Teddy Radiator

...and head over to hp_crossgenfest for one of the most satisfying SSHG fics I've read in a long time Cursing In French pairs a very smart, wry Hermione with one of the most believable Severuses I've read in a while. Fatalistic, poignant, conflicted and suspicious, he is practically perfect in every way. The story is told with a deft touch, great humour, and soul aplenty.

I hope that all of you got your first choice on sshg_promptfest. If you haven't, please go and have a look. There are still loads of great prompts out there just waiting for a new forever home.

akatnamedeaster today wrote a breathtakingly inspiring post about prompting. As you know, her OTP is rather rare, and sometimes she feels like a fandom of one, but she encouraged everyone to prompt fests - any fest, be it your own or someone else's ship. In reply to her post, kitty_fic wrote: "Leave your prompts in all the prompt fests! You may encourage others to ship along with you or see the possibility where they never did before!"

That statement just hit me right where I live, and I made a pledge to myself to do just that. Does that mean I'll read every ship? No. Some simply do not appeal to me. But talented writers and artists who love rare pairs, slash pairs, fem pairs - they have found the appeal in these settings and situations and characters I never thought would interest me, and here I am, reading them and enjoying the wealth of talented creators in our fandom. And yet, my love for SSHG grows every day, along with my appreciation for other pairings and ships.

And while I'm never going to enjoy certain pairings or OT3s (sorry, SS/HG/LM fans), I still have the ability to spark the imagination of someone who does, if I just open up my mind to the possibilities.

It really inspired me to look at other prompt fests and give it a go. I may not write for all of them, but perhaps I can inspire someone else to write, and in doing so, be inspired in return. As someone far wiser than I'll ever be once said, "Don't knock it until you've tried it." My fandom isn't just my own beloved ship SSHG. It's all the pairings, all the ships. For SSHG to thrive, they all have to thrive. And if new blood is injected into SSHG by a writer or artist from a completely different ship, we can learn to see the possibilities of SSHG we never saw before.