Fic recs: Carpemermaid round-up
@carpemermaidtales is a force for good in multiple fandoms. She writes. She arts. She betas like a fiend. She helps connect betas and writers. She mods fests. She leaves glowing comments. SHE STARTS DISCORDS. Really, this is the whole package, folks.
I’ve seen carpemermaid mentioned on so many rec lists, I felt sure she must be a long-time Drarry writer. Imagine my surprise that she’s only been posting regularly on AO3 since 2016! And in that time she’s amassed an incredible body of work in multiple fandoms and ships. You cannot go wrong with her fics. On the (very) off-chance you’re not yet familiar with her fics, consider this a tasting menu.
As always, check the author’s tags before reading. They’re there for a reason.
Partners of the Four-Legged Variety (18K) - (HP) “Training starts in the home, Potter, so your new Crup and I will need to stay with you for a few weeks while I show you how to properly train and bond with him.”
The Auror Department is instating a K9 Crup Unit, and Harry is the first to sign up. Turns out the professional trainer is Draco Malfoy, and he has to live with Harry as part of the Crup training programme.
Picking a favorite of carpemermaid’s Drarry fics is like picking a favorite ice cream flavor: there’s so many to choose from, and sometimes it depends on your mood. Since I limited myself to just one Drarry fic, I chose Partners on a whim because of the CRUPS. Watching Harry and Draco flirt and get cockblocked by Harry’s K9-partner-in-training is, in a word, adorable. And if Harry responds a bit too well to Malfoy’s praise well...
Incorrigible Prats and Daisy Chains (1.5K) - (HP) None of them are actually complaining that they didn't make it to the bedroom.
This is PWP. This is hot PWP. This is polyamory, one of my FAVORITE tropes? Kinks? Life choices? (This is not for everyone.)
La Petite Mort (2.5K) - (HP) He let his long, slim fingers skate down Al’s side and over the jut of his hipbone. He walked his fingers over the scattered freckles and darker moles that dotted Al’s skin. He wasn’t covered in them, not the way Lily and James and his cousins were, but there were still faint ones, secret ones that only he got to see. He leaned down impulsively and kissed the triangle of moles above his hip, his tongue darting out to taste them.
I LOVE first-time fics, the more awkward the better. Scorpius and Albus are probably my favorite HP ship for first-time fics because they are almost always madly in love. This fic is billed as PWP, but it’s so much more. The two young men are entranced with each other, and you can see it in the accompanying NSFW art.
Pushing Buttons (1.6K) - (HP) Teddy thought living with James and Albus was going to be brilliant, even with Harry's strict warning that they not do anything to threaten the Statute of Secrecy in the Muggle building they moved into. After getting stuck in a lift, he's not so sure anymore. See also: Ten Hours in Absolute Hell.
Gen fic tends to get short shrift in the fanfic world. It’s like if there’s no ship and - even worse - no fucking, why bother? Well, if you skip Gen, you end up missing out on absolute gems like this tale of Teddy Lupin slowly going mad while trapped in an elevator with the Potter brothers. James thinks he’s going to die of starvation, Albus speculates on whether they’ve fallen into an electro-magical pocket dimension, and Teddy thinks his suffering is worthy of an Order of Merlin.
that unnamed other half of me (.9K) - (HP) She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment she started to feel more for her best friend, she was only aware of the fact that, somewhere along the line, making Lavender laugh filled her with a warm, glowing feeling.
Although in HP fandom carpemermaid may be best known for her Drarry fics, she also writes beautiful femslash. In fewer than 1000 words, this Lavendar x Parvati fic packs a punch. We are taken through the canonical Hogwarts years from Parvati’s perspective as she slowly falls in love with her best friend. I swear my eyes popped out of my head when I got to the ending.
Sun-kissed - (HP) Neville spends a pleasant afternoon in his garden.
Remember how I said carpemermaid arts as well as writes? This illustration of Chubby!Bearded!Neville puttering around in his garden is as pure as HP fandom gets.
All That Glitters Gold (.9K) - (YOI) Coming across another skater crying at the Grand Prix wasn’t that big of a surprise; they all put themselves under an immense amount of stress and an overload of emotions. No, the surprise for Phichit was whom he found crying. Christophe Giacometti.
For obvious reasons Yuuri and Victor get the lion’s share of the love in YOI. I immediately fell in love with Phichit, though. He is the quintessential best friend who can share in someone else’s glory without bitterness. In this drabble, Phichit finally gets what he deserves.
Loose Lips Sink Ships (1.3K) - (VLD) “Come on, you’ve barely had any. You should let me finish that one so you can go get yourself a fresh one,” Lance wheedled, trailing his fingers along Lotor’s forearm. “Man, you have such nice wrists. Is that part of your whole space prince aesthetic? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. They’re so elegant.”
“What?” Lotor asked, huffing out a laugh as Lance traced circles over the inside of Lotor’s wrist. “You are very amusing, Paladin. I knew you’d make excellent company in this atmosphere.”
The best way I can describe this fic is effervescent. Lance and Lotor are high on space alcohol and each other. This is what happens when two of the biggest flirts in the galaxy get together.
