Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Grrr, LJ is vexxing me this morning! The one time I was going to sit down and send a bunch of bearhugs, no matter how many hours it took, after about twenty minutes of error messages, I gave up. I am made of teh suck, I know. I think I managed to get out three, two to birthday girls.

So, let's do this. Comment here so I can shower you with squishy Valentine's lurve. I feel like I've been neglecting my flist for a long time, and I wanted to let you all know that I do adore the stuffin' out of you. Let the lovin' commence!

--P

Community Pimps!

Starting tomorrow!


artwork by _aurora_sky_

Posting begins February 15th!

And coming soon!


Banner art by the one and only heathen_archive. Prompting starts early June!

--P

Fic Rec: Nobody's Ever Died of a Broken Heart by frayach

[Crossposted from 4th February.]

Recs through the weekend! Kinkfest, HP, Supernatural, Merlin and Sherlock Holmes. My queue is full to bursting, I tell you. A lone rec tonight, but I really wanted to share this with you all.

Nobody’s Ever Died of a Broken Heart - Harry/Draco, Harry/OMC [R - warning for character death] by frayach.

Every month I have a good cry. It's cleansing. It's therapeutic. It's… Don't give me that look. Believe me, it helps. LOL So, for about twenty minutes I just let the floodgates open. Now, it could be that this fic coincided with my monthly bawl, but I was so in sync with Fray's pov, that I was weepy for a full sixty minutes. I don't want to isolate anyone and say that you won't be able to empathise unless you've lost someone close. Sooner or later (and let's all hope it's later), we all lose someone we cherish. But after I read this, I thought, 'Wow, here's someone who really understands what the last two years of my life have been like.' Fray really has a way with words, and she has no trouble at all making them jump off the page, eloquently so.

Admittedly, this is not an easy fic to read. And as much as I'd have you believe I'm tough as nails, I do have chinks in my armour. Before you've even clicked the link, there's character death with Harry having to cope in the unhealthiest ways possible. He's pill addicted, works a shitty office job and has just about closed himself off to everyone except an engaging OC poet named Martin. Who is, by the way, perfect for Harry. Not so much as a replacement for Draco, but as a living, breathing coping mechanism. Maybe not at first, but he more than meets my approval by fic's end. And let me just stress here, for those of us that don't like long and involved scenes with OC lovers, this never ever stops being a Harry/Draco fic.

Let me share one of my favourites lines about Martin.

What he can’t explain to Martin or to anyone else in this magicless world is that no object is inert, no boundary impermeable. Even a man like Martin who works with rhymes for a living could never imagine that words can literally kill.

Throughout, there are bittersweet glimpses and rememberances of Draco, brought upon by both Muggle and magical uppers and downers. And slowly you begin to understand why Harry must hit rock bottom in order to climb his way up and out. It's a heartbreaking journey, but I found the ending wholly satisfying. Sure, I love dark fic, but I also appreciate that much needed light at the end of the tunnel.

This all sounds very depressing, I'm sure. Hey, I did say it was a difficult read, didn't I? I always seem to stress how important realism is for me. Ask me, and I'll tell you I think this fic came from the heart, came from the very life experiences that shape and define us. I saw quite a bit of myself in this fic. All of the stages of grief and despair and anger that take hold until we're strong enough to break free and let go, and cruel as that may seem, time does heal all wounds.

Up until now, I would have said that 'The Price We Pay for Wings' was my favourite of Fray's fics, but now I want to say it's this. It was very much worth the wait. HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Enjoy all!

--P

hp_kinkfest Recs!

[Crossposted from 10th February.]

Ugh, snowy day is snowy. And mostly unexpected hiatus is over. More fandom recs tonight :-)

[Ficses]

[This is kinkfest, so please heed the warnings in the fic headers, people. *G*]

Pavo Cristatus - Lucius/Harry [NC-17] by melusinahp.

Truth be told, I'm still floating on the travelling circus cloud. And now Mel follows up one of my favourite Hols fics with a lovely Lucius/Harry story. No, I guess I haven't fully discounted Lucius yet. Not when there's old school cool on the table.

Harry's been captured and auctioned off to the highest bidder, and I actually kind of love that Bella's been outbid. Harry finds himself in a sparsely decorated bedchamber, Lucius's newest acquisition. The accommodations are modest, the wardrobe meagre, but it's still very elegant in a way you shouldn't be able to describe non-con.

And speaking of non-con, Mel has this way of really blurring the line between non-con and dub-con, and this is exactly the sort of tightrope I love walking. The interplay is sexually as well as intellectually charged, and I alternated between cheering the both of them on. The ending is a fitting punishment, but for whom, I won't say.

Better Than Goats - Harry/Ginny/Draco [NC-17] by marguerite_26.

In the year and a half or so since I've discovered Maggie's writing, I've also discovered she's probably one of the most consistent and entertaining writers I'm honoured to know. I'm not the hugest fan of threesomes, too many pronouns to trip over, but I really loved Maggie's kinkfest offering. Let the record show that I'm not the hugest fan of Ginny either, but Maggie makes this work for me - on both counts.

I have to give Maggie snaps for her no-nonsense warning. She clearly states that Harry and Ginny are in love, and that's not like to change. Brutal honestly, yes please. I like knowing what I'm getting myself into. Also, bonus points for being ballsy.

Ginny arranges a threesome for her and Harry, and it's quite the sexy affair. Of course, the third in their ménage is none other than Malfoy, who's brooding and barefoot, and okay, who knew I had a bare feet fetish? Draco het, not really my cuppa either, but it's not really about Harry/Draco or Harry/Ginny or Draco/Ginny, it's about Harry/Draco/Ginny, and I loved that nobody was cast aside. Three sides of one equilateral triangle. How's that for perfect geometry?

Control Issues - Albus Severus/Scorpius [NC-17 - WARNING FOR BREATHPLAY] by son_of_darkness.

Hello, bulletproof kink and pairing! Kye's really a master when it comes to kink. I love the way he gets into his characters' heads and really looks at every aspect. While most people just play on the surface, Kye goes from super to subcutaneous and explores this kink skin-deep.

Scorpius loves watching Al gasp for breath, and their experimentation into breathplay is a gradual, believable progression accomplished with perfect love and perfect trust. They start with a safe arm tapping out that slowly disappears as they continue along, but there's never any guilting, just Scorpius pushing both their boundaries with Al completely free to decline. I'm just totally in love with Al and his desire to please Scorpius as a lover and life partner. It's this combination of both the physical and the metaphysical that I really find, well, breathtaking.

Cold Comfort - Snape/Harry [NC-17 - WARNING FOR NECRO] by keppiehed.

So, somebody bravely accepted my kink challenge, and I couldn't be more pleased. Despite the grim circumstances of Harry's demise, this is done so sensually with touch and emotion that I'm left reeling. It's necro, so I'm sure there's going to be a good deal of reluctance, but there's nothing described here I found remotely off-putting. Part of why I'm fascinated with this is because I enjoy seeing the 'what-ifs' explored. And even though Snape's just barely alive himself (metaphorically speaking), you get the sense that both of them were so at odds with their feelings, that this was really the only way they could ever be comfortable with one another. Or together. If you're willing to give this a go, I'm certain you won't be disappointed. Keppie's a new writer for me, and one I'll be keeping an eye out for.

Enjoy all!

--P

Community Pimps!

Starting tomorrow!


artwork by _aurora_sky_

Posting begins February 15th!

And coming soon!


Banner art by the one and only heathen_archive. Prompting starts early June!

--P

Multi-fandom (non HP) Recs!

Okay, so this isn't a non HP rec, but I just had to mention that romaine24's interview with alaana_fair at The Howling Werewolf is pretty awesome. You should definitely check it out ♥

Also, Happy VD! Again. *G*

[Supernatural]

New fandom = do. not. need. I'm just not into Wincest at all, but Dean/Castiel is the sort of lovely I find hard to resist. Here, have a few!

Veteran - Dean/Castiel [R] by liadan14.

It's funny how new fandoms sneak up on us, yes?

I'm what you would call a sometime watcher of Supernatural. I have my reasons for not getting deeper involved. Mainly because I don't like being shoehorned kink or pairing-wise. I feel like I don't have the freedoms I do with Harry Potter. But then I'm told about Dean/Castiel and suddenly the game changes.

I actually came to Liadan's journal on a Harry Potter rec and found myself gravitating more to the Supernatural fic. And this is where I give a slight shrug of my shoulders and forego an explanation. I don't have one. I just know I loved the fic.

After the apocalypse, Castiel's been made mortal. He settles with Dean and Sam, and the three of them struggle to find their places in this new world. After seven years, I'm used to wizards and spells and life behind stone walls. Here, I'm lavishing in a sort of quiet domesticity as Dean helps Castiel acclimate to human life by helping him select toiletries and adjust to a sleep schedule, and yeah, I think you know the rest. I'm making it my business to seek out more of the pairing. It's a lovely thing to be pleasantly surprised.

Sharpen Your Teeth - Dean/Castiel [NC-17] by zeitheist.

Just a lovely piece of filthy motel porn. In the category of rampant TMP obsessions with Victorian-era steampunk and absinthe is the Enochian language. And there's some disturbingly hot bodypainting with Enochian characters that made my brain go all smokey then splodey.

[Sherlock Holmes '09]

[ART] It is Probable - Holmes/Watson [WS] by Ponderosa121.

[ART & FIC] Change of Plans - Holmes/Watson [NC-17/NWS]; art by Ponderosa121 and fic by blue_soaring.

[Merlin]

[ART] Knight - Morgana/Gwen [WS] by spacefragments.

[ART] The Fool - Merlin and Uther [WS] by littlemute.

Enjoy all!

--P