Gothic Meet and Greet

[ysabetwordsmith]

Lots of folks want to see more activity on Dreamwidth. While researching community activities, I came across the idea of thematic meet and greet events. That seemed like something which might work here, given a membership of several hundred people and a new theme each month. So I made one for this month's theme. It gives people a place to meet folks with similar interests, and to squee about the current theme.

Here is the basic outline. Fill in as much or as little of it as you wish, depending on your interests as they relate to the Gothic Bingo Fest.


Name: Whatever you wish to be known by.
Sex/Gender Identity: Share any descriptions you wish people to know about you, including pronouns.
Find Me At: Your other blogs, services, or venues.

What I Love About Gothic Entertainment: Favorite authors, activities, traditions, decorations, tropes, etc.
What I Hate About Gothic Entertainment: Things you wish would go away, in real life or entertainment. Die, trope, die!
Most Favorite Addams Family Iteration(s): Do you like the classic single-panel cartoons, the original television show, the movies, or the new Wednesday series?
Most Favorite Other Gothic Content: Classic novels, paranormal television shows, scary movies, or what?
Headcanons: What spooky little extras do you add to your favorite canons?
Gothic Things I Love To Do Myself: Walk on a foggy day, keep a black cat, wear period clothes or jewelry, make macabre art, whatever.
Favorite Gothic Holidays: Halloween, Samhain, Dia de los Muertos, or ...?
Gothic Places I Have Visited: Caves, castles, abandoned buildings, graveyards, anything with gargoyles, etc.
Favorite Blogs or Communities: Anything on Dreamwidth, or other venues, relating to the above topics.

About My Blog: A general description of your blog metaphor, what your blog contains, common formats / media, activity level, typical rating level, featured fandom(s) or original work, etc.
What I Create: Anything you make that relates to the Gothic theme or above topics; fandoms, formats, recurring motifs, and so forth.
What I'm Looking For: Things you would like to get from this activity; readers, comments, recommendations of fandoms or fanworks, new friends, wider representation of something, etc.


Feel free to copy this Meet and Greet into your blog as well as filling it out here -- you may catch some additional traffic.

<br /><strong>Name:</strong> <br /><strong>Sex/Gender Identity:</strong> <br /><strong>Find Me At:</strong> <br /><strong>What I Love About Gothic Entertainment:</strong> <br /><strong>What I Hate About Gothic Entertainment:</strong> <br /><strong>Most Favorite Addams Family Iteration(s):</strong> <br /><strong>Most Favorite Other Gothic Content:</strong> <br /><strong>Headcanons:</strong> <br /><strong>Gothic Things I Love To Do Myself:</strong> <br /><strong>Favorite Gothic Holidays:</strong> <br /><strong>Gothic Places I Have Visited:</strong> <br /><strong>Favorite Blogs or Communities:</strong> <br /><strong>About My Blog:</strong> <br /><strong>What I Create:</strong> <br /><strong>What I'm Looking For:</strong> <br />
 

Comments

Hello!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Name: ysabetwordsmith
Find Me At:
https://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/
http://penultimateproductions.weebly.com/

What I Love About Gothic Entertainment:
I love the scenery and costumes. Some modern movies and a few TV shows have put on some breathtaking pageantry. I like a lot of the little decorations, too. I have a black candleholder that is bent crooked in the middle, the kind of thing Wednesday Addams would adore.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is a favorite author. Feminist analyses of Frankenstein are often entertaining too.
Some of my favorite tropes include androgyny, boundaries, castles, class/race conflicts, death, dreams, enchantment, fish out of water, fog, mad scientists, magic, memory, moors, occultism, otherness, queer, rationality, ruins, secrets, sexuality, supernatural, vampires, visions, and werewolves.

What I Hate About Gothic Entertainment: Particularly in classic material, but sometimes in contemporary examples, a lot of characters and motifs just aren't handled very well. Women, people of color, outsiders in general, mental illness, queerness, sexuality in general, etc. That can get frustrating. But it also leaves the door open for fanfic. I've riffed Frankenstein repeatedly.

Most Favorite Addams Family Iteration(s):
I find the classic single-panel cartoons amusing. I've seen some of the original TV show. Addams Family Values is my favorite of the movies, largely for the Camp Chippewa cultural mayhem. But the new series Wednesday is by far my favorite of all. Her transition to teen age is just perfect.

Most Favorite Other Gothic Content: I've read a variety of classic novels, stories, and poems. "The Tell-Tale Heart" and "Nevermore" by Edgar Allan Poe are favorites. I've enjoyed paranormal/Gothic teen shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Despite the supersaturated colors, Coco was one of the best movies I've watched on the topic of death and the afterlife, with a lot of very Mexican-flavored yet still Gothic touches. I've seen a lot of fun vampire and werewolf content across various formats. I'm more a fan of spooky than horror/thriller. I like dark fantasy and dark SF too.

Headcanons:
Frankenstein is so, so queer.
With Wednesday, I'm torn between reading her as aromantic asexual and shipping Wenclair. Several details in that series make me think Thing might be gay too -- the fussy little details, and his relatonship with Enid is very Gay Best Friend.

Gothic Things I Love To Do Myself: I love fog, rain, and night time; autumn and winter over spring and summer. While I don't exactly dress goth because I love colors, I do have black as a base color. I like black cats (and dogs). At present, we have a small flock of ravens harassing the hell out of our poor great-horned owl. I swear, it's as bad as Grendel and the noisy neighbors. I'm quite a fan of macabre art, especially the Mexican stuff. We found a panderia in a nearby town and I can't wait to see what pan de muertos they put out come fall.

Favorite Gothic Holidays: Halloween, Samhain, Dia de los Muertos, or ...?
LOL yes, all of the above. Samhain is the one I celebrate the most personally, but I'm happy to pick up bits of the others too. I love shopping for leftover Halloween candy and costume bits. I love the extravagant decorations for Dia de los Muertos too.

Gothic Places I Have Visited: Caves, abandoned buildings, graveyards. University High School has gargoyle statues on it.
We visited the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on its anniversary. It was foggy and the ghosts were drifting around in the mist. All the staff were terrified and huddling in the visitor center. We went walking and basically had the place to ourselves.

Favorite Blogs or Communities:
Sadly, I could not find any communities dedicated to Wednesday, the Addams Family in general, or even Gothic entertainment. :(
books and book_love are open to reviews or discussions of all genres.
crafty is good if you're into arts and crafts; watch in fall for Gothic-type stuff.
crowdfunding is open to all topics, though.
fem_thoughts, girlgay, hooked_on_heroines, and shes_awesome are all places I posted about my meta for Wednesday.
historium spans all historic fandoms, so if you're into classic Gothic content that's worth checking out.

About My Blog: I post almost every day, often several times a day. If you're looking for an active blog, this is a good bet; if you're easily overwhelmed, not so much. I post a lot about writing, some nature and current events, especially science news. I share my gardening and birdfeeding experiences, with photos in the warmer months. I'm an active supporter of crowdfunding and often link to other people's projects. My blog has folks from all over the QUILTBAG. I don't hesitate to post dark topics -- some of the philosophical discussions get pretty heavy.

What I Create:
I write a lot of original work and some fanwork. A majority is narrative poetry, but I do some fiction too, occasionally demifiction or meta. I am very seriously tempted to write fanfic about Wednesday. I have several series with Gothic themes...

Frankenstein's Family
Gothic fluff in which Victor is a transman and has a queerplatonic relationship with Igor, and they are raising a son in a valley of no-longer-ignorant villagers.

Monster House
Suburban fantasy with strongly spooky elements mixed into family life.

The Moon Door
Urban fantasy with Gothic touches, based on werewolves and a women's chronic pain support group. After all the moaning about excruciating transformations and body horror in Gothic entertainment, I got to wondering how it would seem to people who already have those issues. So, for some of them, lycanthropy is a step up.

What I'm Looking For: I'm always interested in new friends and readers, or new things to read in favorite topics. I'd enjoy connecting with more artists. If anyone knows of an active community for Wednesday, The Addams Family, Gothic or dark entertainment, etc. then I'd love to hear about that.

[nsfwords]

Name: NSFWords, aka Brandy.

What I Love About Gothic Entertainment: The ambience, dilapidated luxury, and mystery.

Most Favorite Addams Family Iteration(s): In cannon - the 90's movies, out of cannon - "Adult Wednesday Addams." Especially Season 1, Episode 4 "Dog Walker."

Most Favorite Other Gothic Content: The Call of Cthulhu ttrpg, Arkham Horror, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and other similar gothic games.

Gothic Things I Love To Do Myself: I made this window art back in January for a friend's 40th Birthday I hosted:

Favorite Gothic Holidays: Samhain.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> The ambience, dilapidated luxury, and mystery. <<

I love things that are partly seen and partly obscured, abandoned things with life thriving quietly in them. The old millpond, the forgotten garden, the ruins reduced to a few scattered stones, the haunted mansion at the end of the street, etc.

>> I made this window art back in January for a friend's 40th Birthday I hosted: <<

That is so very awesome. :D

Hi!

[rosiedreaming]

Name: Rosie/Salt
Gender: A bunch of bats in a trench coat (she/her)
What I Love About Gothic Entertainment: What's not to love? I love romanticizing the macabre and seeing the beauty in the unconventional! Gothic literature created some of the most tragic, relatable, and complex characters in pop culture. Their timeless stories of love, loss, and exploring the human condition (even if you're a werewolf) are relentlessly endearing. I think self-proclaimed freaks and geeks of all kinds can see themselves represented in at least one gothic novel!
What I Hate About Gothic Entertainment: The only other fans of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles I know irl are decades older than me :')
Most Favorite Addams Family Iteration(s): Can't go wrong with the ultimate power couple Angelica Houston and Raul Julia!
Most Favorite Other Gothic Content: The Phantom of the Opera, univeral horror movies, Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, anything where people are sad, queer, and covered in glitter while they're busting out a power ballad (Rocky Horror lol)
Headcanons: I headcanon that Meg Giry has huge beef with the Phantom bc she's jealous of how Christine is praised for her hard work when Meg gets usually nothing and Meg is *projecting.*
Gothic Things I Love To Do Myself: When I'm not binging Vincent Price movies, I'm usually practicing tradgoth makeup, listening to The Cure, and reading up on occultism!
Favorite Gothic Holidays: Samhain!! A perfect opportunity to make pumpkin bread haha!
Gothic Places I Have Visited: lots and lots of cemeteries. I've also visited the House of Frankenstein wax museum and seen Phantom and Sweeney Todd on Broadway!
Favorite Blogs or Communities: I'm very new to dreamwidth so I can't pick a favorite yet!
About My Blog: My blog is mainly fanworks but I want to branch out into original content!

Re: Hi!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I love romanticizing the macabre and seeing the beauty in the unconventional!<<

Awesome. :D

>> Gothic literature created some of the most tragic, relatable, and complex characters in pop culture. Their timeless stories of love, loss, and exploring the human condition (even if you're a werewolf) are relentlessly endearing.<<

This is true. I am particularly entertained by how many people have said that Thing (a disembodied hand) is the most human character in Wednesday.

>> I think self-proclaimed freaks and geeks of all kinds can see themselves represented in at least one gothic novel! <<

So. Much. This.

>>The only other fans of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles I know irl are decades older than me :') <<

That does sound frustrating. There is a vc_media community, though, so maybe there are more diverse fans.

>> I'm usually practicing tradgoth makeup <<

Some of that is very eye-catching.

>> A perfect opportunity to make pumpkin bread haha! <<

Good pumpkin bread is really good.

>> I've also visited the House of Frankenstein wax museum and seen Phantom and Sweeney Todd on Broadway! <<

Wow, those are some great adventures.

>> Favorite Blogs or Communities: I'm very new to dreamwidth so I can't pick a favorite yet! <<

I recommend followfriday which has fresh recommendations each week. I post a list based on a specific topic, and other folks throw in whatever they want.

fandomcalendar is a place to find all kinds of fannish activities such as fests.

>> My blog is mainly fanworks but I want to branch out into original content! <<

Go for it! You're in the right place; this community has all kinds of prompts suited for fanfic or original writing. You might also like originalfiction.

Another approach is to use recurring posts. Pick whatever topics interest you, and they'll give your blog some content other than fanfic.

Definitely watch for the upcoming event Three Weeks for Dreamwidth (April 25-May 15). People post all kinds of new stuff then, because the idea is to post things that are only visible on Dreamwidth (at least during the event). Last year I featured hippies. This year I'm planning to do birds for birdfeeding. You could do something Gothic on your blog.