Flistie Challenge

[albalark]

Okay.  You all have heard me whining about how I can't write fic to save my life, and I'm afraid I'm about to prove it to you in a truly spectacular way, but when I went to look at the prompts for hp_crackdealers , I couldn't help myself.

I have written the start of a story based on this prompt:
PROMPT 26 (CLAIMED ONCE)
Characters and/or Pairings:  Severus Snape

Comments

A few more stitches in the sow's ear

[therealsnape]

It wasn't just because of the last phrase in the accompanying letter, ominous though it was.

You can expect me as soon as school breaks up; I look forward to spending some pleasant evenings in your company.

He had always thought, and he still held by his beliefs, that there was no excuse whatsoever for the lack of control, the maudlin tears, and the disgusting physical consequences of drunkenness. But if he would be forced to defend a drunk in a Wizengamot trial, he could think of one powerful argument that would win the case.

"Your Honour, Members of the Wizengamot, my client was under the most severe provocation. He was forced into polite society."

At this point, a collective gasp would go through the audience. He would pause briefly for full effect, bow his head in compassion, and add, "They made him spend pleasant evenings in companyAnd there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house

Re: A few more stitches in the sow's ear

[albalark]

I *llooooovvvvvvveeeeee* this!

"Your Honour, Members of the Wizengamot, my client was under the most severe provocation. He was forced into polite society."

Hell, indeed for our poor Severus!

And there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house. hahahahahaha!

But the real dread, the ultimate horror, the point beyond which nothing but absolute ethanol stood between a man and barking madness, was at the very end of the letter.

The signature.

Wit, and an ebil cliffie, too! You rock, TRS! :-D

Re: A few more stitches in the sow's ear

[therealsnape]

And now it's up to you! Whose signature is it? So far we're the only two mad enough to jump the band wagon.

(this means that possible side-effects of Nutella cake must be investigated - 4 flisties ate it so far, 2 are now barking)

I look forward to hearing whose signature it is - it's your story, I'm just riding along. But feel free to bounce the ball back to me at some point, if you'd like to turn it into a co-production.
Only if you want to, though. As I said, it's yours.
I'll track this post, just to make sure.

[therealsnape]

My dear, that start of your story is excellent. See? You can write fic. You can do it brilliantly. I love the voice you give Snape.
It was a well-established fact that an inebriated spy was eventually a dead spy,
Great opening line.

Merlin knew, he was a vicious enough bastard stone sober. Just perfect.

it was as automatic a thing to do as sneering at stupidity utterly Snape

[albalark]

::listens to chirping crickets::

See? You can write fic.

You, my dear, are apparently the only one who thinks so, but I love you for it. ::smishes::

Or perhaps, scream, "No, you blasted idiot, what happens is ..." and write the rest.

See, that's the problem. I saw the prompt, and something very like what you see here just leapt into my head, but with no idea where to take it from there, or how. I don't know what happens next, what those papers are, or anything else. :-( It's more like a super-prompt than anything . . . I'm generally pretty good at those. :-D

I'm sorry I missed the Friday drinks - I'll certainly be there next Friday! :-)

[therealsnape]

Just for the scientific records:
We now have 2 readers out of 2 who think you're a brilliant author about to happen.

And 3 out of 4 Nutella Cakes who are ... decidedly odd, and given to strange hobbies.

[albalark]

We now have 2 readers out of 2 who think you're a brilliant author about to happen.

You'll notice that the rest of my flist has been tactfully silent, having attended to their mothers when they were told not to say anything if nothing nice could be said. XD

And 3 out of 4 Nutella Cakes who are ... decidedly odd

To be fair, I was pretty odd *before* the Nutella cake. Though I have been increasingly out of my mind since losing my Nutella sobriety. I'm thinking Nutella palmiers next (now you know I've gone completely mental if I'm considering making puff pastry!).

[kellychambliss]

Okay. For starters, I never want to hear another word about your not being able to write. It's a damnable lie.

Second, I want to see another installment forthwith.

There wasn't a chance in hell that he'd be any more sweet-tempered drunk than they were, and Merlin knew, he was a vicious enough bastard stone sober

This sentence alone is as good a Snape line as I've ever read. You've got the man down. And you understand about how to pace a line, how to build to a finish.

I will make one tiny constructive criticism, or concrit as we say in the fanfic business, so that you will know I am giving an honest appraisal and not just being nice. (Like dear Sev, I'm never just nice.)

before being prematurely shuffled off of this mortal coil.Should be the other way around: it's people who shuffle off the mortal coil, not the mortal coil that shuffles off people. Unless this is Severus making mistakes because of being well-on-the-way-to-inebriation, in which case, your subtly is brilliant and you can ignore your idiot commentator

[albalark]

I never want to hear another word about your not being able to write. It's a damnable lie.

I suppose, if by 'write' you mean 'can string words together in a coherent enough fashion to not be mistaken for a bout of random loggorhea', you are correct. But if you mean 'can produce an intelligible plot, sustain characterization for more than a few paragraphs and come up with dialog which isn't trite enough to have come from the pen of a multiple 'Razzie' award winning scriptwriter', then it's no fib. What I've written here is a prompt, more than anything. It's the germ of an idea with NO clue of where it could go . . . it just popped into consciousness fully formed. It's a start, and a decent one - I'll admit to that :-) - but that's really all it is.

You've got the man down. And you understand about how to pace a line, how to build to a finish.Is that what I'm doing? ::LOL:: I think you are giving me waaaayyy more credit than deserved. And, in truth, I don't really feel as if I *do* have Severus down. Superficial characterizations

[minervafestmods]

Normally, I don't even like little dogs, but. . .awwww.

Once this week-and-a-half of hell (60+ papers, meetings, visiting poets) is over, I'll see if I can help Severus out...

[kellychambliss]

Oops -- it's, me, Kelly, above; I forgot I was signed in on the fest mods' account.

[therealsnape]

My dear