kelly_chambliss

Casting continues on the upcoming HBO Harry Potter TV series.

The latest: John Lithgow as Dumbledore.

As a fanfic writer, I've been lucky enough to receive many lovely reviews for my work over the years. Thoughtful reviews, heart-felt reviews, detailed reviews explaining what lines the readers liked, fascinating analytical reviews, funny reviews. . .I've loved them all.

But a review I received recently has become one of my favorites. It was for a story called "Watches of a Samhain Night," in which McGonagall summons the ghosts of her dead lovers on Halloween.

Here's what my reader wrote: "Awww I love the idea of a lesbian McGonagall. This fanfic is amazing, apart from the weird parts. I don’t think I should be reading those."

No, indeed. No one should read weird parts.

Here's some heartwarming Christmas silliness for you via adventdrabbles.

Title: A Gift from the Heart
Character: Severus Snape
Rating: PG
Word Count: 100 (according to AO3)

Prompt: A Christmas gift for someone you don't like

Summary: Severus Snape thinks Christmas is a load of shite.

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( A Gift from the Heart )

Another adventdrabbles. I make no apologies for this. What else could one do with this prompt?

Title: Shimmer
Character: Minerva in cat form
Rating: G
Word Count: 100 (according to AO3)
Prompt: Cat breaking Christmas ornaments
Summary: Minerva takes a cat-night, midnight stroll at Christmas.

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( Shimmer )

My 5th entry for adventdrabbles.

I've never written these characters before; they were fun.

Title: Puppies for Christmas
Characters: Albus Severus Potter, Hugo Granger-Weasley
Rating: G
Word Count: 250 (according to AO3)
Prompt: Christmas pizza

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( Puppies for Christmas )

My third entry for adventdrabbles. Yep, definitely too much time on my hands.

Title: Yippee Ki Yay
Characters:: McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Pince, Hooch, Hagrid
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 500 (according to AO3)
Prompt: Christmas blackout

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( Yippee Ki Yay )

I haven't written any Harry Potter fanfic since the final edition of the late, lamented hoggywartyxmas fest last December. I'd run out of ideas, for one thing, and I had other stuff going on, and I thought my HP-writing days were over.

But now I've been inspired to dip my toe back in the HP waters because a) I need a fantasy distraction from the disaster of Voldemort Donald Trump, and b) I wrote my first HP fanfic in 2008 because I had a broken foot. It seems only fitting that I embark on my second HP career on the occasion of my second broken foot.

(Foot update: I saw the orthopedist, and guess what! I now have an Air Cast boot. It's big, it's cumbersome, but it means that I can [lightly and gingerly] put my foot to the ground with each step I take. I still need crutches, and I can't move very far or very fast, but at least now I can hobble around without risking my neck and all my other limbs. It's a game-changer. I also invested in a knee walker, and while it's not very usable in our small apartment, it's quite sturdy, and I should be able to venture outside occasionally.)

Anyway, for my return to HP-world, I wrote an entry for adventdrabbles, a multi-fandom holiday fest run by the those HP stalwarts, the lovely torino10154 and alisanne. There's a different prompt for each Advent day.

This fic is unbeta'd, and my HP-writing muscles are stiff, so be warned! But I had fun writing.

Title: A Yuletide Tradition
Author: kelly_chambliss
Characters: Severus Snape, Minerva McGonagall (sort of)
Prompt: Elf-made wine
Rating: G

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( A Yuletide Tradition )

Tomorrow (Snape's birthday, of course), the final hoggywartyxmas reveals will be posted, and thus, after 14 glorious years, one of my very favorite HP fests will come to its end.

Of course I hate to see it go, but there are silver linings galore: first and foremost, the archive of marvelous stories and artworks will remain available. I have returned to reread and re-view my various favorites again and again over the years, and I plan a new tradition now: each year, on the traditional opening day of the grand Hoggywarty party, I will sit down with a bit of bubbly and some sort of nibble loaded with cheese, and I will revisit a few of the fest highlights.

Another silver lining is that the friends and community of hoggywartyxmas -- always expertly shepherded by the clever and efficient therealsnape, and kept going by the Hoggywarty family of writers, artists, and participants -- will also remain. I've made some dear and (I hope) life-long friends through this fest and this fandom, and I plan to keep them even when the fest itself has become a mere memory.

But those are plans for the future. For today, I will indulge in my final rec post. As always, the fest is packed with treasures; there's not a single entry that is unworthy of your time. This year, in addition to the usual excellent stories and artwork, we had fine filk, "book club" discussions, knitting (in a super-clever, well-crafted mystery story) and even recipes (courtesy of Filius Flitwick).

Thus the selections below represent just a few of the gems of the fest. We had fewer entries this year than usual, so I am limiting myself to just four recs. But seriously, you should go check out everything. You won't be sorry.

( Last Ever Hoggywartyxmas Recs! )

Hi, dears!

I am the lucky recipient of a delightful podfic of a McGonagall/Hooch drabble I wrote last year for HP Sweethearts, called "Bad Girls, Bad Girls, Whatcha Gonna Do?" The reader is the talented Wilfriede0815.

Listen to the glorious recording here on AO3. You'll see that you're offered the choice of a musical and non-musical version, but I recommend the musical version hands down. It adds just the right touch. 2 minutes and 48 seconds of perfection. Enjoy.

Thank you, Wilfriede!

Wow, dears, it's been eons! Eons, I tell you. I have much to whine about report.

Let's start on a high note: Podficcer Wilfriede has made a simply marvelous podfic of my Wilhelmina/Aberforth story, "Flying Dutchman". I'm really chuffed about this because a) it is beautifully read and illustrated, and b) this fic (with its marginal-characters rare pair) receives very little notice as a rule. (I think it got all of two comments when I first posted it to Daily Deviant back in the day, and it still has only 139 hits after more than ten years on AO3.) I'm very glad Wilfriede enjoyed it enough to record it.

Go listen! Only ten minutes.

( Bad Stuff )

( Good Stuff )

So that's the current state of me. Hope you are all well!