Recs for a day at the tail-end of summer.

Today I have two HP recs from authors whose work I have helplessly adored in other fandoms. We're very lucky to have sucked them in!


Meet Me in Montauk (PG-13, Remus/Sirius) by malograntum
Takes one of the most tried-and-true pairings in the fandom and makes it seem as though you're seeing it for the first time. Remus and Sirius are so natural here, real boys. Mal's writing style isn't elaborately poetic, but hits each moment, each element of the setting, simply and cleanly. I'm sure S/R shippers will like it (*cough*bowdlerizedyouwouldlikethis*cough*), but its appeal extends beyond that-- I'm not a particular fan of the pairing, but I was rather taken with this fic.

'They sat on a ridge overlooking the lake, no longer holding hands. Remus was breathing deeply, hugging his knees to his chest. After a minute, Sirius reclined onto the grass, his hands folded over his own chest. The grass and the earth were soft, but not moist enough to soak through his clothes. He listed constellations in his head as he spotted them; after all the time he'd spent studying for his Astronomy O.W.L., he could name everything in the sky by rote...'

(Looking at that quote just now, I just noticed... naming everything in the sky. And Sirius and Moony are celestial too, aren't they? Damn but that's pretty.)


The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be (NC-17, Crabbe/Goyle) by 3jane
My oh my. This just about knocked me down. Crabbe and Goyle and Draco. Jane has captured this dynamic so masterfully that I find myself doubting it could ever be done better. Look:

'So for the first time since they were small kids, Vince and Greg spent a lot of time alone. Or, well, together. They play a lot of card games the first week, camped on the floor outside Draco’s bedroom. Draco came out occasionally, stormed around the house with both of them trailing after, brooded for a while on a terrace while they sat to one side and went back to their card game. In mid-afternoon, Greg offered to deal Draco in, silently, and he accepted. And that was fine: three boys and cards on flagstones ignoring the sunshine.'

And Narcissa, after OotP.

'She lifted one blue-green-black thing out of the pile of biting insects and held it up to them. Whispered over it and showed them what a bug looked like with its carapace pulled back. How there was nothing, almost, under its shell. Then she dropped it and hugged Vince. Vince held very still until she let him go and drifted back to the house’s dark.'

The way Greg notices things-- just takes them in, lets us see them, feel them. Humid air coming off a pond in early summer. The folded-paper army. Draco leaning down over the chess board. Oh man, this is so good I don't know what to say about it.


Feedback these authors if you enjoy their work, or I shall be forced to release the hounds.

---

calliope14 has a poll on what people want in a rec. Me, I primarily want some idea of what makes this particular fic good. Style? Characterization? Smut? Plot? You get an idea of what certain reccers go for, of course, but I still want to hear what the deal is with a fic before I go a-clicking. Blazing Saddles and Gosford Park are both good movies, but for rather different reasons.

Recs for a day at the tail-end of summer.

Today I have two HP recs from authors whose work I have helplessly adored in other fandoms. We're very lucky to have sucked them in!


Meet Me in Montauk (PG-13, Remus/Sirius) by malograntum
Takes one of the most tried-and-true pairings in the fandom and makes it seem as though you're seeing it for the first time. Remus and Sirius are so natural here, real boys. Mal's writing style isn't elaborately poetic, but hits each moment, each element of the setting, simply and cleanly. I'm sure S/R shippers will like it (*cough*bowdlerizedyouwouldlikethis*cough*), but its appeal extends beyond that-- I'm not a particular fan of the pairing, but I was rather taken with this fic.

'They sat on a ridge overlooking the lake, no longer holding hands. Remus was breathing deeply, hugging his knees to his chest. After a minute, Sirius reclined onto the grass, his hands folded over his own chest. The grass and the earth were soft, but not moist enough to soak through his clothes. He listed constellations in his head as he spotted them; after all the time he'd spent studying for his Astronomy O.W.L., he could name everything in the sky by rote...'

(Looking at that quote just now, I just noticed... naming everything in the sky. And Sirius and Moony are celestial too, aren't they? Damn but that's pretty.)


The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be (NC-17, Crabbe/Goyle) by 3jane
My oh my. This just about knocked me down. Crabbe and Goyle and Draco. Jane has captured this dynamic so masterfully that I find myself doubting it could ever be done better. Look:

'So for the first time since they were small kids, Vince and Greg spent a lot of time alone. Or, well, together. They play a lot of card games the first week, camped on the floor outside Draco’s bedroom. Draco came out occasionally, stormed around the house with both of them trailing after, brooded for a while on a terrace while they sat to one side and went back to their card game. In mid-afternoon, Greg offered to deal Draco in, silently, and he accepted. And that was fine: three boys and cards on flagstones ignoring the sunshine.'

And Narcissa, after OotP.

'She lifted one blue-green-black thing out of the pile of biting insects and held it up to them. Whispered over it and showed them what a bug looked like with its carapace pulled back. How there was nothing, almost, under its shell. Then she dropped it and hugged Vince. Vince held very still until she let him go and drifted back to the house’s dark.'

The way Greg notices things-- just takes them in, lets us see them, feel them. Humid air coming off a pond in early summer. The folded-paper army. Draco leaning down over the chess board. Oh man, this is so good I don't know what to say about it.


Feedback these authors if you enjoy their work, or I shall be forced to release the hounds.

---

calliope14 has a poll on what people want in a rec. Me, I primarily want some idea of what makes this particular fic good. Style? Characterization? Smut? Plot? You get an idea of what certain reccers go for, of course, but I still want to hear what the deal is with a fic before I go a-clicking. Blazing Saddles and Gosford Park are both good movies, but for rather different reasons.