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gingertart50

[ website | My fics on HP Fandom ]
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A rec for a fic [May. 12th, 2012|12:25 am]
[mood | chipper]

Here's an unusual, excellent and very clever fic Fantastic Beasts and How to Tame Them: A Guide for the Seasoned Auror in hp_beholder. It's about the Malfoys, Abraxus, Lucius and Draco, and their rather unexpected relationships, from the POV of that old warrior, Alastor Moody. Excellent plot, excellent characterisation and the animals are exceptionally good, not to mention the rather odd house elves. Highly recommended, and for those who, like me, prefer their fics to be Snape-flavoured, it has a very snide, cynical, human Snape who shows his soft underbelly on occasion. Go, read, comment!
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I needs a Time Turner like woah... [May. 7th, 2012|11:05 pm]
[mood | hyper]

The Snarry-a-thon has begun posting. 
I have just signed up for the ss_hg exchange on lj. 
I am writing a fic for the Snarry Big Bang. 
I need to write my end-of-module assignment for my university course in the next 2 weeks. 
A friend has asked me to type up a hand-written journal (paid work!)
My ex-boss has contacted me and asked me to build a website (also paid work). 
I want to qualify the woolly dog for next year's Crufts which means taking her to some championship shows (which I can afford to do if the paid work actually gets paid and the tax man doesn't take all of it...)
My bloody car needs a new gearbox. I just had its universal joint thingy replaced and that didn't solve the problem.

Help? Dammit, I needs more hours in teh day. Retirement, what retirement? Ha.
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[Apr. 13th, 2012|01:03 pm]
[mood | bouncy]

Heh, I went away on holiday and when I come back, guess what?

I won the 'Hottest Kiss' category in the HP Fanfic Poll on lj here for 'Lacrimosa in the Tesco Coffee Aisle'

*squeeee*

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Bird spotting [Feb. 22nd, 2012|12:07 pm]
[mood | chipper]

We regularly travel hundreds of miles to the mountains in Snowdonia, mid-Wales, where I walk miles in the mountains with the dogs, hoping to see a red kite or two http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Kite (Milvus milvus). These magnificent raptors have been reintroduced to various parts of the UK with considerable success. Today I was washing the dishes and staring out of the kitchen window, as you do, and a red kite sailed serenely across my back yard; a stunning sight with its almost 6 foot wingspan. 

The kite hunts small animals and reptiles, and is also a scavenger, feeding on dead rabbits (myxomatosis is common here, occurring in waves every few years when the population reaches a high enough density to allow the rapid spread of the disease) so the kites are not a threat to people, dogs or cats. The local population has taken to accompanying dog walkers, watching for rodents flushed out of hiding by the dogs. The dogs and I have sometimes been followed by circling kites, which can be a little unnerving, but this is the first time I have seen one over the village. Welcome back, red kites.
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Nothing says Happy Valentine's Day... [Feb. 14th, 2012|06:22 pm]
[mood | scared]

... better than being taken out for a nice meal and to the cinema, right? 

Right. Um, yeah, except that I got to choose the film and I thought I'd like to see Dan Rad in The Woman in Black.

He was very good. The film was... good, yeah, well acted, well photographed and so on. But -

I haven't stopped shaking yet.

That was a 12a certificate???? 

What do people watch nowadays if they really want to be scared, then? 

*shudders*

Stick to fighting Voldemort, mate, much less traumatic.
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Snarry Swap and gingertart general update. [Feb. 5th, 2012|01:36 pm]
[mood | contemplative]

Snarry Swap reveals are up at Snape-Potter and I can reveal that I sneaked in under the radar as a pinch-hitter. I received a lovely fic, The Second Time around written by [info]suitesamba - thank you very much indeed! It features Harry, with Hermione's help, running a Bed-and-Breakfast in York and Snape appearing as a critic for 'Europe's Best B&Bs'. I loved the unusual setting and how well Harry, Hermione and Ron have grown up. There's a slow development of the relationship between Harry and Severus, some lovely OCs and delicious romance. If you haven't read it, go and do so - it's excellent!

I wrote Heart of Stone for Alchemia and Bugland (who haven't commented, so I'm wondering if they haven't read it or if they didn't like it - who knows?) Snape is in trouble, this time he's the object of unrequited love and his admirer is not someone you'd want to get on the wrong side of, at all. Harry rushes to the rescue but this time, has a plan and a secret weapon. No warnings apart from EWE and smut, but you didn't really need me to warn about that, did you?

I'm writing for the Anti Valentine's Day Fest on Severus_sighs - I love this group, I really do. I don't participate as much as I should. Heh, which prompt to pick? *grabs all the prompts and runs*

We have snow. Am glad I no longer need to drive to work in it, although Mr gingertart will be battling his way through the elements tomorrow. Shame we didn't get this at Christmas. Isn't as cold here as in mainland Europe, luckily for us, but they've had it bad.


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The Gingertart Chronicles [Jan. 29th, 2012|09:42 pm]
[mood | complacent]

Here is the definitive list of all the Harry Potter fanfic I have written at 500 words or longer. I'll keep this list updated and signpost to it. I'm quite surprised at how much there is!

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[Jan. 13th, 2012|07:22 pm]
[mood | contemplative]

William Shakespeare

How now, you secret, black and midnight gingertart!

Which work of Shakespeare was the original quote from?
Get your own quotes:



*cackles*

My latest fic is here - The House Elf's Tale in the Reviving Severus *sighs* fest. No warnings apply. Unless you're allergic to happy endings?
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A rec for 'Aristophanes and Aesop' [Jan. 6th, 2012|01:09 pm]
[mood | chipper]

If you wander over to LJ, to Hoggywartyxmas, you will find some delightful fics. You will also find Aristophanes and Aesop, which is - no, don't run away - a Horace Slughorn / Severus Snape fic and it is heart-wrenchingly wonderful. Written from the POV of Horace, the old duffer turns out to be insightful, kindly, romantic and courageous, yet Slytherin to the core. If you like brilliantly written hurt/comfort, fine dining and wit, go and read it!
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Collecting the Remains - a ficlet for inamac [Jan. 1st, 2012|11:16 pm]
[mood | contemplative]

Title: Collecting the Remains
Length: 1,000
Warnings: None
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Narcissa, Lucius, Severus
Beta: lovetoseverus is a goddess of SPAG and plot-bunny wrestling. Just sayin'.
A/N: Written for Inamac, who correctly guessed that I wrote 'The Number Twelve House Elf Detective Agency' in the SS_HG Exchange. She requested, 'Well, obviously, as it's me I'd pick Severus/Lucius (because there is still not enough Snucius in the world)' and suggested that I write about him judging at his next championship Crup show. However, Narcissa had always known that there was unfinished business between Lucius and Snape. Besides, after my last show, I've gone off judges a bit. Even Lucius. 

They're not mine. Do you really think I'd have subjected Severus Snape to death by reptile if they were?

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SSHG Exchange [Dec. 8th, 2011|02:58 pm]
[mood | happy]

The [info]sshg_exchange has posted the 2011 Autumn SSHG_Exchange Masterlist. All is revealed!

Thank you to [info]nejna who drew a beautiful picture for me, Like a Phoenix. Go and admire and comment!

Thank you to my beta, the incomparable [info]lovetoseverus  who helped me to kick, whip and wrestle my offering into shape. I wrote The Number Twelve House Elf Detective Agency for [info]celisnebula
whose prompts were inspiring, yet generous enough to allow plenty of room for wriggling (the Crups), strutting (Lucius), smirking (guess who), research (guess who again), side-kicking (Ron), offering good advice and alcohol (Ginny), creating mayhem (some elves), blowing stuff up (Harry) and displaying a kink for hanky-panky in naughty underwear (you'll have to read it to find out who).

Thank you to the wonderful Mods,  [info]ginny_weasley31, [info]scatteredlogic, and [info]shiv5468, without whom the exchange would not have taken place and we would all be without some of the best fanfic and fanart I have ever seen.

This is the first time I have participated in the Exchange. Well done to everyone involved, it was a fantastic experience.
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Five word meme [Dec. 8th, 2011|02:55 pm]
[mood | amused]

[info]elmyraemilie prompted me with the following five words

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SS_HG Exchange fic [Dec. 7th, 2011|03:15 pm]
[mood | bouncy]

I confess, it were me what wrote 'The Number Twelve House Elf Detective Agency' in the SS-HG exchange. Full marks to Inamac who identified me. Well, with Lucius, pedigree show-Crups and insane house elves, who else would it have been? The fic is here (if LJ is actually living when you click it, of course...)
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Anyone identified my SS-HG fic? [Dec. 1st, 2011|08:38 pm]
[mood | curious]

I wrote a fic for the SSHG exchange on LJ http://sshg-exchange.livejournal.com/

The Big Reveal will be on 7th December

I haven't tried guessing the identities of the participants because I'm quite new to the pairing and I don't know many authors yet. 

Did anyone identify my offering? There are a few clues, I think. Do you want to guess which was mine? Comment here (comments are screened) with your suggestion and I'll write something for you if you guess correctly! 

Actually I haz been bitten by a rabid plot-bunny but I don't know who to pair Severus with. Guess which was my SS-HG fic and you either get to choose who Snape ends up with or else I'll write you a ficlet with the pairing of your choice. 

*kicks muse up the arse and threatens to strangle her unless she stops sending me were-plot-bunnies that turn into velociraptors*

 

EDIT - just in case I'm a lot more obvious than I think I am - I've just realised that I might have committed myself to writing quite a few fics! *gulp* So, the first person to guess correctly will get their choice of either a ficlet or choose Severus's partner. If more than one other person gets it right, I'll put their names in my wizarding hat and pick out one who will get the other prize. OK?  

*mysterious gingertart is mysterious*
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Suggestions please, dear flist [Nov. 11th, 2011|11:37 am]
[mood | frustrated]

I'm following a fest on LJ. At least, I want. Trouble is, I'm getting old and my eyesight has never been good even as a kid, and is slowly getting worse with advancing decrepitude. The fest is beautifully illustrated with lovely pics of my second-favourite Slytherin but the text is quite small, white on black, and I can only read it for a short while before my eyes hurt and I give up. If I highlight the text with my curser-thingy, it goes to blue on white, which is a bit easier, but tedious as I have to scroll down and pick up a batch of text every time. Is it easiest to admit defeat, save an entire fic and paste it into Word? Or is there a way of changing the set-up on my monitor so I can read it? Preferably in black on white. Any suggestions gratefully received.

EDITED - thank you to Torino who suggested putting ?style=mine at the end of the URL - genius!
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Cliche Fest reveals are up! [Nov. 6th, 2011|09:32 am]
[mood | cold]

This was my offering Lacrimosa in the Tesco Coffee Aisle

Thank you to the wonderful Lovetoseverus who did her usual fantastic beta job, beat my random punctuation into submission and ensured that everything made sense. Thank you to Accioslash and Torino for running this terrific fest. Thank you everyone for commenting and reccing.

Bloody hell this sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech. All true, though.


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Why did I register for a university course starting in October? [Oct. 4th, 2011|04:39 pm]
[mood | tired]

*sigh*

My university course started on the 1st October. So did the Snarry cliche fest. The Severus/Hermione exchange is still going strong. Both are posting wonderful fics & artses that I don't want to miss. Waaahhhh! Not enough hours in teh day! The Lucius BigBang starts posting in November and there's Snarry Swap and my brain in going to melt and leak out of my ears.
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Three books that changed my life [Sep. 23rd, 2011|12:55 pm]
[mood | contemplative]

The Lord of the Rings Those of you young enough to take JRR Tolkien for granted can have no idea of the impact of this trilogy on impressionable young minds raised on Enid Blyton. Alas that it spawned an entire industry of high fantasy imitations.

The Double Helix Why I became a scientist. The story of the discovery of the structure of DNA. I should have taken note that all the movers and shakers were male, and the only female involved died long before her contribution was fully acknowledged. I wanted to be a researcher but at the time, females did the menial tasks unless they were real high-flyers, totally dedicated and twice as good most of the men. It was very hard indeed to get anywhere if you had other things in your life, like a house to run, pets or family to look after. The really successful female scientists that I knew, were all single (except for the one who was maried to an exceptionally supportive man. Who was retired and looked after the house.) Say no more. Things have changed now but I gave up and moved on.

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor totally changed the way I handle dogs, relate to people and train animals. This book sent me on a mission to find out more about the science behind learning, training and behaviour that has lasted 15 years so far and is still going strong.
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Sometimes I sits and thinks, most times I just sits [Sep. 10th, 2011|07:57 pm]
[mood | contemplative]

Have things changed much over the years, I wonder? Many years ago, I went to a meeting with a friend who happened to be my dentist at the time. I introduced him as 'this is N, he's my dentist' and afterwards, he asked me not to do that, to just introduce him by name. I apologised and didn't do it again, but it set me thinking. I would have LOVED to be introduced by something I did or had done, rather than as belonging to someone. I never imagined that someone would object to it.

As a child and teen, I was introduced as 'this is M's daughter' or 'C's eldest child.' Then I was introduced as 'Mr gingertart's girlfriend / fiancee / wife'. I was never, ever, introduced to anyone as 'this is gingertart, she's a scientist / microbiologist / researcher'. At work, I tended to be 'this is gingertart, she works for M / she works in E's group / she's J's assistant' (and note that M, E and J were all male) although very rarely, 'this is gingertart, she works on Listeria or whatever'. But outside work, no, I always belonged to someone, someone's daughter or wife or friend. My brother was 'this is T, he's a bank manager' or financial consultant or whatever he happened to be doing. Mr Gingertart was and still is a teacher. I'm an appendage. Is this one of the reasons why it is harder for females to rise to the top; they are fed subtle messages that they're not taken quite so seriously? 

 

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I have art! [Sep. 7th, 2011|10:29 pm]
[mood | ecstatic]

Magnificent art, the most beautiful picture of Hermione and Snape in the SSHG_exchange, here. Go and admire and comment! It is utterly gorgeous.
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