Alex's This and That

Day 15

In your own space, create your own challenge. What’s something you want to see more people doing in fandom? Is there something fun you’ve tried that you think other people would enjoy if they gave it a go? Dare your friends to try it out, and have fun with it. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Writers - go out there and do challenges - Big Bangs, Yuletide, and so on. Learn to write things out of your comfort zone by doing whatever the challenge tells you to do. Find new fandoms to dabble in as well. Sometimes a new fandom will reignite your passion to write and bring you back to your favorite fandom again.

To Tolkien fans, get busy. Write, promote, comment... work to keep the fandom alive. Don't lament the days when there were hundreds of stories posted on a given site in a week. Write one story and make it count instead. Urge others to read Tolkien. Urge them to watch Jackson's films. Debate them, argue them, write about them!

To all of fandom - be kind to one another. One fandom is not better than another. Not every one has the same ability to (insert activity here) that you may have but they still love their fandom and should be encouraged to participate. Don't put down other fans and other fandoms. Period!

Most of all - HAVE FUN!

Day 13-
In your own space, talk about a creator. Show us why you think they are amazing. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Ack! I had a half a page written and it went poof sooo I'm starting over.

My primary fandom is Tolkien. There were once many, many writers and many of them have moved on to other fandoms or to other lives. We do still have some of them around though no one writes as much as they used to.

One writer I enjoyed reading who is no longer anywhere that I know of is Claudielf, who wrote some wonderful humor. You can find his work here: http://elffetish.com/fiction.html.

Then there are all the others: zeedrippyvessel, larienelengasse, jaiden_s, keiliss, aglairen1, silver_trails. talullahred, and the list goes ever on...

And those of old as well: Tyellas, Rundedancer, Kharessa Bloodrose. Cruisedirector, and more thsn I can remember.

Day 11

In your own space, post a rec for fannish and/or creative resources. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Google and Google and Google for one.

In LOTR, the books themselves and then I google certain things which usually leads me to Tolkien Gateway.

In Stargate, I use the DVDs themselves and Gateworld.

In Marvel, I use Marvel Database and the movies and tv shows.

In Sherlock Holmes, there are various wikis and fansites as well as sites dedicated to A.C. Doyle and all of the movies and television shows... so there, I Google. And read the source material itself.

Day 9
In your own space, talk about what surprises you about fandom. It could be a pairing or fandom you never thought you'd like. A fanwork type you never knew existed. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I never knew 'fandom' existed until I tumbled into it rather like Alice into the Looking Glass. There were several surprises that amaze me to this day.

One is not such a good thing. There are many who are your best friend one day then denounce you the next for reasons that they choose to never share with you. This has happened more than once. The only comment I have to those people is that I do make a formidable enemy. You will not see any of those folks around fandom.

This IS a good thing though - real friends. There are so many wonderful people out there who have become my real friends. I met them through fandom and loved them outside it. My best friends in the entire world came from Tolkien. These people have stood by me through sickness and death and many other things and we still are good friends.

Day 7
In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (More than one is okay, too.) Tell us about it, tell us why you love it, give us some examples and recs. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Honestly, I'm not sure what this even means. In reading, it's easier to say what I won't read instead of what I will. I'll read almost anything. But my weakness is heroes. I don't like bad guys and the 'bad boy' thing doesn't appeal to me in the least. I like the good guys. For all their faults and/or perfections, give me the hero every damn time.

Day 5

In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story. How did you come to fandom, why did you choose your fannish name, do you have more than one secret identity? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.


My fannish origin story? Wow... let's see. Somehow I got onto the internet about the time CATS came to video and I thought the Rumtumtugger was cute and somehow, no idea how, found my way to a fangroup at a place called Delphi Forums. I remember my first chat! Anyway, my daughter was about ten and she was writing fanfiction and I named a character Alex and when I joined that forum, I used alexthecat and the name stuck.

I moved to the Babylon 5 fandom after the friendships from the original group imploded. I helped a lovely man named Mike run some groups and then, the LOTR movies came out and I went in search of Orlando Bloom!

I found a group at Yahoo that wrote awful Mary Sue fiction and squeed loudly over 'Orli'. In the meantime, I found slash fiction and wrote Forever Young and posted it to a slash fanfction group I'd found on Yahoo.

I finally tired of the infighting at that group and founded LOTR Adult Fiction, which became the website Of Elves and Men. We are now a multifandom fiction site and we have a Livejournal. We run a Big Bang once a year as well.

I came to Livejournal back when you had to ask someone for a code to get an account. And many years later, I am still here.

My daughter was killed in 2005 at 16 in an auto accident and the people I've met in fandom were wonderful. I got calls and letter, flowers, and a huge outpouring of LOVE from all over the world. I met my two best friends through fandom as well as others whom I have never met face to face but love all the same. Fandom has become family for me.

Day 3

In your own space, talk about your creative process - from what inspires you to what motivates you to how you manage to break through blocks. Does your process change depending on the type of creating you're doing? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Inspiration comes seldom these days. Writing is more an exercise or sometimes even a chore than it was years ago. Fourteen years ago, the words flowed out so quickly that I couldn't manage to stem them. They poured like water. Now they come when I have a specific challenge to write.

My process is simple though. I decide what I want to write, do my research and then I simply begin. Sometimes I have an idea where the plot is going, sometimes not. Sometimes I stay with the idea and sometimes, the characters begin to act almost on their own to drive the story in a certain direction. I cannot explain it any other way. But it works for me.