paulamcg

The list of what I wrote in 2022 is long, because almost all the works are short. Unlike in 2021, there are a lot of little fics about the young Marauders, but I'm happy to see that I've somehow covered all the eras that are important in my Remus's story, and written some surprising characters and new peculiar pairings, too .

This time, too, I'm listing the fics (as well as possible) in the order of the events in my characters' world.

EDITED in mid-January to add my Hoggywarty fic, Hiding the Truth.

Secret Records (Remus/Sirius, G, 200 words)
Remus has started to doubt that Animagi could deal with the kind of horrid monster he is.

Was There Love Involved? (Remus/Sirius, G, 716 words)
After February's full moon in the Marauders' fifth year at Hogwarts, Remus was told that the first one among his friends had succeeded in transforming.

( (Most of the stories set in the 1970s and 1980s are Wolfstar moments, but there's also a fic about Lily & Petunia, and a Minerva/Poppy fic with an elf's POV) )

( (1990s: various characters in addition to PoA-era Remus and post-Azkaban Sirius) )

( (After 2000: Luna's loves) )

I'm glad I dared take part in July 2022 Swap on concrit_x. I knew I'd need to give concrit to two writers with whom I'd have no fandom in common, but I managed to choose something where the canon was far from unfamiliar.

I'd loved A Little Princess decades ago, and the story must have somehow stayed with me, and this was an opportunity to reread it. And around five years ago, reading Sapkowski's novels and playing Witcher The Wild Hunt were one of the main sources of joy for me.

Now I completed my two concrit assignments by writing about a delightful, charmingly era-appropriate Sara/Becky fic, A Propitious Season of Living by regshoe, and about a challenging, fascinating story with an OC protagonist who convincingly belongs to Sapkowski's fantasy world, Such Things as False Truths and Honest Lies by farla.

And I've got concrit on two of my Remus fics: Was There Love Involved and The Angel of Charity, or This Awfully Long Month! No harsh criticism, just some suggestions for improvements. And, above all...

Well, the former comment, on a recent 700-word piece (written as an exercise at a punctuation workshop) means a lot in particular because of the praise for characterisation – and because it urges me to consider posting my “pièce de résistance ” – the long post-OotP story Remus Lupin and the Revolt of the Creatures – on AO3.

The latter piece of concrit is the first ever comment on The Angel of Charity. In spring 2019, soon after returning from my hiatus and before finding any contacts, I spent a full month working on this fic, and it's probably the story I've been more fond of than any other. It's a dream come true that this story has finally been received and appreciated. The feedback is amazing and makes me, too, understand better what managed to say in the story. I can simply revel in this consummation – or get eager to seriously self-rec this...

poignant, ultimately hopeful study of the subtler effects of poverty and discrimination … [in which I've] done a fabulous job grounding Remus' story in its historical era and intertwining the Muggle society of the time, the mainstream wizard society, and the part-human underground to create a rich, multilayered world.

Now (while I've been composing this post) that latter concritter has surprised me by reading chapter one of Revolt on LJ.

All this... when throughout another July I've felt almost totally incapable of writing and sharing new fics, let alone any that would be both hopeful and meaningful.

( This is where I've been and what I've been up to. )

This is the new, humble chaptered fic:

Is It True He's Mad? (here on AO3)

Summary: As if someone had lit a fire ... and the Dementors couldn't destroy it.

So far it's 15 chapters and only 750 words, rated G, and gen (Wolfstar only subtly).

This year I've shared 28 stories, two tiny poems and seven pictures. (Four of these works have so far been shared only anonymously or only with a mod.)

All through the year I've felt that I've written less than before, and I've resorted to dabbling in fanart a bit more often than in 2020 (when I posted three pictures.) I'm surprised to see that the number of new fics is almost exactly the same as last year. (However, last year I counted eight Neville drabbles as one fic, but this year I regard each of the shortest fics, too, as a separate story – as separate as any piece of my work can be.) This year's wordcount is only around 63 400. That's over 10K words fewer than last year and not much more than half of what I wrote in 2019.

Having arranged these pieces here in the order of the events in my first-five-HP-books-consistent universe, I'm surprised to see that in 2021 I almost completely avoided writing stories set before 1981. There's only one proper pre-Azkaban Sirius/Remus fic (Doing Better) in this list, while in 2019 almost all my stories were about the young Marauders.

EDITED in January 2022 to add two pieces of fic and one piece of fanart from fests: Uplifting Magic and Becoming What He Chooses, and Sweet, Warm Love .

EDITED (only) in January 2023 to add what I forgot I'd included in the word count: Too Old for Playing.


( There is some variety in the works listed under the cut, and I promise Remus has not always managed to sneak in. )

I haven't tried to plan any responses before seeing the description of each prompt at the Sunshine Challenge. Now I'm happy to realise that the fifth prompt, Pan gives me another chance to post about Remus Lupin and the Revolt of the Creatures.

I proudly present some original characters who are fauns! Yes, back in 2004, a few months after starting to share fanfic as WiP on a small Harry Potter forum, I (didn't know much about how other people wrote fanfic and) was proud to be creative enough to develop a lot of original characters, some of them part-human and non-human creatures, as well as original settings, also hidden areas inhabited by magical creatures beyond real places in Britain. I let my post-OotP Remus interact with goblins, half-goblins, half-giants, a half-veela, elves, hags etc. Even fauns and a half-faun! (And in some chapters, there are a lot of scenes where the only other canon character is Hedwig or Mundungus Fletcher).

Why not? I found it only natural to add fauns to the motley crowd of creatures from mythology and folklore that had been shown to us in the HP books by that time. My fauns were certainly not the first ones in stories written in English and set in the English landscape. I wonder if any other fauns have been spotted in this fandom, though.

The first excerpt is from a scene in which a theatre troupe takes Remus unawares by offering to join in his rebellion and asking him to join them in their performances. Here I introduce my least minor faun character, Peck, and his partner, half-faun Tumble.

The other two excerpts are from the chapter following the scene I shared for prompt three, the scene set in the werewolf village.

( a faun climbed onto the table )

Day 8: Crack!fic - We all know it. What's your opinion of it, and if you want, show us an example.

Oh, I love surprising twists in fic. And when close to the opening there's something crazy and innovative, like a canon concept given a new, ridiculous interpretation (or a mundane concept given a fantastic – in HP, magical – equivalent), it can be an exhilarating reading experience when the characters seem real and the writer helps me suspend my disbelief despite all ludicrous details and events.

Here I've now had in mind particularly To All a Good Night by DelphiPsmith. It's got at least some crack elements in it. Crack is perhaps a rather rare genre, and writing good crack fic is probably hard. When I've tried to do something crazy and humorous, I've ended up with sad or bittersweet stories (Human Company and Who's That?).


Day 19: What is something that you associate with a character in fandom, but aren't sure if it's canon or fandom?

My Marauders often call each other Prongs, Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail, and the latter two names are more often than not shortened to Pads and Wormy. I'm almost sure that Pads and Wormy are fandom (or fanon, as we used to say before 2010). I can't remember where I first saw them, but I doubt they are my inventions.


Day 17: Do you prefer art, fic, or vids?  Why?  Bonus: If someone was to give you a fandom gift, what format would it be?

I've had lovely interaction with and friends among fanartists, too. At bigger fests nowadays, I might comment on more fanart than fics, because I'm a slow reader. I'd also be particularly happy to receive a fanart gift, because it could be inspired by something written by me, and I just can't help hoping for reassurances that my writing works and can impress others who create content. In fact, I can't remember ever receiving a fanart gift that wouldn't have been based on one of my stories. I've never heard anyone read a fic by me aloud, and I'd love a pod fic gift.

I still haven't seen many fanvids. I do love watching some favourite music videos on youtube again and again, but I'm only learning to see how perspective, cuts and rhythm or whatever can make a story told in this way evocative.

For a year now I've been aware that I, too, can offer fanart at fests, not as gifts, though – not at exchanges! I only dabble in drawing and painting pictures. I don't have the technical skill (or much of anything else that it takes) to make any kind of moving pictures.

Verbal language, written language in particular has always been my preferred way of communication. And fic, yes! I've always preferred using fiction for dealing with and learning to understand themes that are important to us. The reason why I got addicted to fandom was that fanfic became a means of sharing – a way for me to connect with people intimately.

( Day 13: tl;dr: my crazy squicks related mainly to writing style )

June Something! I've enjoyed following my DW friends' posts, and now that I've started my summer holidays, I feel that my June has properly begun and I'll manage to post Something myself, too. Because I'm still hopelessly stuck in one fandom, some of the questions can't possibly apply in my case.

Day 1: What's changed about your fandom life in the last 365 days?

Not much. My participation in the Harry Potter fandom looks and feels about the same as a year ago. In the past twelve months I've taken part in the same fests as in the eight months before those. However, I've joined in a few more HP events and communities, and continued to branch out a bit.

I've written more femslash, also at a comment fest, and posted a couple of tiny poems, and last autumn I wrote several drabbles for a prompt community, developing a slim thread of a story about Neville, after coming up with Harry/Neville on a whim when composing a last-minute contribution for Harry's birthday event. It's been fun to do firewhiskeyfic again, twice, and to offer fic and my comments on all the works at a few journal fests I missed the previous time, some both on LJ and DW, and hoggywartyxmas on LJ.

Oh, I've also started dabbling in fanart, and shared five humble pictures so far. I've participated in a couple of such fests which are only on Tumblr and AO3 and joined in Discord channels for these events, and found a new friend and beta thanks to a chat on Discord. I still haven't learnt to be active on Tumblr. I think I've now found other writers interested in Remus and Sirius: the Wolfstar community on Discord and Tumblr. But I feel I don't fit in and that there isn't much interest in the kind of Marauders fic I write.


Day 5: Compare and/or contrast your very first fandom obsession and your very latest fandom obsession.

I'm afraid I've never had more than one fandom obsession. Despite the branching out I've done since returning from my hiatus in early 2019, I still continue to write in the same first-five-HP-books-consistent universe which I started developing in autumn 2003. The core of my work is Remus Lupin's life, and almost all my fics include at least vague references or indirect connections to his story.

 
Day 2: You've got your OTP, you have to throw a third into the mix (from the same fandom), creating an OT3. Who is the OTP, and in your opinion, why would they make a perfect third for them? (Bonus question: What about adding a third to your OTP from a different fandom? Who and why?)

My OTP must remain Remus/Sirius, even though I've written more and more about Remus's intimate relationships with other characters (and even some kind of Sirius/Mrs Figg). While I'm happy to read about Remus and about Sirius in any pairing or threesome, I've never thought that in the reality of my Remus and Sirius's lives there could be a perfect third for them. But now that I think about it... it's still possible to include some Remus/Sirius/James in the story.

The reveals are up at femmefest. I hadn't signed up, but in addition to this extra treat, I was happy to get one pinch hit to write. The two fics are stories about the same Luna and Cho, of course, because I'm unable to get motivated to write anything but what belongs to the same reality. They seem to have worked well separately, and no commentor mentioned that the other fic, too, could have been written by me.

I've sometimes wondered if it's all right that I submit to fests my fics, which perhaps don't qualify according to the rule that they should be completely independent and not sequels – that a fest fic must not be a part of an on-going series (such as a sequel or a prequel to an already existing fic) (The quote is from the guidelines of Remus Lupin Fest.)  Following that rule would mean that I wouldn't be able to take part in fests because I want my work to be a consistent whole. In a way, all my fics belong to one big series, and I've recently formed several sub-series on AO3. Of course, I add the fest fics to series only after the reveals. And I've always crafted each fic so that it can stand alone, too.

Here's a Femmefest treat, which, according to my timeline, is set in April 2002 and can be – and has been – enjoyed separately, but can be read also as a sequel to To Know What She's Seeking and Real and Romantic.

Title: A Swaying Route
Author: paulamcg
Rating: G
Pairing: Luna/Cho
Summary: When Luna loves Cho, she's willing and able to transform her own wants. She wants an adventure, and this weekend the two of them can share something like that.
Warnings: None
Word Count: 3150
Author's Notes: This was written as a treat to bluemermaid at Femmefest 2021. I'm grateful for the lovely, inspiring list of prompts and likes. Thank you for the beta, justtoarguewithyou!

Read here on AO3
or right here: ( past the swinging sign )

Snagged from delphi – but done here in the standard way, or perhaps just something closer to that. I suppose the median fics would represent better what I've written in the past twelve months, but as this is my first time using the statistics like this, I'm listing both those fics with the fewest and those with the most kudos and hits.

I really started posting fics on AO3 only in late 2019 – having posted just one fic in 2007 and one in 2009, and only last year did I post almost all the fics I'd written in 2005 – 2010, before the eight-year hiatus. I've now got 95 works on AO3, and only four of them have more than 1K hits.

( four lists of links, five or six fics in each, and a lot of rambling under the cut )

Instead of any fest fics, I've been recently working on that story about my 27-year old Remus which I first wrote in 2004 and started rewriting last summer. After completing a scene, I took a break to look around, and the prompt wolf at poetic_hp made me come up with a five-line poem to post in the community.

And I noticed that I hadn't posted my even tinier poem – a haiku about Luna – from December anywhere else. After posting it on AO3, I decided to make a series for all my fics featuring Luna.

Finally, I made a couple of other new series: The Four Shapeshifters and Life After. Now at last, I've got also all the (so far forty, not including the new poem yet) pre-Azkaban fics about my Remus and Sirius and their friends to be found in the chronological order. I suppose this is nice for potential readers, too, even though the fics can be read in any order and any fic separately as well. Besides, it's great that a fic can belong to more than one series. I've got twelve series now, and each fic (EDIT except the drunk Lavender/Mr Weasley piece) included at least in one series.

I wonder if you, too, love playing with your collection like this. In my case it's more fun than checking the statistics every now and then.

Oh, here's the Luna poem.

Title: Gifts
Author: paulamcg
Style: Haiku
Characters: Luna Lovegood
Disclaimer: Luna won't help me make any money.
Written for: Prompt 147: holiday haiku

Gifts

Luna's mistletoe's
for pet nargles – her kisses
for all those she loves.