Podfic Bingo

Today's Random Community, whenitsdue looks like another helpful one for fic writers. They post calendars full of the due dates for various fic events, challenges, exchanges, etc. A good way to keep track of what's due when, but also to find out about cool stuff going on that you might have missed!

I kinda struck out a few times before landing on today's Random Community (got a couple HP-related communities, which I don't really want to highlight, something in Russian, a closed RP community, and a few archives of individuals' fic, which, while cool, aren't really what I've been trying to promote here), but after a few more tries I found...

frillsofjustice

This is a community dedicated to all things magical girl-related. Interestingly, according to the Intro/FAQ post, there used to be another community of the same name, but "the original was deleted and purged by its moderator, for reasons unknown, and all content was lost." Whoa! Anyway, not really my thing, but on a quick skim through I saw some fic, news, discussion posts, links to meta articles, etc. I like stumbling on communities with that kind of range of content.

Random Community of the day...

iconpraise

So I only have this one icon, and it's the only one I've ever had. It's from a little comic I made for my partner. I like it, and I kinda like that it's my one and only icon. But I also get a kick out of seeing the different ways people use icons on here, and some of them are really nice-looking!

I don't think I really give icons the consideration they deserve; I suspect that a lot of thought and care goes into making them! So it was cool to stumble upon this community, which is entirely dedicated to showcasing and praising icons. Lots of cool stuff to look at!

Today's Random Community is...

obscur_echange

I don't speak French, so take whatever I write here with a grain of salt, but this appears to be a community for a French-language fic exchange, focused on works that are somewhat "obscure" in French-language fandom, and what looks like a bunch of French-language canons that maybe don't have a lot of fics written about them, in French or otherwise. It looks like sign-ups are still open if any of this piques your interest! Very cool, and makes me curious about other similar events promoting works in other non-English languages.

Today's Random Community...

fanart_recs

Yeah, this is a community in which people rec fanart! I've never made fanart (well, except when I was a kid), and it's not something I've ever really sought out...though I can see the appeal. Glancing through the first few dozen entries, I saw a lot of Heated Rivalry and BTS stuff, but there are tags for a pretty wide range of other fandoms too. I got excited to see a bunch of posts for Sense8 fanart, but sadly a lot of the links are dead...I got a kick out of this one though!

Also, wow, this community has been around and seemingly pretty active since 2010!

Today, my Random Community Quest has brought me to...

birdfeeding

This is cool! A community for people interested in all sorts of bird-related activities and issues. Lots of posts about bird spottings and weather reports, and some nice pictures too.

As with most nature-related things, I feel like I've always had a vague interest in birdwatching, but I've never really gotten into it...though there are some real cuties and beauties near where I live. I love seeing blackbirds running full steam ahead across my path, and catching glimpses of what I think are Eurasian Jays is always a treat. There's also a Scops Owl that I've gotten used to hearing on summer evenings, and I'm looking forward to hearing its distinctive, kinda sad call again this year. Anyway, peeking at this community just now was a good opportunity to reflect on these little sources of bird-related delight in my neighborhood.

Day 4 of Random Community Quest! Today I took a peek at...

c_ent

This is a community for fanworks and discussion related to all sorts of Chinese entertainment. It's pretty big--262 members as of this posting--and seems really active, with what look like pretty lively weekly chats and lots of rec posts, reviews, icons, art, fic, etc., and monthly round-ups of stuff people have shared in the community. Some other cool things I spotted as I looked around: a post asking for translation/subtitle help, and a Guardian-centric post about someone's visit to a the Shanghai Film Park. It's nice to see so many ways of engaging with fandom represented here!

On a personal note, I feel a lot of curiosity about the world of C-Drama, in large part because I lived in China for a few years, but I'm just not a huge TV/movie watcher, unfortunately. Maybe if I keep looking, I'll find something that grabs me though. Checking out this community has kinda made me want to try!

Oh and P.S., I just noticed the links in the sidebar: tons of resources for people (like me, possibly) looking to get into CMedia or deepen their understanding of history, culture, language, etc. Cool!

So I think for Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm going to click on the "Random Community" link under the "Explore" tab everyday and write about the community I find. I'm psyched to maybe discover new, cool communities I might want to join, and introduce other people to stuff that might be interested in. I'm going to write about two communities today because I missed yesterday.

Day 1: filk

I don't really know anything about filk! My understanding is that it's fandom-inspired/related folk music? Maybe mostly for fantasy/sci-fi fandoms? I imagine it's popular at cons and stuff? Oh, I think I remember Howard and Raj doing a filky thing on Big Bang Theory. Anyway, one thing this community seems to do is promote a weekly podcast full of filk music. I'm listening to the latest episode now, and kinda digging it! So far, very traditional folk-style music with, yeah, some fantasy/sci-fi themes. Not quite my thing, but cool!

Day 2: bookcrossing

It looks like this is a community who participate in a kind of book exchange thing, in which people give away their books and keep track of where they end up. Like the Filk community, it looks like they have a non-DW site/web presence as well, and it all seems pretty active and well-organized.