Snowflake Challenge: Day One

[kiki_eng]

In your own space, talk about why you are doing the Fandom Snowflake Challenge? What drew you to it as a participant? What do you hope to accomplish by doing these challenges? Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

TRADITION!

(Link to Fiddler.)

I've done the snowflake challenge for a couple years running now and I like it. I like the way it starts off a new year, when things feel sort of fresh and full of possibility. I am totally cynical about everything, but I love how people are at the start of the new year, how in the early hours of the morning in a city - where often people make it a policy to ignore everyone as much as possible - people will wish strangers happy (I think that's great) and I love that sort of boundless optimism that can show up at the beginning of the year - I can do things! This is easy! I could make a post every day and so on. Things are shiny and new and optimistic in the new year and I feel like snowflake_challenge is a really good match for that, and it had that attitude even before it adopted this time slot. It's incredibly friendly and kind of affirming and the mods are fabulous each year. It's a really lovely time.

I enjoy starting off my fannish year with this challenge; it makes me happy. I discovered yesterday that I had not checked my reading list for well over a week; I've been sort of failing at dreamwidth/fannish activity/communication for a while, so, the thing where the snowflake challenge means structured posting is good for me this year - even if/when I opt out of some challenges that's still better than I've been doing, and so in that vein, and in that vein of wild optimism/delusion*, I further challenge myself, to the old December meme from a few years ago - shifted to January and cut in half.

(*I do actually think it'll be fine.)

Pick a date below and give me a topic you want me to discuss. You can request multiple topics (as long as they’re on different days — one topic per day!).

January 16 Sci-fi tropes that you love calvinahobbes
January 17 Hmmm...going back to your first fandom roots? readbystarlight
January 18 What do you consider your gateway fandoms? readbystarlight
January 19 SGA, Harry Potter (were you ever in HP?) readbystarlight
January 20
January 21
January 22 Female friendships. sinesofinsanity
January 23
January 24 Femslash! Now that you brought it up :D calvinahobbes
January 25 non-human, non-humanoid characters. Something about them in their own world and how it works for them sinesofinsanity
January 26 A book that you didn't expect to like (but ended up loving) glitteryv
January 27 Asian media that you would rec and why more people need to watch/read/hear it calvinahobbes
January 28 A media (book, movie, etc.) that you like reccing to people all the time. glitteryv
January 29 minor character(s) that stood out to you. Was there ever a minor character that you invented a backstory or future or side adventure for because you needed/wanted to see more of them than was ever intended to be in canon? sinesofinsanity
January 30
January 31

Heads Up: I tend not to link a lot of RL information to my fannish identity, so, if you request something to do with that I might not feel comfortable writing about that and ask if there's something else you're interested in - or I might be fine. Depends. (Sorry that's a bit vague.)

Comments

[calvinahobbes]

Femslash! Now that you brought it up :D

Sci-fi tropes that you love

Asian media that you would rec and why more people need to watch/read/hear it

Something about the space for Asian source things in fandom in general - crossover potential, lack of access, disinterest, IDK, maybe it's just that I repeatedly find it difficult to get involved and stay involved with Asian media (feel free to problematize my broad usage of Asian)

[kiki_eng]

Eee! Suggestions! Thank you!

You have some potentially very thinky ones in there. (I mean, I might not do something thinky, but, I could.) :)

I am not sure that I am up to doing a post on the last one, though. I am curious what you mean by "involved" with media, though. Getting into a show and finishing it? Something else?

[calvinahobbes]

You are right, they are very thinky; please feel free to ignore that :D

I think with involved I meant both sticking a show, but also remembering that there are non-English language options out there.

[kiki_eng]

They are full of possibilities. :)

Huh, okay, thanks for the clarification; I might do something with that.

[kiki_eng]

Okay. Thinking about that, I'm not sure what all of that I'm willing to write about that is really a full post, so I will just put it here:

I watch dramas. Of the "Asian media" I consume that makes up the biggest percentage. ...and I remember to watch dramas because I have a dramafever account and they e-mail me about shows in their newsletter thing, I have a friend who's into dramas who will talk or post about something they're watching, and I remember that I have had positive experiences, so, I'll go looking for a drama when I want something to watch.

I fail out of a lot of dramas. A lot of them. So many. I do it really quickly, like, you have ten minutes to get me invested in these leads and then I'm out. I'll try something based on tropes, summary, or a rec, and sometimes it works out for me and sometimes it doesn't. The things that work out for me tend to work out really, really well - like, it's a beautiful tropey romp and I am happy.

I think I've recced two at you, sort of in the past? Kimi wa petto (jdrama where a young man pretends to be a woman's dog) and recently Oh My Venus (subby, subby side character - kdrama actually about a woman embarking on an exercise regime post-break-up and changing her life). I find sometimes that there are sort of a lot of moving parts, so, it might have a trope you love, but there'll be something else in the drama made of nope for you or whatever. Neither of those are my rec-to-everyone-dramas.

IDK. So that is the really short answer to that - hopefully it was slightly useful?

[calvinahobbes]

I missed this comment somehow?? I think I didn't get an email notif! Anyway, thank you, I'll be back with a proper reply later!!

[kiki_eng]

I think I might have mis-remembered comment notifications in threading, and should have replied directly to yours? (Technology.) I am glad you found it, anyway.

[readbystarlight]

Hmmm...going back to your first fandom roots?
SGA, Harry Potter (were you ever in HP?)
What do you consider your gateway fandoms?
That's all I got at the moment?
Much luck :)

[kiki_eng]

You're awesome. Thank you.

[elizabeth_rice]

*\o/*

I don't really have a topic for you, but I love your post and I agree with you, the beginning of the new year does feel fresh. I hope you enjoy the rest of the challenges.

[kiki_eng]

:) Thanks!

[sinesofinsanity]

Sorry I'm late!

- non-human, non-humanoid characters. Something about them in their own world and how it works for them
- minor character(s) that stood out to you. Was there ever a minor character that you invented a backstory or future or side adventure for because you needed/wanted to see more of them than was ever intended to be in canon?
- Specifically on Jan 22: Female friendships.

:D

[kiki_eng]

You are not late; it is still January and you are a lovely person.

These are really interesting. *ponders*

Thank you for these!

[glitteryv]

I am totally cynical about everything, but I love how people are at the start of the new year, how in the early hours of the morning in a city - where often people make it a policy to ignore everyone as much as possible - people will wish strangers happy (I think that's great) and I love that sort of boundless optimism that can show up at the beginning of the year

This! I really like the idea of a new year and approaching things with optimism. :)

Topics:

* A book that you didn't expect to like (but ended up loving)

* A media (book, movie, etc.) that you like reccing to people all the time.

[kiki_eng]

Yeah, I feel like that's kind of the way to go in general. I just went out tonight and I ended up stumbling in somewhere where they were still wishing people happy new year's, and it was great.

When Jack Layton died a few years ago, a letter he had written to the public was released upon his death and the last paragraph read, "My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the word."

Those are awesome topics; thank you for them. :)