Scales and Tales

For Gods To Menace Fools has been lurking in my recs folder, getting buried and uncovered several times because, erm, because my organisation skills register in the negative scale. :D If I'd given it a proper title, I probably wouldn't have kept overlooking it... It's certainly not a story that ought to be overlooked! Eodrakken manages a post-HBP Remus who is all too human: tired, grieving, and uncertain, and not above petty sniping at the wrong target. Harry comes to say goodbye, and instead finds something unexpected. I love most the unplanned feeling of the sex, and the sort of quiet, melancholy mood of this story; Eodrakken keeps everyone in character, and manages everything within the canon of HBP, as well.

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Since at least one of you has suggested :D that I make real-life posts as well as recs, I have to tell you about this. I work in a company that ships things; I'm one of the linemen, the ones who load the packages. Contrary to any expectations you might have, package damage is not uncommon; in fact, it's pretty much a constant. :D Mostly, though, the things that spill out are pretty boring: advertising pamphlets, mechanical parts, pill bottles, and lots and lots of packing peanuts.

Today, however, was something else entirely. Today it was a dildo that made a bid for freedom. Bright translucent pink, ten or twelve inches long, double-headed, and probably two inches thick; not your run of the mill sex toy. :D It was gaily waved about, laughed over, shown to everyone in the area, and then sent off for repackaging. I hope the gentleman or lady who receives it doesn't find out, although I'm sure they'll notice that it's been torn and taped back up. So much for discreet, unlabeled packaging. ((Dies laughing))

This drabble, which I seem to have mentally dubbed "Cross that bridge," is absolutely adorable. Remus, Harry, chocolate, and (lack of) Dementors; probably PG-13 for implied sex. Amanuensis has done a lovely job, and I'm sorry to be reccing it so terribly late (however, I did finally manage to recover my list).

In Absentia, by Dr. Worm, is incredibly touching and somewhat slashy while still being totally G-rated. Harry, hugging Remus' cardigan, and looking somewhat forlorn; what's not to like? I particularly love Harry's hair, and the way his wrist sticks out of his sleeve so adolescent-ly; I'm so used to the MentallyGrownUp!Harry who appears in so many slashfics that it's good to be reminded he's still young enough to be wrong, to be all knees and elbows and wrists however much an "old soul" he may have. Combined with the expression, and the sentiment... wow. I hurt for the poor boy.

Of course, being the irrepressible slasher I am, I hope that the absent Remus will return to him soon... :D

"Whiskey and Vodka" by Setissma ought to be an entry for the "It's All Been Done" FQF-- it takes the standard "horrible nightmares" plot line and adds a dash of alcohol and liberal sprinkles of cosy, everyday-type details to make something warm as a beloved blanket. It's really in the domestic and personal details that the mood is carried: Harry watching Remus stretch on tiptoe to reach the sugar canister and thinking how he's never realised Remus is short, the way Hermione's suggestions that Harry contribute financially are met with defence because he likes knowing it's their furniture, the way neither really needs to say anything out loud. Possibly even better, Setissma actually deals with the routine interruptions that would normally result from living with a werewolf, and does so without sugar-coating. Too many fics I've read have some miraculous potion that eliminates, basically, Remus' lycanthropy; others seem to think Remus (the cautious and bookish) would be perfectly fine with curling up at Harry's feet in wolf form (or for that matter, having semi-bestial sex). Why these strike false chords in me is another post, but half the appeal of "Whiskey and Vodka" is that it manages a Remus who is, in fact, a werewolf with all that entails, yet still manages to find happiness.

Hmm, I was going to post all three at once, but that makes it harder to sort them properly. Instead, I shall post each separately for the sake of Memorying the recs. A slasher's work is never done.

"Next Time" by Gatewaygirl is part of the "It's All Been Done" FQF-- I hadn't known there was such a thing, actually, but I'm glad this came of it. The challenge was "Harry/Remus and a Time-Turner," and Gatewaygirl has taken it beyond the things already done-- yes, there is near-standard angst and a drunken bet, and then it just gets better. Harry matures enough in 48 hours to rival his five canon years; he starts out assuming it will be a bit of reckless fun, and learns instead to think of the impact, not on the general future, but on the person he loves-- it's all very easy to waltz in with a Time-Turner on July 29, go back, and wake up still in love on July 30; it's a bit trickier for the lover you leave (literally) in the past. The changes hinted at in Remus, due to Harry's actions, are tantalising, and Gatewaygirl has obviously put some thought into both the requirements of time travel-- as in the ingenious way Harry devises to check whether he's changed history-- and the means by which magic applies to sex. A gentle sense of humour mixes well with werewolfy angst, as well.