#snowflakechallenge2021

[snowflakechallenge]

Snowflake Challenge 2021

It's almost time again for the Fandom Snowflake Challenge!

The posting change we made last round seemed to be a hit with everyone, so challenges will begin on Jan 1 and go up on every odd-numbered day, with the Friending Meme being posted on the 31st.

Please come join us! (And if you want to pimp us out, please head to our Promotional Banners post.) We look forward to seeing you there!

[the-roadkill-cafe]

Snowflake Challenge #1

I'm going to try (again) to be more active, after being silent for an entire year. I came across this thing called Snowflake Challenge . A very, very low stakes challenge/prompt thing for all fandoms, throughout January. The first challenge is - introduce yourself! Or at least make sure all links to an introduction are up to date. Link to the first challenge -> Snowflake Challenge #1 So, hi! I'm Roadkill, theroadkillcafe, whichever. I mostly write about magic ninjas aka Naruto. I'm an English language teacher and I like to talk about linguistics and second language studies. Here on tumblr I only talk about fannish stuff. Non fannish things go on my dreamwidth journal. I have seven cats who are currently living with my parents while I live abroad, I like to knit and play Guild Wars 2, and I have been in various fandoms for....hm, about 18 or 19 years now. I spend long times being just a lurker on the internet before crawling out of my hole for a few months and then disappearing again. When I am more visible in fandom, I usually write fic (which, if you're interested, are available on ao3, tumblr, ffnet, and dreamwidth. None of my fics are discontinued). I also like to yell about magic ninjas on discord. On a more personal note, I have chronic pain and a few mental health problems, am queer, and (more important to me) am mixed race with white, black, and Mexican. I have a complicated relationship with my racial identity and a less complicated one (I think) with my sexuality. Finally, I like to talk to people and interact, even if I run low on spoons, so please feel free to comment or send me asks.

[orangerful]

Snowflake Challenge 2021 – Post 1, Introduce yourself

In an effort to use this blog more, I’m going to participate in the annual ‘Snowflake Challenge’ so I post on a regular basis.  Hopefully, eventually, I will just make some time for blogging and enjoy the process of getting some of the thoughts constantly rolling around in my head committed to the digital page.

Enter, the Snowflake Challenge (details here)

Challenge #1 In your own space, introduce yourself!

I’m orangerful aka Sam.  Librarian by day, nerd 24/7.

If I listed every fandom/obsession I have, we would be here all day, so let’s just hit the big ones that will probably give you a pretty well rounded view of who I am:

I was born a Star Wars fan and while I don’t love every single thing Star Wars, I have a soft spot for the original films. I tend to pick and choose from the new stuff, since there is SO MUCH of it, but the galaxy far far away is still a happy place for me when I need to escape this planet.

I have also watched ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.  A lot. I discovered it at just the right time in my life, Buffy’s first year of college was the same year as mine, and that was when I finally gave the series a chance. It clicked with me on a level of no other show and, despite its flaws, I still go back to it and quote it often.

I’m currently watching ‘The Expanse’ on Amazon Prime.  It is one of THE best sci-fi shows on right now (and maybe the best ever? Only time will tell).  I have only read the first book in the series, but I do plan on picking them up at some point (I mean, I work in a library, they are right there) but right now I am enjoying not knowing what is going to happen next.

I just finished a rewatch of ‘Bob’s Burgers’ which still holds up really well and I adore that show.  It makes me laugh and it somehow manages to be edgy and wholesome. Maybe because we are all a little bit Bob, Linda, Tina, Gene and Louise every day.

I read a LOT of young adult and middle grade chapter books along with all ages of graphic novels.  It’s not required by my job, I just prefer them at this point. I find that YA books are just so much more fun and uplifting than “Adult” books.  In YA books, the teens start out struggling with who they are and then experience life to learn and grow and be a better person by the end. In adult books, they start out struggling…continue to struggled…and tend to be struggling/miserable at the end.

That being said, the one adult book series I do enjoy is ‘Murderbot’ by Martha Wells.  I need to read the newest one (2020 gave me terrible readers block) but they are the kind of sci-fi snark I need in my life.

My current obsession is all things tabletop games. You will see many posts from the previous year talking about the excellent YouTube channel Dicebreaker and how I have followed all their guidance to amass a large collection of games this year.  

I’m also a HUGE fan of OutsideXbox and OutsideXtra. I have been playing video games all my life and their fun and positive and very British approach to talking about games keeps me coming back. These channels reignited my love of gaming. They are just nice people and they love games. Oxtra host Luke Westaway did a few streams on his personal channel during 2020, first composing chill beats and then reading ghost stories (and recently LEGOS!) and the community that formed around those live streams include some of my new favorite people on the planet.

As for fannish things that I do, I’m in the category of thinking-too-much-about-that-silly-thing-you-love and picking it apart until no one will talk to me (so I post them here).  It is why I am a fan of Pop Culture Detective and (recently) Cinema Therapy.  I have an entire bookshelf of media studies books, mostly about BtVS but a few more general ones too.  My undergrad is in American Studies which is all about looking at American culture and ideas and how they shape us as a society.

I was once called a “brand evangelist” so I am also the kind of fan that will talk about one show or game that you absolutely must watch and explain to you why it is awesome until you ask me how I found you and to please back away slowly.

I hope that gives you a good picture of who I am through the lens of all the media I consume. Hopefully over the course of this month, we will all get to know each other a little better!

Happy New Year!  It’s 2021 – let’s do better this year!

[snowflakechallenge]

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #2

Introduction Post* Meet the Mods Post * Master Post * Challenge #1

Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

If this year of near-complete isolation has taught us anything, it’s that we are, all of us, no matter how introverted and hermit-like we are, in need of a little human contact from time to time. What better than to do that with like-minds, am I right?

Challenge #2

In your own space, (or their own space) interact with someone new. Leave a comment in today’s post at The Fandom Snowflake Challenge on DW saying you did it. No need to leave a link for this one, but if you’d like to invite others to join the conversation, please do leave one.

And us, being the helpful sort, gave you the perfect opportunity to find new people to talk to just a few short days ago. Feel free to peruse The First Day’s post for links to participant’s introductions. You’re bound to find a handful of people who also need a new person to talk to and willing to jump into conversation to fulfill the challenge--and make new friends, of course. You can also, ALWAYS talk to people here in the comments each challenge. ♥ ♥

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

(If you want us to reblog your response here at our Tumblr, we’re tracking: snowflakechallenge2021.)

[snowflakechallenge]

Fandom Snowflake Challenge #1

Introduction Post* Meet the Mods Post * Master Post

Remember that there is no official deadline, so feel free to join in at any time, or go back and do challenges you've missed.

Some of the names you see here might be familiar, and some might be complete strangers. (Or, as we like to think of it, friends you haven’t met yet.) We’d like us all to take the first step towards making new friends with this first challenge.

Challenge #1

In your own space, introduce yourself! Leave a comment in today’s post at The Fandom Snowflake Challenge on DW saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

If you already have a sticky post or full bio, make sure they’re up to date so that people visiting your journal can learn something about you. Update your interests; make sure your fic posts are current; check that all your links work, etc. If you don’t already have a post introducing yourself, create one!

If you’re looking for some suggestions, here are some I borrowed from my co-mod :

Imagine you're at a fandom party, what would you want strangers you hope to be friends knowing about you? If someone happens upon your journal randomly, what impression do you hope they leave with? Or just simply an update on your life and what got you through this year.

Some of your mods have already done this so that you can get an idea of the variety of ways you can fill this challenge: Coyoteclaw’s DW sticky post; Muccamukk’s DW profile, DW sticky post and AO3 profile; and Spikedluv’s DW profile and DW sticky post.

Check out the comments for all the awesome participants of the challenge and visit their journals/challenge responses to comment on their posts and cheer them on.

And just as a reminder: this is a low pressure, fun challenge. If you aren't comfortable doing a particular challenge, then don't. We aren't keeping track of who does what.

(If you want us to reblog your response here at our Tumblr, we’re tracking: snowflakechallenge2021.)

[the-roadkill-cafe]

Snowflake Challenge #5

Challenge #5 In your own space, promote a canon/talk about a part of canon that you love. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. This is actually a bit difficult to talk about for my current fandom, Naruto, because the things I tend to talk about are the things that frustrate me most, haha. Either that, or the things I liked were later retconned or changed and I didn't like them anymore. But I think, as a sandbox to play in, the thing about Naruto is that it is a very compelling universe. It has crazy ninja magic stuff and cool action bits. It can be funny, or sad, or tragic, or happy, or cracky. There's a tiny bit of politicking, or at least the implication of it. There's a fairly large cast of characters to play with, and a span of at least a hundred years to do it in. The nature of the show means you can easily create fics that are rewrites of the canon or what ifs, you can do mission fics (the equivalent of case fic), you can do oneshots, or vignettes, or character studies, or crack, or whump fic, or or or- It's a great place to create content for, is what I'm saying, and it frustrated enough of its viewers/readers in a way that encouraged them to create content, rather than abandon it wholesale. Not saying that nobody abandoned it, but I think there's a reason that people are still relatively active in Naruto fandom even though it ended in 2014.

[snowflakechallenge]

2021 Snowflake Introduction

Hello everyone!

It is nearly time for the 2021 Snowflake Challenge. For those who are returning, welcome back! For those participating for the first time, welcome!

I'm Gwenhwyfar1984 , and this is my first year as a mod, but the second year participating. I'm incredibly honored to be able to make the introduction post. I really enjoyed Snowflake 2020, and I hope Snowflake 2021 is just as wonderful.

So, what is the Snowflake Challenge? Beginning on January 1st, and posting on odd-numbered days, we will post a challenge. They will be fandom focused, but a few might be open to a bit of non-fannish interpretation. That is the great thing about this challenge: it is how you interpret it. Like snowflakes, every response will be different!

The challenges will vary from extremely easy to do, to a bit more involved. However, this is a low-stress challenge. Please do not feel pressure to complete every single one. This is meant to be fun. Well, introspective at times too, but fun while being introspective!

For some challenges, all you have to do is comment on that day's post with "I did it!" Other times you will be posting a link in your comment so that other participants and the mods can come and comment. For the challenges where your response gets personal, or you just don't want strangers in your journal, you do not have to unlock it. You can just say "I did it!" for those too.

Again, this is low pressure and we don't want to make anyone uncomfortable!

The Snowflake Challenge is all-inclusive. It is open to all fandoms, all media types, and is open to all interpretations. If you want to focus only on canon, go right ahead. If you want to talk about your OTP, please do. If you are a gen fan who has no preferred pairing, that's great. Do you love meta? Get as meta as you want.

Have fun and please remember to be kind to your fellow participants.

Now, some of the challenges will be about fanworks. What counts as a fanwork? Anything creative and created by fans! Fanfiction, fanart, podcasts, icons, wallpapers, fic covers, pic spams, essays...there is no limit, really! If you spent time on it and created it, it is a fanwork.

Although the primary base for Snowflake Challenge is DW, you do not have to have an account. You can comment anonymously (with a fan name or something,) or use the OpenID options. The challenge is also not confined to DW! There is the Snowflake Challenge Twitter and the Snowflake Challenge Tumblr!

Two days, everyone, until the fun begins. I can't wait!

[snowflakechallenge]

Meet the Mods!

Akamine_chan created The Fandom Snowflake Challenge back in 2012 as a way to remind herself “why I loved fandom so much”. Over the years the challenge itself has come to mean a lot to many of us, so by way of introduction some of the mods for this year have written about what the Fandom Snowflake Challenge means to them and why they are excited about it.

Gillo: Hi, I'm Gill (my surname begins with O, hence my super-original username!) This is my first time helping out with the Snowflake community and I'm really looking forward to seeing what crops up. I've loved watching from the fringes in times past, and I'm very keen to get to know new folks, fandoms and ideas this year.

Seleneheart: This will be my third year modding this comm. Before I started modding, I sort of participated in this challenge but wasn't very consistent. When I decided to really commit myself to doing this back in 2019, I signed up to be a mod as well (go hard or go home!). The work I've put into this comm has always been returned a thousand-fold! I've made new friends, found new obsessions, and thought about things in ways I never had before. After this disastrous year, I feel like I need the warmth and comfort of fandom more than ever before. I hope that among these challenges, you can find something that will warm your heart and soothe your soul.

Spikedluv: Hello to all returning and new Snowflakes! I love Snowflake and I’m thrilled to be part of the group bringing Snowflake to you again this year. Especially after the year we've all just had. The best thing about this challenge is that it reminds me of all the great things about fandom. The feeling of community. The comments and feedback. The squee that comes with discovering new fandoms and new fic and new friends. And while Snowflake only lasts for one month, these are things we can take with us into the rest of the year. As I’ve said previously, Snowflake has taught me that I need to be the change I want to see in fandom and gets me pumped up to go forth and be a more active participant.

Sjh2009: Hi I'm Sue (fandom name StarbucksSue). I've enjoyed taking part in Snowflake on several occasions in the past but this is my first time helping out. I always love to see the answers to the challenges and getting to know new friends and new fandoms. It's been a hard year for many of us and I think the Snowflake Challenge is a lovely, positive, way to get the year started.

Goddess47: Hello! I'm Goddess47 (everywhere!) and while I've participated in Snowflake a few times, this is my first time helping out. I'm looking forward to all the challenges and seeing everyone that participates. It's amazing to see the energy that Snowflake generates... it's a great start to a new year!

Mizface: Hello hello! *waves* I'm so pleased to be a part of Snowflake this year. I was unable to participate at the level I wanted to last year, so I'm thrilled to have more time now. The Snowflake challenges always push me in the best way, and bring me so much happiness, both in working on them and even more in seeing what everyone else brings to them. It's an inspiring, heartening, wondrous burst of positive energy, which is an amazing way to start the year (which, I don't know about you, but I seriously need). Plus, they've never failed to bring me new fannish things to explore, For example, I have a post someone made a couple of years ago as part of the challenge to thank for getting me to watch Schitt's Creek. I am forever in their debt.

So in conclusion, welcome, best wishes and warmest regards, thanks for coming to play, and I hope y'all have FUN!

Llilly_c: Hello all, I'm lilly_c and I've been in fandom for a long as I can remember. I've participated in Snowflake for a few years now and always had a ball. This is my first time helping out with Snowflake and I can't wait to see what we all come up with over the month.

Paulamcg: Hello! I'm PaulaMcG, and I'm glad to participate in the Snowflake Challenge this time by helping out a bit, too. A year ago, still struggling to find interaction in fandom after a long hiatus, I enjoyed doing all the challenges at Snowflake. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the creative, subversive, inclusive and encouraging community that is fandom.

Tjs_whatnot: Oh Snowflake, how I've missed your optimistic and cheery fandom energy! I've exhausted those resources pretty early on last year, so a refill is in desperate need! I've been part of the Snowflake family for ages now (I've seriously lost count), but I learn something new each year, so it's a new challenge each time. I can't wait to get reacquainted with the other old timers and meet some new, fun fandom faces. LET'S DO THIS!! ♥ ♥ ❤ ❤

Stripytights: Hi, I'm Stripy and I've really enjoyed doing the The Snowflake Challenge in the past - it's a lot of fun and in past years I've really valued it as a way to reach out and connect with other fandom folk. I'm really glad to be participating this year both through posting and commenting, and looking forward to seeing all of the posts.

Muccamukk: Hi all, I'm Muccamukk, or Mucca, or Hey you. I've been doing snowflake challenge off and on since it's first year, and this is my second year helping out. I am usually most involved in the fanfic side of fandom, but love seeing all the creative ideas and responses people bring to each day's challenge.

Sperrywink: Hello, fellow Snowflakers! I'm Sperrywink and I've helped out many a year. I always look forward to the Snowflake Challenge each January and this one is no different. It helps start the year off right in a fannish sense, IMHO. Looking forward to meeting people old and new and seeing the breadth of art and community fandom has to offer.

Cornerofmadness: Hello All. I'm Cornerofmadness. I've been taking part in the Snowflake Challenge for a few years now. It's a wonderful, low-key cool down for me after the frantic holiday fandom challenges. It's always fun to see new people and all their creativity. It's w great place to go exploring.

Enemytosleep: I have followed [community profile] snowflake_challenge the last several years now, and if there is one good thing to come from all that was 2020, it's that I now have more time to participate in this year's event as both a participant and a mod. I'm excited to see everyone flock back to the comm again and spread some cheer!

Coyoteclaw11: Hello all! My name's Coyote, and I'm really excited to check out everyone's posts this year! Last year was pretty rough, so getting to ring in the New Year with all the positivity, community, and creativity that the Snowflake Challenge brings is something I'm really looking forward to.

As you can see the challenge means so many things to the mods, and to everyone who has participated before, and will hopefully also be meaningful to anyone joining us for the first time this year. You’ll find us all wading through comments, welcoming everyone, answering questions, keeping the peace, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to flag one of us down.

Tomorrow starts the first of the fandom challenges, so hope you all are ready for some fun times! Feel free to do any challenge that strikes your fancy (or all of them), or leave a comment on someone else’s challenge response at anytime.