On the Road with Janeway and McGonagall

Kelly here (kellychambliss), ready to hit the road with thefangirl_tour.

I came to fanfic years ago (ten years ago this month, in fact) when I was obsessed with Captain Janeway of Star Trek: Voyager and searched the Net looking for. . .anything. What I found was fabulous fiction and a fun community of people, some of whom are still my friends. In fact, one of them is more: I met my partner online in VOY fandom. In a few weeks, she and I are going to have a "tenth-anniversary" celebration of the first night we met online, in a Star Trek chatroom.

I drifted away from Janeway fic eventually and was fandom-less for a while, until I happened to reread all the Harry Potter books last summer and fell in love with Minerva McGonagall (yeah, I have a thing for older women with power). I started writing Minerva-fic in the fall of 2008, and in the past few months, I've read more superb stories than I can count.

So my recs today feature my main fandom loves, Janeway from Voyager and McGonagall from Harry Potter, with a couple of other pairings thrown in just because they're too good to miss. The Janeway titles are fairly old, from the glory days of the fandom. For Minerva, I've included a variety of pairings, because old ladies can have lots of sex and romance, too.

I'm an angst diva, so many of these fics are. . .angsty.  But there's one lovely romance.  And one comic story, because, as Slughorn says in the HBP movie, you've got to have the dark and the light.

Unless noted, the summaries and ratings are the authors'.

Star Trek: Voyager

Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager

Title: A Kiss on the Body Electric
Author: Jane St. Clair
Pairing / Characters: Janeway / Seven
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Summary: Janeway and Seven take a journey down a holographic highway. And then travel much farther. A car, a night, a white t-shirt (and hairpins!), a leather jacket.
Why I fangirl this: It captures a lot of the angsty energy of the Janeway / Seven dynamic. There's an age and power difference between the two characters that I think has to be addressed; I like the way Jane does that here. And the car and leather jacket are fun.

Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager

Title:  Reaction Shots
Author:  the stylus
Pairing / Characters: Janeway, various 
Rating: light R

Status: complete
Summary: The crew reacts to home. And Janeway.
Why I fangirl this: the stylus had an excellent understanding of Janeway's appeal, and in this story, which takes place after the crew has finally gotten back to Earth, she does a wonderful job of showing that appeal as it manifests itself to a variety of characters: Admiral Paris, Tuvok, Seven, Chakotay, Tom Paris, and B'Elanna. Her understated style exactly suits the elegiac quality of the fic. To me, this story captures a lot of the allure and pleasure of Janeway fic.

And now for a little Janeway bdsm. . .

Fandom: Star Trek: Voyager

Title:  The Middle of the Night
Author: Boadicea
Warnings: bdsm

Pairing / Characters: Janeway / Kashyk
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Summary:  An AU in which Kashyk stays on Voyager.
Why I fangirl this: Kashyk was a darkly-sinister-and-sexy alien who was (in the parlance of Kashyk fandom) an MMX -- mass-murdering xenophobe.  He was fully convinced of the moral rightness of his cause:  to exterminate all telepaths. He and Janeway had wonderfully-twisted chemistry. Their entire relationship was based on power games, and the best Kashyk fanfic explored these games, both political and sexual. Boadicea's story epitomizes the appeal of Janeway/Kashyk.  And it's pretty hot, too

Harry Potter

Fandom: Harry Potter
Title:  Liars
Author: DaphneRunning

Pairing / Characters: McGonagall / Moody
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Summary: The night before Minerva McGonagall begins teaching at Hogwarts, she pays an unexpected visit to Alastor Moody, the brash young Auror.
Why I fangirl this: This fic follows McGonagall and Moody in a very non-traditional love story that spans decades. I find it compelling because of the character development: Minerva and Alastor aren't very likeable, but they're in character. Yet despite their flaws, you come to care for and understand them. The opening chapter is a little rocky; when I first read it, I couldn't find it believable. But as the story progresses, the author sucks you in to her vision of the characters, and by the end, I had a hard time thinking of them in any other way. And that ending! -- a genuine punch in the gut, even though you know it's coming.

Fandom: Harry Potter

Title:  Home Studies
Author: bethbethbeth 
Pairing / Characters: McGonagall / Snape
Rating: The author doesn't offer one, but I'd give it PG
Status: Complete
Summary: Minerva and Severus Post-Hogwarts: A Life
Why I fangirl this: Written before DH, "Home Studies" is an AU told through the very effective conceit of Hogwarts academic subjects adapted for the home. After Dumbledore's death, Severus comes to stay with a retired Minerva, and their friendship slowly and believably turns to romance. Quiet, domestic, comfortable, utterly satisfying. The "Potions" scene is a particular delight.

Fandom: Harry Potter
Title: A Toast to Lord Voldemort
Author: magnetic_pole 
Pairing / Characters:  McGonagall / Augusta Longbottom
Rating: PG
Status: Complete
Summary: Neville joins an unexpected celebration.
Why I fangirl this: You'll rarely find a better characterization of Gran Longbottom, and Minerva and Neville are beautifully-presented, too. The story seamlessly weaves humor, politics, magic, and captivatingly blunt old women. Look especially for Minerva's comments on "poofs."

 Fandom: Harry Potter
Title:  Ancient Magic
Author: Headmistress X

Warning: a couple chapters of violence and dubcon
Pairing / Characters: McGonagall / Hermione
Rating: NC-17
Status: WIP
Summary: Minerva understands why one ought to be very, very careful.
Why I fangirl this: A 40-year-old Hermione and a 95-years-young McGonagall find unexpected love that is perfect in its imperfections. There's a nail-biting adventure of a backstory, a wonderfully-discursive and revealing Weasley family picnic, and non-annoying children. But look especially for Chapters 1 and 13. One told from Minerva's pov, the other from Hermione's, they epitomize the reasons that this very difficult pairing can work.

Fandom: Harry Potter
Title: Viper's Kiss
Author: pre_raphaelite1 

Warnings: blood-play, breath-play, canon character death, evil!Minerva

Pairing / Characters: McGonagall / Voldemort, McGonagall / Sirius 
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Summary:  What if Voldemort had an ally in Hogwarts?  And what if that ally were McGonagall? (my summary; I couldn't find one by the author.)
Why I fangirl this: pre_raphaelite1 writes the most wonderful kinky, twisted darkfics, and this one is a classic. Not only does it feature a fabulous evil!Minerva (one of the very few such versions of her that I've found), but, until DH, there's no reason that canon could not have functioned exactly like this. McGonagall could so easily have been Voldy's actual spy in Hogwarts. You'll love (or hate) the way PR-1 explains the canon story of Sirius Black. And just the sheer evil fun of it all.

Fandom: Harry Potter
Title:  Things We Lost (and Found) in the War
Author: xylodemon   
Pairing / Characters: McGonagall / Snape
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Summary: Two people, two wars, and a few of the things they learned along the way
Why I fangirl this: McSnape is a tough pairing to make believable, but this story succeeds wildly. The characters are spot-on, and they act like grown-ups; the sex is marvelously-described and in-character; the style is wonderful; the imagery and atmosphere are powerful. One of my very favorite HP fics. 

 Fandom: Harry Potter
Title:  Years
Author: orphne 
Pairing / Characters: McGonagall / Trelawney
Rating: NC-17
Status: Complete
Summary:   McGonagall thinks of the past.
Why I fangirl this: Set immediately after Dolores Umbridge tries to sack Trelawney in OoP, this story will rip your heart out. In a good way.

And now for a spot of crack!fic. . .

Fandom: Harry Potter
Title:  I Dream of Plagiarism
Author: Cat Feral
Pairing / Characters: McGonagall, Snape, Pomfrey
Rating: PG
Status:   Complete
Summary: You have to wonder what they think of it all.
Why I fangirl this: It's hilarious, it's meta, it nails so many fanfic clichés, and it has Minerva voicing her irritation with fans who won't accept Albus as gay: "There's a reason the man has a phoenix for a pet! What part of 'flaming' do they not understand?"

And now for a couple of excellent non-McGonagall stories. . .

Fandom: Harry Potter
Title: Playing for Keeps
Author: vissy     
Warnings: incest, dubcon
Pairing / Characters: Eileen Prince/Severus Snape
Rating: R (author's rating; I'd say NC-17 for the subject matter)
Status: Complete
Summary: Eileen Snape, former Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team, is losing her marbles.
Why I fangirl this: Normally incest is a major squick for me; I think I've read exactly two stories that feature it. But this story was part of a fest known for its high quality, so I was willing to give it a try. And I'm very glad I did.  Vissy creates a compelling, believable picture of Eileen: her working-class background, the grimness of her life, her few pleasures and triumphs, such as her halcyon days as gob stones champ. In the books, gobstones is just a briefly-mentioned kids' game, but in this story, it becomes a complex metaphor for all sorts of things, including love and family and bonds in all their necessary and painful forms. You won't regret reading.