Little Information

Comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before or introduce yourself to someone you've interacted with and friend/follow them.

Done! No idea why this felt so much more intimidating to me than other challenges, but it did.

In your own space, promote three communities, challenges, blogs, pages, Twitters, Tumblrs or platforms and explain why you love them.

1) Forever and always - snape_potter. I loved this comm before I became one of the mods there because Snape/Harry is my OTP and I love the concept of "one stop shopping." I love the idea that I can go to one place and find so much variety for the one pairing I always read - long fic, drabbles, one-shots and wips, fluffy fic, dark fic, and everything-in-between fic. The comm hosts three fests per year - Snarry-a-Thon, a themed fall fest, and a December holiday exchange as well as challenges when things get too quiet and the occasional discussion and friending meme. But everyone is welcome and encouraged to post or link to all Snape/Harry fic posted anywhere for members to find.

2) bakebakebake. I am always looking for new recipes and food or cooking blogs. I do one giant baking project a year, but I love to see what everyone else is doing year-round as well as the new "it" ingredient, alterations to old favorites that accommodate special dietary needs, and tips to help pinpoint problems with techniques and equipment.

3) This isn't just one comm, but more a type of comm - fandom-specific kink memes! There is typically one to be found for every fandom, though sometimes you have to do quite a bit of searching to find it. Depending on the fandom, some are more like prompt memes rather than places to leave kinks you would like to see written in fic, but these are spaces where people drop off prompts - usually anonymously - and hope someone might be interested in writing or drawing for it. Good times and a way to practice writing and to challenge yourself. Fills can be long or short and authors often de-anon and repost, though some (like me) never do. Very low stress and a good place to try new things or to write and post things you'd prefer not to under your own account.

Title: To 2014
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating: PG

“2013 was a shite year,” Harry announced as he emerged from the heavily warded Floo into the living room at Spinner's End. He didn't wait for an invitation before pushing books and papers out of the way and sitting down heavily in a worn chair next to Severus.

“Indeed,” Snape agreed. He looked pointedly at Harry's trainers - currently propped on a stack of old Potions Monthly - raised an eyebrow and added, “Make yourself at home, Potter. Ah, nevermind, I see you already have.”

Harry smiled but didn't move his feet.

They were both silent for a few minutes until Harry asked suddenly, “You mind if I stay at yours tonight?”

Snape didn't seem inclined to answer immediately and instead busied himself refilling his own glass and pouring another for Harry. Harry wasn't certain, but it appeared to be the good stuff.

"I've heard it said,” Snape began, "that whomever you’re with at the start of the New Year, will become the most important person in your life for the year to come.”

The clock on the mantel began to chime the hour. It was midnight. Harry’s gaze was steady as he lifted his glass. "To 2014, then," Harry said at last, and drank.

Banner art by sealcat

We are still taking prompts for the prompt portion of Secret Snarry Swap, the Honeydukes Sampler, at snape_potter, though time is ticking! Anyone can leave up to three prompts--there is no commitment to write/create though of course we always want more people to join us. This is great for all the watchers out there as well as our loyal regular participants. And these bite-sized entries might just be the perfect spot to dip your toes into Snarry waters or be the perfect break in between other holiday commitments.

If you'd like to leave a simple prompt, check out the posts on LJ, IJ, and DW. Click on the banner for timelines, rules, and FAQs or feel free to ask me here.

Reveals have just gone up for the First Time for Everything Fest so I can claim my own entry. It's sweet and porny fic this time:

•The Lovers' Tale, NC-17, 2,700 words
DW||LJ||IJ

In other news, rl responsibilities are eating most of my time, so with the exception of modding and a quick glance at my flists, I'm not really around and don't expect to be until the beginning of the new year. Looking forward to the return of American Horror Story which should be tonight (I've mentally had the premiere date wrong twice already. Google? What is that? ;D). Loved the first season, was pretty meh about the second (the aliens? They just never made that part work), but am hopeful for the third, especially since Kathy Bates has joined the cast of my favorite regulars for this one.

One of the things I think about a great deal in terms of the changing face of fandom is how much more visible it is to outsiders/the general public today. Although I have no illusions that actors and show producers were ever ignorant of the existence of fandom or slash, there is a far thinner barrier between TPTB and the ordinary fan today. Actors and show runners have direct contact with fans not just through fan letters and cons, but through social media like Twitter and tumblr and other blog sites.

I've seen petitions from fans regarding future casting decisions, petitions to make certain pairings canon, messages to show writers and producers about the future direction a show needs to take, and although people have been approaching actors with explicit pairing fanart and fan fic of them and a preferred character for quite some time now, it seems to be happening with increasing frequency from professional journalists in mainstream interviews.

Is this just another product of new technology, where access is greater and more immediate, but really no different from before? Or have things changed and does anyone think there are points where things may have gone too far?

I have my own thoughts about these things, but I'm curious to hear what others think.

Although I'd been on the fringes of fandom for years, I really became active in 1981. I've had periods of greater and lesser involvement, but once I was involved in fandom, I never felt like there was a time when I was entirely outside of it. I've posted about my experiences with old school fandom and 'zine editing before, but that's not what I was thinking about today. Though I don't mind discussing it.

Mostly today I was thinking about how different fandom is now than when I first found it. When I first found slash fandom, there was no internet to Google "Snape" and accidentally find references to gay people at Hogwarts (on page one) and links to tumblr, several fandom archives and slash fic. You had to know someone who knew someone who had a cousin who maybe heard a rumor about slash 'zines and how to get them. Which basically amounted to Ravenclaw's riddle to Harry about where to find Ravenclaw's lost diadem in Deathly Hallows Part 2 - "If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask.” Ah, if only Harry needed to know how to find slash fic at a con in the 1980's. I would be sooooo there for him. ;D

Maybe if I had grown up somewhere other than Smalltown, OH, USA I would have found slash even earlier because I knew it existed ~somewhere from the time I was 11. And that I just so happened to find someone who could hook me up with this wonderful world of slash fandom is something I pretty much consider a miracle.

And I think it was that feeling of finally, finally knowing the virtual secret handshake that was the key to all things slash, that feeling of being part of a very different subset of fandom, that instant connection to others because we weren't just fans, we were slash fans, not better, not more, but a different sort of fan. That, I miss a great deal.

Anyway, if I'm honest, as much as I liked the ~good old days, frankly, now is just better in so many ways. And I still feel a connection to other fans who create fanworks whether they are slash fans or not. I know everyone goes through phases where they feel nostalgic, and I'm not immune. And I figure you guys aren't either. Even if you've only been in fandom a very short time, I'm sure there are things you miss about they way things used to be because fandom seems to change at speeds I never could have imagined back in the late 1970's. Do you miss Usenet? Yahoo Groups? The old Detention archives? Needing an invite code for... Live Journal? Lady Kardasi's Realm or Dusk to Dawn? I'd love to hear about it.

Sign-ups began today for the exchange portion of the Secret Snarry Swap at snape_potter on LJ||IJ||DW||, [/PSA ;D] and we asked people to leave three prompts to help their author or artist create something for them. So that got me thinking about fest prompts in general.

When I leave a prompt, I want people to read it and want to fill it. So, as a writer or artist, what types of things in a prompt turn you off? What kinds of things make you pass up one prompt but consider another? I realize everyone is turned off (and on) by different things. But if you could help someone write a prompt that would increase its chances of being chosen, what guidelines would you suggest?

Banner art by sealcat

Sign-ups will begin Monday, Aug 26 for the exchange portion of Secret Snarry Swap (the Honeydukes Deluxe).

You can find a detailed description of how the fest works - including the sign-up template - timelines, rules, and FAQs at snape_potter on LJ, IJ, or DW.

We hope you'll join us!

One of the things I like about AO3 (and a few other sites) is the ability to leave kudos/likes either in addition to or instead of comments since I think it's a good way for people with limited time/social anxiety/people reading on portable devices like phones or I-Pads to still leave their appreciation. I may also ask this directly on snape_potter since this is not quite a theoretical question, but as a reader and as a creator, how would you feel about an option to leave something like a kudos/like (perhaps a poll with one option - kudos) on fest entries? And do you want to see hit counts on entries? I run across people all the time who tell me they assume no one reads at LJ(IJ/DW) based on the comment counts. But I can assure you, people are indeed opening those links.

Also, for those of you who use kudos, how do you decide when to kudos? And if you leave a kudos, does that mean you won't leave a comment?