Poll: comm posts & future discussions/picspams/etc.

[trobadora]

Hi, everyone! Things seem to be winding down a bit on the picspam/scene discussion front, so china_shop and I have been tossing around alternatives to keep things humming, and we thought we should consult with you all. ♥

Ideas we've had so far:

• Parallels: a series looking at some of the parallels and resonances between the cases of the week, on the one hand, and the drama's overall themes / Shen Wei's, Zhao Yunlan's, and Ye Zun's journeys on the other. Posts could point out one or more parallel(s), and people could talk about more in comments.


• Polls: anything from serious questions about canon interpretation to choosing favourites to complete silliness. These could be either proper Dreamwidth polls or makeshift text polls.

Then we wondered about a mix of case discussions and polls, or maybe even one case per month, one poll per month, and some open slots of picspams and scene discussions.

We both really enjoy and value having discussions, picspams etc. here and just overall revelling in our Guardian love, so we definitely want to keep having regular posts on the comm. Which means it's important to know what you all want more of, and what you'd be willing to sign up to post about. (Unfortunately, we can't commit to making all the posts ourselves!)

Please close your eyes and take a minute to think about a) what kinds of posts you'd like to see on sid_guardian, and b) what kinds of posts you might be interested in making for this comm. And then let us know! There are no wrong answers! It would really help us to know. ♥

Poll #31394

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

View Respondents

My favourite kinds of sid_guardian posts are:

View Answers

eye candy / picspams
5 (31.2%)

light, playful discussions with lots of speculating
8 (50.0%)

meaty meta where we dig into canon
5 (31.2%)

something else you've forgotten (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

all of the above
7 (43.8%)

In terms of subject matter, I'm interested in:

View Answers

characters (specific or generally)
15 (93.8%)

ships (specific or generally)
8 (50.0%)

worldbuilding
14 (87.5%)

politics
8 (50.0%)

themes
12 (75.0%)

canon
10 (62.5%)

post-canon possibilities
8 (50.0%)

AU possibilities
7 (43.8%)

fanworks
13 (81.2%)

other
1 (6.2%)

I'm most likely to engage with:

View Answers

eye candy / picspams
3 (18.8%)

light, playful discussions with lots of speculating
6 (37.5%)

meaty meta where we dig into canon
2 (12.5%)

something else you've forgotten (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

all of the above
3 (18.8%)

it 100% depends how busy I am
12 (75.0%)

I'd be willing to host one or two (more) posts that are:

View Answers

eye candy / picspams
2 (50.0%)

light, playful discussions with lots of speculating
2 (50.0%)

meaty meta where we dig into canon
1 (25.0%)

something else you've forgotten (see comments)
1 (25.0%)

all of the above
0 (0.0%)

I have an idea for another discussion series or other type of post:

View Answers

I'll tell you about it in comments
1 (100.0%)

ETA: Oops, we forgot to include an option in the poll - if you'd be willing to host polls, let us know!

Any other thoughts, suggestions, etc.? Please comment!

Comments

[shadaras]

tbh the type of post I'm most likely to engage with, because it requires the least active thought/effort, are the polls! And the polls that I have opinions about easily spawn comments, too, because I'll be like "okay so I hit the button for X, but Y and Z are also relevant, and then there's A too...", y'know?

The rest, as I said, really does depend on how much time and energy I have! Sometimes there are posts on topics I think are very interesting but I simply don't have the spoons to look at anything for long enough to comment, and despite knowing that dw is great for coming back later, I rarely manage to.

So I love the big meaty meta posts but I would also really adore some short meta posts as jumping-off points for discussion? That's why the light playful discussions are easier for me to engage with more of the time—the opening posts are usually shorter and therefore take less time/energy to read! Same with posts which are mostly "here's a question to think about", which is functionally what the polls are.

(picspams are lovely but I almost never have anything to say about them xD)

[trobadora]

Hee! Yeah, polls are great that way. I often do that too, fill out a poll and then just have to comment to explain myself. *g*

Short meta and question posts are great, I love them but I'm bad at coming up with them myself. Or I think of something, but then by the time I sit down and want to post, I've forgotten all about it. Everything that's not written down ...

Are there any topics you'd particularly like to see posts about more often?

Thank you! ♥ ♥ ♥

[china_shop]

Or I think of something, but then by the time I sit down and want to post, I've forgotten all about it. Everything that's not written down ...

Ha, yes, absolutely. I have to write things down as soon as I think of them, or it's too late...

[shadaras]

(I mean, see also what I've done here with responding to a poll xD)

I'd love some things that are about the worldbuilding! Posts about "hey, this element came up but never got explored much! what are your thoughts on it?" would be fun. (It's a nice blend of speculation and meta, which I suspect is the most generative kind of post for me.)

I'd also super enjoy some novel-based posts! I know that you and china_shop are mostly/entirely fans of the drama, but with the official english translations it'd be lovely to encourage people to do some meta and/or squee about them!

[trobadora]

I'd love some things that are about the worldbuilding! Posts about "hey, this element came up but never got explored much! what are your thoughts on it?" would be fun.

Oooh, yeah, that's always fun! I really enjoy that kind of speculation. :D

And we'd love to have more posts about the novel, if a novel fan were willing to make them! I also always find it super interesting when people compare drama and novel.

(I've bought the two volumes of the official translation that are out so far, but I haven't actually read it yet ...)

[china_shop]

And we'd love to have more posts about the novel, if a novel fan were willing to make them!

+1000 (just in case anyone's reading this who feels like throwing their hat in the ring :-)

[shadaras]

I'd need to reread the novel myself in order to make novel-focused posts! But it's somewhere in my mental list of "when I get some copies and the time/focus to read them"... :) Hopefully some other folk will bite, especially if you mention it as an option on the next call-for-posts!

[trobadora]

Yes, we'll definitely mention it! Fingers crossed. :)

[china_shop]

*nodnod* I know what you mean. I personally find that it can take a lot of thought to come up with poll questions. Like, each question could potentially be its own meta post. But yeah, they're easier from the engagement side of things.

but I would also really adore some short meta posts as jumping-off points for discussion?

*nodnodnod* That's what I was thinking for the case-of-the-week/theme posts. No recap or anything; just a couple of screencaps and a couple of ways the case relates to the larger story, and then open the floor for more suggestions/ideas/thoughts.

We're definitely not going back to the essay-per-week style of the rewatch posts! That way madness lies. *g*

[shadaras]

Yeah, of course each question could be its own meta post, and that's sometimes what the comment sections become, but it's nice giving the open space for everyone to go "oh, let me think about that!"? I think sometimes the big/long meta posts are intimidating because they're so thought-out.

I feel like I'd also enjoy posts that are just "let's talk about this case of the week/arc" without necessarily requiring connections to the themes of the show? But I think that's because I don't have as encyclopedic a knowledge of the show and arcs and themes as you and trobadora do, so I don't mind the more surface-level conversation that's just going "I really loved this part of the case!" or "oh, I'd forgotten about that moment!". :) Digging deeper is great, of course, but sometimes I worry about "am I getting this wrong/forgetting something important?" when I think about meta/interpretations because I'm not as deep in the show/lore.

[china_shop]

I meant, more, that if the poll has multiple questions (which I think is what Trobadora originally suggested?), then that "uses up" multiple potential discussions. I may have a scarcity mindset about this. ;-p I do definitely agree that some of the meta posts could be less epic and more open-ended.

I feel like I'd also enjoy posts that are just "let's talk about this case of the week/arc" without necessarily requiring connections to the themes of the show?

Ooh, that's a great idea! And really good point about different people having different levels of familiarity with canon -- I forget that sometimes. *g* Do you think we'd need a quick "here's what happens in the case" or can we rely on people remembering enough?

(Thanks so much for your thoughts! ♥)

[shadaras]

if the poll has multiple questions (which I think is what Trobadora originally suggested?), then that "uses up" multiple potential discussions.

Oh! Yeah, that wasn't what I'd gotten at all, possibly because I assumed a short meta post would only have one question in a poll! So it wouldn't be using anything up, since it'd be just going "hey, here's this meta element and some options about how to interpret it; which interpretation do you favor?"

Do you think we'd need a quick "here's what happens in the case" or can we rely on people remembering enough?

Going "to situate you, this thing we're talking about happens after X but before Y" might be useful for beats like "this is how much ZYL knows about SW right now"? Beyond that I think that a quick (e.g., one-paragraph/couple-sentences) reminder of the broad strokes of a case would probably be enough. The meta would remind people about the specific elements that are being discussed, after all!

(aka, I think it could potentially be useful but, depending on how the meta is written, the meta might already provide enough of a framework.)

[china_shop]

So it wouldn't be using anything up, since it'd be just going "hey, here's this meta element and some options about how to interpret it; which interpretation do you favor?"

*nodnod* So (just to clarify) are you thinking something like my post about Guo Changcheng's broadcast, or even more cut down?

The meta would remind people about the specific elements that are being discussed, after all!

Hm, I think I've got a little confused. In terms of posts about cases of the week, are you referring to meta in the comments/discussion? Or are you envisaging meta in the body of the post? (When you said 'posts that are just "let's talk about this case of the week/arc"' above, it made me think of very bare-bones posts as kind of launching-off points.) /sorry if this is overly pedantic!!

[shadaras]

Your post about GCC's broadcast is a perfect example of what I was thinking about with the polls, yeah!

In terms of posts about cases of the week, are you referring to meta in the comments/discussion? Or are you envisaging meta in the body of the post? (When you said 'posts that are just "let's talk about this case of the week/arc"' above, it made me think of very bare-bones posts as kind of launching-off points.)

Possibly what you think of a very bare-bones post is something that I'd still consider meta? Because I'd assume those posts wouldn't just be a summary of the case without any analysis/commentary at all, y'know? (The poster would have thoughts to share, I'd imagine! Even if they made them brief!) So long as there's any interpretation of what happened, or comments about "[thing] was really cool to me because [reasons]", I start categorizing things as meta.

[china_shop]

Thanks -- this was really helpful. <3

[mekare]

I chose something else you‘ve forgotten in lieu of the poll option ^^

[trobadora]

Hee! Excellent, thank you! ♥

[extrapenguin]

I'd be willing to host a (silly) poll!

[trobadora]

Woohoo! :D

[maggie33]

We had discussion posts about characters, episodes and scenes. Maybe we could also have discussion posts about ships, if enough people would be interested? I would gladly host a post for Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng for instance. 😊

[trobadora]

That's a great idea! There aren't many ships in this fandom that have more than, like, two fans, but it would be fun to talk about them. :D

[china_shop]

I would gladly host a post for Chu Shuzhi/Guo Changcheng for instance. 😊

\o/ \o/ \o/ :D :D :D

[sakana17]

+1 to this suggestion <3

[trobadora]

Yay! ♥

[trepkos]

Sorry I have not been engaging much recently - RL is a pain.

[trobadora]

Sometimes it just goes like that! I hope RL will let up for you at some point. We'll still be here when that happens! *hugs*