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

[magnetic_pole]

Hi, folks! I'm Maggie, one of your two mods. (Min is the other.) I'm magnetic_pole here in DW and notquitepetworth on Tumblr.

I'm a huge R/S fan. I've been participating in small gifts since our very first round, back in 2006. I love all the adult-generation characters and the mystery of how they got involved in the war at such a young age and how Peter, such a good friend, came to betray them and how Remus and Sirius dealt with the beginning of a second war. I'm also a big, big fan of femslash and women-centered stories. Minerva, Lily, Alice, Petunia, Moaning Myrtle, even Dolores Umbridge....they're all fascinating. Mostly I write, but sometimes I (try to) make art.

I also adore Korra (Korrasami!!!) and Sherlock Holmes (I've been shipping Sherlock/John since the 80s, before I even knew what shipping or fandom were).

Looking forward to seeing some returning readers and participants and meeting newcomers! M.

[wild_flame]

Hi!!

I'm Bea and I'm new!! I'm wild_flame on DW and you can find me on tumblr on @wild-and-flammable. Yes, there is a bit of a running theme...

I'm relatively new to the world of R/S shipping, and indeed the world of fanfiction and shipping itself. I can actually trace the start of this madness back to about two years ago when I stumbled upon "Very bad things" by Freudian Fuckup on ffn.net. Now I am hooked and there is no going back!

I am an avid reader, and unfortunately a bit less of an avid writer! I really enjoy the freedom writing gives me to use my imagination and create things (especially slightly ridiculous things) but often there is just no time or energy or both!! :(

I am a fan of many things but only really active in the HP fandom. As well as fanfiction, fanart, fanmemes, etc. I love a good meta discussion!

Looking forward to meeting everyone and seeing what everyone else who is participating has made!!

[aurelie_saintjuste]

Good afternoon! I'm Aurelie and I am also new to the festivities. I found out about them after a binge reading festival last year on AO3 when I noticed a trend that many of my favorite Wolfstar fics were created for the exchange, and made it my mission to not miss them this year!

I'm a Slytherin who lives in sunny Central Florida. I spend a disproportionate amount of time in the Wizarding World - sometimes just strolling in to read and drink Butterbeer on my own. I'm best described as an extroverted introvert and I'm happy to say that many of my friends have come from a mutual love of Harry Potter.

I grew up with Harry, starting with the first book about twenty years ago. My favorite characters were always members of the Order and Remus always stood out amongst them as my most loved. I share a lot of the same personality traits and quirks with him, including a love of Sirius Black (oops), so to be a Wolfstar shipper seemed fairly natural for me.

My background is in performing, so I was always drawn to stories through strong characters. As a result, my fandom beginnings came from a RPG writing and worldbuilding background and have only just started writing standalone fics. (Okay. Drabbles/one-shots.) I'm "agent-aurelie" on Tumblr and I can talk a lot, so feel free to reach out to me there. <3

Happy to be here and very excited to read.

[human_veil]

Hi!! I’m Kat, snax0 here on dw and humanveil over at tumblr (and ao3).

I got into R/S when first reading the books. It was my very first HP ship and is actually what got me into HP fic, but I only started writing them last year (I think). I’m a writer and reader (and sometimes artist), and am active pretty much all throughout the HP fandom.

I’ve been active in a few fandoms over the years, though currently I’m only writing for HP and Star Wars. My interests tend to fluctuate a lot so it’s always different, but HP is always the one to pull me back.

This is actually my first year of actively participating in LJ/DW fests, so this is my first time with small gifts, and I’m so excited!! I can’t wait to see what people create.

[mindabbles]

Hi Everyone!
I’m mindabbles everywhere, including Tumblr, but I will admit I don’t really understand Tumblr yet and haven’t done anything over there. Maybe this fest this year will help me.

I only participate in HP fandom. I’ve tried to get into a couple of others, but haven’t been able to manage it. I guess I’m loyal. R/S was my first love and is still my greatest love. I do read and write almost any pairing or gen (although I mostly write m/m and f/f), and I love the creativity and comraderie I see in fandom. I was a huge fan of the first small gifts and the writers and artists and so, when Maggie put out a call for someone to help run it in the second (or third, maybe?) year, I was really happy to do it. I’m not nearly as active as I used to be, but I do keep coming back and love this fest. I think what I love most about HP, including our blokes here, is the complexity of the characters and the relationships — no one is perfect and (almost) no one is all bad. I also love the primacy of the friendships.

[llaeyro]

Hi Maggie! Thanks for running this fest again, it is the highlight of the winter period for me =) Also, there's no 'try to' about it, you make amazing art ♥

[llaeyro]

Hi Bea! So glad we could tempt you to come and play in this sandbox ♥

[llaeyro]

Hi Aurelie! Welcome to the fest =)

[llaeyro]

Hi Kat! Wolfstar got me into fandom too =) Welcome to the fest!

[llaeyro]

Hi Min! I'm the same with Tumblr, but hold out less hope of getting to grips with it :P Thanks for all your modliness ♥

[llaeyro]

Hey guys!

I'm Ami, and you'll find me as Llaeyro on LJ, DW, AO3, IJ (but only use it for Daily Deviant) and Tumblr (but I have no idea what I'm doing). I'm a one-fandom slash multi-shipper who writes a lot of smut. I've shipped R/S for fourteen years, it's the ship that got me into fandom and still has a very special place in my heart. As far as I'm concerned, Wolfstar is canon :P I used to read, but these days I only seem to have time to write, which is sad. Every year, Small Gifts is my only winter fest so hopefully I can squeeze in some reading for this one!

[human_veil]

I'm glad I'm not the only new one!! Nice to meet you, Bea!

[human_veil]

Hi, Ami! Having no time to read is a familiar sensation, so I feel you on that one. I think half reason I signed up for small gifts is because they'll be easier to get through.

(Also, I love your icon).

[rj31]

Hi everyone, I'm RJ. I'm snakeowls on AO3 and tumblr. I'm pretty excited to be taking part in this fest, it's my first time participating. I had a looong fandom hiatus of about 9ish years, but I'm very happy to be back. R/S Games 2017 was the first time I've written fic for ages, and I'm glad to be back writing again.

I honestly don't know when I started shipping wolfstar, probably when I read Prisoner of Azkaban! They are definitely my happy place. I also definitely read more than I write (which isn't hard since I've written hardly anything!), and R/S Games cured me of my terror at commenting on fics. Wolfstar helps us all in the end ☺️

I read in other fandoms, but HP is the only one that I participate in. I have a soft spot for AUs, anything to keep our boys alive, really.

Lovely to meet you all!

[rj31]

Hi Maggie, thank you for this fest! Like you, I also love the first war characters and time period, plus I'm interested in the time in between the wars too. So much that we don't know and so many possibilities!

[rj31]

Hi Bea! 🐺 X

[rj31]

Hi Aurelie! That's brilliant that you get to spend so much time at the Wizarding World, it's definitely somewhere that I want to visit! I'm jealous, but in a nice way :) Also, Remus is very special, I agree.

[rj31]

Hi Kat! It's my first year of participating in fests too, and I'm super excited to see all of the lovely gifts that we all get as well!

[rj31]

Hi Min, thank you for this fest! I don't fully understand tumblr either, but I give it a go :)

[rj31]

Hey Ami! Wolfstar is very much canon, I agree.

[aurelie_saintjuste]

Thank you! It's a bit surreal to me, even after a few years of living and working in this industry, that I can just pop into Diagon Alley whenever I feel like it, but it's pretty great and occasionally inspirational to write, too. Come visit!! :)

[human_veil]

"anything to keep our boys alive, really."

Oh, how I agree. Nice to meet you, RJ!

[jencala]

Hi everyone, I'm new this year as well! I write under JenCala on Ao3 and JenCala28 on FFN. You can find me on Tumblr at JenCala as well.

I'm a Slytherin, wife, and mom of 2 little monsters, er lovely boys, and live in central Florida. You would think this would enable me to visit WWoHP often, but I've only been once so far. I need to go more!

I've been in the HP fandom for many years, but only got into Wolfstar a couple of years ago and it quickly became my OTP and I am obsessed with these dorks and just love them to bits. I write a lot of smut and do venture into other pairings occasionally, but Wolfstar has my heart. I do enjoy other fandoms, but I'm mainly happily entrenched in HP.

[aurelie_saintjuste]

Hello fellow Central Floridian Slytherin! How about that crazy Dementor fog this morning?!

[jencala]

Hi! It was insane, wasn't it? I actually went to Orlando last night and was driving home around midnight and could barely see ten feet in front of me!

Where are you in CF? I'm in Lakeland.