Icarus takes a stab at A Harry Potter Starter Kit

[icarus]

I promised this Harry Potter Starter Kit a long time ago.

I ran into two issues:

#1 - The minor problem that I am not the ultimate authority on Harry Potter fanfiction (though I've not been able to locate that person). I can't help but be biased towards, oh, say, humour and porn over dark angsty stuff, Action over Arte. For a while this stopped me because I wanted to be fair. I've given up on that.

#2 - I didn't have the time (or interest) to read stories in pairings and styles I didn't like. Accepting problem #1 dealt with this nicely.

So if your brilliant story or your favourite author isn't on this list, well, it's not a 'Best Of.' It's more like one of those biscuits tins with the drab boring shortbread sitting right next to something you hopefully like.

A Harry Potter Starter Kit

So you're new to Harry Potter fanfiction? I bet you've noticed there's no lack.

There are many archives to search for fics and discover what you like:
Fiction Alley
The Restricted Section
Fanfiction.net
Inkstained Fingers
Sugar Quill

There are recommendation sites to help you separate the wheat from the, um, well:
Switchknife's Slash Recs
Jetamors' Page of Harry Potter Gen Recs
Justacat's Slash Resource Site

And there are character and pairing specific sites, as well as web sites for individual authors. There are also recommendations sites on LJ (like quickquote & daily_snitch), theme-related recommendations on painless_j's journal, and many, many (many) Yahoo Groups.

You can probably tell I'm watching a Dean Martin Variety show ad while I'm writing this.

This Starter Kit is like a box of chocolates. Only a few stories of each type, so that you're not on your own to hunt and peck. I've deliberately selected just a couple for each to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Different people have different interests in Harry Potter fiction.

Some, the Purists, want more of what they get from J. K. Rowling.

Others boldly confess their Crush on the Harry Potter characters themselves. They want to see their lives beyond Hogwarts. These are your:

a) Het (heterosexual) and
b) Slash (homosexual) stories. Slash is immensely popular and is the main focus of this list.

These stories can be Dark, Angst, Romance, Action/Adventure, you name it.

Others want to go straight to the Naughty Stuff. Porn. We respect your honesty, and I confess this was the easiest list for me to compile.

The Purist: You're insatiably looking for more Harry Potter stories. That's it. These should get you started:

The Art Of War by Hijja: Intro to Ron and Draco.
Draco, The Amazing Bouncing... Rat? by Maya: Intro to fandom Draco.
The Lecture by Grindylowe: Intro to fandom Snape.
Conspiracy of Silence by Nomadic Writer: Novel-length Snape story.
Not Without My Reasons by Lady Jackyl: Intro to Percy stories.
Durmstrang Chronicles by Loup Noir: Intro to the world of the OC.
Call of the Wild by the WolfieTwins: Intro to fandom Remus.


The Crush: It's time to confess. You have a crush on the Harry Potter characters themselves and want to see their lives beyond Hogwarts. Don't we all?

Slash is two of our favourite male characters together. Veddy nice. This is what I read and write (and live and breathe) and is the main focus of this list. I have for each pairing listed one relatively short story and one novel-length. For those pairings I don't tend to read or that are fairly rare, I may just have only one story.

Remus/Sirius, a relationship that many feel is implied in the books.
Door to the River by Minx*
*one of the two fics on this list I haven't read since I don't read the pairing. I trust both the author and the person who rec'd it.

Harry/Ron
Close Enough by Helen
Circles of Power by Mad Martha

Harry/Draco
After the Flood by Cassandra Claire
The Lodger by Mad Martha

Ron/Draco
Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover by Mad Maudlin
(The other one people voted in was my own Beg Me For It. But it's tacky to put my own story here. *cough* I confess to being tempted. *guilty grin*)

Harry/Snape
The Familiar by Resonant
The Tea Series by Telanu

Snape/Lupin
The Way of the World by McKay

Snape/Sirius
Oral Sex by Isis
Slowly And Exceeding Fine by Ellen Fremedon

Snape/Lucius
Sans Merci by Predatrix*
*one of the two fics on this list I haven't read since I don't read the pairing. I trust both the author and the person who rec'd it.

Harry/Lucius
Discretion Required by Rugozler
A Fragile Thing by Hijja

Ron/Snape
Aftermath by Josan

Draco/Neville
Lust Over Pendle by A. J. Hall

Snape/Draco
As In A Dream by Nope
Concupiscence by Femme and Isolde

Fred/George
Double Or Nothing Calico

Percy/Lucius
Impossible by Arkady (you will need an RS.org password)
Price of Wisdom by James Walkswithwind & Mad Poetess
Here's another case where people recommended one of my own stories. *restrains self* And yes, both of these fics are also listed under S&M. Is it so surprising?

Percy/Harry
Chance by Stella
Tao of Job by Mad Maudlin

Percy/Oliver
Fight or Flight by Silvia

Percy/Snape
Perquisite by Prillalar

Snape/Hagrid
Pragmatic Magics by Isolde

My Het fics list is slim, because I rarely read them. But these should serve for a start:

Flame and Shadow by Maya. Ron/you won't believe how well it works
The Draco Trilogy Cassandra Claire. Harry/Hermione
Roman Holiday by Anna. Hermione/Draco, Hermione/Snape.
Rain by Dien Alcyone. Snape/Hooch

The Kink: you naughty thing. You want to go straight to the porn. Yeah, me too.

First Kiss - Confection Carnage by Aspen. Harry/Ron (this category is just an excuse to rec this fic)
Seduction - Quill and Ink by Cybele. Harry/Snape
Hurt/Comfort - Aftermath by Josan. Ron/Snape
Roleplay - Daisychain!Draco by Aspen. Harry/Draco
Quickie - Ice Cream Quickie by Kickflaw. Harry/Draco
Ritual Sex - Night Over Azkeban by Hijja. Harry/Lucius or Rituals and Traditions by Amanuensis. Harry/Draco
Non Consensual - Through A Shattered Mirror by Rushlight, Harry/Snape/Draco, 90% of Amanuensis' Fics
Twincest - Double or Nothing Calico. Fred/George/(Other)
Crossdressing - Walking Around In Women's Underwear by Diana Williams. Snape/Lupin
Exhibitionism - Exposed by Zortified. Percy
S&M - Impossible by Arkady (you will need an RS.org password). Percy/Lucius or Price of Wisdom James Walkswithwind & Mad Poetess
Slavery - In Thrall by Rugozler. Harry/Snape
Breathplay - Of Control by Kay Taylor. Percy. (You will need an RS.org password.)
Chan (underage) - Idle Hands by Nimori (you will need her password). Snape/Harry

Want more of everything? See The Massive List of Recommendations from those on my LJ.

By the way, my estimation of those who maintain rec pages has just skyrocketed. This was a hell of a lot of work.



ETA: There are some great stories (say, Two Worlds And In Between by McTabby?) that are left off this list because they are incomplete. Let's not introduce readers to the torment that is the WiP right off.

ETA2: Okay folks. If your favourite story/author isn't here -
1) tough beans
2) go ahead and put a link to it in comments.

Any rude comments will be summarily deleted, though I may take a moment to be rude in return. :D I've added caveats to the two stories I haven't read by authors whose other work I've enjoyed. Everything else comes with a money-back guarantee. ;)

ETA3: Whoops. That was daily_snitch not daily_switch.

ETA4: Corrected typos and one old link. Jeez.

Comments

[wired-lizard.livejournal.com]

"Impossible" is also up at Skyehawke--no password necessary.

http://archive.skyehawke.com/story.php?no=314

*blushes*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you. Maybe Kay Taylor has a Skyehawke account as well. By the way, I just wanted to say I appreciate Mrrphleglee? *snickers*

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Whoo-hoo! She does! (Bumps off another password.) I tried to fix the links for yours, but LJ burped. So I don't don't if it worked.

Icarus

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Awesome work! This is great. *hug*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! There's a little repetition, and some authors appear more than -- stop it, Icarus, fairness is impossible.

What was really fun was revisiting all these great stories. I'd forgotten so many, and had to track down where I read things. I see why Switchknife keeps her recs list.

Icarus

[skuf.livejournal.com]

Nice work - happy to see so many great stories up there :o)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I hope it's helpful to people.

Icarus

[trakkie.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is great! I'm really impressed that even some of the less popular pairings are represented here.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Percy/Lucius... Percy/Harry... Percy/Oliver... Percy/Snape... hmm. I'm sensing a pattern here.

Icarus

[tboy.livejournal.com]

*applause* Well done. This is a lovely starter kit, and looking through it I see I must also repair some omissions from my own reading list.

*mwah*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Hi! Now why is it I'm suddenly reminded that I need to add Snape/Hagrid story to the list? ;)

Icarus

[tboy.livejournal.com]

Oh, no idea, no idea at all ;-). LOL! *smooch*

[jaig.livejournal.com]

I haven't been reading fics in ages. A year?

This is lovely, just what I needed. :D

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Enjoy. I really need to make a comprehensive list of fics I've liked.

Icarus

[thysanotus.livejournal.com]

Brilliant!

Just one tiny thing... did you mean daily_snitch? Because that says daily_switch... and while I think that's an excellent idea, it doesn't actually exist...

(here via opiumcoffeebean)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Hah! Whoops, good catch. Thank you!

Icarus

just fyi

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

You know there's a sort-of-sequel to "Night Over Azkeban" by Hijja?

It's set after the war, and Lucius neets Harry at a party. I liked the Lucius POV, and there's a hint that it could be continuredin how the story ends.

(Sorry, no link handy, and I have an appointment so I can't search for it now.)

Nice starter kit.

Re: just fyi

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I forced myself to keep it two at most two fics per category, since the main problem in Harry Potter is the vast quantity of fics.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It is worth mentioning, but since this journal is mostly read by people who've liked my stuff, I figured I'd stick to stories I liked. But I'm going to screen our comments that mention the fic in question, just because it is a great story, just not to my taste.

Icarus

[setissma.livejournal.com]

Sure. I think you're probably right on that count - everyone does have different tastes.

[awaywithpixie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for taking the time to compile this wonderful list. I tried making my own a year or so ago, but gave up! I bow down to your greatness in keeping this up! Thanks for the link to other lists of rec's too, as that saves time!

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

It's more like one of those biscuits tins with the drab boring shortbread sitting right next to something you hopefully like.

*points at icon* Hmph! ;)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ha! I actually thought of your icon when I wrote that. *g*

Icarus

[tartanshell.livejournal.com]

Wah! When you were talking about fics that aren't "Best Of" stories and giving an example of a yucky boring thing compared to the really good stuff? That makes it worse! :P

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of the the Pepperidge Farm tins, that would have the chocolate covered cookies next to the weird ones with the jam filling that I didn't like. Um. I like shortbread.

Icarus

[starice.livejournal.com]

Okay folks. If your favourite story/author isn't here -
1) tough beans
2) go ahead and put a link to it in comments.

shoebox_project is the best thing I've ever read. Ever. ;) You don't even have to like Remus/Sirius to enjoy this story, because the pairing is really light so far.

Anyway, up to you if you put it on the list (which is omgsobrilliant! by the way), but I just though I'd drop the link here. :) Thanks for such an awesome list!

*goes off to read*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec. I figure people who've read most of those will scan down and check out shoebox_project.

My trouble with Sirius/Remus, beyond the saccharine quality of many S/R fics, is that I just can't see Sirius as being anything other than straight-straight-straight. Though I'll read Snape (and have) with pretty much anyone.

Of course, I once said that about Ron, too.

Icarus

[aux.livejournal.com]

Great list *adds to memories*
It makes me realise how much good stuff there is out there that I haven't even tackled! Good work :D

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I think it's your DUTY to put Beg Me For It back in the list! As a compiler, one mustn't be self-biased--but that goes for going against what the voters have decreed as well. (And the Percy/Lucius too!)

*giggles madly over the non-consensual rec*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'll put them here, but it would discredit the entire list if I put my own fics on it. :)

Beg Me For It (http://icarus.slashcity.net/stories/begmeforit.html) by Icarus. Ron/Draco

An Elegant Man (http://icarus.slashcity.net/stories/anelegantman.html) by Icarus. Percy/Lucius

*giggles madly over the non-consensual rec*


It's too true, Aman. :D

Icarus

[ex-olivehorn645.livejournal.com]

Here via Daily Snitch.

Looks like some good links and I'll have to check some of them later--but I wanted to let you know that your links for Inkstained Fingers and The Restricted Section are both entered incorrectly (Inkstained Fingers link has 'httTp' and The Restricted Section link has a spelling error) and don't work.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Whoops! Sheesh, I have a few errors on this page, don't I? I just discovered that my link to Lady Jackyl's story is in a locked entry, too.

*fixes sheepishly*

Thank you very much. *still sheepish*

*baaaa*

Icarus

via the Sunday_Prophet

[laura-the-auror.livejournal.com]

Well done! This will be a memory for certain.

[mad_maudlin]

::checks out for the first time::

Wow. Um, when was this voting, did you say? Because if I came in second to "Beg Me For It"...well. ::blushes::

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I ask for votes, but Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover was my vote. :D

Icarus

[mad_maudlin]

::blushes worser:: ...stop that...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*grins*

Icarus

[distelhad.livejournal.com]

Hey there! Great starter kid ;)

But wouldn't it be good to have "We'll always have Paris" as Intro to Draco/Hermione on the list?

*hugs*

distel