On February 16, DramaLlama CEO, Shawn Fraine, turned on his cameras and welcomed us into a corner of his abode for a fundraising subathon stream. Keeping us llamas is a lot of fun, but sometimes we need pennies and yennies. At the outset, Shawn thought the stream would last 48 hours... The audience thought the stream would last 48 hours...
Even the stream thought the stream would last 48 hours.
In retrospect... Bwahahahah! ♬The Hotel California♬
From the scheduled start to the cameras finally switching off, the stream ran approximately 13 days, 13 hours. In case you are not familiar with subathons, each donation pushes a timer. When the timer runs down to zero, the stream ends. For this fundraiser, donations were one dollar for one minute, but double and triple time Happy Hours (and one quintuple time sprint) resulted in the sub timer making massive jumps, once going from under 2 hours to over 51! We slowly stopped believing that the stream was actually a thing that could end. We started to develop our own culture. We had our own special words that we used in our own special ways. We discovered the hard way why you should not, even with the best of intentions, drag anyone into a space they will not enjoy. We discovered a newish use for tomatoes. We even had our own national anthem. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Shawn eventually capped the stream because he (and the team) needed to get back to the development of DramaLlama, he might have found himself Prime Minister of BLverse, the world's first online country. ♬Islands in the Stream♬
People always say, "No man is an island." Correct for the most part... unless you are a BL fan outside of Asia. I am lucky living in Japan. Every month, there are up to 10 in-person BL events. On average, I attend one a month. However, for most interfans, the concept of attending a fan meeting is as fictional as the shows their favourite actors appear in.
Interfans are islands, mostly out of contact with the other islands that they can only see somewhere off in the distance. There's a chance to hang out in a comment section here, and a BL thread to read there, but the community lacks central spaces. People are rarely able to interact in real time. We are all separate islands. But, for one 2-week-long moment, we were able to experience a tiny bit more connection. We were, literally and figuratively, islands in the very same stream.
♬Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da♬
Life Goes On. It's been 2 weeks and I still find myself waking up, itching to check Twitch and see what is up, and then I remember, we are back in the "real" world... The moment has ended...
But, there are more moments to come. DramaLlama's legal fees are paid. We are in the process of getting the wheels turning so that we can get everyone's soon-to-be-favourite BL app out into the world. And, hopefully, when you can pull up the app on your phone from the comfort of your own home (or work -- shhh! Don't tell the boss!), you will be able to find the community many of us crave.
♬Thank you for being a friend♬
Oscar acceptance speech voice- Last, but definitely not least, we at DramaLlama want to thank each and every one of you for your involvement in the subathon. Thanks to those who were able to support financially. Thanks to those who spread the word, sharing the stream on their personal social media. Thanks to those who kept the chat lively, inspiring watchers to come back day in and day out. Thanks to those who stayed up past their bedtimes. Also, a big thank you to those who supported us before the stream and to those who continue to lift us up. The Llama accepts all forms of love and sends it right back at ya!
And, of course, a personal thank you for putting up with the weirdest llama you'll ever meet. (Me, in case you wondered.) Looking forward to creating the brightest BL future with you guys. Your Llama Mama,
Yemi.
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