Embedded video: Sunshine Challenge, Prompt 5

[paulamcg]

Once again, The Sunshine Challenge makes me do something new. This is the first time ever I'm embedding a video. Before the prompt was posted – while I could see what the next colour would be – I'd already thought about sharing some music for a change. And the blue song that came to my my-fic-centred mind was Blue Motorbike by Moto Boy.

Watch on YouTube

I'd never heard about this singer before I picked the song among the prompts when signing up (almost too late) for my second fest after an eight-year hiatus from the (HP) fandom.

Countless times while listening I've been – instead of writing – staring at that blue picture. There's something eerie blue about it as well as about the singer's strange voice. Something so mesmerising about the music that I kept listening to the song after the fest was over, even though it's not the kind of music I thought I'd like very much. And now that I listen to it, I feel it's not only about the characters in my fest fic (Truly Travelling Towards Someone), but also about me trying to connect with people in the fandom.

I came to ask you out/ Been wanting to for days/ I know a secret place/ ... Will you go there with me tonight?/ ... I like the sense of you/ Maybe you like me, too.

Comments

[sportivetricks]

Ahhhh, that driving beat, just like being on a ride! And the 80s child in me approves of the synthesizer. :D Mesmerizing is a good word for it, and those lyrics speaks so perfectly to what we do in fandom. I feel it hard from an author's viewpoint. Posting a fic is kind of like pulling up on a bike, isn't it? "Wanna ride?" And from a reader's, too. "Take me away!"

I never would have known about this song. Thanks for sharing!

[paulamcg]

Thank you so much! Your comments are the best thing ever. ♥ You understand me (and even my sheep) so well, and complement my posts – in the way I always hope a reader's interpretation will finalise a fic. I'd love to take you for a ride. :)

[sportivetricks]

Let me grab my jacket. ♥

[paulamcg]

(The green one?) Great! I'm waiting right here. ♥

💙

[oldtoadwoman]

I agree that there's something vaguely eerie about the photo. Something about the industrial setting with the only hint of nature the far away sky.

Re: 💙

[paulamcg]

Thank you so much for your comment! The posting of this picture perhaps pales compared with the shiny and deep blue offerings at the challenge, but – as you mentioned unrelated associations in you comment on my Sunshine thread – I associate blue also with desolation. :)

[abyss_valkyrie]

Oh wow!I love when I find a song without having heard of the singer,just accidentally coming across and when it's actually good.
This is really cool!
Btw,which fest did you sign up for?! :D I used to look forward to hp silencio and hprarefest but I don't think they are active anymore & the Remus/Sirius ones I just fell out of after many years.:(

[paulamcg]

Oh, thank you so much for commenting! I'm glad you've found the song cool. I wasn't sure at first if I liked it very much, just thought it would serve me well as a prompt, and then I learnt to love it. And yes, I remember that I discovered even Vienna Teng (as late as in 2006) thanks to a fanfic prompt.

Truly Travelling Towards Someone was for Sirius Black Fest last November. And my fic (this story and almost all my fanfic) is Remus/Sirius. Have you totally fallen out of Wolfstar?

In any case, if you're still in the HP fandom, would you mind us adding each other? Most of the fests I've signed up for recently are not pairing-specific. Would you like to sign up for something now? At least at HP Drizzle Fest claiming closes only on 7th August and the deadline is 15th August. If you want, I can tell you more about the fests I know.

[abyss_valkyrie]

Haha!I haven't read wolfstar in almost two years. T_T I mean I used to love it so much,I pretty much signed up for all the R/S fests if I could,haha.But hey,that's so cool that I found another R/S fan through the sunshinechallenge. :D
I'll check out the Drizzle fest because I'd love to try out drawing something HP related and hope my muse doesn't die!!XD
If you want, I can tell you more about the fests I know.
Oh hey,that would be great. :D

[paulamcg]

Yes! So cool we've found each other – in particular if you still count yourself as an R/S fan! And I'm happy to add anyone who's interested in HP-related works. I doubt we've ever met at any R/S fest or elsewhere, because I didn't come back from hiatus until after you stopped reading Wolfstar.

As for current fests, there's https://harrypotter-birthdayparty.dreamwidth.org/, where works are asked to be posted on 31st July. And https://rarepair-shorts.dreamwidth.org/ has a summer wish list event, where anyone can grant wishes. At https://wolfstargames.dreamwidth.org/ you can sign up until... 19th July! But perhaps you don't want R/S fests. At HP Ace Fest claiming's open until 10th September, but I think it's only on Tumblr (and AO3). (At https://hp-crossgenfest.dreamwidth.org/ claimin's closed and posting starts on 3rd August.) All the best for your muse!

[abyss_valkyrie]

Heya!Added you! :D
Oh I did see the info about wolfstargames and I was so tempted but I knew I probably would have to drop out since it's a long fest and I've had my muse die over long fests so much,I'm steering clear of those!
I did sign up for the hpdrizzle,yay,so here's to hoping I can do it!XD
Thanks a lot for those fest info!:D

[paulamcg]

Yay, added! And you're welcome. Looking forward to seeing art by you at least at Drizzle! I trust that my muse, too, will stay alive and take me to the end of my fic for that fest. :D

[a_belladonna]

You're absolutely right, that is a very blue song. And I can see what you mean about the lyrics and fandom.
It is after all very much how it is, when we start communicating with complete strangers on the internet.

[paulamcg]

Thank you for your words! My post is not very visibly full of blue, but I guess that both the singer's voice and the synthesiser can be heard as blue. There's something cold and lonely about the sound, and that's blue for me. And after sharing this, I've understood more clearly how writing – and reading – a fic can be like a motorbike ride, and posting a fic (or a link to it) is like pulling up, hoping that someone wants to come along.

[a_belladonna]

I could hear the blue in that song right from the beginning. :) I think it's the keyboards doing that.
The analogue between motorbike rides and fannish interaction is a good one. :) I recently also saw someone comparing bringing a cake to a party with receiving feedback on it - it's the same feeling of feeling ignored if no one eats your cake, or if no one leaves feedback. Cakes and motorbikes, we sure get around in fandom. ;)