Discussion: This comm. What do we want from it? What is possible?

[pink-cass.livejournal.com]

Okay, so it's apparent that frequent updates will be a definite problem here (note: This is a neutrally stated observation, not a complaint. I'm totally including my own nonposting lack of activity in this). However, since jammerlea was so kind to made a sticky post with links to the most important sites to check for updates, plus the fact that the activity in recent update threads was mostly low, I'm not sure if the lack of updates posted directly to the comm is still a problem, or not so much.

In addition to this question, because it got me thinking: What exactly do people expect from or desire for this comm? What would be interesting to most of the members or visitors here? Obviously, one thing this comm is very nice for is fan discussions. We could have more of those. Personally, I like them very much, so if anyone has a good theory or topic for a discussion, please never be afraid of posting it. (I'm not a mod, but I think they would be fine with this. If not, please correct me.)

What else would be interesting for the majority of us? Future events? Should the main comm hold event threads again where chitchat between updates is allowed? There were problems with this in the past, but now that fewer people are around, I think the thread pace could be more managable.
Other ideas? What kind of things do you other members think would be nice to have (and good to create some interaction within the threads)? What do you mods think would be possible, or what do you think might look nice on paper, but actually be a rather bad idea?

Comments

[natcat5.livejournal.com]

I would really, really love a general big bang.
I mean, there are tons of pairing specific gift exchanges, but I haven't found evidence of a huge fandom-wide hetalia big bang since 2011.
Basically, what a Bang is authors sign up to write a long fic, generally 5,000-15,000 words over anywhere from a couple of months to a year. After a certain amount of time, they'll post a summary of the fic, maybe a snippet, and then artists will sign up and claim the work of the author they want to work with. It's a first come first serve basis for artist's claims. Then the author and the artist work together for the remainder of the time to come up with a writing+art piece that's posted together.
It's a lot of work to coordinate, but the end results are always fantastic. The Teen Wolf fandom is littered with Big Bangs and I always have fun participating in them or just reading the results.
I really, really want to do a Hetalia big bang. I just don't have experience running one.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

It's a thought. If the word count is 5,000 to 15,000 it's doable in a month. I think if we stretch out to a year or more, people might lose interest in it. I know for myself, I'm currently writing for a Secret Santa & it only took me a couple of hours to come up with just over 5,000 words & I'm not even finished with yet. The thought of having to wait months before I can post something makes me less inclined to participate in it. And I also work, so writing time is limited to after dinner until I go bed. It took me about a week to write a novella length fanfic, & I also understand not everyone writes like I do, but I really would enjoy writing for something that takes less time.

Maybe a compromise? A prompt for the month with a 5,000 to 15,000 word count? Call it a mini big bang? (*is used to writing for prompts with a 2 week period in which to do it, with mostly a smaller word count which can be tough to do too as you need to nail the exact count*)