March Activities 2011

[jenny b]

Our featured author for February is Ariana/lucca4!

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 March 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]

Write about the Wizarding World from the POV of a Muggle looking in. Be creative - you can do this in any way you like, using canon characters or OCs.

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 March 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]

So we did this back in April 2009, and I was stuck for ideas this month so I went back and raided Jenna's old post. And since I'm too lazy to even reword and retype:

So, this month I want you all to pick 4-8 award categories - you may use the QSQ categories as inspiration, or you may choose your own - and award them to authors or stories from the MNFF archives. Post them along with a link to the fic, and an explaination of why you chose this story/author for the award. The explaination should be along the lines of "SPEW-worthy", meaning I want to see some substantial reasoning. Pretend that you're fighting for it in front of an awards committee. It doesn't have to be long - one, two paragraphs should do it. But, it should be more than "BECAUSE IT'S MADE OF SEXY WIN!!!ELEVENTYONE."

Please use the following format for each "award"

Award:
Author/Story:
Link:
Reason:

Go for it!

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

*cracks knuckles*

This shall entertain me greatly.


Award: Best Major Character Portrayal
Author/Story: Memento Mori by Liandrin (featuring Draco Malfoy)
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=86448
Reason: One of Lia's favourite things in the Potterverse is Draco Malfoy, and the way she paints him in this story, the slightly cowardly old man who carries a healthy dose of remorse and bitterness with him, is utterly fantastic. There is also a more serious element which addresses one of many theories on afterlife, and I think Lia did this without stepping on any toes, and the whole of it is just inspired -- especially for a plot bunny picked up in Fiction Junction. I knew this when I nominated it for the PH QSQ, and I knew it even more when it won.

Award: Best Minor Character Portrayal
Author/Story: Becoming Rita by hestiajones
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=84733
Reason: No one ever takes the time to make us feel bad for Rita Skeeter, and not many feel the need to show us how she became the loathsome individual who maligned a fourteen year old boy in GoF, but Natalie delivered in beautiful form. You will feel like you KNOW Rita after reading the story. There are also a beautiful cast of OCs that fill in the missing pieces of Rita's life, and their presence enhances the Ritalina experience so well.

Award: Best Smut
Author/Story: The Bookshop Owner's Gift by h vic
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/view...6904&warning=3
Reason: This is some of the best, un-cliche Scorose smut I've ever read. It overjoys me that there is an even smuttier version to be found on LJ, as well. It's so original in its characterisation, and the story is just so sensual. This was the first thing of Hannah's that I'd ever read, and it made me literally go to her author page and read every single fic (I'm not even joking)... all 24 of them.

Award: Best Angst
Author/Story: Oblivion by Nitwit Blubber Oddment Tweak x
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=83287
Reason: Holy crap. Just... wow. There is nothing about this story that I don't adore. I felt like I was really there inside Alice Longbottom's head as her illness mocked her every time she might have an idea of who she is and who she was. It's simply splendid. Often the subject of mental illness is not done very well, or it's done with little or no understanding of the actual illness, but Emma did right by Alice -- told her story to the point where one can't help but think that it's a piece of canon that fell right out of JKR's notebook.

Award: Best Original Plot
Author/Story: The Bacchus Book by Equinox Chick
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=85477
Reason: The whole concept of the story is brilliant with drunk!Hermione and how she got that way. The twists and turns (not to mention the twisted turns, lol) are fab, and the ending made me l-o-freaking-l. So often, humour gives author the perception that torching characterisation is a good idea or okay, but this story retains such a lovely balance between humour and canon portrayal that you can't help but think that Hermione WOULD act this way in this situation. Please read.

Award: Best Epilogue Alternative
Author/Story: Shattered by Gmariam
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=87399
Reason: The idea that Harry could have a mental illness wrought from his resurrection in the forest makes perfect sense, and this story deals with it. While thinking of Harry as weakened and dying as I watch causes me immense sadness as a reader, Gina really gave me a vested interest in the story by telling it in the perspective of someone who loves Harry a great deal. I found the aspect of the violent mood swings to be realistic and fascinating all at once, and it rapidly went from being a fan fic to being a study on humanity and how we react to things that upset us.

Award: Best Infidelity Moment
Author/Story: The Colour of Distance by the opaleye
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=85028
Reason: Holywowmangeez, I have to invent a word to describe the overt hotness of this bit of Harmony infidelity. It's so sexy and so wistful and bittersweet; I could read it over and over. It isn't just that it's my favourite ship or that it's smutty (which it's not); there is such an elegance in the way Julia wrote Harry and Hermione's descent into the madness that is cheating on their 'soul mates'. Even a canon shipper could appreciate the soul-melting writing that went into this story.

Award: Best Prose
Author/Story: The Two Left Behind by the opaleye
Link: http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=88110
Reason: This fic could make me cry with its gorgeousness. Seriously, I want to read it every time I need something beautiful in my life. It makes me weak at the knees. I have this problem every time I read Julia's writing; I can never think of what to say. Sometimes it could take me up to an hour to think of something coherent to say, and it ends up being about four or five lines. Really, just read the story, and you'll fall in love with it and maybe even not hate the Harry/Hermione dance scene from the DH movie.

This was immensely fun! I know it seems like my f-list swept the board for me, but considering their general level of amazing-ness, it's to be expected. Just... gah! READ THESE STORIES!!!

[babewithbrains]

Here's my review for Doubt: clickity click!

I just want to say what a great author you are, Ariana, if I didn't mention that in the review. Erm, if I'm allowed to post questions to the Featured Author, I'd just like to ask a couple of questions to you, Ariana:

Jess said in her review that you're a younger writer. I'm fifteen. Are you a lot older than me? Your writing style is very mature!

Do you plan on writing any more Scorose fics? (Maybe a chaptered one...*hint hint*)

Do you think that in retrospect, it was possible for any of the Marauders to be the traitor? Or did you think it was inevitable Peter was the one?

Once again, thanks so much for writing!!

~Soraya~

[coolh5000]

Hello SPEW!

Jen has asked me to take over the category patrolling project this month, which I have completely forgotten to do until now (who knew the first seven days of a month could go so fast.)

More information on The Category Patrolling Project can be found here. Remember, participation in category patrolling can count as a review replacement! (though you must meet the minimum number of stories, which I am, this month, reducing to four)

This month's featured category is "Next Generation." (I did look back through and I don't think this has been done before but please don't shout if I've accidentally duplicated. Link to category.

Please post stories below, using the following form:

[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] 

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Name of the Story: Seven Years and Counting
Author: ginnypotter19
Rating: 3rd/5th Years
Word Count: 13143
Warnings(if any): Character Death, DH Spoilers
Number of chapters: 3 (WIP)
Last updated on: 28 Jan 11
Summary: Who said once Lord Voldemort died the wizarding world would be safe? Molly Weasley II and Albus Potter find out it isn't firsthand nearly as soon as term starts.

In this multiple POV story we see the daily lives of our favorite characters' children and how different their lives are. When they are finally back at Hogwarts and with their friends, we see that their lives really aren't as different from their parents as we think.


Name of the Story: One Day in the Life of
Author: hestiajones
Rating: 3rd/5th Years
Word Count: 3928
Warnings(if any): Sexual Situations, Strong Profanity, Slash, Substance Abuse
Number of chapters: 2 (WIP)
Last updated on: 26 Feb 11
Summary: Happy endings? What are happy endings? They saved the world for the future, and the kids are here. Life, meanwhile, just goes on.


Name of the Story: Bird in Flight
Author: CoolCatElly
Rating: 6th/7th Years
Warnings: Character Death, Mild Profanity, Sexual Situations, Substance Abuse, Violence
Word Count: 821 (Prologue)
Number of chapters: 1 (WIP)
Last updated on: 4 March 11
Summary:

Stop holding on, so damn tight

Your love is like, it’s like a bird in flight

The tighter you grip

The looser it slips

Your love is like a bird in flight

For me, love had been anything but a fairy-tale. There was no prolonged courtship, no stolen glances or sweet whispered nothings.

Love came the same way that it went, one night with a blinding flash and the sharp, metallic tang of blood in the air...

A next-gen Lily/Scorpius story.

Name of the Story: The Abyss Gazes
Author: Calico
Rating: 1st/2nd Years
Word Count: 6839
Warnings(if any): DH Spoilers
Number of chapters: 4 (WIP)
Last updated on: 28 Feb 11
Summary: “If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Scorpius Malfoy has avoided Althea Burbage – and everyone else at Hogwarts – for five long years. Who, he thinks, would want to be friends with the son of a Death Eater? Certainly not a girl whose aunt was murdered before the eyes of his father and grandfather.

Unfortunately, Thea doesn't seem to agree.

[MerryD]

Name of the Story(with link): The Man Who Couldn't Be Moved
Author: CoolCatElly
Rating: 1st-2nd years
Word Count: 4185
Warnings(if any): none
Number of chapters: three
Last updated on: February 28, 2011
Summary:

So here I am, then. All alone on the street in Diagon Alley with nothing but a broken heart and your picture in my hand. My plan is simple: I’m going to sit here for as long as it takes for you to come back to me. Because you will, one day.

You’re only fooling yourself, Lil, and you know it.

Name of the Story(with link): A Puppy for the Potters
Author: Miss B
Rating: 1st-2nd years
Word Count: 4846
Warnings(if any): DH Spoliers
Number of chapters: three (completed)
Summary:

Follow the adventures of Harry Potter and his family as they go about getting a pet dog.

Name of the Story: Snowball Fights
Author: Equinox Chick
Rating: 3rd-5th years
Word Count: 2158
Warnings: Mild Profanity
Number of chapters: one-shot
Summary:

Christmas Day for Teddy Lupin is not shaping up well this year. After a row with Victoire, two weeks before, he now has to face her over the dinner table.He wants to apologise (although he's not sure what for) but then Victoire turns up with a new boyfriend, (or is he an ex?) and it becomes clear that she's moved on.

Will Teddy get through Christmas Dinner unscathed?

Name of the Story: Of Weasleys and Malfoys
Author: hestiajones
Rating: 3rd-5th years
Word Count: 3824
Warnings: Mild Profanity; Substance Abuse
Number of chapters: one-shot
Summary:

Four moments from their life that brought them together.

--Mere

[MerryD]

Title: Harry
Word Count: 281.
Author's Note: Lame title, I know. >.> This is the scene in OotP, when Harry and Dudley get attacked by the dementor. It was actually a lot of fun to write. Thanks for the prompt Jen!

Cold. He felt inexplicably and mind-numbing cold. Harry was standing near him, his wand out. Harry, his skinny little cousin. Harry, who his parents had taught him to hate. Harry, who had never done anything but get on his nerves. All Dudley could think about was Harry and how much he hated him. He had a sinking feeling that all he would ever be able to think about again was things he hated, things that made him miserable.

Dudley had to get away. He had to get away from Harry, whom he hated so much. Harry, who was making him feel like this with his little brown stick and his “magic.” Dudley turn and ran, he heard Harry yelling, but Harry could only be cursing him because Harry hated him too.

He tripped. There was nothing to trip over, yet there he was lying on the ground, getting colder by the second. All he could think about was Harry, the only thing and the only person he’d ever hated. The only one who had ever stood up to him, had made him feel stupid, had made him feel like sh*t.

A weird sensation pervaded the cold, almost like he was being separated. Like part of him was leaving. Part of him that he needed –the part that knew who he was. Or was he leaving with it?

Harry was yelling again. Stupid, skinny, magical Harry.

Then it stopped. He was not separating; he was whole. He was not cold, but he was shivering. Harry made it stop.

Harry was next to him. Talking to him. Pulling on his arm. Dumbly, Dudley stood up and collapsed on Harry.

Harry, who saved him.

[h_vic]

Review for Defiance, which (just in case you couldn't tell from the review ) I loved.

So a few questions:

Where do you get your inspiration from?

What do you think is the greatest strength to your writing? What about weakness? What do you find hardest? Easiest?