Sign-ups!

[magnetic-pole.livejournal.com]

Small Gifts sign-ups begin today! Follow these three easy steps to celebrating the end of the year with Remus, Sirius, and your friends:

1. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, to SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 12:00 noon ET: Participants sign up for Small Gifts by leaving prompts.
At any time this week, you can join the exchange by responding to this post with a comment containing the following information:

Name:
Age statement: One of the following: (1) "I am over 18 or over the legal age in my country (note here if you have a preference for rating)" OR (2) "I am under 18 or the legal age in my country, and will neither ask for nor read anything with a rating over R." No age statement, or a falsified age statement, and you're out. Coal in the stocking and all that.
Three wishes: Please give three prompts consisting of: one word; one sentence; one quote; or one LINK to an image (no hotlinking!); see below for suggestions
Do not want to receive: insert squicks and pet peeves here: "songfic", "deathfic", "Tonks", etc.
Am fond of: insert favourite things here: "sexually-confident!Remus", "Lying-low-at-Lupin's", etc.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes/No

<b>Name:</b> <b>Age statement:</b> <b>Three wishes:</b> <b>Do not want to receive:</b> <b>Am fond of:</b> <b>I am new to Small Gifts this year:</b>

Please do not suggest too much detail, give a plot outline, or ask for a novel -- these are small gifts! If you're curious about what folks have requested in the past, check out last year's sign-up post.

Bad example: "Sirius and James have a Clever Plan, and there is pudding, and somehow the Prank happens, and I'd love to have Lily there too, and also it should all be a flashback during the Grimmauld Christmas party, with sex." You will get... coal. For true.

Good examples: "first kiss"; "warming hands by a fire"; "umbrellas"; "Dawn, New Year's Day"; "art for anything I've written"; "a remix for something of mine"; "story or art – Splendid Wings (song by David Brown)"; "cute MWPP-era icons." Please do not ask only for art: in general, there are more writers than artists.

Note to writers and artists: please, no sexually explicit fic or art involving underage characters.

2. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 12:00 noon ET: Claiming begins!
Please claim by responding to the comment with the request that you want ("I claim marysue's request #2"). One claimant per request/participant, please. We would like everyone to get something!

If you finish and submit your first small gift, you are more than welcome to come back and claim again. Remember, "small gifts" are stocking stuffers--short fic (1,000 to 3,000 words), art, icons, whatever people can give. It's the thought that counts!

3. Midnight your time, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30: Turn in your small gift.
Please submit your work BETA'D as a post to this community (you'll need to join, if you've not already). It will go into the moderation queue, and, depending on the number of participants, we'll reveal one or two gifts per day until the end of the year.

Posting begins Tuesday, December 1. Celebrate the season of lights, the solstice, birth and new beginnings, the promise of renewal. Snow and cheery fires, tinsel and mistletoe. Draw up a chair by that fire, settle in, and read....

Happy, happy holidays all around!

Comments

self conscious first post... go!

[sea-shtick.livejournal.com]

Name: Molly // sea_shtick
Age statement: "I am over 18 or over the legal age in my country"
Three wishes:
-Coming in from the cold
-Regifting
-"There is a fresh level where the object emerges with its requisite jacket of designation" by David Huerta ("Hay un fresco nivel donde el objeto surge con el abrigo necesario de su designación")

under the precipitations of an hour emptying its images
in a drawn-out spark
toward the closing of the day, in the city
among moons tossed in the back of alleyways,
swift messages and anguished fingers, letters never sent,
women who see ashes or blood in the sky, shut-in boys with
black and shattered hair,
tall gentlemen who look at the sea and sigh with twisted
mouths,
vehicles and offices, neon and slow luggage,
speeches and blows and nights laid away against the time of
the century, here, yesterday, or always.

would rather avoid... coming out fic, mpreg, cringe inducing fluff
but bring on the... snow, uncomfortable situations, themes&ideas surrounding memory
I am new to Small Gifts this year: yes!

So excited! I joined fandom for dogdaysofsummer this year and had so much fun... looking forward to changing seasons :)

Re: self conscious first post... go!

[crooked.livejournal.com]

i, crooked, claim sea_shtick's prompt #1 (and maaaaaybe i can work in a bit of #3)! :D

[peskywhistpaw.livejournal.com]

Name: Amber / peskywhistpaw
Age statement: I am over eighteen
Three wishes:
[story &/or art] the dangers of decorating an unusual place
[story] Sirius Black's Secret Plan of Attack
[story &/or art] "Is that supposed to be a snow angel?"
Do not want to receive: Angst, girly boys, too much fluff, manwhore!Sirius, evil!flobberworm!stupid!Peter, nothing higher than a PG-13 rating, Remus/Tonks or out-of-Hogwarts Marauders, smoking, sex, James/Lily (unless it's James pining after Lily; I just don't want them together yet), horribly disgusting fluff
Am fond of: Funny things that will make me laugh out loud, witty banter, silliness... and that feeling of things being very warm and Christmasy. Boys being boys. All four Marauders interacting (that is, if you want to; I don't mind either way), snow, huddling up by the fireplace
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Nope, although I skipped a year last year.

[muneca-brava.livejournal.com]

I, 10imd, would like to claim peskywhistpaw's prompt 3, "is that supposed to be a snow angel". To do it the formal way ;)
It will be a story, btw.

[woldy]

Name: woldy
Age statement: I am over 18 or over the legal age in my country and I'm fine with any rating
Three wishes:
1. their story featuring the devil (e.g. a devil’s bargain, inspired by the song Sympathy for the Devil , or the devil as a character ala Bulgakov's The Master and the Margarita).

2. “This we were, this is how we tried to love,
And these are the forces they had ranged against us,
And these are the forces we had ranged within us,
Within us and against us, against us and within us.”
Adrienne Rich, from Twenty-One Love Poems

3. Mulled wine & a roaring fire.

Do not want to receive: AU, mpreg or childcare, total fluff, extreme angst, songfic, noncon or dubcon, cheesy or premature declarations of love, religious themes (my prompt about the devil refers to a literary device, & isn't a request for a story about judeo-christian or other religious mythology, so I don't want any references to sin, god, angels, the Bible etc).
Am fond of: bittersweet fics, interestingly flawed characters, sexual tension, realistic relationships, smut, scarves, interactions with the other Marauders and/or the Order, era of the first war, co-habitation in Grimmauld Place.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: No

[rose71.livejournal.com]

[Reposting in proper format]

I, rose71, claim woldy's prompt 2, the Adrienne Rich poem. I also hope to work in the other two prompts, if no one else claims them.

Okay, now I get to say how much I love that poem choice for R/S, and how excited I am to be writing for you, Woldy! Though also intimidated, because I was just blown away by your small gifts fic last year.

[inksheddings.livejournal.com]

Name: inksheddings

Age statement: I am over 18 or over the legal age in my country... like by a lot. *laughs*

Three wishes: 1.) "Well there's not a lot for you to give if you're giving in". Which is from "Fix You Up" by Tegan and Sara, uploaded here (http://www.mediafire.com/?hyhzzxhkxuj).
2.) A Christmas pantomime Sirius and Remus (and perhaps James and Peter) must participate in. Hilarity ensues. (See here for an explanation if you're as unfamiliar as I was with the concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZDaIjaQwAs)
3.) A drunken confession leads to initial misunderstanding.

Do not want to receive: Mpreg, "Remi" or "Siri" type nicknames or overuse of epithets, unhappy endings, AUs, intentional cruelty from either half toward the other, infidelity, death (other than what's canon).

Am fond of: Humor, happyish or bittersweet or hopeful endings, pining that ends up resolved in a GOOD way, any era for setting. If sex is involved (and this is not necessary), I am fond of the more vanilla acts. *blushes*

I am new to Small Gifts this year: No, not entirely, though I didn't participate last year. Um!

Oh! Though I don't know how easy it would be with my particular prompts, art is always welcome, as well as fic. :D

[mysecretashes.livejournal.com]

I, dreamdustmama, claim inksheddings prompt #2.

[rev02a.livejournal.com]

Name: rev02a
Age statement: Will be 25 on the day posting begins
Three wishes: (1) Remus in glasses, (2) some good laughs, (3) hatred for Christmas carols
Do not want to receive: (1) Snape in any form, (2) that coochie-woochie Remi/Siri business, (3) coal
Am fond of: Laughing
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Nope!

[minnow-53.livejournal.com]

Name: minnow_53
Age statement: I’m well over eighteen.
Three wishes:
1. A Christmas-themed comic strip. (Yes, I asked for this last year too. So? *glares*) Failing that again, art for one of my fics would be great.
2. Tongue-tied boys madly in love.
3. Remus and/or Sirius plus a TV talent show, such as X Factor/American Idol, Masterchef/Top Chef, etc.
Do not want to receive: Graphic sex, scarred Remus – scared Remus is fine! – clichés, e.g. puppy dog eyes, whining Sirius.
Am fond of: Pretty boys, magic and non-magic AU, stories with a plot, humour/crack, Hogwarts era.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: No.

[yndigot.livejournal.com]

I, yndigot claim minnow_53's prompt #3. And I'm quite nervous about writing for you because you're amazing, but I'm in love with that prompt. ^_^

[maraudersaffair.livejournal.com]

Name: maraudersaffair
Age statement: "I am over 18 or over the legal age in my country"
Three wishes:

1. The Book Catcher in the Rye as inspiration.

2. The World Is a Beautiful Place by Lawrence Ferlinghetti (http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-world-is-a-beautiful-place/)

3. I'm a Werewolf Baby by The Tragically Hip (http://www.mediafire.com/?5mdkumi2y2i)

Do not want to receive: Super model sexy boys, sexually promiscuous characters, unrealistic situations/personalities, OOCs, character death, overall depressing mood, mpreg, Hogwarts, completely evil characters
Am fond of: James and Lily around, maybe even baby Harry, Right out of Hogwarts with slight angsty confusion over what the characters will do with their lives, denial, suppressed lust, social discrimination, secret romance, pubs, alleyways, cigarettes, drinking, past heterosexual relationships, wandless magic in casual situations as in "lighting a cigarette with a swish of your hand", fighting -- punching jaws and kicks to the groin, OCs that give the fic more realism, giddy with love, fear of love, wizard pop culture, wizardry jobs
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Nope

[zeldadestry.livejournal.com]

I would like to claim #1!

[rhye.livejournal.com]

Name: Jess// planetgal471
Age statement: I am over 18.
Three wishes:
- Good lives are gold. [Eve 6]
- Everybody wants to be proud to choose. [Sonic Youth]
- Nothing was finished. Nothing was ever lost. [Annie Proulx]
Do not want to receive: Especially sad fic.
Am fond of: children, afterlife, coming out, James and Lily, AU, happy families, bestiality, D/s with Dom!Remus, psychologically dark fics, mad (crazy) Sirius
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes

[kingzgurl.livejournal.com]

I, kingzgurl, would like to claim planetgal471's prompt #3.

[glass-icarus.livejournal.com]

Name: glass_icarus
Age statement: Am 23.
Three wishes:
1. night is given(night and death and the rain

are given;and given is how beautifully snow)

2. I stood very still, and looked up,
and tried to be empty of words.

3. sing me the gauze of dusk and salt, nights full of sulfurous foam,
lead me through the narcotic dark to a bed
of coats, your stubbled face grazing my throat,
for I want to feel your eyelids touching my lips when I sleep,
I want to feel the bones of your silence pressing against my own.

Do not want to receive: Tonks not being awesome, infidelity, death by curtain, unrelenting angst, nicknames other than Moony & Padfoot, post-OotP canon.
Am fond of: pining, banter, UST, humor, bittersweet, MWPP-era (including James and Peter), POA, subverting cliches, boys being boys.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Nope!

[starkdependant]

I batmanboxers would like to claim glass_icarus's prompt number two. ♥

[yndigot.livejournal.com]

Name: yndigot
Age statement: I am over 18.
Three wishes:

1. sharing a flat

2. Remus's freckles

3. I had to find you
Tell you I need you
Tell you I've set you apart
Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start
- Coldplay, "The Scientist"

Do not want to receive: Non-canon nicknames, demonized Tonks, excessively stupid Peter
Am fond of: Raising Harry, coming out, first kiss, bisexual Remus, any AU (but canon is lovely too).
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes.

[rhye.livejournal.com]

I am claiming your prompt #1 though #2 may make an appearance.

[dogsunderfoot.livejournal.com]

Name: Diane/ dogsunderfoot
Age statement: I am definitely over 18, 21, and/or all other ages of consent in ANY country. Any rating is fine, but oh, the smuttier, the better!
Three wishes: 1. Half-naked/half-dressed Remus that leads to something more.
2. “Peace on Earth”
3. Christmas shopping
Do not want to receive: mpreg; stupid!Peter; anything angst-y (not for this!); pet names “Siri” or “Remy”
Am fond of: MWPP, pre-Azkaban years; Mischievous Remus, one who can lie and be believed; boy banter; Remus and Lily as friends; Dom!Remus; and I admit I like a wise-cracking, cocky Sirius.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes

[remeciel.livejournal.com]

I would love to claim dogsunderfoot's 1st prompt. :)

[littlewolfstar.livejournal.com]

Name: littlewolfstar
Age statement: Am over 18!
Three wishes:
1- Christmas in the Black-Lupin household (raising Harry), domestic and happy!

2- MWPP - Xmas on a Full Moon

3- MWPP - Building snowman/snowball fight. Bonus if Snape somehow get caught in it. XD

Do not want to receive: Angst, non-con, deathfic, you get the drift.
Am fond of: MWPP dorkage, crack, fluff, humour, cuddling, overlarge sweaters, fireplaces, snow, nuzzling, Lily's eyerolling, THEM BEING HAPPY!
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes!

[mayberry-rose.livejournal.com]

I claim littlewolfstar's prompt 3, maybe with a little bit of 2 thrown in :D

[oneturtlebug.livejournal.com]

Name: oneturtlebug
Age statement: I'm 21, all ratings fine by me.
Three wishes:

1. Silent Night by Lisa Hannigan/Damien Rice. (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Silent-Night-lyrics-Damien-Rice/97C5A4AFDA93DC0948256DA0000B897C)
You can listen to it on youtube (fanvid, not the official video) here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-xjwsJiF3U).

2. You shouldn't look at me like that. Like one of those
saints
on whom the birds once settled freely.
From Custom (http://www.bookofjoe.com/2006/04/custom_by_carl_.html) by Carl Phillips

3. Sirius catches a cold at the worst possible time

Do not want to receive: excessive fluff, OOC, mpreg, stupid/extremely meek Peter, sex without plot
Am fond of: Plot, angst, darkfic, Sirius' mental state post-Azkaban, post-prank (THE prank) tension, Snape, both AU and Canon fics, banter.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: yes

[lorax.livejournal.com]

I, sullensiren, claim oneturtlebug's prompt #3, which an eye for including the rest if it works. :)

[liseuse.livejournal.com]

Name: Hannah // liseuse
Age statement: I am over 18 and will ready any rating happily.
Three wishes:
1.) This image (http://thevagabondset.com/blog/wp-content/img_2242.jpg) and its connotations of raucous music and good times.
2.) This poem (http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15212).
3.) Something to do with this song lyric

When they come for me
I'll be sitting at my desk
with a gun in my hand
wearing a bulletproof vest

Do not want to receive: Anything too fluffy, an overly gentle Remus, something avoidant of social and political circumstances.
Am fond of: Boys being boys, boys swearing, social and political reality, harsh emotions.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Oh no, I am a veteran.

[dear-tiger.livejournal.com]

I, dear_tiger claim liseuse's request #3.

[lotrwariorgodss.livejournal.com]

Name: Megan/lotrwariorgodss
Age statement: I am over 18 and will gladly read/look at any rating.
Three wishes:

- Christmastime before that Halloween - the boys decide a get-away is the best way to repair their floundering relationship.

- A revealing gift exchange

- Falling asleep together on Christmas Eve

Do not want to receive: only angst (some is fine), post-Azkaban era, weak!Remus/total-asshole!Sirius
Am fond of: Hurt/Comfort, baby!Harry, realistic relationships, some melancholy, boys being boyish, Remus-centric, banter between R&S, snogging etc.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Nope – I’m a veteran!

[maraudersaffair.livejournal.com]

I ,maraudersaffair, claims lotrwariorgodss request #1!

[ceredwensirius.livejournal.com]

I, ceredwensirius, claim thedreamisreal's wish #1.

[a_shadow_there.livejournal.com]

Name: a_shadow_there
Age statement: I am over 18 and happy to see/read material of any rating.

Three wishes:
1. Gin in teacups
2. A sprawling, overgrown garden.
3. "Take the night by the hand and set it on fire again" - The Whole World is Our Playground, The Libertines

Do not want to receive: mpreg, raising!Harry, Tonks, chocoholic!Remus, babies/children, buff/muscular!Sirius, stupid!Peter, Snape, James/Lily.

Am fond of: AU, skinny boys, smoking, music, hurt/comfort, hands, things being said by not being said, melancholy, awkwardness, imperfection, kissing.

I am new to Small Gifts this year: Nope.

[i-claudia.livejournal.com]

I, i_claudia, claim a_shadow_there's request #1, which will probably be influenced by #3.

[archduck.livejournal.com]

Name: archduck
Age statement: I am over 18 and happy with all ratings.
Three wishes:
1. Fireside drunkenness
2. Decorating the Christmas tree at James's
3. "Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is. Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids." Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Do not want to receive: Mpreg, mean Sirius or Remus, angst, non-canon nicknames, songfic
Am fond of: sarcastic!Remus, flirting, snogging, humour, silliness, banter, MWPP at Hogwarts
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yep!

[peskywhistpaw.livejournal.com]

I, peskywhistpaw, claim archduck's prompt #3! :DD

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

Name: midnitemaraud_r (Lisa)
Age statement: I'm 42, and yes, it IS the answer to the universe. :-P
Three wishes:
1) Sirius and Remus raising Teddy. (Harry is still Teddy's godfather, and Teddy was Tonks's - no mpreg!!) At Christmas or any time, really.

2) School age era - pranking and wanking. (post-prank exuberance, things happen - planned or unplanned. Or whatever you come up with. I'm easy.)

3) School years or immediately post-Hogwarts - keeping Christmas, hijinks and/or silliness, snow

Do not want to receive: Mpreg, heavy kink, blood, bdsm, angst, uber-soppy declarations of lurve, dark stories, Siri and Remmy (or derivations thereof), chocolate obsessed Remus (he can like it, but, yanno), wimpy Remus (and he likes to fly, dammit!), weepy boys, weeping cocks and "lubricus" spells, 2nd person POV, epithets (names are your friend.)
Am fond of: Happy/hopeful endings, humor, rimming!, voyeurism (especially if it's James or a teenage Teddy) fluff of the not-too sugary kind, boyish boys, dialogue and banter, James (or Harry if 1) playing a role - and Peter, too, during school, astronomy/star stuff, magic (but not "lubricus" spells :-P), creative pranks and trouble-making (up to no good and all), cuddling/snuggling (for intimacy or to keep warm), fires/fireplaces.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: I pinch hit, but shockingly, this is my first time signing up. (Ack!)

**Art is lovely and always welcome!

[gryffindorj.livejournal.com]

Claiming midnitemaraud_r's 1) Sirius and Remus raising Teddy. :)

[ronloveshermy.livejournal.com]

Name: RonlovesHermy
Age statement: "I am over the legal age in my country
Three wishes: Holding hands, Marauders, First kiss
Do not want to receive: Deathfic
Am fond of: Marauder!Era
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes

[mindabbles.livejournal.com]

claimed by kittehat.

[starkdependant]

Name: Sarah/batmanboxers
Age statement: I am twenty-two years of age.
Three wishes: Boys playing dress-up! Costumes!
A SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.
Band!Fic where one of them is devastatingly hot and in a band and the other falls head over heels.
Do not want to receive: Remus/Tonks, mpreg, sickly sappy sweet stuff, none of that Rem/Siri business, crying boys, Remus being a girl, Sirius being a girl, Snape being a douche.
Am fond of: Boys being boys, witty banter, Post-Hogwarts, stuff of a Maraudery nature, cuddling, snow, Christmas, snogging, touching, things of a geeky nature.
I am new to Small Gifts this year:Nope, third year now. ♥

[archduck.livejournal.com]

I would like to claim batmanboxers prompt 3!

[solidbaby.livejournal.com]

Name: Laura/solidbaby
Age statement: Darn it, still under 18. But only by four months! But feel free to push things as far as is appropriate!
Three wishes:
1) Fingerless gloves
2) Christmas in London
3) Christmas pop songs from the 70s. (Think I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday or Merry Xmas Everybody)
Do not want to receive: Post Azkaban fic (i.e. Books 3-5) and excessive angst. Other than that, I'm free and easy.
Am fond of: MWPP and Post-Hogwarts eras, AU of any sort, boys in love, pedantry and snappy banter.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Third year!

[closet-zebra.livejournal.com]

I, closet_zebra claim solidbaby's prompts!!! To do my best with at least!

[such_heights]

Name: such_heights
Age statement: I am over 18 and would prefer nothing over an R rating.
Three wishes: (all types of fanworks equally loved!)
1. a first time (interpret as liberally or traditionally as you like)
2. something that features a specifically Wizarding winter tradition
3. sunrise
Do not want to receive: unhappy endings, unequal relationships, post-OOTP canon.
Am fond of: side James/Lily, Peter being there too, close friendships with secret pining, banter, fluff.
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Here for year number four!

[paulamcg.livejournal.com]

I claim such_heights’s third prompt "sunrise" (and perhaps I’ll get something about the other two prompts in as well).

[i-claudia.livejournal.com]

Name: i_claudia
Age statement: Over 18 and the age of consent in my country.
Three wishes:
1. Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house. (Izumi Shikibu)
2. Midnight snowfall
3. "The times were full of certainties: we could be certain we were right — and we were — and that certainty made us certain that anything we did was right, too. I have seldom been sure I was right since." (A.J. Liebling)
Do not want to receive: sniveling!Peter, Snape, feminine boys, passive Remus, mpreg, infidelity, nicknames other than canon nicknames, Sirius as a total idiot
Am fond of: bittersweet endings, post-Hogwarts/pre-Azkaban era, struggling against the forces pulling them apart, kissing, books, mugs of tea, soft touches when words fail, tension, finding the beauty in small things
I am new to Small Gifts this year: Yes! \o/

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

I, cindergal, claim i_claudia's prompt #2.

[moonlitelupines.livejournal.com]

Name: Amanda // moonlitelupines
Age statement: I am 21 and enjoy all ratings!
Three wishes:
1. Snowflakes!

2. Anything inspired by "Winter Song" by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. Found here! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUO0gd7cr9o)

3. Harry's First Christmas!

Do not want to receive: deathfic, or anything super sad/angst-y; overly vilified Peter
Am fond of: Cute boys kissing! Basically anything that is sickeningly sweet; bring on the fluff!
I am new to Small Gifts this year: YES!

[mezzopianoforte.livejournal.com]

I, mezzopianoforte, would like to claim moonlitelupines's #2, please! Maybe with a side helping of #1!

Edited to add a level of formality ^-^ And to say how excited I am about this!