Countdown to small gifts 1/7: Introductions!

[smallgiftsmods]

Welcome, folks! Every year at small gifts, we start off the holiday season with a week's worth of discussion posts. It's a chance to get to know other participants (or say hi again), meet our readers (hi, readers! we love you!), and while away the hours before December 1. We'll have one topic per day until November 30.

Today: introductions!

1) Leave a comment letting us know who you are as a fan. (Leave your Tumblr name/AO3 name as well as your DW name, if they're different.) How long have you shipped R/S? Are you a reader? Writer? Artist? Crafter? Do you participate in any other parts of Harry Potter fandom? Are you active in any other fandoms right now?

2) Say hi to someone else!

Comments

[shaggydogstail]

Hello! I'm shaggydogstail everywhere and have been for a long time. My commitment to brand recognition is strong. I've been a shipper on and off for about 12 years - I drifted away from the R/S corner of fandom for a bit and then had a complete fandom hiatus. It was doing small gifts last year that brought me back in!

No other current fandoms, though I'm tentatively thinking about dipping my toe back into the Doctor Who fandom now we're getting a new Doctor.

[maraudersaffair]

Hi! How long was your fandom hiatus? I didn't participate for like 6 years lol

[shaggydogstail]

I was only completely absent from all fandoms for a couple of years, but there was a gap of about 7 years when I wasn't really involved in HP fandom (had to go and think about that, actually, it was longer than I'd realised!)

[maraudersaffair]

That's a long time! Did you notice any changes in the hp fandom? I know I sure did lol

[shaggydogstail]

SO MUCH! In all sorts of ways? The way people do fandom and the types of fanworks that are popular have both changed a lot. Some things are a definite improvement but there's bits of the old days I miss. It's a different world, right?

[maraudersaffair]

I agree! I miss when LJ was really popping but I'm glad the misogyny has settled down. I remember when you had to warn for het sex/sex with women if you were writing slash smh

I'm also glad that we're getting away from the angry/homophobic girlfriend trope *eye roll*

I also feel like femslash is getting way more love nowadays. It def needs more tho!

[shaggydogstail]

Yeah, that's such an improvement. The evil slashfic girlfriends were one of the worst tropes - for a community mostly made up of women there was a lot of bizarre misogyny in slash fandom back in the day. (Not sure it's gone completely but things are much better.) Some of the weirdly homophobic trope have died down too, which is a blessing.

Yay to more femslash! ♥

[maraudersaffair]

for a community mostly made up of women there was a lot of bizarre misogyny in slash fandom back in the day

exactly!!

[mindabbles]

Yes! I stepped in it a couple of times when I first joined in — not realizing the culture you’re talking about. I remember writing a story that had both a f/f pairing and a m/m pairing and my beta told me that no one would read it because people who read one wouldn’t read the other — not just that it might not appeal to as wide an audience, but that m/m slash fans wouldn’t read women having sex. I am glad that seems to have changed. Fics are also A LOT longer, aren’t they?

[shaggydogstail]

I think your beta was exaggerating, because there was never a universal hostility to f/f amongst m/m readers and there's always been multishippers, but it was definitely a thing. Not just being awful about f/f, with women's sexuality generally, and presenting women as being less sexual. I read a lot of fics where male chars are all "no women had ever done that for him" the first time his bf swallows or something or, in R/S particular, they're having frequent and kinky sex in contract to L/J's vanilla or no sex. It made ZERO SENSE and I'm so glad it's largely passed.

Yeah, definitely. AO3 is better for long fic than LJ was, which probably helps.

[maraudersaffair]

omg yes @ depicting women as being prudes or uninterested in sex

For me, I think the problem was that so many m/m shippers just didn't care about f/f, like it wasn't even on their radar, which is kinda understandable in the HP fandom bc men got most of the attention in the books

[maraudersaffair]

Yeah . . . I def remember people refusing to read fics if there was explicit sex involving women. It was sooo strange

I dunno if fics are a lot longer. I remember a lot of entries to holiday fic exchanges were pretty long . . .

[rj31]

Hello! Another person who had been on a fandom hiatus- it’s great to be back isn’t it?

[shaggydogstail]

It really is! Like coming home, only with fewer familial recriminations and more porn.

[rj31]

Haha, sounds perfect to me!

[mindabbles]

Hi! I am SO glad we were able to welcome you back in!! I drifted a bit as well, and participated less, but I never took a complete hiatus, partly because of this fest. Your fics were some of the ones, back, goodness, ten years ago (yikes) that reeled me in and hooked me for good. I have no idea why I used a fishing analogy.

[shaggydogstail]

I think a lot of us have drifted back and forth, to some extent. That's why it's so lovely to have something like small_gifts for us to keep coming back to, whether it's every year or after a longer break.

TY! ♥ Although, ten years, eep! ;D