Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Serious Question - Where is Everyone?

Hey All.

I know it's been a hell of a year and stress has been at an all-time high, but I can't help but notice the lack of activity even prior to the pandemic.

Is everyone okay?

It's extremely disheartening to see the lack of activity here.

Feedback on stories is almost non-existent.

This can be extremely discouraging to authors putting their blood, sweat, and tears into these fics. I know this is a touchy subject, but even a PM now and then to let the author know you're reading and there is some appreciation for the work they're doing can be appreciated. If we don't lift our authors up with support we will end up discouraging them from sharing the wonderful fics we've all enjoyed over the years.

Kerth Participating is at an All Time Low

When I say all-time low I mean this year and last year. If you notice the quizzes were missing this year. We stopped doing them last year because we couldn't get anyone to engage and participate. We get it. Life sucks and is crazy but we need you guys to participate. We need everyone to show up and vote for nomination and final voting. It's crucial to the process. Even if you're voting in just a few categories. A lot of work goes into the planning of the Kerths each year. A lot of unpaid, volunteer hours and skill is used each year to put the Kerths together and celebrate this wonderful fandom and the authors and fics that get shared each year. Please engage with us and help us put together a fun experience for everyone.

Sorry I haven't been participating as much as I would have liked. I just got home after spending most of the past year helping my aging mother. Most of last year, she was recovering from a non-COVID-related illness that had severely impacted both her mental and physical faculties. In October, she had recovered enough to be able to be on her own again, and I returned home. A couple of months later, she was in a car accident and I was once again up at her place helping her out. I only came back home again less than two weeks ago, and I am trying to get my house and yard back into shape after having been neglected for the better part of a year. I truly have been too busy to do much on the boards. I have read and/or written a few short stories, but that was about it. Since I didn't get a chance even to glance at most of the stories, it seemed to me unfair for me to participate in the Kerth voting -- although I may have enjoyed story X, voting for it would do a dis-service to the author of story Y, which I would have considered far superior to X if only I had read it.

I do hope to participate more on the boards once things settle down here.

- Lynn

I noticed the decline in activity, too. I must admit that I've never been a very active member of the boards. But lately, I've tried my best to give feedback. It's difficult to read with the seemingly endless lockdown and the slow going vaccinations over here.

It would be terrible to lose this fandom as a means to escape reality now and then.

But perhaps over twenty years after the show was cancelled, the fading interest is to be expected? I certainly hope that's not the case

I notice the Fading amount of Posts, too. Though I consider myself not the most active user, too. I try to give Feedback but I often Forget it and I have the tendency to wait until a Story is completed. I try to better.
And I can admit what baksi said, given that the Show ended 24 years ago, it's possible that interest begin to sink. I mean the amount of REALLY active members here over the last few years can be counted on 3-4 Hands.

Glad to see everyone is safe. Lynn, I'm so sorry to read all about your mom. When it rains, it pours. Here's hoping life gets a little easier for you in the near future.

Chugging along here. We've lost both our cats since October - our tabby, Mufasa, in October and Ariel, our Bengal, just a few weeks ago. In January we brought two brown tabby boys home, Simba and Bruni. They will be one year old on April 2, and boy, do they keep us busy! Always getting into some kind of mischief. Our daughters are still home from school - our choice, since I really don't trust our school superintendent to keep them Covid-safe, and we are a high risk household. (Seriously, this woman doesn't believe covid can spread in schools and if a family has, say, 3 kids and 1 is exposed, she sees no reason to quarantine all the kids, just the one with the exposure, overlooking the fact that these people live in a house together and if one gets it, they will likely all get it.) Distance Learning sucks. I mean, it's better than it was last Spring, but I spend from 8am-3pm reminding my kids to get back on the computer, don't walk out of class, log in because the next class is starting, etc. I feel more like a personal assistant than a mother most days.

The vaccine rollout in my state is awful. People with high risk conditions were promised priority, then when it got down to brass tacks, we got shoved into age-only edibility. Even essential workers like grocery store employees got the shaft. So I'm still stuck in my house, waiting and hoping I can actually find an appointment when it's finally my turn.

On the upside, I've learned to cut my husband's hair (can't do my own) and bake some killer Italian bread with my bread machine. And we've spent the last year showing the girls awesome movies like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. (The 6.5 year wait to see their reaction to "No, I AM your father!" last spring was SO WORTH the wait!)

All of this has really affected my muse. As you can see, I've only produced a few one-shot shorts. By now, I like to have an epic started and I can hardly focus enough to get the short stories down. It's hard to wrote when you feel down and stressed all the time. (I swear, the stress of distance learning my two second graders is taking years off my life.) I'm still reading and reviewing as often as possible. Mostly one-shot stuff right now, because that's usually what I can squeeze in. And even those sometimes take me 3 or 4 attempts before I get to read them fully. Some days I hear "Mom! I need help with this school work!" every time I sit down.

It's crossed my mind that the fandom is getting older and that we'd likely see a slow down or two. I'll fight to help it not to die completely - after all, I am a KComm member! But I'm also not surprised to see fewer new authors cropping up each year. Anyway, glad to see some responses on this. Makes my heart happy to "see" you guys around!

I too have noticed the incredible downturn in comments, readers and participation. Lockdown has been extremely hard on everyone. Between the stress of making a living, looking after elderly ones and my own health my muse has taken to flight. This is an older fandom, but honestly I have visited others and this is by far the best. It is my sincere hope that we continue to support any new writers who do visit here.

Hi DC,

Thank you. Given my mother's age, I am grateful that she is still alive and doing as well as she is.

I am so sorry about your cats. Pets do become family members, and to lose two so close together must have been an extra-hard blow. Congratulations on your new cats; maybe they should be called "Mungojerrie" and "Rumpleteazer"? ;-)

Your twins are school age? And in second grade no less?! Where does the time go?

Be well,
Lynn

p.s., Care to share the bread recipe in the off-topic section?

Lynn, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. I was my mother's primary caregiver for the last 13 years of her life, so I understand how challenging and time-consuming that can be.

DC, you certainly have been challenged this past year. I'm sorry to hear about your cats.

Morgana, I hope your health improves.

Last year, I spent most of it recovering from a serious ankle fracture (3 bones broken and the ankle was dislocated) and the challenges of recovery. Not only was I dealing with recovering from the surgery and being initially non-weight bearing on that foot, the accident occurred earlier in the week when flights from infected areas were halted. Then I had a reaction to one of the pain meds. The lockdown complicated my recovery because it delayed my weight bearing. I ended up with 6 weeks of physical therapy, and still find that I tire more easily. It also takes me longer to do things, and I still walk with a cane outside. For most of the year, I was in bed by 7 PM.

I have found that my concentration for long stories, especially those with irregular posting schedules, often requires me to go back and reread the earlier chapters to refresh my memory. And often I don't do it due to time constraints. Some of the angst-filled stories, I just couldn't read last year and still can't. I've always preferred non-tragedies to ones where the hero and heroine either die or don't end up with a happily ever after. I've seen enough death and severe life challenges personally and professionally to realize that fanfiction is an escape for me. I can handle the characters facing challenges, but since my accident not when they end up in pain or death. If I'm not sure, I'll wait and read the story once it's finished. At least one story last year I couldn't read further after reading that Clark had trauma to his feet and wasn't getting medical care. It just hit too close to home, when I was stuck in lockdown with only phone post-op care.

I understand that the K-Comm puts hours and hours into the ceremony, and I deeply appreciate their work. I would encourage members to consider reading and commenting either publicly or via message if you want feedback on your own stories. While I can't speak for anyone else, if I have a choice of reading a couple of stories, one by a person who has commented on my stories and one who hasn't, I gravitate first to the writer who comments.

Much of my reading time has been spent researching the virus, masks, treatment, and prevention. I live in an area where the local doctors will only see positive people if they are ill enough to go to the hospital, and then they were sent directly to the ER. As far as the shots, I encourage everyone considering them to do their own research and discuss the pros and cons with their own doctor or doctors. If anyone wants to know where I've found information, PM me.

I hope this year is better for everyone.

Lynn - I can totally respect and understand the just being thankful your mom is still around. And thanks for the kind word about the cats. We kind of knew Ariel would be passing - she dropped a ton of weight after Mufasa died, plus she was 16. Still, we'd hoped the new boys would ease any loneliness she had. (It didn't, she resented that we brought them home.) Mufasa was a shock - he was only 13 and healthy as a horse until suddenly he had a bladder mass. And as for the Cats reference, you may have read my mind. I watched Cats back when Andrew Lloyd Webber was streaming one show a week and ever since, Chris and I will jokingly make up the most awful "second name" for the cats. "I give you Bloodclaw the Everlasting! Behold, Gutpiercer the Bonechewer!" The weirder the better, because our guys are just the sweetest things ever. (Seriously, pet Bruni and he will lick you like a dog.)

The recipe I use is: All Recipes Italian Bread. I'm sure you could probably kneed by hand or use a stand mixer on the dough. I use my bread machine, I don't have a stand mixer and who has time to do it by hand? I recommend KerryGold butter on the bread, fresh out of the oven. Absolute Heaven!

Yeah, my girls are in 2nd grade and I have no idea how. It feels like just yesterday they were born! We're over here gearing up for their first Communion in May and I just can't get over how grown up they look in their little white dresses. I have these frames for the school photos each year K-12 and when I was putting theirs in for this year, I could not get over the difference from even last year. Time flies too fast!

Cuidadora - Thanks for the kind words about my kitties.

I agree about the feedbacking. I try to get to as many as I can, but it can be frustrating to feedback everyone and get little in return. Especially on a bigger story that's taken a long time to get right. Which is why I feel guilty when I simply don't have the time to devote to someone's epic.

I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles with your ankle. It sounds just awful. Wishing you a speedier and full recovery! Hopefully when you are able to get out to places, you can get the motorized scooters in the meantime. They were a lifesaver when I broke my foot almost 4 years ago.

Hoping we all have a much better year! I, for one, am tired of living in interesting times.

Hey everyone,

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond and entertain my concerns.

I am so sorry everyone is dealing with so much. I wish I could reach through this screen and hug you all.

Lynn,

I am so sorry to hear about your mother. Even outside these unprecedented times caregiving can be a challenge. I can only imagine how difficult it is with these new restrictions on everyone due to COVID. We do hope to see you around more as time permits even if it's just in the Off-Topic section to say hello.

bakasi,

A gradual decline would be understandable. It seemed to be an almost all of a sudden drop in activity all at once that never seemed to pick up. I guess I wanted to make sure everyone was okay and not hurt or sick or something.

Even though it's been over 20 years the show has gained new followers and authors each year. I hope that does continue as we all can use that safe place to go and divulge in our favorite fandom with others.

BlindPassenger,

Yeah, I think we had about 20 or so active members and several lurkers. It is normal for interest to decline but the amount at once was concerning. Hopefully, we can keep the small group we have engaged.

Deadly Chakram,

I love that you finally got to share that moment with the girls. I know losing Mufasa and Ariel had to be devastating for you and your family. Your little furbabies become like family and it's heartbreaking when one of them dies.

It sounds like you're making the most of what memories can be made during the pandemic. I've noticed my muse has a bit of a schedule. If she gets too much thrown at her she will curl up and hide and need prodding with some other creative outlet to come out and play. The stress is a killer right now.

I'm right there with you. I'm willing to fight to keep this fandom alive. I know it has been over 20 years since it was on the air but it's near and dear to my heart and I love this show and the characters.

Hey Morgana

I 100% agree. Supporting our authors and even jumping in the Off Topic section to ask a question is a great way to engage when time is short.

Hey cuidadora,

I am so sorry you've been going through so much. I completely get the not wanting to continue a fic that triggered you like that.

I think everyone has a lot of great ideas here. Try to remember to reach out either publically or privately when reading. Even if you don't have time to read and just want to connect with other FOLCs make a post in Off Topic.

I've been less active than I used to be, but I'm trying to force myself out of hermit-mode and at least check on this place more. It's hard to say exactly what happened, but I think having a lot on my plate is the biggest factor. I'm finally back in Florida after years away; the home I returned to has thus been neglected on top of going through a hurricane or two. I got off *extremely* lightly all things considered: stable building, intact roof, etc. However, there are still things that need to be done on every level: wiring, plumbing, construction, etc. It's hard to be creative when you're dog-tired and the day's todo list isn't even half done. I ended up burning out at my last job and have been hesitant to look for another because it just feels like I have no time or energy to give it. Plus, I swore to myself that I would finally write a book this year and hnnnnnnng....

But you know what? I'm glad to have you guys. I need you guys. I need to remember that it's okay to just hang out and tell silly stories about Clark talking to sock puppets.

I'm also trying to come out from being a lurker. I'm battling severe writer's block in my story and things going on in RL do not help matters much. This past year has been incredibly hard, especially on small business owners, and my husband and I run four businesses. These small stimulus payments barely scratch the surface of the loss our business has taken over the past year, and because we are 'self-employed' we do not qualify for unemployment aid. And since our business falls under the category of "essential" (even if we do not have the customers to keep us open) we do not qualify for business grants. We are just now seeing an uptick in the number of customers, so we are attempting to dig ourselves out of the financial hole covid has put us in (and hopefully save our home).

But I hope to get back in the swing of things and begin posting more on the boards.

It' been a rough 4 years for me - post trump-atic syndrome