Five Things

[phantomtomato]

1. The semester is so close to over that I can taste it, just a week more to give finals, finish grading, and cram some research in before the holidays. I love empty winter campus, and I’ll really enjoy returning to it in January, but for now I just want to be finished. If my department could stop throwing last-minute administrative things into this week, that would be great.
   
   (I want to bring donuts to the final for my upper-level on Weds. morning. This does mean putting in enough effort to like, order the donuts, but I think I can persuade myself to do so.)



2. I finished my mittens. Probably around 10 hours for these, owing to the colorwork—I did the first one on double points and switched to circulars with magic loop for the thumb, then did the whole second on circs. DPNs and stranded knitting were just a bit too much to handle.
   
   


I ordered yarn to make my partner a sweater and it arrives tomorrow. I’m excited to knit it! Not as excited to finalize the details of construction.


3. I read the play version of Another Country this weekend and loved it possibly more than the movie. The movie is wonderful, I love the visuals and costumes and acting, but the play has all of that sharp dialogue on the page so I can linger and appreciate it. Also it makes canonical that one of the prefects gets off on caning other boys, which is really just key to the English public school story, I think!
   
   
4. Tumblr brought me a meta essay this week from a fandom I know nothing about, but I like the main point:
   
   

   
   Basically, I think it’s a lot easier and more common for small fandoms to buck panfandom trends than it is for large fandoms to do that, because by and large the people in one large fandom are going to overlap with people in other large fandoms, whereas two small fandoms might have virtually no crossover of individuals or interested demographics.
   

   
   
   I don’t know that I’ve thought about this before, having spent most of this go writing for one closed-canon megafandom. It’s an interesting lens, though—not so much about what it means for the character of big fandoms, I know that way lies misery, but for characterizing the tone of individual small fandoms. Who is here, what are they into, can I tell that just by looking at the works on AO3?
   
   I’ve unconsciously been using ideas like this to get further into small fandoms, by leaping from one to another following the trail of writers, AO3 tags, exchange fic, etc. which speak to me. It’s been validating. I’ve read a lot more fic this year than last, and enjoyed most of it, because I’ve been chasing similarity of fandom engagement rather than simply character type. Like: I like villains, but hopping around based on a villain I happen to connect with has historically led me to a lot of het good girl/bad guy fic that I do not. Meanwhile, chasing down all of the “historical fandoms where people write Victwardian-to-WW2 m/m pastiche” has meant more work for me in terms of learning the original canons, but you bet I’ve enjoyed pretty much every David Blaize fic I’ve read.
   
   


5. Speaking of: fic recs! From recent exchanges.
   
   Femslash Exchange:
   
   your mind a shell by yletylyf, Locked Tomb, E, 1k, Alecto/Harrow. Second person 💖
   once upon another time by celaenos, Locked Tomb, E, 5k, Mercymorn/Cristabel. Lyctor hurt, yesss.
   
   Fic in a Box:
   
   Have Not Saints Lips by ribbons, David Blaize, G, 2k, Frank Maddox/Hughes. I am filthy for a reunion romance.
   An Unlikely Partnership by PerfectlySteadfast, ACD Holmes and Raffles crossover, Bunny Manders/Raffles, G, 4k. A lovely fun casefic.
   

Comments

[kelly_chambliss]

How well I remember that glorious "end of semester" feeling! I would accomplish prodigious amounts of work in that last week, and somehow it rarely seemed onerous, because the lovely end was nigh.

The mittens are beautiful. I hope you'll post a picture of the sweater when it's done.

You've got me thinking about fandom again. I tend to be a serial monogamist when it comes to fannish activity; I only rarely read outside my main fandom at a particular time (though I wouldn't say "never," since I do occasionally cross lines). I think your meta-writer's main point is well taken, and I might at that small subgroups within megafandoms are often able to buck the large trends as well. When one's particular area of interest in a megafandom isn't shared by the majority of fans, the result can seem like its own small fandom.

Looking forward to that Alecto fic -- second person! femslash! rare characters! Ticks so many of my boxes. Thanks for the link.

[phantomtomato]

I feel on-track to be productive but not to avoid the feeling that it’s onerous, whoops. 😅

Thank you! I got the yarn for the sweater and it’s a lovely soft lambswool; I hope I’ll be back through by the end of February with a finished picture.

Do you consider HP to be your main fandom still? I do, even with my experimentation—it’s sort of a “home base,” if you will—but you well know the plight of being into a very niche part of a big fandom. They have that benefit you name of being able to buck the large trends, but I occasionally become weary of their proximity nonetheless. I took a break from HP for much of this fall after growing dissatisfied because of all that, and small fandoms are relieving to me because there’s just not that megafandom lurking nearby.

I hope you enjoy the Alecto fic!

[yourlibrarian]

That's an interesting point about characteristics of small fandoms and it makes sense to me.

[phantomtomato]

Yes, I found it really interesting for its simplicity! Sort of a “duh!” moment. It’s a strong argument in favor of small fandoms for someone like me, because the governing character being so cohesive makes it a lot easier to justify the time investment of learning the canon.

[bronze_ribbons]

Thank you so much for the rec!

[phantomtomato]

Any time! I really enjoyed your fic. :)