Hoggywarty, and on my participation to fandom
So. As usual, I've been postponing this entry for the last few days. This post will be mainly about fests and fandom.
1. First of all, I managed to read and comment all entries in the sshg_giftfest (w00t to me!). The reveals have been out since January 1st, so I can now publicly thank lenaa1987 for her gift, Definition. It's the first time I was gifted with a Voldemort wins/dystopian tale, and I cherished every single word. Thank you so much.
I can also now publicly share that my own contribution (in case somebody missed it) was Pascentia's Passion (warning! NSFW!!!), drawn for mundungus42. I'm glad you liked it, Mundungus.
In addition to the fics I already recced in my last post, I wanted to add the beautiful Riddles in the Pub by the outstanding delphipsmith, a very nerdy tale of how Snape and Granger bond over Tolkien. It's a gem.
2. hoggywartyxmas too came to an end, however the reveals will be only on Monday (Snape's birthday), so all entries are still anonymous. In no particular order (apart from the last three I'll mention), my favourite entries were:
Love Hides in Familiar Faces (McGo's, Slughorn's, Filius' and Snape's familiars give them comfort on Christmas);
Seasons of Love (Pomona/Aberforth), a pairing that I'd never considered but worked beautifully, and was written in a beautiful style;
Friends, Teachers, Countrymen (seventh year Headmaster Snape still tries to give gifts to his colleagues. Sniff.)
The War of Snape's Nose (As the title says. Simply hilarious. Bwahaha.)
1945 (Slughorn realises something about Grindelwald before Dumbledore does.)
My very favourite entries were:
Reawakening (the Hogwarts staff and students bring Snape some gifts while he's in a coma after the Battle of Hogwarts. With just a hint of SS/HG if you choose to read it so. Gorgeous.)
Great Balls of Snow (a masterful comic about a snow battle. Really, I have no words to describe how awesome that is. It just features my new favourite Snape portrayal:)
And of course my gift, Reparation, written in first person by a deliciously wry Minerva. Thank you!
3. snapecase has started, however I haven't contributed to it. The reason is very simple: by the time Snapecase starts, I have already been reading HP fics for one month (SS/HG gift fest and then HoggywartyXmas) and I cannot go on reading fics for a new whole month. Whenever I've tried following fests in January, either I've failed after the first few entries or I've managed with great difficulty.
This is a topic I've reflected about quite a bit in the last weeks. The December fests have brought me back to lj after a long absence (one year), and I've been both happy and surprised to see the HP fandom still so alive, certainly thanks to the new original material (The Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, the Pottermore stories). Fests still go on and people still write a lot about HP. I could actually read fics for the whole year; there are so many new contributions, and so many past fics - some classics in the genre - that I still haven't read. I could read nothing else for a whole year - and maybe a few years. And I've actually done that in the past; in year 2010-11, while I was writing A Summer in York, I read almost exclusively SS/HG fics.
But I cannot go on like that. Not that I don't like fics; but I also want to read other books, other stories, and my reading time is quite limited nowadays. I read at breakfast and then for a while before going to bed, and then on the occasional commute in town (I don't have to take the bus every day, now.) Long gone are the days in which I quickly read very long books (with notable exceptions.) In all truth, I've never been a very quick reader.
After podcasts, I have discovered audiobooks, and now I can proudly say to be able to follow audiobooks in English provided that the narrator's accent is very clear. I joined Audible and I'm currently listening to a long accoung of the Grear War (I love listening to podcasts/books about history, and wars in the specific.)
Fics are excellent and HP will aways be part of me, but if I have to look at myself honestly, I would have to conclude that I care about HP (SS/HG) fics and community much more than I care for the original books. I mean, I can't even remember when it was the last time I opened one of the books in the series. HP is not comfort read for me and I don't think that will improve with age. On the other hand, there are some SS/HG fics that are definitely comfort reads for me, and I re-read them every year.
As it usually happens with artistic products, if you follow them you also want to be part of their community/produce them yourself. When I read romances, I think I want to write romances. When I go to some metal concert, then I lurk on metal forums reading people's opinions. And when I go back to lj, and see all the HP fandom still around, some part of me want to participate. But another part of me pushes me toward new territories, asks me to read new book, not to be lulled by the same safe storyline.
This is why, apart from other considerations (I don't have much free time), I still don't know if I'll participate to the Happy Snape Week. But it's not a reason why you shouldn't participate.
And as usual, even if I'm not on lj, I'm daily on the internet. You can find me on facebook or drop me a message here anytime you wish (and I could go on discussing HP despite what I wrote above ^^)
1. First of all, I managed to read and comment all entries in the sshg_giftfest (w00t to me!). The reveals have been out since January 1st, so I can now publicly thank lenaa1987 for her gift, Definition. It's the first time I was gifted with a Voldemort wins/dystopian tale, and I cherished every single word. Thank you so much.
I can also now publicly share that my own contribution (in case somebody missed it) was Pascentia's Passion (warning! NSFW!!!), drawn for mundungus42. I'm glad you liked it, Mundungus.
In addition to the fics I already recced in my last post, I wanted to add the beautiful Riddles in the Pub by the outstanding delphipsmith, a very nerdy tale of how Snape and Granger bond over Tolkien. It's a gem.
2. hoggywartyxmas too came to an end, however the reveals will be only on Monday (Snape's birthday), so all entries are still anonymous. In no particular order (apart from the last three I'll mention), my favourite entries were:
Love Hides in Familiar Faces (McGo's, Slughorn's, Filius' and Snape's familiars give them comfort on Christmas);
Seasons of Love (Pomona/Aberforth), a pairing that I'd never considered but worked beautifully, and was written in a beautiful style;
Friends, Teachers, Countrymen (seventh year Headmaster Snape still tries to give gifts to his colleagues. Sniff.)
The War of Snape's Nose (As the title says. Simply hilarious. Bwahaha.)
1945 (Slughorn realises something about Grindelwald before Dumbledore does.)
My very favourite entries were:
Reawakening (the Hogwarts staff and students bring Snape some gifts while he's in a coma after the Battle of Hogwarts. With just a hint of SS/HG if you choose to read it so. Gorgeous.)
Great Balls of Snow (a masterful comic about a snow battle. Really, I have no words to describe how awesome that is. It just features my new favourite Snape portrayal:)
And of course my gift, Reparation, written in first person by a deliciously wry Minerva. Thank you!
3. snapecase has started, however I haven't contributed to it. The reason is very simple: by the time Snapecase starts, I have already been reading HP fics for one month (SS/HG gift fest and then HoggywartyXmas) and I cannot go on reading fics for a new whole month. Whenever I've tried following fests in January, either I've failed after the first few entries or I've managed with great difficulty.
This is a topic I've reflected about quite a bit in the last weeks. The December fests have brought me back to lj after a long absence (one year), and I've been both happy and surprised to see the HP fandom still so alive, certainly thanks to the new original material (The Cursed Child, Fantastic Beasts, the Pottermore stories). Fests still go on and people still write a lot about HP. I could actually read fics for the whole year; there are so many new contributions, and so many past fics - some classics in the genre - that I still haven't read. I could read nothing else for a whole year - and maybe a few years. And I've actually done that in the past; in year 2010-11, while I was writing A Summer in York, I read almost exclusively SS/HG fics.
But I cannot go on like that. Not that I don't like fics; but I also want to read other books, other stories, and my reading time is quite limited nowadays. I read at breakfast and then for a while before going to bed, and then on the occasional commute in town (I don't have to take the bus every day, now.) Long gone are the days in which I quickly read very long books (with notable exceptions.) In all truth, I've never been a very quick reader.
After podcasts, I have discovered audiobooks, and now I can proudly say to be able to follow audiobooks in English provided that the narrator's accent is very clear. I joined Audible and I'm currently listening to a long accoung of the Grear War (I love listening to podcasts/books about history, and wars in the specific.)
Fics are excellent and HP will aways be part of me, but if I have to look at myself honestly, I would have to conclude that I care about HP (SS/HG) fics and community much more than I care for the original books. I mean, I can't even remember when it was the last time I opened one of the books in the series. HP is not comfort read for me and I don't think that will improve with age. On the other hand, there are some SS/HG fics that are definitely comfort reads for me, and I re-read them every year.
As it usually happens with artistic products, if you follow them you also want to be part of their community/produce them yourself. When I read romances, I think I want to write romances. When I go to some metal concert, then I lurk on metal forums reading people's opinions. And when I go back to lj, and see all the HP fandom still around, some part of me want to participate. But another part of me pushes me toward new territories, asks me to read new book, not to be lulled by the same safe storyline.
This is why, apart from other considerations (I don't have much free time), I still don't know if I'll participate to the Happy Snape Week. But it's not a reason why you shouldn't participate.
And as usual, even if I'm not on lj, I'm daily on the internet. You can find me on facebook or drop me a message here anytime you wish (and I could go on discussing HP despite what I wrote above ^^)