Fools Walk In

I am so jazzed right now, I don't know how I'm going to get to sleep. I just returned from worshipping at the feet of listening to Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist of Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, and A Little Night Music (among other brilliant musicals) give a moderated talk at our local arts center.

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Yes, I know, this is lame. One stale meme and links to old recs. But considering I haven't visited my own journal for weeks, it's better than nothing, right?

I did the movie meme in an idle moment, even though fandom at large used it up and tossed it away two months ago. I am forever belated, and my brain drags its good intentions around for ridiculous lengths of time before finally letting go.

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.

( …three, two, one. Go! )

Well, that was less than cathartic. ;) And yes, I realize that I could probably come up with an entirely different list on an entirely different day in an entirely different mood. But once is enough.

~~~~

I keep postponing links to the recs I made during my respective driving/flying months at crack_van and crack_broom. Since I like to have a convenient record and tally of favorite fics and my thoughts on them, I'm going to use this as a bookmark post. These are several months old, but if there's anything here you've never read before, I urge you to give it a chance. And if the spirit moves you, leave the writers some love in the form of feedback.

Crack Van HP recs. Snape-centric but not particularly Snarryish.

Fallen Far from the Tree by joanwilder

We Should Have Loved More and Feared Less by maelipstick

The Soul Adores by maeglinyedi

Slow Convergence by Iteration by dracofiend

Mustard Seed by rinsbane (excerpt NSFW) (you need to have Rinsbane friend you to have access to her HP fics)

Match Point (Unforgiven) by snegurochka_lee

Jigsaw Pieces by florahart

All the Dreaded Cards Foretell by lilith_morgana

Silver and Green: A Quarter by alena_hu

Playing for Keeps by vissy

The Courtship of Benjamin Jink by atdelphi

Hard Bargain & A Valediction Forbidding Mourning by magnetic_pole

Also, two vid recs, one Snape-centric and one not:

High School Never Ends by Samus McAslan

Beautiful Struggle by nightchik

Well, that got long. Perhaps it would be wise to save the Crack_Broom recs for a follow-up post.

I think I may have just written the longest comment in the history of fanfic, or if not, then a strong contender for the title. My blood sugar crashed the instant I finished, so I won't try to talk up the fic here. But dear God, for sheer joy and pleasure in the brilliance of Snarry, go read it. Expect an emotional rollercoaster and revel in it. This is the way a romance between these two should be written.

*shivers* I'm still delirious with excitement. I have more recs, but they will have to wait.

Rapture by mia_ugly.

Oh my God

It's 4:30 in the morning, and as far as I can figure out, something must have alarmed a skunk directly underneath my cottage. *wheeze* I was sound asleep a few minutes ago, but hoo boy, not anymore.

It's almost unbreathable in here, and there's nothing I can do about it. *coughs some more* Two and a half hours before I'm supposed to rise and shine for work. That is some powerful stench.

Crap. My eyes are watering and my stomach has started to rebel.

I am not best pleased with all things stripey and mephitic right now.

As most people who catch my erratic journal entries know, I'm very opinionated about fic; nothing revs my mental engine like a brilliant writer. So if you're curious or in need of a reading fix, I'm this month's driver of the Harry Potter crack_van. In every story (to no one's surprise, I'm sure) Snape plays a role. Although he doesn't always star, he's an indelible presence. What may be unexpected is the fact that I roam rather far afield from Snarry - I hope to mix it up quite a bit in terms of pairings and genres.

My only regret is that HP isn't one of the featured fandoms this month, because I could have recc'd many more than the required twelve stories…

So, as I type this, this is what I see out my front window:

( Three photos below the cut )

Aren't they amazing? They've been dawdling out in front of my house for hours.

I haz 'em. Much of my flist has already opened accounts whether they intend to set up camp or not, if only to stake out their usernames. But if you haven't laid hands on an invite and are hankering for one, I've got a few to give away. First come, first served.

*attempts to crosspost*

So, after long silence, I feel like sharing my pleasure in some of the fics I've read over the last few weeks. It never fails to thrill me how much talent there is in our fannish corner of the world. I've read all of these more than once; some, more than twice. Here follows a smattering of beauty, humor, and melancholy:

Snarry-a-thon (hosted by snape_potter, so for access on LJ you'll need to be a member. Otherwise hop on over to InsaneJournal):

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HP Beholder:

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And one bonus illustrated fic that everyone in need a bawdy laugh should go read:

Fruiting Bodies Don't bother your head about pairings. This is pure, unapologetic, ribald fun, and it kicks ass.

Post a single sentence from each WIP you have (or as many as you want to pick). No context, no explanations. No more than one sentence!

Is this narcissism? I suppose it must be. Only two HP fics are represented here; all the rest are unfinished (perhaps unfinishable) original fics.

( Yep, these all sound like me. )

How curious to see these all lined up without context. I can imagine these sentences going off in entirely different directions from the stories they belong to.

( Ac1d6burn is a genius )

For my next act, I'm going to fret briefly about writing as a way to avoid actually working on said writing. ( Neat trick, eh? But only for those who give a fig. )

*waves and points excitedly* FLORAHART, LOOK!!!

Okay, I am very, very remiss in getting this posted, because I am an exhausted halfwit most of the time. But never mind that, o flist! Click here and enjoy the wonderful double portrait that enname drew for me!

I can't really express how much I love this piece. I adore pencil work, and this is just ravishing. enname traces the emotion between Harry and Snape with such heartbreaking subtlety - their faces, the little wrinkle in Snape's forehead and the way he allows himself to lean slightly against Harry, the way Harry shuts his eyes, tucks his head down, and presses back, holding tight. It's overwhelmingly tender and exactly as I imagined it. I adore the fact that she included Snape's fragile wristbones and that his borrowed pyjamas are slightly too short for his legs. I love the way their hair overlaps and blends together, and something twists inside me at the depth of serious yearning in Harry's face and at the haunting way Snape gazes up, allowing himself one moment's acceptance of what Harry offers. And I can't stop staring at Snape's cheekbone, so gaunt, so burnished with light.

But here, I'll stop wittering so you can see for yourselves (btw, if you like it, please let enname know):



Keep clicking through if you want to view a close-up of this drawing. It's worth doing because - well, simply because it's beautiful.

Thank you again, enname. I cherish this pic intensely, just so you know.

For those curious about context but who don't want to read the whole damn fic, this is the scene she's illustrating:

( Excerpt from The White Road )

So there you have it, my friends. I am a very lucky writer, am I not?

This a masterful, delicately wrought tale of regrets and identities and second chances, told through the eyes and mind (and a little of the heart) of Horace Slughorn. The POV here is one of the most impressive pieces of ventriloquism I've ever read, and the voice is so feathered and layered with astute psychological phrasings, idiomatic drollery, an almost feline sensitivity to nuance and the uses that can be made of it, all soaked in a touch of rue and with a dash of optimism, that - well, it's an astonishing performance and an irresistible character. Because Horace, with his veneer of sophisticated hedonism and the migratory instincts of a social butterfly, is also an aging pedophile brushed by loneliness and shadowed by moral cowardice. The narrative shows him to be aware of his failings, although he's as civilized in holding himself to account as he is in pursuing the ambiguous young man of the title.

It's a charade and a dance of unmaskings, as Slughorn, wintering in British Columbia, encounters one Benjamin Jink, who reminds him in shards and fragments of a student who was once a member of his House. He's drawn like a moth to a candle flame, and the wooing begins.

This story is pretty nearly perfect. The pleasure of Horace's company is hard to convey, since he's virtually a buffoon in canon and that might conceivably interfere with a potential reader's willingness to surrender, sight unseen, to his cultivated peculiarities. In this fic, he's witty, perceptive, self-aware and self-deceived, an aesthete with very particular tastes. He's as Slytherin as they come, and he's proof that Slytherins can be genial and sympathetic. He's also a predator, though an affable one, and a man for whom the past conceals shadows and regrets. His prey, as it turns out, is both more dangerous and more burdened than he is, although uncertainty about the truth informs every step of their progress toward intimacy.

If you're in a mood for a superlative fic with a charming, deeply intelligent and subtle narrative voice, this is the fic for you. Here, let me quote a mere two lines to give you a sample of the quality of the writing:

There was something about an enfant terrible that never failed to drive him to foolishness.

It was perhaps the most satisfying maybe he had ever received in a lifetime full of ambivalent responses.

Go. Read. You won't be sorry.

The Courtship of Benjamin Jink

I guess I've about used up my quota of GO. READ. NOW, haven't I? So I'll have to find another way to say this.

"You think you can bring me out of my shell with hate? Don't you think, Potter, that hate is probably something I have had my life's share of?"

Severus Snape, Coming Back

This morning snarry_holidays posted my anonymous gift fic. It was - well, almost eerie in being exactly tailored to my mood. I've been feeling otherworldly, sweet-tempered, autumnal, that dark/light cross between mournful and exalted. This fic stepped into my longing and matched it so perfectly that I'm still a bit dazed by my luck.

( First of all, the beauty. )

I know that everyone's overwhelmed right now by the flurry of fests and the approach of the holidays, but if you're looking for suggestions, I'm telling you now: Read this one. Go read Coming Back.

Because it's Mandy, aka geneticallydead. Who wrote Möbius, one of the best Snarry fics ever posted. It's been over two years since that fic appeared, and I've never forgotten it, and I've craved a second fic from her ever since. So, she's posted a new one, with a heart-twisting and beautifully appropriate premise, somehow suited to Snape's fate. It gives us a Harry who's grown up but slightly broken, in the usual way of things, which means that life doesn't always work out the way you think it will. But its centerpiece for me is Mandy's glorious Snape, a Snape who belongs in the pantheon, ugly and ungrateful and with a tongue that could peel paint off the walls. But also an intensely appealing Snape, smart and wickedly funny and existentially challenged, with that amazing capacity for endurance and that bitter kind of courage that makes him heartbreaking. That makes him desirable. The fic's written without a single wasted word, and every one of those carefully selected words is a joy to read, and I can't possibly describe how much pleasure this fic gave me. I can only repeat: don't miss this. Don't put it off. Read it now. It's pure deliciousness and great writing.

Yearning

Okay, I'm stressed and headachey and have no time, so I'll have to suppress my more rhapsodic tendencies and just say: HEY! GO READ THESE! I haven't had much chance to indulge in reading anything, let alone the fics being posted at snarry_holidays, so it's totally serendipitous that I managed to latch onto these two while my brain was actually functioning.

( My blather. 'Tis brief )

Yes, this is totally self-indulgent. I made a soundtrack of the music I was listening to while writing my Snarry Games fic, and I've decided to post it. I've never tried linking to music tracks before, so let's hope I did everything right. My operating system's old and can be uncooperative. (The same might be said of my brain.) The download page is here:

When the Rose and the Fire Are One

( Brief explanation )

I've just started (finally!) reading the snarry_games fics, so I'm progressing backwards. Or maybe just out of sequence. But the beauty of fuschia's fic Playing Azkaban caught me totally off guard. Both in the sense that I wasn't expecting it, and with joy at its sharp, heartfelt language. The extraordinary wealth of detail in this fic summons a lost world vividly to mind and fills it with intense emotion. Or perhaps I should say it fills me with emotion. The writing is chockful of precise, sensual observations, and the mood is urgent, melancholy, slightly twisted and - dare I say it - satisfying. It's an unusual variation on the theme of pensieve memories, and it gave me that sense of closure that canon lacks. Harry has the chance to say what he needs to say, so directly that it will almost make you squirm. For myself? I like to know Harry's capable of transgression. It means he's growing up.

Also, any fic that gives me a glimpse of young!Snape is welcome. There's a bonus in that young!Lily not only appears, but actually wins me over. For perhaps the first time I genuinely regret that Severus lost Lily's friendship, because this fic convinces me, in a very short span of words, that they were friends, close and quarrelsome and well-matched.

I've avoided saying much about the plot, because the fic is short and I don't want to spoil it. But it's so tightly written, and it gets so many things right, and fuschia's skill is just breathtaking. Prepare to be a bit sad at the end. It's the sadness of "if-only" and the sense that the fic is handing Harry back to his mundane destiny. But first it gives us a secret glimpse of something that falls between the lines of canon, and I'm very grateful for it.

Read! Vote! The Games are overflowing with wonderful things. I suppose I ought to make the usual disclaimer that I'm a member of Team Phoenix and this is one of ours, but that's not why I'm reccing it. It's simply lovely. Go check it out.

Pick 10 people and give them the "you make my day" award. If you're picked, you are charged with picking 10 of your own.

Perhaps you've been picked because I actually look forward to reading your journal entries.

Maybe I know you in real life and I have deep affection for you.

You could have cheered me up when I was sad or it could be something as simple as giving me a hug whenever you see me.

Or it could be that you have trusted me with a deep dark secret.

The following people on my friends list have my award for one of the above stated reasons:

There's no way this can be fair, and of course I'm going to kick myself later, because a list like this can't do justice to all the fascinating people who've become part of my daily life (and may not even know it!). So this, shall we say, is merely a representative sample:

ac1d6urn
alchemia
bugland
dracofiend
klynie1
loupgarou1750
pir8fancier
rinsbane
semyaza
themostepotente

Eep. It feels strange to leave so many people unmentioned! But I shall be strong and let others single them out.

You need feel no obligation to follow my example. I just like the idea of throwing bouquets.

( Only of interest to Todd fanciers and maybe not even then )

I was going to switch to a different topic altogether: the curious impact of reading one's older stories and coming to the conclusion, Wow, there's a weird brilliance to some of this while at the same time being hit really hard by the fact, Nobody who's not living inside my head could possibly slog through this crap. But I've gone on long enough for one night, I think.

Okay, that question's settled, although I don't remember having asked it. I would not have made a stoic pioneer paving the way to new frontiers. I would have whinged and moaned until they stuffed me under a pillow. Can we move on now?

Three days without electricity, which in my neck of the woods means no heat in the middle of winter, no running water, no flushable toilet, no shower, no stove, nothing except candles and flashlight after 4:30 p.m., no music, no computer - three days of this have made me insanely grateful for basic creature comforts. I'm also sad to report that it takes a mere three days to reduce me to greaseball status. And that reading by flashlight strains the eyes and gives one a crook in the neck. My respect for those who struggled for literacy against all odds - including frozen fingers and noses and lack of available light - has jumped to awesome proportions.

I feel like such a wimp. But I'm glad to be back in civilization again. *hugs internets*