Luthien's Slash Fiction
| Personal Fanfiction Website | |
|---|---|
| Website: | Luthien's Slash Fiction |
| Author: | Luthien |
| Dates: | 2002 – around 2018 |
| Fandom: | multifandom |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Luthien's Slash Fiction is Luthien's author site with fanfiction from several fandoms including Angel, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, Battlestar Galactica and Harry Potter. There is also a multi-fandom (mainly) slash recommendations page.
The recommendation page was a member of the Slash Recommendations webring. [1]
As of December 2002 there were fanfic recs for Angel, The Authority, Batman and Superman, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape, Harry Potter, Hercules and Xena, Horatio Hornblower, The Lord of the Rings, Queer As Folk (UK) and Stargate SG-1.[2]
The site moved in 2003 and became Luthien's Library.[3]
Screencaps
Fanfiction
Recs and Raves
Links
Luthien's Library (2008)
Luthien's Library (2013)
Recs and Raves
Harry PotterYes, the Harry Potter craze got me, too. I resisted for quite while - I even left the first two books on the shelf unread for a year or more - but I finally gave in to a friend's exhortations and read them. I didn't really expect this fandom to get to me and reel me in at all, much less as thoroughly as it has, but there you go. Never say never.
The most recent recommendations added to this page are all from the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest. These recommendations shouldn't in any way be interpreted as a special endorsement by me in my role as the Fest's archivist. The stories listed here are simply stories that I, as a reader, enjoyed. I intend to recommend further stories from the Fest archive in the future.
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 11/1/03
I discovered recently, and much to my surprise, that the first story Cybele wrote for the Fest, Le Lien des Beaux Rêves, was also her first slash story. She's certainly turned out some impressive stories in the relatively short time since then, including the Challenge, which was the last story she wrote for the Second Wave. The story begins two weeks from the end of Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts. As Gryffindor Quidditch captain, he's responsible for leading the rest of the Gryffindors in the annual prank competition with the Slytherins. This is one of those stories that starts out with what seems to be a straightforward set-up but deviates from what might be the expected path for it to take and becomes something quite different - deeper and more serious - by the time it's done.
One of the things I like most about the Challenge are the characterisations. Cybele has focused on one the most essential aspects of Harry's character, his tendency to meet a challenge head-on because it never occurs to him that he has any other option, even though the situation is one he doesn't want to be in. Similarly, Cybele homes in on some key aspects of Snape's behaviour. The combination of the two makes for a very interesting read.
The Challenge can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear by Diana WilliamsPairing: Snape/Lupin
Added to page 11/1/03
There's nothing deep or meaningful about the reasons why I like this story. The title sums it up nicely. Most of the story is about Snape's at first accidental and then later very much intentional forays into the world of cross-dressing. It's an entertaining story, which includes some very funny moments as Snape wrestles with the finer points of getting into female lingerie. There are also some extremely memorable descriptions of Snape once he achieves this end. The pairing is ostensibly Snape/Lupin, but Lupin only comes into the picture towards the end (although he does become central to the storyline in the sequels that follow this story.) However, in this first story the pairing is really more Snape/women's underwear than Snape/Lupin. I'm not objecting to that.
Walking 'Round in Women's Underwear can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Slowly But Exceeding Fine by Ellen FremedonPairing: Snape/Black
Added to page 11/1/03
Snape/Black is a difficult pairing to write well. This story shows that that is an achievable aim. Slowly But Exceeding Fine is, in a lot of ways, the Snape/Black story and invariably gets mentioned whenever someone asks for recommendations featuring this pairing. The characterisations are excellent and the story is long, as befits a story which properly explores a relationship between such an unlikely pair. However, Slowly But Exceeding Fine is much more than simply the story of a relationship. It's also the story of the final battle against Voldemort. Action, sex, angst and even cups of tea - this story has them all. It's also one of the most ambitious and very best of the 317 stories written for the first two waves of the Fest.
Slowly But Exceeding Fine can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Pairing: Snape/Bloody Baron
Added to page 11/1/03
This is a tug-at-the-heartstrings sad sort of story, without being especially dark or tragic - not in a showy way, anyway. This story is about the hurt of things that don't happen, until finally they do. Mortal Coil is a powerful story full of unspoken feelings, and is a great illustration of the different ways in which the writers taking part in the Fest rose to the challenge of writing a tricky pairing or scenario drawn at random in the First Wave. If you're familiar with the Ghost and Mrs Muir this story will strike a chord.
Mortal Coil can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
The Head of Slytherin by Minerva McTabbyPairing: Snape/Crabbe and Goyle (with Malfoy watching as a bonus)
Added to page 11/1/03
This is a wonderfully clever and smutty filk to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. In my experience, playing the midi and singing along during the first reading never fails to reduce the reader to paroxysms of helpless laughter. It's also very effective when sung by a group of thirty or so people...
Chorus:
Goyle and Crabbe were a disaster As erotic as cold pasta Till they shagged the Potions Master The Head of Slytherin!
The Head of Slytherin can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Change by NymPairing: Snape/Harry
Added to page 11/1/03
This is a great example of a short story in the true sense. It's only about 1500 words or so but Nym certainly uses those words to good effect. The story is set in some future in which Harry is hiding away from too much publicity. Snape telephones Harry from a public phone, and some backstory to their relationship is given in brief flashbacks during the course of their conversation. This story is concerned with saying a lot with few words, which it manages to do over and over again. One of my favourite lines is simply: "The coins went everywhere." In a story like this, context is all.
Change can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Pairing: Snape/Harry
Added to page 11/1/03
Seeker was the most prolific of all the authors who took part in the Fest, submitting a total of 32 stories during the first two waves. He wrote this story quite early on in the First Wave, and it remains a personal favourite. The story was a response to Scenario 55: Severus -- under Imperius -- seduces Harry at the Dark Lord's behest. I love the contrast of Snape's perspective on things -- that everything is completely normal -- near the beginning of the story against Harry's astounded view of the sequence of events in the scenes which follow. This is not a deep or greatly serious story, nor is it out and out comedy. It's great fun and a good story to have by you for a rainy afternoon.
The Perfect Plan can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Pairing: Snape/?
Added to page 11/1/03
There's not a lot of action in this story - it can best be summed up as: Snape ponders the meaning of love while brewing a love potion - and yet, a very important change has taken place by the time the story reaches its end. In Elusive, Smaragd has a point to make about the nature of love, and she does this very cleverly and clearly in the course of the story, taking Snape in a direction he does not expect. Most of the story is from Snape's point of view, and the details as seen from his perspective are one of the things which really make this story shine. All the little bits of information that the reader is provided with as Snape stands at his cauldron and does what he does best build the picture of both the man and his actions and contribute to making this story a memorable one for me.
Elusive can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
A Personal Service and Protect Me From What I Want by SpiralPairing: Snape/Neville
Added to page 11/1/03
A Personal Service is one of those unexpected little fanfic gems which turn up sometimes when you least expect them. This story turned out to be one of my very favourites from the Fest, though on the surface it sounds extremely unlikely to work, given the combination of pairing and subject matter. To summarise: it's a Neville foot fetish story. Getting the combination of pairing and theme to work is a great achievement; the story is also just a plain good read. To cap it off, Spiral followed it up with a sequel set several years later, which is mainly a PWP but along the way manages to reveal some rather interesting depths to Neville, not all of them admirable.
A Personal Service and Protect Me From What I Want can be found at the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest Archive
Pairing: No pairing (gen) Characters: Snape, McGonagall
Added to page 22/10/02
This story was written for the Severus Snape Fuh-q Fest and, even though it is gen rather than slash, there was no way we were not going to accept such a terrific and unexpected take on Snape. This is a great little story. Set during Snape's first year as a student at Hogwarts, it's also somewhat unusual in being a Snape-centric story written from McGonagall's point of view. I love how effective Bernice's writing is in this, that she makes me believe that this is not just any boy but definitely the boy who will grow into Snape. I also like the way she writes McGonagall, and the way in which the two characters reach a certain point of understanding by the end of the story. I enjoyed the humour of this piece, too, particularly the bits involving McGonagall in cat form.
Okay, so I like cats, and stories with cats in them. I admit it. If you're reading this page, then the likelihood is that you are a slasher, too, and so you probably own more than one cat yourself. Even if you don't, you'll enjoy this story. Trust me.
Out of the Bag and other stories by Bernice can be found at IIBNF Press
Harry Potter and the Polka Dot Plague by Marina FrantsPairing: No pairing (gen) Characters: Snape, Harry
Added to page 22/10/02
There's something about the very best gen stories that no other type of fanfic can really quite deliver and this story has that quality in spades. Harry Potter and the Polka Dot Plague could easily be an episode from canon: the same combination of humour mixed with more serious elements is present in this story, and the characterisations are dead-on. This story reminds me all over again that Snape is most definitely a good man but not a nice man. The interactions here between Harry and Snape are great, too, reminding the reader that, whatever else their relationship might be, it's never going to be neutral or easy.
There are some great little touches throughout the story, both comic and more dark. The results of sending Hagrid out to obtain some Muggle medicine make me chuckle every time I read that passage. On the more serious side of things, Harry's concern for Snape's well-being, and the way Marina links back to canon for the reasons behind that concern, brings home the uncomfortable reminder that Harry has first hand experience and knowledge of some difficult truths that no one his age should have to understand.
Oh, and what is the polka dot plague of the title? Think 'wizarding measles'. This is likely to be the only story you will ever read which includes the line: "Snape produced his best sneer, uncomfortably aware that the effect was probably being ruined by polka dots."
Harry Potter and the Polka Dot Plague and other stories by Marina Frants can be found at Fanfiction by Marina Frants & Keith R.A. DeCandido
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 22/10/02
Like Marina's story above, the Familiar contains a deft mix of comedy and more serious issues which really suits this particular fandom universe. On the surface, this story is fairly straightforward: at the end of his seventh year, after the war is over, Harry declares that he doesn't care where he goes so long as he's no longer at Hogwarts. Then he accidentally turns himself into a frog and spends an amphibious Summer under Snape's care.
This is a simple story which somehow ends up being more substantial than scores of multiple part epics out there. Every word matters, and every time I read this story I notice extra little bits and pieces which contribute to the overall effect of the piece.
The Familiar is one of those stories in which the characters make a personal journey while remaining physically in the same place. Harry, in particular, is making several journeys at once, including recovering from the effects of the war and finding his way to a fulfilling life. It's a journey that takes him from the last vestiges of childhood to true adulthood, and from a schoolboy's unequal dealings with his teacher to a balanced relationship between two adults.
The Familiar and other stories by Resonant can be found at in medias Res
War Begets Quiet and Noise by TelanuPairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 22/10/02
When it comes to recommending the stories that I really, really like, they tend to fall into one of two categories: either I want - need - to rave on about them in detail and at length, or I find it very difficult to say much at all about them. These two stories by Telanu fall very much into the second category. I really can't talk about these stories much. As with all of Telanu's stories, they're very well-written, but they're different in tone from both the 'Tea' series and the lighter 'Coffee' stories, both of which are listed elsewhere on this page. War Begets Quiet and Noise are set more than seventy years in the future, and show us a Snape and Harry like no other. These stories are about love and pain, and the strength and trueness of emotion that they communicate are what stop me from wanting to talk about them in any detail. These stories hurt, and that's something which has to be experienced through reading.
War Begets Quiet, Noise and other stories by Telanu can be found at The Rag and Bone Shop
A Spirit of Brotherhood by torchPairing: No pairing (gen) Characters: Snape, Lupin, Black
Added to page 22/10/02
This story by torch is another one of those that falls into that second category of mine. I like it a great deal but it's hard to really put into words just how well it works. It's not a story in which it's easy to point out things and say, "I like this and that about it." The whole thing, its completeness, is one of the most important aspects of it for me. This story has a basic set-up and not much in the way of action: Dumbledore has sent Snape, Sirius and Remus off to perform an important spell together. Not much happens beyond that, and yet there's a lot to this story. Once I've said that, though, I start reaching for terms like 'subtle characterisation and storytelling' and 'smooth style' and they just don't do this story nearly enough justice, so I won't try.
One thing I can say, though: if, like most of us, one of the reasons you read fanfic is because you want to explore the characters you know from canon, then this story will definitely deliver.
A Spirit of Brotherhood and other stories by torch can be found at The Flambeau Factory
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 19/7/02
This is a wonderfully hot PWP, in every sense. It's set in Summer and everything is hot - really, really hot. Harry's spending the Summer at Hogwarts, wandering about wearing very little and just barely teetering on the age of consent. Meanwhile, Snape's lurking in his dungeons trying to not look at Harry and just getting hotter and hotter. Finally, they end up high in a tower together one evening, and there's a scene involving an icecube...
This is a really good example of the 'suspend your disbelief, sit back and just enjoy it' type of PWP. There's no point in getting too wound up about characterisation issues in a story like this, or, if you're not American, in letting the occasional Americanism get to you too much (the main one that tripped me up was when I realised Snape was wearing suspenders in the American sense rather than the British - such disappointment. *g*) This story doesn't pretend to be anything more than what it is - and it succeeds at being what it is very, very well.
Into the Fire and other stories by Aspen can be found at Paper Moon
The Skull Beneath the Skin by Ellen FremedonPairing: Snape/Lupin
Added to page 19/7/02
This is one of those stories that I could rave on about at length. It's beautifully written and sad and poignant and hopeful and sexy and... Really, it's a story that I could go through paragraph by paragraph pointing out all the things I like about it. Ellen makes Snape a sympathetic character by digging deep, under his skin and into his past, without softening him into OOC-ness. This Snape is shaped into the man he is by the circumstances of his past, which in turn made perfect sense of his being a virgin. It's exactly the right state for him at the beginning of this story, though virgin!Snape is something that doesn't usually make sense for me in terms of my own ideas about the character.
Another thing that makes this story stand out for me is the way in which Ellen portrays Lupin. He exhibits a quiet strength here that I think is very in keeping with how the character is in the canon - and very different from how he is written in a lot of the fanfic out there. The way in which the connections between Snape and Lupin - both the attraction between them and the similarities of the burden each bears - are woven into the story is both subtle and sure. It's a pleasure to read a story and feel that I am in the hands of an author who knows exactly what she's doing with the words she is using.
This is my favourite story featuring this pairing.
The Skull Beneath the Skin and other stories by Ellen Fremedon can be found at Ellen Fremedon's Fanfic
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 19/7/02
There is a lot more to this story than might appear at a first glance. On the surface, it's a quite inventive set-up for writing some Snape/Harry smut, set when Harry has come back to Hogwarts "as the DADA teacher and assistant Quidditch coach. And, in his spare time, continuing the fight against Voldemort." There's also that humorous touch, as evidenced in that sentence I just quoted, which makes you think that this is going to be a short, light confection topped off with a sex scene or two.
But it isn't. Very early on, the thing that grabbed me about this story was the underlying sadness and loneliness in both Snape and Harry, and that continued strongly as the story took a somewhat unexpected turn into the realm of hurt/comfort. This Snape is a little harder and snarlier than the way in which Minx portrays him in some of her other stories, but she also manages to reveal the depths of the man to us along the way. I like her adult Harry, too, desperate to do whatever it takes to rid the world of the dark lord. It's not all that often that I read a story featuring an adult Harry who has yet to defeat Voldemort, so that made this story a little different for me, too.
For Services Rendered and other stories by Minx can be found at Ex Libris Snape
The Sins of Omission series by NymPairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 19/7/02
Where do I begin with this series? I suppose 'at the beginning' is a good place. This is one of my favourite series in the fandom, by one of my favourite writers in any fandom. Consequences was Nym's first try at writing in this fandom. It's very short, just a little scene-let, but it is the start of something large and complex, for both the characters and the readers. Harry and Snape share a kiss while imprisoned together in a cell. The reader doesn't know where they are - it seems likely that the characters don't know exactly where they are, either - but it doesn't look like they're going to survive much longer. Against the odds, though, something happens which allows them to escape and then they must live with the consequences of their actions. If you're familiar with Star Trek fanfic, or fanfic from a host of other fandoms for that matter, then the mental and magical link that Snape and Harry share here may seems somewhat familiar. As with any well-worn plot device, though, a good enough writer can always find a fresh way of using it and this series is a great example of that.
The second story, Sins of Omission is, I think, my favourite. I love Snape in first person pov, and Nym captures him brilliantly here. He's tormented and mean and - at times - overwhelmed by a connection to a power that out-strips his own. He is also possessed of a smart-alecky mirror which talks back. The third story, No Greater Sin is primarily from Harry's point of view, and serves as a great contrast to the interior workings of Snape's mind that we were shown in the previous story.
The series is not yet complete - one or two further stories are planned - and I look forward with great anticipation - and not a little trepidation - to finding out just what Nym has in store for these two characters in the end.
The Sins of Omission series, comprising Consequences, Sins of Omission, and No Greater Sin, and other stories by Nym can be found at Amplexus.org
The Blurring the Lines series by Rachael SabotiniPairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 19/7/02
This series starts with Snape finally getting what everyone has always said he wanted most - the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts. It's an interesting set-up, with lots of opportunities for action and reaction on the parts of several different characters. There are some terrific descriptions of Snape that paint a very strong picture of him: he is his nasty, sarcastic sexy self here, the master of his classroom. Harry is equally well-portrayed, unflinchingly standing up to the challenge that is Snape. I love the atmosphere between them in this series. At present, it's pre-slash but the tension is building more and more with each story. By the third story, Harry is really focused on Snape but he's too young and inexperienced to realise that such awareness of another human being almost always has a sexual element to it. Breaking point should be interesting, whenever it occurs.
The first two stories in the series are really only concerned with Harry and Snape, but by the third story, Rache has started bringing other characters, like Ron and Hermione, into play. I love the way in which she grounds the characters in the canon relationships. Harry at school isn't complete without Ron and Hermione being there with him, and she's got them exactly right in this in both the ways in which they relate to Harry and how they act more generally. I also like the little touches - like the desks in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom being infused with a charm to stop them from being destroyed or badly damaged by magical means - which remind the reader that this story is set in JK Rowling's world.
I'm looking forward to the next installment in this series.
The Blurring the Lines series, - comprising, so far, Night Music, Shadows by Candlelight and Standing Circle - and other stories by Rachael Sabotini can be found at Rachael Sabotini's House o' Fanfic
Pairing: Snape/Lockhart
Added to page 19/7/02
Yes, an unlikely pairing, but Seeker makes it work. In fact, Seeker achieves something even more difficult in this story - he makes Lockhart into a sympathetic, believable character while building on, rather than departing from, the facts about him that have been established in canon.
The plot here is simple and uncomplicated. In the aftermath of the memory spell that backfired on him at the end of CoS, Lockhart tries to come to terms with his situation in life and - even more mystifying - why everyone he meets seems to despise him. Bereft of the persona of Gilderoy Lockhart, the character is revealed both in personality and physically to be something quite different from the face he showed the world. The future isn't looking too bright for Lockhart until one night when he chances to cross paths with a Hogwarts teacher enduring an enforced holiday...
My summary really doesn't do this story justice. Just read it and I'm sure you'll see just why this one has stuck in my mind for months after reading it.
Potio and other stories by Seeker can be found at Ink Stained Fingers
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 19/7/02
Telanu's major sequence of Harry/Snape stories (see recommendation below from last November) has been nicknamed the Tea series. It seems appropriate that she should also have a Coffee series to go with it. These two little stories shouldn't be taken too seriously, though. They're light and humorous, and set in an AU future several years after Voldemort's defeat, a future in which Harry has returned to Hogwarts as assistant Quidditch Coach. The first story, Your Horoscope For Today, is based around the idea that Snape really needs his coffee each morning to properly start the day. Unfortunately, the coffeemaker is broken... The second story, Oh, Just This Once, is the prequel to Your Horoscope For Today, and makes a very convincing case for alcohol in the punch as a good way of getting around all those long, angsty storylines that take forever to get the characters into bed together. *g*
These stories are fun examples of a very good writer at play. They make me smile.
The Coffee series, comprising Your Horoscope for Today and Oh, Just this Once, and other stories by Telanu can be found at The Rag and Bone Shop
Pairing: Harry/Snape
Added to page 24/11/01
Yes, I can imagine what you're thinking. A week ago I would have been thinking it, too. I will start by saying two things:
1. This series does not feature sex between an adult and a minor; 2. If you are underage you shouldn't be looking at this site at all, since I have warnings up everywhere. However, just the same, I wish to make it very clear that this review, like almost all the others on this page, is for an adult story, so heed the warnings.
Okay, now that's out of the way I can tell you why this is one of the best slash series I've ever read. I was surfing pages looking for Snape/Lupin, mostly, when I stumbled onto these. I was prepared to be squicked by the very idea of such a pairing; I can't even remember how it was that I came to skim over the beginning of one of the stories in this series. It became quickly apparent to me, though, that the author was an extremely good writer so I read on a bit further. I was somewhat reassured that, apart from the first story, which is a sort of prologue in which Harry does not appear at all, these stories are all set when Harry is 15 or older and that very little in the way of physical contact happens between Harry and Snape before Harry reaches the age of consent (that being 16 in the UK.)
These stories proved to be classic examples of why I read slash - and fanfic - at all. I adore stories that make me want to keep reading regardless of theme or genre, simply through compelling writing, and these are right up there with the very best that I have read.
Telanu has captured Rowling's world and style, including the humorous and magical touches. And the characterisations are perfect. This is a series about growing up, as much as anything else, and Harry's attempts at coming to terms with sexual feelings for the first time are touching and painful and real -and complicated, not least because he's Harry Potter and the person he wants is someone he shouldn't want for about three dozen good reasons. And then there's Snape. He's still the nasty Potions Master, but I defy anyone not to feel for him when he declares, quite desperately, that he is not a monster.
As I've said, there's very little in the way of physical contact between the main characters before Harry reaches the age of consent. However, the characters strike sparks off each other to such a degree that there's no doubt at all that they are experiencing an unwilling and powerful attraction. Add to that a couple of kisses as intense and memorable as many a graphic sex scene I have read and you should have a reasonable idea of why I love this series.
Well, I hope I've convinced you to give it a try. Maybe you'll even end up joining me, and quite a few others, in waiting for the fifth story in the series.
The Tea series, comprising A Most Disquieting Tea, its sequels, Almost, At Times, the Fool, Like a Glass and Corresponding, and other stories by Telanu can be found at The Rag and Bone Shop
References
- ^ Slash Recommendations, 02 May 2002, via Wayback. (Accessed 24 July 2011)
- ^ Luthien's Recs and Raves, via Wayback 05 December 2002. (Accessed 25 July 2011)
- ^ See http://luthien.ebonyx.org/ (Accessed 25 July 2011)