Lost_Robin

[Lost_Robin]

Hey, everyone! I'm Lost_Robin, but you can call me LR or Robin or Lost or pretty much whatever. I'm in my twenties and I have been writing for a while, even getting a degree in it. My first foray into Harry Potter fanfic was back when I was 14 on Mugglenet Fanfic (eons and eons ago). I have an AO3 (as Lost_Robin) , but I have (very sporadic) postings on there. The things already on there will be edited, I promise.

I've been writing for a while, but I dipped out of the fanfic world for most of high school and college. Harry Potter has always been my sort of comfort fandom. I grew up with the books, and I always related to Hermione.

What I Write

Surprisingly, I tend to write AUs. The main one I'm working on, Iris albicans, is detailed below. I plan on doing some challenges, and I've always liked the possibility of the Next Gen kids, specifically Lily Luna and Lucy. I'm really interested in worldbuilding, playing in the sandbox with stuff that may or may not have been elaborated on in canon. I'm also a fan of Percy and I've had a bit of an idea about Audrey, so there will definitely be one or two things with them as the center.I like to expand the universe, fleshing out the students at Hogwarts. I also have a soft spot for Ravenclaw (who could have guessed?)

Iris albicans (aka the cemetery iris)

AKA the reason I got back into all of this in the first place. If any of you were on Mugglenet, you may have seen this before. Luckily, I have grown in the past ten years, and I'm actually going to write and publish more than one chapter.

Iris Potter is a character that is near and dear to my heart. As her name might have suggested, this is an AU about Harry's cousin. I haven't outlined the whole thing yet, but it does deviate a bit from main canon. I find it really interesting, taking another look at the Potter world with a character who is a little different from Harry.

Contents of the Writer's Journal

I write a bit slowly (think glacial, but even slower), but I'm hoping to keep myself on track by putting snippets and such in here.

 I really like worldbuilding, so there will be quite a bit of that. A little rambling about ideas or writing or whatever. Snippets once in a while, but I don't want to spoil anything too heavily. I'll probably be introducing some of the main characters here.

Thank you for reading this far. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. 

[batsam]

Ohh another Percy fan! I love him, and am interested to hear how you see him and what kind of things you might write about him. 

[Lost_Robin]

Honestly, redemption. I felt bad for him in the books, and I've always been a bit fond of him. I headcanon him and Audrey being sort of an accidental, adorable couple?

[Lost_Robin]

So, speaking of Audrey, I've finally introduced her in something: Notes from the Ravenclaw Bulletin Board.  Now that I've introduced her in something, I can talk a little bit more about her.

My Audrey is Penelope's younger sister. She is younger by two years and is in Ravenclaw. She's a bit ambitious and becomes prefect and Head Girl. I haven't developed what she's passionate she's about yet, but she cares a lot about the younger students and (perhaps surprisingly) takes Muggle Studies all the way through NEWT. She and Penelope aren't super close, but she does try to emulate her sister when Audrey is Head Girl.

[Lost_Robin]

Woo! I've finally published a bit of Iris' story. The funny thing is that I've written a lot more of her later years at Hogwarts rather than the first couple years (whoops), so it's interesting going back to her being this naive bookworm. Because her story is sort of parallel to Harry, it's a little hard to figure out what to put outright in her story or just reference it.

Iris herself is a little interesting in that she's very much a product of where she was raised. The cottage has no close neighbors (though Caer Sidi is only a couple minutes away by walking) and she has a very solitary life. She spends most of her time reading or out in the forest, and Remus is sort of both over-protective and free-range when it comes to parenting. It isn't until Hogwarts that she realizes that the world isn't just like her books or the forest, and it's a very big culture shock to her when she has to share a room with four other people.

I think that next time I'll write a bit about her best friends. Let me know if you have any questions!

[crowsb4bros]

Cottages are so dreamy to me tbh and I love how her childhood sounds. Can it be my adulthood? 

What quirks does Iris have that you relate with? 

What’s the best part of writing this story for you?

What’s your ideal writing setting?

[Lost_Robin]

Thank you for the questions! To be honest, I would love to live in a cottage. I really love the cottage in Iris albicans; it may or may not be my life goals. I knew that they were going to live in a cottage in the forest (because Little Red Riding Hood jokes I can make later), so I kind of just made the cottage something that would just be the ideal cottage to live in. I live in a foresty area, though more suburby than anything else, and I've always found them really fascinating. I like the idea that there are trees and nature and animals surrounding you, and how peaceful it is (having said that, I definitely could not live in the forest because of poison ivy, but I love the chipmunks in our backyard very much).

A little backstory on it that I haven't managed to be able to fit into the story is that it's an old family property from Iris' mother; she inherited it from her mother, who inherited it from hers and so on. There is also no path straight to the cottage, so it's interesting when someone who's never been there before tries to find their way to the cottage. Remus and Iris have a very easy time going from the edge of the forest and back, but other people, if they go into the supposedly 'wolf-infested' forest at the edge of town, have a little more trouble getting to the cottage. And there are magical creatures in the forest, so someone (coughAnnecough) spread the rumor that there are wolves in the forest to cover up... sounds. And certain children may have tried to befriend a couple of the creatures.

What quirks does Iris have that you relate with?

She's a bit easily distractable, especially as a kid. I'm also a bit of a bookworm, which bleeds through a lot with Iris. I can't say too much about older Iris yet, but I see myself a lot more similar to the younger Iris. Older Iris, ah, is affected by the war quite a bit, and she definitely grows up a lot in a very short span of time. She's a bit blunt, but sort of grows out of (and then a bit back in) this. She's also very quiet, especially the first time she meets someone, which is definitely what I'm like. Being raised by Remus has definitely had its impact on her, and not always in the ways that people (especially people who know Remus very, very well) think.

It's funny, looking back, because I wrote (two very short) chapters of Iris albicans (which has been cut into pieces and some of those pieces, namely the cottage, have been included in this version) when I was fourteen. This was not long at all after DH came out in book form, and I was just getting into writing. Iris was much more heavily based on me back then, and, in the ten (oh wow, I feel ancient) years since then, I've definitely grown as a writer (and my grammar has gotten much better). Back then, she was very passive, letting things happen rather than making things happen; now, she is a little like that at the beginning, but she definitely gets to be a bit more active in her life.

What’s the best part of writing this story for you?

Getting to explore Hogwarts and other places through a character who sees it a little differently than Harry. Harry notices a lot of things that Iris, having been raised in the wizarding world, would see as completely ordinary. Iris, on the other hand, compares a lot of it to what she's used to. I also, once we get to them being introduced, like how the girls in Iris' dorm play off of each other. They're a tight-knit bunch, going through wartime together, and I like writing how different they are, but how deep their friendship is. A couple of them have been mentioned in Notes, but they don't really get fleshed out until this series.

Another part I really like is that I can delve into more of wizarding society, of a sort. I sort of play around with the idea that Hogsmeade is the only 'all-magical' village in Britain. Caer Sidi isn't 'all-magical', but it's pretty close. The inhabitants are rather different from what Harry encounters in the wizarding world, and Iris is a bit different from Harry because of that. They are somewhat similar (for reasons that will be apparent in the next chapter, once I finish it), but it's fun to take another look at the world. Harry, for example, describes all of the food at the Welcoming Feast in his head. Iris is looking up at the candles and the enchanted ceiling, trying to figure out how they managed it and how she could do it on her ceiling in the cottage. She researches a lot, while Harry tends to ask Hermione about things or overhears things. I like getting to play around in the sandbox, putting detail into things that weren't expanded on in the books. Rather unpopular opinion, but I changed the uniforms from plain robes to what we see in the movies; sorry, but I was having a really hard time with the robes in the books and where the pockets (a necessity for Iris) would be. It's not entirely AU, really, and it's more AU in connections between certain characters rather than drastically changing the plot of the books. There are some changes, but the major plot points are close to the same.

Ravenclaw, especially, I love writing about, as you may have guessed. To me, Ravenclaw just sort of always made sense, and I knew it was where I would have wanted to be. I was sad when we barely get any mention of it. Ravenclaw Tower gets described in glorious detail once Iris is sorted, and I enjoyed creating it. I also do a bit of detail-making for Hufflepuff, since a lot of figures in Iris' life are in that house. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw have always gone together in my mind, and I like the idea that, instead of an intense rivalry, they're more of a peaceful, jokingly-serious rivalry.

A small part is I also like writing letters in it. I know I skipped Iris' Hogwarts letter, but it was pretty much just going to be like all of Harry's. Despite being more quiet in person, she writes a lot in her letters. She is definitely someone who makes a few friends for life, and her letters are how she shows herself, rather than talking to people. One of the letters (from ages after her first year) is over a thousand words; it's to someone very special to her.

What’s your ideal writing setting?

Surprisingly, I like writing with Pokémon music on. It keeps me on task, unlike music with lyrics. I tend to do most of my writing where I can, usually in my room at home. I tend to get distracted easily, so I prefer not to write in loud places. Somewhere comfy, definitely. When I was in university, I surprisingly wrote in a little study room on my floor, where there was a big window and kinda comfy chairs. It's more of a feeling than an area for me. I've never been able to write in coffeeshops, probably because I get distracted by all of the people. I'm a somewhat solitary person, so I'd rather write somewhere that has fewer (if any) people hanging around.

Sorry, I got a bit carried away there. Thank you again for asking questions! Hope you have a lovely day!

[grumpy cat]

iris sounds fascinating, both as a character and as a story  

since you say that you love writing about ravenclaw tower, have you written any riddles for the entrance yet? if you did, how did you go about it? (i wrote a couple of riddles for the house cup finale in july, but the ones for ravenclaw tower aren't your usual riddles, they're more...for creative thinking? and i think some don't have one definitive answer so, to me, it seems a bit hard to think them up )

and i'm wondering about your claw/puff headcanon - for you, why do those two houses go together? are slytherin and gryffindor separate from the rest? (idk if this makes sense but i'm always curious about how people view the houses and house characteristics/personalities of people in them)

[Lost_Robin]

Thank you for stopping by!

Oh, Knocker (as he gets called a lot in this series). The Ravenclaws have a love/hate relationship with Knocker. I've written three? riddles, one of which will be coming up soon in Iris albicans. I tend to have them be incredibly relevant to whatever's going on, but I did steal the idea for one or two of them from riddle sites. It's pretty difficult for me to write riddles, so I try not to have them unless they're absolutely necessary or funny. I like to think that Knocker accepts several possible answers per question: what I like to the call the 'You're Not Wrong' system. Iris and Knocker have a contentious relationship, and Iris is more likely than not to do an answer that, if Knocker had shoulders, would shrug at. The riddle after the Welcome Feast is the most basic riddle ever, and it's one that the prefects (who you might know by now) have the first years try to solve.

I put Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw together mostly because everyone always has Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. I'm about 80% Ravenclaw and 20% Slytherin myself, but I've always thought that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw would feel a bit put out by how popular Gryffindor is and how Slytherin is maligned. Gryffindor, to me, always seemed to be rather self-sufficient in the books, as did Slytherin. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seemed to be the ones that spent more time together, and that colored how I write them. That being said, a main character is a Slytherin.

I am also super interested in how people view the houses and their traits. One thing that will probably come up in this series is that Hufflepuffs and Slytherins are both listed as being loyal. It is, in my opinion, a different kind of loyalty (usually). I was looking on the HP wiki and Slytherin had fraternity and loyalty listed as traits along with the usual suspects. There are a couple major Slytherins in this as well, and one of them is about as un-Slytherin as you can get on the surface. If her family circumstances were different, she would probably be in Hufflepuff. She's exceptionally loyal to her friends, who she sees as her true family. One of her dormmates is similar, but she's more cunning and ambitious.

I had to think a lot about what different kinds of Ravenclaws would look like for this. Iris is more of a clever one, but one of her yearmates is absolutely terrible at schoolwork. Sterling, however, is a brilliant artist. It's been difficult to have them all fit into this house and not have to back it up with evidence.

If we take Iris as an example, since it's a bit obvious what house she's going to be in, she isn't necessarily artistically creative at all. She is creative in her thinking (which shows up a bit more as time goes on) and very clever. While she is no Hermione (who I always saw as a bit more book-smart and logical), she is rather clever. What Iris isn't, especially in her first year, is brave. She is definitely not Gryffindor material, and it does show a bit. She's loyal, yes, and a bit ambitious (to be fair, at age eleven, the kid's goal is to read through the entire Hogwarts library by the time she leaves Hogwarts), but her mindset isn't quite the Slytherin or Hufflepuff mindset.

House characteristics and how they intertwine has always been interesting me, and I'm hoping to explore it a bit more in Iris albicans. Thank you, again, for stopping by! Have a nice day!

[Lost_Robin]

Notes From the Ravenclaw Bulletin Board

We've gotten into the actiony-bit (if there can be action on a bulletin board) of Notes. Ravenclaw House (with some exceptions) are very much Done With Umbridge at this point. I really like how this chapter turned out because it shows how a lot of people outside of Dumbledore's Army are a bit fed up with Umbridge, to the point that someone other than Hermione comes up with the idea of having their own group to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts (albeit in a much more rule-abiding way). There's also a little bit of a hint that there are some in Ravenclaw who approve of what Umbridge is doing.

We also got a cameo from a certain pair of tricksters, who are, I think, some of the only non-Ravenclaw people to post on the RHCRBB. Audrey loves them very much, but thinks that they are very mischievous and should stay out of her tower.

Thank you so much, crowsb4bros, for nominating this story for Story of the Month. I never thought it would be all that popular, given that it was started as an attempt to develop side characters and Ravenclaw itself. I have a lot of fun writing it, and we're getting down to the last few months in the school year. The bulletin board (in fact, this very year's bulletin board) will be in future stories; we'll even get to see a couple of the debates. I am planning on this story being done before the end of the month, barring any more busy weeks.

Three Sisters

I'm going to be completely honest: this was my first time writing in second person. It felt a little weird, but I thought it would be a good way to show Andromeda's story. I tend not to write things like this, but I like to think that it sort of?? worked? I don't think I'll be doing much in second person because it just felt really unnatural (and a bit too personal) for me to write that way. I've never really written Andromeda before other than as a side character, so it was interesting to look at her life and her relationship with her sisters.

Iris albicans

I'm working on it, I promise. I've had a couple busy weeks at work, and I wanted to get a little bit more of Notes done before NaNo starts next month (woo!). I do have to say that it is a bit easier to write Iris when she's older, after certain things have happened, but it is kind of fun to go back when she really is this naive preteen who doesn't really know that the wizarding world is going to be a mess. Updates are going to be pretty slow for the next month and a half or so; NaNo and other fun RL stuff.

We've met Sylvia now, who's going to be playing a bit of a bigger role later. Iris' other best friend will be introduced in the next chapter, once I finish writing it. The three are a rather interesting bunch, and I like going back and writing how their friendship started.

[Lost_Robin]

It's ya girl, back at it again. Ah, so, technically, I am writing one thingy for NaNo, but there are other projects I will be working on while I have the nice, looming deadline of November 30th to kick me into gear (yay deadlines to trick me into writing quicker). While I've been successful at finishing NaNo in the past, I usually don't end up with workable drafts (Whoops!). Which is why, this year, I have decided to do something a little different. I am very bad at outlining, so we are winging everything. Planning? Don't know her.

Apple Blossoms and AP Tests

This is probably my favorite project, though I'm trying something a little different this year. It's a YA fantasy set at a boarding school with some twists. This is my actual NaNo project, and (hopefully) will be the one that reaches 50k. I hope.

Iris albicans

For more information on this one, head on over to my writer's journal. Basically, I at least want to get this one organized and write enough to have it updating during NaNo. I want to write more for it so I don't have to post it whenever I finish a chapter. That would, probably, reduce my nervousness about posting this story. I really want this completely done by January, but that's going to be a tall order.

To Be Titled Later (mostly because I'm terrible at titles)

I want to also work on the sequel to Iris albicans (although I used the really interesting iris species for the first book, whoops). This will, of course, require me to finish Iris albicans. Except, of course, I have written, like, collectively, half a chapter of this.

 

Breakdown of words:

Apple Blossoms and AP Tests: (hopefully) 50k

Iris albicans: As much as I can, probably about 20k

To Be Titled Later: An outline? An attempt to outline? It's a surprise.

 

Will I succeed in these? Who knows.

Edited October 24, 2019 by Lost_Robin
whoopsie I messed up the title of my own thing

[Lost_Robin]

While I'm waiting for the clock to strike midnight before NaNo, I thought I'd do an update on the state of things.

Notes From the Ravenclaw Common Room

Woo! It's done!

This is the first multi-chapter fic I've actually finished and completely published! I didn't expect it to take so long, but you know how RL gets. I love this story, I really do, but this is probably the only time I'm going to do a whole fic like this. The bulletin board will show up in some of my other stuff, but it won't be the main focus. It did start, after all, as a plot device in one of my Iris stories, so it will definitely (aka this exact bulletin board in this exact year) show up again. I really loved writing Audrey and Evan, and I got a lot of worldbuilding and characterization done in this fic.

It was weird, writing this one. Sometimes, I would just cackle over some of it (especially when Fred and George made a guest appearance). The hardest parts to write, though, were the notes that had to do with what (very little) of the plot of OOTP that the general public knew. It was especially hard in the last chapter, seeing as everything happens so close together. I had to review the timeline and realized that something that I had wanted to spread out had actually happened within a couple days.

It was an interesting experiment, but I don't think I'll be doing any fics like this in the future. It felt really weird to write, and, while I liked the challenge of not exactly showing the plot, it wasn't something I like doing too often. If the mood strikes me, I might write another one of these, but I'm not sure if it would be during Harry's time at Hogwarts. I am going to keep the year it got banned a secret because I don't think I could do it justice.

Iris albicans

Currently, the next chapter is in the queue. We're finally at Hogwarts, so we're getting around to meeting all of Iris' friends and enemies (including one or two of my favorites). I don't want to give anything away, but I was pleased with how the Sorting went. I'm still working on the next chapter, so it might be a little bit before we see Iris' first day of classes. Plotting has been a bit hard, but not in the sense that I thought it would. Iris' story, unlike Harry's, doesn't mainly focus on Voldemort. It focuses more on her life before we get to where the war sort of shoves its way in. Like Notes, Harry's plot is adjacent to Iris'. Iris albicans, though, does have a plot of its own that shows just how different Iris is from Harry.

I am happy with how her relationships with certain canon characters are turning out while I'm writing her first year. I know how they'll end up later, so it's fun to look at how they started. She and Astoria (yes, that Astoria) have already started becoming good friends, and she's set to meet a couple more people you might recognize in the upcoming chapters. I don't have any snippets right now (they're all a bit spoilery), but I hope to get the next chapter (NaNo permitting) within the next week or so. I'm not a fan of how slow the plot is at the beginning, but the main plot of the story will be starting soon. I've been hinting at it throughout the other chapters (about as subtly as Draco Malfoy's Potter Stinks buttons), but it'll be outright soon enough.

There will be a mini-update on Iris albicans within the next week, once the Sorting chapter has been published. I won't be explaining my rationale (I hope that it will show through the stories themselves), but I will be mentioning something that might be seen as canon, but I haven't found any evidence for. As a (somewhat) related sidenote, Cursed Child isn't canon in Iris' universe. Sorry.

NaNo

AKA: the reason why Iris albicans will be a little slower this next month (although, can it really be slower than glacial?)

I am writing OF for this, and more details will be (sparingly, right now) available at my NaNo Nest. Fair warning, this will be taking up most of my time outside of work and RL (which is about to get a bit busy for a little while), but I will be slowly working on Iris albicans and anything else that strikes my fancy. I would like (if able) to write another one-shot or two, but we will see how things go. I don't really have any ideas for them right now, but I really want to get some challenges done (if I can get a good enough idea for them).

As usual, please let me know if you have any questions/comments/concerns/etc! And Happy Halloween!

[crowsb4bros]

Hi! I'm popping in with a few questions for your nest!

1. How's NaNo going?

2. Do you have any ideas around your characters in Apple Blossoms and AP Tests? 

3. How do you come up with your titles?

Good luck!

[Lost_Robin]

Thank you for stopping by!! 

1. How's NaNo going?

It's going. I have family visiting this week, so I'm not as able to dedicate time to stuff, but I'm (currently) at 6,020 words. I'll be writing some more later today, so that will go up a bit. I like having deadlines for things (they stop me from overthinking it), so I actually like?? NaNo.

I'm... working on Iris albicans. I've been having some trouble outlining Apple Blossoms and AP Tests (the only one I'm actually counting words for), and I'm writing it, like everything, out of order. For Iris, the chapter I'm writing currently has our resident Potions Master in it (which is why I've been asking around for help on his characterization). Thank you so much, @CambAngst, @potionspartner, and @Noelle Zingarella for all of your help!

2. Do you have any ideas around your characters in Apple Blossoms and AP Tests? 

Many. Many, many ideas. Fun fact: these characters originally started as an American HP fanfic. I have three main characters, though Beatrice is the main one. She is a very salty accidental necromancer, and Ben and Andrew are her best friends. I've been trying to write this for a while, but I think this year is the year where it's actually going to come together. I don't want to just have two books in a series, so I'm condensing the timeline a bit.

3. How do you come up with your titles?

I am terrible at titles. I named Iris albicans years ago, and I keep messing up Apple Blossoms and AP Tests by flipping the two parts. The NaNo site insisted that I come up with a title, so I panicked and figured out something that has a couple symbolic things for the story.

If anyone has any suggestions for theme naming for the Iris albicans series, please DM me or something. I am always taking suggestions.

Day Four:

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Plot has not been going so hot, but at least I'm writing. I have started work on the next chapter of Iris albicans, so I'm happy about that. I still have about 700 words of Apple Blossoms and AP Tests to go today, so I'm lucky that I didn't have a full day of work. Probably going to be staying up to get some words done for today and tomorrow. Luckily, I have the day off on Wednesday and can just write for most of that day and Thursday.

[Guest Noelle Zingarella]

Hi penpal! I'm here with some questions

4 hours ago, Lost_Robin said:

She is a very salty accidental necromancer,

1. This is fantastic! Can you tell me a little more about Beatrice and the school she goes to? 

2. What are the pros and cons of writing in the YA genre versus general fanfiction?

3. Which canon characters are you excited to write? Which ones are you not so excited to tackle?

4. I saw in chapter one of Iris that Remus tutors Muggles, and I think that's brilliant! What other head canons do you have for him?

Keep up the good work and yay for writing a chapter with Snape in it!

[Lost_Robin]

Thank you for stopping by!

1. This is fantastic! Can you tell me a little more about Beatrice and the school she goes to?

Beatrice goes to an all-magical, super prestigious boarding school just off the coast of Virginia. I couldn't decide where, exactly, the island should be, so it's somewhere vaguely in the Chesapeake Bay or near Newport. The way that American magical society works in this story is that they have the Council of Lords as their sort-of executive branch. All of the seats on the Council are inherited, but there is a Congress-like thing I haven't named yet that is more like our Congress. The leader of the Council is the Duke of Avalon (not entirely meant to be Arthurian, but it's left up to everyone's interpretation).

Beatrice is the current Duke's daughter. And heir. She has been raised her entire life to become the first Duchess of the Council, and she wants to be a good Duchess. Her grandmother (the one who has primarily raised her) has made sure that she seems perfect so that no one will question her abilities or qualifications once she is on the Council. Beatrice isn't necessarily resigned to her fate, but she does sometimes want to do something that won't require her to be in the spotlight for her entire life.

Albion Academy is K-12 and is on the same island as a university: Albion University. It is the most prestigious magical school in America, though there are about seven that are seen as on the same level (think Rosemary-Choate level of being known). It is also one of the smallest, with only about twenty? thirty? students per year. The university goes all the way through doctorates, though there is not a law school. They do, however, have a partnership with both UVA and Georgetown.

2. What are the pros and cons of writing in the YA genre versus general fanfiction?

Pros: I get to make up the entire thing

Cons: I have to make up the entire thing

I like worldbuilding (as you might have seen in Iris albicans), but it is sometimes very hard to come up with things without having a nice, firm understanding of how the magical system works. I've been inspired by Harry Potter (obviously), but I want to make sure that it doesn't sound too similar. I did call Potions Potionry, but it's definitely nowhere near the same as what Harry goes through at Hogwarts.

Sometimes, it's nice to play around in someone else's world. I like writing YA because I'm writing what I wanted to see when I was that age, and I still read a lot of YA. It's hard, being in your early twenties and looking for main characters you relate to. At least, for me.

3. Which canon characters are you excited to write? Which ones are you not so excited to tackle?

I am excited about writing Snape. But he is very hard to get right. Like, I don't want him to be completely evil (because he isn't), but I don't want to make him too soft. I have had an interesting relationship with Snape in reading the books over the years, and I am very torn about how I view him. On one hand, he was a Death Eater who told Voldemort about the prophecy that led to Lily dying. On the other, he was a member of the Order and helped save Harry a few times. What I want to do is show him as nuanced. And, since I have Iris, who is definitely not Harry, I get to show how Snape is around other students who aren't the Boy-Who-Lived-While-Lily-Died. I'm having some fun with him teaching a class of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and his relationship with Iris is really interesting.

Snape also knows a bit about Iris that Iris herself doesn't know right now. This definitely colors their relationship. He also has to watch himself because Remus is at Hogwarts and he can't just go about handing Remus' kid detentions willy-nilly or Remus will say something to Dumbledore (or so Snape thinks). He is not, however, the person who assigns Iris her very first detention. I have a snippet that I would love to share, but it is in the future from Iris albicans and contains spoilers.

Ughhh, I want to write about this more, but I don't want to spoil things. Long story short: Snape is not a main character in this series, but his actions do cause a fair bit of the plot. And Iris' salt. Iris is very salty about Snape.

I do, however, have a small snippet from the upcoming chapter (not actually spoilery, but I wanted people to be able to skip over it if they don't want to see it):

Spoiler

                “Enough whispering,” Snape said, having somehow managed to cross the room without them noticing. “Five points from Ravenclaw.”

                “But that isn’t fair!” Iris protested.

                “Life isn’t fair, Miss…”

                “Potter,” Iris said.

                Snape looked down at her. “Potter?” he asked.

                Iris nodded.

                A look of anger with a tinge of something else entirely flashed across Snape’s face before he glared at her.

                “Miss Potter, life isn’t fair,” he sneered. “You of all people should know that.”

I am... well, not not-excited, but concerned about writing Harry himself, actually. Because he and Iris are going to have this sibing-like relationship once they get older, it's hard to make sure that he's still our Harry. And, of course, he is the hero of another story, a story that directly impacts Iris' but not so much in Iris albicans. And Hermione, because I know how similar she and Iris are.

Hermione is interesting in that she and Iris are two sides of the same coin. I can talk about this because it's not a spoiler (technically speaking, but if you already know about things that happen later, it is). They're both clever, but Hermione doesn't really experiment. She sticks to what she learns and what other people tell her. She, of these two, has the higher marks. Hermione is someone who Iris looks up to, and she does go to her for advice.

Iris is more ambitious with the knowledge she has. This, sometimes, worries the people around her. Unlike Hermione, she uses the information she finds to create something new. She isn't creative in the artistic sense (all she can draw are stick figures), but she does start messing around with how things are done and why they work that way. There is a reason why the Hat thought about Slytherin for her, but this Iris is not someone who would have wanted to be in Slytherin. Not because of the stigma, but because she just liked Ravenclaw better.

I am excited that Percy will be showing up. He and Hermione are the best foils for Iris, I think, and I just like Percy. He is another character I want to give nuance, and I like to think that it works.

4. I saw in chapter one of Iris that Remus tutors Muggles, and I think that's brilliant! What other head canons do you have for him?

*does the stretchy arm thing that hackers do in movies before they start typing really fast*

So, once I've gotten Iris albicans up, there will be a Marauders-era story in that series. It spoils Iris albicans (even the title spoils it), but our boy Remus is in it. He's not one of the two main characters, but he's in it. All of these headcanons are implicitly (or, sometimes, explicitly) canon in the Iris albicans universe, but they make sense in canon, too. These are fluffy ones because it's too early for angst.

Headcanon 1: Remus is a terrible cook. The only thing he is good at is fry-up, which he makes every Sunday morning.

Headcanon 2: Remus procrastinates on his work. Even worse than James and Sirius.

Headcanon 3: Remus is a cat person.

Headcanon 4: Remus is a giant bookworm.

Headcanon 5: Remus was the mastermind of some of the pranks the Marauders did.

Headcanon 6: Remus got out of detention one time because McGonagall couldn't believe that Remus Lupin, her responsible prefect, would actually prank Slughorn. That is just something she can't believe Remus would do.

Headcanon 7: Going off of that last one, Remus is very good at Bavarian fire drills, aka Remus looks like he's someone important and gets into somewhere he shouldn't. Let's just say that there is a reason why Remus has such a good Teacher Voice.

I just really love Remus. I attached to him as a child as an actually good teacher (I had... bad experiences in elementary school), and he is one of my favorites. There was no question of who would be Iris' guardian, especially because he was the only one that made sense plot-wise. He's also the canon character I find easiest to write.

[800 words of heaven]

Did I read this right? Because it sounds like... you're goal is... 70k words? Which is... more than... 50k words?

...

YOU ARE SO AMBITIOUS.

Omg. I am just. In awe. Live long and prosper, this NaNo!

It is very clear that you love world building! I am quite excited about the world that you're creating for Apple Blossoms and AP Tests! What are your inspirations and sources for this world? I think some of them you've covered already, but I'd love to hear some more!

[Lost_Robin]

Thank you for stopping by! I'm not actually counting the word count for Iris albicans in the NaNo site, but it's what I would like to get done for it. I'm very not-good at only working on one thing at a time (or, really, one thing in chronological order), so I set that as a goal for myself so it doesn't take a longgggg time to get all of Iris' stuff done.

So, my main source for my original universe is, as one may have surmised, Harry Potter. I started thinking about what an American wizarding world would be like in, like, 2009 (I feel old), but I started making it my own thing. It's heavily influenced by American culture, more specifically, from the area I'm from. British royalty (or, really, royalty in general), classic literature (mostly the British stuff from 1600s-1900, because that's what I studied in college), and classical music (mostly waltzes, for Reasons) were heavy influences in the sort of aesthetic of it.

Also, somewhat surprisingly (or not), Arthurian mythology. It's not necessarily based on it, but knowledge of parts of it will be handy in this. This world, though, is mostly what fourteen-year-old me decided a magical society in America would look like. I approached as though there had been magical people alongside mortal people (yeah, still haven't come up with a fun term like Muggle) in Jamestown. And Beatrice's ancestor was like 'nah, we're not going to just do all the work for you, so peace' and created Avalon Island.

So, I am definitely not good at creating realistic island thingies, so there may or may not be barrier islands along with Avalon and Albion Island. Yes, they are also named after Arthurian things, including one named Tintagel.

Fun fact: one of the people in Iris' year in Ravenclaw is named Bedivere. There is a similarly named dog in Beatrice's world (Bedivere the Cocker Spaniel belongs to Beatrice's dad and we love him and I also named him ages ago). Bedivere the Ravenclaw is definitely in Iris' stuff, but Bedivere the puppy might only be a cameo. I had a lot of fun coming up with names for students at Hogwarts, and I feel especially bad for Bedivere Undercroft and Godfrey Paddington (whose younger sister is named Scholastica).

Day 8

No longer have visitors in the house! Yay! But the rapid change in weather left me with a nasty headache yesterday, so I'm recovering a bit from that. I've managed to hit my goal every day (yay!), but I'm still working on the next chapter of Iris albicans. I have the bulk of it done, but I just need the last bit and to just make it cohesive. Since I have already reached my word count for the day, I'm going to spend some time working on that. To tide you all over while I agonize over it, here is a small bit. I'm putting it under a spoiler, but it really doesn't actually spoil anything in the story.

Spoiler

Percy puffed his chest out proudly.

 

“Now, I believe our Head Boy has something he would like to say,” she continued.

 

Percy stepped forward. “As Head Boy, it is my job to oversee your growth into proper Hogwarts students.”

 

As he droned on about what a proper Hogwarts student was, the first years started feeling sleepy. Perhaps it was because of the delicious dinner. Or, perhaps, it was because Percy’s voice was lulling them to sleep. Even Nerys was nodding off near the end.

 

“And now your prefects will take you to your common rooms, where you should get started on your first homework at Hogwarts,” Percy intoned.

Let me know if you have any questions/comments/concerns/whatever.

[Lost_Robin]

Day 13

I have made some slight progress! Not fantastic process, but I've been doing pretty well on writing every day. The past few days have been a bit difficult, due to a tiny case of writer's block and the excitement of Pokémon. I was going to do this on Friday, but Pokémon. I also accidentally uploaded 1697 words twice in a row (I did a giant update of word count at the end of the day, which I am not doing again) and didn't realize that I could change the total word count until a day later. So I'm also writing some catch-up words every day that will be counted once it's validated since backediting words doesn't work on the site.

I got another chapter of Iris albicans done! I've also started doing a smart thing where I'm writing the major plot points of each chapter at the top of the document. We will see if that works. The current chapter I am writing (the next one) is a bit... disjointed at the moment, so it will probably be a little over a week (unless I finish Pokémon and my daily word count quicker than expected) as I finagle that. There are a couple scenes that were going to be in the chapter that was just uploaded, but I felt that it made more sense to put them in the next chapter.

Also, I have to say, I forgot how together some events happened in POA. Also, timing is weird. I apologize beforehand for any day/time errors compared to POA. The first week of term is very busy for everyone at Hogwarts, and I have no clue what days certain classes are. I may also be slightly unsure how scheduling works for Hogwarts, seeing as I'm used to a block bell schedule.

So, there was going to be a little snippet, but I'm not happy with how my current chapter is right now. It's very disjointed, and I'll need to spend some time on it.

 

[Lost_Robin]

Day 20

So... a little thing called Pokémon Sword and Shield came out on Friday. I have already finished Sword, but Shield is my reward for finishing NaNo. I finally figured out a breakthrough for Apple Blossoms (also, guess who keeps getting the title of her own thing wrong? this girl!), but it's a bit of a disjointed mess of a draft. Which is fine. My goal is just to get words down in a vague semblance of a plot and then I'll fix it later.

Iris albicans is... not doing hot. I'm not happy with the chapter I'm working on, and I'm a bit stuck on it. I know some of the big parts, but I haven't figured out how to get it not be so... disjointed. I've been writing a bit in the later works in the series, so at least that will make things a bit easier for me later on. The funny thing is that I actually have most of Iris' fifth, sixth, and seventh years all written. The rest are an odd collection of tiny scenes, funny one-liners, and occasional fully-written chapters. I'm working on her first year, but it's sort of the year that not much big happens (except one thing), so it's more of a build-up to the later years. For the next few, I might take some more time to write them before posting. And Iris albicans is definitely getting edited once I've finished it all.

There is, however, a snippet this week. Not a very large one, but it's one that I had a lot of fun writing.

Spoiler

Much to Iris’ dismay, there were no sordid tales of Remus ripping Professor Snape a new one when she went down to lunch. In fact, the two were seen at the head table, though on opposite sides.

“Potter,” Snape called as Iris was heading up to say hello to Remus.

Harry turned towards the head table, already glaring at Snape.

“No, not you,” Snape sighed. “The other one.”

 

[Lost_Robin]

Day 27

A week later and not much has changed. I've decided to work on a few chapters of Iris albicans at the same time, doing it in larger chunks than just a chapter at a time. Which works out great because we're getting into the plotty stuff. I had a hard time coming up with what the main conflict of Iris albicans would be. The series is, honestly, Iris' coming of age story, but there still needs to be, of course, a conflict in each book. Unlike Harry, there isn't a dark wizard trying to hurt Iris. For Iris, it's more about finding out about herself. There is a mystery in this one (which I have definitely over-foreshadowed, but that's okay), but it's more for Iris to figure out than, necessarily, the reader. It's not all that difficult for someone looking at the story to figure out, but it does take Iris a little while to figure out.

I have had a bit of fun writing some of the canon characters, though, and Snape continues to mystify me. Part of the problem is that I'm a bit more influenced by Alan Rickman than book!Snape, but it's weird, writing Snape. In the movies, he's cold and snarky, and in the books, he's more angry and yelling. I do a bit of both, and there is a definite amount of snark in my portrayal of Snape. I know he's not a main character (well, he's become a bit more of one for Reasons), but it's interesting to write his and Iris' interactions.

The plot for Apple Blossoms is going better. It's a mess of unfinished chapters, but I'm actually proud of what I've done so far this month. I am on track to finish on Friday, so I am excited to start getting this draft ready for editing. I think part of the problem is that I edit as I go, which is definitely not the best way to write during NaNo. I just fix things as I go along, and sometimes, I get ideas for stuff or side-plots that I just want to put in.

I, ah, wrote a challenge entry a few days ago. It's about the founding of Caer Sidi, the village where Iris is from. It wasn't the best, and a bit shorter than I would have liked, but I liked it.

I'm not entirely happy with what I've done so far for NaNo (I would have liked to write a bit more for Iris albicans), but I have, at least, accomplished a little. Writing Iris albicans will take a bit longer than I expected, and I will probably stagger when chapters come out so I can write more of the next few books before I finish posting this one. I am definitely a panster rather than a planner, and that is, for me, really not a good thing.

There is no snippet this week because I'm still working on that same chapter and a few of the others. While there are a couple snippets I would like to share, I don't want to spoil anything. The wait won't be too much longer, I hope.

[Lost_Robin]

So it's been a hot minute since I last updated here. My b. Work's been a bit busy, and I've been working on the next few chapters. But! I'm almost done with the next chapter!

Iris albicans

I'm gonna be real honest: I did not expect this story to be this long. Like, a smart part in the back of my head definitely knew that, but I didn't think it would take six whole chapters to get to get past Iris' first day at Hogwarts. I know I said that I was going to write a couple chapters at the same time, but I'm almost done with the next chapter (as in, if I get it done within the next half an hour, I might send it in for validation tonight). It's a longer chapter, and the plot is definitely thickening. The funny thing is that Harry's whole thing in POA (Sirius and such) is a sideplot in Iris' story, despite the fact that there's a mass-murderer sneaking around Hogwarts. We are at seventeen-thousand words and counting, and I have no clue how long this one will be. At the moment, I don't know most of how the last part of the story is going to be. I know (vaguely) how it's going to end, but I'm still puzzling out the rest of it. I've started putting plot points I want to cover at the beginning of each chapter as I write it, though I don't always keep to those.

It's interesting, looking at POA from a different point of view. Iris, despite growing up in the wizarding world, knows next to nothing about the whole Voldemort thing. Her aunt and uncle died almost a year (though not quite) before she was born. Part of that is because of where she grew up. Another part is Remus. I get to write a bit more of him from now on in this, and it's going to be very interesting. I haven't put a Defense Against the Dark Arts class yet because I don't want to clutter it with classes that don't contribute to the plot. There will be one soon, and it will definitely be a gamechanger.

I do, however, have a snippet. It's nothing major plot-wise, but it's something that shows a bit of an interaction between the Ravenclaw first years. I'm loving developing all of them. I know, mostly, what they're like when they're older, but some of them (sorry, Lewis) never had dialogue before. I love writing the interactions between all of the Ravenclaws, though Godfrey hasn't been around as much as I thought he would. It's hard, sometimes, to write his indecision. He's fun to write, but a bit difficult.

Anyway, without further ado, here is the snippet because I'm definitely not finishing it tonight. Probably tomorrow, but this weekend is hectic.

Spoiler

“You’ve never gone trick-or-treating?” Ophelia asked once they were in the common room, working on their homework. “But that’s the best part of Halloween.”

“Uncle Remus never let me,” she said. “Halloween was a bad day in the cottage.”

It was spent in quiet contemplation. Or, rather, Iris spent it reading in her room while Remus locked himself in his room. Sometimes, Iris heard crying coming from his room when she came down for biscuits.

“Why?” Bedivere asked.

Lewis Thorne, Ophelia’s cousin, shook his head. “Because that’s when the Potters died,” he said.

Bedivere grew quiet. “Oops,” he muttered. “Sorry about that.”

See you soon!

Edited December 12, 2019 by Lost_Robin

[just.a.willow.tree]

Hi hi I'm here with some questions for you! (Now that I've read and reviewed everything on your AP, haha.)

1. I loved reading your thoughts on the process of writing Notes! Were there any plot points that you had to leave out due to the constraints of writing an epistolary story? Which parts did you find most challenging?

2. On a different note, what did you find most entertaining to write in Notes?

3. About Iris, how much of it has changed from the original version, plot-wise? Are you willing to share what those changes have been?

4. Will Iris be a series, like Harry Potter, or will the novel remain separate and focus on her first year?

[Lost_Robin]

Thank you for stopping by with questions!!!!! I hope you're having a lovely day!

1. I loved reading your thoughts on the process of writing Notes! Were there any plot points that you had to leave out due to the constraints of writing an epistolary story? Which parts did you find most challenging?

That is probably one of the hardest things I've ever written, including my creative writing final (a couple chapters of an original thing).

That being said, it was actually really fun to write. Just very difficult. It didn't really have a plot in the beginning? I had a lot of doubts about it, and I knew that the vague plot would be the Ravenclaws not liking Umbridge. I sort of winged it, especially in the beginning. I was going to have the Weasley twins be more of (fun-loving) kind of antagonists, causing chaos in the tower, but I liked them better as just cameos. I had no plot going in, and the plot sort of developed naturally. If I were to ever edit it (which I seriously doubt will happen), it would be to put more funny notes in. There could have been a couple subplots, namely the hints about someone getting into the comments box (hint, it's someone who is in canon as telling Umbridge about something), but I didn't want to answer every question.

Oh, and writing Umbridge. That was the most painful notice to write because I wanted it to sound like her, but I couldn't quite get it simpering enough. She's just really hard to write, and I'm just not a fan of Umbridge. I actually channeled my terrible Algebra teacher while writing her because the two were very similar, especially in tone.

2. On a different note, what did you find most entertaining to write in Notes?

Toadopolis. Ah, slight spoiler for the future: we'll get to see Toadopolis in something. Y'all have met the mastermind behind the Bow-Toad incident, and it gets covered. I really liked writing the notices, but they were a bit draining. That being said, I had a lot of fun with Peeves' notice. I know it's really short, but I love writing Peeves. I'm very bad at it, but it's fun. The sillier a notice is, the more fun I had writing it. Every time I had a stressful day, I would sit down and write a couple. Evan's notices were a bit fun as well because he's more chill.

3. About Iris, how much of it has changed from the original version, plot-wise? Are you willing to share what those changes have been? 

Well, I was going to have Remus being a werewolf be a completely open thing in the cottage, but I forgot about it. I'll be covering the whole werewolf thing, I promise. A few of the chapters will be fleshed out because I'm not happy with how bare they are, but no major plot things will be changed. I rushed a few of the earlier chapters, and I really want to fix them.

One thing that has never changed is Astoria being Iris' best friend. Sylvia is a newer addition, but Astoria has always been there.

Fun fact: back when I was fourteen, Iris was going to be able to change into a puppy (because, apparently, fourteen year old me thought being an Animagus could be genetic??). And she was a Gryffindor because that's what everyone was in 2009 and I am really glad that changed because she's definitely not a Gryffindor. It also wasn't a secret from the beginning who Iris' father is (and, tbh, it's only really a secret to Iris herself), and it started with Iris being born. It was, honestly, terribly written.

I also actually made side characters, and Iris, eventually, gets a ship. Not canon (well, I got the name of the character from one of the video games, I think), but she gets a ship and I love writing that.

4. Will Iris be a series, like Harry Potter, or will the novel remain separate and focus on her first year?

It will definitely be a series (though I used up the clever title for the first story). I have most of her fifth year (aka, the year the Carrows happen) written, and I have parts of each year written. I've written a lot more of her being older than being, for example, twelve. It's going to be a long process, but it'll be much quicker once we hit, about, fourth year? It's really interesting, looking at her as this somewhat naive (though that's been changing a lot quicker than I thought it would) first year after writing so much of her when she's older. She really changes, and I wish I could talk about that a little bit more, but some of the catalysts are spoilers in this series. Not, necessarily, spoilers of HP, but how things change her are. It's vaguely canon, and Iris herself does not have a large impact on Harry's plot. There are a couple things that are changed, but that's more in how something happens. The Potters have their own stories that cross over, but not all that much for at least now.

The Iris albicans series (I'm keeping that as the series name because it's creative and one of the few things other than her name that I've kept over the years) is about how she sort of grows up in this awkward place. Her birthday is June 24th, so there is something that happens on that date that we'll see somewhat soon.

Below the cut is a snippet of the next chapter, which is going surprisingly quickly?? Fair warning, if you want certain things to be kept really secrety, don't read it. It's not overtly stating it, but it could give something away if you're already thinking about it. Um, and if you want to know the soundtrack/vibe of this upcoming chapter, listen to the Frozen 2 soundtrack because it's definitely influencing the general feel of this. DM me if you want to know which songs really had an impact on the vibe.

 

Spoiler

She hurried to get the book, hiding in a nook near the Charms section. Had she been in a better mood, she would have appreciated how cushy the armchair was, but she sank into it as she studied the picture of Sirius Black.

He was young, much younger than she had ever imagined her family being so long ago. According to what she had heard, James and Lily Potter had only been twenty-one when they had died. Sirius Black, according to this, had only been a few days away from his twenty-second birthday when he betrayed his best friend.

Sirius was being constrained by Aurors, thrashing as they took his wand away. She couldn’t see his face from behind the curtain of dark hair that kept falling in the way.

One fun fact, though, before I get back to work: the working title for the next chapter is Snape is a Jerk. Definitely won't stay that, but I put fun titles when I know vaguely what's going on.

Edited December 16, 2019 by Lost_Robin

[Lost_Robin]

Wow, it has been a legit month since the last time I updated this. Time has... well, it's gone really fast and then glacial. Depends on the day. Good news, though! I have exciting news about new fics!

Iris albicans

So this one isn't new, but there will be a new chapter soon! It is one that I have been dreading since I started this story. We've finally come to Iris' first debate. As someone who isn't good at public speaking, this has been a bit of a stressful chapter to write. I'm excited to write a debate, but they're not something I've done a lot with. I've written a lot of arguments, but this is a bit different. Since I'm so close to finishing this chapter, there isn't going to be a snippet at the end of this post.

The good news is that we're in the home stretch of Iris albicans. As some of you might know, I am planning on this being (at least) a seven story series. I haven't written a lot of the second one (which doesn't even have a title), so there will be a bit of a break between this one and the next while I write a few chapters and an outline because we are not playing the no outline game again. It will definitely be longer than this one, but I have a good bit of the next one after it written. Good news, though! There are several projects in the works while I work on this series.

Untitled Challenge Projects

Yep, folks, I'm back at it again. There are 3 (three) challenges I'm writing for, and I'm really excited for this. The first is Noelle's Origin Story Challenge. It took me a while to figure out who I'm going to write this about and what period in their life I was going to do. I'm going to keep who it is a secret until I've published at least a chapter, but keep an eye out for it coming soon (ish). It's going to be at least a few chapters (I think), and I'm going to start doing more than vaguely outlining it once I've finished the debate chapter.

The second challenge is Lex's There's Only One Bed Challenge, which I am super excited for. I have never actually written this trope before, and I'm still planning this, but I think it's going to be a one-shot. Keep an eye out for more on this one. I kind of feel like doing a rarepair for this one, and I'm excited to write something that's not an AU for once?

The final challenge is just.a.willow.tree's Unreliable Narrator Challenge. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun writing this one, but my problem is that I usually have very subtle unreliable narrators. I have an idea on what I'm going to do, but we'll see how it turns out. It's going to be a one-shot as well, and I'm using this one and the One Bed one to practice my one-shots.

Surprise Project

So, as Iris albicans is a little more than halfway done and something has come to light, it is now time to announce a project I've been sitting on for a few months: Sirius Trouble. Or The Trouble With Sirius. I'm not sure which title will work best yet, but this is going to be, you guessed it, a series of one-shots about Anne's sort-of friendship with her brother's best friend, Sirius Black. The first one was supposed to be for the Open Elements Challenge, but I didn't get it finished in nearly enough time. I decided to have this just be a series of one-shots instead of a chaptered fic because I want to jump around. This one will be a slower one (can my pace go even slower than glacial? we'll find out), but the first one will be out shortly after I finish Iris albicans. Here is a tiny snippet of the first one-shot, Dog Days. Hope you enjoy!

Spoiler

Anne Potter was sixteen the first time she snuck into Gryffindor Tower. It was during OWLs week, and Anne was only doing it because Lily Evans, her very good friend, had been utterly betrayed by her best friend. The most surprising thing about all of this was that Sirius Black, her brother’s very best friend in the entire world, came up to her in the library while she was studying, whispered the password in her ear, and then dashed away.

I am going to try my best not to take so long to update this (or my stories), but I am excited for my projects this spring. See you soon!