Upsetting All the Buffalo

I've created a Twitter account, which I plan to use for announcing updates to my site, snupin_prophet, and the Snupin Santa Fest archive, assuming I can train myself to get into the habit. So if you want to keep up with updates at those places (and others, if the need/occasion arises), feel free to check at Twitter.

Does anyone happen to know off-hand where I can find icons that reflect the winter holidays as celebrated in a warmer climate? I'd like to add some new icons to the snupin_santa account for this year's Fest, and I'd like something different.

If you're a fan of Pushing Daisies and you don't want to see it canceled, check out this article for ways to let ABC know it's got loyal viewers who want to see more.

This isn't a reminder for those participating in Snupin Santa this year; instead, it's a reminder to those of you who intend to follow it.

We have less than a month until posting begins on December 1, and I've already begun uploading the gifts that have been submitted. That means there are brand-new, never-been-seen RL/SS stories and art sitting in the queue of the Snupin Santa Fest site and waiting to be posted RIGHT NOW.

*insert evil cackling here*

I have two totally opposite stories, the long and the short of it:

A Divinity That Shapes Our Ends, written for shadowycat in hp_halloween.
Pairing: Severus Snape/Minerva McGonagall
Rated: G
Notes: Based on a Scottish divination game played at Halloween.
Word Count: 200


The Sultan and the Storyteller, part 1/31
By: Arionrhod and McKay
Rated: R
Pairings: Remus/Severus, Regulus/Kingsley, Bill/Tonks
Summary: Non-magical AU. Professor Remus Lupin finds himself a captive of the sultan of Slythistan, but what is really keeping him there? The bonds of coercion or the bonds of growing love?
Notes: This story is complete, but because it's based loosely on the Arabian Nights, we're posting one part per day through November to pay homage to the original tale. Illustrations by karasu_hime. Written for lore on the occasion of her birthday. Happy birthday, lore! We hope you enjoy it!
Word count: ~11,800 this chapter/ ~180,000 overall

This is the story I wrote for vimeslady, who won my livelongnmarry auction.

Solaces Never Dreamed Of: A Domestic Romance, by McKay
Rated: NC17
Summary: When Severus wakes up after the Battle of Hogwarts and finds himself still alive, he decides it’s time to set his life on a different course.
Content: frottage, wanking, public sex, rough sex
Notes: The title is based on a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The domestic man, who loves no music so well as his kitchen clock, and the airs which the logs sing to him as they burn on the hearth, has solaces which others never dream of.”
Word count: ~16,700

I only posted a couple of times in September, so I thought I'd try to do a little better in October, if only because I won't be able to use my Halloween icons if I don't! So, some news.

I've added some drabbles to my site in my completist efforts to get everything housed there, safe and sound. After all the drabbles are posted, I can delete the fanfiction comm that I've abandoned, and I can upload the "In a Delicate Way" sequels, and then I'll be finished. I have a few odds-and-ends from previous fandoms I may add, but other than that, it'll be caught up except for new stuff.

pervy_werewolf is hosting its annual Howl-O-Ween challenge again this year! The rules are here, and the prompts for week 2 are here.

I've finished my livelongnmarry story, printed it, and mailed it to the winning bidder, vimeslady, and I'll be adding it to my site later this week. It's Snape/Lupin romance with smut, just under 17,000 words.

Now I need to work on my snapelyholidays story, which I'm planning to do serious work on over Fall Break next week. I've had a basic idea of what I wanted to do since I got the assignment, and last night, I had an idea of how to do it, so I'm ready to sit down and start writing once RL permits.

I've also signed up for hp_halloween, which involves writing a mere 200 words by October 29. Sign-ups are open through the 10th here, if anyone is interested in joining me. :D

After that, it'll be time to tackle my Snupin Santa story, which is eating my brain, but I've deliberately put it off until last because I want to finish stories written for fests and events of which I'm not the mod first because I won't go after myself with a pointy stick if I'm late, but they might.

And in other fest news, you've got a few hours left to sign up for the dark_flowers mini-holiday fest here. If you like Remus/Severus/Lily, this is your opportunity!

And now, off to do some housework and grade my students' journals.

As I've mentioned here before, I've been pruning back the number of archives where my stories are housed in an attempt to keep them in a small pool where I can a) actually remember where they are, and b) remove them quickly should the need ever arise. I've been debating on which archive to use as a multi-fandom catch-all because while I have everything (well, except for all those damned drabbles, which I want to upload for the sake of completeness but which I'm sorely tempted to dump because it's a pain in the ass that will take forever) on my site, if something happens to Slash City or to me that results in the site going down, I'd like to have my stuff housed somewhere else for back-up and posterity's sake.

I've decided on Sycophant Hex, because they've got the Chaos archive, which is for non-HP fandoms, and I've already got a few stories up there, namely my two BSG stories and my lone PotC story, but I've got other stuff from other fandoms I want to get up there eventually.

I'm housing my slash at Eros & Sapphos, but I've got a couple of questions, so if anyone reading this archives at SH, please feel free to chime in.

Okay, so I'm putting all my slash at E&S, but Snape slash is also posted at Occlumency, and Lupin slash is posted at Lumos (now that they've integrated Wolfsbane over there). I have accounts at both, but I've been putting the het and gen there, not the slash. Would it be uncool or attention-whorey if I cross-posted Snape slash to Occlumency and Lupin slash to Lumos? I may keep the RL/SS stuff on E&S alone because cross-posting it to 3 places might be overkill, plus that would be a LOT of work, considering how many RL/SS stories I have! But I have Snape slash and Lupin slash that's not RL/SS that could go in the other archives.

Also, SH has a rule about underage sex: Underage Sex: No submissions depicting explicit sexual acts for characters below the age of 17 will be allowed, but submissions may reference to sexual acts of those under 17 years of age. Reference to physical or sexual abuse of children under the age of 17 may be included within the story only as required for background information. No graphic details may be included.

I don't have a lot of stories that would be affected by this, but I'm wondering about my borderline stories, where it's not explicitly clear what age the younger character is, like Better Than Handome, which is Remus/schoolage!Neville or Bottoms Up, which has schoolage Harry, Neville, and Draco. In my mind, they're 17-18, but it's not really explicitly stated in the stories (IIRC), so should I leave them out of SH or put a note saying "They're all over 17" and post them? Also what about stuff like Marauders Era RL/SS or Remus/Regulus? I've got some PWPs I wrote for pervy_werewolf that deal with Marauders Era characters while they're still in school. Opinions?

As seen all over my flist, and since I figured I'd better post at least once in September:

Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern. I'm going to leave out the first lines of the collaborations with arionrhod and just focus on my solo stories.

( 25 first lines )


( The Observations )

I've closed the sign-up posts on LJ and IJ, and I'm working on printing out the sign-up comments so I can look at each participant's sheet and reference their sign-up more easily than by scrolling up and down and flipping back and forth between post pages (which gets wearying enough on the eyes while I'm compiling the assignment emails, let me tell you).

I really wish now that I'd remembered to say "you need to write out your kinks, squicks", etc, because while links to someone's journal post about their preferences is nice for the person assigned to them, it's a bitch for me. I won't have their kinks, squicks, and other preferences in front of me while matching unless I print out their whole post on a separate page. Yay.

Well, it's my own fault for not catching it sooner. I'll definitely make a note of it for any future fest I run!

At any rate, once I get the sign-ups printed out, I'll alphabetize the participants by journal name and enter their info into my Snupin Santa 2008 spreadsheet. Once that's done, I can compile and post a master list of participants so people can see who's involved, squee, wonder who's going to be assigned to them, wonder whom they're going to be assigned to, and/or regret not signing up after all. ;)

I haven't posted much recently because I've been either out of town or busy getting ready for fall semester, plus I've felt guilty about posting when I'm massively behind on responding to comments on old posts and feedback. I hope to catch up maybe this weekend, since I won't be out of town and net-less.

But I did want to post about Snupin Santa before sign-ups close! Sign-ups for Snupin Santa 2008 are here on insanejournal and here on livejournal. Sign-ups close on August 22 at midnight PST (-8 GMT) with assignments to go out no later than August 30.

If anyone who wasn't reading this journal last year is interested, I wrote about the process of running Snupin Santa in a series of posts; it'll be pretty much the same this year, except I have helpers this time, which is already making things much easier.

Also, I'm giving serious consideration to participating in snapelyholidays, which is an exchange for Snape-centric het, slash, and gen. I'm debating about it because I'm working on my story for Live Long N Marry which - naturally - is not turning out short, and I'm participating in Snupin Santa because I spotted a prompt that has caused plot bunnies to sink their teeth into my flesh and cling with the tenacity of a leech, so that's two things due by the end of October. But the snapelyholidays deadline isn't until November 14, so I might could do it if things don't happen like they did last year (lengthy illness followed by strained shoulder muscles) when I was trying to write for holiday fests.

Anyway, the info is here if any Snape fans on my flist are also intrigued.

I haven't done recs in a while, but I've seen some gorgeous art that I really liked recently. All of them are Snape/Lupin.

First, ghot drew The Primal Dance (NWS), which is based on Paso Doble. arionrhod commissioned it, but I get to share in the hotness. :D It captures the intensity and emotion of the scene perfectly, and the lines of their bodies are just gorgeous.

nepenth drew Memoirs of a Wizard Geisha (cross-dressing), which is sketchy, but evocative and emotional, and the details on Severus' kimono are amazing.

karasu_hime drew The Kiss (mildly NWS), which is beautifully colored and a brilliant tribute to the original work that has a definite, recognizable RL/SS spin on it.

And serpenscript drew an untitled piece, which is very cute and reminds me of anime. The patterns on the clothes and the use of color is particularly nice here.

I'm looking for a few reliable people with enough time between now and the end of the year to serve on the Snupin Santa mod squad.

Here's the deal: last year was stressful, to put it lightly. It wasn't so much the number of people in the fest (I'd juggled roughly the same number the previous year without as much trouble), but the problems that arose over the course of the fest. It made me realize that running the fest by myself is asking for trouble, and I want to have a good time with the fest again as I did in the first two years, because if the mod is happy, everyone is happy. ;)

So! This year, I want to get some help so that my job will consist of 1) matching the participants and emailing assignments; 2) uploading the gifts to the archive; and 3) posting gift announcements every day in December, which is the bulk of the labor, but it's also not that stressful.

What I need other people to do is handle the PR work. I need...

1) A person to handle email. This means checking the Snupin Santa email account on a regular basis, sorting ALL the email into folders, and keeping the rest of the mod squad updated that there's stuff we need to read/do. I've already created all the needed folders in the Snupin Santa account, and I'll explain what goes where to whomever gets the job.

2) A person to wear the Mod Boots, i.e. answer questions and address complaints.

3) A person to handle "Fix-its", i.e. fix problems with posts on the archive or via the Snupin Santa journal.

Persons #1 and #2 are the ones who need to be the most reliable and available, especially #1 since that person will be the lynchpin on which the rest of us (including me) is relying. If you can't hack it, don't volunteer. Seriously.

I've set up a Yahoo mailing list/group for all the mod squad to join so we can communicate with each other easily, so if you're up to the task, drop me a comment here with the position you're interested in and your email address, and I'll send you the info to join the group. Comments are screened for your privacy.

HAH! The Project Rungay blog agrees with me about the winning garment from the season 5 premiere. I feel vindicated. Spoilers in the link, obviously.

I don't have a PR icon (eek! must find Tim Gunn icon stat!), so I'll use Jack instead.

Title: Paso Doble, chapters 1-6 (WiP)
By: McKay & Arionrhod
Rated: R
Summary: Non-magical AU. Remus and Severus dance around each other literally and figuratively as they compete in a televised dance competition.
Notes: The TV show is based on So You Think You Can Dance.

Written for lore in thanks for running the Fantasy Fest and everything else she does in her modly capacity at lupin_snape. :D

My offer of bound fanfiction plus BPAL (plus other goodies to be bestowed randomly) is still open for bids, but time is running out! The auction ends in less than 12 hours (midnight PST), so if you want to bid on me or anyone else, now is the time to do it! (And to keep an eye on the stuff you bid on in case someone tries to sneak in a last minute bid. ;) )

Bidding is up to $105, but hey - more money for a good cause is a good thing, right?

1) If you ship RL/SS - even peripherally - and you have bunnies you'd like to see written/drawn by someone other than yourself, please consider submitting them to the Lupin_Snape Fantasy Fest prompt poll. Leaving a prompt doesn't commit you to signing up to write or draw... but it's awfully difficult to resist temptation once that prompt list goes up. ;)

2) Bidding on LiveLongNMarry is open until July 15, so you've only got a few more days to bid! If anyone is interested in a custom-made story written by me plus a few other grab-bag goodies, my offer is here. The bidding is currently up to $75.

3) I'm behind on responding to comments because I teach every day M-F, I've had homework to grade, I took up papers on Tuesday, I've had appointments to go to, and I've been AFK the last two weekends (and will be again this weekend, although not because I'm attending Portus). But next week promises to be less hectic (at least, it will be once I finish grading those papers), so I hope to catch up and reply soon.

I assigned my students to read a few letters written by John and Abigail Adams, which we discussed today, and there was one passage in particular that struck me as appropriate for the upcoming US holiday weekend.

This was written on July 3rd, 1776, and sent from Philadelphia by John to Abigail in Braintree, Mass.

...The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

He was off by two days, but essentially, he was right about what would happen.

The reason he said July 2 ought to be celebrated is because Richard Henry Lee moved "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States", and his motion was carried by the Continental Congress on that date, after considerable debate. However, we ended up celebrating the date when the Declaration of Independence was adopted instead.

Either way, I find it interesting that John Adams' vision of a "great anniversary Festival" came true, "illuminations" and all.

I've been debating about whether to sign up for livelongandmarry or not, and I finally broke down and did it. With dental bills and new puppy expenses this summer, I don't have a lot of extra cash to bid on anything myself, but I support the cause, and I wanted to help out, so I put myself up for auction.

My offer is for a printed out and bound (not hard-bound, unfortunately) HP story of at least 2000 words written by me, plus a minimum of 3 BPAL LE imps. The higher the bidding goes, the more goodies I'll throw in the box. I'm offering to write RL/SS (natch) and any combination of Remus, Severus, and Regulus.

Some brief reviews of things I've seen lately. There will be spoilers within.

Robin Hood (the new BBC version) -

( My thoughts )

The Tudors -

( My thoughts )

Charlie Jade-

( My thoughts )

Cross-posted to snark_watch

The snark_n_bark RPG has been very lucky to receive some lovely fan art of the characters over the years, most of which is available for viewing in the Gallery on our game website. I have a handful of pieces I need to add to the gallery, but I thought it would be appropriate while the memorial service is being held in-game to post some of the artwork focused on Sirius so our readers can take a trip down memory lane as well.

The full Gallery can be found here, and just FYI since I've meant to announce this anyway, I've updated the site with downloadable PDFs of the game's history from the Leaky to present, available here.

( Artwork of Sirius from over the years - image heavy, not dial-up friendly. One piece is NWS )