SACRED DUST

5/24/2019: It's taken much longer than I wanted it to but, long story short, the next chapter of 'Crazy Like a Snake' will be up in a matter of days. The Pure-Blood Trio's friendship has deepened, the conspiracy behind Tom Riddle's diary and the Chamber of Secrets is exposed, and a resurgent Death Eater and his apprentice lay defeated—but not without cost. What's next for Draco, Luna, Ginevra, and Hermione? Will they be in any condition to enjoy their holiday? Lucius' father is still alive, so what's he going to say about all this? What is the meaning of life?

That last one may take a while, but the rest will all be answered in Chapter 21: The Poison Pen.

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Hi, I'm Sacred Dust and I love writing! I've been a member on FF since spring 2005, and started writing more consistently a year later. My best-known projects are 'Crazy Like a Snake' for Harry Potter, 'Only Hope' for Digimon and 'The Depths of Shallowness' for Daria. I love getting reviews and feedback.

My favorite things to do in writing are to develop characters and put them in unusual situations to bring out hidden qualities. I also enjoy AU fics. I tend to stick rather close to canon and rarely do OC's or songfics. And I put effort and heart into everything I submit. :)

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1/25/2019: In an effort to recover from creative exhaustion after the climax of my Harry Potter fic (which will be finished eventually) and get myself back to writing something, anything, I have launched a short story based on the anime/manga series Gunslinger Girl. The premise of government agents using cyborgs to combat terrorism in Italy is pretty interesting, especially in terms of character development and how the various teams work together. I wasn't sure why all the cyborgs were female children, so I had to come up with my own rationale. In any case the idea grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go, so there it is: 'Flat of the Blade.'

8/14/2018: Has it really been almost a month since I updated 'Crazy Like a Snake'? O_O It doesn't feel that way, but the calendar doesn't lie. I apologise for taking so long! Chapter 20 has finally taken shape in my mind and I think it will be published by this weekend. There will be one or two more chapters after that, in order to set things up for a possible sequel. But the end of my CoS AU is definitely in sight, and it's been a very memorable journey.

2/24/2018: Where did the last 13 years go? I have no idea, but I'm still on this site and still writing fan fiction. While I have some ongoing projects that are updated very infrequently ('I'll Be the Victim' is updated every two years or so, no joke) my primary focus these days is Harry Potter. I read the first book when I was a kid but it took me forever to get to the others. So far I've written "Crazy Like a Snake", an ongoing AU of Year 2 where Luna Lovegood is sorted into Slytherin, and "Perennial", a Hansy oneshot. I may have more HP projects going on in the future. Here are the rules I'm writing by, just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from.

RULE #1: KEEP IT IN JO'S WORLD

First and foremost, I pledge not to make the characters WINOs (Wizards In Name Only). The Harry Potter characters should not constantly be hanging out in the Muggle world, wearing Muggle clothes, or rocking out to my favorite Muggle pop songs. That is not authentic and frankly, it's not very interesting to read. These characters are wizards and witches. They use magic. They wear robes. They grew up in the wizarding world constructed by J.K. Rowling and that's where they belong. Period.

RULE #2: IT'S HARRY POTTER, NOT DAYS OF OUR LIVES

This overlaps slightly with Rule #1. My stories are not soap operas and I don't revel in romantic teen angst. I got that out of my system long ago. You will very seldom see car accidents, cancer, vampires, werewolves, rape, or other overdone edgy concepts brought in to create drama. (We're really supposed to believe there are no charms or wards to prevent non-consensual sex?)

RULE #3: DRACO MALFOY IS NOT A NICE PERSON

Let's be real here, he's a jerk. A bigoted snob who is twisted enough to support the Death Eaters' agenda but isn't brave or skilled enough to be a major threat all by himself. I know it's really popular to portray him as this seductive, debonair poor little rich boy that Harry or Hermione just can't help falling for, but that probably has a lot more to do with idealized fantasies (some involving the actor Tom Felton) than it does with the actual character. Canon Draco is none of those things and if I'm going to make him a decent and desirable fellow, I've got my work cut out for me.

RULE #4: OTHER STUFF

Veela are one of the least interesting inventions in the whole HP-verse and I want nothing to do with them unless it involves developing Fleur Delacour's character; I would like to try that. Dark Harry doesn't work. Hermione isn't black. Bellatrix is not a pretty goth chick. And nobody, save for Bellatrix (who is insane), wants to get intimate with Voldemort. No soul mates, no life bonds, no life debts; these ideas are impractical and don't really fit into the HP universe any more than they do this one.

RULE #5: NO SONGFICS

Is an explanation really needed here? Nobody cares what my favorite songs are and even if Massive Attack are the greatest band in the world, you don't want to see the text broken up by their lyrics.

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AGE: 32
LOCATION: Minnesota and proud of it
INTERESTS: Fiction writing, video games, wrestling, music (esp. death metal), world history, urban exploration
FAVORITE SHOWS: Daria, MLP: FIM, The Simpsons ('92-'98), Mystery Science Theater 3000, Cardcaptor Sakura, Gidget (1965), Digimon (S1-3), Teen Titans, The Red Green Show, Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), Garfield & Friends, Samurai Pizza Cats, Strawberry Marshmallow

FAVORITE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS: Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter), Quinn Morgendorffer (Daria)

FAVORITE MUSIC: Dark & Extreme Metal (Immolation, Grave, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Dissection, Katatonia, Agalloch)

BIGGEST FANDOMS: Digimon (2005), Daria (2011), My Little Pony (2012), Harry Potter (2018)