Fandom Snowflake Challenge
Wednesday, 25 January 2023 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
queer_scribblingDay #13: In your own space, rec three fanworks that you did not create.
I have two [new] fics [and one update on rec from last year]. Yeah, more Sirius Black/Severus Snape. (Length of the rec is not related to how much I liked the fic. The longer one is being copied from a queued post over on tumblr.)
First, an update on one of last year's recs:
🧪 "Fiddler's Green" by Gadhelyn is up to 13 chapters and 62,792 words. It last updated in December 2022, and Sirius and Severus made an attempt to get back to their present day-slash-future timeline (instead of being stuck back in their teens).
🧪 "Broken Me Found Broken You" by JustSadThingsMostly is a complete work (posted in 2022); 16 chapters and 77,490 words.
While there are some other plot things happening (Severus tries to spy for Lucius, and Regulus has a panic attack after an escalation of the First War), this fic is focused on Sirius and Severus. The "you need to talk to each other once a week" over the summer, being forced to room together at Hogwarts, Sirius giving Severus duelling lessons, Severus teaching Sirius Occlumency, and the very clear Enemies to Friends to Lovers. Like, there's no 'blink and you'll miss it' moments or easily skipping a few scenes to get on to the rest of the fic.
There's some world building-slash-expansion that might be interesting around duelling, "natural" Legilimens, and vampires (the Defence professor is a vampire this year). Severus is some flavour of neurodivergent, James is a Seer (in case "James as a little sight" is a confusing tag), and there's a relationship reveal in the second half. [For those who don't want to have that spoiled, it'll be in the comments below.] Most of the fic is in Seventh Year with some nods to the future in James' visions (like, he Sees Sirius and Severus pretending to fight to cover up a relationship in 1995). The last chapter is Severus' point of view of the night in the Shrieking Shack, and there's enough of a hopeful ending to nod to James' vision being true in a few years in Grimmauld Place.
An excerpt from Chapter 2:
🧪 "Beyond The Veil" by Adreamermusing and ashesashesshackles is another work-in-progress (started in 2021). There's currently 17 chapters (word count: 76,748).
This currently comes across as much more of a Second War AU from the divergence point of Sirius not going to the Ministry at the end of Book 5 than what I'd consider a relationship focused fic. There's plenty of scenes in other characters' points of view, there's some in-scene death and murder, and Sirius/Severus just doesn't feel like the only thing happening. I don't say this as a drawback or anything, and I'd actually say that's part of why I'm recommending it.
Example from Chapter 16, in a Draco point of view scene:
Excerpt from Severus making up his mind to end things, at the end of Ch 11:
To me, the progression of their relationship lies more in the working together portion to look into horcruxes where Sirius and Severus build a certain amount of trust than any sort of culturally-Romantic gestures. (While I don't mind Hate to Love arcs that feature hate sex, this doesn't fall under the 'x number of sex scenes until we caught feelings' angle I've seen in some other fics.) I wouldn't say that the two hurt/comfort scenes are the big, definitive moments of realisation for Sirius and Severus, but they're not exactly nothing.
Excerpt from the first hurt/comfort scene, in Ch 11:
(It's also a nice touch of world building for Severus creating things.)
The authors have indicated in the end notes that there's three chapters left, so it is possible that some of these impressions of when things shift for Sirius and Severus aren't set in stone. In hindsight, these hurt/comfort scenes might carry more importance, or there might be post-Second War scenes that sort of undo the resistance to admitting anything internally, for example. I suppose it'll depend on exactly how canon divergent the ending of the war will be.
Original Pillowfort post can be found here.
I have two [new] fics [and one update on rec from last year]. Yeah, more Sirius Black/Severus Snape. (Length of the rec is not related to how much I liked the fic. The longer one is being copied from a queued post over on tumblr.)
First, an update on one of last year's recs:
🧪 "Fiddler's Green" by Gadhelyn is up to 13 chapters and 62,792 words. It last updated in December 2022, and Sirius and Severus made an attempt to get back to their present day-slash-future timeline (instead of being stuck back in their teens).
🧪 "Broken Me Found Broken You" by JustSadThingsMostly is a complete work (posted in 2022); 16 chapters and 77,490 words.
While there are some other plot things happening (Severus tries to spy for Lucius, and Regulus has a panic attack after an escalation of the First War), this fic is focused on Sirius and Severus. The "you need to talk to each other once a week" over the summer, being forced to room together at Hogwarts, Sirius giving Severus duelling lessons, Severus teaching Sirius Occlumency, and the very clear Enemies to Friends to Lovers. Like, there's no 'blink and you'll miss it' moments or easily skipping a few scenes to get on to the rest of the fic.
There's some world building-slash-expansion that might be interesting around duelling, "natural" Legilimens, and vampires (the Defence professor is a vampire this year). Severus is some flavour of neurodivergent, James is a Seer (in case "James as a little sight" is a confusing tag), and there's a relationship reveal in the second half. [For those who don't want to have that spoiled, it'll be in the comments below.] Most of the fic is in Seventh Year with some nods to the future in James' visions (like, he Sees Sirius and Severus pretending to fight to cover up a relationship in 1995). The last chapter is Severus' point of view of the night in the Shrieking Shack, and there's enough of a hopeful ending to nod to James' vision being true in a few years in Grimmauld Place.
An excerpt from Chapter 2:
Severus felt like he was handing Sirius a loaded gun and asking him not to shoot.[See the comments for a final note that's not really related to the fic itself.]
"I’m…actually…like you. Well, I fancy girls, too. But, it’s a bit of both, really."
Sirius blinked at him, his eyebrows tightening.
There. Even. They were even. Severus could feel it. Now it was a truce. Now Sirius would feel safe. Severus opened his mouth to ease the tension. Like a "don’t tell McGonagall that bit", but this was a bigger deal to Sirius, this stuff. He honestly didn’t know where to look. They’d never been in this place before.
🧪 "Beyond The Veil" by Adreamermusing and ashesashesshackles is another work-in-progress (started in 2021). There's currently 17 chapters (word count: 76,748).
This currently comes across as much more of a Second War AU from the divergence point of Sirius not going to the Ministry at the end of Book 5 than what I'd consider a relationship focused fic. There's plenty of scenes in other characters' points of view, there's some in-scene death and murder, and Sirius/Severus just doesn't feel like the only thing happening. I don't say this as a drawback or anything, and I'd actually say that's part of why I'm recommending it.
Example from Chapter 16, in a Draco point of view scene:
You’d think that a school that focuses so much on Defence Against Dark Arts as a subject would have books on how to get rid of Accidentally Acquired evil objects.When it comes to the Sirius/Severus ship, there's pretty standard hate that gets some Unresolved Tension, and then, there's sort of a realisation that this is sexual tension. Sexual intimacy leads to a degree of panic, in part, because Severus still associates Sirius' touch with danger or a fight. It may not sound very compelling here, but I like that the hate's still there and Severus nips this in the bud before he has to kill Albus.
Excerpt from Severus making up his mind to end things, at the end of Ch 11:
But he had undergone worse losses than this for the cause, and he was sure Black would happily be relieved that he hadn’t done anything more than he had with disgusting old Snivellus. It was for the best, he decided, firmly ignoring the pit of dread in his stomach.Severus decides to tell Sirius about his end of the First War switch and how he had more of a role in Lily's death than most Order members know, and while some of his confidence that Sirius won't want anything to do with him is self-loathing and not thinking he'll survive long enough for this to matter, Sirius does back off and outright says that he doesn't want to pursue or act on his feelings at least once. I know it's not permanent, but there's still something very satisfying about this. Just having feelings or attraction doesn't magically fix things, you know?
“Sirius,” he whispered to himself, committing to memory the way his name felt on his tongue, like the incantation of a forbidden spell. It was alright here, in the shabbiness of his Muggle house, far away from where anybody could see, to say the name for the last time.
To me, the progression of their relationship lies more in the working together portion to look into horcruxes where Sirius and Severus build a certain amount of trust than any sort of culturally-Romantic gestures. (While I don't mind Hate to Love arcs that feature hate sex, this doesn't fall under the 'x number of sex scenes until we caught feelings' angle I've seen in some other fics.) I wouldn't say that the two hurt/comfort scenes are the big, definitive moments of realisation for Sirius and Severus, but they're not exactly nothing.
Excerpt from the first hurt/comfort scene, in Ch 11:
Snape pointed his wand at Sirius and began the incantation. It was a song, Sirius realised, astonished. It sounded like a lullaby, soothing and wistful and pure, but with the heaviness of a prayer. Sirius watched as the spell spooled out of Snape’s wand--golden, gossamer strings of magic dancing in the air, spinning and weaving a mesmerising tapestry of pure healing.
Sirius immediately felt a childlike sense of sleepiness overcome him, and he resisted the urge to close his eyes. The wound on his shoulder was knitting together and closing. The shining, golden strings were swaying in the air to Snape’s lilting voice, reminding Sirius of an old wizarding tale of fairies dancing their way down to the Earth on a moonbeam in the night.
(It's also a nice touch of world building for Severus creating things.)
The authors have indicated in the end notes that there's three chapters left, so it is possible that some of these impressions of when things shift for Sirius and Severus aren't set in stone. In hindsight, these hurt/comfort scenes might carry more importance, or there might be post-Second War scenes that sort of undo the resistance to admitting anything internally, for example. I suppose it'll depend on exactly how canon divergent the ending of the war will be.
Original Pillowfort post can be found here.
no subject
Date: Sunday, 24 December 2023 07:37 am (UTC)"Broken Me Found Broken You" is the fic where I had to recover from the fic equivalent of a book hangover. After I figured out that's what it was (publicly viewable community post).
The playlist introduced me to the Ruen Brothers.
For people who don't like surprise ships or relationship reveals that aren't tagged whatsoever: Regulus/Remus.
I can't say that this completely rules out some of the pining where Regulus lets others think he fancies an older witch because it is possible to have feelings when in a relationship. He also might be projecting an old crush or something. It's very much not the focus overall, so the reader's free to fill in some details.
no subject
Date: Sunday, 24 December 2023 07:38 am (UTC)A minor aside for "Beyond The Veil" that's also not related directly to the fic itself:
The only thing that's a bit :| is that I was skimming through the comments and saw someone post that this is the only good Sirius/Severus fic they'd ever read. ...Really? It seems like such a back-handed compliment, and I definitely find those kinds of comments irritating. (Like, I understand that there are people who won't be interested in any of my Sirius/Severus content at all, but also... That's the main ship. How did that commenter even find this then?)