Snapedom

A big snarry, a little snarry and three snupin recs.

EDIT: Sylvana, I'm sorry, I've f___ked-up the tags. *sigh* Would you mind removing the 'fannish magic' tag. Sorry. *blush*


SNARRY:

>> Queen of the Nightmare by torino10154.
Pairing: Severus/Lily, Severus/Harry
Rating: nc-17
Warning/s: explicit het; angst

It's not often I'll rec a drabble - in fact, I'm not sure I've ever done it before. Drabbles are a litte ephemeral - most of them are a little flimsy, suitable for the prompt/challenge, but not really lasting in their impact. (No criticism of drabbles or drabble-writers intended - it's just the nature of the genre.)
However months after reading Torino's drabble it haunts me still - it is such an effective piece of writing. In just 100 words, so much is conveyed, without being stated. This is such a horrific piece - dreadful for Severus AND Harry. Or is it truly dreadful for them both? This tiny story utterly chills me, with all its unspoken implications. Do go and read this masterful drabble!


And to the other extreme - a rec for a long plotty story.

>> Sex, Lies and Audiotapes by raewhit aka joanwilder - written for this year's snarry_games.
Rating: nc-17
Warning/s: mild bondage; whipping
Summary: Belonging and deserving, needing and wanting—desires of the human heart that Severus and Harry must face when they're forced to the little village of Lochdubh to settle a very late codicil of Albus Dumbledore's will.

This is marvelous writing. Joanwilder's work never fails to move me - her writing grabs my heart and wrenches it, flawlessly executed without a trace of sentimentality. Not only is the writer brilliant with words, Joanwilder has such extraordinary insight into human hearts, minds and motivations. Each of her stories is an exploration of the human psyche - and Sex, Lies and Videotapes is a deftly written, beautifully evocative example of that.
Joanwilder has a special affinity for those who are broken and shattered by life, and marvelously depicts her characters both while broken and during the processes of restructuring themselves out of the fragments that remain. Her Severus and Harry are flawed and fractured - with a tremendous capacity to hurt both themselves and others, or to allow themselves to be hurt by others. And they are written with such disarming tenderness - such beautifully moving writing.

In fear that I'm making the story sound like some dry psychological treatice, an analysis of shattered psyches, I will assure you that this is an utterly delightful story, with fun and witty moments. Severus' interaction with his cat, Mercutio (love that name for a cat!), is marvelous - I love it. His innovative new profession is perfect - it couldn't be better - I'm smiling just thinking of it. And Harry, too, has found satisfaction in developing new skills - new skills that will later provide another sort of connection. And the village is wonderfully depicted - with surprisingly little detail, a clear and vivid picture is formed of the village and its inhabitants - from the scenic surroundings, to the firm yet friendly local police officer, to the sports-mad locals.

And wound through all this is a mystery, or two mysteries, perhaps. One is the whole "what is Dumbledore up to?" mystery, and the other is "what the hell has happened to create this destructive situation for ____?" mystery - and beneath these two mysteries lie more secrets and mysteries than can be readily imagined. All skilfully wound together to create a marvelously rich story.

The different elements - the clever plot and its mysteries to be unraveled, the delightful backdrop of the village and its inhabitants, and the tender portrayal of the characters, together with the divinely melting sex combine to make this story one of those I cannot praise highly enough. I use words like wonderful and fantastic, brilliant and marvelous so often - and this story is all those things and much more! Please don't miss out on this one - do go and read it!!!


SNUPIN

The third of McKay and ariohnrod's Awakening fics is up on the BLU archive now (I recced the first one a coupple of weeks ago.) And hopefully I'll have the remainder of the BLU reviews up and ready to go soon - including some words on the new Awakening story.


>> Amor Tussisque Non Celantur by rossana.
Rating: nc-17
Warning/s: Angsty Romance, masturbation, slash smut, snark
Summary: Severus Snape was not a man who fell in love. He simply was not. Not until today, that is.

A non-magic AU with Snape a reference librarian in an academic library. (Bliss! - love libarian Snape. Or librarian Lupin.)
I love Severus in this fic - a difficult, terribly isolated, prick of a man - who falls, reluctantly but inexorably, in love/lust with the sociable and witty Remus, whose bright charm does not conceal his depths and shadows. Much more to this man than an infectious smile - and much more to Severus than a prickly and bitter loner. And the developing romantic and sexual connections between them are wonderful, gorgeous, delicious. If you haven't read this one before, then off you go - you'll love "Amor Tussisque Non Celantur".



And some more meltingly divine sex:

>> The Great Outdoors"> by nimrod_9.
Rating: nc-17
Warning/s: Totally unbeta'd. Men having sex. Set post-war. Not DH or EWE compliant.

A deliciously erotic ficlet - Nimrod_9 does snupin erotica so very well - it is so meltingly sexy. Although it's closer to a pwp than a character study, the little glimpses we do see of the men's personalities are great, and the characters resonate more than many a pwp character . Remus is at his warmest, and Severus at his least certain, which creates a dynamic combination of personalities.



>> Cygnus Atratus by rose_whispers.
Rating: nc-17.
Warning/s: none that I'm aware of.
Summary: After the war, Remus' jealousy is sparked when a dark, mysterious stranger attaches herself to Severus.

There's something so addictive about rose_whisper's fics - I find that I can't just read one. I want to devour them by the dozens.
Cygnus Aytatus is an oldie, but a goodie, written well before DH. (Possibly even before HBP.) A Black Swan mysteriously flies into the Great Hall one breakfast, and decides to stay. The swan, named Odile (by Snape) proceeds to drive Remus nuts, stealing his habitual seat and repeatedly attacking him. Until the day Mrs. Norris has a go at her, and Remus defends Odile. Up until that point, Remus has been quietly simmering on his possibly unrequited love for the other dark, snarky, elegant, frustrating Hogwarts inhabitant, then things begin to get worse....

Divinely erotic sex in the Quidditch Changing Rooms, witty dialogue and a lovely plot-line make this one a joy to read.




Note: Although this is NOT the forum for discussing the thorny isues surrounding warnings, personally I do take warnings very seriously. So if ever you feel that I haven't warned sufficiently or appropriately, do please please let me know, and I'll make adjustments.

And: As always, some of this material will most likely be duplicated on my rec page at bottomsnape and vice versa, although each rec page will always contain fresh material, not just recycled contents.

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