How to Write a Fanfic (If You're Picky)
It's Just Fanfic. I should have such a slogan hanging over the computer screen, reminding me not to go crazy.
I guess I can blame yesterday's post on Verse, whose ship is a friendly PG relation across the frame between Phineas Nigellus and Hermione. (She calls it "Arts & Letters.") Recently, the Daily Snitch reported that she was encouraging other writers to float that ship. This story resulted.
While the plot was being blocked out for writing, the Omniocular blog declared an "All In a Day's Work" challenge, and #95 on their want list was for a wizard art/artist story. Since that was already in the plot, the challenge was accepted, and now I had two takers.
Then, came the book work. Gotta research the story! Gotta be quasi-Canon! Gotta spell the names correctly! Gotta get my Britglish right! Gotta look up historical and literary references!
The HP Lexicon provided background on the unpopular Headmaster Black and on charmed paintings.
Catherine, the charm's creator, is concocted from a bit of English legend, which is indeed described in Malmesbury's History, quoted in Kors & Peters, Witchcraft in Europe 1100-1700. In 1065, the real (?) "witch of Berkeley" came out of her coffin in a few days, but not under such peaceful circumstances.
Broadstone was a whoops on my part. The village near Berkeley (per Johnston & Bacon's Road Atlas) is Breadstone. Sorry, the type keeps getting smaller at my age.
The charm Brucan lyfwynn is "Enjoy the gift of life", concocted from the dictionary in Albert S. Cook's The Christ of Cynewulf (1900). Cook also supplied my fractured Anglo-Saxon for The Owl's Tale.
Hermione's dream sequence is based on Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, via Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice, an essential book for Carroll geeks.
Hermione's verse is a mini-filk on "If I only had ...", lyrics by E.H. Harburg and music by Harold Arlen, from Wizard of Oz (1939).
As for Finire incantatum!, I start with "Finire" (to end) rather than Steve Kloves' ambiguous "Finite" (go) in CoS. Canon doesn't care; JKR never said what happened to the rogue bludger after hitting Harry.
The living model for Oscar does not do original work, but is an accomplished restorer of art in almost any form -- paintings, water colors, models, ceramics, pottery, whatever. He works slowly and carefully, with educated attention to material strength and chemistry. He is old, well-spoken and kindly.
Oscar's fine brush, a "four-aught" (4/0), comes from internet ads for artist's materials.
And, as for naming an owl Doctor Whoo.. hey, come on. It's just Fanfic.