kelly_chambliss

One of my favorite Snape Fests is returning!


snapecase: Celebrating Severus Snape throughout his ages!

I wrote one of my own favorite Snape fics for this fest back in (I think) 2011. (Is it horribly wrong to have favorites of your own fics? Is it like unthinkable parental disloyalty)

I would love to sign up, but I don't think I can make the timeline work. The due date is two days before hoggywartyxmas, and I just don't think I can manage two major fics between now and early December. I still love HP, but my inspiration has slowed down considerably. Unlike the early days of my obsession, when I sometimes juggled seven and eight sign-ups at a time (as those of you who served as my handholders will recall), my mind is no longer bubbling with plot ideas and stories I'm driven to tell. Writing is much more of a struggle now (albeit one with a fun payoff).

So I may have to give this fest a pass as a writer, but I will certainly look forward to reading. Some totally amazing works have come out of snapecase.

All the cool kids are doing this meme, so I want to do it, too.

Ask away, me hearties! Give me a number, I'll give you an answer.

1. How did you come up with the title to [insert fic]?
2. Any of your stories inspired by personal experience?
3. What character do you identify with most?
4. Is there a song or a playlist to associate with [insert fic]?
5. If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about?
6. Care to share a favorite hurt/comfort fic?
7. Care to share a favorite crack fic?
8. How would you describe your style?
9. Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?
10. Write or describe an alternative ending to [insert fic].
11. What's the angstiest idea you've ever come up with?
12. What's the weirdest AU you've ever come up with?
13. Got any premises on the back burner that you'd care to share?
14. Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you?
15. How do you begin a story--with the plot, or the characters?
16. Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an "architect" or a "gardener"? (How much do you
plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?)
17. Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects?
18. Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?
19. Any fandom tropes you can't resist?
20. Any fandom tropes you can't stand?
21. A pairing you might like to write for, but haven't tried yet.
22. A secondary (or underrated) character you want to see more of in fic?
23. Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones?
24. A character you enjoy making suffer.
25. A character you want to protect.
26. Major character death--do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can't tolerate?

Except when I don't, of course. But lookee . . .

NASA Puts Its Research Online -- Free.

Remember that commercial with the actor who said, "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV?" Well, I'm not a scientist, but I don't have to play at being interested in it. True, my understanding will probably be w-a-a-a-y below the level of most of these articles, but still.

Thanks, NASA!

Remember back in May, when I waxed rhapsodic about how some lovely, brilliant person had claimed my Millicent Bulstrode/Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank prompt at hp_crossgenfest?

Well, that lovely, brilliant person has actually written the fic, and what a doozie it is. Millicent and Wilhelmina are at their butchy best as devoted healers of magical creatures at "Kettleburn Memorial" (and isn't that the most perfect choice of names?) The Mystery Author builds a full and nuanced world; I loved all the details of the hospital and the patients and the dedicated healers. You'll find great OCs, fun cameos from the HP cast, and best of all, a lot of well-done Millicent and Wilhelmina.

Be sure to treat yourself to some delightful butch-on-butch cross-gen romance:

Be Better by Anonymous (Millicent Bulstrode/Wilhelmina Grubby-Plank; PG-13)

I am back in New York after a whirlwind and fun trip to Leviosa in Las Vegas. As always with HP events, the best part was meeting old and new friends. The second-best part was hearing fascinating HP panels and enjoying the vendors' rooms.

Worst part -- well, actually, it was mostly a smooth and pleasant trip, so there was no real "worst." But. . .I don't actually like Las Vegas, I never really understand the casino games, and my eyes and throat only just now recovering from the fact that the casino (which was very close to the open-plan cafe and the conference area) allows unrestricted indoor smoking. (I hadn't realized this; so many public spaces in the US are smoke-free that I honestly didn't know that in some places, you can still find yourself engulfed in inescapable cigarette smoke. Allergic much?)

But those negatives were pretty minor. Here are just a few of the good things:

Wonderful People I Met in Person for the First Time

alisanne
amorette
annietalbot
dementordelta
femmequixotic
lilyeyes
mywitch
noeon
teddyradiator
writcraft

*waves*

Wonderful People I've Met in Person Before and Got to Reconnect With

akatnamedeaster
drinkingcocoa
vaysh

*waves some more*

If I've left you off, my apologies!

I had to take my introverted, shy self in hand and risk barging up to people and saying, "excuse me, but are you . . ?" Actually, it wasn't much of a risk, because everyone was very kind and welcoming. (Thank you so much! I felt so at home with you all.)

I sat with Alisanne, Dementor Delta, and Lilyeyes at the Welcoming Feast and spent the costume ball with Mywitch, Kat, and Teddy, where we were eventually joined by Vaysh, Writ, and Amorette. I wore my full McGonagall drag and had a blast. (Although my home-made costume was nothing compared to some of the glorious outfits of the real cos-players. Professional-level wigs, make-up, and dress brought us fantastic versions of Snape, Umbridge, Hagrid, McGonagall, the Grey Lady, Not-Actually-Headless Nick, and more. Dolores Umbridge -- in full pink character -- actually came to the talk that Writcraft and I gave.)

Then I crashed the lovely and hospitable Snarry Suite, where I was welcomed despite the fact that I have never written a word of Snarry (though I have certainly read a lot of excellent stuff). Interspersed with all this were drinks with Writ, drinks with Writ, Femme, Noeon, Amorette, drinks with Teddy, Kat, and Mywitch, late supper with same. (Writ and Kat, don't think I've forgotten that I owe you drinks! I'm looking forward to seeing again and buying my round.)

The hotel/convention center was huge and sprawling and comfortable and had a fairly subdued (by Vegas standards) old-California-mission-style decor. Since the temperatures hovered around 105 degrees F every day, I rarely ventured outside, but the pool area looked pretty. (Yeah, I know people say, "but it's the desert; it's dry heat." Maybe so, but 105 degrees is still pretty damned hot, dry or not. Better than 105 humid degrees, though, certainly).

My sole trip out happened courtesy of the delightful aabbey, who's been my fine fandom friend for at least a dozen years now. *waves like mad* She had to be in Las Vegas for reasons unrelated to the con, so we had dinner together at the hotel, and then she proposed a drive along the Vegas Strip. It was a fun madhouse. The traffic was insane, but it's Vegas, so it was fine. It was great to catch up with you, dear.

I left early on the morning of the last con day, so I missed the final panels and the Leaving Feast, but I still managed to pack a huge amount of fun into my two-and-a-half days.

Oh, and swag. I got swag, namely -- two beautiful, full-color Snape art cards courtesy of Akatnamedeaster, fabulous "Snape Alphabet" buttons (all 26 of them!) from the generous Mywitch, and a copy of Drinking Cocoa's newly-published Snape book, which I can't wait to read. (And a promotional button, too.) Thank you, everyone!

I'll talk more about the panels and such in another post.

Just reeling after Brexit (though recent polls and rhetoric make the result less of a shock that it might have been a year ago). Of course, I'm speaking as a not-Brit who has only read about the debate/vote from afar, so on many levels, I don't really know what I'm talking about. (But when does that ever stop people from talking? /g/)

Still, when answering the inevitable "qui bono?" I think it's safe to say that the "ordinary people" are not going to be the ones who benefit from this change. If anyone does benefit, it will be the very "elites" who were partly the target of LEAVE anger -- the rich, the corporations, the top-level politicians (probably mostly on the right, but some on the left, too). The Law of Unintended Consequences is going be passed big-time, and I can only hope that the average UK resident is not left significantly worse off than they are now (though I'm skeptical. "Ordinary" folks are rarely the winners, or even just not the big losers, in this sort of fraught, complicated change).

I can't help but relate this process to the current situation in the US (and a lot of so-called "developed" countries) -- all over, we're seeing this "populist," often racist/nativist surge of fury and fear that is threatening economic and social stability everywhere.

I find these movements terrifying and people like Trump and many other leaders beyond reprehensible, but it's a huge mistake (as we just saw in the UK and as is also true in the US) to just dismiss Trump supporters and LEAVE voters as "racist idiots" or "morons" who are too stupid to see their own interests or as "haters" who are somehow constitutionally and unavoidably "gonna hate" no matter what. When millions of people are saying, "we're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it anymore," we all need at least to listen.

No matter what the issue, politics or whatever, and no matter what side we're on, it's easy to demonize and/or ridicule our opposition, to cast them as obviously evil or stupid or both. But the reality is always much more complicated and human.

In the case of the US (and I'm sure the UK, too, though I don't know enough to say definitively), the "populist" anger is often legitimate. I'm angry, too. What's false are the targets of that anger.

We've allowed the rich and the corporations to define what it is we should be angry about, and surprise! it isn't them. To listen to the power elite, none of our current problems is due to income inequality or to the power structures that encourage and sustain and drive that inequality.

No, you didn't lose your job and your house because the system is gamed so that the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful and so that people like you get less and less. You lost it because of the Chinese people or the Mexican people or the Polish people or the Indian people or the Syrian people or the Muslims or the narrow-minded Christians or the liberals or the right-wingers or the people on food stamps or the femi-nazis or the gays or the atheists or the angry black folk or the "stupid" white working class. The outsized influence of special business interests? The rampant corporate expansion and corporate "welfare"? The dangerous corporatization of every important social institution? The constant, unchecked redistribution of wealth into the hands of a miniscule privileged few? The number of your elected officials who continue to support and increase these unjust systems? Nah, don't be silly! These had nothing to do with it! All that is done with your best interests in mind. Trust us! After all, we're clearly winners, right?

This pattern is exactly why I supported Bernie Sanders -- no, I wasn't naive enough to think that he would be able to accomplish all he promised. No, I didn't agree with his every proposal. But he was the first person in a long time to challenge the structures and the systems and the uncritical assumptions that have allowed things to get to the sorry state they are in now. Nothing will change overnight, but maybe now some improvement is possible. (If the US can only keep the Donald out of the White House and make a dent in the gridlock that is Congress.)

So -- angry much? You bet.

ETA: I'm not saying that I don't think Trump supporters are dangerously wrong, because I do. Nor am I saying that racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance, nativism, sexism, etc. are not serious problems in the US, because they are. But the serious economic injustices are getting lost in the fray, and they are arguably the most dangerous at the moment.

Our own lash_larue, charter member of the Old Lady Smut Brigade (OLSB), doyenne extra-ordinare of Crone Manor, fabulous DIY-er, fine writer, and all-around good egg, has had one of her excellent stories prepared as a podfic in the ongoing hp_podfic_fest:

Title and Link: Getting Ahead at the Ministry
Author: lash_larue
Podficcer: Anon for now
Pairing: Percy Weasley/Dolores Umbridge (and you KNOW Lash can pull this off)
Rating: R

Plug in the headphones and listen!

I recently took part in a fun fest called wand_in_a_knot. The premise is that a participant gets tagged and given a short prompt; you then have 24 hours to create and post a piece of porn featuring any characters you like.

I received my tag at about 10:30 on the morning of Sunday, May 15; by about 10:40 on Monday the 16, my porny threesome was posted and frolicking.

Is the fic any good? Well, about as good as you would expect for something written between 5:00 p.m. and 3:20 a.m! /g/

I confess that I've done a little tinkering since the initial post, but not much. What you see is what I wrote in ten hours or so. So yeah, it's a little OOC and a little rushed and a little. . .um, shall we say, implausible, but it was a blast to write. Hope you enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Title: Getting Along
Creator: kellychambliss
Threesome: Alastor Moody/Severus Snape/Minerva McGonagall
Summary: If you're going to serve in the Order of the Phoenix, you need to be able to get along.
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~3100
Prompt: "Unresolved tensions"
Warnings: none
Creator's Notes: Such a fun prompt. At least a few of the tensions get resolved, though /g/. My thanks to therealsnape for her enjoyable help with brainstorming and for her usual expert beta job (and at such impossibly short notice, too!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

( Getting Along )

I've really been enjoying the current memes making the rounds, and now teddyradiator has tagged me to do them. (Thanks, dear!)

So here goes. . .

( HP Meme )

( Writing Meme )

art by thilia

As some of you know, I'm participating in daily_deviant's tenth anniversary celebration, the "Bangin' Birthday" fest. When I was invited to write for DD back in 2012, I was really chuffed; it felt like a validation of my participation in HP fandom. The comm has given me a lot of great reads and great gifts, and the Bangin' Birthday is no exception.

I've already recced my excellent Minerva/Severus gift here, and I've got a few more gems to send your way.

• Of Monsters and Men by Anonymous (Severus Snape/Remus Lupin).

My favorite porny/kinky stories are always those in which the kink is firmly grounded in character; I like a nice, leisurely backstory and character development before we get to the racy parts, and that's the structure of this fine fic. Great world-building, too.

• Sometimes you need to make your own opportunities by Anonymous (Severus Snape/Kingsley Shacklebolt).

I love stories that start with Order meetings (all organization and seriousness) and then move onto messy, intriguing personal dimensions. This well-written fic features one of my favorite m/m pairings, too. Both Severus and Kingsley sharply and plausibly depicted here.

Other fannish news:

• Nominations are open at femmeremix on DW. I've become a total convert to remix fests, and I'm excited about a female-oriented one. All fandoms are welcome. In my own remixing experience, I've been lucky enough to receive fabulous gifts that give plenty of attention to women, but I've also often seen the following: "our remixer has skipped over the 99 awesome stories about women and remixed the 1 not-so-awesome story about men." (from the femmeremix FAQ). It'll be great fun to see all the results.

Sign-ups open on 13 May.



rarepair_shorts 2016 Wishlist Event!
Sign ups begin: May 1st
Wishlist revealed: May 16th
Posting for all members (new and old): May 16 - August 31

• rarepair_shorts is having its 2016 Summer Wish-List Event.

This comm hosted one of the first fests I wrote in, back in 2009 (and iirc, I also bullied some of you into participating, too, with fab results in terms of excellent gifts for ME ME ME!) So I have a soft spot for this group. Plus, you have to write only 2000 words or fewer. I think I'll sign up. As I've said elsewhere, I don't really have a lot left to say in HP fic, but I'm just not ready to retire.

• Posting at femmefest begins on 3 May.

Here's another comm I have strong nostalgic feelings for. When I signed up to write for the 2009 fest, I didn't realize it was the inaugural year. I participated for several years after that, and even though I no longer contribute as a writer (there's not a lot of interest in the old ladies), I still enjoy reading and commenting. I'm always glad to see celebrations of f/f slash.