Snowflake challenge 2021 - 7

[shadowhive]

Challenge #7

In your own space, create your own challenge. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Other times I’ve gotten to a challenge like this I’ve done fic related ones but with my creativeness still being a bit bleh I don’t think I will this time. The post on snowflake, did make me nostalgic for the old LJ days, specifically when things were so active. There were all kinds of communities, with people sharing pics and prompts and fics and people would comment and discuss things. I miss those days.

I’ve said it before but once there was the exodus from lj that sense of community was absolutely lost. Twitter things seem temporary and people are just looking to be toxic. Tumblr is not much better. AO3 is great in some ways as an archive, but the engagement isn’t there (in terms of comments) and small fandoms stay small. There’s no real sense of community of encouragement there. Discord’s are either closed off or too busy, with things being so fleeting and moving so fast (or slowing to a crawl).

Dreamwidth is my preferred platform causa lj and yet, bar when there’s a thing like snowflake going on it’s pretty quiet, a shadow of what lj was. In some ways that’s good cause it’s fairly drama free but in other ways... it’s just so quiet.

But I digress.

My thing for this challenge is simple. The next fanwork you read and enjoy, let the person know. Drop them a comment with how you feel, even if it’s just a simple ‘I loved this!’ I can guarantee it will make the person’s day.

And just... treat people with kindness. Make friends and value them. Stay away from the toxic parts of fandom and create positivity because that’s what the world needs.

***

So the food shop came last night and I had to send a few subs back cause, no. But it also meant I could try the gas card and it worked! So we have the £30 on there we is good. Huzzah!

I ended up gaming a bit last night, flicking between a few Xbox games but none really took my interest. The reason I was flicking was there’s a gamerscore challenge going on and, as much as I love Valhalla, it takes ages to get achievements on it. Even so I ended up on Ikenfell, despite it being tricky achievement wise it’s still fun.I got a new person on it though and getting used to his attacks is tricky.

Yesterday there was a Mario trailer and I’ve gone from not being too interested (since I had the WiiU version) to wanting it because it looks cool and also cats! Cats everywhere! Today there was a Pokemon vid for the anniversary and it seems there’s gonna be a bunch of new Pokemon things so I’m curious and excite.

Also there was a trailer for the new Sims 4 Stuff pack and it’s Paranormal so it’s all about ghosts and such so I’m super interested. I really need to go on the game more. I wanna finish the Batuu stuff and give some of the other things a go. (university and Cats and Dogs) which i got during the sales.

Also in gaming there’s gonna be a new Star Wars game! It’s gonna be open world and done by Ubisoft so I’m super curious. (Bethesda are also doing an Indiana Jones game)

Today I’ve actsuslly read some of the certain point of view stories, so two more today. I hope to read more soon and hope to at least get the Hoth section done before the end of the month.

But other than that it’s been a grey day, it’s been wet and we only took a short walk with the pup. I’m gonna spend the night bundled and maybe gaming some more later.

Comments

[spikedluv]

I miss the early days of LJ, too, when fandom was such a hive of activity! Commenting and kindness are great challenges.

[shadowhive]

Me too! It now feels like fandom is kinda... dead in some ways. And when you look at certain fandoms it all ends up feeling kinda... samey, with one pairing dominating (I’m looking at you MCR)

Awww thanks🖤

[skinwalker]

i was looking back over old bandom fics on lj for the rec challenge and i was floored by how many comments people got back then lmao. 65 comments for a crack fic about mikey and a toaster?! can't relate, i get like 2 on something serious. it also seemed a lot easier to make friends on lj than on twitter or whatever - it's so disconnected these days.

that's a good challenge! i will try to do it :D

[shadowhive]

Yeah exactly! People would comment frequently and have whole conversations. Now it seems like people are scared to and I think that’s sad.

Oh yeah it really was, Twitter seems like it’s become more of a mess lately (most of the accounts I’ve followed lately are animal ones) and I’m just kinda sick of it

Awww yay!🥰

[wenchpixie]

What a lovely, lovely challenge (and accepted, yes :D). I REALLY miss the structure around LJ fandom, it very much worked for me and I feel we've lost something.


HURRAH FOR THE GAS CARD

[shadowhive]

Awww thanks! Yay🖤

I do too! There’s definitely a big loss there. I’ll sometimes check on lj and my friends list there is pretty dead and it makes me sad (I think once anon love fest and the main mcr slash page went that’s what killed it)

Yeah! I wasn’t sure it would work mostly because it was getting a bit ragged (sometimes I’d go to put money on it and they’d have to do it a few tries) so in a way having to get a new one is a good thing.

[dreamersdare]

Good challenge. Let us smother all the toxicity with love :D

[shadowhive]

Exactly! We all need more love and positivity and kindess🖤

[littlelostcat]

Every year I start out saying that I will comment more, and I'm good for like 2 months .... then I stop reading fic or a pandemic occurs (apparently) and I forget when I go back to reading fic. I need to keep it up!

[shadowhive]

That’s good that you say that you will! Hopefully you’ll manage it this year and it’ll be less of a tire fire

When I read something I like I always comment/kudos/bookmark at the same time cause it makes things easier.

[lightbird]

This is a great challenge!

I definitely agree with your assessment on dreamwidth versus LJ. I like dreamwidth a lot, but it never got to where lj was as far as community. Maybe because people scattered to so many different places, I don't know.

[shadowhive]

Thanks! I think we all could do with some positivity

Yeah it’s such a shame that people got scattered and dreamwidth hasn’t gotten as big as LJ was. I guess I’m just nostalgic for what it was at it’s height.

Also, I love your icon!

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I often comment on things I like.

Regarding community, if you don't find what you want, make it. I've made various ones over the years, of which allbingo and crowdfunding have succeeded pretty well.

I also use recurring posts to build community: Good News, Hard Things, and Cuddle Party. Folks are welcome to riff on those in their own blogs.

There are active blogs, there are lots of people who want more community, it's just a matter of finding and connecting them.

Re: Thoughts

[shadowhive]

That’s good.

I have tried to make a few but they’ve all gotten pretty quiet which is sad

Yeee I’ve seen those and sometimes post in them! I did mean to do weekly pic posts but that kinda failed.

Yeah I guess that’s true. *finers crossed* I love the community things like snowflake that bring everyone together

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I have tried to make a few but they’ve all gotten pretty quiet which is sad <<

Not all of mine succeeded. It relies on finding a topic that enough other people care about to keep it going. That can take some trial-and-error.

>> I did mean to do weekly pic posts but that kinda failed. <<

You can always try again, or pick a different weekly post. I've gone through a bunch of different ones. Some rotate deliberately, others turn out to be more trouble than they're worth, and I find new ones.

>>Yeah I guess that’s true. *finers crossed* I love the community things like snowflake that bring everyone together<<

It's my favorite blog activity of the year. There used to be Three Weeks for Dreamwidth but that seems to have gone inactive. :(

Re: Thoughts

[shadowhive]

That’s true.

Yeah I’ll have to give the photo thing a go again.

Aww that’s a shame one is inactive, it’s always a shame when that happens

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Yeah I’ll have to give the photo thing a go again.<<

Go for it! The nice thing about goals is that if you miss one, you can always make another.

>> Aww that’s a shame one is inactive, it’s always a shame when that happens <<

Yeah, but losing the old Cottoncandy Bingo is part of what inspired me to start allbingo.

I'll check on 3 Weeks for Dreamwidth, and if it's still dormant this year, I may try to start a new version.

Re: Thoughts

[shadowhive]

I might do soon! I have ended up starting a new think inspired by this, where I’ve posted a music video

Oh I’m curious, I’ll have to check it out!

Good luck if you do!

[mekare]

I agree that DW is quieter ( I only ever was a lurker on LJ). One reason that occurs to me is that maybe people that used to be on LJ are older now and have less time for fandom? I know it wasn‘t all teenagers and there were a lot of adults depending on the fandom but family life or jobs/jobloss could maybe also lead to less interest in fandom? Just an idea because I believe there are still many who love to connect and comment.

[shadowhive]

Yeah that is a possibility, which is still pretty sad. Yeah I think there is many that love to connect still but it definitely feels harder to find them now

[turlough]

That's an excellent challenge! I always try to remember to comment on things I like but it does occasionally happen that I forget and then I always feel so bad when I remember.

Yay for a working gas card!

[shadowhive]

Thank you! 🖤 aww I’ve done that before, but usually only when I read late at night or something

Yeah I know right? It’s like getting an extra months worth of money

[turps]

That is an excellent challenge, though I do always tend to comment to things I like.

That sounds like a good Sims stuff pack. I used to enjoy Cats and Dogs and Uni when I had them in earlier versions. It's just getting the money to buy the updated ones.

[shadowhive]

Thanks! Thatsgood🖤

It really does! And same here! One of the things with getting sims 4 at this popping is looking at all the packs and going eep, cause there’s just so so many!(and I still haven’t been on it again oops)