Brain Flotsam V2.007

I'm pausing in the middle of a scene to shift venues, but ooooooh oooooh oooooh.
Bellatrix and Narcissa are dueling, and boy does Narcissa fight dirty!  Hoo, boy!  Not that she would stand a chance if Bellatrix had her wand and were fully on her game, I suppose, but as it is, there's some serious sororal hostility being aired!
Blood under the fingernails, that's all I'm sayin'!

Hee.
I love my random AUs. 

Title: Far Away as Moonshine, Part I: Malfoy Manor
Author: zephre
Rating: PG (R for whole fic)
Prompt: 100quills table 50.2: Snow
Word Count: 1,750
Summary: For Draco Malfoy, the war was one endless nightmare. Until Luna Lovegood gave him a reason to hope. Can he find his courage, make his luck, and become more than a pawn to those in power?
Warnings: (for whole fic, highlight to view) *mature themes, imprisonment, mention of rape, abuse, battlefield violence, various canon and other character deaths, sexual situations*
Notes: The title is from the song, "Street of Dreams" by Oysterband.
Chapter Index:
Part I:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part II:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Epilogue


Chapter 4: In which Luna sees the sky once more.
( more )

Title: Far Away as Moonshine, Part I: Malfoy Manor
Author: zephre
Rating: PG-13 (R for whole fic)
Prompt: 100quills table 50.2: Image
Word Count: 1,464
Summary: For Draco Malfoy, the war was one endless nightmare. Until Luna Lovegood gave him a reason to hope. Can he find his courage, make his luck, and become more than a pawn to those in power?
Warnings: (for whole fic, highlight to view) *mature themes, imprisonment, mention of rape, abuse, battlefield violence, various canon and other character deaths, sexual situations*
Notes: The story has three parts, each broken into chapters. The title is from the song, "Street of Dreams" by Oysterband.

Chapter Index:
Part I:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part II:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Epilogue


Chapter 3: In which Draco does not care and cares too much.
( more )

In IM with a friend today, all my motives are belong to you:

zephre: that's the basis of most of my AUs. redeem the Malfoys, and Snape if possible; break up Harry & Ginny if I can; and give everybody therapy.

and by 'redeem' I don't mean let them be good-ish guys in the end, JKR did that already.  I mean make the characters worthwhile in my own mind, instead of reducing them to caricature type as I feel was done in DH.

Title: Far Away as Moonshine, Part I: Malfoy Manor
Author: zephre
Rating: PG-13 (R for whole fic)
Prompt: 100quills table 50.2: Impossible
Word Count: 1,199
Summary: For Draco Malfoy, the war was one endless nightmare. Until Luna Lovegood gave him a reason to hope. Can he find his courage, make his luck, and become more than a pawn to those in power?
Warnings: (for whole fic, highlight to view) *mature themes, imprisonment, mention of rape, abuse, battlefield violence, various canon and other character deaths, sexual situations*
Notes: The story has three parts, each broken into chapters. The title is from the song, "Street of Dreams" by Oysterband.

Chapter Index:
Part I:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part II:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Epilogue



Chapter 2: In which Draco remembers.
( more )

Title:   Far Away as Moonshine, Part I: Malfoy Manor
Author: zephre
Rating: PG-13 (R for whole fic)
Prompt: 100quills table 50.2: Why?
Word Count: 1,467
Summary: For Draco Malfoy, the war was one endless nightmare. Until Luna Lovegood gave him a reason to hope. Can he find his courage, make his luck, and become more than a pawn to those in power?
Warnings: (for whole fic, highlight to view) *mature themes, imprisonment, mention of rape, abuse, battlefield violence, various canon and other character deaths, sexual situations*
Notes: The story has three parts, each broken into chapters. The title is from the song, "Street of Dreams" by Oysterband.

Chapter Index:
Part I:   1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part II:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Part III: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 ||
Epilogue


Chapter 1: In which Draco is exceedingly foolish.
( more )

My dad has discovered Archie McPhee.  Ph33r him!!
When my package came (Cold War Unicorn Battle Playset.  Sexy.), I gave Dad some Nihilist Chewing Gum ("we don't believe in flavor") and that started a conversation which ended with me shouting, "Mooooom!  Dad's being deliberately obtuse again!"

I am still writing fanfiction.  It does get a bit addictive, doesn't it?  I think I shall try to reshape the Nano, it's been rewriting itself (with conflict and everything!) in my head on my commute.  Man, my commute is a festival of writing goodness all the time, but it means that the minute the engine goes off I have to either start chanting the high points in my head or take out the moleskine and a pen.  Before the Nano reshaping, though, I have this three-part LoCo thing to finish.  I think maybe I am getting more comfortable portraying the Malfoys.

I seriously need to get to some figure drawing sessions in town.  I keep saying it and then I keep not actually going to any. But I have just finished the lineart for an illustration that is the first I can truly say is more my imagination than it is reference photos.  I used references for some things, like the drape of pants, the angle of the jaw, the really tough hand that's gripping another person's wrist... But they were multiple random photo references rather than just using one photo as the skeleton base for an illo.  Much more satisfying, and of course it gives me the opportunity to tweak the composition so that it does what I want, instead of what some random photographer wanted.
Anyway, my musculature and limb arrangement needs some work.  I fixed this illo's major flaws with help from the chatroom artists, but it would be nice to get in some practice looking at real people, the way they move, the way they stand, the way they sit, slump, pay attention, stare, etc.

And otherwise, I dunno.  Stuff is happening, mostly good, some not so much. Holiday things happen despite our not being much of a holiday household. Lots of movies have come out that I haven't gone to see, but would like to.  I avoid shopping whenever possible. I berate other drivers on the road, and lament the complete loss of any kind of basic driving courtesy, not to mention the complete disregard of right-of-way.  Work is good. Yule should be nice and low-key, plus our usual viewing of The Lion in Winter.

I still have some cinnamon pecans in my office drawer.  Yay!

I am finding myself with more fanfiction than ever anticipated, and the general inclination to try to make something decent out of it.

In that vein, I'm wondering if anybody out on the flist is available to beta-read or knows someone who would be interested in beta-reading (or Brit-picking) my fics. I am especially interested in plot-nitpicking and critique for continuity, tension, and character-consistency. 

I tend to write AUs following the events of DH up to a point, then diverging wildly into the future.  Currently I write these pairings: Harry/Luna, Snape/Lupin, past Lupin/Tonks, Draco/Luna with various side pairings and OCs.  I love Luna and the Malfoys and they almost always end up featuring heavily.
At the moment I have 50-some-odd thousand words of Nanowrimo randomness I'd like to see if I can pull a coherent narrative out of (see tags) and  a Draco/Luna WIP (probably will finish in the range of 10k).

I am a beta-reader myself, although only recently for fanfiction.  I read for grammar/spelling/etc and for plot-nitpicking and general writing critique.  I would be happy to trade services.

I'll also gladly draw in exchange for beta-reading. This is the sort of thing I do.

Please feel free to comment or email me at zephrene AT gmail if you're interested. Thanks!

Previous Part
Pairings this part: Harry/Luna
Rating: PG
Notes: This is the last part.  I may dabble in this universe some more later, there's just so much going on!
This part has an ILLUSTRATION!  You'll hit the thumbnail in the text, just click to go to the full size art.


Winter Solstice 2008, Orchard's End, Devon

Harry couldn't sleep. 

He ran his fingers through Luna's curls on the pillow beside him. She was so beautiful, even with exhaustion written large on her face. If he kept fidgeting he would wake her, and she needed what sleep she could steal.  He eased out from under the quilts and walked around to the foot of the bed.( more )

NaNoWriMo Fanfiction Extravaganza - taking off into AU from approximately Chapter 26 of Deathly Hallows

( Headers and Chapter Listing )
 

Previous Part
Pairings this part: None mentioned
Rating: PG
Notes: I don't have any idea what this was supposed to be before it died.


September 2008, Wendelin's Club, London

Draco was still a member of Wendelin's, despite the wartime uheaval.  The Malfoys had been on the membership roster since the 18th century, and none of the intervening wars had yet been sufficient cause to consider their removal.  The Club had been one of few safe spaces for Draco to stay when he visited England during the years of his exile.  These days he could be guaranteed a front-row seat for all of the Club's events. 

For this particular lecture, he sat with between his father and Severus, and the three of them had apparently intimidated anyone who might have taken the seats on either side, or even in the row behind them.  By the time Luna walked in, in fact, Draco felt like he, his father, and Severus occupied some strange island of silence in the usually lively lecture hall.  After all this time, the stigma still lingered.  ( more )

I would like to share something that has never happened to me before, and I have been signing up for this challenge every year since 2000:



I still have to write the Potter Daughter scene, so I'm not done posting yet, and the scene that pushed me over was just potions wanking, but it was fun! 
I have written 50,000 words.  Hooray!

Now, sleep. Tomorrow, the final scene! (And posting of the ones gone before.)

Previous Part
Pairings this part: None mentioned
Rating: PG-13
Notes: This is mostly Michelle's fault. ;)


October 2007, The Valley of the Kings, Egypt

Luna had the strangest feeling that she'd been here before.  Perhaps in was simply the perspective - it wasn't every day that one got a close look at tomb paintings upside-down because one's foot was caught in a fissure where a great chunk of the ceiling used to be. ( more )

Lots of my fanfic flisters are doing this meme for their fic, but since I don't have a great body of fanfiction work to plumb for it, I'm just going to use my original writing.

10 Signs You're Reading a Story by Zephre

1. This one is rather iconic, actually: "It takes place in the desert, and everyone suffers and dies."

2. Religion, and often a priest, priestess, or avatar of said religion, is very well-developed and important.  Sometimes more developed than the plot.  ;)

3. Slavic, multi-syllabic, or otherwise bizarre and possibly unpronounceable names.  (I've gotten better! ... A bit better! ...  I'm working on it!) 

4. There are helpful maps.  Country maps, regional maps, planetary global maps, and street maps.  Possibly even building floor plans. 

5. Even in the fantasy stories, events tend to take place in urban centers rather than in a great epic journey through the wilderness.  Man, I am not a good camper.  Very little wilderness.

6. You might need a cast list or a (gasp!) family tree to keep track of Who's Who.

7. Total Magical Apocalypse!   (Or at the very least, Extreme Magical Cataclysm!)

8. Shapeshifters.  'Nuff said.

9. Somebody of mixed ethnic heritage has an identity crisis; OR somebody is the "last survivor of their race."

10. It's not finished yet.  (I'm working on this, too.  ;) )

Wow, I am so ready for NaNoWriMo to be over. I am *thiiiiiis* close to winning for the first time ever, but I am also really DONE with this whole story.
I could write more in the world sometime, but at this point I am having to stop myself from opening my original fiction every time I boot yWriter. This is a good thing in the long run; I do want to finish my original stuff, after all. I am just starting to feel the whole NaNoWriMo FINISH OR FAIL energy in a bad way.

Part of the NaNo fatigue may also be the driving need to do nothing but write in my free time in order to finish, when the holiday season is upon us and I have a brand new sewing machine and some great composition ideas for tarot cards and dang even without NaNo there's never enough time in the day!

So the minute I finish the scene that runs my count over 50k, that's it.
Done.
Finito.

Time to move on to my next big project. (Potholders! Seriously - I'm using them for training with the machine so that I can finish Michelle's quilt without mauling it.)

And then I have some decisions to make regarding my original fiction, but that's a post for another day.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up my obsession. I'm just much more of a fan artist than I am a fan author.

Previous Part
Pairings this part: Harry/Luna, implied Remus/Severus, Bill/Fleur
Rating: PG-13
Notes: hahahahahahaha fibre monster.  :P


September 2008, Orchard's End, Devon

When Teddy's urgent screams began, Severus was the first to cut his spellcasting short and turn for the stairs.  He left Bill caught in a web of arcane symbols drawn in light, but did not worry about the curse-breaker.  Bill was doubtless a match for anything the old house could devise.  Remus took longer to disengage from his casting, but he was working more intricate wardings than Severus had been, ones that would bite back if the caster lost his concentration for long. 

Thus it was Severus who almost tripped over Harry Potter when he got down the stairs.  ( more )

Previous Part
Pairings this part: Harry/Luna, implied Remus/Severus
Rating: PG-13
Notes: I made up monsters. Whee.  :)

September 2008, Orchard's End, Devon

The house sometimes felt haunted to Luna, even though there were no actual ghosts.  She and Harry had not yet made all the changes they hoped for, and there were moments when Luna could feel the lives of the previous occupants in the fabric on the walls. Once the house had belonged to Muggles, and their particular trials stood apart from the Wizarding lives that followed. She dreamed of children running through the halls, of long fevers and motionless portraits, of roosting owls and blossoming fruit trees, of broken broomsticks and new wands. She dreamed of endless days of warm rain.  ( more )

Previous Part
Pairings this part: Harry/Luna
Rating: PG-13
Notes: More catching up after the holidays.

August 2005, Harry and Luna's flat, London

Harry set her gently on her feet in the entry to their flat, and Luna rested her head on his shoulder. 

"I'm afraid to ask whose idea that was," he murmured into her hair.  "What possessed you to drink all night?"

"Mm," Luna buried her face in the curve of his throat and slid her hands into his hair.  "Security - better than hexing those syco- syc- fans.  Is it warm in here?"    ( more )

Previous Part
Pairings this part: Harry/Luna, Ron/Hermione
Rating: PG-13
Notes: trying to catch up on my holiday writing. Hopefully there will be a couple more parts posted today.


August 2005, The Red Raven, London

Luna's fingers tightened around the stem of her wine glass as she watched Harry move through the Ministry sycophants on the main dance floor.  He was hating even minute, she knew that, she had listened to his frustrations as they dressed earlier that evening.  Still she couldn't help the stab of jealousy -- and wasn't that such an ugly word -- to see the way the young and single of both sexes crowded in on him.  A dark-haired woman curled her hand possessively around Harry's forearm and Luna had to force her jaw to relax enough to swallow another sip of wine.( more )

Previous Part
Pairings this part: Luna/Harry
Rating: PG
Notes: Uninspired, but it's Nano so here it is.  Also, I have discovered that one of the things I truly can't stand reading in fanfic is tedious point-by-point weddings and recitals of vows.  Maybe it's because I spend time reading ten billion variations on weddings and vows all the time (Occupational hazard), maybe it's just that I can't stand the overwhelming schmaltz.  This is why you will never see me writing out a wedding ceremony in this fanfic.  Receptions, sure.  Blooper reels from the wedding, absolutely.  But no ceremonial scripts. 


July 2008, Ministry of Magic Headquarters, London, Office of the Registrar General

Luna ran for the open lift, one hand holding up the hem of her gold dress robes, the other outstretched toward the closing gate.  "Oh, hold the doors, please!" she called. From just beyond the gate a black hand in a slate gray sleeve appeared, and the gate's progress halted as it sense the obstruction.  Luna slid into the half-empty car through the gap, and the hand withdrew. 

"Thank you," she gasped, without looking up, letting her robes fall back into place and checking to be sure the ribbons in her hair had not come undone. 

"And here I thought Harry would be the one running late," said a familiar deep voice, full of amusement.( more )