Femgenficathon Recs

All too soon, I'll be back in school and unable to while away countless hours browsing LJ and not writing fanfic. So I might as well enjoy myself while I can. Don't be surprised if a lot of Kellyspam shows up in your feeds for the next few days.

Today's post offers recs from the femgenficathon, a multi-fandom comm featuring women-centered gen. What with time and the river and RL, I tend not to read the stories in fandoms I'm not familiar with, so I'm sure there are many fine fics that I'm not reccing. (And I have a few more on my reading list, too.)

But there are plenty of stellar stories in the areas I do know, and you should give them a try. I've already rhapsodized over tetleythesecond's excellent "Witch Night." Here are a few more that are well worth your time:

Harry Potter

Empty Vessels by lazy_neutrino. It's a chilling and believable depiction of Dolores Umbridge, written with beautifully-precise creepiness.

Family Ties by nopejr. A series of wonderfully-written, wrenching vignettes about Andromeda Black.

Deirdre and the Dementors by a_t_rain. Ever give much thought to Mrs. Crouch from GoF, who takes Barty, Jr's place in Azkaban? No? I didn't think so. Well, a_t_rain has, and after you read this powerful story, you'll never be inclined to forget Mrs. Crouch again. A well-written tale of many insights.

What Comes After by magentabear. Most of you know that I don't care much for the characterization of Molly Weasley, but stories like this one make me think that perhaps the fault, dear flisties, is in myself. If Molly had been this complex and thought-provoking in canon, I'd be her biggest fan.

Faces of Pride, Feelings of Fear by catsintheattic. I adored this story: eight vignettes of HP women, focusing on their most character-revealing moments. Female pov is one of the things that canon cheats us of, and Cats does an excellent job here of letting us into the minds of Pansy, Narcissa, Molly, Dolores, Petunia, Bella, Hermione, and Minerva. All the sections are well-done, but I like the Pansy, Narcissa, and Minerva sections best -- Cats catches all three of them at the moment in which I most want to know what they were thinking.

Other Fandoms / RPF

Vessel of Hope by miss_morland. Even if you don't know The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, you'll be riveted by this picture of how fascistic zealots convince themselves that they're acting for a god-mandated greater good.

Noli mi tangere by lareinenoire. A nuanced, believable picture of the rise of young Anne Boleyn. Well-imagined, full of insight, and told in a style that is just archaic enough to sound un-modern without sounding affected.

Join These Comms!

Told you I'd be spamming you during my last, glorious days of summer. Fun comms are springing up all over, and you should consider joining if their interests are your interests.

1. If you're going to diacon_alley and are interested in meeting up with femmeslash enthusiasts there, join diacon_femslash, a comm set up by the ever-resourceful woldy.

2. Whether you're a long-time member of HP fandom or a relative newcomer like me, you're likely to be interested in HP Fanfic Classics (hpfanficlassics), the brainchild of ozma_katiebell. The comm will host communal discussions of classic fanfics featuring a variety of pairings. I'm looking forward to the chance to read things I've had bookmarked forever, to finding "classics" that are totally new to me, and to revisiting stories I love.

3. Prompt-posting has opened at hp_darkfest. You can post prompts even if you don't plan to write for the fest. Last time I checked, there wasn't a single prompt for teacher-fic (outside of some Snape) or for any old-lady darkness, so I call on my old-lady-loving flisties to see what your grim, shivery minds can come up with. (Dark Fest was one of my favorite HP events last year.)

4. I've sent off my story for the hp_ssc_fest, a multi-pairing, consenual bdsm fest that starts posting on August 16. Sign up to read; I think it will be interesting and different and no doubt very hot.

30 Days of Harry Potter Meme -- Day 7

( Ghost of Questions Past )

Day 7 Least favorite male Character.

For a variety of personal and literary reasons, it's James Potter:

Literary

• He's the least interesting of the Marauders. Obviously, this has something to do with the fact that he never appears as a full character in canon. Not only is he dead, but JKR also has to make sure that he remains a suitably-admirable father for Harry. I liked the way she complicated his character in OoP, but still, he remains underdeveloped.
  
• As readers, we seem to be expected to like and/or admire James on some level (perhaps only because Harry does, and we see things through his eyes), yet the text never gives us any narrative reason to find James appealing. To the best of my memory, the only time we really see James (as opposed to being told about him) is in the "Snape's Worst Memory" scene, and he's pretty unpleasant. (There's the Resurrection Stone walk, too, but that scene is serving so many symbolic and structural functions that it's not really concerned with offering nuanced characterization.)

Personal

• I dislike this sort of arrogant, entitled, swaggering bully

I've read some excellent fanfic that offers a fuller, more fleshed-out and interesting picture of James, but in canon, I just can't find him at all charming.

Many of you on the flist have answered this question with "Dumbledore," and I do understand that; you've given thoughtful, persuasive rationales. But Dumbledore is saved for me because of his fascinating layers, his moral complexity, and the many shades of gray he develops over the course of the books. That doesn't mean I don't find him infuriating and sexist and Machiavellian, of course /g/. But that's why he's so interesting.

( The Ghost of Questions Yet to Come )

(NB -- I recently saw a Shakespeare version of this "30 Days" meme. I'm really tempted. . .And maybe I can make up a Jane Austen one.)