Nonesensed's writing corner

Once more, I'm doing the lists, and the goals, and trying to catch up everywhere (like here 😅), but I finally think I have stumbled upon the right balance of Goals VS Stress for myself.

As the title says, I don't want to jinx it by celebrating too early, but I feel like myself again 💖 Helps that I've sworn to not work more than 8 hours a day, 5 days a week this year. Funny how much of a change that's already brought on, four weeks into the new year 😉

I'm back to writing! The "you have to do everything so you do nothing"-stress of 2025 is gone at last, which means I can sit down and work more efficiently on line-edits of my closest-to-finished-WIP A Werewolf in October. I'm hoping to print it (just, like, 10 copies, not publish) at the end of this year, but if it's not ready then, it's not ready. It'll never be as polished and error free as a professional work with actual beta-readers and editors etc but I'm not aiming for professional - I'm aiming for a fun thing to have made that I can share with a handful of my friends 😊

Doing my best to return to timed goals instead of accomplishment goals. That is, "work on this story for 30 minutes tonight" instead of "you have to listen to 14 podcast episodes this week". My deadline heavy work life reaaaally infected my way of thinking of my hobbies - but no more, I say!

Since I'm going Slow And Steady Wins The Race, I'm also trying not to fret over being so behind on comments and blog entries here on DW (I'll tell you if I succeed). It's why I've skipped the Snowflake challenge this year - at least for now.

So. In a hopeful mood, despite *gestures at the state of the world*

Back when I was a nerdy teenager, I was convinced I was an "introvert" (in quotation marks 'cause it's a vague term, but I think we're all familiar with it as a pop culture thing). Why? Because that's what media told me: you're nerdy = you're introverted.

However, as I grew into an even nerdier adult, I realized that's Very Much Not The Case. Can you believe that media lied to me??? 😱😱😱

Yeah, I really should have seen that coming, what with the Hymen Myth still being a thing and all 😅 But once I moved out to live on my own, it became pretty obvious I'm more the kind of super chatty person who's the last to leave the party and who gets super grumpy and up in my own head if I don't hang out with people enough for non-work-related reasons. I just happen to really enjoy writing too, which is hard to do in a group setting (for me, 'cause I'm so talkative 😆).

Due to overworking (both at work and otherwise), I've now been in a sour mood for days on end. I've gotten far too caught up in my own thoughts. Solution? I spent my breaks today scheduling future hangouts with all my local friends who have time to spare. My old roommate is coming over for lunch and/or dinner tomorrow (Sweden's national day, so no work), Saturday I'm attending a birthday party + DMing D&D, and Sunday I'm having dinner with a friend at her place, and I have orders to take pictures of her kids and send to my parents. And that's just this weekend. I have more social plans for the rest of June, and I already feel my mood improving 😊

Will also be playing more Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, 'cause it's a very cool game 💗💗💗

Anyone else have a similar kind of major self-realization you'd like to share? I'm oh so curious to know what else media has tricked people into falsely believing about themselves 👀

Btw, Sweden's national day has only been a holiday since 2005 and everyone I know is still pissed at that ('cause now we have less free days during Easter), so unlike many other countries, few people here in Sweden have any actual plans or traditions related to the day. I even keep forgetting why this specific date is our National Day 😅😅😅

Okay, so, I really need to slow down at work, for both my mental and physical health (which are more or less the same thing, yes yes, but you know what I mean). Main mission for the rest of the year:
Stop Overworking Yourself(TM).

Easier said than done, but I'm determined to try. Wish me luck!

I'm still waaaaaay behind on reading comments and blog posts on here 😅 That said, I'm also still looking forward to reading up on everyone's posts and replying to all the lovely and interesting comments 💖

Planning on doing all of these challenges, but work is still busy, and I'm booked for both D&D 🎲 and a cat cafe visit 😻 this week, so here's a quick combo of some challenges out of order! 😊


#4: Since this is the start of a new year, this challenge will be to set your own goals! Of course we can all make large or ambitious goals, remember that small and/or short goals are also good!
I've set up some goals for the year, but to be fandom specific, I'm hoping to finish at least two fanfics other than the Yuletide fic I'll sign up to write at the end of the year. Aiming to have a The Goes Wrong Show fic finished soon and then that crack fic fake research article about My Little Pony biology I promised my sister literal years ago... Better get to work!


#5: Talk about what has improved in your life thanks to fandom.
Oh, so many things! I've either met or stayed in touch with most of my closest friends thanks to fandom. I've gotten way better at text analysis, English and introspection, plus I've developed writing skills that help me both in the work place and when I create purely for fun. 10 out of 10, would recommend 😁


#10: In your own space, talk about one of your fandom firsts. This could be your first fandom, your first fandom friend, the first fanwork you created, the first fanwork you interacted with... The options are endless!
Let's go with first LARP! I was in my early teens (though I honestly don't remember exactly how old 😅) and I got to tag along with my friend and her younger sister for a really big LARP by Swedish standards. My friend's sister had been LARPing for a while, so we got to stay in a big fancy tent in the village with her group instead of in regular tiny modern tents way farther off into the woods. There was a lake nearby, which was fortunate 'cause it was such a warm summer week. First time skinny dipping too 😆


#11: In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme.
Definitely loyalty! I adore themes of loyalty in all forms of fiction: loyalty being rewarded, loyalty being ill-advised, loyalty being hard to shake off; any and all takes on the subject I'll eat up like delicious chocolate 💖


#13: Interact with someone in fandom you haven't talked with before.
I've just fully joined the Watchmaker of Filigree Street fandom and am leaving comments on fics by authors I've never interacted with before as I devour my way through AO3 😁💙💖

In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story.

Oh boy, I've reached that age (aka 36) where I'm having a hard time being 100% sure of exactly how I came in contact with fandom. But this is what I do recall!

1) I first encountered fanfiction while randomly surfing the Internet, back when I was 11-12 years old. I found a Gundam Wing website with fanfic and fanart of the ship Heero/Duo, and I remember being very confused about the fact that Duo was a boy and not a girl 😆 That got itty-bitty Swedish me started on a quest to watch all of Gundam Wing, one post-order VHS at the time! It took many years and many birthday wishes and Yule gifts + pocket money, and the last ones were DVDs, but I did collect the whole series 😊

2) I quickly started writing my own fanfic - in English, since fanfic in Swedish was unknown to me at the time and isn't exactly common these days either. So I wrote a very misspelled Swenglish self-insert Sailor Moon/SWAT Kats crossover and posted it to fanfiction.net~! My mother was so proud she printed the story 😁

3) When I was 13 I joined my first ever roleplaying group, an Elfquest group called "Starpool Holt". That really helped me improve both my English and realize how much more fun it is to roleplay when you're not insisting on being a "mysterious loner". My first character there was a blue-haired twin whose entire family of course had been slaughtered by humans, very brutally and traumatically. Had a ton of fun in that group 💙

And thus another fandom member was developed! I've been nerding out both with my sister and close IRL friends, and with friends and strangers online, ever since 💖