magnetic_pole

01. The first character I fell in love with: Above and beyond Harry, Hermione, and Ron? (Because I don't think I would have kept reading, had I not liked them enough to engage.) I hardly even remember. Gilderoy Lockhart? I hadn't read the books before seeing the first movie, and so I read the first four all at once, and at some point during the second or third I cottoned onto the idea that, with each book, the DADA teacher was going to be the character to watch. Lockhart made me laugh. (I know I'm the queen of angst around these parts, but I really did get into the series for the humor.)
02. The character I never expected to love as much as I do now: Severus Snape. As I was saying to r_grayjoy earlier today, I was convinced that after six books of negative characterization, I was convinced he was going to be redeemed in the last...and then we got DH. (To be fair, I suppose that's what JKR thought she was doing, but what a mess.) In the end, though, I came to love him as a character all the more because I feel as if he's not fully complete unless we rewrite his story.
03. The character (most) everyone else loves that I don't: Er. *shifty eyes* Fanon Sirius Black. In my mind he's always been much more like Snape--frustrated, fundamentally uncomfortable with himself, and something of a loner, even as a teen--than James.
04. The character I love that everyone else hates: Hmm...there are a number of characters with fascinating stories who ought to get more attention: Umbridge, for example, or Slughorn, or Dobby.
05. The character I used to love but don't any longer: Gah, what to say about Tonks and Remus? Would they have remained happily queer, quirky, and uninvolved!
06. The character I would shag anytime: None, really. I this why I don't write pr0n?
07. The character I want to be like:
08. The character I'd slap: Draco has never been a favorite.
09. A pairing that I love: Ah, we all know about me and Remus/Sirius. What else? Fleur/Tonks hits a chord with me (all kinds of issues with femininity and heteronormativity there), as do Hermione/Luna and McGonagall/Augusta Longbottom (how do you even going about trying to match up Hermione and McGonagall with women complex enough to take them on?); I'm also fond of queer!friends pairings like Tonks & Charlie, Remus & Sirius, and Remus & Severus and parent and child pairings like Eileen and Severus and Molly and almost any of her children
10. Two pairings that I hate: Certain scenarios irk me, but I'll read almost anything, given a good set of themes and powerful characterizations. Hm. That said, Sirius/James is painful enough to put me off, sometimes. (Come on, you know that one ended in disaster.)
11. Favourite character: You don't really expect me to pick just one, do you? The whole point of HP is the variety. This is why no other fandom has ever measured up!
12. My six favourite characters: Not the characters I'd like to get coffee with, necessarily, but the ones that keep me thinking: Eileen Prince, Neville Longbottom, Umbridge, Slughorn, Lily Evans (who did not get the backstory she deserved), and Kreacher
13. My five least favourite characters: Romanticized Malfoys. I love investigating the Death Eaters as much as the next person, but you have to take the unsavory parts seriously.
14. Which character I am most like: Sadly, Remus, with his tendency to repress his problems so much he creates others; Hermione, with her stubborn love of being knowing things and being right; Dumbledore, with his sentimentality; Neville, with his awkwardness...and, Remus again, with his positive self-image. *smile*
15. My deep, dark fandom secret: To paraphrase schemingreader, folks, I've probably posted fifty stories here over the past few years, and commented on a thousand! You know everything!

So the master list went up at rs_small_gifts this evening, which means we're closing the books on the fourth annual year-end R/S exchange.

( Some thoughts on small gifts under the cut, including an R/S drabble by the better half (!) )

I wrote two fics this year, both about the act of storytelling:

Title: The Devil You Know
Characters: Remus/Sirius, Sirius/Snape
Rating: R for sexual situations
Warnings: *Underage sex, angst*
Word Count: 5100
Summary: As the old saying goes, better the devil you know than the one you don't.
There are many, many things I hate about my parents' house, but the view from the roof is not one of them.
*
Title: After Life
Characters: Remus/Sirius
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3200
Summary: It might all be true here.
After two years behind the veil--two frustrating years of waiting and watching and worry--death is a delicious release.
*
And I was lucky enough to receive a fic about about the political awakening of two twenty-somethings, with the winning extra of a savvy, activist Marlene McKinnon in stomping boots: Crossroads by nurturing_roads (Remus/Sirius, PG, 3800 words).

Title: Like Water on the Moon
Characters: Alice Carrow (later Longbottom)/Amelia Bones
Word count: 600
Notes: End-of-the-week fluff for paulamcg, who wanted Alice, Amelia, flowery curtains, and hand-holding.

( In her mind's eye, Moody's leg is right again, and he walks up the path with a bunch of flowers under his arm and a spring in his step. )

Title: Ex Libris
Characters: Eileen Prince, Severus Snape
Rating: PG
Word count: 1200
Summary: The summer he is sixteen, Eileen Prince says good-bye to her son.
Notes: For bethbethbeth, whose birthday (and birthday extravaganza over at polarbabe09) I missed almost a month ago. Happy belated birthday, Beth!

( Curious how you were united against the world when his father was still here, how he's slipping away from you now that you're alone. )

Both the Half-Blood Prince movie and the HBP Challenge are open!

Head over here to leave a prompt at the challenge. (And no, you don't have to commit to writing/drawing/etc. at this point--everyone's welcome to leave a prompt.)

Introductory post over here if you'd like to find out more about the comm.

This is a shot in the dark, folks, but I've never been in an anonymous fest before, and I've always wanted to do this: the master list at hp_beholder went up today--anyone want to guess which story I wrote? A ficlet to anyone who guesses correctly! Comments screened.

Drop by and read before the authors are revealed on Saturday! The stories in this fest are wonderful--you won't be disappointed.

Crossposting from DW: This thing on? Testing, testing...

Happy May Day, folks! We're not out in the numbers we were in 2006, but the message is still the same: No human being is illegal. This may be the year we see some progress. It can be done!