#2020 fandom asks

Thank you for asking me these!!

9. Recommend something that you really enjoyed in 2020.

(I’m tagging a few authors in this answer, please feel free to ignore me! I just want to gush about your amazing works).

This is tough! I enjoyed so many things!! Especially if we’re talking fanfic, since 2020 is when I got into Harringrove and have read so many excellent fics in it.

Soooo…. I guess the first fic I read that got me into the fandom was dried up, half full by @lymricks. I think I’ve read that fic at least ten times. But really, anything by her is amazing. Also, I absolutely adore when the bones are good by @un-buttoned. Again, everything I’ve read by her is fantastic! But there are so many good writers in this fandom – everything I’ve read by @passivenovember, I’ve loved. In 2021, I’m planning on reading As certain dark things are to be loved by @thursday-knight, which I’ve heard absolutely amazing things about!! I’ve read way shorter fics by him and they’ve all been amazing. 

For Teen Wolf, anything by @eneiryu . I found their fics after I finished season 6 and have read almost all of them. But I started with i know all sorts of things i don't believe and have read it at least three times. Their characterization and plot is just phenomenal. Also, the way they just publish 50k+ fics all at once is so amazing. 

I only recently started reading Black Sails fics and I’ve really enjoyed so many. But I loved the straight walk home by @vowel-in-thug. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by them, but I just love the au they created for this fic.

14. What do you want to do more of next year?

It’s never too late :) Thanks for sending these in!

3. What fandom(s) from the past did you return to?

Hmm. I would say that I returned to fandom as a whole in 2020. I took a fairly large break from fandom for about 2 years and have very slowly returned to it. In that process, I returned to the Captain Swan, Kastle, Sethkate, Black Sails, BtVS, and SPN fandoms. Although, I still wish I was active more but I will get there. 

4. What show/book/movie etc. was your comfort and/or escape this year?

I rewatched so many shows this year because of quarantine but I would say my biggest escape is a tie between The Punisher, From Dusk till Dawn, and Supernatural. I rewatched all three of those shows so many times and they never fail to make me smile. 

8. What quote really sums up how you’re feeling at this point?

Tired. Literally tired of pretty much everything. I don’t understand why people do not understand science. I just spent my Christmas break trying to relax but it was mostly a big headache. Between arguing with the family about not coming over due to me being high risk, having my twin 10-year-olds home 24/7 because I don’t feel comfortable letting them go to other houses for obvious reasons, and still trying to make Christmas awesome for that 10 year-olds -- I need a vacation from my vacation. Normally, I am a really positive person and don’t let myself get down. I mean, I know things will get better eventually. I just have been feeling off lately. 

Thank you <3

1. What fandom(s) did you join this year?

I guess I joined the FFVII fandom. I sorta played/mostly watched someone play the original way back in the day so I knew the story and such, I liked it, but the remake really pulled me in.

The Great Pretender which was one of the very few anime I watched this year (not an anime year).

What little there is of Wolfwalkers! I’m always scouring the tag! Please more people watch the movie it’s so good!

Also got into Alice in Borderland. I read the manga earlier in the year and then watched the Netflix adaptation when it came out (adaption is vastly superior so far).

On video games there’s Hades and Spiritfarer my two big faves of the year and which really make me want to art but at the same time both fandoms have really talented people already so it’s intimidating.

My biggest fandom of 2020 though is one completely removed from tumblr and that nobody I know is into because it’s for a webseries Brazilian RPG called A Ordem Paranormal. I got into it during the second season and watching it live has occupied my Saturday evenings and then my thoughts for the rest of the week. I’m in extremely deep.

6. Did you have any new ships this year?

DINLUKE! How did we get here? I think it’s my way to cope with the ending of s2 of The Mandalorian but the more I think about it the more I like it.

Other than that CloTi is not a new ship but achieved OTP status and I’m super soft for Robyn x Mebh and Zagreus x Thanatos.

Thank you for asking these!! I could write way more but decided to keep it somewhat shorter...

6. Did you have any new ships this year?

In terms of writing – Harringrove has been my only ship and is new this year (as I only started writing this year)! I enjoy exploring their dynamic and character motivation!

In terms of reading – various ships from Black Sails, mainly Silver/Flint though – they have a lot of chemistry and history that has resulted in some excellent fics! Also, since I finished season 6 of Teen Wolf, Thiam (Theo/Liam) has definitely become one of my favourite ships!

14. What do you want to do more of next year?

Thank you for these!!

1. What fandom(s) did you join this year?

I’ve been a long-time reader in many different fandoms over the past decade or more, but I only started producing content this year for the Stranger Things Fandom – Harringrove specifically. This has been fun and also intimidating with so many brilliant people already creating such wonderful content.

2. What fandom(s) did you leave?

I didn’t really leave any fandoms. What I read goes through cycles depending on what I’ve been watching and I’m too indecisive to really fully leave anything!

3. What fandom(s) from the past did you return to?

I’ve only been creating content this year and only for Harringrove. So, in terms of reading, I’ve reread some Harry Potter stuff and Teen Wolf, but I don’t know if I’ve ever really left the fandoms once I started reading fics in them. My interest is like a sine wave, going through various troughs and peaks.

4. What show/book/movie etc. was your comfort and/or escape this year?

Oh. This is tough! (Not only because I can’t remember that far back to the start of the year, but because there’s been a lot!)

Firstly, I gotta say Teen Wolf, I rewatched the series and finally finished it this year and that has led me to find some great authors in the fandom and explore new ships, which has been a lot of fun! Honestly, these fics have been a huge means of escape for me.

I finally rewatched all of Stranger Things since the third season aired. It’s so good. I love the friendship between Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin. I love Hopper (especially in the first season). Joyce is always so kick-ass. But Billy deserved so much better, so that makes me angry whenever I watch it (hence my love of Stranger Things fanfic).

Lately, I’ve been watching Black Sails and it’s just been so enjoyable. I watched the whole thing and started it again – I like the characters even more on the second watch and there are some great fics out there.

As for reading, most of it happened in the first half of the year, before the pandemic and stress stole my attention span. That being said, Red, White & Royal Blue was an excellent distraction – I enjoyed the writing (so funny) and the characters! I read quite a few graphic novels (Sandman, Locke & Key, Paper Girls, and The Boys), which was great for my short attention span. I hope to read more actual books in 2021.

5. What creative work are you most proud of (your own or someone else’s)?

This is tough! Especially because I’ve just started producing content and all the fics I’ve read are phenomenal! Because I’ve finished it most recently, I’m actually pretty proud of the fic I wrote for the Harringrove Holiday Exchange: you’re arguing about liminal space, but i’m already on the other side. It’s 28k words (the longest thing I’ve written at one time) and I’m really pleased with how it all came together.

Thank you for these! You might be disappointed in my answers though, since they’re very vague..

7. Which character did you relate to most this year?

Ohhh. I answered this one already, and it, honestly, was not the best answer. So, I’ll try to do it more justice here. I empathize with characters that have trouble relating to other people, characters with complex emotions, characters dealing with addiction issues, characters that are closed off and can’t communicate very well, characters with low self-esteem, characters that are struggling to figure out where they fit in this world, characters who feel left behind. But those things can be pretty depressing and negative, so I try to watch or read about people who don’t fit those descriptors.

11. Name a fellow fan who you really appreciated this year.

Already did 2, so I will do 6 and 14. :)

6. Did you have any new ships this year? - Yesss, Ted and Rebecca in Ted Lasso and Siegfried and Audrey in All Creatures Great And Small. Also maybe lowkey shipping Cassie and Miranda in The Flight Attendant. 👀

1. What fandom(s) did you join this year? - I don’t know if I really joined any fandoms as such. I liked some new shows like Ted Lasso and All Creatures Great And Small, and I joined a Ted Lasso  discord but it was too busy to keep up with so I left, and with ACGAS I think we’re a fandom of about 4 people at the moment. :D

2. What fandom(s) did you leave? - I don’t think really left any either, though probably drifted further away from some like The Worst Witch, not because I don’t still love the show or my favourite ship in it, but because I only enjoy a small part of the fandom.

3. What fandom(s) from the past did you return to? - I’m boring but I guess the answer is none again. I feel like my fandom life has been pretty stable all year, with no major changes.

4. What show/book/movie etc. was your comfort and/or escape this year? - For books, anything by Jane Austen is always a comfort to go back to, and for shows The Durrells is the best comfort there is. Also recently rewatched You’ve Got Mail, which is such a comfort movie.