Snowflake 2021 #2

[jedi_of_urth]

Challenge #2

In your own space (or their own space) interact with someone new. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. No need to leave a link for this one, but if you’d like to invite others to join the conversation, please do leave one.

So I'm getting to this one pretty late, but there are reasons for that. Mostly because I already did some of that in day 1 (and I have a lot of the day 1 thread to go through when I get back in the mood).

I did still want to do something for the day, but I don't know what future days will cover and I don't want to double up too much. The best I idea I've had is to set up a 'come at me bro' unpopular opinions post; but I keep hitting up against the idea that there might be an unpopular opinions day.

But, if someone wanted some of my views from the edges of fandom that might not fit in so well with getting into it, feel free to ask/encourage (I'm most set up to talk about the MCU/Agents of SHIELD and maybe the Arrowverse, but I have other interests too).

Comments

[paulamcg]

Thank you for setting this up and promoting more interaction! I'm afraid I don't know your fandoms. (I'm still hopelessly only in Harry Potter.) But would you happen to have any unpopular opinions about giving feedback on fanworks?

[jedi_of_urth]

This is more my own bad habits on feedback, but I don't really like the feedback system on AO3. I'm not sure why, it's not that different from journal threads, but I feel a lot more self-conscious about leaving comments there than I did in the lj days. And there's a little part of my fandom-aging heart that misses e-mailing authors with feedback, I made a couple pretty good fandom buddies that way back in the day.

I think it probably has something to do with the pace of fandom activity these days; fandom culture in times past seemed a bit more understanding that it might take people time to come across and consume works. I think it ties in with fandom moving to twitter and tumblr where nothing stays in focus very long, and often isn't intended to. I haven't spent a lot of time revising this opinion though.

Or, you know, the fact that the rise of the AO3 era has somewhat tracked with me falling to the fringes of fandom (partly because I won't get into twitter or tumblr), so I feel like I've lost track of how to interact with people over fandom so I'm self-conscious about that.


And on Harry Potter, well how about some quick and dirty less that popular opinions. I'm still Harry/Hermione always. I don't give a damn about the Marauders. I give even less of a damn about JKR's politics.

[mekare]

I am with you on that feeling about AO3. I think it definitely feels like a more public space than a journal. You don‘t necessarily get to know the creators either, as many haven‘t even filled in their profile. Many don’t reply to comments at all (and they aren’t obligated to - this is the main fannish convention that makes things feel so different over there IMO).

The exception are people who make extensive use of the 'notes‘ feature. I always feel like those are more approachable and you can get to know them a little over time. And sometimes I have had conversations in the comments just like on a journal. That is very rare though.

I do like that the kudos feature makes it easier for lurkers and shy people to let me know they enjoyed something.

[jedi_of_urth]

Now that you say it, that's getting close to hitting my issue. In journal form we tend to know a little bit more about the writers/vidders/etc. Even just from how we found the fic could be an opening ("wandering over from...").

As much as AO3 is great for reading on because it's so standardized, not having personal touches like icons makes some difference. It may be why it seems more like a public space that a journal (even in communities); in journals it feels like someone is inviting you to see their work, and that in itself feels more like...there's a person who I'm commenting to about their work instead of something that came from the same source as any other fic out there.

And yeah, author's notes may help that a little with it seeming like a person is on the receiving end of the comments. Tags just don't do it for me the same way (and my feelings on excessive tagging is different line of thought...but maybe connected).

I like kudos in theory, but have some issues using them. They're weirdly not anonymous enough for me, especially going back to old fic. If I feel self-conscious about commenting, I feel weird having my name attached to kudos especially when they'll stand out like that.

I never said my brain made a ton of sense on this.

[bunnyboo]

A random MCU question, but who's your favorite female character? I think there's a lot of strong and interesting women so it's hard to choose for me. Maybe Mantis? I like the idea of a playful, naive empath.

[jedi_of_urth]

Hmm, somehow I missed this comment.

If we're going all of the MCU, Melinda May. I pretty much clocked her as a probable favorite from the first AoS episode then had that confirmed before long, and I didn't waver on it much.

If we're sticking to movie level canon...this is a harder question than I thought. I think it might end up being Wanda after we get into her a little bit more, but it isn't her at this point. Do I really think it's Natasha, or is that just because she's had the most screen time? Am I cheating to say Peggy if most of what I love her for is the show rather than the movies?

I'm still going to cheat and say it's Gamora and Nebula as a pair. They are both interesting on their own and could be in contention, but because they're so connected, I'm going to say them as a pair puts them on top.

[bunnyboo]

Oh, good choices. I do like Gamora and Nebula, but really only as a pair. I find their character development and relationship interesting.