Alright, I'll give it a try! Snowflake Challenge #1

It seems like half my reading list is doing this, so I will join in.

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

I'm not great at talking about myself, but here goes. I'm in my early 30s and very new to fandom, only posting my first fic on AO3 in 2021. I consider myself still in the learning phase. My first fandom and my abiding fannish obsession remains Jeremiah, a perfect storm of meaningful themes, great characterization, intriguing post-apocalyptic worldbuilding and hanging plot threads stemming from cancellation, so I keep writing for it, despite it being cancelled back in 2003.

Other fandoms I write in are Highlander and Teen Wolf. I really love supernatural and science fiction TV shows, especially when they use their escapist impossibilities to explore very real themes through metaphor. As such, I'm always digging into the vast back catalogue of shows I haven't seen yet. Also, I have a weakness for lower budget and episodic shows, which skew vintage. Currently I am making my way through Forever Knight.

Previous favorites include the original Twin Peaks, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, American Gothic, 12 Monkeys, Firefly and The Prisoner. I've seen Doctor Who from Eccleston to Capaldi, and have just begun to dig into the Classic era, which I will be posting about soon.

This journal is mostly used for talking about television and my (generally slow) writing progress. I used to have the policy of leaving my personal life out of here, but I was recently widowed, so fair warning, there are some heavy posts about that.

Why am doing the challenge? To maybe meet some new people. Mostly because I hope it will be fun and will enable me to post more frequently, which is a goal of mine this year.

Snowflake Challenge #2

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom

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

I took this challenge to involve canon pets, and it ended up being half about my writing choices, and half some Highlander meta.

Because of the difficulties of working with animals, they rarely feature in shows, especially older low budget fare. Pets appear and then disappear, written off quickly (or years after being forgotten, as in the case of Miss Kitty Fantastico). Theo has a cockatoo in one episode of Jeremiah, but it is tragically killed. Kurdy considers adopting a puppy, but decides against it right before credits roll. All because it is difficult to feature animals. This is understandable, but it also means there are gaps in the worldbuilding that fanfiction is perfect for exploring.

Generally I like to add in mentions of pets and animals both wild and domesticated whenever possible, because it adds verisimilitude. In the post-apocalyptic landscape of Jeremiah, for example, redomesticating livestock should be high on every sensible person's agenda. Jeremiah shouldn't wander through town without stumbling over a flurry of chickens. So I add in details like an OC slowly taming an untrusting pair of dogs, for the natural alarm system they offer.

However, the only proper pet I have written about is Prada, Lydia Martin's adorable papillon from Teen Wolf. Teen Wolf did a better than average job remembering that animals exist. Scott's job at a vet clinic features in several scenes: Falling for Allison over an injured dog, scaring all the cats in the clinic after he's bitten, teaching Isaac how to take a dying dog's pain away (one of the most heartfelt scenes in the show). And unlike all the other characters, Lydia has a pet, who is only depicted during season two, but who gets mentioned a few times afterward before finally vanishing altogether. So whenever I write a scene taking place in Lydia's house, I figure out where Prada is likely to be and mention him wherever possible, because he's part of the family and WOULD feature. She would cuddle him when upset and seeing him waiting at the screen door would brighten her day.

Also, an evil detecting dog is a great horror trope, and it's easy to lean on that in a place like Beacon Hills.

And now, some Highlander meta, because that's a different and rather unique scenario. This show depicted horses in its flashbacks with great frequency, but only one horse was ever treated as "important" - the beautiful and lucky Double Eagle (in the best comedy episode of the show). However, I have always believed that Immortals of a certain age are not only knowledgeable about, but deeply love horses. None currently living would be so if they hadn't been saved countless times by the flight of a nimble steed. Truly, an Immortal would have to be deeply far gone to lose that attachment, although the show never addressed this in any way.

It's partly the same reason I think Immortals were probably over the moon about the personal automobile. It's why Corey loves his Packard, and Richie will always adore motorbikes. Heck, would Brian Cullen have been singing a staggeringly wasted 'Danny Boy' if he'd been approaching Richie on foot? No way. Immortals spend half their time running away from their fellow headhunters. Before the car, and for far longer, there was the horse to facilitate this. It's a concept the show never really spells out, but it seems right to me.

On the other hand, it is notable that modern Immortals are never depicted owning pets. Cats, dogs, birds, all are unfair to own. It is perhaps another part of how Immortals end up cut off from humanity, as they have to not only raise stakes quickly, but they could always lose a fight and not come home at all. Helpless dependents are at risk from their lifestyle, so it makes sense they would rarely indulge in keeping one (although a few Immortals have raised orphaned children, which is also insanely risky without some secondary caregiver, so perhaps a compelling enough case would make one adopt a forlorn animal as well). And so the horses they once were required to travel with might have been many an Immortal's only real experience with something akin to a pet, an experience now cut off as horses no longer aid but hinder the mobility they need to survive. Of course they would be wistful and affectionate when faced with them.

I wonder how many Immortals quietly own a fully-staffed stable somewhere...