This rec has it all! No, really. It's het! It's slash! It's voyeurism! There's all kinds of kinky stuff going on--and, best of all, for us fangirls who read boyslash, it's a wonderful self-mocking kind of story, if you've ever wanted to be Tonks, that is.
four fic recs--two 'shippy, one gen, all harry potter I just stumbled across these stories, and I absolutely adore the concept. The J/L one nearly made me cry, and the Bill and Charlie ones are just perfect. I rather hope this becomes the next "Five Things That Didn't Happen to..." fad.
The following two are actually two halves of the same story--"Twenty Random Facts about the Eldest Weasley Boys"--a genfic written by sheafrotherdon and devkel, respectively.
Set during PoA. Ginny Weasley and Minerva McGonagall have a talk about a certain dark-haired Slytherin and his place in their lives. And no, it's not Snape. ;)
ETA: Okay, a few more. Because I can. And b/c I feel like reccing things that I wouldn't normally rec. And because it's summer and I want to rec summer fics.
My main objection is that it's H/Hr, which is just wrong and weird, b/c Hermione SO does not want Harry, and also the author occasionally has Ginny think of Harry and Hermione as "Potter" and "Granger," but whatever. :) It's ... summer and girlcrushes and yellow sundresses and wanting things you shouldn't be able to have.
A summer-after-fourth-year written before OotP came out. Just a little ficlet about a hot summer day at the Burrow. I also recommend the sequel, "Torch."
Sirius and Remus shop for baby Harry's first Christmas present. Chaos and sweetness ensue--features a discussion of the biography of the duck-billed platypus (I must say that its being a magical creature makes more sense than any other explanation I've ever heard) and Sirius cowering before small Muggle girls.
so much for the afterglow, by Kyra Cullinan. "Afterwards, Hawkeye listens." Post-series. Snippet: In Korea, he talked constantly. Wisecracks and puns, a steady stream of verbal armor to block out the noises around him, the horror that was every single breath. Here, there's no need to build a wall of sound around himself, and he's quiet, quieter than he's ever been.
Oz:
Descent, by Rustler. Augustus Hill, my most favouritest Oz character, thinks about running. Snippet: He has dreams where he's running so hard his heart thumps wildly in his chest, and he can feel the sweat breaking out on his brow. Running, running, in the night. Running toward...nothing. But he can't stop. He hears the rapid footsteps of hard-soled cop shoes pounding behind him, and he's naked, barefoot, wincing over gravel and broken glass littering the rooftop.
Rooftop.
No. Shit.
Can't. Stop.
Harry Potter:
SUBLIMATION AND THE SNITCH: QUIDDITCH IN HUMAN SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS, by Remus J. Lupin, Hogwarts School, History of Magic Class, Year Seven Thesis, by skyhawke. Self-explanatory. Wish I'd gotten more high school essays like this during my stint as a teacher ;) Snippet(s): Position titles alone are heavily sexual in nature, descriptions of pursuit and capture -- Seekers, Chasers, Keepers, and of course, the most blatant among them, Beaters. It is not coincidence that Beaters have been, in this case correctly, stereotyped as the most extroverted, sexually active and virile members of any Quidditch team; it is a deep-seated societal archetype at work [fn 20]. ==== [20] I am sure, Professor, that Sirius Black's short but spectacular tenure as Gryffindor Beater, before he was thrown off the team for indecent activities[fn 21] in the locker room, bears out this assertion better than any factual quote I could give. [21] And what goes on in the locker room on his own time and with consenting companions is entirely his own business, I must say, and hardly reason to ban him from playing.
Harry Potter and the Polka Dot Plague, by Marina Frants. Just what it sounds like :) Snippets: Snape stared at him with an expression of pure loathing that would've been quite menacing if not for the polka dots.
I guard the boy's life, and he looks at me as if I'm something he scraped from the bottom of a cauldron. I wear a pair of socks, and he decides I'm "decent." Gryffindors.
Witness for the Defence, by After the Rain. Severus Snape is called to testify at a rather unusual murder trial. Love the whole thing, but the little oomph at the end is particularly satisfying ;) Snippet: Minister Weasley has made an attempt to reform our justice system along Muggle lines, with somewhat mixed results. Nowadays, there are usually a couple of young, idealistic Ministry officials playing the parts of prosecutor and defense counsel and trying to enforce some semblance of order, and three veteran judges who are used to doing exactly what they like whenever they feel like it. Naturally, the judges always win.
Two to Tango - piaffe417 (does she have an lj?) L&O: CI, Goren & Eames, G
Obligala fic is my weakness; fortunately, this is an obligala story that stands on its own (entirely apart from the "oooh, shiny!") and has some interesting things to say about Bobby and Alex's partnership.
Goren dances on the thin edge of "normal" on the best of days; _ehakus_ shows us what might happen if he fell. A great look into one of the more troubling aspect of Bobby's character.
This one of the best RPS fics I've read in quite a while. And since it's Colin Farrell, you think it's going to be a PWP, but then it turns into something more and it's utterly engrossing.
This is a tricky pairing to pull off, and Casira nails it perfectly. Each of these three is perfectly in-character, and the scenario is so plausible you can imagine it happening onscreen. (Okay, maybe not. We are talking about Disney, after all.)
(I've been compiling this list for a couple of weeks now and didn't realize I'd rec'ced two of Casira's stories at once, but they both desperately deserve to be on here, so I don't care.) Very few fics have made me cry, but there were tears streaming down my face by the time I got to the end of this story. This is largely the map's story, but it also reminds us of just how much things have changed for Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs in the interim ... and the gravity of that loss. I've written and rewritten this rec in an attempt to do this story justice, and it can't be done -- just read it, and you'll understand.
Quite possibly the best HP fic I've ever read. The final battle of the war is two years past. Voldemort won. Harry and Ron are dead. Snape was such a successful spy that his cover was never blown, and he is treated as a hero of Voldemort's army. Hermione is left to cope in a world where survival means selling a little bit more of your soul every day. A positively breathtaking examination of the meaning of loyalty, compromise, and hope in a world where the good guys lost.
fic rec? what's that? I must admit, I hardly ever go to fanfiction.net any more. I'm not reading much fic these days, good, bad or indifferent, and I find the grain/chaff ratio on ff.n much, much lower than the grain/chaff on the lj communities like lawandorderfic or negativebupkes etc. I know I'm missing out on some gems in amongst the crap, but frankly, I can't be bothered to dig through these days.
So, wow. Went there on a whim, and found a really (IMHO) good tribute to Lennie. Some parts didn't quite work for me, and it required encyclopedic knowledge of the eps to get all of it, but overall? Ooh, shiny. IMHO.
aaww... OK, I've got to be the biggest sap that's ever been, but the radio is on a Christimas fluff-fest as I pack up to go home, and it reminded me of this story. L&O Classique, from the apocrypha archives, Rey Curtis/Jamie Ross (and yes, I'm a big sap for that pairing too):
Read It Because: It's a classic. Mulder and Scully, after their gift-giving session in Mulder's apartment, finally get it together. This is the first of twelve stories set around Christmas, but it remains my favorite. Numbers 2-5 are also available at Gossamer.
(Note: Anne took her fic off the internet about two years ago now, but fortunately, Gossamer, the original Pit of Voles for XF fic, is still around, and still contains a few of her stories, for those who didn't download them before she took it all down.)
I would also rec the Christmas chapter of "Twelve Degrees of Separation," which is one of those fics that was a true classic back in its day, and isn't really all that good now (there's Maggie/Skinner!!), but...you know, it's a CLASSIC! And I love the Christmas chapter. But, sadly, it's gone from the 'net.
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Story:The Final Gift, by Michael Stackpole. Non-fic rec.
Read It Because: I say so. This is a wonderful piece of original fiction by an author who is himself something of a fan. Mike Stackpole is the author of some of the best Star Wars novels, including most of the X-Wing series. (He invented Corran Horn and Mirax Terrik! How can you not love him?) He also has a number of fantasy and sci-fi novels set in his own universes.
"The Final Gift" is neither fantasy nor sci-fi...I'd call it a vision of history. It's quite literally the Gift of the Magi, and it's worth reading just for the ending alone.
snarkhunter described Lale's HP fic as "raw," and I think she's exactly right. This is a messy, dirty universe. Nearly everyone is dead, save for Draco and Hermione -- and they hate each other. Still, there is a surprising amount of grace and hope here, even amidst the darkness.
Elliot and Olivia have so much baggage that utterly convincing Elliot/Olivia stories are hard to come by. This is one of those stories -- Sloane shows us an Elliot/Olivia relationship that is messy, confused, painful, multilayered and very, very real. Even if the thought of E/O gives you hives, this story shouldn't be missed.
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Shut Up - cupiscent Lotrips. Bean/Viggo. NC-17. Summary: Bean's had enough. Viggo pushes too far.
I watched Boromir die three times this weekend (thank you, TNT), just to see Sean Bean and Viggo sell it every. fucking. time. From there, it was a hop, skip, and a jump to a new favorite flavor of lotrips. I love so many things about this story -- the roughness, the lust, the edge of desperation. There are no hearts and flowers here, and no real happy endings, either.
Criminal Intent Nombre and Foul - A.j. (aj) CI, post-eps.
These vignettes are unrelated, but I'm rec'ing them together. I love Alex and Bobby partnership stories, and A.j.'s vignettes cut right to the heart of who they are and how they work. There's so much in so few words, and the effect is breathtaking.
It's fluffy, schmoopy Bobby/Alex marriage fic, and b_cavis makes it WONDERFUL. I mean, really. Imagine Bobby interacting with his precocious child. See what I mean? Adorable, right? Especially when it's terribly well-written. Yeeah. Read it.
Baby-Sitters Club Okay, so this series of recs consists mostly of me raiding the BSC ficathon page, but hey. BSC fic.
Stacey was never one of my favorite babysitters, but I think there was a lot more to her than we got to see in the series. Jaci and goovie go to two very different places with the same pairing, but both of them work fantastically well.
The Three Musketeers - queenzulu R, post-series, Adam/Byron/Jordan Summary: They've been a threesome all their lives.
Um. Yeah. Incest fic is a big, big, big, HUGE squick of mine. Somehow, this story manages to make it sweet and believable.
We all know Te is a goddess (and if you don't know that, you do now), and this look at Xander and Willow in the aftermath of "Grave" just affirms her divine status. I admit that I'm a sucker for the complex friendship between these two, and Te does a wonderful, wonderful job of exploring its depths, especially in this moment that marks one of the lowest points of their lives.
Victoria P summarizes this story on unfitforsociety by asking, "What if the monks' spell had an expiration date?" I'm fascinated by Dawn and her unusual origins, so that question had me hooked immediately. Then I read the story and discovered that not only does it give us Dawn, post-"Gift," alone, and forgotten by everyone left in her life, but it's a crossover with Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Follow Dawn down Mary's twisted rabbit hole into London Below...
Even if you're not familiar with the SNL sketch that inspired these, it's hard not to love something that contains the sentences, If they had fanfic back in the Dark Ages, I bet the most common question readers would ask is, "Can't you put a catapult in this story?" No, I'm sorry. That would violate canon.
And for a 180-degree change in tone: The Queen in Exile - LindaMarie. Chronicles of Narnia, Lucy
This has haunted me ever since I read it, and I'm going to quote thefourthvine's rec in its entirety, because there's no way I can say it better:
"This is one of those I-can't-warn-you-but-I-need-to situations, so let me say that "The Queen in Exile" is absolutely brutal, and it is not for people who are taking psychoactive medications, seeing visions, or having a bad day. But it is so worth reading, and so totally, totally right. Before I encountered Narnia fan fiction, my feelings about Lucy were just vaguely uncomfortable, but some great authors have showed me the light. Or, in this case, the darkness. Because how hard did you search for Narnia when you were little, when you half believed that you only had to open the right door to find a world that was made for bookish little kids like you? So how much harder would you look if you were Lucy, if you'd been there, grown up there, loved there, lived your life there, and then lost it? No, that's not quite right. Had it taken away from you by someone you worshiped and served and never once let down."
Summary:Draco still claims that he doesn’t understand how Muggle appliances work, but Hermione knows that it’s just so he won’t have to make tea or supper or do anything for himself. He uses the lids of pots as hats when it rains and Merlin only knows where he’s left any of them, so she wraps tinfoil tightly over the top of one to make rice. She knows he’ll somehow manage to worm his way out of doing the washing up, even though she’d the one doing the cooking, so she lines a cooky tin with tinfoil and bakes the fish with lemons and a tin of tomatoes.
Read it because if you liked The X-Files at all, and especially if you liked XF post-col stuff, this story will be right up your alley. The merest passing familiarity with HP will suffice -- pretty much all I know about the universe is the general principles of how it works and the names of most of the main characters -- but the universe Lale creates here is so freaking real. I was so caught up, I forgot to breathe in a couple of places.
Actually, let me recommend lalejandra as an author you should be reading, period. It's almost exclusively a fic journal, and while I don't read in every fandom she writes in, the stuff she writes is visceral and gut-wrenching and always, always creative.
Oh. I just spent about an hour reading Minx's lovely, lovely Redeeming Time. It picks up immediately after The Prank and goes through November of 7th year. James POV--follows our boys through the perils of broken friendships, falling in love, and the ugly realities of a world on the edge of all-out war.
Two quick R/S Harry Potter recs, just to make my day remotely productive.
Title:The Arrangement Author: Moony, aka maybethemoon. Rating: R Summary: Sirius isn't gay. Neither is Remus. They just happen to be sleeping together a lot.
Why You Should Read This: This has shown up on pretty much all of my regular HP recs sites--unfitforsociety, potter_recs (I think), etc., and with good reason. It features a Sirius so deep in denial that he is certain to be renamed Cleopatra upon surfacing. (Plus, I'm always a big fan of "gay? no, no not me. i just like to fuck boys" stories.) My only quibble is that it does seem to move a bit too fast...
Title:The Past Is Mine Author:cenori Rating: PG Summary: In his worst days, Harry seeks solace in an old photo album. However, a picture of Sirius brings questions to his mind. Questions only one man can answer. Post OotP, pre-HBP. All the necessary spoilers.
Why You Should Read This: This one I got from potter_recs, and I'm extremely grateful to siryn99 for reccing it. A grieving Harry turns to Remus for some answers about the photo album Hagrid gave him in his first year. Remus answers more questions than Harry realized he had. It's sweet and heartbreaking and I so, so want for Harry and Remus to have this. They need it and each other and I so hope JKR lets them bond a bit more in the wake of their shared tragedy.
I have a few more, most of which I found over at unfitforsociety, but I really have to go to sleep now. Ta!
I read this one on apocrypha a long time ago, and was pleased to see that it contained both an actual case and Rey Curtis, my favourite character. Two rather rare things in L&O fanfic. Recently angilbas put it up on fanfiction.net. Here it is:
I may have herniated something reading these Lord of the Rings diaries by Cassandra Claire. Why? Well, here's a sample, from the Very Secret Diary of Legolas, son of Weemus:
Day One: Went to Council of Elrond. Was prettiest person there. Agreed to follow some tiny little man to Mordor to throw ring into volcano. Very important mission - gold ring so tacky.
amused
weird
nostalgic