CrazyD's Corner

Hello, and welcome back to the Messie Hall Discord Server's monthly "Tome of the Month" (AKA: Story of the Month) Award!!! Tome of the Month was created as a way to honor the authors in our server, as well as to help get everyone reading their fellow member's stories. Nominations are open from the 10th through the 20th of each month, and then we all take a vote during the last week of the month to decide which story/author to feature.

This month, our members voted on the story: A Massively Messy Messie Mess by: @Wayne_Lynn.

We sat down with our wonderful server owner, Theo, and put together this Q&A. That way everyone can get a bit of insight into his writing process, his inspiration, and his thoughts behind his original story. If you have any additional questions for Theo at all, please feel free to ask them in the comments below. Or stop by the Server to leave your own thoughts, reactions, or follow-up questions. ❤️

Q1: What first inspired you to write Messie?

A: To make a long story short, Messie was in fact supposed to be a spin-off of an earlier idea. That earlier idea had Maggie and Jessie be recurring characters, but they weren’t the main characters, and their shenanigans ended up being so disconnected from the main storyline that it seemed fitting to send them off to their own little side-story to give them a broader focus. But then, the story took on a dark supernatural turn and it expanded well beyond the scope of the original idea it spun off from, and became top priority as a result, to the point that now the original story is the spin-off in my eyes, whenever I do eventually get to it. But what made me want to write and focus on Messie was me binging the entirety of the first Percy Jackson book series and desiring to build my own fantasy world coexisting with our world.

Q2: Your world contains a wide variety of magical creatures, cultures, and systems. What was the very first piece of the world that came to you, and how did everything else grow from there?

A: The idea of all mythologies existing. It’s not something that is explicitly stated in the story yet, but people have already picked up on that fact, at least those I haven’t straight up told that to, with how many references to various folklores and cultures I’ve already included so far. Ever since I read Percy Jackson, I knew I wanted to dabble into the whole “mythology but in the modern era” concept, but I wanted to expand that into “all mythologies existing at once” and, unlike Percy Jackson, I wanted to make it so that all these mythologies stand on their own and aren’t, in-universe, just “all the same gods but with different forms and names”. To me that seemed more fun and more unique to my nerdy sensibilities. From there, it was just a matter of making sure what characters had connections to what mythologies and how that could make each character stand on their own, in terms of powers, role in the story, and so on.

Q3: What part of Messie’s worldbuilding required the most research or planning?

A: I don’t know if there’s anything that required the MOST research or planning, necessarily, at least not yet. Everything I’ve built of the world so far has been so sprawling, what with the “all mythologies packed in one world” aspect of it and the huge cast of characters I plan to explore even beyond established figures like mythical creatures and deities, that really every little detail required insane levels of research and careful planning piecing it all together. I can say though, that some things definitely require deeper digging to find good information on in the first place, what with how many myths and folkloric cultures around the world are sadly so poorly documented, or with how certain things like everyday culture, in the US, for instance, require speaking with those who live there directly, because rather mundane things which I need to include for accuracy and authenticity are not really things anyone’s bothered to put up online, y’know?

Q4: What part of the writing process do you enjoy most? Drafting, revising, worldbuilding, character development, or something else?

A: Finishing it. Jokes aside, hands down, my favorite part is the worldbuilding. Actually keeping track of details afterwards is a pain in the ass, unsurprisingly, and a big reason why I’ve procrastinated lately, but in the moment, when I’m coming up with names for characters, locations, weapons, story arcs, techniques, it’s some of the most rewarding instances of using my creative and inquisitive skills to the max and feeling accomplished at the end result. Not that actually writing and polishing the story isn’t rewarding and gratifying all the same, but, y’know, I hit more roadblocks doing it than I do worldbuilding, so, I give the edge to worldbuilding.

Q5: Every fantasy author has that one piece of lore they're ridiculously proud of. What is yours and why?

A: That might sound very out there, but, so far, of what I’ve presented in the story, I have to say it’s Greg, his realm and his whole race. So, fun fact, Greg was (or, well, still is) the main character of the original idea Messie spun off from. And his entire creation hinged on a silly joke between a friend and me during one fateful evening. His inclusion in Messie was really meant to just be a cheeky wink and nod to everyone reading who knew the original idea from the beginning, had heard me yap about it for years before Messie was even conceived in my mind’s eye, and nothing more. But as I thought about his role more and the potential he presented, I decided to make him a mainstay of the narrative. Thus the idea of his incomprehensibly infinite realm and the concept of his being part of a primordial race of nigh-omnipotent elephants slowly took shape until the scene you see on Chapter 3 was born, where I really had fun playing with the surrealist, eldritch nature of his room, how to describe it, and establishing his unorthodox connection to Maggie. To be able to take what was essentially a one-dimensional gag character and expand on him in such a “serious” fashion, I think it’s a good showing of my creativity for the bizarre and unusual.

Q6: What themes seem to appear most often in your writing? Are those themes intentional, or do you only notice them after the story/chapter is written?

A: Jessie serves as a self-insert of mine in a major way. He’s not totally me, but given how I’ve molded so much of him based on my blueprints, the things I went through throughout my life and still go through, especially what I endure from my own mind on a daily basis, are all things he went and still goes through. And so those themes, of generational and religious trauma, religious fanaticism, family dysfunction, distancing oneself from family and finding one’s own, surviving relentless bullying, social ostracism, discovering one’s identity and hiding amongst bigotry, overcoming biases and prejudices, relationship betrayal and rebuilding trust, insecurity, paranoia, low self-esteem, impostor syndrome, temporary downward shifts in mood, frustration with one’s circumstances, destructive behaviors and addictions to cope, craving affection and seeking validation from others, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, searching for meaning and where one belongs, are ones that crop up most often, with not just Jessie, but other characters too. There are certainly other themes I end up unintentionally exploring and ones that are pointed out to me after I compose a chapter, and those are always neat to see too, to watch how people’s interpretations of my work can end up shedding a whole new light on something I hadn’t previously considered.

Q7: You seem to have so much of the story already planned out in advance… What does your outlining process actually look like? Are you a meticulous planner, a discovery writer, or somewhere in between?

A: I couldn’t tell you what my process looks like because I don’t remember half of it myself after I’m done. But it is pretty much all over the place. Sometimes I’ll come up with broad details, then work my way down from there, sometimes I’ll start really specific and then have to find a way to justify that conclusion somehow as I zoom out. I’m 100% somewhere in between in the planning spectrum of writing, I can be one of the most meticulous planners for some plot points to the degree that some things remain completely immutable for me, and then other times I’m just flying by the seat of my pants, winging everything up until I somehow end up with something actually coherent and usable, despite it being born out of pure improvisation.

Q8: How do you get ideas for each new chapter of Messie? Is everything pre-planned and outlined, or do things just come to you more as you write?

A: Not everything is pre-planned down to the last-minute detail, but I already had a coherent direction I wanted to take each story arc in before I ever started the story, so, while things do come to me as I write on an individual chapter-by-chapter basis, there’s only so much I can envision happening in each new chapter, y’know. So that alleviates some of the potential anxiety of agonizing over where to take the characters next on their journey. Ideas for each chapter organically sprout over the course of outlining and writing it during the many, many months it takes to finish one. Since I have a clear A to B throughline for each one, with a decided cliffhanger for every single one as a staple of mine, it’s only a matter of thinking and choosing just how many detours along the way I can add without making the chapter feel unnecessarily drawn-out, bloated or filled with redundancy or inconsequential details.

Q9: Do you already know how Messie will end, or are there still mysteries waiting for even you to discover?

A: Oh, there are 100% mysteries still left for me to unearth in this world, and I can’t wait to get to them. But in the simplest possible terms, yes, the ending of Messie is already fully envisioned and set in stone, with only the finer details left to be decided.

Q10: If you are able to disclose anything further, can you please tell us what other types of mythological creatures and people you are planning to add into the story?

A: Well, let’s just say if you’re a fan of any of the most famous mythologies out there (Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, etc.), Messie will feature some of your favorite creatures and characters later on and it will be a blast to see them in action. And if you enjoy delving into the more modern “cryptids” of the world, you might be in for a pleasant surprise later on as well.

Q11: One of the coolest features of Messie is how you manage to create special characters for individual people you’ve met. With so many people to keep in mind though, how do you organize everything? Also, what all goes into creating a new original character? Can you share a little bit with us about that whole process?

A: The organization question is a great one, because I’m currently in the process of figuring that very thing myself, so, I’ll get back to you on that once I have it organized. But to go into what creating them has been and is so far, well, it’s quite simple really. After I approach someone with the question of whether or not they’d like to join the ranks of the story and I have their approval, I make sure to have the most fundamental characteristics of their story selves set, such as a name, their race and their role in the story. After that, it’s just a matter of creating in-universe details about them, their quirks, personality traits, interests, powers and abilities, little sneak previews of future scenes featuring them to get a sense of how they’ll behave in the narrative and how to go about writing them and making sure it’s all approved by the person behind the character. I am actually working on a character sheet at the moment to soon start sending people to help with the whole organizing of information regarding each character, and to hopefully streamline the process exponentially by making it way more thorough from the beginning.

Q12: Given that you have so many characters already thought out in your narrative, from the main cast and beyond, how do you plan to give each and every one of them adequate time in the story to stand out in the allotted number of chapters?

A: The truth is, I can’t really. I’ll do my best to give as many characters as I can, not just the main cast, but the many side characters throughout as much page time as possible to flesh them out properly, but I can only show so much of individual characters’ lives before I start missing the forest for the trees. I will say that I do plan on, rather unorthodoxly, I suppose, at times deviate from the “main characters” a bit to give the POV to minor characters whose arcs I feel are important to follow at a given moment in the story. Messie will not be a single or double POV story, as part of my personal writing philosophy is to never have a narrative with such a large cast of characters limited to just one or two characters’ angles, and so expect many POV changes from chapter to chapter later on, sometimes entire stretch of chapters where our main cast is not the central focus and the plot requires us to go along with the side cast to explore for a bit instead. I promise it’ll be fun all the while.

Q13: What is the one thing about your novel that you are incredibly proud of?

A: It’s not something intrinsic to the novel, more so extrinsic, but the fact that this story has allowed me to build such a huge and welcoming community, allowed me to meet so many wonderful people through it and bring them into my process, into my world. That is one thing I’ll always be proud of that I have been able to accomplish through my work.

Q14: What are some of the changes you made between the first version of the story that was posted, and the current version that you're writing/posting right now?

A: Aside from general polish from taking a second look at it after so long, which really only consisted of minor punctuation, formatting and spelling corrections which did not alter the story in any way, shape or form, there is nothing changed between the two. The reason for the repost was due to a removal of credits I was unable to perform without deleting and reuploading the whole thing, and it was done because the original person co-credited had little to do with the actual written content of the narrative, and was only initially credited due to my belief they deserved the recognition at the time regardless, despite not being involved in 99% of the writing process, a recognition I have since retracted due to our falling out. I didn’t want their name attached to the project any further, tainting it.

Q15: Are there going to be any sibling dynamics between certain characters? How will Jessie show the people who have looked down on him that he thrived?

A: While I can’t exactly answer the second half of this question without outright revealing future plot points, I can guarantee that Messie will be rich in sibling dynamics of all kinds. Be they blood-related, adoptive, found family, kindred spirits, I really do plan on exploring so many of my favorites and doing them justice. Especially as found family specifically will be a huge overarching theme of the story, as it typically is for most of my story ideas.

Q16:  Once you’ve finished Messie, what are you planning to write next? Are there any other future projects you have in mind that you can share?

A: Do you have the whole month free? 😅 Cuz that’s how long it will take to list every idea I have lined up to write, and I don’t even intend to finish Messie before starting on some of them, I have so many, I need to get them out before my time’s up. But, to answer this in a more pertinent way, I do intend to follow Messie up specifically with a little after-years story. One involving a certain elephant who had the spotlight stolen from him, after all.

Hello, and welcome to the Messie Hall Discord Server's very 1st monthly "Story of the Month" (AKA: Tome of the Month) Award!!! Tome of the Month was created as a way to honor the authors in our server, as well as to help get everyone reading their fellow member's fics. Nominations are open from the 10th through the 20th of each month, and then we all take a vote during the last week of the month to decide which story/author to feature.

This month, our members voted on the story: "Merope" by @aliceemersonwrites2!!!

We recently sat down with Alice and put together a Q&A, that way everyone can get a bit of insight into her writing process, her inspiration, and her thoughts behind the story. If you have any additional questions for Alice, please feel free to ask them in the comments below. Or stop by the Server to leave your own thoughts, reactions, or follow-up questions. 💚

Q1: Your portrayal of Merope walks a delicate line between vulnerability and quiet strength. What drew you to her story, and what did you most want readers to understand about her?

A: What drew me to her as a character is the fact that her story was so glossed over in canon. Her story is mostly speculation from Dumbledore, and it always rang a bit…false to me. The assumption that just because she wasn’t ‘attractive’ meant that she tricked a man into being with her because he was always irked me. Additionally, I am obviously a huge Tom fan, and his mother's story has always drawn me in. I think the biggest thing I want readers to understand is that oftentimes, women during that time period– and honestly, any time period– who are marginalized and treated poorly are not left with many options. And often, people prey on the weak. She is both vulnerable and strong, and I think her rage is depicted in a way that shows how she was conditioned to be. I think what I want most readers to understand is that she was born into and raised in a place where she wasn’t given many options, and even when she was given those options, she was still a woman in the lower class, a woman not considered conventionally attractive, and a woman who was vulnerable.

Q2: Your characterization of Merope Gaunt feels incredibly layered—how did you get into her mindset to write her character, and how closely did you aim to stick to canon versus reinterpreting the gaps in Merope’s story from the HP books?

A: I actually stayed away from canon a bit, except to look up descriptions of the house and names. I think that because the memory of Merope was seen from Harry’s perspective in a memory from Ogden, it shaped how we view her. And of course, Dumbledore’s commentary. I think the biggest thing was I kept her treatment by her family and the conditions she lived in, but most of it was filling in my own gaps. To get into character, I looked up the lives of women in the general area described in canon and how women at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale lived. And oftentimes, it was at the service of the men who ran their homes. However, if you look between the lines, you see that it was truly Merope who ran the home.

Q3: You did an excellent job of showing how abuse shaped Merope’s understanding of help, love, and worth… How intentional were those themes while writing, and did it evolve as the story developed?

A: Those were very, very intentional. Merope was raised in a home where she was valued only for what she did, not for who she was or what she thought. Both her father and brother were allowed to do as they pleased, and yet she, even in canon, was treated more like a servant in her own home. She was conditioned to believe that love means giving what those who demand of you want. And that if someone has you serving them, that means they love you.

Q4: Do you see Merope’s relationship with Tom Sr. as true love, a means of survival, an illusion—or something else entirely?

A: I think that Merope loved him, in her own way. I think it is tied to the idea of conditional love above. She thinks because she was helping him, that she was caring for him, that it was love. But in a way, it was also an escape from her life. She believed that Tom Riddle Sr. was her way to live a life different from what she experienced in the Gaunt house, but as we can see, he was using her in both those ways and in more intimate ways.

Q5: How do you think this version of Merope influences who Tom Riddle Jr. becomes?

A: First, I think her death affects him more than anything because he resented her for it. It also implanted a fear of it in him. When he discovered his past, he saw that Merope, even though she was magic, still died. And he both dismissed her for it and became obsessed with overcoming it himself. Additionally, her death led to him being raised in the Muggle world as well as being an orphan, both things that he saw as shameful. I think even though in my story she fought for him in the end, because she ‘failed’ him, he let that fester in his own mind and helped to lead to his obsessions.

Q6: Do you think Tom Riddle Jr’s darkness is nature, nurture, or a combination—based on your portrayal of his parents in this piece?

A: I truly think it is a combination. Children, due to simple genetics, often inherit their parents' personality traits in some ways, but Tom became his own person. I think, more than anything, the absence of his parents shaped him through his resentment and obsession with it, which we can see when he references his father in canon.

Q7: What scene in this one-shot was the hardest for you to write emotionally, and which one came the easiest?

A: The hardest scenes for me to write were both Tom Riddle Sr’s seduction, which was borderline SA, and her death. Both of those scenes were hard because they show how people take advantage of her and how limited her options were. The easiest scene for me was definitely when she lashed out at Riddle Sr., because he had it coming.

Q8: In your own opinion, do you think that Tom Riddle Jr. is capable of love, or only capable of wanting something that looks like it?

A: Yes. I do. I think that Tom Riddle Jr is capable of love. I think that it may not be the kind of romantic, familial, or platonic love we associate with the word, but I think that he is very capable of loving things. However, I think due to his circumstances, he learned to love himself first.

Q9: What do you think people misunderstand the most about Tom Riddle as a character?

A: Oftentimes, I think that people who are solely ‘Voldemort is bad’ misunderstand that this was once a child who was raised in a hard situation. Even if you buy that he was raised and not mistreated (and looking into orphanages in the 20s and 30s seems less likely than not), he was still a child who was ‘othered’ because of the way he acted. He didn’t understand that what he performed was accidental magic. And even when he was introduced into the magic world, it was with suspicion. He was an impoverished child with no name dropped into a house that was focused on wealth and status. He, once again, had to learn how to survive. People parallel him and Harry, which is fair, but Harry’s support system upon arriving at Hogwarts was very different from his friends to Dumbledore. Tom had his earthly belongings burned in front of him when he was told he was magic; Harry was told by Hagrid how wonderful his family was. Children are easily impressionable.

Q10: Given your love for Tom Marvolo Riddle, how did that impact the way you wrote Tom Riddle Sr. here? Did you find yourself drawing parallels between the two—or making it a point to highlight their differences in this piece?

A: It was important to me to show that although Tom received his looks from Tom Riddle Sr, he is different. Although they are both cunning and manipulative, Tom Riddle Sr. was more focused on using his wealth and status to get what he wanted, even if it was considered beneath his status. Tom Marvolo Riddle wanted to ascend the ties of his status to be something more. I think that is where the key difference lies. However, they both used their intellect and power over others to get what they wanted.

Story Picspam created by RoxiMalfoy (AKA: @crazydeana)

Q11: What makes Tom Riddle such an intriguing character to you? And at what point did your appreciation for him turn into a full-blown obsession? 😅Be specific, Alice—we want the whole origin story, lol!!

A: Honestly, I also thought Tom was intriguing since Chamber of Secrets. Voldemort is an exciting character, but I think that what did it for me was Half-Blood Prince (the book). Seeing the way he was treated, the way that he was brought into the world, the way that he was both cunning and smart, but also suspected from day one, made me care for him. He is intelligent, handsome, well-spoken, and driven. But instead of anyone making sure he was emotionally well, he was lauded for his accomplishments. I think that obsession over earning praise and being the best both drove him to what he did, both to know he was the best and to resent having to serve others. Also, I get really, really mad at Dumbledore for not handling his meeting with Tom better when he was young. Also, his fixation on learning, on being the best, is something that I relate to wholeheartedly. And I also first saw him when I was a hormonal teen, and damn, he was pretty. Shout out to Christian Coulson. Cheekbones! ♥︎♥︎♥︎

Q12: Do you tend to plan your stories out in advance, or do you tend to discover things about the fic as you write?

A: I both it. Ha! With “Merope”, it was fully planned out the moment the story caught in my brain. For other stories, I have general outlines and ideas, and then fill in the blanks as I go. It is wherever the muse takes me. I am writing a Tomione and a Tombraxas, and both are pretty much fully plotted through to the end. I have a Harmony WIP that I have a vague notion of, but I am kind of playing it by ear, going with what inspires me.

Q13: Do you like/prefer working on several WIPs at the same time? How do you keep all of your ideas so organized without them blending together?

A: My ADHD keeps me on my toes. Ha. So working on several at once is nice because I never get bored. I think most of my stories are so distinct that there isn’t a chance of mixing them together. BUT that said, I also keep copious notes in a tab in my docs to capture ideas, and I have a notebook (it’s actually a Tom Marvolo Riddle diary that I bought from an independent vendor) where I jot down random ideas. I also re-read what I write often to make sure the tone and story make sense!

Q14: Is this Merope one-shot connected to any of your other works, or does it exist as a standalone story? And if it is part of a larger universe, are there any details or connections that readers might not immediately notice?

A: This one isn’t really connected! I mean, you can definitely connect it to any of my Tom stories, because I never mention Amortentia in his story as the source of his mother and father getting together.

Q15: Do you like to listen to music while you write—and if so, what kind of vibe(s) did this fic have?

A: For this fic, I listened to 1920s music by female artists. There were a lot of songs about the struggles of women during that time, and I listened to them to get me in the mindset. I often listen to classical music when I am writing something intense, or to music without lyrics. In one of my stories, I listened to Britney Spears the entire time to inspire me! It depends on the vibes. I am currently writing a Harmony where I am only listening to music from 1996-2001. And with Tombraxas, I listen to the Game of Thrones soundtrack, Ludovico Einaudi, or cello music.

Q16: Your writing has a very immersive, emotionally grounded style. What does your drafting process typically look like—from first idea to final piece?

A: Often, I just start writing to get my thoughts out! I’ll outline it, sure, but unless I sit down and start typing, it will just live in my head. To be fair, a lot of the time, I will plan a whole story in my head while driving and then get around to writing it. Then I just write. I am a person who will stop, take a break, edit the hell out of what I just wrote, and then come back. My biggest thing is that once I get it out, I can go back and fix what I wrote to make it better and look for more places to add emotion and description. I am an editing fiend. For Merope, I must shout out my AMAZING betas, WinterSerpent, theravenclawscribe, and mother_of_lilith, who brought different perspectives to my story. WinterSerpent is a wording fiend, theravenclawscribe is amazing at identifying spots where things need to be expanded on, and mother_of_lilith is both a great cheer reader and telling me when my language gets TOO confusing.

Q17: One thing that really stands out about your work is how intentional your themes feel—and how beautifully you pair them with your own custom visuals. What is your process like when creating a graphic—do you already have a clear vision in mind, or do you experiment as you go?

A: I experiment as I go! With “Merope,” it was all done afterwards. I knew I wanted green (duh), and I wanted it to feel like the 20s. With other stories, like Tombraxas “Silver Spoons and Parseltongue”, I actually played with it until I found something that fit the story, same with my Theonald story (which ended up settling around Britney Spears and bright colors). My cutesy little Harmony WIP I’m working on now was decided before I even started typing the story because I wanted it to be a fairy tale with 90s/early aughts vibes. But my favorite was my tale I wrote for the Death Eaters Do It Better Fest, a Tombraxas called ‘The King and the Conqueror’, where I knew it would be black and white (for the 40s), but I wanted it soaked in blood. Most one-shots, though, I decide afterwards what the visuals will look like.

Q18: Your stories often feel centered around strong, intentional themes. How do you usually land on the core theme of a fic? Does the theme come first and shape the story—or do they emerge naturally as you’re writing?

A: The theme often comes when I’m writing. With “Silver Spoons and Parseltongue,” the music theme came about in chapter three. “How to Win an Auror in Five Days” (my Theonald), it also came around chapter three. But with “Merope” and “The King and the Conqueror”, they both came to me at the beginning. Merope’s was definitely inspired by my prompt from the Feminine Rage Fest, “You Make Me Do Too Much Labour”, and I just thought about labour that is domestic in nature or labour in the bedroom. For “The King and the Conqueror,” I thought about the idea of a performance because both the Malfoys and Tom Riddle himself are performative and dramatic people, and the theatre theme came to me.

Q19: What’s one writing habit you have that might surprise your readers?

A: I don’t know if it is surprising, but I love looking up history and things indicative of the time period. My shaky accent for Merope was actually created by listening to people speaking from that region of Britain on a drive home from work. I’ve also spent copious amounts of time looking at clothing, household objects, etc. The other thing that may surprise readers is that I panic post. I post, then five minutes later I re-read, find mistakes, and fix them. And I always have this amazing document open, called “Other words for said”. It is great.

Q20: Looking ahead, what kinds of stories or themes are you most excited to explore next—and is there anything you’re currently working on that you’re especially eager to share with readers?

A: I am finally writing a twisted little plot bunny I have had in my mind for a while, but it is anonymous right now, so I have to be hush-hush. The other things that I am excited for are my two Harmonys– Let Your Heart Hold Fast and How to Win/Earn Your Best Friend in Six Months/Nine and a Half Years: A Harmony Un-Fairy Tale (Bookended by Ginny Weasley) -- both very different takes on Harmony from different points in their post-war lives. And, of course, my Tombraxas “Silver Spoons and Parseltongue” and my Tomione “A Swan with Clipped Wings” are my current obsessions. But I am writing a Drinny next. And I have a huge Percy story planned in my “How to Win after You Win the War Series,” which started with my Theonald!

Thank you SOO MUCH again, Alice for agreeing to sit down and complete this interview with me!! And congrats on your nomination and WIN for this month's Tome of the Month Award!!! 🏆

https://archiveofourown.org/works/76239296/chapters/199525301 A Swan with Clipped Wings A Tomione and Braxmione Tale

Hello and welcome to the Muggle AU Fest, hosted by the mod team at The Messie Hall server. Come and give us your best Muggle AU story!! Crazy courtroom drama? Freaky Frat Parties? Rowdy Rock Bands? Scenic Summer Camp? YOU decide what goes in this Fest!!

No Wands? No Spells? No Problem!!

Sign-ups are now open, prompts are available for claiming, and the rules can be found below. Our lovely host Waynelynn has graciously offered us an EXTENSION on this fest, so if you were thinking about entering, NOW is the time to do so!! Submissions are now due by April 28th (11:59 PM Brasilia Standard Time). Works will then be revealed beginning on April 30th and will go on for a variable number of days, depending on the amount of submissions we receive. This collection is open, moderated, revealed, and public.

To view all of the prompts and enter the fest, please check out our official Ao3 Page +HERE!!

RULES:

Any and all ships that don't involve dead dove elements are welcome.

Minimum word count is 750. There is no maximum word count.

All submissions should be one-shots, and even those that will be part of a multi-chapter WIP later on should be able to stand on their own as a submission.

No Dead Dove whatsoever. Explicit content such as smut is still allowed, as long as it doesn't go into extreme, graphic violence.

You may claim multiple prompts at the same time. You are also free to self-prompt and claim your own, in case none of the prompts available fit your submission. (Or you may use the author's/artist's choice prompt.)

Despite the Muggle AU theme, mixing of Muggle and Wizarding elements is allowed, like having certain characters who aren't Muggle in canon be Muggle while others remain wizards and witches, or have wizarding characters be Muggle but still interacting with the Wizarding world in some form or fashion.

Please tag everything accordingly, including specifying which prompt the fic falls under. Even if there will be no dead dove content, there might still be content that is potentially triggering or sensitive to some people, such as explicit sexual content or vulgar language or character bashing (which is also allowed).

Both writing and art submissions are allowed. Those who submit artwork and would like to include some writing to go with it (like a drabble), the drabble only needs to be 200 words minimum and you're allowed to draw either a single artwork or a little comic with a story. You are also allowed to make graphics or moodboards or artwork for your writing submission if that will be your primary submission.

All submissions, in addition to being posted to this collection, may also be sent to the Tumblr page.

I've created four site skins inspired by the Hogwarts houses. Four images show the colour palette and differences in the header from each house skin, and the rest show some screenshots from the Slytherin skin.

(For anyone who likes the skins, but are disinterested in the Hogwarts aspect, it's easy to remove the header icon and text from the skin. I've added "EDIT" comments in the code, so you can see which sections to modify or remove.)

Someone recently asked me if I would ever make a sage-green themed AO3 skin, and that question immediately reminded me of this green design — one of my early experimental works, so it might not be as polished as my cream archival-card skin, but it has its own little charm. 💚✨

For this green version, I added decorative floral borders to both the works list and the reading view, giving it the feeling of vintage floral letter paper. 🌼💌

Following that idea, I redesigned the kudos list icon so it looks like a tiny letter of appreciation, and rearranged the layout to match this soft “letter paper” theme. ✉️🌿

For the tag boxes, I used a four-shade green gradient, which feels gentle and easy on the eyes. 🍃

And if you click on the tag area… there’s a little hidden easter egg I added just for fun. ♡🌟

English isn’t my first language, so please excuse any awkward phrasing.

This skin is shared purely for fun and non-commercial use. All visual elements come from publicly available materials and are used only for aesthetic layout purposes.

Any screenshots containing text are for demonstration only — the works shown in the images are not mine. 📎

Source / code (GitHub):

[ AO3 Site Skin ]

I customized a night mode version based on the previous cream-colored archive card style skin. It features glowing shadows that make the decorative patterns look like luminescent flowers.

🌿 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌿

📖 How to set up the Auto-Switch Mode

If you want the skin to automatically switch between light and dark modes based on your device settings, follow these steps:

❧ Step 1:

Create a new skin for the Light theme. Check the box for Parent Only, and under the Advanced options, check `prefers-color-scheme: light`. Then, save (Submit) the skin.

❧ Step 2:

Create a new skin for the Dark theme. Check Parent Only, and under the Advanced options, check `prefers-color-scheme: dark`. Save (Submit) this skin as well.

❧ Step 3:

Create a new master skin to combine the previous ones (name it "Auto-Switch Master"). Copy the code for Auto-Switch Master into the CSS box. Then, in the Parent Skins field, search for and add the "Light" and "Dark" skins you just created. Finally, save.

Note: Chrome users might encounter a bug where the "Parent Skins" fail to load or add properly. If this happens, please try using a different browser to complete this step.

🌿 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌿

📝 Notes & Disclaimers

• Language:English is not my native language, so please bear with me if there are any mistakes.

• Non-Profit:This skin is created purely for fun and shared for free. No profit is intended.

• Credits: All decorative assets and patterns were found online and belong to their respective owners.

• Screenshots: The fanfiction featured in the preview images is not mine; it is included solely to demonstrate the skin's visual effects.

What's Clementine's Barn?

It's a space where the chaotic and weird minds of the Harry Potter fandom can participate in many activities, Fests mostly, or share their works. We are writing focused.

Why is it named Clementine's Barn?

It's named Clementine's Barn after Aberforth Dumbledore's goat in the fic "How Far We've Come" by JonRiptide.

How do I join Clementine's Barn?

Fear doesn’t always scream.

Sometimes it whispers, hides, or slips out in the smallest gestures. If your character can’t or won’t admit what terrifies them, here are 20 ways to show it between the lines.

Laughing at the wrong moment because they don’t know what else to do.

Holding their breath without realising it.

Asking the same question two, three or even four times needing reassurance.

Keeping their back to the wall in crowded rooms.

Jumping at sounds they’d usually ignore.

Avoiding eye contact so no one sees the truth.

Touching an object or necklace like it’s grounding them.

Speaking in short, clipped sentences.

Checking exits as soon as they enter a room.

Fidgeting until they physically force their hands still.

Acting overly calm: too still, too controlled, to the point that one wrong movement will send them flying.

Freezing before they react, even for just a heartbeat.

Walking faster without being fully aware of it.

Laughing something off but their eyes stay wide.

Flinching when someone raises a hand too quickly.

Asking someone to stay "just in case."

Avoiding certain places without giving a real reason.

Rehearsing what they’re going to say before speaking.

Keeping their phone in hand like a lifeline.

Inability to sleep; waking at the slightest noise.

Your characters don't need to own up being afraid, but fear can be shown as a powerful driving force for each action your character takes.

Artist Credit- imikuyya

Tom grabbed both sides of Abraxas’s face, his hands shaking uncharacteristically.

Then he stopped.

A pause.

A pause that seemed to last moments and eternities, clocks ticking as the orphan boy and the heir to the Malfoy name stared at one another. LINK FOR STORY HERE: Silver Spoons and Parseltongue A Tombraxas Story 11/18 Chapters Completed 71,153 Words

___ Pair : Abraxas Malfoy x Tom Riddle ___ Brushes © Medibang

In honour of my story, Silver Spoons and Parseltongue reaching the over halfway point, I gave my chapter covers a facelift. Link Here: Silver Spoons and Parseltongue A Tom Riddle/Abraxas Malfoy Story AO3: Aliceemersonwrites2 11/18 Chapters 71, 152 Words

New update this weekend!

Summary:

Abraxas Malfoy regarded the boy in his arms and said, “It is just you and me now, Lucius.” He felt the rain start again, droplets clinging to his face that he didn’t bother to wipe away. All the while, the black rose was unaffected by the thick drops cascading from the sky.

He walked back to the manor, a solitary figure with a baby bundled in his arms.

No light seemed to shine on the father and son or the graveyard they left behind.

OR

[Credit goes to the endlessly kind, @crazydeana, who is not apart of the Good Omen fandom (yet 😉), but who took the time to make me this pic spam. If you are into HP fan fiction, I encourage you to check out their stories on AO3! 😊]

ARIEL BLOOMER GIF HUNT (50)

Please like/reblog if you use these gifs. Posts that I see several likes/reblogs will receive updates.

I do not claim ownership of these gifs. Credit goes to the makers.

Visit the GIF HUNTERRESS for more gif hunts. I do take requests.

Visit the GIF HUNTERRESS SHOW INDEX for grouped gif hunts.

==================================================

“I talk a lot, I talk really fast, I have a lot to say because I have a lot going on in my head I have a lot of thoughts at all times and this mostly because my life is weird" 

Doing the Right Thing (T) by RoxiMalfoy (@crazydeana)

Narrated by: RoxiMalfoy

Advisories: none