Beholder Recs
May. 17th, 2010 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kelly_chamblissI'm sorry to say that posting at ![[info]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/c0b679d12b01/195039-74005/www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif)
hp_beholder will soon be coming to a close. I hate to see it happen, because getting a Beholder story every day is like getting daily presents. (I once read that Elizabeth Taylor had it written into her contract that when she was shooting a movie, the producer or director had to give her a gift on the set every day. Trust me, Liz, Beholder stories are better than whatever orchids or emeralds you got.)
So before the party is over, here are a few more stories I've loved. (My Beholder recs have been scattered throughout any number of posts, I'm afraid, but before the reveals go up, I'll post a recap of all the titles. I might try to keep to a "Top Ten," though I make no promises -- I suspect there will be just too many good stories/arts.)
Charming a Prince (Eileen Prince/Tobias Snape; 16K; NC-17).
In this well-written and imagined fic, the author takes us back to Eileen's and Tobias's childhoods and courtship. The period details and flavor are unsurpassed, and you'll be fascinated by the presentation of gender and pureblood family in the Wizarding World of the 1940s and 50s.
The Conjugal State (Severus Snape/Argus Filch; 6,700 words; NC-17)
Chock-full of forced-bonding fun, this story is also beautifully-written; the author plays the words like a violin (if not a whole orchestra). She uses the conceit of a wizard-world marriage manual, which turns out to be an inspired choice: Argus Filch trying to model himself on a self-help version of the perfect housewife is one of the funniest, most touching characterizations I've seen. And Severus is hilariously Severus-eqsue.
The Dogs of War (Alastor Moody/Rufus Scrimgeour; 11,500 words; NC-17 [for violence more than sex])
This fic left me literally breathless; it's one of those that creates such a strong sense of person and place that when you finish, you'll find your mind staying in the story for hours afterward. Rufus and Alastor are manly men in the very best and some of the not-so-best (but never worst) senses of the term. Their Auror world is one of violence and loss and death and pain, and yet it's a powerful testimony to life and love, too. Like many of this year's finest Beholder stories, it weaves in an effective political dimension. I'm a bit torn about the very last section; part of me thinks that maybe it softens the edges of the fic too much, but another part of me is telling the first part just to shut up. I think this story is one of my top five in the fest so far.
(Before this year's Beholder, I'd never read a Moody/Scrimgeour story; now the fest has provided three, and each one is top-notch.)
As Time Goes By (Augusta Longbottom/Rufus Scrimgeour; 5,000 words; PG)
Yeah, Rufus again. Beholder makes stars out of the most unlikely people: for me last year, it was Flitwick and McGonagall; this year, it's Auntie Muriel, Viktor Krum, and Rufus. I love stories that a) explore issues of power and class and b) make us see canon events and characters from different yet very convincing perspectives. Here, we see just how spoiled and exasperating Harry and Co. would seem to someone like Rufus, who understands the shades-of-gray, complex give-and-take that successful politics requires (and it also makes us see "politics" as a real-world necessity.) Augusta is wonderfully presented, too.
hp_beholder will soon be coming to a close. I hate to see it happen, because getting a Beholder story every day is like getting daily presents. (I once read that Elizabeth Taylor had it written into her contract that when she was shooting a movie, the producer or director had to give her a gift on the set every day. Trust me, Liz, Beholder stories are better than whatever orchids or emeralds you got.)So before the party is over, here are a few more stories I've loved. (My Beholder recs have been scattered throughout any number of posts, I'm afraid, but before the reveals go up, I'll post a recap of all the titles. I might try to keep to a "Top Ten," though I make no promises -- I suspect there will be just too many good stories/arts.)
Charming a Prince (Eileen Prince/Tobias Snape; 16K; NC-17).
In this well-written and imagined fic, the author takes us back to Eileen's and Tobias's childhoods and courtship. The period details and flavor are unsurpassed, and you'll be fascinated by the presentation of gender and pureblood family in the Wizarding World of the 1940s and 50s.
The Conjugal State (Severus Snape/Argus Filch; 6,700 words; NC-17)
Chock-full of forced-bonding fun, this story is also beautifully-written; the author plays the words like a violin (if not a whole orchestra). She uses the conceit of a wizard-world marriage manual, which turns out to be an inspired choice: Argus Filch trying to model himself on a self-help version of the perfect housewife is one of the funniest, most touching characterizations I've seen. And Severus is hilariously Severus-eqsue.
The Dogs of War (Alastor Moody/Rufus Scrimgeour; 11,500 words; NC-17 [for violence more than sex])
This fic left me literally breathless; it's one of those that creates such a strong sense of person and place that when you finish, you'll find your mind staying in the story for hours afterward. Rufus and Alastor are manly men in the very best and some of the not-so-best (but never worst) senses of the term. Their Auror world is one of violence and loss and death and pain, and yet it's a powerful testimony to life and love, too. Like many of this year's finest Beholder stories, it weaves in an effective political dimension. I'm a bit torn about the very last section; part of me thinks that maybe it softens the edges of the fic too much, but another part of me is telling the first part just to shut up. I think this story is one of my top five in the fest so far.
(Before this year's Beholder, I'd never read a Moody/Scrimgeour story; now the fest has provided three, and each one is top-notch.)
As Time Goes By (Augusta Longbottom/Rufus Scrimgeour; 5,000 words; PG)
Yeah, Rufus again. Beholder makes stars out of the most unlikely people: for me last year, it was Flitwick and McGonagall; this year, it's Auntie Muriel, Viktor Krum, and Rufus. I love stories that a) explore issues of power and class and b) make us see canon events and characters from different yet very convincing perspectives. Here, we see just how spoiled and exasperating Harry and Co. would seem to someone like Rufus, who understands the shades-of-gray, complex give-and-take that successful politics requires (and it also makes us see "politics" as a real-world necessity.) Augusta is wonderfully presented, too.
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Date: 2010-05-18 08:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-05-25 12:28 am (UTC)