Full disclosure: the thing that I find most exciting about the advent of Deathly Hallows is the sense of completion. I want to know what really happens to Harry and everyone else in the wizarding world. I think that the fic will only be better (at least for the next few years) as new canon is absorbed and stretched and examined over and over again, in the way the community has already learned to do.

Speculation about what happens "off-screen" and "after" will be even more satisfying to me, because nothing else can change canon. Take Firefly fic: about three-quarters is Firefly + Big Damn Movie compliant, and the other quarter is happily and unapologetically compliant only to series canon. Any future additions to the world of Harry Potter will be similar, in that it will not alter the fundamental arc JKR has given us in the seven part series. We would certainly learn more about the wizarding world, and we would probably be given new canon that we could use or disregard, but nothing could change the fundamental completeness of the seven-part canon that's about to be...uh, complete.

I do feel for those who can't achieve the cognitive dissonance necessary to write non-DH-compliant fic after they have read DH and therefore have to abandon their projects. I know that there are writers who already do beautiful work that isn't HBP- or even OOTP-compliant. Hopefully all of the threads of character those who are in mid-project rely on will stay intact, and/or hopefully they'll be able to forge ahead and make canon their own, just like all of the non-HBP-compliant writers have been doing since the last book came out. After all, so much of what I believe about the many faces and personalities of Harry Potter comes from the fanfic community. And look how well Snupin writers have done explaining away Tonks...!

I have the feeling that this opinions puts me in the minority in fandom, but I can't be the only one. I love fic and the people who breathe life into it for me, and to know that all of you writers out there will have a bigger toolbox makes me look forward to August even more (well, that, and I get to go on vacation for two weeks).

I'm not sure I'm really making a point here, but in the past few weeks, I've started to think that maybe I'll be able to join the written chorus a little, once I know how it all ends. (I'm also writing a thesis, working part-time, going to school, launching a web site, moving apartments [TWO WEEKS, OH NOES!], and looking for a "real" job, not to mention becoming a better beta-reader and reccer...so it might take a while for me to actually produce something worth reading.)

Anyway, thanks for letting me come along for the ride. I'm tingly-toed about the countdown, and extremely bummed that there will be four or five ETERNALLY LONG DAYS between when DH comes out and when I can get my fingers on a copy. And then I'm going to angst about how quickly I read, and try to slow down and savor it, only I won't because I had the same feeling for HBP and still plowed through it in under four hours the first time I read it.

More recs coming: I have dozens of stories and artsies bookmarked. Okay, okay, maybe I could use another month or three between now and 7/21...

You know, I just got the whole Diagon Alley thing a couple days ago.

Author: frayach
Title: The Good Guys
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Summary: The Second Voldemort War is limping into its fourth year, and the Forces of Shining Light are slowly turning into the Forces of Expedient Grey. When Draco Malfoy is captured red-handed trying to sell an illegal potion to a clerk at Borgin & Burkes, he is handed over to the Department of Essential and Necessary Truth's newest interrogator. And as soon as he sees Malfoy, bound and waiting in his cell, Harry Potter knows he's in trouble. Deep trouble.
Word Count:: 26.5k

For all that I'm a flaming and ardent liberal, I know that the world is a complicated, complicated place. The story starts out with a Harry who's listened to the rhetoric and absorbed it and plays it out in his career. There are funny bits, and there are bits which made my stomach twist in sympathy. Harry and Ron, and Harry and Hermione, have complicated and well-fleshed out relationships. And Draco is...Draco. Uh, that's not very helpful, I guess, but it's all I wish to say. There are some great OCs, one of whom you will meet in the sample below.

If you are okay with the warnings ("A very strong NC-17 for dub-con, explicit rimming, and major head-games"), this one is worth the time it takes to read.

Sample: ( The New Executive Mandate Establishing Secure Intelligence Strategies. )

Hi, four people on my flist! I am not normally the spammy type, but since that last post is from six or seven days ago, I get a freebie.

Author: cruentum
Title: For Freedom, the Wand, and Absolution
Rating: R (violence)
Characters: Severus Snape, Gawain Robards, Lucius Malfoy, OC
Summary: Imprisoned for years in a post-war world Severus Snape takes the chance when freedom is offered to him.
Word Count: 45k

I was reading this at breakfast this morning, and it was completely the wrong thing to read with breakfast. In the best possible way. Very dark, very unexpected world where Snape is given a chance to redeem himself - only the redemption is twisted, and the chance is slim. The author's Snape is perfectly cool-witted and calculating, and he knows he's completely on his own, no matter what anyone else wants him to believe. The OC is also intense and believable, and unexpectedly sympathetic. Not a happy read, but a *satisfying* read.

Sample: ( An offer made. )

This is attempt #837 to post the following entry. Oh, LJ... *puts LJ in corner for a time out*

Anyway, a tiny sampling of the recs that have been floating around in my Writer for the past, uh, three four weeks. I know that these are all recently through the various communities and rec pipelines, but I'm still learning, and building up my ficfinding skills. Besides, *I'm* gonna want to come back to these!

Author: nishizono
Title: Sleight of Hand
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Severus/Draco
Summary: The sleight of hand that has stolen his heart lies in the grey eyes that scan the gathered assemblage with a wistful satisfaction and lock with his own as the curtain falls.
Word Count: 5800

daily_deviant and pornish_pixies may not have been what initially got me into fandom, but they were what kept me coming back for more. This fic is a solid example of setting-driven narrative, where the worlds of the characters plays into the all of the elements of the story, especially the sex. Oh, and it reminds me of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, whether or not it's meant to.

Sample: ( Volunteer. )


Artist: tbranch
Title: HP Banner
Rating: G
Characters: The gang's all here! Granger, Potter, Weasley, Snape, Dumbledore, and Voldie himself
Medium: Pencil, ink, PS7

I adore all of the pinup and poster art here in fandom, and this has everything I love. Sharp personalities, excellent design, and an overall theme for the piece. Dumbledore's expression! and Ron's hair! and the shadows on Voldemort's face! Love all of it.



Author: glossing
Title: The Language of Birds
Rating: G
Characters: Wart and Kay
Summary: "Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,..."
Word Count: 1800

This crossover between The Once and Future King and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (which I completely didn't plan to mention in the review above) is like reading both books at the same time. Wart and Kay are wonderfully written, and they fall into a tiny adventure which maps perfectly into the world of the book. The framing of the Raven King is just...wow. So unexpected, and the end...I loved the end. Perfect.

It's so wonderful that a sample doesn't really capture what's so amazing about this story.

Sample: ( But I'm going to try anyway. )

Bah, illness. But! I am better now, and have signed up to be an extra reversathon beta. If you're coming over to make sure I'm a Real Person, hi! I use complete sentences and am a teeny bit of a perfectionist, but in a good and friendly and encouraging way. I maybe used to make my friends cry when I proofread their papers in school, but I can be gentle on command. *purrs* If you email me to ask me to beta something, I will probably write back with a sure! and with some questions about your beta preferences so I don't go horribly awry in my feedback.

So I will never, ever, ever catch up on all of the reading out there. Before I start combing the 2007 Secrets and Wishes Masterlist at serpentinelion, though, I present a rec. HP this time, and of a flavor I honestly never thought I'd enjoy...

Author: maeglinyedi
Title: The Semblance of Peace
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Harry/Voldemort, Harry/Tom, Harry/Voldemort/Snape, other minor pairings
Summary: Voldemort is finally dead, or so the wizarding world believes. Unfortunately, Harry knows better.
Word Count: 62k

Okay. Harry/Voldemort? Maaaaaayyyyyybe in an angsty fic. Harry/Tom?!? Gives me the heebie-jeebies. Or so I thought until I read this.

I love so many things about this fic! How Voldemort is in control, and yet not really, and how his Ultimate Plan to subvert Harry shifts into compromise, as he finds that things get better for both of them when Harry's cooperative. There's Snape, serving his Master and treating Harry with contempt at the same time, and there's witty repartee. They even go to a dinosaur museum, yay.

And there's some angst. Something ends up hurting, and it's bad. The author doesn't brush it off, but doesn't obsess over it, either. I like that - even when forgetfulness isn't possible and forgiveness isn't appropriate, there's something else that can take its place. Love is complicated.

Sample: ( Harry is on holiday, whether Voldemort likes it or not. )

One of the best things about being a relative newcomer to fandom is all of the great writing out there that I haven't stumbled across yet.

Author: Mosca
Title: Like Describing the Alphabet
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Mal/Jayne, Kaylee/Inara, canon pairings
Summary: In which Mal unbuilds some walls; Jayne learns to kiss on the mouth; and nobody gets left behind.
Word Count: 40k+

When you find a story recced in two places in your first foray into a fandom's archives, it better be good. And this one is so, so good. The voices of the characters are spot-on (and I just watched Serenity again a few days ago, so it's fresh in my mind). Everyone's there, and they all have a part to play in the narrative.

The story is satisfyingly long - it's not just the beginnings of a relationship, or the first hurdle of a relationship, or even the establishment of the relationship in the minds of the, uhm, relationed. It's everything, just up to the point where you know they're actually going to grow old together.

In addition to inspiring some regular sighs and some happy sighs, it cracked me up a few times, particularly the business about all of Serenity's thin walls.

Sample: ( Zoe and Wash's anniversary )

So I decided that sneaking around and reading fanfic behind my LJ's back wasn't going to cut it. I want to comment, review, and - most importantly - have a place to squee for myself, away from my friends who, dearly as I love them, wouldn't know a finely-crafted piece of fanfic if it snuck up on them, tickled them, and ran away giggling.

My main interest is HP (good, mediocre, and the truly awful), but I'll read anything that's good. I also adore Buffy, Firefly, and Star Trek of all flavors.

If I've friended you, feel free to friend me back or not friend me back. Or to poke me and tell me to go get a life. You know the drill.