The Harry Potter Starter Kit

[icarus]

What would you recommend for the dewy-eyed, fresh slash reader, who has just stepped off the train into this wonderous world of Harry Potter slash? (Gen of course is acceptable, too. Het... do we even read het? *Icarus looks puzzled at the mere idea.*)

This hypothetical (actual) reader has no idea what they like or what they want. They've read all the books, and love them. They enjoy slash.

Naturally we would want to start them off with the best available, but gently. (amanuensis1's And Just Plain Wrong is probably not the first item on the list.)

Criteria:

- They would need to be completed fics. We can introduce them to the frustration and joys of the WiP later.

- We need a "sampler" cross-section of various pairings.
Student/Student mixes (Harry/Draco, Harry/Ron, Ron/Draco, Percy/Harry etc.), Student/Adult mixes (Harry/Snape, Harry/Lucius, Percy/Lucius etc.), Adult/Adult mixes (Snape/Lucius, Sirius/Remus, Sirius/Snape etc.) This like a box of chocolates, with many varieties. :D

- We need a mix from PG-13 to NC-17 PWP.

- We need to start with stories that have good solid plots.

- We want humour to start, then angst, then a PWP, etc.

- One-shots and epics welcome.

- Rare pairings are welcome, but since this is an intro, it's probably best to have more than one story in that pairing.

- We're looking for specific recs rather than rec-lists.

- We'll probably avoid the major squicks in the beginning: Incest, Non-Con, Chan, MPreg, Heavy Kink.

What would you recommend?

I'll consolidate this down to a, oh, top 20 or something later in the week, or at least put it in some semblance of an order.



In no particular order (yet) and still missing those fics that I haven't read or don't know the author, since I'll have to read those first to rec them to my friend-of-friend. Bear in mind that I threw away the "must be tame" requirement, and the "stick to popular pairings" requirement as well.

The Lodger - mad_martha, Harry/Draco
Art of War - kennahijja, Gen, Ron, Draco
The Lecture - Grindylowe, Gen, Snape
Call Of The Wild - WolfieTwins, Gen, Remus
A Bittersweet Poison - alchemia and Bugland, Harry/Snape
The Tea Series - Telanu, Harry/Snape
Sytherin Sky - kay_taylor, Snape/Lucius
In A Dream - Nope, Snape/Draco
Transfigurations - resonant8, Harry/Draco
The Familiar - resonant8, Harry/Snape
Circles of Power - mad_martha, Harry/Ron
Irresistible Poison - Rysenn, Harry/Draco
Slowly But Exceeding Fine - ellen_fremedon, Snape/Sirius
Stone Cold Sober - fabularasa, Sirus/Snape
Aftermath - josanpq, Snape/Ron
Civil War - wikdsushi, Harry/Snape
Consequences Of A Weary Mind - wikdsushi, Harry/Snape
Hallelujah series - dien, Snape/Dumbledore
Walking 'Round In Women's Underwear - dkwilliams
Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover - mad_maudlin, Ron/Draco
Beg Me For It - Icarus (cringes - two people included it - cringes some more), Ron/Draco
Minor Arcana - cursive, Harry/Draco, Remus/Draco, Harry/Snape...
Stealing Harry - copperbadge
Lust Over Pendle - ajhalluk, Draco/Neville
Double Or Nothing - ukcalico, Fred/George
The Badger Series - mistful, Draco/Zacharias
Door To the River - miraminx, Sirius/Remus
Discretion Required - ruhgozler, Harry/Lucius
The Way Of The World - scribbulus_ink, Snape/Lupin
A Nick In Time - tiranog
Just Add Water - cybelesan, Harry/Bill
Quill And Ink - cybelesan, Harry/Snape

Later in the list:
If You Are Prepared - cybelesan, Harry/Snape
A World Not So Black And White - amanuensis1

Het Fics.
Apparently The Draco Trilogy is more het than gen. Who knew? So...

The Draco Trilogy - epicyclical
Flame And Shadow - mistful, Ron/Pansy
Roman Holiday - Anna, Hermione/Draco, Hermione/Snape



ETA: I'll kick this off with Mad Martha's The Lodger Harry/Draco, which has an excellent plot, many funny moments, and a "canon" feel.

Then, A Bittersweet Poison, Harry/Snape, which has the most accurate rendering of Harry as a cat and a very convincing Snape.

I'll bend the rules (since part is complete) and recommend Telanu's Tea Series, too. It builds beautifully from being being fairly innocent to extremely steamy. I'll toss in the Coffee Series for good measure, because it's funnier than heck.

Let's see... next... mad_maudlin. Ron/Draco. Hmm... cross-dressing is kind of a mild kink, but Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover stands on the line between ruthless and fun. I'll probably put it further down the list though.

ETA2: Of course, everyone has to read epicyclical's Draco Trilogy (apologies to those who hate it, it is a must ;), and my personal favourite After The Flood.

In the Gen category, Call of the Wild by the Wolfie Twins.

Does anyone know any good Lucius slash?

ETA3: Okay, I've completely given up the ghost on keeping it tame. Some very valid points have been made about what has actually drawn people in to fandom. Most people have been drawn in by "heavy" fics.

So does anyone know any good GredNForge fics? Slash and Gen? I have Calico's incredibly hot Double Or Nothing. Anything else out there?

Comments

[eyrai.livejournal.com]

speak like a child (http://www.livejournal.com/users/anonymous__/3999.html#cutid1) d/h, nc-17

Useless Variations (http://digilander.libero.it/storytellerland/fanfiction/variations.htm) h/d,hard R - nc17-ish

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I haven't read either of those. Who are they by?

Icarus

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Whaddya mean, And Just Plain Wrong isn't the first one on the list? It's kinkcism, that's what it is! *runs about with big protest signs*

--Oh, you put, A World Not So Black Nor White on the list. Um. That was very nice of you. *puts signs down, sheepishly*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Actually, I need to put Rituals And Traditions up there as well. I forgot.

Icarus *Watches the demonstrators disperse, the windows still intact.*

[adaptor.livejournal.com]

Nomad's (nomadicwriter on lj) Conspiracy of Silence series.

No romance, but 7 years worth of mysteries that the reader falls in love with!

[glitterdemon.livejournal.com]

It's All About the Subterfuge (http://www.doyourthing.org/glock/gghpfic/friendfic/subterfuge.html), by Abra (Harry/Draco)
Kissing Harry Potter (http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/aja/KHP.html), by Aja (Harry/Draco)
The Measure of Your Worth (http://www.amanuensis1.com/themeasureofyourworth.html), by Amanuensis (Harry/Sirius)
Naked Quidditch Match (http://daisygrrl.com/fics/quidditch/index.html), by Anya (mild Harry/Ginny)
Lustre (http://www.yearningvoid.net/calico/lustre.html), by Calico & Julad (Harry/Draco)
Waiting for Ganymede 1 (http://sekaiseifuku.net/ganymede1.txt) & 2 (http://sekaiseifuku.net/ganymede2.txt), by Canis M. (Remus/Sirius)
Who Wrote the Book (http://sekaiseifuku.net/whowrote.txt), by Canis M. (Remus/Sirius)
Contingency (http://www.dorrie6.com/emotionalperil/contingency.php), by dorrie6 (Harry/Draco)
The Curious Vengeance of Draco Malfoy (http://prillalar.com/fic/stories/000006.php), by Halrloprillalar (Draco/Cho, Harry/Draco)
Home Is a Feeling (http://www.livejournal.com/users/jjtaylor/47368.html?mode=reply), by J.J. Taylor (Remus/Sirius)
Settling After A Fall (http://thedoublehelix.org/jintian/settling.html), by Jintian (Harry/Ron)
Harry Potter and the Magic of Mistletoe (http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/nsnowflake/MM.html), by November Snowflake (Harry/Draco)
Seven Things That Never Happened At Hogwarts On Valentine's Day, Or Maybe They Did (http://www.unfitforsociety.net/musesfool/seventhings.htm), by Pru (Remus/Sirius)
The Golden Rules (http://www2.expecto-patronum.net/reenka/_goldenrules.html), by Reena (Ginny/Pansy, Harry/Draco, Pansy/Draco)
Double Dare (http://www.rightthisway.net/proclivities/silvia/doubledare.html), by Silvia Kundera (Harry/Draco)
Fidelius (http://joyce.jteers.net/intellislasher/tradescant-fidelius.html) & Secret-Keeper (http://www.livejournal.com/users/tradescant/87382.html?mode=reply), by Trandescant (Harry/Snape)

[lassiterfics.livejournal.com]

*g* Is it a coincidence that I've just posted this ()? Walking Shadow and Can't Be Held responsible are gen, I reckon. So is (I think) Salience. Malvolia's fic is het, and the rest are slash.

[pogrebin.livejournal.com]

The link doesn't work, darling. <3.



Also. Definitely have a look at rhoddlet's stuff (she's done quite a lot-- but some gen pieces are just fabulous. Post-OotP there's Gold & Ambition, which is very cool), and if you're into slash, marvolo has a lovely Tom/Cornelius fic- Like Light.

There needs to be some femslash on this list, right? How about sangredulce's We All Fall Down & queenofhell's Real Methods of Divination-- neither of which are hardcore.

Also. If you want to include more genfic, you could have a look at jetamors Page of Gen Recs (http://www.geocities.com/tapairuparauri//genrecs.html).

<3.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

I have used both of these as intro fics:

Aja's The Reader (H/D)
Ivy Blossom's Blue Vase (H/D)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ivy's Origins, or Aja's Love Under Will.

Also good are Isis' In Want of A Wife (SS/?)
and Oral Sex (SS/SB) (at isis.arithmancy.net)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, The Reader's excellent. I haven't read Blue Vase. I think people haven't mentioned Love Under Will because the no WiP restriction.

And In Want Of A Wife has overtaken Oral Sex my favourite of Isis' fics.

Icarus

[aspiringdaxzy.livejournal.com]

I recommend anything by dkwilliams, but definitely 'A Convenient Marriage' and 'Lacy Things'(a warning: the series is heavy on the kink)

[arkiewriter.livejournal.com]

I can't miss this thread, considering I lay all the blame for my HP fanfic addiction at your feet. ;-) As a relative newbie to HP of any sort (I still can't finish book one), I'll just give my "bookmark list". These are the fics that survived once I read them, stories I wanted to read again...and recommend.

Some of these you may have (I'm sleepy and didn't read thru everything), such as your Primer to the Dark Arts Snape/Harry (still my favorite) and Mad Martha's The Lodger.

Others that survived my bookmark culling:

Plumeria's Draco in Darkness, DM/HP, PG-13
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=66728

Cinnamon's Beautiful World, DM/HP, R. She has a wide variety of stories and pairings (het and slash), but this one is hands down my favorite of her stories.
http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Cinnamon/


And a few hets, just for good measure.

Maya's Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing...Rat? (Het, DM/HG, PG-13) Good intro for the slash-shy, since her WiP, Underwater Light, is enjoyable D/H.
http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Maya/

McAmy's A Matter of Honor. Het, HG/SS, PG-13 to R.
http://www.mcamy.net/snapefic/honor/honor.html

Ramos' Hinges of Fate. Het, HG/SS, NC-17, non-con flashback scene. I'm not sure if this will fit your requirements, considering... but I'll let you make the judgement call.
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=86346

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

Het
The Buried Life (http://www.geocities.com/kalinalea/buriedsummary.htm) by Kalina (kalinalea); SS/HrG; novel-length.

Slash:
H/D

Draco in Darkness (http://www.debbiesfics.com/hp.html) by Debby (aome); long chaptered novella; PG-13; angsty at the beginning, sweet and fluffy at the end.

SS/HP

The Devil Will Drag You Under (http://www.skyehawke.com/archive/story.php?no=1331) by DementorDelta (dementordelta)
can be a gentle introduction to chan.

[Got tired of html]
Too Wise to Woo Peacefully by McKay (scribbulus_ink)
http://remembrall.slashcity.net/index.html

Truth by thisveryinstant
http://inkstain.slashcity.net/isf/archive/12/truth.html

HP/LM

Alouette Trilogy by Nimori
http://nimori.slashcity.net/home.html

Other:
pls, don't forger First Signs of Magic!

Corrections:
RHysenn (iscaris)
lj user="cybele_san"

is something less well-known okay?

[hellfire82.livejournal.com]

hi... hate to intrude (i love to lurk on your lj... i access it from imp's page. ^_^), but this lovely list of recs (which i'm about to start checking out RIGHT NOW) made me brave, and made me wonder if you'd consider something bit less well-known. i've got a lovely harry/oliver piece that's not too rough, as well as some other stuff that'll make you wonder what type of depraved person i am. (it's okay. lots of people wonder this.) i was going to give you the link to my page on aff.net, but, as usual, it has died and gone to hell. if you're at all interested, let me know, and i'll send them to you. i'd link it on my lj, but... i'm not actually sure how to do the thingie where you link it to another page, so that you're not filling everyone's flist up. and i hate filling the flist up... gives me lots of guilt. okay. will stop babbling now. really.

cheers!

hellfire82

Re: is something less well-known okay?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

At this point I'm only putting up stories that I've read, or - if not the specific story - at least whose authors I know. Later, after this Thursday, I'll read the ones that are new.

I appreciate your lurking in my journal - *smiles* - so go ahead and give me a link. Even the list I have above is likely to be culled, so I don't think it would make it to the list. But I'd be happy to read it.

Icarus

[goseaward.livejournal.com]

First, that's A Bittersweet Potion, not A Bittersweet Poison!

One of the first non-angst slashfics I read was Aidan Lynch's Playing With Fire (http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Aidan_Lynch/). Harry/Ron, cotton candy sweet, and too overwritten, but you know how when you're getting into fanfic and absolutely everything seems good? (I'll use that explanation for the LotR Mary Sues...*cough*) Anyway, it's a good start.

I think you ought to have Primer to the Dark Arts on there too, or Beg Me For It, or both. They're pretty popular...as I'm sure you've noticed. *g*

And what about Telanu's Tea Series? If newbies are going to be in the Harry/Snape section of fandom...well...everybody's read it. I don't know if it qualifies as a WiP since the series isn't finished but the individual stories are.

For PWPs, Seeker's Unexpected Series (which is over at WtP : http://subumbra.com/plank/ - they have a disclaimer so that's just the main page) is great Snape/Harry also.

Predatrix's Sans Merci (http://predatrix.slashcity.org/fiction/sansmerci.htm , Snape/Lucius) is a good angst piece. For humor, I love her Love Song of Bastard and Idiot (also at WtP) beyond any fic I've ever read.

And how about Sushi's The Last Dance? (http://societyhappens.com/sushi/) There's angst for you...

More Snape/Harry: Cluegirl's Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent (http://www.onondata.net/mortal1.htm) is one of my favorite fics, but I do have a penchant for perception-altering fics and deathfics.

I don't know if you have it up there because I can't remember the title, but Amanuensis wrote a sweet het fic to go along with DT that can be found on The Restricted Section. Uh...think it's called Because Of Who You Are, Harry/Hermione.

I'm going to stop before I find more fics to put on my reread list....:D

Playing With Fire... oh, it's been a long time since I read that...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

First, that's A Bittersweet Potion, not A Bittersweet Poison!

Augh! I've been writing it wrong all night.

Under the cut-tag I have the Tea Series for sure.

Predatrix Sans Merci sounds good. And I don't have enough Snape/Lucius. Nope, appalling as it is, I haven't read it.

Seeker is the ultimate PWP writer, isn't she? :D

I think you ought to have Primer to the Dark Arts on there too, or Beg Me For It, or both. They're pretty popular...as I'm sure you've noticed. *g*

I've made a littel rule for myself, since this is going out to my friendslist, who read my stories, and my stuff's likely to come up: if it's mentioned once, it doesn't go on the list. Twice, it does.

So Beg Me For It was already on the list, and now Primer to the Dark Arts is. But I think Primer's going to get bumped anyway when I cull the list, because we've already got a lot of Harry/Snape, and the Tea Series embodies the pairing more than Primer does. So many good Harry/Snape stories are gonna have to be cut to make a list manageable size.

Icarus

[pogrebin.livejournal.com]

Yikes. You were looking for GrednForge, right? Well, you absolutely must have kitsune13's And In Arcadia I. For general Weasleycest, ravenchel's Repetition series is unparallelled, but it's a bit darker.

[exbentley]

I began making a list, it got too long, I decided to write this instead:

As you've already noted, different strokes for different folks. I've hooked some friends through gen, showing them how good writing can be even with someone else's characters, before introducing them to fandomish pairings. My friend's brilliant, so I seduced her with Pogrebin's gen stuff like Walking Shadow and Homo Homini Lupus.

Other friends had read fanfiction but only really liked 'the very secret diaries' and 'the amazing bouncing... rat?' so I got to them with humour fics; as though it's okay to be a slasher as long as it's humourous, like Ron and Draco in Mad Maudlin's "Strange Bedfellows: A Comedy of Assumptions" (I know you have her up there already but I always felt this was funny and innocent enough to use as an introduction) or Harry and Draco in some of Cassie Claire's stuff, whiich I have forgotten the title of.

And then others I've just hooked with pure porn. A close friend went straight from the Draco Trilogy to the Tea Series to... well, all of Switchknife, Amanuensis, Nimori, etc.

Also, fandom. If you can get one of those people who doesn't like slash in the HP books but thinks the LotR actors are the gayest of the gay to read some Merry/Pippin you can easily switch fandoms and get them hooked on Harry/Draco.

And finally, it works the other way around, in that there are people who will begin writing fanfiction, and read to improve their characterisation, see other people's takes on their ideas, and sometimes just garner reviews. Sad but true.

Fred and George, with Sirius/Remus... how about Making Moony Laugh? I feel Sirius/Remus is a good starter pairing when done at a PG rating, because the reader who has read the books is most likely to invoke suspension of disbelief for it. The same as they may for Ron/Hermione, Harry/Hermione, and Ron/Harry (depending on their tastes.)

But my absolute favourite starter fic is Faded Laughter, which is post-OotP, it's barely two pages long, and it's Ginny talking to Sirius's portrait. It could be slash, but then to the homophobic mind it could have just been a really strong friendship.

Anyway, I actually managed to dig up a post in which I recced a whole lot of random fics to someone who was threatening to read the next FF.net story she came across.

Nevertheless, I want to give thsi more thought; it's a subject I enjoy, and I don't agree with reccing novel-legnths or anything above R on the first go, though that could just be me pushing my preferences onto others.

I suppose the bottom line is that what you rec depends on how well you know the person, both in terms of what they'll want to read and how well they'll take the fact that you're into And Just Plain Wrong. ;)

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Fred and George, with Sirius/Remus... how about Making Moony Laugh?

Oh yes! and the utterly amazing remix of it Mapmakers (The Suicide Is Painless Remix) (http://remix.illuminatedtext.com/dbfiction.php?fiction_id=67), which is just as beautiful and heartbreaking and expands on the story the way a good remix should.

hmm ... first thoughts

[tinderblast.livejournal.com]

You need some mctabby in there - her parodies, her incomporable drabbles, and then in a special pocket for unfinished but still satisfying stories, her 'TWIB.' Most newcomers would also like A.J. Hall's 'Lust over Pendle,' I think. Schmevil/Martian Housecat's 'Scrabble' is a fun gen story (in fact, there might even be het in there), and Grindylowe's DEATME is a classic that's a good way of expanding people's view of what canon can be bent and what interpretations are good.

PLus, cybele's LJ is cybele_san ...

-brodie

Re: hmm ... first thoughts

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was heart-wrencher to not include TWIB and Grindylowe's Death Eaters at the Malfoy Estate, but, I'm being firm about the no WiP's rule (though I did finally unbend to include complete stories that have sequels in the offing, like Telanu's Tea Series).

I hadn't thought about 'That Potter Slash' -- good idea.

You know, I was looking at Cybele's LJ address and going... hmmm... that looks wrong....

Icarus

My two cents

[(Anonymous)]

Hi. I couldn't resist. I noticed that many of the fics rec'd were quite excellent, but I wanted to add a couple of my own... Ok, there are a lot here. I hope they're useful...

Acts Of Necessity by Jedi Boadicea (Gen, Snape washes hair)
http://www.sugarquill.net/read.php?storyid=267&chapno=1

Out of the Bag by Bernice Russell (Gen, Snape in Transfigurations)
http://snapeff.ebonyx.org/home/endfest2/archive/out.html

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner by Molly Moon (Lily/James)
http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/mmoon/GWCTD.html

A Solitary Pleasure by Luthien (Snape/Harry)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/luthien67/233002.html

'The Unhappiest Potions Master on Earth' by Diana (Snape/Harry -humor)
http://diana.slashcity.com/Potter/Unhappy.htm

Adjustments by Diana (Snape/Dumbledore -humor)
http://diana.slashcity.com/Potter/Adjustments.htm

Queer as Scent by A. J. Hall (Lucius/Narcissa and Lily/James -plot)
http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/ajhall/QAS.html

'The Goodness of Their Hearts' by Taratext (very funny Draco/Harry)
http://www.thedarkarts.org/authorLinks/Taratext/

If You're Breathing by Sandy Justine (Harry/Neville -short, post OotP)
http://www.intimations.org/yuletide/archive/3/ifyoure.html

The Way of the World by zionsstarfish (Draco/Harry -short, funny)
http://www.livejournal.com/users/zionsstarfish/109162.html

Two Households, Both Alike In Dignity by Mad Martha (Slytherin!Harry/Ron)
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1444337

In The Sweet Hereafter by nopejr (short, funny Draco/Harry)
http://nopespace.com/hp2/itsh.htm

"Turning back the Clock" by Mad Martha (Harry/Ron -good, short)
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1225935

"Happiness Involving a Tea House" by Nopejr (Harry/Draco snark, funny)
http://nopespace.com/hp2/hiath.htm

Wine of Life by Femme (Ron/Draco -Aurors, med, plot)
http://www.skyehawke.com/archive/story.php?no=1238

A Deserving Man by Icarus (Gen, Snape starts teaching)
http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/icarus/ADMpro.html

Cursed Artefacts for Sale by Icarus (Snape/Harry, short & funny)
http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/icarus/CAFS.html

"Third Party Loyalties" by Mousapelli (Percy/Draco -funny, dark, med)
http://www.livejournal.com/community/weasleyworship/20362.html

"Redeeming Time" by Minx (Remus/Sirius & James/Lily MWPP, med)
http://azkabanslair.slashcity.org/RT1.htm

The Tao of Job by Mad Maudlin (Percy/Harry -med/long, redemption)
http://percyfest.muse-wanted.com/fic/job01.html

I hope you don't mind me sticking my oar in. :) Good luck with the HP intro.

-Matilda Baggins

Snarry for all

[(Anonymous)]

A must read for all people interested in Snarry is Armand Malfoy's Diamonds in the Dust (can be found @ walking the plank.

Also, Facing the Music by Erastes (also @ WtP.

Anything written by Jade is simply awesome, also Cyble is great, and JayKay (now McKay), Kadira is great for some angst.

The best series I know of that wasn't mentioned is Minx's 3 part series:
Til Break of Day
One Warm Beautiful Thing
Possessions
These are simply beatiful and elegant, and, and, there's no words to describe thier lovlieness.

That's all for now
-joie
big_bookworm@yahoo.com

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

More? Gosh, I was restraining myself!

The Way of the World, by zionsstarfish
http://www.livejournal.com/users/zionsstarfish/109162.html?
H/D, not rated but no more than PG-13

Wine of Life by hp_femme
http://www.skyehawke.com/archive/story.php?no=1238
DM/RW, rated "M" (PG-13)

Third Time's the Charm by helenish
http://www.helenish.net/tttc.shtml
SS/RL, not rated, but PG-13 maybe? R at the most.

I would like all my friends to NOTICE that I am reccing two fics that are NOT HP/DM. Thank you.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

That should be zionsstarfish

I hate typing in html directly.

[ursulakohl.livejournal.com]

In the one-shot category, franzeska's Spew 2 (http://www.geocities.com/franzeska_elise/spew2.html) is entertaining bouncy almost-H/D, featuring house-elves as the ultimate fangirls. I wouldn't recommend it as Fic #1 (since you wouldn't catch the fannish jokes), but as 9 or so it would go nicely . . .

And I've written a bunch myself, of course. Some I know you've read, but here are some you may not have noticed: despite the bizarre pairing and point of view, Of Squibs and Squid (http://www.astronomytower.org/restrictedsection/fic.php?fic=at:/authors/ursula/SS.html) is really sweet and approachable, Wherein Hermione S. Granger Considers the Colour Red (http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/ursula/WHSGCCR.html) is a character portrait with nifty Anglo-Saxon riddle poem which is oddly popular (well, not oddly, it's Hermione/ Fred & George, a.k.a. my most normal pairing), and Fumes (http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/ursula/fumes.html) is silly Myrtle femmeslash.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Hermione/ Fred & George, a.k.a. my most normal pairing

Now, see, I didn't think you did normal pairings. *Does a head count, Fred.. George...* Nope. You don't. ;)

Icarus

[nqdonne.livejournal.com]

How could I have missed this post? This is right up my alley... I was a newbie less than a year ago :) These were my first three Draco/Harry stories and are still some of my favorites: The Losing Side (http://www.black-waltz.net/noiresensus/authors/a_antenora.html) (Rated R) by antenora, Matinee (http://www.restrictedsection.org/disclaimer.shtml?/12/matinee.html) (Rated NC-17) by ladyvader, and Ooh Something Shiny (http://www.riddikulus.org/authors/cinnamon/OSS.html) (Rated PG) by starflowers/Cinnamon.

For Draco/Ron, I love Unbecoming (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Cinnamon/Unbecoming/) (Rated R) by starflowers and, yes, yours, of course!

One of the best starters for both het and Draco/Hermione (my first ship, before I switched to Draco/Harry) is Draco, the Amazing Bouncing Rat? (http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Maya/Amazing_Bouncing_Rat/) (Rated PG-13) by mistful. Someone else mentioned that it's an excellent fic to read before going into Underwater Light. I agree.

Hmmmm... that exhausts my areas of expertise, really ;) These were my first fics, before I started reading darker stories and more PWP/rarepairs stuff. I hope it helps! This list is a really good idea - it's tough starting people on fics without freaking them out about fandom, lol.

[maelwaedd.livejournal.com]

Okay, since you wanted one-shots, I went through the recs community I used to bother updating and I found these.

Protecting a Magical World (http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/eransom/PAMW.html) by Evelyn Ransom. One-shot, gen, PG.
Summary: What happens when the worlds of Muggles and magic collide? One young wizard finds out to his loss. I hope it hurts your feelings, but in a good way.
It hurts. It's real. It's incredible.

Anywhere But Here (http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/samvimes/ABH.html) by copperbadge.
Summary: Severus Snape runs into an old student in an unlikely place, and tells some uncomfortable truths to the Boy Who Ran Away.

Sleeping (http://www.thedarkarts.org/authors/moriavis/sleeping.html) by Moriavis.
Summary: Harry finds out about Draco's illness. What does he do about it? This is the sequel to 'I Had a Bad Day'.
I normally hate Harry/Draco, but this one just tears your heart out.

Berlin, in the Year of Our Lord (http://www.astronomytower.org/authors/are/BIYOL.html) by Are.
Summary: Harry is a green-tea addict. Draco stalks him.
Another Harry/Draco. Again, surprisingly good. Lovely use of the language. Originally recced by venivincere.

[bookshop.livejournal.com]

I'm terribly biased, terribly--but I have always held that the best one-shot starter fic ever is "Red" (http://bloom.velveteen.net/red.html) by weatherby. It extracts so seamlessly from canon, in a way that I think is really easy for readers who love canon to go with. And, it's wonderful.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*laughs* We can only recommend the stories we like. I've heard about this one, but I've never read it before -- that is a good leg up from canon.

Icarus

[semielliptical]

If this person has read all of the books, then some Remus/Sirius during OotP might work:

no one ever said it would be this hard by throughadoor
Three Days by kestrelsan
Inhabited by Winter by yahtzee63
Mother knows best by musesfool
Vanishing Point by memorycharm

[quchuphi.livejournal.com]

Most of my favourites have already been mentioned, but I didn't see these ...

Pru/lupercalia's Magic Words/Vector/Levity/And Still sequence. (as well as everything else she's written!) SS/RL, Heartbreaking in such a good way and Aashby/theatresm's Brave New World. One of the Best OFC fics I've ever read. SS/OFC

Hmm.

[anoddplace.livejournal.com]

Well, my mind is shot right now, so I can't recommend anything for the list except to second the Civil War saga by wikdsushi. Although it is a (very long) series, I believe it's rather a foundational cornerstone for many who love that pairing.

I was just going to say that the title of Alchemia Dent and Bugland's fic is A Bittersweet Potion, not A Bittersweet Poison. Oh, and I definitely second that nomination, as well!

Re: Hmm.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

A Bittersweet Potion

Yeah, I know, i just haven't bothered to fix it yet. I also have cybele_san's LJ wrong.

Do you know any one-shots you'd recommend? I'm finding it's easier to start with shorter fics.

Icarus