squibstress - Tumblr blog

squibstress · 5 days

Text

Resources For Writing Sketchy Topics

Medicine

A Study In Physical Injury

Comas

Medical Facts And Tips For Your Writing Needs

Broken Bones

Burns

Unconsciousness & Head Trauma

Blood Loss

Stab Wounds

Pain & Shock

All About Mechanical Injuries (Injuries Caused By Violence)

Writing Specific Characters

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a power driven character.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to write characters with PTSD.

Playing characters with memory loss.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

How to write a character with HPD.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

How to play the stalker.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Playing a character with ADHD.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Illegal Activity

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Domestic Abuse

Torture

Assault

Murder

Terrorism

Internet Fraud

Cyberwarfare

Computer Viruses

Corporate Crime

Political Corruption

Drug Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Illegal Immigration

Contemporary Slavery

Black Market Prices & Profits

AK-47 prices on the black market

Bribes

Computer Hackers and Online Fraud

Contract Killing

Exotic Animals

Fake Diplomas

Fake ID Cards, Passports and Other Identity Documents

Human Smuggling Fees

Human Traffickers Prices

Kidney and Organ Trafficking Prices

Prostitution Prices

Cocaine Prices

Ecstasy Pills Prices

Heroin Prices

Marijuana Prices

Meth Prices

Earnings From Illegal Jobs

Countries In Order Of Largest To Smallest Risk

Forensics

arson

Asphyxia

Blood Analysis

Book Review

Cause & Manner of Death

Chemistry/Physics

Computers/Cell Phones/Electronics

Cool & Odd-Mostly Odd

Corpse Identification

Corpse Location

Crime and Science Radio

crime lab

Crime Scene

Cults and Religions

DNA

Document Examination

Fingerprints/Patterned Evidence

Firearms Analysis

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Art

Forensic Dentistry

Forensic History

Forensic Psychiatry

General Forensics

Guest Blogger

High Tech Forensics

Interesting Cases

Interesting Places

Interviews

Medical History

Medical Issues

Misc

Multiple Murderers

On This Day

Poisons & Drugs

Police Procedure

Q&A

serial killers

Space Program

Stupid Criminals

Theft

Time of Death

Toxicology

Trauma

290K notes · View notes

squibstress · 5 days

Text

Snarry-a-Thon 2023

Snarry-a-Thon is an annual fest of Snarry goodness that always brings so much creativity and joy in the Snarry community. I am forever blown away by how much talent and passion Snarry-lovers have. With that in mind, I wanted to create some special recs for a fest near and dear to my heart.

With that, here are my Top 5 picks for the 2010 fest! But first...

Disclaimer: my rec lists are created based on my personal experiences and preferences. There are plenty of other stories and authors who are quite good and deserve just as much love. This is not meant to be an objective “best of the best” list, but the subjective opinion of a longtime reader and fangirl.

Loose Ends

by Arrisha (@arrisha-ao3). Rated: E. Words: 9,856. Heavy angst. Dark. Psychological horror. Unhealthy relationships. Trauma. Mystery. Angst and Romance.

I love you, Severus wants to say. But the timing is never right.

The Want of You

by Ephemeral (@fleetingdesires). Rated: E. Words: 7,377. Hogwarts 8th Year. POV Severus Snape. Clubbing. Virginity loss.

On his night off, Severus unexpectedly realises that Harry has grown into quite an attractive man. He's just not going to think too hard about it. No, he's not going to think about him at all. It's fine. He's fine. Everything is fine.

Nocturne

by Necromanticnoir (@necromanticnoir). Rated: E. Words: 54,090. Fairiytale retellings. Creature fic. Dual POV. Horror. Heartache. Mutual pining. Angst and feels. Self-hatred. Dark magic. Dreams and nightmares.

A Gothic Snarry version of ‘Beauty and the Beast’, inspired by the dark and sensual tale from the Czech film version, ‘Panna a Netvor’. I follow some of the plot, but then diverge and do my own thing. Got to make it even weirder, right? An eerie, erotic, brooding, bloody, batty, haunting fairytale. ‘Underneath my skin there’s a human. Buried deep within there’s a human. Despite everything, I’m still human.’ - ‘Human’ by Daughter

Line by Line

by SerenaEW (@serenaew). Rated: T. Words: 7,836. Romance. Poetry. Librarian Harry. Artist Harry. Calligraphy. Light angst.

After an involuntary exile from the Wizarding World, Harry is now Assistant Librarian at Hogwarts and part-time artist. Who is the poet of the Hogwarts-inspired verses he is creating art for?

Luck of the Draw

by Writcraft (@writcraft). Rated: E. Words: 11,857. Romance. Getting together. Minor injuries. Auror Harry Potter. Humor.

Severus is enjoying the quiet life when his participation in a Ministry raffle forces him to go on a date with Harry Potter. During a weekend filled with drag queens, hiking, a twisted ankle and a dog named Paddington, Severus begins to wonder if the quiet life is really all it’s cracked up to be.

Bonus: Shameless Self Rec

Devotion

by danpuff. Rated: E. Words: 25,843. Enemies to lovers. Cheating. Unhealthy relationships. Self-hatred. Mental health issues. POV Severus Snape. Open/ambiguous ending.

Is there anything more undignified than needing someone so much? Sequel to Contempt

Snarry-a-Thon 2023 Masterlist

13 notes · View notes

squibstress · 5 days

Text

Sirius/Kingsley Masterlist

Anything (ao3) - earthphoenix (roughknuckles) Pairing: Sirius/Kingsley, Kingsley/Snape/Sirius

Summary: AU where Kingsley and Severus rather Sirius be put to good use then waste away in Azkaban. Kingsley has been dedicated to Severus for years now, he'd do anything for him. Sirius would just do anything - repeatedly - and with enthusiasm as long as it keeps him out of Azkaban.

Don't Forget the Dog (ao3) - flitterflutterfly

Summary: When Dumbledore's plans for the Dursleys go awry, he is forced to give young Harry to Kingsley Shacklebolt to raise. Little did he know how this change would mess up everything.

(Or, Dumbledore is a manipulative bastard, Kingsley is an awesome parent, and Sirius just wants a happy family

Forever in Dog Years (ao3) - earthphoenix (roughknuckles)

Summary: AU, where Sirius survives the arch. Other canon deaths still apply.

Sirius Black lost years of his life while in Azkaban, then he began to lose those he cared about in war. But that was years ago, yet Sirius still fears getting close to people, feeling that as soon as he does, something will happen to take that happiness away from him. But Kingsley has had enough, it's been years, and he thinks it is time for Sirius to see that there is nothing to be afraid of.

Good King, Shacklebolt (ao3) - earthphoenix (roughknuckles)

Summary: Rare-pair. Holiday smut.

Keeping Him Out Of Trouble (ao3) - hogwartshoney

Summary: Although Kingsley was supposed to be the Auror in charge of the search for Sirius Black, his search was a sham. Among other things, he reported that Sirius was in Tibet (OP5); Shacklebolt was so successful at protecting Sirius that the Ministry never found him.

Anyone wonder why that was?

Knot the Minister! (ao3) - TherestheSnitch

Summary: A quickie in the closet at a Ministry ceremony seems like a good idea at the time, but an unexpected knot leaves Sirius and Kingsley in an awkward position…

Late Night Negotiations (ao3) - anassa_anemou

Summary: It's been years since they played, and know with some time in his hands Sirius might enjoy what Kingsley has to offer.

Like sun in cold places (ao3) - in_flux (In_flux)

Summary: Sirius gets to work for the Order while still staying hidden away. A story of the right and wrong ways to take care of each other, by a lot of people who mean really well.

Moonlit Marriage (ao3) - CelesteMagnolia Pairing: Remus/Tonks, Sirius/Kingsley

Summary: AU. When a law is passed that threatens the freedom of werewolves in Britain, Dumbledore suggests a way to keep Remus safe from it.

Little does Remus know that his life is about to be turned upside-down by the introduction of Metamorphmagus Nymphadora Tonks as his future bride.

postcard from paris (ao3) - greyeyedmonster18 Pairing: Remus/James, Sirius/Kingsley

Summary: They survived a war, and grew alongside each other, until life finally pulled the three of them in different directions. The night before James Potter leaves for a Healing residency in another country, he and Remus spend one last night together. Five years later, Sirius Black is getting married, and Remus finds himself face-to-face with James for the first time since that night . The night that ended in empty promises and a fever Remus couldn't sweat out.

Sirius is in love. James is charming and handsome as he had ever been. And Remus, without a doubt, is unbelievably ruined.

Raising the Bar (ao3) - Leela

Summary: Self-denial wasn't exactly a Black trait, after all, and despite Sirius's relationship with his family or side of the war, he was still a Black through and through.

The Ministry Gala (ao3) - JUDE14

Summary: Sirius is anxious to attend a social event. Kingsley is here to support him.

The Secret On Page Twelve (ao3) - Trovia

Summary: Kingsley has learned to expect the stuff of gay nightmares whenever his boyfriend talks about his past. So when Sirius shows him his old room at Grimmauld Place, he braces himself for the worst.

This Time Around (ao3) - gypsysue

Summary: After the death of Harry and Hermione, using Hermione’s method, Kingsley travels back in time to make things better.

To Thine Own Self Be True (ao3) - Trovia

Summary: They say there is no such thing as a gay wizard. Especially amongst the Aurors. And the purebloods are the ones to say it loudest.

3 notes · View notes

squibstress · 5 days

Text

594 notes · View notes

squibstress · 8 days

Text

emmeline after

emmary / one shot / second war canon divergence

"I came back to you." She says, and as she does Mary can’t help but stare in morbid fascination at the few muscles left on her cheek where the skin has come away, revealing her teeth. "You told me to come home to you, so I did. I know it took me a while, and I’m sorry, but I’m here now. Don't you want me back?"

or, Magic takes, but sometimes it gives back. Even if it is in cruel and unusual ways.

25 notes · View notes

squibstress · 11 days

Note

What OP said.

What parts of canon do you find the most frustrating/that you are dissatisfied with/wished that was handled better/explored more? Mine is the inconsistency of Voldemort as a character. How he is described as being perhaps the most talented student that Hogwarts has ever seen and so powerful and intelligent but regularly made such dumb decisions e.g. in the final battle where he still uses Avada Kedavra despite seeing it not work before. I like the explanation that Horcruxes rotted his brain

thank you very much for the ask, @sarafina-sincerity!

the parts of canon which i find the least satisfying all have the same thing in common: their morality is individualist.

the harry potter series has - at its core - a really profound and very black-and-white belief that good and evil not only exist but are rooted in the individual. and while i understand why this is the case - the later books in the series are governed by the genre conventions of folkloric epic and, especially, of christian folkloric epic, which means that the whole seven-book narrative arc ending in a battle between christ and satan after which all is well is only to be expected - i don't like it.

so here we are... ten things i hate about canon, for fanfic writers to win my heart by interrogating in their work...

i hate the series' insistence that everything is fine once voldemort is dead

the middle books in the series - especially goblet of fire - do a really interesting job at hinting at the endemic rot in the ministry of magic, and the ways that the state and its enforcers perpetuated harm during the first war that was indistinct from that perpetuated by the death eaters - above all the use of internment without trial for suspected death eaters [which is a reference to something the british state actually did in the 1970s!].

they show how widespread blood-supremacy and magic-supremacy is, even among people who don't openly support voldemort; how the wizarding population is kept deliberately ignorant by what appears to be state-controlled media; and how no serious efforts have been made to eradicated the conditions which enabled voldemort to attain such power.

this is then forgotten completely in deathly hallows, where the fact that almost the entire civil service keeps working for a government which is committing genocide is hand-waved away with "oh, people are scared", and both the epilogue and jkr's post-series writing take the view that kingsley manages, as minister, to preside over a government which easily sheds all its old prejudices and starts working properly.

i don't like this! i think it's just much more interesting for corruption to be impossible to fully eradicate from the government, for blood-supremacy to have long-standing causes which actually take a lot of very hard work to untangled [especially the fact that the wizarding world not appearing to have a welfare state means that those whose lives are poor or unstable are prime targets for radicalisation], and for kingsley to have the same capacity for leaning on the prophet and worrying about his polling numbers as any other politician...

i hate that the series changes how the death eaters are written between half-blood prince and deathly hallows

connected to this shift from the series hinting at the broader issues in the wizarding world to a flat battle between good and evil is that the death eaters, their aims, and their modus operandi are written very different between half-blood prince and deathly hallows. in the former, the death eaters can be situated very easily as anti-state sectarian terrorists who have all sorts of complex analogies within british history and politics. in the latter, they're just caricatures of pure evil - which is why the death eaters introduced from the latter stages of half-blood prince onwards, especially the carrows, are considerably less interesting as characters than those, such as lucius malfoy, barty crouch jr. and bellatrix lestrange, who are introduced earlier.

it's also why the voldemort of deathly hallows feels so uninteresting. i don't like the fanon that the horcruxes render him insane at all - when he's shown outside of the epic battle between good and evil in that book, he's shown to be as lucid and cunning as always - but he ends up having to flop because his only purpose in the overarching narrative is to be killed. in the earlier books, in which he's a paramilitary kingpin poisoning and corrupting a society which was designed to exclude him because of the fact of his birth in revenge for its treatment of him, rather than satan and hitler's lovechild, he is so much more interesting.

i hate the series' belief that slavery is fine

obviously, one of the biggest examples of state malevolence in the series is that wizards own slaves. like many readers, i loathe that the house elf plotline ends up being reduced from its potential for radicalism in chamber of secrets - in which dobby mentions whisper-networks of elves who decry their treatment at wizards' hands - to what we see from goblet of fire onwards - in which elves love being enslaved and think that any attempts to free them from their subjugation is cruel.

i also hate that elves' freedom is then hand-waved away as part of the general race towards "all was well" with the implication that hermione found it easy to undo what appears to be centuries of state-sanctioned oppression without any pushback at all.

the house elf plotline is one of the clearest distillations of the series' individualistic morality. harry abhors the treatment of dobby at the malfoys' hands entirely and only because he doesn't like the malfoys. he abhors voldemort's treatment of kreacher, but sees absolutely no issue with sirius' because he likes sirius - and he clearly sees no issue at all with his own legal mastery of kreacher, seeing as, literally minutes after the end of a war in which the good guys fought for the rights of muggles and muggleborns to be seen as fully human... he is considering ordering his slave to make him a sandwich.

i hate that the series doesn't show the realities of resistance

the reason i think the whole "why does voldemort keep using avada kedavra, isn't he supposed to be clever?" question arises is because the series is incredibly resistant to the idea that the good guys must have to kill as well, which makes it look like it's only the death eaters using it while the order use lots of clever magic that the stupid terrorists are too thick to think of.

this is idiotic - not only because the killing curse is canonically flawless unless the thing you're blasting is your own horcrux and so the order would use it for efficiency's sake alone, but because the reality of being a resistance fighter is that, even if you're on the "right" side, you are going to have kill people or they will kill you.

lupin is completely right in deathly hallows that harry is breathtakingly naive to avoid shooting to kill and that - without the protection of genre conventions allowing him to be preternaturally merciful - his resistance to killing is going to result in him being destroyed by the enemy. it is inconceivable that the rest of the order don't using the killing curse - and the question of what this does to their souls [is it murder if you believe yourself to be justified in your actions?] and their senses of self post-war is so interesting to think about - and i wish we were shown this in the text.

especially because molly absolutely blasted bellatrix with it.

but i also hate that the series thinks that violence is fine when the good guys do it

this is primarily another example of the black-and-white "this is fine because harry's good" theme which runs through the series, which we see in things like harry using sectumsempra on draco malfoy in half-blood prince or the cruciatus curse on amycus carrow in deathly hallows. harry's overarching response to committing attempted murder is to sulk that the incredibly minor punishment he receives is reducing the time he could spend hitting on ginny, and his response to torturing amycus is "lol. lmao."

the series thinks - again and again - that cruelty and violence are completely fine when the person they are perpetuated against "deserves" it, and it does not bang.

and that the series allows the good guys more complexity in characterisation

the role played by the house system in the story - and, above all, the fact that our heroes are all connected to one particular house with straightforwardly admirable associated characteristics - means that the villains receive less opportunity to also have positive traits intermingled with their negative ones - and, therefore, complex and interesting personalities.

i also dislike that when non-gryffindor characters - especially slytherins - do reveal themselves to be brave and loyal etc., instead of recognising that this is because bravery can be multi-faceted the series suggests that they should be recategorised as "belonging" to a "good" house.

or, in other words, me and dumbledore's "i think we sort too soon" line in deathly hallows are enemies for life.

i hate that the series blames merope gaunt for dying

and - of course - the main way a villain isn't allowed as much complexity as a hero is that the series never examines the impact of voldemort's childhood on his adult self. while we see hints throughout canon of just how profoundly affected he is by his institutionalised childhood and the weight of his grief over his parents [his mother especially] - such as him learning as a baby never to cry for attention because it's futile - this is hand-waved away throughout the series by dumbledore-as-the-voice-of-god as irrelevant. the eleven-year-old tom riddle is straightforwardly evil, that he grows up in an orphanage is used as nothing more than narrative colour to underline how creepy he is, and dumbledore's spectacular mishandling of their relationship is viewed by the series as undeniably correct right up to the very last moment [when harry imitates dumbledore by - and we should call it what it is - deadnaming voldemort in their final confrontation].

but the most egregious thing that dumbledore does when discussing the course voldemort's life takes is blame merope gaunt for her own death in childbirth, by implying that witches are immune to one of the most common causes of death throughout human history if they just try hard enough and then saying that a nineteen-year-old girl whose life appears to have been nothing more than unrelenting abuse and misery [perpetuated both against her and by her] lacked the moral fibre to try hard enough.

and this infuriates me.

i hate how the series treats female characters who don't fit its narrow spectrum of "correct" womanhood

merope is but one victim of the series' general issues with treating women who aren't its heroes - all of whom are exactly feminine and beautiful and clever and talented enough that we know they're good people, but not any of these things in an extreme which could make them vapid or arrogant or defiant of social norms or so on.

the series takes a very low view of women who exist outside of narrow boxes - whether they are interested in a hyper-feminine aesthetic [lavender brown, rita skeeter] or a more masculine one [marge dursley]; conform to stereotypes about being bitchy, flighty, or vapid [pansy parkinson, romilda vane] or refuse to adhere to social expectations to be polite, meek, and demure [fleur delacour]; are unmarried, are not inherently maternal, and/or are cruel to children [bellatrix lestrange; petunia dursley; dolores umbridge]; are unrestrained emotionally [cho chang; moaning myrtle] and so on. and i don't like it.

and i also hate that - connected to this - the series uses physical appearance - especially weight - as a shorthand for [female] characters we're supposed to dislike.

what it says on the tin, really - if the series doesn't like a character, especially if the character is a woman, you can almost guarantee that they will either be fat or be unusually thin.

and finally...

i hate that the series prioritises one form of love - love as suffering and as sacrifice - over all others

part of the series' march towards the epic two-person showdown between good and evil is that harry is made to endure trial after trial - including his death for the salvation of mankind - in the name of love. obviously this is because he becomes, by the end of deathly hallows an allegory for christ, but it also fits into the series' view - articulated most frequently by dumbledore - that love, suffering, and sacrifice are all synonyms.

the acts of love the series foregrounds - snape's willingness to endure anything because of his love for lily; sirius' willingness to rot in azkaban and caves and grimmauld place because of his love for james and harry; harry giving up a love that's like "someone else's life" with ginny so he can go die - are all sacrificial, and the series generally takes a dull view of love that is fluffy, silly, carnal, selfish, soothing, transformational and so on. lavender and bellatrix's open adoration of their lovers is mocked; dumbledore's sexual desire for grindelwald is punished by his sister's death; tonks and lupin's uncomplicated happiness in the birth of their son is not to last.

but happy endings and silly jokes and forehead kisses are love too. and the hill i will die on is that they have even more potential to bring about the salvation of the world than constant suffering and abiding.

208 notes · View notes

squibstress · 12 days

Text

metas on characters and characterisation

the golden trio

- canonical proof that ron is hot - on fanon!hermione - thoughts on the trio's post-canon careers

tom riddle | lord voldemort

- how do i write voldemort, and why? - what is interesting about voldemort as a character archetype? - my pet peeves when it comes to writing voldemort - tom riddle's speech and accent - tom riddle has his mother's eyes - voldemort's horcruxes do not make him insane - voldemort loves the golden age of hollywood. no, really - voldemort would hate being minister for magic. i'll die on this hill - what does dumbledore get wrong about voldemort? - what would voldemort be like as a father? - when does voldemort's relationship with slughorn go wrong? - tom riddle sr.'s characterisation

severus snape

- lily and petunia's class background compared to snape's - was snape welcome in lily's house? - what might snape's relationship with slughorn be like?

others

- barty crouch jr. is the best villain in the series - ludo bagman was genuinely a death eater - thoughts on the lestrange brothers - why does regulus black turn against voldemort?

34 notes · View notes

squibstress · 12 days

Text

Sunday Morning

Pairing: Lady Zabini x Narcissa Black x Lily Evans

Setting: Modern, non-magical AU

Word Count: 647

Alt: FFN, AO3

so @hexmionegranger was talking about femslash triads earlier and well i got inspired lol

Narcissa wasn’t jealous. Of course she wasn’t. Why would she be jealous at the sight of her roommate taking that vivacious red-haired girl back to their place after last night’s party, anyway?

Except that she was.

Especially after the break up with Lucius from just two weeks ago.

“Hey, good morning,” the red-haired girl greeted Narcissa as she flipped the cooked egg in the pan with an expert flick of her wrist. Narcissa briefly thought that she should be annoyed that this girl was acting as if she lived here, touching all the kitchen stuff naturally after spending just one night with her roommate. But somehow, Narcissa was too distracted by the girl’s bright green eyes to be annoyed.

It took Narcissa a moment to realize that she was staring. Gaping like an idiot, actually. She composed herself quickly because damn never let it be said that Narcissa Black would do something as inelegant as gaping. “Good morning,” she replied, a little coolly.

The redhead didn’t seem disturbed by Narcissa’s coolness, and just grinned at her, ‘I’m making breakfast, want some?”

Before Narcissa could reply, Gabriella stepped out of the showers.

Gabriella’s dark hair was still wet from the showers, and looking slightly disheveled but that didn’t take away her overall beauty. She looked a bit different than her usual all-cleaned-up look when she was out and about with carefully handpicked outfits and complicated make-up. She picked up the hairdryer from on top of the drawer before casually dropped herself down onto the sofa with catlike grace.

Lily blinked, attention momentarily drawn away from the cooking.

Of course, Lily had known Gabriella Zabini for a while now, and had originally gradually thought she’d grown immune to her beauty. But somehow, seeing Gabriella at her most natural look without any other addition, it definitely had its own appeal, breathtaking in a different way yet still enchanting as hell.

It wasn’t until Gabriella looked leant back against the sofa with a lazy smirk that suddenly made Lily want to kiss it off, her dark eyes sparkling as she drawled, “Thank you both for the attention, I do love the feeling of spotlight,” that Lily realized that Gabriella’s blonde roommate had her eyes on Gabriella as well.

Lily’s brain started processing what this might mean, but her train of thoughts was cut off but the blonde’s huff, “Honestly, Gabs, I’m not staring.”

“No need to be shy,” Gabriella shrugged lazily, running one hand through her wet hair as if to smooth over it. Lily felt her mouth went dry a bit. “Having appreciation for beauty is something to be proud of.”

Lily turned her head slightly, and was surprised to see that the previous cool-looking blonde had a very faint blush on her face. “You’re horribly vain, you do realize?” the blonde said, but Lily could hear some affection in her voice.

And what a nice voice that was too, Lily thought.

“Actually,” Gabriella smirked, “I just have an appreciation for beauty.”

“In this case, the beauty you’re referring to happened to be yours,” the blonde said drily.

“Exactly,” Gabriella sounded pleased, and when Lily turned back, she found that Gabriella’s expression had turned into a sly grin, “since you’ve always been shy about appreciating my beauty, though, I brought back someone who you might be able to bond with and you know, appreciate beauty together.”

It took Lily less than a second to grasp onto the meanings this time. And she found herself not averse to the idea as she observed the blonde. Lily swallowed a bit, trying to ignore the strange flutter inside her, and took a deep breath before saying, “Well, breakfast first, girls. And maybe beauty appreciation later.”

The blonde’s head whipped around to face her, and appraised her for a bit. Their gazes met. Then she finally said, “Sounds like a nice plan, I guess.”

58 notes · View notes

squibstress · 13 days

Note

More ships! (I can't even find the original prompt you reblogged that's how many you must've gotten by now)

Albus Dumbledore/Nicolas Flamel

Snape/Filch

McGonagall/Sprout

Hermione/Grindelwald

thank you very much for the ask, anon! we are now almost a full calendar year into these ship asks - and i hope they continue for a very long time to come.

albus dumbledore/nicholas flamel

ok, so we've all thought about just how bonkers it is that dumbledore straight-up tells flamel to kill himself, right?

like, he's told flamel that he will keep the philosopher's stone under impregnable protection at hogwarts, and then he turns up at his house one day and says "yeah, so the obstacle course guarding the thing which has made you immortal was low-effort for an eleven-year-old... and - btw - the stone has been destroyed for a reason i have no intention of elaborating on"... i know he tells us that flamel is unafraid of death, but:

a. we only have his word for it.

b. the very fact that flamel takes the elixir actually suggests to me that he's probably got a slightly... voldemort-ish view of the whole dying lark...

which is to say, i actually really like the idea of a pretty dark dynamic between dumbledore and flamel - especially one which is, in essence, a reversal of the dynamic between dumbledore and grindelwald, in which dumbledore becomes the bored cynic with the desire to push the boundaries of magic and flamel becomes the innocent scholar who is delighted to have met someone on the same intellectual level...

which is why i was recently delighted to stumble across alone and palely loitering by @squibstress... an absolute banger!

argus filch/severus snape

i have been very taken with the way this pairing is written by delphi - especially because of the way they play with the shared grubbiness which contributes to snape and filch's respective outsider statuses within hogwarts.

but i do, generally, think it's probably flopping. snape's vibe with filch is very "even i look down on you", and i suspect that the idea of doing it with a squib is something which makes the death eater in him jump out, even when he's on the path towards reformation...

minerva mcgonagall/pomona sprout

yes.

not only because i really like the mismatch potential of mcgonagall's rather buttoned-up vibe having to come undone as she gets into the funky way in a greenhouse, but because i really like the hints we get in canon of them being comrades-in-arms [especially against the male teachers].

i think they're falling into bed the first time while they split a bottle of firewhisky and complain about umbridge. i think it's turning into something more as they help each other endure through the horrible year in which snape's headmaster.

hermione granger/gellert grindelwald

do you know what... we're going with... yes.

my unpopular view is that - in contrast to fandom slander which portrays ron as someone who can't wait to put the mudbloods in their place - hermione is the member of the trio who'd make the best death eater, on account of her tendency towards people-pleasing and her general deference to authority.

so if she finds herself yeeted back in time to the 1940s? sorry lads, she's not fixing tom riddle through the force of her intellect [he would - with my apologies to tomione nation - think her a narrow-minded bluestocking who wouldn't recognise magical creativity if it punched her in the face]...

she's becoming a fascist.

17 notes · View notes

squibstress · 17 days

Text

Catch and Release

Creator: roozette Rating: M/R Word Count: 5,560

Summary: Harry has a “tell,” when he needs affection. Ron never realized Severus had the same one.

Characters: Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Severus Snape

Pairing(s): Harry/Severus, Hermione/Ron

Why You Should Check It Out: Take a few minutes (and a hankie) and go read Catch and Release at snape_potter, written for this year's Snarry-a-thon. It's really about Ron more than Harry or Snape, and it's a beautiful story of love, friendship and growth that will warm your heart without turning your stomach. Trust me, you'll love it.

Penultimate Acts

Creator: pasi Rating: K+/PG Word Count: 11,442

Summary: Severus Snape, from nearly the end of Dumbledore's life to nearly the end of his own.

Characters: Albus Dumbledore, Amycus Carrow, Filius Flitwick, Ginny Weasley, Lily Luna Potter, Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Poppy Pomfrey, Severus Snape

Pairing(s): Lily/Severus

Why You Should Check It Out: Author pasi perfectly captures the Horror of Being Severus in his own words, sometimes sardonic, sometimes unabashedly bitter, and in the words of various denizens of Hogwarts, living and dead. It's full of missing canon moments that put the reader smack dab into Severus' mind. You'll come away from this fic pitying Severus a bit more, and hating Dumbledore a lot more.

An Act of Love

Creator: MMADfan Rating: MA/NC-17 Word Count: 156,023

Summary: Severus Snape is hit by a stray spell, which has unanticipated and undesirable consequences. When he begins to feel some side-effects from the spell, Severus seeks the help of a colleague.

Characters: Albus Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Original Character, Poppy Pomfrey, Severus Snape

Pairing(s): Albus/Minerva, Minerva/Severus

Why You Should Check It Out:

This is a particularly well-done and unusual exponent of the "shag-or-die" fic. It's one of the stories in the author's epic "RAMverse" series. MMADfan creates a very detailed and believable (within the Potterverse, anyway) world for these characters, and she uses it to tremendous effect in exploring the relationsips between them. Severus, in this story, is deliberately out-of-character to some degree, but it works to highlight the utter horror of his situation. This story, like MMADfan's other work, contains some very creative and fascinating magic, and it works according to realistic laws of nature and magic—something to make this science nerd squee. She also writes sex in a way that manages to be very fluffy and very hot at the same time. (And the sex magic is quite nice, too.)

#hp fic rec #severus snape #ron weasley #minerva mcgonagall #albus dumbledore

13 notes · View notes

squibstress · 19 days

Photo

1K notes · View notes

squibstress · 20 days

Text

Gilderoy Lockhart/Rita Skeeter Masterlist

Acid Green (ao3) - Lamia of the Dark (MotherWhyHaveYouForsakenUs)

Summary: What if Rita actually had a reason to hate Harry?

Beautiful Disaster (ao3) - ziskandra

Summary: Rita Skeeter will do anything for a lead.

Blundering Interview (ao3) - aleysiasnape

Summary: Gilderoy agrees to do an interview from Rita.

Desperate Measures (ao3) - mellamomuyloco

Summary: Gilderoy Lockhart is five years out of school and still a nobody. He's so worthless that even his best friend, who rules the press, can't seem to make a story out of him. A despicable idea comes to mind, one that he's been resisting... but it's foolproof, and he's starved for attention. She wants a story? He'll give her the story of a lifetime.

Eye of the Beholder (ao3) - Lamia of the Dark (MotherWhyHaveYouForsakenUs)

Summary: Gilderoy prefers women like Rita for many reasons, most of them selfish.

Famous (ao3) - Herochick007

Summary: He's famous, she wants to be.

From One Fraud to Another (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Rita meets a familiar face on the job.

Himbo and Bimbo (ao3) - Hinnyfied

Summary: Gilderoy Lockhart had been in St. Mungo's long-term memory care ward for nearly five years when he received a most unexpected visitor from his past.

It Matters How This Ends (ao3) - orphan_account Pairing: Bellatrix/Rita, Gilderoy/Rita, Bellatrix/Rodolphus, Antonin/Rodolphus

Summary: Rita Skeeter resolves to visit Bellatrix at the Lestrange Manor one last time before she exposes her as a death eater.

Love Note (ao3) - Lamia of the Dark (MotherWhyHaveYouForsakenUs)

Summary: "Darling, here's something to amuse yourself with while I'm away."

Mysterious Correspondence (ao3) - sophh

Summary: Gilderoy Lockhart receives a letter. All signs point to it being from someone he knows—or rather, knew.

Of Lacewing Flies and Lemon Tarts (ao3) - limegreensockft Pairing: Bartemius/Mrs Crouch, Gilderoy/Rita

Summary: Death, love, heartbreak, and lemon tarts: This is the story of the Crouch family.

Sealed with a kiss (ao3) - Shadowmun

Summary: Rita wonders why Gilderoy is interested in her. It does make sense though.

Swedes and Swedes in the Nightless Night (ao3) - Kiertorata

Summary: Gilderoy is chasing his latest adventure when someone almost compromises his plans.

talents used and talents wasted (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: It was easy to take Gilderoy for a fool, but Rita knew better. He was clever in almost the precise way she was clever. Good with people, quick to make connections, phenomenal memory. His intuitions nearly always proved correct—another strength Rita recognized as one of her own. They had both earned their place in Ravenclaw, no doubt about that.

2 notes · View notes