Fail and and Fic and Footwear

[yuuago]

I'm sorry I've been so antisocial lately. I haven't really been in any mood to keep with people. I mean, I've been reading my FList of course, but commenting... not so much. In some cases, I'm rather tempted to just send letters, especially since there are some people who don't update much, but who I'm still very fond of. Gods know I have a big roll of International stamps just for that. On the other hand, it's hard to think of things to say, because I haven't been up to much recently.

Today I intended to go to physiotherapy but, er, ran into a few problems. Well, more like one big problem, that being - I, er, couldn't find the place. Honestly, I don't know what is with me. I'm completely unable to find places! And I neglected to print out a map, and I couldn't snag a connection to access googlemaps on my itouch, so after wandering around in the cold for about an hour I decided to just go home. Oh, me.

On the other hand! I did manage to get down to the bank to deposit a government cheque (I get them from time to time... I honestly can't remember why, though. Haha). So, that's another 60-something dollars toward travel. Not bad, not bad at all. I already have a good chunk, and my new-year goal is to have saved another $500 by May, so I think I'm definitely on my way.


I was talking with a friend today about the state of the main comm. Now, various things might be said about that. Some people are in despair about it, other people aren't. As for me, I mostly just wish there was more stuff to my taste up there. But anyway, said friend came up with a suggestion: We should pick a day, and then a bunch of us can bomb the comm with our fanwork. A Molotov cocktail of fanfic and dreams, hah! (Well, maybe not quite)

I really like this idea, so I'm going to be conspiring with Dei a bit more. But hmm, what to post, that's the rub. I really have no idea. Because of the problems with my wrist, I haven't been writing anything new. I do have a backlog of old things that I could post, though. "Bide Thee, Night" would be a good one for it, though I was considering posting that to Kalmar instead (it isn't often that I write Nordic/Nordic pairings, so I was going to take that chance...). "Hush" would be good for a little something different, but even though I still like parts of it, it's... old. And it shows. Ideally, I would have "Small Hours" ready and edited, because that story is supposed to take place in February - but I don't think I'll be finished revamping that one in time. There is also "Palimpsest", which is at this point unfinished, and it has given me so much trouble, and I'm not sure if it would really be appropriate for this project because it's both an unusual form and a popular pairing. Siiiiiigh.



I wish I could write something completely new. Something non-pairing, maybe. But I can't. *facedesk* I am going to be so happy when my wrist is better. Good gods, this sucks! I feel like I can't do anything at all. I can't write, I can't draw, I can't knit, I just --- arrrrgh. I shouldn't even be typing, really. Oh, well.

On a lighter - and completely unrelated - note, I walk past the shoe store every time I step off the bus upon returning to Broadway, and find myself drooling over a gorgeous pair of black mukluks. Must resist temptation. But they're so gorgeous, and they're soled for outside wear, and it would be nice to have some "boots" that are high enough to tuck my jeans into to prevent drafts, and I've always wanted a pair of mukluks. But gahhhh are they ever expensive. Even on sale, they're expensive. Sucks!

Comments

[noonish.livejournal.com]

Uhhhhh you should write a fic where Finland falls asleep in IKEA. It would be adorable.

[yuuago]

Eee, it would <3

Though you know, I've never been to Ikea. Hmmmmm.

[amygirl.livejournal.com]

Did something happen on the main Hetalia com? I'm a member of it but don't actually have it on any of my filters because it kills my flist. I follow the daily community but I'm several weeks behind. I mainly just keep track of the coms for my ships since everything is usually double posted and spend the rest of my time on the kink_meme...

[yuuago]

Well, not really anything in particular has happened. Nothing that can be directly pointed at and said "Yes, this is a problem". It's a bunch of different things, really. Some people are frustrated with the re-hashing of old discussion, other people are despairing at the quality of the fanwork being posted.

This is especially in comparison to what the main comm was like at this time last year. It seemed somehow that the quality of fanwork was higher - though I think that's only because there was a smaller volume of stuff being posted, and a lot of people now seem to be looking back on it all too nostalgically.

Mostly I just wish people would learn to self-filter (if one can say "I spent five minutes on this and it sucks" then, uh, it probably shouldn't be posted). But anyway - Regardless of what exactly is going on there, every day at the anonmeme there's at least one thread headdesking at something going on at the main comm.

So now this idea we have is pretty much, "Well then, if you're frustrated with all that, then post some things that you do like, and that you are proud of and think are good" - because if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. Yes, people can complain, but that certainly won't change anything. (Though this project won't change anything either, most likely. Except the pace of things. For about a day.)

[amygirl.livejournal.com]

Ah yeah I suppose I can't really comment on the quality since I haven't been in the fandom that long and most of what gets posted is far and away better then the stuff being posted in my other fandom at the moment that I'm still reveling in it.

But I like that you're being proactive about it. So often you see people whining and complaining (note that I'm not saying that *you* are doing either of those things) and get all high and mighty about it and then don't do anything about it just act like they expect people to change their ways based one what they are saying (you see this on the kink_meme all the time) when it would be better to actually go out and lead by example. Yes what you guys are planning will only be for a day but you never know it might help a little. And at the very least...you'll feel better because you did something.

[yuuago]

Ah, I see! How long have you been in the fandom, anyway?

Exactly! It's one thing to grumble about it, but that doesn't really get anything done. This goes for real life too of course, but in relation to the fandom, it's so big and there's so much stuff. Yet, at the same time, a lot of it is focused on certain areas. So if a person wants something to their tastes, waiting doesn't do much, but if one leads by example... sometimes stuff happens. Maybe other stuff won't get written, but sometimes action like this gets other people interested in something new (For example I've heard people say more than once that my fics made them like Estonia, which was very encouraging because he's so unpopular)

Anyway, at the very least, it'll be an interesting experiment!

[amygirl.livejournal.com]

I believe it was either the beginning of July or the end of it. I'm not sure of the exact date but sometime in July. I was looking through Deviantart for Harry Potter fanart and stumbled upon a USUK picture that was rather yummy decided to check it out further and was hooked almost instantly. I was just in the right spot for a new fandom. I had heard about it before that back in November of 08 after link on metaquotes I believe but I just ended up being confused more then anything and wasn't ready for a new fandom so I left very quickly. This time I think it helped that the anime was around.

So yeah I'm a new fan who because I'm new and only got into the fandom after the anime came out (apparently anyway) is a squeeling fangirl who only likes USUK and will be the ruination of the fandom. *coughs* Yeah I tend to avoid the discussion posts on the main com like the plague. I mean I do love USUK I'm not afraid to admit it's one of my OTP's but it's not the only thing I read and write and enjoy and even if it was there are a lot of good people in that section of the fandom. But to write off people just because they're new...really irritates me.

Exactly I've learned to love a lot of pairings because of really good fanfic/fanart. The most recent example is China/America which I've discovered has a lot of potential when it's done right. Now I feel like being it's champion because it's so excruciatingly rare but I can't write China or draw him so I'm a bit out of luck in that respect.

Poor Estonia...*squishes him*

I think I'm starting to fall back into my habit of adoring pairings almost no one else does. Like America/China, America/Germany (why those two aren't more popular I don't know there's so much real life canon for them) America/Austria, Austria/Italy, Sweden/Denmark, Estonia in general. The list goes on and on and on.

The thing I adore the most about this fandom is the vast amount of different pairings to choose from...there's such variety and I love learning new things along with the good fic/art.

Wow that was probably really long and rambly and not on point at all. Sorry 'bout that. (No one else on my flist is really into Hetalia so I take the chance to talk about it when and where I can... *cough*)

[yuuago]

Oh, okay. So not that short a time, then! I thought you meant like, uber-new, like "been around only since autumn" new, haha.

Anyway, it bothers me quite a bit when people flail and foam at the mouth about new fans. Most of them aren't twits; it's just that the twits are very loud. (And I don't understand why people complain about "omg too much us/uk". Sigh. Yes, there's a lot of it. But it's better to hope for more of the things that you do like)

I have a habit of loving pairings that few other people do as well. It's frustrating, but I guess that's just the way it is! So I try to make up for it by writing and encouraging others, gah. Sometimes it surprises me that there isn't more of some things - like America/China and America/Germany as you said, or other America pairings (he's so easy to match up, I wonder why people don't do unusual matches more often. I like some of it, America/Romano, but there's hardly anything....)

Vast amount of different pairings -- I think that's one of the things I like best too. Well, not just with pairings, but with interaction in general. There's so much potential for different character relationships (and different types of relationships), and it's a lot of fun to explore that, both in work that uses history/culture as a focus or stuff that just has it in the background.


And I don't mind long replies. <3 So no worries about that!

BTW I see you like Swe/De - if you haven't already, try looking through kalmarunionen, you might find something, especially if you aren't too picky about "pairing order". Also I don't know if you've read her stuff before but Picnicbird has written some things with them both, and while I haven't read all of her stuff yet I would say she's one of the better Nordics authors; I have her stuff linked here

[amygirl.livejournal.com]

Short enough though. I definitely lurked for a long time and still consider myself more of a lurker then anything. I do post a bit of fic but for the most part the hardcore historical discussions are kind of intimidating to get into and I don't know the characters enough yet to really dissect them so I just sit on the edges. I'm starting to dip my toes into things a bit more though and actually have a few people I talk to now... *snerks* I'm a big chicken though so...that doesn't help.

Having taken part in the Harry Potter fandom and having people on my flist who are big into SPN and Twilight I can say that even the twits in this fandom are nothing compared to the sanest fan in those fandoms. I honestly haven't even seen that much of them here and can't understand why people are so freaked out and paranoid about it (granted I stay away from discussion posts so maybe I've missed something specific) especially regarding the dub. Coming from middle America I doubt that the dub is going to do that much to bring in these foaming-at-the-mouth fangirls everyone keeps going on about. It doesn't sound like it's going to be on TV and if it isn't well...the mainstream public probably won't even hear about it. It's like calm down guys...it's not the end of the world. Sometimes I wonder if it would be that big a deal if they didn't think that all the new people that came in would be USUK fans...which the vast majority of the most vocal people seem to hate. Eh...fandom never makes much logical sense I guess.

Yeah there should be more America/Romano. Especially given the love of Mafia Romano I've seen. Plus also given the love of Cowboy!America it surprises me there isn't more done with the whole spaghetti western thing. I would love that because it might also lead to more Spain/America which is another rare pairing I love that no one ever seems to do anything with. *sighs* My lot in life I suppose.

Oh yeah I agree...shipping is good but it's just interactions in general that are just as good. I wish there was more gen fic in general because I'd love to read more America/Japan fic where they're not paired romantically because that ship makes me incredibly uncomfortable but friendship wise I find the dynamic very interesting. It would also make adding Israel to the mix a lot easier as well because there's a lot of interesting interaction that could be done with him/her. There's a good deal more gen fic in this fandom then in any I've been in but not as much as I'd like.

Thanks...I'm really not that picky with them. I just like how SweDen looks/sounds as opposed to the other way. Still getting a hang of the whole labeling pairings in the top/bottom order part of this fandom. But at least there's not a huge amount of squished names running around...bleh hate those.

[yuuago]

Well, nothin' wrong with lurking, especially if you're intimidated by some things~ I must admit, aside from the anonmeme, I think I would be considered a lurker too, as I don't really post all that much. Some subsections of the fandom intimidate me so much, especially anything regarding the Nordic side of the fandom - especially anything involving history there, I just kind of run and hide and listen while the Nordicfen talk about it. But I guess after a while, someties one gets used to things, at least partly.

Oh man. I've heard Things about those fandoms, yeah (and was exposed to it for a while, briefly, with Harry Potter. Geeze. Never again). Yes, must admit, Hetalia twits aren't too bad compared to some of the stuff I have seen on F_S and the like. The main problem that comes with Hetalia twits though, I would say, is not only that they're twits and they're loud, but also that there is so much possibility to say things that are downright ignorant or offensive in this fandom. So when people run the mouth - especially where it might be exposed to persons who aren't involved or are unfamiliar with the fandom - it makes us look... really bad. And I think that's part of the problem that people have with people like that, even though there aren't many people like that.

(Be glad you stay away from the discussion posts, by the way. Be very glad)

I can't understand all this freaking out about the dub business either. Why would anyone care? It won't be aired on TV, the discs will have subtitled version so one won't have to listen to the dubtrack, and I just... I don't understand. It shouldn't matter so much, and it probably will not bring in all the flailing that people worry about.

People have been saying the same damn thing since January 2009, only at that time it was people worrying that the anime being introduced would bring in a flood of idiots. And it did bring in more fans, but even though there are some twits, a lot of new fans are really awesome people. ... Though I must admit that I kind of despair a bit when I hear about people who have only seen the anime and have not read (or do not know about) the comic, but er, that's a somewhat different issue I think.

Anyway. I think part of the reason there are is not more diversity in pairings is because people tend to write what they know about - not necessarily in a cultural sense, but what they were taught in school. So that's why we see a lot of US/UK and US/Canada and FR/UK, but less stuff like US/Spain or Canada/Poland (another one of my favourites, ahhhh). Fandom heavy on the North America side + the emphasis placed on certain parts of history in those school systems = less variety in what people know, and less variety in what people write about.

I do with there was more genfic out there, though. I love it, and there's never enough for me. I find that history-fics that are not pairing-focused tend to be better, as well. And with some groups, I love seeing them doing stuff together, but can't stand them paired up - anything with the Baltics would be example of this; I love Baltic bromance but pairings, urgh, do not want.

Order - to be honest in some cases it doesn't matter as much as some people say. Me, I usually just write them in whichever way sounds better to me, regardless of order (EstFin, SweNor, CanPol) - especially since with a lot of the pairings I like, the physical actions do not necessarily reflect the pairing's actual dynamic. I find it's with more popular pairings that people actually get picky about writing it out so that the order reflects the dynamic.

[amygirl.livejournal.com]

Yeah I guess because I don't read the discussion posts I miss out on all the twitiness because I've honestly never seen it. More often I just see the supposed better-then-the-newbie older fans making fools out of themselves and not making the fandom very friendly to newcomers who might be smart and awesome but not want to stick around after being treated like a foaming-fangirl.

Exactly I know we all love Hetalia something fierce but as a product that's going to be a viable massive fan thing in the US. No...sorry guys...it's not going to happen. It's a wonderful series but its a niche series not very kid-friendly in a country that tends to want to aim anything animated towards the kiddies. It's not going to be the next Pokemon or Dragonball or even Sailormoon so chill already you're the people that are making the fandom not-fun not the new people coming in.

I have read the comic -- well I've read the regular strips and most of the extra ones (those are the whole reason I've become a massive Austria fangirl) I just keep forgetting to go back and read the rest.

Canada/Poland sounds fun, I admit I haven't read it. I love Canada when he's the secondary character in a fic but I can't get into fic where he's the lead. Though that's beginning to change he's awesome when written right unfortunately he's not written right very often and though I know it's canon I don't know why. I'm surprised and disappointed that there hasn't been more Canada/Netherlands since Netherlands became canon. I would read that pairing most definitely.

Gen fic is so awesome especially in this fandom with as you said all the historical goodness. Wish there was more of it.

Poland/America though is another pairing that I'm surprised there isn't more of they're probably our closest BFF's out there after Canada, UK and Japan.

I tend to think of most of the pairings as being flippy floppy more then anything, just the nature of what they are makes it natural that they wouldn't be set in one way even regards to slash/het. Well except Russia I have a hard time seeing him bottom with anyone but America and then only very rarely. But then I have a lot of issues with Russia in the fandom that I'll hold off getting into. *cuddles poor abused Russia* There's just more to play with if you don't set yourself into only one way of seeing things. But maybe I just say that because I'm more of a fan of UKUS then USUK... ;-)

[yuuago]

OH LOL ELLIE, YOU SILLY GOOSE. When I mean I can't write, I mean I'm physically unable to write! Doctor's orders. No recreational writing until my wrist has healed properly. Same with the other fun things, too.

NGL I don't actually read the main comm much, but I do check it every couple days to see if there's anything good. Usually there isn't, siiiigh. Oh, well!

I will indeed be crossposting some of my old stuff eventually; there are many things that have not been made a proper entry yet - things that have been posted on the kink meme only, and not at my journal. So they'll be put up eventually (the stuff that I still like, at least).

Anyway.

HELLO ELLIIIIIEEEEE I MISSED YOU

[yuuago]

It was over Christmas; tl;dr basically after chaining myself to the computer for about a month I ended up with a squished nerve. It's taking a while to get back to normal. And I keep doing stupid stuff that makes it worse. Like, "OH IT'S BEEN FEELING BETTER. I THINK I'LL DRAW SOMETHING. [/draws stuff] [/it starts hurting again]" Yes, yes, I'm very intelligent. *facedesk* But yes mostly I'm fine, it's just taking a while to get back to normal.

ANYWAY. Yeahhh that place is crazy. It's hard to keep up sometimes. :V

And NO I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT IT but now I am intrigued, thank you for the linkage ~ (Ahhhh one of my favourite artists is involved, my interest is piqued)

[yuuago]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I feel completely useless, haha. Well, I guess I've learned that I need to take breaks when I'm doing schoolwork. D:

And. Omg. What. REALLY? OH MAN YOU'RE SERIOUSLY THE BEST EVER AHHHHHHH I LOVE YOU