Countdown to Small Gifts 1/3: Introductions

[smallgiftsmods]

Welcome, folks! Every year at small gifts, we start off the holiday season with a series of discussion posts. It's a chance to get to know other participants (or say hi to old friends), meet our readers (hi, readers! we love you!), and while away the hours before the fest begins. We'll have three topics this week, posted Monday, November 25; Wednesday, November 27; and Friday, November 29. Posting begins Sunday, December 1.

Discussion is not limited to participants! Please introduce yourself if you're a reader, too.

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 been in HP fandom? How long have you shipped R/S? Are you a reader? Writer? Artist? Crafter? Do you participate in any other parts of HP fandom? Are you active in any other fandoms right now?

2) Say hi to someone else! We're friendly around here like that.

Comments

[starfishstar]

Did you ever read Copperbadge's fics? He went through a similar journey of writing an epic-length series, basically a parallel version of the entire HP series, that then became more and more AU as the later books of canon were published. He also was increasingly frustrated with the later books, unfortunately to the point that he abandoned HP fandom entirely. But he's still one of my favorite fic writers, especially of Remus/Sirius.

I've definitely had a different trajectory than what you describe, especially in terms of reaction to HBP; I was always a hewing-exceedingly-close-to-canon fic writer (the fun of fic to me, especially at first, was that delightful challenge of delving deeper into a character, but making it work within the framework of what we already knew from canon; I'm literally the kind of person who spends days researching the exact layout of 12 Grimmauld Place, or compiling an enormous timeline of the exact order in which every single thing happened in OotP...) and only more recently did I dare to branch out into (magical) AUs at all, or even to write pairings that aren't technically canon. So because I loved Remus, of course I wrote Remus, so naturally my main pairing of interest was Remus/Tonks, because I was coming to this after the canon was complete and that's the canon pairing. (And honestly there's so much there to write, if you're interested in exploring characters but making it work within canon... e.g. there is a LOT of work to be done in order to take the awesome characters we were given earlier in canon – and Tonks is awesome when we meet her in book 5, incredibly awesome – and keep them their awesome selves despite the travesty JKR made of them, plot-wise, in book 6. I spent years of my life doing exactly that, writing a fic that worked to stay true to Remus and Tonks as characters, and making something better and more believable out of the often stupid plot of the way JKR wrote their romance.) So in the process of that, I totally fell in love with Tonks as a character in her own right, and I still love R/T and do consider that canon. BUT I've always loved R/S too, and have somehow managed to hold both of those worlds in my head, equally beloved but not allowed to overlap at all, because neither S nor T should have to suffer in order for the other to benefit. If that makes sense.

(Post-canon fics in a separate comment, because this got accidentally long!)

[paulamcg]

Back in 2004 it seemed to me that every Remus fan knew and adored Stealing Harry, but I don’t think I read much more than the first chapter. I wasn’t so eager to invest my time in famous fics like that one or in the Shoebox Project, because I preferred seeking interaction with writers who were not too popular and therefore unable for mutual reviewing relationships with their readers. But I think I later enjoyed a shorter story by Copperbadge, and that he even replied to my comment. Anyway, Stealing Harry must have been an AU when he started it, as the first thing we learn about Sirius in canon (except that Hagrid got the motorbike from him) is that he’d been to Azkaban. But I can imagine how later canon could frustrate Copperbadge in any case.

In fact, it now seems to me that I’ve had a rather similar trajectory to yours – just enjoying the delightful challenge of delving deeper into a character, but making it work within the framework of what we already knew from canon on the basis of the five books, not all seven. The pleasure of this challenge must actually be the reason why I – having spent years of my life devoted to Revolt and related short stories, and after a long break – still write fanfiction instead of something totally new. I love continuing to build up the story without ever contradicting Rowling’s five books or anything I’ve written about my Remus’s world before (or what we’ve called head canon here). For the short stories I’ve written this year, I’ve also researched the calendar, the weather and details of the culture so as not to contradict the reality of 1970’s Britain either.

Even though Remus was not (in my view) made into a travesty in OotP yet, I was disappointed with how little we saw of him, having missed him since PoA. I wanted to know him better, and after HBP I was just more determined to make something better and more important of his role – and to stick to my version of werewolves, not allowing a completely repulsive monster to represent them. I’ve already figured out you’ve done something along those lines, too – making not only the R/T romance better but also minor characters (including not-fully-human ones) and the wider plot dealing with social and political issues more nuanced.

I’m thrilled I’ve met you. I believe I could love your Tonks in addition to your Remus and Sirius. The two of us certainly share a few things in common – also accidentally long comments.

[starfishstar]

Oh, yes, Stealing Harry was definitely AU from the start. (Copperbadge pretty much only writes AUs, in any fandom!) I think it was more that he felt that the heart of canon, the handling of themes and the direction it went in with the characters, diverged too far from what he could enjoy, even as someone who already wrote AUs. (Like, uh: killing off Remus??) Something along those lines.

(Incidentally, it was another story of Copperbadge's that first inspired me to think more deeply about the werewolves and how they might have a whole culture of their own. Can dig up that rec for you, if you're interested.)

I think that determination to "make something better and more important of his role" to some degree drives all of us Remus fans. :D I mean, I understand that the narrative of the books generally needed to be elsewhere, not with Remus (most of the time it's at Hogwarts with Harry!) but yeah, Remus is such a rich character who could be so central in Harry's life, and clearly is important to the Order, and, yeah. There's so much to write about Remus. :-)

I believe I could love your Tonks in addition to your Remus and Sirius.

Thank you! I'm really flattered that you say that. R/S fandom can sometimes be vitriolic about Tonks, unfortunately, so it always feels slightly dangerous to even admit to writing Tonks! I'd actually thought of mentioning my HBP-era fic to you as well, since it's so very much about both creating a whole original culture for the werewolf pack, and also about Remus going through an arc of coming to terms with himself and his inner demons, learning to finally accept and unite the wizarding and werewolf parts of himself. But, well, novel-length Remus/Tonks fic is not necessarily the thing for an R/S fan! Which I absolutely understand. (Thank you, by the way, for your wonderful comment on its sequel! Which I will answer as soon as possible but maybe not until tomorrow, because I want to answer it when I'm awake enough to do justice to such a wonderfully in-depth comment.)