alchemy most sweet and subtle

For a complete list of my fics, please see the top entry in my LJ, here, or check out my fic comm, Seekers in Love.

*waves* Okay, this is a rare IJ-only post for me. I now post almost exclusively to LJ, with the exception of my fics. I understand that some of you on my flist here only post to IJ. If this is the case for you, would you mind letting me know via comment, so I can read your IJ posts on a syndicated feed?

I have tried to find a way to syndicate my own LJ account as a feed, but without success. If anyone knows a free way to do this, I'm all ears.

Still posting fics here- x-posted to GJ and LJ.

Title: Last Season in Surrey
Author: anthimaeria
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17
Warning: Established relationship, if that sort of thing matters to you.
Disclaimer: All characters are the copyrighted works of J.K Rowling. No profit was made by the writing of this story, nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author.
Summary: As the end of Harry's protection charm draws ever closer, he and Draco cling to each other, transforming Privet Drive into their own private haven for their most intimate fantasies. Sequel to White Lace & Dragon Meat (no need to read that first). As with the other fics in this series (begun pre-DH), canon compliant through the Sectumsempra curse in HBP- completely AU after that.
Word Count: ~5670
Author's Notes: Muchas gracias to blamebrampton for the deft and lightning-quick beta, and lots of love to empathic_siren and sansa1970 for early audiencing/beta work and their invaluable suggestions. I will also be forever grateful to genuine Surrey native starrose17 for local newspaper info.

Previous fics in the Spark, Tremble & Sigh series:

1. When Harry Cursed Draco (earlier draft entitled Never Kiss a Sleeping Dragon)/2. Dragon Adrift / 3. Shepherds’ Pie / 4. As Summer Rushed In / 5.White Lace & Dragon Meat

( Last Season in Surrey )

Like a lot of you out there, I'm sick of cross-posting to LJ and GJ. I haven't received any GJ comments, and get very few IJ comments, and as geoviki said, it kind of defeats the sense of community and interactivity to have multiple journals, because everyone can't read the same comments.

So- this will be the last cross-posted entry, except for fic, which I will continue to cross-post to both journals. I have decided the following:

1. LJ will be my primary journal for now.
2. I will use GJ and IJ only as a backup journal for LJ outages, and to archive fic.
3. I will probably delete other entries in GJ/IJ except for fics.

If anyone on my flist is planning on moving exclusively to another journal, let me know so I can read it on a feed. Can't read friends-locked entries that way, but oh well. And if you want to read my ongoing journal, please friend me on LJ or create a feed.

And I have a Journalfen account, but it's not working. I probably will only use it to leave the odd comment on Fandom Wank.

This whole thing is just too hard. What have you decided?

At the farmers' market, this morning I couldn't resist buying a bag of ridiculously overpriced heirloom tomatoes. The very names are enchanting: Anna Russian, Mortgage Lifter, Brandywine, Polish Linguisa. And the colors! Red, orange, yellow, green, chocolate brown, purplish, even a speckled variety of several different shades. Farmers market tomatoes always have a light coating of dust, lacking the waxy sheen of supermarket produce. And supermarket tomatoes can be cottony, but fresh tomatoes are bright, sweet, sour, juicy and meaty -- the very essence of summer. Just the thing to top a toasted slice of bread, sprinkled with salt, freshly ground pepper, and perhaps a pinch of Italian herbs, along with a semi-hard, salty cheese, sliced paper thin.

I once made Harry and Draco do some farmers' market shopping in one of my fics, but I later cut the scene at my wise beta's request- it really didn't add to the plot!

And now I have to clean the house, especially since we're having unseasonably crisp, windy weather that kicked the allergy alert level into Red for our very allergic household.. So it's dusting, vacuuming, packing, etc for the next six hours of so... which reminds me, I need to go pick up more boxes for moving...

I fell asleep for an hour on the couch last night and had the strangest dream. I was writing a Harry/Draco story in the Happy Days universe, recasting the HP characters in Happy Days roles. Now, you’d think Ron, with his red hair, would be a natural choice for the Richie Cunningham role.. Ginny, of course, would be "Joanie." Or maybe Harry would be Richie, as Richie is the focus of the series. But no. I had Draco Malfoy as Richie. Which meant Harry played "the Fonz" and called Narcissa "Mrs. M." And I think there was something in there about Snape- he may have run Arnold's diner. (Which would make sense, considering his role in pir8fancier's Home Fries Nazi fic.).

I have to admit, this does sound like something I might write. But in the meantime, I'm still waiting for crucio_4_coffee to write me the great Grease/HP crossover! *hints*

( Cut for videos: How about a few emo versions of hardcore rap? )

I've thought about it, and I'm staying on LJ for the time being, with all public posts from my home computer cross-posted ( private posts, posts from other computers and from my Blackberry will only be posted on LJ). If anyone is moving exclusively to another journal, let me know so I can add your feed. I realize I will not be able to read your flocked posts, but it's too hard to read more than one flist.

OK, so there's going to be an
all-night meteor shower tonight starting at around 9:00 pm, with one or two meteors per hour, climaxing just before dawn when there may be one or two per minute.

Just before dawn is not my favorite time to be awake, but I have to catch this at some point. It's essential research for the_lgc (the writing of which I have been judiciously ignoring in favour of important things like housework and reading fanfic), as my protagonist is a budding astronomer obsessed with comets, and these particular meteors, the Perseids, are basically comet dust.

And kaenhoushaki, if you're reading this, you should know there's a new short story collection by Jerry Stahl featuring RPS about Dick Cheney engaging in consensual sodomy in the back of a gun store. But then again, slashing Cheney is nothing new; we know you did it first. It's amusing to see this story reviewed in the NY Times as if it were something novel and provocative-- perhaps slash is finally going mainstream. But I really don't care for Stahl's writing, to be honest- self-congratulatory misogynistic heterosexual crap for the most part.

Apologies for the double spam, but it's Saturday morning, my husband is asleep, and I'm trying to avoid writing. From ff.net, retaining all the original spellings and grammar. Here you go:

( What happens when Harry is Hermoine's brother and husband. Read and find out. )

Or meetup. Or something. The planning journal is bestbiscuit (on LJ only, for GJ/IJ folks). And I wasn't going to pimp this out until I knew more, but I see tsuj did it, so screw it, I will too. More later when there's more info.

I thought I would never go to a con. Especially not at the age of (ahem!) 40. But if it's in my own backyard, how can I resist? Not so much for the panel stuff, but I want to meet more of you guys.

Various things today:

( Memo to the Dept. of Magical Copyright Enforcement- LOL )

( REC: Draco's Boy by Empathic Siren )

( Now it's easier than ever for parents to invade their children's privacy! )

And just FYI, I'm cross-posting all public posts to GJ. Private posts just here for now. Using IJ only as a backup. If you've friended me on GJ or IJ but not here, keep in mind that I only read my LJ flist, so if you'd like me to read your posts, friend me here too.

If you would like to read the latest lj_biz post on "Illegal and Harmful Content Policy Clarification" but it's taking too long to load, I've pasted the full text here ( under the cut )

And here's the comment that I left:

Let's say an artist plans to depict two fictional characters in a romantic, sexually explicit scenario. Her intent is to draw these characters as adults, rather than as the oldest age they attain in the original books.

Now, in fiction, it's easy to convey a character's age. Witness the multitude of stories in Harry Potter fanfiction in which Harry, never older than 17 in the books except during the final epilogue, is in his 20s or 30s. It's difficult for an artist to do the same using images alone. Obviously, visual scrutiny would be sufficient in most cases to tell if the character is being portrayed as a pre-pubescent child. But there may be virtually no apparent difference in sexual maturity or other visual cues between a legally underage person of 17 and a legally of-age 19-year-old.

So here's my question: In order to alert the viewer that the artist is depicting the characters as adults,in full compliance with applicable law and LJ's ToS/ToU, would it be sufficient (assuming both characters depicted appear sexually mature) for the artist to include a verbal disclaimer with her post, indicating that all characters depicted are over the age of 18?

eeyore9990 has posted an easy-to-follow primer on how to back up your LJ and create a mirror on GJ and/or IJ. It worked fine for me, except that it didn't copy comments. I will update this post if I hear of a way to do that.

And here's an odd anecdote: so this weekend, my husband and I were walking through the seafood department at Super 88, the largest pan-Asian supermarket in the city. "Look, live eels!" I said, pointing to the sign.

We moved closer, and peered at the writhing huddle of mouths and tails splashing and undulating in the plastic tub.

"Uh, those aren't eels," said my husband. "They're snakes."

Water snakes; sure enough- scales, diamond-shaped heads, no gills, and coming to the surface to breathe. Uncovered, close enough to touch. *shivers*

And why did I find a snake creepier than the expected eel? Can't say- maybe it's because the idea of a swimming snake is more disconcerting.

ETA: Pissed off at LJ's failure to clarify their terms of service? pushdragon has the explanation, and she will make you laugh. Hard.

I hope that if HP fandom moves, it will be to GJ or somewhere else other than here. Friending takes longer, and not all the layouts seem to work here. Plus, the we're-all-CRAAAZEEE!theme here is annoying and also offensive. I'm usually not one to jump on the PC bandwagon, but for some reason this gets my goat (not a Frank reference).

If you come by, feel free to say hello! :)

As you know by now, at least two users have been permanently suspended for HP fan art, without the opportunity to contest the decision or to voluntarily delete the post at issue. The suspended art I have seen depicts Harry/Snape (NC-17). It's unclear how old the characters are in this pic: Snape appears adult, whereas Harry looks to be at least an older teenager or possibly an adult. Nevertheless, it looks like LJ is taking a hard line on anything that could even be vaguely construed as the visual depiction of persons under the age of 18 engaged in sexual activity.

Just to be safe, I have deleted every H/D icon that might be considered questionable (photomanips of HP actors included), but I will be staying here for now. You can also find me on Greatest Journal and InsaneJournal under the username anthimaeria.

ETA: I don't object to LJ enforcing rules to what users are permitted to post. Six Apart is a private company and may do what it likes within the confines of the law. What I do object to is the lack of due process. The banned users were given no chance to comply with the rules; the only thing they could do was post elsewhere. It's not outright illegal, but it does strike me as distinctly unfair.

( My 73-year-old father's review of the DH epilogue: )

( Hilarious video of the day: Harry Potter In the Hood- embedded under the cut )

Speaking of 'hoods, last night my husband and I had a tough time tearing ourselves away from Leprechaun 6: Back 2 tha Hood, which has to be one of the worst movies ever made. Chock full of stereotyped characters that would be downright offensive if they weren't so patently ridiculous, this genre-crossing movie is the one to see if you ever wondered what would happen if the titular leprechaun (Warwick Davis, aka "Professor Flitwick")took a few bong hits. Onscreen. And doubled as a massage therapist...

And has anyone else anyone experienced an uptick in friending lately? I wonder if it's something to do with the release of DH- people renewing their interest in fandom? Welcome to all that have friended me in the past few weeks, and I hope you enjoy my journal. If you've never commented here before, please feel free to leave one introducing yourself, or anything else you'd like to say.

I just finished Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy, which is a very interesting book about the current trend in women's self-definition of sexuality. The author makes the following points:

1. In order to compete with men, "female chauvinist pigs" are identifying with men by adopting a "male" heterosexual approach to sexuality, which includes racking up sexual conquests not out of lust but out of a need for empowerment, as well as objectifying other women (and themselves). In over-identifying with men, they are devaluing themselves.

( Cut for length; the rant continues... )

Ultimately, I felt depressed after reading this. In co-opting stereotypically male attitudes toward sex, women are destroying themselves instead of moving toward equality. I wish women weren't so sexualized in this country: I'd really like to be treated as a person instead of as a woman for a change, and that doesn't mean adopting a male attitude towards femininity and sexuality, but a human attitude. How can we teach our daughters (and sons) to respect each other as people, and to know their own sexuality instead of adopting the mass-market version foisted on us?

Also, off-topic, I'm theoretically supposed to start writing the_lgc today, as it is August 1st. 500 words a day, which means 200 days of writing for a 100,000 word, 400 page novel. Argh! I wish I was as prolific as some of you are.

I ♥ my new shoes! ( Look! )

And I reached a milestone today. For the first time ever, I've been accepted to an invite-only archive. (Whee!) Thanks for accepting my application, hphumor! And fie on thee, Other Humor Comm Which I Shall Not Name That Did Not Even Respond to My Application. I'm funny, damn it!

I've posted my latest canon cut-up, Harry Potter and the Last of the Slashed Up Canon [Harry/Draco, R] (using mainly DH text and featuring a visit from Voldie); you might want to check it out there if you like the series and missed it when I posted this weekend, as well as my earlier fic, What Lies Beneath [Harry/Draco, NC-17].

Also, a fresh new rec (no DH spoilers):
A Frayed and Threadbare Wish by sansa1970
Rating: R
Pairing: HP/DM , DM/HP/DM
Word Count: 17,500 (complete)
Summary: Today's victory lies in the future. Harry and Draco's mission to find the Malfoy Legacy leads them to places -- and people -- they never thought they'd see. Canon compliant through Half-Blood Prince. Written before Deathly Hallows.
My summary: Two Dracos are better than one. As weird and wonderful as it's sweet and poignant, this plotty fic had me reading breathlessly as its mystery slowly unfolded, always one step away from my speculation. Highly original premise.

Title: Harry Potter and the Last of the Slashed-Up Canon
Author: J.K. Rowling (slashed by anthimaeria)
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: R
Warning: Wandplay, premature spellcasting. DH spoilers.
Summary: Draco won't go without leaving Harry something to remember.
Word Count: ~1300
Disclaimer: All sentences in this fic were composed by J.K. Rowling from the seven books in the Harry Potter series, and are her intellectual property. I merely rearranged the text. No malice is intended by this posting, and no profit is sought. I believe in good faith that the following is a parody and subject to the fair use exception under applicable copyright law, but will immediately remove this post at the request of any of the authorized copyright holders. This fic will not be posted on any archives outside of LiveJournal.
Author’s Notes: For aldebaran1977, who worked so hard to guess myhd_holidays fic, and who especially wanted a fic which primarily used text from Book 7. Okay, so maybe slashing the canon for a third time is flogging a dead horse, but her wish is my command. Sincere thanks to sansa1970 for audiencing and a very helpful suggestion.

Previous fics in this series: Harry Potter and the Slashed-Up Canon and
It's Been a Very Weird Night, Harry Potter.

( Harry Potter and the Last of the Slashed-Up Canon )

To kyuuketsukirui, and everyone else looking for post-DH fics: have I got some good ones for you!

Here they are, all Harry/Draco: ( Under the cut b/c of spoilers, even though I suspect you've all read The Book by now )

Not a fic rec, but chinae just friended me, and I stole this from her LJ: Tom Felton descended from legendary Salem witches. See, he really is a pureblood.

And my new slashed-up canon fic for aldebaran1977 is done! *twirls in the air* Will post soon.

( Have you ever heard of a clapping fetish? (absolutely unrelated to HP) )

( The Guardian's digested read of DH, and new DH fan art from Lillithium )

Also: Does anyone have an e-version of HP Book 7 that they wouldn't mind sharing? aldebaran1977 requested that I put together yet another slashed-up canon fic, this time using mostly text from Book 7, and a searchable version would make this a whole lot faster and easier.ETA: Done! Thanks, anonymous benefactor! ♥

ETA: I love this:



It's from ms_semicolon. Feel free to snag, and let her know how amazing she is for coming up with this.