tangerine's dream

Prompt 4: Fanwork Recommendations

As the sunshine_challenge continues, we invite everyone to share with others the fanfics, fanart, fanvids, cosplays … anything and everything fannish that you love and wish to share! Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time or go back and do any prompts you've missed!

Okay, so basically the highlight of every anime convention I attend is the AMV (Anime Music Video) Contest. placidia and I have seen a lot of AMV contests. A lot. It usually involves us whispering do you know which anime this is? a bunch of times, mad scribbling and general squeeing. It's a good time.

This is just a sampling of all the AMVs I have loved. I haven't even watched all of these shows/movies. With AMVs, it just doesn't matter if you know the source material or not.

Sail On by ManyLemons. Anime: One Piece. I only made it to episode 176 of this show (of 900+), but it's still awesome.

Human by TheAsian777. Anime: A Silent Voice. I read the manga, and I haven't seen the movie yet, but omg, my heart.

High School Never Ends by Melichan923. Source: Ouran High School Host Club. This one is just perfect in its humour. So funny.

Reprieval by Ryuu-Dono. Anime: Mushishi Zoku, Akatsuki no Yona, Sword of Stranger, Attack on Titan and Sengoku Basara. This is one of those ones where they effortlessly mash up a bunch of shows and make it look like one show.

One Match by Tigrin. Anime: Yona of the Dawn. I saw this one at Anime North, and I just remember flailing helplessly. YES.

Calling by NekoKitkat25hug. Anime: Summer Wars. This might be the best AMV I have ever seen. It's just... beyond perfect. Also, the movie is amazing, and I once cosplayed King Kazma.

A View to a Kill by Vlad G Pohnert. Anime: Sailor Moon and City Hunter. Not only is this my favourite Duran Duran song, but it's my favourite Bond theme. And you can bet this is an amazing Bond-opening AMV.

Carnival of Rust by Arathe. Anime: X/1999. I bought X/1999 after watching this. I still haven't watched it, but I bought it!

Prompt 2: Fannish Identity

As the sunshine_challenge continues, we invite everyone to take a deeper look at their own fandom identities. Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time or go back and do any prompts you've missed!

I started using Tangerine in 1996 or so, possibly earlier. I was really into the X-Men at the time, and I really wanted to talk about the X-Men, but I had no way of doing that. Literally and figuratively. I didn't know anyone into the X-Men like I was, and my speech impediment (stutter) was at its absolute worst, so speaking was actual physical and mental agony for me. But I could type. And I came across an X-Men bulletin board, and well... I needed a name, and I was reading back issues of Excalibur at the time. Tangerine was only in it for two issues (66 and 67) so I figured the name was likely available. ::points at default icon:: That's Tangerine. She's a telepath. This is the Earth-811 version of her. There are others.

I've always felt most comfortable with this pseudonym. This icon, which I have dragged around for decades, makes me happy whenever I see it. I definitely respond to Tan or Tange in real life. It is almost my truest self, because while my speech has improved somewhat in real life (i.e. I know every trick in the book by now to improve my fluency), I'm still not much of a talker. I have been Tangerine for so long that it just feels like another layer of myself. I kind of drift in and out of fandom, but I know it's always there for me, if and when I need it.

(My other pseudonym, Rhys St. John, more commonly known as Rhys, was made up on the fly because everyone else was having secret identities for popslash, and it felt like the thing to do. I was still into X-Men and, also, really into Jonathan Rhys Meyers (thank you, Velvet Goldmine), so I basically took the Rhys from him and the St. John from Pyro in X-Men and voila. I haven't really used the name since 2004, but it's still kicking around.)

The moral of these stories is, probably, I'm really into the X-Men. Still. Decades later. They were something I identified with as a very sheltered teenager in the 90s, who felt different and didn't really understand why until I came out as bisexual for the first time in the late 90s. And I continue to identify with them now, as a mostly formed adult. I'm glad my fannish identity has an X-Men connection. It would feel very weird if it didn't. :)