#danni rambles

My very first thought was to search "red silk" because I liked the idea of it, but quickly nixed it after doing a series of "fabric themed" titles for the series. (The other options I won't show since the stories aren't out yet!) They were cute, but weren't quite right.

Then I moved onto fire. A natural choice imo! Harry our fiery Leo; the fire of his passion, and how it energizes and consumes him. The second image got me to breakdown and pay for a monthly subscription.

On the note of subscriptions: I don't think I'll keep it ongoing, as I think it's a bit pricey for something I don't imagine I'll be using super often outside of my immediate needs. You can create perfectly serviceable images with the free option, but it is annoying that when you search stuff the "pro" options show up as well. I will say if you're tempted by the pro version, do it a month when you have the money to spare and a lot of images you want to make and just do it a month at a time. 🤷‍♀️ But definitely not necessary!

Anyway, so the second image's background tempted me too much at the time, though I'm less impressed by it now. The look of like a fiery sky with stars! That led me to another round of series images that were sky themed. I did keep one image from that round, for the Kinkuary fic I'm posting on the 14th!

After a while I just wasn't impressed with any of the fire images I was creating, and so then I moved onto snake. Specifically: a red one!

I have a lot of thoughts about symbolism in general, but specifically for Contempt. In fact, I wrote a whole meta about it that I soon deleted out of embarrassment. 😂 Maybe I'll put it back up one day, idk, we'll see!

So there's the representation at face value: the snake for Slytherin for Severus. Red for Gryffindor for Harry. Then you get into the symbolism of the serpent (rebirth, eternity, life, danger, lies, evil) and the symbolism of red (passion, courage, anger, danger, violence.) Then the specific connections to the story, with the serpent on Severus' door (and the symbolism of doors being either imprisonment or opportunity.) Then, when discussing the embroidery with Mari (onbeinganangel) I got into the nature symbolism, and how it represented both beauty and brutality, which I associated with their love and their story.

Luckily searching "red snake" landed me the perfect image. Then I spent ages determining the font. Actually what's really missing from the lineup above was a really cool but also terrible font choice. Maybe I should go recreate it just to show you. 😂

Ngl, I still like it, I'm just not sure it's the right mood. 😅

Anyway, by this point, "perfecting" Contempt made me feel much more confident in what I was doing. So I actually spent a lot of time yesterday creating title banners. Only a few I've shared, though! Some I have saved for future "Self-Rec Saturdays" and 2 for the 2 Kinkuary stories that are finished but not yet posted! (Snarry coming on the 14th and Riddledore on the 27th!)

Most of them I had a pretty good idea of images to search for, but for the Swiftly Snarry series I was actually at a bit of a loss. No imagery really stuck out at me, at least nothing I could easily find and use. I did a lot of random word searches. "Headmaster's office", "wizard office", "antique office", "antique desk", etc. I searched "books" and...hmm. Other stuff I'm forgetting at the moment.

I actually found the key image I used for A Chain Reaction of Countermoves first. I had to create a new page to drop the image into so I wouldn't lose it! Then I went back to the page I was working on Clandestine Meetings & Stolen Stares in. The key worked in my head since in the story they're meeting in an inn and the whole "key to my heart" idea. Plus it had the antiquey feel I was sort of looking for.

Settling on the key also made me decide to have a "one object" feel for Clandestine Meetings, so I searched "quill" and...tbh still spent too much time looking, but at least I had an idea of what I wanted after that. Then a matter of choosing the right colors for the font. The font itself was easy enough as it's a text template I like that is easily adjusted for size and color.

Then, last night, while making a "Self-Rec Saturday" banner and testing how the drafts looked on Tumblr...I realized Canva had an option to save with a transparent background! -gasp-

Original Self-Rec banner options:

Which are still cute, don't get me wrong, and maybe I'll use them one day, but the transparent background???? Look!!!!

and:

That was some trial and error of it's own having to check how it would look once on Tumblr, too, with font color (but also remembering I use Tumblr in dark mode hahaha) and image size.

So yeah that's what I've been doing all week. Playing with Canva. 😂

Sooo...

Fics in the Oven:

Super Secret Mystery Project: closer and closer to being done! I'm estimating I have about 25% left to write? But let's be real...numbers are not my strong suit. I'm not entirely sure words are my strong suit, either, and yet here we are! I'm still hacking away at it. Pulling my hair out over it, the usual. I basically spend the work week sobbing and whining about it on my lonesome so that I feel refreshed enough to actually write on the weekend. So yeah. It's a nightmare but I see the light! (Also: I love it so much.)

Snarry Kinkuary fic: 1 done! To be posted on the 14th if I don't chicken out!

Riddledore Kinkuary fic: rough draft done. Just needs a bit of a shine, but I've got time. To be posted on the 27th!

Snarry Kinkuary/Kinktober fic: potential sequel to Obscene in the works! I'll post it for the nearest kink-event whenever I finish it. With luck that'll be this month, but I really gotta minimize my stress!

Other Kinkuary fics: tentative ideas for a Draco/Sirius fic. The barest scribbles of ideas for Ginny/Gwenog, Ginny/Rolanda, and/or Hermione/Lavender fics. But again, no stress allowed! (Or so I tell myself over and over and over just in case it actually sticks one day.)

Year of the OTP: no firm plans, but a determination to write a Snarry for each month of the year, per the YOTP prompts. If I can't actually manage, I suppose it will be okay. But it's very low stress I think! Surely I can manage at least a drabble a month, right...? (Let me not hold my breath on that one.)

Snarry Bang: a few ideas I need to compile and run by my teammate...cuz I'm not really sure I can resist the allure of Snarry Bang.

smile with sweet surprise: really need to work on chapter 3, but I'm not letting myself think about that too much until I get Super Secret Mystery Project done. This year for sure, though!

Lavmione: I really wanna write a Lavmione fic this year. A work with more character and meat to it than Kinkuary is really calling for. I don't know that it will be long, per se, or what it will be about, I am just having a lot of Lavmione feelings rn and I think they'll have to come out sooner or later. Potentially Maytime for a few events...

Magic in the Stars: need to edit a few more astrology essays to post on AO3 around the start of April! Not a high priority, but definitely on my to-do list. (Realistically once I start I won't want to stop until I finish.)

Other stuff...maybe I'll finish my Dralbus fic this year! And the sequel to The Christmas Prince. Oh and my Scarry fic. And another Yes, Daddy fic that's been a WIP for way too long. And Merlin only knows what other bright ideas I'll have before the end of the year...

Events: Oh yeah I'm running events, aren't I?

HP Chan fest: set to wrap up at the end of winter! It's been pretty chill and it helps to have an awesome co-mod! And on March 7 my 2 very questionable/problematic fics will go out to my poor subscribers, mwahahahaha. 😏

HP Fruit Fest: and as one fest ends, another will begin. Currently working on getting HP Fruit fest set up to run through spring! Doing this one solo (unless anyone wants to volunteer to help.) Another one designed to be chill because we all deserve a nice chill fruit I mean fest, right?