Wear the colour that you want to cling to

[dolorosa_12]

It's the last sunshine_challenge prompt today: violet. The challenge mods are encouraging participants to use this prompt as a way to offer [things to] others to bring a little sunshine into their lives.

I can't make graphics or vids, and I can't reliably write fic on the spot (unless it's for one of my tiny book fandoms-of-one, which I suspect is an unlikely thing for anyone to request).

But what I can do is cheerlead, comment, and essentially provide a lot of enthusiasm. (Seriously, every Yuletide I set myself the goal of commenting on at least 50-70 fics in the main collection, and at least 20 in Madness, and I generally do so.) And so what I am offering is this: comment with a link to one fanwork (art, fic, vid, fanmix, graphics, whatever you choose) that you are especially proud of, and I will leave you a comment either on Ao3 or Dreamwidth. It doesn't have to be a fanwork you produced for sunshine_challenge (you don't have to be participating in the challenge at all), just something you made and feel happy about.

Obviously it will be easier for me to make a substantive comment if I am familiar with the fandom, but I will do my best even if it's not something I know much about. Likewise, I will be quicker at commenting on visual fanworks, or shorter fics than on 100,000-word epics, but if the latter is what you want to share with me, I will comment eventually!

Today's post title is brought to you by the lyrics of this excellent song:

Watch on YouTube

A quick update on 28th July

I am overwhelmed with the response to this offer, and I am definitely looking forward to reading (and commenting on) all your fic, but it might be some days before I get to it. If you haven't had a response from me yet, it's definitely going to happen, but it may not be before the weekend. I will update this post again when I've commented on everyone's fics.

Comments

[paulamcg]

I've been so happy to see your offer – that I've made one in my challenge post, here!

Interaction is the reason why I'm a fanfic writer. I've loved (and missed) reciprocity in commenting, and it's also lovely to receive a self-rec and compose a comment when it's sure that the creator appreciates feedback – while I could just assume that everyone loves comments.

There are a lot of fics I'd be thrilled to get comments on – all in the Harry Potter fandom. In case you don't know HP or aren't particularly interested in it, perhaps you'd like to read Anywhere and Back Again or Here I Am Anew and meet only one canon character far away from the canon settings. Those fics were written fifteen years ago and have no comments on AO3. In case you don't mind more HP characters, I'd be happy to have my first ever comment on a fic written last year, soon after my hiatus, for instance With Tender Patience, or My True Disillusion (which is a lot shorter than the others I've mentioned). A comment on anything here will be a precious gift!

[dolorosa_12]

Interaction is definitely why I'm in fandom as well, and it can be hard to get much of that if you write in smaller fandoms, or for closed canons. I try to be the kind of presence in fandom that I would want other fans to be in relation to me: someone who interacts enthusiastically with others, who leaves comments on fanworks, and who participates in exchanges, challenges, fests and so on beyond the bare minimum requirements of the event.

[paulamcg]

Thank you for your reply – and for receiving My True Disillusion so wonderfully!

Perhaps surprisingly, it can be hard to get feedback for fic written in a mega fandom and about a (once) super popular pairing. On the other hand, in such a fandom there are always opportunities for interaction in all kinds of events, and I hope I, too, have become a more active positive presence, enthusiastic to participate in anything and ready to give attention to and appreciate other people's work regardless of genre, pairing, rating, sometimes even regardless of canon.