writings and icons by alleyflower

Podfic: Life Is a Banquet (and Some Poor Suckers Are Starving to Death)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:03:39 GMT

Title: Life Is a Banquet (and Some Poor Suckers Are Starving to Death)
Author: meadowmines
Fandom: Supernatural
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Rating: Adult
Word count: 7900
Length: 42:03
Size: 19.25 MB
Summary: In which Sam and Dean are cursed and hungry all the time and Dean still hates tuna fish.
Download: Megaupload

Podfic: We Must Reinvent Love

Tue, 19 May 2009 17:41:41 GMT

Title: We Must Reinvent Love

Author: _mournthewicked
Fandom: CW RPS
Rating: Adult
Word Count: 26,500
Length: 2:08:49
Size: 58.97 MB
Summary: With high school graduation less than two weeks away, best friends Jared and Jensen find themselves scrambling to tie up a few loose ends before they’re forced into adulthood. Jared ropes Jensen into helping him get the alcohol for Sandy's graduation party, and what should be a simple night of partying ends up turning into a series of mishaps and misunderstandings that all come to head when Jensen finally tells Jared the secret he wasn't ever planning on spilling. If high school has to end, they're going out with a bang.

Original text can be found here.
Download from Megaupload here.
Previous installment of the 'verse can be found here.

Don't forget to leave a comment for the author and tell her how lovely the story is!

Podfic: Things Change, My Dear

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:58:41 GMT

Title: Things Change, My Dear part 4
Author: poor_choices
Fandom: SPN RPS
Rating: R for language
Word Count: ~2000
Length: 11:12
Size: 12.82 MB
Summary: The first time someone her age actually straight up, flat out tells Alex that her parents are attractive, she's sixteen.

Original text can be found here.
Download from Megaupload here.

Don't forget to leave a comment for the author and tell her how lovely the story is!
You can tell I love a 'verse when I have the newest installment recorded about 30 seconds after it's posted. -_-;;

Podfic: Things Like Chemistry

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 14:55:11 GMT

Title: Things Like Chemistry
Author: _mournthewicked
Fandom: CWRPS
Rating: R for language
Word Count: 7,500
Length: 36:38
Size: 42 MB
Summary: Coming out to your best friend isn’t easy. But then again, neither is falling in love with him.

Original text here.
Download from Megaupload here.

Don't forget to leave a comment for the author to tell her how awesome it is!

Things Change: all three parts

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:20:17 GMT

Title: Things Change, My Dear
Author: poor_choices
Fandom: SPN RPS
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~10,700. Length: 59:20. Size: 68MB
Summary: It's July 2005, and Jensen Ackles is meeting the man of his dreams at the bus stop.

Original text can be found here.
Download from Megaupload here.
Generously made into a podbook with cover art by cybel here!

Don't forget to leave a comment for the author and tell her how lovely the story is!

Podfic: Things Change, My Dear

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:47:59 GMT

Title: Things Change, My Dear
Author: chash
Fandom: SPN RPS
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 7200.
Summary: It's July 2005, and Jensen Ackles is meeting the man of his dreams at the bus stop.

Original text can be found here.
Download from Megaupload here.

Please let me know it you have any problems of any kind, this was my first ever podfic, so I'm sure there will be something. If you have any suggestions for improvements on my technique or whatever, please let me know. Also, don't forget to leave a comment for the author if you liked it!
I plan to be doing the next two installments of this 'verse over the next few days, so keep an eye out!

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:04:55 GMT

Title: Untitled
Prompt: Dean/Sam - public sex in a club
Rating: NC-17
Wordcount: 349
Notes: ficlet written for the blindfold_spn meme.

Muffled techno thudded through the wall of the bathroom, muted but still too loud for Sam to be able to hear himself think. He was tired, and there was clearly no one here with information, but Dean was enjoying himself, dancing with mostly-naked, questionably-aged, heavily-intoxicated tramps, and Sam wasn't going to drag him back to the motel. He let Dean get away with anything these days, just glad to have him back. He may as well go back out there and try to enjoy himself. Sam had his hand on the doorknob when it burst open, and Dean tumbled into him. "Hey, Sammy. I wondered where you went," Dean slurred from somewhere in Sam's jacket. "Missed you." "Okay, Dean. Hey, why don't we go get you a nice big vat of coffee so you can -" Sam was cut off by a tongue in his ear, and pushed Dean off of him with a startled yelp. "I think you misunderstood me Dean, I said 'coffee' not 'earwax'." "Heard you." Dean just launched himself back at Sam and started sucking the underside of his jaw. Sam brought his hands to Dean's shoulders, preparing to shove again but stilled when he felt a hand wriggle its way down the front of his jeans "Dean." It was meant to sound authoritative, but came out more like a moan. He was hard before Dean even got the button undone. Dean grinned and moved to Sam's lips. Sam opened his mouth unthinkingly, his brain far too slow to catch up to what was going on with Dean's hand and ohgodohgod Dean's tongue in his mouth. Dean pulled Sam's cock out and started to slowly jack it, teasing and exploring. In a moment of semi-clarity, Sam pulled back and panted "Dean, the door is open." The wicked glint in Dean's eyes as he dropped to his knees told Sam all he needed to know about exactly how much Dean cared about the door right now. Suddenly, Dean's mouth covered his head, and he didn't care quite so much about the door, either.

Fic: Hogwarts Letter

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 22:59:25 GMT

I joined an RPG, and our first post had to be about our character receiving their letter of acceptance from Hogwarts. I kind of liked mine, so I thought I'd share it.

Title: Hogwarts Letter
Rating: G
Wordcount: 358
Author's Notes: The RPG is set a generation or two after the books, so all of the characters are made up.

Her parents were a bit worried that Bridget didn’t seem terribly bothered about the imminent arrival of her Hogwarts letter. When Bridget was, once again, dressed and waiting by the door at the crack of dawn, Kiera O’Donoughue hid her concern in busying herself with the coffee.

“Bridgie, are you sure you want to come to Quidditch practise with me today? Don’t you want to stay home and wait for your letter?”

Bridget looked up from the scone on which she was spreading jam and shrugged. “If it comes, I’ll read it when we get home.”

Kiera pursed her lips and said, “Yes, I suppose you can…”

“Mum, you have a loose thread,” Bridget said, pointing to the corner of the back-to-back golden K’s on Kiera’s emerald green robes that meant she played Quidditch with the Kenmare Kestrels. Her eyes followed her daughter’s finger, she pointed her wand at the offending thread, and it tucked itself back into place.

Bridget opened the back door and stood aside to let her mother through, but instead, a tawny owl soared through and alit on the table. It had a thick parchment envelope gripped in its beak, and a haughty look about it that clearly said, “I am deigning to grace you with my presence, now what will you do for me?”

Bridget made to take the letter from the owl’s beak, but it turned away. She shot her mother a quizzical look. Her mother seemed equally nonplussed. Bridget turned to examine the address.

Bridget O’Donoughue

Front Bedroom

17 Merry Lane

Kenmare, Ireland

“It’s my letter, mum! Why won’t he give it to me?”

“Ah! I have an idea!” Kiera dashed into the sitting room and returned a moment later with an owl treat in hand. She tossed it in the air, and Bridget barely had time to duck as the owl swooped through the air to catch the treat in its beak on the way out the door.

Bridget picked up her letter, slid a finger under the wax seal, and pulled out two folded pieces of parchment. She smiled softly as she unfolded them and said, “It’s my letter, mum.”

Fic: The Gryffindor Way

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:07:02 GMT

Title: The Gryffindor Way
Author: alleyflower
Rating: PG
Pairing: J/L. R/S insinuated.
Word count: 1,122
Author's Notes: Many thanks to my beta luuuurve.
Characterization based within the shoebox_project universe. You need not read it to understand this fic (but you should anyway, because it's amazing!). I mention this not because it acts as any kind of prequel, merely because my vision of these characters is forever colored by that fic.
Summary: James doesn’t like all this hiding business; he reflects on some of the events that led up to his Fidelius-y imprisonment at Godric’s Hollow.

»«

James was bored. James was angry, and James was frustrated. But more than anything else, James was bored. A Gryffindor, a Quidditcher, and a fighter, he was not a man meant to go into hiding.

It wasn’t his choice, really. He never would have done it if it weren’t for Harry, and, more specifically, Lily pleading with him to think of Harry.

“Do you want our only son to grow up without a father? And what about me? Don’t you think I die every night worrying about you?” She had thrown around words like ‘thoughtless’, ‘reckless’, and ‘selfish’. She was fiery, and utterly unafraid to stand her ground.

Sirius had been on James’ side. Sirius was always on James’ side.

»«

“It’s The Gryffindor Way, mate,” Sirius had said, when Peter had remarked on Sirius’ repeated self-sacrificing in the form of being punched in the head by one Lily Evans. “Didn’t you hear what the Sorting Hat said about backing up your best friend in his ridiculous pursuit of hostile redheads with nasty right hooks?”

“Oh, yes, I remember that. It came right after the part on sneaking out of bed to go gallivanting naked about the grounds,” Remus said, hiding a smile behind The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7. Sirius gave him a mock hurt look.

“No, no!” howled Peter, joining the joke. “You missed out the bit about becoming Animagi and running around with a – ”

James dove across the table, knocking their Charms essays to the floor and shattering several inkpots. He shoved his fist into Peter’s mouth before he could speak the last word.

“You want to say that a little louder, Wormtail? I think there might be some people in the dungeons who haven’t heard you!”

Peter was stricken; his eyes were glassy and he looked about to swallow his tongue.

“An gmbpha rahgph!”

James extricated his fist, wiped the drool on the front of the pudgy boy’s robes, and commenced examining the teeth marks on his knuckles.

Peter tried again. “I didn’t realize!” He turned to Remus with pleading eyes and gasped out, “I’m so sorry, Moony! I didn’t – ”

“Realize,” Remus finished, nodding kindly. “It’s fine, Peter. No harm done. Except, perhaps, to my Charms essay,” he added, frowning as he fished it out from under the chair and cast a critical eye over the massive ink splotches that now decorated it.

“Oh, they’re alright, Moony! Gives it charm!” James said, waggling his eyebrows in a way that he clearly thought was endearing. Remus merely raised his own in response, then began siphoning the blotches off with his wand.

“No harm done, Moony?! How can you say that? Wormtail nearly outed you in front of the whole house!” Sirius said angrily.

Remus blushed deeply. Sirius blinked, then turned a shade of pink to rival the Fat Lady’s dress.

“Keep your voice down, you idiot!” James glared at Sirius, clearly not having noticed the exchange, then rounded on Peter, but softened at the look of terror on his quivering face. “Look, just be more careful next time, Wormtail,” then, as a gesture of peace, cuffed him on the shoulder, if rather harder than usual. Intense relief flooded Peter’s features, and he fell forward out of his chair onto the floor and began gathering up strewn books and parchment.

“Calm down, Pete, m’boy!” Sirius cried a bit too cheerfully, taking his book from Peter’s arms and bopping him once on the head with it. Peter fairly leaked gratitude.

»«

Yes. Sirius always took James’ side. Like a Gryffindor, like a best friend, should.

“Go into hiding! Are you joking? Dumbledore wants you to go into hiding?!” Sirius had exclaimed when James had told him. “Why?”

“That’s rather how I reacted, too,” James sighed.

“Well. What’s he on about? The rest of the Order’s not going into hiding, too, are they?”

“No, just Lily, Harry, and I.” He sighed again.

Sirius started. “Wait; don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about doing it! That is not The Gryffindor Way, mate.” Sirius realized too late that this was exactly the wrong thing to say, and James blazed.

“Oh, grow up, Sirius!” Here it was: all the anger he had been trying to control, for Lily and Harry’s sakes, for his sanity’s sake, came rolling out of him at top speed. “We’re not in school anymore; we’re not Gryffindors! We can’t sit in the common room, and eat Fizzing Whizbees, and go to sleep in dormitories, and have safe little dreams! We know what’s in the world now. We’ve fought it. We’ve seen our friends die fighting it! I can’t just say no to Dumbledore, and ignore Lily’s crying every night because she’s so terrified I won’t be coming home. I have a family to think about now, Sirius, and I can’t ignore that just because I want to play the hero! I have to live in this world, not just my own fantasy version of it where the good guys always win and no one ever dies. More people will die, and I might be one of them!” Seething and breathing heavily from his eruption, he glared across the room at Sirius, daring him to speak.

“What’s going on here, Prongs?”

“What do you mean? Nothing,” James stammered, so clearly trying not to crumble.

“Bullshit! Don’t insult me, Prongs. I’ve known you forever, and you're an awful liar besides. Don’t mess me around on this, or I’ll leave, and you can just have a good shout at yourself.”

They both knew it was an empty threat, and that Sirius would not leave. Storming out on a friend in need, now, that was most certainly not The Gryffindor Way. But James was properly chastened; he had got the point.

“I don’t know for sure,” James said, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to keep this a secret from his best friend. “Dumbledore was being very evasive, and he left in a hurry. All he said was that he thinks Voldemort might be after… Harry.”

Sirius was gawping. “But… why?” was all he managed to splutter.

“Like, I said, we don’t know. We were really too shocked to ask a lot of questions. Lily thinks it might be some sort of revenge thing. He wants to make us suffer for all those times we’ve ‘escaped his clutches’ or something.” Sirius took a moment to be amazed at how old James looked before he next spoke.

“What can I do?”

James haggard face broke into a broad grin. Apparently, the first thing that Sirius could do was be the victim of a flying rugby tackle. Gryffindors will be Gryffindors.

»«

mini-dump

Thu, 31 May 2007 08:44:52 GMT

[1-3] Harry Potter
[4-7] Stock
[8-10] House quotes from episode 3.23 "The Jerk"

1) 2)
3) 4)
5) 6)
7) 8)
9) 10)

1. from shoebox_project
2. from a fic by confiteor_3

Thu, 31 May 2007 02:32:21 GMT

You may or may not have heard, but Livejournal has massly deleted multiple fannish journals due to 'objectionable content'.

Some places to get excellent and up-to-date information on the war against free speech:
innocence_jihad
bubble_blunder
liz_marcs
fandom_lawyers

Some simple steps to take:
-Switch from a plus to a basic account (which I have for this journal)
-Allow Paid accounts to lapse (which I will for my personal journal)
-Sign a petition here.
-Take a quick poll at fandompays to show LJ how much money comes from the fandom.
-Join fandom_counts if you are a part of fandom to get a rough tally of how many or LJ's 13 million journals are fandom-related.
-Switch to another site, such as Greatest Journal or Journal Fen
-Call Six Apart at 415-344-0056 to let them know you're displeased, and what actions you'll be taking.
-Call some of LJ's advertisers to ask them how they feel about advertising on a site that impinges upon its users' freedom of expression.

EDIT: SixApart has apologized.

Wed, 09 May 2007 07:11:43 GMT

• "One True Pairing" Ships: Harry/Draco, Remus/Sirius
• "One True threesome" Ships: I don’t do threesomes. My OneTrueLoveTriangle is Harry/Draco/Blaise.
• "One True foursome" Ships: none
• "Canon" Ships: Harry/Ginny, James/Lily
• "Not quite canon but should be" Ships: Remus/Sirius
• "If this happens I'll stab my eyes out with a spork" Ships: Tonks/Lupin, Snape/anyone
• "You are one sick bastard" Ships: Snape/any student, Lucius/Draco, anything involving anyone in animagus form or remus in werewolf form
• "I'm one sick bastard" Ships:

• "I dabble a little" Ships: James/Lily
• "It's like a car crash" Ships: Any Slytherin/Any Gryffindor (other than H/D of course). Any Veela!Draco at all, Tom/anyone
• "Tickles my fancy but not sold quite yet" Ships: Ron/Hermione
• "Makes no canon sense but why the hell not" Ships: Harry/Draco, Draco/Blaise,
• Everyone else loves it but I just don't feel it" Ships: Snape/Harry, (Until very recently Ron/Hermione)
• "When all is said and done - almost there" Ships: huh?
• "Guilty Pleasure" Ships: Dominance and dub-con
• "I can't believe I read it and liked it" Ships: I read one story that I liked that was Snape/Harry, but really, change a few details and it could’ve been Draco, so…
• "Favorite "Older/Younger" Ships: I actually can’t stand those
• "My first I could never abandon you" Ships: Harry/Draco, shoebox_project !Remus/Sirius

Name ten different ships from the same fandom. You don't have to like them, hate them, etc. They don't have to be canon either. Without looking ahead or changing them once you start the survey, answer the ten following questions.

1) Remus/Sirius
2) Luna/Neville
3) Lucius/Narcissa
4) Lily/James
5) Harry/Draco
6) Hermione/Ginny
7) Dumbledore/McGonagall
8) Snape/Hermione
9) Harry/Ginny
10) Fred/George

1. If you could choose one word to describe number 7, what would that be? Reaching (as in the author is really reaching to find any way that this could be plausible)

2. How did you find interest in number 1 (if you do)?

shoebox_project . My vision of the marauders will forever be colored by that fic. I think they did an excellent job with characterization.

3. Do you know anyone personally that loves number 10? Nope.

4. Have you ever read a smutty fanfic about number 3? No.

5. What sentence would represent number 5? Unlimited possibilities. (That’s really more of a phrase, isn’t it? Oh well)

6. How popular is number 2? Weirdly popular, considering that JKR herself said that was kind of an odd choice of ship, and that Neville’s scared of Luna.

7. Is there any evidence that number 9 exists? Um, makeout in front of the whole common room? A little bit, yeah.

8. If you were offered to join number 4 in a threesome, would you and why? I’m not into corpses, thanks.

9. What are your thoughts on number 6? Perfectly plausible, and a good pairing for femmeslashers. There aren’t a lot of good options for femmeslash in this fandom, imho.

10. Have you ever written or drawn fanfiction or fanart for number 8? Vomit.

Harry Potter Fanart Icons (not my art)

Sun, 06 May 2007 03:55:22 GMT

Here are 19 icons of the lovely art from www.artdungeon.net. The artist does have a livejournal, ~~unfortunately I've forgotten the name of it~~ seviet . Anyway, enjoy!

1	2	3
4	5	6
7	8	9
10	11	12
13	14	15
16	17	18
19

Sun, 06 May 2007 03:04:32 GMT

stolen from furiosity

1. Do you outline?
Not usually. I’m not really one for formalities like that. I keep the details in my head, and I find that if I try to outline, I become too focused on sticking to it, rather than letting the story evolve naturally. That said, if I come up with an idea for a semi-complicated story, and I feel like the ideas aren’t yet developed enough to begin writing yet, I will jot down the major elements, or some specifics that I thought up, just to keep everything straight. So, I don’t outline; I make notes.

2. Do you write straight through, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
I mostly write straight through. Usually, if I’m having trouble with a scene, that’s because it’s not good enough on premise, and I should just cut it anyway.

3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
I like to start all my writing in a notebook, with mechanical pencil, rather than pen. Then I type them up and revise from the computer.

4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
Third. I feel like I can say more that way.

5. Do you listen to music while you write?
I can’t, I get too distracted.

6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
I’m mostly writing fan fiction these days, but in my original fiction, finding the perfect name is one thing that vexes me. Even when I have half of a story planned out in my head, the name is the last thing I figure out.

7. When you're writing, do you ever imagine your story as a television show or movie?
Never. Writing is as much about language as plot, for me. More, even. So, the words are half the point. That gets lost on film, which is one of the reasons why it’s not my chosen medium.

8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn't want him/her to do?
Well, I don’t do a lot of plot-driven writing, so my stories tend to be about character interaction and development. Sometimes my characters come out looking differently than I originally intended them to, but I don’t fight that kind of thing.

9. Do you know how a book is going to end when you start it?
I’ve never written anything nearly long enough to be considered a book.

10. Where do you write?
~~At school~~ At a card table in the guest bedroom in a 5-subject notebook.

11. What do you do when you get writer's block?
I write about things unrelated, mostly my thoughts, sometimes I’ll try to do a writing exercise. The only way to get unstuck is to write, so I turn to a clean page and just waste space.

12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
I don’t set a limit for myself, like I don’t say “Okay, I’m going to sit down and write 2000 words or 2 chapters.” I just write until I have to go do something else, or until I run out of ideas, or until I feel the story has run its course.

13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
I don’t revise in such a way that it could be measured definitively. I change a lot of things as I go along, and I also have betas who make changes for me. My writing is a constantly evolving entity.

14. Have you ever changed a character's name midway through a draft?
Midway through an outline/note-making thingy.

15. Do you let anyone read your story while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I’m highly self-critical and self-conscious, so I don’t like to show it to others until at least the chapter is finished, otherwise I don’t feel like I’ve adequately developed my point.

16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
Um… type it up?

17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
Multiple.

18. Do your stories grow or shrink in revision?
Shrink. I say, half of all good writing is cutting the fat.

19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
I have one established beta, one freelance britpicker, and I occasionally call on a friend for assistance.

20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?

Drafting.

HP House color schemes

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:38:31 GMT

I was playing around in photoshop today and I came up with what I thought was the best I could do for the house color schemes. As I was writing them down for future reference, I thought, why not share them with you fine people so you can benefit? What follows is a small example of each color, the RGB, and the hexidecimal.

Gryffindor

R: 237       R: 167
G: 169         G: 27
B: 77            B: 10
#EDA94D    #A71B0A

Hufflepuff

R: 0               R: 247
G: 0               G: 221
B: 0               B: 27
#000000    #F7DD1B

Ravenclaw

R: 20            R: 169
G: 40            G: 107
B: 123        B: 30
#022847    #A96B0A

Slytherin

R: 45            R: 185
G: 79            G: 195
B: 30          B: 205
#2D4F27    #B9C3CD

16 Brown & Yellow Textures

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:18:06 GMT

Click the image to download all 16.

1	2	3	4

5	6	7	8

9	10	11	12

13	14	15	16

Winter, Flowers, and Harry Potter Houses

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:19:43 GMT

[1-4] Hogwarts Houses
[5-7] Daffodils
[8-17] Winter

1) 2) 3) 4)

5) 6) 7)

8) 9) 10) 11)

12) 13) 14) 15)

16) 17)

The bases for the Hogwarts icons are from the wonderfully talented wizzicons.
The photograph used for the winter icons was used with generous permission by lidi, who, aside from being a great photographer, is also a fantastic icon-maker.