Fun Fics
And now for some humour:
Title: Severus Snape and His Letters From the Edge
Author: Sylvie Moonbeam
Status: COMPLETE
Length: One-shot
My opinion: very good
Genre: Absurd humour
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: none
Spoilers: the story takes place during Hogwarts years, no specific spoiler.
Author’s Summary: “Professor S Snape (reclusive genius, envied by his peers, adored by women and feared by Potter, etc) writes a succession of letters to his investors. Will he ever see a wizard-friendly variety of fake tan? Will he rid the world of wasps? Or will he just lose his mind and face yet another disciplinary hearing?”
More detailed summary: Just what it says: the fic is made up of a series of letters written by Snape. No answer or frame narrative is added.
Critique: hilarious one-shot. Not particularly thought-provoking, but very entertaining. The professor is a deeply perturbed man with rather vivid imagination and language oscillating between the lyrical (dare I say epic?) and the incoherent ravings of a psychopath. 100% absurd. 100% enjoyable.
Where to find it: This fanfic is available on fictionalley http://www.fictionalley.org/authors/sylvie_moonbeam/SSAHLFTE01.html
Title: The Basement
Author: Marz1
Status: COMPLETE (with one incomplete sequel)
Length: 27 relatively short chapters
My opinion: good
Genre: humour / adventure
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: none
Spoilers: The story is an AU of third year, reusing many elements of canon up to and including Prisoner of Azkaban.
Author’s Summary: “I must have a sign on my back that says psycho paths please attack me. I would not put it beyond Dudley to affix such a sign to me, but I doubt he could spell it accurately enough for a psycho to understand.”
More detailed summary: Remember that scene when Harry thought he saw the Grim in Magnolia Crescent after he ran away from the Dursleys? Well, this is what might have happened if Harry had tried to befriend the dog... kidnapping and general mayhem ensues!
Critique: The story is especially memorable for the tone in which it’s told. It’s a 1st person narrative from Harry’s point of view. He’s a rather cynical and blasé thirteen year old, but in a rather cute way, which is rather unusual in fanfiction (in my experience, cynical Harry tends to be incredibly arrogant, angry and super-powerful in most stories). He recounts his misadventures with just the right mix of bewilderment and resignation, which makes him quite an endearing character. The relationship with Sirius, who, fresh from Azkaban, is not at his sanest, is also oddly endearing, precisely because it doesn’t go so smoothly and because it’s shown from the point of view of a character who is obviously at a loss of what to make of that strange man.
The story is very fast-paced, which makes it a quick and enjoyable read, but at the same times not such a polished one. Towards the end especially, events seem to pile up at an impossible speed. To make it a great novel-like story, the author would need to adopt a more leisurely pace in some places, if only to make the hectic moments stand out more clearly.
Still, it’s a pretty good story and the tone really is quite unique.
Where to find it: This fanfic is available on fanfiction.net: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1625069/1/The_Basement