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Day 19: What is something that you associate with a character in fandom, but aren't sure if it's canon or fandom?

For Smallville, Clark Kent can cook and learnt how how to from both his parents, especially his mom, so he takes over kitchen duties in his and Lois's marriage. I know she stopped burning things and could suddenly make muffins in s10, but I still think Clark is the one who is more naturally domestic one. But they are busy and before the kids show up, do order a lot of takeout. Weekends are for cooking.

In the MCU, Steve is a morning person, Bucky isn't, and Sam is somewhere in the middle, where he is pretty upbeat in the mornings but does enjoying sleeping in now and then.

I'll add more if I think of it later.

Day 20: A random character shows up at your doorstep at dinnertime saying a friend sent them. Why did your friend send that person, how does it go, and what do you talk about?

I feel like ten years ago, a lot of my LJ friends would've just sent me Oliver Queen, because of my love for him, and I think I would've been so overwhelmed, I'm not sure I could talk. If I got over myself, at some point, well, we both like yoga? Maybe we can talk about how bad we are facing our problems and maybe he should get some therapy, if I got the nerve. It could be fun.

These days, unsure. Maybe Clark or Lois? Perhaps still Ollie? I would love to meet Lois. Or even Steve Rogers. Steve and I can talk about how awesome Peggy is! Depends on where he is post waking up from the ice.

Day 17: Do you prefer art, fic, or vids? Why? Bonus: If someone was to give you a fandom gift, what format would it be?

I really love all of them to be honest. I never learned to vid and I have zero graphic skills so I only write fic, but I appreciate all means of fandom expression, especially the ones I truly cannot do. Fic is probably the one I like the most, just because I love reading fic, and there really is a good feeling about going back and reading your fave fics to cheer you up when you're down. Though I've also done that with fanvids too. Fic is more readily accessible and I don't need to grab my headphones or worry about who is around me.

If someone gave me a fandom gift, I would be happy no matter what it was. I get giddy with anything but yes, again, art and fanvids would probably be extra special. Someone once made me a Clark/Oliver fanvid for my birthday to the song I most associate with them and I legit almost cried. Still mad at myself for not downloading it because it's long gone.

Day 15: What fandom pairing took you over like Venom took over Eddie?

The easy answer would be Clark/Oliver from Smallville, because well, I came to fandom and started writing fics for them. There weren't many fics out there at the time, and there were some that just used Ollie as a Lex replacement or even as a stepping stone to get back to Clex (something that ended turning me off that ship completely). Other people wrote for them too (and I'm not being humble by saying their fics were better than mine) but I think I was the one creating the most, consistent fanfic about them in those years. So I was really, really into them back in the day, have a whole list of fics that I complied, made a community type thing.

And they'll always have a fond place in my heart, especially since I still write for them.

The most recent answer is Sam/Bucky. I never thought I would love them as much as I did, since I was really into Steve/Tony right after The Avengers movie. I really liked the chemistry Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie had in TWS press tour so I liked the potential but once CA:CW hit, that was when I was like "OH, this is totally for me". The frenemies to lovers trope is my favorite, and this ship really worked.

That look in Endgame that Bucky gave Sam totally made me lose my mind in the theater. It was so soft! I thought that was as good as it would get and even though I haven't seen it, TFATWS existing and all the content really made me ridiculously happy. I think they've become my comfort ship for sure.

Day 13: Squicks - What are some things that squick you in fandom - not necessarily "icky", though it can be. From anything involving blood, to bad grammar.

There are a few things that squick me out. The main one is probably graphic descriptions of bodily functions (like people constantly vomiting- I will scroll right past it, if I really like the fic). I can't deal with a/b/o as a trope, and anything with too much graphic violence/torture is not for me either. Same with rape/sexual assault.

On a less serious note, I don't like to read fics set in a first person POV. I see it and I click the back button pretty quickly. Same with fics that have huge chunks of text with minimal paragraphs. As far as the grammar goes, I don't mind a few mistakes here and there, because I know I make them, especially now that I am self editing without a beta, but if it is just too much, yeah, it does get distracting for me.

And I've lost interest in reading fics where there is open character/ship bashing, even if I don't like the other ship/characters. I get second hand embarrassment way too easily so I know I've written it in the past, but I can't read it anymore, when it's just the main love interest just "showing up" their rival.

Day 11: What would make you leave a fandom, or prevent you from getting into it in the first place?

I tend to shy away from getting too involved in fandom these days. While I don't regret my time being involved in Smallville fandom and I got to meet a lot of great people, the drama and the ship wars definitely left a toll and has me kind of skittish since.

So I usually just read fic and follow a few people with similar interests and call it a day. It's pretty easy to do on Tumblr. I am not on Reddit or Discord or anything so it is easy to avoid interacting with a more general audience and limit it to people who enjoy and ship the things you like.

Drama, ship wars, and the types of discourse that happen are definitely what would keep me away though. I don't want any part of that. I would only leave a fandom completely if I lost interest in the canon and didn't want to participate anymore. I did that with Smallville- dropped the show for a year after "Doomsday" pissed me off, and mostly stayed away from the fandom. I used to have an icon that legit said something like, "smallville fandom- home of the neverending wank". It was fitting. I think I was in a better place when I got back for sure though.

Day 9: Drop the cast of a fandom you follow into a reality tv show - who/what/why?

I struggled briefly and then something clicked and my brain was like "Dancing with the Stars- Superhero Edition". Technically, all those competition shows are still reality TV. Why? Not sure, it would be funny. I feel like it would be a better change than putting them in something serious, like Survivor (though the Amazing Race is definitely a possibility!), and I don't think they should be trusted on a singing show and would be way ridiculous on The Bachelor (don't talk to me about the Bachelor Clark/Oliver AU I never wrote). Maybe a cooking one but they would need something pretty basic. I cannot see them on any of those "Real Housewives" though "Real Superheroes of the DCU" seems like a crack fic waiting to happen.

The Smalville Justice League + Lois + Tess on Dancing with the Stars, on the other hand, would be too great. Clark, of course, would be terrible and awkward, but Lois would have a ball with all the costumes.

I can see her, Tess, and Ollie getting pretty competitive. They are for sure top 3! Don't try to convince me that Oliver, being the rich kid he is, wasn't taught to ballroom dance at some point of his life. Emil has secret moves for sure, Dinah might be good, Bart would be funny but not great and Victor and AC have their moments.

I'm going to say Lois wins just because, and she holds it over the rest of them for a very long time. :D

Day 7: What's the longest time you've been in a fandom. Not necessarily your oldest fandom, but a fandom that you started and still continue to read/write/create content for in some way.

I think that would have to be Gilmore Girls or Smallville. I lean toward Gilmore Girls (Rory/Jess to be specific, but I do also love Luke/Lorelai), because I have both written and read fic in the last year, while with Smallville, I don't read much fic anymore, just write it. Also I feel like I started reading Gilmore Girls fanfic on FFN before I discovered Smallville fandom. The show ended of course way before Smallville did, and Rory's open ending really had me looking for a lot of Literati endgame fics and then with the Revival a few years ago, that had me again looking for more content.

Of course, at the peak of my fandom obsession, I was definitely way more involved in the Smallvile fandom, but now I think I have a mix of GG and SV friends on Tumblr, so it really could go both ways these days.

Day 5: Compare and/or contrast your very first fandom obsession and your very latest fandom obsession.

The first fandom obsession I probably had was Harry Potter, because I used to read a lot of fics and loved the books a lot. Though the one I was really into and would count for this was Smallville, and I still don't know what made my brain click with Clark/Oliver, but something did. I used to google for fics regularly and then I finally had to get over the mental hurdle I had and write it myself and made an LJ account. Smallville was a big fandom, and technically, since I'm still writing for it, I am still in it. But I wouldn't say it's as active. There are definitely people making gifs on Tumblr and it is fun to see new people starting to watch the show via Twitter so obviously I wouldn't say it's dead either. Of course it's hard to get even a fraction of where the peak was with a show that has been done for a decade.

My current fandom "obsession" is probably still the MCU, specifically Bucky/Sam. I don't know if it's a real obsession. Thanks to all the drama from Smallville, I tend to stay on the outskirts of fandom these days, following a select group of people and just reading fic, looking at gifs, etc. They're definitely my comfort ship.

Comparison-wise, they're both obviously big fandoms (MCU in general bigger but SV really had its time) and superhero/comic books based. I am sure both had its share of shipping wars, but the different formats change the way it works. Smallville had LJ, the forums, FFN and with the MCU, it was more AO3, Tumblr, and probably Reddit and Discord. At the very least, overall, there was and is a lot of content, which is nice.

Day 3: What's a favorite, or at least memorable fandom meeting/interaction that you've had?

I have never actually met any fandom friends. I've always been private to the point where I don't even reveal my real name on here, so to meet someone was out of the question. Also I was in my late teens/early twenties when I was first in fandom, which meant I was in college/law school and didn't have a lot of my own money to go freely where I wanted to, and wouldn't have been able to attend cons, etc since my family didn't know about my fandom life.

I've had a lot of great interactions with people online and fandom drama aside, I've enjoyed the people I've gotten a chance to talk to over the years. :D


Masterpost can be found here.

If you're interested in answering some fandom related questions, one for the first 20 days of June the list is here.

Day 1: What's changed about your fandom life in the last 365 days?

Well, the fact I have one. It wasn't like I was completely out of fandom- I went on Tumblr now and then, and of course I read fic when I was into a ship, but I think somehow all this quarantine got me motivated to not only become more active, but write fic again, something I hadn't really done in over five, well, closer to 8, 9 years. It was something I fell out of unintentionally, muses dying slowly after Smallville ended, and then I got busy with other stuff, briefly entertained other interests (RP'ing on Tumblr took up some of my time) and then just fell out completely.

But when I was working and at home, I felt the urge to write fic, and well, here I am. I don't think I'll ever be as productive as I once was, but I do feel at the very least I have improved, so that is something. It also made me look at my Livejournal and Dreamwidth, the latter which I find more comfortable these days, and start using both. Definitely more active on Tumblr too, for better or for worse. It is easier to procrastinate and scroll when you are alone. :P