The Werewolf's Den

I was really behind in friending people from AM but I think I've gotten most everyone I would likely to be plotting with/talking about the game with on a more-than-once basis, so if you've clicked over to figure out who this is because the contact list isn't handy, HI! This is Jessi at AM (Lily, Druella & Owen).

Everybody else, nothing to see here. :P

So Lily ripped Alice's face off, and it's a small thing compared to the Epic Drama and not even close to the one Lily RAWR attack on the former Hermione, but it's pretty significant to me, as sometimes even I forget she can be a hot-headed snot who overreacts, so I'm always HEY NOW STOP THAT and kind of want to hide when she does it.

Also, I realize this is kind of silly and whatnot, but it keeps happening and I don't get why and I'm still assimilating WHAT ALL IS GOING ON IN CRAZY TOWN and needed a five minute break, so: I REALLY DON'T GET WHY CHARACTERS KEEP CONFUSING DRUELLA WITH WALBURGA AND VICE VERSA.

ETA: OH MY GOD REGULUS CONFESSED TO LILY *FLAILS*

The holiday fest season is almost upon us, and along with it is the eternal question: "How do I give feedback on fest gifts?"

The answer is, there is no right or wrong way. The exception to that statement is when the fest in question has specific rules about feedback. The standard rule most fests have is "no flaming", which I think is a rule we can all get behind for obvious reasons.

"No con crit" is another rule I've seen popping up in fest rules lately, but I know that issue isn't as clear-cut as the flaming issue. Some people say gifts shouldn't be criticized while others say just because it's a gift doesn't mean it's exempt from critique. I don't really want to get into the pro/anti concrit argument, so we'll leave it at that.

So, yeah, as long as you're following the rules of the fest, there's not really a right or wrong way to give feedback. Now, that isn't to say that people won't complain or react negatively in other ways. For example, there are a few authors/artists who disdain squeeful comments and lament the lack of lengthy, "meaty" commentary, but they are in the distinct minority. The vast majority of authors/artists love feedback in any form they can get it, and "OMG that was awesome!!!" is just as welcomed as a 2 page treatise.

I think that more than any other time, fests - especially holiday fests - are a time to celebrate the joy of giving and to share in the pleasure of receiving. It's a time to be happy for the gifts being shared, not just with the recipient, but with everyone. Yes, that story/art was created for someone specific, but the rest of us are getting to enjoy it too, and I think that's part of the collaborative fun that fests generate. They give all of us more of what we want most, and I think we ought to express our thanks for that with a simple, "I enjoyed that. Thanks!" comment. It'll make that author/artist's holidays a little brighter.

With that in mind, I hope people will take the time to leave a comment on the gifts they enjoy in whichever fests they follow, especially people who are inclined to lurk the rest of the year. Fest authors/artists have been waiting for weeks, perhaps even months for their work to debut, so any feedback is a gift to them in return. As long as your response expresses your enjoyment, then there's no wrong way of expressing it. There's no such thing as too short or too simple, and you don't need a degree in English to leave good feedback. All you really need is enthusiasm!

For myself, I intend to do more reccing and commenting in December once things calm down at work and in RL, and I intend to continue into the new year, especially since I'm going to rec at crack-broom again in January!

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/518269.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

Wow, so behind with the scheduled posts! I'll make a point to catch up tomorrow!

In other news... I am so happy the holiday is nearly over and people are coming back, you have no idea! It was way too quiet online for the last few days. It felt like the zombie apocalypse was upon us or something. I was close to boarding up my windows and looking for my cricket bat.

Also, I never realized just how much I depend upon all of you folks to keep me motivated. I was completely lost and useless without the Usual Suspects around! And then I found a few people on Y!M this evening, and my fic magically became unstuck. ::snort::

Anyway... HI! Don't leave again any time soon, okay?! ::glomps and clings::

Title: The Signing
Author: Leela (leela_cat)
Pairing: Severus/Harry
Rating: PG13
Warnings: None
Word Count: 100
Prompt: snarry100's challenge #190: Flourish and Blotts
Summary: Some things make Severus nervous.
Beta: the_minx_17
A/N: For alisanne. Hope this makes your week a little better.


Click to read The Signing on my IJ

Title: The Appeal of Books
Author: alisanne
Word Count: 100
Rating: PG
Challenge: Written for snarry100's prompt #190: Flourish and Blotts
Warning(s): None that I am aware of.
A/N: Books can be quite arousing.
Beta: sevfan
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

The Appeal of Books

Happy birthday, Alfonso Cuarón!

• Actors and Movies: Video: Dan Radcliffe & Rupert Grint talk illnesses and schedules for Deathly Hallows
  
  Exclusive Clip from HP Ultimate DVDs
  
  Video: Evanna Lynch promotes Half-Blood Prince DVD & talks Deathly Hallows filming
  
  New Matthew Lewis 2009 photo shoot & Twitter images
  
  Tom Felton talks Deathly Hallows filming with Voldemort in Mizz magazine
  
  Two new Dan Radcliffe One Day in the Life of book photos
  
  Tom Felton talks technology & online chess with Harry Potter cast
  
  Video: James & Oliver Phelps talk Deathly Hallows filming on GMTV
  
  Potter cast to attend London Half-Blood Prince Blu-ray signing event
  
  Natalia Tena & Josh Herdman attend Collectormania Copenhagen


• Archive: Moonshadow, the Snape/Lupin archive, has been updated.


• Essay: randomneses has posted a brief follow-up to "In Defense of Lily Evans".


• Searches: daily_snitch is looking for fanworks and resources featuring Helga Hufflepuff.

Send your fandom news to Daily Snitch!

Had a good day today. Mom and I drove up to Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area to see the sandhill cranes. At the height of fall migration (which is October) there are something like 30,000 sandhills there. Today there couldn't have been that many, but I'm guessing there were a few thousand. It was incredible how many of them there were, and how wonderfully noisy and gorgeous and awkward yet beautiful they were.

On the way home we stopped quickly at JC Penney, where I bought a pair of brown dress boots (I had JUST BARELY given up on the brown dress boots I've been wearing for at least 5 years), a black wool men's peacoat (because the women's didn't have inside pockets WTF?!), and a pair of Levi's (men's, because those also fit me better) for like $170 total. I'm incredibly happy that Black Friday sales now extend to Saturday. LOL I also got a couple of new nail polish colors because Sally Beauty is right next to Michael's, where Mom and I also stopped.

Of course, I have only gotten about 400 words written so far. You guys, I might not make NaNo this year. *sigh*

Drabbles:
alisanne: Ready - (Harry/Draco, PG)
alisanne: The Appeal of Books - (Severus/Harry, PG)

Art:
jin_fenghuang: Holiday Drawble - (Severus/Harry, PG)

Community News:
lupin_snape: Posted a message from the mods
lupin100: Posted Prompt #271: "The seasons always change and life will find a way."

Newsletters:
snapenews: Posted Issue #792: Thursday/Friday

If you have any links or tips for us, please let us know. Email us at potterprophet.ij@gmail.com.

Title: The Appeal of Books
Author: alisanne
Word Count: 100
Rating: PG
Challenge: Written for snarry100's prompt #190: Flourish and Blotts
Warning(s): None that I am aware of.
A/N: Books can be quite arousing.
Beta: sevfan
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

The Appeal of Books

By the way, hearkening back to my earlier post--this doesn't spoil anything, since you can see on the Yuletide list of requested fandoms that no one asked for it--I did not get assigned to write for Richard Adams's The Plague Dogs. I decided, when I accidentally included it in the list, that rather than redo my list I'd just go read the book once and for all, even before the assignments came out, so I got it from the library.

I got through Ulysses easier than this. This is...guys, I have written some interesting metaphors myself in my time, some of them admittedly more purple than should be seen outside of crackfic, but this takes them all:

...Rowf's rump slid suddenly forward as smoothly as a turd from a healthy anus...

I can't even facepalm. It's too squicky.

Holiday Drawbles Drive: For sra_danvers

Pairing: Snape/Harry
Rating: PG
Media: digital
Warnings: none

Notes: This is part of my Holiday Drawbles Drive. Donate a dollar or two and get a drawble of you favorite pairing kissing.

All of the IJ holiday sales have ended and prices are back to normal. We will be putting Permanently Insane accounts on sale for their regular price before Christmas.

Stories added to Moonshadow, the Snape/Lupin archive, during the past two months:

Title: Alpha Male (29 K)
Author: sweetmelodykiss


Title: Back (4 K)
Author: astopperindeath


The archive is located at http://www.ssf-moonshadow.com

Also, the Crack Broom masterlist-by-author is now current.

Here's a piece of advice for anyone who is participating in any kind of LJ/IJ/DW based fest at any time of the year: when you email the mods, include your journal user ID, especially if your user ID isn't the same as your email address.

If your email address is the same as your journal ID, it makes things a little easier, but it would still be nice to include your ID nonetheless.

Here's the thing. Unless you communicate via email with the mods outside of the fest enough that it's reasonable to assume they know to associate that email address with you, chances are the mods will have no clue who's emailing them and will have to take the extra step of consulting a spreadsheet in order to figure it out.

When a fest mod is juggling 30+, 40+, 50+, or more fest participants, they are not going to remember who everyone is. They might not know you, they might not interact with you outside of the fest, or they might not remember. There are people who have participated in Snupin Santa just about every year, and I still wouldn't know them from an email address alone, much less know all the new people who rotate in and out each year.

So if a fest mod asks you to include your user ID and/or the name of your recipient in your emails, please try to remember to do it. It's not just a busy-work request; it can save the mod a little extra time (and let's be honest: a little extra irritation) if they know who they're dealing with straight-away instead of having to look it up. Trust me, trawling through a spreadsheet and looking for one person's email address out of 50-60 (or more) names is a pain in the ass.

This entry was originally posted at http://scribbulus-ink.dreamwidth.org/518068.html. It's cross-posted to LJ and IJ, and comments are enabled at all three journals.

One Shots:
bertas: Fulfilled Promises - (Severus and Harry; PG)

Drabbles:
alisanne: Past Time - (Remus/Severus; PG)
leela_cat: A Happy Memory - (Bill/Neville; PG)

Art:
jin_fenghuang: Smooch - (Snape/Lupin; PG)

Community News:
neville100: Posted a new prompt - 97: Patronus

Newsletters:
quibbler_report: Posted an issue - 26 November
quibbler_report: Posted an issue - 27 November

If you have any links or tips for us, please let us know. Email us at potterprophet.ij@gmail.com.

Title: The Benefits of Rank
Author: alisanne
Character(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Pairing(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): m/m sex implied.
Challenge(s): Written for slytherins100's prompt #98: Art School
Word count: 100
Author's notes: Severus is always the teacher.
Beta: sevfan
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

The Benefits of Rank

Title: The Way of the World

Author: McKay (scribbulus_ink)

Commentary: McKay's "Way of the World" contains some wonderful domestic scenes between Snape and Lupin in the kitchen, where, for example, Lupin teaches Snape how to cook (and survive) in the muggle world.

McKay already posted a great recipe from the story, so I hope no one minds that I'm posting one for brownies inspired by this delightful scene:


Excerpt:

"Laugh at me, will you?" Severus snarled. "You'll pay for that!"

And suddenly, Severus reached into the bowl, scooped up a huge handful of batter, and advanced on Remus.

"No -- Severus, you wouldn't!" Remus stared at him, wide-eyed, as he began backing away.

"Oh, wouldn't I." Severus' voice was a silky purr now, but his smile was pure evil.
( Remus couldn't help but think that batter-covered Severus would have been even better. )

( Easy Brownies recipe )

Title: Smooch
Author/Artist: jin_fenghuang 
Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/character(s):Snape/Lupin
Summary: Just a sweet little kiss
Warnings: none
Notes: This drawble is for r_grayjoy  , who writes the most awesome limericks ever XD

I have turned on today's special Black Friday sale.

Until 4:00pm(EST) we will be holding a sale on Permanently Insane accounts, Permanent Extra Userpics, and Insane Userpics the prices are as follows.

Permanently Insane account - $30
Insane Userpics - $70
Permanent Extra Userpics - $5

At 4:00 today all prices on IJ will go back to their normal amounts.