Good fic, good art, good friends, good food, good cause
1. Just about everything that has been posted for the Severus Big Bang and the severus_shorts community has been of a very high standard, but today in Severus Shorts, a story posted that is of the sort that most of us might get one chance in a lifetime to write, if we're lucky. It's THAT good. It takes an extremely rare pairing--Snape and Sprout--and makes it work so well that you'll wonder why it never occurred to you as a pairing before. It gives us a portrait of young Severus that's so acutely insightful and skillfully drawn that I could see his image and absolutely hear his voice speaking the words It also gives us a loving, respectful, real portrayal of Pomona Sprout--patient, compassionate, generous of soul but no less keen of mind for that--that demonstrates the very best of what Hufflepuff stands for. She's a credit to her house here, and I think it's the first time I've read a story that breathed such life into her character.
I can't say enough good things about the story. It's multilayered and sophisticated, yet entirely approachable. It will alternately make you want to weep and smile. It earns every emotional reaction it provokes, and it is deep and beautiful in the best of ways. The visual symbolism is especially stunning, but... well, just read it. READ IT NOW. Read it and be enchanted. It is worth your time. It's right here: The Janus Rose (G).
I hope I can write a story this beautiful one day. Truly, it's a masterpiece, and I take my hat off to the author.
2. As wonderful as the fic above is, I was also lucky enough to see art today by Eeba-ism that is equally as perfect, albeit in a very different way. It's for Good Omens, not HP, but... seriously, if you've read even a few lines of GO, you have to see this. It is, I think, as perfect a realization of Crowley and Aziraphale as I think I've ever seen, and I love it for all the perfect, insightful details it includes. Crowley is skinny and slick and serpentine without ever being overdone, while Aziraphale is magnificently frumpy and chubby and good-natured. They're exactly as I pictured them, and there's such warmth and fondness between them, too--the sort that comes of knowing somebody, knowing them wall, and liking them in spite of their more irritating traits. It makes me smile and smile and smile.
It's right here: Crowley and Aziraphale. Go forth and admire!
3. machshefa is a wonderful and generous woman, which I already knew, but... she sent me a goody bag! She sent me an overstuffed goody bag, in fact, and it is filled to the brim with wonderful candies and Israeli chocolates and other Very Good Things. Also, the Israeli chocolate? It's called Holy Cacao. How awesome is that? I love it already, and I haven't even tasted it. Thank you, Machshefa! You really know how to make me smile, and you have excellent timing. How fortunate I am that you're my friend! ~hugs you tightly~
4. Even as certain areas of life are providing ample opportunity for bittersweetness and frustration, I find that I am, for whatever reason, on a cooking roll. That is, everything that's coming out of the kitchen these days, both for myself and for company, is really, really good. Maybe I'm sublimating all my stresses into passion for cookery; there is something so soothing in having something that can be controlled and quantified and mastered... and then shared, to spread the joy with others, sometimes when they really need a reason to feel good, if only for a moment. Yeah, that's it. Cooking is one of life's joys, and I seem to be seeking out its comforts these days--not so much for me to eat it as for the restful process that gives my hands work while my mind churns away.
But anyway. "Cooking really good things" is the theme of the moment. Latest installments in that series include beef slow-braised in beer and served over mustard-laced mashed potatoes (so much more satiny and satisfying and subtle than it sounds), an impromptu quiche that made beautiful use of leftover baked ham and swiss cheese and onions and mushrooms, and a variation on a recipe that I'v had for years and never got around to trying: an oatmeal cake. Yes, really. It's amazing! The oats are steeped in boiling water before the cake is made, and the result is incredibly moist and even silky in texture. Because I had dates that needed to be used while they were at maximum squidginess, I chopped those up and tossed them in, and then the resulting cake is topped with a brown sugar-coconut-walnut mixture that gets broiled up and crispy-chewy and entirely satisfying. Very homespun, very cold weather, and very, very good. It disappeared in a record amount of time and met with very enthusiastic reviews, so I think I will be making that one again!
5. Just a quick reminder, related to the cooking babble. Auctions for help_haiti are ongoing! Bidding closes on January 20, which is quickly approaching. If you'd like a chance to bid on a box of Bluey Baked Goodies, then go here or here to make your bid. Proceeds, of course, are going to an approved charity.
I can't say enough good things about the story. It's multilayered and sophisticated, yet entirely approachable. It will alternately make you want to weep and smile. It earns every emotional reaction it provokes, and it is deep and beautiful in the best of ways. The visual symbolism is especially stunning, but... well, just read it. READ IT NOW. Read it and be enchanted. It is worth your time. It's right here: The Janus Rose (G).
I hope I can write a story this beautiful one day. Truly, it's a masterpiece, and I take my hat off to the author.
2. As wonderful as the fic above is, I was also lucky enough to see art today by Eeba-ism that is equally as perfect, albeit in a very different way. It's for Good Omens, not HP, but... seriously, if you've read even a few lines of GO, you have to see this. It is, I think, as perfect a realization of Crowley and Aziraphale as I think I've ever seen, and I love it for all the perfect, insightful details it includes. Crowley is skinny and slick and serpentine without ever being overdone, while Aziraphale is magnificently frumpy and chubby and good-natured. They're exactly as I pictured them, and there's such warmth and fondness between them, too--the sort that comes of knowing somebody, knowing them wall, and liking them in spite of their more irritating traits. It makes me smile and smile and smile.
It's right here: Crowley and Aziraphale. Go forth and admire!
3. machshefa is a wonderful and generous woman, which I already knew, but... she sent me a goody bag! She sent me an overstuffed goody bag, in fact, and it is filled to the brim with wonderful candies and Israeli chocolates and other Very Good Things. Also, the Israeli chocolate? It's called Holy Cacao. How awesome is that? I love it already, and I haven't even tasted it. Thank you, Machshefa! You really know how to make me smile, and you have excellent timing. How fortunate I am that you're my friend! ~hugs you tightly~
4. Even as certain areas of life are providing ample opportunity for bittersweetness and frustration, I find that I am, for whatever reason, on a cooking roll. That is, everything that's coming out of the kitchen these days, both for myself and for company, is really, really good. Maybe I'm sublimating all my stresses into passion for cookery; there is something so soothing in having something that can be controlled and quantified and mastered... and then shared, to spread the joy with others, sometimes when they really need a reason to feel good, if only for a moment. Yeah, that's it. Cooking is one of life's joys, and I seem to be seeking out its comforts these days--not so much for me to eat it as for the restful process that gives my hands work while my mind churns away.
But anyway. "Cooking really good things" is the theme of the moment. Latest installments in that series include beef slow-braised in beer and served over mustard-laced mashed potatoes (so much more satiny and satisfying and subtle than it sounds), an impromptu quiche that made beautiful use of leftover baked ham and swiss cheese and onions and mushrooms, and a variation on a recipe that I'v had for years and never got around to trying: an oatmeal cake. Yes, really. It's amazing! The oats are steeped in boiling water before the cake is made, and the result is incredibly moist and even silky in texture. Because I had dates that needed to be used while they were at maximum squidginess, I chopped those up and tossed them in, and then the resulting cake is topped with a brown sugar-coconut-walnut mixture that gets broiled up and crispy-chewy and entirely satisfying. Very homespun, very cold weather, and very, very good. It disappeared in a record amount of time and met with very enthusiastic reviews, so I think I will be making that one again!
5. Just a quick reminder, related to the cooking babble. Auctions for help_haiti are ongoing! Bidding closes on January 20, which is quickly approaching. If you'd like a chance to bid on a box of Bluey Baked Goodies, then go here or here to make your bid. Proceeds, of course, are going to an approved charity.