...potions are the only magic...

I've been really excited about this fic for a while, and it keeps growing. I think I'm about halfway through it all and I'm already at 20K. *super excitement*

If you haven't heard about my attempts at this epic, then I'll give you a brief runthrough. When the Snupin Santa prompts were being collected I saw arionrhod's request for a fashion fic. Immediately I got hit with the bug to actually write this. So once everything settled down and I finished all of the fics that I needed to for the holiday I started writing. I've been working on this off and on since January and now that I've finished my latest fest fic, I'm going back to it.

The story is currently untitled, but I had to post something because I've been so excited about posting this. Any encouragement will certainly push me to write more and faster. ^_~

(And thank you aunty_marion for reading what I had so far. ^_^)

( The Fashion Story )

Ahhh! Where are the bunnies when I need one?

So I've got my prompt and my deadline for rs_games. That's good and I'm ready to get cracking. I haven't written Sirius in a while so this will be great.

Except...I have no idea what to write. *hangs head* Anyone have a random suggestion? A story you'd like to see recreated? Anything at all? I'll even take random "ewww! puppy shippers run for you life!"

Tweak told me today that "Lily's middle name was Sue."

XD!!!!!

Of course, right now he's telling me Tacos and Mojitos...that's so tempting...

So I'm 17K+ into my fashion story. It's turning out really good and I'm realizing that I have a small flub that I need to work out.

Because this is obviously an AU and takes place in the fashion world, I can't decide where exactly the action should take place.

In general when you think about fashion you think New York, Paris, Milan, and London somewhere far down the line. I could stick with writing the story in London and it wouldn't be bad, but at the same time I have to think whether or not it would be better to simply write it in New York. In general, I know a bit more about New York (thank you Project Runway XD) and could work out the locations a bit more accurately. However I don't know if everyone would prefer the story to take place in London to keep it where the characters are originally from.

Does anyone have an opinion?

So...last night I signed up for the rs_games! HA! Yes I'm a puppy shipper and I will go down with my ship. XD

Title: Not What We Seem
Pairing: Lupin/Snape (Pre-Slash)
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,474
Summary: There's more to Severus Snape than what he appears, and it just takes a while to find a way to show it.
Author's Notes: This fic is a bit of two birds with one stone. It's intended to be a birthday gift to zephre and almost is my attempt at a ficlet for cliche month at lupin_snape. I've been reading a bit in between working on other projects and I came across the fact that Remus is often stating that they're good together because of their shared past. One thing led to another and Severus gave his opinion on the thought. Also with the Zodiac meme that went around I've been hip deep in astrology (a fun interest on the side) and I used quite a bit of that in the story (which becomes almost another cliche in and of itself). Please excuse the fact that this isn't beta-ed and was mostly a fast work that I pumped out in between calls at work.


( Not What We Seem )

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone! I hope your day is full of love from family, friends, and maybe even that special someone. ^_^

Also super huge thank yous to westernredcedar. I got your card today and it's beautiful! It's going up on our "inspiration" wall that helps me and my wife when we are sewing. It's so beautiful! Thank you.

I feel accomplished. I've finally managed to do what I've been complaining about not doing.

I've updated Moony Couture. The layout is much nicer to look at now. It's also much more appropriate for Moony. My largest concern is that there are gapping holes. Unfortunately I don't have any information to go into the holes. My next project will be to fix up the gallery, but the actual gallery page is saved on my other laptop so I'll need to get that at some point. Not to mention I need to figure out a better way to put it together. I want to have a "lot" of examples, but then it starts to just get crowded and who's going to really scroll through 30+ pictures? I like the little slideshows, so I may go that route and add them to each of the themed pages. That will allow me to display more costumes/designs without sacrificing space and forcing people to look at 100 pictures.

Now that I'm done answering my own questions...*sweatdrop* Could all of my friendly IE and Firefox user friends look at the site briefly to make certain that it works and does not have any icky spots. I'm fairly certain that every link works so that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks in advance for checking for me. ^_^

Title: A Stubborn Solution
Recipient: ellid
Pairing: Harry Potter - Snape/Lupin
Rating: PG
Word Count: 4,755
Summary: It wouldn't be too long, he was certain. Remus wasn't a fool. He knew a good opportunity when he saw one. Severus knew that his plan was foolproof.
Author's Note: This story was originally written for the dearsanta exchange and gifted to ellid.
The story does manage to ignore several large cannon points and is technically post-DH. But...who cares as long as they're happy? ^_^ And please excuse the random and seriously ridiculous commentary that is sparingly left throughout. (Should've apologized for that sooner.)

( A Stubborn Solution )

Dear friends-list,

I am in need of assistance. If anyone can provide to me a few Mac platform programs, I would be eternally greatful. I'm willing to swap for music/movies or simply pay cost of shipping.

If you have any of the following please comment here.

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Dreamweaver MX
Director MX

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help. ^_^

If you are willing to be interviewed (five questions) just comment and say so and I will cheerfully interrogate you. Then you post the answers and the same offer in your journal.

1. I know you want at least one child - do you and the wife want more? Do you have names for them yet? :)

Me personally I would love to have a litter. ^_^ My wife and I joked for a while that we'd have a football team. I think in the end if we do have as many as we'd like we'd probably have about three. It was a good number for both of our families. (I'm eldest of three and she's youngest of three.)

As for names...well that's more up to the Regulus muse that she has. *g* At one point in our endless soap opera he wanted to name his child Asellius, and Snape said absolutely not because their child would be referred to as "A-Silly-Us". Hehe, I think honestly we've contemplated the silly notion of naming the children Remus or Regulus, but I think if we were to name them after anyone we write for it would probably be Fate and/or Destine. Those are the RP-Regulus's twin boys, since they were unexpected and a bit of "fate and destiny". ^_^


2. If your life were a movie, who would you want to play you?

Actress wise? I don't know if anyone would really be suited to playing me. It'd be cool to have Cate Blanchett, since she's got my last name. XD (I'm a Blanchet without the extra T.) I think in the end it would be more interesting to be animated. It would let me be more wild and crazy...and pretty much as silly as I like. ^_^

3. Tell me a story about your life.

The tricky part is thinking up a story that I haven't blabbed on about for hours. XD

Let's see going back I can say I was an interesting little kid. When I was a baby I lived with my parents in their first home (in a trailer park...but I promise I'm not trash ^_~). The neighborhood was nice, but I had a fondness for wandering. One day I was probably no more than two, I decided I was going to play "hide and go seek", but I just forgot to tell my mom. I went and hid and my mom had the biggest fit. She searched all over the neighborhood, talking to neighbors and getting close to calling the police. She finally came back to the house and looked in one of the last places that she thought of. The bathroom cabinet. XD I had been in there for so long that I took a nap in the cabinet and no one realized it. Hehe. My mom said she lost about ten years from her life at the time.

To make up for it, my mom tells everyone how I cried "Mommy! Fievels never going to find his mommy!" the first time I saw An American Tail.

4. If you could only have one talent, but you could do it perfectly every time... what would you want to be able to do?

This is actually kind of hard. I almost think that I wish I could be really perfect about getting a job. I stress a LOT about and as great as being awesome at some art form or writing would be, if I didn't have the job problems I would be able to enjoy all of the art stuff I like to do on the side. At the very least, I'd like to be able to focus a bit more. If I can just stick to one thing and follow through until it's done then I'd be one step ahead of the game.

5. If you had a chance to be on Project Runway, would you do it? Do you think you could handle the pressure and time constraints?

If I had the chance, I would do it in an instant. Could I handle it though? Most likely not. The good thing about PR is that even the lowest people (ie the ones that get kicked off first) get promotion. Take last season, Malan was ousted in I think...the third episode. Despite that Malan has been extremely successful. He has runway shows every season and in between and will be at Mercedes Fashion Week with this season's cast. If nothing else PR gives you the chance to show that you are a designer, even if you don't necessarily have the chance to show what kind of designer you are.

I'm doing more research for my newest attempt at a story and I'm hip deep in couture fashion at the moment. Looking through runway shows for the last few years is always interesting and I'm attempting to put together enough examples to piece together at least two runway shows.

Right now however, I'm completely in LOVE with Christian Lacroix's Fall 2007 Couture Collection. I absolutely love the designs...but for some reason lack the proper language to express it properly. XD



The designs are stunning and I'm convinced that one of my designers is going to end up creating one of these pieces for their final project.

I'm trying to keep track of everything as best as possible. I'm going to be putting a lot more effort into this story than usual, but I'd like to keep it as visual as I can. I'm probably going to have fun putting together my "thoughts" and information once I complete the story itself.

Title: Lines Across My Face
Pairing: Snape/Lupin
Part One

( Lines Across My Face - Part Two )

Title: Lines Across My Face
Author: iheartbowie
Recipient: unsymbolic
Pairing: Snape/Lupin
Word Count: ~16000
Warnings: voyeurism, high levels of UST
Author's Notes: I go by more "logical" (IMO) timelines when it comes to the prank and I prefer to place it after "Snape's Worst Memory", which places the prank in 6th year. I feel that I've ignored a few major parts of canon (*cough*Voldemort*cough*), but I suppose it could be considered canon still.

I'll have to admit that this was a bit of a challenge, unsymbolic, but I really hope that you enjoy what I've written for you.

Most importantly, HUGE thanks to sor_bet for being the best beta I could ask for.


( Lines Across My Face - Part One )

Part Two

First and foremost, I'm telling everyone to read my Snupin Santa gift! Doing the Right Thing was brilliant! I really wanted to see someone write a Snupin based on Tracy Chapman's Fast Car (hee live performance link). This was an excellent take on the theme. I really feel for Severus in this piece and I'm so happy to see a light at the end of his tunnel. Everyone should immediately stop what they are doing and read this!!!!

Now...there have been more than a few killer fics lately and I am very happy to gush about them. ^_^

City of Lights - This is an AU set during WWII. There was something about this fic that really drew me in. They came together in a flash of almost surprised attraction and see something in one another that they weren't expecting amid all of the fighting. I really liked Severus in this story.

The Mirror in the Wolf's Eyes - *_* Honestly, I'm a ham for anything really spiritual in nature. Remus travels long and far in his life and it was past the time for him to truly come home. His visions and lessons learned are so very powerful. Remus's can see that no matter where he travels and what his happened in his life there will always be the shadow along side of him. This is a wonderful read and I fully intend to go back to this story again and again.

I'm interested in getting tea. (I say this far too often for my own good. XD)

Specifically I want an herbal tea with rosemary and ginseng. It seems rather out there, but I haven't foggiest where to find a good tea. These two herbs are supposed to be good for stimulating the mind and helping with focus and memory. Does anyone happen to enjoy a good tea with these two in it? I'd prefer not to have to order my tea online, but I don't know of any other places outside of the grocery store to buy good tea (and Starbucks really doesn't count in this equation since I know what Tazo makes and it doesn't really hit the mark for anything but flavor).

I didn't actually make it to the shower yet like I had wanted to, but I have to mad dash rec here because I'm too excited and happy about this latest posting on daily_deviant.

Next Year, in Gorna Oryahovitsa is an amazingly well done Snape/Krum. I'm very enthusiastic about this pairing since I think it's really hot and there's so much potential with them. Everyone should immediately drop everything and read this fic and oggle the artwork that goes with it.

I can only be brief regretfully since I'm not home right now. But I really must squee myself silly at the EvilInsane!Dumbledore from one of the SnuSa fics!

The Mills of Manchester is easily could be my favorite story for this years exchange. XD And I still haven't gotten my gift yet.

It's an AU that is situated around the Mills as the title suggests, but the elements of this story come together in an amazing way to create an artful desert as our Chef Severus adds the whip topping (mmm...literal and inuendo in one shot). It's a well crafted story as well as a truthful and honest development of a relationship. The way the author took all of our favorites and mixed them rather artfully into something new but still very them is commendable.

My favorite aspect would DEFINATELY have to be Dumbledore here. He's more than slightly off his rocker, but I don't want to give it all away since where's the fun in that. He is exactly how I see him without the Harry veil to make everything rosy and purple (purple like GAY XD).

I've already stashed this in my to be reread over and over and over again pile. I'll be happily munching away at this one from time to time when I get bored at work. So worth every moment put into reading it.

I've been in the mood to read Stealing Harry again. I do a LOT of fanfic reading while I'm at work. My job gives me a lot of downtime as I work in a call center and if no one's calling me then I have no job duties to fill. So while I'm down then I can read and do as I generally please (obviously within reason). I have NO access to the internet beyond an email address that can receive outside emails. This means that I usually have to email myself fics to read.

So I want to read Stealing Harry, but this is a HUGE fic. Not to mention, I've never been able to find a single version that was all in one file. It takes me sometimes 20 minutes to copy and paste the story into the body of an email and then send it. Well right now the computer that I'm using is actually crashing whenever I try to send such a large file.

;_; This is really not something I have a problem with in the Snupin realm as most of the stories are posted in one single page on Moonshadow. That's great really! So how come no one else does this? Where can I find some magic file that I can just pull up copy and read without trouble? *pout* Does anyone have any problems with this?

****

I'll be leaving tonight to drive to Miami to be with my inlaws for the holiday. It's a 10 hour drive (depending on how many stops we make and how terrible J ends up driving *seeth*) and I'll be trying to sleep as much as possible through it. I hate driving with a passion and I wish we could be hopping on one of those stupid flights that will be delayed six hours because at least then I'll be on the plane for three hours and then I don't have to worry about being crammed into my car.

At least I've got Black Friday off. I didn't get it off last year and I'm ready to get some shopping done. My wife is all a flutter because she loves this shopping day, though she usually spends more on herself than anyone else. We're getting DVD sets and Video Games mostly so I'll have awesome stuff to unwrap come Xmas. XD I don't usually like to know what I'm getting before hand, but knowing that I'm going to get my season 2 of House is a relief instead of an annoyance. LOL!

My only sadness is that I'll be missing tonight's episode of Project Runway. Thank goodness I'll be able to watch it before next week's episode. For now I honor Jay's first solo show by loving up on the Hot Air Balloon outfit. *points at icon* I don't want to know anything that happened because it'll just bug me that I don't get to enjoy the episode. So I'll be attempting to avoid any spoilers before I can see it. If I'm lucky I'll be able to see it at some point during the weekend, but I'm not holding my breath.

And since I wanted to share that with anyone else that might be interested in what in the world I've been talking about, here are a few youtube links to help you out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InrDwPsQ5eU - Prolog This is the opening song of the show and it introduces you to Lucheni, Elisabeth's murderer, and the cause for everything that has happened in Elisabeth's life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iES5R3LUVTI - Der Letzte Tanz (The Final Dance) This song manages to establish the kind of relationship that Elisabeth and der Tod have and the desperation that leads der Tod to manipulate Elisabeth's life so that she finally comes to him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR3hdAc_RDs -Wen Ich Tanzen Will A futile attempt to assert her power over her own life, Elisabeth informs der Tod that she belongs to herself.


I really need to get my hands on some good Mate or Serkan icons...*_* They bring the happiness.