Countdown to small gifts 1/6: Introductions

[smallgiftsmods.livejournal.com]

Welcome to Small Gifts! Every year as we count down to December 1, we post some discussion questions so that you can get to know your fellow participants and watchers (and talk about R/S, of course!). We'll have one question a day through Sunday, and the festivities begin on Monday!

Today: introductions. Tell us a bit about yourself as a R/S fan! Do you write, draw, read? What drew you to the pairing? How did you discover the pairing, or HP fandom in general? Feel free to say hi to other folks as you introduce yourself--we're friendly around here like that.

You don't need to be an official participant to play along! If you're watching the comm, we'd love to hear from you.

Comments

Saying Hi!

[museinabsentia.livejournal.com]

All right, I'll bite.

Hmm... how did I fall into this. That's probably a much longer story than needs to clutter up this feed, but the short of it is that I read the books as if this pairing were sub-content right from the first time I read them. It wasn't even a question in my mind. I had to get over that, obviously, but I sort of wandered my way into fandom many years later thanks to a random comment from my baby sister about a totally different fandom (more of that long story). I spent most of my time lurking, and I won't get into just how much time, or how many names I recognize from having seen their work for fear that I'll come across as creepy. Err... creepier.

As for this fest in general, I actually saw a posting for this years from mutuisanimis while at RS-Games and decided that a new fest was the best way to keep myself from running off and hiding and pretending that I had never worked up the nerve to finally join in. So a great big hi to everyone involved just for being wonderful and for making sure things like this have the interest to keep happening.

Wow, I suck at keeping "the short of it" actually short. ::wanders off in embarrassment::

Re: Saying Hi!

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Welcome, welcome! I think there's a strong RS Games contingent here, actually. (RS Games folks, are you out there?)

I also saw the subtext reading the books, and that seems to be a common experience for R/S shippers. :) Glad to meet you, M! M.

Re: Saying Hi!

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

Hello :)

I'm very glad that you worked up the nerve to join fandom! Even though we were on different teams at RS-Games, I so enjoyed your participation and your enthusiasm and your comments. And your fic :)

Nice to meet you!

Re: Saying Hi!

[mindabbles.livejournal.com]

Hi! I love that you saw the subtext first. Sparing you a long story, I didn't--I think partly because of the way I first read the books and partly because I'm dim like that. I will say, that the second a friend pointed the dynamic out to me, I wondered how I couldn't have seen it! RS games has been great for this pairing and I'm thrilled you got here through that. :)

[nerakrose]

i am primarily a writer! i do some art every now and then, but it's so little that it barely counts. i also read, of course! :D

this ship is one of those that it feels like i just always knew about. i'm not sure how to explain it, it's just, there's this ship and that's it, and as far as i'm concerned it's probably canon. but i didn't get into the fandom until 2010, when a friend linked me to some fics she'd been reading because she felt like re-reading a lot of old fandom stuff. i used to have the opinion that i wouldn't do lit-based fandoms, but i fell into it anyway... so here i am. :P

i don't write much R/S anymore outside of fests, which makes me a little sad tbh. i wish i did, but i also think part of the reason for that is the lack of new (canon) content. there's only so many times i can read the same variation on some canon thing, and while i LOVE AUs there doesn't seem to be a lot of them around? or is that just me?

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

I think here are a lot of us who write primarily for fests, now. While I loved the experience of waiting for new canon, fests have been another good way for me to generate that sense of...timeliness, if that's makes sense? Of enjoying something along with others.

What kind of art do you do? You rarely meet writers who make are, too! M.

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

there's this ship and that's it, and as far as i'm concerned it's probably canon.

Yes! :D

I love your AUs, and I would love to see some new ones some day if you ever should feel the urge ;)

[mindabbles.livejournal.com]

Yes and yes. I write pretty much only for deadlines anymore as well. I can't imagine finishing something anymore without them. I think you're right that the lack of new content, or even the films, makes it harder. So, thank goodness for fests and people who keep coming back for them. And someone who can both write and do art?? I am amazed by such people!

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

I stumbled upon HP fandom a few years ago more or less by accident, mostly because I'd fallen in love with Remus and wanted to read more about him. I loved the bond between Remus and Sirius when reading the books, and fandom has made me love them as a pairing even more. I've also grown to know and love Sirius more and more through the years - Remus was my first love, but now I honestly couldn't choose between them :)

I love reading about them, and like nerak_rose I love AUs. It's exciting to explore what these guys would be like in another setting, with different challenges, yet remaining true to their canon selves. But I also keep getting impressed by how writers find new and fresh ways to tell stories from canon.

Unfortunately, I'm a rather slow writer and not particularly prolific, and I'm so glad these fests are around to push me into writing R/S, to find a lot of great entries to enjoy, and saying hello to other R/S shippers :)

[cevennes.livejournal.com]

AUs are just the best (especially the AUs where no one dies, ever!), and I love how this fandom can throw these two into practically any setting and still make me love them. It's astounding!

I love how you describe falling for Remus, too! He's such a bit of brightness in the third book, you just want to roll him up in a blanket and feed him soup. I'm super happy there are fests like these around to spread the love, and so many incredible people who ship it. (I am still reading through your r/s games work and it is SO GOOD. So, so looking forward to seeing your piece here!)

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

I've also grown to know and love Sirius more and more through the years - Remus was my first love, but now I honestly couldn't choose between them

Me, too. :) I think I asked about this a couple of years ago in these discussion posts, and quite a few of us had been drawn in my Remus but fallen in love with Sirius along the way. Not too much movement in the other direction, though--which is interesting.

Great to see you again, H! M.

[mindabbles.livejournal.com]

Love hearing about how you grew to love both characters. I may be one of the less common who loved them both, kind of equally. I adored Remus in the third book, but loved Sirius right away, when who he really was came out. I think maybe what I loved about them was their friendship. JKR's focus on friendship as a primary relationship is one of the things that I adore the most.

Thanks for dropping by again this year!

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

I would never think of you as slow or not prolific. You kicked some arse in RS_Games!

[cevennes.livejournal.com]

I've loved HP since I was pretty young, but growing up, Prisoner of Azkaban was always my favorite book, and Remus and Sirius were a big part of why! I guess I've always shipped these two the way you might ship Molly and Arthur Weasley, or James and Lily, in that they just were--but I didn't give it a whole lot of thought until I re-read the books early this year and it hit me HARD. Then I started reading and writing fanfic and drooling over fanart and, man, I am in deep; in a lot of ways, I still feel like I've hardly scratched the surface. They really do hit every button I've got.

It's amazing to ship something that's popular enough to warrant fests like this! I don't have anything else that even comes close, so this sort of thing is really a treat for me, to get to see so many incredible pieces in one place. I can't wait to see what everyone does, it's going to be the best. ♥

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

It's amazing to ship something that's popular enough to warrant fests like this!

Hurrah for critical fandom mass!

So 2014's the first year for you, hm? So exciting! Are R/S your first ship generally, or have you been in other fandoms?

Welcome! M.

[laroseminuit.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone!

R/S was one of the first pairings I ever encountered after I discovered the joy of fanfiction ... over a decade ago, oh god suddenly I feel very old. I remembered feeling like there was quite a bit of unspoken backstory/subtext in the books, and R/S made sense of it all.

I've always been more of a reader than a creator in fanfic (and my art is strictly fiber-art based), and I actually don't do much fanfic writing at all any more, but the Small Gifts community is so wonderful and fun and welcoming (and nostalgia-inducing) that I eagerly await it every year, as both a reader and a participant.

[mutuisanimis.livejournal.com]

*high-five* for fiber-based art ^_^

[mutuisanimis.livejournal.com]

Hello all!

I read, primarily, and also write! R/S fandom was my first online fandom, actually! HP books were all the rage among me and my classmates. My friend introduced me to fictionalley and I made my way from there over to LJ eventually. I was drawn to the pairing because my above-mentioned friend and another had already decided they shipped it, and it was the first evidence of positive queer anything I saw...anywhere? Which was really formative for me. And I may or may not project way too much all over both the pups for that reason. Oversharing? What's that?

Anyway yeah, nice to see lots of familiar and new usernames around here. I'm, like a lot of you, only in R/S for fests anymore. (And the periodic Shoebox reread ^_^) I do go back and read old favorites from time to time though.

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for positive queer representations!

We should do a post asking what some of the old favorites are round these parts--it'd be fun to know.

Welcome back, M! M.

[erised-rain.livejournal.com]

Ah bollocks, I missed sign ups this year but it's lovely to see so many good R/S writers again, I'll be reading the fics no doubt. (:

As for the boys they are and always will be my OTP and even though I don't write much anymore somehow I always go back to them around this time of the year. Have a great fest, guys! (:

Re: Introduction

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

Hey there :)
Such a shame you missed sign-ups, I loved what you wrote for this fest last year. Maybe you can join the bonus round? Nice to see you around :)

[marc-duork.livejournal.com]

For me, my love Harry Potter was overwhelming since my first read and I was writing fanfic before I even knew fanfic was a real thing. Remus and Sirius as individuals came before Wolfstar, and I've experimented with many ships for the both of them; although I think I must have always considered it to be canon deep down and they are my OTP.

I've been lurking around the fandom in the darkest shadows for so long that I've no idea exactly where or how it all started, I just know that I have folders of drawings and notebooks of drabbles and headcanons dating back at least 10 years. It's only been the last few years that I've met any like-mindedly obsessed people IRL (through Quidditch), and yet still I've had so many debates about how canon Wolfstar is. Seriously, how does any one not see it?!

I've had a bit of a fandom hiatus and just out of nostalgia, I was recently surfing old haunts like LJ and happened upon the RS games. I'm actually amazed that this fandom is so active and the interest is so high!
I thought 'why not, nothing to lose, it's about time I stopped prancing about in dark corners', so this year's RS games was my first public appearance as myself and from there I found this fest, and I have to say it has been nothing but awesome feels from start to finish.
I've discovered a love for prompt writing and had some wonderful discussions and found new people to stalk. How has this community kept R/S fresh after all this years?! I commend you all.

(Unlike museinabsentia, I made no promises about keeping stories short.)

[chibitoaster.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm an artist, although I do write sometimes, too. I've been active in Harry Potter fandom since 2006, and shipped the puppies since I read the books. I don't know, I guess I didn't really think much about it at the time until I read "Stealing Harry." I mean, I'd shipped them before that, but that story pretty much cemented me into the fandom.

I don't have an OTP, really. I work a lot in H/D and Snarry, and I've been drawing a lot of Harry/Ron, too.

But Sirius Black is probably my favorite character. His life was so tragic, and yet he was always optimistic. Even from the very beginning of the first book - he gave Hagrid his motorcycle to take Harry away and protect him. And after everyone had turned against him, he was still loyal and true, not bitter, and not holding any sort of grudge against Remus, Dumbledore, or anyone who didn't believe him, really.

Okay, I could go on and on about all of this, but I've got a bad cold, and my meta will turn into rambling pretty quickly if I'm not careful.

If you want to see some of my work, I created one of the entries for team magic in the RS games, and there's a whole bunch of stuff on my own journal - all sorts of pairings.

I'm always open to new friends, too. ^_^

[andreyahalms.livejournal.com]

Hi all!

I started shipping R/S because of...*drumrolls* a newspaper article! Yep, you read that right, haha. There was a page on fanfics in the supplementary, and some of the popular pairings of popular fandoms were mentioned, and Remus/Sirius was one of them. And before that, Sirius had always been my favourite character (because he had a truly tragic life and his death was the first fictional death that made me cry and okay, I will stop before I turn this into a Sirius (and Remus) appreciation post), and I'd always been a fan of demisexual relationships, so I thought I'd go check some fics out.

I found out about these fests while reading fanfics, which I found seriously cool because I was new to fandoms in general, and I always wanted to participate in one. This one will technically be my first because I had to drop out of RS Games (also my first Games) because of exams and college and the fact that I didn't have a laptop and my fic was too long to type out on my phone. :|

That aside, a great big hello (or a tiny, meek one, which happens to be more on spot, to be honest) to everyone here!

And my favourite thing about this ship is the base of friendship and bromance with a healthy topping of romo. And I mainly write - well, I scribble things on random pieces of paper and lose them. And I love and absolutely adore AUs and I more of them around. :)

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

Hello! Damn, I have to say that yours is one of the most unique intros into fandom - and I love it!

And my favourite thing about this ship is the base of friendship and bromance with a healthy topping of romo. YES!

[chalada.livejournal.com]

I've been lurking a lot, but I've never really been in the fandom despite shipping R/S ever since they first showed up in the books all those years ago, so, hi, I guess. :)

PoA was published around the time I'd just discovered fandom in general existed, and that slash was a thing, so naturally I started pairing off all male characters who showed the slightest bit of potential with each other. Remus and Sirius are one of the few exceptions that stayed after this questionable phase was over, though, and actually made me care more (so much more) about each of them and their relationship as we learned more about them.

I draw sometimes, though not nearly as much as I'd like to. :P

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

I'm jealous! I wish I could draw!

[brighty18.livejournal.com]

Hi, y'all,

I'm Michelle and, as usual, I am a bit late to the party. I've been an R/S shipper for a ridiculously long time - since like 2006, in fact. I've done a lot of fests, but, other than rs_games (of which I am a Mod and founder), this is my very favorite fest of all time. Y'all are so well organized. You're an inspiration!

I love the ship for many reasons, but one of the most attractive things is that you can write them as adults or kids and that there is so much room for variation - even within canon. I love that there are these enormous blank spots in canon that we can fill in as we wish; it gives room for creativity and yet there still remains the comfort of staying within canon. I also love that these guys have such emotional range. They are damaged, yes, but they still had wild fun in their Hogwarts days. They are witty and sexy and complex, and, for me, that is what makes a good character to work with.

I love canon and I love AU, but I think that my very favorite works are those that fall somewhere in between. I love stuff like slice-of-life pieces and character studies and things that could fall into "canon," but do not necessarily center around known benchmarks (like the Willow Prank, Sirius running away, etc.) I love adventures during the First War and stories of Remus while Sirius was in Azkaban and anything that fills in the "holes" in canon. There is just so much to explore with these guys.

That's about it for me. The so-called "real life" has been hitting me hard these days.

[marc-duork.livejournal.com]

Everything you've said feels like it fell out of my brain. Except the bit about being a Mod, that's all you. Also, I'm not called Michelle.

[grandilloquism.livejournal.com]

Hello all, I am Katie and I have been in this fandom a very long time. Longer than I have been a legal adult, frankly. I created this journal and started posting in 2009, which was when I'd reached the point that I had definite Opinions about these two, and I needed to write them down. Before that I was reading primarily James/Lily, and before that anything that looked interesting. The idea of letting a twelve year old read some of the stuff I read when I was twelve is terrifying. I really, truly got my birds and the bees talk from smutty fanfiction, and all that I can say for it is that it was very thorough.

I love this pairing. I wish I had the time to write for it more, but I do enjoy coming back for the fests year after year.

[youcantseeus.livejournal.com]

Hello!

So, I got involved in Harry Potter around 2005-ish, but I really got out of the fandom shortly after Deathly Hallows was released. I wasn't a huge R/S shipper at that time though I remember reading some R/S fics that I liked back then. Anyway, I got interested in the books again about ... maybe a year and a half ago and I found that I liked different characters and shipped different ships than I did the first time around! Like, I used to read tons of Snarry fics when I was interested in HP fandom the first time, but now that ship completely squicks me. It's weird. I always adored Remus as a character, but now R/S is the closest thing to an OTP that I have (although I'm always a multishipper and I'll ship many of my favorite characters with multiple people).

I think what's appealing about this pairing to me is really two things. The first is that there's some basis on which to build a romantic relationship between the two characters -- they're friends and they have such a rich history together. It's not as if I'm picking two characters out of a hat or picking two characters who have a history of disliking one another (although those types of pairings are fun in their own way). The second thing that appeals to me about the pairing is that there is so much you can do with it. You can take a fic in a very angsty direction or in a very fluffy direction and have it feel genuine either way because while both characters have a light-hearted side, they've also both had very difficult lives. There's also just enough told to us in canon to make me interested in the characters, but there's also a lot of open space in their lives for a fan writer to fill in. So I feel like there's a lot of freedom with this ship.

So that's about all. I'm totally a fic writer -- I cannot do visual art in the least. This is my second year in the fest and I know it'll be fun.

[woldy]

Hi! I'm not writing this year, but as a longtime R/S fan & former participant I'm looking forward to the fest :-)