swatkat

HP recs for

msgenevieve (and anyone else who wants to read *g*)

by

parkergray
Pairing: Harry/Hermione
Rating: NC-17

That's right. It's H/Hr, it's smut (or a 'smutlet', as the author calls it *g*), and it's good. What I enjoyed about the writing is the intensity, and the author's brilliant use of repetitions. Go read.

This is how it happens.

They’ve been sleeping together for years, off and on, ever since the war. More off than on, he thinks, and sometimes tries to figure out why. But most of the time he doesn’t.

Wane by

lupercali
Pairing: Remus/Sirius
Rating: R
Summary: Of gaining and giving and gone, a fairytale for Remus. (OotP spoilers)

Yes, the pairing is Sirius/Remus, but the story isn't about Sirius and Remus at all, and the relationship is only touched upon. This is Remus' story – beautiful, beautiful story that makes me feel all sad and warm (why yes, I do love Remus). The writing is beautiful, especially the lovely fairytale-like way in which she tells the story:

It was due to his upbringing that Remus remained a constant -- people needed anchors, Remus thought, and his was made of many volumes.

Even the First Night, there was only gain, the gore and blood and silvered-white teeth of the wolf as Remus ran through the dense woods behind his grandmother's cottage. How quaint, he'd reflect later, sipping willowbark tea and listening to Sirius' prattle; how very much the twisted fairytale.

And even in his worst moments his mind refused to court "loss" to the moon.

So is the characterisation – just in these three short paragraphs she manages to explain what Remus is.

~

I've been enjoying the slash discussion on the FFMB. It was nice to see opinions from other sides. There was a time I wouldn't read anything but Michael/Nikita – I had no idea what I was missing. *g* And I might as well confess, I don't agree with 'Michael would never do that' or 'would never want to do that'. There's more than one way of characterisation.

~

And now, for the thought of the day – I've been reading some of the stories in the archives lately, and a large number of them touch upon Michael's early days in Section. The general fannish opinion about Michael's training and early period in Section is that he was treated brutally by Operations and Madeline (and Jurgen, at times) and that's the reason why he is the 'broken' man he is today.

I don't buy this theory well.

I don't agree that Operations and Madeline personally insisted on treating Michael 'brutally' because they wanted to break him and mould him into a machine. He himself became one, because it was a survival mechanism for him (he would have been that way even if he were a lesser operative). That, and his ability to handle the pressure in Section made him advance so fast. He may have hated his killer persona. But IMHO a part of him also enjoyed accepting the challenges and was proud of the fact that he was capable of achieving this. Section put him through hoops, because he was capable of going through them, and also because he stood up to the challenges that they threw at him. Not everyone who has potential lives up to it. Michael didn't need special treatment from Madeline to become the perfect operative – it was there in him.

I don't see Michael being abused in Section as well, sexually or otherwise. Michael is not a harmless sheep – he takes his own decisions and knows how to hit back. Whatever he did, he did it out of his own choice (I'm not talking missions here).

Just thinking.