oakstone730 | Entries tagged with recs

Day 5: In your own space, post recs for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

The hardest part of this challenge is to narrow down what to rec...

Jolene by Romaine. 21K
This is one of the stories that stands out from all my fic reading. I love how Romaine created Harry and Draco in this story and they both are strong and intriguing characters. It involves gender-bending pansexual attraction. And is beautiful. Can't see a purple tie without thinking of it.

Summary: Harry comes back from a mandatory holiday and finds that an Auror raid on his favourite establishment could expose his biggest secret. However, another has even more secrets than he does at stake.

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost by Bsmog. 91K
Summary: Tired of only being the Boy Who Lived, Harry disappears after the war, leaving only a mysterious letter behind. Five years later, Draco and his unlikely friends go on holiday and find magic where there is none and more on a mountain in Africa. EWE.

Beautiful story. I've re-read it several times and have no idea why it doesn't have more hits and comments. It deserves all sorts of adoration. A journey up Mt Kilimanjaro can heal many hurts. Beautiful

Bucky Barnes fanvid by Secretly to Dream.

vaysh rec'd this video a couple of days ago and I'd never watched it before. Just a beautiful job of editing and matching clips to a hauntingly appropriate song.

Watch on YouTube

Crossposts: http://oakstone730.livejournal.com/52208.html

In an ongoing attempt to avoid writing a difficult scene in my OF story I've been reading some m/m fics. Discovered two great authors: Josh Lanyon and Sean Kennedy

Josh Lanyon has written five books in the Adrien English series It starts with Fatal Shadows. Adrien (with an 'e') owns a L.A.mystery bookstore and when his store assistant and longtime hs friend is murdered, Adrien is the number one suspect in the eyes of homophobic homicide detective Jake Riordan. I also enjoyed his two-fer seres: Fair Game and Fair Play - set in the northwest US/Puget Sound area. Elliot Mills is a forced-out-by-injury former FBI agent who is pulled into a missing person investigation that brings him face to face with his ex.

Sean Kennedy is Australian and his two book series: Tigers & Devils; and Tigerland. AMAZON Description: The most important things in Simon Murray’s life are football [soccer], friends, and film—in that order. His friends despair of him ever meeting someone, but despite his loneliness, Simon is cautious about looking for more. Then his best friends drag him to a party, where he barges into a football conversation and ends up defending the honour of star forward Declan Tyler—unaware that the athlete is present. In that first awkward meeting, neither man has any idea they will change each other's lives forever. I really liked Simon and Declan as characters - sassy and funny and believable. There is also a great cast of support characters. All the smut is off-stage. There is a lot of Australian slang that I really liked trying to interpret.

I've been sick all week and since being vertical was difficult I opted for a lot of reading on my iPad. Signed up for the KindleUnlimited (KU) free month and discover some interesting titles... disclaimer: I was in the mood for contemporary and historical fluffiness.

( Recs and Un-recs... )

hp_drizzle fest is posting and I haven't been able to read all the posts yet, but two of them were created for my prompts and they are both wonderful!

FIC - Stay Close to Me - H/D - A decade after the Final Battle, after years of memories and recovering, Harry and Draco return to Hogwarts. But the memories there are stronger than anywhere else, and Harry finds himself forced to come to terms with something he's denied for ten years. 3300+ Rating G
This story is just lovely -- Draco shows so much love and support for Harry. And Harry suffers from the long-term effects of his early-years, something I always think of as being a realistic after-effect of being the Chosen One. Marvelous story.

ART - Rooftops - Remus & Sirius - my prompt " Sirius and Remus talk on the roof of Grimmauld Place on a thunder stormy summer night (the summer after they've left Hogwarts). There is much they each want to say to each other, but are afraid to say it for fear of ruining their friendship - and fear of what will happen with the dangers of Death Eaters/Voldemort."
The art is just amazing -- the anonymous artist did a wonderful job capturing the moment. I yearn to read a story to go along with the art now!

The

dm_asp_fest Draco/Albus Severus Fest just concluded, and I have yet to read everything, but Unguarded was just an amazing story:

FIC - Unguarded - NC-17 - Staying with Scorpius for the first time proves to be more eventful than Albus expected, right from the moment when he walks in on Mr Malfoy shaving. Did I say NC-17? HOT. DAMN HOT. Best Shaving Scene in a Fic Award. (ages: 43/17)

Before I'd even left my bed this morning, I read two wonderful stories that has already put the seal on the fact that today is going to be a good day.

reedenryete has just started writing Harry/Draco and her first two offerings are wonderful:

Keep Your Head Up - 2,500 word ficlet. Harry wakes up to find a surprise (not that kind! This story is PG-13), but it is romantic and beautiful.

Mind Your Language (There are Children Present) - 3,200 words -What it would be like if adult Harry/Draco time traveled back to 3rd Year Harry and Draco and gave them a glimpse of things to come? Read this and find out - so funny!

Day 9

In your own space, rec at least 3 fanworks you thought you wouldn't like (because they weren't your fandom or they pushed against your boundaries or you thought you just wouldn't be interested) but you ended up loving.

I'm doing this as stream-of-consciousness post, entering the first three stories I thought of:

Jolene by

romaine24 - I didn't think I'd like it because Mpreg and gender-bending, while not squicks for me, are simply not plot-devices that I usually read, but this was wonderful. Beautiful writing and such caring between h/d that I have re-read it several times.

Nobody's Ever Died of a Broken Heart by

frayach - I like happy endings, not afraid to admit this, I read angst fics very tentatively. I read this at first because I love Frayach's writing so much I had to try it. I am glad I did, even though it continues to haunt me because Harry's heartbreak and pain are so tangible.

Plums by

frayach -As Frayach says in the warnings, HEED THE WARNINGS, and man, is she right. This is deeply kinky, it goes far beyond my comfort margins. Really. But it was intriguing, even if I had to read a few paragraphs covering my eyes with my fingers and skipping two paragraphs entirely, because once you know where it's going you don't want to read the words. Very, very memorable. Like all of Frayach's stories, so well written and intriguing (but not one I'll read again!).

Day 3

In your own space, post a rec for at least three fanworks that you did not create. Find fanworks that have few to no comments, or creators new to a particular fandom who maybe aren't well known or appreciated. Appreciate them.

( My Recs... )

Why are you reading this? Go and read Azoth. Now. Yes, yes, I know it is 88K, don't quibble. just go read it.

Summary: Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Some great stories have been posted in fests these last few weeks:

( Recs and more.... )

There are a ton of great stories in the Drizzle, Silencio, and HD-Fan-Fair fests, but sadly I haven't gotten to them all yet. These are just a sampling.

Following the lead of

pir8fancier's battle cry to reinvigorate fandoms, I am going to try to offer up more recs. As a relatively newby in this world I feel awkward making recommendations because I spend a fair amount of time discovering the 'old classics' that everyone has already read and raved about years ago.

Title: A Certain Kind of Memory (2008)
Author:

jamie2109
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 96,000
Warnings: Major Character Death
Links: FF / LJ / Link to PDF
Summary: What would you do if you were given less than a year to live?

This is a death-fic that is quite beautiful and in the end, healing. Jamie2109 describes it as uplifting, and yes, that fits, too. You'll need to have the Kleenex ready but it is also the story of falling in love, learning how to trust and letting go. Simply beautiful.

Thinking over this story more, I am reminded of Hazel, John Green's main character in Fault in Our Stars, she is afraid of the impact her death will have on her family and those around her. Harry faces a similar struggle and finds an imperfect way of to control the damage his death will have on those he loves [not a spoiler, his fate is revealed in prologue].

Here are a few more of the stories I enjoyed the most from this year's Smoochfest ... I love that there are so many terrific writers out there creating this H/D world for us. My other rec post is here - http://oakstone730.livejournal.com/21833.html (Sorry, I'm on my IPad and can't be bothered to make neat links).

A Piercing Comfort (44K - PG13) - http://hd-smoochfest.livejournal.com/125665.html - I absolutely loved Draco in this role as a Mind Healer / Counsellor. There is Angst in this, written so beautifully tht you wish it would go on for thousands of more words. The happy ending is just around the corner for Harry. And there is Art with this story...

The Tender Things (20K - NC17) http://hd-smoochfest.livejournal.com/109361.html - Lovely story. Everyone had told Harry to move on after Draco had been gone for years. He never gave up hope and one day Deacon Malloy moves in down the street.

Dangers of Faulty Handwriting (6K - NC17) http://hd-smoochfest.livejournal.com/111363.html - What rhymes with slick? Hmmm. Hilarious Crack Fun. Read it if you are having a bad day, guaranteed to make you smile by the time H & D reach Malfoy Manor...

If you haven't met Stanley yet...here are two representations of him... By DannyFranx: http://dannyfranx.livejournal.com/17384.html and by DustMouth (scroll down through art for stanley - http://dustmouth.livejournal.com/17663.html )

Smoochfest is over for another year - and it was wonderful.

I was so lucky to get TWO WONDERFUL WRITERS who picked my prompts and wrote amazing stories for them:

A Tale of Woo - (25K - R) - http://hd-smoochfest.livejournal.com/127291.html -- This story was incredible. I'll be a little un-modest and confess that I loved the prompt I left - a bond that only reveals itself on the bondmates 27th birthday - but in my wildest dreams I didn't think I would be lucky enough to get a writer who would do so much with the bare-bones idea. This story was stellar. I read it three times in a row.

Give Me a Quiet Mind (16K - PG-13) - http://hd-smoochfest.livejournal.com/125864.html -- Hilarious non-Magical AU story complete with a Draco & Ron bromance. Loved it.

There were so many incredible stories written for this year's Smoochfest, I can't rec them all, but these are some of my favorites:

( The rest of my Smoochfest recs... )

I love Cedric Diggory.

His character was marginalized by JKR, but I don't fault her for this, the characters that she created are all wonderful and unique, but she couldn't possibly flesh out everyone. Fortunately we have the fandom to do it for us.

Here are some of the Cedric-centric stories I've come across.

Touching the Sky by

florahart - lovely Cedric/Charlie story. She starts us at the beginning, in Ottery St. Catchpole with a very young Cedric and wonderful, carefree Charlie.

It was within by Twinsuns - This story represents Cedric so well. It is a gen-fic that just gives lovely insights into who Cedric was as a boy on the verge of manhood.

Not Yet by Dazzledfirestar - Cedric/Oliver - Just a little snippet of a story that has you wondering what happened between the two of them that makes Oliver yearn to join Cedric twenty years later.

I've posted four Cedric-centric stories and drabbles myself. Having had to follow canon and kill off Cedric in two of my stories, I am determined to write an AU where he lives.

Beyond the Words (Cedric, Luna, Harry/Draco - Drabble)

Last Dance (Charlie/Cedric, 8,400 words)

Dragonlover (Charlie/Cedric - Drabble)

Finally, my Harry/Draco ~~story~~ book, Twist of Fate, actually started with this conversation between Harry and Cedric. I never intended it to be a hp/dm story when I wrote it: in September, 2011 I had just started reading slash Harry stories and it got me wondering what it would be like for Harry Potter to go through the realization that he is gay, and hoping he would have had someone to help him/support him through this journey. That is where the story of Twist begins:

( Conversation between Harry & Cedric (excerpt from Twist of Fate) )

Current Mood: Procrastinating
Current Music: Rain

March is coming in like a lamb with ReMix posting - this is my favorite story so far. It expands on Marianna_Merlo's lovely drabble and made me just melt with Harry's determination. Great dialogues between Draco and Harry just add to the story.

Originally posted by

hd_remix_mod at H/D Remix for Marianna_Merlo!

Author: anonymous
Title: If We Try, We’ll Get By
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, Ron/OFC
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: UST, feeding, some take control attitude that might border on dominance
Summary: Between Sunday morning and the cold light of Monday’s dawn, Harry realized that there was a world of difference between making a resolution and keeping it. A future!fic remix of Everything Will Be Okay by marianna_merlo.
Word Count: 3,150 words