October Activities 2010

[Hermoine Jean Granger]

More information on The Category Patrolling Project can be found here..

This month's featured category is "Poetry." Link to category.

A request: When you post the summary, could you please post it in italics instead of in quotes? The reason for the request is that when I try to copy/paste your posts to this thread (I basically click on the 'quote' button and take all the content), the summary doesn't show up as it is in quotes. The thing is, I then have to copy/paste individual summaries and match them up with the links and other information, which leaves a lot of space for error/mismatch of summaries. I'd be grateful if you post the summaries in italics instead, which will work easier for me.

Post with these details, please:

[B]Name of the Story(with link):[/B] 
[B]Author:[/B] 
[B]Rating:[/B]
[B]Word Count:[/B]
[B]Warnings(if any):[/B]
[B]Number of chapters(if chaptered. If it is a one-shot, this can be skipped):[/B] 
[B]Last updated on(applicable only to WIPs):[/B]
[B]Summary:[/B] 

I know I forgot this for the month of September, but I haven't given up on the CPP. Sorry for missing a month, guys!

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Name of the Story(with link): The Nundus
Author: minnabird
Rating: 3rd/5th Years
Word Count: 114
Warnings(if any): Character Death
Summary: What's your worst nightmare? Inferi? Werewolves? Dementors? How about a giant, black, panther-like creature whose breath poisons the very air you breathe?


Name of the Story(with link): Ariana
Author: inspirations
Rating: 1st/2nd Years
Word Count: 174
Warnings(if any): Character Death, DH Spoilers, Violence
Summary: Who killed Ariana Dumbledore? This is about the pain, the guilt, the not knowing.


Name of the Story(with link): I Am Shame
Author: hestiajones
Rating: 1st/2nd Years
Word Count: 184
Warnings(if any): DH Spoilers
Summary: The war is over and people are rebuilding their life, happy and sad and grateful. But what about Draco?


Name of the Story(with link): Awaiting
Author: ron lover
Rating: 1st/2nd Years
Word Count: 137
Warnings(if any): Character Death
Summary: This is a poem about a victim during the Final Battle.


Name of the Story(with link): Neither Can Live
Author: the opaleye
Rating: 3rd/5th years
Word Count: 105
Warnings(if any): None
Summary:

Neither can live while the other survives.

Two minds or one? It is hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

[jenny b]

Our featured author for September is Shar/Hermoine Jean Granger!

Her author’s page can be found here.

Remember:

• You must review the featured author for it to count as your monthly activity requirement.
• Post the link to your review here - you may also post it in the October review thread for credit as a review.
• Questions in this thread are not part of the monthly requirement, but they are greatly encouraged. Also, they must have something to do with the subject of writing.

[jenny b]

Your challenge: Write a drabble featuring a pairing that you find unlikely and improbable and try to make it work.

Suggested by Jess and Hannah. You guys know I love it when you give me ideas, right? Coz I really do.

Rules/Guidelines:

• Drabble can be between 250-800 words.
• Content should not be any higher than a 3rd-5th Years rating.
• All content that would require a warning on the MNFF Archive should be labelled appropriately.
• This thread is for responses only. If you have a question, PM me.
• Responses must be posted by October 31st.
• Please post using this format:
  

  Title:
  Word Count:

• As with all activities within the SPEW forum, this challenge is open only to SPEW members.

[jenny b]

Why do you write it? Discuss.

Since apparently I need at least 50 characters, here's a few more questions to get you started: How did you get into it? Is it just a hobby or something more? Do you think you'll write it forever or move onto something else? Do you write anything other than HP fanfic?

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Why do you write it?

I write fan fiction because it's a creative outlet for all of my 'what if's that I had after reading DH. I found that the more I wrote, the more possibilities I could see.

How did you get into it?

I was looking for Hedwig's theme on iTunes, because I remembered it from the movies, and I really liked it. I couldn't remember the name 'Hedwig's Theme', so I just typed in 'Harry Potter'. All sorts of things came up, but the first thing that I found that was free was Mugglecast. I thought, "Really? People podcast about Harry Potter? Losers." Needless to say, I spent the night listening to older episodes, and I subscribed. One dark day last August, however, iTunes failed to auto-download an episode of Mugglecast, so I went to the site to find it. As I was perusing the page, I noticed a 'Fan Fiction' link. My first thought was, "That exists? Weird." I clicked on that link, and I picked the first fic on the featured list that looked interesting, which happened to be "Our Little Secret" by Kerichi/Paige.

I was so inspired that I read almost non-stop for ten days straight, ranging from some cringe-worthy James/Lily to epically epic fics on the Longest Fic list. I got my first plot bunny about mid-September, started writing it a week later, and I think you can pretty much guess the rest. Twenty-seven fics later (soon to be twenty-eight), I've become one of the authors of which I was in so much awe when I got here.

Is it just a hobby or something more?

I think it's almost more of a soul obsession to me. I can think of a thousand other things that I should do with my time than write fan fiction, but I can't stop. No matter how hard I try, all I want to do is keep at it. When I'm not writing, I feel like a part of me is asleep at the wheel. It's a hobby now that I'm working again, but it's my drive on days that I really don't feel like doing anything. It gets me out of bed early on days when I haven't slept enough, and it keeps me up late when I should be in bed resting for an early shift the next day.

Do you think you'll write it forever or move onto something else?

I don't know about forever, but I have enough will and plot bunnies to keep me writing fan fiction in the far foreseeable future. For the time being, I'm not stopping, nor do I want to. I'll keep going as long as I can type and form a story on the page.

Do you write anything other than HP fanfic?

Nope. I did Room to Read, and I megaloathed every second of it. It was then that I discovered that I have no desire to write original fiction, and I don't really follow anything else deeply enough to write fan fic for another fandom. I think I'll be a HP girl for life.

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Title: On the Bank
Rating/Warnings: 1st/2nd Years -- Very Mild Profanity
Word Count: 717
Pairing: Draco/Katie
Author's Note: While I don't think this pairing is particularly unlikely or delusional, other people seem to think so. Suck on this, haters!

They had found her. For five months, she had lived in fear that the Snatcher squads would find her, take her wand, and charge her with stealing magic. That day had come.

She was huddled in her wardrobe with a Disillusionment Charm cast on herself, but she knew they were using Human Detection Charms, which she had no way to combat. It was only a matter of time.

Through the wood of the door, Katie heard her bedroom door crash open and a muffled voice bark, “Revelio!”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she saw her hands succumb to the spell and become visible once again. The sounds of searching seeped through the wardrobe and echoed in her ears, and the squeak of the door hinges caused her to bury her face in her knees.

Whoever it was stared at her; she could feel it. He could see her, so there was no point in not peeking to see if she knew who it was.

Draco Malfoy.

She looked up at him, her face still scrunched and red from crying. What she was looking for, she had no idea, but what was there was unexpected. It was remorse.

Draco backed away from the wardrobe and toward the hallway. He stuck his head out, but as Katie anticipated the call to his comrades that would seal her fate, it never came. Instead, he said, “This room’s clear!” and left.


He sat under a tree on the bank of the lake while the victory celebration was going on. He probably felt out of place, considering nearly everyone in the school was sure what side he was on, and it wasn’t theirs.

But Katie knew different.

She looked for him when she heard that he was there. After scanning the Morning After breakfast in vain, she had set out for the grounds. From there, he was pretty easy to spot, a blotch of silver-blond on the vividly green grass.

If he’d noticed her approach, he gave no sign, and his face remained stoic when she sat on the lawn next to him, trying to see that grain of something on the horizon he was looking for.

“I never got to say thank you,” she said.

“Don’t thank me. I almost killed you.”

“I know, but this was different. Nothing compelled you to walk away from me. In fact, it was probably more dangerous for you to do it.”

“Probably.”

“Then why?”

Somehow, Katie almost didn’t want to know. She’d had her theories, such as making amends for her brush with death to some wild fantasy about him truly caring about her as person. She preferred to think the best of him, because he had given her a chance at freedom. He deserved the benefit of the doubt. But when he answered, she was gobsmacked.

“You were so scared.” Draco finally faced her, and Katie could see the tortured soul that screamed out from behind those haunted eyes. “You were scared that you were going to lose everything, and I know what that's like. I was a monster to you, like…like them. I don’t want to be a monster.”

And, at last, it all made sense. Why he had let her stay hidden, why he had led the Snatchers astray—it had been because he saw what he was, what he was becoming, and it scared the hell out of him. If anything, it proved one thing, and it was that underneath his haughty exterior, Draco Malfoy was a decent human being.

Katie spied his pale hand in the grass and covered it with her own. He looked at her strangely, but he didn’t seem repulsed by the contact, despite the fact that she was what he had been taught to hate from the cradle.

“Thank you,” she said again. With a daring peck on the cheek, she stood and walked away, but just before she was out of earshot, she could have sworn she heard something.

Sure enough, it came again. “Bell! Wait!”

Stopping in her tracks, Katie listened for it again, but this time, the call was, “Katie!”

Whatever possessed her to return to the shade of that tree, Katie knew not, but when she did, the emotion in Draco’s eyes told her that it was the right thing.

[Evora]

Why do you write it?

Like what Jess said, it's fun. I have the urge to write it, not the need. I also find that there are numerous fans that want more stories to satisfy their HP thirst, and it's just satisfying to read that another person enjoys reading your story.

How did you get into it?

I first discovered it in the summer of 2010 (spring of 2010 for America). I came to know that Evanna Lynch was casted as Lovegood because of Mugglenet, so I came to the site. I was snooping around to find out what else to do there since I was having the most boring summer of my life, when I randomly clicked "fan fiction", just to see what it is. At first, I was really perplexed. I was new at it so I don't know how to search for stories, but I was looking over the genres and saw Hermione/Draco, Draco/Ginny, Harry/Draco, etc. All I can think of was, "what the hell?" I know I wasn't going to click at the links for Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione since the thought of their romances doesn't really appeal to me, so I clicked one that I was ridiculously fond of my imagination - James/Lily. Ever since I read OotP, I was always so curious about the two of them; I always say to my sister if I should mail JKR a letter saying if she could write a Marauders Era book.

So that's how I got into it. One click, the experience of a lifetime

Is it just a hobby or something more?
A hobby is something you like to do at your free time - writing fan fiction doesn't count as hobby for me, then. I don't know why but I feel like I'm bound with a sense of duty. Not only do I enjoy it immensely, but I learn so much from it (grammar, vocab, etc.)

Do you think you'll write it forever or move onto something else?
Forever? Well, I can't really say forever, but I think quitting fan fiction is certainly far ahead in the future, but I hope it's not in my future, too. As to moving to another fandom, I don't think that will ever happen. The HP series left so many unsaid and countless possibilites - there's just so much to discover! There aren't many books that are like that, and there aren't many books that have made an impact on me as the series did.

Do you write anything other than HP fanfic?
Absolutely not. I just can't imagine myself writing anything other than Potter and the gang. It's not because of the lack of trying, it's because I don't find any other book fascinating and other-wordly enough to give me fuel to write fanfiction.

[Kuri]

Interesting. I think that I’ll take a moment to answer this.

Why do you write it?

Half of the time, I don’t even know anymore. Usually, especially these days, it’s rather because I haven’t had anything on paper. Now, I think that I write it because I am trying to explore the canon, which I’ve already admitted is a flaw. Should I say that I find it hard to get into Harry Potter? It’s eye candy for me, so I never got to that stage where I was a hardcore fan. Well, no, I lie. When I started high school, I was really interested in it and all that jazz. I write it, then, because I feel rather guilty that I have not yet produced fiction. I guess that it’s fun. When you look at writing like I do, it can get to the point where you hate it. I often do. I look at it like any other writing project, though, so I hold myself to that invisible standard. It’s not about reviews. It’s never been about reviews, though, I’ll say, quite a few of them have actually been rather insightful. I write fan fiction to try to become a better writer, yes, because it makes me learn about my flaws, and, hopefully, I’m working to fix those. As always, when I write anything in general, part of me is looking for that nod.

How did you get into it?

Well, I stumbled onto MNFF by accident, really. I guess that’s how anyone stumbles onto a site unless they intentionally know the link or something. So, I stayed, and I would just flip through some of the stuff thinking, ‘This has got to be illegal. Don’t these idiots know they’re going to jail because they are messing with the wrong woman?’ (I mean no offense to the moderators or anyone, but you wanted to know my thoughts, so there you are.) So, I flipped through this site and I think I read some of Carole’s and Terri’s things because they’re of an older audience. I left. I viewed other sites and realized some of those fools needed to pick up a grammar book and stop disgracing JKR with hideous, off-the-wall- teenage-egocentric views. So, I wondered back eventually, decided MNFF at least held standards, and I started piecing stuff together and joined the cult.

Is it a hobby or something else?

It’s a hobby and nothing more. We’ll leave it at that.

Do you think you’ll write it forever or move on to something else?

I’m joining this one with the last one because they are rather similar. Although I’m a not a very good writer, I know that I’ll move onto something else because I simply can’t stay here. While I enjoy MNFF because it forces me to write, I know that other forms are much more powerful. In my view, if you have a passion for writing, this is just a sharp edge of a stepping stone. If I ever publish a strong thesis within academia, it would suit me just fine. I enjoyed this A Room to Read project immensely. In fact, and I’ve shared this with the coordinators, it’s a step in a completely new direction to encourage others to write. I don’t care if I publish papers or write a novel or work as an editor, but I know that I have learned the influence of writing. I still have things to learn about the art, of course, and I always will. I work mainly on original fiction when I find the time. Even if I never get published, and that story or another piece gets finished for a project, I’ll be just fine.

I am with Jess on this lack of sleeping thing in exchange for writing. I got you.

[Vorona]

Why do you write it?
Why, now? To be honest, I'm not sure. Right now, I'm not working on any of the fan fiction stories that actually call to me. I've written drabbles, but I only really like one of them. I suppose at the moment, I'm writing fan fiction because it gives me a way to write that is stress free. I'm taking a seminar in writing class, where we have to write books (in my case, a novel, but many are doing collections of fiction or non-fictional stories and one person is doing a poetry collection). I'm also in the education department and have to do a lot of reflective writing about my thoughts on teaching, and that requires a lot of serious thought. Fan fiction, or at least drabbles, are less intense than either of those. I'd say it's kind of a TV-replacement that involves more thought and creativity (which makes it more pleasurable).

But why I write it in general, as opposed to right now, well, those are just the plot ideas I get sometimes. I'm a writer, so I'm always writing something. When it's fan fiction, it's usually because something caught my attention. I also like Snape. He's about the most intriguing character I've ever read. Most of the time, characters like Snape either resolve into pure good or pure evil, but he stays gray. His motivations are unclear, but he's done some extremely good things and some extremely bad things. What makes someone so extreme? And in both directions? It's endlessly fascinating to me.

How did you get into it?
To be honest, it was therapy at first. I was devastated at the end of book 6. I thought Rowling had truly made Snape evil. I read it all in one sitting, cried, and then never picked it up again. Around 3 months later, a friend was saying that she didn't think Snape was really evil---that there was more to what happened on the Astronomy Tower. So I picked up the book again, and that time, I saw the signs. What had the greatest significance to me was the way she mirrored Harry's actions in the cave with Snape's on the Astronomy Tower. She even used the same words to describe their emotions: hatred and repulsion. It gave me shivers. I started writing an essay about it, but the essay was flat. I thought I should actually illustrate what I was saying. I knew fan fiction existed, but I'd always dismissed it as something I'd only do if it was AU -- not the what-if kind of AU, but the kind where you take Rowling's world and transport it to a different setting, sort of like what Tim is doing with his Nazi wizarding story. I loved the world of magic and could see myself writing about my own characters in that world. And yet, I ended up writing about Snape. And after that, there was no going back.


Is it just a hobby or something more?
Writing is not just a hobby. No matter what I'm writing, it's connected to my voice and my way of seeing the world. There are times when fan fiction veers towards being a hobby, like when I write drabbles. My participation in SPEW is at times more of a hobby than something more, although the reviews themselves are more. But the stories that I'm committed to, those are more than a hobby.

Do you think you'll write it forever or move onto something else?
Well, I think it's safe to say that I will write forever. I imagine that I'll always circle back and forth between fan fiction and original fiction, but I don't know for sure. That said, fan fiction definitely gives me different things than what original fiction does, so I imagine I'll always come back.

Do you write anything other than HP fanfic?
Well, I haven't written fan fiction in any other fandoms, but I've written a lot of original fiction. I have 4 first drafts of novels completed, and I'm working on revising one of them. Of them, there is one urban fantasy, one dark fairy tale, one dark fantasy on another world, and one pirate historical novel. I am more than half-way through a more traditional fantasy novel, and I'm planning and writing another dark, urban fantasy. It's interesting in that I have written short fan fiction stories, but only one original short story. My original fiction tends to be novels.

I also used to write a lot of poetry, but I can't imagine writing Harry Potter-based poetry. My poetry is all very personal and intimately connected to me. I don't plan on ever publishing any of it.

Oh, one other thing: I do intend to publish, and I don't think that publishing original fiction and fan fiction are mutually exclusive. I do think I can and probably will do both, but in a cyclical manner, as I've been doing all this time.

This was a really fascinating discussion. Great topic! I hope others will post, too, as I've already learned a lot from Jess, Evora, and Kuri. Very interesting.