PurpForce @vintageclover - Tumblr Blog

Now I get it. Anne Shirley was right; sometimes pretending you’re an exiled princess fallen from her state or a wealthy criminal who’s decided to take a minimum wage job to ignore detection IS the only way to get through the work day

ninepatch

skeletonclaw

madlori

On being an older fangirl

I was probably 10 years old when I first conceived of what was, looking back, fanfiction. Me and my best friend would lie in bed together on sleepovers and I'd make up stories about what happened after the end of our favorite book, "The Westing Game." She'd ask me for more stories, and I'd tell her more, inventing them as I went along. "Then what?" she'd say.

I was 14 when I went to my first convention. I had discovered Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was 1987, and my youth pastor was a huge Trekkie. He took me to a one-day crappy Creation con, but it was amazing to me. I met Nichelle Nichols. My dad showed me the Trek movies. He and I watched TNG together.

When I went to college in 1991, my dad used to videotape TNG episodes onto VHS tapes and mail them to me, so I could keep watching (I didn't have TV in my dorm room).

By the time I was a senior, we had Trek watching parties in the dorm lounge, where the TV had cable. Star Trek: Voyager had started up, and I wrote a column about it for the college newspaper. I joined a mailing list about it, with people in it that I still know today.

I got my first computer that could go online in 1995. I was on newsgroups. I discovered Doctor Who. I went to Trek conventions where we still passed around fanzines containing fic and art and smutty K/S fan creations.

Then it was Harry Potter. Then there were websites. Then there was Geocities, where we could all make our own little spots. We organized them into webrings. We talked on newsgroups and mailing lists. There were fanfic archives. Then there was fanfiction.net.

Then...there was LiveJournal. And we could interact in entirely new ways. We could form communities, and debate things, and fight over canon, and get into ship wars. On LiveJournal, I met my best friend of 22 years. I was in her wedding. She's my sister of the heart (which is what she calls me).

Then there was Tumblr. And Twitter. And now there's Discord. But it's all the same.

I am the same.

I am still that little girl who made up fanfiction in her head to entertain her best friend. I am still the one who was amazed to find communities on the internet - which was so new, so raw, so uncommodified - where others like me could meet. I found there people to meet in real life.

I am still that twentysomething going to her first major convention, being told that someone loved my fic, being asked about my writing process.

I am still that thirtysomething watching something I wrote blow up. Seeing friends from other fandoms find me in new ones, finding them there, too. Forgetting which fandom I know someone from, because I've known them for twenty years.

I still know some of the people who created those early websites, those mailing lists, those archives. I still meet people in new fandoms who say "Oh, I read your fic in [fandom] fifteen years ago!" There's no feeling quite like having someone remember something you wrote for that long. Or meeting someone whose fic meant a lot to YOU, or who you talked with on rec.arts.drwho.creative in 1997.

Aging in fandom is a gift. Being middle-aged in fandom is a joy. Having people who still read what I write and ask "Then what?" is a blessing.

It breaks my heart that so many people see it as something to be ashamed of, when it is one of my life's greatest gifts.

vintageclover

Huhuuhuhu so me! An older fangirl 😅

rottenfleshnbones-deactivated20

i care btw. i care abt the song ur listening to or the bug u saw or how u just got outta the shower or how ur happily hanging out w ur friends or how ur kinda sad or how good was the meal u just had or ur fav character from an indie game nobody knows or if u chugged down some water. i always will

amilkyway

I think about how hayao miyazaki said that love is two people inspiring each other to live. and to live doesn’t just mean to be alive. living involves finding beauty in the simple moments of being. so to inspire someone to be in awe of the simplicity of living? that’s special

ashstfu

forever in awe of people who pay attention. people who wait for you while you tie your shoes while the others have walked away. when they continue listening intently while the rest of the group stopped listening. noticing your moments of silence when everyone else hasn’t. “this made me think of you” noticing things you never even noticed about yourself. people who say “text me when you get home safe.” people who make you laugh until you cry. childhood friends who keep in touch. people with genuine intentions. people who are soft when the world has given them every opportunity to turn hard. the “let’s get ice cream” at 3am friend. the turn up the music in the car and sing friend. people whose actions match their words. people who make the world feel less chaotic. kindred spirits. the trustworthy and honest. hard workers. good listeners. clear communicators. people who love you for who you are. people who don’t ask you to be anything other than yourself. people who choose you. people who stay.

worthless-mess

"Are you ok?" I'm actually tired bro. From the bottom of my heart I'm tired

slcpunkmoved

being a jack of all trades master of none is actually so awesome bc i can make the shittest clay sculpture and the ugliest drawing and the sloppiest painting and the worst hand stitches and the wonkiest earrings and it's like. who cares + now im surrounded by lots of different silly things i made with love and care etc

papaya-inspiration

My great uncle, who loved cooking and engineering and traveling and far too many other things, always used to say:

"Among the cooks, I am the best engineer, and among the engineers I am the best cook."

I love that. It's one of the things I try to live by.

seyumei

How I simultaneously avoid and indulge in dumb internet drama.

vintageclover

so me haha

unbotheredmuse

fatfatties

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

nadjasnandor

What We Do in the Shadows | 3.10 – “The Portrait“

culturaloffering

The difference between. . .

amateurs and professionals:

Amateurs solve the symptom. Professionals solve the problem.

Amateurs think in absolutes. Professionals think in probabilities.

Amateurs think disagreements are threats. Professionals see them as an opportunity to learn.

Amateurs have a goal. Professionals have a process.

Amateurs think they are good at everything. Professionals understand where they have an edge.

Amateurs value intensity because it makes a good story. Professionals value consistency because it makes good outcomes.

Amateurs show up to practice to have fun. Professionals realize that what happens in practice happens in games.

Amateurs think knowledge is power. Professionals want others to avoid their mistakes.

Amateurs focus on being right. Professionals focus on getting the best outcome.

Amateurs focus on dividing the pie. Professionals focus on growing it.

Amateurs focus on the next quarter. Professionals focus on the next decade.

Amateurs focus on tearing other people down. Professionals focus on making everyone better.

Amateurs make decisions in committees so there is no one person responsible if things go wrong. Professionals make decisions as individuals and accept responsibility.

Amateurs show up inconsistently. Professionals show up every day.

Amateurs go faster. Professionals go further.

Amateurs go with the first idea that comes into their head. Professionals realize the first idea is rarely the best idea.

Amateurs think in absolutes. Professionals think in probabilities.

Amateurs think the world should work the way they want it to. Professionals realize that they have to work with the world as they find it.

Amateurs think disagreements are threats. Professionals see them as an opportunity to learn.

Shane Parrish

Thanks, Steve.