Admin Post: "Old Cliches, New Tricks" Fest Master List of Stories
Oh my. Some of the stories written for this Fest just surpassed my fondest hopes, in terms of how unusual, smart, and sometimes just plain wrong these stories are. Dead clever, some of them. And others really make you think. I'm very grateful to everyone who contributed, and want to list them all, with brief summaries to lure more readers in. Because some of these stories really deserve a broad audience.
Note: The essence of this Fest was to get writers to try a new pairing, or a non-standard plot for the pairing, so we'd get stories that were rather unusual.
This means that most of these stories have unusual pairings, and not your old favorites. Don't be put off by that. Instead, see it as a chance to sample something new. Because some of these writers are so gifted, that they just make the pairing work, even when you wouldn't have thought someone could pull it off.
anneline, Mate or Die, Remus/Neville. Man, this is funny and just plain wrong. Remus is, er, not the usual goody two-shoes you often see in fanon. Oh no. And Neville is downright edible. This one made me burst out giggling. The author should be ashamed of herself. :-) Warnings for chan, parody and wickedness, NC 17.
darkrosetiger, Corrosion 1/4. Ron/Lucius, NC 17; warnings for D/s, S/M, implied father/son incest. This is a dystopia story, where the Light has won and former DE are auctioned off as slaves. Ron buys Lucius, and it couldn't have happened to a more worthy object, as far as I'm concerned. This is billed as the first of four parts, and it gets off to a very engaging start. I can't wait to read more of it. And really very original, as advertised.
florahart, Charmed Life, Draco/Percy. This uses a forced bond plot with an unusual pairing. And she really makes it work. The build up is slow, careful, and persuasive. Man, this is just the sort of bond that old-line pureblood traditionalists would indeed have come up with. No warnings, and NC 17.
fourth_rose, Survivors. Lucius/?, PG. I won't give away the plot here, except to say that the mind simply boggles. A really outside-the-box story.
jordangrant, Famous Last Words, Ron/Draco, NC 17, prostitution and bondage. Rentboy! Ron, in a dystopic story set after the defeat of the Light. Characterization of both men is very well done here, and God, this is why I loathe Draco. A clever punch line, and you really left aching for Ron. Someone needs to take a horsewhip to Draco, here.
musigneus, Smoke Instead of Sunlight SS/RL, NC 17. Warnings for dubious/forced consent and violence. In a sense, this was the very first story written for this Fest, because when the author seized on a passing comment I'd made in a meta piece (about how forced bond a la Snarry was never used in Snupin, and why not?) that encouraged me to host whole Fest. This is long, plotty, extremely clever, erotic, and compelling. It goes to show that a great plot device for one pairing can be intelligently exploited with quite different characters.
musigneus, Love Bites, RL/DM. NC 17, no warnings. A wry, interesting take on the "mate or die" cliche. I love the take on Remus here: he's not very nice, at all. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving person than Draco.
naatz, Fragile HP/SB, PG to PG-13. A gentle, wistful, and unusual story, in which Harry uses time travel to try to regain Sirius. Normally, stories where Harry tries to bring Sirius back feature an angry and vengeful Harry; this story comes at the same problem from a very different angle.
regan_v and jordangrant, Better Than Sex, Snape/Draco. After the war, both Snape and Draco find ways to survive; but Draco is making some very poor choices here. Rentboy! Draco with a twist. Warnings: there's no non con, dub con or violence here, but if you adore Draco, you might not like where he ends up in this story. NC 17
ravenna_c_tan, Tempus Fugit HP/DM PG to NC 17. Warnings for ambiguous consent and corporal punishment. An unusual use of the time travel plot, in a pairing where it has seldom been tried. Harry goes back almost 80 years, and runs into a somewhat different Draco Malfoy. Every fest should spawn one epic, I think, and I was delighted to see that my Tables inspired this long, plotty, ambitious story. The author tells me that it will be over 100,000 words before it's done. It's up to thirteen chapters already, and the author is posting at a very fast rate. I'm impressed!
sullacat, Shadowlands, Remus/James. This is a wistful, thoughtful story, set just before James goes under the protection of Fidelius. The story handles James' adultery in a gentle but very adult fashion; Remus' pain and loneliness is conveyed in an understated, intelligent way that is completely persuasive. No warnings, NC 17.
ziasudra_fic, No Sex, No Galleons, SS/HP, SS/RW and various. NC 17. Rentboy Snape, and with a vengeance here. The story explores an unusual scenario very intelligently. And it makes great use of a "problem" that is seldom (ever?) considered in hp fanon: what prolonged exposure to Voldemort's mind and then sudden separation from it will have done to Harry's own personality. This is clever and plotty.
This is the list of all stories posted by early May. But several authors have told me they intend to post late stories to the comm, so I'll be adding their stories to this list, as they're posted.
Note: The essence of this Fest was to get writers to try a new pairing, or a non-standard plot for the pairing, so we'd get stories that were rather unusual.
This means that most of these stories have unusual pairings, and not your old favorites. Don't be put off by that. Instead, see it as a chance to sample something new. Because some of these writers are so gifted, that they just make the pairing work, even when you wouldn't have thought someone could pull it off.
anneline, Mate or Die, Remus/Neville. Man, this is funny and just plain wrong. Remus is, er, not the usual goody two-shoes you often see in fanon. Oh no. And Neville is downright edible. This one made me burst out giggling. The author should be ashamed of herself. :-) Warnings for chan, parody and wickedness, NC 17.
darkrosetiger, Corrosion 1/4. Ron/Lucius, NC 17; warnings for D/s, S/M, implied father/son incest. This is a dystopia story, where the Light has won and former DE are auctioned off as slaves. Ron buys Lucius, and it couldn't have happened to a more worthy object, as far as I'm concerned. This is billed as the first of four parts, and it gets off to a very engaging start. I can't wait to read more of it. And really very original, as advertised.
florahart, Charmed Life, Draco/Percy. This uses a forced bond plot with an unusual pairing. And she really makes it work. The build up is slow, careful, and persuasive. Man, this is just the sort of bond that old-line pureblood traditionalists would indeed have come up with. No warnings, and NC 17.
fourth_rose, Survivors. Lucius/?, PG. I won't give away the plot here, except to say that the mind simply boggles. A really outside-the-box story.
jordangrant, Famous Last Words, Ron/Draco, NC 17, prostitution and bondage. Rentboy! Ron, in a dystopic story set after the defeat of the Light. Characterization of both men is very well done here, and God, this is why I loathe Draco. A clever punch line, and you really left aching for Ron. Someone needs to take a horsewhip to Draco, here.
musigneus, Smoke Instead of Sunlight SS/RL, NC 17. Warnings for dubious/forced consent and violence. In a sense, this was the very first story written for this Fest, because when the author seized on a passing comment I'd made in a meta piece (about how forced bond a la Snarry was never used in Snupin, and why not?) that encouraged me to host whole Fest. This is long, plotty, extremely clever, erotic, and compelling. It goes to show that a great plot device for one pairing can be intelligently exploited with quite different characters.
musigneus, Love Bites, RL/DM. NC 17, no warnings. A wry, interesting take on the "mate or die" cliche. I love the take on Remus here: he's not very nice, at all. And it couldn't happen to a more deserving person than Draco.
naatz, Fragile HP/SB, PG to PG-13. A gentle, wistful, and unusual story, in which Harry uses time travel to try to regain Sirius. Normally, stories where Harry tries to bring Sirius back feature an angry and vengeful Harry; this story comes at the same problem from a very different angle.
regan_v and jordangrant, Better Than Sex, Snape/Draco. After the war, both Snape and Draco find ways to survive; but Draco is making some very poor choices here. Rentboy! Draco with a twist. Warnings: there's no non con, dub con or violence here, but if you adore Draco, you might not like where he ends up in this story. NC 17
ravenna_c_tan, Tempus Fugit HP/DM PG to NC 17. Warnings for ambiguous consent and corporal punishment. An unusual use of the time travel plot, in a pairing where it has seldom been tried. Harry goes back almost 80 years, and runs into a somewhat different Draco Malfoy. Every fest should spawn one epic, I think, and I was delighted to see that my Tables inspired this long, plotty, ambitious story. The author tells me that it will be over 100,000 words before it's done. It's up to thirteen chapters already, and the author is posting at a very fast rate. I'm impressed!
sullacat, Shadowlands, Remus/James. This is a wistful, thoughtful story, set just before James goes under the protection of Fidelius. The story handles James' adultery in a gentle but very adult fashion; Remus' pain and loneliness is conveyed in an understated, intelligent way that is completely persuasive. No warnings, NC 17.
ziasudra_fic, No Sex, No Galleons, SS/HP, SS/RW and various. NC 17. Rentboy Snape, and with a vengeance here. The story explores an unusual scenario very intelligently. And it makes great use of a "problem" that is seldom (ever?) considered in hp fanon: what prolonged exposure to Voldemort's mind and then sudden separation from it will have done to Harry's own personality. This is clever and plotty.
This is the list of all stories posted by early May. But several authors have told me they intend to post late stories to the comm, so I'll be adding their stories to this list, as they're posted.