Sunshine 2019: Prompt 6

Our love of fandom knows no bounds, and it is not limited to fanworks.

This is the time to share all of the things we have collected over the years showing our love for our favorite fandoms. This can include both things we personally own and things we wish we could add if money/space were no object. It also includes stories and memories that brighten our days.

Have a fandom tattoo? That custom keychain your friend made you 10 years ago? That life-size statue of Iron Man someone made that lights up and you absolutely would center your living room around if you could get your hands on it? Convention stories, internet friendships, and the ensuing shenanigans … anything that makes you smile when you reflect on it, we’d like to learn more about it!

I don’t have any fandom collections. I collected things when I was younger, but they were always geared toward my interest in fashion and costume. I collected dolls in national clothes from other countries, and paper dolls in period clothes. But as an adult, there were too many years with limited living space and little money, and I kind of fell out of the habit of collecting things. Perhaps I’m interested in too many things to feel passionate enough about something to collect.

I do have a lot of great fandom memories though. In 1999 we got our first modem, at the same time as I became a mother. I spent many nights awake with a cranky baby, and living in the countryside several kilometers from the nearest village also made me feel very isolated. Then I found an email group focused on the crime writer Dorothy l. Sayers, and I found fandom and a community. We discussed sayer’s books and so many other things the group eventually got a subgroup devoóted to any subject under the earth. I read my first fanfic in that group. I wrote my first one too. I met people from it in the USA, Scotland, and Sweden. For years I chatted with people in that group daily. I’m still in contact with many of them on Facebook.

A few years later, when email groups started to turn extinct I had a similar experience with a forum dedicated to Jason Isaacs. I had a lot of fun, met several of the people there IRL, and am still in contact with a lot of them on FB. The forum also introduced Livejournal in my life and was my entryway to write fanfic more seriously. And on Livejournal and later Dreamwidth I’ve stayed. I’ve met a few of my friends here- I met even more people I’ve got to know through my interests in costume history and sewing. Some of my best friends IRL are people I once met on Livejournal. I’ve no plans to go anywhere else.

Sunshine 2019: Prompt 7

And the last Sunshine prompt. This was a fun challenge- I hope it returns next year!



We wanted to end this challenge with something a little different.

At this time, we want to encourage everyone to make a post to discuss at whatever length comfortable something they love about themselves. We recognize that this is both very introspective and personal, and that sharing the results can be difficult. If you need to keep your post private, that’s fine! What’s important is that we all take this opportunity to be daring and push ourselves out of our comfort zones in order to be more kind to others, but more specifically ourselves on this one. Reflecting on ourselves and putting it in writing is the goal.

If you are able to share your post in some way, we also invite you to ask your friend list to comment and add things they love about you as well. You may well be surprised by the results.

Just remember that we could all use a little sunshine in our lives, and while it's great to have friends and family who love and support you, it important to recognize that sometimes we need to be our own light. Be warm and bright. Love yourself. ♥

I’ve thought a lot about this, and it’s interesting how, when I have thought of things I like with myself, I start to counter with my less positive sides, or adding that even something positive can be negative under certain circumstances. It’s really super easy to talk about what I like less about me. But let’s not go there. Let’s only mention a few of the things I do like about me.

I like my integrity. It was hard-won, and I don’t compromise it. I’m usually pretty easy going and diplomatic, but not when it comes to my core values.

I like how I look. It may sound shallow, but it took me many years to like and embrace my looks. I was bullied into believing I was hideously ugly and unattractive in my teens, and it wasn’t easy to overcome.

I like my artistic talents. It has brought me so much joy all my life, and as long as I can write and sew and draw I will never like things to do.