Entry tags:

closing games, mod post, thank you, the boss

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."

Friends of Snarry:

Hi. My name is djin7, and I would like to say a few words to you all.



This was a year that set records. We had more stories than ever before; 70 stories in all, with additional crack art, interviews, and mod posts. This round, we made 163 posts in all, over 108 days. 47 of those days were consecutive, for our longest posting streak ever in the history of the Games.

In the time we’ve been on Insane Journal (since the 2007 Summer Art Games), we’ve received 17,934 comments on our posts, and when you add that to LJ comments, we’ve received 45,784 comments in total. Combined, the 2008 team communities posted another 576 posts, with 8187 comments. Those are some phenomenal totals, and it shows the enthusiasm for Snarry that we all share. We really love our boys!

Of course, the biggest numbers of all come from our champions this year: word count. This year, we had two authors that wrote Snarry stories that were longer than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: that comes in at 76,944 words, and we had perverse_idyll at ~81,000, and igtow at ~77,000. Stunningly enough, all seven books of the HP series come in only at a total 1,084,170 words.

The Games? Well, we beat them, with this round alone, with 1,568,016 words!!! That should make us all very proud. We have contributed to Snarry fandom a weight bigger than all of canon, just this year.




Before we announce the results of the 2008 Winter Snarry Games polls, I would like to take this time to thank some people who really went above and beyond the call of duty this year for the Games. I can't thank the following people enough: each one is worth their weight in gold medals.

I would like to thank tripperfunster for donating our beautiful Snarry Games artwork for 2008. She not only created the dragon and phoenix, she gave us pictures for each letter in our logo. That is incredible! I would also like to thank xingou for our layout using the artwork, and making our wonderful header, and providing us with pimp banners, icons, and our "Can You Handle the Heat?" catchphrase. I’ll always think of that phrase when remembering these Games. Thanks! Also, thank you to elanorofcastile, who took time out of her busy work with our affiliate, the hd_worldcup, and all the coding for their fest to help us with our posting journal. Thank you, Jen! ♥

Thank you also to pervart for her wonderful icons using Tripp's art. We missed you on the Mod Squad this year. Thankfully, we had a return to balance it out: the amazing snakeling. THANK YOU, Snakeling, for doing the Team Community layouts, and for your tireless work coding all the stories for the Games. She was sans internet for most of the time, so she would load up the docs and trudge on down to the internet cafe to send them along in bunches. She always had the stories ready as we needed them, and never missed a beat, despite her lack of access.

I also owe capslocked THANK YOUs to our graphics Queen, swtalmnd, who designed our Team Lists and prompt tables, which were covered in awesomesauce, and then gave us the beautiful medals and banners you are about to see. Amy, thank you so much. So much ♥LOVE♥ and kudos to you all!

I can’t leave out sansa1970, our Stats mod extraordinaire, who kept track of all the things we needed to, so I wouldn't have to, and to magic_helmet, who managed all the memberships for the comm this year, checking age statements, and again, helping to ease the burden of the mods. A special thank you goes out to midnitemarauder, who came to us to help the moment that she finished posting for hp_springsmut and was invaluable for early brainstorming, later diplomacy, and generally keeping me sane. I love you, Lisa - thank you! Thank you all so much! I hope to keep you all around for a long time. *squishes*


To meredyth_13, and magic_helmet, and midnitemarauder for their help on the polls at the end of Games, and again, to Mere - ♥! You know why.

Thank you to the Artists who sent in the wonderful Opening Games Crack!Art to help us fill the space when the authors were busy scribbling away. Hopefully you will join up for the Summer Art Games, later this year!

♥♥♥ as well as to Team Dragon and Team Phoenix for their excellent Closing Games Bloopers, stories and treats for everyone to enjoy while the counting was happening.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I would also like to thank aliciamasters, who was there for me nearly every day, despite working 16 hour shifts in RL, and managing Walking The Plank (The Snarry Games' raison d'être). Without her, I would have shut my computer down long ago, and left this place. She is one of the very greatest people this fandom has to offer, and has a heart bigger than the state she lives in. I am proud to call her my friend, and so very, very grateful that she stands with me on this project. Thank you, Alicia.

Also, to my Leila, reddwarfer, who has had a terrible year with RL, and yet still came to bat for me whenever she could, helping with the dirty jobs, no matter what I threw at her, I thank her. She has defended me, entertained me, cuddled me, and generally kept me from stomping on my keyboard, no matter how much I wanted to, and I ♥ her with the power of a thousand suns. Leila, I love you. Thank you.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥




The scores are great, but the real reward for our authors are the wonderful, thoughtful comments from the readers. At the Games, we are lucky to have thousands of comments, all of which keep this fantastic level of talent returning home to us each Spring. Remember that even though the polls are closed, these entries will remain up, so please: read the stories you haven’t read yet, re-read the ones you loved, and comment, comment, comment!

Some of the people who do that regularly really helped make these Games a joy for the Champions. As of the day we closed the polls, and not including Team Champions (who really went wild his year with comments and interview comment pr0n, what a group! ♥), our best spectator, snarry_fan7, set the bar high with an average of one comment per story, or 70 total! Thank you so much for getting into the spirit of the Games. For that, we present you with our first ever Top Commentor icon:

Thank you, SnarryFan7!

Right on her coattails: plantinshadows & torino10154 with 68 comments, telwyrd with 67, and athenakt & mac_tunes with 58. Rounding out the top 10? Lots of ties, with calico_sky and miriavan at 54, angelbabecj at 51, and a triumvirate at 49: galad222000, lalaith_niniel, and aliciamasters.

Thank you to igtow, for all the comment stats! ♥



Every year, we get better and better feedback about the Games. We also change and adapt and try our best to make this the best fest we can, for both the participants and the fans. We know we’re not all going to agree about everything, but one of the things that make me proudest about our fandom is the way that we find common ground in our love for Harry and Snape. After all, our ship sails on the currents of misunderstanding and regret, and is made buoyant with love and forgiveness. It’s really something that sets us apart, and we should all be proud and heartened by that.

Remember: we still have our feedback poll to come later this week. We also hear that the mods of Walking the Plank will be making a fantastic offer to help us archive for current and past Champions alike. Keep your eyes open for that!


To all the readers and fans who helped make this project a huge success: My deepest gratitude, we are now being watched by 1322 on IJ! That’s tremendous. Thanks to you all, for reading and reviewing, for voting and pimping, for reccing and listing! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! *applauds*

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The totals are in, and have been tallied. This means that the Medal Ceremonies will be coming right up, stay tuned!