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Beholder Recs
May. 11th, 2014 04:01 pmAt long last, I have caught up with my ![[info]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/c0b679d12b01/195039-267257/www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif)
hp_beholder reading. That fest is one of my very favorites for good reason: every year, it offers works that leave me breathless with the pleasures that come from nuanced characterization and the very right word. As Mark Twain once said, "the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."
And there have been some literary lightning-strikes at Beholder this year, that's for sure. Here are a few of my favorites:
we lay together on the cold hard floor by Anonymous (Severus Snape/Peter Pettigrew)
As much time as I've spend searching out rarepairs, I don't think I've ever seen a Severus/Peter story before. And it's a terrific one. I love the author's take on Peter: that instead of being the inept bumbler that he usually is in fanon, he's actually canny, clever, and even gifted; he merely chooses, for very understandable reasons, to conceal his abilities. This view makes a lot of canon sense. Plus, the story offers a top-notch depiction of youthful Snape, with a perfect voice of pained, intelligent adolescent bravado. An excellent story, one of my favorites of the fest.
A Gramarye of Folk Magic by Anonymous (Severus Snape/Aberforth Dumbledore)
I've seen this one recced all over LJ and with good reason. Structured around the four seasons, this lyrical, vivid story is offers another expert depiction of adolescent Snape -- "the boy." The style is interesting -- repetitive and discursive, it takes on a sort of incantatory power.
No Charity by Anonymous (Rita Skeeter/Aunt Marge Dursley)
Among the many reasons I love Beholder is that nowhere else do you find Aunt Marge fic that makes her into a believable, layered human being. The Mystery Author does not erase Marge's flaws (or Rita's, either), but s/he makes them understandable. I think my favorite part of this story is Rita's voice; you can hear her as clearly as if she were speaking aloud. Also, I love the notion that the entire character of "Rita Skeeter" is a construct, a deliberate persona.
By Theft or Force by Anonymous (Dolores Umbridge/Arabella Figg; warning: non-con/dub-con).
This story is not your typical Beholder -- there's no romance here. But it's a triumph of a fic that lays open Umbridge's evil with surgical precision; she's far more terrifying than Voldemort. It's also a story about the deep damage done to a society and its people by the stigma of Otherness. Arabella's voice is also a triumph; she sounds exactly as I imagine she would, and in the end, the story is a testament to her strength and spirit.
Be Here Now by Anonymous (Antonin Dolohov/Narcissa Malfoy, Antonin/Igor Karkaroff, Antonin/Bellatrix)
Here's another story that is not a romance in a traditional sense, but it's a masterful character study of a complex and rounded Death Eater, and a sort of philosophical exploration of good and evil and choice and circumstance. It's a powerful read that stays with you.
The Ten-Month Career of Professor R. J. Lupin by Anonymous (Remus Lupin/Minerva McGonagall, background McGonagall/Snape)
All right, there's no way that I'm not going to love a story pairing Minerva with Snape and Lupin -- especially a fic as poignant and well-written as this one, filled with perceptive moments and powerful images that carry so much meaning.
(Also, don't neglect my excellent gift; I've recced it already here).
It's always fascinating to me how, every year at Beholder, writers and artists come up with the fest has not seen before -- and not only once, but twice. I've mentioned this phenomenon before; it happened with Moody/Scrimgeour in 2010 and Snape/Flitwick in 2009 and others I'm not remembering at the moment.
This year, the surprise pairs are Arabella/Dolores (2 fics), Aberforth/Severus (2 fics), and Tonks/Moody (2 fics; both feature excellent versions of the characters' voices).
Only a few more days of Beholder left! But still plenty of time to read. All the entries are well worth your time; I had space for only a few of the many fine works.
hp_beholder reading. That fest is one of my very favorites for good reason: every year, it offers works that leave me breathless with the pleasures that come from nuanced characterization and the very right word. As Mark Twain once said, "the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug."And there have been some literary lightning-strikes at Beholder this year, that's for sure. Here are a few of my favorites:
we lay together on the cold hard floor by Anonymous (Severus Snape/Peter Pettigrew)
As much time as I've spend searching out rarepairs, I don't think I've ever seen a Severus/Peter story before. And it's a terrific one. I love the author's take on Peter: that instead of being the inept bumbler that he usually is in fanon, he's actually canny, clever, and even gifted; he merely chooses, for very understandable reasons, to conceal his abilities. This view makes a lot of canon sense. Plus, the story offers a top-notch depiction of youthful Snape, with a perfect voice of pained, intelligent adolescent bravado. An excellent story, one of my favorites of the fest.
A Gramarye of Folk Magic by Anonymous (Severus Snape/Aberforth Dumbledore)
I've seen this one recced all over LJ and with good reason. Structured around the four seasons, this lyrical, vivid story is offers another expert depiction of adolescent Snape -- "the boy." The style is interesting -- repetitive and discursive, it takes on a sort of incantatory power.
No Charity by Anonymous (Rita Skeeter/Aunt Marge Dursley)
Among the many reasons I love Beholder is that nowhere else do you find Aunt Marge fic that makes her into a believable, layered human being. The Mystery Author does not erase Marge's flaws (or Rita's, either), but s/he makes them understandable. I think my favorite part of this story is Rita's voice; you can hear her as clearly as if she were speaking aloud. Also, I love the notion that the entire character of "Rita Skeeter" is a construct, a deliberate persona.
By Theft or Force by Anonymous (Dolores Umbridge/Arabella Figg; warning: non-con/dub-con).
This story is not your typical Beholder -- there's no romance here. But it's a triumph of a fic that lays open Umbridge's evil with surgical precision; she's far more terrifying than Voldemort. It's also a story about the deep damage done to a society and its people by the stigma of Otherness. Arabella's voice is also a triumph; she sounds exactly as I imagine she would, and in the end, the story is a testament to her strength and spirit.
Be Here Now by Anonymous (Antonin Dolohov/Narcissa Malfoy, Antonin/Igor Karkaroff, Antonin/Bellatrix)
Here's another story that is not a romance in a traditional sense, but it's a masterful character study of a complex and rounded Death Eater, and a sort of philosophical exploration of good and evil and choice and circumstance. It's a powerful read that stays with you.
The Ten-Month Career of Professor R. J. Lupin by Anonymous (Remus Lupin/Minerva McGonagall, background McGonagall/Snape)
All right, there's no way that I'm not going to love a story pairing Minerva with Snape and Lupin -- especially a fic as poignant and well-written as this one, filled with perceptive moments and powerful images that carry so much meaning.
(Also, don't neglect my excellent gift; I've recced it already here).
It's always fascinating to me how, every year at Beholder, writers and artists come up with the fest has not seen before -- and not only once, but twice. I've mentioned this phenomenon before; it happened with Moody/Scrimgeour in 2010 and Snape/Flitwick in 2009 and others I'm not remembering at the moment.
This year, the surprise pairs are Arabella/Dolores (2 fics), Aberforth/Severus (2 fics), and Tonks/Moody (2 fics; both feature excellent versions of the characters' voices).
Only a few more days of Beholder left! But still plenty of time to read. All the entries are well worth your time; I had space for only a few of the many fine works.