I'll Gladly Smut You Tuesday: Fic Recs!

[themostepotente]

Two from hp_rarities!

On Being, In the Company of Others (With Annotations and Accurate Biography as Written by S. Snape, Himself) - Snape/Regulus, Snape/Lupin [PG-13] by Mystery Author.

A gorgeous, sleek telling of Severus's schoolboy encounters with Regulus and Remus. I admire the author's experimental bravery, choosing a narrative both lyrical and smartly stream of conscious in styling. I love Severus's characterisation in this, and his voice is dead on. This concludes beautifully, too, at a critical point and time in his life.

Maelstrom - Harry/Teddy [NC-17] by Mystery Author.

I really seem to gravitate to these kinds of stories about pressuring mid-life crises and sexual discovery. This story is no exception, and the author genuinely seems to transcend that line of believability for me. This is a story about real people with real problems, and part of me is sorry the author needed Rowling's universe as a vehicle to convey what could possibly be a very compelling, original piece of fiction about personal growth and self-exploration.

In Maelstrom, the Potters, the Weasleys and Teddy Lupin take a holiday in Greece. Paradise becomes Harry's personal Hell, though, exacerbated by gloomy temperaments and gloomier weather. Honestly, I wonder if I wasn't supposed to interpret the rain as some sort of biblical omen, but then I can totally relate having been on what can only be described as a 'very wet holiday.'

Harry's troubled marriage to Ginny reaches crisis-level. They've been to see a Marriage Healer, and no amount of advice seems to be helping either party. To worsen matters, Harry's relationships with his children are tenuous at best, and Al proves to be a bit of an enigma for Harry. Al's quiet and bookish and more than a bit miserable, and Harry has yet to find a way to relate to his middle son.

Enter Teddy, equally conflicted and utterly unlikeable at this point. To further compound Harry's troubles, Harry catches Teddy in a very compromising position, and from there matters become uncomfortably complicated. And this is probably the appropriate point to mention that the sex in this fic is UNGODLY hot without being overmuch. The wank scene? Just GUH!

I went from liking to sympathising to hating Harry and Teddy so much that I gave up settling on one feeling. There is a turning point, however, when Teddy proclaims himself as 'war trash', and my heart just bleeds when Harry realises that he too, is the product of war-torn times. Kleenex, please!

In conclusion, a few other reviewers have mentioned some niggling points; minor canon errors and some exposition dump. I can't say I was too bothered by any of this, because this is really just a FUCKING AMAZING fic. I'm six paragraphs deep in this review, and I still don't feel as though I'm doing this any amount of justice. My only complaint is that I'm still a little unsure about the ending. Saturday, I walked away feeling one way, Sunday another. I will say this, though; sometimes you're with the wrong person for all the right reasons, and sometimes you're with the right person for all wrong reasons. And the beauty of this statement? It's aimed at everyone involved.

Enjoy all!

--P

Comments

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I came very close to back clicking after she said that Teddy wasn't a metamorphmagus. Obviously, I'm very glad I didn't. :) It's interesting, though. Canon accuracy is pretty much vital to my enjoyment of a fic, unless it has an AU warning. I had a conversation with spaceframents, though, where she said that those kinds of canon details aren't important to her at all.

I may do a post.

[snegurochka_lee]

*noses in*

Yeah, and I was a bit put out by the one reviewer (who I do not know) who said that those of us who picked on the canon errors missed the point of the fic and are being unfair, etc. *eyeroll* If it's not original fic, and you are playing in someone else's 'verse, then you've got to get stuff like that right, IMO.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

*rolls eyes* I didn't see that yet.

And, you know, I left a gushing, totally heartfelt comment and gave it a glowing rec. If someone is complaining about the one sentence in which I pointed out canon mistakes, than I think she's missing the point of my comment, heh.

And, personally, I'm grateful when people point out my mistakes, even if it's embarrassing. It means I can fix them later.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Which reviewer is this? I'm too lazy to go back and look :P

[snegurochka_lee]

No, it doesn't matter; I don't remember either, and I don't mean to pick on one person. I actually am impressed (and I hope the author is, too!) with how much discussion this story is generating -- both in people's rec posts and on the fic itself. If reviewers are reading the other comments first and discussing their points in their own comments, I actually think that's great. It was just a one line thing. That I happened to disagree with. :)

[nolagal.livejournal.com]

I know! *eyerolls with you* None of us missed the point of the fic, we've all recced it to high heaven and how is pointing out a mistake unfair? (because without context, canon errors are mistakes)

[spacefragments.livejournal.com]

it's not that they're not important *at all* but i can ignore them if the fic is otherwise good, especially in the case of characters that are little more than a name.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

It's pretty much an all or nothing thing for me. And personally, as a writer, keeping all the canon facts correct is part of the game. I enjoy the challenge.

[gryffindorj.livejournal.com]

I read all the comments and can't begin to tell you how excited I am to see someone who feels the same way about canon as me. Poor canon knowledge can completely ruin an otherwise ok story. I get a lot of shit from one of my friends for my over exactness when it comes to fics. But I have found my favorite writers know their verse. This fic, the Teddy/Harry one, was an exception because normally those errors would have killed it but it carried on anyway. *puts up favorite icon*

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

*grins*

This is my reasoning: I came into HP because I wanted to read more about Harry. Thus, I want to read fics where Harry in in character. If a writer demonstrates that she's put effort into keeping canon facts straight, that shows respect for the universe, and I feel more confident that she's not going to write Harry OOC.

But this fic is a clear exception, as I think the writer wrote Harry beautifully and very much in character.

[gryffindorj.livejournal.com]

Yes exactly to everything you said!!!

Double exactly to Harry being beautifully written in this. It was perfect!! Every little detail things like Harry crying when James was born and so many other details were just perfect.