The Full Four Seasons by Ravenclawsquill
E | ~49k | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: Draco Malfoy just wants a quiet life. He has a successful business, a lovely wife, and a delightfully horrible circle of friends. He’s fine. Or, he was fine until Harry Potter thundered into his life with all the subtlety of a blast-ended skrewt and turned everything on its head. Now he’s beginning to wonder if ‘fine’ is enough, after all.
There’s just so much I love about this fic. The career choices for both Harry and Draco are fantastic, the way really tricky subjects are explored so sensitively and tenderly, and the way Harry and Draco interact, from the first tentative conversations to the brilliant UST that develops between them. The story sucks me in so completely every time I read it and I end up lost in it, unable to stop reading until I reach the end.
Turn by Saras_Girl
E | ~300k | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.
I mean, what is there to say about this fic that hasn’t already been said. It’s an absolute fandom classic, for good reason, and will always be one of those fics I turn back to when I need to sink into a meaty fic that reminds me why I started reading Drarry fics in the first place
Tales from the Special Branch series by Femme
E | 5 parts | ~1.2m | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: When Gawain Robards asks him to form Special Branch seven-four-alpha, Harry Potter knows they'll have to work outside the confines of the law--even though they are the law.
These fics are perhaps the best auror partners fics I’ve ever read. The relationship between Draco and Harry is hot and perfect, the OCs are incredible, the plot really clever and totally absorbing, and the smut smoking hot. Special Branch seven-four-alpha have completely stolen my heart, and I love reliving their adventures.
Little Compton Street (One Rainy Night in Soho) by Writcraft
E | ~65k | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: Draco is lonely, Harry hates the press and it won’t stop raining in London. Harry discovers a magical street that’s close to disappearing forever and Draco realises he’s one rainy night in Soho away from finding everything he’s been searching for.
I adore this fic. The world of Little Compton Street is so magical and wonderful and beautifully described - it feels so so real. Writ deals with difficult topics so wonderfully and sensitively, and I always feel like I learn more about queer history each time I read their fics. The slow burn between Harry and Draco is done so well, their conversations so real and believable that you get completely absorbed in their developing relationship. I could spend hours lost in the world of Little Compton Street, and the other fics in the
series are fantastic too.
Love Him More by Bixgirl1
E | ~17.6k | Draco x Harry, Hermione x Harry, Hermione x Ron | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: A love story. Several of them, really.
This fic always feels so real and raw to me, a really brilliant exploration of love in all it’s complex forms. All the relationships are perfectly developed, and Harry’s emotions come through so well - I always end this fic feeling a whole bunch of complicated but eventually hopeful feelings. Plus the smut (both het and slash) is so hot.
Stop All the Clocks (This Is the Last Time I’m Leaving Without You) by Firethesound
E | ~45k | MCD | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: Living with Draco was difficult; living without him is unbearable. But if there’s one thing Harry learned from the war, it’s that even when one life ends, the rest of the world goes right on living.
Oh this fic. It breaks my heart every damn time, but I just can’t get enough. It’s absolutely one of my favourite fics of all time, and it’s stayed with me since the first time I read it. There are certain images (I won’t spoil them) that make me want to cry every time I think about them, this fic is just that good at tearing your heart out (in a good way, to me at least!). I will always always rec this fic so hard.
Blood and Fire by Lq_traintracks
E | ~45k | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: Harry has spent the last twelve years in Romania, not returning to England as often as he knows he should. It's complicated. But when Ginny asks him to be her best man and help her plan her wedding, he can't say no. Having a reckoning with his choices, with himself, won't be easy. To say nothing of seeing Draco again.
I love getting back together fics, and this is one of my favourites. I love the idea of Harry going to Romania and oof Harry with dragons is a hot image. I’m a big Ginny fan and this fic treats her so well - it’s lovely to see her happy and friends with Harry. The tension between Harry and Draco is delicious, and the sex is just incredible.
Freedom to be by Quicksilvermaid
E | ~170k | Full warnings and tags on AO3
Summary: Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived. 12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends. Only nothing feels perfect. Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.
I started reading this fic while it was being published and fell hard and fast. I reread it for the first time while it was still a WIP - I decided to reread the whole thing when the final chapter published, so I could get the full effect of the fic. Q has written such an incredible fic here, that touches on trauma and guilt and relationship breakdown so perfectly, all while having a brilliant slow burn relationship between Draco and Harry. It’s angsty and hot and you really should read it.
I'd love to hear about fics that you love to reread too (whether they're drarry or another pairing) - I'm always looking for new fics to love!
Looking for a beta
Feb. 10th, 2020 07:48 pmSnowflake Challenge #15
Jan. 30th, 2020 09:41 pmMy challenge - which is mostly for myself but if other people wanted to do the same that would be amazing - is to reach out more.
I think a lot of people in fandom (myself included) want to feel like a part of the community and make friends, and sometimes it can feel a bit like shouting into the void - everyone is so busy (with fandom things like writing and reading and commenting, as well as real life) and lots of sites move so quickly that it can be hard to build that connection with people.
So I want to start making an effort to build those relationships. I want to comment more, rec more, chat more. I want to reach out to people whose writing I love or who I've always wanted to chat to, as well as people who are newer to fandom (I've not been here long, I remember vividly what it was like to be new - and still feel like it sometimes too!).
I'm terrible at opening up to people but I want to try. I want to keep building the friendships I've already made since joining fandom, and I want to support people with their writing and more. I want people to feel like they can talk to me and rely on me, for beta help or just a general chat.
Being more active on Dreamwidth has been a great start to this - I've loved all the interaction on here, and I want to carry that forward both here and in other fandom spaces ❤
Writing Goals 2020
Jan. 23rd, 2020 09:19 pmAs I mentioned in my Snowflake Challenge post, one of my main goals this year is to do fewer fests. This is sort of going well - I've only signed up for Kinkfest so far, and I always knew I was going to do that fest. But apart from Kinkfest (and maybe Jeddy fest as I do want to support rare pair fests) I'm not going to let myself do anymore. This is going to be a big challenge for me, so if you see me wavering at any point, remind me of this and tell me not to even look at the prompts!
I'm not doing fests this year because I have three larger projects I want to work on, and my main goal for the year is to at least make a start on all three of them (and ideally finish them, but let's be realistic!). In the hopes that it helps me to actually write and publish the fics, I'm going to start sharing more about the ideas and the process, so to start with, here are the basic premises of each. I'll stick it under a cut to spare your dash.
( Read more... )
On top of those three fics I'll also be doing my
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
daily_deviant fills, so it's looking like a busy year! Snowflake Challenge #11
Jan. 22nd, 2020 08:22 pmPopping in quickly before I return to birthday celebrations to do challenge #11.
I really hate coming up with names for OCs/background characters in fics, and it's always one of the last things I do before publishing or submitting a fic. Right up until that stage my fic will be littered with XXX [auror /professor/character name] because I just cannot come up with names.
Thank god for name generators is all I can say.
My favourites are this Victorian Name Generator and this Harry Potter Name Generator. I don't tend to the use whole name they come up with, instead I click through until I find a first name I like, then repeat until I find a surname that goes with the first name or that conveys a meaning etc.
I know a lot of people struggle with names so I hope these help!
Snowflake Challenge #10
Jan. 19th, 2020 04:50 pmThis is hard because so many people inspire me, on a daily basis.
There are people who inspire me with the sheer level of talent they have, others with their dedication to fandom and the characters we love.
Anyone who has ever commented on my fics inspires me more than I can say, and nothing is more inspiring than chatting to alphas and betas and my friends about our fics.
There are people who inspire me because they have such a wonderful relationship with fandom, and who inspire me to be better and kinder and more generous. Who inspire me to read more, comment more, rec more.
If we've interacted here, or if I've ever commented on one of your fics or chatted to you on Tumblr and Discord, then you've inspired me too, and I owe all of you a massive thank you - I wouldn't still be in fandom without that inspiration and this community and all of you wonderful friends ❤
Snowflake Challenge #8 and #9
Jan. 18th, 2020 09:00 pmHave You Ever? by DoubleApple. (Harry/Charlie)
Summary: Half a lifetime ago, Harry spent an awful summer in Romania with Charlie Weasley. Now, he's determined to follow up on the seeds that were planted back then.
The Beauty of Thestrals and Other Unseen Things by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
writcraft. (Harry/Draco)
Summary: Harry has terrific friends, an amazing girlfriend and his job as Head Auror enables him to work on challenging cases and Ministry reform. He just wishes he could work out why he's been so out of sorts.
When Draco Malfoy is arrested for gross indecency, Harry's comfortable life begins to unravel. He's forced to decide if it's worth risking everything for love in a world where following his heart is a criminal offence.
Ils se demandent pourquoi je t'aime by Violetclarity. (James Sirius/Teddy)
Don't Mind if We Do by Musyc. (Draco/Pansy)
Summary: Watching Draco wank, Pansy isn't as tired as she thought.
Come Alive by gracerene. (James Sirius/Teddy)
Summary: Teddy already stands out enough being an orphan, a Metamorphmagus, and the son of a werewolf - nobody needs to know he's also bisexual. He's attracted to women too, so it's not a lie if he ends up married to a witch, has children, and settles down to live a perfectly normal and unremarkable life. But when he's offered the change to experience what its like to have strings-free sex with a man, he's powerless to resist temptation. Even if he knows there's no such thing as sex without strings when it comes to fooling around with one's best mate.
Challenge #9 is to promote a canon I love.
Clearly I love Harry Potter - even though as an adult I notice things that are less than perfect about it, I'll never forget how magical it was to read as a child, and I still get that feeling of coming home every time I reread or watch the films.
The other canon that I'm currently deeply invested in is Red, White and Royal Blue. I've read it multiple times since the summer, and still find myself getting deeply invested in the romance and the plot every time. I've dipped my toe into writing fic for it, but I don't feel the same need to write fic for RWRB as I do for HP - the book has already given me nearly all I need. Saying that, I'm sure I'll end up writing more as I can't seem to move on from it!
A question about Ginny
Jan. 16th, 2020 07:07 pm( Read more... )
Snowflake Challenge #7
Jan. 13th, 2020 08:57 pmHah. Well. This is a hard one.
Not that I don't have things I'm proud of, or because I don't have things I like about myself, but because bigging myself up is something I've always struggled with. I'm that person that always credits the team for something that went well at work rather than saying yeah, actually, I did that, and it was good. Maybe it comes with being a woman and British? Who knows. I mentioned on a post a little while ago that I've found the self-promo side of fanfic a bit tricky to navigate but hopefully this post will be a good teeny step to becoming a bit more comfortable with it.
So, things I'm proud of and like about myself:
- First of all, I'm proud of myself for all the writing I've done since I joined fandom. I never expected to still be here a year later with over 168k words published on ao3. Leaving aside all questions of quality, I'm proud of creating so much, for such a variety of ships, fests and tropes.
- I am also proud of my writing - I still have a lot to learn but I think I'm improving and I really like the majority of the fics I've written this year. Particular favourites are Scar Tissue, Seven Days in Sunny June, and Truth and Tradition.
- I'm trying not to focus on stats, but I can't believe I've got a fic with nearly 13k views. It blows my mind that so many people have clicked on something I've written (especially considering it's such a ridiculous fic!)
- I think I'm a pretty good beta/cheerleader (I'm a massive grammar and language nerd so love proofreading) and I'm so pleased that I've been able to play even a tiny part in the creation of some really wonderful fics.
- And chucking in one from real life to finish, I like that I'm pretty settled in who I am - I feel like I know and accept myself, and actually I do quite like the person I've grown into. 10 year old Rachel would be pretty happy with where I've ended up I think.
Writing this goes against everything I'm used to doing, both online and in real life, but it's a great challenge, and one that is really valuable - sometimes being too self-deprecating isn't a good thing!
Snowflake Challenge #5 and #6
Jan. 12th, 2020 04:38 pmChallenge #6 is to list some things I wish existed in fandom or elsewhere, or things I'd like.
This has been quite a tricky one for me - I'm not good at asking for things! I also don't tend to have very many specific things I want - I hate filling out exchange forms because my tastes are so wide and generally speaking I'll read anything. But there are a few things I managed to think of:
- Betas/Cheerleaders - I've got a few regular betas but not many, and I'm always conscious of not overloading them or asking them to look at things which contain their squicks etc, so if anyone wanted to trade off on betas (for HP) that would be amazing (I can also offer britpicking if needed).
- A writing community - I'm not quite sure how to best explain this one, and it does link a lot with the above comments about betas, but I'd love to have a community/place/group chat where myself and others can chat about writing, discuss ideas and what we're working on, and generally help each other to become better writers and write what we want. I'm not a big fan of unsolicited concrit but in a situation like this one I'd be looking for advice on how to improve etc. I know of various discords where this kind of happens but that still seems a bit too public, so I don't really know exactly how to make this work - maybe it's just building a deeper writing relationship with a few people I trust and interacting through email/dms, who knows.
- More interaction on Dreamwidth - this is something I want from myself as much as from others. I've loved all the interaction that I've been having here this month with the Snowflake Challenge going on, and I'd love to see it continue past the challenge. I also want to figure out how to properly use comms so I can interact more on them too.
- More recs - this links back to my own goals for the year, and I've seen a bunch of other people talk about this too. I'd love to see a wider range of fics recced too - often I see the same fics recced over and over again (which isn't a bad thing, they deserve the love they're getting!) but that doesn't help when I'm trying to find new things to read. I've got my list of 'things to rec' started, so will start posting them soon. paulamcg talked about some sort of rec community in their wishes post, and that's something I'd love to see too.
I of course also wish for more interaction on my own fics but I'm happy to wait for that to happen organically, I don't like asking people to comment on my stuff (my dislike of self promo and complete inability to do it does not mix well with my constant need for validation!)
Snowflake Challenge #4
Jan. 7th, 2020 08:51 pmIf I could sum up all my goals for the year, I think they would all relate back to the idea of <i>balance</i>. The past few years have been a bit of a whirlwind - graduating, moving around, moving between various jobs. Things have settled now though, I don't plan on moving (house or city) for at least a few years, I've now got a permanent job that I'm very excited about, and it feels like I can do more than just constantly move towards the next stage of life or focus on getting one thing sorted out before moving on to the next issue. So this year I want to find a balance between all the things I enjoy doing and have to do; a balance between work, socialising, rest, fandom, etc.
This is all quite vague and I don't quite know what it'll look like in practice but I do have a few more specific goals, both in fandom and real life:
- Do fewer fests. I spent almost the whole of last year under a fest deadline, and it wore me out. I hardly wrote anything just for myself, and I'd like to that more this year. I did enjoy pretty much all of my fest experiences, but it's not sustainable to do another year that way.
- Find a better level of engagement with fandom. This seems like a weird thing to say in a fandom space, and is no way judging people who can and do give a lot of time to fandom, but I gave too much of my time and mental energy to fandom last year. I started to care too much about petty things and got too competitive with stats and readership, and I just kind of didn't like the way I was interacting with fandom by the end? It got to the point where I thought about just leaving entirely, although I'm glad that I didn't (I just needed a break!). This all comes back to that balance - I want to find a balance where I can enjoy fandom and create things I'm proud of without getting too caught up in tumblr and discord and everything that comes with fandom. I also want to continue developing the friendships I've made, because I've met so many fantastic people.
- Socialise more. I've struggled a bit with making proper good friends since I've moved here, and I'd like to start remedying that a bit. I'm not going to go as far as setting a goal of <i>make some friends</i> because I think that'll put too much pressure on everything, but I want to make more of an effort to go out after work and do things that will lead to chatting to people etc.
- Move more. Last summer I got strong, and I miss that. The autumn term got so busy that my exercise routine slipped away, and I want to start going back to classes and to the gym, because I loved how it made me feel. This also links into the socialise more goal - going to a gym class totally counts as far as I'm concerned.
- Rec more. I've read so many fantastic fics since I joined fandom, and I'd like to share the love a bit more. We all love when someone recs one of our fics, right? I'd love to give other people that feeling. I've already got a list started, so at some point the recs will start appearing on my tumblr and here.
- Kick ass at work. I'm so looking forward to properly starting my new job (I've tentatively started it this week but will get properly stuck in next week), and I really want to work hard at it. My past few jobs have had long periods of down time where it was easy to slack off, and that's going to be hard to stop, but now's the perfect time to really focus on my career and give it lots of my energy (although not too much, I'm still very much about that work/life balance!)
- Cook one new thing every week. My boyfriend and I have got stuck in a rut of eating the same few meals all the time, and god we're bored of it. I got several new recipe books for Christmas and have already gone through and marked things I want to try, so this one feels pretty achievable! Plus I do enjoy cooking, so it should be fun too.
Who knows if I'll actually complete these goals, but that's kind of not the point. Just having them in the back of my mind will be enough, and I'm excited to try and integrate both these goals and the general idea of a better balance into my life.
Snowflake Challenge #3
Jan. 6th, 2020 08:33 pmI've been putting this one off because I've found it surprisingly hard! I'm interested to see what other communities people mention for this challenge though.
That being said, I still came up with a solid list of fests etc that have been a great part of my fandom experience so far.
( Read more... )
Snowflake Challenge #2
Jan. 3rd, 2020 09:18 pmI loved Harry Potter from the very first time I read it - I clearly remember buying a copy of Philosopher's Stone at Paddington Station on the way home from staying with my Grandma when I was 7ish and falling in love immediately. A few of the books were already out but after that I waited impatiently for each new one to be released and can still remember how excited I would be each time I'd wake up to find the newest book waiting on the doorstep. My brother and I would play Harry Potter for hours on end too, putting on robes and making potions with shampoo while using chopsticks as wands. I didn't know anything about fanfiction and fandom though. I do have vague memories of searching for Harry Potter stuff on the internet as I tried to get my fix while waiting for a new book to come out, and I think I ended up on fanfiction.net? but I was still young and not used to the internet so I had no idea how to navigate it and quickly gave up before reading anything.
I only properly discovered the Harry Potter fandom in the past 2 years or so, and I've already forgotten how exactly I stumbled across my first fanfic. I do know that I started reading Marauders era fics, at first focusing on Sirius and Marlene, then Wolfstar. After that, I was hooked, and started devouring fics from all the pairings I could find. As a child and teen I loved reading - I always had multiple books on the go, and regularly got in trouble for reading at the dinner table - but when I went to uni I stopped reading apart from books I was studying. Fanfic reminded me how much I loved getting lost in a story, and suddenly I was back to reading constantly.
I spent about a year just reading, and then I decided it was time to try my hand at writing. I've always enjoyed writing - as a child I wrote endless short stories, diary entries, and songs, and when I was at uni I made a tentative start on some original fiction. I also wrote the very beginning of what I now realise was Peaky Blinders fanfiction, which I hope has been lost in various computer changes over the years! My first Harry Potter fic was posted exactly a year ago today (happy anniversary, me) and is an incomplete Harry/Ginny fic which being realistic, I won't ever finish, although it has given me the very basic idea for my next H/G fic. After that I discovered fests, and spent basically the rest of the year with at least one fest deadline hanging over me at all times. I was not good at balance and moderation this year!
When I started writing, I also discovered the fandom community - tumblr, discord, etc. I have mixed feelings about some of these places (I'm very glad I didn't discover fandom and therefore tumblr when I was a teenager as I think that could have been a disaster) but I've met some lovely people and it's been great getting more involved in the community. I'm looking forward to seeing where fandom takes me next, and continuing to improve my skill as a writer.
Snowflake Challenge #1
Jan. 2nd, 2020 12:00 pmI'm MalenkayaCherepakha (which means little tortoise in Russian), but you can call me Rachel too. I'm a relatively new member of the Harry Potter fandom - I've been reading fic for around 2 years, and writing for a year. I've written for a variety of ships, but the majority of my published stuff is currently Drarry. All my fics can be found on AO3, and I'm also on Tumblr. I'm planning to make a list on here of everything I wrote this year too so that'll appear at some point.
My main ships are Drarry and Hinny, but I'll read basically anything, and have really enjoyed a bunch of other ships - I particularly love Jeddy, Scorbus, and Wolfstar. I actually first got into fandom via Marauders era fics, and finding Wolfstar was what really got me obsessed with reading fic. The main fic I have planned for this year is Harry x Ginny but I'm sure I'll write for other pairings this year too.
I've only recently got into using Dreamwidth, but this year I'd love to post and comment more on here, as I love the community feel of it. I'm always open to more friends, from any fandom or from none at all, so feel free to subscribe and say hi.
A few potentially vaguely interesting facts about me to finish this off: I'm based in the UK (always happy to britpick), work in Higher Education, can speak French and Russian (so if you have any fic recs in those languages hit me up). I also have a pet gecko and two tortoises (hence the name!).
Fic Tropes Meme
Dec. 9th, 2019 05:14 pmContinuing in my attempt to do more with Dreamwidth, I'm crossposting this from Tumblr, with the additional benefit that it seems easier to actually have a conversation in the comments here rather than on a Tumblr post. Thanks gracerene for the tag, and if any you haven't already been tagged on this on Tumblr, feel free to do it too!
Rules: Copy/paste and bold your fic preferences because why not, gotta choose one (near impossible, but go with your first gut instinct), and tag someone because, again, why not.
- slow burn or love at first sight
- fake dating or secret dating
- enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers
- oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance with correspondence
- hurt/comfort or amnesia
- fantasy au or modern au (I’m not really an AU fan in general but I guess if I had to pick)
- mutual pining or domestic bliss (I do love a bit of domestic bliss for established relationships but it doesn’t tend to be enough to sustain a longer fic which is what I prefer to read)
- smut or fluff
- canon compliant (missing scenes) or fix-it fic (this one was tricky, I have no idea if I’ve ever read a fix-it fic, but generally speaking I don’t like reading fics that change canon apart from the HP epilogue)
- alternate universe or future fic (not really a massive fan of AUs)
- one-shot or multi-chapter (this was tricky as I’m not really sure what it’s asking. Right now I’m mostly reading shorter fics for time reasons, so one shot, but if you’re asking whether I’d prefer a 40k fic to be a one shot or split up into chapters, I’d probably go for chapters, although it’s not a dealbreaker)
- kid fic or roadtrip fic (I don’t mind a kid fic, although I don’t love things that are too kid focused, but roadtrip fic just sounds so American to me that I can’t immediately see it working well in the HP universe, although I’m sure there are authors who could do it brilliantly)
- reincarnation or character death (I love a bit of angst, so don’t mind MCD at all)
- arranged marriage or accidental marriage (I don’t really like either of these, but I guess accidental marriage, as long as the consent issue is dealt with reasonably well.
- high school romance or middle-aged romance (I am all about the middle-aged romance, and I love fics that focus on the characters from their 30s onwards. I think it lends itself particularly well to Harry and Draco, and one day I will write one of these)
- time travel or isolated together
- neighbours or roommates (I guess I would go for roommates between these two, but if we’re talking Drarry I have to really be sold on how they end up as roommates)
- sci-fi au or magic au (this is a little bit redundant in the HP fandom but I just can’t lose the magic from that universe)
- bodyswap or genderbend
- angst or crack (give me all the angst)
- apocalyptic or mundane (I don’t mind mundane in a short ficlet or drabble, but I need the apocalyptic stuff in a longer fic)
How do I even do this writing thing?
Dec. 9th, 2019 01:08 pmI'm excited about them, and they feel like they could turn into long fics, but as a result, I have absolutely no idea where to begin with planning them or writing them. I don't really have an established writing/planning process, and I've never written a fic like these ones before or written a longish fic without a fest deadline to make me get on with it as quickly as possible, so I'm way out of my depth.
So, I thought I'd turn to the experts and ask you all, how do you go about starting a big fic idea? Do you have any top tips? I love hearing about people's writing processes and all the different tricks we use to get the words out, so feel free to tell me as much or as little as you want!
December Writing Goals
Dec. 4th, 2019 08:07 pmProgress on November Goals
In some ways, I did really well with my November goals. I got all my Owlpost fics done and submitted on time, and I quite like them which I wasn't expecting as I was struggling to write them.
My other November goal was to not write anything else, and take a break. I failed at this goal, quite spectacularly, as I ended up picking up a pinch hit for Erised. I don't quite know how I feel about that experience and the fic I came up with yet, and I've been trying not to think about it too much as I'm trying to avoid getting sucked into a panic of oh my god my fic isn't good enough for such a famous fest etc etc. I'm loving reading all the entries though, and am determined to try and keep up as best as I can.
December Goals
Now this time I really don't have any goals. I have fics on the back burner, in particular a Harry x Ginny fic that I've been planning in my head for a while, but I'm putting absolutely no pressure on myself to get it done this month or to any particular deadline. I've been working to deadlines for the majority of the year, and it's definitely time for a break from that pressure (however tempted I am by Salt and Pepper fest).
Linking in to my lack of goals for the month and my need for a break from writing, I've been pondering how I feel after nearly a full year of participating properly in fandom. I have a lot of complicated, sometimes conflicting, thoughts, which I might expand on in another post, as I think getting them down in writing might help me make sense of them. I hope that might help me in figuring out my feelings and my place in fandom a little more ready for when I'm ready to share some fics again. But anyway, even though I might not necessarily be writing so much (or at least, not publishing so much), I'll still be around to chat, and read all the amazing fics that keep coming out.
Fic Claim - Scar Tissue
Dec. 1st, 2019 04:27 pmhp_nextgen_fest !Title: Scar Tissue
Pairing: James Sirius x Teddy
Rating: E
Word Count: ~15700
Content/Warnings: Soulmarks, Angst, Angst with a happy ending, (Temporary) break up, crying, heartbreak, Getting back together, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Semi-clothed sex, brief mentions of past violence (not between James and Teddy), Quidditch Player James Sirius, Brief James Sirius x OMC
Summary: When his friendship with James turns into something more, Teddy thinks he’s found the one. When James’s soulmark stubbornly refuses to appear however, things start to go wrong. Can Teddy salvage what they had?
Author’s notes: A huge thank you has to go to gracerene for leaving such a fantastic prompt - it really inspired me and that made this fic so fun to write. Thank you ShadowJedi36, Andithiel and Deadwoodpecker for all your support while writing this, I couldn’t have done it without you.
This is the first Jeddy fic I’ve written despite loving them for a long time, and I had so much fun doing it - I love the pair of them even more now, and can't wait to write about them again. Thank you to the mods for running such a wonderful fest, and thank you to everyone who has read and left kudos and commented - it means the world.
Read on AO3
November Writing Goals
Nov. 1st, 2019 03:40 pmProgress on October goals:
Next Gen Fest Fic - All submitted, and I'm very excited to see what people think of it, although I'm realistic that as it's a rarepair it won't get tons of feedback. I'm very proud of it though, and really love it.
Owlpost Fics - I got one done and beta'd and ready to go! The second fic is I reckon two thirds done, and the third is yet to be started.
Random drabbles/ficlets - I posted a couple of shorter ficlets, but only one was part of my October goals, the others just came to me randomly during the month.
November Goals:
Owlpost - The deadline for these is coming up quickly so they are my top priority. One of them only has a couple thousand words left to write, and I'm hoping I can get that done this weekend and then start editing. I still need to come up with an idea for the final one which is only slightly worrying me!
Those are literally my only goals for the month. Work is about to get really busy, with lots of overtime, and I'm just so burned out on fandom right now that I desperately need a break. I'm determined to finish my commitment to owlpost though before I drift off for a bit. I do have several fic ideas that I want to write, and one in particular that is desperately trying to get out of my head and onto paper, but I want to take a step back from everything and just let that one come out at its own pace. It'll be a multichapter fic but I want to get it all written and then post it chapter by chapter.
It's been a great first year as an active member of the fandom, but god am I ready for a break! Will probably do some sort of yearly wrap up post before I quietly disappear though (and claim various fest fics) so this isn't the end of my fandom year quite yet!
