RE: Fanfic Recommendations Go Hawaiian
03-05-2022, 05:03 AM (This post was last modified: 03-05-2022, 05:05 AM by classicdrogn.)
03-05-2022, 05:03 AM (This post was last modified: 03-05-2022, 05:05 AM by classicdrogn.)
I am very surprised to be reccomending The Confectionary Chronicles (AO3 link) given that it starts with Supernatural, which I usually treat as a no-go red flag on its own, and adds in openly involving RL religions. Then it crosses them with a Hermione Sue potterfic, which I can usually stand only in small doses, while the entire first fic, 180k words in forty eight chapters and an epilogue, is entirely devoted to Hermione having the sort of pre-Hogwarts life Harry is supposed to have had by the Wizarding public at large, ending the night before she heads off to the Hogwarts Express.
And yet.
And yet, this is in no way one of my "I can't believe I liked it anyway when it's so bad" entries. More "I can't believe it's so much fun and avoids or recontextualizes so many of the other old cliches" if anything - it takes heavily of the background cosmology of Supernatural, weaves in a little straight mythology, and then blends it in with a kid-heroine's journey from the end of her world to probably gonna be okay, with only minor brushes against the rest of the Potter or Supernatural source material beyond the setting itself for the most part.
The Winchester brothers in particular only appear in one or two chapters plus the epilogue, primarily to give a reference point for where that side of the setting timeline sits as far as I can tell since they are significantly younger than Hermione and her Potterverse cohort. HP characters do show up with increasing frequency, for obvious reasons, but in ways that develop naturally from story events and the inevitable eleventh birthday visit from McGonagall. Even better, the only technical error that occurs often enough to be memorable is a few instances of "been" for "being," which may just be a matter of regional slang on the author's part as I've certainly heard it used that way before.
Then the second, in-progress as of Aug 2021, part picks up the next morning, raises a bunch more fandom cliche flags, and proceeds to make a merry bonfire of those as well with 96k in another twentymumble chapters that still only get to the christamas holidays but do so in such a way that I can only rage about the fic probably having died off with that long a gap - the only thing I've said here that you should take as a possible wave-off, because the prospect of not having more is sad indeed.
Taken as a whole, I'd have to say that it's rehabilitated Supernatural as a setting element from "automatic hard pass" to "start with two strikes" for me, which itself is strong praise for the fic, given that my general opinion of the franchise duels with Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey for who can seep deeper into the bottom of the barrel. And that barrel is on the back of a honey-pumper.
Anyway, give it a fair shake, it takes the old standards out for a new spin in some very engaging ways, and if anything I've talked it down rather than up.
Official summary:
Hermione Granger is seven years old when she kneels in front of an altar she's made herself with an offering of the best sweets her pocket money could buy and prays to a Trickster God.
Gabriel hears.
And yet.
And yet, this is in no way one of my "I can't believe I liked it anyway when it's so bad" entries. More "I can't believe it's so much fun and avoids or recontextualizes so many of the other old cliches" if anything - it takes heavily of the background cosmology of Supernatural, weaves in a little straight mythology, and then blends it in with a kid-heroine's journey from the end of her world to probably gonna be okay, with only minor brushes against the rest of the Potter or Supernatural source material beyond the setting itself for the most part.
The Winchester brothers in particular only appear in one or two chapters plus the epilogue, primarily to give a reference point for where that side of the setting timeline sits as far as I can tell since they are significantly younger than Hermione and her Potterverse cohort. HP characters do show up with increasing frequency, for obvious reasons, but in ways that develop naturally from story events and the inevitable eleventh birthday visit from McGonagall. Even better, the only technical error that occurs often enough to be memorable is a few instances of "been" for "being," which may just be a matter of regional slang on the author's part as I've certainly heard it used that way before.
Then the second, in-progress as of Aug 2021, part picks up the next morning, raises a bunch more fandom cliche flags, and proceeds to make a merry bonfire of those as well with 96k in another twentymumble chapters that still only get to the christamas holidays but do so in such a way that I can only rage about the fic probably having died off with that long a gap - the only thing I've said here that you should take as a possible wave-off, because the prospect of not having more is sad indeed.
Taken as a whole, I'd have to say that it's rehabilitated Supernatural as a setting element from "automatic hard pass" to "start with two strikes" for me, which itself is strong praise for the fic, given that my general opinion of the franchise duels with Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey for who can seep deeper into the bottom of the barrel. And that barrel is on the back of a honey-pumper.
Anyway, give it a fair shake, it takes the old standards out for a new spin in some very engaging ways, and if anything I've talked it down rather than up.
Official summary:
Hermione Granger is seven years old when she kneels in front of an altar she's made herself with an offering of the best sweets her pocket money could buy and prays to a Trickster God.
Gabriel hears.
--
‎noli esse culus
‎noli esse culus