The Fandom Newsletter

We're just a group of friends with no lives. Newsletters come out every other Friday. We also have: Sketch Sunday, Movie Monday, One-Shot Wednesday, and Self Care Saturday. Our motto is: "Omnia enim vestra Fandom Suggero" Our writers are: - Atlas, Blackpurrl, Fyne, and YoursTruly -

[pouchrat-deactivated20190708]

if you have adhd, tag this with your type and whether caffeine a) gives you anxiety, b) helps you focus, c) makes you fall asleep, or d) doesn’t do anything at all

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Sketch Sunday Monday #10

Welcome to Sketch Sunday! This is a segment we do here at The Fandom Newsletter that allows our artist Blackpurrl to show off her talents. We really love this segment and are glad to be posting our tenth edition! 

Our first prompt is from anon and it says: “Blackpurrl, everyone as one of the seven deadly sins.”

Here you go anon! This drawing features:

YoursTruly as Pride

Atlas as Sloth

Fyne as Wrath

Blackpurrl as Gluttony

The next submission says: “Can Black draw a deer? They’re my grandma’s favorite animal.” And it is from anon. 

We hope your grandma likes it, anon. We all fell in love with it when we first saw it, so we believe you will too.

Now we have an idea from anon and it says: “Draw everyone in a chaos alignment chart.” 

Here it is anon. We hope you agree with what Purrl chose. Here we have:

YoursTruly as a Chaotic Neutral

Atlas as a Chaotic Good

Fyne as a Lawful Neutral

Blackpurrl as a True Neutral 

Up next is anon with: “Can she draw one of those cool floating orbs of water with fish in it for Sketch Sunday?”

She sure can, anon. She sure can.

Then we have a request from @spidergirl98 and a part of it is: “Based on YoursTruly’s post about “Ways I’m like The Phantom of the Opera” can Purrl draw each team member as a character from Phantom she thinks suits them?”

Here you are, and here we have:

YoursTruly as The Phantom

Atlas as Meg Giry

Fyne as Monsieur Debieme (The original theater manager)

Blackpurrl as Madame Giry

And that’s all we have for this week’s Sketch Sunday! Thank you for joining us! We hope to see you in the next edition.

Signing off,

Atlas, YoursTruly, Fyne, and Blackpurrl

(Do you have a prompt you want to give Blackpurrl? If so, send it right into our inbox. We check it every week and Blackpurrl will draw when she gets the chance. If you want to see something that has to do with the team, that’s cool. If you just want something random, that’s cool as well. Just send it right in!)

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Self Care Saturday #6

Hello and welcome to the fifth edition of my segment, Self Care Saturday. How this works is I get to give a self-care suggestion and our readers can try and do the suggestion. I want to try and promote some more self-care and self-love practices into everyday lives, and this seems like a good way to do it!

This Week’s Suggestion Is: For your next shower, use a towel right out of the dryer. There is nothing worse than climbing out of the nice warm shower and into the cold, freezing, air of winter. Pop your bathrobe or towels into the dryer so they’re all warm and toasty when you get out. 

(Note: If you want to do this after a bath, that’s nice too! Just have a nice bathing experience and get out all toasty warm.)

Remember that if you don’t want to (or can’t) participate in this, you don’t have to! There’s no pressure!

Alright, that’s all I have for today! I hope you enjoy your time with your plants!

Signing off,

Fyne

(Did you participate in Self Care Saturday this week? If so, send in your experience for a chance to be featured in the next Self Care Saturday! Send in your story or what you did through an ask. If you want it to be on anon, that’s ok too! Remember, today is about feeling good and having fun, so just do what you want to!)

Last Week’s Suggestion: Do some gardening! Whether you have a garden or houseplants already, or if you need to go to the store and buy some succulents, gardening can be a fun and calming thing to do! Talk to your plants, sing to them, trim them up, pull their weeds, take pictures of them, smell them, or even just water them. And since most plants need sun, you’ll probably be getting some as well!

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Fandom Newsletter #8

Today is Friday, January 25, and it’s 2019! Welcome back to our first 2019 Fandom Newsletter, a provider for all things fandom!

Writers: Blackpurrl, Fyne, YoursTruly, and Atlas

Editors: Fyne and YoursTruly

“You don't have to be ruled by fate. You can choose freedom. And I still believe that that’s something worth fighting for.” -Castiel, Supernatural

Let's get started!

First up we have Fyne with the Supernatural, Sherlock, and Mythology fandoms!

Sherlock: Does Sherlock look up to/respect his older brother? Throughout the entire BBC show we see Sherlock being annoyed by Mycroft and at some points, Sherlock can be seen belittling Mycroft. But while the boys have a relationship that is rocky at times, I have reason to believe that Sherlock actually looks up to his older brother. In Sherlock's mind palace, when Mycroft is giving advice to further a case in some way, he is always higher up than Sherlock. Plus, Sherlock is always looking up at him. Is it possible that this is symbolism? Yes. Is it probable that this is just a cool coincidence? Also yes. Just thought I'd put it out there, folks. You decide.

Supernatural: Dean Winchester never saw his mother burning on the ceiling. I know, bold statement. But let me elaborate. When his mother's death was happening, Dean was a child in his room. When John ran in and told Dean to take Sam and run, I don't believe Dean ever even looked up and saw his mother on the ceiling. True, John probably explained to him later on how his mother died, but the image was mostly left to his little imagination. Fast forward some years later and Jessica is burning on the ceiling as well. Dean rushes into Sam's room to find Jessica, and he looks up with a face of absolute horror. This is the first time he's able to see what he had only imagined happening to his mother, and now it's actually happening before him. Something he had thought about his entire life, finally right in front of his eyes. And to be honest, it's probably even worse than he ever imagined. Hence the look of horror.

Mythology: This week's legend originated in Greek mythology and who we're talking about is Medea. Medea was a princess of Colchis, and she was known to be skilled in magic and sorcery. In the legend, she fell in love with Jason (son of Aeson and the boy who assembled Greece's bravest heroes to sail in the Argo in search of the fleece) and helped him (against the will of her father: Aeëtes) obtain the Golden Fleece (The Golden Fleece was the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram. The fleece in this legend is a symbol of authority and kingship). When Jason left Colchis, Medea ran off with him and even lived as his wife for years. Medea ended up bearing two of Jason's children during their marriage. But later on in the legend, Jason wished to marry Creusa (daughter of King Creon of Corinth). When Medea found out, she sent Creusa an enchanted wedding gown that burned the poor girl to death. Medea then completed her revenge on Jason by killing her own two children. (In some versions of the legend, the angered citizens of Corinth stoned the children to death instead of Medea). Afterward, Medea fled to Athens, where she later married King Aegeus.

Next, we have YoursTruly with the YouTube, Horror, Tim Burton, Hannibal, Movies, and Marvel fandoms.

YouTube: Fallout between James Charles and NikkieTutorials! Both makeup artists on YouTube uploaded a video of the same title with the same idea. No big deal, YouTubers follow trends all the time, right? Wrong. James Charles posted this video just a few days after Nikkie and didn’t credit her for starting the trend. He then tried to claim that he started the trend and Nikkie just so happened to have the same idea, despite him uploading AFTER her. We sure do love a good sister scandal!

Horror: The horror movie Escape Room is gaining major popularity online. The movie is set to be released next year, but they have started an online competition to see who can solve their puzzle. Anyone who is crafty enough to solve it is entered in a cash giveaway. Each day they change the puzzle. Can you solve the puzzle? Test your skill here, if you dare.

Tim Burton: Burtonists are all awaiting the release of Dumbo. Many fans can’t wait to see how Burton will put his dark twist on this Disney classic.

Hannibal: Fannibals are getting even more excited with continued talk of a season 4. Showrunner Bryan Fuller has begun talking about seriously giving the fans a fourth season following Alana and Margot. Will we get the season? Guess we’ll have to wait and find out.

Movies: Mary Poppins Returns starring Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda is a massive success! Fans of the original say that the movie perfectly continues the story of Mary Poppins and brings back the same characters and charm as before.

Marvel: Fans are starting to get their conspiracy theories about Avengers: Endgame circulating. Seemingly every fan has an opinion on who will die for good, who’s coming back, and how they will defeat Thanos. What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear what you have to say on the topic! Also, the backlash from fans after the newest movie from Marvel Into The Spiderverse mixed up Spider-Woman and Spider-Gwen! The movie introduces a character which is very clearly Spider-Gwen (identical costume) as Spider-Woman. These two characters are completely different, both in personality and very obviously in costume and appearance.

Then we have Blackpurrl with the Harry Potter fandom.

Harry Potter: If you’re big into Harry Potter I’m sure you already know this, but recently we’ve been told that Harry’s scar isn’t just a lightning bolt. It’s also the hand motion used when the spell Avada Kedavra is cast. 

And finally, we have Atlas with the Gaming, TV, Musicals, Celebrities, and Voltron fandoms.

Gaming: A Fisherman's Tale is a VR game where you break reality. Read more about it here.

TV: After spending an estimated $12-13 billion in 2018, reports estimate that Netflix will probably spend up to $15 billion in cash in 2019. The popular streaming platform continues to collect and create new content every month in addition to reinforcing its abundance of original programming – and there appears to be no slowing down for Netflix. Imagine how much they will spend in 2020.

Musicals: Lin-Manuel Miranda recently raps at a fan for filming his musical Hamilton. Anyone who has ever seen a show of any kind is probably familiar with the phrase, "The use of recording equipment is strictly prohibited," and knows that the punishment for breaking this rule is a risk of being tossed out of the performance. You would think that Lin-Manuel wouldn’t take to kindly to being recorded on stage, and you would be right. But the way he did it is absolutely legendary. In character, Lin-Manuel self-edit live on stage, as he changed the words to one of the show's songs to call out the lady. He sang: "Lady filming in the fourth row, please stop it." The line was originally: "The problem is I got a lot of brains but no polish.” What an icon. 

Celebrities: Demi Lovato posted a snap to her instagram in which she is wearing a one-piece bathing suit. She is a queen demolishing the thought that the only way for women to look sexy is by wearing a bikini. Demi has been known to fight against sexist stereotypes before, and we’re glad that she’s still up and kicking these assumptions and knocking them down. Thank you, Demi!

Voltron: The showrunner of Voltron made a post confirming the show was celebrating its final day behind the scenes. Joaquim Dos Santos, one of the show’s executive producers, shared the bittersweet announcement alongside a touching message. Excuse us while we dab our tears. “This is it...our last day at Dreamworks on Voltron. It’s pretty surreal. We started this ride in June 2014 and we just had our final watchdown on the final episode of Season 8. I just wanted to take a moment to say that is has been an absolute honor and privilege to work alongside such a talented and dedicated cast and crew, both at Dreamworks and Studio MIR, who came together (like Voltron) to make something truly special. To the amazingly passionate VLD fandom, we couldn’t have made this journey without you. Your passion, creativity and love is infectious and has helped us up in tough times and creative low points.” What a way to close such an amazing time in our lives. 

Now let's move on to our news segments, where Fyne talks about positive news, news about mental health, and news about the LGBT community, plus Blackpurrl talks about World News.

Positive News: 2019 is just around the corner, and 2018 is soon to be left in the dust. While this is a fairly good thing because of 2018 having some pretty horrid things go down during it, not all was bad. Here is a list of some good things that happened in 2018.

LGBT: India’s supreme court has gotten rid of a ban on gay sex that has been around for centuries. Gay sex became a criminal offence again in India in the year 2013. The law, named Section 337, was brought back into the limelight. But recently, the nation’s supreme court voted to throw the law out the window in September. There is a new ruling that consensual gay sex (among consenting adults in private) is no longer a crime. Yay for gay people in India!

Mental Health: Our veterans are people who sometimes have to suffer in silence. I mean, it can be hard to get people who feel a pressure to be what they believe to be strong to open up. But there's something that could be a way to help us access these vulnerable people and it's called fishing therapy. Psychologists say that fishing can be an effective way to help with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and reduce symptoms. It was discovered that: “It could be helpful for veterans by chance, after chatting about how going fishing cleared their heads while they were having a pint.” It has been shown that overnight fishing trips have reduced PTSD symptoms by at least 30% in patients! For some, it was even the first time the patients left the house in years. Progress! An article by Metro even interviewed a veteran who has suffered with PTSD for the past 20 years of his life. This man went on one of the trips. He said: “Fishing is so helpful because it is a break to completely turn your brain off. It is the quietness of it with no distractions. When I came back for the first week, I slept properly every night and I struggle to do that.” (Iraq and Northern Ireland veteran: Stewart Bayford, 48)

World News: On MLK Day, Trump reminded black voters of what they lost with his election. Read about this here.

And now for our weekly tidbits where Blackpurrl gives a test and a trivia fact and Fyne asks a question to our followers.

Weekly Test: Animals!

1. How many mammals lay eggs? A. One B. Five C. All of them D. Two

2. True/False? Bees can only sting once, but wasps can sting many times.

3. Which animal is a mammal? A. Fisher B. Lionfish C. Basilisk D. Toad

4.  Which of these fish is a shark? A. Parrotfish B. Lionfish C. Dogfish D. Catfish

5.  Which one of these animals is a bird? A. Fisher B. King fisher C. Marten D. Beagle 

Weekly Trivia Fact: Did you know that beavers are among the few animals that mate for life? Once beavers find a partner, they stay together for as long as they live. Talk about TIl death do us part!

Weekly Question: If you didn't have to sleep, what would you use the extra time for? Let us know.

And for our last segment, the personality quiz.

Which of the 7 dwarves is you?

Question #1 - When a stranger attempts a conversation with you, which of the following can describe how you act?

A. You try to be polite, but strangers make you nervous.

B. You acknowledge the person, but you really don't like to talk to strangers.

C. You tell them to go away because you're busy.

D. You tell them that it's nice to meet them and invite them to join you in watching some TV.

E. You greet them warmly and crack a few jokes to break the ice.

Question #2 - Do you think you're an optimist, a pessimist, or a realist?

A. Definitely a realist. That glass is just a glass.

B. Probably an optimist, but that can change.

C. Pessimist. That glass isn't just half empty, but its also filled with poison.

D. Realist. Why put so much thought into it?

E. Optimist. That glass is half full and also contains rainbows and sunshine.

Question #3 - Favorite color?

A. Red

B. Purple

C. Black

D. Blue

E. Yellow

Question #4 - Your crushes all have one thing in common. What is this thing?

A. They're all intelligent.

B. They're all shy.

C. What is a crush?

D. They're laid back.

E. They're funny.

Question #5 - Pick a Snow White character.

A. The Huntsman

B. The Magic Mirror

C. The Evil Queen

D. Snow White

E. The Prince

Question #6 - Pick a Snow White song.

A. Heigh-Ho

B. Someday My Prince Will Come

C. Whistle While You Work

D. I'm Wishing

E. With a Smile and a Song

Question #7 - Which of the following would you like to do after a long day of work?

A. Read a book.

B. Make something. Anything.

C. Shoot some darts.

D. Sleep/Watch TV.

E. Sing/Dance

Results:

Mostly A's - You are Doc! You're the leader of nearly every group you are put into, even if you're not very good at it. You're very wise and like to think carefully about problems when they arise. People look to you for advice and guidance, but it can take a while for you to give them a good answer to their questions because you're quite a nervous person.

Mostly B's - You are Bashful! You are very, very shy, but people love you for who you are. You tend to blush easily, and your hands are almost always fiddling with something. While you're not big on talking, you do really enjoy listening. You like stories and poems, and you are big on music. When you want to get someone's attention, you tend to just stare at them, and when they notice you, you probably unknowingly flutter your eyelashes.

Mostly C's - You are Grumpy! No matter what anyone says, you're always complaining. You see the glass not only as half empty, but thrown across the room and shattered. You never seem to agree with anyone, but if any of your friends need you to help them out, you're the first person to their rescue.

Mostly D's - You are Sleepy! You tend to be fairly lazy, and when you have nothing else to do you're probably in bed or on the couch. You enjoy the simple things in life and you're not afraid to indulge in some relaxing activities. You're probably the type of person who is always tired and yawning, but your friends enjoy spending time with you when they need some calm. 

Mostly E's - You are Happy! No matter what life throws at you, you're always laughing and trying to find the sunny outlook. You see the glass as half full, and you even see your favorite drink inside the glass. You get along with everyone, but people can get angry at you because you can never seem to take anything seriously.

That's all for today! Goodbye all for this year, and we’ll see you soon! Happy 2019 with another Fandom Newsletter!

Signing off,

Atlas, Fyne, Blackpurrl, and YoursTruly

Test Answers: Animals!

1. D 2. True 3. A 4. C 5. B

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Hi! I was wondering if I could make a late Sketch Sunday request that can still go in the next edition. I hope I’m not too late. Here it is: Based on Fyne’s posts about crushes, can Purrl draw everyone interacting with their crushes? Based on YoursTruly’s post about “Ways I’m like The Phantom of the Opera” can Purrl draw each team member as a character from Phantom she thinks suits them? Based on Atlas’s posts about Voltron, can Purrl draw everyone as a Voltron character she thinks suits them?

We’ve already done the one about interacting with crushes. You can see it here. She will get right on the Phantom request though. She will also try to get the Voltron one done. 

-Fyne

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Movie Monday #3

Movie Reccomendation: Mary Poppins Returns

Review: Mary Poppins Returns stirs and awakens a childlike sense of wonder in the audience, young and old. With catchy tunes, a phenomenal cast, and family values this movie is sure guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face. Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute wonder to watch in a whole new role, and Emily Blunt perfectly plays the role of Mary Poppins. This movie is an absolute delight and a must watch, even if you weren’t a fan of the original.

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Blackpurrl, everyone as one of the seven deadly sins.

Good idea!

-Atlas

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Can Black draw a deer? They’re my grandma’s favorite animal.

Absolutely.

-Blackpurrl

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Draw everyone in a chaos alignment chart

Cool idea!

-Fyne

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Can she draw one of those cool floating orbs of water with fish in it for sketch sunday?

She sure can.

-YoursTruly

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Draw each team member as a Greek god or goddess you think fits their personality, then explain why.

Done.

-Blackpurrl

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Sketch Sunday #9

Hello and welcome to the ninth Sketch Sunday, a segment we do that features our artist Blackpurrl. Let's get right into it!

Our first request was from @literaltrashmammal and it said: "Comic of what each team member is like when they’re sick."

Atlas is angry when she's sick, Truly doesn't pay any mind to sickness, Fyne takes a day for themself at home, and Purrl never gets sick.

Our next request is from @literaltrashmammal once again and it asks: That one meme that’s like “How can someone say (blank) is evil? They’re the most precious soft little soul.” And then second person is cleaning blood off their knife while saying “Yeah. I’m adorable.”

As you can see, Purrl did the comic about Atlas. Atlas will stop at nothing to make her ships become canon.

And next up we have: Ay, can Purrl draw an otter? Maybe wearing a Santa hat? Thanks." From anon.

Here ya are.

Next is: "Blackpurrl, draw the team as an artic animal you think suits them." From Anon.

Here we have Fyne as a penguin, Atlas as a sealpup, Truly as an arctic fox, and Purrl as a snowy owl.

Then anon asked: "Can you draw a lil cardinal in the winter?"

All of our families love cardinals.

Now we have another from anon and it says: "Can Blackpurrl please draw the team assembling a ginger bread house?"

Truly eats every gingerbread house. Every single one.

Now we have @literaltrashmammal requesting, "Sketch Sunday request. Two words: Fat cat."

Two words: thank you.

And last but not least we have: "Draw each team member as a Greek god or goddess you think fits their personality, then explain why." From anon.

There you go!

And that's all we have for this week's Sketch Sunday! Thank you for joining us!

Signing off,

Atlas, YoursTruly, Fyne, and Blackpurrl

(You weren't a part of this Sketch Sunday but you want to be part of the next? Send in your prompts either on anon or not to be a part of the next post! (These prompts don't have to have anything to do with the writers of the newsletter, but they can if you want them to)

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Ay, can Purrl draw an otter? Maybe wearing a Santa hat? Thanks.

Ay, sure.

-Atlas

[the-fandom-newsletter]

That one meme that’s like “How can someone say (blank) is evil? They’re the most precious soft little soul.” And then second person is cleaning blood off their knife while saying “Yeah. I’m adorable.”

Sure!

-YoursTruly

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Sketch Sunday request. Two words: Fat cat.

Two words: Sure thing.

-Fyne

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Can Blackpurrl please draw the team assembling a ginger bread house?

That's a good idea!

-Fyne

[the-fandom-newsletter]

Can you draw a lil cardinal in the winter?

My grandma loves cardinals! -Blackpurrl

My mom loves cardinals! -YoursTruly