Severus' Alternate Universe

The Masque, our helpful friends, are having a contest going on, I've posted about that already. That contest ends on Halloween! Hurry (kicks self) if you didn't upload chapters and art there yet.

You'll find all the details here.





And: I'm on the quiz, I'm on the quiz! quiz_sshg that is. :D

The topic will be Time Turner (it's not up yet, but will be soon).

A bit reluctantly because I'm out of my league, and mostly to pimp the award nominations over at sshg_awards:SSHG award nominations, I offer you my three eligible stories from last year.

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By now you all hopefully know The Masque. I can't sing their praises loudly and often enough. They are the wonderful people who gave us our forum on the severusbigbang where many of the participants chat, find help, and have a good time.

And now, The Masque is having an extraordinary contest:

The Masque Forums


The Masque has something exquisite and unique and, well, quite awesome to offer its members this month. We have an autographed copy of an anthology of scary stories, featuring our own friend, member, and published author, April Grey. April is a long time author of Harry Potter fanfic.


Northern Haunts (http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Haunts-Terrifying-England-Tales/dp/0980187052/ref=sr_oe_2_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255126937&sr=1-2) is a compilation of what has been said to be the best of the best for scary stories. Set in New England, this anthology has 100 short stories filled with campfire tales that are sure to send a chill or two up and down your spine.


Now, here’s the easy part, all you have to do is upload your photos, drawings, stories, poems, recipes in any and all parts of the site, including The Masque, The WIKtT Archives and associated galleries. New chapters to existing stories, new stories and added chapters, a new poem and a drawing, everything and anything counts. You absolutely can’t beat that. Now there is one catch. All work has to be uploaded BY Midnight on All Hallows’ Eve- so that’s 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time so there’s no confusion.


Story validation will be turned on for the duration of this contest for counting purposes only; all works will be validated as soon as the counts are made (this means that your story will not show up until an admin lets it through). Counts/validation will be done several times per day at the discretion of the admins. Several of the newly uploaded stories will be Featured.


Odds of winning are completely and entirely dependent upon the number of works uploaded. The Masque, all volunteers, and authors are not responsible for any works not uploaded, but claimed to be. If you’re having trouble, contact the administrator.


Good Luck!

To unsubscribe from these announcements, login to the forum and uncheck "Receive forum announcements and important notifications by email." in your profile.

You can view the full announcement by following this link:

http://www.themasque.net/forums/index.php?topic=271.0

Regards,
The The Masque Forums Team.


I always found April Grey's fanfic to be among the best. This is a great contest, and what better way to say thank you to The Masque forum team than to go there, upload art and fic, and have a chance to win a great book? Hurry!

That's right! It's 'Rush' week in Slytherin House and we're looking for new Housemates to join with us and bring Slytherin to it's rightful place of glory as the winning House in the O.W.L. House Cup challenge.

Haven't heard of the O.W.L. House Cup? Well, you can find the official rules HERE, but as we know that Slytherins aren't much for worrying about "rules", here's the basic jist:

The Onilne Wizarding Library Harry Potter fanfiction archive is running this shindig, and all four Houses are competing for the prize (and gloating rights) of winning the House Cup. Authors and readers sign up, choose (Slytherin House) your House, and then start earning points (for Slytherin) by posting your fics, reviewing, or reccing what you read on O.W.L.

Slytherin House is doin' it up in our Common Room (Sorry, only Housemates have full access. Try breaking our wards and you'll end up with a right nasty hex!). We are plotting, planning, and strategizing. We have challenges, chats, icons, banners.... It's all happening in Slytherin!!

You'll even get robes to display your (SLYTHERIN!!!) House pride on your LJ!

Well... what are you still doing here? Go Sign Up!!

If you're not a member of the O.W.L. archive, you'll need to sign up there first. You can do that HERE.

Come on, fellow Slytherins! We certainly don't want to see those Ravenclaws or the gloating Gryffindors taking what is rightfully ours! Support your House today!!

And don't forget to stop by the Common Room and introduce yourself once you're settled in. See you then. *waves*

GO SLYTHERIN!!

If you have questions, don't be shy to ask.

---

In all the house-cup rush, let's not forget that there are other archives, open for regular business. For SSHG (and other Snape-related fic) I can heartily recommend The WIKtT Archives on The Masque
The Masque is a very welcoming place, and if you are a participant of the Severus Big Bang, you know how welcoming they are. They provided a space for us on their forum and were always helpful.
Go and pay them a visit.

The girl's grown up and boy, does she get around. Go, look at the hermionebigbang community, Hermione's gifts are being posted all day.



My own gifts to the bushy-haired know-it-all are the story "An Act of Courage" (SSHG). The lovely camillo1978 and mamabasto made some wonderful art for my story. Thank you so much for these beautiful dragons, ladies!

I've also done photomanips for the story 'Undone' by effronteaumonde and 'Correspondence' by tamatersweet.

Myspace Countdowns, Capricorn Countdowns at WishAFriend.com

Run to severusbigbang and sign up as a writer, artist/crafter or beta/cheerleader.

I must have lost my mind.



The robe in all its glory is on my profile page, I'll spare you the full picture, since I'm sure you've seen it before, just not from me.

I thought I didn't get anything in June, but it turns out that I only didn't get the email, and did get a patch for my chapters after all. I'm finding my way around with the house cup thingie, since it's serious business, yess, yess. On the upside, I read more and find things I would have missed otherwise. And I get more reviews, although I never quite know if they are for the cup or for my fic. But, it's a review, and as long as no one is lowering the ratings, I won't complain. Much. I'm sure I'll find something else to complain about.

Luckily I simply can't review when I haven't read the story, so, if you get reviews from me unexpectedly: I really read them. And I can't read and review stuff I really don't like, so...

Off to more writing. And in case you've missed it:

Latecomer Signups run from August 7 to 14! Don't miss it if you haven't signed up yet.




banner by auroraprimavera

Looky, looky, I was on the hpcon_envy quiz Probation:


I didn't think I'd get a banner for being a red herring with my drabble story How to become a Granger-Snape, but here it is. Sorry, quiz_sshg-team, that this is so late. I didn't see your post and didn't get the mail for some reason. But now I show it off with great SQUEE. Thank you, Quiz-girls! You're the best.

That's the sound of a plot exploding.
So here I am, having outlined my SB4 Big Bang story in great detail, mulled about the plot, written three chapters... and wasn't entirely happy with it.
So I talk it over with the beta-of-dreams who says, oh, that sounds just like The Boys from Brazil.
I: eh?
She: Good movie and book.
So I look up the synopsis, I haven't seen the film. And the theme is too similar to make it fun for me to continue although a lot of the detail was different.
And so: Kaboom. Gone with the wind, to Brazil, is my story.

And now? We brainstormed. And I thought, if I unwillingly copy movie plots, why not steal parody deliberately? Which I will do, with apologies to the original source. I have an idea. BoD thinks it could work. Thinking about it is actually fun and makes me grin, so perhaps I'll get a Big Bang entry done after all...

Do you know the feeling that, when you're extremely busy, you just sit frozen and do nothing when you finally have a little time? That's what's happening to me as of late. But since it's 'busy-stress' and not 'annoyance-stress', I can take it and see it as the kind of stress that's good for you. As long as it doesn't go on forever, that is.

Nothing really new from me otherwise. I've received my HBB photomanip assignments, and while I now wibble more than ever about what I got myself into, this has the huge advantage of being allowed to read lovely, romantic stories before everyone else. So there... :P

I've finished plotting my outline for the SB4 longer fic I signed up for, I finished the first draft of my SB4 short fic... nothing to complain about, really. The muse is sufficiently cooperative, I've been wrestling with a few issues of my outline (mainly to not make it too boring)...

Since I actually had a few spare minutes today I -- gasp -- reviewed a few drabbles and fics on OWL. Who knows when I'll have the time for it again? I even rec'ed a few, and posted a chapter. I posted two chapters last month, but this didn't even get me a badge, so a bit more of an effort for Slytherin is needed, methinks.

I'm still horribly behind with answering to reviews. I pledge to get better with that.

Oh, and DA offers something nice at the moment: protfolios for your art. I've made one for my manips here: http://sylvanawood.daportfolio.com

There is a new asylum here on InsaneJournal: darkprincesnape! or Dark Prince Rising, a place dedicated to exploring the darker side of Severus Snape.

So, if you like your Severus a bit darker from time to time, go check it out. They are an affiliate of snapedom, and we may or may not get into mischief together. There can't be enough Snape love out there.

Sign ups are done for now, for the severusbigbang.

I've registered everyone on our dedicated corner of The Masque and now I need a bit of a break, before I make certain that we really have everyone, that everyone has access to the forum who wants it, and that no one feels left out or overlooked. We are only human, and I found that my concentration wavered towards the end. It's hot here...

I've been horrible at replying to comments. I pop in and out of journals, leave a comment, and am gone again. Sorry about that. Work will hopefully calm down a bit by the end of next week, and I can get back to regular hours.

Someone slap me, or remind me, to never again start more than one WIP at a time. I have no idea how other people do it and keep it all together.

I have my WIP of Doom, A Most Important Element in Water, which still needs part 3 written, but I'm not happy with what I plotted for it originally, so there is a bit of a hiatus and a rethink going on. That should be ok eventually. But I can't work on it while I think about:

that drabble series, Shadowed Reflections, which I've started posting on grangersnape100. It turned out to be a monstrous plot bunny, fun to write, but to write 100 word drabbles takes me so much longer than normal text. Wouldn't want to miss it, since it really teaches to see the essentials. I also started making photo manips to illustrate it. The plot is worked out, what is lacking is time. I've actually written another chapter, but didn't have time (nor the right idea) for the manip yet. Jeez...

In the meantime, I've completely reworked a previously discarded fic for the HBB. I'm quite happy with it now, so that is one that can go through the beta process after a final once-over from me.

I've written the first draft for my severusbigbang Bang entry, that's one more done, too.

I've started writing the outline, and a first draft of the first two chapters of my Big Bang fic.

I'll have to do photomanips for the hermionebigbang as soon as the assignments are sent out. This is a big wibble, since I'm well aware that I'm no artist and don't want to disappoint people.

And I want to do a series of photomanips of a, for me, different kind for the SBB.

Have I lost my mind? Mind? Hello? Can't hear you...
...
...
And there are lawns to be mowed, tomatoes to be fertilized, courgettes to be harvested and cooked, flowers to be admired, a dog to be cuddled, and, ...

banner by ajat


Sign ups end soon. There's no reason not to sign up, since you don't really commit yourselves to anything until October. We want all the Snape love we can get. Come on (nudge), you know you want to...

The SS/HG Quiz has the topic "Sex Magic Part 2: Toys - Better living through magic" this week. And my little smutty piece, The Vibrator, the Witch and the Painting is on it.

Which got me a banner to die for.



Bounce! Thank you so much, quiz-team!

...which, of course, will take nothing away from my Snape obsession.
But it made me all bouncy.

More of it under the cut, not to bore you to tears.
( I finally watched the new Startrek movie, so this may be a bit spoilerish. )

What else happened this week?
There's a new challenge on snapedom: Severus and the Art of Flying and on severusbigbang, sign ups have started. As a reminder: this is not your traditional big bang. We let it bang in terms of creativity.

there was a countdown here

...and listen!

To Snapecast!

Then brainstorm. And think about what you'll want to do for:

with a hole in it, that's how I feel at the moment.
Doggie has 'canine idiopathic vestibular syndrome' which looks very, very scary, but has good chances at total or mostly recovery. We're still at the vet every day for hours since he gets ringer-lactate. Thankfully his heart and the other organs are fine, but he's dizzy, the poor boy.
Still, at 14,5 years, it could have been worse.
Going to cuddle the dog now...
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When something comes up that wants to use my content, and doesn't offer me a decent basic functionality for free, then I'm not really interested.

The only thing that sets DW off, IMO, is the crossposting. The other much talked about feature, the separation between looking and granting access- let's face it, do you really put your friends, virtual or not, into two publicly visible classes? No? Thought so. That's what filters are for.

So there's the crossposting. I can crosspost to one other side at a time. Otherwise I have to pay. And I certainly won't do that. This kind of social network is content-based. And paying for a platform where I show off the content I generate? Sure. If the place is interesting enough. But if the place grants me three schemes, five icons and one crossposting for a free account that is still beta... and no one knows how good or bad it'll function really... nope. That's a sure way to drive me off a place, not to get me to consider to buy.

I had hoped it could make a real difference for the crossposting once the big bang goes posting, but no, won't happen. Not like this.

And: less than a month 'til sign ups.

The weather is good, not too warm, but the grass is growing unashamedly. That means that I'll have to mow the lawn in two places this weekend. Sigh.
The trees I pruned so violently are in full bloom. ~iz proud~

I finished reworking a draft for the Hermione Big Bang. It's in a shape now I can live with, I think. 25000 words, phew! I don't think I'll want to write another longish WIP after I'll have finished my current one. I so often feel that I'm just babbling... telling something in epic detail is fun, but does anyone actually want to read it? And then there's that blasted issue of continuity. If I can't stay at it constantly, I forget what I wrote, despite note-keeping, special writing programs and all.

Remind me why I'm doing this? Ah, yes, it keeps me sane in my crazy life, thank you.

All this babbling has, of course, a purpose. This:

Long time no update.

First of all, Happy Birthday (belatedly or too early) to all the April birthday flistees. Your 'interest' icons will be posted at the end of the month.

I do feel rather optimistic today. I don't go on my scale often, but did this morning, and things are looking good. I've lost approx. 15 kg since January without feeling guilty, without any 'special diet', but with rather strict counting of calories. Not even exercise. So, this, and the sunshine, is great for the mood. There'll be indulging in the sweet and fatty stuff over easter, but I won't feel guilty and just pick up after the holidays. So, even if you all decide to break the internet now, I don't really care. ;)

The grass is growing. Will have to mow soon.
I've been pruning old apple trees this winter, rather heavily, and am pleased like toast to see that they get lots of flower buds. In earlier years I've been listening too much to 'experienced' gardeners (Don't cut here, that's fruiting wood... you're killing the tree, woe is me), but not this year, and it turned out very well. Mind, I've had several years of watching the trees grow after minor pruning efforts of mine. I'm finally getting a good feeling for it, I think.

Boring stuff from me, as usual. That's why I stop and wish a Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate.

to all my flistees who had their birthday in March.
Since I always miss the dates, I'll post icons for you
Here are some icons for your interests outside of HP fandom, if you want them.



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