#snowflake challenge

[maluron]

Julian Bashir likes Women and Yet is Not Straight; a manifesto.

aka: queerphobes fuck off.

gasp oh no not me vagueblogging about someone who pissed me off like a tired old petty fangull

but @snowflake_challenge suggested we wrote a manifesto; In your own space, write a promo, manifesto or primer for a beloved character, relationship or fandom.

so.

In the aftermath of December 12th. Reveling in canon Garashir. Making a couple celebrating shitposts that gain traction. And I get one stupid comment

"i wish bashir still liked women [sadface emoji]" 1) wow rude—ever heard of the fandom rule «don’t harsh my squee»? make your own post if you want to complain don’t spam mine; 2) bitch he does what are you yapping about??

So yeah here’s my manifesto. Julian Bashir Does indeed like Women (among other) and Yet is Not Straight.

His hologram ending married to a man does not invalidate that the template was a huge bisexual xenophile slut (affectionate) who liked women and at least one man and possibly others and fondling their feet (entirely canon) and possibly getting his ass smacked (personal fanon) (note: having a kink has not influence whatsoever on sexual orientation but pointing this out is likely to piss off heterosexist bigots, so)

I posit that Bashir’s attraction to Jadzia while very real was stemming out of Doylist comp-het [insert siddig "spark" interview https://www.tumblr.com/beechicory/772072920481742848] and was also in the Watsonian way not very gender-traditional. She’s a beautiful statuesque young woman who exsudes Gender Energy, she’s got several lifetimes of experience as both men and women, she can bodily pick him up and toss him and that’s what attracts him: no despite, because. If they’d been to fuck she would peg him and smack his bottom. [insert "not straight" siddig interview https://www.tumblr.com/nimue44/773490608390176768]

[insert robinson "i want to fuck him" interview https://www.tumblr.com/pajamasecrets/718997301079719936] The actors themselves have said time and again that Garak and Bashir had so much more chemistry together than any other pairing involving either. I’m not going to epilogue on that: there must be already so many garashir manifestos out there. It’s fact.

I’m personnally not a fan of Bashir’s relationship with Leeta; I’ll file it under comp-het again but I admit his feelings were real and won’t invalidate them.

(I can’t argue about Ezri and how it’s unhealthy because at this point I only have second-hand knowledge.)

What I’m saying is

this twink Cannot Sit Straight and exsudes Disaster Bi vibes; also neurodivergent vibes and that’s canon too but subject of another manifesto. (I’m not saying that looking like a twink makes you gay—but acting a certain way gives you higher odds of being Not Straight)

Also Star Trek is in The Future where people should be so very chill about identity and orientation—fuck Berman forever (I still need a link to that «in the 90ties everyone had to be straight» post please, can someone point me to it?) and every character should be assumed bi until proven otherwise. And Bashir has proven to love at least several women and one man! (again I’m not saying either Everyone Is Bi, period; lots of characters can still be attracted to only one gender and/or sex but a lack of shown attraction to the other is not the same as proof of absence—unless they explicitely state one strong preference)

Now the LWD Bashir married to Garak is a hologram. They could have forfeit programming any attraction in it and made him aro-ace but they didn’t. It’s only logical to assume they made him as bi/pan as his template. The hologram marrying One (1) Cardassian man does not make Bashir Just Gay And Not Attracted To Any Woman. It makes him attracted to at least one man and Prophets know how many other people or any and every and no gender before and/or on the side.

Regarding how the LWD alternates make Garashir canon I’m choosing the "soulmates" for lack of a better word, interpretation—it’s not that they were fated to be together but that in the Prime universe they could have been, they would have been, they shoud have been but circumstances conspired against them, and in another universe given the chance they totally do. [insert perfect choice post here https://www.tumblr.com/believethestars/770420215813177344] [insert Mac interview https://www.tumblr.com/wanderingwriter87/771121857095172096]

And now if you’re really a homophobic shit or if you just happen to have a different ship ie Bashir joins the O’Brien Polycule while Garak marries Parmak or whatever yes there are alternate universe versions yes one is a hologram so maybe not a perfect copy so you can still interpret original Prime Bashir however you want and blame the hologram’s actions on a fancy grown-beyond-their-programming accident.

But bemoaning that Woke made your fav character Not Het is not a good look. Queerphobia is never a good look. Doing so in an untrue fashion looks stupid and this one was stupidly biphobic. You’re allowed to not like a canon development but think long and hard about why exactly you don’t like it before you come spouting bigoted shit especially on someone else’s post.

Ok that manifesto was mainly just an excuse to collect Doctor Twink pictures because I love him. And his stupid lizard husband (affectionate). https://www.tumblr.com/see: smileyobrien/769842115232563200 https://www.tumblr.com/dreamerdrop/773084827961491456 They’re in love and I love them, Your Honor. Thank you for your attention.

(and queerphobia on my posts will still get you blocked)

[tempural]

Changed fannish opinion. Mine? Appreciating the term "yaoi".

This 3am ramble will discuss "problematic" themes in art, sexism and racism/xenophobia. Crossposted from my mastodon/fediverse account.

I used to be one of those annoying "my glorious gay porn, their bad yaoi for GIRLS" people when I was an underage tf2channer. So I know exactly how those people think, and hope they grow out of it by the time they're 17.

It comes from:

Trying to impress your peers by rejecting nerdy weebery, like saying that western cartoons are better than anime (spoilers: its all cartoons).

Trying to present more masculine (regardless of transness or gender identity) by rejecting femininity as a safety mechanism. (We live in a Joker society)

Trying to make fun of other people's interests before they can make fun of your "cringe" interests. Spoilers, it's all gay cartoon porn and anyone who's not a internet addled nerd thinks its weird.

The funniest thing about the modern iteration of 'yaoi is bad gay porn', is that in Ye Olde Days, yaoi was the "bad gay porn" because it wasn't problematic enough to be cool! While now it's 'real m/m is good representation, yaoi is problematic"

The stereotype used to be that yaoi was too girly and full of flowery nonsense and melodramatic emotions and kissing. While the REAL GAY PORN FOR REAL GAY MEN full of snuff and age gap daddy kink and wolf rape. Gengoroh Tagame comics were popular "shock art" amongst the internet crowd back then ya see.

In [current year] it's more obviously xenophobic. Japanese terms like BL and yaoi are the "bad terms" used by "bad people". Meanwhile English language queer shows and books are localized as BL in Japan lololol.

It's never too late to embrace that everything and nothing is dank yaoi! I embrace the word "yaoi" now rather than any other label, because:

I like that it makes ignorant people mad.

It is nostalgic and reminds me of my youth reading final fantasy doujin scanlations.

I like the history of the term being applied to "comics with no point or plot" (from the perspective of professional editors) speaks to me. Lowbrow comics about dudes kissin'. I don't care if you can't find a deep message or world building. I have fun thinkin it up and making it.

I like this history of the term being used for "self-indulgent doujinshi" from the 70's-80's. Doesn't necessarily only apply to pornographic comics. And I like those decades in art 😼

I like to be oppositionally defiant and challenge people who have preconceived notions that all Asian artists draw in a certain art style, by using an Asian term. I know my art doesn't scream ORIENTAL to most people lmao, I got old teachers that told me that I should draw more "ethnically" to appeal to illustration/animation standards for non white artists. But the truth is I am very inspired by azn comics like Old Master Q and Dragon Ball and all those doujinshi I read as a kid, even if other people can't see it. #snowflakeChallenge2025

[jaded-of-mara]

snowflake challenge #9: make something

i am very inexperienced with manips but i wanted to do something funnnn. i also made a 100px version bc the great thing about working in dw icon size is it doesnt matter if it looks like shit bc its very tiny

[rozzychan]

SNOWFLAKE CHALLENGE 2025

-Repost from https://snowflake-challenge.dreamwidth.org/

Happy New Year, fandom!

Let’s shake the dust of 2024 off our fandom spaces and freshen things up! This is a good opportunity to create a new profile post or simply update the one you’ve already got. Your profile can be anything you want it to be: a list of the fandoms you participate in, your loves/hates in fandom, a tour of your fandom journey, or anything else you want people to know about you

Challenge #1 Update your fandom information. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Some places to consider updating: your tumblr or Dreamwidth profile, your sticky post, your AO3 profile, or anywhere else you keep an “About Me” section. If you need ideas or inspiration, feel free to visit the links below for examples of how others have done it. There is no right or wrong way to do this, so write what makes sense to you.

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.

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.

[anghraine]

I meant to mention it earlier, but the yearly Snowflake challenge is going on at Dreamwidth and started yesterday! It's a sort of day by day meme for the entire month of January, with a prompt every other day for something to do or write about on Dreamwidth.

There's no deadline or expectations, really, so it's fine to skip individual days or go back later and do prompts after the day they were posted, though it's really a January event in terms of fandom activity. I've always wanted to do it and always got distracted by other things, so I'm trying to do all the prompts this year. We'll see.

The first challenge (per the link) is to update your Dreamwidth profile/profile post. When I went to change my actual profile, I realized I had ... never updated it, as far as I can tell? I've had an account since 2009, and I still had my interests listed as what they were when I made my account and had never gotten around to the mini-bio at all. So I updated my interests and wrote up a little fandom blurb and posted about it for yesterday's challenge.

[fardell24b]

2025 Snowflake Challenge #15

Challenge #15

Talk about an unexpected joyous moment you experienced last year.

Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Joy comes in lots of forms. Did something make you giggle or crack a smile when you didn’t expect to? Or feel surprisingly content, satisfied, pleased, glad, or warm?

The moment can be quiet, loud, brief, big — maybe it lasted a second, maybe it spanned months. Maybe it was something you saw or heard or read, or something you or somebody did.

There’s no right or wrong answer; only your answer! ;D

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.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner with image of ice covered tree branches and falling snowflakes on a blue background. Text: Snowflake Challenge January 1-31.

Joy Being fandom specific. Re discovering an old TV show. (The old and rather obsure Australia/New Zealand series Mirror Mirror, released in 1995 about a magic mirror that enables time travel between 1995 and 1919, and the troubles at ensue because of it.)

Or feeling represented by Laios Touden in Dungeon Meshi | Delicious in Dungeon

Or seeing the detail that went into the magic in Frieren.

Or rewatching the Narnia movies.

[rekishi-aka]

Snowflake challenge

In case anyone is interested in that kind of thing, over on DW, the Snowflake Challenge is running again. It's a no pressure no deadline challenge to squee about fandom and meet new people!

[birdylion]

Fannish goals for 2024

Over on dreamwidth, there's a fandom challenge called Snowflake Challenge that's all about spreading love and enthusiasm for fandom (at least, that's how I take it).

Today's challenge was to write goals for 2024, and I thought I'd post them here as well.

There's this post going around on here about setting goals that are fun, setting goals that will enrich your life instead of put pressure on you. In a similar vein, I don't want to set goals that challenge me, but ones that will make my life better. Self-care goals, so to speak. And part of self-care, for me, is always creativity. So when I say "I want to do x in 2024", then that's because I know that I'll feel better when I do x, and that not doing x is a sign that I'm not taking enough time for myself.

So my main goals for 2024 are:

taking the time to write in a creative capacity at least once a week

taking the time to make some music at least once a week

taking the time to do something creative with my hands (sewing, carpet knotting, building something out of wood, leatherworking, ...) at least once a month

writing & talking more about the things I love

It's all about the time I spend doing it, and not about results, because it's the time I spend with that activity that makes me feel good. Finishing something feels good too, but that comes automatically with spending time on it, so I don't set it as a goal because that would put pressure on it.

I do have some creative projects on which I want to spend that time, that I would like to see finished, and some things that I think will be fun challenges:

I want to talk more about my favourite books, movies, TV series. I have opinions, why not connect with others over them? same for new stories I read / saw / played

I want to record, edit and publish at least one podfic this year

I want to participate in at least one fic exchange (probably yuletide again, but perhaps the worldbuilding exchange?)

I want to write more for the WIP that I started last year (character A lusting after character B, and a very unadvisable but mutually wanted kinky one night stand, fandom: Tatort Saarbrücken)

I want to polish my other Tatort Saarbrücken WIP (coming of age pony farm AU) into something I can publish

I want to turn more of my Mass Effect Andromeda worldbuilding idea into a plot-shaped something

perhaps continue my Rivers of London x The Old Guard crossover fic?

There are other fandoms for which I feel the urge to create something, but I don't have any concrete ideas or WIPs, so that's something for exchanges.

(the same post on dreamwidth)

[gelarshiesprofruitboarder]

while im still thibking about him this part of tge dlc is so cute its fucked up

[maluron]

(if i answer by reblogging @snowflakechallenge's post only my handfull of followers will see it--i love you guys but--if i make a new post i can have it appear in tags and hopefull reach more people *tents fingers, inhales, exhales* ok let's do this)

@snowflakechallenge, day #3 Create a wish list of fandom things (podfic, graphics, playlists, canon recs translations, research help, vids, sky's the limit!) that you'd like to receive.

i mean, i'm not asking to receive (like nobody knows me in this fandom and nobody owes me anything anyway) but i'm putting together a list of ideas i'd like to see but i'm not able to write myself, free to a good home; if one of them catches your fancy feel free to run with it?

- canon-divergent/fix-it Claggor & Mylo live - trans Viktor, focusing on a packer--we've all seen The Bulge, let's indulge in it - Elora & Viktor interacting as beleaguered assistants to Mel and Heimerdinger - Elora & Sky bonding as beleaguered assistants to Mel and Viktor - Dear Friend Across The River male cover (bonus points for Viktor's accent) - JayVik smut/kink fic using the "colour system"--and having to use the "blue" stop - more variation in hurt-comfort/sickfics - The Machine Herald dealing with Naph coming down with a cough - more takes on The Distinguished Innovators Competition / timeskip Jayce & Viktor Doing Science!! please I can't get enough Science T^T

[tempural]

SCUMSUCK's wishlist.

first posted on fedi for the snowflake challenge #7, then edited to my site...

Non-tangible items:

I am a hungry hungry buttslut for art, fic, and other creations with my characters. 🙏🥺 Here's a gallery with some stuff I've gotten.

I am a hungry hungry anal masochist for comments 😼 I think the sorta comment I'd like right now is a quote I can put in the work description, like "This shit made me watch wrestling and now I'm gay" - t. John Cena.

I am very demure and modest when it comes to anon messages 💅 One of the things I miss most about the cesspool of tumblr, is getting enough questions about my silly scoutspy characterizations to create, well, my own characters out of them! Anons that stroke my shaft are a great way to get me to churn my brain and make something creative like the 300 scsp doodles or 500 headcanon posts of 2018, as opposed to sending me something blunt like "draw linguini's feet".

Forbidden fourth wish: I wish that one day someone could find scans of that YinYang monster x Vincent Valentine FF7 doujinshi that was my favorite as a wee lad! It was called "Meteo Daiou" by New Technical Punk-FF (Isuzu Suzuki). The last evidence of its existence is on this archived Sodasexy page. My life is a repeating circle. Even the scanner says this is GROSS and put it in their squick section. But Maggie age 8 liked it a little too much! Goth dude getting somno-bung by a hungry monster informed the rest of my yaoi career.

Physical items:

I like usable items that leave little waste.

Bar soap in natural, mild flavors. I got that dang eczema and anything that's too fragrant will turn me into the stay puft marshamallow man.

Books! I tend towards nonfiction, biographies, and art + photography books. Right now I'm looking at Devin Townsend's biographies...

Small pieces of usable art from indie artists, like paper stickers and washi tape! I like to put them on my sketchbooks to tell them apart.

A Brock Lesnar #69 football jersey.

Looseleaf tea! I like to try all sorts of new flavors. I can't do floral mixes, but I do like black, green, red, and white tea.

A good metal fountain pen! I've found a couple of brush pens I like. I guess it's time for me to get into stiffer tips.

Some drawing/writing ink! I like to try all sorts of new colors, especially for lineart and ink washes.

A shed or trailer to store our art.

A screen printing room and set-up that is safe from the weather and cats stepping everywhere.

A pigment printer so I can make even more vibrant stickers and art reproductions! I guess I've heard good things about Epson Ecotanks and the Canon Pixma Pro-200/300/400 lines.

An upgraded computer that can load 40 chunks in minecraft's view distance, and use big digital brushes without lagging.

I guess some big ol' terabytes of hard drives to archive my work.

More materials for our fence (wood pallets, metal fences...)

[jaded-of-mara]

snowflake challenge #8: manifesto

i can't think of anything good. so you're getting a j/p manifesto

yes, yes, all the threshold jokes. my ship has canonically fucked (as lizards) and had kids (as lizards.)

that's actually not what made me start shipping them. it was a few episodes later: "innocence." tuvok is LITERALLY BEING HUNTED FOR SPORT and they still take the time before rescuing him to be like "remember what happened 😏 last time 😏 we were in a shuttlecraft together?" TIME AND PLACE.

anyway. unethical power dynamics, intertwined family dynamics, at least one over-enthusiastic "yes MA'AM" per episode, what more could you ask for?

[rozzychan]

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.

Challenge #2 In your own space, talk about your fannish origin story. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

Whether you've been in fandom for a while or just discovered fandom, we'd love to know how you came to fandom! Was it that one book or a TV show or movie or anime/manga or a band/song that gave you that first spark? Or a character or characters that you wanted more of but the canon material just didn't have enough of them? Or were you introduced to fandom by someone?

You can be as brief or detailed as you like: timeline, narrative, bullet points, etc. :D

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.

[anghraine]

I really wanted to try and do the full Snowflake Challenge at Dreamwidth this year, which I've never managed to do before, but other things kept piling up etc and one of the challenges took up a disproportionate amount of time (#11, create a fanwork—I wrote a 2.5k prologue for the Mass Effect/P&P AU). And I kind of had wanted to prove to myself that I could stick to something, even something very low-stakes and self-indulgent, and carry it through to the end by Jan 31st.

And I did it! I was behind (thanks, #11) but I simply refused to go to sleep until I'd finished, despite being both tired and sick. I posted the prologue at Dreamwidth and then speedran the last four challenges and wrapped up #15 just around midnight.

I'm ridiculously proud of myself, lol.

[fardell24b]

2025 Snowflake Challenge #14

Challenge #14

In your own space, create your own fandom challenge. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This can be big or small; a challenge you saw someone do in another fandom, or that used to run and you miss; something you have thought up just now, or something you yourself are already doing. Earnest, whimsical, fun, all three! For snowflake's penultimate challenge, try challenging us all to give it a go.

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.

Challenge: The Unmentioned Setting Write a lengthy or greater than 5000 words [Insert fandom here] fanfiction without mentioning [Insert setting name (rural area, village, town, city) or (ship or other vehicle)] by name. Additional challenge. It has to be set in the rural area, village, town, city, ship or other vehicle, in question, so you can't cheat by setting it elsewhere.

(I originally set the challenge in the Daria fandom, where it is Lawndale that shouldn't be mentioned)

[chaosfairy18]

Soooo @clevereverest requested a little Race drawing and helped me pick out the colour palette for him! He's just enjoying a peaceful snow day and probably just looking at snowflakes or Spot

Hope you'll like it 🩵