I guess I just slept too little

[extrapenguin]

I posted the episode discussion for episode 21!

Those take up 5+ hours of my week, between rewatching & screencapping, uploading the images, composing the post, and picking illustrative screencaps. The reason I started was to have fun with the community, but lately it's been the same 4-ish people commenting on the posts, with limited discussion that I am not a part of, and it feels a bit empty compared to what it was at the start. I don't expect every episode to get idk 70+ comments, but I'd have expected that episode 20 would've gotten more than what it got, even with the natural attenuation of people as a project continues. I guess everyone's melted into a puddle in the heat. (Sort of considering taking a break from the project, but ... I guess I'll see how this one does. I do enjoy doing the rewatches, but it's work.)

I originally planned to write more (I think something on squicks, maybe) but it's too hot to think. +16°C is a perfectly pleasant summer temperature, why are we having +30°C and above?

Quick driveby rec of my gift for Writing Rainbow: Blue – Blue Planet, Black Sky is space opera AU crack with Shen Wei and Ye Zun rescuing Zhao Yunlan from space pirates! It's super cute and I love it.

Comments

[trobadora]

Sorry the discussions are slowing down! I hope they'll pick up again - I really love the rewatch.

For me it's not the heat, it's work. It's been weeks since I really had time/energy to do more than dip into my flist a little. Though the heat isn't helping, ugh. (And I like a nice hot summer day if it's not too humid. But no one needs 36°. NO ONE. Especially not while working.)

[extrapenguin]

I hope stuff will pick up come autumn as people return from vacations and the heat waves recede. Fingers crossed.

Work, heat, *and* laptop troubles? You really have hit the bad luck bingo. Let's hope that's it for this year and work eases up.

[clevermanka]

It sucks that you're not getting the emotional reward from the posts that you were at the beginning. FWIW, I love them. I think you're hilarious, and since my fanart is collage-based I really appreciate your screencaps. I wish I could encourage more people to resume commenting.

ETA: Forgot to mention, LOL on that subject line

[extrapenguin]

I figured that there'd be some natural attrition as the novelty wore off, but not this much. (I'm now wondering whether I inadvertently pissed off half the fandom. *g*) Thank you for turning up every week with compliments!

(The subject line is both true and also a riff off the Guardian ending theme, which I was listening to while I composed the post.)

[clevermanka]

I was hoping the Guardian in-joke was intentional bc I realized (after I edited the comment) that I was gonna sound like an asshole if you weren't actually making a joke. =D

[extrapenguin]

I mean, I did actually sleep too little (fuck the Sun), but I very intentionally copypasted the song title into the Current Music field! It'd have been a shame if no-one noticed.

[clevermanka]

Having a joke fall unnoticed in the forest is the worst.

ETA: Oh. That Current Music field. *quietly removes painfully unobservant self from the room*

[extrapenguin]

Having a joke fall unnoticed in the forest is the worst.
It is! As is having a turn of phrase one is particularly proud of in e.g. fic remain uncommented upon.

[clevermanka]

So! Frustrating! What's (one of) yours? PLEASE SHARE.

[extrapenguin]

Ah yes, my beloved daylights as a professor of bioengineering. - Fate's True North
I'm just so proud of using "daylights" as an antonym for "moonlights" , ok? Then there's also stuff from Writing Rainbow: Blue which I can't talk about yet since authors haven't been revealed, but you can probably guess what I wrote. *g* Also stuff from Under Rusted Skies, e.g. The future belonged to the bold, and happy endings belonged to those who could communicate well enough to arrange them.

(Though recently I haven't really expended effort to write that many zingers, since 1. hard to do so in summer, and 2. what's the point if no-one notices?)

[clevermanka]

what's the point if no-one notices
Ya gotta honor the muse when she comes along, though, or else she'll stop returning!

Now I feel bad for avoiding Fate's True North because that's a great line, yes! (nothing personal, I just have this weird almost-squick when it comes to the Soulmate trope)

ETA: I just realized I never went back to re-read and comment on Rusted Skies. I need to do that...KSR's Mars trilogy is one of my favorite series EVAR.

[extrapenguin]

The muse is protesting unethical working conditions all summer. *g*

Now I feel bad for avoiding Fate's True North because that's a great line, yes! (nothing personal, I just have this weird almost-squick when it comes to the Soulmate trope)
There's no need to feel bad, a squick is a squick. If your interest was piqued, though, I'm more than willing to answer questions about whether or not it hits your squick or whooshes by.

ETA: I just realized I never went back to re-read and comment on Rusted Skies. I need to do that...KSR's Mars trilogy is one of my favorite series EVAR.
\o/ KSR's Mars trilogy is amazing, and was definitely an inspiration. As was The Martian.

[clevermanka]

My distaste for Soulmates stems from my (weird, personal problem) revulsion about the concept of soulmates--that there's One Perfect Person Out There for everyone (or even anyone). It bothers me. A lot.

Dub/Non-Con? Incest? Unrequited love? Character death? BRING IT. Soulmates, though? I DRAW THE LINE AT SOULMATES. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[extrapenguin]

I actually DNW the concept of soulmates most of the time, but, uh, ended up writing soulmates anyway because I wanted to showcase Shen Wei's original Dixingian non-Han name. *g* If it helps, the setting is more "soulmates are guaranteed to bring out the best in each other throughout their lives" than being perfect for each other, since there is no such thing as perfection. Also, one-sided good influences and temporary (not lifelong) good influences also exist. I even have an explanation for why there are soulmates, but that'll have to wait for the sequel. Which I should probably write at this point, given how much I'm talking about it...

[clevermanka]

Thanks for taking the time to explain! Nice to meet someone else who is usually turned off by the trope.

[jo_lasalle]

Randomly butting into this thread: I would actually say that I generally find the idea of 'soulmates' pretty URGH, but for some reason, when you make it the setup of the universe (as opposed to, say, Zhao Yunlan, in a 'regular' universe, thinking while full of romance feels that Shen Wei is his soulmate), like some quirk of biology, I can apparently totally run with it when done well. (Especially when it's handled in a funny-matter-of-fact way.)

[extrapenguin]

^.^

[jo_lasalle]

I got the subject line. *g* (And LOL'd.)

I hope the posts pick back up! They're the fandom equivalent to appointment TV for me, and I appreciate the work you put into them. But there is a sort of critical mass of input to actually get discussion going, isn't there?

(The heat makes it a lot harder to be in depth, though, I'm noticing.)

[extrapenguin]

Your comments have consistently been spectacular and motivating!

But there is a sort of critical mass of input to actually get discussion going, isn't there?
Yeah, it needs several people commenting on different things before we get something where one person remarks upon X and then another person has something to say about that. I hope that once autumn comes, we'll get more people. We should also then be in the final stretch of episodes, which'll hopefully attract more discussion.

[china_shop]

I'm sorry activity on the rewatch posts has been dropping off lately. They're such a fabulous resource. I much appreciate them, even if it's mostly in a lurkery way. For whatever that's worth.

[extrapenguin]

FWIW, activity did pick up for 21, so it seems that the not-so-subtle guilt trip works wonders. :P I'm glad they're appreciated, I just wish to host a fandom discussion space that people could hop into, yanno?