Mutuality Monday

Last Tuesday I spontaneously declared “Fandom Love Week” – after seven days it comes to a close today, on what I am calling “Mutuality Monday”. Mind you, I could easily turn this into “Fandom Fortnight”, because there is much more fandom spirit to mention and to credit. It just keeps on coming. And I will get to it, eventually, but for the culmination and conclusion of this spontaneous little event, I have decided to show you how much mutual appreciation there is within our community.  – We may occasionally get side-tracked into unnecessary  skirmishes, but I think the bottom line is always there – we are united by the appreciation of the talent and craft of one man, but we are a community of well-wishers who individually add their own stamp on the collective expression of our admiration – with blogs, comments, fan art, fan fiction – but we also enjoy the interaction that comes with it, the friendships that it fosters, and the fan-to-fan bonds it forges.

The latter became clear to me, when I asked for your nominations for a recipient of the Lucas North shrine I showed you on Wednesday.  I received 13 nominations – but more messages than that, because there were multiple nominations for various fans. There was a lot of love and appreciation in those messages, great cases were made in favour of the nominated candidates – and all for the goodness of other fans’ hearts, because there was no reward for being nice and sending in a nomination. And for that reason, I have decided to quote from those lovely nominations here – as a way of showing how appreciated you all are. I’ll keep the kind nominators anonymous, and the “winner”, too – so she can enjoy the surprise of receiving a little package in the post, soon. If there are new names in the following list, maybe you should go and click on the link under their names to visit their site. And remember: You are *all* appreciated, whether you receive the shrine or not!

In no particular order, here are the nominees and the praise for them:

Micra

“I know her love for Lucas knows no bounds. We have endless discussions on the mastery with which RA created him and he touches her deeply. She’s a nice person and a good friend.”

Mabelalexa

“She would cry from joy. She and her 13 yr. old son live in the countryside and it’s rare for her to get mail.”

ExclusiveRA

“She’s a blogger from Korea who is probably one of the few who updates news for Korean RA fans. The fan base is quite small there, so it’s difficult for Korean fans to access RA’s work/news articles that are translated. For all the effort she puts into updating her blog, I feel like she’s not properly rewarded (mainly because there just aren’t that many RA fans there). Although i know she blogs due to her love for RA, I can’t deny how much service she is providing for non-English speaking Korean fans.
Also, since she lives in Asia, everything she buys that has to do with RA is extra charge + ridiculous shipping fees. Whether she buys a DVD, action figure, audio cd, etc. And I know she actually buys his original work, so that’s a lot of money invested in that man, haha. She didn’t know what Lemon bonbons were (she read on Tumblr how RA gave it out during Urban and the Shed Crew) so she bought a huge pack and got it delivered to Korea! That’s dedication!
Oh, did i mention that her first language is NOT English? So everything she does for her blog takes extra effort/time because she has to translate!”

Fedora Lady (Angie)

“because she works so hard and has health issues. I know she is a Guy fan, but maybe Guy can use a friend.”

Mujer Tropical

“just because I like her name. I have no idea which RA personality she favors or even where she lives. I always picture her in Brazil, for some reason.”

Nataliciously

“Nat is the single most caring person I’ve ever met.   She has an open mind, open heart and open arms for everyone she meets.  She’s intelligent, compassionate, brave, witty, a little silly, a little naughty and must certainly have her Ph.D. in encouragement. She lifts people up, soothes their troubled hearts, tickles their funny bones and does all of it with loving integrity. She is a huge RA fan but she never hits that indefinable “squick” level which occasionally happens in fandoms.  I know she would be deeply moved and appreciative of just being nominated and she’d be over the moon should she receive a RAPS.

So, in summary I nominate Nat because she is humble, genuinely open, loving, and willing to share a giggle with anyone – RA fan or not.  She embodies ‘willingly good, extra good, extra peaceful, extra forgiving’.”

Notallwhowanderarelost2

“She is bright, brave and is a riot with her ‘balls to the wall’ posts and comments.  And she gives so much to so many.  She encourages and lifts up the people struggling with the anxiety ridden fear of posting a fan fic on RASexualFrustration.  She is always there to support and encourage anyone whether they are an aspiring writer, an RA fan or just someone she’s met.    I adore her naughtiness and can’t figure out how she has found such a delightful balance so that she’s quite wicked but not obscene.  She makes people laugh and relate to her comments but doesn’t hit that “squick” factor.  She says things so outrageous she makes me blush – but she never grosses me out.  Does that make sense?    She’s a bright, caring woman who is a jewel in the RA fandom and I know she would go crazy berserk to receive a RAPS.   Short and sweet:  She ROCKS!”

Circusgifs

“because she posts and freely shares . She makes so many wonderful Lucas North gifs for the rest of us to enjoy.”

Grace

“is another fun contributor to Tumblr (and Twitter); and she’s one of those who’s quick on the draw and seems to post news on RA immediately after it breaks! She’s also one of RA’s great defenders but not in that extreme APM way. She’s always articulate, polite, and sensible. Also, I met her in NYC after the Pinter/Proust show, while RA was signing. She took the pic of me with RA and told me about her experience meeting him. She’s also one of RA’s younger fans, but you wouldn’t guess that from meeting her and reading her posts.”

Jollytr

“because she shares so many awesome gifs and pictures. She’s been great with all of her creativity (the RA Remedial Lip Reading, various fan fics) but also great in organizing master posts where we can find all of RA’s stuff like interviews/videos. And she’s always courteous to her followers, even the ones who are rude! I think she’s relatively new on Tumblr, joining just last year? But she hit the ground running and is now one of the main blogs for all-things RA.”

Helen

“for all the various things she often sent you and all her nice comments on your blog.”

Zeesmuse

“I like the way she quips with you in the comment section.I also read her writings on Watt pad. Zee has never seen MI-5,that shrine would have given her a good laugh.”

Playazindaback/Awkward Celebrity Encounters

“I’m not sure if she’s a LN fanatic (would have to check her Tumblr to determine), but I think she’s the sweetest, most consistently and genuinely good-hearted of all the fans I’ve met live so far, AND I love, love, love her stories (words and art), such as the one which features me!”

 

An extra big thank you to all of you on Tumblr and on WP who took the time to send me messages with nominations and who expressed their generosity by nominating a fellow fan.

The Lucas shrine is on its way as we speak. The recipient is certainly worthy – but so were *all* of the nominees. There were a couple of new names in there that I had not been aware of yet, so this little initiative has been doubly insightful for me. I would love to send shrines to all of them – I just haven’t made any new ones yet. But with the material gifted to me, I may be able to surprise a few unsuspecting souls with a RAPSi (RAPS incognito).

Have a lovely start into the new week ❤ ❤