stashandtell

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Thirteen Freckles

Pairing: Hermione x Theo Words: 250 Tags: Secret Romance, Goodbyes, Obliviation, No HEA AO3 Link This is my first flash fic! It's a sketch of a longer fic I've been ploting. See the end for author's notes. ******************

Thirteen Freckles

“Theo,” she whispered as his lips captured hers. “I’ll miss you,” Hermione breathed out as hungry hands grasped for the other. 

Theo had exactly thirteen visible freckles. Small, dark spots so imperfect and kissable. She made the familiar path round his face, chastely pressing her lips to each and every one. The ritual began clockwise at the fleck on his chin. Clockwise to call in her love for this boy. Clockwise to bring in protection. 

After she had greeted numbers ten and eleven, she set her attention to the one at the center point where his swallows of anticipation bobbed their excitement. 

At number thirteen, she pushed her tongue out to taste it, causing him to groan and pull back. 

Hermione yanked on his tie, holding him still, as her mouth devoured her very favorite spot on his neck. The warm place where he pulsed, between his Adam's apple and the corner of his jawbone. She wanted to live there and never be made to leave.

“You won't even miss me,” he countered. “But we’ll see each other on the other side,” the double meaning a prayer and a promise; a curse and a contract. He held her as close as he could, unwilling to see her face as the tears finally fell. 

He pulled her wand from her robe pocket and squeezed tighter, summoning his intention. They could do this. They had to do this.

“Obliviate” he whispered with regret.

The girl he loved went limp in his arms.

****************** Author's Notes & Asking for Feedback I've never dabbled in shortie-shortie-short forms. If you read my post On Raising the Stakes, you might have seen I've been slowly plotting out a work called Mutual Oblivion, where Hermione and Theo have to obliviate the memories of their secret relationship before the war heats up. When they come back for 8th year, they don't get their memories restored by their Secret Keeper and we find out if they come back together with all this new history between them and no memory of their shared past. (Spoiler: it's an HEA, despite how this flash fic is tagged. Don't worry, it's still me so you know it's gonna be angsty and pining.) A Discord I'm in got me inspired to try writing short-short fics and this came out of it. Admittedly, I don't read much in the way of drabbles but would love some recs.

I have several other longer projects I'm really excited about so it could be nice to try to progress Mutual Oblivian in this format. It could be a fun experiment to try writing in short-form chapters because the worst thing that could happen is that I don't end up liking it and I rewrite it. What are your thoughts on drabbles+, drabble collections and stories told through drabbles+, and would you want to read Mutual Oblivian if the chapters were like Thirteen Freckles, without lots of exposition?

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Can't agree more. Wish it wasn't me.

the holy grail types of fanfic

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New Fic - Our Alcove

Read Our Alcove on AO3. One of the early Nevmione stories I wrote when I started this fanfiction journey was a convoluted mess of a first attempt where I tried to do too many things in one story. What came out of that vomit draft was two glorious scenes that eventually drove the newest fic I've just finished posting: Our Alcove. I hadn't set out to write a 5+1 story but when I put together the main scenes I wanted to take place in the alcove where Hermione and Neville kept meeting, I realized that this was a 5+1 story structure, with some mini-short chapters to cover the years where they didn't have a significant meet up. This is my first multi-chapter fic that I'm posting and I'm learning what I enjoy and what I don't about putting out a multi-chapter. Of course it took me longer to post than I had planned due to irl life taking a priority, but also this fic gave me some unexpected troubles and I'm a stronger writer for puzzling them out. I thought I had most of this fic worked out over the summer, so I tabled it until December, thinking I'd do a last editing pass or two and post it for the holiday season. It's not a holiday fic but magic mistletoe is one of the tags, and two of the chapters take place right before Christmas in the canon. When I went back to revise the story though, I found a number of plot holes and unintentional red herrings. There were also writing opportunities to plant easter eggs and offer payoffs that I found satisfying. The Cursed Lovers tapestry was also a thing that deserved some real consideration, as originally the tapestry idea I had was about witchhunts and was largely just a placeholder. (Read more about the story of Rhys and Meinir, the inspiration for the Cursed Lovers tapestry that ended up in the final version of this story here.)

I also found myself writing an epilogue that made me smile. I'm not someone who needs or even enjoys an epilogue most of the time but I'm glad I was randomly inspired, even if part of me was annoyed that it added time to my publishing process. What was great about the epilogue was that it helped me finalize some decisions in the story. What was challenging about the epilogue was that I ended up editing the story in reverse-order, meaning that I couldn't just publish chapter 6 and then continue working. Chapters 6 and 8 were deeply connected and needed to be well-aligned. One thing I noticed about this story is the formality of my writing. The style is more flowery than I've been tending to write lately and maybe that's a holdover from it being an earlier work. Or maybe that's just the voice I take on when writing Nevmione. There's something about that pairing that brings out the genteel, psudo-regency-inspired author in me. It's not how I enjoy writing normally but it's fun to write this way for a fic or two. Our Alcove was fun to write ultimately even if there were times I felt like I was dragging my feet on it. It's the kind of canon-justified braincandy fic I want to read when I want to vibe with my OTP and I hope readers enjoy it.

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Rhys and Meinir - A Welsh Tragic Love Story

I'm currently in the process of publishing Our Alcove, a Nevmione fic that has 5 out of 8 chapters up. A longer post about this fic will happen soon but I wanted to share some background on the story woven on the tapestry I keep referencing. The folktale of Rhys and Meinir is a tragic love story that hails from Wales. I found this article on Welsh Love Legends as a reference point, though there are many good sources out there to learn more. If you haven't read the author's notes at the end of Ch. 5, here's the summary of Rhys and Menir:

The tragic love story of Rhys and Meinir is a real Welsh folktale. The tale goes that Rhys and Meinir were young and and had been in love since they were children. As they were set to be married, tradition in their community called for the bride-to-be to run and hide. The groomsmen would go out, find her, and bring her to the church for the wedding ceremony, in good-natured fun.

Well, Meinir went and hid and the groomsmen could not find her. A search began but no sign of her turned up.

Some months later, Rhys went to a meeting spot of theirs at an oak tree. When he arrived, he found she had gotten stuck hiding inside the tree and had died. He perished on the spot from shock and a broken heart.

(Having the bride hide and be found is also a tradition for some in Germany. If you've watched that episode of The Office, it's based on real folk practices.) I wanted to make the tapestry on the alcove meaningful and tied into the plot of the fic in some way, even though it was initially supposed to be a small detail. Originally I had invented a scene and historical wizarding event I affectionately called, "The Sister Witches of the Burning Times." The name kept getting longer each time I wrote it out but it wasn't intended to be a gag. This fic originally centered around Neville and Hermione meeting up in their alcove after the Final Battle and a tapestry that had similar, war-like energy seemed like a strong parallel. But when I turned this into a 5+1 story and mini-companion to the canon, it seemed obvious the tapestry should be some kind of love story and have a larger role. And if you've read my fic, Spawn-A-Spawn Or Go To Az-kah-bahn, then you know I have a soft spot for a working with tragedy. (Our Alcove is absolutely NOT a tragedy. It's a happy ending, I promise!) I read other good posts about famous love stories in Britain, Ireland, Scottland and elsewhere (this one of Irish love stories is still open in a tab so I'm dropping it here if you're interested. I know nothing about these sites.) It was challenging to find the right one until I found the tale Rhys and Meinir and I hope people enjoy how it weaves through my story.

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Rare Pair New Fic: That One Night In Paris

Read That One Night In Paris on AO3 A rare pairs server I’m in had a fun challenge where they roll some die and you end of with an era of Harry Potter and a character who makes up the half the rare pairing you’re writing for. They had the option to get a “chaos roll” that included another element that you had to work in.

Mine were:

Era- Fantastic Beasts

Character- Krall

Chaos Roll- Ghost: Professor Binns

Like several of the challenges I’ve tried out or considered doing, the minimum length is a drabble and that’s not a length of story I normally go for. I would like to start exercising my writing muscles by writing drabbles but I tend to be a long-winded bastard. My rewrites are largely spent trimming things back.

I remember seeing the first Fantastic Beasts movie with my dad, back when I wasn’t aware of JKR’s heinous views and didn’t have a problem paying to see a HP-world movie. We loved seeing the latest HP movies when they came out and it was a nice tradition while it lasted.

That said, I remember almost nothing about the film other than I liked Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and the suitcase was a very, very fun and clever device for the story and world.

I don’t know anything about the character Krall and had to rely exclusively on one article in the HP Fandom Wiki for scraps of info. I struggled even coming up with a concept until I decided to make it more relevant to my interests by pairing him with my girl, Augusta Longbottom.

Augusta Longbottom is not a sympathetic character in the canon. Frankly, like many of the adults in the books, one could make the case that her severity borderlined on the edge of emotional abuse, at least by the way it seems to effect Neville.

In the fandom, if you read Neville pairings, Augusta can be pretty badass though. I prefer my Augusta to be tactical and staunchly supportive of Neville, coming around to see him as his own man and loving him for who he is. (I’m currently rereading what may be my number-one-all-time-absolute-fave-fic, Amends, or Truth and Reconciliation. She's the BEST Augusta in that story.) What no one tells you about writing fanfiction is how much math you're gonna do. For this one-shot, I had to first determine how plausible the the pairing could be in the timeline. I mean really I didn't have to, but solving these kinds of problems can be so satisfying. An example: Augusta and Krall have to meet at one of the latest points in his life and one the earliest points in her young adult life. The info on Krall that I found indicates he dies in 1927 or later. This means Augusta is likley born around 1920 and, to not draw too much attention to her age, she should be 17 in the story. For Augusta and Krall to overlap back then, she likely couldn't have been pregnant with Frank in her 20's, otherwise Frank and Alice would have bore the brunt of justifying how Neville was born in 1980. The time between Augusta's birth (in this story) and Neville's is a 70-year span. Augusta would be in her mid- to late-60's in the first war and in her 80's for the second war. Even if you have Frank closer in age to Molly and Arthur Weasley (older than Lily and the Marauders) and born in the 1950's -- with generosity, the youngest Augusta could have been when she had Frank would be 40 years old. Wixen are longer lived and plenty of people have babies in their 40's...but I did have to do math on scratch paper several times, with the phone calculator, to make sure it worked-- otherwise my brain would not have been able to write this fic. - - - - I know this rare pair will be harder for people to find and will have low readership but I am glad I wrote it. It was fun. Despite posting it in December, the fic was basically done in September, when it was due. But I'm glad I waited to post because I did find other areas to shore up.

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On Raising The Stakes

I have exactly two people that I can yammer on about fanfiction to and one has never read Harry Potter nor knows anything about the fandom. The other is a recent internet friend and we mostly, exclusively, talk about our random headcanons related to the Weasley family members. I thought about dropping this into one of the author-discussion channels in a discord but, ultimately. as a verbal processor, I'm seeking my own council. So I'm here, processing my thoughts, as a part of me thinks documenting the process and making it available to anyone interested is a more useful exercise than privately journaling about it. There's probably some kernels of wisdom in here though they're half-cooked, which means I have been chewing on mouthfuls of not-fully-popped-popcorn, in my mind. I'm working on a fic occassionally whose working title is currently Mutual Oblivion. The basis is that Hermione and Theo fall for each other in 6th year and have a fling while his father is in Azkaban. When his father breaks out, Theo and Hermione agree to pull their memories of their relationship and hide them until later, then they will Obliviate themselves. Well, rather, he will Obliviate her and his friend will Oblivate him. Originally I was setting Daphne up to be the trusted friend and the only other person who knew of this relationship. The likelihood of her getting Legillimens'ed was pretty low and maybe he and Daph were betrothed and figuring out how to get out of it. WHO KNOWS? I CERTAINLY DON'T. This week I've been thinking that without a better storyline or role for Daphne, the better, more dramatic opportunity for this fic to have more serious stakes is for DRACO to be the keeper of the box with the memories. I'm not sure how much he knows about Theo or if he can Obliviate Theo's memories without knowing more-- but I'm sure I can find a way to make that work. If Draco keeps the memories, I will also have the box that contains them hidden by him in the Room of Hidden Things, with all the other "stuff" of the castle. So, that has to be something that happens when they're escaping Fiendfyre in the final battle...something I didn't really want to write. Ultimately, I wanted this to be a shorter, multi-chapter fic focusing on their forbidden 6th year love and then them coming back together in 8th year, re-falling in love without their memories. I also want to explore Hermione and Theo coming up with the Obliviate plan for Hermione's parents, to protect them. I imagine him going to her home with her or meeting up with her for the winter holiday. Maybe. The longfic I'm writing about Theo, Hermione, and Neville in a love triangle has some overlapping headcanons, but I think there is enough distinctive storylines and the opportunity for me to write a slightly different tone to Theo's character that this should be interesting enough. I guess I'm just annoyed I'm going to have to deal with Draco in this fic when I really was looking forward to exploring a female friendship with a Slytherin for Hermione. I suppose I could have both Draco and Daphne in on it.

But because I like writing difficult, semi-tragic or at least deep hurt/comfort mixed with serious angst, I need to honor and escalate the stakes so I have more to work with. It feels like the Muse demands Draco and I probably shouldn't fight her about it. Right?

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On Murder As A Love Language

I published this fic by the skin of my teeth at the deadline for this mini-fest I signed up for. If we're splitting hairs, I hit publish minutes after the 11:59 pm cutoff but only by a short bit. My literal brain interpreted the instructions for the Dreomione Appreciation All Hallows Mini Fest 2024 that the FEST was a small endeavor-- NOT that the FICS were supposed to be mini-sized. I'm a dum-dum, lol. That's okay though, I don't currently enjoy writing ficlets or very short pieces. I'm going through a phase where I have a lot to say. I was really psyched to come across this fest, as it was the first one I participated in-- and I liked the prompt enough. "Murder as a Love Language and optional: Cum Swallowing" I hadn't written triads, murder, nor intentional cum-swallowing smut, so I thought this was a fun, low-stakes opportunity to push my writing.

I read a Theomione fic a few months ago called "A Gift" by daisesnotroses, which was the first time I had thought about or read a murder-as-a-love-language type fic. It left an impression on me. It was a definitely fic-cracky and fun even though totally insane. Theo is a maniac and Hermione loves him for it. (Note, there is non-con in there, so this definitely isn't for everyone.) I loved Theo's psychotic level of devotion to Hermione and wanted to bring in that spirit into my fic. I do love me a soft, vulnerable, subby Theo. While not the most compelling version of Theo in the longer fic I prefer to read, a one shot with him letting Draco and/or Hermione boss him around is FOR me. When Theo is the recipient of the love language, it makes sense to off Nott Sr. in the story. The fandom has made him a complete, unrepentant villain and I'm not above making him suffer for Theo's benefit. There's not much to say other than it was fun writing smut. I'm not much of a write-on-the-phone person, but I was madly working on this while waiting in line at a concert, trying to get it squared away by the deadline. My goal was not to overthink it and I'm happy with the way this fic turned out with all the constraints I was under. Sometimes it is better to just get it out there.

Read Murder As A Love Language on AO3 by StashAndTell

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When Inspiration Strikes

Why is it when you have, like, 3-4 other fics you're actively working on and you have a burst of creative energy, you end up with a 6k+ word/14 page one shot fic about NYE that you won't publish for another three months? I now have my two December fics basically all written and just in need of some editing and possible reworking but they're strong and they're there. Meanwhile, even though I keep adding a bajillion notes, I am not making much progress with the other pieces in play NOR some other one shots I want to do for funsies for characters's bdays (I've decided Theo is a Scorpio and we know Bill and Charlie are both Sagittarius, so those are on the calendar.) Yet I wrote a quick 6k+ words this afternoon like it was nothing because I was inspired by seeing one of my favorite bands from my young adult years (The Get Up Kids) play one of my favorite, heart-wrenching songs ever (Holiday) recently and I've been thinking about it ever since. I've always wanted to do something inspired by the chorus of this song but never really had a creative outlet to do so until...now with me writing Harry Potter fanfiction (SMH.) But I love it, no matter how cringey I feel. You gotta feed that inner-teen. Say goodnight Mean goodbye I know you think my life will stop when you're away Maybe I can see you on the holidays You're worlds away I've never forgotten all of our yesterdays Maybe I can see you on the holidays... -- Holiday by The Get Up Kids video here

Of course, the biggest twist-and-turn for me was starting out writing a sweet Theomione piece and finding myself in the middle of a Charmione by the end. My muse is fickle as hell but fun, if nothing else.

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Newest Fic: Ranking the Weasleys

Hermione was drunk. It was all Ginny’s fault.

“RANK MY BROTHERS, Hermione! The people deserve to know!”

“OKAY! Okay. FINE. I give in! I’ll rank all your brothers, based on their looks AND PERSONALITIES. You have such a morbid fascination with how shaggable I find your brothers!”

“You’re STALLING!”

Hermione huffed as she tucked into a ball and then shoved Ginny in the butt with her lint-covered sock. This was a normal girls’ night for them. Lots of wine, shouting, and playful-but-catty roughhousing.

Read Ranking the Weasleys on AO3

- - - -

I'm so happy to be sharing this on the deadline I set for myself, which is today, Hermione's birthday, 9/19/24. As a very new fanfiction writer, who is committed to enjoying this hobby as long as the muse is with me on it, I had marked a handful of bdays of some of my favorite characters as occasions to post fics this year. It's been a nice way to stick with projects and put some artificial pressure on myself. Originally I was working to release a piece based around Hermione getting a belated Moon Party thrown for her by the Gryff girls. Moon parties are typically thrown for young people when they start menstruation if their friends and/or families are into that sort of thing. I'm still working on that fic but I did quickly push pause on it last weekend when, at 2 AM, after letting myself indulge in almost a full day of writing a different fic, I had the seed of the idea for Ranking the Weasleys and cranked out a very formidable first draft in 2 hours. (Yes, this means I went to sleep juuuuust before the sun was preparing to rise. Worth it.) When the words flow, you go with it. It also happens that I'm participating in The Weasley Clock Discord's Bingo Collection (Event? Fest? Bingo-Thing?) and this covers my square for "Ginny Weasley" quite nicely!

- - - - About Fred, George, Bill, and Fetishizing War Wounds These are some initial thoughts I had on the subject and is in no way a comprehensive analysis of the topic.

I wasn't expecting to discover that Fred's battle injury and recovery included him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life in this story but it came out in the writing process. I thought deeply about how, in many Harry Potter fanfics, we see examples of fetishizing elements of people's injuries or hardships (I say this in a non-judgemental way. I truly was pondering it.) If you read Dramione, think about how Draco's Sectumsempra scars are sometimes described. "Scars are sexy" is often a thing in our fandom (and in real life for some!) and it paints a complex picture of attraction, reverence, and attractiveness in a shorthand, accessible way to many readers, from writers. Especially when writers are writing from inside the private minds of characters, the characters are allowed to have thoughts that may not be appropriate or sensitive to others' identities, sense of self, language preferences, etc. It's why many of us love reading fiction; we get an intimate look into the messy, imperfect, and sometimes illicit thought processes of characters. It can be enthralling. But, for this particular, shorter one-shot, I wanted to try to be consistent about how I approached how Hermione was objectifying and trash-talking the characters for many things they either had control over or were core parts of their developed personalities. But what about George's gold ear? I thought about this too. Yes, Hermione thinks the ear is "very fun and cheeky," but she's not into how he's missing an ear or saying that she is attracted the prosthetic because it's a prosthetic or symbolizes a trauma he went through-- my intention was for her to make a comment on the choice of it being solid gold. The opulence of the ear prosthetic was a "fun and cheeky" choice of George's. I hope that came across. I deleted a whole section about how Hermione found Bill to be sexier after his attack from Greyback, not because of the injury but because it changed his mindset about how he wants to protect others.

"...even after he was attacked, he grew even more assured in himself which just made him hotter. And it wasn’t the mild-lycanthropy that made him more confident..."

I couldn't make it work without it being clunky and preachy, so I cut it. I wanted to make sure Bill's scars and the effects of a werewolf affliction weren't portrayed as a turn-on in the very same piece where I was trying to navigate a sensitivity and neutrality to Fred's use of a chair. Sometimes it IS best to "murder your darlings," amiright? I'll admit, I fell in love with Fred in this fic and how he's hot and cold with Hermione, even though he's pretty successful in the dating field with other wixen. Maybe this fic will inspire something longer [shrugs]. I grew fond of some of the implied backstories that grew out of this absolute brain-barf I was seemingly compelled to type out through tired, tired eyes. - - - -

A while ago, I drafted a post ranking all my favorite Hermione/Weasley sibling ships, and it was nice to have such a hefty post pre-written that fit in with all this. It was likely the base of the fic I would write-- cooking along on the back burner of my brain until it was ready to served out. I appreciate that my inner-monologue-made-outer-tumblr-posts may be another way of puzzling out plots I may eventually create! Check It Out:

Nobody Asked For This: My Rankings of the Hermione x Weasley Ships with REASONS (tumblr post)

Some Recommendations for Fics That Influenced My Weasley-Ship Rankings (tumblr post)

Ranking the Weasleys, a Harry Potter fanfic by stashandtell on AO3

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Some Recommendations for Fics That Influenced My Weasley-Ship Rankings

I ranked all my favorite Hermione/X Weasley Sibiling in my most recent post Nobody Asked For This: My Rankings of the Hermione x Weasley Ships with REASONS. Here are some recs to back my completely biased opinons. And now, you can read my fic, Ranking the Weasleys on AO3! - - - - As I sometimes mention on the internet, I keep a WILDLY long and fairly detailed spreadsheet of all the fanfics I've read. I've not been in the fandom long at all but due to life circumstances, I've had too much time on my hands since diving in and have allowed this special interest to wash over me and my whole life like the warm, scented water in the Prefects' giant bathtub. (I hit over 800 works read on my spreadsheet a few days ago and am going to do a numerical analysis and breakdown no one requested, so come back for the data if you're curious.) I've pulled some of my fave fics for my main Hermione x Weasley Sibling pairings -- though I have SO MANY MORE. All of these are mid-length to longfics (~30K-100k+ words, except for one) and are complete, unless noted. Normally I'd copy-and-paste the author's summary but since I'm going to be recommending many here-- I'll give you my 1-3 sentence take on the fic and encourage you to read the author's summary and tags. We're going in descending birth-order by sibling here to keep things tidy: Billmione: What's nuts to me about the Billmione ship is that I don't have a ton of fics I would enthusiastically recommend that explain why I love this pairing so much. I'm not a huge werewolf-ish fan, the age-gap isn't something that inspires my reading that much, and, to be completely honest, sometimes Bill is dry toast in a fic and replaceable with almost any other character. That said, for those of us who love a rare-pair, we feast on the scraps. We love the moments that fuel our headcanons and it's the cumulative experience of developing our own understanding of these characters that drives us into the arms of these fics more than anything. I had a difficult time pulling general recs for this ship, only because so few encapsulate what's I love about Hermione and Bill together (in my mind) in a singular work. I'll keep searching though and plug away at adding my 3 Billmione WIPs to offerings out there, to keep the flag flying. To be perfectly clear: These are GREAT fics I highly recommend. I just don't think of any one of them as the touchstone fic for my love of this pair (imo.) Still Strong by DietCokeofEvil, inspired by I Am Strong by floatsdelicately

Word Count: 38,780 / 19 Chapters

Summary: When Ron leaves Hermione without an explanation a month before their wedding, Bill returns the friendship and care she gave him when he and Fleur separated. They fall in love and build a life together.

My Comments: I read I Am Strong first and I have to say, I loved the two stories together. It's maybe even worth reading I Am Strong before Still Strong because that's how the publishing/inspiration-order goes.

Through the Ages by LadyBlack3

Word Count: 30,301 / 11 Chapters

Summary: Hermione and Bill team up to help research possible causes for a disease spreading through Charlie's dragon reserve and find themselves drawn to each other.

My Comments: This is a fun fic with a plot that keeps things moving. I love them coming together as full-fledged adults with their own lives.

I was torn on recommending Cairo Nights by GillianSteele instead of Through the Ages because they're both excellent examples of this ship, so I'll drop it here as an honorable mention if you're looking for more!

- - - - Charmione: There are SO MANY good Charmiones on my list but I need limits. I would say none of these are exactly emblematic of the typical well-loved Charmione fics, as they don't spend time on the Reserve-- but if you're looking for more recs, feel free to ask me on tumblr or leave a comment and I can happily suggest many more. Last Christmas by KittenShift17

Word Count: 17,079 / One Shot

Summary: Last Christmas, Hermione drunkenly snogged Charlie when she mistook him for Ron and shortly after she broke up with him. This Christmas, she's back at the Burrow and anxious to see Charlie again after thinking about him all year.

My Comments: This was one of the very first Charmione works I read and I recommend it to most my friends looking to get into the ship. As a hefty one-shot, it's a pretty satisfying fic with great Weasley banter and it's on my list of fics to re-read this winter when it's time to get cozy around the holidays. If you like this, check out I Saw Mummy (mind the tag) by Amebb42. Last Christmas is the shortest of all the fics I'm recommending.

Creature Comforts by neilstic

Word Count: 34,588 / 5 Chapters

Summary: Hermione and Charlie are both Hogwarts professors and are into each other. They are also good friends who get to do some fun time travel exploration thanks to the secrets of the castle.

My Comments: This fic is SO well written and snort-out-loud funny. I think of it often and it's not the typical Charmione fic, which is why I wanted to shout it out.

The Eventually Ever After Series by Huffleclaws19 deserves an appreciation post on its own and I HIGHLY recommend it of you're a fan of Charmione and Theomione. It's worth reading it in order. Merry Christmas to Me (the first in the series) is already on my Top-Tier List of all-time faves but the whole series arc is so, so good. Consider this a MOST honorable mention.

- - - - Permione: The Always Series by Simply_Lovely_Reader consists of two stories: Unlikely, which is Hermione's POV and Possibly, which is Percy's.

Word Count: Unlikely - 15,537 / 11 Chapters Possibly - 26,754 / 13 Chapters

Summary: Percy catches Hermione pleasuring herself to thoughts of him in his bed in the Burrow immediately before they start working together at the Ministry. Romance and pining occur.

My Comments: I was overjoyed to find that there was a Percy POV fic for this story but if you only pick one, read Unlikley, which is Hermione's POV.

Reflector by Calebski

Word Count: 39,692 / 7 Chapters

Summary: Hermione seeks Percy's help in finding career her path after the war they're both so changed by. He finds himself seeking her out as well as they develop a friendship and so much more.

My Comments: This author wrote one of my all-time top 3, won't-shut-up-about-my-love-for-it fics, Flourishing Devotion, a Nevmione canon re-write. I really dig their style (Venus Flytrap, another Nevmione is great too.) This Permione delivered.

- - - - Fremione: Fremione recommendations tend to fall in to a few buckets, which often overlap 1) Fred Lives 2) Fred Dies, per the canon 3) Canon rewrites of Fred & Hermione developing feelings during the Hogwarts years There are several WONDERFUL canon re-writes I'll include a few as honorable mentions.

Salve Amor by moonfairy13

Word Count: 31,974 / 20 Chapters

Summary: Hermione saves Fred's life with a bonding spell that can only be cast by someone who carries love for the person they're saving. She doesn't want Fred to know or feel tied to her so of course miscommunications and meddling ensue.

My Comments: The author, moonfairy13, has so many great fics worth checking out. What was great about this one is that the whole fic centers around the Fred Lives turning point.

I Can Love You Like That by LSU Sweetie

Word Count: 31,357 / 12 Chapters

Summary: Fred and Hermione are the last two single people in their friend group at the winter holidays. Hermione wants a relationship and is interested in Fred but has also started to get gifts from a secret admirer.

My Comments: I love a grown-up Fred and Hermione. LSUsweetie has some great works with different pairings and I particularly absolutely freaking loved Festive Fates. This is worth reading because the pairing is undisclosed, so you gotta read it to find out. Paraphrasing the author's summary: Hermione ends up pregnant after a night with a mystery man at New Year's Eve masquerade party right before she has to leave for a year-long work assignment. When she returns the following Christmas, she brings a baby with red hair to the Burrow and hopes to find answers.

Honorable Mentions, Canon Rewrites:

Don't You Know You've Got the Best of Me by raquains

Deal or No Deal by LetticeDouffet

Steel and Soft Smiles by TricksterGhost7 and its companion work, Little Glimpses

Oh So Many Years by fanfictionaries*

The Two Dropouts by tryingsss*

*Denotes a partial canon rewrite (aka ends early or starts later) - - - - Geormione: There were several great Geormione pieces I wanted to recommend but both of my recs relate to navigating Fred's death in very personal ways. That has tended to be the majority of what I've been reading in the Geormione space though there are other dimensions to this ship worth checking out. Like Fremione, there are some great canon-rewrites as well.

I have not started tackling the behemoth that is The Arithmancer by White_Squirrel yet or the rest of the series, though it's queued up as a reward once I finish some very longfics I'm working through... so I know I've read a lower % of the total completed fics on AO3 in the "Hermione Granger/George Weasley" relationship tag than Billmione, Charmione, and Fremione.

To Those Who Wait by Fictionallizzy

Word Count: 56,233 / 9 Chapters

Summary: After Fred's death, Hermione and George spend a forbidden night together which leads to much more than they both expected.

My Comments: In my ridiculous spreadsheet, I give a rating for my personal love of the story and another for the spice level. This is one that has 5/5 on both counts, the smut smuts 💋 and there's some juicy angst in there (my fave.)

In Case You Don't Life Forever by xLoveMx

Word Count: 24,724 / 12 Chapters

Summary: After the battle, Hermione and George are together and apart in their grief. She tries to prepare WWW to reopen and they finds she has to deal with Fred's ghost literally and metaphorically.

My Comments: I've read a few ghost!fred fics but I really loved this one. It was hard to select just one George-Falling-In-Love-While-Grieving fic and the extra dimension Fred's ghost added to this story made it stand out for a recommendation.

- - - - Multi-Weasley Pairings: In fics with multi-Weasley ships, they tend to fall into three buckets: 1) Siblings in competition 2) Love triangle or triad (v-shaped or triangle-shaped) 3) Reverse harems or multiple hookup partners I basically had to read through the majority of all the enticing completed long fics with ALL of the individual siblings I wanted to read paired with Hermione before I started reading multi-Weasley fics. BUT I'm glad I went there because there are some really interesting works that I enjoyed. Here's a fic rec for each bucket: 1) Siblings in Competition: Yours Til The Stars Fall From The Sky by Ronsboggart

Pairings: Fremione, Charmione

Word Count: 64,178 / 7 Chapters

Summary: Hermione and Fred are going to be together until a chance meeting at the World Quidditch Cups finds her and Charlie inexplicably drawn to each other.

My Comments: Mind the tags! This fic definitely has the underage warning on it, which I totally understand isn't everyone's thing. That said, the story of Fred and Hermione falling for each other despite the magnet-pull of Charlie really got me on board with reading Fremione works. Truthfully, I sort of didn't "get" the appeal of Fred until I read this story and for that I'm so grateful. I ended up loving the characterization of Fred and Hermione's love so much in this fic, it's definitely worth it imo.

Honorable Mention: Hot Girl Summer (shorter one-shot) by Anonymous 2) Love Triangle / Triad (V-Shaped): Hic Scunt Dracones by Amebb42 & ShadowAlt

Pairings: Billmione, Charmione

Word Count: 118,498 / 29 Chapters

Summary: On a curse-breaking expedition in a tropical paradise, Charlie, Bill, and Hermione find themselves working a case that puts them face to face with old magic. Both brothers find they care for the same woman and try to encourage her to choose between them.

My Comments: If you read my Ranking the Weasleys post, you know that I don't give a toss about dragons half the time and I REALLY loved the dragon storyline here. I sing the praises of Amebb42 in just a bit but ShadowAlt also has great stories. I enjoyed reading their author's notes in this too.

3) Reverse Harem: Where the Heart Is by Mother_of_Chaos

Pairings: Billmione, Charmione, Fremione, Geormione

Word Count: 40827 / 12 Chapters

Summary: Hermione, who has special abilities and works as an Unspeakable, receives a claiming werewolf bite while helping save a member of the Weasley family and becomes part of their pack.

My Comments: This work was recently completed this past August and was inspired by The Weasley Pack by Mrsmarauders02. Both are worth reading and center around werewolf and pack power. Mind the tags!

Reverse Harem Honorable Mention: Weasley Magic by Amebb42 I included only completed fics here but I have to shoutout the WIP that lives in head rent-free on a regular basis and that's Weasley Magic by Amebb42. This author has so many great works worth reading but this fic completely sold me on the Weasley reverse harem structure and inspired me to give other works a try. Plus, it's not based on a werewolf pack. Yes, the smut is smutty which is great fun, however, all of the characters are so well developed in this massive ensemble work. The Molly bashing-to-redemption is one of my favorite kinds of family angst and there are more relationships beyond Hermione + all of the Weasley siblings that adds delicious complexity to the story. Most importantly, the world mechanics, especially when it come to the Wizengamot, the inherited Weasley family magic itself, and Bill's new status is so, so interesting! I live for this fic . - - - - As For All The Other Hermione x Weasley Family Member Ships: You'll note from my post "Nobody Asked For This: My Rankings of the Hermione x Weasley Ships With REASONS" I don't consider myself well-read in ships with Hermione/Ginny or Hermione/Ron or some of the other family members, so no recommendations at this time. If you have recs, please share! I'd love to know what I'm missing out on or what your fave works are for different pairings.

Don't forget to check out the newest fic, Ranking the Weasleys on AO3!

[stashandtell]

Nobody Asked For This: My Rankings of the Hermione x Weasley Ships with REASONS

I drafted this weeks ago and had set it aside with no clear plan to publish it. Then, after a stroke of 2 AM genius this morning, I wrote a piece called Ranking the Weasleys, (to be posted on 19 Sept 2024 in honor of Hermione's birthday) and it seemed like a great time to finalize this post and share it. Feel free to tell me your rankings in the comments, be it your list of the fittest Weasley as you find them or your ranked-list of pairings with Weasleys, whatever you fancy to share. Enjoy! - - - - I made a loooong post with recs for each of my top Hermione/Weasley ships that you can check out here. Read Ranking the Weasleys or see the related post where I talk about writing Ranking the Weasleys and I share just a few initial thoughts on the fetishization of war wounds in the fandom here. - - - - I've recently dove into the world of Hermione x Any-Of-The-Weasley-Brothers pairings, which is what happens when you're burnt out on the regular ships you read and looking for something more. Personally, I'm surprised I gravitate towards so many Hermione-focused pairings, especially het pairings, but that's just what I've been into lately. I hadn't considered pairings with her and any of the Weasleys until someone recommended Charmione fics in a thread for Theomione. Once I dug into the fandom's characterizations of the Weasley brood and had a better sense of who each of them were on their own, I found I really like many of these ships, some more than others. The rankings of my top-three rotate pretty regularly depending on the last great fic I've devoured. This is a snapshot of where things stand today but it could move around. Before we dive in, I've preview my rankings and the major themes of the pairings in the most popular fics shipping Hermione with a Weasley. 1. Bill: Wolf-ish Daddy 2. Fred: Uplifting, Fun, and Romantic 3. Charlie: Sexy and Rugged 4. George: Growing Through Grief 5. Percy: Acceptance of Self, Also Rules Daddy 6. Ginny: A Firecracker and a Friend 7. Ron: Angsty Best Friends-to-Lovers 8. Gideon or Fabian: Time Travel AU or Ghost Lover(s) 9. Arthur or Molly: I haven't read these ships so they're going in the bottom of the list. I'm not opposed to reading these pairings but there's already such a trove with all the brothers in my tbr list that I'm not sure I'll ever dive in. 10. Weasley Progeny: I haven't read any of these ships. I have not read many pairings that include anyone dating their friends' kid in the next generation. (Though I have read a small number of fics pairing characters like Hermione or Ginny with older characters like Kingsley or Sirius...shoutout to the older/younger Nottcissa ship.) 11. Aunt Murial: Technically she's a Prewett but I think I would be into a Murmione ship if we got there. So far nothing comes up on AO3. - - - - 1. Billmione: What I love about a Hermione x Bill dynamic is his position as oldest-sibling and caretaker. If the author has resolved the relationship with Fleur as one that has ended in divorce or death, that extra element of emotional tenderness really can push the story to complex depths. I also find it interesting to see how writers engage with Bill's hybrid/half-werewolf affliction. I'm hard-pressed to really fall in love with any Billmione fic where their relationship starts pre-Battle of Hogwarts, though I do get it. I personally enjoy stories that can be canon compliant so I want to see how the Fleur issue is handled. I also find that with such a significant age-gap for that developmental stage of teenager-dom, (not like Fleur was THAT much older than Hermione but still...), it's incredibly rewarding to see an older Hermione that brings some kind of life experience to the relationship so she can be more equal with Bill.

In some of the fics, especially a few of the multi-Weasley, reverse-harem style pieces I've finally started reading, Bill's older-brother position and wolfy streak create the core dynamic of the group.

I'm not the biggest fan of the multi-Weasley pairings with Hermione but what I loved most in the standout fics are the group dynamics and individual roles that come out. Hermione can be incredibly stubborn and independent on her own and it's always interesting when she's in opposition to Bill to see how the others in their relationship choose sides.

- - - - 2. Fremione: On it's face, I don't even know if I like this ship all that much but I keep finding myself suckered in. I suspect a big part of it is that it hits me in the sentimental feels. My inner-teen just loves a Hermione x Fred story that traces their young love to whatever conclusion the author brings it to. Even if they get together when they're older and Fred lives through the final battle, they both usually end up with a friends-to-lovers scenario that's full of light sweetness and sometimes romance.

There are some truly fantastic works in this ship and I go 50/50 on whether I prefer ones where Fred lives or not. Depends on my mood and the tone of the story I suppose. There are very few stories in this pairing that I haven't enjoyed and the element of pranking really can make shorter fics fun.

I REALLY enjoy past Hermione/Fred relationships being included in fics where she looks back on their love fondly while she navigates new relationships, sometimes with one of his brothers. Fred is often portrayed as a goof, which seems to encourage authors to consistently write a more engaging and dynamic version of Hermione instead of following some of the fanon's (beloved by me as well) personality tropes/traps of her being insecure, slow-to-assert-herself, angry-broken-or-both and etc. His character brings out some of her best qualities consistently across fics, imo.

- - - - 3. Charmione: I quickly realized when I started reading Charmione fanfics that I do not give a shit about dragons but deeply wish I did. It's a cool plot device and part of the world to hang out with but it's not for me. Tons of appreciation for writers who have thoughtful plot lines and research interesting medical maladies-- but it's hard to hold my interest. (A million kudos when a dragon-centered fic does though!) The Reserve is usually full of original characters, which is fine, but I find myself less invested in the story if we don't know much about these OCs to build out that world.

I often find in the dragon-reserve heavy pieces that I was getting part-way through were objectively GOOD multi-chapters but I kept stalling out in favor of reading something else. Usually whenever there's a Hermione that ends up at the dragon Reserve, she's characterized by her unyielding passions for creatures' rights, spurred on by house elf and werewolf activism. Those are interesting characterizations for her but they just don't keep my attention. That said, I have yet, to date DNF'd any Charmione work so clearly it's not a huge imposition. That said, Charmione is in the top third because there's so much that can be done with this character. I've read a number of fics where Charlie is ace (asexual, demisexual, etc.); where's he's inexperienced because he's married to his job; where he's "too free-spirited" and very experienced; where he's enthusiastically bisexual; where he's not interested in marriage; where he's pining over Tonks; and so much more. His sporadic attendance at family holidays and the ability for Hermione or others to visit him on the Reserve lends to great plot opportunities.

- - - - 4. Geormione: I haven't been around long enough to fully understand why Fremione is a more popular ship than Geormione, but here are some observations: - Fred is portrayed in the fandom as the more loveable, airy goof while George tends to be painted as the more serious and quiet of the two - Generally, in the canon, Fred speaks more than George, from what I've been seeing, as I notate up my secondhand copies of the books - Fred's death or, depending on the fic, brush-with-death, is ripe for the reimagining of his relationships and personality - According to internet gossip, Hermione with Fred were considered for pairing in the canon originally but it didn't suit the overall plans for the series. Source for this can not be verified but it's come up in multiple places. I believe this contributes to the numbers: Fremione has 2182 works and Geormione has 548 works on AO3, as I draft this. All that said, George is usually characterized as the quieter and possibly more serious twin. He might be more shy than the outgoing Fred. Post-war, he often mourns the loss of his twin brother, his best friend, and his sense of himself as part of the pair which can, frankly, be kind of a drag if a writer is looking for a pairing to write a hot romance about. (Not that people can't be sexy or have healthy sexual relationships while grieving!) However, when works take the journey to establish Hermione and George, it's often incredibly rewarding. It tends to feel like Fremione with the temperature turned down on the lightness and has the ability to go deeper into any darkness that needs to be explored. I do love a Geormione but there are statistically fewer works out there than some of the other pairings, thus it's earned it's spot mid-tier. - - - - 5. Permione: There's not much to say because there aren't that many longer fics with this pairing written and most times it's tied to a Hermione x Multi-Weasley scenario. This gets the 5th and some days I would rank it higher because there are worlds in which this is the actual correct pairing of all of the brothers, based on what we can surmise from the canon.

A swotty, uptight prefect-turned-Ministry drone with a regretful heart of gold, Percy's guilt over abandoning his family and Fred dying before him is well-matched for how many writers imagine Hermione's coping with the aftermath of the war. Hermione would have known him during some prime formative years and knows he'll date muggle-born or half-blood witches, a la Penelope Clearwater. It's easy to dismiss Percy as being "not fanciable" if you don't read this ship but some of the writers out there make a compelling case for him, particularly when they make a logical transition from his personal fastidiousness to him seeking to play with control and BDSM elements in his private affairs. I love a good Permione piece. He's often positioned as the conservative punching bag of the family and it's a thing of art when a writer makes us root hard for him.

- - - - 6. Herminny: I haven't much of anything in this pairing yet. Truthfully, I've been holding off on it because I'm sure I'll do a deep dive once I start. It shouldn't come as a surprise that I've read almost no Harmony works either. I love a F/F fic but tend to read in waves and I've been working my way through the Weasley brothers pairings (when I'm not refreshing for Nevmione and Theomione works.) If you have any excellent recs for Herminny or other pairings name, please drop me a line! The reason Herminny is above Romione is because I love many of the fanon characterizations of Ginny in all the other fics I've read, especially when she's mischievous, cheeky, in tune with her sexuality, and ready to take on her own adventures in the world. The ones I have read where she and Hermione have been together were lovely but most were very short fics in collections. - - - - 7. Romione: I read A LOT of Hermione-centered works and authors very often find a need to resolve the young romance with Ron or use him and their relationship as a catalyst that propels our heroine down a path into the arms of another man. I can honestly say that I have read ZERO Romione endgame fics to date, and that includes one shots AND drabbles (~100k words or less.) WILD, right?

I really enjoy angst and Ron is one of the punching bags most often leaned on by writers. One of these days, I'm going to go on a Romione bender as an offering of penance to his character for all of the times I rooted against him in every other fic.

- - - - 8. Lowest Tier: I have never read a Hermione x Molly nor an Hermione x Arthur fic, and while I'm not fundamentally opposed, I'd be flabbergasted to find either pairing beating Romione. I'd much sooner read an Arthur/Molly fic than one that ships either with Hermione because that's just where I'm at right now. I'm happy reading works that aren't smutty in any way but damn if some smut doesn't help along a work that really isn't capturing my interest. While I love when I see versions of Arthur and Molly who are loving friends and/or parental figures to Hermione, the angst-lover in me doesn't mind a solid bashing of either of them and it's hard to get that out of my head. As for the other possible pairs with Hermione and Gideon, Fabian, Murial, or the children of the other Weasleys, I'm just not well-read enough in any of those pairings to have an opinion. I literally only started reading Marauders-era works two weeks ago (and really ONLY well-known Wolfstar fics so far.) A Note About Fleur: One character who's excluded from this list is Fleur Weasley nee' Delacour. I've only read triad- or multi-Weasley fics that put Hermione with her and Bill. While I do love a Bill/Fleur/Hermione work, it seemed disingenuous to rank Fleurmione against the others with what little I've read. That and I'm so clearly jazzed about a Billmione where Bill's free-and-clear to be with whoever, that my ranking of Fleurmione would be heavily biased.

[stashandtell]

Breaking Through a Plunnie-Justification Block

I've been trying to problem solve a compelling baby plot bunny I can't get rid of and I just had a breakthrough that I need to tell someone about.

I've been trying to figure out a time travel story that has Hermione going back to be at Hogwarts with Charlie and Bill-- but where she can't/doesn't have a ton of responsibility for changing the future much. I've been struggling with the following things: 1) What happens that she's thrown back in time to be in the same year as Charlie or the year between Charlie and Bill? Since I don't want to write something where she has to destroy all the horcruxes and she's reasonably school-aged, this means she needs to be sent back mid-canon. With Tonks in the mix, I'm guessing it takes place during OOTP but I need to plot out some things before I commit to that. Might be better to do it between OOTP and HBP. 2) What kind of drama does she get into other than a possible love triangle or two? I mean, of course there's a good chance she's going to catch the interest of Charlie and Bill...but also young Tonks? I always want to read a pairing about Charlie/Tonks or Bill/Tonks but Hermione/Tonks is very compelling. One of my top three all-time faves, Amends, or Truth and Reconciliation by Vera Rozalsky on fanfiction.net has a truly genius and heartbreaking sub-plotline of Hermione's secret/unrequited crush on the deceased Tonks. (This fic is a Hermione/Draco/Neville, Nevmione, Dramione work and it's can be a bit challenging-- but has my absolute favorite Augusta Longbottom characterization.) The more I think about this fic, the more Hermione's crush on Tonks is my headcanon. Hermione may need to deal with things that come before her time-travel trip like the diary (hopefully), the Chamber of Secrets (potentially), and Sirius Blacks imprisonment (definitely.) But, can she do it alone? What if she doesn't have to? I had been trying to figure out if it was worth sending her back with someone, possibly Theo (maybe an Unspeakables accident?), but I have some big Theomione pieces in the works and didn't want to muddy up the love connections. I'm so hard-pressed to not create some kind of romantic tension between Hermione and Theo when I can. The Breakthrough? WELL. IT'S TONKS. HERMIONE AND TONKS GO BACK IN TIME and Tonks has to metamorphmagus-ize into someone else of appropriate age. Probably Hermione's sibling. OF COURSE young Tonks gets a crush on the adult version of Tonks disguised as a kid and OF COURSE Tonks has to play all of the other roles-- appearing as the parents who enroll them in school, the former school headmaster, etc. I AM SO EXCITED AT THIS BREAKTHROUGH! I love a Charmione and a Billmione and I adore reading and writing sentimental teenage stories. I find it challenging to enjoy these pairings when Hermione is in school and the age-gaps aren't thoroughly justified; it takes me out of the story most times. I've been wanting to read stories where Hermione is developmentally well-matched with Charlie or Bill or even outpaces them and living in the world of their younger selves seems perfect. I just want this to be teenage coming-of-age fluff and angst that isn't war-focused where Charlie, Bill, young Tonks, and Hermione get to enjoy being young during relative peacetime. This has completely side-tracked me today and I am SO CHUFFED that my weekend plans for writing are now locked in. If you know of any solid time-travel or other works that lead characters back to teenage Charlie and Bill years, can you leave a comment-rec? I've looked casually but probably don't have the right filters. I've read some, mostly in the Charlie/Tonks or Bill/Tonks tag on AO3 but recommendations are always more fruitful for the good stuff. I will update to the link(s) for this fic when it's posted.

[stashandtell]

Spawn A Spawn Or Go To Az-kah-bahn

My second fic is posted to AO3! I gave myself some breathing room to re-read and tweak it into proper shape instead of sticking to my ideal posting schedule-- because if you're going to share something challenging that nobody asked for, it's in everyone's interest to share the best version possible Originally, the working title of this was Dead Dove Do Not Eat, as I wrote about in the post called "On Tragedies Over HEAs, Emotional Wrecking Balls, and the Next Fic I'm Hitting 'Publish' On. I also have a post about my fave No HEA #EmotionalWreckingBall Fic Recs. 12 pages feels like a lot when you're proofreading until you do a word count and find you're in the 6k range. I ONLY started ATYD a few days ago and am more than halfway through Detrequee (I have the Arthimancer on deck in my e-reader) -- so I'm blown away about what monumentous undertakings super-longfic writers achieve. I'm curious to see the reception to this fic. It's been great getting kudos and hits on my first fic and we'll see how this one goes. Won't stop me though. I am looking forward to giving myself space on the next thing I want to bring forward. Maybe for Hermione's birthday on the 19th?

[stashandtell]

No HEA #EmotionalWreckingBall Fic Recs

My embarrassing personal spreadsheet that tracks all the fanfiction I've read since starting Manacled this past spring has a tab of my "Topest Tier" fics, split into the following categories: - Emotional Rollercoaster - Emotional Wrecking Ball - Funny Fluff - Hot Hot Heat - Sweet Love Story Emotional Wrecking Balls, a phrase I picked up from Maloreiy's tag for Draft of Living Death, are stories with no HEA (happily ever after) or a gray HEA. Maybe they don't get what they want but in a bad circumstance, they find a way to move on living with loss. Maybe I'm so jaded that I need the angst and the drama to feel something but really I'm just a sucker for tragedy. Here's what's currently in my Emotional Wrecking Ball list. I mostly read Hermione x pairings so If you have any other recs, PLEASE comment them!

Draft of Living Death by Maloreiy Chapters: One-Shot; Word-Count: 10,646 Ship: Dramione Author's AO3 Summary: "The Malfoy family is not pleased with the announcement of a Marriage Law, but they are determined to get the best out of it, of course. And the best is clearly Hermione Granger. Hermione, however, would rather die." Content Warnings: In addition to the author's tags, which you should read, I would add there's an implication of dubious-consent but in-world, it makes sense and consent was given previously. Also want to note the author tagged "implied/referenced suicide" and that's accurate as well.

My Comments: This is probably my #1 fanfic of all-time. It's a goddamn masterpiece of tragedy in a one-shot. I cried when I read it and I was in a public place. I couldn't put it down.

---- Live Fiercely by Senatsu

Chapters: One-Shot; Word-Count: 5,053 Ship: Fremione Author's AO3 Summary:

"Fred has died - but this Hermione decides that the world cannot go on without the Weasley twins together and whole, that it needs the both of them to heal itself after the war - and makes a trade: her life for his.

When Fred returns to his family, he lives for her."

Content Warnings: Read the author tags.

My Comments: This one is what I would describe as a "gray HEA" in that it tells you from the start what's going to happen and you get to see it play out in all it's bitter-sweet glory. I'm recently converted to appreciating hermione x one-of-the-weasley-brothers ships. (I have yet to read anything compelling that's Harmony, Romione, or Herminny, but to be fair I have never sought those out and the few I've clicked on were not for me. Send recs.)

---- A Broken Mate by Lorbie05

Chapters: One-Shot; Word-Count: 2115 Ship: Billmione Author's AO3 Summary: "How dare he try to fuck her after being with his ex-wife behind her back. "Go back to your precious Fleur. She's obviously what you want," Hermione spat."

Content Warnings: Read the author's tags. There's werewolf-mate bonding in this fic, so that's where the most of the warnings stem from, imo.

My Comments: If you don't end up reading this fic, it's worth scrolling to the bottom to see the screenshot of the tweet where this fic was inspired from. I admit, I love a well-written infidelity fic, even though IRL that shit sucks, but it's not to everyone's taste. I also love a Bill x Hermione fic when it's emotionally complex and ideally, when they're both adults and can interact best as equals.

---- Just In Case by atruwriter

Chapters: One-Shot; Word-Count: 5985 Ship: Fremione Author's AO3 Summary: Late one night, Fred seeks Hermione out with the need to speak honestly about the happenings of war. He has but one regret he doesn't wish to die with and Hermione is just the person to help him.

Content Warnings: None?

My Comments: For canon fans. I don't know what to say about this one other than I read a bunch of Fremione recently and the easter eggs in this fic will kind of rip your heart out if you're prone to that kind of thing.

---- Sleepin' With A Ghoul by Satin Princess

Chapters: One-Shot; Word-Count: 3370 Ship: Theomione Author's AO3 Summary: Careful what you wish for

Content Warnings: Mind the tags, note the tag about suicidal ideation.

My Comments: This one almost didn't make my topest tier list for Emotional Wreckinballs but I re-read it and there's something masterful in the writing worth sinking into.

[stashandtell]

On Tragedies Over HEAs, Emotional Wrecking Balls And The Next Fic I'm Hitting "Publish" On

Since I'm writing in the Harry Potter Fandom, is it more British to say "Emotional Wrecking Bollocks?" 🙃 Note: This post may contain implied spoilers for several works. Everyone in my IRL life to whom I have revealed my recent love/obsession with Harry Potter fanfiction ends up hearing about Draft of Living Death by Maloreiy. I refuse to shut up about it and if my friends can get past some of the content warnings of the piece, l encourage them to read for the thrill of riding the broken emotional rollercoaster that lands every reader in the sinking pit of "tragically bitter-sweet." Bitter-sweet, that is, if you're the kind of person who drinks extra-strong coffee black and thinks sourdough bread tastes "too sugary." Draft of Living Death deserves its own post of praise and soon I'll be sharing a post here's a post of the fics I have listed as "Emotional Wrecking Balls" in my nightmare of a Fanfiction-I've-Read tracking spreadsheet. While I love a happily-every-after (HEA) ending as much as the next reader, I live for fics that are tragic or at least angsty with an ambiguous ending. Perhaps it's the over-abundance of HEAs that I've read that drives me to seek a counterbalance. OR MAYBE, really, it's because I grew up on late second-wave and early third-wave emo music, so it's ingrained in me to emotionally get off on tortured feelings of unrequited love or stories of partners who can't stay together. I have my list of WIPs (aka Works in Progress) and at least half, if not the majority of them would get the #EmotionalWreckingBall tag. I've only recently shared my first fic and my itchy fingers and addled brain are eager to publish the next piece. Based on which one is closest-to-completion, the work that is the most ready to go is a rough piece whose working title in my Drive is currently just called "Dead Dove Do Not Eat," like the common tag. (See info about the DDDNE tag here.) DDDNE was initially the first fic I wanted to prepare-to-share, but since I wanted to launch this writing project around something tied to Neville's birthday (July 30th) and my love of Nevmione, it just felt like starting on this more difficult piece was not The Vibe(tm). But now that I'm refining this tragic work, it feels very close to the world of the first piece I've already posted, in a way that almost makes them undermine each other. (Read my first fic, In All The Ways That Mattered here.) DDDNE takes place about 2 years after 8th Year Graduation, so it's like a jacked-up sequel to IATWTM, if you've wished for a dismal continuation of the storyline. I haven't looked at DDDNE for a month or two so I was surprised as how much I liked reading it today. The good news, for me, is that there was more tenderness written into this fic than I remembered but then I realized, while editing and filling in some gaps, that I've created more emotional investment latch onto. It'll makes it easier to render the reader gutted, where possible. I'm torn if this should be the second offering I put out there but it's so close to being done that I'm very tempted to just say "eff it" and let it rip. I want to read more tragedies and ambiguous endings in one-short formats. So far, I've found that shorter works focusing on dark themes, angst, and no HEA tend to be more successful in achieving their (perceived) aims than longfics, but maybe that's my bias. I have yet to really find a DDDNE longfic that captures me (but I'm open to suggestions in the comments.) There were two big holes in my DDDNE fic that may end up softening my overall approach, making the final product a little less intense. While I want to rebel against the impulse to make things more palatable, the muse is calling, truly. It's telling me that the ending, which I didn't have until about half an hour ago, needs to inform the next review of the piece and I'll need to place anchors for the logic to stand throughout. When it's posted, I'll link the info for the DDDNE fic here. I'm so curious to know what it's title will end up being!

Read Spawn A Spawn Or Go To Az-kah-bahn on ao3

Check out the post about Spawn A Spawn on my tumblr

[stashandtell]

In All The Ways That Mattered

Summary: She wanted her first time having sex to be with someone she cared about and not against her will, with a Death Eater.

She wanted to give up her virginity on her own terms.

Hermione shifted her position to better look Ginny in the face. “What do you think about…Neville?”

They were each other’s best and first friends. Neville was her person.

Neville became a man on his 17th birthday in all the ways that mattered. Read In All The Ways That Mattered on AO3. ------------ CW: Discussions of anxiety surrounding potential for rape/non-con during wartime. This is the first fic I'm posting on AO3. I wrote this on Neville's birthday, July 30th, and thought it'd be a quick process to turn around that same day. This love letter to my OTP (one true pairing) ended up being a 14k one shot that captures two of my favorite headcanons: 1) Hermione likely made arrangements to lose her virginity before going off with Harry and Ron, to ensure the first time she had sex wasn't with a Death Eater, against her will. 2) Hermione and Neville were actual best friends. There are some longer works I've been cobbling together slowly but it feels great to put this piece together and actually share it. I enjoyed the writing process and pushed myself to write smut, even though I believe the story could stand on its own without it. (Though it would have been half as long!) It's not for everyone and Hermione/Neville is considered a rarer pair, but I hope it finds people who want to read this kind of fic. I know it's something I've wanted to see and my brain loved working out how to keep it canon-compliant. There's so much more I have plotted and written for this particular duo and with this particular dynamic. I'm also excited to eventually share the fic the Grimoire Amour concept is based on. Lots of easter eggs in this one that point towards future works (fingers crossed.) If you're reading this because you've read IN ALL THE WAYS THAT MATTERED, thank you! I'd love to hear your thoughts as AO3 comments (I'm using tumblr to document my writing process and share some of the other fanfic musings that cross my mind.)