Welcome back to a New Year and our first In the Spotlight of 2020! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and now well rested and ready to jump into our first site-wide event of the year... We await updates from the Center for Magical Disease Control.

This Month we've got your usual Order of Merlin interview and story advertisement, interviews with our Head Students, and updates on each of the house's Monthly Awards. 

First up... 

 

Our first Order of Merlin of 2020 went to the incredible @down-in-flames! Taylor is everywhere on the forums and our Social Media. During events you can always find her at the heart of the action, and over on the archives her AP is a treasure trove of jily fics and epic romance novels. Thank you for all the work you put in to keep the site running, Taylor! 

 

D O W N _ I N _ F L A M E S

^{| I N T E R V I E W |}

 

If there was only one forum that you could post in on HPFT, which one would it be?

oof, maybe the house cup area? that way i can be involved in all the events and nano and stuff, which are my favorite parts of hpft 

What’s a hobby of yours?

i feel like 'working out' is a weird answer here but that's probably it? it's my primary form of stress relief - whether it comes in the form of weightlifting, yoga, boxing, running, or who knows what else - and i enjoy it so much that i got certified as a personal trainer and have developed an internet presence as a ~fitness influencer~ (i hate the word influencer so much but it's sadly the most fitting term lmao)

i've also retained some very basic piano-playing skills from childhood so occasionally i'll spend an hour or so teaching myself to play the accompaniment for whatever song i'm currently obsessed with on the piano.

Who is your favourite character [from any fandom] and why?

ooh, this is tricky! i think my answer here is probably elle woods - apart from the obvious fact that her whole storyline is about kicking ass in law school and i'm headed to law school in the fall, i love that her whole thing is that her love of things like fashion and astrology and haircare and other things that are traditionally dismissed as 'silly' doesn't hinder her from being exceptionally badass in school and her career. while i may wear way less pink than she does, that whole schtick is exactly my game as well.  and her persistence is admirable - whenever she sets her mind to something, she makes it happen, even when the people around her don't think she's capable of it.

When is the last time you’ve written? What did you write about?

last time i wrote was... 1am last night? occasionally i'll get an idea for a specific sentence or bit of dialogue right before i go to bed, and i always end up cursing myself if i don't write it down right then (because i will forget about it by the next morning), and that happened last night, lol. this one was a random sentence smack dab in the middle of a kiss scene that happens in pieces fall (the unposted quidditch jily novel), and looking at it this morning, i'm a fan.

What was the last book/story you’ve read?

reading? what's that? no really, it's been an embarrassingly long time since i've read a book. i should do that, lol (with what free time,  taylor? good question). the last fic i read, though, is everything stays - it's a jily muggle au with fake dating and gratuitous taylor swift references, so... basically right up my alley. a new chapter just went up this morning, so i naturally had to read it on the metro on my way into work.

If you couldn’t write a Jily story ever again, what would your go-to ship be?

ok this question is just mean  i had a period of time where i was really into writing teddy/victoire, so maybe that? i also really love harry/ginny, even if i've never written much of it, so maybe i'd just start going with that one. i feel like their dynamic is kinda similar to james and lily's in a number of ways, so maybe that could work? let's be real i'm never gonna stop writing jily though

What do you do when you get a particular scene in your head that’s not meant to happen until much later in a multi-chaptered fic?

i write it. i've learned that if i try to force myself to just hold onto the scene until i reach that point chronologically, it will haunt the fuck out of me, whereas if i let myself just write it - whether it's a full scene or just a few lines of dialogue, it'll leave me alone and let me work on the point of the story i'm actually meant to be working on in peace. i have 'random scenes' docs for all of my wips, and i'll just dump everything in there. sometimes when i catch up to that point in the story, i'll need to rework the scene from the way i originally wrote it in order to make it fit with whatever unexpected things happened in the story between first writing it and now, but by and large i can usually just slot things right in.

 

^{| A D V E R T I S E M E N T |}

Story Title: Complex
Link: +here
Pairings: James Sirius Potter / OC
Summary:

Quote

 

 

"You don't let something destroy you for that long unless there's at least some part of you that's convinced that it's worth it."
Abby Winchester is both working on the biggest Auror case since Voldemort's time and planning her and James Potter's wedding.
One of those things is probably going to kill her – and right now, she’s betting on the latter.

 

 

Just because they're out of Hogwarts, doesn't mean the drama has stopped! Abby and James are back in the sequel to Complicated with some old faces as well as new ones as they try to navigate adulthood. Go catch Taylor doing a great job of tearing apart all your faves and building them back up, along with a dash of murder, some wedding planning, and other fun surprises!

 

Our Head Students this month were @800 words of heaven and @victoria_anne!

I N T E R V I E W S
^{| 8 0 0  W O R D S  O F  H E A V E N |}

 

What is your favourite place to visit on HPFT?

The reading challenge thread! I love seeing what other people have been reading, and cheering each other on to achieve our reading goals! And if those reading goals are not achieved, I'm totally there to offer support.

If there’s one story of yours you would like to tell us about, what would it be and why?
Hmm... very difficult to choose! I guess Not Normal, since it's the one I'm currently writing. It's my oldest WIP! Next gen shenanigans featuring ghosts of the Ghost Whisperer/Mediator series (by Meg Cabot) kind, Regulus Black, adventure, giant nerds, and the Founders(!!?)

What’s your favourite thing about being a Slytherin?

You have tacit permission to express yourself and not censor yourself because you have certain expectations to meet. At HPFT, my fave thing is that it's such a chill and fun House, and the Common Room is always buzzing with cool threads and monthly activities to get involved in, and support my fellow community members.

What’s a story you’ve always wanted to write but haven’t written yet?

A rom-com and weirdly a Percy/Audrey rom-com. I've got a thing for romance and laughs!

How did you first get into your profession?

I was nearing the end of my undergrad, and I found myself thinking very seriously about what I wanted from the next few years, and perhaps a little more long-term. So I applied for med school because it allowed me to be at university for four more years, I'd be a lifelong learner, and I'd have a lot of choice about what my work week would look like. If I wanted, I could practice clinically, do research, and teach - theoretically all in one week! I've just started working as a junior doctor, and so far, I have no regrets!

Which Star Trek series (tv or films) is your favourite and why?
I'm quite a new Trekkie, and there's so much media to consume. So far, I've watched the 2009 reboot films, TOS, Discovery, and I'm partway through TAS. Out of those, my fave has been Discovery. It's a very hopeful show that portrays all the wonderful things about science and space exploration that is one of the tenets of Star Trek philosophy for me. Plus the main cast is full of people of colour - mostly women of colour, actually; there's a prominent same-sex relationship; and the starship is helmed by two very capable women. There's so much to love!

 

^{| V I C T O R I A _ A N N E |}

What is your favourite place to visit on HPFT?

The Hufflepuff common room. There's always super sweet things going on in there 

If there’s one story of yours you would like to tell us about, what would it be and why?

Ooh, I don't know. I've been pretty honest with every project I work on so you probably know them all already! But to give you a more interesting answer, I started a fanfiction that's a bit of a retelling of the video game What Remains of Edith Finch but with Susan Bones. I've been really busy lately so I don't know if it will ever be written, though!

Who is your favourite character in the How To Train Your Dragon series and why?

Hiccup. How could he not be?

How is your OF work coming along?

Really good, thanks! My current project is now on 46k and I want to have it finished by the end of February 

Do you have any tips on getting to the point of completing a novel, fanfic or original fiction?

WRITE. It will never be done if you don't sit down and write it. It's as simple and as difficult as that! Also, knowing the ending helps, too, so you know what you're working towards!

Sweet or savory snacks?

Savoury. I'm currently travelling around the UK and Pringles are my go-to for every plane, train, and bus trip!

 

Notes From the Ravenclaw Bulletin Board by @Lost_Robin

R E V I E W  C O L U M N
_{| N O T E S  F R O M  T H E  R A V E N C L A W  B U L L E T I N  B O A R D |}

Robin takes us on a familiar journey of events during Order of the Phoenix, but from a different perspective through the lens of notes and announcements posted on the Ravenclaw House Common Room Bulletin Board. The two seventh year Prefects Audrey Clearwater and Evan Fawley are clearly excited to have this reinstated, and don’t waste time in setting up the guidelines for it so that it doesn’t get overrun by things in poor taste or not-so-subtle requests for sweets and antics. With her allusions to certain events in the notices Audrey and Evan put up, we still get a sense of where we are in canon events, but the passionate discussions and debates about those events gives it that true Ravenclaw flair. 

All that said, if you’re looking for a truly unique take on both the epistolary style and canon events, look no further than Notes From the Ravenclaw Bulletin Board. You’re in for a real treat (pun intended), and some great debate content. Furthermore, this fic is officially completed, so you don’t even have to wait for new chapters to come out, you can read the whole thing at once! Binge away on the fun-filled chaos that is the Ravenclaw House Common Room Bulletin Board. 

 

I N T E R V I E W   W I T H   T H E   A U T H O R
_{| L O S T _ R O B I N |}

What inspires you to write?

Uhhhhh... I just really attached to the Harry Potter series as a kid, and I wanted to write more stories for me to read. I was a bit of a bookworm as a kid, and my sole reason for starting to write was so I could read more stuff that was just for me. A bit selfish, I know, but I don't like writing stuff I won't personally enjoy reading.

I don't really have a single source of inspiration, say, but I get ideas from the stuff around me. The cottage and forest in Iris albicans, for example, is based on the forest around my house and the Hundred-Acre Woods. I get ideas and such from what I read and watch, but I wouldn't say that there's one surefire way to inspire me?

What is a genre/trope that you’ve never written before, but want to try?

There's only one bed! I love this trope, and I'm doing the challenge here for it, but I have never actually written it before. It's just so good?? I don't write a lot of romances, so it'll be interesting. I'm not even sure what ship I'll be doing (definitely going to be one from HP), but I'm going to (hopefully) have fun with it.

I haven't done any historical HP stuff (like, before even Andromeda, though, technically, Taliesin is??), and I know that's something I'm going to be writing for a challenge very soon.

Who are some published authors you look up to?

Philip Pullman, Ally Carter (seriously, you all should read her books, they're fantastic and I love them),  Jenny Nimmo (yes, Charlie Bone is a huge influence on what I write), Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman (No More Dead Dogs is one of my favourite books of all time), Vivian Vande Velde (Heir Apparent, please go read it). They're all authors I've been reading since childhood (well, adolescence for Ally Carter), and I just think their writing styles are neat.

If you could give one piece of advice to your fellow writers, what would it be?

Write for yourself, and write something you enjoy. I know, I know, that's super duper cheesy. But, for the longest time, I wrote what I thought other people would like, and it kind of took all the fun out of writing for me. I didn't start actually writing what I wanted to write until I was in a fiction seminar with a professor I'd never had before, and he told us to write something we actually enjoyed. Our senior project for the major was a forty-page excerpt from a longer piece, and we all wrote some sort of fantasy because that was what we liked. I try to write stuff I enjoy, and I indulge myself with some of my fics.

How do you keep the huge cast of characters voices straight in your head as you’re writing?

I don't.  I'm going to be honest: I was winging almost every single second of that fic. I knew how Audrey, Evan, and the third years (because they're Iris' age and I've written them before) sounded, and, technically, Fred, George, and Umbridge (ew), but I didn't really have voices for most of the other ones. I know how some of them sound, and I figured it out as I went along. That being said, some of them sound eerily similar, and it's a little more difficult to tell apart some of the anonymous ones than I would have liked.

How much of your current WIP novel do you have written, and when do you expect to finish it?

I have 10 (ten) chapters on HPFT, and I have most of the next chapter written. I'm a little stuck on the next chapter because I'm writing an actual debate, and, as someone who would honestly cry if she had to debate in front of a lot of people, it is very difficult. Also, I have never been part of a debate team or anything, so I'm sorry if it seems a little weird.

I hope to have it finished within the next four months. Having said that, it will probably take a year. I'm hoping closer to the former rather than the latter. I've gotten a good bit of the end written, so we just have to get there from where we currently are. It's taken a bit longer than I imagined because I didn't even think of more than just general plot points for this, and I am definitely paying. I've learned my lesson from this, and I'm writing several chapters at the same time right now. If I manage to get the debate written within the next few days, then all I'll need to do is edit it before submitting.

Since it's the first in a series, I'm going to be taking a little time off after it to at least write a complete chapter or three of the next year before I start publishing it. I'm also going to edit a few of the chapters in Iris albicans because I honestly rushed a few of them and they kinda suck.

That was a kind of rambly answer, but it's going to be eighteen chapters total. This is completely arbitrary, but it's enough space to properly finish up the arc. That being said, it will probably change to being a novella because I doubt that it will be fifty-thousand words. It will be a lot, but I don't know many.

 

And now for a glimpse into each of the Common Rooms!

 

F E A T U R E D   F I C

crushed little stars by @poppunkpadfoot

 

How did you come up with the idea for Crushed Little Stars?

Honestly it all came from the picspam that Abbi assigned me for her challenge. Specifically the phrase "you're not in love, you're just drunk" really grabbed me. I had already been thinking a lot about writing a sequel to Hitting the Ground and I felt like that line fit Sirius/Iain perfectly.

What are three songs you'd put on a soundtrack for Crushed Little Stars?

Well the whole 'verse has a playlist made exclusively of Mitski songs  the three that I listened to most while I was writing Crushed Little Stars were:
1. Townie
2. My Body's Made of Crushed Little Stars
3. First Love / Late Spring

(links M just in case)

What's your favourite trope to write and to read?

The answer is the same for both writing and reading - I love friends-to-lovers! Most of my favourite pairings fit this trope hahaha.

What's something you've never written and would still like to?

Well Emma and I have been talking about writing a collab about James's parents dying for ages, but we still haven't gotten around to it. But we are planning to at some point! Also, one of my resolutions for this year is to branch out from HP fanfiction by finally writing a Steve/Bucky (MCU) fic.

Is there some headcanon you have that you include in every story?

Well, there's the whole gay Sirius thing  also James is Tamil in all of my fics. I don't think there are any smaller headcanons (like about habits, preferences, whatever) that I've managed to include in every story, although I do mention Sirius smoking cigarettes in quite a lot of fics. 

 

L E A D I N G   L I O N

@LadyMarauder

Tell us the most Gryffindor thing you've done lately

I've never saw myself as outwardly brave, I'm quite an anxious person, but I do get very passionate about things that are important to me. So, I recently had a...conversation with my dad about us voting for different parties in the recent UK General Election. So in the car park of my daughter's nursery, we had a blazing row about it, because he apparently can't have a rational conversation about politics, resulting in my daughter asking why my face was red and blotchy when I went in to collect her. I would have never been able to do that a few years ago without bawling my eyes out, so I think my Gryffindor traits have become stronger as I've got older.

What class in Hogwarts would you most like to take?

I'd love to take Charms as there are so many cool spells to learn. However, I would like to have a go at duelling, and going back to the not outwardly brave thing again, Defence Against the Dark Arts would be great to throw around spells without actually having to duel anyone for real!

Favourite holiday tradition?

Every year we drive around town to look at the best Christmas lights and it's so much fun. There's a town close to where I live where every house in the street decorates their houses with lights and it attracts hundreds of people and they take donations for local charities. It gets bigger and crazier each year and I always love going.

Would you rather live on  boat or live in an RV?

Oh an RV, for sure. I get seasick on a lilo, so me and boats don't really get on very well.

Which Harry Potter character do you most relate to and why?

This is a really difficult one as I guess I see bits of me in a lot of them, though I reckon Remus Lupin would come quite close in many ways. He's quite tolerant and level-headed in comparison to his friends' recklessness, and he's also quite kind and generally the more sensible one of the group, which is a lot like me. Though I like to think I have a bit of a wry sense of humour like Remus has too.

S T O R Y   O F   T H E   M O N T H

 A Ghost, a Grave  by @MuggleMaybe

 

P U F F   O F   T H E   M O N T H

@victoria_anne

Congratulations on being chosen as Hufflepuff of the Month. How does this make you feel?

It’s really nice and appreciated, especially since I’ve not been feeling well mentally lately. My beloved cat passed away while I’m overseas 

What makes you a Hufflepuff?

I look good in yellow 

If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

I’d love to be able to time travel, with control of when, where, and for how long!

If you could eat one food for the rest of your life and not get tired of it, what would it be?

This is so hard because I’m such a foodie, but probably a good pasta carbonara. 

Marvel or DC?

DC, but I’m not a huge fan of superhero movies. 

It's no secret you are a fan of HTTYD, what about the series appeals to you so much?

There’s just so much, and my love for the books and the films are so different. It’s one of those stories that saved me at the time I discovered it, and now it’s a comfort I can return to. 

 

S T O R Y   O F   T H E   M O N T H

Friendly Correspondence by @MadiMalfoy

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck?

Honestly, I'd rather fight neither since that's not in my character repertoire since I hate hurting animals, but if I had to, it'd probably be 100 duck-sized horses, bc honestly, horses go down pretty easy, whereas ducks can fly and be very aggressive so like, it's an obvious choice there. 

What do you enjoy most about writing an epistolary fic? What’s been most challenging?

I've always enjoyed epistolary stories -- Frankenstein was a favorite read in high school, and I think it's something that isn't done very often in current literature, so it stands out more when that is done. I personally enjoy getting to display the characters' emotions in a different way through their letter writing versus face to face contact/descriptive writing -- it's a more challenging way of describing emotions, and means that word choices are more significant because of it. The most challenging, with this fic in particular, is deciding which canon events I want Hermione & Viktor to be discussing, and how often I want their letters to be sent to each other, and weaving both of those things together into reasonable amounts of back and forth for each season/chapter. 

Which canon character do you most identify with and how so?

I used to say Hermione in a heartbeat, but now that I'm in graduate school, and I've realised my ability to learn things isn't just like Hermione, I think I'm more along the lines of Neville, with a dash of Luna thrown in for good measure. I say Neville because even though I'm not a Gryffindor, he has to work hard to do well in his classes, and he also has trouble sticking up to his friends when they're getting into trouble, and those are two things I struggle with even now! I'm by nature the Mom Friend, so I don't like confrontation, and I've had to relearn some of my study habits to improve them and make them more efficient for what I need to get out of my courses in graduate school. 

If you could only eat one food for the next year, what would it be?

Pasta. Pasta. Pasta. I already eat it more than a healthy amount probably is, so this is an easy question!

 

C L A W   O F   T H E   M O N T H

@RonsGirlFriday

What's your favourite genre to read?

Ooh, I'm all over the place in my reading preferences, honestly. But I'll say mystery, because I can't actually write it worth a damn, so I like to read it when others do it well.

What house do you identify with the least, and why?

Slytherin, and not just because it's the stereotypical "bad" House. Sometimes I wish I did have more Slytherin in me, really. While I suppose I have a modicum of ambition, having always been pretty driven, I don't consider myself sly or cunning in the slightest. What you see is what you get with me.

Why do you write?

That's a question that feels harder to answer than it really should be! I like to put myself in a different pair of shoes than my own, and through my characters maybe become someone other than myself for a while. And sometimes it's because there's a story in my head that feels like it needs to be told. Overall, it just makes me happy and feels natural to me.

Who is your favourite character from a fandom that isn’t Harry Potter?

Dana Scully (X-Files). When I was a teenager I wanted to be in the FBI because of her. She's intelligent, brave, self-possessed, logical, realistically flawed, subtly sassy when someone (usually her partner) is being a dope. She's a role model. And she's a redhead.

What is your favourite word?

I really just like anything that can be used to throw shade for someone or something being stupid without actually saying that. "Silliness" and "tomfoolery" are some favorites of mine.

 

S T O R Y  O F  T H E  M O N T H
Until the Sun Falls by @MrsDarcy

 

S N A K E  O F  T H E  M O N T H
@Bunbury

 

Welcome to the January's Monthly Dilemma, our first of the new year! Each month, we will ask a question! Anyone who answers the question in the comments below before the 15th of next month (February) will be entered into a raffle to win a free review!

 

Last Month's Winner: @RonsGirlFriday

Please PM a Prefect to tell us where you'd like a review! 

 

This Month's Dilemma: What are your favourite story tropes and what do you love about them?

 

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credits:
graphics: deni
oom adverts, sotm review column: sarah, madi
monthly dilemma: tasha
reviewers: madi
interviewers and couriers: deni, sarah, madi, tasha
blog compilation: deni