Snowflake Challenge: Day One

[kiki_eng]

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you have created. It can be your favorite fanworks that you've created, or fanworks you feel no one ever saw, or fanworks you say would define you as a creator. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

(I was so excited when today's snowflake_challenge got posted and it was the same as last year's because while this is the first year I've participated I've thought about it in years previous and so had already picked out what I was reccing for this challenge. It's like my previous inability to successfully compile a post has suddenly transmuted itself into preparedness; I'm enjoying that.)

Yuletide Letter and Fannish Excitement
So, I'm reccing my most recent yuletide letter, which is from 2012 because this past year was way too busy for me. yuletide is something that completely delights me; I love that there is this huge exchange for all of these teeny tiny fandoms. I love getting to see all of the different things that people are fannish about, that people want to read about. I love yuletide letters. They are actually one of my favorite bits of yuletide. The first year I did yuletide I feel like I read all the rules and recommendations. I read meta about yuletide letters and then, basically, followed the instructions and ended up with what I later realised was slightly more picture-heavy and detailed and included maybe more links than other letters, and then I did it again next year, basically. I am really into that whole yuletide letter writing thing is what I am saying, here. My yuletide letter is generally one of my favorite fanworks that I'll create in any year; they're just a lot of fun for me.

Meta on Reccing
This might be the fanwork that I am most proud of having created. Posting this was reasonably nerve-wracking because it was one of the more personal entries I'd ever posted and I was making both a general and a very specific critique and was worried about how that was going to be received. It was the first time I'd ever done something like that. It was really good, though; people were awesome and I had some really interesting discussions as a result of it. Reccing is something that I care about a lot and I like that I've created a fanwork that reflects that and lays that out explicitly. I like that this is a fanwork that has resulted in change.

Obedience
I made this rec set for kink_bingo 2012, which was the year that they changed their reccing rule to make the minimum 10 recs OR 500 words. I loved making this rec set and writing it with that focus on kink. It was an incredibly enjoyable experience for me. When I was figuring out what rec set to include in this there were a couple others that I considered but this one was just such a delight to make - it was great. Like every fanwork of mine on this list there's a thing or two that I would do differently were I doing it now, but I am incredibly fond of it in spite of that.

Comments

[glitteryv]

Oh, I totes had to tabinate both your Meta on Reccing post as well as your Obedience rec set. ^_^

[kiki_eng]

I'm glad you found something that looked interesting. :) Thanks for the comment!

[glitteryv]

Your meta on reccing hit me right in the feels. As someone who's an ardent reccer, I love seeing your thought process on what's considered good reccing etiquette, the reasons why recs are fanworks, and the thinkiness behind the entire post. :)

[kiki_eng]

As someone who's an ardent reccer
Your default icon is basically the most familiar to me because of that - so familiar that I didn't even put that together or think anything of it until you mentioned it. Apparently your icon's just part of what dreamwidth looks like for me. [I love fancake (and it's large portion of bandom recs) though I don't post that frequently.]

What do you mean by good etiquette?

[glitteryv]

LOL LOL LOL! I kinda went into hardcore!reccing mode during fancake's first year. Though, let's face it: there's a LOT of material to rec in Bandom. \o?

I'm not sure if I used the right word, but my reference to "good reccing etiquette" was about the act of re-reccing.

OTOH, the different opinions on a particular fanwork can be interesting. Maybe what worked for one person was something that another person didn't really care about, etc.

That said, I'm somewhat frustrated when I see people reccing the same fanworks time and time again. Mostly because those fanworks tend to be classics in their fandoms already so there's little to no chance that people in those fandoms will overlook them.

In addition, I sometimes feel that, by reccing the "big" fanworks, some people will avoid reccing lesser-known fanworks. There's a propensity for this to happen in medium-to-large fandoms. YMMV.

In the end, I'm not the Fandom police (nor would I want to be). I do wish people would be more "adventurous" (defined as reccing lesser-known fanworks) in their recs.

[kiki_eng]

There is a lot of material to rec in bandom; it's awesome. :)

I wondered if you meant re-reccing but I was also going crap - was there a discussion about this in the comments that I've forgotten about? because there's also reccing friends and anti-recs and things.

I do feel like there are stories that are pretty well-known that have gotten a lot of traffic already that aren't going to feel a rec in the way that others are, maybe? But, IDK, maybe recs are part of how those classics get made? A bunch of people going, hey, have you read this thing? It is awesomesauce. I'm sort of a fan of shared experiences, so I like that. I am also at times wildly oblivious or stubborn or whatever and haven't read that popular thing that I, too, would really enjoy. ...and then there is being new to fandom or maybe a fandom and stumbling into things through recs.

There are also a lot of fantastic things that don't get the attention they deserve, though, [LOOK, IT IS TODAY'S SNOWFLAKE CHALLENGE. :)] that maybe don't have that kind of mass appeal but are still really excellent fics or are maybe sitting in some less frequented corner of fandom. Most of the fannish content I consume is m/m fic and that's also true of most of the people in the fannish community I hang out in, I think, and it feels like things that aren't both m/m and fic see less traffic. Probably I am going to end up reccing f/f or gen or vids today because WHY DON'T MORE PEOPLE CONSUME THESE THINGS THEY ARE AWESOME.

I am a fan of all the recs, basically - reccing well known things and less known things. (Encourage all the things.) We should become more adventurous is a fic title, and a rilo kiley lyric, but yeah, I feel that, with the reccing thing sometimes and in general, because it's really easy not to be adventurous and what you're reccing is what you are consuming, you know, and I have pretty strong feelings about that last capslocked clause because there are so many awesome things and, I don't know, I feel like it's easy to fall into a pattern and a comfort zone and that you miss things that way.

[musyc]

Your reccing meta was faboo. I was recently wrestling with the recs comm I've started (mostly for myself because I also Delete All The Bookmarks), as to whether my tags were nonsensical and pointless. But reading your essay is lending me to think about it some more, and I am currently leaning toward continuing to tag as started. I mean, "theme: choice" or "theme: obsession" may not say much in and of themselves, but they say why I remember a fic well enough to want to be able to find it again.

[kiki_eng]

Thanks.

I mean, "theme: choice" or "theme: obsession" may not say much in and of themselves, but they say why I remember a fic well enough to want to be able to find it again.
*nods* Trope/kink/theme labeling is amazing and I love it. Those are tags I look at a lot on social bookmarking sites and also make my life way easier when I want to find anything specific in my own bookmarks.