Having probably stupid ideas...

[thisbluespirit]

I was sort of thinking about having a comment ficathon for things I like, for my birthday, except that wouldn't really work. And then I started thinking what I could do that might just... and so, if I had a comment-a-thon for things that were old (pre-2000) and British and obscure, would that be a thing that might work? Or at least not just have me prompting by myself?

It includes a lot and the only big fandoms I can think of that aren't automatically excluded by those qualifiers anyway are LOTR, Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes. And possibly Classic Who, but I'm reluctant to exclude Classic Who because a) people might actually join in and b) no one era is all that popular. (60s only?)

Anyway, how stupid an idea is that? It seems like fun to me, but then it would, wouldn't it? And if I do run it, I would need some help - I can make banners for it, but something I find very hard while I'm ill is promoting things. I can't even post the reminders for dw_straybunnies challenges on the comm itself because I find it so hard. So, if I did that and made banners, would people be willing to help post them about in relevant places? (I would do some myself, of course, too. It gets a bit easier if it's not just me - I think part of it is less about the effort and more about feeling stupid/a nuisance/going on about boring things somehow.)

It wouldn't do any harm, though - and it would be open to all fanworks as fills. And since I usually get overtired on my birthday, I would probably set it going before or after (next weekend?). And it'd just stay open with a link on my sticky, so people could always come back with fills whenever.

What do people think?

ETA: It's not the sort of thing where you could list fandoms, since anything that qualified would be okay, but here's some of mine that would be eligible: Blake's 7, Sapphire and Steel, Press Gang, Allo Allo, Miss Marple, Red Dwarf, Jonathan Creek, Ngaio Marsh, Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, much other 19th C lit, children's/YA lit, Diana Wynne Jones, Chalet School, The Good Life, Duchess of Duke Street, Georgette Heyer, Poldark, I Claudius, Elizabeth R, House of Eliott etc etc.

Also, it's not egocentric, really, I just can't have a party in rl (though I may manage lunch with my friend round the corner at some point in the week ♥), so I'm going for an online equivalent.

Comments

[justice_turtle]

I don't think I could fill, but I'd definitely signal-boost and try to prompt. It sounds fun! :D

[thisbluespirit]

Signal boosting is important and so is prompting! (Also, Chronicles of Chrestomanci and other DWJ would definitely count too, I just thought. :-D)

♥

(I've got all excited thinking about this. I may need to go and have another lie down. :lol:)

[seriesfive]

Ahem, I have only vague ideas what a comment ficathon is, but as long as you slot it into a weekend I'm game ;) Admittedly I'm not that active on LJ, but as long as I'm given clear directions what I should do, I can certainly try to get some advertising done :D

Oh, and please don't exclude classic Who (and why would you even consider doing so? Isn't it obscure enough?)

[thisbluespirit]

Well, I'd probably kick it off on the Friday and then just let it stay open permanently, but you always get the most activity in the first few days or so, so yes.)

Heh, well, just so as not to have the obscure stuff overwhelmed by something that's v borderline and doesn't count for Yuletide. But, yes, each individual era is obscure and needs more love!

I think I am going to do this, and thanks for the advertising help offer.

ETA: And a comment ficathon/fanworkathon is really v simple - people leave one prompt per comment, and other people post fic/other fanworks as a reply to that comment. If it escapes being sensible flashfic length, then you post a link to the work in the reply. And on!

[seriesfive]

I see. I don't think I've ever participated in anything like that, though it sounds a bit like fic rush, only, well, different mostly...;)

Anyway, count me in.

[glinda]

Happy to help where I can! I can't make banners, but if you make them I will gladly pimp them about the place.

Plus I will take any excuse to write Neverwhere or (proper) Avengers fic and I can see me writing 80s and 90s british comics too...(would Good Omens count? I know it used to be a massive fandom but its tiny these days and for that matter pTerry's work pre-2000 in general?)

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! I will be making banners during the week, I hope and I am definitely going to give it a try and see what happens! I'm sure at the worst it will just be an embarrassing failure, what could go wrong? ;-)

And, yes, absolutely! People who see The Avengers and think Emma Peel are exactly the sort of people the comment!fest will be for. Even if sadly I have not yet watched The Avengers. (It is on my list). I am always going to multifandom prompt things and then slinking away in shame at how tiny and obscure all the things I want to prompt for are! :lol:

I'm having fun checking out what will and won't be eligible, so I shall poke at Good Omens, too. Discworld definitely counts (the whole series) - I checked it, and the majority of the series is pre-2000 and it's still Yuletide eligible, so it's fine by my rules I am making up. Heh.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Go for it!! :D

Also - I want to buy you a Liz Companion Chronicle for your birthday so which one(s) have you got already?

[thisbluespirit]

I am going to!!! (It's v exciting. I've never done a comment!fest before.)

Oo. The one I have is The Blue Tooth. ♥

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yay! :D Hope you get lots of people participating!

Right - then I've just ordered the next two in the series. Hopefully they'll arrive on time!

[thisbluespirit]

:-) And I think it should be a game most people can play, in leaving prompts, at least. (As Time Goes By would definitely be eligible, for instance. ;-D)

:-D (I'll go away and tell myself to forget that so it'll be a surprise! :lol:)

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Woot!

Aw, sorry - I just didn't want you to think you weren't getting anything.

[thisbluespirit]

♥

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good idea to me - I would say give it a whirl. :)

[thisbluespirit]

I am going to. It's quite fun working out what is and isn't eligible by my arbitrary rules. And whether or not I really can get away with including Classic Who...

:-)

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could go for something restrictive like "Classic Who stories with Philip Madoc in them" or something. ;)

[thisbluespirit]

Or DW adventures featuring Sylvester McCoy or DW adventures that feature David Collings, are written by Chris Boucher and have pretty robots?

(No, I can justify including Classic Who, though I am looking somewhat askance at Four and Five and Eight. I don't think I'll exclude them, though. It could get complicated.)

[swordznsorcery.livejournal.com]

I shall make Eight glare at you for suggesting such things. ;)

I think this sounds like an interesting idea, btw, and I absolutely think you should go for it. Why not?! It's your party, and you should fic if you want to. I would probably have said so earlier, but I had ceased to exist.

[thisbluespirit]

Eight's not really that good at glaring. I shan't be scared. And it's only a matter of numbers. :-)

And thank you! I thought you might approve! I'm sorry about your existential issues, though. I hope it doesn't happen too often.

[liadt]

I can do some pimping & I'm always good for an obscure prompt;) And I can make icons and gifs if not fic.

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! And, yes, icons and gifs and such things will be very welcome in my comment!fest when it happens. ♥

Also obscure prompts! This is not a thing that will work if nobody leaves obscure prompts.

[honeynoir.livejournal.com]

It's a great idea, you should go for it! And happy birthday in advance!

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! It's surprising how many things it includes, so hopefully lots of people will be able to at least leave a prompt or something and it includes nearly everything I like the most! I am off to try and work out what things should be eligible and what shouldn't. Hmmm

Oh, and thank you for the b'day wishes - I am being a bit prevous, as it's still ten days away, but I had this idea this morning...

[honeynoir.livejournal.com]

Yay! It including as much as possible of what you like should be the most important thing!

Ten days to come up with prompts! :D

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

It sounds intriguing - very intriguing. I see from your other post that you've decided to go for it, and I really hope you get lots of fills.

[thisbluespirit]

Thanks! And there are always less fills than prompts in a comment fest, but I think it has potential to work and have plenty of people play, fingers crossed. I've never tried running a comment ficathon before, so it'll be interesting.

:-)

[aralias.livejournal.com]

this sounds like a nice idea for a birthday party :D i'm pleased to read in later posts that you are probably going for it!

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! It is turning rapidly into a Proper Comment fest thing, so that is kind of scary. But it does seem worth trying. And I think I will! At the moment it is an Obscure & British Comment!fest, with all fanworks welcome as fills. That's narrowed to a theme and also pretty wide and laid back.

*crosses fingers*

(And yes, any random 70s TV you may have been watching is totally welcome in prompts. Absolutely!)

[paranoidangel]

I like this idea.

[thisbluespirit]

I thought you might! Hopefully, I shall do it and it will be fun. ♥