Icebreaker #1: Hail and Hello (and Some Poetry To Go)

[poetree_admin]

jjhunter

As we belatedly kick off our parallel icebreaker week here at POETREE, let's start with some introductions from everyone, pod_together participants and general members of the poetree community alike.

Please take a moment to comment on the following:

1. Your preferred name(s) and pronouns — how would you like people to refer to you?


2. Are you new to the POETREE community and/or the Pod Together challenge? Do you have any questions, comments, concerns, observations, exaltations or laminations you'd like to share on either front?


3. Did you sign up for the Pod Together 2013 challenge? If yes, in what capacity, and with whom will you be collaborating? If no, would you have any interest in acting as a beta or a cheerleader for one or more of the projects?


4. If you signed up for Pod Together this year, do you know what type of work your group will be creating yet? If yes, please share! If not yet, would you consider doing a poetry project of some kind? Why or why not?


5. Have you ever read a 1k+ poem or poem series? Have you ever read fannish ones? Please share the most memorable - the good, the bad, and the mind-blowing - in preparation for tomorrow's FONSFAQ meme.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

I would like, when I
am alexseanchai,
my pronouns to be

'ze'. I would like 'she' when I
am alexconall.

In either instance,
'Ellie' or 'Elizabeth'
is my preferred name.

I feel new to poetree.
Is that the thing that matters?

Pod Together sounds
fannish. My poetry is
original. (Most.)

I did not sign up because
I've not been feeling fannish.

ysabetwordsmith's
'Fledgling Grace' series is long
and quite powerful.

I keep meaning to read her
other series. Are they good?

[jjhunter]

Origami Mage
is haiku-style and rooted
in philosophy

as much of life as paper
I reread those works the most

regarding 'fannish'-
'transformative works' covers
such universes

(so many yuletide fandoms!
ads to anthropomorphic)

such vast potential
that anything 'inspired
by' becomes fair game

is a 'Passionate Shepherd'
parody original?

or transformative?
mayhaps worth chewing over
as a source of fun

so glad to have you join us
I would love to read your work

[alexseanchai]

My poetry lives at alexconall.
My flashfic too, and shorts, original work all.
Of course I will be quite happy to have readers.
(No, brain, I will not write Snow White in hexameter.)
I shall have to read the Origami Mage poems.
Perhaps some thoughts I have will find, on paper, homes.

My brain was not listening, it's clear to me.
I have nine hundred words of Snow White poetry.

[jjhunter]

'ello, 'ello! I go by J.J. here, though you can find my work on platforms like AO3 under my fannish pseud 'Idhren'. My preferred pronouns are she/her.

I'm new to pod_together, though not to poetry or POETREE; luzula will be collaborating with me on a Sleeping Beauty-inspired poetry project for this year's challenge. (Now I just need to figure out what poetry format I'll be writing in...!) I may be signing up to act as cheerleader for one or more projects.

As for memorable long or serial poetry, three fannish examples for the general pot:

• You Think You've Got Tribbles?" by ysabetwordsmith (Star Trek/Schrodinger's Heroes; free-form, loose and casually fun like warm tea on a cold afternoon; 1,100+ words.)
• Thor's Epic by sanura (retelling of The Avengers from Thor's POV...entirely in iambic pentameter. It works really well. 5400+ words.)
• the Spikeid by quinara (let no person say fannish poetry is automatically inferior or unambitious - at the far end of the word count bell curve we get into truly epic territory, i.e. "a ~50,000 word [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] Spuffy-gen parapocalyptic jaunt [...] all in blank verse"; 12 poems total)

And bonus, though at 482 words it doesn't quite qualify as long enough, a Beowulf / Old Spice Guy (Commercials) parody poem written for Yuletide Madness 2010: Gamol-léac by Castiron

Once more spoke / the white-garbed warrior:
"But this I say: / bathe in Gamol-léac,
The old and noble herb / and you will be men
Who smell like me." / [...]

[alexseanchai]

Oo Sleeping Beauty poetry! I'll have to keep an eye on pod_together, I see. Also, that is so not where my brain went when I heard pod_together is fannish, and I wish it had. I suppose it's too late to sign up now? Because I could totally do a poem retelling a fairy tale. *investigates* ETA: Yep. Drat. I might anyway, stick it on alexconall...

[jjhunter]

Find yourself a performer-collaborator (or do the performance element yourself!), and your unofficial poetry project can still be eligible for the related Challenges #35 - 36 and for x-posting to poetree with the other completed poetry projects in August, even if you didn't make the signup deadline for doing it as an official pod_together project...

*tempts*

[alexseanchai]

Oooo.

[klb]

There's also a pod_together option called a Party Favor. No word minimum and it's not due until the final day of posting. There's no sign-up or check-in, so there's no pressure—just a fun little extra treat for everybody if one gets turned in!

We're going to put up a post in a while where people can look for possible partners for Party Favors. If you want to look for someone sooner, if you write up a little post about the kind of thing you'd like to do, I can advertise it around the pod_together twitter, tumblr, LJ/DW, and see if there's anybody who thinks they might like to work with you on it!

[alexseanchai]

Hell with word minimum, I have 872 words already. The trick's gonna be winding it up in a reasonably small number of words.

Awesome. I will do have done that.

[lnhammer]

My preferred names are Larry or Laurence -- either will do, though I usually write under Larry -- and my preferred pronoun is "he." I'm new to Pod Together but neither poetry nor POETREE, and did not sign up for the challenge (because Life Stuff).

I am constantly reading 1k+ -- er, is that supposed to be lines or words or what? Not that the unit matters, as epics are a hobby: I'm currently near the end of Poly-Olbion. I also write long, though the longest published has been only 650 lines. I've read (and committed) some long fannish poems, but the only one that stands out is The Gift, though I did once read (a few Yuletides ago maybe?) a full sequel to Twelfth Night that also rocked.

---L.

[alee_grrl]

A full sequel to Twelfth Night?! That sounds awesome. :)

[lnhammer]

It was!

---L.

[alee_grrl]

My preferred name is Manda. My fannish pseud for most things has been V. Mures. Preferred pronouns are "she" and "her".

I'm familiar with poetry in general, and the poetree community in particular. But pod_together is entirely new to me.

Not able to officially participate this year. I'm entirely too low on spoons for writing at the moment, and my current project at work is creating tutorials which includes doing the narration. So I'm a little tired of hearing my own voice by the time I get home. :)

I will happily cheer-lead for projects though!

I tend to read shorter poems in my leisure time. Been meaning to try some longer works and serial pieces, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Lots of fabulous options floating around and I look forward to seeing what else gets recommended.

[serene]

My name (here and face-to-face) is Serene, and I usually use she/her, but I don't feel attached to that, so whatever.

I am newish to Poetree, and brand new to both Pod Together and writing fanfic.

I'm collaborating with leish/quintenttsy and starduchess/starduchess, both of whom are veteran podficcers. I believe that leish/quintenttsy and I are going to do a Luna/Ginny epistolary thing, with poetry. starduchess/starduchess and I are still brainstorming.


I haven't read much fannish poetry. I don't read a terrible lot of long or epic poetry, either, unless things like Kim Addonizio's Jimmy & Rita, which was a love story told in poetry.