Various ramblings by the small hobbit

Tell us about 3 fandom resources, spaces, or communities you use or enjoy.

Two DW communities I enjoy are watsons_woes for all forms of Sherlock Holmes fandoms, with the emphasis on John Watson's woes, however they may be described.  And holmes_minor which is specifically for the original ACD fandom, and with a limit of 500 words for ficlets.  Both have monthly prompts, and in addition Watson's Woes runs further challenges throughouth the year, and Holmes Minor has a poetry page.

And outside DW and Sherlock Holmes, there's the Shedunnit podcast which is basically for what is known as the Golden Age of Detective fiction, which was between 1918 and 1939, although strays further.  It covers not only the Queens of Crime: Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple), Dorothy L Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey), Ngaio Marsh (Roderick Alleyn) and Margery Allingham (Albert Campion), but other less well known authors such as E C Lorac, who is a new favourite of mine.  The fortnightly podcast is free, but there's also a subscription book club with additional podcasts, discussions, and monthly book for discussion.

Set some goals for the coming year.

I set my goals towards the end of April, so this is more of an eight month review.

Goal No 1 (Revised): To set aside time each week to keep up to date
That slipped badly for the last couple of months, when I had extra commitments taking me out of the house, or which required additional preparation, not to mention time spent preparing for Christmas.  However, with a bit more downtime during the Christmas period I've about caught up and am starting the New Year with the intention of doing better at this, which will probably mean writing the commitment in my diary each week.

Goal No 2: To listen to everything currently on my To Be Listened To list (by the end of April 22)
I began 2022 with three books left on my TBL list from April 2021, and have started listening to one and have a second downloaded ready to listen to when I'm driving.  You will not be surprised to learn I have also started a 'To be listened to by the end of April 23' list.

Goal No 3: To update and continue my blog posting
That's working okay.  There's been a couple of times when I've seen a meme and thought I could do it but haven't, but that's been because there's been too many other things to do.  I'm happy with the topics I'm blogging about - they reflect my life fairly accurately.  Long-term I may revise the Books/Audibooks/Courses monthly post but as yet I'm not sure how.


And a summary of my aims for 2022:
Craftwise I have posted my plans here at get_knitted a comm for all crafts: knitting, cross stitch, crochet etc
Writingwise I'm aiming for 135K this year, with my favourite writing comm ushobwri 
My reading plans are here and I'm joining kingstoken  book bingo

In your own space, brag about yourself.  Tell us what you've done that you're proud of; the things that make you the wonderful person that you are.

Firstly, I volunteer for a local baby bank: Gloucestershire Bundles.  (Go support your own local baby bank!) 

Secondly, I'm an assistant leader of a local Brownie Unit and go by the name of Screech Owl (Brownies are the UK 7-10 year old section of Girl Guides - like Girl Scouts).  Give me a wave if you're involved in your equivalent. 

And my Day 8 Wish: I'm running the Thinking Day activity for our unit this year - by Zoom - and we'll be making a paper doll chain, with the dolls wearing the uniform of girls of the equivalent age from units around the world.  Ideally, I'd like links to shops so I can see the uniform clearly, but national websites would be good too.  I have a few from when I last did a similar activity, but a variety would be awesome.

Thirdly, I have created a few characters who are very popular in their own world: the Ferret who is part of a group of creatures who assist Sherlock Holmes/create chaos; his latest outing is here: Charades  The Ferret even has his own fan.  And Lucas the werewolf (Spooks [MI5]) who can be found here: Lucas the Werewolf   a werewolf like no other.

Best wishes to you all for 2021!

A new year, a new start, the same me.  Not much more to be said, except that I will try to remain positive, not in ignoring the rubbish around (of which there is plenty) but in a determination to get over, under, round or through it all.  Wear wellies, borrow Tigger Holmes sou'wester, put on thick gloves and let's tackle this together.


My Yuletide contribution this year was for Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Christmas Eve Mystery

And in return I received:
Ghosts of Christmas Present by croissantkatie, a glorious TV Ghosts fic, which I really enjoyed.
In Which Pooh and His Friends Celebrate Christmas by greerwatson, a charming Winnie-the-Pooh fic with a very sweet illustration
Bring Yourself by Missy, a Madness Winnie-the-Pooh drabble which sums up Christmas perfectly


It's snowflake_challenge and as usual I shall dip in and out.  So hello to anyone who's dropping by from there, I have added an extra sentence to my sticky post, otherwise feel free to browse the tags.

I haven't really been participating this year - I've glanced at a few posts, but nothing really has inspired me, however I thought I'd do today's:
Share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (Or a few!) What makes it particularly appealing for you? What do you like in fanworks featuring that trope?

Tropewise, I do like some hurt/comfort.  Show me Bilbo caring for Thorin after the Battle of the Five Armies (of course everyone lives!) and Thorin being bad-tempered and refusing to rest.

I have a strong competency kink, and will often create my own characters to fulfil this.  To go with that I like having a team who will work together - they may have individual strengths and weaknesses, but between them they will get the job done.

If there's a motif in my writing it will be the frequent appearance of food.  Lucas likes cake, any number of characters eat cottage pie, and everyone drinks countless cups of tea.

And I do like a good story, in which characters behave logically.  Not necessarily logic as we see it, but logically within their own world, so that they remain in character.  So that even where the premise is bizarre it works because the world remains intact.  Unless, of course, this is crack, when the illogical is the logical.

Day 7 - Stretch yourself a little and try something new. Go play in a new fandom or with a new pairing. Try working in a new medium. Or check out some fanworks that are new to you.
For my LJ Book Bingo post (joined from Day 5) I managed to update the bingo card with the first book I have read, using an online photo editing tool. Book bingo

Day 8
In your own space, post self-recs for at least three fanworks that you created.
My favourite series: Retirement era ACD Holmes and Watson: Sussex Retirement
Described by stonepicnicking_okapi as ACD Holmes and Watson plus Muppets: The Ocelot Tales. Featuring the Ocelot (editor of the Marylebone Monthly Illustrated), the Sloth (sub-editor, and like all sloths a strong swimmer), Mouselet (who is in love with Inspector Hopkins), Aemelia Vole (dressmaker extraordinaire) and the Ferret (super hero, given to snacking, smart waistcoats a real song and dance mustelid).
And an example from my favourite pairing: Lucas North/Adam Carter from Spooks (MI5): The Blast of War

This year I've decided to just respond to the days which seem relevant to me.

Day 4 - Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them.

I commented on a few posts on Day 3, which were recs of particular parts of canon.  In particular someone posted about Alias Smith & Jones, which brought back a lot of memories from my teenage years.


Day 5 - In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.

Firstly, as a Sherlock Holmes fan, I'd recommend watsons_woes for all forms of Dr Watson and holmes_minor for ficlets of 500 words or less for the original Arthur Conan Doyle Holmes.  Different activities and very friendly participants.

Secondly, fan_flashworks for all types of fanwork, written, drawn, edible etc.  Challenge prompts every 10 days and there are badges to be earned.  (I like earning badges as can be seen from my profile).   In addition, there are bingo cards to celebrate 7 years of the comm.

Thirdly, as a keen drabble writer (exactly 100 words) I would recommend drabble_zone and 100words  Multi-fandom and great for trying out a new fandom, or simply writing something for a book/play/film/tv programme you may not write about again.  Prompts every week.

And lastly, fandomcalendar is a great source of both multi-fandom and specific fandom exchanges and challenges.

Day 10 - In your own space, share your love for a trope, cliché, kink, motif, or theme. (Or a few!) Tell us what makes it work for you, and why it appeals to you so much. Talk about what you like to see in fanworks featuring that theme most. Feel free to include recs and examples!
In a word competency.  I like my characters to be competent – yes, they make mistakes or things happen to them, but I want them to be good at their job.  And I create OCs so there can be competent people around, because I dislike the trope where the main character(s) shines through because/in spite of the general incompetency, or because the higher ups deliberately act to block the characters.

Day 11 - Share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life.
It has to be Life on Mars, because that was what got me into fandom and fic writing.  I’ve moved on from there, but the fun of writing and interacting with others remains.

Day 12 - In your own space, create a fanwork. Make a podfic, an icon, a sketch, a meta, or a rec list. Arts and crafts. Cross stitch. Draft an essay about a particular medium. Put together a picspam or a fanmix. Write a review of book you love, a ship manifesto, a you-should-be-listening-to-this-band essay. Create something
Here’s Crochet!Holmes
( crochet Holmes )
Day 13 - In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.
For the last four years, I have made my goals in April, so I shall be continuing with this practice.

A number of my flist are doing the Snowflake Challenge, so I thought this year I'd do so too.  After all, I'm all for encouraging fandom.  It's an interesting challenge, and I'd like to stay the course.  I've not been posting everyday, but have been recording my responses, and intend to continue posting them every few days.


Responses to days 1 to 6:

Day 1 - Talk about why you're participating in Snowflake and, if you’ve participated in the past, how the challenge has affected you. What drew you to it? What did you take away from it? What do you hope to accomplish this year?
I’ve considered this challenge for a couple of years, but never got around to it, so this year I thought I’d give it a go and see how it went.  I know people who are taking part/have taken part and it seems worth a try – at least there’s only 15 days of commitment, so that should be possible.  I’ve no idea what I’ll accomplish this year, but it can’t hurt to try something different in my Year of Trying New Things.  However, like a lot of these things, I won’t always post every day, but may write daily and then do a mass post.

Day 2 - Share a favourite memory about fandom: the first time you got into fandom, the last time a fanwork touched your heart, crazy times with fellow fans (whether on-line or off-line), a lovely comment you’ve received or have left for someone.
I first got into fandom when my father died and I was staying with my mother helping with all the formalities afterwards.  Fandom proved an escape for a while every evening.  I’ve done a number of things I would never have done without fandom, but visiting the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland with a group of Sherlock Holmes fangirls at the beginning of May one year must be a highlight.  A recent comment I received which particularly touched me was from NovaNara on The Orphans’ Christmas Party – “Adorable! Also exactly what I needed today, because some scum of the earth managed to steal the Christmas presents going to the paediatric ward of an hospital here in Italy (not next to where I live thank God). Obviously people are rushing to remedy that, but seriously, who would do that?”

Day 3 - In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create.
Two from this year’s Yuletide, and one birthday fic written for me:
Of Gilded Wallpaper and Meddling Dragons (Temeraire) by nerakrose
To The Ends of the Earth (North & South) by vix_spes 
Lucas and the Happy Eggs by Okapi

Day 4 - In your own space, create a fannish wishlist. No limits on size or type of fanwork; just tell us what you’d like to see.
I’d love some icons: Call the Midwife; Grantchester; Forever; Lucas/Adam from Spooks; Guy/Much from BBC Robin Hood.
I've been given three icons for the first series of Call the Midwife, so yay, by sixbeforelunch .  And now tarlanx has made me two Forever icons!
I've also added a couple of new friends on Goodreads, picked up a prompt for a future fic, and offered to English SPAG beta for someone from France.

Day 5 -  Recommend a fannish or creative resource.
For ACD Sherlock Holmes – lots of useful information:

Day 6 - Leave feedback for a fanwork. Or multiple fanworks. It can be as simple as I liked this to a detailed list of all the things you loved about the fanwork. The key is to leave some sort of feedback.
Done, for Okapi's brilliant Holmes birthday fic Happy Birthday, Mr Holmes