A Bit of Fic and a Bit about Non-Fic Life

[paulamcg]

I’m happy whenever I see someone check in, and I hope you are all coping and also finding some joy in your life even now. I’m one of the fortunate, as I continue to be paid while my work is easier, not harder like for many of those who now work from home. On the other hand, I must still go to my work place and end up too close to up to twenty co-workers , which doesn’t make any sense because my tasks could be done remotely. But now I’m on holiday and going back to work only on Tuesday next week.

Having just completed my Amelia/Tonks fic and sent it for beta, I polished one more old fic, chronologically the next one – the last one set before PoA: Anywhere and Back Again (set on Crete and in Lebanon). I also learnt how to make a series on AO3, and now I’ve got one titled The Lost Years. As the second last part in the series I included a pair of drabbles, and I’m posting them here, too. I maintain that they – like all my fic – can be read separately, even though each depicts just a moment in a larger story. And perhaps I’m not the only one to find something comforting in their tone.

Back in 2007 I wrote more of these 100-word pieces about Remus and called them

Sketches for a Portrait




The carpet’s gliding at the north wind’s speed. I’m sprawled in perfect stillness until Brünnhilde nudges me. ”You said you’d enjoy the landscapes.”

The sight of her motherly face could substitute for sleep, but... “Seen the sea before.”

“And the Sahara? You’ll paint this.” She rolls me onto my stomach, to peer down over the edge.

The sand glows in breathtaking shades, but... “There’s real work at your school.”

I’m staring in rapture only at the surprise between the late afternoon sun and the side of a dune: our shadow travelling along – this weary tramp in a witch’s healing hands.





(Change in Direction)



After the sun has risen behind the barren land’s lonely baobab tree, she drives me – in this renewed but exhausted body – from my isolated shack towards her school. Here the full-moon nights are getting rapidly longer and the raw winds strengthening in earnest now that June’s approaching.

The sun, too, moves from right to left like the hands copying the words of prophets.

Homeless children crawl out of their cardboard boxes, and I am one of the fortunate. My education granted me a roof and responsibilities in spite of my precarious identity, and although I can hardly trust and love.

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

THanks for the update. It's lovely to have Old School fic to read in these times :)

[paulamcg]

Thank you for commenting – and for the interest in the kind of fic I’m posting!

I wonder if all my fic is Old School fic, as all my new short stories (mainly about young Marauders), too, belong to the same same Rowling’s-first-five-novels-compliant universe. Next I’ll post a PoA-era fic about Remus and Luna, and then it’s time for my LLAL fics (written in 2004 – 2006). I’d love a comment on AO3, too, if you read anything by me.

[author_by_night]

I love having more fics to read! Thank you!

Are you considered an essential business? Or are you in a place that's still ignoring the quarantine? Maybe ask to not have to go in? Not sure how well that will go over...

[paulamcg]

Thank you for commenting! And you know I’d love a comment on AO3, too, in case you read any fic by me.

I’m a preschool teacher (for special needs kids), and the preschools are ordered to stay open so that essential workers can get to work, while it’s strongly recommended that parents keep their kids at home if they can. For the past couple of weeks we’ve had very few children coming, and I haven’t been needed to be in contact with them (except that they rush to hug me if they spot me) because there are so many such workers who haven’t got documents to write and remote preschool to run. But none of us are formally considered such experts whose tasks would be recommended to be done from home. Besides, such workers who have a degree in nursing can be ordered to other work any time. That’s why my boss has dared give me only two home office days so far – which hasn’t helped much against being exposed to the virus, I’m afraid.

[pauraque]

The sun, too, moves from right to left like the hands copying the words of prophets.

Ah, right-to-left like Hebrew text, yes? Very pretty and clever. :)

[paulamcg]

And Arabic, yes! Thank you for reading the drabbles, too, and for commenting in such a lovely way!

[scytale]

I hope your break goes well. And I'm sorry to hear that you have to go in even though your work can be done remotely; that sounds frustrating. :(

I love the sense of place in those snippets. :)

After the sun has risen behind the barren land’s lonely baobab tree, she drives me – in this renewed but exhausted body – from my isolated shack towards her school. Here the full-moon nights are getting rapidly longer and the raw winds strengthening in earnest now that June’s approaching.

The sun, too, moves from right to left like the hands copying the words of prophets.

The mix of vulnerability and serenity is delicious.

[paulamcg]

Thank you! Yes, frustrating is the word! But I’m not worried, as I don’t belong to any risk group. (Not that old yet!) And I couldn’t possibly travel to see my parents in any case. It’s lovely not to have any pressure to go anywhere so that I can spend the whole break right here in fandom.

And thank you so much for your gorgeous response to my drabbles! Sense of place is something I always strive for, and it’s rewarding to hear I’ve succeeded in mere 100 words.

And I love the words you use, referring to the part you quote. At those moments my Remus is surprisingly serene while still vulnerable. On the other hand, I’ve wondered if these pieces can work even if you don’t think about any Lupin at all – as such readers see them who don’t know my interpretation of him, and there are references to events I myself don’t know more about. (I still haven’t written a word more about Remus in Africa – oh, except a mention of where Brünnhilde introduced him and a character with whom he’s in Anywhere and Back Again.)

I think I haven’t commented on your DW because you mainly post about canons and fandoms I don’t know at all. But I think I can remember your pondering how you could have made a fan haiku better. Including sense of place and/or other vividness and emotions and a surprise in 27 syllables must be a bit more difficult than doing it in 100 words.

[scytale]

I'm glad you're not too worried, and that fandom is here for you. :)

On the other hand, I’ve wondered if these pieces can work even if you don’t think about any Lupin at all – as such readers see them who don’t know my interpretation of him, and there are references to events I myself don’t know more about.

This is interesting, because I think I mostly know your interpretation of him, but only vaguely from reading your DW (and I may be totally wrong, as I often am when learning things via osmosis!). I think knowing about your Lupin and how it seems to fit into his overarching story definitely adds to it.

But I think they would work without Remus or without Harry Potter, even. The nature and the narrator's response to them work without.


I think I haven’t commented on your DW because you mainly post about canons and fandoms I don’t know at all. But I think I can remember your pondering how you could have made a fan haiku better.

My DW is very niche right now because I'm neck-deep in one obscure fandom. :) I hope it hasn't been too much to scroll through! But yes, I did do some pondering around fan haiku -- it's something I've been wanting to write more of, but my desire to write has been a bit sparse recently.

[paulamcg]

Thank you so much for your further comment!

I mostly know your interpretation of him I’m glad you feel that way! Now I can think that you’ve met him at these moments. And I believe in readers’ right to make their own interpretation on the basis of the fiction they read. That’s why I’ve originally wanted to make only fic posts, and when I can’t resist opportunities like someone asking about my top five Lupin moments or tropes, I still hope my DW friends will read some of my fic, too. I might talk about my interpretation of canon Lupin, but I try to avoid giving any facts about my universe/headcanon outside the stories. In fact, I hardly have such facts, because details of my characters’ lives become real to me, too, only after I’ve included them in a fic. In discussion with a reader I should refrain from mentioning something that’s in other fics, not in the one(s) the reader has read, unless I’m asked.

And thank you, it’s always lovely to hear that something I’ve written could work as non-fanfic, even though I’m reconciled with writing only fanfic because this universe and the challenge of keeping it consistent motivates me. I am, indeed, neck-deep in it, still, after all these years.

I hope you’ll get to enjoy writing again. Perhaps you’ll have more desire again particularly for writing compact stories. I wrote some haikus a couple of years ago – made up lines about my perceptions, counting the syllables in my mind when taking my weekend walks in the woods. But now you’ve made me realise that even a story about a character could fit in such a small space – when it’s a fanfic and the character doesn’t need to be introduced and the background is implied in the character’s name or just the title of the haiku.

Oh, it’s fine to read your posts about an obscure fandom! I wouldn’t even now if it’s obscure because I know only the HP fandom, and haven’t watched any of the TV shows people in my feed talk about (except the Witcher).

[scytale]

Thank you so much for your further comment as well. :)

I might talk about my interpretation of canon Lupin, but I try to avoid giving any facts about my universe/headcanon outside the stories. In fact, I hardly have such facts, because details of my characters’ lives become real to me, too, only after I’ve included them in a fic.

Oh, interesting! It's always fascinating to me how other folks interact with their written worlds, especially people who write longer fic and have more sustained universes; thank you for going into it. :)

I hope you’ll get to enjoy writing again. Perhaps you’ll have more desire again particularly for writing compact stories. I wrote some haikus a couple of years ago – made up lines about my perceptions, counting the syllables in my mind when taking my weekend walks in the woods.

Thank you, I hope so too! And your haiku sound lovely (and oh my goodness, weekend walks in the woods sound great, too). If you ever decide to write more and are ever interested in sharing, I'd love to read them.

[paulamcg]

thank you for going into it. My pleasure! I love babbling about my relationship with my written world – and thank you for that term, as well as for your interest in any haikus I might write. I’m afraid that after getting addicted again last year, fanfic is all I write, but if I ever manage a (fan) haiku, I’m sure to share it here.

[kelly_chambliss]

Glad you're doing well! I will look forward to Amelia/Tonks. I still haven't been able to give my attention to fandom (I'd like to, but my brain keeps having other ideas; I'm not yet able to focus on much beyond my daily work), but I hope the day is coming!

[paulamcg]

Thank you so much for commenting! Yes, I’ve finally written some kind of femslash, and I’m now trying to get it posted in the HP Femslash Minifest collection on AO3.

I hope you’ll manage to give some attention to fandom and allow it to give you some solace.