And the only explanation I can find is the love that I've found ever since you've been around...
...Your love's put me at the top of the world...
I woke up this morning singing Karen Carpenter and now I can't get the song out of my mind. *pounds head against keyboard to no avail*
I'm scared of me.
Anyway. This post actually has a purpose. Will wonders never cease?
As a (primarily) Snape writer, I have discovered that it is nigh unto impossible to write a Snape-centric fic without something vile and disgusting being chopped, diced, dissected, boiled, curdled, or floating about in a liquid that resembles a (regurgitated) can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
And, frankly, it's a bitch to come up with potions ingredients, especially when after a while you grow tired of using the meager canonical list found on the Lexicon and you want something neeeeew.
But all is not lost, fair Snapeists. You can come up with something appropriately nauseating for our favourite bastard Potions master to thrust into his students' faces. (Get your minds out of the gutters. I said nauseating, not scrumptious.)
See, I've found some really great resources in the past few months while researching posts for cauldron_brew in hp_dungeons, and I thought I'd share. So. Without further ado, here are my top 15 herbology/potions research sites.
Resource the first: Gareth Long's Encyclopedia of Monsters, Mythical Creatures and Fabulous Beasts. There are a good couple hundred short descriptions of beasts from mythologies around the world to thumb through, if you're interested in a nice, oozing, bloody body part to dice up. Some are familiar to HP readers. Some are delightfully not.
Resource the second: Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places. Great pictures. Very, very, very good description. Lots of detail. Excellent resource for incorporating magical beasts into plots.
Resource the third: A Medieval Bestiary. No pictures, but some interesting folklore about various mythical beasts and superstitions surrounding them.
Resource the fourth: Mythical Plants of the Middle Ages. You know you've always wanted to know about the mysterious origin of spices. And how you can incorporate the Apple of Sodom into your slash fic.
Resource the fifth: What Is An Herb? Excepts from four medieval herbals that are part of the collection at the University of Virginia.
Resource the sixth: An Illustrated Herbal. Contains a listing of over 500 herbs and their medicinal uses. Nice because you can actually see what the leaves and stems and berries look like rather than having to guess.
Resource the seventh: Poisons and Antidotes in the Middle Ages. For darkfic writers. :D
Resource the eighth: Medieval Poison Prevention and Cures And...to foil your plans. Heh.
Resource the ninth: Medieval aphrodisiacs. For smut writers. *chortles*
Resource the tenth: Medicinal uses for herbs in medieval times. Lots of superstitions and odd rituals surrounding herbology that you might want to incorporate into a fic.
Resource the eleventh: Medicinal and Magical Herbs of Medieval Europe. This was compiled for a RPG, but if you scroll down, there's a long list of herbs and their traditional health and magical properties.
Resource the twelfth: Medieval Alchemists and Cannabis. Just to reinforce my firm belief that Snape indulges in a doobie or two at times. (Stop looking at me that way. You know he does.) Seriously, it's a interesting academic look at how pot was used in alchemy to, ah, expand consciousness.
Resource the thirteenth: Magic, Spells and Potions. A historical look at the various types of folkloric magic of the Middle Ages, including a discussion on recipes for love philtres and a detailed list of herbs associated with medieval magic.
Resource the fourteenth: Alcoholic Drinks of the Middle Ages: Liqueurs and Cordials. The entire site is interesting, but of note are the liqueur and cordial recipes which were at first devised as potions by alchemists before spreading to the aristocracy. Tell me there's not a plot bunny in that...
Resource the fifteenth: The Alchemy Website. A treasure trove on alchemical research. There are over 200 alchemical texts from the Middle Ages you can download, and lots of discussion on the symbolism and other academic aspects of alchemy. You MUST bookmark this site.
Go look. Enjoy. Bookmark.
And write me some Snape/Draco using them, damn it.
:D
I woke up this morning singing Karen Carpenter and now I can't get the song out of my mind. *pounds head against keyboard to no avail*
I'm scared of me.
Anyway. This post actually has a purpose. Will wonders never cease?
As a (primarily) Snape writer, I have discovered that it is nigh unto impossible to write a Snape-centric fic without something vile and disgusting being chopped, diced, dissected, boiled, curdled, or floating about in a liquid that resembles a (regurgitated) can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
And, frankly, it's a bitch to come up with potions ingredients, especially when after a while you grow tired of using the meager canonical list found on the Lexicon and you want something neeeeew.
But all is not lost, fair Snapeists. You can come up with something appropriately nauseating for our favourite bastard Potions master to thrust into his students' faces. (Get your minds out of the gutters. I said nauseating, not scrumptious.)
See, I've found some really great resources in the past few months while researching posts for cauldron_brew in hp_dungeons, and I thought I'd share. So. Without further ado, here are my top 15 herbology/potions research sites.
Resource the first: Gareth Long's Encyclopedia of Monsters, Mythical Creatures and Fabulous Beasts. There are a good couple hundred short descriptions of beasts from mythologies around the world to thumb through, if you're interested in a nice, oozing, bloody body part to dice up. Some are familiar to HP readers. Some are delightfully not.
Resource the second: Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places. Great pictures. Very, very, very good description. Lots of detail. Excellent resource for incorporating magical beasts into plots.
Resource the third: A Medieval Bestiary. No pictures, but some interesting folklore about various mythical beasts and superstitions surrounding them.
Resource the fourth: Mythical Plants of the Middle Ages. You know you've always wanted to know about the mysterious origin of spices. And how you can incorporate the Apple of Sodom into your slash fic.
Resource the fifth: What Is An Herb? Excepts from four medieval herbals that are part of the collection at the University of Virginia.
Resource the sixth: An Illustrated Herbal. Contains a listing of over 500 herbs and their medicinal uses. Nice because you can actually see what the leaves and stems and berries look like rather than having to guess.
Resource the seventh: Poisons and Antidotes in the Middle Ages. For darkfic writers. :D
Resource the eighth: Medieval Poison Prevention and Cures And...to foil your plans. Heh.
Resource the ninth: Medieval aphrodisiacs. For smut writers. *chortles*
Resource the tenth: Medicinal uses for herbs in medieval times. Lots of superstitions and odd rituals surrounding herbology that you might want to incorporate into a fic.
Resource the eleventh: Medicinal and Magical Herbs of Medieval Europe. This was compiled for a RPG, but if you scroll down, there's a long list of herbs and their traditional health and magical properties.
Resource the twelfth: Medieval Alchemists and Cannabis. Just to reinforce my firm belief that Snape indulges in a doobie or two at times. (Stop looking at me that way. You know he does.) Seriously, it's a interesting academic look at how pot was used in alchemy to, ah, expand consciousness.
Resource the thirteenth: Magic, Spells and Potions. A historical look at the various types of folkloric magic of the Middle Ages, including a discussion on recipes for love philtres and a detailed list of herbs associated with medieval magic.
Resource the fourteenth: Alcoholic Drinks of the Middle Ages: Liqueurs and Cordials. The entire site is interesting, but of note are the liqueur and cordial recipes which were at first devised as potions by alchemists before spreading to the aristocracy. Tell me there's not a plot bunny in that...
Resource the fifteenth: The Alchemy Website. A treasure trove on alchemical research. There are over 200 alchemical texts from the Middle Ages you can download, and lots of discussion on the symbolism and other academic aspects of alchemy. You MUST bookmark this site.
Go look. Enjoy. Bookmark.
And write me some Snape/Draco using them, damn it.
:D