2026 Snowflake Challenge #5

Jan. 10th, 2026 07:17 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
Challenge #5

In your own space, create a list of at least three things you'd love to receive, a wishlist of sorts. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your wishlist if you feel comfortable doing so.

Be sure to check out other people's wishlists. Maybe someone will grant your wish! Maybe you will be inspired to grant a wish! If any wishes are granted, we'd love it if you link them to this post.


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.

Links to my works for the first two.
fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/11790/

Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fardell24/works

1. Fan art or Podfic of my works.

2. Reviews or comments for my works that have no reviews or comments. (But the art scammers have muddied the waters in being able to check if a fic on fanfiction.net has reviews or not at a glance, so even if a fic appears to have reviews, it may not.)

3. Feedback for the WIPs in my Dreamwidth or Tumblr (given that I'm hardly getting any feedback on the various forums I'm posting them to.)

4. Recs for new fandoms that are either slice of life (dnw soap operas), Space Opera, or LOTR style fantasy.

5. Recs for forums where WIP fics can be critiqued.
[personal profile] fardell24
After sunset, the Enigma looked out over Lawndale from her roof. The normal appearance of the suburbia belied the tensions and changes that were happening. She looked at some of the brighter stars that managed to peak through the cloud cover. ‘Lawndale is continuing to change,’ she thought. The downfall of Lynn Anders was only part of it. She then grabbed her yearbook, which she had brought up with her. “Lara Edgars on Friday night, after that fake interview,” she said to herself. “Next is Therese Edwards.”

She grabbed the energy drink and downed it. “Findu mann hem heiter: Therese Edwards!”

She found Therese at the Historia, having dinner.


At the same time, Ninja Talon and SpiderGirl met at their spot below the Jefferson Bridge and unmasked.

“You did it?” Brittany asked.

Quinn nodded. “Yes, I did it. It’s up to Mrs. Jericho now. It might be in tomorrow’s paper. Or Tuesday’s.”

“You sound like it went well.”

“More, that I’m relieved.”

“But there’s still who’s behind the robo-dactyl,” Brittany said.

“I hope Andrea found something.”

“I’ll be at her place around midnight.”

“Then we can meet back here towards sunrise,” Quinn said with a yawn.

“Or maybe before school?”

“It will be fine. It’s that these last two weeks have been more busy than usual.”


Before she got into bed, Fields opened her closet and looked at the fake SpiderGirl suit she had brought home. ‘I could use it,’ she thought. ‘Not as SpiderGirl, of course, but as a new vigilante, countering Oscorp, after I dye and make changes to it.’

She thought about it some more. ‘But that will take time, which I’ll use to train myself.’


It was after midnight when Ninja Talon arrived at Andrea’s. She didn’t get there any earlier, as she was sure that Ashley-Amber was suspecting something after the hospital admission the previous week. ‘But my leg is feeling better,’ she thought as she opened the Hecuba’s back door.


Andrea turned and saw Brittany enter her room and close the door before unmasking.

“Hey Andy.”

‘Still with the nickname,’ she thought. But Brittany was unlikely to stop using it. “Hi, Brit.”

“So, did you find something?” she asked as she sat on the bed.

“Yes,” Andrea answered as she brought up a collage of screenshots from the footage she had put together.

Brittany looked. “There is a controller there, but it’s otherwise blurry.”

“I agree, there weren’t cameras very close to her position, but it does prove that someone was controlling it.”

Brittany looked through the footage. “All I can say is that she’s as white as we are.”

“That’s not much to go on at all.”

“Still, maybe Spidey would make more of it.”

“I’ll burn you a copy,” Andrea said.
Read More )

2026 Snowflake Challenge #4

Jan. 8th, 2026 06:07 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
Challenge 4
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.

On many of the fannish websites we use, our history is easily compileable into "pages". When we look back through those pages, sometimes we stumble upon things that we think are rather cool.

Challenge #4: Rec The Contents Of Your Last Page

Any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers.

And please do 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.

Alternate History and Althistory
Two Alternate History forums. The former has other aspects to it, including a fandom subforum, but writing and discussion of alternate history is the focus. I have been involved with the communities related to alternate history about as long as I have been writing fan fiction.

2026 Snowflake Challenge #3

Jan. 6th, 2026 07:23 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
Challenge 3
Today’s challenge is a chance to express your love to fandom, and what better way than a love letter? If you feel really creative, the letter doesn’t have to come from you. You could write as your favourite character, someone completely fictitious or your past or future self - or just as you in this moment.

Write a love letter to fandom. It might be to fandom in general, to a particular fandom, favourite character, anything at all.

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. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers if you wish.

And please do 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.


Fandom: More than just expressing oneself creatively by engaging in one's interests. It is a community or group of communities. This allows for support and interactions over those interests. This varies from fandom to fandom, but this is the core of what the experience should be.

2026 Snowflake Challenge #2

Jan. 4th, 2026 07:21 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
Challenge 2
Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers.

And please do 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.

Actual pets
I'm more of a cat person than a dog person.
I do have a cat. Her name is Cass, and shortly after I moved into this house (sometime during COVID) she was hanging around as the previous owners might have abandoned her. Therefore the mutual adoption occurred.

Fandom pets
Not an exhaustive list.

Daria
No canon pets in Daria, but I did write a ficlet about Daria having an unexpected pet.

An unexpected friend; of the Aquatic Variety
Jane followed Daria into her room. It was exactly as she had described it, with padding on the walls and bars in the windows. "Wow," she said. She took it in. A poster of a half-unearthed skeleton, a plain bed, a television on a trolly, models of a heart and a slice of cheese, another televison on a ceiling mount and a bookshelf with a computer set-up. Not to mention a Kafka poster. However, between the computer and the books was a small aquarium.
Jane went over to the aquarium and looked in it. It was unlike any other pet fish that she had seen before. "What sort of fish is this?" she asked.

"Talon, he's a Siamese fighting fish," Daria replied.

"Fighting Fish, huh? That's different."

"Definitely different to Quinn's goldfish, that's for sure," Daria said as she opened a box of food.

Jane chuckled.


Doctor Who
Does K9 count?

How to Train Your Dragon
Toothless (and the other trained dragons); enough said. Hiccup's interactions with him are the core of the movies (both the animated series and the remake)
I have started to write Dragons fic.

Kim Possible
Rufus being an equal part of the team with Kim and Ron.

Pokemon
Mostly various parts of the anime. But some of the games to.
(Especially Ash and his Pikachu)

Scooby Doo
Scooby and his support for Shaggy.
(Also have started to write Scooby Doo fic, not just the crossover with Daria.)

Star Trek: The Animated Series
The scene in Yesteryear with young Spock and I-Chaya.

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Data has his pet cat Spot, which makes for interesting storylines.

Star Trek: Enterprise
Porthos, Captain Archer's beagle

Superman
Krypto in the most recent movie was depicted very well.

Scarlett Investigates - Part 1

Jan. 4th, 2026 06:52 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
Scarlett Investigates
Scarlett O’Connell hadn’t expected to be investigating a sabotaged play. She just wanted to learn to improve her art while investigating minor campus mysteries. She had made some backdrop pieces for the campus production of The Tempest and had arrived at the college’s theater to find something wrong. The stage was a mess. She saw that the curtain had fallen completely. “Something’s not right here,” she said as she fidgeted with her tablet.

“It’s a curse,” someone said nearby,

Scarlett turned, and saw that it was Daniel Fields, a theater student on her floor. “What do you mean?” she asked, as she fidgeted with a keyring in her pocket.

“Minor incidents have been occurring all week.”

“All week?”

“Yes, mostly broken props, but now the curtain has fallen,” Daniel answered.

“Sounds like sabotage,” Scarlett said as she sketched the scene.

“What do you mean?”

“That these incidents aren’t just the normal chaos of theater.”

“How can you be sure?” Daniel asked with skepticism.

“I’m not certain,” Scarlett admitted. She was certain, something about the curtain having fallen and Daniel admission of minor incidents, piqued her interest and she knew she wanted to find out what was going on. “I’m going to investigate,” she declared.


“Wait, Scarlett,” Daneil said as she ran off. “You can’t just…” He paused as she dashed through a door backstage.


Backstage, Scarlett wondered where to start. “I’ll need to know who’s involved in the production. But who would have the cast sheet, and would it be comprehensive?” she asked as she absentmindedly sketched the scene around her.

“You there!”

Scarlett turned. “Um, I’m investigating,” she said to the girl who was coming towards her.

“You shouldn’t be here!”

“I know, but I can help!”

“How?” the other girl asked, as she tossed her long brown hair back like a supermodel.

“I notice things that others don’t. I’m Scarlett by the way.” Scarlett then held out her hand.

“You don’t know who I am, Scarlett?” the other asked in faux surprise.

“Should I?” Scarlett asked with a slight bounce, her eyes wide.

“I’m the lead actress of this production, playing Ariel.”

“Still no clue.”

“I’m Victoria Calder! I can’t believe you don’t know who I am.

“Oh, that Victoria Calder!” Scarlett said. She had indeed heard of the theater major who was known for her diva attitude and epic tantrums when her demands weren’t met in a timely manner. “Sorry, I hadn’t put face to name.”

“Unbelievable!” Victoria said with a huff. “Still, Scarlett.”

Scarlett’s attention had wandered.

Victoria snapped her fingers. “Hey!”

“Sorry. ADHD,” Scarlett said.

“Right. You shouldn’t be here.”

“You said that before. But I can notice things others miss.”

“You seem sincere,” Victoria said. “But only if I supervise you.”

“No.”

“What was that?” Victoria responded, tears coming to her eyes.

“I said no,” Scarlett said, not wanting Victoria to be a possible millstone.

“I can help!” Victoria added with her voice raised and actual tears beginning to flow.

“No!”

“Victoria balled her hands into fists and started to screech.”

Scarlett resisted the urge to block her ears . It was too much. ‘Not an overload, not now!’ she thought. “Alright,” she said. “You can help.”

Victoria calmed down and wiped her tears with a handkerchief embroidered with her initials. “Thanks,” she said.

Scarlett was still little overwhelmed. “What have you noticed so far?” she asked as she fidgeted with her sketchbook.

“Some things,” Victoria answered. “We can talk in my dressing room.”

“That would be good.”


Victoria’s dressing room was chaotic, but it was quieter than the backstage complex outside. Scarlett relaxed a bit, although she was still overstimulated.

She sat on one of the side chairs. “Now, what do you know?”

Victoria began. “It was during the initial read through. There was a loud crash that interrupted us as we reached the scene where Caliban recruits the two sailors.”

Scarlett sketched the scene, showing Caliban as bestial. “Maybe someone is objecting to the way Caliban is portrayed,” she blurted.

“No differently than the way the Bard originally wrote it. Just’s not jump to conclusions!”

“Sorry. I was musing aloud. Something I do. I don’t have much of a filter,” Scarlett admitted as she tapped her stylus against her tablet.

“Must you do that?”

“Do what?”

“The fidgeting,” Victoria exclaimed.

“Sorry. It helps me focus.”

Church notes - 4th January 2026

Jan. 4th, 2026 04:45 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
4th
Psalm 102
Lament
A prayer expressing deep sorrow, pain or confession to God. Uniiquely, it is a God-centred cry that moves from distress towards trust in God's promises.

'To cry is human. But to lament is Christian.' - Mark Vroegop

vs 1 - 11
The Psalmist talking about -
Lament is reliant on being honest with God.
Lament being repentance.
Hope in God must be bigger than the distress

vs 12 - 22
When our prayer is a prayer of lament, we will start to feel what God is feeling.

vs 23 - 28
Lament is far more thana good old winge or complaint.
Lament is God centered.

Enables us to hold onto hope of something better whilst living in the pain.

2026 Snowflake Challenge #1

Jan. 3rd, 2026 07:20 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
Snowflake 2026
Challenge #1

The Icebreaker Challenge: Introduce yourself. Tell us why you're doing the challenge, and what you hope to gain from it.

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. Also, feel free to entice engagement by giving us a preview of what your post covers.

*I know some people do Snowflake differently, and aren't looking for engagement (and that's totally valid), so reacquainting yourself and stating your intentions with your pre-established circle works for this challenge too. ❤️

And please do 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.


Participating in the Snowflake Challenge allows me to start off in the new year in a way that would give me opportunities to interact with various other fans.
[personal profile] fardell24
Andrea arrived at the Historia for breakfast.

“I’m still not sure why you wanted to be here this early,” her mother complained.

“I’m meeting someone, but I wasn’t sure when she’d be here.”

“So you’re going to wait all day? Is it SpiderGirl or Ninja Talon?”

“Could be the latter,” Andrea said.

Her mother turned towards her. “Don’t think that their visits have gone unnoticed, Andrea,” she said quietly.

“I thought you and Dad were asleep.”

“Only one time, but I heard you talking to both of them in your room. I didn’t hear what you were talking about though.”

“Good.”


Andrea ordered her breakfast and read the paper. She found that it was Melinda Parris who had wrote the article on Anders’ fall. ‘I suppose Penelope Jericho is taking her time with her more detailed version.’

Read More )

Church notes - 28th December 2025

Dec. 28th, 2025 04:59 pm
[personal profile] fardell24
28th
Psalm 103
Praise - An act of extolling God's attitude and deeds.
Thanksgiving - offering gratitude for what God has done.

vs 1
A total focus on God.

vs 2 - 5
Forgiving
Good
He satisfies
He heals
He renews strength

vs 6 - 18
Unfailing love
- without error or fault
- forgiving
- He is our Saviour
What does this look like for you?

The challenge - to focus totally on God.

What this Psalm says:
God is
- Good
- Forgiving
- Our redeemer
- Love
- Merciful
- Righteous
- Just
- Compassionate
- Tender
- Our Saviour
- Creator
- Ruler
- King