[	Tags	|	music	]
[	mood	|	chipper	]

I accidentally watched 1 episode of BBC Merlin on YouTube and then viewed most of the rest with pleasure. (Here you can read the episodes' descriptions & watch, but all of them are on YouTube too). If somebody doesn't know, the series begins with Arthur's & his servant's Merlin's adventures as young men, when magic-hating Uther is yet a king, unaware of her powers Morgana is his ward and the future queen Gwen is Morgana's maidservant and a close friend.

Btw, so far the least likable of the abovementioned (except Uther but including young Mordred) is Arthur because of his arrogance, but he started showing signs of great improvement too. I especially liked 2 episodes dealing with Mordred (ep. 8 in s1& ep. 3 s2) both since I love good villains in general and because it's interesting to see how his character will be developed. Thus far he seems to be a decent hearted, cute kid, though his magical capacity had already given Merlin pause in a moment of foreshadowing.

So I searched for an episode on YouTube & fortunately saw a Merlin video with the song "Mordred's Lullaby" by Heather Dale, an independent Canadian Celtic artist, who "performs primarily her own songs" [from wiki] and has recently released her 11-th (!) CD. I liked many of her songs, particularly the ones inspired by King Arthur Legends, but not only. They vary from Arthurian to the ones about Joan of Arc, a sinking ship, holiday songs & even the one inspired by problems of self-image in our media-saturated age ["Medusa"]. The best examples of her work imo are under the cut. However, the most favorite song remained the first I heard. The video is great too. Enjoy!

Mordred's Lullaby [BBC Merlin]

Other wonderful Arthurian and not songs:
First, Not Arthurian:
Joan [of Arc] (The video is so beautiful!)
Dale about the song

A wonderful meme from Russian lj. You get 3 situations and have to give 3 answers to each, as an optimist, a pessimist and a realist. La_cruz [lj in Russian] asked me the following:

1. JKR confessed that, in her opinion, in reality Bellatrix is a white hat too.
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed a wish to act in the last HP movie.
3. All Arab countries of the world chorally recognized the State of Israel.

[	Tags	|	fics, hp	]
[	mood	|	excited	]

Written for Cat's Birthday HP Drabblethon 5  at mctabby's lj.

Recipient: anitaray
Prompt: Arabella Figg and Petunia Dursley seek each other out after the events of DH. 

Word count: 370

Rating: PG or G (unsure)
 

Trust Potter with the entire Auror force at his beck and call to ask her of all people to deliver it. He thrust the letter in her hand and disappeared in Diagon Alley before she could say a word. She'll leave it on the doorstep on the way to buy milk for Mrs Tibbles's kittens in the evening. If the message gets blown away by wind, it surely won't be Arabella Figg's fault and may be the Head Auror will learn for future use to get people's agreement before assuming they'll do him a favor.

~ ~ ~

I want to forget you
I feel completely defeated
I want to forget you
Like you never existed
Yet you still haunt me out of the blue

Petunia shuddered and quickly turned off the radio, yet the stupid love song's lyrics continued to haunt her during the day.

But I want to forget you
Start my life anew

But I want to forget you
For that moment is now due

Unfortunately, the memories she would most like to forget were the toughest to leave behind. In her dreams she continued to be stalked by talking letters, to helplessly stand near Dudley as he was chocking after eating only one minuscule candy cane, to hide in one of those freaks' houses, afraid to move, lest she accidentally touched something magical. Once she awakened to the wailing of the neighbors' newborn infant and felt more frightened than she'd ever been in 2 years since they returned home.

Perhaps Diddy was right and she should try this new AAT thing. Of course, she won't go to a therapist – she would hate to have neighbors talking about her breaking down after the no-good nephew disappeared somewhere, probably getting life sentence for murder. Besides, the only thing therapists were good at was parting between fools and their money & Petunia didn't consider herself a fool. She probably should check Ms Figg's kittens in the evening. Street cats always seemed dislikable, sneaky, wild creatures. She could easily understand why they were believed to be witches' familiars. However, lazy, longhaired cats were another matter altogether. Their entire look seemed to broadcast: "I'm domestic and respectable and as normal as you're". Yes, she will definitely look at them.    

A wonderful, creepy drabble, which archon_mentha has written for me:

Prompt: A conversation between Voldemort and Albus Severus. (V doesn't know (at first) who the boy is).

[	Tags	|	hp	]
[	mood	|	bouncy	]

Check Cat's Birthday HP Drabblethon at mctabby's lj (the famous creator of Summery Executions).  

How this works: Think of a prompt (100 words) for somebody else, and the Sorting Cat will give you somebody else's prompt in exchange.

Look at the already submitted prompts.

Cat's Birthday Drabblethons 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.

[	Tags	|	hbp, hp, movies	]
[	mood	|	chipper	]

 I felt about movie romance much better than about the one in the book both since watching several minutes is easier than reading hundreds of pages and because they greatly improved (read: completely changed) H/G. 

Let's start with Ron\Hermione

Harry\Ginny.

Bonnie Wright's Ginny is  

Lupin\Tonks

Are already a couple.  

 FAVORITE QUOTES

[on the train]

Harry: It was an initiation… He's one of them.

Ron: One of whom?

Hr: Harry's on the impression Draco Malfoy is a DE. [Ron laughs].

Harry: What was he doing at B&B, browsing for furniture?

Ron: It's a creepy shop. Malfoy is a creepy bloke.

[Slughorn with Harry see Hagrid & dead Aragog]

Slughorn: Oh, God. Give, Hagrid, how did you manage to kill it? 

[	Tags	|	fics, hp, humor, summery_ executions	]
[	mood	|	crazy	]

 (with a small rant about "Someone's Gotta Go" inside)

"The Golden Age" by Arsinoe de Blassenville:
"Post DH. In the wake of victory, Harry struggles with life, love, and the reform of the British wizarding world. He learns that life is complex, and that happy endings are fleeting."

A very beautiful book version can be downloaded (or read online) from Red Hen Publications (the last of the fics there).

Summery Executions 11.

 
Vernon Dursley Kills Harry, But Harry Doesn't Die. Instead He Wakes To Find Dumbledore And Snape Hovering Over Him, And He Is Pissed. The Story Of His Quest To Rid The World Of Dumbledore.

It was probably a bad idea to get pregnant by Draco Malfoy. But what's done is done, and she is sure they can both be adults about it. Not like this is some melodramatic romance novel, or anything. M/F, Preg

But first, Happy Birthday, anthimaeria!

I have just found stoney321's review of the entire 4-book Twilight series in 4 posts, ala DeathToCapsLock, and enjoyed it despite not reading the books. I was very disturbed by the birth scene and especially by the werewolf imprinting on Angela's newborn girl. I read many critical essays about HP, but that "imprinting" (meaning she'll be his future wife, when she graduates high school, just like children being promised in the previous centuries & even today in some countries) is so creepy that you can't even criticize it.  

[	Tags	|	poetry	]
[	mood	|	bouncy	]
[	music	|	Everybody Chooses for Himself.	]

I was reminded of a wonderful song a couple of days ago and after searching the Internet even found its' English translation. Enjoy!

Everybody Chooses for Himself.

Everybody chooses for himself
His religion, loyalties and women.
Service to a prophet, or a demon,
Everybody chooses for himself.

[	Tags	|	fics, hp, humor	]
[	mood	|	crazy	]

\\Part 1 is here.\\

Seeing both of them at the parlor's door, Narcissa stopped smiling and quickly rose from the table. The guest rose too. He was a thin, tall old man with a very arrogant face.

Lucius was lost. If he really was a lover, it had to be acknowledged that Narcissa had quite peculiar taste in men.

Anyway, the guests had to be introduced.

Author: valley
Translator: elanor_x

Beta: anthimaeria</a></span>
Summery: Lucius, Narcissa, Snape. New Year's Eve at Malfoy Manor.  A situation comedy.</span>

Link to the original fic in Russian: http://www.snapetales.com/index.php?fic_id=1733

On New Year's Eve.

 "Sev! Quick, think of something! I've already told him that I'm a widow!"

 "Did you write that explicitly?"

 "Sure.  Wrote that I'm a widow, my husband perished, and my son and I practically starve… And suddenly such unpleasantness! Who knew he'd be freed on New Year Eve?"

 "Hmm…  Nobody knew, of course," the Professor answered meditatively. "Does Draco know about it? Is he ready to represent a poor orphan?"