cat, recs, cards

( lj-cat text )

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Recs

All of the Houses are Gone Under the Sea (R, various slash pairings) by alibi_factory
Really three stories, challenging you to supply the connections between them. This author never ceases to amaze me -- the genius of having a conversation between Riddle and Binns -- one who rejects Death, one who revels in it. I feel like pulling this story apart to see what makes it work inside. And as always, the precise, compact prose draws you in:

'Tom Riddle lies sprawled, sleepless, on the thin cot in his hotel room. Outside the whores slip through Paris' summer heat like leopards, and Tom can picture them, the sickening red mouths and eyes, change jangling in their pockets. They are Muggles and murderers all, failures and scum...'


Ghosts (PG-13, Snape/various) by switchknife
So beautiful and painful, this story of Snape losing himself to madness. I love that we don't know what's real -- aren't meant to know. Real madness, not knowing if you're remembering the past, or fantasizing the future, or both.

If you've skipped Switch's fic in the past because the pairing or kink put you off, this would be a wonderful story to try, because it's very much not about sex... it's about the flow of words, the flow of thoughts, stopped-up or lost...

'Snape watches him, crow-wary, as Longbottom makes his rounds with a tired face; sometimes Snape talks to him, but Longbottom never stays long enough to hear. Shadow of the door dark as a belladonna's leaf: opening, closing, as Longbottom leaves the ward...'


Exorcism (NC-17, Harry/Ron) by ??? [EDIT: cluegirl!]
I promised myself I wouldn't rec any of the merry_smutmas fics until the authors were revealed, but this story left me no choice. It makes an excellent companion to switchknife's fic above, not just for the coincidence of their titles, but because this fic is also about thoughts... not just losing one's own, but having someone else's forced upon you.

This author works within the allegorical framework of the books, quite naturally suggesting that after the Department of Mysteries, Ron wouldn't be the same -- scarred by thoughts! As Harry, too, is scarred by foreign thoughts, and the fic just runs with it, takes it as far as you want it to go -- further than JKR ever could, hemmed in by the nature of her own work. But the author stays in Harry's head and sticks close to JKR's matter-of-fact style, which is immensely effective here. (I feel like writing an essay on the "near-canon effect" in slash fic, but... another day.)

There are one or two awkward turns of phrase that threw me out, but nonetheless, this fic had me on the edge of my seat. Suspenseful, believable, and artfully characterized.


Don't forget to give the authors feedback! Mysterious masked strangers need love too. ^_^

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So far I've received cards from scribbulus_ink, cruisedirector, lunulet, and atdelphi. Yay! Delphi, I enjoyed the chocolate. :D

cat, recs, cards

( lj-cat text )

---

Recs

All of the Houses are Gone Under the Sea (R, various slash pairings) by alibi_factory
Really three stories, challenging you to supply the connections between them. This author never ceases to amaze me -- the genius of having a conversation between Riddle and Binns -- one who rejects Death, one who revels in it. I feel like pulling this story apart to see what makes it work inside. And as always, the precise, compact prose draws you in:

'Tom Riddle lies sprawled, sleepless, on the thin cot in his hotel room. Outside the whores slip through Paris' summer heat like leopards, and Tom can picture them, the sickening red mouths and eyes, change jangling in their pockets. They are Muggles and murderers all, failures and scum...'


Ghosts (PG-13, Snape/various) by switchknife
So beautiful and painful, this story of Snape losing himself to madness. I love that we don't know what's real -- aren't meant to know. Real madness, not knowing if you're remembering the past, or fantasizing the future, or both.

If you've skipped Switch's fic in the past because the pairing or kink put you off, this would be a wonderful story to try, because it's very much not about sex... it's about the flow of words, the flow of thoughts, stopped-up or lost...

'Snape watches him, crow-wary, as Longbottom makes his rounds with a tired face; sometimes Snape talks to him, but Longbottom never stays long enough to hear. Shadow of the door dark as a belladonna's leaf: opening, closing, as Longbottom leaves the ward...'


Exorcism (NC-17, Harry/Ron) by ??? [EDIT: cluegirl!]
I promised myself I wouldn't rec any of the merry_smutmas fics until the authors were revealed, but this story left me no choice. It makes an excellent companion to switchknife's fic above, not just for the coincidence of their titles, but because this fic is also about thoughts... not just losing one's own, but having someone else's forced upon you.

This author works within the allegorical framework of the books, quite naturally suggesting that after the Department of Mysteries, Ron wouldn't be the same -- scarred by thoughts! As Harry, too, is scarred by foreign thoughts, and the fic just runs with it, takes it as far as you want it to go -- further than JKR ever could, hemmed in by the nature of her own work. But the author stays in Harry's head and sticks close to JKR's matter-of-fact style, which is immensely effective here. (I feel like writing an essay on the "near-canon effect" in slash fic, but... another day.)

There are one or two awkward turns of phrase that threw me out, but nonetheless, this fic had me on the edge of my seat. Suspenseful, believable, and artfully characterized.


Don't forget to give the authors feedback! Mysterious masked strangers need love too. ^_^

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So far I've received cards from scribbulus_ink, cruisedirector, lunulet, and atdelphi. Yay! Delphi, I enjoyed the chocolate. :D