Fic Rec/Review
Jul. 11th, 2005 09:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lls_mutantI really, really, really need a Mutant Reviewers icon. But my banner doesn't go into icon format nicely.
I've been meaning to review/rec this for a long time, but with the effort that goes into the actual story, it seems to merit a review that's more coherent than "This is cool! Go read it!"
The review format makes much more sense if you've ever checked out Mutant Reviewers From Hell, which is the movie site I write for. But regardless, I think you can manage following along!
So, in true Mutant style....
The Prankster's Guide to Life
"This stuff," he said, "is fucking incredible."
Nigel the Skeletal Crocodile grinned. "Amen, brother."
Tagline: "On a shelf in his sitting room was a handwritten book entitled, A Prankster's Guide to Life, by Padfoot and Prongs, edited by Moony Lupin, and illustrated by Peter 'Why did I have to be a Rat?' Pettigrew. It was the only copy still in existence, the first having been lost to the fury of an enraged mother, Peter's accidentally dropped into the lake seventh year, and James' buried in the wreckage of the house in Godric's Hollow."
Summary Capsule: The exploits of Mssrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are related in snippets in between excerpts from their book. Found at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
prankstersguide
Mutant Meter (adapted):
Shippiness: 3
Quotes: 5
Offensiveness: 1
Bizarre: 3
Rereadability: 5
Lissa's Rating: Asparagus, crocodiles, Hey Jude, and actual Peter. What more could you want in a fic?
Lissa's Review:
Okay, ladies (since most of you reading are ladies, and my apologies to the few gents who aren't), it's secret time. Ready for this? Shhh... come in and I'll whisper it.
I'm not a fan of the Shoebox Project.
It's not that The Shoebox Project is badly written. It's not. I just never cared for a.) the overwhelming use of present tense, and b.) the characterization of Remus Lupin. But when you look at that nice, sweet, grammatically obsessed version of Remus and compare him to my boxing, Queen-loving, collar-wearing Remus, and maybe there's a reason for that there, I guess. But I've always kind of missed out on the excitement that sweeps the R/S fandom when The Shoebox Project is updated.
Not anymore.
The Prankster's Guide to Life (found atprankstersguide tells the backstories of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, but does it in a way that really appeals to me, with a sophistication that I really enjoy. Well, some level of sophistication. These are the marauders, after all.
A plot summary is kind of useless, in a way, because we all know the overall plot- and this is a work in progress. It's the story of four boys who became best friends, formed a group so tight-knit and so close that they would die for each other (erm, in theory), and turned Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry on its head. They left a record for future generations (or at least themselves!) entitled The Prankster's Guide for Life.
The Guide isn't given to us in the order it would appear in the pages of Remus Lupin's copy, but that really doesn't matter, because the stories of the boys' lives aren't given to us in chronological order. And they don't need to be. We all know that James, Sirius, and Peter became Animagi for Remus, that Peter betrayed them all, that James married Lily, et cetera. What the Prankster's Guide girls do is fill in the details, with interconnected vignettes. Each vignette is prefaced by a relavent section of the Guide, written in a voice that sounds exactly like the marauders on the Map.
What's interesting to me is thatprankstersguide is written by four seperate writers. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lacylu42 writes James, sheafrotherden writes Sirius, ignipes writes Remus, and krislaughs writes Peter. However- and having done the cowriter thing I find this VERY impressive- I challenge you to figure out without peaking who writes what. The voices all blend together very well, and the style is such that having four writers on the project is not remotely distracting. Instead, you might be tempted to think it was one writer because there isn't a hugely noticable break in style. I can vouch that this is quite challenging to do. I'm not saying that it's perfect, but because of the manner the story is told in, it's close enough.
Characterizations are wonderful. James rarely gets a fair treatment in R/S fics, tending to get boiled down to a clueless Lily-chasing idiot, or Sirius's best friend only, Sirius is often a simple-minded playboy, Remus a chocolate eating, book reading whiner, and Peter non-existant or thinly veiled evil. Not here. All four boys are complex and three-dimensional, and most of the fandom cliches are eschewed, although the canon characterizations are still kept. The relationships between them are also not simply "bestest friends James and Sirius, true love forever Remus and Sirius, and tag-along Peter." Instead, the dynamic is fluid depending on the situation, as is appropriate. And they're geeks, in their marauderish way.
And that's what really appeals to me. I've liked certain vignettes better than others. For instance, I wasn't as much a fan of the "Hey Jude" prank as most people were. Don't ask me why- it's not the quality of writing. (I think it's betrayed by the lack of pranks in my own fics, to be honest. I'm just not a prank person.) But I LOVED Peter-the-traitor scenes, and the most recent Animagus arc was beautifully done. But even in the vingettes I haven't been as fond of, I'm not repelled by the writing or anything- it's all personal preference. There's a certain amount of balance here between angst and humor and everything in between that scale, and that makes it appealing.
R/S fans looking for sex will be highly disappointed. There's certainly shippyness between Remus and Sirius here, but it's not explicit physical stuff. No graphic descriptions of sex, no incessent silencing charms, and no threesomes with James. However, R/S fans looking for plot will be over the moon, because that's what here in abundance. Me, I feel that there are VERY few stories out there that have explicit sex and plot, because it's harder to do and quite frankly, you need to write a LONG story for it to really work. (The two examples I can think of are my own Accidentally In Love (yes, I'm a bit of an egoist), andthistlerose's Three Weeks Outside Time arc.) But if you want the R/S dynamic beyond the typical subject matter such as sex, getting found out, and the final fight, this is an R/S fic you can't miss. On the same note, marauder fans who aren't sure how they feel about R/S should check this out, because it won't squick you or ram the cuteness of Remmie and Siri's love (excuse me as I (and the ladies who wrote this, I'm positive!) gag) down your throat.
This is definitely a can't-miss fic for anyone who likes this generation of the Harry Potter crew, and I can't recommend it highly enough!
Yes, I skipped the Intermission, Didja Notice, and Groovy Quotes. These work great for movies- not so well for lit.
If You Liked This Fic, Try:
-Other works by all four authors!
-thistlerose's "Three Weeks Outside Time" arc
-miraminx's "Redeeming Time"
I've been meaning to review/rec this for a long time, but with the effort that goes into the actual story, it seems to merit a review that's more coherent than "This is cool! Go read it!"
The review format makes much more sense if you've ever checked out Mutant Reviewers From Hell, which is the movie site I write for. But regardless, I think you can manage following along!
So, in true Mutant style....
Nigel the Skeletal Crocodile grinned. "Amen, brother."
Tagline: "On a shelf in his sitting room was a handwritten book entitled, A Prankster's Guide to Life, by Padfoot and Prongs, edited by Moony Lupin, and illustrated by Peter 'Why did I have to be a Rat?' Pettigrew. It was the only copy still in existence, the first having been lost to the fury of an enraged mother, Peter's accidentally dropped into the lake seventh year, and James' buried in the wreckage of the house in Godric's Hollow."
Summary Capsule: The exploits of Mssrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are related in snippets in between excerpts from their book. Found at
prankstersguideMutant Meter (adapted):
Shippiness: 3
Quotes: 5
Offensiveness: 1
Bizarre: 3
Rereadability: 5
Lissa's Rating: Asparagus, crocodiles, Hey Jude, and actual Peter. What more could you want in a fic?
Lissa's Review:
Okay, ladies (since most of you reading are ladies, and my apologies to the few gents who aren't), it's secret time. Ready for this? Shhh... come in and I'll whisper it.
I'm not a fan of the Shoebox Project.
It's not that The Shoebox Project is badly written. It's not. I just never cared for a.) the overwhelming use of present tense, and b.) the characterization of Remus Lupin. But when you look at that nice, sweet, grammatically obsessed version of Remus and compare him to my boxing, Queen-loving, collar-wearing Remus, and maybe there's a reason for that there, I guess. But I've always kind of missed out on the excitement that sweeps the R/S fandom when The Shoebox Project is updated.
Not anymore.
The Prankster's Guide to Life (found at
prankstersguide tells the backstories of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, but does it in a way that really appeals to me, with a sophistication that I really enjoy. Well, some level of sophistication. These are the marauders, after all.A plot summary is kind of useless, in a way, because we all know the overall plot- and this is a work in progress. It's the story of four boys who became best friends, formed a group so tight-knit and so close that they would die for each other (erm, in theory), and turned Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry on its head. They left a record for future generations (or at least themselves!) entitled The Prankster's Guide for Life.
The Guide isn't given to us in the order it would appear in the pages of Remus Lupin's copy, but that really doesn't matter, because the stories of the boys' lives aren't given to us in chronological order. And they don't need to be. We all know that James, Sirius, and Peter became Animagi for Remus, that Peter betrayed them all, that James married Lily, et cetera. What the Prankster's Guide girls do is fill in the details, with interconnected vignettes. Each vignette is prefaced by a relavent section of the Guide, written in a voice that sounds exactly like the marauders on the Map.
What's interesting to me is that
prankstersguide is written by four seperate writers. lacylu42 writes James, sheafrotherden writes Sirius, ignipes writes Remus, and krislaughs writes Peter. However- and having done the cowriter thing I find this VERY impressive- I challenge you to figure out without peaking who writes what. The voices all blend together very well, and the style is such that having four writers on the project is not remotely distracting. Instead, you might be tempted to think it was one writer because there isn't a hugely noticable break in style. I can vouch that this is quite challenging to do. I'm not saying that it's perfect, but because of the manner the story is told in, it's close enough.Characterizations are wonderful. James rarely gets a fair treatment in R/S fics, tending to get boiled down to a clueless Lily-chasing idiot, or Sirius's best friend only, Sirius is often a simple-minded playboy, Remus a chocolate eating, book reading whiner, and Peter non-existant or thinly veiled evil. Not here. All four boys are complex and three-dimensional, and most of the fandom cliches are eschewed, although the canon characterizations are still kept. The relationships between them are also not simply "bestest friends James and Sirius, true love forever Remus and Sirius, and tag-along Peter." Instead, the dynamic is fluid depending on the situation, as is appropriate. And they're geeks, in their marauderish way.
And that's what really appeals to me. I've liked certain vignettes better than others. For instance, I wasn't as much a fan of the "Hey Jude" prank as most people were. Don't ask me why- it's not the quality of writing. (I think it's betrayed by the lack of pranks in my own fics, to be honest. I'm just not a prank person.) But I LOVED Peter-the-traitor scenes, and the most recent Animagus arc was beautifully done. But even in the vingettes I haven't been as fond of, I'm not repelled by the writing or anything- it's all personal preference. There's a certain amount of balance here between angst and humor and everything in between that scale, and that makes it appealing.
R/S fans looking for sex will be highly disappointed. There's certainly shippyness between Remus and Sirius here, but it's not explicit physical stuff. No graphic descriptions of sex, no incessent silencing charms, and no threesomes with James. However, R/S fans looking for plot will be over the moon, because that's what here in abundance. Me, I feel that there are VERY few stories out there that have explicit sex and plot, because it's harder to do and quite frankly, you need to write a LONG story for it to really work. (The two examples I can think of are my own Accidentally In Love (yes, I'm a bit of an egoist), and
thistlerose's Three Weeks Outside Time arc.) But if you want the R/S dynamic beyond the typical subject matter such as sex, getting found out, and the final fight, this is an R/S fic you can't miss. On the same note, marauder fans who aren't sure how they feel about R/S should check this out, because it won't squick you or ram the cuteness of Remmie and Siri's love (excuse me as I (and the ladies who wrote this, I'm positive!) gag) down your throat.This is definitely a can't-miss fic for anyone who likes this generation of the Harry Potter crew, and I can't recommend it highly enough!
Yes, I skipped the Intermission, Didja Notice, and Groovy Quotes. These work great for movies- not so well for lit.
If You Liked This Fic, Try:
-Other works by all four authors!
-
thistlerose's "Three Weeks Outside Time" arc-
miraminx's "Redeeming Time"
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 03:03 am (UTC)We really do have a lot of fun writing this thing, and it's great to know that you're enjoying it. And I'm especially happy to hear that you think the balance of humour and sadness works. That's tricky (as you well know), writing a story that everybody knows ends in tragedy without either ignoring the tragedy or having an angst-ridden melodrama. The boys do need to have fun, after all. *g*
Pssst. I'm not a Shoebox fan, either. Am I allowed to say that? Very well. I've said it. That makes two of us. We should start a club. But I should give them credit: they are largely responsible for the way I write Remus. Or, rather, for the way I deliberately don't write Remus. Heh.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 03:29 am (UTC)And I'm especially happy to hear that you think the balance of humour and sadness works.
That's what I like best- and also what attracts me to this pair. But so few fics really have the balance- it's hard to find one that really does. After all, the first reason I had for shipping R/S was it gave them SOMETHING to be happy about in OotP!
Pssst. I'm not a Shoebox fan, either. Am I allowed to say that? Very well. I've said it. That makes two of us. We should start a club. But I should give them credit: they are largely responsible for the way I write Remus. Or, rather, for the way I deliberately don't write Remus. Heh.
Actually, same here on the Remus aspect :) What sucks for the Shoebox girls is that I don't think they're a response to the cliche as much as the generators of it, and that's not something they can help. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's also really annoying. That's one of the appeals of PGtL for me- a much more kick-ass Remus. It's not so much that your Remus stands out from Shoebox, but that he stands out from the fandom generated around Shoebox. So I don't blame Shoebox itself.... But I get REALLY tired of that characterization!
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 07:40 am (UTC)What sucks for the Shoebox girls is that I don't think they're a response to the cliche as much as the generators of it, and that's not something they can help.
My impression is that the cliche arose after OotP, Pensieve scene; SBP merely added a lot of new fuel. My main complaints are that parts of it are immature, that much of the time the boys act like girls with c***s, and that some elements are just too derivative (the Prewett brothers on flying motorcycles... so Sirius was just an uncreative imitator?). Plus that I hate the "Snape was a spoiled rich pureblood" cliche.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 02:36 pm (UTC)I'm not fond of the Snape as a spoiled rich pureblood cliche, either. One of the reasons I don't write much Snape is because I find him a very, very difficult character to write. I DON'T fully understand him, and I know we'll find out more about him. The only place where I really felt that was a lack was in Deny Thy Father- but I justified that by saying it was entirely from Sirius's pov and Snape was just not important enough for him to think about unless he was under Sirius's nose. (I don't think that's a bad justification, honestly ;) ). And in AIL... it doesn't surprise me that Sirius didn't know Snape was a Death Eater, because all those kids I hated in high school? Yeah, I just never bothered to think about them again once I was gone. But anyway, yeah. My original point is that Snape- especially young Snape- is an incredibly difficult character to write, and I find very few people that do it well.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 04:33 am (UTC)When I first came into the R/S side of fandom, everyone told me I had to read Stealing Harry and SBP. I loved Stealing Harry. I really do. Sam isn't the greatest writer, style-wise, but he tells a hell of a story. So then I started reading SBP and... I fell asleep. At my computer. I thought the notes and things were adorable and clever, but the story bored me, to be honest. I don't think I made it through three of the chapters there.
And as you well know, I LOVE prankster's guide to pieces, and I fervently hope that you four continue to awe and amaze me with it for a long time to come! :)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 02:03 pm (UTC)We do plan to tell the story until it's complete, but we'll probably do it veeeery sloooowly... ;)
no subject
Date: 2005-07-12 02:39 pm (UTC)But I'm glad I'm not alone on this one!