Hi. My name is djin7, and it's time to say a final goodbye to the Snarry Games.
The Snarry Games was invented to celebrate the rebirth of Walking the Plank after the implosion of the Detention website. We had no idea whether or not anyone would archive at The Plank, or participate in the Games. Thankfully, all the great fen of Snarry came to the rescue, and came together to create a celebration of our fandom like none had ever seen. After four (4!) years and seven (7!) amazing Snarry Games, we marvel at the never-ending creativity and love we've seen over and over again.
We are now confident that Walking The Plank has established itself as the premier flagship website for Snarry; with over 1500 stories, more than 560 pieces of Fanart, nearly 4000 members, and over 13,000 reviews, we can safely say that the Walking The Plank website is celebrated, and the Snarry Games have done what they were designed to do!
We will certainly be spending some time making sure all the many Games masterpieces, both fic and art, are available on Walking the Plank, so that everyone can relive the glory of the Games, whenever they want. We hope that Champions, past and present, will join us in archiving their excellent work.
The Snarry Games itself was originally conceived with inspiration from a small contest held for the Fullmetal Alchemist fandom called the Angst/Fluff Olympics. I noted it and asked for permission to use the initial idea and adapt it to the Harry Potter fandom. (As many of you may recall, we were once called the Snarry Olympics.)
We were the first Harry Potter fest to use a proper anonymous poll for voting, and to split competitors into teams using a sport-related model for a fest event. We are pleased to note several fests as affiliates who used our model to design their own fests, and many more in areas outside the Live/Insanejournal forum, in several languages. We are also very proud of our affiliates who have been inspired by the Snarry Games over the seven Games we've held.
Our format has reached thousands in many different fandoms, including several in different languages, and we are thrilled that our little idea has inspired others. We wish them all the luck and success that we have had!
That being said, at this point - our Games format has unfortunately (as once noted by the esteemed Merry Smutmas creator, Gina, about her own fest) become redundant.
The Games were ever-changing, and we've done a lot over the years to keep it current and vibrant. We adjusted them after the annual concrit we asked for was taken to heart. Everything from the posting order to the deadline times and team themes have been changed to make it more pleasant and exciting for both Champions and watchers alike. Graphics for the layout and banners changed every year: we had different artists design the layout, the pimp banners, icons and medals for each year and round. We also had the first "Art Only" fest format, for which the success can be seen (and rightly so) in other fandoms as well as other Harry Potter pairings!
However, since the beginning of the Snarry Olympics/Games, which were so well received by the fans, the Snarry fandom has opened up the arena of fests. Before us there were only the SSHP Fuh-Q-Fest hosted by Kardasi (Dusk Til Dawn), an adjunct of the Severus Snape F-Q-F, the occasional hosting of a Snarry-centric fest by various communities, and the archiving at the Detention website.
Now, however, there are many more opportunities to write and draw Snarry fic and art for the snarry_holidays, the snarry_swap and the Snarry-a-thon hosted by snape_potter! There are more who throw in a third in with your Snarry such as Draco Malfoy, and more yet that pop up from time to time. There are also many new Snarry-centric websites, mailing lists, and communities.
At times, the Games has overwhelmed both myself as well as the hard working Mod Squad. There was rarely a real break between the dual game format we had begun in 2006: fic then art within the same year, plus the daily Opening Games postings, then finally the ensuing Closing Games; in the end we were posting daily, up to 4 times, for sometimes over a hundred days every Games cycle.
All that work aside, we are proud of what we have done here. We are proud of the volunteers and mods who have, over the years, donated their time and skills for everything from coding and graphics to stats counting and spreadsheet organising. We have many people to thank now that it's all over, and I don't mind repeating myself as I thank people once again, for their time, patience, skills and care of the Snarry Games.
THANK YOU TO:
♥♥The following people who donated their beautiful art for our layouts the last 4 years at the snarry_games:
lizardspots, who whipped up a gorgeous Banner and art for our inuagural Games in 2006, for teams Angst and Romance, which has since passed into Snarry Legend:
glockgal, who took the challenge on of Team Wartime and Postwar, and did a fantastic banner showing our boys at rest as well as in action in 2007:
(Before our name change:)
(And after:)
tripperfunster, who took an idea we had for a whole different Banner for the teams Dragon and Phoenix, and not only did original art for the beasties, but a series of wonderful Snape and Harry originals for our decidedly different genres in 2008:
ponderosa121, who gave us the gorgeous work for 2009, for our first ever mixed Fic & Art Games, with teams Cauldron and Snitch:
♥♥Of course, many wonderful people have provided us with awesome graphics, layouts, icons and banners, using the art featured above:
lizardspots, annephoenix, pervart, glockgal, swtalmnd, xingou and reddwarfer, along with many other Participants and Watchers who did up icons featuring their favourite teams as well as their support for the Games over the years, thank you all!
♥♥To chaeche, who does our annual Art Tribute Video, a tradition begun by her, and entirely unique to us and our fest, thank you so much, Rach! ♥ (You can see all the videos including the newest 2009 Tribute HERE! chaeche has also let us know that she plans a Special Tribute Video for ALL 4 years, which we will announce when it is completed)
♥♥And many many thanks to our medal (and award banner) makers!
♥♥And also to the following people who have helped (outside of a mod capacity), donating their expertise, time and energy, or their money to help us run for the past 4 years:
♥♥To the Team Captains, MVPs and Cheerleaders for every team - that extra bit always goes a long way, and your help with coordinating with the mods and inspiring your teams and generally being the best you can be, thank you all so much! You are everything this fest was meant to represent.
♥♥To all the readers, judges and fans who helped make this project a huge success: you truly have my deepest gratitude. Thanks to you all, for watching and reviewing, for voting and pimping, and for reccing and listing! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! *applauds*
♥♥Finally, to my Champions: No matter the colour of the Medal you won in whichever Games, you've all given your best and provided for fandom the apex of Snarry - fic and art that will be remembered long after you and I are gone from fandom. Nothing in life is a permanent fixture, except that which we leave behind, and you have all left a legacy to be loved and enjoyed for many years, and for that, there is not enough rare metal in the world to properly reward your talents and vision and hard work. Thank you all so very, very much.
We have dedicated this last round of the snarry_games to simons_flower, who was a member of Team Snitch until the universe decided it was time for her to leave us. The Snarry Games Mods and Teams donated to her daughter's college fund in her memory, in the hopes that one day she will experience her own mother's love of writing.
To the viewers, watchers, supporters and judges: We sincerely thank each and every one of you for your support. We are hopeful, thanks to your overwhelming response over the years, that our mission to keep Snarry vibrant, progressive, and to empower more fans to come aboard the SS Snarry will continue to resonate within the Harry Potter community that we proudly served.
We certainly hope that all of you reading this will remember the Snarry Games the way we will: with great fondness, as a tribute to what is truly the best and most diverse group of fen in the Harry Potter world. We encourage all of you to participate in the many fests that are currently available in the fandom, whether Snarry or not, and we hope that you will find many ways to inspire you once we are gone.
Since 2006, we have been blessed to feature the fiction and art shared with us by some of the most talented people this fandom can offer, and we can’t begin to express our gratitude for the work that they have produced for all to enjoy.