#thistlecat recs

[thistlecatfics]

the son and heir of nothing in particular by aeridi0nis (24k, wolfstar, E)

“There’s nothing keeping you here. You know that. And,” Sirius continues, “we don’t see enough of you.” Remus lifts his gaze up over him. He’s been rationing the sight of Sirius, today, see. Each glance, etched into his retinas and tucked into the jacket of his father’s hand-me-down suit. Like a smoke, like a pear drop. Something sweet. His mother is dead and he is thinking about putting his hands beneath his best friend’s shirt. Often, he worries that eventually resenting himself is not going to be enough, and he’s going to start resenting Sirius, too, for the mess he has made of him. or: Remus is nineteen and tired, now. And he knows that if he and Sirius were ever going to become anything—if Sirius loved Remus the way Remus loves, and will probably always love, him—it already would’ve happened.

The best of wolfstar is HARD but I really tried to restrain myself to only reccing fics I read this year, and this one is definitely the best canon wolfstar I've read in 2024. In this house we love canon characterization with an old school feel!

for @hprecfest

[thistlecatfics]

The Picture of Sirius Black by lynxindisguise (35k)

But none were so awed as Sirius himself, beholding his reflection not in a mirror but through Remus Lupin’s eyes. Standing–an occasionally pacing restlessly—in the frame was more than a coldly handsome lordling, but a lively beauty with a distinctly clever expression. “What are you staring at?” his painted counterpart mocked playfully. - A Dorian Gray AU in which Dumbledore encourages Sirius to indulge his baser impulses and desires… of the murderous variety.

This brilliant fic! Just utterly incredible way of integrating the original story with hp canon (peter!!! voldemort!! harry!!) This fic definitely stands on its own, but if you've read and enjoyed Oscar Wilde's original then you absolutely have to read it.

the major theme is my all time favorite theme in anything ever: having someone see the worst parts of you and loving you anyway!!!!

I want Oscar to be able to travel forward in time and read this version and see a hopeful queer future.

I love that the author lets sirius act genuinely terribly. I could see someone trying to soften him to make him more likable but that's not the point!! I loveeeee his unreliable and self-justifying POV.

and I love Dumbledore here! I'm super picky about dumbledore portrayals (I find evil!dumbledore exceptionally boring), but the author's portrayal strikes such a perfect balance of morally grey and kind of terrible and hurting others AND also for the greater good and not necessarily forcing anyone into doing anything - just setting up conditions.

I absolutely adore this fic, and I've been meaning to make a proper tumblr rec post for it so thank you so much @theresthesnitch for giving me the opportunity!

Reblog this with a Wolfstar fic rec that is (a) not written by you and (b) under 300 kudos.

I'll go first...

[bartletslesbians]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💙

(as always, feel free to ignore!)

(the way this took me ages to get to im sorry but !! thank you for sending this to me!)

Also, this was so hard to choose, and I tried not to make them all siricissa but 3/5 became siricissa anyway.

In no particular order:

We'll Be Happy

Parvati/Lavender | Teen | Major Character death. Lavender dies during the battle of Hogwarts, Parvati predicted it and can't stop it from happening.

Blood in the Water

Sirius/Narcissa | Explicit | First war smut, blood and injuries and more sweet vibes than the tags suggest. This was written for 2022's @siriusblackfest!

Too Beautiful to Save

Sirius/Narcissa | Explicit | Dead dove do not eat: gore, near-murder during sex, blood all around. Sirius and Narcissa dealing with the grief of losing Regulus in a very Black way. This was a collab with @a-loveunlaced!

The Crown You Gave Me

Lucius/Narcissa | Teen | Lucius and Narcissa get a divorce after the second war, but it's amicable and for the best and there are flashbacks to how happy their marriage was. Bittersweet vibes. This was written for 2020's @hptransfest!

In Your Sick Fantasies

Sirius/Narcissa | Explicit | Breeding kinks (inbreeding kinks) and explicit consent to do messed up shit. They're complicated and fucked up and they revel in that knowledge. Also he spits out her wedding ring, that counts for something.

[hephaestiions]

Inspired by your Drarry fic recs and your amazing Flintwood fic, do you have any Flintwood recs or personal favorites?

ah! fantastic ask, anon! flintwood was, incidentally, my earliest hp ship & maintains a soft spot after all these years. their functions in canon (quidditch captains of rival houses, pinnacles of a certain kind of obsessive, single-minded, aggressive athletic masculinity) conduce some of the most raw and gritty characterisations— kind of like if tracing your tongue along the jagged, broken end of a tooth was a ship. flintwood encapsulates a very specific kind of mood— a foregrounded physicality, a delicious emotional dimension balancing both subtlety and brashness. this ship is especially delightful when you're in the mood for some deferred emotional payoff, a little out of reach and more satisfying for it.

(tw for some discussions of queerphobia & masculinity!)

flintwood also works with and subverts some common stereotypes & tropes associated with sports as a site of exalted & amplified masculinity. oliver and marcus are both, in fic, often representations of what a popular (largely homophobic & patriarchal) culture understands as 'masculine ideal stereotypes'— physically hulking, emotionally repressed, narrow-focused, a little dangerous. and flintwood, as a ship, is crucially also about these 'ideal men' making the choice to step away from the hallowed halls of homosociality towards explicit queer desire, dynamics and love.

i'm getting into this because a large selection of flintwood fics i've loved deal (overtly or covertly) with coming to terms with queer awakenings, reckoning with being queer men in sports and similar explorations. my flintwood fic (thank you for reading it, anon!), addictive tendencies (~4k, T, tw for internalised homophobia) also grapples with this fairly significantly. in fact, even when the central tension isn’t explicitly about a queer reckoning, and the worldbuilding has little/no queerphobia, many excellent flintwood fics have some of the themes, ideas and tropes you find in literature accounting for our society’s (often disparaging) attitude towards queerness: a desire both intense and grudging, a sense of “i can’t have this person” justified through rivalry and/or jealousy, poignant internal conflicts, etc.

anyway, enough talk, here's a selection of flintwood fics i've dearly enjoyed, hope you do too! mind the tags & notes & remember to send some love the authors' way :)

best kept secrets by slyther_ing (M, 1.8k)

Marcus Flint is leaning up by the metal chainlink fence - gum popping, grin flashing white, and Oliver has the urge to run away because everything in the taller boy’s stature screams trouble, trouble, trouble.

twenty gauge by provocative_envy (T, 3k)

It takes Marcus less than ninety seconds to determine that his four o'clock is an aggressively annoying piece of shit.

wake up, get up, shut up by provocative_envy (E, 4.2k)

Marcus is twenty-three and half-concussed when it finally occurs to him that he might actually kind of sort of be really into dudes.

rugby boys, they play 15s by thistlecat (M, 4.5k)

Fifteen significant moments in Oliver Wood’s collegiate rugby career that did not make his highlight tape.

no vacancy by provocative_envy (M, 10.1k)

The dreams are frightening, at first.

true but not nice by v (E, 10.2k)

Marcus found out about it from Warrington, who heard it from Montague, who heard it from Derrick, who heard it from Nott, who heard it from Zabini, who heard it from Malfoy, who they said heard from the Quidditch dressing room, which really just meant that Marcus was going to fucking kill him.

self preservation by al-the-remix (E, 17.8k)

Outside the night had grown dark, and at some point Oliver had moved to perch on the edge of Marcus' bed, thigh pressed against his and tray settled between them. As if they had some sort of understanding. As if they were friends.

[sitp-recs]

Hi Liv, have you discovered any new author recently ?

Hi anon! I haven’t been reading much these days, but going back to 2022 I’ll say I’m really enjoying these authors. They’re not necessarily “newcomers”, I just happened to discover them recently! I also wanna mention spqr who I’ve been following since my Starker days; they’ve written some brilliant Drarry that I plan to rec sometime soon but I don’t see them recced often around here, so I though I’d give them a shoutout. Everyone’s more than welcome to join and add more names to this post. Happy readings!

dwell_the_brave | @dwell-the-brave | AO3

eight_of_wands | @saxamophone | AO3

epitomereally | @epitomereally | AO3

fools_errand | @the-fools-errand | AO3

getawayfox | @getawayfox | AO3

icarusinflight | @candybarrnerd | AO3

mallstars | @mallstars | AO3

oflights | @oflights | AO3

oknowkiss | @oknowkiss | AO3

sleepstxtic | @sleepstxtic-drarry | AO3

swoons | @swoontodeath | AO3

tenthousandyears | @tenthousandyearsx | AO3

thehoneybeet | @thehoneybeet | AO3

thistlecat | @thistlecatfics | AO3

toomuchplor | AO3

doshu | @vdoshu | AO3

waldorph | AO3

waterwings | @amywaterwings | AO3

wilteddaisy (taotu) | AO3

wolfpants | @wolfpants | AO3

yrfrndfrnkly | AO3

[thistlecatfics]

White Sheets, in the Closet (or: the earth from a great distance is perfect and whole) by @tahtahfornow (11k, M)

Remus says: You ever seen the inside of a loony bin. (South Georgia, 1961-1962. Hurried kisses in hostile climates.)

OP if you want wolfstar in the American south! it's so, so gorgeous and haunting and deeply invested in the setting. (also holy shit OP your art is incredible)

From my comment on the fic -

This was so unbelievably gorgeous! the southern cadence of the writing!! I just watched the play version of to kill a mockingbird and the vibes feel similar not just in the "this is about the south and race" thing but in the pacing of the lines. and in the love the story has for the south even in how horrible it is.

I love James's absurd levels of boldness - that scene of him and sirius becoming friends is so perfect and really captures their canon prankster nature even in this wildly different setting.

I just FELT for Sirius the whole time - the intensity of his feelings for Remus. Your use of language to show Sirius's love for Remus is so evocative and beautiful.

and of course the siblings - Regulus and Petunia. imperfect and horrible and so extremely sympathetic and complicated.

I love this fic!!!!

the golden boy

also just like a side note i love the idea of the black family being an american southern baptist rich family if anyone knows any fanfics that are like that

[consistentsquash]

Dark wlw recs 🙏

Hiya! A lot in my AO3 recs and you can check there but also a couple of fics I really love

The Bone Mother by rinsbane, Andromeda/Bellatrix

Nymphadora, Nymphet by thistlecat, Andromeda/Bellatrix, Tonks/Bellatrix

[the-starryknight]

Hi all, it's a Tuesday, so let's share a little extra tender love & care around here. If you have the energy, would you share a rec or a compliment for a friend? Either on this post, or on your own (tag me if you do, I love to see it). I'll start with just some notes as I don't have the energy for a proper rec list. Here are just a few of the many, many people I'm glad to share this space with -- tagging each of you, and hoping you'll pass it on. And you reading this, you're invited to play along (share a rec or a bit of love, whatever you like) without a tag too, and it doesn't have to be on Tuesdays.

@onbeinganangel makes the most beautiful embroidery pieces my eyes have ever seen, and @babooshkart makes soft kitchen scenes like no other. @softlystarstruck sends me beautiful art and clothes whenever they think of me, @thebooktopus has been filling my dash with gorgeous rec lists. @thistlecat leaves the best comments on fics, even when the fic's are still anon. @lqtraintracks writes challenging, radical smut, and @julcheninred reminds me of what crafting can do for the soul @bearcheers and @rockingrobin69 have said so many kind things about my micros, I want to hang their comments on my wall. @gryffindorhearts makes the best cup of coffee in the world. @tackytigerfic 's kindness to new folks is one of the reasons I started writing. @shealwaysreads sends me the ocean when we both need it, and @lou-isfake's singing voice moves me to tears. What about you, any recs or love to share?

[thistlecatfics]

Closing Time by @sweet-s0rr0w (18k, Drarry, E) for @hd-wireless

Draco’s been invited to Neville’s stag party in Bristol, and he's confident he knows what to expect. There’ll be too many Gryffindors, for starters, plus a few humiliating team-building activities, some dodgy clubs, and a truly preposterous level of alcohol consumption. But… a drunken Harry Potter climbing into Draco's bed when he’s having a wank? No, he definitely didn't see that coming...

This fic is SO funny, but it also has so much heart. Who among us hasn't felt a little bit like the odd one out at a bachelorette/wedding/bachelor party? I laughed out loud multiple times. The sex and sex-adjacent-things are all so wonderfully human and awkward but also genuinely hot. I also loved the navigation of alcohol use here and different characters relationships with alcohol - again, just felt so human and what it's like to be in your 30s. I love fics that manage to blend intense realism and fanfiction absurdity, and this one does so well.

For @hprecfest

[thistlecatfics]

The most he’s ever said by fast_brother for plotty for @hd-wireless (16k, Drarry, E)

It takes them twenty years.

I'm just SUCH a sucker for angst and toxic relationships and internalized homophobia and alcoholism and people tolerating awful behavior from those they love and infidelity! and this has it all! in a gloriously compelling twenty year arc.

For @hprecfest

[thistlecatfics]

Thistlecat Summer Fic Recs

After a bit of a fic reading drought (and some binge purchasing books), I've been finally getting back into reading fic. Here are some I've been enjoying this summer.

Wolfstar:

Come Healing by BrujaBanter (46k, E, wolfstar)

They'd never quite intended for kink to be anything more than fun. Then, Sirius went to Azkaban. He comes out a different man, and Remus wonders if they might just use kink for some other purposes as well. In the process, he does some healing of his own. OR The ways of breaking, reuniting, and healing through sex.

It's a kink porn with lots of plot fic! I'm normally so picky about Dom Remus/sub Sirius fics because they tend to go with a fanon characterization that doesn't work for me but this one *absolutely* works for me. Canon divergent with a happy ending <3

your heart is heavy and red by moon_seas (1k, E, wolfstar)

Sirius has Remus on his back moaning beneath him and it’s almost enough, almost.

Not much to say about this one except it's super hot wolfstar (c)nc and if that description interests you then you'll be into this delicious little fic.

hold you, enfold you by iamsiriuslyriddikulus (9k, E, lesbian wolfstar)

“Remus,” the woman says. “Nice to meet you… ?” It’s a nice name, Remus—one that suits her. Sirius nods and belatedly realizes she has to answer. “Sirius.” She holds Remus’s gaze with a feral intensity, hoping something in her recognizes that they are the same. - - - OR: On a summer day in the South in 2001, Sirius Black went on a campus tour of the conservative college she would attend in the fall, expecting to be bored out of her mind. No one told her the tour guide was going to be hot—brown curls and snake bites and freckles and visibly queer. She stood out against the manicured hedges, a sharp contrast to the traditional values of everyone around Sirius. What followed was one long day of sticky summer heat and a house party that changed the course of her life. Poor Evan never stood a chance.

@fvckyouimaprophet sets such an incredible immersive scene of an elite southern university and utterly sucks you in. This fic swept me up into that heady feeling of being a baby gay in queer spaces for the first time. It's like the time of your life you feel most yourself (can I show the real me??) and most conscious of your performance at the same time (I need to pretend I know what I'm doing!). Plus, lesbian Sirius is everything to me <3

Other marauders era characters/ships:

A Slow and Stopping Curve by aegle (16k, M, remadora)

Concerning Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks. Set during Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince.

Gorgeous canon-compliant Remus/Tonks.

i hope this comes back to haunt you by humanveil (29k, M, gen)

Severus Snape, from first curse to first kill. Or: The making of a Death Eater.

It's been a while since I read something Snape-centric, and this is SO good and gives such a clear through line on his character. His relationship with his mother is incredible in particular.

the tiger's lady by basketofnovas (slashmarks) (5k, T, bellamort)

In early 1974, one of Bellatrix's sisters is getting married, the other is pregnant, and Bellatrix is occupied with making sure the war escalates as planned. But a story from the Dark Lord reminds her of other concerns.

I always love @slashmarks's Bellatrix, and the portrayal of the mix of intense magical devotion and mundane domestic violence that is the bellamort relationship is particularly sharp and arresting.

Drarry & Drarry adjacent:

Way to go, Tiger by houndsinheaven (2k, G, Draco & Scorpius (& Harry))

Scorpius Malfoy's seventh birthday.

I'm not normally one for kidfic but my goodness I cried. Good dad Draco.

Closing Time by Anonymous for MaesterChill (18k, E, drarry)

Draco’s been invited to Neville’s stag party in Bristol, and he's confident he knows what to expect. There’ll be too many Gryffindors, for starters, plus a few humiliating team-building activities, some dodgy clubs, and a truly preposterous level of alcohol consumption. But… a drunken Harry Potter climbing into Draco's bed when he’s having a wank? No, he definitely didn't see that coming…

(For HD wireless, not yet revealed) This fic is so much fun! This feels quintessentially drarry to me - they all feel so young and human. For whatever reason I need all of my drarry fics to have someone to have a complicated relationship with alcohol, and this delivers!

If you have similar reading tastes and want more of my recs, check out my bookmarks and collections on ao3 <3

[thistlecatfics]

The Last Trial of Peter Pettigrew by @sleepstxtic (James/Peter, 20k, M)

Peter Pettigrew must answer for his crimes on Earth in a purgatory style court presided over by the Overseer. A slew of characters from his life will be brought to the stand to testify either for or against him. He will be represented by his lawyer - Hermione Granger. A jury will decide upon his guilt.

This brilliant fic! I've been craving more Peter-centric ships lately, and this one I think of as the Saltburn ship. This fic is truly just so brilliant and takes an under-explored character to a fascinating end.

For @hprecfest

[thistlecatfics]

lol I'm 1000% in agreement (boring good andromeda is BORING and unrealistic)

which is why she's an alcoholic destroying her relationship with Ted(dy) in my lesbian tedromeda longfic (though one or two more chapters and she's going to get her shit together I promise)

and I also adore the way @slashmarks writes Andromeda in their various works. (currently loving her as a background blood purist in the glorious bellamione time travel WIP)

other wonderfully imperfect andromedas -

the grace unasked for by leftsidedown (remadora canon divergent)

Clip, Ravel, Cleave by doshu (bella/andromeda I go feral for)

The Waves by nanneramma (grief, tedromeda)

i don’t forgive you (but please don’t hold me to it) by evawrites (andromeda pulled between ted and bella)

Bottle by bikelock28 (more alcoholic andromeda!)

Flying Lessons by Phantomato (postwar Andromeda/Hooch, lovely characterization)

wait yall i need a fic where andromeda is at least a little fucked up. like sirius and regulus always are in fics but andromedas always perfect and undamaged and im like GIRLY WHAT????

she grew up in the same family as them you guys. unlike sirius, she was sorted into slytherin but it was still clear that she was different and she wouldve gotten so much backlash for that. also, she didnt have to leave just one sibling behind, but two who were both in very different circumstances. cissy, who didnt really want to be part of the family but would never admit it and would do anything to impress her parents, and bella, who wanted everything they offered but who everyone could see was descending into madness. not to mention her younger cousins, who she wasnt able to help after being exiled, leaving regulus no good influences or anyone to help him(sirius did have that cos he was sorted into gryffindor).

not to mention everything parents in the black family do. lets be so real andromeda had to have some issues after all that turmoil.

[thistlecatfics]

The Picture of Sirius Black by @lynxindisguise (34k, wolfstar, M)

But none were so awed as Sirius himself, beholding his reflection not in a mirror but through Remus Lupin’s eyes. Standing–an occasionally pacing restlessly—in the frame was more than a coldly handsome lordling, but a lively beauty with a distinctly clever expression. “What are you staring at?” his painted counterpart mocked playfully. *** A Dorian Gray AU in which Dumbledore encourages Sirius to indulge his baser impulses and desires... of the murderous variety.

There's something that feels truly special about this fic and the way that it weaves in canon themes and Wilde's themes and the evolution and possibility of queer joy. As someone who has a Thing for works where the worst parts of ourselves are seen and loved anyway this stabbed me in the gut in a good way. From my comment:

oh my god!!!! this fic is so amazing. WOW WOW WOW. I'm just amazed at your ability to integrate the original story with canon! (peter!!! voldemort!! harry!!) the little details! the characterization! monsters in love! having someone see the worst parts of you and loving you anyway!!!! tbh I want Oscar to be able to travel forward in time and read this version and see a hopeful queer future.

the madness within!!!

I love that you let sirius act genuinely terribly. I could see someone trying to soften him to make him more likable but that's not the point!! so much brilliance here. I loveeeee his unreliable and self-justifying POV. I'm in love with this fic, and I'm obsessed with how you managed the ending.

and I love Dumbledore here! I'm super picky about dumbledore portrayals (I find evil!dumbledore exceptionally boring), but you strike such a perfect balance of morally grey and kind of terrible and hurting others AND also for the greater good and not necessarily forcing anyone into doing anything - just setting up conditions.

fucking incredible. going to rec this fic forever.

For @hprecfest

[thistlecatfics]

One to Speak, Another to Hear by @seventymilestobabylon (61k, T)

The Wizarding Wars are over, but the work of recovery has only begun. Remus Lupin is trying to find his place in an ever-changing world, and when he is invited to serve on a truth and reconciliation commission, he has to confront the truth that lives there—in the past and within himself.

Top 5 all time favorite fics. I cried so intensely in a happy way. How do we continue on after shared trauma? We can read this fic and then do our best. 

I love this fic. I love this fic. I love this fic.

just WOW. WOW. The characterization. The depth of the wounds. Broken people fitting together, loving together, trying to be good. The idea, the execution, the detailing, the humanization. Just excellent. Just extraordinary.

I’m struggling to articulate exactly why the characterization is so perfect (in my opinion), and I think it’s because both Remus’s and Sirius’s worst flaws and best characteristics are constantly on full display. They are complicated people. You really get the depth of Remus’s self-loathing and the self-sabotage that Sirius is so capable of (in refusing to be open about his childhood etc). I think that’s also why this subject (wizarding truth and reconciliation) works so well with this ship - because the past is hard and brutal, but you have to work through it for honest love.

I love Hannah, love Layla. Love this Tonks!

Harry!! Noble, brave, teenage Harry!!

I sobbed at the end of this fic. This is a fic that really earns a happy ending. Can we take the violence and the hurt and the pain seriously AND also continue on with love and kindness and justice? Can we build a better world? This fic is a good antidote for despair. If you need to close out 2024 with some hope in the dark (and who doesn’t), this fic is for you.

@hprecfest

[thistlecatfics]

Le Tourbillon (E, 35k, James/Lily, Sirius/Lily, Sirius/James, Sirius/Remus, implied Sirius/Regulus)

Who doesn’t want to be loved by everyone?

Warnings: voyeurism, fingering, drug use, boys being assholes, femdom, poetry, angst, unrealistic portrayals of achieving orgasm, extensive foreshadowing, exhibitionism, excessive length, wall sex, (constant) alcohol use, incest, occasional breach of the fourth wall, over-indulgent discussion of a car, fluff, the French.

This fic from 2007 stole my heart when I first read it, and it stands up with every reread. It perfectly captures the feeling of the summer after high school – you’re an adult! you’re unstoppable! your best friends will be your best friends forever! – while also balancing out this subtle sense of impending doom that everything will change. (The war exists on the very outside of their awareness but it does creep in.) If you want to know how Sirius/Lily could work in a canon context, this fic will prove it to you. I love Peter in this too - just on the outside, desperate to not be.

It’s fun and smutty and beautifully written and delightfully characterized, and I love recommending it to anyone who wants to explore older wolfstar or marauders era fics.

I recommended it last year, and I'm really trying to avoid doing any repeat recs, but I just have to for this one!

For @hprecfest