paulamcg | Entries tagged with rec

hp_halloween, for the first time on AO3, has exceeded all my expectations. There are a lot of extra treats, and also more generous commenting than I usually see at AO3 fests. I've now read almost all the double drabbles, and it's hard to choose which ones to rec in particular. The fun is in giving a chance to any character, any pairing, any writer.

You can find all the new Halloween-themed 200-word works in this AO3 collection.

I was lucky to have my wishes assigned to

digthewriter, for whom I've enjoyed writing at other fests, and to receive this lovely Neville-pov piece:

Of hope and love by digthewriter

I was also lucky to get an inspiring assignment. Among

walgesang's requests there were several that I could have chosen. (Why did I have to worry about other fest fics when I could have taken the time to write more for this fest!) But I was particularly tempted to write about some older witches.

Title: Keeping Company
Author: paulamcg
Pairing: Pomona & Rolanda, Pomona/Poppy
Summary: A few days after Halloween 1993, a neep lantern is not the only source of warmth and comfort at the edge of Pomona's root vegetable patch.
Word Count: 200
Rating: G
Notes: This was written for

walgesang at HP Halloween, with these prompts and likes in mind: moonlight, signs that winter is coming, snuggling for warmth, friendship drabble, queer older characters, missing scenes, slice of life. Than you for the inspiration! Thank you, justtoarguewithyou, for the beta! Thank you, lovely mods and participants, for the fest!

Read here on AO3,
or right here:
( A silent incantation )

I just have to respond to the fourth prompt again, since

eldritcher has now published something that's a perfect fit for the bonus prompt Typhon.

Typhon by eldritcher (T, PG-13, no warnings apply, ~1.5K words, Charlie Weasley/Rubeus Hagrid)

In this amazing fic you'll find a gorgeous tale of love, and more – a lot more than you might expect on the basis of the unusual pairing and the summary, unless you know the brillliant writer's other work.

The first prompt at the Sunshine Challenge is Hades

I've never been very much interested in such stories which undo death's finality. The bonus prompt here gave me an idea about some interaction between Cerberus and Padfoot the dog, who's not happy about what I ended up doing to Sirius despite trying to avoid the Bring Back Black trope in my writing.

There's no new drabble (yet), but here's how Sirius experienced what had looked like a lovely conclusion of a subplot in a post-OotP Remus fic:

He's Come Back (1200 words)
After the veil's gone, Sirius realises that there's no way but back to the scene where he was once captured.

And here's a serious Severus/Minerva rec. This is an exceptional, significant, excellently-written small story dealing with what an age difference is eventually bound to mean in a long-term relationship.

Mind the Gap by Squibstress (1100 words)
Severus never thought he minded the gap. Until he did.

Snowflake Challenge promotional banner featuring a chubby brown and red bird surrounded by falling snow. Text: Snowflake Challenge: 1-31 January.

Challenges #6 and #9

#6 In your own space, rec at least three fanworks that you didn’t create.

#9 In your own space, brag about yourself. Tell us what things you've done that you're proud of; the things that make you the wonderful person you are. …
Rec YOUR work, YOUR fic, YOUR art, YOUR meta, YOUR anything! Maybe you host a challenge, or maybe you have lists of resources that you've lovingly curated that you'd like to share. Or maybe you . . . whatever you do, we want to hear about it!!

I'm reccing fics by writers whose HP fanworks I've found only this year, thanks to year-end roundups and Snowflake:

Cerberusia,

kira_katrine and

nightfalltwen.
( fics introduced under the cut )

As for bragging about myself, perhaps, for once, I won't say that I'm hopelessly stuck in the Harry Potter fandom. This wonderful person here is still devoted to complementing the story of Remus Lupin's life by crafting more stories about him and others in the same first-five-HP-books-consistent world, and making each fic work on its own, too.

As I think I'd better limit my self-recs, too, to three... I start by reccing two series! You can read any fic separately as well.

If Not a Prank (Remus/Sirius, T) by

PaulaMcG includes three fics which offer a probably unusual take on what's usually called Sirius Black's prank on Severus Snape. ( continues under the cut )

hoggywartyxmas has finished posting, but the party goes on, I hope! Yes, I've checked, and drinks are still available for any latecomers, too. Perhaps some of us who arrived early, soon after owling in our gifts, have got a bit too tipsy and tired, too, having rambled about the gifts that were opened first – all excellent creations. And I had to step out to do some modding duties at the Snowflake Challenge, but I'm determined to go back and enjoy the rest of the stories and give them, too, the love they deserve. This has been an amazing party full of sharing!

Since Rita is still in the champagne bar waiting for recs, at this point I mention a couple of my personal favourites among the early works:

To All a Good Night (Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, Poppy Pomfrey, Pomona Sprout, Filius Flitwick, Madam Malkin; brief appearance by Hagrid and mention of Malfoys)
An excellently-crafted story full of splendid magical treats and brilliant puns and holiday cheer – despite the outbreak of crowpox...

Within a Forest Dark (Severus Snape/Minerva McGonagall, soft R)
A beautifully-written, splendid story! A brilliant combination of something familiar from the canon and the beloved fanon of these characters, and of surprises.

mini_fest (also on AO3) has posted the anonymous masterlist. In this very mini fest the list's short enough and I can suggest that you check out if there's anything you might like, give it a try, and give some love!

I've been having a rare little hoggy and warty Christmas, and if you haven't joined in these celebrations yet, come along now! There is or will be something anonymous by me, too, in each of these events/communities. And there are some works I want to rec now. (All but one of the creators of these are still anonymous.)

In the Rare Pair Winter Exchange at

rarepair_shorts I've got an amazing, heart-warming gift, a lovely and excellently-written fic:
Be the Gryffindor (also here on LJ) (Neville/Luna, M).

In the same community there's also the non-anonymous Festive Fun event (for which I hope I'll still manage to post a little something), and among the small rare-pair fics something as rare as this fic with giant-sized holiday cheer:
The Orb (Hagrid/Olympe, surprise pairings) by

kelly_chambliss (also here on LJ and here on AO3).

Among the works at

mini_fest (also on AO3), I can't resist reccing this beautiful portrait of my OTP:
Holiday AU (Remus/Sirius) also here on AO3.

As for

hoggywartyxmas, I've thoroughly enjoyed myself ever since the Grand Opening, which I tried my best to attend in style, while starting to doubt that the gift I'd owled could possibly be close to the high standards of the event. It's hard to choose and rec one among the marvellous gifts opened so far, but let's start with the first, wondrously excellent and satisfying one:
The Dressing Room: A Play in Three Acts, with Chorus (Madame Malkin, Minerva McGonagall/Hermione Granger, Arthur Weasley, Horace Slughorn/Filius Flitwick, R).

EDITED immediately after posting!
I've just opened my hoggy and warty gift! It's a treasure! I've fallen in love with this Hagrid... ermm, with this evocative and masterfully-created holiday scene, I mean! I'll spend some time on looking for appropriate words of praise. Here's the splendid work of art:
Christmas in the Hospital Wing (Rubeus Hagrid, Poppy Pomfrey, a team of Hogwarts House Elves)

There's a lot in the fandom that keeps cheering me up, and I'm glad to share some of it.

echanted_jae has written a birthday gift for me – a scintillating ficlet about her wonderful Neville and Charlie as coworkers – and more than that: Gryffidor enough 2 (Charlie/Neville, R).

belladonna_lee has granted a wish of mine at Rare Pair Summer Wishlist Event by writing a gorgeous Remus-pov fic set at the end of August 1993: Until the Moon Sets (Remus/James, PG-13)

The granting of wishes has now ended, and

rarepair_shorts will soon post the masterlist of a lot of fabulous works about rare pairings.

And if you haven't subcribed to

hpdrizzle, it's time to do it, as HP Drizzle Fest has started posting today.

Join the 2020 HP DRIZZLE FEST on LJ/DW.
Posting begins 1st September | Reveals mid-October.
hp drizzle: harry potter + weather themed fest | all genres, pairings, characters!
Follow the fest on tumblr!

Wolfstar Hurt Fest, too, has started posting today (on Tumblr) – and revealing works here in the AO3 collecion

At HP Ace Fest claiming is open until the 10th of September (and the deadline is the 17th).

I'm also considering

Join the 2020

hp_creatures fest!
Claiming begins on August 1st!
Posting: October 15-31
The 2020 fest is non-anonymous. All fic/art will be posted on ao3.
More info available at: Livejournal / Dreamwidth / Tumblr.
For questions email: creaturefestmod@gmail.com

and whether to participate this year again in

sirius_blk's

I've signed up for Wolfstar Games There's a marvellous theme – communication – and ~~a month and a half~~ two months and a half (edited Sept 19) still left before the deadline. (The teams have been formed, but the fest is looking for pinch hitters.)

I wonder if I've forgotten any fests I've decided to take part in. Oh, there's HP Halloween double-drabble exchange to look forward to! And Hoggywartyxmas!

A couple of months ago I got the urge to follow a chaptered fic while it's still in progress, so that after the posting of each chapter I could comment and have a chance for a small conversation with the writer – something I used to enjoy in my early fandom days. And now I've started reading two more fics like that.

Harry Potter and the Persistence of Vision (Teen) by marzipan77, whose idea is that after HBP a lot of the characters become different because Dumbledore's magic binds them no longer, and the writing is full of magnificence in describing magic and these powerful witches and wizards.

The first one of these two I found thanks to

pauraque:

All Beasts Are Happy (Snape/Lupin, Mature) by rexluscus is an excellent, emotional and intriguing post-canon story, in which Severus and Remus are, obviously, alive but each is extremely wretched or at least satisfyingly troubled.

Learning to Fly (General) by renaissance, who writes an adorably nasty Hufflepuff Draco and depicts his developing relations with his House mates humorously and realistically.

The Femmefest masterlist is still anonymous. (There's something by me, too, and I wonder whether you'd recognise my style.) I haven't read very much in the fest, but I want to rec something.

In each of these two short fics I enjoyed various vivid scenes in different settings.
Work for Me (Hermione/Pansy, Explicit), and
when it’s not enough (Pansy/Ginny, Teen)

And I've found these pieces of fanart particularly gorgeous and evocative.
Kisses (Luna/Ginny and Pansy/Parvati, Teen) – two vivid scenes (here, too:))
Better than Magic (Pansy/Ginny, Teen)

Before I start writing fic after a break for just reading and commenting (and eating mince pies, which my eldest son's girlfriend brought from London), two more recs.

One of my favourites on R/S Small Gifts (which will continue posting tomorrow by posting bonus gifts) is

Abed, After Moonset (PG-13) by mustntgetmy.

(This is my comment in the community:) The slow, detailed descriptions enthrall me to believing that this is truly what Remus is sensing at the moment and what he’s experienced before. I wouldn’t like to believe that he’s stubborn enough to go on refusing help. But we love comforting him with Sirius, don’t we? It’s wonderful how their conversation is not melodramatic at all but fun banter about socks and snoring. (Oh, I can’t help loving the details about Remus’s feet!) Bittersweet and beautiful and real! And the last line – I adore it.

At the fabulous Hoggywartyxmas I’ve been thoroughly enchanted by the longest fic posted so far,

The Weighing of the Wands (R) by Anonymous.

From a simple canon scene the writer has extrapolated a rich, deep story. There’s amazing magic: detailed wandlore treated like art, true magical art. There’s a touching depiction of an evolving relationship between two men, whose characterisations acquire new dimensions and nuances. And it all illuminates some most essential canon issues as well. An enviably excellent fic.

A new friend just asked for recs and made me realise I could make some here.

First of all, the beautiful fic written for me at R/S Small Gifts
And, Somehow, It Comes Right by

liseuse
Living together is hard, but somehow we make it through.

And a self-rec (on AO3, not from the fest)
To the Sensational Jaws
This is what Peter sees when he goes to the cinema with his friends on the 27th of December 1975.

Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah to you in case you celebrate! And in any case, I wish you light and warmth in the middle of all the gloom out there – also the literal cold and darkness around us here in the North.