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beth_h2010-08-31 12:47 pm
bethbethbeth) wrote in beth_h2010-08-31 12:47 pm
Recs: August 31, 2010
the focus of this recs update is Snape/Hermione (from the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sshg_exchange), but that's not all I have for you!
***
Black Books
Basingstoke (basingstoke on LJ/DW): Rough Edges - a series, so far composed of three stories - complete in themselves - with a promise of more to come (Stories one and two are crossovers between Sherlock BBC and Black Books. Sherlock/John...vaguely. "Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Black: cousins. The rest of the family: terrifying." A cracky-yet-believable look at the extended Holmes family, as seen through the eyes of John. Clever, funny, and sometimes bordering on horrifying...as you'd expect)
Harry Potter
Ariadne1 and Anastasia (ariadne1 and ttfs on LJ): " Once Upon A Time" (Snape/Hermione. "A worried Headmistress McGonagall begs Hermione to return to Hogwarts to investigate several disappearances: something is calling the older Muggleborn witches into the Forest; all but one have returned apparently unharmed. Hermione, now Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Durmstrang, has no wish to return even in memory, let alone in person, to the scene of the Final Battle, but she feels she must. " Sharp and bitter and original and ultimately...hopeful. )
Cilla (somigliana on LJ): "The Indigo Shadow" (Snape/Hermione. "In the complacent, post-war lull, Snape senses a new threat, and he needs to convince the Ministry to take it seriously." Just this side of dystopian, with the possible relationship between Snape and Hermione taking a temporary back seat to concerns about the political future. Not particularly gloomy, but...troubling. A really smart and interesting read, however.)
corianderpie (corianderpie on LJ): "Traps & Arrows" (Snape/Hermione. "Minerva takes a break, Hermione takes a new post, Severus takes up the cudgels, Neville takes a risk, Filius takes his chances, and Rolanda takes bets on the outcome." A post-war, 'back to Hogwarts' tale featuring Hermione as the Muggle Studies instructor, whose attempts to introduce elements of Muggle culture - "sophisticated" and otherwise - are first fought and then used as part of Headmaster Snape's arsenal in his campaign to...well, that's for you to discover, isn't it?)
Elise Wanderer (elise_wanderer on LJ): "A Mournful Rustling in the Dark" (Snape/Hermione. "Turning your back on the past can have unexpected consequences, whether you do it voluntarily or not." A post-war "maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't" amnesia story, with a well-constructed secondary mystery plot to go along with the amnesia-cum-relationship tale. A really interesting look at the way the past shapes the future.)
Gingertart (gingertart50 onLJ/IJ): "Out of the Shadows Came a Rose" (Hermione/Ron, Hermione/Severus/Lucius in various combinations, Harry/Ginny. "Molly interferes, Ron is a twit but gets over it, Lucius is reformed (well, a bit), Draco grows up, Ginny is a good friend (apart from recommending the shoes), Harry is a hero and Hermione has fun and spends a lot of time in a library. Snape, meanwhile, considers that he is getting his usual shit deal from fate, although to be fair, he never expected to find a family of his own. " Does the author's summary include mpreg? Because if it doesn't, it should. *g* A very smart, very touching, very long story.)
Iulia Linnea (iulia_linnea on LJ): "Reading Season" (Snape/Hermione. "Severus and Hermione's budding romance is interrupted by cultists." A wonderfully clever crossover of HP with Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror", creepy and sweet and funny by turns. And while knowledge of Lovecraft adds the layer or two to the reader's understanding, this story can absolutely be read with only the vaguest understanding that Lovecraft writes horror and squid-like creatures factor into his works *g* )
JunoMagic (juno_magic on LJ): "The Scent of Magic" (Snape/Hermione. "Hermione Granger and Severus Snape enjoy a cordial working relationship, specialising in an exclusive branch of magic as journeywoman and Master of the ancient alchemists' guild. When a secret obsession interferes with Hermione's goal of reaching her Mastery and Lucius Malfoy takes an interest in her, her relationship with Severus is put to the test ..." Let me spoil part of this for you: the ancient art that Severus has mastery of and that Hermione is studying at the journeywoman level is the art of perfume making. Now, for somebody like me, whose attention span when it comes to sensory descriptors is somewhere between small and non-existent, a focus on the olfactory world would ordinarily lead to a loss of interest, but in the hands of this author - still anonymous at the time I'm writing this - nothing could be further from the truth. This is an altogether evocative and beautifully crafted work)
labrt2004 (labrt2004 on LJ): "Emissary" (Snape/Hermione. "A father recounts a series of meetings with black-robed emissary." A novel - and completely believable - point of view, one that offers not only a new perspective on Snape but also on Hermione.)
Lariope (lariopefic on LJ): "Killing Time" (Snape/Hermione. "In between too much time and not enough, there is a bathroom." Severus recovers from Nagini's bite - eventually - and for a variety of reasons, temporarily moves into Grimmauld Place - in the room next door to Hermione. Severus is wonderfully prickly, assigning the worst motivations to everybody and projecting his own petty feelings to whomever crosses his path - at least at first. A psychologically smart and engaging story.)
Machshefa (machshefa on LJ): "There, Where I Can Never Find You" (Snape/Hermione. "You disappear into a moon lit night, and I imagine I might have seen you go if only I'd been paying attention." A story about love and memory, set partly in the Muggle world. Really smart characterizations - Mature Auror Ron is a welcome surprise - and filled with emotional honesty.)
Melisande (melisande88 on LJ): "The Devil in Devonshire" (Snape/Hermione. "In the dead of winter, something frightening and unknown seems to be targeting the less savory members of wizard society. Ministry of Magic employee, Unspeakable Hermione Granger, joins the hunt with questionable assistance from Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy." One of that rare breed of story which gets its start with a crack!fic suggestion, but somehow transforms an odd notion into something original and engaging.)
PajamaPants (pyjamapants on LJ): "The Lost Chamber" (Snape/Hermione. "When Rose and Hugo Weasley are involved in a prank that sends Scorpius Malfoy to the Hospital Wing, Hermione is summoned to Hogwarts. What she finds there calls for investigation." Quite apart from the intriguing plot, the tale offers a veryadult relationship. Hermione and Severus have concerns that don't involve each other (administration, scholarship, family/friends), but they also display the same sort of distractions and obsessions that people of all ages show when they're developing an interest in somebody.)
richardgloucester (dickgloucester on LJ): "Whom The Gods Annoy" (Snape/Hermione. " Ron, Harry and Hermione are due to discover the consequences of their inaction with regard to saving the life of one Chosen by the gods – or in this case, goddess. And it all becomes vastly more complicated when the school hires workmen to fix the battle damage at Hogwarts." A long, funny, and smart merging of the magical world of JKR and the world(s) of the classical gods. Initially seems as if it's going to be a "god of love makes X fall in love with Y" cliche, but swiftly becomes so much more. Wonderful.)
Scoffy (sc010f on LJ): "Half Life" (Snape/Hermione. "Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened to David Harper. Until he died and awoke as Severus Snape." An original take on a number of tropes - amnesia, portrait fic, etc. - which works perfectly. Friendship more than romance for the time being, but as you read, you sense that this state of affairs might well change in the future. )
shairi11 (shairi11 on LJ): "Not Knowing What To Do" (Snape/Hermione. "What happens when a socially inept Snape Does Not Know What To Do. If at first you don't succeed, then try again... and again... and again..." Ridiculously over-the-top tale about Severus's decision to propose to Hermione, but funny and romantic and even touching.)
Sophie (sophierom on LJ): "The Janus Thickey Ward" (Snape/Hermione. " On the Janus Thickey Ward, Hermione learns that imperfection is good enough." Post-war. I love the beginning of Hermione's reclaiming of self every bit as much as I love the development of her relationship with Snape - and all in the midst of a fully populated world!)
Sherlock (BBC)
Basingstoke (basingstoke on LJ/DW): Rough Edges - a series, so far composed of three stories - complete in themselves - with a promise of more to come (Stories one and two are crossovers between Sherlock BBC and Black Books. Sherlock/John...vaguely. "Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Black: cousins. The rest of the family: terrifying." A cracky-yet-believable look at the extended Holmes family, as seen through the eyes of John. Clever, funny, and sometimes bordering on horrifying...as you'd expect)
Magnetic Pole (magnetic_pole on LJ): "A Life of Crime" (Gen. Mrs Hudson, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson. "How innocently it all starts." A quite wonderfully - and unexpectedly - insightful look at Sherlock through Mrs Hudson's eyes. Clever and funny and surprising.)
Nemo_the_Everbeing (nemo_everbeing on LJ): "It's Not About Pasta" (Sherlock/Lestrade. "John has another date, and Sherlock is left wondering why. He goes to the only other normal person who will speak to him to find out." What could have been pure cliche transforms into something believable and real.)
phantomjam (phantomjam on LJ): "The Perils of Urban Warfare" (John/Sherlock. "The problems of acclimatising to civilian life a.k.a the travails of John, his therapist and Sherlock" A very-early-in-the-run story [i.e., right after episode one], but excellently voiced and clever.)
Tangles (entangled_now on LJ): "Thought Experiments" (Sherlock/John. "Thought experiment: an attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination." This is a fandom that cries out for first times in which Sherlock is initially experimenting with the idea of romantic or erotic involvements, and this story is one of the very best of that genre. In character, engaging, and believable.)
Star Trek - Enterprise and Reboot!verse
Flora Hart (florahart on LJ, et al): "Uniquely Qualified" (Gen. T'Pol, Sarek. "T'Pol is neither on Vulcan, nor on Earth, when Nero strikes. When she receives the news, she is impelled to act, perhaps without logic, because she knows something unusual." A very real portrait of T'Pol in the wake of the destruction of Vulcan and a fascinating look at the way the incorporation of certain human behaviors might ease the grieving process...for some Vulcans)
White Collar
China Shop (china_shop on LJ/DW): "Butterfly Kiss" (Peter/El/Neal. "A different future isn't necessarily a worse one. –Neal Caffrey" A time travel story written as crack!fic but which became something much more. Very in character and surprisingly believable, considering the premise.)
***
And in case you don't followcrack_broom, I spent August reccing Snape/Harry. Check out the recs here.
sshg_exchange), but that's not all I have for you!***
Black Books
Basingstoke (basingstoke on LJ/DW): Rough Edges - a series, so far composed of three stories - complete in themselves - with a promise of more to come (Stories one and two are crossovers between Sherlock BBC and Black Books. Sherlock/John...vaguely. "Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Black: cousins. The rest of the family: terrifying." A cracky-yet-believable look at the extended Holmes family, as seen through the eyes of John. Clever, funny, and sometimes bordering on horrifying...as you'd expect)
Harry Potter
Ariadne1 and Anastasia (ariadne1 and ttfs on LJ): " Once Upon A Time" (Snape/Hermione. "A worried Headmistress McGonagall begs Hermione to return to Hogwarts to investigate several disappearances: something is calling the older Muggleborn witches into the Forest; all but one have returned apparently unharmed. Hermione, now Care of Magical Creatures Professor at Durmstrang, has no wish to return even in memory, let alone in person, to the scene of the Final Battle, but she feels she must. " Sharp and bitter and original and ultimately...hopeful. )
Cilla (somigliana on LJ): "The Indigo Shadow" (Snape/Hermione. "In the complacent, post-war lull, Snape senses a new threat, and he needs to convince the Ministry to take it seriously." Just this side of dystopian, with the possible relationship between Snape and Hermione taking a temporary back seat to concerns about the political future. Not particularly gloomy, but...troubling. A really smart and interesting read, however.)
corianderpie (corianderpie on LJ): "Traps & Arrows" (Snape/Hermione. "Minerva takes a break, Hermione takes a new post, Severus takes up the cudgels, Neville takes a risk, Filius takes his chances, and Rolanda takes bets on the outcome." A post-war, 'back to Hogwarts' tale featuring Hermione as the Muggle Studies instructor, whose attempts to introduce elements of Muggle culture - "sophisticated" and otherwise - are first fought and then used as part of Headmaster Snape's arsenal in his campaign to...well, that's for you to discover, isn't it?)
Elise Wanderer (elise_wanderer on LJ): "A Mournful Rustling in the Dark" (Snape/Hermione. "Turning your back on the past can have unexpected consequences, whether you do it voluntarily or not." A post-war "maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't" amnesia story, with a well-constructed secondary mystery plot to go along with the amnesia-cum-relationship tale. A really interesting look at the way the past shapes the future.)
Gingertart (gingertart50 onLJ/IJ): "Out of the Shadows Came a Rose" (Hermione/Ron, Hermione/Severus/Lucius in various combinations, Harry/Ginny. "Molly interferes, Ron is a twit but gets over it, Lucius is reformed (well, a bit), Draco grows up, Ginny is a good friend (apart from recommending the shoes), Harry is a hero and Hermione has fun and spends a lot of time in a library. Snape, meanwhile, considers that he is getting his usual shit deal from fate, although to be fair, he never expected to find a family of his own. " Does the author's summary include mpreg? Because if it doesn't, it should. *g* A very smart, very touching, very long story.)
Iulia Linnea (iulia_linnea on LJ): "Reading Season" (Snape/Hermione. "Severus and Hermione's budding romance is interrupted by cultists." A wonderfully clever crossover of HP with Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror", creepy and sweet and funny by turns. And while knowledge of Lovecraft adds the layer or two to the reader's understanding, this story can absolutely be read with only the vaguest understanding that Lovecraft writes horror and squid-like creatures factor into his works *g* )
JunoMagic (juno_magic on LJ): "The Scent of Magic" (Snape/Hermione. "Hermione Granger and Severus Snape enjoy a cordial working relationship, specialising in an exclusive branch of magic as journeywoman and Master of the ancient alchemists' guild. When a secret obsession interferes with Hermione's goal of reaching her Mastery and Lucius Malfoy takes an interest in her, her relationship with Severus is put to the test ..." Let me spoil part of this for you: the ancient art that Severus has mastery of and that Hermione is studying at the journeywoman level is the art of perfume making. Now, for somebody like me, whose attention span when it comes to sensory descriptors is somewhere between small and non-existent, a focus on the olfactory world would ordinarily lead to a loss of interest, but in the hands of this author - still anonymous at the time I'm writing this - nothing could be further from the truth. This is an altogether evocative and beautifully crafted work)
labrt2004 (labrt2004 on LJ): "Emissary" (Snape/Hermione. "A father recounts a series of meetings with black-robed emissary." A novel - and completely believable - point of view, one that offers not only a new perspective on Snape but also on Hermione.)
Lariope (lariopefic on LJ): "Killing Time" (Snape/Hermione. "In between too much time and not enough, there is a bathroom." Severus recovers from Nagini's bite - eventually - and for a variety of reasons, temporarily moves into Grimmauld Place - in the room next door to Hermione. Severus is wonderfully prickly, assigning the worst motivations to everybody and projecting his own petty feelings to whomever crosses his path - at least at first. A psychologically smart and engaging story.)
Machshefa (machshefa on LJ): "There, Where I Can Never Find You" (Snape/Hermione. "You disappear into a moon lit night, and I imagine I might have seen you go if only I'd been paying attention." A story about love and memory, set partly in the Muggle world. Really smart characterizations - Mature Auror Ron is a welcome surprise - and filled with emotional honesty.)
Melisande (melisande88 on LJ): "The Devil in Devonshire" (Snape/Hermione. "In the dead of winter, something frightening and unknown seems to be targeting the less savory members of wizard society. Ministry of Magic employee, Unspeakable Hermione Granger, joins the hunt with questionable assistance from Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy." One of that rare breed of story which gets its start with a crack!fic suggestion, but somehow transforms an odd notion into something original and engaging.)
PajamaPants (pyjamapants on LJ): "The Lost Chamber" (Snape/Hermione. "When Rose and Hugo Weasley are involved in a prank that sends Scorpius Malfoy to the Hospital Wing, Hermione is summoned to Hogwarts. What she finds there calls for investigation." Quite apart from the intriguing plot, the tale offers a very
richardgloucester (dickgloucester on LJ): "Whom The Gods Annoy" (Snape/Hermione. " Ron, Harry and Hermione are due to discover the consequences of their inaction with regard to saving the life of one Chosen by the gods – or in this case, goddess. And it all becomes vastly more complicated when the school hires workmen to fix the battle damage at Hogwarts." A long, funny, and smart merging of the magical world of JKR and the world(s) of the classical gods. Initially seems as if it's going to be a "god of love makes X fall in love with Y" cliche, but swiftly becomes so much more. Wonderful.)
Scoffy (sc010f on LJ): "Half Life" (Snape/Hermione. "Nothing out of the ordinary ever happened to David Harper. Until he died and awoke as Severus Snape." An original take on a number of tropes - amnesia, portrait fic, etc. - which works perfectly. Friendship more than romance for the time being, but as you read, you sense that this state of affairs might well change in the future. )
shairi11 (shairi11 on LJ): "Not Knowing What To Do" (Snape/Hermione. "What happens when a socially inept Snape Does Not Know What To Do. If at first you don't succeed, then try again... and again... and again..." Ridiculously over-the-top tale about Severus's decision to propose to Hermione, but funny and romantic and even touching.)
Sophie (sophierom on LJ): "The Janus Thickey Ward" (Snape/Hermione. " On the Janus Thickey Ward, Hermione learns that imperfection is good enough." Post-war. I love the beginning of Hermione's reclaiming of self every bit as much as I love the development of her relationship with Snape - and all in the midst of a fully populated world!)
Sherlock (BBC)
Basingstoke (basingstoke on LJ/DW): Rough Edges - a series, so far composed of three stories - complete in themselves - with a promise of more to come (Stories one and two are crossovers between Sherlock BBC and Black Books. Sherlock/John...vaguely. "Sherlock Holmes and Bernard Black: cousins. The rest of the family: terrifying." A cracky-yet-believable look at the extended Holmes family, as seen through the eyes of John. Clever, funny, and sometimes bordering on horrifying...as you'd expect)
Magnetic Pole (magnetic_pole on LJ): "A Life of Crime" (Gen. Mrs Hudson, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson. "How innocently it all starts." A quite wonderfully - and unexpectedly - insightful look at Sherlock through Mrs Hudson's eyes. Clever and funny and surprising.)
Nemo_the_Everbeing (nemo_everbeing on LJ): "It's Not About Pasta" (Sherlock/Lestrade. "John has another date, and Sherlock is left wondering why. He goes to the only other normal person who will speak to him to find out." What could have been pure cliche transforms into something believable and real.)
phantomjam (phantomjam on LJ): "The Perils of Urban Warfare" (John/Sherlock. "The problems of acclimatising to civilian life a.k.a the travails of John, his therapist and Sherlock" A very-early-in-the-run story [i.e., right after episode one], but excellently voiced and clever.)
Tangles (entangled_now on LJ): "Thought Experiments" (Sherlock/John. "Thought experiment: an attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination." This is a fandom that cries out for first times in which Sherlock is initially experimenting with the idea of romantic or erotic involvements, and this story is one of the very best of that genre. In character, engaging, and believable.)
Star Trek - Enterprise and Reboot!verse
Flora Hart (florahart on LJ, et al): "Uniquely Qualified" (Gen. T'Pol, Sarek. "T'Pol is neither on Vulcan, nor on Earth, when Nero strikes. When she receives the news, she is impelled to act, perhaps without logic, because she knows something unusual." A very real portrait of T'Pol in the wake of the destruction of Vulcan and a fascinating look at the way the incorporation of certain human behaviors might ease the grieving process...for some Vulcans)
White Collar
China Shop (china_shop on LJ/DW): "Butterfly Kiss" (Peter/El/Neal. "A different future isn't necessarily a worse one. –Neal Caffrey" A time travel story written as crack!fic but which became something much more. Very in character and surprisingly believable, considering the premise.)
***
And in case you don't follow
crack_broom, I spent August reccing Snape/Harry. Check out the recs here.