As a bit of a special treat, and to celebrate their one year anniversary, I sat down with my good friend, the @wolfstarlibrarian. We recorded our conversation to share it here with you, our favorite patrons. I’ll be DL, in bold, and the Wolfstar Librarian is WL. I hope you enjoy this sweet peek into our friendship, and the wonderful insights that they had to share with me.
DL: First of all, congratulations on a whole year! In that time you've created a lovely and welcoming fandom space for authors, both new and established, lots of helpful guides and explanations for readers, and over 300 rec lists. What's been the most rewarding part of being "The Librarian"?
WL: Oh thank you so much! It’s been a wild year, made all the better for having this blog. As for the BEST part? Hmmmmm 🤔 This is difficult to answer because there have been so many unexpected gifts, but probably the most rewarding and surprising part is how much support the fandom community has come out with. I hoped that, at most, people would enjoy some of the lists, but beyond that they’ve given personal support as well, whether I’ve needed time, or someone to help find a fic, or just general support, the community has shown up, and that’s been an incredible gift that helps to keep me motivated and feeling special.
DL: I love that! I love how you describe fandom as a community. I think the real fandom isn't just the content, but the friends we made along the way! 😂
WL: YES! I agree! Fandom is just people connected by passion.
DL: Absolutely! And I think something really unique that you've done with The Wolfstar Librarian is encouraging others' passion as well.
WL: I was not prepared to feel this soft! 🥺
DL: Sorry, not sorry! Lol. I think something that's very unique to your blog specifically is the way that you are always giving "new" recs. A lot of the recs are ones that I haven't read before and I think that's very encouraging to authors and creators to keep writing and creating. It's not the same old "classics" over and over. That’s something I’ve tried to emulate on my own blog as well. I search for a mix of old and new fics.
WL: Oh yes, I'm always on the hunt for new fics. I check @ao3feed-wolfstar at least once a week and go through all of the new fics, picking out things I think I might want to read, and even when searching for lost fics I oftentimes end up adding a dozen new fics to be TBR list. I'm fascinated with the new, and am always looking for fresh takes on old tropes. Of course I also have tons of subscriptions for my favorite authors, but just like with food, I have comfort items I know I'll like but then I also enjoy new things just as much.
DL: Out of curiosity, how long is your TBR list?
WL: (after a significant pause) Oh goodness, I had to check. It’s currently 15 pages long and at 20 fics a page…
DL: Hold on, I’ll pull up a calculator. Um...300. So as many rec lists as you’ve made. You mentioned comfort items. What are some of your favorite tropes?
WL: Oh my goodness, yeah I hadn't done the math! 😂 I think what I find the most comfort in are things I can relate to the most? So lots of modern AUs with happy endings, and I'm also a sucker for soulmate or a good texting fic since they tend to include some fun humor that I can use as a counterpoint to real life.
DL: I love modern AUs!
WL: Me too! And fix-it AUs. JKR did them dirty 😉
DL: Who hasn’t JKR done dirty? Lol. Okay, and do you want to spill some tea? What are your pet peeves in a fic? The things that make you immediately click that red x and think "not for me". To be clear, I’m not saying things that you think are wrong — we’re not making any moral judgment here! Just your specific pet peeves that irritate you personally.
WL: The first thing isn’t so much a pet peeve as something I get asked a lot and feel bad about. The question I get asked the most is "how do I get rec'd on WL", and it just makes it clear how infrequently people read the pinned FAQ, where I encourage people to send in recs. Probably 4/5 people who send in their own fics as a rec actually end up on a list, but so few people do! So just remember that the Librarian is just one person who can easily miss a lot of things, but genuinely wants to read and share lovely fics. But actual pet peeves? I definitely can't handle MCD, or anything that's too dark just because it takes my mental health somewhere I don't want to go. I also tend not to like....imbalanced relationships? I know that's vague, but anytime there isn't mutual respect, it just feels weird and unnatural to me so I tend to just click out. Also, I need fairly standard formatting. I've seen a few posts about it, and it's definitely true that my brain struggles to read anything written outside of standard formatting (correct punctuation and capitalization). It's not even a judgement, just something like math where my brain goes "no thank you!" 😰
DL: That's definitely something that makes me hit the red x too. And I know what you mean about lack of mutual respect. I think that there's stories about relationships where someone makes a mistake and with work and apologies, they can come back from that and still have a solid relationship but there's other's where one person just completely disregards and breaks any trust or respect that they've built in the relationship and an apology can't fix that. It's a fighting together/fighting each other kind of thing. And I think that's an interesting point you bring up because I feel like with Drarry, Harry and Draco are set up to be adversaries and part of the story is them overcoming it. But that's not really part of Sirius and Remus' story.
WL: Yes, exactly! And I definitely read fanfic for comfort, for romance, and I feel like you can't have true love without mutual respect, without equality. Of COURSE that can take time and work to get to sometimes, but as long as they end up on the same page, I'm game. 😊
DL: Exactly. And again, I just want to say that it doesn't mean we think those fics are inherently bad or anything. It's just our personal preferences as readers. So, it's obvious that I also read Wolfstar in addition to Drarry. Do you ever read Drarry?
WL: Honestly, I rarely read outside of wolfstar, but sometimes I do read Drarry because it's so much bigger and tends to cover a wider variety of stories. I also read Dorlene, Jegulus, Jegulily, and a host of other smaller ships like Fleur/Tonks that end up in wolfstar fics.
DL: Can I put you on the spot and have you give us a Drarry rec?
WL: My favorite one is actually one you rec'd! It's the Christmas one that's just SO soft I can't help but read it each year as the weather gets cooler.
DL: Ohhhh! The Christmas Tree by @cottonpadenthusiast. I love that one! It’s a Drarry + Remus/Sirius get together! Just a sweet, happy family dynamic.
WL: Yes! It's half wolfstar, half drarry, and totally sweet.
DL: With families....we often joke in private that you and I have "sibling" blogs. Did you ever mind that I joined you in being a librarian?
WL: Oh, of COURSE not! Running a rec blog like this is so much work, there's no way I could do more than one, and I truly love having you, and other rec blogs, because they inspire me so much! I love finding new fics, new ways to share content, and new people to share with. Rec blogs inspired me to make my own, and hopefully I inspire people to find their own style as well!
DL: That's definitely something I've tried to do as your "little sibling" blog. I feel very lucky to have such a cool "older sibling" and mentor librarian that I can always come and ask a question or advice from, but I've tried to be thoughtful in making it my own too, with my Happy Hours and stuff. And I try to be mindful as well that I'm not copying exactly what another Drarry rec blogger does either. We all get our own niche, and I think that makes the recs we give more rich. And in true younger sibling fashion, I started my blog because I saw you doing it and thought it was such a neat idea that I wanted to join you. What made you start your library?
WL: When I first made the library, and imagined what I wanted it to be, I wanted more than anything for the library to be a place that I had searched for when I was new to fandom. I was so desperate for someone to show me fics for my exact mood, or comfort tropes, or just introduce me to something new the way librarians have done all my life. With this blog, the library, I'm trying to provide that comfort, that answer that we're all seeking. Hopefully, other people find the same relief and comfort here that an old wood lined library, full of wonder and hope, offers them in real life as well.
DL: Oh, now you’ve made ME soft. I think that’s such a lovely statement that we’ll wrap it up there. Do you think people are going to judge us because neither of us can do math?
WL: Ahahaha, honestly, if that's my worst feature, I'm okay with it. 😂
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