where his civilizations, including our own

As usual, there were too many great entries in hp_beholder to be comprehensive about this, but here are a few that especially stood out to me.

A Lonely Road (R, Severus Snape/Aberforth Dumbledore) by wwmrsweasleydo
A perceptive portrait of Severus and Aberforth's relationship, as well as a vivid picture of the ever-absent Albus, drawn in negative space between them. Every detail adds to the ominous and oppressive time these characters live in, and not a word is wasted.

we lay together on a cold hard floor (R, Severus Snape/Peter Pettigrew) by tarteaucitron
Over the summer holiday, the house hourglasses are taken down and Severus and Peter can approach each other as something less like players in a game, and more like people. The author strikes a perfect balance between pointing out the effects their choices have had and will have on their lives, while also making it clear that these aren't free choices -- they're constantly being pushed, by so many factors.

No Charity (PG, Aunt Marge/Rita Skeeter) by fluffyllama
Two threads are woven together well here: A deft and funny satire of English conservative culture as embodied in Marge, as well as an intriguing deconstruction of Rita and her self-created identity as a media gadfly. You wouldn't think it would work, but it does. The author struck just the right balance between letting the characters be vulnerable without sanding off the rough edges.

A Short Treatise on the Social Lives of Ghosts (PG, various ghost pairings) by dueltastic
Utterly charming and hilarious.

[eta: authors]

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/45306.html. Comment here or there.

Today's the last day to sign up for hp_beholder!

As I was writing my sign-up I was thinking about how my requests in exchanges tend to vary a lot, even in the same exchange from year to year. My interests fluctuate, so one year I might ask for slash, another for femslash — one year I'll ask for darkfic, another for romance, and so on. I've done Beholder for a few years running, and each time my requests have been different and so have my offers. It's not that I've stopped liking the characters I preferred before, it's just that once I've written some character or pairing or topic I tend to feel like, well, I did that already. Not always, but often. Same for receiving a gift fic about them.

I guess it's easier to feel this way in a fandom with such a huge range of reasonably fleshed-out characters, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only one! It seems that most people have their favorites and they pretty much stay the same. They're not writing one Snape fic and moving on, they're writing him year after year — and that's not a bad thing, it's just not how my head works. There's no way I would copy and paste my Beholder sign up from last year, because it doesn't reflect what I feel like now.

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/42844.html. Comment here or there.

And coming in just barely under the wire before reveals, here are some hp_beholder recs. As usual, there were many excellent entries, and some I haven't managed to read yet (people need to not write so much!). These are just a few that stood out to me.

A Dictionary of Silence by woldy (R, Moody/Lupin) [LJ]
This is a really good portrait of how bad things were for Lupin after James, Lily, and (he thinks) Peter's deaths. The dynamic between him and Moody is very well and subtly drawn.

Sunlight in the Garden by lyras (R, Pomona Sprout/Alice Longbottom) [LJ]
A bittersweet story about all those left behind after Frank and Alice's hospitalization, and how they become a family of sorts.

Run with the Pack by gryffindorj (R, Sirius Black/Aberforth Dumbledore) [LJ]
Sirius is on the run, and he and Aberforth have more in common than you'd expect.

The Muggles Have a Word for Them by kelly_chambliss (PG-13, Rolanda Hooch/Aurora Sinistra, Fat Lady/Violet) [LJ]
Charming character voices, world-building, and humor really set this one apart. Not to be missed.

Cabled Socks and Cognac by notearchiver (R, Slughorn/Dumbledore) [LJ]
I love how entirely themselves they both are in this, allowed to like what they like and want what they want.

A Cliff in July by miss_morland (R, Marietta Edgecombe/Millicent Bulstrode) [LJ]
Subtle relationships and gorgeous imagery!

[eta: authors]

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/31610.html. Comment here or there.

Ugh, my computer. Long story short, taking it to a local repair place did not go well. I'm in the process of ordering new stuff online. Still using hannelore's computer for now, so I haven't been keeping up with LJ/DW like I usually do, but fandom marches on:

Nominations are open for rarewomen, a multifandom fic exchange focusing on female characters in small fandoms, and rare female characters in large fandoms. This was new last year, and I had a blast writing in it, as well as receiving an amazing gift in a nonexistent fandom-of-my-heart, so I'm very excited it's running again!

Sign-ups are open for hp_beholder, a fic and art exchange focusing on the HP characters who get less love because they're not considered conventionally attractive. Such a great range of amazing stuff always gets written and drawn for this.

Also, posting for hp_kinkfest has started, and my first entry for it is up:

     The Secret Incantation (NC-17, Hermione/Sirius)
     Content notes: Underage sexual activity, age difference (15/mid-30s),
     dominance/submission play including body worship and orgasm denial.

I wrote this to the very first prompt on the list (Hermione/Sirius femdom), and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the prompt for me. :D I love to play with different kinds of power dynamics, and I've only rarely written Hermione as a main character, so I had a lot of fun writing this. You can also read it on AO3 if you prefer.

So what are you guys all up to lately?

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/27240.html. Comment here or there.

Title: The Two Names of Xiomara Rolanda Hooch
Rating: PG-13/Teen
Pairing: Hooch/McGonagall
Word Count: ~2400
Summary: Hogwarts changes. She changes.
Notes: Written for noeon in the hp_beholder exchange. Thanks to delphi for taming the wild semicolons and to bethbethbeth for running the exchange!

( The Two Names of Xiomara Rolanda Hooch )

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/22051.html. Comment here or there.

First, a Remix Redux rec:

King of Serpents (The Scrapbook Remix) (Teen, Tom Riddle gen) by delphi
Young Tom Riddle researches the life of Salazar Slytherin. Tom's characterization is chilling and brilliant, and Salazar's backstory explains so much... Don't miss this one, it's a real treat.


And some hp_beholder recs, though I've fallen far behind in my reading:

A Story of Warnings and the Ignoring Thereof (PG-13, Irma Pince/Horace Slughorn) by therealsnape
I didn't expect this at all. At Albus's funeral, Horace looks back and takes us on a whirlwind tour of his life and misadventures. Great, confident Sluggy voice.

One More for the Road (R, Sirius/Rosmerta) by xylodemon
The brilliant character voices, sharp writing, and wry humor of this story are a complete delight.

Not Exactly the First Blush of Youth (PG, Galatea Merrythought/Griselda Marchbanks) by eeyore9990
An actiony adventure about badass, queer, mature women fighting evil. How often do you get to type those words in that order?

An Affinity for Dangerous Creatures (R, Silvanus Kettleburn/Millicent Bulstrode + Severus Snape) by anguis_1
There has been an abundance of good Millicent fic in this fest, and her characterization is particularly outstanding in this one. She's cantankerous, competent, and passionate. Snape's role in the story can't be described without major spoilers — you just have to wait and see how awesome it is.

Courtship of a Common Man (R, Viktor Krum/Percy Weasley) by synn
I love how the distance and isolation Percy feels is shown here, and Viktor's down-to-earth charm and maturity.

[eta beholder authors]

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/21684.html. Comment here or there.

I'm really excited about my assignment for hp_beholder. My recipient provided so many cool suggestions and hints of where to go that I'm having a hard time narrowing down the possibilities. I think I'm going to end up writing something I probably would never have thought of otherwise, which is exactly what I hoped for and exactly why I sign up for exchanges. (And why I didn't offer characters I like, but have already written a bunch, like Peter and Slughorn.)

So yes, this is awesome. I'll try to remember this in late March when I'm pounding my head against the keyboard because my eventual fic doesn't want to behave. :P

This entry was originally posted at http://pauraque.dreamwidth.org/17917.html. Comment here or there.