Hello and welcome to our Legends Among Us 2.0 exhibit in the SOUP Offices. We have decided to turn our outer offices into a makeshift gallery for your viewing pleasure! Each month we shall endeavor to bring you delightful works from your fellow snakes who have been honored with our monthly awards across our various subforums.

So, without further ado, I invite you to join me at this month's gallery opening! First up, we have our beloved Heir of Slytherin for August 2024, Shiva!

Hello everyone! I'm Sara, aka Shiva. I have been on HEX for almost 18 years; some of you may have known me as Sarara. What an honor to be thought of for Heir of Slytherin! I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful house and to be able to get to know all of you.

On HEX, I spend my time chatting, playing, and hosting various games and contests. Hosting is probably my favorite thing to do on HEX. I am so excited and motivated for next term. Go Snakes!

In real life, I am a SAHM of 2 kids and have way too many animals: 4 dogs, a horse, a lizard, and a spider. I live off of coffee. I am a pro at seeing something and thinking, "That looks fun; I should try it!" My latest hobby is propagating and growing succulents. I also have some outdoor plants that I managed to keep alive over the winter and replanted this summer. Everybody was shocked! Here is a small sample of some I have grown from a tiny cutting.

Next, we move on to our busy Snakelet of the Month, Magical Muse, and Community Hero for August, MinGyuna!

Howdy!
I'm MinGyuna. You can call me Ming or Yuna.
I'd like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for this experience. I am pretty new on HEX. I started to be active around HEX in late June. Oh, I've met wonderful people and enjoyed joining the activities around the House.

So, as one may expect, I'm shocked and honored to be able to snatch 3 awards around Slytherin House itself! So far, my experiences have been wonderful; everyone here is friendly, and there's nowhere I'd rather be than a place I call home -- Slytherin.

Following the theme of this month's SOUP issue, Herbology, I've made a couple of digital art pieces for my "If Magical Plant Is A Person" series. If you'd like to see more, head on over to my digital art portfolio called "Yuna's Art Cart" in the Slytherin Studio.

I'll see you around. Adieu!

Closely tied to our Snakelet is our Pythonidae of the Month, also over in the Serpent's Nest! Our winner for this award for this month is Meowkatz93!

Hello, all! I'm honored to be the Pythonidae of the Month. I am excited about this month's Herbology theme because I'm a huge nature lover! I studied the environment in college and believe Herbology would be one of my favorite subjects if I were at Hogwarts. I've lived in many states here in the US, and the first thing I usually do in a new place is learn about the trees in the area because I feel like they tell the area's true history.

I still enjoy travelling, hiking, and learning about what lessons nature is willing to share. My favorite hiking views are waterfalls and trails that seem to vanish right into the trees. Here is one from Indiana that I hope you all enjoy!

Our next shining snake comes to us as the winner of our Industrious Snake Award, Kcsk1998!

Hi fellow snakes, it's my honour to be chosen as this month's Industrious Snake! Since the theme for this issue is Herbology, I thought I'd write a little bit about how we Slytherins are similar to Herbology, and no, I don't just mean because our house colour is green!

You see, like growing a plant is a long and arduous journey, so has our quest for the House Cup been. Ultimately, our hard work has paid off, and we can enjoy the best fruit of our efforts - winning the House Cup!

Now we're at the beginning of the new school year, where we've planted the seeds to our new quest for the next House Cup. There will be days of frustration ahead, where it seems like no matter how hard you water the soil, nothing is growing. But tending a plant requires patience and consistent effort, and so does our path to winning the House Cup again. The grass is indeed greener where you water it; let's go green, Slythies!!! Let's keep up the winning streak and win the House Cup again this coming year!

Last, but certainly not least, we leave you with this delightful piece written by our latest Noble Slytherin, Mama Philly!

It was a surprise and an honor to receive The Noble Slytherin Award. I want to thank those who voted for me!! I was asked to write a little blurb for SOUP. When it was noted that the theme was Herbology - I had to laugh. You see, dear readers that makes TWO things I'm not good at in one!! In addition to being an "ok - this isn't TOO terrible" writer - woe to the flowering plant that finds its way into my custody. It doesn't stand a chance. Not quite so noble there. Don't get me wrong - I really like flowering plants. I just don't have the proverbial "green thumb" when it comes to them. I try so hard, but alas - they will perish. I've told everyone - "Never get me a flowering plant. It's cruel and unusual punishment for the plant". Now - give me something that does NOT flower - I'm a champ. I've had a Philodendron for over 30 years (yes, you read that right)!! I've cut off many chutes and given parts of it to family & friends. It is thriving. It has even survived an accidental 3 weeks with no water. I've also had a Christmas Cactus for about 10 years. This is the one flowering plant that seems to have an immunity to my tendency to kill the pretty flower plants. While most things I read said these flowers once a year, mine tends to do it at least 3 or 4. Not sure how this happened. This is another plant I've rooted for others. Hmmmm, now that I think about it - maybe it's the Dementor part of my soul that kills them... What do you think??

I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we wholeheartedly thank each of these brave souls for sharing a bit of themselves with us! Artwork in every form is usually something quite personal to each of us. We here at SOUP send our deepest gratitude and love to each of these amazing people!

Join me next month as we take a deeper dive into our next award winners in the noble house of Slytherin! This is your resident SOUP Snake, signing off as it's time for a snack!