blamebrampton | Advent-ures in fanfic planning

Advent-ures in fanfic planning

Right ... a confession. This year I have read about four fan fics I have not beta-ed or written. In fact, I'm not sure I read all the ones I wrote. I am hopelessly behind and will never catch up, but will, in a week or three, have space again to do some reading as I run out of Agatha Christies. Therefore, I come requesting recs.

I really only read Potter, though I suppose a spot of Merlin or some incarnation of Sherlock Holmes would be fine, too. A few criteria:

* Reasonably British -- I can live wholly with American English spelling and even gotten, but if people have therapists and want to talk about their feelings at length, it sends me on a hideous flashback to the time my mother was going out with a Californian psychologist and I will have to hide with a blanket over my head (no -- the blanket was NOT a repressed desire to return to the womb, it was the first convenient and effective hiding place, as I explained at the time.) Similarly, proms, obsessions with going on a date and the urgent need to be married and with child scare me and are likely to see a spot of blanky-reaching.

* PG is fine. I am not a big reader of smut, I tend to sort of skim it with my eyes semi-closed. Fully closed in the case of some art works. Just call me Sister Brammers ...

* Plot is lovely! As are any or all of the following: comedy, drama, politics, thrills, mystery, character studies, classic romance of the minimally mushy kind, adventure and even stories that spend oodles of time talking interestingly about something else, whether it be a country, cat or catamaran.

* Dark themes are fine, but preferably no sexual violence, unless it is something that is integral to a non-exploitative plot. I know that I am probably safe with my flist, but just in case, sexual violence as an expression of true love sends me into a frothing rant, as does sexual exploitation of children (obviously consensual sex with added pain or chain is a different kettle of fish entirely, as are fictional 15-year olds with each other). Incest themes just force me me make wholly inappropriate jokes about Tasmania, which causes

treacle_tartlet to thump me, and since she is an old RL friend, this is not to be encouraged. Before I learned about fandom, I would never have imagined writing the last two sentences ...

* Creature-fics and mpregs will be treated with suspicion, as will AUs, but you could convince me.

* Feel free to self-promote!

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Add me to the thumping list, though I'd point out I was born but not bred there.

Have e-mailed you, for obvious reasons =D ♥

I'd self pimp my fest fic (since I need love), but dunno if you'd want that.

I'm working on a loooong story arc that I'm hoping I can get through.

In fact, I'm not sure I read all the ones I wrote.
Oh, good, it's not just me.

...if people have therapists and want to talk about their feelings at length...
Oh, yes. *sigh* Do you want to talk about it?

I received a brilliant gift in

snaco_exchange, El Tango de las Serpientes. (This reminds me: I need to find the time to compose a rec post.)

And earlier this year, there was steampunk and pixies in The Great Pixie Dust-Up (Severus/Luna).

As for me, I seem to be have written quite a lot about the Ancient House of Black. (Nothing that requires closing your eyes, that's why I dare mention it...) So we have Walburga, Cedrella (the one who married a Weasley), Andromeda, Narcissa, and Bellatrix.

http://community.livejournal.com/hp_holidaygen/34543.html#cutid1

Amor Vitae - Professor Flitwick and assorted other teachers.

It will take you approximately 4 minutes to read and unfortunately my review only says it was amazing and that I experienced every emotion possible while reading it. :(

What I do know is that I still remember it was very good a whole year after reading it. It is also gen fic so hopefully it is squick free.

If I remember anything with a bit more substance that meets your requirements, I shall return.

I haven't been reading much HP lately, but I have a few Merlin fic recs to offer.

A Matter of Duty - Summary: Arthur is sent to track down and kill a sorcerer.

The Student Prince - Summary: A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc - Summary: History books would not remember Gaius' death precipitating the greatest war Albion had ever seen. That blame lay entirely with an inexperienced sorcerer and the Prince whom he'd betrayed a hundred times over. Future!fic with a time travel twist. Inspired and loosely based on The Sword in the Stone.

In Want of a Wife - Summary: When Merlin first hears that Arthur has been betrothed, his ribs pull inwards with an odd little hitch, and he only allows himself a second—which he needs in order to coordinate spinning in place without falling on his face—before he’s running to Arthur’s chambers.

If you would like to try a fic that is Draco-centric gen, AU and yet canon ... I'm sending you a link to the fic I wrote for

springtime_gen.

Footsteps on Fallen Snow - the link goes to my fic journal, but if you like to read it at the community, you'll find a link at the top of the post.

The rating is R due to dark themes, but as it's gen, there is no sex. Don't feel obliged to read it though just because I'm on your f-list. If the story is not your thing, that's perfectly fine. :-)

From hd_hols:
The Waters Know Their Own One of the most gorgeous fics I've ever read. Beautiful writing.

And if you're in a mood for something very old-school:

Five Times Draco Malfoy Got Sacked (And One Time He Didn't) <3 <3 <3

I'm not certain this meets much of your criteria but I thought it extraordinary storytelling. Dark, imaginative and, one hopes, not prescient.

Arcane Asylum by new_kate

It's lovely to see you about.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year

Peace,
Bubba

Edited 2010-12-22 15:01 (UTC)

hey Brammers,
all my recs for the fest season are here: http://rickey-a.livejournal.com/tag/recs
it's a definite bizarre mix of feel good, humor, dark, and sexual - some short, some plotty. You can see what I said about them. My main problem I'm finding is that the more you read in fandom, the harder it is to find something you haven't read before. So I look for (besides decently written) is a spark of originality, something that was different enough to keep me engaged. A lot of what I've read, was good and entertaining, but I could name 10 other fics just like it. People can't even seem to think up original titles, some are completely rehashed and used 100 times.

If I were to pick 1 for you from hdholidays fics to check out, I'd say check out Life Lessons: The Flying Chapter NC-17 ~21k at hd_holidays
http://community.livejournal.com/hd_holidays/172945.html
I think you'll like the humor and some of the fandom parallels in Draco dealing w/Harry critique his brooms. Also Flint as a character and plot device is really well done. :) but do check out what I rec'd about some of the others and see if they pique your interest.

Edited 2010-12-22 17:13 (UTC)

This story is about Snape and Sprout. It is not a love story, but I thought it was just lovely. http://community.livejournal.com/severus_shorts/10411.html

This is a gen fic, maybe a little mushy, but I really enjoyed it:

http://community.livejournal.com/springtime_gen/72138.html

A story from this years Smoochfest. Of Mouslings and Men:

http://community.livejournal.com/hd_smoochfest/36927.html

I'll be back with more if you want.

Gotten and the rest immediately throw me out of the world the author's created. Speaking as a Brit who has written in a US fandom, I know the necessity of getting a local beta, and I find I just want to comment and say, I love your story, everything about it, so please can I britpick for you in future? But it seems so widespread I decided it must be accepted in h/d fandom.
Anyway, I prefer not to read sex scenes either so maybe you'd enjoy http://community.livejournal.com/serpentinelion/257141.html which is a murder mystery in the style of Miss Marple, with lots of fun, a smart and witty Draco and really very little squinting required.

If you wander over to my fic journal

brissy_digsu, I have a Snupin fic that should meet your requirements. Poor Severus he's been through so much and I torture him with a mouthful of bird poop! LOL!

There are some fabulous festive fics over at

mini_fest, I highly recomend The Acursed Fruitcake of Camlann, it was one of the first fics posted and it's hilarious!

I can't think of anything else at the moment, so I'll email you some links later when I'm at the computer. :)

I can recommend the following HD fics:
Femme & Noeon's offering for the Glomp fest The Mirror Crack'd : “There’s a dead Ministry official sprawled across the sitting room floor,” I announce before collapsing into a chair at the kitchen table. “This can’t be good for bookings.”
http://community.livejournal.com/serpentinelion/257141.html - H/D a la Agatha Christie - made me giggle. A lot.

Off course anything by Sara's Girl - for a lengthy story from this year I'd recommend On a Clear Day http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5688056/1/On_a_Clear_Day - I can't imagine you haven't already read Foundations verse, in which case there are a few more snippets from this year.

Tigersilvers "When I'm old" - a bit soppy but in a really delightful way (and it is christmas)
http://tigersilver.livejournal.com/117408.html

Ishfael's "players" http://ishafel.livejournal.com/117932.html - more of a character study - a slightly different Harry & Draco to what you usually see, yet completely believable.

Hope you enjoy some of these. Merry christmas

I haven't really been reading much this year either, so anything I rustle up would be probably written by me. So unless you're interested in a rather long, slightly silly Merlin/HP crossover or a fic where Minerva interviews Gilderoy... I'm afraid I'll have to be very unhelpful. *g*

The best fic I've read in the last few days was written in 2005. *g* Although! It is really awesome. It's Fred-centric and short. http://lydiabennet.livejournal.com/1786.html

Have you watched the BBC Sherlock? It's brilliant and well acted. The fan fic for it is pretty damn good. A lot of Sherlock/John which I find to my surprise I have fallen for - helped by the fact that I adore Martin Freeman's John Watson, but also some very good gen. Interested in any recs?

Of course this is not a fanfic rec but your para re plot etc. reminds me forcibly of my favourite author Lois McMaster Bujold. Have you read any of her series? - she has 3 in distinct genres - and I can recommend them all wholeheartedly. Her Vorkosigan series (space-opera, kinda) has all those qualities you listed and contains about 17 books. The Chalion series is historical/fantasy and currently has 3 books of which the second, Paladin of Souls, is my favourite book of all time. The Sharing Knife series is 4 books set in an analogue of frontier-time mid-West America. All her books have great characters and wonderful world-building - and a whole lot of fanfic has been written on all of them (even some HP crossover by AJ Hall) and there is an LJ community called bujold-fic. Pls excuse me if you've already read them and know all this.

Luv, for relief and because I am desperately in need of distraction...because Ben is hawt and Martin huggable, I well into Sherlock, BBC. Help yourself to my Memories and my bookmarks on A03, as you'll find lots.
I am into Avengers 2012 film version, also. You'll find reccs for those, too. The paradigm is similar enough to H/D to resonate. I find them pleasing. Like cousins, really. In a way.
If this helps, I am pleased. If not...ah. Know that I am in your boat and am frantically bailing, just as you.
Cheers! Wine and whinge together? Anytime!
Tiger

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