Snowflake challenge: 5, 6

[antuhsa]

Challenge 5: Interact with someone new

I've interacted with a few people in my fandom who were new to me, and joined a new Discord server. However, I feel like this challenge is a work in progress throughout the whole Snowflake challenge, so while I did the challenge, I'm not done with it yet.

Challenge 6: Make a list of things you wish existed in your fandom

It took me a while to think of something, because I'm actually quite happy with what's already there. The HP fandom is so big, and my favourite ship (Harry/Snape) is one of the most popular pairings in it, so I don't feel as if I truly miss anything. I can still think of a few things I'd like to see more of, however.

- More fannish arts and crafts, and I'd especially like to see more comics. I've only come across a few fancomics over the years, but I loved all of them, so definitely wouldn't mind seeing more!
- More rec lists! It seems as if long, detailed rec lists are a thing of the past, but I found them very helpful and used them extensively when I was new to my ship. I still use the old rec lists, but they only have older fics in them. Those older fics are still great, honestly, but I'd love to see rec lists with more recent fics too. 
- More fics that show why Snape/Harry absolutely wouldn't work, ever. It is a bit of a ridiculous ship after all, one that would never happen in canon, and I love it when writers acknowledge that. I've read a few fics in which Snape and Harry tried to make a relationship work, but had to break up because they discovered they weren't that compatible after all, or because Snape's feelings for Lilly got in the way, and I've devoured every single one of them. I can understand why it's a niche, because neither people who ship Snarry nor people who don't would be excited to write fics like that, but I still wish there were more. 

Comments

[muccamukk]

I also miss rec lists. A few people on my reading list do them, but not often in fandoms I read. Yuletide's good for that, at least, and some people have been doing Reccing Friday as a weekly meme.

[luthien]

I love that Snape/Harry is still popular. I was one of the first half-dozen or so people to write it, and I remember when it really took off, around the beginning of 2002. It's a long time since I was involved in HP fandom, but I wish you luck in getting more of those things on your list!

[paulamcg]

I’m glad to find one more active HP writer, and eager to add you if you don’t mind! Myself I write almost exclusively about the Marauders, but I’ve often thought that Snape is probably the most fascinating character in canon.

I also wish there were more reccing of HP fic. Perhaps a DW community for that could be founded? And I find it exciting what you say about it-doesn’t-work Snarry. (Before my hiatus, in 2003 – 2010, when a big part of my fanfic was post-OotP and lost-years Remus/Sirius, I often felt it was a niche which neither Wolfstar people nor those who didn’t like Wolfstar could easily choose to read.)

[malenkayacherepakha]

More recs is definitely going to be on my list too, and reccing more myself is one of my main fandom goals this year. The long rec lists are so helpful to find both new and old fics, they can be a lot easier to navigate than browsing through AO3 hoping to find something.

[lee_bella]

"More fics that show why Snape/Harry absolutely wouldn't work, ever. It is a bit of a ridiculous ship after all, one that would never happen in canon..."

I get what you mean. I've only ever written one Snape/Harry fic because I have no idea how to make the pairing work. Here's my fic if you are interested. It's quite bittersweet, and I know not many people like sad stories. (Sorry about the shameless self-promotion.)

[williamsnickers]

You're onto something with Snarry that ultimately doesn't work out. While I don't have any fics like that, I have to say that rec lists are still around, in a way... They've just transformed into individual recs dispersed here and there (following fandom itself). Comms like one-bad-man and platforms like Reddit and Tumblr have a bunch of recs, only they aren't as long and organised as old school rec lists. I think if you and I, for example, went back and streamlined our blurbs, we could easily build rec lists for fic we've enjoyed.