Challenge 13

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

Funnily enough this coincident with me finishing the editing of an older work. I’ve always liked it, but my English has improved, and as it is part of a series I wanted to do what I could for the language. Part two is worse; it needs to be extensively rewritten to fit better with a planned part three.

Anyways, this is a Dracula-story. It owns its origin from various media which features him, but mostly from Elizabeth Kostova’s novel The Historian. You don’t have to have read it to enjoy this fic though. And though it’s part of a series, it works as a standalone too.

Title: Clara
Fandom: Dracula, The Historian
Rating: Teens
Word Count: 5502
Characters: Dracula, OFC
Warnings: Horror, Vampires, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Violence
Summary: A young librarian is unfortunate enough to attract Dracula's attention.

Challenge #8

Rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

All About Eve is one of my favourite movies, and this is really excellent fic.

Title: What Can There Be To Know…?
Author: anna_bird
Fandom:All About Eve
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 3459
Characters Eve Harrington, Addison DeWitt
Pairings: Eve Harrington/Addison DeWitt
Warnings: Dubious Consent
Summary: What a strange awfulness - to feel the world at your fingertips, the audience, the applause, the love enveloping you, and then this. From the keeper of the world to beast in a cage.


A very dark, but beautifully written fic in which Dracula wins.

Title: Home
Author: Assimbya
Fandom:Dracula - Bram Stoker
Rating: Teens
Word Count: 3204
Characters: Dracula, Mina Harker, Brides of Dracula
Pairings: Brides of Dracula/Count Dracula, Count Dracula/Mina Harker, Jonathan Harker/Mina Harker
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, AU
Summary: Dracula returns home, and plans.

And something more light-hearted, but still beautiful.

Title: Call On Me
Author: ChaoticBabe
Fandom:The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Rating: Teens
Word Count: 1093
Characters: Miriam "Midge" Maisel, Lenny Bruce
Pairings: Miriam "Midge" Maisel/Lenny Bruce
Warnings: None
Summary: For a few moments it’s just the two of them, and there is nothing funny about it. A slightly different ending to e05s03.

Challenge #5

Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've briefly interacted with and friend/follow them. Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!"

I’m, very slowly, going through all the comments on this challenge, and leaving comments when I have something to say.

Challenge #6

In your own space, make a list — anything between one and ten things is a sweet spot, but don't feel constrained by that! - of things that you wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, or that you'd like someone to make for you. Are you dying for podfic of your writing? Do you need icons for a character that doesn't get much fanart? Is there a story you want to read? Are you looking for new canons to get into? Would you like a collaborator for a project?

Maybe you want more people to talk about a certain fandom with, or you'd love to trade ficlets with somebody over email. Maybe you're new to a fandom and would like some recs to start reading, or communities to join. This is the time to ask!

I love getting comments on my fics, even if it’s just one word. If you feel inclined you can find my fics here. I have written for the following fandoms: Doctor Who, both classic and new, Peter Pan, Versailles, Harry Potter, Penny Dreadful, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Sleepy Hollow (1999), The Historian/Dracula, Charlie, and the Chocolate Factory, The Mummy Series, Victoria, Ivanhoe, The Borgias, Agent Carter, All About Eve, Timeless, Emily of New Moon, Pirates of the Caribbean, Labyrinth, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, The Man in the High Castle, Angel, and an original ghost story.

Fantasy book recs. There’s so much out there and I find it difficult to know what is good, or not.

Music recs. I have a broad music taste and welcome everything, no matter if it’s old or new.

Challenge #3

Pimp Your Favorite Communities, Fests or Challenges! Leave a comment in this post saying you did it.

I’m way behind, but let’s continue with this challenge anyway. Most communities I belong to are pretty dead, but historium is alive and kicking, and a lot of fun.

This is a place for posting and linking to any historical fic, icons, art, links, recs, reviews, meta, news, fanworks of any type, discussion, community & event promos. If it's to do with a historical fandom, whether RPF or fictional, then it's welcome here. For fanworks, all ratings are fine.

As 'history' is a very wide fandom, this community is also intended to help people find like-minded souls and gauge interest in setting up more specific communities/friending etc. (but it's always fine to interact here). It's also absolutely a place for historical fandoms too small/obscure to have their own spaces.

I have been pretty bad signing up for exchanges the last few years, but apart from Yuletide I also enjoy the following:

chocolateboxcomm Happening right now. Any fandom, a minimum length of 500 words.

nightonficmountain A Yuletide-like exchange taking place in early summer.

Night On Fic Mountain is an annual fic and art exchange for small, rare, and inactive fandoms. Participants sign up to write a story of at least 1,000 words or create art in a fandom someone else has requested. In return, they receive a story of at least 1,000 words or art in a fandom they have requested.

remixrevival starts up during summer.

darkestnightex Late summer/early autumn.

A multi-fandom exchange focused on dark themes in fanworks.

Challenge #1

In your own space, introduce yourself!

In fannish terms, I have been writing fanfiction for some 16 years. You can find me on AO3 as Dancingsalome. I began in the Peter Pan-fandom, but since then I have moved on and branched out. I interest myself in a number of fandoms, but they find common ground in either being historical or fantastical or both. Glancing at my last five fics they are all from different fandoms, All About Eve, the Mummy series, Doctor Who, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Versailles.

I read a lot, and watch a lot of tv-shows, the rest of my free time I sew. I’m passionate about fashion history and sew clothes from a number of historical periods. I have a lot of friends who share my interests, so there are quite a few historical parties and travels in my life. Next will be the Carnevale in Venice In February.

Day 8
In your own space, post self-recs for at least three fanworks that you created. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This is both a fun and a difficult challenge. I’ve tried to choose fics which have different themes.

Title: A Conversation in the Yellow Drawing-Room, And Other Letters To Mrs Strange
Fandom: Jonathan Strange and mr Norrell
Rating: Teens
Word Count: 9593
Characters/pairings: Emma Pole/John Childermass
Warnings: None
Summary: Lady Pole writes a letter to her friend Mrs Strange about an unexpected encounter.
Why I rec it:Childernass is such an intriguing character and Emma has so much potential we only see a glimpse of. I also think she is done being the damsel in distress and would prefer to save herself the next time around. It was a joy to write this fic, bouncing Childermass and Emma against each other.

Title: Nothing Interesting Ever Happens in Perivale
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: Teens
Word Count: 4475
Characters: Sarah Jane Smith, Ainley!Master, the Third Doctor, Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
Warnings: There are no real pairings in this fic, but sexuality is acknowledged. There is also a strong implication of a past relationship between the Doctor and the Master.
Summary: A story where Sarah Jane goes to Perivale in the wake of Survival gets an unwelcome guest and has some unscheduled time travels.
Why I rec it: I love Sarah Jane. Three was the Doctor who made Doctor Who click for me. The Master is my favourite Who villain. And I always wondered how the Master got rid of the Cheetah virus. Also, I always suspected Sarah Jane would be good at Master-wrangling.

Title: Homeward
Fandom: The Borgias
Rating: Teens
Word Count: 2121
Characters/pairings: Cesare Borgia/Micheletto Corella, Lucrezia Borgia & Micheletto Corella
Warnings: None
Summary: Walk far enough and you end up where you left.
Why I rec it: Micheletto’s devotion to both Cesare and Lucrezia was something which stuck in me,and it always irked me season 3 left so many things hanging.

Title: Super Terram
Fandom: Original story/M. R. James
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 888
Characters: Original characters
Warnings: None, apart from one small ghost
Summary: Don’t disturb the dead. A ghost story.
Why I rec it: This is an original story paying homage to the ghost stories of M. R. James. It is also based on something which happened where I live some 200 years ago. As ghost stories goes it’s not particularly scary, but about half of it is absolutely true.

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. Afterward, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!"

The Snowflake Challenge is always a good kick in the butt for me to actually read all the fanfics I have marked for later. So I have read a few and commented on them, and I plan to read a few more.

Day 5

In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I love fashion history and I love movies and TV shows set in historical times. But a costume may not always be a faithful interpretation of what fashion actually looked like during a historical period. (Reign, I’m looking at you.) FROCK FLICKS is a great blog for reviews over historical pieces, and everything you want to know (or not know) about how well they do the costumes. It’s also very funny.

An in case you are curious of how a certain fashion actually look like, MARQUISE is a good place to start. It covers all periods of history and was one of the first websites ever about fashion history.

There are still a few hours to sign up for THE CHOCOLATE BOX. Create a fanfiction with a minimum of 300 words/a piece of fanart for this multi-fandom exchange. It’s very low pressure and a lot of fun.

Day 2

Rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

These are my last thee bookmarks, and I think you should read them all!

A Guiding Influence by Cousin Shelley. Deadwood, Al Swearengen/Alma Garret, Mature.

Old Friends and Wartime Acquaintances by chelseagirl. Agent Carter/Lord Peter Wimsey, Lord Peter Wimsey & Peggy Carter & Jack Thompson, Not Rated

Be Unwearied, Unceasing, Alive by OzQueen. The Mummy, Ardeth Bay/Evy Carnahan O'Connell/Rick O'Connell, Explicit.

I fell behind on the challenge, but I’d like to finish it anyway. But for some reason Day 10 is taking forever for me to get done, so I jump to 11.

Day 11

Share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

When I was eight my father started to read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings for me. Both my parents read aloud for me, and before Tolkien my father had read all the Narnia-books for me, which I had loved. LOTR was something else. Before I had often re-enacted favorite stories with my toys, taking care to mimic the book as close as i could. LOTR opened up my imagination in a completely new way. I don’t know why; perhaps it was the sense of an universe which expanded far beyond the books. And there was Strider who at first was so ambiguous and mysterious. Before he and the hobbit’s had reached Rivendell, my imagination was working overtime, and I thought of what I hear din a new way.

For ten years I reread the trilogy over and over again, a well as everything else I could find by Tolkien. And I made up stories. Lots of stories. If I found Tolkien lacking in anything, it was the absence of female characters, so at the beginning I simply made up an extra in the fellowship who could be Legolas sister or a hobbit girl, who basically just followed along. Then they started to get their own storylines. I remember one about a young Dunadan woman who never was directly involved with the fellowship, but still was affected by the events. I’m afraid there was a number of stunningly beautiful elf maidens with silver hair and purple eyes. I distinctly remember one with eyes that changed colour after mood too.

I never wrote any of these stories down, apart from short synopsis, but it was certainly fanfiction. Hopelessly Masry Sue-ish fanfiction, I’m sure. But LOTR was for me the book which made me realise you could take a finished work and create something new out of it. Even if it took me another 20 years, or so, before I actually started to write. And by then i had long left Tolkien behind. I haven’t read the books since I was around twenty. I still know them by heart, though.

I’ve been away over the weekend, so here are several snowflakes in one post.

Day 5

Recommend a fannish or creative resource. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I’m not a native speaker of English, and sadly I don’t have a regular beta, so one of my most useful tools is ProWritingAid, an online editing tool. Not perfect, but far better than nothing. You can use it free, but then you can only edit 500 words at the time, so you have to have a little patience.

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.

If you've already left feedback in the course of a previous challenge, it totally counts. But you're free to leave more feedback.

Afterwards, leave a comment in this post with the equivalent of "I did it!" If you feel so inclined, leave a link to the fanwork you left feedback for so others can check it out.

I did it! Well, I always leave comments on the fics I read, and I will try to comment as much as possible on other snowflakes.

Day 7:

In your own space, create a love meme for yourself. Let people tell you how amazing and awesome and loveable you really are. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so. Surf the comments and find people to give love to.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who find this scary. Mostly, i think, because it’s way too easy to wonder if anyone will commnet at all… But here goes. If you can think of something nice to say to me, please say it. Or post a gif of something I like.

Day 8

In your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favorite interview, a book, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

This is a scene from a little known movie titled either At Sachem Farm or Uncorked or Trade Winds with Rufus Sewell and Minnie Driver. It’s a movie which never fails to make me feel happy, but sadly I don’t have it anymore. Rufus Sewell is complete adorable in this movie, and I love this particular scene so much. My father plays acoustic guitar, and one of my earliest memories are falling asleep with him playing in the living room. Acoustic guitar-music always makes me feel safe and loved.