Mindcrack Love: an alternative Mindcrack community

Hey folks!

For those of you who don't quite realize due to the icon, I'm the original creator of this community. (Most people here will call me 'Ms. Mod' or 'Kawa'.) I'm here to answer some questions that have been asked lately and offer clarifications about my own vision for this community.

I created this community almost two years ago (erhmahgehrd!) as an alternative to the subreddit, a place where I could express thoughts I didn't want to express over there in a format I was personally comfortable with. At the time, I was working part time in a data entry job that allowed me to listen to Youtube at work, so I had lots of time to listen to videos and generally interact with Mindcrack.

And yes, some of those thoughts were fanfiction; some were shippy, and some of those thoughts were both shippy and smutty (NSFW link for the second one). I have a background of even more obviously real person fandom under a different username, so I was personally comfortable with it. A lot of people at Reddit weren't comfortable with the idea, even within the clearly fantastical setting of video games, so I didn't want those thoughts expressed there.

But some of those thoughts weren't fanfic at all, and a lot was just me watching stuff and having a place to talk about it.

We've grown in a big way, partially because the Mindcrackers themselves have become more and more overt about knowing who we are which makes us easier to find. We've been mentioned in every Zeldathon in the past two years, plus more podcasts and tweets than I can count. I know not everyone likes the attention, but it's clear that at least some Mindcrackers (looking at you, MC and Vechs!) check on us regularly and like what we do! And I, for one, really appreciate that.

I've also had some major changes in my life - I've had two job changes (with major moves) in that interval, one huge family health crisis, and various other events that I'm not willing to share, plus other fandoms that mean a lot to me have started having major activity again. I'm now finally seeing the benefits of my advanced degree, working full time at a job that challenges and excites me. This does mean that I don't have the time for absorbing Mindcrack canon like I used to, sadly, so I feel really behind when trying to catch up. Luckily, I have a fantastic mod team who I trust - thank you so much to red_wolf and scaredykitty for being wonderful.

So I'd like to reiterate: shippy or not, fanfic or not, all these things are part of this community. This is exactly why I changed the byline to an alternate Mindcrack community: all this was meant to be was an alternative to the subreddit, and it's been doing that in style. Yes, we are ship-friendly, fanfic-friendly, probably the first and most active place to do so for this fandom: but things that don't fit that mold always have been and always will be part of what we are.

I'd also like to reiterate that this is a fan-made community, and what you make of it is your own. I don't want to censor people or make them feel unwelcome in any way, shape, or form, and I want to encourage people to be part of it in any way they feel fit. Want to revive Group Rewatch? Want to make Work in Progress Wednesdays or Teaser Thursdays alongside the already fan-made Sunday chat posts? YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS, AND YOU SHOULD NOT FEEL LIKE YOU CAN'T.

It is not the mod team who made the "external Salad things" happen: Skype chats, Minecraft servers, other communities here or on Tumblr or wherever: It is perfectly reasonable to have more places than just this Dreamwidth be alternatives to Youtube comments and the subreddit. We are not competing with each other, just making there be a variety of places to show our love and support of Mindcrack.

Just continue to be excellent to each other, follow the rules, and have fun. I'm proud of this community, of all we've made together, and I hope for many more years of fun and fandom from you all.

Love,
Ms. Mod