork based on the smaller Tolkien canons is welcome. Come and join us, and maybe discover a hidden path of your own to explore!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=93037" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:92532"We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones" - GoreSwap Letter 20232023-01-28T23:19:15Z2023-01-29T16:59:55Zpublic0Hello, lovely creator, and thank you for making a gift for me!<br /><br /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/92532.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=92532" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:91898It's ten to five and it's not quite dark...2023-01-22T16:54:33Z2023-01-22T16:54:33Zpublic26 *Does a little giddy dance*<br /><br />The days are getting longer! Not long before I'm not commuting in the pitch black :D<br /><br />(Yes, yes, yes, I chose to move to Scotland and I knew very well what the weather and the daylight hours were like. All I can say is that those long, cool summer nights are worth it!)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=91898" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:91236"And filled with many things..." - Worldbuilding Exchange Letter 20232023-01-21T22:11:27Z2023-01-22T12:39:49Zpublic0 <span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Hello, dear worldbuilder! <br /><br /> I'm so pleased to see this event back after the original mod stepped down. </span><span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Thank you so much for creating a gift for me; I love the concept of this exchange, and I can't wait to see what you come up with.</span><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I've included some prompts below, and a general list of things I love to see in fanworks, but as always, if you're inspired to do something different then please ignore all of this and follow your heart. This is not a shopping list and I would just like my lovely creator to have some fun with whatever we matched on. <br /><br /></span><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p class="western" style="margin: 1em 0px 0cm; color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <u style="background-color: rgb(210, 210, 210);"><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/91236.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div></u></p><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=91236" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:90653Fic: Kindly Meant2023-01-21T14:35:09Z2023-01-21T14:35:09Zpublic4<strong style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Rating:</strong><span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> G</span><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><strong style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Warnings: </strong><span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">None</span><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><strong style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Characters: </strong><span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Olórin; Maglor</span><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><strong style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Word Count:</strong><span style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> 408</span><br style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><strong style="color: rgb(62, 62, 62); font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Summary:</strong><font color="#3e3e3e" face="Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16px;"> Olórin's warning to his friend is kindly meant - but not well received.</span></font><br /><br />Part of the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1281971">Summerland</a> series.<br /><br /><br type="_moz" /><span class="cut-wrapper"><span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"></span><b class="cut-open">( </b><b class="cut-text"><a href="https://narya-flame.dreamwidth.org/90653.html#cutid1">Read more...</a></b><b class="cut-close"> )</b></span><div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"></div><p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", "GNU Unifont", Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: rgb(42, 42, 42);"> </p><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=90653" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2018-02-15:3342635:89640DIY Snowflake: Day 14 - The Rec Challenge2023-01-14T19:34:02Z2023-01-14T19:34:48Zpublic0I am going to cheat a little here, as what I'm going to recommend is not a fanwork in the traditional sense, but I do think it's something to be aware of as we go about our fannish lives. <span style='white-space: nowrap;'><a href='https://elwinfortuna.dreamwidth.org/profile'><img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /></a><a href='https://elwinfortuna.dreamwidth.org/'><b>elwinfortuna</b></a></span> speaks very eloquently on the issue, so I am going to recommend <a href="https://elwinfortuna.dreamwidth.org/614036.html">their essay on identifying and avoiding scammers, grifters and toxic people in fandom.</a><br /><br /><p>As Elwin says, it is important to remember that the majority of people we meet in fandom are exactly what they seem - fellow enthusiasts of something you love. Most people I've met in online spaces are delightful and I'm so glad I know them. Bad actors are few and far between - and it's also important to remember that not everyone you dislike is toxic/abusive/manipulative etc.. Those words, I believe, should be used carefully, or they lose their meaning. Still, just because those individuals are rare does not mean they are not out there.</p><br />Elwin's post is not locked. I am leaving this unlocked too, to maximise visibility. However, comments are off as I'm currently not up for a big public discussion on the subject.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=narya_flame&ditemid=89640" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments