Your favorite fics.

[icarus]

I'm starting a meme! *cuts the ribbon*

I've never done this before, so I hope it works. This is multifandom, of course.

Question 1: What are your three favorite fics (of your own) and why?

For me, my favorite fic is the one that means the most to me. Not the most popular or even my best, but what makes me smile when I remember it.

1. I'd have to say that Skinny Dipping comes to mind (almost) first. It's Harry/Percy, very NC-17.

I drew a lot on my own childhood growing up on a lake, and so the water imagery takes me back. I had ruthlessly, back in 2002, forced myself to cut my "scenery addiction" to improve the pacing of my stories, but I really, really do love lush pastoral description. (Blame Tolkein.) This was a guilty pleasure, letting myself return to that habit.

Also, the story is happy. And sexy. There's a little bit of bittersweet undercurrent as you guess just why Percy is so grateful, eager, and assuming the worst. But overall it's a story where Harry develops a little -- warmth? Empathy? -- for the misunderstood Percy. An issue I've always cared about, I used to dive in to protect the kids who were being picked on. So there's another bit of nostalgia.

2. The second, god this is harder than I thought, hmmm. I'd say Cursed Artefacts For Sale, Harry/Snape, mostly Gen.

The story was hell to write, took me forever (a year!) and I hated the process, couldn't look at it for the longest time after I posted it.

Then last year I read a rec (frowned, "this can't be my story...), popped it open, read it, and thought, "I wrote this? This is pretty funny."

It's weird but when I read Cursed Artefacts, I feel like I'm reading someone else's story. And it's the sort of story I can come back to again and again.

3. Whew, got to the last one. In November, Ron/Neville, PG-13.

This one's, well, it's just a drabble. I shouldn't love it as much as I do. It's not a big important fic. But there's such a sense of innocence and gentleness that this was the first fic I thought when I sat down to create this challenge.

There are other stories that are up there, but I suspect most people's favorite stories will be in their first fandom.



Question 2: What are your three favorite fics by other authors, and also why?

Okay, so I'm aware of the risks of this part of the meme. But hopefully my favorite authors whose stories I've rec'd and fangirled will understand that depending on my mood, the phase of the moon, the alignment of Jupiter and Venus, these favorites will change. :D

1. Right of the bat: Cybele's Just Add Water, Harry/Bill, NC-17.

Nothing drives me more up the wall than a feminized depiction of a guy. It's the main reason I started writing fanfiction instead just reading it. Cybele's got the "guyness" down. Bill here is a player and the story is very much dubious consent (oh so much) and I believe it. Here is the very male attitude of let's "just have sex, now" and the blurry line of Harry being too inexperienced to realize that he can, and should, say no.

I read a lot of stories that I enjoy, but this is one that has stayed with me and influenced my writing for the long term.

Oh. I just realized how hard it's going to be to keep this to three stories. I'm going to cheat a little (hey, it's my own meme).

2. The second one is a toss-up between two stories by the same author: Rite Of Passage and Through A Shattered Mirror, Harry/Snape, rushlight57, both NC-17.

It's probably telling that all of my favorite HP stories feature dubious consent. I admit to a guilty grin.

In my early days of fandom I searched for the "perfect Snape." Now pegging Snape is as hard as pegging John Sheppard. Neither one of them gives much away, and there's always one that's too sweet or too rough.

I'd discarded a dozen Snapes until I read Rite of Passage. This was the Snape from Chamber of Secrets. Mature enough to admit that Harry couldn't be the culprit (like him or not). Distrustful enough to skulk and be suspicious of everything. I admit, the "sex when you come of age" trope is overdone in a big way and not even (ever) remotely believable, but Rushlight rolls over the awkward cliche smoothly until we reach the sex where, wow, it's surprisingly gentle, real, and... kind. I love to see the transformation (and confusion) in their relationship. Note, this Harry was written based on GoF canon.

Through A Shattered Mirror, oh wow. xanthelj, this one's for you. The story is compellingly dark, kinky, non-con bordering on dubious consent. The fact that Rushlight manages to make us feel for both Harry and Snape is a stroke of genius.

3. The last is from my new shiny fandom. Of course a dozen fics are crowding forward, but there's only one that I missed class to read it twice, back-to-back. A Beautiful Lifetime Event by astolat, John/Rodney (who else?), NC-17.

John and Rodney, having fun fooling around with Ancient technology, get their DNA sampled and -- oops. The machine is "gestation unit." They've signed themselves up for fatherhood.

This is the most delicious slow-build I've read. Their relationship is slowly changed in stages by this child. Shalott gently flows over the years as their daughter grows up, and John and Rodney become closer and closer. (I said slow build, right?) It's a soft and compelling comfort read. I root for them every time I read it, and I've lost track of how many times that's been.

I didn't realize the second part of the meme was going to be harder. Tough to keep it to just three.

Okay, your turn.



ETA: Apparently the picture at the top of A Beautiful Lifetime Event is corrupted. Just ignore that and scroll down. The fic itself is fine.

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