Catch-Up and Recs Post

[kelly_chambliss]

I'm anticipating a full weekend of writing (or at least, of procrastinating and intending to write), so I thought I'd prepare for it with a "State of the Fics" post. (This way, you see, I am still technically writing about fests if not actually writing for them.) And I also have a few recs for you.

Fic Status

When I returned home in August from my summer break, I knew that I would have ten fics to write between August and December. I'm pleased to report that I have finished six of them, as follows (in order of completion):

• Logos (Rita Skeeter/Dolores Umbridge; NC-17). My August entry for daily_deviant
• Memo (Dolores Umbridge gen; PG). Written for hp_footballbets
• My partner's birthday present fic, based on Foyle's War. I hope to post that story here this weekend. (Watch this space!)
• My still-anonymous story for samhain_smut. (More on this fest below.)
• Solace and Solitude (Pride and Prejudice gen) Written for femgenficathon
• That Good Night (Minerva McGonagall/Severus Snape; R). My October entry for daily_deviant

Word Count: approximately 19,000.

I still have four stories remaining (five if you count the 200-word drabble for hp_halloween). They are as follows:

• The aforementioned drabble
• hoggywartyxmas
• Kinky Kristmas at daily_deviant
• snapelyholidays
• A Jane Austen femmeslash fic for the wonderful therealsnape, who was kind enough to bid on it at auction.

I have ideas for two of these fics: Austen and Kinky Kristmas. The KK idea scares me, because it's one of those things that could turn out to be one of the best stories I've ever written -- or it could be an abject failure, a mere sketchy shadow of its potential self.

As for the others, I'm sorry to report that at the moment, the Well of Fannish Inspiration is dry. Dry, dusty, and full of spiders. I don't have any ideas for any of them.

I'm not despairing, though, because I've had these desert-spells before and have always come out of them. And it won't be the worst thing in the world if the stories I end up writing are rehashes of tropes I've used elsewhere. Writing basically the same story in different guises didn't hurt Jane Austen.

Recs

As part of my John Perry Procrastination Plan, I have been catching up on my fanfic reading. Here are my favorite stories (so far) from samhain_smut, which is still posting. It's a fun fest, with a broad range of pairings and characters. All entries are still anonymous.

As always, the stories I like best are the ones that are more about character than about sex; the sex is there to serve the characters and not vice versa.

• Carpe Diem (Minerva/Rolanda; NC-17)
I've recced this story before, but it's worth a repeat. Spot-on characterizations, hot romance, fun satire, and a lovely, butchy Minerva.

• Boundary Line (Godric/Salazar; Severus/Sirius; NC-17)
This story is effectively atmospheric and has interesting characterizations of Godric and Salazar. Snape and Sirius play an IC secondary role.

• Hold Me in a Perfect Square of Sky (Draco/Luna; R)
This pairing isn't one I'd normally find believable, but the characters work very well here. The author makes good use of the possibility that Luna and Draco may have interacted while she was held prisoner at Malfoy Manor during the work.

• Postscript (Minerva/Amelia, Minerva/Rolanda, Minerva/OC, Neville/Hannah)
AAAIIIEEEE!! This fic!!!! I adore it. I left bushels of squee at the comm, so check there if you want to know every little detail of what I liked. But the short version is that we have a sizzling hot bdsm story framed by a thoughtful exploration into definitions of public and private, of performance and reality. There's meta, too, in the whole notion of voyeurism. The very appealing, highly-honorable Neville and Hannah, who find McGonagall's hidden diary after her death, are in the same position as fanfic readers as they peel back the layers concealing a person they knew only on what we might call a "canon" level.

And I love this Minerva -- wry, funny, unsentimental, unashamed, flawed, pragmatic, yet a person of very deep feeling. In my head canon, I see her as a highly-private woman, and yet I find myself believing in this exhibitionist version of her, because the author does such a good job of showing how the public sexual performances both are and are not the "real" woman. She remains private and self-contained and essentially un-knowable even while having sex for an audience. In the end, we readers seem to be the only ones who really know her -- but do we?

Oh, and corsets! Did I mention that the fic has glorious corsets?

If featherxquill doesn't beat me to it, I'm adding this story to my next Femmeslash month at crack_broom. (But feel free to take it if you want to, Feather, dear; it's your month and your prerogative. I'm not seriously suggesting you shouldn't.)