escape yourself and gravity

Okay, two quick recs here.

First of all, my cm_exchange fic. I have been meaning to rec this for AGES because I got it, and it was EXACTLY what I wanted. Only better, because the author took my prompt and used, like, the whole thing, but gave it fabulous twists and wonderful dialogue and superb characterization.

My prompt was "Morgan/Hotch/Reid - Morgan and Hotch both want Reid. Reid seems oblivious to either of them, so they decide on a wager. Whichever of them can get Reid in bed first wins. Only it turns out Reid knew about it from the beginning, and he has a better plan--to get all three of them in bed together. Humorous attempts at dating from Morgan (flowers, wine, chocolates) and Hotch making excuses (practice at the shooting range?). NC-17 preferred. *G* (Written with some artistic license)"

The fic is Make Your Own Luck, rated NC-17, just over 10k, and takes place generally speaking during the second half of season 3. It has Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid/Aaron Hotchner and various permutations of the three. It's incredibly hot, it's funny, it's in character, it's genuine... I read it, squealed over it, and went right back to re-read it. I've re-read it once since then, and desperately want to re-read it again.

Seriously, this person wins my personal CM Exchange award for awesomest gift. *G* Go read it now!


Second rec: Sideways, a Morgan/Reid fanmix by carolinecrane. You guys, I've been listening to this all weekend, and the songs just get stuck in my head and won't get out. She's given a huge amount of thought to what songs are on the mix and why, and these songs fit the characters so well. Plus there are awesome artists on this mix: Mountain Goats, Citizen Cope, Sufjian Stevens, Counting Crows, the Weepies, Crosby Stills and Nash...plus there are some artists I'd never heard of before but now want to hear lots more of: Adorable and Let's Go Sailing. This is an awesome mix.

By the way, if you've never read carolinecrane's fics, you're missing out. She writes some amazing Morgan/Reid (Laying Foundations Series and Through the Din of This Loud Life) and she's also got some fantastic CSI fics (and yes, C, I love the JAG fics, too. *G*).

In a fit of depression over the end of HP I went to Barnes & Noble with my parents, and Dad, feeling bad for me, bought me two books.  Haven't started the Roberson book, because the cover and concept of The Privilege of the Sword intrigued me too much.  I knew Ellen Kushner had written a novel called Swordspoint years ago, and vaguely suspected they might be connected, but to be quite honest I couldn't find Swordspoint and thought, meh, doesn't matter, I can't quite tell if they're connected anyway... and bought it.

Frankly, I'm GLAD I read them out of order, because TPotS takes place 20 or so years after SP and it's just spoilery enough.  But anyway.

OH MY GOD YOU PEOPLE!

Any slash-writers on my flist should immediately go out and read this book.  For that matter, fem-slashers will also enjoy it.  And fans of Remus/Sirius should DEFINITELY like it, because quite frankly my two favourite characters (Tremontaine and St Veir) resonate with me strongly as Sirius and Remus, respectively.  *grin*  (And as you all know, my puppy-muses wake up in August every year, probably because of the sorely missed dogdaysofsummer...so if you see me churning out AU Remus/Sirius set in a world were the Potters lived...well, you'll know Ellen Kushner is also partially to blame)

Those of you who are interested in swords and swordplay will also love this book.  People who like Dumas and Steven Brust and late-medieval/early-Renaissance politics will also love this book.  In fact the only people I'm certain wouldn't love this book are my parents, particularly my father, who never understood the desperate true love of Fitz/Fool in the FarSeer books, either. *grin*

Anyway.  I can't tell you anything about Swordspoint yet, because I haven't yet scraped up enough quarters to rush out and buy it (YES of COURSE I'm going to BUY it, because MY GOD I MUST FANFIC THESE BOOKS) and I wasn't in town today anyway.  But my plans are concrete: on my lunch hour tomorrow I'm going to tramp over to New Concept Books and see if I can find a copy.  Then I'm going to get myself a copy of The Fall of Kings, co-written by Kushner and Delia Sherman (whom I also love), which is a sequel to TPotS.  Then I'm going to try to hunt up all the related short stories, because I have printed a bibliography from her webpage.

Can you all tell I'm thrilled to have found something new to throw myself into obsessively?  Mmmmmm.  (And to all my HP fandom friends, no, I'm not jumping ship or abandoning HP in any way, I just am relieved to have my post-DH grieving distracted by new books.)



(PS. ashkitty, don't think this means I'm neglecting my planned rereading of the FarSeer/Tawny Man books, mmm)

*clears throat*

I just read a magnificent Lucius/Severus fic.  I know!  I don't read that pairing ever!  But snegurochka_lee happened to rec one, and...well, here, let me just share what I wrote in my comment to the author.

Okay, first off, you should know I don't read Lucius/Severus. I just DON'T. Wanna know why? No one has ever convinced me Lucius could possibly care about Severus as much as Lucius cares about himself.

Congratulations. You've just done that.

I followed a link from snegurochka_lee's rec to your fic, and DAMN but am I glad I did. I've never read such a lovely and haunting fic involving Lucius Malfoy, and the way he knows Severus and obviously respects Severus and desires Severus...

This is so beautiful and hot and sublime. The characterisation is spot-on, the romance is just the perfect level for them, and Severus! My heavens, he's such a strong character! I love strong Severus fics, and this is...

Wow. Just wow.

(I just hope my Remus-muse will forgive me for saying how much I loved a fic that is Severus with Lucius. ^_~)

In addition to a strong Severus, this fic has NC17 content and kinks, a fantastically amusing and insightful first-person narration from Malfoy, and Rome.

And yes, this is really innerslytherin posting.  No one has hacked my LJ, no one has a gun pointed at my head... I just...wow, I can't help it, I had to rec this.

ETA:

It would sort of help if I actually, like, named it, right?

Lonesome No More by nishizono. *sheepish*

Make sure when you read, that you comment, too! Writers THRIVE on comments! ^_^

First of all I am going to rec to you something that will make you all gasp--if for no other reason than that I am the one reccing it.  This fic is completely NOT my usual cup of tea.  And yet, the writing is so damn good, the characterisations so spot-on, that I cannot resist.  I am going to second schemingreader's recent rec.

Lupin Triumphant - by accio_arse
Pairing: Lupin/Voldemort, Lupin/Snape, Lupin/Lucius, Lucius/Rodolphus, Lucius/Voldemort
Rating: NC-17
Wordcount: 16,000 in total
Warnings: dub-con, violence, mild bondage
Request: **Voldemort/Lupin Voldemort rewards his best spy. Just before Final Battle. Lucius IS NOT amused! BD - Dom!Lupin and sub!Voldemort; voyeur - LM. Nagini plays a role, either as participant or director.

Take a look at those warnings and parings.  I know, you're thinking I'm on crack or under Imperius to have read this fic in the first place.  I don't know what to say, except that if you trust me and read this fic, you will thank me.  If you want further evidence of the fact that this author is extremely talented, I even liked Lucius Malfoy in this fic.  I'm telling you, I'm just amazed.  I want to quote my favourite passage to you, but even though it's not spoilery, I don't want to give it away.  So I'll steal this from SR too and quote the first lines, which is how her rec managed to draw me in, in the first place:

There’s a party of pain going on behind my skull. It’s the kind of inconsiderate, noisy party that’s still drunkenly singing at three in the morning when all sensible wizards have gone to their beds. If I had brain neighbours they’d be complaining.

This is a dark fic, but it is not a hopeless fic.  And the humour of the voice...

Okay, I'm going to stop raving.  Just go read it for yourself.



And now, the non-HP rec.  (duh duh DUH!)

Deeper Than Thought - A Separate Peace, Gene/Finny, by floweringjudas - A 1200-word fic, slash of the mildest sort, just barely exploiting the UST between Gene and Phineas.  And even better, it's written in Knowles' style so beautifully.

Okay, I know I'm spamming tonight, but OMG.  I just now got around to reading severity_softly's three connected Snape drabbles.  They're about Eileen, Tobias, and Severus.  Dude.  Go read them now.

Look at Me - Part 1 - Severus is five.

Look at Me - Parts 2 & 3 - Severus is fifteen and twenty respectively.

These are awesome.  I just...severity_softly really knows this family.  I think I've been around since she joined the fandom (am I right, S_S?) and I've seen her already-good fiction improve by leaps and bounds.  And the fact that she took only 300 words to tell an incredibly emotional and compelling story...  That inspires awe in me.


I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that if you like those three drabbles, you should definitely check out her longer fic, Of Things Dead and Buried.  It may not be totally cool to rec something I betaed, but I don't give a damn, it's GOOD and you should read it.

Summary: Severus returns home from Hogwarts over the summer between his sixth and seventh year to find his mother quickly becoming a shell of her former self. She might be willing to forget herself, but he won't.

I don't know about you, but I find there aren't nearly enough fics written about Remus/Severus during the First War, particularly set after they leave school but before Voldemort is vanquished. Here are a couple of my favourites:

First War

The Ill-Made Knight by orange_crushed
PG13
Remus takes the Dark Mark to save his friends, not knowing Severus is also a spy.  AU.  There is also Remus/Sirius in this fic.  The themes of distrust and betrayal are strong in this fic, and characterisations are spot-on.

Imperfect by anneline
NC17
In the autumn of 1981, Remus and Severus reconnect.  It's not perfect, but somehow it's right.  I'll issue an angst warning upfront; fics about Remus and Severus set in this time period are rarely happy.  This fic deals beautifully with their sexual relationship as well as the emotions they never meant to get involved.  We get to see Severus' half-Muggle heritage come through strongly here.


After the Second War

Reflections and Hope - by stoicstella
WC: 3779
PG13
After the war, Severus remembers his childhood and looks into the future. Remus looks at his lover and sees hope.

The Quiet Man by nopejr
Very short, post-OotP
Severus sees Remus differently than most.