I wrote a little piece for hp_kinkfest. Apparently this is what ICMezzo!kink looks like. :) Head on over and check it out if you're so inclined.

Title: The Slytherin Urn
Author:

icmezzo
Prompt Number: #26 submitted by

candamira
Kink Showcased: Beautiful casting (Magic kink)
Rating: NC-17
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Summary: Nothing turns Harry on quite like redemption.
Warnings/Content Notes: None beyond the explicit content implied by the rating.
Word Count: ~4.5k
Author's Notes:

candamira, I just loved your prompt. I’m sorry the resulting story isn’t superdirtyporny, but the prompt was so lovely, and this is what spilled out in response to it. I think it matches the tone of your prompt, at least, and I really hope you like it. Thanks to the mods for all of their work on the fest. Thanks also to my delightful betas,

lettered and

arcadianmaggie, for their thoughtful critique and helpful feedback. Story by story, they’re making me a better writer. I’m endlessly grateful to them. Thanks also to

omi_ohmy and

sapphirescribe for their Britpicking and support.
Available on AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3285977

The Slytherin Urn

Now that

hd_erised reveals are up, it seems I ought to claim my story. Thanks to those who left such lovely comments. If you haven't had a chance to read it but would like to, the link is below. The story was written for

isinuyasha, and I was so pleased to write for her. Her artwork is amazing! I tried to include several of her requests and prompts, such as the Crup and a mix of fluff and humor.

In any case, here are the details.

Title: Fata Morgana
Author:

icmezzo
Recipient:

isinuyasha
Rating: R
Word Count: ~16.5k
Warnings: None
Content/Enticements: Dragons, mirages, and Arthurian legends. Also a recalcitrant crup and a house-elf on a tricycle. (I honestly don’t know how these things happen.)
Summary: “It’s only a mirage,” they tell Draco (and Pepper). “You must be imagining,” they dismiss him in turn. But Draco Malfoy is certain something is out there, and, come hell or Harry Potter, he’ll find out. He will.
Author's Notes: To

omi_ohmy and

arcadianmaggie, my amazing prereader/Brit-picker and beta: Thank you never seems like enough. You’re so unbelievably kind to share your time and considerable talents with me again and again. I’ll love you both for a thousand years.

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.

Fata Morgana

In addition, I would like to thank

primea for the absolutely gorgeous artwork that she drew for me. I highly encourage you to take a look: You are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars, (Not only is it completely stunning, but if you happened to read my prior story, Wish Upon a Star, you'll know why I was nearly in tears of joy when I recieved it.) Thank you, Primea!

My year in numbers

4 Drabbles, all HPfic from Last Drabble Writer Standing:

The Basilisk Slayer (Gen)

As Etiquette Demands (H/D)

Warming Up Waffles (H/D)

Circle of Life (H/D)

3 Stories, all HPfic:

Crystal Clear from Remix fest(H/D)

Wish Upon a Star (As Dreamers Do) from Career fair (H/D)

Fata Morgana from Erised fest (H/D)

Other:

51,091 Words Written

228 HP fics and drabbles read (and add to that ~40 Avengers/MCU and Merlin fic)

8 Betas/Prereads

3 Fests/0 Dropouts

69 New LJ friends

1 crazy fun voice meme :)

The writing/betaing/reading numbers are way, way down from last year and down again from the year before that. Part of this was intentional. For about six months I didn't write, beta, or read much of anything because I was moving and changing jobs and dealing with life garbage and burnout. In 2015 I'd like to take a more moderate approach and limit myself to maybe one fest and try to write one other story just for fun. I think I need to get back to writing without the fest pressure. That said, I'll read fest prompts because I generally like the stort that results when a prompt steals my heart. Wish Upon a Star was prompt-based, and it's my favorite from 2014. Also, interestingly, I didn't write a lot of hard angst in 2014 (compared to 2013 when I wrote Kiss the Joy and And So Death Took), but I'm in the mood to write it again, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what appears first from me in 2015. I also wouldn't mind doing some additional betaing in 2015, perhaps picking up another regular writer or two.

And with that, Happy New Year, everyone. Wishing you all a joyous holiday and a spectacular 2015.

Now that the

hd_fan_fair's Career Fair reveals have gone up, I'll go ahead and post my story as I'm still too sick (*sniffle**cough**sniffle**whine**cough!sniffle*) to be writing at the moment. In any case, if you haven't read it already, I'd be delighted to share my work with you. I often hate my stories by the time they post--they've usually driven me mad by then--but this one is so light and fun that I couldn't be angry at it, even after the 37th hour of editing. I really did enjoy writing this one, I'm still smiling about it now, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

It's dedicated to

evening12, of course, as it was her prompt that made my imagination take flight. (If it was ever on solid ground to begin with, I'm not sure.) The ghosts were actually inspired by a discussion that was held at my house when

firethesound and

zeitgeistic visited last summer right as the prompts went up for the fest. I'm not sure they'll remember it, but I'll thank them for that regardless. The plants...well...those are dedicated to the many gardens I've had over the years, big and small, whether I've been their to harvest them in the fall or not. (I move way too often. smh.) They make me happy--no small bit of magic right there.

And, of course, I have a feast of riches when it comes to betas, Brit-pickers, and other support. Endless gratitude to the talented, amazing (underlined thrice) women who helped bring out the very best in this story. Thank you for your thoughtful editing, dearest

lettered,

arcadianmaggie,

omi_ohmy,

sapphirescribe, and

twilightmundi (it boggles my mind to even type out that list). I honestly couldn’t wish for anyone but you. [shooting star emoji]

And if you've actually read all of the above, know that the actual story isn't that much longer. Well. Sort-of. It's a quick 27k, I promise. :)

Title: Wish Upon a Star (As Dreamers Do)
Prompt Number: # 174
Rating: R
Career Choices: Harry: Hogwarts Consultant; Draco: Wishmaker
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco (secondary Neville/Hannah, Hermione/Ron)
Warnings/Content Notes: None.
Summary: There’s plant magic and celestial magic and dark magic and the normal magic that allows Harry to use a spell to clean his socks when Myrtle’s taken up in his laundry room again. Then there are wishes, and dreams, and love, and those are even more magical still.
Word Count: ~27k

Also! Also! I would be remiss not to mention the lovely works that were created based on a few prompts that I left for the fest. You should definitely take a moment to check out the amazingly gorgeous artwork/movie by

mayfly_78, who created Like Salt and Pepper (Harry: Salt Shaker; Draco: Pepper Grinder). And then dear

noeon wrote The R. Correspondence (Harry: Private Security Consultant; Draco: Manuscript Expert) for me, and well, Draco deciphers ancient manuscripts. So. Enough said right there. :D Be sure to check out others from the fest too!

Goodness. Thank you for the nominations and votes and love over at the

hpfanficfanpoll. I'm touched and honored. I also think it's pretty much the best thing ever to be recognized for both Darkfic and Comedy in the same round...I laughed with delight when I saw that. I tried to do some different things last year, fic-wise, and I appreciate that you stuck with me through that and tolerated the growing pains. Again, thank you. So much. <3

Congratulations to the many other nominees and winners. The recognition is so well deserved; your stories are amazing and special, and our fandom is so lucky to have so many wonderful authors and artists.

As you may have read earlier, zeitgeistic and firethesound have been in town the last few days, hanging out at my place and attending the Con.txt conference here in the DC area. I think we can safely say we had a great time. :)

It was requested that we share a little bit about the conference, so we decided to debrief on the sessions we attended and what we learned and experienced over the last few days. We put our thoughts into words via gchat, and I'll pretty much post it unedited below. Hope you enjoy!

ICMezzo: So, Zeitgeistic and FiretheSound and ICMezzo just spent three days attending Con.Txt, a fandom slash con in DC. We'd had some requests to talk about the con, so this is our attempt. La! Okay, so, how many people were there? It wasn't huge.
Zeitgeistic: 70ish
is my guess
Firethesound: definitely not huge. i'm terrible with estimates, so 60-70ish?
ICM: Not like a huge con. 3 sessions going on simultaneously.
Should we talk about some specifically?
Zeitgeistic: slashbabies
Firethesound: SLASHBABIES
that name begs for all caps
Zeitgeistic: surprisingly not mpregged
ICMezzo: Okay. Yes. Slashbabies. That was the first day.
Zeitgeistic: wishes
Firethesound: wish babies
ICMezzo: It was all about different ways (accidental and not) for our gay characters to get babies.
Zeitgeistic: weirdly no regular options were discussed until like 5 min til the end.
ICMezzo: I think there were a lot of RPF fandom folks in the panel, which maybe was part of it.
Zeitgeistic: stanley cup pregnancy featured, as i recall? or lilke, the stanley cup issues you a wish baby?
ICMezzo: They don't have potions to take and such. (Reason #436 why HP is the best.)
so they had to like. Discuss adoption and surrogacy. It got kinda heavy. I think i'd hoped for more mpreg itself.
Because Slashbabies.
Firethesound: same here. i was sort of disappointed by the lack of mpreg
Zeitgeistic: yeah. and i was also baffled that wishing for babies and them coming from storks was considered a valid option for non-magical fandoms. very gabriel garcia marquez, but without the literary value
Firethesound: magical realism ftw?
ICMezzo: Babies being left on doorsteps does have its place in our fandom...
But anyway. Less mpreg than we wanted. That's the consensus, I think. So. What else did we see that day? Slash through ages. That was ancient pairings. Think Gilgamesh/Enkidu. Some biblical pairings. Ruth/Naomi.
Zeitgeistic: there was a lot of posturing.
and irrelevant trivia
regarding roman naming systems
of which i knew from wikipedia
but didn't comment on because it wasn't the fucking topic
Firethesound: there was also a lot of knitting that happened. I'd just like to say that i was both surprised and excited by how many people were knitting during panels
Zeitgeistic: one girl was making this really elaborate blue lace
Firethesound: for once, i was not "that weird girl with the knitting"
it was strange and wonderful
ICMezzo: There was a bit of cosplay.
I don't know. The panel wasn't terribly cohesive as a panel.
Firethesound: yeah, from what the mod said she'd asked friends for help who are in relevant fandoms, and they all flaked out on her
Zeitgeistic: so we talked about les mis
surprisingly large fandom
Firethesound: which is a shame because i feel like that panel had a lot of potential for being sort of awesome
Zeitgeistic:
yeah i was really hoping for gilgamesh slash recs
ICMezzo:
yesssss..
okay. Well. We'll just have to write some.
Zeitgeistic:
curling
ICMezzo:
(We said that about 234872034875423 times this weekend.)
Firethesound:
(so many things to write!)
ICMezzo:
Oh! And Rivers of London panel!
Zeitgeistic:
which is cool but would be hard to write for, imo
ICMezzo:
Yes. Magic for adults, pretty much. Based in London, but would be very hard to write as someone not based there. And the characters don't necessarily lend themselves to slash.
(Though I've only read the first book so far.)
But that panel was pretty interesting, thinking about alternate magic systems and such.
Firethesound:
i think that was one of the more interesting panels we attended. the discussion was more meta than slash, but i really love meta so it worked for me
ICMezzo:
Yes. Agreed. It was a good discussion.
Firethesound:
Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronivitch
*Aaronovitch
ICMezzo:
Definitely worth a read. (It's a book series.)
Firethesound:
(and all of them are awesome!)
ICMezzo:
Any other first day takeaways?
Finding HP folks was tougher than I thought.
Firethesound:
yeah, i thought there would be way more than there were.
but it was a lot of hockey rpf and teen wolf and stargate sga, i think were the big ones that kept coming up
ICMezzo:
And Avengers.
Firethesound:
oh yes, avengers
Zeitgeistic:
captain america and avengers
ICMezzo:
Because Steve.
:)
Firethesound:
because bucky feels, is what i got from the captain america panel
ICMezzo:
Right. We went to Captain America panel on day 2. That was a good one, I thought.
Firethesound:
yes, definitely one of the most fun and engaging we saw, i think
ICMezzo:
Energy.
Zeitgeistic:
it made me interested in the fandom. or at least watching the movies (which i haven't done)
Firethesound:
it made me want to go read captain america/avengers fic, so i think that's a success
ICMezzo:
Yes. I know. I read a bit in the fandom, but I want to read some more now.
we may need some recs...
Zeitgeistic:
^^
Firethesound:
seconded!
ICMezzo:
So, we also went to a session on writing AU.
Zeitgeistic:
there was bingo.
which sort of showed all the different AU tropes there are
ICMezzo:
and the point of AUs... such as characterization.
Zeitgeistic:
(coffee shop AU is apparently in every fandom everywhere)
ICMezzo:
Remember Friends TV show? Makes me wonder if that Fandom has a coffee shop AU...
ANYWAY. (irrelevant)
there were some AUs that seem to be prevalent in a lot of fandoms but not so much in HP. maybe tehre are things we need to explore?
Steampunk. Space?
Firethesound:
yes, there were a lot of things that came up (in other panels as well) that i just had never encountered before, since like 90% of what i read is HP
definitely makes me want to branch out a little more
::coughAVENGERScough::
ICMezzo:
and adopt what works back into HP too.
Firethesound:
ooh, yes!
ICMezzo:
(I need more steampunk art)
Firethesound:
(everyone needs more steampunk art)
Zeitgeistic:
yes
ICMezzo:
Regency
That would also be amazing for art.
(As would space.)
Oh, it did seem that "HP" serves as an AU for almost every other fandom. I think that's cool.
Firethesound:
ha, yes! i found that amusing
ICMezzo:
Why did I put scare quotes around HP? #novice
Zeitgeistic:
lol harry potter AU was one of the bingo spots
ICMezzo:
yes. EVERYONE wants to go to Hogwarts. :D
Firethesound:
well who wouldn't?
Zeitgeistic:
or make fun of hogwarts
ICMezzo:
Pffft.
Firethesound:
they're only jealous they didn't get their hogwarts letters
ICMezzo:
Last session that day was on Harry Potter.
Harry Potter Now and Forever.
Firethesound:
the one i think we were all looking forward to most!
ICMezzo:
Something like that.
It was...odd. There was a lot of discussion about JKR and her work on characters like Neville and Draco and treatment of Slytherins.
Zeitgeistic:
and some pats on the back about JKR coming out against hermione/ron
i got the feeling that no one in the room was aware of harry potter fandom at all
ICMezzo:
a lot of strong opinions about canon though.
Firethesound:
or they'd been out of the fandom for a few years at least
Zeitgeistic:
i think

lettered was recced in every panel we went to tho
ICMezzo:
Yes. They seemed surprise that people were still writing.
Zeitgeistic:
including this one
ICMezzo:
Yes. in many fandoms.
We exchanged recs toward the end.
People seemed surprised that things were still being written and had nooooo idea where to find anything.
I hope we helped?
Firethesound:
we pointed them at

capitu's

my_drarry_recs
which is where i get a lot of my recs from
ICMezzo:
Yes. And some people knew of fics by

saras_girl (Turn and Stanley-fic)
Oh, and A Piercing Comfort by

talithan.
We had to fill in a lot of the titles and authors, though.
Firethesound:
we impressed them with our vast knowledge of authors and titles
ICMezzo:
They thought us to be encyclopedias...for knowing TURN!
Zeitgeistic:
i also got to rec zero at the bone, so my life has meaning
ICMezzo:
Tell us more about that one?
Zeitgeistic:
lol this is like a coke can in an avengers movie
ICMezzo:
lol. Mkay. You can comment with a link or more info in the LJ post.
Someone knew about Smoochfest.
So some people are still reading current fests.
There were some other Harry/Draco shippers there.
Were there other ships? A few rarepair folks?
Didn't HP_beholder come up?
Firethesound:
yeah, along with snarry
Zeitgeistic:
someone really wanted dumbledore/snape recs
ICMezzo:
Yes. I...didn't have much to offer there.
#nojudgment
Firethesound:
it was fun to be around fellow HP fans, but it felt like most of the other people there had moved on to other fandoms in recent years
so many of the recs we got were either very popular stories we'd already read (eg: Turn) or things that have been around for years
luckily we had each other and a free evening, and now i have enough recced stories to keep me going for several weeks, at least
Zeitgeistic:
good lord yes
ICMezzo:
Yes. After the con we had a fun dinner in DC with a beautiful waiter who was clearly Harry/Draco's child.
Zeitgeistic:
and all the new fandoms we discovered too
oh god, yes. he was the product of legit mpreg
Firethesound:
oh, that waiter
Zeitgeistic:
tall, pointy, blond, with glasses
ICMezzo:
headcanon green eyes?
(he had his father's eyes)
Zeitgeistic:
yes and headcanon named kevin because draco would never let harry name their child after harry's parents and harry would never let draco name their child something like scorpius
Firethesound:
compromise!
ICMezzo:
He often paused to watch the England/Italy game...
Zeitgeistic:
(Italy won)
ICMezzo:
Quidditch not being broadcast on this side of the pond.
Zeitgeistic:
and we ate bacon wrapped dates
or firethesound: and i did
Firethesound:
good lord those things were fucking good
Zeitgeistic:
i licked that fucking kebab stick
Firethesound:
fellating?
ICMezzo:
It was a delicious evening.
We had sangria.
Zeitgeistic:
let's talk briefly about our effective margaritas
ICMezzo:
Oh. Yes. The first night.
Firethesound:
HIGHLY effective margaritas
ICMezzo:
Luckily in walking distance of my house.
Firethesound:
i had half of mine. just half
Zeitgeistic:
we didn't fall in the bay on the way home thank god
near thing.
Firethesound:
because i would probably have been unable to manage the short walk back if i'd had the whole thing
ICMezzo:
It was a close call.
Zeitgeistic:
they were so strong and so delish
like a good man
ICMezzo:
We had a pitcher. Or rather, it had us.
New pairing firethesound/zeitgeistic/icmezzo/margaritas/hotwaiter
I ship it.
Firethesound:
HIS NAME IS KEVIN
Zeitgeistic:
god OT4
and curling
Firethesound:
OT5
Zeitgeistic:
icy toe sex
Firethesound:
and coffee shop AU
Zeitgeistic:
YESSSS
with rimming
Firethesound:
it works because curling has brooms, which would somehow be involved in all this
Zeitgeistic:
(we are not drunk right now)
Firethesound:
(sadly)
ICMezzo:
(pauses to go open a bottle of wine)
Zeitgeistic:
#yolo
we now all have wine
Firethesound:
thank you, mezzo!
ICMezzo:
YAY!
Let's see. Today we went to 3 other sessions. We started with Tagging.
Zeitgeistic:
not a kink
Firethesound:
sounds like one
Zeitgeistic:
actual AO3 tagging
ICMezzo:
could be a kink
metadata is hot
So one of the AO3 tag wranglers was there.
Firethesound:
not the most exciting panel we attended, but probably one of the most informative
ICMezzo:
She was helpful, i thought.
Firethesound:
she gave us sort of "behind the scenes" info about how exactly tagging works
ICMezzo:
I wanted to download her brain about how it all works.
Zeitgeistic:
i learned why " - Freeform" shows up after some tags
ICMezzo:
and why is that?
Zeitgeistic:
but I won't tell you
Firethesound:
you're such a brat
ICMezzo:
(takes away your wine)
Zeitgeistic:
it's super difficult to explain oh my god
okay fine
Firethesound:
lol
Zeitgeistic:
because you're doing it wrong, basically
Firethesound:
so not a brat, just lazy
Zeitgeistic:
if it shows up it means that someone has already used that tag either as a canonical tag or a freeform tag and since there can't be 2 tags that are exactly the same, the system adds that fugly freeform bit to the end
so if you see it, move your tag. or don't and accept the freeform.
ICMezzo:
Or change the punctuation slightly?
add a final space or something?
I wasn't listening.
Zeitgeistic:
that is the cheap way
don't be lazy
like me
ICMezzo:
We also learned to be careful with the Penguin tag.
Zeitgeistic:
Penguins*
ICMezzo:
Because you'll end up getting a lot of hockey fic when you just want to read about Penguin!Draco.
Firethesound:
i'd love to read about penguin draco
just saying
ICMezzo:
Our fandom is awesome enough to have several.
So that's that sorted.
Firethesound:
we learned about tumblr too
for example, only the first five tags listed are searchable
i had no idea
or if you reblog something and add tags, your tags are not searchable
ICMezzo:
I suppose I'll be less inclined to write ridiculous tags in the future on AO3, I suppose.
Though I sort of love ridiculous tagging.
Firethesound:
i do too. i probably won't stop
Zeitgeistic:
even tho i really love long tags
ICMezzo:
But now that I know there's someone behind the scenes who has to deal with me tagging for centaur euphemisms...
Zeitgeistic:
but i think it should be differentiated...like "oh my god I can't believe I wrote this" tags are annoying, but I like "sherlock is a hot mess" tags
Firethesound:
yes, that's an important distinction to make
ICMezzo:
mmmm. hotmess!sherlock
Zeitgeistic:
it gives insight into feels
Firethesound:
really, hotmess!anyone
Zeitgeistic:
this
ICMezzo:
srsly
The second panel we did today was on bisexuality.
(non-monosexuality)
Zeitgeistic:
i liked this one a lot. it was so well prepared
ICMezzo:
The mod was fantastic.
Zeitgeistic:
the mods were really on their game. or one was at least.
Firethesound:
yes, it was really well organized and engaging
Zeitgeistic:
and good discussion
Firethesound:
and they made pins for everyone
Zeitgeistic:
good call to action
ICMezzo:
Serious at times...heartfelt...and then discussion of bi-characters.
Zeitgeistic:
loved that
ICMezzo:
in canon or plausibly canon.
Zeitgeistic:
again, made me interested in other fandoms, although now i can't remember which fandoms they were from
13 from House was mentioned.
ICMezzo:
There are a lot of bisexual vampires in various fandoms.
I remember that.
Zeitgeistic:
And Teen Wolf of course
ICMezzo:
Right. And Queer as Folk came up.
Zeitgeistic:
vampires were talked about in detail, because they're so old it's like, after so many years, gender doesn't matter to them (or this was the theory)
ICMezzo:
What were some of the others where it was plausible?
Steve Rogers was mentioned there. Stiles from Teen Wolf.
A lot from minor fandoms.
Tom Daley RPF
Zeitgeistic:
Penny Dreadful
ICMezzo:
I missed the call to action for a bathroom break. Explain?
Firethesound:
basically, WRITE BI CHARACTERS IN YOUR FIC
ICMezzo:
Accio Ginny
Zeitgeistic:
acknowledge characters who have canonical het relationships that you are now slashing instead of conveniently ignoring the fact that harry once liked cho and ginny
that was the takeaway
Firethesound:
yep
ICMezzo:
less handwaving. i could do some of that personally.
Firethesound:
same here
Zeitgeistic:
me too
and THEN.
THE PANEL OF A.
ICMezzo:
Last one we went to was an Asexuality Roundtable.
Zeitgeistic:
mezzo has opinions
so did one mom
who was using it as group therapy
ICMezzo:
There was a sharing of resources, basic ones, like AVEN, which was helpful, I think.
There is a lot that's not known about asexuality and demi and gray-A sexuality by the general population. So the sharing of resources is never a bad thing. There are a few dedicated tumblrs too.
and some of that came up in the panel. so i hope in some ways there was some education for folks.
Please, please, please. If someone tells you they are asexual, don't tell them they aren't or tell them they haven't met the right person or ought to seek medical help for hormones or whatever. That can be so, so damaging.
steps down from soapbox
Zeitgeistic:
Agreed.
I think that part stood out to all of us from this panel, but I also came away from it with some broader understanding of demi-sexuality. And of course, some asexy recs (mostly Sherlock but there was one Pacific Rim one that sounded good enough for me to toe that fandom)
Firethesound:
seconding all of that
ICMezzo:
And Lettered's Fall of the Veils of course. <3333 (Rec came from another multifandom reader, but I was pleased to learn she'd found it!)
Zeitgeistic:
Lettered's everything was recced
ICMezzo:
Haha. True.
Zeitgeistic:
we personally recced the correct spelling of her name
Firethesound:
the other message i think we all took away from the con as a whole: lettered is awesome
Zeitgeistic:
and curling
ICMezzo:
and margaritas.
and Harry Potter.
Zeitgeistic:
and we are incredibly cool people
ICMezzo:
We srsly are.
(I hope you all get to meet these two someday.)
Zeitgeistic:
and we suck at writing things while hanging out with icmezzo because we have such a good time that we can't concentrate
Firethesound:
yes, that. it'd be a problem if it wasn't so much fun
ICMezzo:
(Zeitgeistic is so full of life and firethesound has the absolute best giggle.)
Zeitgeistic:
(I'm sorry I asked for a tropes extension, Nox and Mari!)
(but thanks anyway!)
Firethesound:
(and i just learned that i giggle...)
ICMezzo:
:D
Zeitgeistic:
And CHOLERA needs a cameo
ICMezzo:
Cholera is my cat. Actually named Clara.
I think the margaritas were responsible for that as well...
Firethesound:
the margaritas were responsible for a lot of things
ICMezzo:
>.>
Any closing remarks, ladies?
Zeitgeistic:
there was a starfighter update
and also tropes
Firethesound:
not really. just that i feel like our little corner of HP is really something special. everyone i've met so far, especially these two here, have just been the nicest people <3
it's incredible to meet someone for the first time and within a few minutes we're talking like we've known each other for ages
ICMezzo:
It didn't take long.
Zeitgeistic:
i knowwww! we've had a really good time
Firethesound:
(wine makes me all lovey. blame mezzo for that. she brought it to me. because she's a wonderful hostess.)
Zeitgeistic:
yes she is
ICMezzo:
My work here is done.
Zeitgeistic:
she keeps asking if we need anything. my mom doesn't even do that
ICMezzo:
LOL
OKAY....
I think that's it.
Thanks for reading. and feel free to ask us specific questions or whatever if you have them.
BYE!

Addendum: (Because we forgot this one earlier)
We caught one other panel that first day, on inverted tropes.
Firethesound:
run by Beneficent
ICMezzo:
That was the bestest mod.
She had wings.
Firethesound:
like Maleficent, except the good fairy version of her
she was sparkly
Zeitgeistic:
i love her
ICMezzo:
Wings are magical.
Zeitgeistic:
i want to friend her on LJ but I don't knw her name
ICMezzo:
I want them.
Yes. I feel like she should be our BFF immediately.
So what did we talk about?
Zeitgeistic:
parent fic!
lol surprise parents on your doorstep instead of baby on the doorstep
someone write this
ICMezzo:
lol.
Firethesound:
seconded
ICMezzo:
oh, and like waking up straight instead of waking up gay.
Zeitgeistic:
pretend divorce and forced divorce. those sound awesome
so much potential for angst
Firethesound:
so many fic ideas there...
Zeitgeistic:
and there was also losing super powers instead of gaining them
Firethesound:
aliens kept them from having sex
ICMezzo:
FtS is giggling again.
Firethesound:
(it was house-elves)
(it's always house-elves)
Zeitgeistic:
(of course)
ICMezzo:
houseelves will do it every time.
but that's a different pairing...
Zeitgeistic:
(she's gigglng)
ICMezzo:
Kreacher/Dobby. Yummy.
Aaaaand the wine has kicked in.
So that was a fun panel.
Firethesound:
yes
ICMezzo:
Good for ideas.

Lalalalala. I thought I'd post my H/D LDWS Round 6 drabbles for archiving purposes. Feel free to disregard if you've already read, dislike drabbles, dislike me, etc., etc., etc. ;)

This one, from week 3, is my favorite. The prompt was "Basilisk" (140 words exactly). I actually love writing in this style but rarely seem to have the opportunity, though I suppose "He Walked" is similar.

Title: The Basilisk Slayer

Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 140

He was the only one who could, they said,
Destined by birth for adventures grand.
First Voldemort. Now Basilisks.
Conquering evil and emerging unscathed.
Unharmed.
Or so they said.

He was the only one who could, they said,
A brave Gryffindor who spoke the beast’s tongue,
Commanding the serpent: Sleep and so die.
Parseltongue from his lips spilling effortlessly.
Painlessly.
Or so they said.

He was the only one who could, they said,
Survive the snake’s aureolin gaze.
His mother’s eyes but his father’s sight,
Sans spectacles near blind, exempting him from death.
Immune.
Or so they said.

He was the only one who could, they said,
One Chosen for tales he’d not ever choose.
Antidote in pocket, a sacrificial vial
From a Phoenix in mourning, his life-cycle companion,
In life
And death,
Then life
Again.
Or so they said.

I try to write in a number of different genres--keeps things interesting!--from more intense content (see above) to fluff and comedy. This next one is a bit of fun from Week 1. Prompt: Hippogriff (300 words).

Title: As Etiquette Demands

Rating: R
Warnings: None
Word Count: 300

Harry met – and held – the gaze of the proudest creature he’d ever known. Eyes watering as he tried not to blink, he ducked his head, never breaking eye contact as he waited for a bow in return.

Harry’s throat caught. A handsome devil, this one. His sharp gaze, the classic line of his neck… Merlin, the strength in those thighs practically made Harry’s mouth water. Such incredible power. But as they were new to their relationship – Harry’d only ridden him a few times so far – he had to follow the proper protocol or the talons would come out. The creature could be nearly as vicious as he was gorgeous, but the effort was worth it. Harry’d practically touched the stars last time they’d got together.

Now, though, time seemed to stand still. His skin prickling in anticipation, Harry attempted to keep his breathing measured as he waited to be judged worthy. He never got used to this part, always wanting to look away, to stare at his feet as he fought the nerves colouring his cheeks.

He was, after all, completely starkers, and his knees were too knobby and his chest hair too—

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Harry,” Draco muttered. “I’m not one of your bloody Hippogriffs. If you want to ride me, all you have to do is ask.”

Grinning widely, Harry clamoured over to the bed where Draco lay equally naked and sprawled across a meadow of green throw pillows.

“You truly have the oddest idea of bedroom eyes,” Draco said, voice tinged with fondness as he pulled Harry close and breathed the words across his lips. “But so eager.”

Harry claimed Draco’s mouth. Draco was correct, of course; Harry was desperate to touch him. But the prideful Hippogriff must always be allowed to make the first move.

Then, of course, there's the inevitable ICMezzo crack comedy. Prompt: Pygmy Puff (350 words).

Title: Warming up Waffles

Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: 350

“Draco! Come in.” Noticing Harry behind him, Luna gestured them both inside. “Hello, Harry.”

Harry nodded bravely, eyes glassy. Something was cradled in his arms.

“Tea?” Luna asked.

“Actually, Lovegood, we require assistance with our Pygmy—”

“Draco killed him!” Harry thrust the bundle at her. “First he gave me Waffles, then he killed him!”

“I didn’t kill your pet.” After attempting to kiss Harry’s forehead while Harry rebuffed him, Draco turned back to Luna. “I didn’t kill Waffles.”

Harry’s lip wobbled, but he allowed Draco’s embrace. A single tear ran down his cheek.

Unwrapping the blanket, Luna gasped. “Draco!”

Harry promptly burst into tears.

The creature was missing most of its fur; the remaining scraggly patches were brownish grey while its skin was blueish. But while otherwise unmoving, Waffles still breathed. Barely.

Hypothermia.

“Explain,” she demanded.

Harry shrugged from Draco’s arms. “Draco didn’t think... Waffles went… with our décor,” he said between shaky breaths. “He tried to turn him green! Then he tried to get rid of the evidence when it didn’t work,” Harry wailed. “I’m surprised I even found the body!”

“Puffs aren’t wizards, Draco! You can’t dye their fur like you do your hair!” She sighed. “He isn’t dead but he’s freezing and deeply insulted. You must warm Waffles immediately. No magic; he’s too weak. Take him home, strip down, and all three of you get into bed. Your body heat should be enough.”

Harry dried his eyes on his sleeve. “Thank you.”

Draco’s eyes took on a suspicious gleam. “You heard her, Harry. We’ll simply have to get naked for Waffles. Best hurry, don’t you think?”

Luna handed Waffles to Harry. “Go on. The fur will grow back soon. But I should warn you; no shagging while Waffles warms up. He’s traumatized enough. Apologies wouldn’t be remiss either.”

“No shagging? Apologies?” Draco looked lost.

Harry snorted. “Be glad he needs you or you’d be on the sofa.”

“Bye, Waffles! Feel better!” Luna called as they departed. Of course Waffles wouldn’t be harmed by their imminent shagging, but imagining them trying to resist was a delicious thought indeed.

And last of all is my final Week 5 drabble. I really struggled with this one (Prompt: Jarveys, 225 words) and in the end was eliminated this week, which seemed fitting. I didn't feel I could write Jarveys as endearing; they're rude and violent and horrible. So I decided to stick with that, even though I knew it was never going to be a favorite, because life and nature aren't always pretty. I'm not sure I pulled it off, regardless. Kudos to the other authors who managed to better wrangle their Jarveys into great drabbles.

Title: Circle of Life

Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Word Count: 225

Harry cringed from his balcony vantage point as Jarveys chased across the Malfoy grounds. The Gnomes didn’t last long once caught.

He tried to bite his tongue; he knew better than to question the practice. He and Draco were still new at this, new at them. Building each other into their existing lives was messy.

But the tradition was violent. Flinching as another Gnome was eliminated, Harry turned and found Draco watching him, expression unreadable.

“Would you have us de-gnome the entire grounds by hand?” Draco asked. “Never mind that clearing hundreds of acres would take months, whereas the Jarveys will be finished, collected, and gone within the hour.”

Harry winced; Draco was still prickly sometimes. Defensive. “No, it’s not…” he trailed off. Because it was that, a little. Few beyond old-fashioned purebloods used Jarveys anymore, the practice as archaic as the Manor itself.

“It’s the circle of life, Harry.” Draco’s face softened.

“Why must it be so bloody?” Harry pouted. “And why are we watching? I’ve witnessed enough violence for a lifetime.”

“I’ll agree with you there.” Stepping closer, Draco wrapped his arms around Harry. “Tell you what: Let’s go inside,” Draco murmured, breath hot against Harry’s neck. “I suspect there are other facets of the cycle you’ll find decidedly more appealing.”

Harry snorted but allowed Draco to pull him in for a kiss.

Finally, massive congratulations to the Round 6 winner, slashedsilver. She wrote some amazing drabbles throughout. Well done to lamerezouille as well, who came in runner up. Make sure you take the time to read their wonderful pieces. And thanks to the Mods for modding and to readers for reading and voting each week!

Do you like cilantro? I do, but I know it's one of those love it or hate it foods. Like fennel, perhaps. (I think cilantro has a different name in the U.K...coriander?)

And So Death Took, my contribution to

hd_erised, is my cilantro fic. It is, I think, one of those love it or hate it sorts of pieces. And that's okay. It was also a huge risk for me. I had an idea, one that I thought was so damn cool, but I'm still not certain I was the proper author to try to execute it. I've never written anything very dark before. I've never written madness or death. Writing this story was extremely difficult for me and even now I'm quite unsure whether it came together.

I know it is hard to read, especially at first. Thank you to those who persevered. It was even harder to write. It was the most challenged I've been as a writer.

But challenge is good, isn't it? Taking risks and being challenged to improve is one of the main reasons I love fic writing. Maybe I'm not a good dark story author (or, more likely, I need additional practice). But at least I tried. How will you know if you can unless you try?

Thank you to everyone who left comments on LJ and AO3 already. Because this was something brand new for me and because it kicked my ass throughout the writing process, your feedback on this one is beyond valuable to me. If something didn't work for you...even then, send me a PM and let me know. I appreciate your thoughts.

If you haven't read it, I hope you give it a chance. I sort of want to beg you to just...Trust Me. And to those who loved it, thank you for your recs and tweets and comments. They warmed my heart.

Now, just a few quick notes: If you are hesitant to read because of the warnings and require some additional information, simply ask. I'll be happy to fill you in as much as you'd like. I am the sort of person who hates spoilers, but I can understand why others would like to know what they're in for. I can elaborate on the warnings for you if you think you want to give it a read.

To my fic recipient, I do hope you enjoyed it. Your signup prompt made it seem like you might be open to something a little different. I hope this was something you were able to enjoy in the end and I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

Again, additional thanks must be sent the way of the Erised mods...I can't imagine trying to juggle so much during the months of November/December when life already tends to be overly filled.

And, last but certainly not least, I want to thank my dear betas, prereaders, and Brit-picker. To

arcadianmaggie,

sapphirescribe,

twilightmundi, and

omi_ohmy: Thank you. Thank you so, so, so much. Your endless support of this idea (and my interpretation of it) means more than you can know. Thank you for stepping in quickly when deadlines loomed, and for your thoughtful critique and feedback, for your careful edits, and for holding my hand when it posted and I morphed into a giant fretting bundle of nerves.

With that, here are the links to the posted fic:

And So Death Took on Live Journal / AO3

Title: And So Death Took
Writer:

icmezzo
Recipient:

knowmefirst
Summary: Fairy tales may soothe small children into slumber, but some stories themselves refuse to sleep. The Tale of Three Brothers, retold.
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~25k
Warnings:

While nothing is exactly as it seems, some readers may appreciate a warning for MCD (not Harry or Draco), suicide, dark themes, and/or violence.

Content/Enticements: EWE, post-war, Ron/Hermione side pairing, The Tale of Three Brothers

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.

And So Death Took on Live Journal / AO3

My year in numbers

2 Drabbles, both HPfic:

He walked (Gen)

Unforgivable (D/?)

5 Stories, all HPfic:

Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (H/D)

Love Lies Bleating (H/D)

The Ugly Duckling (H/D)

Very Important Meeting (H/D)

And So Death Took (H/D)

92,530 Words Written

314 HP Fics and Drabbles Read

14 Betas/Prereads

4 Fests

1 Dropout (My first ever. Still stings, tbh. Sorry, Level 2)

74 New LJ friends

Oh, and one new job, one move to a new town, one new tattoo, and many, many thoughts of you...

#5: ICM's Christmas tree. It's silly, I suppose, but knowing I can manage to get a 7ft tree off the car, into the house, upright, and decorated (without ending up in the ER) makes me so happy. Self sufficiency meets holiday magic. What's not to love?

In no particular order, 10 things that made me giggle, smile, or squeak this week:

1. The best 17 seconds ever, aka A Talking Boat

2. I'm seeing The Desolation of Smaug, at midnight tomorrow night in one of those marathon events that begins with An Unexpected Journey a few hours prior. Headed there with several friends who I knew first from fandom but have grown into special people in my real life. I do not have my act together enough to do any dressing up, but I'm rather Hobbit-like anyway, so I'm just gonna go as a Hobbit in a human who just got out of work costume. Oh, and speaking of The Hobbit, THIS is awesome: Elevenses And Then Some: How To Prepare A Feast Fit For A Hobbit

3.

tuesdaymidnight and I solved Cake today while at work. What is Cake, you ask? If you have to ask, you’ll never know. If you know, you need only ask. Or something like that. Okay, not actually anything like that really. (It's not worth explaining. But just know that we did it. We solved cake and, probably, saved the world as well. All in a day's work, my friends. All in a day's work.) And actually, now that I think about it, I'm pretty damn grateful for Tuesday in general. But this week in particular. Because of soup, chapstick, and gintrfffffffffffffffffffffger go spectacularly with satellites. *brain jar nudges Tuesday*

4.

bsmog,

sapphirescribe,

coolbreeeze and I took a fun holiday mixology class last weekend where we learned how to make a few seasonal cocktails and then went to a really great dinner afterward. It was a lot of fun, food, and laughs. My "meat window" (annual non-vegetarian time) extends through the end of the year, and I have been taking advantage of it. (No, my meat window doesn't have curtains!)

5. My Christmas tree (see above). I spent several days this week working from home because of bad weather, which meant I could work and enjoy my days curled up by the tree, with my apple cider candle flickering merrily after it got dark. (That said, I do spend a lot of time these days saying, "Don't eat the tree, Clara. Clara, don't eat the tree! Clara, stop eating the tree. Please stop eating Christmas, Clara. Clara! Stop! Clara!" Ridiculous cat.)

6. It snowed. Okay, it snowed for maybe an hour and it wasn't enough to cover the grass, and it was about 1/8 of what I was supposed to get, but it snowed. It did. And I have truly been starved for snow. (I know you warm weather lovers must believe I've crazy, but after leaving my beloved Maine where 90inches/year is the norm, being down here near DC leaves me longing for it. Imagine moving from your warm climate to a place that never got hot; you'd probably the crave the sun, no?) Anyway, when it *finally* changed from rain to snow, I honestly started crying. Like, actually weeping. (And I am not a crier by any stretch of the imagination.) I went outside and just stood in it. Because...snow. <3

7. My lovely friend

sapphirescribe podficced The Shoemaker and the Elves for me, was my hols fic from last year. :)

8. I took a chance and reached out to one of my very favorite authors last week, and not only did she humor me by responding in detail, but it has turned into a week of discussions about writing and fandom and stories and a slew of of other topics. I know that this isn't everyone's cup of tea, so I'm especially thankful she waded through my initial flails so that we could share some great conversation. I hope we can continue to do so. (So, thanks,

lettered.)

9. I finally came up with an idea for

hd_remix. It will be a fun challenge, but ultimately should be very doable for me. I'm excited to get started on the detailed plotting and writing. And of course

hd_erised and all of the other fests currently posting. I try to review consistently at least in the fests I participate in as a writer, and I'm trying to keep up with some of the others as well.

10. I've already received several holiday cards, christmas cookie recipies, and little gifties from so many friends! One reader even made a paper ornament out of one of my stories (thoughtfully avoiding any smutty bits; that might have been difficult to explain if someone looked closely) to hang on my Christmas tree.

It's the little things, isn't it? And these are just 10 of them that made the start of December a little brighter. Wishing you laughs and smiles of your own. I hope you can find some time to revel in the magic of the holiday season. After all, I *know* we're all believers in magic. :)

Here's the version of the poems with all the story links, per request of the masses. I've also corrected a few small errors and eliminated an inadvertent duplication. I actually have this spreadsheet where I record every story I've read and it's sortable by title. I use it often to rec stories and find authors and such, but let me tell you, I've never been more grateful for it than when I was pulling all these links together just now! Anyway, enjoy, fandom. This silly poem contains approximately 1/3 of the list of titles I actually wanted to include, but any longer and my head (and yours, I'm guessing) would have exploded. And for those of you who are poets or love actual poetry, my deepest apologies. :)

Why I’m here (and maybe why you are, too)
for Harry, Draco, and those who love them (pants optional)

I’ll never be the brain behind A Pure and Simple Truth,
I'll never head to Russia with the writer of Danse Russe.
I'll never be the author of All His Saints or Turn,
I'll never bring out UST like a Hades Paradox burn.

Reparations has been written, as has A Thousand Beautiful Things.
The Beauty of Trees is remixed so the Voices in the Leaves sing.

I’ve read Survival of the Species and I’ve Dreamed in Monochrome,
I’ve fallen for wizards, Body and Soul, and would call their Beautiful World home.

And Vale Sanare, it squeezed me tight, while Inkantations made me fly,
And do feel free to Kiss me with Fire but not 'til I've a Tissue of Silver nearby.

But Let’s Pretend the War is Over until a Landslide knocks us down,
And Every Fifteen Seconds after until the Brink of Twilight comes ’round.

For The Boy who Only Lived Twice has still Tomorrow and Tomorrow (and Tomorrow) to go,
But through us he'll Trust in Hope, Unbroken, even as the Storm's Breath blows.

A Piercing Comfort's well and good, as is some Salt on the Western Wind,
Then Comes a Mist and a Weeping Rain to wash away our sins.

So Promise Me a Pomegranate with Yorkshire Puddings on the side,
Then let's head to Paris; bringing, please, a Friend Like Me along for the ride.

I’ve learned A Young Radical's quite Adrift in A Stranger Garden by the sea,
And Must Love Quidditch, to its credit, still lives up to the all squee.

On a Clear Day, On One's Knees, I found my dark and light,

And there, next to the Blue Vase, is a Still Life, In Plain Sight.

There are Coins beside the Lamp (In Pieces) in the Cooling Room,
Said the Magpie to the Morning, I'd be Shattered without you.

The Holy Tree that’s Growing There gives thanks, for look! Here Comes the Sun,
In Bloom its gorgeous leaves match well the green of the Lotus-eyed One.

Indeed, If Wishes Were Children and if Two Wands Make a Right,
Jolene’s request for One Harry Potter, Please, will keep me reading through the night.

I've been Desperately Seeking Someone for what seems an eternity,
Hungry for something Strong and Strange, perhaps like Faerie Lights and Brandy.

He Was He, and I Was, Holly and Hawthorn, Thistle and Thyme,
Now we’re Sharing Different Heartbeats because forgiveness is divine.

And so Here's the Pencil (Make it Work) to let story after story unfold.
Because even On the Last Day of our World, there will still be more tales to be told.

Dear Fandom, Here's a silly token of my love for you and a thank you for being here with me. -ICM xoxo

I’ve read Survival of the Species and I’ve Dreamed in Monochrome,
I’ve fallen for wizards, Body and Soul, and would call their Beautiful World home.

And Vale Sanare, it squeezed me tight, while Inkantations made me fly,
And do feel free to Kiss me with Fire but not until I've a Tissue of Silver nearby.

But Let’s Pretend the War is Over until a Landslide knocks us down,
And Every Fifteen Seconds after until the Brink of Twilight comes ’round.

For The Boy who Only Lived Twice has still Tomorrow and Tomorrow (and Tomorrow) to go,
But through us he'll Trust in Hope, Unbroken, even as the Storm's Breath blows.

A Piercing Comfort's well and good, as is some Salt on the Western Wind,
Then Comes a Mist and a Weeping Rain to wash away our sins.

So Promise Me a Pomegranate with Yorkshire Puddings on the side,
Then let's head to Paris; bringing, please, a Friend Like Me along for the ride.

I’ve learned All His Saints are quite Adrift in A Stranger Garden by the sea,
And Must Love Quidditch, to its credit, still lives up to the all squee.

On a Clear Day, On One's Knees, I found my dark and light,
And there, next to the Blue Vase, is a Still Life, In Plain Sight.

There are Coins beside the Lamp (In Pieces) in the Cooling Room,
Says the Magpie to the Morning, I'd be Shattered without you.

The Holy Tree that’s Growing There gives thanks, for look! Here Comes the Sun,
In Bloom its gorgeous leaves match well the green of the Lotus-eyed One.

Indeed, If Wishes Were Children and if Two Wands Make a Right,
Jolene’s request for One Harry Potter, Please, will keep me reading through the night.

I've been Desperately Seeking Someone for what seems an eternity,
Hungry for something Strong and Strange, perhaps like Fairylights and Brandy.

He Was He, and I Was, Holly and Hawthorn, Thistle and Thyme,
Now we’re Sharing Different Heartbeats because forgiveness is divine.

And so Here's the Pencil (and Make it Work) to let story after story unfold.
Because even on the Last Day of our World, there will still be more tales to be told.

Thanks to oakstone730 for her read-through. :)
And, um, sorry. I'm not a poet. Clearly. But I tried. Hopefully that counts. <3

I'm late to the party; don't make me stand here alone!

My response.

Join in the fun!

banner by

capitu

Originally posted by

ginger_veela at Self-Made Meme.

Okay, to keep this under control so I don't have to sort through lines from 40 stories, I'm going to stick to HP fic only for this meme. :)

1) Shortest fic you've ever written. Unforgivable, a 500-word prompt fill for

melusinahp's One Prompt, Many Writers challenge. The prompt was: “To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.” ―Federico García Lorca, Blood Wedding and Yerma.
2) Longest fic you've ever written. In HP, I believe my longest is also my most recent, Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise), which is only ~38k. I also just realized isn't yet on my fic Master List! *scurries off to rectify*
3) Your best fic. Kiss the Joy is up there, but I don't have enough distance from it yet to truly decide where it would fit in this sort of ranking. As such, I'll go with The Shoemaker and the Elves. I think I achieved the fairy tale feel that I set out to write and I loved how I was able to use language in it, at least through the first half of the story. Time constraints compromised my ability to play with language in the second half as much as I would have liked, but, overall, this one would probably be my choice.
4) Your worst fic. I'm going to go with Redwood. Heh. I wrote it on a cross-country flight from Maine to San Diego. It's a short, cracky comedy. It has its fun moments, and it was a blast to write, but it was never intended to be anything more than it is. It's was also one of my earlier stories.
5) Your most underrated fic. Perhaps my first fest fic, Everything Forgotten (To Memory). I'm think it may have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle and the original summary made it seem a bit angstier than it actually was, which I'm sure didn't help.
6) Your most popular fic. Twitter poll suggests my most popular HP fic is Kiss the Joy. (My actual most popular fic is from another fandom.)
7) Your favorite fic. Oh, gosh. Well, my favorite to write was Tooth Fairy Fights and Wisdom Teeth Wars: Draco and Harry's Great Big Dental Adventure, so I'll go with that one here. I'm not sure I've ever had more fun writing. :)
8) Your fic that makes people laugh. Ha. I write lots of comedy so this is particularly difficult. I would find it hard to choose between Tooth Fairy Fights and The Ugly Duckling.
9) Your fic that makes people cry. I think probably Kiss the Joy once again. I don't write a lot of hard angst so there aren't many to choose from.
10) Pairing you've written the most. Harry/Draco
11) Pairing you've written the least (but at least once). Let's go with the solo Harry gen ficlet He Walked.
12) Fic that was most OOC for you as a writer. Perhaps Very Important Meeting. It was my attempt to write PWP, though it turned into a bit of a comedy. Oops?
13) Fic that best encapsulates you as a writer. I'm going to go with The Shoemaker and the Elves. It has got touches of my trademark humor (because I can never quite resist) wrapped up in a good bit of flangst.
14) Fic you wish could have been better. I wish that I could have made Kiss the Joy perfect. It was an important story to me personally, the closest I've ever come to writing my head canon--but looking back a month or two after I finished writing, I wish I could take another stab at the last third of it. There were parts of the story that ended up just as I envisioned in my head...I'd like the rest to live up to that as well!
15) Your hottest fic. Oh, I am a terrible writer when it comes to the sexy bits. I'm not even sure how to begin to choose one. I guess Very Important Meeting, since it was originally supposed to be PWP. Though, thinking back, I think a number of people said they enjoyed that aspect of Everything Forgotten.
16) Your tamest fic. Well, the gen He Walked ficlet.
17) Your kinkiest fic. Honestly, nothing I've written for the HP fandom is particularly kinky. If I had to choose, Very Important Meeting because it's sort of public sex. Sort of.
18) Funniest ~~line~~ moment from one of your fics.

(Let's make these next few moments instead of lines, shall we? *recklessly alters meme* ) Here I'll go with a bit of a scene that went over particularly well. :) (From Tooth Fairy Fights)

“The Tooth Fairy's pretty, isn't he?” a very groggy Harry asked when he next opened his eyes a few hours later.

Ron thought carefully about his next words. Hermione had run to the apothecary for guidance on what Harry could or could not take in his present state, so Ron was left alone with his woozy friend. And the last thing Ron wanted was for Harry to start petting the air again.

“Eh, Tooth Fairy?” Well, it wasn't Ron's best moment, but he suspected Harry would never remember anyway.

“Yeah,” Harry said, still looking a bit dazed as he turned to stare at Ron. His hair was sticking up, his eyes glassy, and his cheeks reddened from sleep. “D'you believe in the Tooth Fairy? I don't. But I liked his loincloth rather a lot.”

Ron blinked. “Loincl—maybe you better rest, Harry. We can talk about the Tooth Fairy later.”

Harry grumbled and flopped over on the couch. “Muggle children think the Tooth Fairy exists. S'not so crazy.”

Ron chuckled. Harry was hilarious when he was all delusional on potions. “Well of course it's not crazy. Who else would collect their teeth? Their parents?” Ron grinned.

“Wait. So there's really a Tooth Fairy?” Harry asked from where his face was mashed into the couch cushion.

“Well of course there's a Tooth Fairy! More than one, of course. Gotta keep up with all the children. Tooth Fairy Industries handles the scheduling and geographic ranges of the different fairies. They all have to meet their quotas, after all, or how would wizarding cats wee?”

Certain he hadn't heard Ron correctly, Harry twisted until he was half sitting up. “Cats. Wee?”

“Well, not when there aren't enough teeth, they don't. Obviously.” Ron laughed.

“I don't understand. I was just gonna throw mine away,” Harry said.

Ron looked incredulous. “But what about the cats? Let me guess; you don't donate your spare eyelashes to the UK Children's Lightbulb Filament Fund either!”

“I, er, the what?”

Ron buried his head in his hands. “Cat litter, Harry. Bloody hell! There's a national shortage of cat litter and here you are, just throwing away your teeth!”

“There are teeth in wizarding cat litter?” Harry grimaced. He couldn't remember where Mrs. Figg's many cats had gone to the bathroom; he'd never paid much attention. “Why not just use clay or wood chips, like Muggles?”

“Well not just teeth, mate. There are other ingredients too, I think, but the teeth make it extra absorbent. Especially the extra fluoride varieties. Those are the best for when you have multiple cats,” Ron explained. “And how in Merlin's name is clay going to make everything disappear? Gods, and Muggles can't even vanish the nasty bits.” Ron shuddered. “Clay...that's bonkers! I can't wait to tell 'Mione! She's gonna freak, what with the poor working conditions for troll clay diggers!”

Harry scratched his head. “So, you're saying, the Tooth Fairy—no, multiple Tooth Fairies—exist in the wizarding world, primarily to gather enough children's teeth to make litter for wizarding cats.”

“And animagi. Some of them use it too. And they don't take kindly to second class litters, know what I mean?”

“Right. Of course. The animagi would want only the best litter.” Which contained teeth, apparently. Slipping back down so he was horizontal on the couch, Harry pulled a blanket over his head. He was clearly not ready to deal with such a world just yet.

They lapsed into a comfortable enough silence while Harry thought everything over and fought to stay awake despite the various medicines and potions he'd consumed. Eventually, he peeked out from the edge of the blanket to spot Ron chewing on his fingernail. “So, what do Tooth Fairies look like?”

“No one's actually seen one, of course. But mum always told us they were mischievous little imps who stole her extra buttons and made her children grow up too quickly.” Ron scratched his head. “I'm not sure that's reliable though.”

19) Most poignant ~~line~~ moment from one of your fics. Oh, I sort of adore giving house elves poignant lines but I'll let Draco and Harry have this one themselves. From Kiss the Joy, when Harry isn't sure how to send the letters he and Draco have written:

“They can’t be delivered, can they?” Harry asked.

“I think they can,” Draco said. “We just need owls who can go…on.”

Harry watched as Draco took a stack of parchment and tapped his wand to the top sheet, and then the next and the next after that. Within minutes, nearly two dozen origami owls were swooping around the room.

Draco called to one and it fluttered down to perch on his wrist. Draco tucked a letter into its clutch. “Can you deliver that to…Can you give this to…to Dumbledore for me?” he asked quietly and the bird cooed in response.

“How will it get out?” Harry asked suddenly, panic tightening his chest. “We can’t open the door. I’m not ready.”

“No need,” Draco replied. “Watch.” The owl took off from Draco’s hand and Harry watched as it flew around the room and right out through the glass window as though it were wide open.

“Oh,” Harry breathed.

Draco nodded and called another owl to him. “To Professor Burbage,” he murmured to the owl before it took off for the window.

Harry gestured for an owl. “Hedwig,” he whispered to the little paper bird. Harry swore it winked at him before it flew off, hooting as it swooped around and out the window into the sun.

20) Favorite ~~line~~ moment from one of your fics.

I have a few favorite moments the best to be honest. One is from the beginning of Kiss the Joy:

Harry trudged towards Gryffindor Tower, his Invisibility Cloak draped over his head, his blistered and swollen feet making each step more painful than the last. The Tower, at least, seemed otherwise deserted, and along the way he had noticed subtle signs that the castle was already beginning to heal itself. It had been all of an hour, but beneath his feet a stairway, its marble cracked and crumbling, began to put itself back together, the pieces of cold polished stone merging before his eyes until it was no longer possible to tell there had ever been a crack at all. Likewise, the glass from a shattered window melted back together on the ground, the slivers gravitating towards each other until they became a single translucent whole. He passed a portrait of a young maiden in rich blue robes; she was methodically stitching her own canvas back together where it had been torn.

Another is from The Hidden Tails of Harry and Draco, my very first HP fic. I love the rhythm of the exchange, though I admit that it is more than a little confusing without context.

"I've been called to go to Paraguay to procure a rare herb..."

"Charlie needs help with a dragon..."

"Zabini requires my presence next month..."

"I've got to..."

"Need to..."

"Will be away..."

"Gone through Sunday..."

"Indonesia..."

"Madagascar..."

"Southwestern East Dakota..."

"Love you."

"Love you."

And finally, I loved this bit of language from The Shoemaker and the Elves:

Draco stared across the room at his workbench, brows furrowed as he recognized the extent of his own madness. For what else could it be?

"Draco Malfoy, you've officially gone 'round the bend," he told himself.

Because really. He'd gone to bed with the leather lying just there on the bench, as he always did, but never before had he risen to a pair of completed shoes in its place.

Perhaps it was amnesia and he'd forgotten the length of an entire day. Yes, some mysterious day settled firmly between Tuesday and Wednesday, when he fashioned the pair of men's shoes sitting before him.

Or, had he actually made them in his sleep? He'd certainly told himself often enough that such a thing was possible as his fingers toiled through his more tedious tasks.

Maybe he'd finished them the night before and simply forgotten in his exhaustion. Yes, that had to be the case, he assured himself, though in truth, he remembered no such thing.

"But then," he said into the cool morning air, "why, exactly, would I have stitched them thusly?" He sipped his tea at that, ignoring the familiar scald on his tongue in favour of examining more closely the Oxfords before him.

At first the work had seemed appropriately his own—cap toed, sleek, and refined. Classic. The quality, too, was not to be missed, easily up to his highest of standards. In picking one up, though, the difference became clear. Quarter, not semi-brogue adorned that end cap, and that was not Draco's custom at all.

He set the shoe down, staring at the reunited pair, foreign footwear intent on intruding into his careful routine. He was not sure what to make of them at all. Indeed, he seemed unable to wrest his eyes away from the dark leather, shaped, evidently, by careful fingers that were not his own.

Well, fine then. His own hands were tired, so let the mystery shoes allow them rest, if they were so determined. Picking up the pair, he carried them to the shopfront, placing them in the window in view of various passersby. Perhaps someone was foolish enough to prefer quarter-brogue, he smirked. Philistines, after all, the lot of them.

Once he had placed them artfully, he stood back to admire the display before shaking his head at his inexplicable morning. "Tea," he thought to himself. "I need more tea."

21) Fic for which you'd like to be remembered. I hope that my best work is still ahead of me, and as such, I hope I am most remembered for one I haven't written yet. :)

Finally taking a moment to claim my Smoochfest 2013 fic. Thanks so much to all of you who already read it and left such kind reviews. This story is special to me and I love knowing that it touched so many of you as well.

FIC: Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise)

Author/Artist LJ Name:

icmezzo

Prompter:

khalulu
Prompt Number: 55
Title: Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise)
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Summary: The Room of Requirement was severely damaged in the war, but not so much that it could not provide for one lost student and another young hero—especially when they needed each other most of all.
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Blooms-bury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s) (Highlight to view): * Possible post-war related depression and PTSD triggers.*
Epilogue compliant? Probably not.
Word Count: ~38,000
Author's Notes: As we all know, the theme of this fest is “Bound to You.” More specifically, the prompt I chose asked for “freedom from bondage,” based on the lovely poem “Eternity,” by William Blake. As it is quite short, I’ll reprint it here:

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.

When I read this poem, an entire world opened before my eyes—or rather, the Room of Requirement did. It seemed the natural setting for this prompt and I’ve done my best to capture the magic of this place for you in the story below. This fic is one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever written and many times along the way I doubted I could do it justice, but in the end, I’m pleased with how it came together, and I very much hope you enjoy reading it.

And with that, Dear Prompter, I would like to thank you for submitting such a gorgeous, inspiring prompt. I do hope you enjoy the resulting story.

To my phenomenal prereaders, Brit-picker, and beta,

sapphirescribe,

tuesdaymidnight,

twilightmundi,

omi_ohmy, and

arcadianmaggie: Thank you. Truly, I cannot say it enough. From your insight and encouragement to your careful relocation of every misplaced comma, you’ve made this story stronger every step of the way. I thank you for it. <3

Thanks also to the lovely and gracious mods for the fest. You do an amazing job every time and I thank you for the chance to participate…and for the deadline extension. *sheepish smile*

One final note: I was reminded during the final editing stages of this story that there was another post-war Room of Requirement story that was written for the last hols fest. Our stories are vastly different in so many ways, but if the topic interests you, you may want to take a look at To Be Back Again in the Rest of the Room by

lamerezouille If any of this author’s story unconsciously informed my own interpretation, I would like to acknowledge and thank

lamerezouille for paving the way.

Thank you for reading.

Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (on AO3)
Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (on Gdocs)
Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) (on FFn)

.
All right. I'll play. I've heard I might learn something about myself in the process, heaven forbid.

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Fic: The Slytherin Urn (Harry/Draco; ~4.5k)
Fic: Fata Morgana
End of Year Fandom Recap: 2014 edition
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Thank you!
Conference (and meetup?) Debrief
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Fic: And So Death Took
End-of-Year Recappy Nonsense (By the numbers)
10 Things I Loved This Week
Why I'm Here poem, take 2! (Now with more linkz!)
Why I’m here (and maybe why you are, too)
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Fic: Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise)
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Entries tagged with writing

Fic: The Slytherin Urn (Harry/Draco; ~4.5k)

Fic: Fata Morgana

End of Year Fandom Recap: 2014 edition

Fic: Wish Upon a Star (As Dreamers Do)

Thank you!

Conference (and meetup?) Debrief

Drabble, drabble, drabble

Fic: And So Death Took

End-of-Year Recappy Nonsense (By the numbers)

10 Things I Loved This Week

Why I'm Here poem, take 2! (Now with more linkz!)

Why I’m here (and maybe why you are, too)

Self-Pimping Meme

Fic Meme making the rounds