Happy Birthday, Severus Snape!
Here's a happy birthday to the Man Who Undoubtedly Lived!
Let's celebrate with some recs from hoggywartyxmas - starting with my fabulous gift! It was written, compiled and provided with selected illustrations by shiv5468 who, let's be honest, spoiled me rotten. Therefore -
Get thee to Hoggywarty to read The Sweet Smell of Success (G, 2500 words), a tale of perfume, poetry and plenty of Aubrey Beardsley.
Shiv did not only gift me with a story; she also included the entire, illustrated catalogue to which the story makes reference. I don't know what I did to deserve that XD. It's such a fabulous mix of the Hogwarts Ladies; an absent but perfect Snape; one of my very favourite artists; and a number of my favourite poets. Just- just SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE is what I say.
Now, despite the utter perfection of my gift, I didn't close my eyes to other goings-on at The Hoggywarty, and I'd like to share a few more titles I have enjoyed very much:
cabepfir's Big Great Hogwarts Quiz (G, art and, well, a quiz of course): go and have a look to see how well you do ;).
I have limitless admiration for people with a capacity to write comical verse. I miss _vocalion_ and _grainne_'s jocular virtuosity, and was delighted when I came across atdelphi's A Midwinter Night's Revel (Teen, 500 words). It's just ... ahahahahahaaaa!
therealsnape's Case of the Cat Show Corruption (PG-13, 9700 words, no warnings), in which Spinster Detective Minerva McGonagall cracks a case for Mr Filch. I am a sucker for Hogwarts detective stories - I have always dreamed of writing one, but I couldn't write a mystery to save my life - and there are so few of them around. This one is, in one word, excellent. It is so completely in character that I suspect TRS found McGonagall's diary and passed it off as her own ;-).
I usually steer clear of anything rated over PG-13 and carrying warnings like "voyeurism", but this time round I gave in to my own inner voyeur (ahem) and went to read kellychambliss's Look Not at the Things (R, 10,600 words, voyeurism). It's a sharp and unvarnished look at Snape as a recent ex-Death Eater - an astute portrait of a disillusioned, desperately lonely and cynical young man who finds himself quite lost in an environment with, well, rather more emotionally balanced people. This story really packs a punch. It hurts. But in the end there is hope.
My gift for albalark is this picture to accompany her Snape birthday story, Saturday's Child, so I think I can safely post it here in celebration of the one and only Potions Master (sorry, Professor Slughorn).
It's Reeves acrylic paint on cardboard, because yes, I'm going to art school now ;-)! cabepfir kindly lent me a hand and beta'ed the painting. The flaws are now beginning to jump out at me, but I'm still kind of proud of it as one of my first steps in a new medium and an approach that is, quite frankly, the complete opposite of everything I have been doing in art (such as it is) so far.
Let's celebrate with some recs from hoggywartyxmas - starting with my fabulous gift! It was written, compiled and provided with selected illustrations by shiv5468 who, let's be honest, spoiled me rotten. Therefore -
Get thee to Hoggywarty to read The Sweet Smell of Success (G, 2500 words), a tale of perfume, poetry and plenty of Aubrey Beardsley.
Shiv did not only gift me with a story; she also included the entire, illustrated catalogue to which the story makes reference. I don't know what I did to deserve that XD. It's such a fabulous mix of the Hogwarts Ladies; an absent but perfect Snape; one of my very favourite artists; and a number of my favourite poets. Just- just SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE is what I say.
Now, despite the utter perfection of my gift, I didn't close my eyes to other goings-on at The Hoggywarty, and I'd like to share a few more titles I have enjoyed very much:
cabepfir's Big Great Hogwarts Quiz (G, art and, well, a quiz of course): go and have a look to see how well you do ;).
I have limitless admiration for people with a capacity to write comical verse. I miss _vocalion_ and _grainne_'s jocular virtuosity, and was delighted when I came across atdelphi's A Midwinter Night's Revel (Teen, 500 words). It's just ... ahahahahahaaaa!
therealsnape's Case of the Cat Show Corruption (PG-13, 9700 words, no warnings), in which Spinster Detective Minerva McGonagall cracks a case for Mr Filch. I am a sucker for Hogwarts detective stories - I have always dreamed of writing one, but I couldn't write a mystery to save my life - and there are so few of them around. This one is, in one word, excellent. It is so completely in character that I suspect TRS found McGonagall's diary and passed it off as her own ;-).
I usually steer clear of anything rated over PG-13 and carrying warnings like "voyeurism", but this time round I gave in to my own inner voyeur (ahem) and went to read kellychambliss's Look Not at the Things (R, 10,600 words, voyeurism). It's a sharp and unvarnished look at Snape as a recent ex-Death Eater - an astute portrait of a disillusioned, desperately lonely and cynical young man who finds himself quite lost in an environment with, well, rather more emotionally balanced people. This story really packs a punch. It hurts. But in the end there is hope.
My gift for albalark is this picture to accompany her Snape birthday story, Saturday's Child, so I think I can safely post it here in celebration of the one and only Potions Master (sorry, Professor Slughorn).
It's Reeves acrylic paint on cardboard, because yes, I'm going to art school now ;-)! cabepfir kindly lent me a hand and beta'ed the painting. The flaws are now beginning to jump out at me, but I'm still kind of proud of it as one of my first steps in a new medium and an approach that is, quite frankly, the complete opposite of everything I have been doing in art (such as it is) so far.