Altered states

[raven]

Further to last night's post, I'm seriously considering doing this altered mental states ficathon. (I guess if I write about it much more, it'll become the Altered Mental States Ficathon.) The logistics are quite difficult - the simple model of people just picking three things they want as their request may not work. The best idea I've had so far is to actually make a list of altered mental states and phenomena - depression, madness, hallucinations, nightmre, euphoria, etc. - and have people make broad requests: specify fandom and mental state and leave it at that.

I wouldn't, I think, make a list of fandoms: the only problem would be making sure that at least two people from each fandom sign up.

I'm also thinking of running a much smaller, concurrent Slings & Arrows ficathon, with no connection to the first one other than they're both being run by me, as my own pet project. (Basically, there is no S&A fic on the internet and I disapprove.)

I'd be opening sign-ups for both of these fairly shortly, and maybe have my deadline at the end of August/beginning of September, though I'm open to argument on that, and minimum word count maybe 1000 words.

So, assuming that's how it's going to work, a poll.

[Poll #1022972]

Thanks, guys. And pimping this poll wouldn't go down amiss either. (Hint, hint.)

Comments

[wishfulaces.livejournal.com]

alien_altars did a ficathon based upon badfic cliches for how two characters get together (aliens made them do it; accidental marriage; amnesia; etc)--they had a list of all the cliches, and then people responded with saying "I'll do such-and-such a cliche in this fandom with these characters." This kinda sounds like it might run along the same lines, if that would help you organize it?

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Due to having The Thesis and A Book Chapter both due in September, I can't really commit to writing anything, but I think it's a great idea. I will watch, read and comment with great interest.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

There is a small amount of S&A fic at the Yuletide archive, you know - yuletidetreasure.org.

[pinkishmew.livejournal.com]

I has depression fear. But reading someone's interpretation of it might be nice.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I don't think I'd do the altered states one, just as I have a really hard time writing 'mad' characters -- but I think it's a great idea and would pimp it out; also, "Slings & Arrows" ficathon is fabulous!

[likethesun2.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes! I will get to pimping both ASAP. (And will studiously ignore how crazy it is for me to volunteer for both. Crazy is the order of the day!)

God, is it irredeemably nerdy of me that in my head this is now the Mad North-Northwest Ficathon, in tribute to its S&A/Hamlet roots? Yes, I think so.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

likethesun2 sent me over here and I'm reading it thinking, "but I'm already altering Daniel Jackson's mental state for a different ficathon!"
I don't know if I'd write (I'm getting mild ficathon burnout) but I'd pimp and read.
As for setup - apocalypse_kree is currently running and started with a list of prompts (suggested by people) and had people choose a prompt - with the ability to switch if things got tight - maybe a route like that would be easier? Especially if there are mental states people really aren't comfortable writing? (or generic prompts where people claim prompt and fandom or something...)

[vikingwriter.livejournal.com]

I would write (depending on time frame, it could very well be just eking past the minimum, however) and read the first. I would only really read the second because I've seen only a handful of eps (at the mercy of Sundance ondemand and my rusty steel trap of a memory). I would love to say I could pimp it, but since I'm not deep into any fandom (though occasionally contribute to farscape, buffy, firefly and hp arenas), I'm not what good it would do.

[vikingwriter.livejournal.com]

uh, that would be "not *sure* what good it would do." Low blood sugar, rat bastard!

[very-improbable.livejournal.com]

I second this. The AMSF (see, it has an acronym, now you *have* to do it!) sounds really interesting, but mental problems are so personal and specific to a character that I feel like it'd be best to let people find their own interpretation like alien_altars did. Otherwise, it may run the risk of encouraging writers to treat insanity in a too gimmicky way.

P.S. If you're interested in S&A fic, you should also be reading ds_6degrees--the S&A content isn't huge, but I think it's more active there than anywhere else.

[tangleofthorns.livejournal.com]

Actually I don't know that I would write, since I have not met a ficathon deadline (apart from Yuletide) in a long time, but I would certainly try. And I would encourage it. As long as it wasn't an exchange-format ficathon I'd be very interested.

[tau_sigma]

Maybe get people to give two or three requests (two or three fandoms, at least, I suppose whether they'd prefer a different state for a different fandom is up to them?), so that hopefully you'll have a better chance of there being someone to write for at least one of their fandoms?

I would love to read some. Assuming there end up being some in fandoms that I know; and, you know, I could even be quite interested in fandoms I don't know, because it is a fascinating ... err, thing. (So tired. No more words.)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I like that idea, but I'm really keen to keep the gift/exchange part of the ficathon alive, if I can? I'm not entirely sure whether I can afford to, but I'd like to try.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I think I really do have to do it. *sighs* In a twist of dramatic irony, I am CRAZY. You know, I'm thinking the best compromise between gift-exchange and freedom of interpretation is to let people request fandom, character and mental "spark" word such a depression, euphoria, grief, repression, etc., and let the writers twist as they see fit. I'm not kicking anyone out the ficathon for creative use of the prompts, you know?

ps. THANK YOU. I just spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour sifting through.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

A Book Chapter? Tell me more. :) And hey, thanks for the support! I think I may just have committed myself to this now.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

May I ask, do you have the fear with depression in fiction? I ask because I'm genuinely interested - when I had my brief bout of it a few months ago, I read The Bell Jar and Prozac Nation and watched the relevant episodes of The West Wing and Firefly and The X-Files, over and over. I don't quite know what I was looking for, or if I found it, but that was the response. Tell me if I'm asking something you don't want to answer.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Hee, fab! Thanks for replying.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*grins* Crazy is GOOD, crazy is thematically cohesive!

God, is it irredeemably nerdy of me that in my head this is now the Mad North-Northwest Ficathon, in tribute to its S&A/Hamlet roots? Yes, I think so.

*cries* I still love you.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Hey, pimping and reading is still awesome. (And you'd better link me to that story when it's done. *g*)

Especially if there are mental states people really aren't comfortable writing?

Oh, fuck, I didn't think of that. Argh.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

If you're writing, you're awesome. *g* Thanks.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*nods* Awesome! Thank you.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I think that is what I'm going to do, so thank you.

And yes, I imagine it will be very interesting! It amuses me that this all springs from Slings & Arrows, only the most obscure fandom ever, so perhaps getting more mainstream will be good for me.

[furies.livejournal.com]

i am so in for the crazy ficathon. i would be in for S&A, only i don't watch it. (i know, i know, likethesun2 and tangleofthorns hate me already.)

as for the crazy . . . it might be helpful to umm, explain exactly what some of the crazy-states are? in which case, i am here at your side! i mean, this is my only real problem with the ficathon idea - that if someone writes me, say, "depressed" but the character is only really either sad or grieving in a normal way, i'm going to be slightly upset, because. because, well, depression *isn't* that, you know? i hate to be all-DSMy and shit, but.

(also, i agree with whoever said they think there should be an opt-out on things you can't or aren't willing to write - a lot of people probably won't want to do results of non-con things, or even more basic, triggery things like attempted/successful suicide or even self-injury or something. not that i'm completely morbid or anything, and feel extremely sorry for whoever i get, if this does indeed happen.)

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

I will pimp and read and, depending on how much ficathon burnout I'm feeling and how your 'thon ends up working, may end up playing...

(And you'd better link me to that story when it's done. *g*)

hee :)
If you're antsy, I already played with Sam and Daniel's brains here (http://abyssinia4077.livejournal.com/132611.html) though more in a dreams/nightmares/altered reality sense than a madness sense.
The other story is much more Daniel going off the deep-end - assuming I manage to turn it from "idea in my head" into "actual story" by the deadline.

Oh, fuck, I didn't think of that. Argh.

Yep. Which is why maybe letting people choose prompts rather than making assignments could maybe be safer. (I know, if I were to play, I really couldn't write anything that ventured into suicidal/self injury areas for instance)

Still! Cool idea! Always fun to mess with characters' heads.

[likethesun2.livejournal.com]

I apologize profusely for butting in on someone else's thread, but I just wanted to say--I respond the same way. I used to rewatch "Hawk's Nightmare" over and over and over when I was really depressed. And I did the same thing with comparable episodes of Sports Night. Weird, but helpful in some way?

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Yep. Which is why maybe letting people choose prompts rather than making assignments could maybe be safer.

The only way round this I can see whilst maintaining the exchange is by having a) people make as many requests as they can, which is good sense anyway, and b) specifying things they won't write. What do you think? I'm loath to switch to the prompt system simply because I've never done it, and have no experience...

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

"Hawk's Nightmare", I seem to remember, got me through all my teenage angst. Do you remember I used to have a theory that it had some sort of subliminal messaging that meant everyone, whatever their mental state, watched it over and over? I taped it and watched it about twelve times, and then I lent it to lilka, who had never seen M*A*S*H , watched it multiple times before she gave it back.

Okay, I need to see if it's on YouTube. :)

[likethesun2.livejournal.com]

I would send you my tape, but I expect checking YouTube saves time. :)

Two random questions, while I'm here (and after this, I promise to go shower and do laundry and stop spamming you):

1. I seem to remember that you wrote a story of some kind where Daniel Jackson and Hawkeye Pierce met. (http://likethesun2.livejournal.com/107123.html?thread=1066099#t1066099) Tell me I'm not delusional.

2. Is there any information you want emphasized in pimping posts? I'm thinking of spreading the word to mash_slash, melancholydanes, and other relevant communities, but it's your ficathon; you call the shots!

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

1. Yes, I have. See me say that as it if it is an entirely reasonable and not-at-all-shameful thing to admit to! I am not at all geeky, dammit.

2. Ah, pimping! I think first of all I really need to decide between prompts and exchange. I'm still leaning towards exchange with opt-outs, but I think I need to sleep on it, and when I've decided and I have either a prompt post or exchange sign-up post, pimping there shall be.

Ah, speaking of sleep, it's three am and I fail at life AGAIN.

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

I can see that - lots of requests (ideally somewhat varied) gives more chance of something the author is comfortable with.
I mean, I think some of this will be initially HARD work on your (or other ficathon runners) part in terms of matching, but if you want to keep it an exchange, it sounds like a good plan to me (um, I'm very much not any sort of expert at these things)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

All the ficathons I've run so far have been exchanges. (And have also had footnotes saying "never let me do this again", now I come to think of it.) Which is certainly not to say an expert, and the numbers staying small may actually be good for me.

Okay. *resolve face* Time to decide.

ps. would you mind if I friended you? I've always meant to, and it seems overdue...

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

And have also had footnotes saying "never let me do this again", now I come to think of it

And yet the temptation is strong :)

You have time to decide! I've seen ficathons run a variety of ways (though exchanges and prompt lists seem the most common).

would you mind if I friended you? I've always meant to, and it seems overdue...

Oh, definitely, I've been on and off thinking the same thing for a while now...

[troyswann.livejournal.com]

I agree that there should be more S&A fic out there. I think there's a bit on melancholydanes, though (which aren't by me) and the occasional snippety five-things that I remember reading--by... I'll have to check my memories. What I mean is: I strongly support anything that makes more S&A in the world, because there is verreh little. Also, you should write me some because that would be awesome. And while you're doing my bidding like a slave, you can make me a really cool hat out of cheese, kay? Kay ;)

[pinkishmew.livejournal.com]

I think that reading it - reading someone's experiences of it - may remind me too closely of my own, and I am in a fragile place right now. Something that powerfully reminds me of being very depressed may be enough to take me back there, or at least upset and disorientate me for a time. Then again, it might be nice to see how to explain it to others - what metaphors to use, and what imagery.

Oh, goodness - Firefly. Yes, I had to avoid that for quite a while. I have this tendency to over-identify with characters, and seeing River was not at all helpful. When I was watching Harry Potter, the neck-twitch was making me very uncomfortable and exposed.

In Oct/Nov 06, when I was still at university, I was reading 20th C American drama; all of which seemed to chronicle a slow spiral into madness. (Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Hairy Ape, Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie, etc.) This did reflect my state of mind, and it scared me and made the endless mental spiralling in the night just go further and further. For me, it just made it worse, because there was no hope for any of the characters. I think it was the lack of hope which was worse, to be honest.

[pinkishmew.livejournal.com]

When I even heard something like, "Today I sat, pondering the futility of life" (in a comedy sketch, as I remember) I would start screaming quietly, have to turn off the tv and huddle into a corner.

...

That was a very bleak time. I was right on the edge.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Hee, yay! I love having friends who pimp for me. :)

Word on the opt-out. I don't feel confident about running any other kind of ficathon, so it's an exchange, but with a clearly-defined opt-out on what people don't want to do.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

YES THERE SHOULD. *nodnod* But I am not clever enough to write as Geoffrey! He's so... Geoffrey. I fail. But why is there no fic on the internets? And why, specifically, is there no fic about Geoffrey's original breakdown? Because if there was, I wouldn't have to try!

*makes Sal a hat made of cheese, 'cause I fail*

[likethesun2.livejournal.com]

See, the thing is, I couldn't really hate you because in many cases it would be a little too much like... hating myself? And that's just awkward. :D

However, on this point, in re: not watching S&A, I can safely say: I HATE YOU.

[amchau.livejournal.com]

Please, please, please, give me until the end of September to write my fic!

I want to offer to help run it but I'm internetless after 5th August, or probably so.