My hd_holidays gift posted tonight and I'm all squeeful because it is gorgeous art that's so subtle and delicate and fairy-taleish. ZOMG. I heart it something fierce. \0/

Everyone should go look and tell the artist how awesome it is..and dear God, I want to live in that house so much. It would be fantastic. :D Although I suppose I'll allow Harry and Draco to live there, if they let me come visit. *G*

Two...Four...Six... by Anonymous

Also, huge thank yous to everyone who sent snowflakes earlier this week (and apologies for the belated thanks--I've been keeping myself offline in order to write the past couple of days). I meant to return the snowflake love once I got home from work on Monday night, but alas, LJ had turned the option off by the time I got to my laptop. But believe me when I say every single one of them brought a smile to my face on a day when that was sorely needed. You guys are seriously awesome. *hugs every damn one of you*

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This entry was originally posted at http://femmequixotic.dreamwidth.org/438096.html. You can comment here or there using OpenID.

I am evidently ridonkulously homesick because I have the University of Florida/University of South Carolina football game on the TV and I hate football, whether college or NFL. But it's a South Carolina home game and (despite the fact that I am highly ambivalent about USC and its athletics program) I'm all HOME! WOOBIES! *sniffles*

Anyway. I caught up on two Spooks episodes today while procrastinating from writing and was going to rant about a certain plot development that occurred at the end of 8x03, but then reserve distracted me this awesome photo and I really think someone should write Harry/Draco fic based on it. *eyes certain segments of my flist speculatively* I am willing to beg, trust me.

Two fic recs! One's Snape/Draco, one's Harry/Draco.

The first is Clean and Filthy by entrenous88. It's a 5,000 word post-HBP Snaco written for the daily_deviant kink costumes. It's got Spinner's End, power plays and Draco dressed as a French maid. Oh, and there may be a scorching hot boot. It's gorgeous and oh, it makes me miss Snape/Draco so much. I think once I finish some of these fics I'm working on at the moment, I might reward myself with a wee bit of Snaco writing.

The second is Cornbread and Sweet Tea by sor_bet and it's the prompt I chose to have written for me for the ownficfest. It's a Harry/Draco AU that takes place in the American South, and I adore how sor_bet weaves actual canon into the story while picking the characters up and making them truly Southern--and yet keeping them totally in character. It's a wonderful read and take it from this Southerner, it's spot-on. \0/

Have realized that it's six-thirty and I haven't eaten yet today. Hm. Probably should remedy that...

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This entry was originally posted at http://femmequixotic.dreamwidth.org/436164.html. You can comment here or there using OpenID.

Reveals have gone up for the ownficfest, so I can now take responsibility for inflicting a non-magical Parliament/cricket/coffeshop fic on fandom. \0/

A huge, huge, huge thank you to those of you on my flist who pointed me in the right direction for cricket info. I ran up against the deadline in writing this fic, so I actually snipped the plot I'd developed in half at an appropriate point, which means for the couple of you who've poked me, yes, there will be a sequel at some not-so-distant point down the road and (in response to cursive's insistence that she wanted more cricket, dammit) I can say definitively that cricket will become even more of a plot point. *g*

Title: Black Coffee on a Lonely Night
Pairing: Harry/Draco, past Draco/Astoria
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: non-magical AU, bisexuality
Word Count: ~21,600
Summary: Draco owns a café in the city. Harry's a MP who comes in every morning, newspapers in one hand, BlackBerry in the other, and orders a triple espresso macchiato.
Author's Notes: Written for the 2009 ownficfest. Much love to cursive and noeon for their support and their suggestions. Many thanks also to my flist for advice regarding cricket and to the highly informative UK Parliament website, and a huge thank you to tray_la_la for the opportunity to write this.

( The day my wife dies, I'm half a world away, having my cock sucked in the filthy loo of a Brisbane pub. )

This fic is also archived on my Dreamwidth fic journal, An Archive of Our Own, and Skyehawke.



Download a PDF version of this fic.

---

Addendum: When I started writing this fic, I commissioned glockgal for art to accompany it. She came up with the following gorgeous picture that proved to be the inspirational push I needed to finish the story. \0/

( Glockgal's illustration )

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This entry was originally posted at http://femmequixotic.dreamwidth.org/435491.html. You can comment here or there using OpenID.

Drop everything and go read this fic.

I don't care if you hate Harry/Draco. Drop everything and go read this fic.

Blood and Brimstone is the latest offering in hd_career_fair. It's a fusion fic, a melding of the Potterverse with the world of Wicked Gentlemen, and it is phenomenal.

It had me at inventor!Draco.

You don't have to have read Wicked Gentlemen to understand this fic (though if you have, you'll love the side appearances by various WG characters); the author weaves the worlds together seamlessly, explaining what you need to know along the way.

This story goes beyond fanfic. It's a masterful, amazing, incredible tale that reads like something you'd pick up in Barnes & Noble. It's breathtaking. It's gorgeous. It's the kind of story that makes me wish I could write this well and that makes me so grateful that I had an opportunity to read something so beautiful.

If you love a good story, if your idea of an amazing night is curling up on the couch with a novel that captivates you and draws you into an entirely different world, read this fic. You won't be sorry.

It's 42,000 words of utter brilliance.

Blood and Brimstone by Anonymous

Running off to work shortly--I've a long day today as I've Russian class tonight--but I wanted to take a moment to pimp the hp_nextgen_fest. Signups open today at 4pm EDT/8pm UTC and run through Oct. 31. And fics aren't due until January 31, 2010, so you've lots of time post-holiday fests to start thinking about how to get Scorpius Malfoy laid. :D

(Come on. You know you want to.)

From what I understand, cross-gen is quite welcome, as are all forms of strictly next-gen pairings. (Anybody want to write me Albus Severus/Viktor?) Het, slash, femmeslash and gen are also being encouraged.


artwork by _aurora_sky_

Sign ups for hp_nextgen_fest: October 20-31, 2009!

Off to work. Hoping it doesn't suck eggs. :/

Work continues to be ridiculous this week--lots of stress, lots of exhaustion, and I've been getting in to work an hour early every day. Blech. Will be glad when it settles; I'm behind on RL and fandom again, dammit. :/

But I've two fics I've read that have been highlights of the past few days, and I don't want anyone on my flist to miss them because they're delightful.

Rec the first: I was having a significantly crappy day last week and noeon wrote me a little pick-me-up Harry/Draco porn that utterly and completely made my day. In just a few thousand words we have brutally hot cigarette smoking, an angry, possessive Harry, a snarky, turned-on Draco, anal beads, and…well, I can't say the rest because it'll spoil it. It's delicious and sexy and if it doesn't make your toes curl, I don't know what will. It's just gorgeous. And will leave you incoherent. :D

If you're in the mood for a bit of brilliantly sexy, scorchingly hot, beautifully written smut, you must read this.

Yielding to Uncertainty by noeon

Rec the second: Let me say up front that this is not your usual Harry/Draco fic. The language is dense and tersely descriptive all at once, and it's very, very, very British, which is something I adore and crave in this fandom and surprisingly (and sadly) do not get enough of.

It is not an easy fic to read, and it's long--40,000 words long. You can't just fly through it. And if you're not British, some of the references will go over your head no matter how well-steeped you are in the culture--do not be afraid of this. Seriously.

Because it is so very, very, very, very worth the effort. Not to mention, meant to be savoured.

This fic is amazingly, beautifully, incredibly written, it's funny as hell, and it reminds me of those deliciously charming novels about the lower gentry living in rural English villages. Reading it made me ache to live in one, to be honest, as those sorts of novels always do. I adore this Harry and this Draco--and don't even get me started on how fantastic the supporting cast is. If you don't walk away loving Narcissa and Pansy and Blaise and Scorpius and Albus Severus, you…well, you need to go back and read the damn fic again, that's for certain. And then there are the OCs. I am in love with Dr. Vickers like you wouldn't believe, and would be more than happy for him to be my Rector. (Also, I'm entirely thrilled that the author chose to make Harry and Draco bisexual and to have them sincerely have been in love with their wives. That's a die-hard kink for me in H/D fic. I. Love. That.)

I cannot stress enough how amazing this fic is. It goes beyond fanfic and into the realm of literature, to be bluntly honest--it made me remember why I chose to focus on British authors when I was in grad school. If you have any love at all for Britain and its culture, you must read this fic.

It's witty, it's sharp, it's complex, it's wound through-and-through with legend and history and Anglicanism, it's shot up to the top of my all-time favourite HP fics list, and I suspect it will stay there for a very, very, very long time. (And I desperately want to know who wrote this because I want to give them a mad fangirling. The author of this fic gave me everything--and I do mean everything--that I've been gagging for in a H/D fic. Brava, whomever you are, and thank you. I'm awed and delighted by your work.)

Drink Up Thy Zider: A South Hams Pomona by Anonymous (for now)

Off now to work on my ownficfest fic, which yes, is late. Sigh. One day. One day I'll turn a damn fic in on time. Today is not that day. :/

Work = ridiculously busy for the foreseeable future

Writing = ridiculously busy for the foreseeable future

I'll probably be around and about as I have time, but my to-do list in RL and fandom is extremely long for the next few weeks. However, I'm going to see Nick Hornby speak on Wednesday night with noeon and her S.O. and I am soooo excited. After Neil Gaiman, Hornby's my next favourite modern writer. This would be me at the moment: \0/!!!\0/!!!\0/!!!

Before I toddle off to bed, I thought I'd post a few of the answers to the top 5 meme I asked for last week or so. (Yes, it's taken me this long to do them. /0\) I've only got ten done; I have another seven to finish up...I'm doing them during breaks from work. However I feel accomplished that I'm more than halfway through them as of tonight, and I'm halfway through answering comments on my snarry_games fic. I take my little victories as I can lately. *g*

( Top five fics you would like to write, but haven't - yet for accioslash )


( Top 5 things you (secretly) love that no one would suspect of you for drusillas_rain )


( Top five places you'd like Draco and Chekov to have sex for lesyeuxverts00 )


( Top five favorite websites for book_wyrm )


( Top five favourite moments from the HP books for wenelda )


( Top five best gifts you've received for djin7 )


( Top five HP het pairings for ncp )


( Top five characters you like to write for goseaward )


( Top five Adrien Brody movies for a_belladonna )


( Top five happy images from HP (canon, fanon, whatever--just whatever visual you really like) for goseaward )

So this weekend is the last chance to vote for fics in the snarry_games! If you haven't gotten around to reading and voting on some of the fics yet, now's your chance...and hey, I'm not above bribing or begging people to read my Sing A Mad Rebellion. :D (Seriously, though, I am pretty proud of this fic; I really think it's the best one I've written so far in my fanfic career.) Anyway, Snarry fen, go read and go vote--for Team Cauldron, of course. :)

Also, glockgal posted a piece of Harry/Draco art I commissioned from her (look, look, see my icon?) and it's gorgeous. *squees and hugs it tight* Mine all mine all mine!!! \0/ \0/ It's actually an illustration from a fic that I'm currently working on and it's providing a great deal of inspiration for me to get to that particular scene, which happens to involve Harry and Draco kissing on the Albert Embankment in the rain. \0/ I am absolutely delighted with what Glock did--especially with Draco's clothes. *bounces up and down* Go look and tell her she's absolutely brilliant. :D

Draco and Harry on the Albert Embankment by glockgal (ETA: Glock's art comm is flocked, but I've uploaded my copy here, if you want to see it...)

Oh and noeon just made me listen to this absolutely hysterical ditty about the London Underground and OMG THIS IS NOW MY COMMUTE SONG EVERY DAY because it is exactly how I feel most days about taking the T to work. :D Anyone who has to take public transportation daily will so relate, omg.

( London Underground Uncensored by the Amateur Transplants )

Okay, off to do some Dungeons with noeon and ze_dragon, and hopefully get some comment answering completed before bed.

YAY IT'S THE WEEKEND. *collapses on the chaise in relief*

So my snarry_games fic was posted last night. I'm going to admit that I'm really a lot more nervous than I usually am upon fic-posting and have been since I turned this fic in. It took me until this afternoon to figure out why: I approached writing this story as if it were a novel, and the result is the closest I've come to writing such a creature. Eep. /0\

Anyway, should you like to read 56,000 words (give or take a few) of somewhat dystopic Snape/Harry, here you go. :)

Title: Sing A Mad Rebellion
Genre: Alive and Kicking
Prompts: Secrets and Lies, Assassination
Rating/Warnings/Kinks: NC-17, Highlight if you wish to know: *Non-Snarry pairing (non-explicit), het mentions, bisexuality, minor character death, politics, semi-epilogue compliance, violence*
Word Count: 55,991
Author Notes/Disclaimers/Betas: A huge thank you to my betas noeon and goseaward, and much gratitude to Noe for coaxing this story into being. Massive thanks also to the mods for their patience.

This fic owes a great debt to such works as Orwell's 1984, Alan Moore's V for Vendetta, the film The Manchurian Candidate and the works of John LeCarre, all of which in some manner provided inspiration for the conception and writing of the story. Danny Foster (and his wife Kirsty) are taken from the BBC series Party Animals which revolves around the lives of young Labour and Conservative political researchers and lobbyists. Nemworth Interrogation Unit and various other MI5-related elements are taken from or influenced by the BBC series Spooks. In addition, I must give major props to the highly informative and incredibly helpful factsheets hosted on the website of the United Kingdom Parliament, which, when printed, fill two reams of paper and a four-inch binder. The title is a nod toward a fragment of verse by John Taylor.

Summary: The State Security Forces come not in the middle of a dark night as one might expect, but on a bright, sunshiny Sunday morning just after the sausages are set on the kitchen table.

Sing A Mad Rebellion (link goes to the fic post on snarry_games)

Kanye West, you're an asshole. And I don't even know Taylor Swift's music, but I'm about to go download her album from iTunes whether I like it or not just so she'll get some money. It's the least I can do as a protest for such douchebaggery. Somebody needs to get that man into therapy or rehab. Fast.

I've been really tired for about a week or so now; I think I've got some sort of low-grade virus that isn't bad enough to cause me to feel okay with staying home from work, but which is just draining enough to make me fatigued and brain-dead for most of the day. :/ It's been fun, let me tell you. I meant to spend all weekend writing. Instead I spent most of it sleeping, and I'm still ridiculously tired. Very annoying, let me tell you. Particularly when one has deadlines which one is not going to meet because one is so zonked one cannot think, much less write coherently. *sadface*

Anyway. Two recs for my flist....

There's an H/D fic in hp_summersmut that I got to beta and it's fantastic and I think everyone should read it. Voices From The Fog by noeon. It's a smidge under 14,000 words, it's set in Amsterdam, it has cigartette smoking (shut up, it's a kink for me), it has a Harry that I adore and a Draco who is deliciously standoffish and snarky, and I love it so much I've forced Noe into writing me a sequel. Srlsy, go read it.

And for those Snarry fen on my flist, you should run now to the snarry_games and check out bethbethbeth's Everything He Ever Wanted, which I also got to beta. It's one of the most original takes on the epilogue I've seen, and it's charming and chilling and has the best ending ever. \0/ Although I'd kill for a sequel to it as well. *eyes Beth* So go read it too.

I wrote this for bethbethbeth's birthday a few weeks ago and just realized I hadn't posted it anywhere outside of her birthday comm since.

So since there are a few people on my flist who might like a wee bit of Snaco porn, here you go. :) Do note the warnings and the title--there is definitely pot smoking involved. *g*

Off to watch an episode of Leverage and then maybe go to bed early....

Title: Reefer Madness
Author: Femme
Pairing: Snape/Draco
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~ 3,500
Warnings: Um...Draco (that warning would be for Cordelia *g*), semi-epilogue compliance (in other words, Snape aten't dead \0/), established relationship, slightly pervy portraits, the humiliation of teenagers, and unabashed pot smoking.
Author's notes: A huge thank you to supergrover24 for beta services, and a happy, happy birthday to Beth. *hugs*

( I found this in Scorpius's room. )

It's 3 am and I have finally, finally, after about 14 combined hours of toil, beat the damn CSS code for my LJ into submission.

This redesign was a bear--I went with more CSS graphics than I usually do which required math to lay them out so they all matched up. But. Vini, vidi, vici! And it's been tested in Firefox and Safari on the Mac by me and ze_dragon, and I pestered the hell out of noeon and cursive tonight, too, to test it in Firefox and IE on PCs. Everything seems to be working so far. *knock wood*

I like it the more I look at it; it's different than what I usually design and that pleases me muchly. Although there's a part of me that feels slightly guilty because this is the first time in three years I haven't had a Rhett-centric design, but I wanted Harry/Draco this go around, dammit. I still love you, Rhett, and I'm going to make a mood theme for you, okay? Okay.

I now have the most awesomest of awesome LJ headers, if I do say so meself. I commissioned draykonis to draw Harry and Draco for me. All I told her was that I wanted them both smoking and drinking at a bar, and then I pointed her to a promo photo from Mad Men and said, these clothes are cool, and she came up with the most spectacular artwork. Go here and tell her how fantastic it is. :D I may have made a complete idiot of myself at work, squeeing into my fist, when she sent it to me Thursday.

Also, OMG, draykonis is really an amazing artist. Her style is gorgeous, and she has a wonderful eye for detail. Just take a look at her art tag. I could lose myself in there--I don't even have to know the fandoms she's drawing in, the art's just that beautiful,and her original stuff is delicious. I think everyone should go fangirl her right now. God knows I am. *g*

I have smacked this art all over my journal. Header, userinfo, default icon...ZOMG, I HEART IT SO MUCH. I mean, seriously, you guys. Harry and Draco sitting around in a bar, smoking and getting drunk together. IT'S LIKE MY DREAM COME TRUE. \0/\0/\0/ I'll be over in the corner, nursing a vodka gimlet and waiting for them to make out with each other.

Come on. You know it'll happen eventually. (Yes, Cordelia, it will. In my head. It will. *g*)

Off to bed shortly, then up in a few hours to spend the weekend writing Snarry. This damn fic is going to kill me before it's finished. Sigh.

I came home tonight to the most fantastic surprise in my inbox... xxaphaniax had read my fic The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, which I wrote, OMG, back in 2004, and she drew art for it. \0/ And it's GORGEOUS. \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Go look at it here and tell her how absolutely amazing it is because OMG, it takes my breath away. Look at them lying there in the rain. OMG. My heart. *adores Snape and Draco* I could look at this forever, I think. THE RAIN, YOU GUYS. I have such a thing for rain. (The fullsize version is here but do make sure you go back here to squee at xxaphaniax. *g*)

And then after flailing at xxaphaniax for that gorgeous bit of art, everyone who has even the slightest interest in Snape/Draco should go immediately over to her journal and flail over this adorable Snaco chibi. Draco's little naked chest! \0/ Snape's crossed arms! \0/ Draco's smirk! \0/

ETA: And for you Harry/Draco peeps on my flist, you may be interested in these portraits of Harry and Draco. :D

*squees gleefully and with great abandon*

OMG, I suck. I can't even write a proper drabble for a pinch-hit Drabblethon entry. /0\ Ah well. Fuck it. :D

This one's for Noe. *hugs*

Title: Fairy Cakes
Recipient: noeon
Prompt: Draco cupcakes "Potter" sticky
Word count: 893. Okay, really. Even when pinch-hitting, I fail at drabbling. /0\
Rating: PG-13ish?

Harry’s tired when he Floos into the flat.

-----

My previous Drabblethon entry is here. And let's face it, this is me. They're both Harry/Draco. :D

Okay, so I just posted my "drabble" for the Cats' Birthday Drabblethon. Let's just all accept the fact that when it comes to drabbling I FAIL LIKE A FAILING THING, okay? This puppy ended up being 1,664 words. We'll just say it's 16.5 drabbles. *nodnodnodnod*

Anyway. Should you care to read it.... (Also note that it's in three consecutive comments, so make sure you read all three or you might be confused at the end of the second one. *cough*)

Title: Drunkenness Is Nothing But Voluntary Madness
Recipient: stormwynd
Prompt: Draco sleeps with either Ron or Harry but can't remember which one.
Word count: 1,664. I am so damn glad the cats can’t count because I FAIL at drabbling.
Rating: NC-17
A/N: Title from a quote by Seneca.

I’ve lost track of how many drinks I’ve had.

------
Also while you're there, read the one written for me by cheshyre! It's an actual, you know, drabble and it's AWESOME. *hearts Slytherin Pansy* \0/

Con crud has reached the point that I gave up this morning, miserable, and called in sick to work. Blech. I hate calling in sick. I always feel guilty for doing it.

I am now ensconced on the couch, wrapped in a blanket,coughing my lungs up and sneezing like mad. However, I have discovered Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is on TV. OMG, I love this movie more than I can even say. It's just brilliantly cheesy. \0/

Also for some weird reason Dick Van Dyke at the moment is reminding me of adult!Harry with his kids. Yeah, I don't even know. I blame the fever. Or something.

So, on our last night at Azkatraz, Beth, Cordelia, Dragon, leela_cat and lesyeuxverts00 and I ended up at a showing of Star Trek because Dragon hadn't seen it yet. And on the way back, the suggestion of Draco/Chekov as a pairing may have been made and I may have had an entire brain meltdown on the San Francisco sidewalks at the ABSOLUTE HAWTNESS of the thought. (Don't look at me that way. There is nothing hotter than two twinky seventeen-year-olds, and you know it. *g*)

I came home tonight to find that Lyv had written me a Draco/Chekov drabble and it is AWESOME. \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/ I need more. And I might actually be considering throwing the wee HP/Star Trek crossover fest Lyv's trying to talk me into just to get more Draco/Chekov smut if there'd be any interest in it... *eyes flist*

Dammit, I need a Chekov icon.

Also, there is an Azkatraz friending meme going on now...go forth and find peeps. \0/

Must take a little nap now...con crud has most definitely set in. Alas. Woe. I think I've coughed up a lung today. Ew.

Back from Azkatraz and SO not looking forward to going in to work tomorrow. Although I have brought Ghirardelli chocolate back with which to bribe coworkers.

Con report later when I have a time to recuperate from a cross-country flight, but briefly for now:

a) San Francisco is awesome and I love it and I want to go back NOW;

b) my love for Snape/Draco burns bright again post-HBP (you guys, that scene--you know the one, omg) and as for my love for Harry/Draco...well, let's just say I now have around thirty Harry/Draco stories on my to-write list after this con, dammit, people, stop bunnying me;

c) the H/D panel was made of win and I was and am in awe of my fellow panelists, who all completely rock \0/;

d) after five cons, I finally caved and bought a Slytherin robe and prefect pin so I can cosplay Pansy (oh, hush);

e) I've been sunburned like crazy since I went on a bay cruise with a lovely group of slashers on Saturday afternoon; and

f) the top non-Azkatraz-related memory of San Francisco I will take with me to my grave is standing up in a packed and predominately gay piano bar down Market Street, cordelia_v and the pianist having coerced me, geoviki and noeon into singing backup for Cordelia on Dancing Queen. Yes. Dancing Queen karoke. In a gay piano bar. I'd had five Cherry Blossom cocktails by then; I was weak and susceptible and duly (and rightly so) teased mercilessly by bethbethbeth and ze_dragon for giving in. *g* And yet...I'm so glad I did it. :D

I now have to go coax my cat into loving me again. I'm currently being Shunned, though I think I saw a little pink nose poke around the corner of my bedroom door a moment ago.

Also, I think con crud is starting to strike... :(

Today is ze_dragon's birthday and she wanted glitter text. SO GLITTER TEXT SHE GETS. *hearts* Everyone tell her happy birthday! :D



( Quick spoilerish HBP comment under the cut... )

Must now get dressed in order to, you know, see San Fran. :D