Thon thoughts

[alisanne]

Now that the Snarry a Thon has concluded I have a few thoughts on that fest and fests in general. As always, this is just my opinion, it may not make any sense to anyone else.


First off, I am always torn between exchanges vs prompt based fests.

I have a slight bias towards prompt based fests and here's why.
Prompt based fests allow the creators to work with whatever their muse gives them, and I often find that to be more inspiring than having to try to guess what a recipient would like. At times, though, the prompt that you thought would be so easy to write inexplicably loses its luster and then you are in trouble. :/

The thing I like about exchanges is that you're focused on one person and it's a gift. There is something fun about taking someone else's vision and seeing what you can do with it! Plus, gift giving always makes me feel good. The downside? If you don't get a compatible match, you're in serious trouble.

I've only had one fest that I had to contact the mods to ask for a reassignment, and it was within 6 hours of the assignments being sent out, so the mods accommodated me pretty easily. BTW, I have the utmost respect for the mods of exchanges because I know I couldn't do that job.

That hasn't stopped me from participating in exchanges, though. :)

Of course, since I do a pretty thorough stalking job on anyone I get matched with in a fest, I like to think I have a pretty good idea of what my recip wants by the time I'm done with my investigation, although some people are heavily Flocked and do not cooperate. LOL. Still, I don't usually have too much trouble creating a gift for someone else, unless they really haven't left any clues, in which case they take what they can get. It is a bit more nerve-wracking, though. There is always that moment when your fic posts before the recip comments where you're on the edge of your seat going, "Oh God, what if they hate it?"

BTW, while I'm on the topic, I highly recommend that everyone who participates in fests should create a post in which they state specifically what they like in fic/art. It really makes the stalking so much easier. :)

Anyway, on to the specifics of the Thon, which as you know, was prompt based.

I always love this fest because, well, it ALL SNARRY ALL THE TIME, and because the mods are so accommodating and lovely. They make it all look so smooth that the rest of us have no idea what they are dealing with behind thee scenes. ;)

This year the posting schedule was a bit...overwhelming, although, while I don't know about you all, I readily adjusted to having five new Snarry things to look at/read every day. It's been a bit of a let down to scan my Flist lately and NOT have Snarry in every corner. *sigh*

I also love that two people can take the same prompt and each do something totally different with it. Prompts that I think will result in cracky fic/art end up producing serious stories and vice versa, which I think is fab.

The Thon also, IMO, conclusively showed that Snarry is nowhere near dead, despite doom and gloom predictions I've seen bantered about for, well, years. We may be considered a rarepair in certain places but I think the Thon proved that we're still here (and queer *g*) and are going nowhere. :)

So I suppose this is just my long-winded way of saying bravo to accioslash and torino10154 for the fabulous work they did with this year's fest and for all that they do to keep the Snarry ship afloat. *glomps them*

While I'm babbling I'll also say that I was pretty pleased with the fics I produced for this year's fest although, oddly, I seem to be developing a penchant for writing PIs in the wizarding world. *eyes torino10154 suspiciously*
Also, have I mentioned how the Snarry a Thon prompt list serves as a bit of repository for bunnies for me? *G* So many prompts, so little time...



And that's it.
Bottom line? Yay, Snarry a Thon mods, yay, Snarry artists and writers, yay, Snarry!