sulky_rhino

I Aten't Dead

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:42:18 GMT

Just busy. Still. :( Too tired to focus on fics or to rec - my mind starts to wander too easily.

I have, however, found some time to read the crack that is Twilight (no real concentration is needed for it). OMG - best crack ever! :D I have to thank the Austrians for pointing me to it. *extra-sparkly sparkles for fourth-rose and cutecoati*

Seriously, these books are cracktastic! :D They're so funny (most of the time unintentionally). And the trailer for the film is hilarious as well. I think it must be because Robert Pattison keeps doing the Blue Steel expression. That's how he does *intense*. :D Like so -

(icon inspired by cutecoati's icons of Sparkles, Robert Pattison's acting, and Blue Steel)

--

How's everyone else? :)

Updates

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:03:38 GMT

Just a quick post to say that I'll soon start updating my rec list again. Err, starting with the recs I was supposed to put up in December. Whoops! O_O

Hello and bye :P

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:13:59 GMT

I'm back, sort of, except I'm going to Slovenia for two weeks (omg I'll finally get some sleep!). Then I'll really be back. :D

Just if anyone's been wondering. :)

*hugs to all*

Maths

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:27:36 GMT

uni studies + 1.5 jobs + moving = 4 hours of sleep/night + crankiness D:

It should all be over by the end of May... I hope. D:

OMG! Look at this!!!

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:05:56 GMT

You should all run here!!!! naggawikka has drawn a picture of Draco in a kilt! Doing a Marilyn Monroe pose!!!! :D It's awesome!

So, go HERE! :D

O_O

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:15:48 GMT

I'm back! :D [Insert excuses for being away - uni, work, exhaustion, etc.]

I think I'll have some more time from now on... Although I still have to finish my MA thesis from last year (why am I so lazy?), write a linguistics paper (I have no clue what about, although I might ask some of you for help - just to ask a few questions :P) and read a bunch of books for lit class (the only thing I'm looking forward to). But, ohwell, I'll do it somehow.

I've really missed you guys though. I bet a lot of fun/interesting stuff has happened while I've been away! Hopefully this means that I'll be able to find a lot of good new fic I haven't read yet. Any suggestions? Any news? :D There's no way I'll be able to check the last 2 months of f-list. :P

On another note, my paid account is about to expire. Should I buy one more year or not? I don't really know what's been happening with LJ and IJ for the last two months, so if any of you could advise me, I'd be really grateful. (I like having a paid account btw. D:)

About my rec lists... I'll try to update them as soon as possible. I can't say how long it'll take me, because I don't know when I'll have time or when I'll feel well enough to do it. I love keeping rec lists, but work has been incredibly exhausting lately, so that I usually don't have energy for anything on the days that I work. Meh.

And since my paid account is about to expire, here's a stupid poll at LJ.

And before I forget... Thanks to everyone for my birthday wishes. Sorry if I didn't respond to your posts. :( I'll try to find my way there in the near future... :)

PS - I'll be responding to all of your past comments soon.

2007 Holiday exchange fic recs #2

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:41:46 GMT

The second rec post - incredibly late and incredibly short. Sorry about that. :/

# recs: 6

~*~*~*~

08 December - 14 December

~*~*~*~

Harry/Draco

Cupid (R) by cutecoati (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 17,000 words
Summary: "It could have been a wonderful, enjoyable day when Harry took Teddy on a trip. Being saddled with not only one but actually two Malfoys, however, meant trouble. Serious trouble."
My notes: DH/EWE. Harry and Draco at the zoo! :D A fun and wonderful fic to read. And, yes, there are ferrets! :D

Duration of Emptiness (PG-13) by fireelemental79 (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 23,500 words
Summary: "Harry and Draco find themselves thrown together by Scorpius and Albus after the death of Draco's wife and Harry's divorce. Will Harry be able to help Draco through his grief? Or is Draco so mired in his own despair that Harry won't be able to pull him out."
My notes: DH. An angsty fic, but even though I usually fear angst, I really liked this fic. It was incredibly touching. :)

Four Paper Dragons (PG-13) by tracy_loo_who & sexts (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 7,500 words
Summary: "A series of snapshot scenes from their beginning."
My notes: DH/EWE. Lovely and romantic. :))

kings among runaways (PG) by enderxenocide (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 3,000 words
Summary: "Later, the toast will be slightly overcooked, Draco will burn the eggs, and there will be another fist fight in-between the living room and the front door, but they'll eat breakfast with second-hand plates and Draco's great-grandmother's silverware."
My notes: DH/EWE. A really beautiful fic.

The Other Side of Free (PG-13) by khateh (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 10,000 words
Summary: "Harry's career as a Seeker is on the line because of an injury."
My notes: HBP. I know I should stop using the word lovely, but there's no other word for this fic. :P

A Spoonful of Sugar (NC-17) by fourth_rose (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 11,500 words
Summary: "Of all the sweetshops in the world, Hogwarts Potions master Draco Malfoy had to walk into Harry Potter's."
My notes: DH/EWE. Mmm, seduction with chocolate. Fun and sweet. :P

~*~*~*~

I think I might've missed a couple of fics from this week. I read them all three weeks ago, so I probably forgot a few... I'll add them later when I'll check the communities. :D

Hiatus :((

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:03:37 GMT

Yup. I just have too much to do at the moment. I have a paper deadline next week - a paper that I've barely started. I really need to focus on that. :/

So I'm going to try to avoid reading LJ until after Christmas. My holiday recs will have to wait until then as well, although I might post last week's this week, since I've read all the fics from then - I think.

If anybody needs to tell me something, or thinks I should know something, or anything like that (even though I doubt you do :P), you can email me. Or use the message feature on LJ. I'm also going to have the chat programmes on while I write (because some distraction is nice :P), so you're welcome to say hi there. :D

And that's it.

Don't break fandom/LJ while I'm gone. Or if you do, bookmark stuff so I can point and laugh at it (and you) later. :P

Oops! :O

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:24:49 GMT

One of these days I'm going to completely embarrass myself by commenting on the wrong fic. Like I almost did just now - I almost submitted a cheery comment to a rather sad fic. This is what you get when you have about six fics open at the same time in order to comment on them. :P

2007 Holiday exchange fic recs #1

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:52:15 GMT

As always, I thought I'd have enough time to write longer recs, but I failed at that. Also, I thought I'd have enough time to read Snarry as well this year, but I failed at that too. I fail a lot it seems. D:

... So, here are the H/D recs for the first week of December, as promised (lacking Snarry and 'proper' reviews, obviously *fails*). There are 12 of them, thanks to hd_holidays who have been posting 4 (!!!) fics/art pieces every day. Yay! :D

~*~*~*~

01 December - 07 December

~*~*~*~

Harry/Draco

101 Ways to Heal Your Wizarding Woes (NC-17) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 26,500 words
Summary: "(Or, an Unfortunate Incident with a Traffic Cone and a Policeman's Helmet) Harry is a trainee Auror, and Draco is living at Malfoy Manor, bored and petulant with nothing to do, and no career prospects. Draco's attempt to heal himself via Muggle psychology – including writing a series of ‘why I hate you' letters to Harry – backfires when an overanxious house elf delivers the results to Harry. Harry is bemused, Draco is angry and together they have a lot of issues to work out."
My notes: DH/EWE. This was an incredibly fun fic! How could it not be when it started with - Potter - You suck. LOL! :D

Arctic Fox (NC-17) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 29,000 words
Summary: "Isn't that Draco Malfoy? He keeps looking at you, Harry."
My notes: DH/EWE. I loved this fic. I loved the characterisations and... everything about it, really. It was fun to read. :)

Draco Malfoy and the Secret Underground Vampire Bureaucracy (NC-17) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 18,500 words
Summary: "In which there is an obsessed Potter, conspiracy theories, bonds, hormones, far too much self-help, and, of course, a secret underground vampire bureaucracy. None of which is as important as the fact that this is not Draco Malfoy's fault."
My notes: DH/EWE. Yay, a vampire!fic! It's been such a long time since I've read a good and fun (and not-WIP :P) vampire fic. :) This one features Harry, who wants to know what Draco is up to, Draco, who wants to suck, and members of the vampire bureaucracy, who have been reading too many self-help books. :D

Draco, the Magic Dragon (NC-17) by Anon. (merry_smutmas)
Length: ca 13,000 words
Summary: "Come to the fair! Draco's granting wishes, Harry's investigating a mystery, and Luna's giving away pants. Crystal balls and kissing, dirty talk and candy floss – and that's just the beginning."
My notes: Not DH-compliant (probably HBP though). OMG Draco = magician. With crystal balls and everything! (And by crystal balls I don't mean those attached to his body... err. O_O) Go read! :D

Fade to Silver (R) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 11,500 words
Summary: "Four years ago, Draco Malfoy disappeared from the wizarding world. This is the story of what happened after that."
My notes: DH/EWE. Beautifully written story. It has a wonderful atmosphere - I thought it was very fitting for Christmas. :))

High Priced (NC-17) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 17,000 words
Summary: "Dumbledore's portrait exposes yet another secret complication that will screw up Harry's life. He's really getting tired of those."
My notes: DH/EWE. You know how in veela!fics Draco is usually the veela which means he's not really nasty and, umm, 'Draco-ish' anymore? Well, in this one you get both a veela (Harry) and a jerk Draco. :P Lots of fun! :D

Let Go (NC-17) by Anon. (merry_smutmas)
Length: ca 6,500 words
Summary: "There was a logical explanation for what happened between Harry and Malfoy: adolescent insanity. Not their own, though - their children's."
My notes: DH. You should go read this even if you have epiloguephobia. Don't worry - Ginny's already out of the picture, so there's no divorce-angst. It's a really fun/funny fic! :D

Love Like a Razorblade (NC-17) by Anon. (merry_smutmas)
Length: ca 24,000 words
Summary: "Like everything powerful, love is a weapon."
My notes: DH/EWE. I like fics like this one. It's long-ish, plotty, it has an Auror!Harry trying to solve a mystery... and it has something we don't often see - Draco teaching at Durmstrang. :D

The Price We Pay for Wings (R) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 13,500 words
Summary: "Books have the power to shape young lives. At least that is the hope of the anonymous author of a best-selling series about a Muggle boy and his best friend on the eve of a world war. But stories do more than just shape the future: they can redress the wrongs of the past as well. But only as long as it's not too late..."
My notes: DH, character death (not Harry or Draco, thankgod). Beautifully written and touching, but it's probably not for those of you that don't take angst that well. I read it after reading all the spoilers and comments - and it still made me cry. So, yea... Don't read it if you don't want to cry. :P

Riddle me ree (R) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 2,000 words
Summary: "There's a trail of clues scattered across Wizarding London – Harry's determined to follow it home."
My notes: DH/EWE. Gorgeous writing! :o

Toujours Pur (PG-13) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 11,500 words
Summary: "Draco Malfoy doesn't know what he's getting himself into. All he knows is that he's going to see Potter, with a wooden chest in his hand, that used to belong to Bellatrix Lestrange. Oh, and Harry Potter is in Kenya."
My notes: DH/EWE. This fic is written in second person POV, which I thought would bother me at first, but when I started reading it it just made the fic more interesting. Also, it's set in Kenya - I've never read a fic set in Africa before! :D

Victory (NC-17) by Anon. (hd_holidays)
Length: ca 8,500 words
Summary: "Everything is different but nothing has changed."
My notes: DH/EWE. I liked the portrayal of the future - incredibly bleak, but not too depressing. :)

~*~*~*~

So, these were my, umm, SuperUltraTurbo H/D holiday recs #1. :P

Now go read the fics and comment! :D

Help? :)

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:19:46 GMT

Does anybody know how to create animated images (icons) out of videos? Like, if you have a short video, and you want to capture a few seconds in it and make it into an icon... I have Photoshop if that helps. :)

I've tried looking on Google, but all I can find is how to make several images into one animated image. I'd be able to do that, but I need to know how to "extract" the images from video first. :/

It's December in less than an hour!!! :O

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:23:11 GMT

I realised about an hour ago, after reading furiosity's post, that tomorrow is December 1 - which means that all the fests start tomorrow! :O I totally forgot. And I was hoping to make a plan of everything, and organise my reading in advance... Oh well. :)

Anyway, I'm going to be posting weekly recs this year too. Since tomorrow is Saturday, my first rec post will probably be either on Sunday, December 9, or Monday, December 10 (but most probably on Monday). I'll rec one week of fics at a time, so December 1-7, December 8-14, etc. I hope I'll manage to do this. It'll be fun, anyway. :D

I'm planning on reading only Harry/Draco and Harry/Snape fics (and sometimes other slash pairings too, depending on how interesting they'll sound), because I won't have time to read much else. :/ Here are the communities I'm going to try to read:

On Livejournal
3fan_holidays
harry_holidays
hd_holidays
hp_wintersmut

On Insanejournal
merry_smutmas

Have I forgotten any? :)

PS: This new LJ thing - It's confusing me. I don't get it. It's making me feel cranky. :/

Half-Blood Prince film O_O

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 01:57:47 GMT

"The Harry Potter series will lighten up on the darkness and turn into a romantic comedy for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." (quote from here)

Umm... ??? o_O

hd_fandomchoice - Reminder!

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:33:19 GMT

hd_fandomchoice Suggestion round will close today (October 21)!!! You only have a few hours left, so go make your suggestions as soon as possible!!

Rec list update woohoo!!!

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:34:52 GMT

OMG YAY I'm finally done with updating my H/D rec list!!! :D

Sorry it took me such a long time, but I had to replace a lot of links. I tried to find links that weren't on LJ, which meant that I had to try and find them for every story that didn't have two links off-LJ (I like to have two links to each fic, just in case one of them doesn't work). So, there was a lot of work with that. Plus I also removed all LJ user and community icons, so that now it all looks like text and there are no icons. I've noticed the rec list loads faster because of this. :)

The most annoying thing happened tonight, though, when I was actually updating it... For some reason LJ thought some of the posts were too large. Which was ridiculous because I checked the posts where it didn't complain, and those were much larger! So I had to split some of the categories, and that basically took me all evening. Bah. But at least I'm done now! :D

I haven't added that many new recs, because I haven't had the time to read a lot for the past few weeks. But you can see those that I've added here (new category for new fics). And I've also added a DH-compliant category for the fics on my rec list, which can be found here. And that's basically it. Not a lot has changed on the rec list, but it looks so pretty now!!! :D Go look at it! :D *my preciousss*

By the way, I'm going to be updating my H/D rec list only on LJ from now on. It'd be too much work to keep copying the list to the other journals... I have the code saved, though, so if I have to move, there won't be any problems with moving the rec list as well. :)

I'm probably going to keep the art lists on IJ though, and just link to them from here. I'm going to update them next. :)

And that's all. :D

PS: There's only one week left for you to suggest H/D fanworks in the hd_fandomchoice survey. Go here to suggest fanworks. :D

hd_fandomchoice - A reminder!

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 22:37:08 GMT

I thought I'd post a reminder about hd_fandomchoice since we haven't had that many suggestions so far. We opened the community more than a week ago, and so far we've had only seven people suggest their favourite H/D fanworks. Seven. This makes me sad. :( I know that there are at least three more people that have said they will post their suggestions (plus there's me and gossymer), but that's still not that many people. If people will later complain about what kind of stuff was suggested, I will cry. No really, I will. :/

So, here's the reminder that I promised in the title of this post: There are less than two weeks left for you to make suggestions in hd_fandomchoice. You don't have to make that many of them... If you can only think of one meta post or one fic, that's enough. :)

Also, somebody said that they don't know which fics to suggest because all the comments in the suggestion post are screened. They said that seeing what other people have suggested would help their memory. So, since we've decided that we would screen comments (and for a good reason, check the FAQ), here are some suggestions on how to think of what to suggest:

* Check your rec list / rec tags if you have them.
* Check your bookmarks.
* Do you have any favourite authors / artists / essay writers / vid-makers, etc.? Go through their stuff and see which one of their works you liked the most. But please, don't suggest everything they've ever made. That would be boring. :P
* Most people (at least me), usually friend people because they like what they post about, or because they like their fics / art / etc. Go through your f-list - maybe there's an author / artist there that you've forgotten about!
* Have you been following any fests? Most of them post masterlists after they're done, so go through those to freshen your memory about which fics / art you liked.
* Maybe you get all of your reading material from rec lists / reccers / rec communities. Check those if you can't remember the titles of fics you've read in the last couple of months.
* Is there a good essay that you've read? Maybe there's a vid that you've been watching over and over again. Maybe you really liked an H/D song that you heard a few months ago. Or maybe you're following an RPG... You can suggest all of those! :D
* See, it's that easy. :D

Okay, that's done. Now a question. I started a Myspace account early last Tuesday (yes, I know, I still feel dirty), so that I could pimp the community there as well. But, as some of you know, you're not allowed to post topics in forums on Myspace until you've had an account for seven days. Well, it's been seven days and I still can't post a topic! *whine* Does anybody know why? :/

The book meme

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:45:50 GMT

From annafugazzi. :D

Instructions: These are the top 106 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users. Bold what you have read, italicize those you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Add an asterisk to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell	I'm reading it right now. I'm almost done with it. :)
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights*	I always read books at least twice when I have to read them for uni. The first time for pleasure, and the second time for uni. :)
The Silmarillion	I read it once in a while, so I'm going to finish it some day. :P
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote	This is the only book that was on my highschool reading list that I didn't read! And I got questions about it in my final exams, haha. I did well. :P I promise I'll read it some day. :D
Moby-Dick
Ulysses	I've only read parts of it.
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair*
The Time Traveler's Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha	I was planning on reading this book, but then the film came out and everybody was talking about it, and I just got sick of hearing about it. Gah, I hate it when that happens. :(
Middlesex	Hey, this book was mentioned on Oprah the other day, LOL.
Quicksilver
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales	I've only read parts of it.
The Historian: a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man	I've only read parts of it. I'll read the whole thing some day.
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World	I own a copy. :P
The Fountainhead
Foucault's Pendulum
Middlemarch	I own a copy.
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys	I'll ask for it for Christmas! :D
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible: a novel
1984
Angels & Demons	OMG no, never!!
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray*	The portrait was like his Horcrux. :P
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	I saw the film, but that doesn't count, does it? :/
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbevilles*
Oliver Twist*
Gulliver's Travels	I read it when I was little. It's possible it was a short version...
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time	I loved this book. :)
Dune	There's a book? :o
The Prince	I've read parts of it only.
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes : A Memoir
The God of Small Things
A People's History of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five	That's the only Vonnegut novel that I haven't read!!
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake: a novel
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion	I think I've read this one...
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye*
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame	I saw the Disney cartoon. Does that count? :P
Freakonomics: a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an Inquiry into Values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit*
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield	I own a copy.
The Three Musketeers	I saw the film! :P

Wow, that's a lot of books I haven't read! :o Although I also haven't even heard of a lot of them...

My list of books that are on my to-read list is getting longer and longer though. Maybe I should start reading one a week... Hey, we should have a challenge like that!! Who'd want to do that? One book a week from now until Christmas... :)

Have you seen this fic?

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:34:31 GMT

I've finally managed to go through my entire rec list and checked which links still work and which don't. I haven't updated the links yet, but I will do that very soon. There are a couple of stories, though, which I can't find anymore. Does anybody know where I could find them? I've looked in various archives, and Googled for them, but I just can't find them.

These are the stories that are missing:
Missing links
Berlin, In the Year of Our Lord by Are
http://www.fictionalley.org/authors/are/BITYOOL01a.html
The author profile is still there, and the link to the story works too, but there is no story there. :(

Biting Privileges by crucio_4_coffee
I know she deleted all of her journals and emptied her Skyehawke account, but I was wondering if she maybe left her stories online somewhere else...

Three Scenes by Orphne
http://notquiteroyal.net/three/three/threescenes.html
It used to be on this link, but now it's gone. I can't find the fic anywhere else.

Twelve Days of Christmas by the5thmarauder
It used to be on an LJ community called ladyoffayth, but it's been deleted.

And these are the stories where I could only find links that were f-locked. Does anybody know where I could find them un-locked? Even an archive where you need a password to read them is fine. (The f-locked links are under the fics.)
F-locked links
Fucking Virginity by philalethia
http://community.livejournal.com/pornish_pixies/43152.html

The Gnostic Crane by rinsbane
http://rinsbane.livejournal.com/44427.html

The Handsome Stranger by dragon_charmer
http://dragon-charmer.livejournal.com/261718.html

Inauspicious Beginnings by l_morgan
http://l-morgan.livejournal.com/4168.html

Love Among Ferrets by starflowers
http://elrienne.livejournal.com/252327.html

Malfoy Manner by legomymalfoy
http://community.livejournal.com/pr0ny/7926.html

The Ol' Switcheroo by cursescar
http://community.livejournal.com/pornish_pixies/292679.html
http://community.livejournal.com/privetdrive/6373.html

When Furniture Goes Bad by akahannah
http://akahannah.livejournal.com/106821.html FOUND

I'll be really happy if you'd tell where I could find any of these stories! :D

Art: "AS/S is relative" (AS/S, R)

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:54:21 GMT

I drew "art" again. It's not my fault. I blame others.

~*~*~*~

Title: AS/S is relative
Artist: sulky_rhino
Pairing: AS/S, LOL.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Characters - not mine. Money – not making any. Infringement – not intended. Also, they're over 18. :P
Dedication: Dedicated to frances_veritas for posting all of those cool pictures and videos of Daniel Radcliffe on her journal, which inspired me to make this. And I also dedicate this to Daniel's eyebrows. Because they're so awesome. And furry. :D

~*~*~*~

( AS/S is relative )

Random Fandom, finally!

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 01:03:27 GMT

It's been a while, so here's another Random Fandom post! I know some of these things are two weeks old, but they're still interesting! :P

This time there are several parts to the Random Fandom post!!! Oooooh! :o

The part where the fandom exercise their brain and fingers by writing fic and essays:
[01] The Price of Magic (HP/SS), a fic written by ac1d6urn and sinick, is now finished. The last part can be found here.

[02] pir8fancier writes about passivity in DH (part 1 & part 2).

[03] ravenna_c_tan has posted Five Keys to Writing Post-DH H/D.

[+03] Because I always forget stuff. coffeejunkii is asking about Remus, Sirius, and marriage.

The part where the fandom have questions and ask for your help:
[04] anjenue wonders what you would do if you were writing a fic and then came across a similar fic to the one you're writing. I'd probably cry. No, seriously, I really would. :P

[05] owl_patronus is looking for the hottest H/D fic you've read. And while we're on this subject, I've been reminded of two lists: emmagrant01's What the HP Fandom Wanks To and fiona_fawkes' The Red List (f-locked).

[06] furiosity posted a poll about Salazar's ~~bazilisk~~ Schnookums.

[07] raindrop150 is looking for good H/D manips and fanart. <3 manips. Especially the bad ones. :D

[08] megyal made a post on how you know you're into slash. Please read the comments too. They're hilarious! :D

[09] emmagrant01 wants to know your opinion on what to do with Apres L'Ecole.

The part where communities are doing stuff / have finished doing stuff / are asking you to do stuff / etc.:
[10] fall_fantasia have started posting. :D

[11] phoenix_flies have also had some posts already.

[12] hd_holidays are looking for betas. Go here to sign up.

[13] hpvalensmut have posted some preliminary info and a poll. There are tickies.

[14] hd_remix have posted their Masterlist. There are no tickies. :( There is a lot of good fic though! :D

[15] hp_summersmut have posted the Masterlist too.

[16] hp_art_project is a collaboration of HP fanartists. They're planning on drawing at least one illustration per chapter of Deathly Hallows. They're open for new members until October 13. Go here to read more and draw something pretty. :D

[17] snarry_games have started posting interviews with artists. They'll start posting their art on October 8. Yay! :D

[18] slashfest Round V.5 is now closed.

[19] potter_prophet is a community on InsaneJournal dedicated to HP news on IJ.

[20] hd_fandomchoice. :P

The adventures of Daniel Radcliffe (extra feature: his eyebrows):
[21] Daniel Radcliffe can do really creepy things with his tongue. EWWWWW.

[22] Daniel gets groped by Helen Mirren.

[23] Daniel on Rove. The show not the person. Although that would be kinda hot. :P (via frances_veritas)

[24] Daniel receives an awesome gift. Who here thinks that he played with this, umm, penis warmer thingy at home? *raises hand*

[25] Eyebrows.

The part with funny videos and other random stuff:
[26] Look what I found yesterday while I was randomly browsing Youtube: Stranger Than Fiction Harry Potter Style. Hilarious!! :D My favourite bit:
The writer: "Little did he know that events have been set in motion that would lead to his imminent death."
Harry: "What? O_O *walking out to face the dragon* Why?? Hello??? COME ON!!!"
LOL! Just watch it. It's incredibly funny! Also, see the film, because it's awesome. :D

[27] Poor Man's Hogwarts (via mahaliem).

[28] Wanna see Rupert Grint's ice cream van? Go here. Mmmm ice cream. (via onmycrew)

[29] Cake wank is this way. Mmmmm cake. (via fourth_rose)

[30] December 8 is the official Pretend to be a time traveller day!!! (via anthimaeria)

And that's all! :D

hd_fandomchoice

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:41:20 GMT

hd_fandomchoice is an lj community created to conduct a survey of new Harry/Draco fandom favourites. Our goal is to compile a list of Harry/Draco works which the fandom thinks are their favourites and which have not been previously listed as fandom favourites. Unlike past polls, this survey will focus solely on Harry/Draco fanworks, including but not limited to stories, art, meta and miscellaneous H/D works, such as vids, comics, RPGs, etc.

Suggest your favorites right now!

Other Links: General Info, FAQ, Buttons & Community Poll

~*~

Pimp it good. Pimp it real good! *dances* :D

Poll: Harry/Draco Fandom Classics - Results

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:24:00 GMT

~*~ Poll results ~*~
- There were 211 fics listed in the poll.
- In the poll I asked which ones of the listed fics people have read.
- The poll opened on 5 September (Wednesday) and closed on 14 September (Friday).
- Approximately 528 people voted in the poll.*
- On average, one person read 58 stories.
- 25 of the fics received more than 50% of the votes. 50% was approximately 262 votes. These 25 fics are listed alphabetically below.
- The fic which received the most votes was Irresistible Poison with 398 votes (74.7%).

~*~ 25 most voted for fics ~*~
Beautiful World (R) by starflowers | Cinnamon
"Draco is afraid of living and Harry is afraid of dying, but sometimes the choice isn't offered. Draco's got to learn what it is to really live, while showing Harry how beautiful the world really is when you're not too scared to see it."

Beneath You (R) by starflowers | Cinnamon
"Draco had no idea that the repercussions of stealing Potter's journal and shoving it down the back of his trousers would be so extreme. Featuring nefarious plots, the mating rituals of Slytherins, double-crossing spells, Ron/Pansy, and Draco/Harry."

Big Dick, Come Quick (NC-17; or here) by calanthe_fics | Calanthe
"Draco's got a theory. About sex. And after much searching for the right candidate, it appears that only Harry Potter, his life long enemy, can help him test it out."

Bond (R; or here) by annafugazzi
"Yet another one of those Harry And Draco Are Forced To Be Together By Something Beyond Their Control And Then Stuff Happens Leading To Twoo Wuv stories. Because every HD writer has to write at least one."

A Consummation Devoutly to be Wished (NC-17) by mirabellawotr | Mirabella
"Um... dracoisaveelaandHarryishismate. Shut up."

Eclipse (PG-13; or here) by mijan | PhoenixSong
"'You're dead, Potter... I'm going to make you pay...' Draco swore his revenge on Harry for Lucius's imprisonment, and Harry all but laughed at him. But Draco is planning more than schoolyard pranks this time. The old rivalry turns deadly when Draco abducts Harry for Voldemort. It's the perfect plan, guaranteeing revenge, power, and prestige, all in one blow. But, when Draco's world turns upside down, the fight to save himself and Harry begins, and the battle will take them both through hell and back. If they come back."

Gold Tinted Spectacles (NC-17; or here) by beren_writes | Beren
"Harry is about to enter his seventh year, and things are a little strange. He is no longer the angry boy who watched his world fall apart when Sirius died. He is looking for someting, and to his confusion it seems to involve Draco Malfoy."

A House With A White Picket Fence (R; or here) by silentauror
"Harry, happily married and busy with his Auror career, thinks his life is perfect until he starts discovering what he's been missing all this time..."
Sequel: A House With A Blue Door (NC-17; or here) by silentauror
"Sequel to A House with a White Picket Fence. (But smuttier!)"

If You've A Ready Mind (PG-13; or here) by mistful | Maya
"A re-telling of the Harry Potter books with Draco Malfoy as a Ravenclaw. Special features include Anthony Goldstein's inhaler, Cho Chang's charms, Gregory Goyle's alarming identity crisis and Ron Weasley's allegedly enormous broom."

Irresistible Poison (PG-13; or here) by iscaris | Rhysenn
"A Harry/Draco SLASH romance. Under the influence of a love potion, Draco learns that poison doesn't always bring death -- there are other ways to suffer and live. Chemical emotion runs feverish as Harry and Draco discover the intoxication of love. Written by a remorseless slash girl *g*, this story explores the intricate relationship between Harry and Draco."

Left My Heart (NC-17; or here) by emmagrant01
"Post-Hogwarts. Auror Draco Malfoy has disappeared, and Harry Potter has been sent to find him."
Sequel: Surrender the Grey (NC-17; or here) by emmagrant01
"Draco Malfoy returns to London after five years of self-imposed exile to start a new life with Harry. But will the secrets of the past destroy everything they've worked for?"

Lettered (NC-17; or here) by pir8fancier
"Draco's love affair with his quill gets him in trouble."

The Lodger (PG-13; or here) by mad_martha
"Years after Voldemort's death and the end of the war, a lonely and alienated Harry Potter decides to take in a lodger. The result isn't quite what he anticipated. He has more in common with his new housemate than he expected, and together they learn to look life - and the wizarding world - in the face again."

Love Under Will (R; or here) by bookshop | Aja WIP
"In their 5th year, Harry and Draco choose to be with one another; but the story--and the battle-- is just beginning..."
Note: Fic is abandoned.

Seamus is Seamus and You are Yourself (PG-13; or here) by arimunami
"Harry goes through some... er, changes before Sixth Year. Everyone, including Draco Malfoy, sits up and takes notice."

Seeker to Seeker (NC-17; or here) by BaronNomaw
"What begins as a slashy bet on the Quidditch field soon develops into something much more significant."

A Slytherin in Gryffindor Clothing (R; or here) by mahaliem
"Set in Seventh Year. Draco hits his head and wakes up in a world where he's a Gyffindor and Harry is a Slytherin."

Tempus Fugit (R; or here) by stylophile | Poison Pen
"A monumental cock-up in Potions means that Harry and Draco have more to contend with than mutual enmity. A journey of discovery, self-reflection and love."

A Thousand Beautiful Things (NC-17) by geoviki | Duinn Fionn
"Draco Malfoy struggles with changed fortunes, shifted alliances, an ugly war, and an unusual spell, with the help of a concerned professor, an insightful house-elf, and an unexpected Gryffindor friend."
Sequel: Delicate Sounds of Thunder (R) by geoviki | Duinn Fionn
"Draco knows that happily ever after is for fairy tales. When someone threatens to expose his wartime past, he risks his life to protect his secrets, but learns he's not the only one with something to hide."

Tissue of Silver (R) by fearlessdiva
"A love story concerning possessed furniture, black silk pyjamas, courtroom drama, premonitions of doom, assassination attempts, Death Eater yoga, absinthe, bare feet and a sensible werewolf."

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (R; or here) by novembersnow | November Snowflake
"In the war-torn years after Hogwarts, one man has no knowledge of his yesterdays."

Transfigurations (NC-17) by resonant8
"Five years after Voldemort's defeat, Harry returns to England to help re-open Hogwarts."

Underwater Light (R; or here) by mistful | Maya
"Featuring an extremely depressed Harry, in a war-torn wizarding world, about to get the shock of his life when he discovers that Draco Malfoy is slightly more important to him than he would have ever guessed. Including a very odd friendship, lots of angst, suspicions, conflicted loyalties, clueless Ron, on-the-warpath Hermione and two very messed-up boys."

The Veela Enigma (R) by jennavere
"What if some of Draco's ancestors, pretending to be purebloods, concealed the truth about their veela heritage? You'd end up with one very confused Draco Malfoy, who's fallen head over heels in love with Harry Potter and has no idea why."

Walking the Line (NC-17; or here) by silentauror
"Sixth year is over and Draco Malfoy is on the run. The war is on and an unwanted assignment is forced upon him by the only people he trusts - and a one-time arch-enemy just may be out to kill him."

~*~ Miscellaneous about the 25 fics ~*~
- 2 of them were posted in 2001, 2 in 2002, 9 in 2003, 6 in 2004 and 6 in 2005.***
- 15 of them are set during the Hogwarts years, 1 during Horcrux hunting and 9 are set post-Hogwarts.
- Only 5 fics have a lower rating (PG-13 or lower). 20 of them are rated R or higher.
- Only 1 of the fics is a WIP.
- Out of these 25 fics, 1 of them is short in length, 5 are medium and 19 of them are long.
- There are 2 AU fics and 1 time travelling fic on this list.
- 5 fics are humorous and 3 are creature-fics.
- 3 authors have two fics each on this list.
- I won't tell the exact number of votes each fic received. I will tell the authors, though, if they ask. :)

~*~ General information about the poll ~*~
- The poll was made from a list of H/D Fandom Favorites/Classics that gossymer posted in the beginning of September. She compiled the list by looking at past fandom surveys and lists, where people listed, suggested or voted for the fics they thought were fandom classics or favourites. If you want to see the list of surveys or know the reasons why she posted the list, please go to this post. :)
- In general, people commenting on the poll had three main concerns about the fics on the list: some fics on the list are not Harry/Draco; they're all older fics / newer fics are missing; some of them shouldn't be on the list because I don't like them / my favourite fics aren't on the list. Personally, I agree with a few of these. However, neither I nor gossymer decided about which fics should be on the list. It was compiled from older lists, so the fics on this list are there because the people participating in fandom surveys said they should be. :)

* I don't know the exact number because many people forgot to answer the first question. I tried to calculate it from the percentages, but every fic gave me a different result. The result was usually somewhere between 524 and 533. I settled on 528.**
** As some of you know, the first poll I posted didn't work because people's votes got cut off, usually after they ticked about 80 fics. In that first poll 23 people voted. I asked if they could vote again, and I am certain that at least 13 of them did, so their votes weren't lost. However, that still means that the other 10 people's votes were probably lost. I couldn't check whether they did vote, because it's impossible to see the whole results of the poll when so many people have voted in it. It is possible, however, that they voted again too. I thought about adding their votes, but since I wasn't sure whether they voted or not, I decided not to. I apologise to those 10.
*** By posted I mean when the first chapter of the fic was posted. I got these dates from the archives or journals of the authors.

Thanks to all for voting!!! :D

Random Fandom news again

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:59:28 GMT

[01] Those of you that haven't voted in the Harry/Draco Fandom Classics Poll yet, you still have a few days. I'm probably going to look at the results on Wednesday or Thursday this week. Please go vote if you haven't already. The poll can be found here. :D

[02] amanuensis1 wrote the HBP screenplay. It's really impressive, so go read it.

[03] frances_veritas posted videos of Daniel Radcliffe on Rove. Daniel Radcliffe/Albert Einstein!! :D OMG, imagine their babies! They'd be super-hairy! :P (Yes, I just imagined Daniel/Einsten Mpreg.)

[04] alicambs is wondering what makes a fic H/D.

[05] hd_prophet on LJ are looking for new editors. Go here for more information.

[06] hd_remix have started posting. Yay! :D

[07] nemesister posted a Potter Popularity Poll (Part 2). Umm, she posted it about a week ago, so it might be a bit late. But she hasn't posted the results yet, so it's probably still okay if you go vote. :D

[08] mistful announced that she will take all her fic offline on 6 September 2008. Read more about it here.

[09] snarry_reader is now mirrored also on Insanejournal and Journalfen.

[10] sansa1970 wants to know what your Snarry classics are. :D

[11] Daniel Radcliffe's eyebrows are awesome.

Random Fandom news

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:05:46 GMT

[01] Here is the reason why I should remember to read The Onion regularly: Final Harry Potter Book Blasted For Containing Spoilers. :D

[02] Remember that H/D bookcase soramame_kun made a year ago? Well, punkimonki has added links, so that you can now click on a book and the story will open up in a new window. Yay! :D Go here to see it. (found via amariel)

[03] furiosity wrote an interesting post about the family unit in HP.

[04] A lot of awesome H/D paper clippings have been posted here. :D

[05] daily_deviant have moved to IJ. You can now find them here.

[06] lothy posted a "If you were Dumbledore" poll. (found via hogwarts_today)

[07] omniocular posted prompts for the 2007 AU Extravaganza. PS: I like AU. :P

[08] I might have mentioned in one of my comments on painless_j's journal how Albus Severus/Albus/Severus would be kind of cool... And now ac1d6urn has written it!! :D

[09] silentauror has made a really cool list of all the fics she's written. Go there and stare at it with your mouth open. It's impressive! :o

[10] *pimps* Snarry Holidays Fest is an anonymous fic and art exchange for Snarry fans held on snarry_holidays on IJ. Go here to sign up. Sign-ups close on 11 September. :)

[11] iulia_linnea has announced Round Three of the Harry Potter Random Facts Fest. :D

[12] A list of post-DH communities can be found here. (via gossymer)

[13] gossymer has posted a list of 225 H/D fandom favourites/classics. I'll be making a poll out of that soon. :P

[14] Useful community: potter_prophet on IJ.

[15] Go admire the fic and art written for the bbtp_challenge (Bring Back the Porn Challenge) on IJ.

[16] That's it! :D

Animagi forms and Patronuses

sulky_rhino@subarctica.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:35:09 GMT

A few days ago earth_magic posted a question about the Potter Patronuses and Animagi forms. I was actually thinking about the same thing when I was reading Deathly Hallows, so this made me think of it again.

I think that the shape your Patronus takes is connected to the Animagus form of your loved ones. It's really for a simple reason. The way I understand Patronuses is that they are an incarnation of your positive thoughts. They're meant to protect you, so their shape is something you think will protect you. I'd say that normal people most often connect the feeling of protection and security with the people they care about. And if you find the thought of specific people comforting, it'd make sense that the magic which produces a Patronus would create the shape of that specific person. But because the Patronus can only be an animal, the magic picks the closest animal shape to that person -- their (potential) Animagus form.

This theory makes sense in Tonks' case. Her Patronus was a werewolf. I know that Remus didn't have an Animagus shape, but we could say that the werewolf was his animal shape.

It makes sense in Dumbledore's case too, even though his Patronus didn't point to a person, but to an animal. We know that he didn't really have any family left, except for his brother with whom he didn't exactly have a good relationship, so Fawkes was his closest companion. So it makes sense why he'd have a phoenix Patronus.

Snape's Patronus, on the other hand, had a connection to a person. His Patronus was a doe. Harry mentions in the last book that his mother's was the same, although where he found that out I've no idea. Because of this there are two possible explanations. If Lily's Patronus was a doe, then it was so because her magic saw James as her protector. In Snape's case his Patronus was either a doe because Lily's was a doe as well, or it was a doe because he knew that James was a stag Animagus and so he thought that Lily was James' doe. Either way, I again see a connection to the Animagus forms of the caster's loved ones.

When it comes to Harry, there's a connection to the Animagus form again. His Patronus is a stag. When Harry cast the charm for the first time, he didn't know that his father was a stag Animagus, but I think that his magic did know. Because Harry found the thought of family comforting and safe, his magic made his Patronus into his father -- a stag.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, but I think it's an interesting theory. It certainly could give us some insight into people's personalities. For example, Ginny's Patronus is a horse, which, when you think about it, really isn't that far from a deer (they're both hoofed animals). It's possible that Harry's potential Animagus form is a horse (and he's been a horse Animagus in a few fanfics out there already). So you could see a connection to Harry in Ginny's Patronus shape. Or, if you're not exactly a fan of Ginny, you could think about her Patronus in a different way as well. Let's see… All little girls want a pony. Ginny's been "admiring" Harry since she was little, so her idea of Harry is probably a bit grander than what he really is. Deer are forest animals; they're wild, and also quite shy. Horses are domesticated. They're easier to handle, and they're also stronger. Although here you'd also have to say that your opinion of the person you think would protect you would influence the shape of your Patronus as well. But still. You can see where I'm going with this. :P

This theory also gives me all sort of cracky ideas. Aberforth, for example. His Patronus is a goat. I wonder why he'd find that comforting. Maybe he had a secret affair with somebody that was a goat Animagus, and that's where all those rumours of him doing inappropriate charms on goats came from. Not because he was actually performing charms on goats, but because he was performing charms on a goat Animagus (and that was a secret that they never told anybody). :P And think of other Patronuses too… Ron's Patronus is a Jack Russel. What does that say about Hermione? :D

Animagi forms and Patronuses in short
Tonks – Patronus = werewolf
Lupin – animal shape = werewolf
Dumbledore – Patronus = phoenix
Fawkes – animal shape = phoenix :P
James – Animagus = stag
Lily – Patronus = doe
Snape – Patronus = doe
Harry – Patronus = stag
Aberforth – Patronus = goat
Ginny – Patronus = horse
Ron – Patronus = Jack Russel

Edit #1: fiona_fawkes also pointed out that Hermione's Patronus (an otter) must represent Ron because he lives in Ottery St. Catchpole. :D

And I just remembered that Arthur Weasley's Patronus is a weasel which we could say represents his entire family. :)

Edit #2: More about Ron's Patronus --
From the Wikipedia article about Jack Russel Terriers:
They're working dogs, very vocal, very intelligent. They have a lot of energy and are good at problem-solving in the field. They're friendly, outgoing and inquisitive, although a lot of them show same-sex agressions. They do not even tolerate unintentional abuse. They can work tirelessly against often formidable quarry. They need something to occupy their minds all the time. And apparently a lot of them have a Napoleon complex. -- All of that sort of describes Hermione, doesn't it? :P