Welcome one and all to the October edition of In the Spotlight! We've got the usual interviews with our Order of Merlin recipient, Head Students, and the Story of the Month author. Make sure also to check out the Community Coordinator News section to see what the other Houses have been up to lately!

October's Order of Merlin recipient is one of our lovely Moderators, @dreamshadow!

D R E A M S H A D O W
| I N T E R V I E W |

If there was only one forum that you could post in on FFT, which one would it be?
probably the great hall! there are so many fun topics to choose from and create, and it's a great way to interact with people from other houses as well. i feel like i keep discovering new gems whenever i'm modding and it's fun to see what other people are up to 

What is a hobby of yours?
binging either youtube or netflix when i should be writing

Who is your favorite character [from any fandom] and why?
this one is easy. bellamy blake, the 100.
i know, i know -- i love clarke, but bellamy's been my dude from day one. he starts off as such the bad boy, rebel leader, sneaking onto the dropship so that his sister wouldn't be alone when they send the delinquents down to earth. he's the typical playboy asshole in season 1, back when his relationship with clarke slides right into the 'enemies' part of 'enemies to lovers'. you hate him at first and then his character grows as the show progresses. 
and then you're into season 2 and you think "shit, when did i fall in love with bellamy blake?" he's not actually a selfish asshole and becomes the definition of the Mom Friend™ (bc let's be real, bellamy's the mom friend and clarke is the dad friend in this relationship), having a good co-leadership with clarke, and his heart is made out of gold and how he starts to lead with his heart/impulses rather than with his head. i could talk about how much i love him forever but i think i'll shut up now, lol
also, he's really hot, okay? can't not mention that

When is the last time you’ve written? What did you write about?
last week! i think on monday? i was finishing up my entry for the lovers to friends challenge, featuring two original characters in a modern au of the 100
(seriously can my brain write anything else)

Malts or shakes, and what's your favorite flavor?
shakes! and chocolate

Who is an author you've recently read, and what book of theirs do you recommend?
ooh, i recently finished full disclosure by camryn garrett. i'd definitely recommend it; it's about a girl navigating a new high school in her junior (i think? or senior) year while being HIV-positive. it's a really fresh plot for young adult contemporary and i love the main romance in it. there's also great representation and deals with hard topics in a good way 

| A D V E R T I S E M E N T |

Story Title: nights like these
Link: here+
Pairings: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, John Murphy/OC
Summary:

Quote

Maybe Bellamy was right, and she wasn't the only one who lost her brother, but that didn't sound like grief.  It sounded like summer vacation.

-or-

The nights Emma Rhodes learned to let go.

The Story of the Month for October is this calls for a toast, so pour the champagne by @tinyporcelainehorses!

R E V I E W   C O L U M N
| T H I S   C A L L S   F O R   A   T O A S T ,  S O   P O U R   T H E   C H A M P A G N E |

"This Calls for a Toast, so Pour the Champagne" is the rebuilding-era story you didn't know you needed. Instead of focusing on the trio or other commonly written-about characters, it's Dudley's story. The story starts at Harry and Ginny's wedding, where Dudley is a reluctant guest. As you can imagine, he's not comfortable around the magical folk in attendance, and tinyporcelainehorses doesn't shy away from portraying that discomfort. In fact, they do an amazing job of weaving the general Muggle discomfort at magic with the more specific discomfort that Dudley feels after the way he was brought up and the "values" his parents instilled in him. Nevertheless, the author makes Dudley so likeable that you'll be drawn in and really want to know just how his life intersects with Cho Chang's and other magical people's. If you need any further encouragement, please take it from my favorite line in chapter 1: "I'm Dudley Dursley. I get punched in the face for fun. I win trophies for it. I can handle any weird wizard shit."

I N T E R V I E W   W I T H   T H E   A U T H O R
| T I N Y P O R C E L A I N H O R S E S | 

What was the inspiration for this calls for a toast, so pour the champagne?
This fic started with a pretty clear train of thought, which I have somewhat outlined in the authors note on ao3.  I've always really hated that one bullshit JKR interview line about how she thought Dudley might have a magical child and be in the epilogue, but she decided that any magic would be cancelled out by Uncle Vernon's DNA.  Besides her weird Obsession About Blood again, it also just seems like the far less interesting story choice.  So I started thinking - slight spoilers ahead - what if Dudley had a magical child?  And it's more interesting if he had them with a canonically magical character, rather than a random one - so whose romantic life is open to the possibility?  Well, we know Cho married a muggle - and there's something so weird about the premise, and what would need to happen for the two of them to get together, that I was drawn to it.

What three songs would you put on a soundtrack for this fic?
When I was writing this fic, I didn't bother thinking of a title until I was hovering over the post button on AO3 - so the title is pulled from a Panic! At The Disco song (I Write Sins Not Tragedies).  I don't know if I really love it as a title anymore, but the song is a banger so it should absolutely be on there.

Otherwise?  I think a lot of what I think about with this fic - which admittedly is partly in chapters I haven't yet uploaded to the archive - is a sort of patient, gentle love story, two people feeling each other out, and gentle domesticity and healing.  I really like to have some folk music for that, so I'd probably suggest something like Chemicals by Gregory Alan Isakov, or Gotta Have You by the Weepies - and not just because those are some of the songs I listened to on loop while writing it!

I love making playlists, but have somehow never made one for one of my stories.  I should really start.

What's the last book you read and would you recommend it?
I've been reading less than I'd like this year, but I recently finished a reread of Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.  I would, no joke, recommend basically all of his books to anyone who passes me - so yes.  If you want a really, really funny take on Macbeth from the Witches perspective, packed with interesting ideas about what good magic and monarchy are, anyway, I highly recommend it.  I've been liberally stealing ideas from him about witches for my other ongoing fic the entire time.

What Potter character would you have for an invisible friend and why?
I love this question because it specifies that they're an invisible friend.  As tempted as I am to choose Crookshanks and get an invisible cat, it's hard enough wrangling two visible ones - I think I'd choose Luna, on the basis that a) she's fun to hang out with and b) she'd take being invisible pretty much in her stride.

Do you have a quirky talent or hobby?
I spend a lot of time building with Lego!  Last year I spent nine months building a giant Hogwarts castle (based on the books, not the movies - hashtag justice for the book version of the boathouse), and more recently I spent an entire calendar year building a giant zoo that measured five foot by five foot, complete with almost four hundred visitors and a lot of animals.

Working from home means I've converted a corner of my lego room into an office, where sometimes, if I'm not too tempted by the bricks spread across tables behind me, I do my work.

What song/songs immediately transport you back to your childhood?
Something that's really weird about my parents is that they don't really do music - they do a little now, but they basically never listened to any music in my childhood, with a few exceptions.  The biggest of these, which I'm curious if anyone else here is familiar with, was The Wombles - a novelty pop band based on a tv show based on a series of environmental children's novels about a species of ecosocialist cryptids who secretly lived amongst us.  They performed - what else? - spot on genre parodies about recycling, including the best Beach Boys song ever written and a Bond theme.

 

October's Head Students are two very active and present staff members of FFT, @magemadi and @victoria_anne!

I N T E R V I E W S
| M A G E M A D I |

What is your favorite place to visit on FFT?
My favorite place to visit on FFT is probably the Original Fiction subforum because it's so cool to see a) how much original work people are writing and b) how much we all support each other for doing original fiction writing in the first place! It's really wonderful seeing everyone pushing each other to strive for their goals.

If there’s one story of yours you would like to tell us about, what would it be and why?
Well I would really like to talk about my Hermione/Fred drabble collection, Outrageous Wit+ because it's a pairing I've really grown to like a lot more in recent years, but there's a severe lack of it on the FFT archives at the moment. It's a series of 26 alphabetical but not chronological drabbles documenting different points of their relationship (both platonic and romantic) and also a couple of devastating moments as well, as everything takes place during the canon timeline of the books.

What's your current obsession?
I'm going to cheat and talk about two -- one is my quarantine hobby of cross-stitch, and the other is my recent dive into playing Elder Scrolls Online that has been quite addicting and fun to play! Cross stitch is so easy to do while watching Netflix or something else, and ESO lets me think more creatively while also not being a huge brain power suck.

If you could master one skill overnight, what would it be?
Ooh this is tough! I would master would probably be something along the lines of making my own soaps/detergents/cleaning supplies out of environmentally friendly and sustainable materials, if that counts? IDK, I'm trying to buy less big brand stuff where possible but just haven't made the leap yet to making my own things, so maybe if I was masterful at it overnight, I'd start that process sooner! 

You've mentioned before that you'd like to someday publish an original novel. What OF genres are you interested in writing?
I'm interested in a couple of genres, though bookstores tend to smush them together -- fantasy is my current focus, but I'd also love to publish science fiction novels as well! Both hold great interest in my heart and are two genres I greatly enjoy reading in (peep my bookshelf which is like 90% fantasy & sci-fi books) so I'd love to be an author in those genres.

What's one thing that's helped you get through quarantine?
One thing that has really helped me get through quarantine is actually my bullet journal -- I do a weekly spread along with a monthly spread, so I make sure to give myself tasks to do every day so that I don't just wallow around not doing work. It's also been a great creative outlet too, which is always a bonus! (pls join me in the bullet journal thread in the great hall, it's a good time)

 

| V I C T O R I A _ A N N E |

 What is your favorite place to visit on FFT?
The Hufflepuff Common Room, of course! There's always something going on, and I love chatting to my fellow badgers and finding out what they've been up to lately 

If there’s one story of yours you would like to tell us about, what would it be and why?
Ooh, this is a hard one. Assuming I can talk about OF, I think I'll have to go with the last novel I finished, The Inventor and the Comet. It's about a girl who plans to invent a machine to save her world from an impending comet, but when she meets a mysterious boy and discovers the blueprints to a terrifying automaton army, she realises the comet is the least of her worries. The story is completely different to anything I've ever written before, and I loved focusing on friendships, body positivity, and exploring my own self-worth as I wrote about the characters' worth. It was also longlisted in a competition a few weeks ago, so that was exciting!

What have you found to be most exciting so far on your original fiction publishing journey?
Seeing myself grow, if you'll excuse my sappiness  The more I write, the more confident I become, the better I can market my story and myself, and the more opportunities I'm able to seek out - and some of them are beginning to pay off. I just think of the Bianca who first sat down to write a novel five years ago, and how far I've come from then. And FFT is a big part of that!

Who is your favorite character in HTTYD and why?
Hiccup  Love that smol bean. I'm a fan of tiny heroes  and being different from your family is something he and I have in common.

What's your favorite type of pasta to eat?
All of it  But I can never, ever go past a carbonara! 

If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
The ability to manipulate time! I'd love to be able to pause it so I can read all the books in the world  (but I'd also love to be able to predict lottery numbers )

 

And now it's time for updates from the Community Coordinators and the Houses! Stay tuned for a possible Community Coordinator-run writing challenge happening this winter, and take some deep breaths if you're gearing up for NaNoWriMo.

| G R Y F F I N D O R |

The Gryffies have been uncharacteristically chill this month as we wind down from last month's opener and look ahead to Nano next month.

Check out the +Gryffie Story Updates thread to see what some of your fellow lions have written recently. Our Featured Fic was nothing to lose and each other to gain by @down-in-flames and our Leading Lion was @hotel california!

Congrats to our winners!

| H U F F L E P U F F |

It was a quiet, but lovely month in the 'Puff Basement!

We started by congratulating @victoria_annefor joining the staff team as a validator (and being awarded the Head Student award in the same month!) and thanking @just.a.willow.tree and @singmetothesun for their venerable service as they stepped down from the staff and community coordinator teams. We also honored our lovely @dreamshadow who was chosen for the month's OoM award. Finally, several 'Puff stories were recognized in the October bulletin, including The Fifth House by@Ameripuff, "Fried Artichokes and Old Songs" by @Felpata_Lupin, and "The Moth and the Flame" by @sinnersandsapphics.

In CR activities, we continue to track our review cheerleaderboard+, which shows that 'Puffs left 126 reviews in the month of September, including eight 'Puffs who are on 2+ month streaks! We also have another month of review swaps underway, so please check out that thread. And if you'd like to play Who's that Hufflepuff?, it's still ongoing! Also this month, we greeted our newest Hufflepuff, @melonknee!

This month's issue of Hear Ye, Hufflepuff+ has also been published, and we have the great pleasure of announcing some fantastic 'Puff OtMs: @prideofprewett is our Hufflepuff of the Month, and our 'Puff Story of the Month is for the "Daffodils" by @Leo. Take a moment to drop by the CR and congratulate them! And don't forget to nominate your fellow Badgers for next month's awards! Nomination threads+ are open until October 25th at 11:59 p.m. GMT.

And that's our Badger news for this month! Yay !

| R A V E N C L A W |

It's been a mellow month in Ravenclaw Tower, coming off last month's House Cup opener and gearing up for NaNoWriMo, but as usual the Ivory Tower is up (with fun Battleship stats!) and we have our monthly OTMs. October's Claw of the Month is our very own Community Coordinator and general superwoman @magemadi, and the Story of the Month is the beautiful, modern mythology retelling Beneath This Mortal Earth by @Hawksquill.

We're also pleased to welcome our newest Ravenclaw on the site, @gothic.

Voting for November OTMs is open through October 23, and the Blue vs Bronze review battle is underway, so stop by and join in the fun!

| S L Y T H E R I N |

This month’s Slytherin News brings us into the most witching holiday, All Hallows Eve, aka Halloween! 

This month’s EvS battle is tailored for double points for reviewing stories with a Dark or Horror tag. Just how spooky, scared can our reviewers get?

This month’s Slytherin story was written by @la_topolina and entitled Severus Snape and the Midnight Tea. It tells the tale of Severus Snape having tea with Professor Flitwick and having a lively but insightful discussion on one of our favorite Ravenclaws, Luna Lovegood. Congratulations, Noelle!

Our Slytherin of the Month is a tag team - literally. @RogueSlytherin was one of the powerhouses in HC Opener Event. She’s also the author of nine stories in the archive. Our other SotM is @la_topolina, who was also one of the powerhouses of the HC Opener in the Dungeons. She has posted thirty-three stories to archives. Let’s raise a glass to these two fantastic Slytherins! 

The dungeon has been a little quiet after the hustle and bustle of September’s HC Opener. It’s given us time to dust up the snakes from under the furniture, and get ready for the holiday. We’ve prepped up new batches of pumpkin spice cookie cut outs, readied the latte machine to crank out some pumpkin spice coffees (or any flavor, really) and set out the freshly carved pumpkins to be lit up.

It’s going to be rockin’! To the Monster Mash!  

And that’s the news for this month! 

_______________________
credits:

couriers: madi, juls
sotm review colum: emily
house news: emily, juls, melanie, sarah
graphics: paula
blog compilation: madi