minna's journal

Hello, and welcome to the first Fic Clique Explorers Challenge! I wrote an intro post here, but I'm going to reiterate and clarify a few points before we get into the prompts.

Rules

1. In keeping with Fic Clique's generally joyful and generous approach to fic, please keep discussions of fic generally positive unless someone has specifically stated they're open to constructive criticism. Even in the context of criticism, you should be working with an author to tune a story you both enjoy, not tearing anything to shreds.
2. When posting fic or podfic in the comments, please put the title in the subject line of the comment and any applicable warnings at the top of the comment. Please do warn for anything that would usually merit an archive warning on AO3; warnings for other sensitive topics are appreciated, but do what feels right.
3. All fandoms, ships, and topics are welcome.
4. The only exception is that obviously we are going to be good to each other and not bring anything that espouses bigotry.
5. You do not need to be a fan of Fic Clique to participate (though if you've found this, I hope it piques your interest!)

Structure

This challenge will run from March 1st—May 31st. You are still welcome to share responses to it after it ends, but we'll (if things go well) move on to the next after that date.

You may participate in one of three ways:

• Write a fanwork inspired by one of the prompts. Please post a link in the comments on this post (with applicable warnings; see the rules), and you can also submit it to the AO3 collection here if you so desire.
• Create a podfic for a fic that fits one of the prompts. Link in the comments, and feel free to crosspost it to the AO3 collection.
• Bring a fic for discussion that touches on one of the prompts. I'll post a comment called Discussion Center at the top of the comments section; please thread discussions under this so they're easier to find. Please post a link, some information about the fic, and any applicable warnings, and respond to it as you like! I'll include some possible discussion questions to get you started at the bottom of the post.

Honestly, if you can think of another way to participate, I'm probably okay with it. It does not hurt to ask!

Prompts

I'm going to start things off with a quote, which is also the first prompt. For the rest, I tried to give a variety of options: ways to play with both structure and content. 

1. "My hypothesis is that the currency of a close POV is detail. What is the POV character paying attention to, how much are they paying attention to it, what is the cadence of that attention? And how are the details presented to us, in what context and what comparison. I've talked before about this idea of like, quote-unquote 'in-universe metaphors.' I think about the Queen's Thief fic that Brenna brought a little while back where there's a line about like, 'the wind was lashing him like his uncle hitting him in the ear.' So it's like, oh that immediately is telling me something, and that particular detail is kind of improving my understanding of the character through their POV." —Nicole (Episode 81: "Home is Where the Haunt Is")

2. Horror (26: "Unsettling Vibes Abound")

3. First-person POV (82: "The One and Only Voice of Pastiche")

4. Bed-sharing (70: "Nothing Says Valentine's Day like Breaking Up")

Some questions to think about for discussions if you're not sure where to start:
+ How does the author explore this theme/effect? Is it similar or different to other treatments you've seen?
+ What is a choice the author made that you found particularly effective?