Welcome to The Lazy Yet Discerning Ficsters
100th post. Yippee!
As of this moment, we have
312 signed on followers, have had
over 111,000 visits to our blog
and have been averaging 1800 hits a day.
Our visitors have come from over 25 countries including Romania, the Philippines, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. While most of our viewers come from the US, that is closely followed by the United Kingdom, then Australia and Canada. By state or territory we get our largest viewership from California followed by New South Wales in Australia, then London and New York.
We have visitors from as far away as Jakarta Raya in Indonesia and Oost-Vlaanderen in Belgium.
But, the stat we are most proud of is how the majority of our first time visitors (we get up to 600 a day) come from links that viewers and contributors like you have put on their Live Journal, Twilighted and FanfictionDOTnet pages. These links are truly getting the word out and getting people visiting. We encourage all of you who read our blog to spread the love and grab a banner or link us up. For the love of writing, reading and community.
Smellyia
This blog started off from a thread on Twilighted discussing the under appreciated fic. While that was all well and good, frequently such things turn into massive bitchfests. This saddens me greatly. I saw this more frequently on the forums and thought to myself “When did we become so stratified as a community. Who gave any of us the phD in fanfiction?” My answer was nobody did. Last I checked, they didn’t offer that in any North American University. I came to the conclusion that I wanted a place where we could all go that had centralized information available that we could utilize delivered in a unique manner.
This is the thing. I love this fandom. I love writing in it. I love to read in it, but most of all – I love the people in it. It’s the people who keep me here. Not the random ones I used to spar with on the threads, or the odd howdy-do, but the women who have become friends that push me to great highs and lows. I won’t lie. My journey in this particular fandom has been rockier than the Smokies at the worst and smoother than the Pacific in June at the best. I have had folk parade as friends and acquiantences become trusted confidantes. I have had friends who fell right in beside me and ones who stand directly opposing me and are still people I would send a trademark Smellyia package to. And that’s my point.
You are women in my life that enhance every second I spend in this surreal reality we have cultivated for ourselves. We wake up each day, take a shower, head to our respective jobs – be it at a hospital, office, school or home – take care of our husbands or boyfriends, call our parents, have drinks with our “RL” friends and put our children to bed. All of these things make up the women I get these wonderful moments with in chat, on the phone or on a Chicago girlcation. That is so much more than any one dimensional “ficster” life. We have real relationships filled with hurt, love and the occasional emo moment (mine may be more often than most but if y’all saw my blog inbox – you would understand). And it is ultimately because of these relationships why I started this blog.
The first person I grabbed the night I decided to do this blog was Emibella who is dear to me beyond anything I could have ever imagined. She already had Music Sundays going and pushed me to make the difference I so craved for. She told me to STAND UP AND DO IT. I told her to JOIN ME. Obviously, she said yes and our friendship has only strengthened since. She keeps me grounded, lets me vent, travels to see me in person and most importantly shares my love of free trade tea. She is the roack upon which my soap-box sits perfectly. She is my right and left hand and you can bet her opinion weighs heavily with every decision, direction or idea that I make concerning TLYDF. I lurves ya Shamster.
I snagged Angel who is funny as shit in her obsessions (yes, it may be time to get help for those, but if you did, I would be lacking in blog material. So I sell out your mental well-being for posts). Her absolute penchant for turning any inane conversation into rhetorical dissertation of the philosophical ideals of our subject matter – nevermind that said subject matter is Rob’s jaw. These qualities are what temper the rest of us more feisty women. There has been many a time that one randomly inserted question Angel has asked has changed the course of TLYDF for the better. She is our “other” voice and yet, we oftentimes miss the subtlety of her impact. Hindsight is 20/20 afterall. Please, never lose your fantastical addictive qualities and for fuck’s sake, acknowledge that Rob is just hotter gay.
I appropriated AngstGoddess003 before the rest of fandom could get their claws in her. Yes, she has gchat because of me and indirectly because wtvoc has centered our circle in this many moons ago. The only reason this blog is dynamic as it is, is because she puts the time and effort into it to make it look spectacular and listens to my nitpicky demands at being kept abreast of all aspects – including fucked up techy shit that no tortured author should ever have to deal with. We are two very different women, each with strengths that compliment the other. When things are bebopping along, we get along famously and can laugh for hours. But I butt heads with no one more than her. We have definitely had moments of difficulty, especially in the building of this blog, but in the end, we stuck it out and learned a bit I think about what it means to be a friend. Here is to many more standoffs and resolves. Through those, we will make our future plans better than we thought possible.
Pastiche Pen has been a divine addition to our group here with her comical wit. She came to me with this wonderful idea about a column for “newbies”. Slap one of her ingenious titles on the top and we at TLYDF have enjoyed the success she has shared with our little blog. Moon.witche is a plethora of intriguing reading recs when she isn’t taking over the Canadian theater scene. She is a breath of fresh air and has helped our readers discover new authors to fall in love with and to share with their children. Withthevampsofcourse, my dear Brown cohort, has brought all her fantastical snark and lofty opinions in a format that may delight or offend, but either way -- you'll be reading.
In addition to our TLYDF admins and the regular columnists, my Blogger Journey would not have been this successful or even remotely complete in its success without some of the wonderful women in mah BOX. The ideas, support and ear you all have lent has been the rock upon which my soap box is built upon. You all know exactly who you are and don't need my validation.
Just this last week I had the pleasure of opening a PM from someone I had said thank you to for their support of this blog. They said to me how much they loved TLYDF, but why in the Hale am I thank them? What did I have to do with the blog? BAHAHAHAHA! It was almost as bad as being called a n00b in the Twilighted Chat (I am not a n00b). I was so very affronted by this at first and now in hindsight, I am actually quite pleased. This shows me that my goals of crossing the clique divides, of showing off others’ talents and bringing the masses to the masses is well on its way to being actualized. Where we started off just talking “under appreciated” fic, we have truly expanded to so much more. The point of TLYDF was never to just be about low review counts or self pimping. It was about giving back to each one of you in a multitude of ways (Reader, Author, Person). I hope in some way we have.
Running this blog has been a bane and a pleasure every moment. There are times I am so inundated with coordinating, formating and bastardizing that it takes me away constantly from writing, family and even sleep. I may hate it on occasion, but in the end, I wouldn’t change one damn thing. You GBs, Readers and Commenters have made every second doing this so worthwhile. I am paid daily with your enthusiasm and willingness to contribute. I truly feel like I have found my niche in this Fandom with this blog and while I love to be known as an author or even moreso a valued reader, I love being the behind the scenes mammy who knows that what I strive to get done here has made an impact on the recc’d authors, the GBs, the readers and even the woman behind the screen. That was always my goal – to bring about a way to touch the Woman we all are here. If a few men have joined us along the way – I squeal in delight to have you.
So to a future with too many ideas to fit on this one little blog. To all of the people who have benefitted in any way from the efforts of us all. To all of you whose backs and blood this has been made possible by – I quote a reviewer I have never forgotten. “I can say many things, but the most powerful words any of us have is a simple Thank You.”
Emibella
When Smellyia and I talked on that fateful day not four months ago I don't think either of us thought that this wonderful thing that we have here today would come to fruition so quickly. We joke that on that night we made a baby, but what is more amazing is that we have already watched that baby through it's toddler stage and it's cranky teenage stage to full-blown young adulthood.
And it's a beautiful thing.
My friendship with Smellyia was based on certain ideologies and our mutual love of each others writing. When you read someone and then they read you back a bond is formed and when allowed to grow it can become a lovely friendship that you cherish. A friendship that has lead to countless phone calls, texts, girlcations to Chicago and maybe even the knowledge that she may be a bed hog (no editing that out, smellyia!)
When that thread about the "little guy" came up on Twilighted, it was right up my ally. While my fic at the time was considered popular, I was still a fledgling writer and understood how important it was to have a mentor take you under their wing. I, being the ever loving hippie child that I am, hated the fact that their were "cool" tables and "perv" tables and this persons clique and that persons clique. That you might get ignored on some story threads and that certain members of fandom had reputations that depending on what side of the fence you sat on were wonderful or terrible. This was not the way it was supposed to be. We ALL had too much in common. We should have been building each other up, not seeing if we could tear each other apart.
Four months on the internet is an eternity. At the time, the fanfic recommendations were a few threads on Twilighted but it was more word of mouth. I think a lot of writer's joined NC-17 AU-AH because that is what people were reading. I know that was why I did. Smellyia and I understood that there was more out there than a few writers writing good fics and fan favorites. There were writers proud of their art and careful with their writing. There were also seasoned super-stars willing to help out those who would otherwise be destined to remain the little guy.
I had started Music Sundays a few weeks before as a place to share my music thoughts and writing with my friends and, when the idea of sharing stories came up, blogger seemed the best solution for starting something. WhenSmellyia pulled in Angel I knew we had a peice of fandom that would bring it. When I saw what Angstgoddess could do with computer graphics I squeed like a nerdy fangirl. It was all coming together.
I would like to think of myself as Steve Wozniak to Smellyia's Steve Jobs. I am an ideas woman. I love thinking and building and brainstorming. My motto has always been "think big". We have a little blog, lets make it bigger. We have a blog lets make a website, a podcast... well, I am getting ahead of myself. But above all, let us never forget that we can ALWAYS make it BETTER.
Smellyia is the doer. She gets things done. She puts her feelers into fandom and pulls out talent and has them write beautiful things. She reads all of the time, she understands how much work it is to run a blog and is willing to put that in. Without Smellyia, I would just be a pile of ideas not being implemented. My thoughts would be without a home. She is a mother-hen and a wolf in sheep's clothing and a tigress. Things I could never be and that I admire about her.
Our guest contributors have been wonderful. My columns rely heavily on input and I couldn't do it without you ladies. The friends I have made in this fandom make my hippie heart sing out. I am not kidding when I say that I would love to live on a commune with Jfly, Wtvoc, Jandco, Smellyia and all of the other amazing women in my gbox. We could sip drinks as we type on our laptops while our children and animals play in the field and our husbands, boyfriends and whomever do all of the cooking and cleaning. Every day we would get new arrivals, with laptops in hand and a new story to tell. New Laughs. New Inside jokes. New drool-worthy pictures of Rob (and really, can there ever be enough of bat-swinging Jackson?) New Songs. New Friends.
This is my dream.
If it can't come to fruition though, I have this. This wonderful place where my friends and I can write and share and have new people know that they are always entirely welcome to join us on this adventure. Because I will continue to have ideas. Angel will continue to write and spread the love. Angstgoddess will continue to make this the most beautiful place in fandom. Smellyia will continue to mother. And you are all welcome to join us while we continue to grow into something bigger and more beautiful with each passing day.
Angel
How many hits? ONE GAZILLION? I lost count after 12 because that number is cool with me too. This idea came from so many areas but in my head I was just tired of reading crappy stories and really wanted some good reading material. Filtered and pre-read by those who had good taste. Yes Elitist and Discerning. But what the hale…it’s how I roll.
Along the way we fell into our own niches as the blog grew. Smellyia had a larger vision than I ever could have comprehended and it is so awesome. I am thankful to even be included. AngstGoddess truly has mad skillz in the land of graphics. Sometimes I stand behind her and shout, “MORE ROB, LESS EMO” and she ignores me and spins out majick. Emibella makes lists and lists of glorious music to keep us inspired forever. And yes, then we have our contributors, Pastiche Pen who is smarter than all of us (well, me at least) and WTV who is you know, the queen of snark, truth and Rob. And all the other girls who make this blog what it is….thanks so much for sharing.
I am grateful they let me play even though I have no computer skillz, refuse to look at a calendar, make up shit at the last minute for my articles and then word vomit for 2k words all over the place about such random shit. One day they will take away my key with a shiny new picture of Robward Cullenson and I will forget what I was doing in the first place and they will kick me out. But no worries….I made a spare key and I’m not afraid of breaking and entering!
Thanks Thanks Thanks!
AngstGoddess003
Umm, I’m not really sure what to write, so excuse the impromptu word vomit. I don’t think Smellyia is policing these like I’ve grown accustomed to (Curses wordiness…). I suppose I’d just like to exploit this rare opportunity to thank everyone. I know that probably seems a little boring, but they all deserve it, and though I’m commonly known to verbally fellate my own readers, I’ve never had the opportunity to fully extend this habit-o-mine to the blog.
My lovely fellow admins have all slaved away over their keyboards and mice to make this blog something of interest to the community. It’s a whole shitload of work and time to make all of this possible (Blog > Everything. Trust.). Emibella has given us some really great articles in relation to our craft, not to even mention the fact that she introduced me to some of the most inspiring music I’ve ever heard (Colin Melloy… be still my heart…). Smellyia actually governs this hot mess (<-- insane fucking masochist), which would have probably given me more premature grays than I’d prefer. Her and Emibella both put tons of time into formatting posts (A.K.A. The Sinister LYDF Underbelly) and looking for great topics. Angel is the hilarity of our foursome (and my hetero life-mate) and keeps us all grounded with mumblings of RobJaw and our mutual addictions in the fandom (A.K.A. Rehab’s For Quitters, fuckers). She lightens up an otherwise srs bsns atmosphere and keeps us balanced and relatable.
But really, I gotta thank all of our contributors because I’m shamelessly fangirly obsessive for all of them (No, no, bb. That’s not me in your fandom bushes. Carry on.). The GBs and columnists get literally nothing out of researching their asses off and typing up some of the best damned articles and recs this fandom has ever seen (The gift baskets got lost in the mail, promise.). We have been blessed with the privilege of drawing from an amazing pool of talented, witty, passionately devoted fictsers who never cease to amaze me with their topics of discussion and well-rounded abilities. Whether we’re waking up on Saturday morning to see Pastiche or WTVOC whip us into fandom submission (“Thank you ma’am, may I have another!”) using their own particular brands of hilarity and unique perspectives gained from their various experiences, or whether we’re waiting for a really good rec to keep us distracted from writing our own shit (oh no, I’m busted)–they always deliver-in-full. It’s not easy doing a GB’s job (<-- more insane fucking masochism), and I thank them all for taking the time to find great recs and researching their article topics so thoroughly.
Also, the readers and the audience in general pretty much makes me gleeful with delight. Some of the comments on this blog are smarter, funnier, and more useful than most of the resources out there. They are truly dedicated for taking the time to read and review our recs, comment on our essays, and offer us new and fresh ideas for the future of the blog (No, we aren’t making a category in devotion to Rob’s penis. So sorry, bb.). There’s going to be tons of growth to come, and I know we’re all really excited about the possibilities (excited = anxious, nervous, frightened, OMFGIHAVENOTIME!). Thanks to everyone for experiencing it with us as a community and not losing sight of the original mission.
I know sometimes we may come off as… the… wannabe elitist whore-bags of the fandom (Fuck… that’s so going on a shirt.), but it’s really quite the opposite. We put our fandom smarty pants on one leg at a time, just like everyone else, and yes–our shit does stink. We just admire the community, writers, and readers who deserve more appreciation and attention than they sometimes get. We bow to them. We enjoy making a difference. We serve the community. We are owned by our readers. We… like chocolate… and… stuff.
I’m in danger of getting wordy (or am I already there?), so I’ll stop myself before full-out quoted dialog somehow ensues (OMG, you have no idea the restraint…). So thanks to everyone for their loyalty, support, and advice–both to the blog and even me personally; a newbie ficster who’s always looked up to every author here in nothing but awed adoration.
Seriously, only five months ago, I was just a lazy reader whose biggest dilemma was whether or not to make that obsessively organized database of my favorite stories (I was too lazy to follow through, sadly.). I never imagined I’d ever have the opportunity to speak to any of those remarkable ladies (Speak, harass….tohmaytoh, tahmahtoh), let alone share a blog with their magnificence! I feel beyond fortunate to be permitted anywhere near their brilliance without threat of restraining orders and assorted shankings.
Yet.
It’s still early.
A great deal has happened at this blog over the past year. Almost a year ago (short seven days), this blog had its very first post. Spearheaded by the beloved Smellyia and championed by Angstgoddess003, Angel, and Emibella, The Lazy Yet Discerning Ficster began its almost-daily dalliances with the lovely world knows as Twilight fan fiction. We've done recs, articles of writing, interviews, random crap, and much, much more, and we wanted to stop, take account, and thank our readers for staying with us each step along the way, so MWAH! And on to the introductions...
HMonster4 is first off, a funny and wonderful lady. On her own, she is the madly genius pen behind Deconstructing Dracula, and in conjunction with ProfMom72, she has penned Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Fates. She's a VIP author over on A Different Forest. She has also written several articles for this blog, as a columnist for the collab series and for several of the explorations. She is also one of the two sweet ladies behind the Indie TwiFic Awards, the contest completely devoted to promoting under-appreciated fan fiction—so, yes, etc. etc.—if you don't know how wonderful she is for this fandom, you must have been living under a (black) hole. Our favorite monster also has a deep love for Emmett and like him, a way of honestly and sweetly speaking her mind. She chose to be the planet Mars. 
Besides being a Comma fundamentalist and an unabashed Jasper/Peter shipper (*P makes a happy "coo" sound*), ElleCC earns her rap as one of the nicest and generous hearts in the fandom. She regularly rolls with the other Pastiche on all things Jasper. She is the brilliant mind behind A Murmur of Fire in the Vein, on of the epic Jasper fics in the fandom. She is either a crazy green star (think really hot blue star with a metallic twist) or Jupiter (with a BIG RED HEART!).
Other random news... TLYDF is starting some new features:
So, anyway, with final words I want to say that Moon.witche, Angstgoddess, and myself are thrilled to death to have our new admins - and we hope you are, too! 
