After a few weeks' worth of scouring the library and the Favorite Stories lists of my favorite authors on FFN, I'm throwing my hands up in frustration, and this thread is my last resort.

All I'm looking for is very good prose, the kind of writing that makes you slow down and appreciate the way each sentence is crafted. Beautiful and lyrical, great mood, possibly heavy on description/introspection and with less dialogue or action by comparison. Most stories I've read that would fit the bill are oneshots written in the present tense, but really anything is fine, it'd be interesting to read stories outside that genre too.

By this point I don't care what it's about, who the main pairings are or any of that shit... (Though I'd rather not be smacked in the face with Harry/Snape if I had a choice, to be honest. Also I tend to avoid crossovers, as I may not be familiar with all the works, but other than that all is fine.) Super extra bonus points for stories that are not very popular on DLP, since there's a chance I've already read them.

I've read Circular Reasoning, almost everything by Andro, most of the stories from a few FFN authors that write awesome oneshots / character sketches (chase glasslace and cupid-painted-blind spring to mind)... What else. Well anyway, I'm looking forward to your recommendations!

 

You're asking a lot of Fanfiction I think. A lot of what got into the library got there because they meet at least some of the criteria you seem to have. I can't think of too many that aren't already on here in some way.

Question: Does it have to be Harry Potter only?

 

Yeah, pretty much. Aside from HP, I've only dabbled in Skyrim fanfiction, and there was little of it and most of it sucked.

 

Ahh well then I'm sorry but I can't really suggest more. I have one or two for Star Wars and a Naruto one or two as well but most of the HP ones I'd rec are already on here.

 

I would suggest this. It never made it further than the Recycling Bin with the Library. The prose meanders between the absurd and the beautiful and despite being littered with flavour from literary greats, doesn't quite find it's own pace until right at the end. It's not by any means amazing, but it has some amazing elements to it. YMMV.

 

Unatoned by Sesc

Harry Potter and the Wastelands of Time by Joe

These are the two fics I think of when I think of good prose.

 

I recall that Lady Altair has written some above average prose. One of her stories made it into the Library a few years ago, so I suspect you may have come across her already.

Thanks for the shout-out, but I caution people against this. I wrote it during the end of high school and the beginning of undergrad, and it is juvenile and embarrassing.

But huzzah! I am currently working on a rewrite that will hopefully eliminate many of its problems (but will no doubt replace them with a few more). This will appear eventually. In the meantime, I keep the old copy online to inspire me to write faster.

 

Still for the end of high school and beginning of college...that was pretty fucking good.

 

You might find it both juvenile and embarrassing, but it still contains some absolute poetry in the prose.

That said, I hope the rewrite manages to capture the spirit of the better passages while losing the juvenile qualities of the worse ones.

Completely agree. I wish my own writing was half this good as some of it.

 

Ah, the type of fanfiction I hate.

I'd recommend Malignant Objects by Charlie Dashdot Blue. I really dislike it, so you'll probably like it.

 

Also recommend Malignant Objects for the prose.

Hope you find what your looking for.

 

Didn't you give The Fire Omens a 5 out of 5?

 

I might be getting my interpretation of things very wrong, but I just read The Prince Who Was Promised and I quite like the prose.

 

If you don't like Draco Malfoy as a character then you probably won’t appreciate these recommendations….nonetheless:



Let's Pretend the War Is Over by pir8fancier

Her writing has this edge and confidence to it that only experienced writers seem to have. But, if you were looking for a more poetry-type prose, then this is not the author for you.





The Universe is a Great and Beautiful Thing by attica. The last line of this fic is just...amazing. Read it for this last line.

 

See if you can find more stuff from DLP newcomer Marcus Livius Drusus (here is the beginning of Amber Memories). The only other thing I can think of that meets your criteria (flowery prose but not well-liked) is a story I commented on in For Review which is now in the Trash Bin, called Misconceptions.

You might also want to check out Perspicacity's contest entry Strange Aeons if you missed it.

 

As a fellow lover of prose, what are these one shots you speak of. And I'm curious Riley, I assume the star wars are blank, but what are the naruto ones?

As for suggestions, I enjoyed Phoenix and the Serpent. There are some great lines throughout.

 

Jesus, pal! Next time, please give a warning when you recommend slash.

I stopped reading after that last one...

 

Thanks for the rec, I've just read it. Awesome beginning (and end, by extension), and for some reason I've really liked Arthur in this fic, though not quite what I was looking for.

I've read random snippets of both of these, though never in a complete, linear fashion. Joe's a bloody awesome author, there's no doubt about it; the overall mood of the story is a bit different from what I was looking for, however, and I don't know if I will ever find myself capable of getting past the sheer wackiness of the story and read it from beginning to end.

I'll give Sesc's story another go then; it was pretty good from what I remember.

Yep. And everybody in her Favorites lists too. Good rec, though.

I chuckled You're completely right, though; the likelihood of fanfiction having the kind of prose I like is infinitesimal. I just... keep hoping?

Well that's interesting, because I happen to be a pretty big fan of most of your work (Admittedly, for different reasons.)

Malignant Objects is quite high on my list of "tried and failed"; it looks pretty good for its purposes, but stories so prominently... erm, sensual are not really my cup of tea. I'll see if I can keep reading for more than a chapter and a half.

Nobody who has read that fic carefully can give it anything less than a 5/5. It still boggles the mind that it's only at 4.67 in the DLP Library. *fangirls some more* (Yeah. I really like it, what can I say?)

Hmm. I don't remember that one; I'll give it a go, thanks.

I don't particularly have anything against Draco-centric stories, so it's alright. I've only skimmed the second one, but it looks pretty good, very close to what I'm looking for. Thanks for the recs.

I've read Amber Memories, wasn't too impressed. As for Misconceptions, I don't remember the fic, but I do remember the negative reviews. Trash Bin does not bode well... I'll try to see what it's about anyway. You're right, I have missed that one by Pers, I'll give it a read; thanks.

There's a lot of them, I have just named a few authors I've liked most instead of taking their oneshots one by one. I haven't faved all the stories by them that I've read and liked. One writes Tom Riddle-centric fics, another focuses on the Black family, and quite a few write about the Marauders/First Order/pre-1981 crowd. Do you have any preferences on that, so that I could focus my recommendations a little?

Also, thanks for your own rec; I think I've seen its name tossed around rather often in the all-time favorite fics thread. Will check it out again.

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Whoa, people. Now I've got a lot on my to-read list, but by all means, keep 'em coming!

 

OP said they didn't care about pairing so I didn't think it was necessary to mention.