Guest Post: Abbie Weinberg on Fanfic- Part 2

Continued from Part I. Abbie’s discussion of fanfic and its culture continues, focused on Harry Potter fandom. With story recommendations!

Part II:
With the sheer volume of both people and stories involved in Harry Potter fandom, there is a niche for most anyone. However, as with any fandom, some knowledge of canon (the characters, events and facts established in the author’s original world) is essential. At this point, since book 7 (Deathly Hallows) has been released, HP canon is now complete, and everyone really ought to read all 7 books before diving into fan fiction. Spoiler warnings will often be given on stories, but those are becoming less and less common. As always, read anything at your own risk!

Stories range from 100 word “drabbles” to completed novel-length tales. Ratings on the stories go from G to NC-17, and cover all genre of writing possible. Whether your preference is genfic or slash (that is, stories that do not focus on a relationship or ones that have a male/male pairing), missing moments or AUs (stories that fill in scene that are missing from the books or alternate universes), whether you’re a rabid H/G shipper or believe that H/D is your OTP (i.e. you strongly prefer reading stories where the pairing is Harry & Ginny and hate reading anything else, or you firmly believe that Harry and Draco are the One True Pairing), there is a website, or at least part of a website, out there for you.

When asked, I tend to say that I’ll read just about any HP fanfic as long as it’s well written and can suck me in. However, I have noticed that my favorite stories tend to fall into several specific categories. Since book 7 (Deathly Hallows) has been released, canon is now complete, so all of following stories can really be considered AU’s. Some are just more-so than others:

Super!Harry: Some authors feel that Harry just isn’t smart/powerful/superlative enough in the books and give him extra goodies. Sometimes this works. Othertimes… well, let’s just say, it can get very painful very quickly. For some really really GOOD super!Harry stories, I’ll read (and re-read) anything by Jeconais, but I’m particularly fond of the following:
This Means War
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Pairing: Harry/Ginny
Word Count: 224,766
Summary: When the Weasley Boys interfere in Ginny’s relationship with Dean, they make the biggest mistake of their lives. The witch decides that revenge is in order, and her first point of call is a new boyfriend – Harry.

White Knight, Grey Queen
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Romance
Pairing: Harry/Pansy
Word Count: 191,073
Summary: When Pansy finds herself on the wrong side of Voldemort, she persuades her parents that only one person could help them. Harry. A story that looks at what could happen if Harry had someone who loved him, someone who would push him, and someone who would back him financially.

Hope
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fluff
Pairing: Harry/Gabrielle
Word Count: 198,768
Summary: A man who is lost in his own country. A girl who needs her mate to survive. A tale of Quidditch and romance, of anger and betrayal, of friendship and enmity. A story of the power of hope.

Do-Overs: Someone (usually Harry) gets sent back in time, generally to the beginning of his first year at Hogwarts, to try to do things over, only get it right this time:
Harry Potter and the Nightmares of Futures Past by Viridian
Note: This is a WIP (work in progress, not yet completed)
Rating: R (mostly for violence and occasional swearing)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Romance, Tragedy
Pairing: Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, but mostly gen
Word Count: 345,063
Summary: Thirteen years after leaving Hogwarts, Harry Potter finally destroys the last Horcrux and obliterates Voldemort, ending his reign of terror. Too bad everyone Harry cares about is dead now. A chance discovery sends… part of… Harry back into the past. No matter that Voldemort will be alive again – Harry is determined that this time, things will be different!

Harry Potter and the Quantum Leap by Seel’vor
Note: This is a WIP
Rating: R (mostly for language)
Genre: Action/Adventure/Suspense
Pairing: Harry/Hermione
Word Count: 204,613
Summary: Harry won the war… and lost his wife. When faced with a revolutionary new piece of technology, he destroys the future in order to rewrite his own past.

Manipulative!Dumbledore: In the books, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore comes across as somewhat manipulative but not overly so. Some authors have taken this tendency to the Nth degree, sometimes to the point of insanity or true evilness. When done properly, this can add a lot of great dramatic tension to a story, as Harry basically has to fight a war on two fronts – one against Voldemort and one against Dumbledore. Pretty much anything the husband/wife team that goes by the authorial name of Bobmin has written falls into this category. I would suggest starting with their epic tale:
Sunset Over Britain
Rating: R
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, General, Romance
Pairing: Harry/Hermione
Word Count: 378,513
Summary: Harry’s life at the end of his 5th year was in utter chaos and his life was not going to get any better any time soon. From the flames, a brotherhood thought dead will reemerge, a family will break, trust will be destroyed, an enemy will change their path, a father will finally be found, a love will bring hope, and a hero shall rise from the ashes to become the legend he was born to be. Adult Situations

Alternate Sorting: What if Harry were Sorted into a different house? How would that change the stories? What about other characters?
They Shook Hands by Dethryl
Rating: PG
Genre: Alternate Universe, General
Pairing: None
Word Count: 93,430
Summary: “I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been – where are my manners?” The boy held out his hand. “I’m Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.” Not knowing what else to do, Harry took the boy’s hand. “Harry Potter.” A friendly handshake in Madam Malkin’s leads to an AU which is eerily like the canon, featuring a cast of first year Slytherins as you’ve never seen them: normal children. Join Harry Potter and his new friends as they discover their magical talents and help him to explore the world that has been kept from him these past ten years.

Harry Potter and the Quantum Leap (see Do-Overs category above) also falls into this one.

What-ifs and true AUs: What if one person knew the truth of what happened the night of Halloween, 1981? What if Snape was Harry’s… father?! What if there was more magic going on during that fateful night than anyone guessed? These are only a few of the possibilities out there in fanfic…
Living with Danger by whydoyouneedtoknow
Rating: PG/PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Pairing: None yet
Word Count: 202,540
Summary: First in the Danger series. What if Harry Potter had not just father figures, but mother figures as well? What if he had siblings? And what about Hermione Granger, or Draco Malfoy? Would they have been different with a different family? What if Sirius Black had a girlfriend named Aletha, his fellow Beater and constant verbal sparring partner? And what if Remus Lupin, one gray March day about five months after his world fell apart, met a woman named Danger who knew things that would change his life forever? Features Weasleys and Luna Lovegood in later chapters.

Blood Magic by GatewayGirl
Rating: R (not much graphic sex, more language and issues)
Genre: Drama, Angst
Pairing: None, really
Word Count: 335,560
Summary: Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry safe, but his relatives are expendable. Blood magic was supposed to keep Harry looking like his adoptive father, but it’s wearing off. Blood is a bond, but so is the memory of hate — or love.

The Lie I’ve Lived by Jbern
Note: This is a WIP
Rating: R (a little nudity, mostly because the Hat has a potty mouth. no really. it makes sense in context)
Word Count: 138,766
Summary: Not all of James died that night. Not all of Harry lived. The Triwizard Tournament as it should have been and a hero discovering who he really wants to be.

I consider myself more of a reader than a writer (ha! you say, glancing back up at the previous 1000+ words…) but it wasn’t a hard transition to go from reading fanfic to writing it. I’m notoriously bad at coming up with and following through with my own ideas, so most of my completed stories have been written for fic exchanges on various LiveJournal communities. For these, participants sign up with information about what kind of stories they’re willing to write and what kind of story they want to receive in turn. A moderator then matches up gift-ers and gift-ees and assignments are sent out, and authors (or artists – many exchanges can be done for either writing or art) have several months to complete their gift. Here are a few of my own (shameless plug here) that I’m particularly proud of:

For Want of a…
(Gen, MWPP & Co, written for the 2007 LiveJournal hp_holidaygen exchange)

Best Left Unsaid
(Gen, the Black sisters, written for the Summer 2006 LiveJournal femgenficathon)

The Cabinet War Rooms
(Gen, Dumbledore, WWII era piece, written in 2005, so long before either of the last two books came out and therefore obviously does not take them into account!)

Whew! That’s enough for the moment. I’ll wrap things up in Part III because I think my hostess will pummel me over the head with a stuffed tiger if I make this part any longer!