Happy Birthday to me!

I can't even begin to tell you all how cool it was to receive my dream birthday gift this year. Millions and millions of thanks to moonlightnrain who got the word out and collected stories, edited them, and bound them all for me. And an even bigger thanks for finishing the wonderful and long awaited "For the Pleasure of Severus Snape"! By the Lady it is a lovely read, one of many I received this year!

Aelf wrote me the hilarious "Daniel Does Azeroth" in which Daniel Jackson gets sucked into the online gaming universe of World of Warcraft:

Jack scanned the apartment as he entered, only half-listening to Daniel's enthusiastic chatter about the game. Empty pizza boxes and take-out boxes littered the counter of the usually immaculate kitchen, and there was a decided...funk about the living room that told of bodies unmoving and windows unopened. "Have you left your house all week?" Jack asked, interrupting a diatribe about something called guilds.

Then I got the amazing odogoddess's luscious Snupin story, "I Still Do":

"No, you fool," Snape said without real heat. "Slytherin, remember? We know the meaning of the word 'circumspect'. We would have been careful and it would have been...glorious."

I was absolutely floored when I saw enuffistoomuch's name at the top of her incredible original fiction "Ruff":

While a mess of a human, crumpled and slightly wheezing from some honest obstruction in his lungs, he was no more a distraction to her inner thoughts than any dead body would have been. But the mere fact that he'd thrown himself into her freshly laundered linens body and soul was enough to irk. Abby's jaw set with the thought and started the daily march of aging lines all around her mouth and eyes. A sigh escaped her lungs, washed over the room and went unnoticed, as was the order of the day. If her body language could speak it would give the most inept of viewers the impression that she wasn't at all enamored with him. At least, not any more.

I got to read my first ever wonderful Harry/Seamus slash fic by phillipalden titled "Thoughts of Seamus":

Hogwart's is a massive castle, with all manner of secret rooms and out-of-the-way places, and Harry and Seamus put many of them to use. When Ron wondered why they kept running off togehter they told him they were working on a project involving spiders. Upon hearing the word 'spider' Ron wanted no further information. Hermione said nothing and gave no outward sign of what she might be thinking, which worried Harry.

As a Wiccan I was especially delighted to read the intense original short story "The Horned Man" by chiabrit:

She blinked again clearing the sun spots snapping back into her own reality like a human elastic band. Her eyes sought out the man she had seen and caught him smiling and turning and walking away. Her breath caught as she saw the shadow he cast as he walked away the unmistakable crown of antlers on its head.

I actually squeed aloud when I saw pikabot's name at the top of the delightfully twisty-turny "Jurassic Effect":

Miss Sparring turned sharply and began walking away. Larry followed, but stopped first for one last look through the glass. He stared down at the world's first, and only, human time traveler.

And last but not least "For the Pleasure of Severus Snape", which even came with a cover drawing! I got to read the beginning and middle of this one as it was originally being worked on and have been waiting for the finale for a long time. I certainly wasn't disappointed:

And finally, finally, I knew what he'd meant about the Dark Mark on his arm. I knew what it meant to feel as if you belonged to someone. I knew what love was, and it was much different than what I'd been imagining it to be.

Again, best birthday gift ever! I'd like to thank everyone who participated, I just can't tell you how much this means to me!