Hello everyone! Here’s the weekly roundup of the Snowflake Challenge over on Dreamwidth.
It’s not too late to join in and participate!!!
Snowflake Challenge #5
Search in your current space, whether brick-and-mortar or digital. Post a picture (a link to a picture will be fine!) or description of something that is or represents:
1. Something your favorite character would like | I have several favorite characters… let’s go with… this one. Anyone know which character?
2. Something that makes you laugh | I haven’t played World of Warcraft in aaaaages (good thing, it’d just suck me right back in). But somehow I stumbled upon Rav on youtube. He made a youtube series on playing Hardcore WOW without having played before as a League of Legends player. Even if you don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s well worth checking out the full masterpiece series.
3. A fandom place you would like to visit | Guess the fandom! (ties in with #1, I guess!)
4. A fandom creator (pro or not) you’d like to meet | I think Meeko and I are long overdue in meeting each other IRL, but I guess eventually we will. I’ve met a lot of fandom creators over the years in person, and all were so beautiful. And I’m also lucky that after years and years on the internet, I still have a handful of ‘old timers’ that I’m in contact with.
5. Something you find comforting | Listening to music.
6. Something from a favorite TV series or movie from your childhood | I wish that Reasonable Doubts was on DVD. Created by Robert Singer (yes, that Robert Singer) and starring Marlee Matlin, Mark Harmon and Jim Beaver (yep that one) pops up too. It aired very late here and I remember living at my dad’s at the time (probably a rerun then) and dad video taped every episode for me. And this was the series that was the gateway of devouring most of Mark Harmon’s work that I could get my hands on in my country and adoring Marlee Matlin. I had always hoped that their characters would hook up, you know…
7. A piece of clothing you love | This may sound silly but anyone remember the 2010 Canada Olympic Winter games? Yeah, me neither. I do remember that one of my earliest friends that I had made a few years prior had passed away a few months before, and his best friend came to stay with me for a bit. They brought this new hoodie with them as a gift from Canada as a present for me. The hoodie is 14 years old, and I wear it every day/as a summer or winter coat, basically as my only coat even though I do have a normal coat but I don’t like how it fits… and the hoodie is worn out as fuck. This picture isn’t the one I have, but I’m too lazy to take a picture of my tattered one.
8. A book or song with a color in the title | The Song of Purple Summer (Deaf West Spring Awakening) | Look, I love Spring Awakening. It’s tragic and it’s beautiful and ouchies, your heart will fucking hurt. But when Deaf West came out with their version of it? Whelp. They were robbed of their Tony in 2016, just saying. Still salty about that.
9. Something only someone in your fandom would understand | Every now and then I like to look up fanvids… Some of the ones made for Kol Mikaelson are amazing. Like this one! Or this one!
Challenge #6
In your own space, share a favourite piece of original canon (a show, a specific TV episode, a storyline, a book or series, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.
Original canon… original canon… original canon… ORIGINAL CANON….
Oh, got it!
On January 5th I posted a blog post unrelated to Snowflake but related to me wanting to be more productive on the website and writing in general to keep all cylinders in my head fired up about the most underused and neglected character in TV or movies…
Spoiler alert: That was Mr. Kol Mikaelson for me!
The original piece of canon that I enjoyed in The Originals was when Mummy Dearest Esther (always wanting to do well and better for her children and righting her wrongs) put Kol’s ghost into the body of a young Kaleb Westphall, a weak-ish witch (just so that she could control her unpredictable son a bit better, but as always, Kol’s will is underestimated).
Kol had conversations with the witch he was keeping an eye on (Davina) about humanity and how much he loved being a witch and such, that he’d been a prodigy but that all of that was cut short when his mother turned him and his siblings into vampires. Kol always received the short end of the stick and never had a sense of belonging, even in his own family.
My favourite piece of canon is in “The Devil is Damned”, where Kol finally snaps, and tells Klaus how he truly feels, and the relationship between the two siblings sort of start to mend. At this point, Kol has nothing to lose as he’s hexed by his other brother, Finn, and perhaps they’re the words of a dying man, but all Kol wanted in life was to belong.
[Suddenly, Kol storms into the courtyard]
- KOL: [angry] Our brother doesn’t do calm.
[He throws a handful of powder into Rebekah’s face, which causes her to go limp and fall to the ground. When Klaus rushes toward him, he holds out a hand and casts a spell that makes Klaus begin coughing up blood onto the floor while Kol clutches the paragon diamond in his other hand]
- Klaus: UGH! Stop!
- KOL: [enraged] Oh, you’re angry, are you? Well, join the party, I’ve been here a thousand years!
[Klaus lunges for Kol, but Kol just hits him with another spell, and he falls to his knees]
- KOL: I was building that dagger to protect myself against you, Nik. I’m not the bad guy in this chapter of our family’s story! I’m the wronged! I’m the dead, but never mourned, and whilst you got everything that you wanted. I got a family who didn’t care if I lived or if I died!
- Klaus: [furious] Oh, shut up!
[He vamp-speeds toward Kol and grabs him in a choke-hold as he slams him against the wall]
- Klaus: WE’VE ALL SUFFERED! WE’VE ALL BEEN WRONGED!
- KOL: [gasping for breath] Go on! Go on, finish it off! [Klaus looks torn] Go ahead, kill me!
[Klaus glares at Kol for a long moment before finally letting him go and dropping him to the floor. He takes a moment to calm himself before he speaks]
- Klaus: [incredulously] I’m not going to kill you, you idiot! Despite your behavior, you’re still my brother!
[Kol looks at him in confusion and surprise as he catches his breath]
- KOL: Yeah, just the one you dagger repeatedly.
- Klaus: I’ve daggered all of you! Each for your own good! If you don’t agree with my motives, fine. I never claimed to be the bastion of temperance! But stop this drivel about being singled out and unloved.
[He walks toward Kol and kneels in front of him]
- Klaus: You are a Mikaelson! You’re my blood. And I need you. I need you by my side.
- KOL: What does it even mean, Nik? Hmm? You talk about family– family this, family that. I haven’t even earned the right to share your secrets, have I?
- Klaus: [shakes his head] No. You haven’t. But, by all means, brother– prove yourself. It’s not too late.
[He holds his hand out to Kol to help him up, and after a moment, Kol takes it, and they both stand to their feet]
So good. Daniel Sharman was an amazing Kol (and I prefer him + his acting) and I wouldn’t have minded if he’d stayed being Kol, even as a vampire! I mean, the spell that Davina cast to bring Kol back later on was so… DIRTY and MESSY. It could have been a possibility!!!
Challenge #7
Make a list of fannish and/or creative resources.
I use these two a lot when writing, there’s only so much you can remember.
Twilight timeline (/wiki with a lot of information on characters too etc)
The Vampire Diaries timeline (now also includes somewhat the Originals and a wee bit of Legacies, also wiki with character info, transcripts and more)
I write my stories in Google Docs. Why? Because it’s easy and you can access it everywhere. Scrivener is good, too, but it’s kind of a hassle to write on multiple devices (have to purchase multiple Scriveners) or transfer stuff between other devices and the main device.
Grammarly is my writing assistant, I’m using the free version but, if you can afford it, the paid version is well worth it.
I use Semagic to write up posts for DW and LJ and to even out the html from Google Docs (Gdocs transfer to fanfiction.net sucks, so I have to have a step in the middle).
This is what I use the most. For anything else, I just google the information and I don’t have set websites to go to. Why? Because I do have more resources in my bookmarks, but I never really use them as it’s easier to just google for the information that I need rather than to look through my bookmarks.
xxx Buggy