Fandom Snowflake Challenge #15
In your own space, Talk about Your Snowflake Experience. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
What did you come into it thinking or wanting? Did you get that? Did you get something else? Did you learn anything new about fandom, others, yourself? Are you glad you did it or thought it a waste of time and energy? You can tell us. We’re all here to learn and grow. What did you learn? How did you grow?
My first Fandom Snowflake Challenge was in 2014 and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I took part again in 2015. Due to my own ill health and work issues I fell away from fandom between 2015 and 2019 but was drawn in again in late 2019 and took part in Snowflake in 2020 to try and get myself back into fandom.
Last year I took early retirement in order to care for my 87 year old mother, so this year - as I no longer have to work and have more time on my hands - I volunteered as a mod for the challenge, so I could give something back to the community which has given me such joy in previous years.
I came into the challenge wanting to interact with people and have some fun. Due to the infection rate here in the UK I've pretty much stayed at home since March 2020 in order to ensure we stay safe, between my asthma and my mothers' age we're both in the at risk category, so have been pretty isolated with all of the lockdowns. In the past, I've been a great one for coming out of the woodwork every so often, saying that I'm going to be more active online, but then disappearing back into the woodwork for months on end. I really want to change that this year, so I've joined several communities and hope that will help give me some inspiration along the way.
Snowflake is a wonderful way to start the year. Being a mod has meant that I've had more interaction with people than ever. This past year has been really hard on people, some more so than others, and many people have noted that 2020 had a negative impact on their creativity. Yet they're still here, still taking part and it's been heartening to see that Snowflake has helped them in so many ways. I love the generosity of our community, the gifting and the support. One thing I have noticed this year in particular is the number of people who just want to know that other people are okay, that people are looking after themselves, taking some 'me time' to recharge their batteries.
The excitement and enthusiasm people have for their fandoms is so infectious, and I love the fact that they are so keen to share that love with other people. During the course of Snowflake I have read and enjoyed stories in fandoms I know nothing about, amassed 128 bookmarks to read and explore at a later date - to DW and LJ pages, A03 profiles, communities and other links - along with 86 stories marked for later on A03. I've dug out old books I haven't read in ages - Good Omens and The Silmarillion (which I had to order again as I seem to have lost my copy) - and bought some new ones as I was sold on 'The Coldfire Trilogy' mentioned by several participants which I intend to start reading next week. I've bookmarked several new fandoms to explore and currently have AmazonPrime tabs open at Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Yuri on Ice, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Untamed, so I can watch them as I was intrigued by stories I've read.
I would like to thank everyone who recommended stories, art, podfics or vids. If I said I was going to read, watch or listen to something you've created, I will get around to it. If you see a comment on A03 from StarbucksSue, that's me.
Thank you also to everyone who has interacted with me. While I understood that part of my mod duties would be to comment on the com and on personal journals I hadn't expected the number of wonderful responses I would get back from people, with everything from thanks, links, recommendations and assistance. It really has been a joy interacting with you all.
I can honestly say that I am looking forward to Snowflake 2022 already, and I sincerely hope we will all be in a better place by then. I hope everyone stays safe and has the best year possible under whatever conditions or restrictions you're living under :)
What did you come into it thinking or wanting? Did you get that? Did you get something else? Did you learn anything new about fandom, others, yourself? Are you glad you did it or thought it a waste of time and energy? You can tell us. We’re all here to learn and grow. What did you learn? How did you grow?
My first Fandom Snowflake Challenge was in 2014 and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I took part again in 2015. Due to my own ill health and work issues I fell away from fandom between 2015 and 2019 but was drawn in again in late 2019 and took part in Snowflake in 2020 to try and get myself back into fandom.
Last year I took early retirement in order to care for my 87 year old mother, so this year - as I no longer have to work and have more time on my hands - I volunteered as a mod for the challenge, so I could give something back to the community which has given me such joy in previous years.
I came into the challenge wanting to interact with people and have some fun. Due to the infection rate here in the UK I've pretty much stayed at home since March 2020 in order to ensure we stay safe, between my asthma and my mothers' age we're both in the at risk category, so have been pretty isolated with all of the lockdowns. In the past, I've been a great one for coming out of the woodwork every so often, saying that I'm going to be more active online, but then disappearing back into the woodwork for months on end. I really want to change that this year, so I've joined several communities and hope that will help give me some inspiration along the way.
Snowflake is a wonderful way to start the year. Being a mod has meant that I've had more interaction with people than ever. This past year has been really hard on people, some more so than others, and many people have noted that 2020 had a negative impact on their creativity. Yet they're still here, still taking part and it's been heartening to see that Snowflake has helped them in so many ways. I love the generosity of our community, the gifting and the support. One thing I have noticed this year in particular is the number of people who just want to know that other people are okay, that people are looking after themselves, taking some 'me time' to recharge their batteries.
The excitement and enthusiasm people have for their fandoms is so infectious, and I love the fact that they are so keen to share that love with other people. During the course of Snowflake I have read and enjoyed stories in fandoms I know nothing about, amassed 128 bookmarks to read and explore at a later date - to DW and LJ pages, A03 profiles, communities and other links - along with 86 stories marked for later on A03. I've dug out old books I haven't read in ages - Good Omens and The Silmarillion (which I had to order again as I seem to have lost my copy) - and bought some new ones as I was sold on 'The Coldfire Trilogy' mentioned by several participants which I intend to start reading next week. I've bookmarked several new fandoms to explore and currently have AmazonPrime tabs open at Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Yuri on Ice, Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Untamed, so I can watch them as I was intrigued by stories I've read.
I would like to thank everyone who recommended stories, art, podfics or vids. If I said I was going to read, watch or listen to something you've created, I will get around to it. If you see a comment on A03 from StarbucksSue, that's me.
Thank you also to everyone who has interacted with me. While I understood that part of my mod duties would be to comment on the com and on personal journals I hadn't expected the number of wonderful responses I would get back from people, with everything from thanks, links, recommendations and assistance. It really has been a joy interacting with you all.
I can honestly say that I am looking forward to Snowflake 2022 already, and I sincerely hope we will all be in a better place by then. I hope everyone stays safe and has the best year possible under whatever conditions or restrictions you're living under :)