Here is the updated BIG QUEUE. Note that this list is not final - there will be things switched around based on drop-outs, people signing up for more than one pairing, etc. If we've inadvertently slotted you to fly more than one pairing/month, please let us know so we can correct our error! We will constantly be updating this list. If there is a problem with your spot in the queue, there's a certain month you can't rec, etc., reply to this post to and let us know.

• Do not sign up on this post. Please go to the individual sign up pages.

• Due to all the kerfuffle and recent administrative changes, June 2012 will NOT be a FREE FLYING MONTH, but will return as one in 2013. December 2012 shall remain FREE FLYING.

• We don’t have the capacity to work on the strike system anymore. We feel that four fic recs is easy enough for most reccers who have chosen to sign up. If you fail to achieve this, you will not be allowed to rec for 12 months from the date you were due to rec. There will be a mid-month post reminding reccers who are behind in their duties.

• A list of monthly reccers will be posted prior to the month in which they’re due to rec. It is your responsibility to alert us if you are unable to rec. Try not leave it till you have received the individual message, (usually sent by Darry), unless there are extenuating circumstances.

• We do not intend to relegate any ship with a current individual sign-up page to a Rare or Featured Pair. If no one signs up for reccing, there simply will be no recs until someone does.

Many thanks for your patience and please let us know if we’re not making sense!

( The Big Queue! )

Title: The Maggot
Author: miamadwyn
Length/Word Count: 4988
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: At OWL
Pairing: Snape/Luna
Rating: PG
Author's Website: Her Author Page at OWL
Author's Summary: Luna creates a new Charm. Working on it for several years post VW II, she now has the ability to draw life from the Hogwarts portraits. Her aim was to bring back Dumbledore, but an unconfirmed sighting of an Aquivirius Maggot sees her aim instead for an old quidditch portrait of the victorious Slytherin team circa 1977, and one Severus Snape in particular.
Why everyone should read this: miamadwyn is a wonderful storyteller, and this tale has all of the quirky, winsome, unconventional charm that you could hope for in a Luna-centric story--as if you couldn't tell from the title. Better yet, this story allows a unique opportunity for Luna and a more youthful and inexperienced Severus to come to know and appreciate each other on more equal footing, which changes their dynamic in unusual and interesting ways. (You will perhaps be unsurprised that Luna handles having the upper hand with better grace than Severus typically does. *g*)

What really makes this story for me, though, are the characterizations, which are smart and sharp and funny. miamadwyn has a gift for writing Snape without softening him, and with plenty of acerbic--and oddly appealing--bite. It's a treat to see the way she develops this in a younger Snape, as she allows his moments of uncertainty and vulnerability to peek through his snarling defenses without compromising his edge. This makes for a wonderful contrast to frank, hopeful, compassionate Luna, who manages to be both brilliant and oblivious in the best of ways. She is immune to the sting of his usual offensive weapons, and she moves right past his defenses without even realizing they exist, making her uniquely qualified to unsettle, irritate and fascinate him, and proving just why this pairing can work so well.

( Read an excerpt )

And this is my very last rec for month! Thanks for flying with me!

Title: Epilogue>
Artist: little_iago
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Snape/Lupin
Why everyone should see this: this hilarious comic answers the infamous DH epilogue with superheroes, cuddling, and humor. This gift for fabledtruant makes me smile, every time, and you will, too, once you've seen the "The Dark Snark" and "Howler Boy" in action.

Title: 13 Ways of Looking at a Thestral
Author: cathedralcarver
Length/Word Count: 4440
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: At OWL
Pairing: Snape/Luna
Rating: PG
Author's Website: Her Author Page at OWL
Author's Summary: A man and a woman and a Thestral are one.
Why everyone should read this: The first time I read this story, the opening section gave me chills at its eerie, otherworldly charm. cathedralcarver has such an admirably spare, exquisitely subtle style that she manages to convey volumes and suggest great emotional depth with just a few deftly chosen words. She also creates an amazing and unique fusion of darkness and light here--pain and healing, melancholy and solace, resignation and renewal--that is entirely fitting for this pairing, since Severus is a seemingly dark man capable of great light, and Luna is a fundamentally light person who is astoundingly unafraid of (and arguably fascinated by) darkness. The result is a story that stings and soothes in equal measure.

If it seems as though I'm speaking of this story is very vague terms... well, I am, but it's because to describe the story much more would be to ruin the elegant beauty of the way this tale unfolds. It is arguably more of a character study than a romance, a sort of study in acceptance: of the self, of the circumstances of life, of help and love and friendship freely offered, of the choices others make and the choices we make in return for ourselves. And yet, although it isn't a story of wooing, or of hearts and flowers, I think it is, under the beguiling surface, an oblique examination of a more mature, more enduring sort of love, the sort that long outlasts infatuation and underpins all the stuff of ordinary life. The love between Severus and Luna here is understated, and yet never in doubt. It is the subtext to even their smallest interactions, and that makes it all the more powerful and compelling to witness.


( Read an excerpt )

Title: To Ride the Rising Sun
Author: shefa
Length/Word Count: 5567
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: At Archive of Our Own, At OWL, At The Petulant Poetess
Pairing: Snape/Luna
Rating: R
Author's Website: Her Author Page at OWL
Author's Summary: The first one announces itself with a screech and a thud.
Why everyone should read this: Wherever Luna goes, a sense of whimsy is usually not far behind, and although "To Ride the Rising Sun" is in many ways Severus's tale of self-discovery, this story is nonetheless infused with her free and playful spirit, particularly in its descriptions of the splendidly improbable magical menagerie she minds in Diagon Alley. Luna is, in her own gentle and inimitable way, a force of nature, and it is somehow incredibly fitting to see that, even in her shop, she has shaped an odd sort of order out of what should be chaos. If anybody has the grace and the cosmic, misty-eyed wisdom to coax disparate ecosystems and volatile creatures to inhabit the same space more or less harmoniously, it's this Luna. She can tame and heal the most ornery and obstinate of creatures.

And that, in a nutshell, is why Luna makes such a lovely match for Snape, and particularly why this Luna is well-suited to this Snape, who is still lonely and stunted in ways he can't even recognize. Luna offers the kind of patience and acceptance necessary not to heal him, but to help him heal himself (a crucial difference). The way she shepherds him through the unfamiliar solace and heartache of pet ownership serves as a lovely extended metaphor for the sort of long-overdue healing and spiritual growth that Severus badly needs and wants (even if he doesn't know it yet), allowing him to finally mourn, forgive himself, and ultimately open up his life--and his heart--to those worthy of sharing it. shefa has an unparalleled talent for themes of healing, redemption, and self-transformation, and this deft, insightful little story showcases that skill to best advantage.


( Read an excerpt )

Title: The Thin Man (original), or The Thin Man (extended cut)
Author: duniazade
Length/Word Count: 5000 in the original, 7200 in the extended cut
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: See above
Pairing: Snape/Luna
Rating: R
Author's Website: Her Author Page at OWL
Author's Summary: Trust Luna to marry someone who doesn't exist.
Why everyone should read this: duniazade has a true talent for making the already magical world of Harry Potter even more so. In her stories, as in canon, magic is absolutely everywhere, underpinning everything. Yet unlike canon, this magic feels deeper, older, and wilder, rooted in something both complex and ultimately unknowable--and all the more thrilling for it. "The Thin Man" is a fantastic journey that does not shy away from the strange, the beautiful, and the mysterious, and (fittingly enough for this pairing) it is frequently all three of these things at once. It is also slyly funny and immensely clever, drawing equally on Magical theory and Muggle mathematics and physics to form something truly unique. There's so much here--Arithmantic theory, Wizarding chat shows, the tangled history of the Lovegood family, the benefit of using pensieves for hygienic purposes, the fabulously weird and whimsical Fickle mansion--that you will be amazed it can all be contained in so few words.

But beyond the intelligent plotting, the highly original magic and the enchanting atmosphere, the greatest strength of this story is the relationship between Luna and Severus, which is handled with a deft, delicate touch that conveys great depth of feeling in its restraint. Their love for each other is so solid and comfortable and genuine; it is the one element that is never in question, and it perfectly grounds all the more fanciful elements. They are each very much themselves here (Luna misty-but-brilliant, Severus still braced for the worst after all these years), and yet they fit together so well, with an understanding that goes beyond words. Their contentment is the constant in this equation, and it's beautiful.


( Read an excerpt )

Title: Magos Retablo
Artist: hawthorntree
Rating: G
Pairing: Snape/Luna
Artist's Website: N/A
Why you chose this piece: It seems fitting for the first art rec featuring this creative, deeply unconventional pairing to be, well... creative and deeply unconventional. *g*

You might not be familiar with Peruvian Retablos, but I'm sure that will in no way diminish the joy of looking at this incredibly charming, creative piece of art, nor your sense of awe in hawthorntree's patience, skill and talent in pulling off something so beautifully detailed at all (incorporating sculpture, painting and "letter" from Luna that sets the context for the piece), let alone as a gift for an exchange.

The end result is sweet, clever, funny and adorable. The tiny sculpted details (Snape and Luna figurines, itty-bitty potions ingredients, a mischievous magical creature) will have you marveling at this retablo for ages, and the ficlet that captures the story behind it will have you grinning at how perfectly it captures Luna's voice, Snape's prickly pride, and the delightful contrast between them. To say any more would spoil it, so just go have a look!

Hello, everybody! I'm bluestocking79, and it's my pleasure to be your Snape/Luna reccer this month. Of all the rare pairs I enjoy, Snuna is my favorite--improbable, beguiling, strangely compelling. (Not unlike Luna herself!) I hope that this month's selections will make it a favorite ship for you, too. Now, on to our first rec...

Title: Dances with the Daffodils
Author: annietalbot
Length/Word Count: 3216
Alternate Links to Fic/Art: At OWL
Pairing: Snape/Luna
Rating: G
Author's Website: Her Author Page at OWL
Author's Summary: Twenty years of contentment robs a man of his edge. Of his expectation that catastrophe will arrive with the dawn (or the noontime bell, or sunset). Twenty years of contentment breeds nothing but the expectation of more... more time, more contentment, more security.
Why everyone should read this: There is a deeply humane spirit that runs through all of annietalbot's work--something gentle and wise, something that speaks of healing and wholeness and hope. Her authorial voice is a soothing and compassionate one, and she has a talent for getting her characters to grow beyond the narrow confines of canon without ever forcing that growth or making it contrived.

"Dances with the Daffodils" is no exception here. It's a tale of new beginnings and second acts, of slow change and gradual trust and love that grows naturally out of friendship and understanding. In other words, it's a tale of great maturity and insight. This Snape and Luna are twenty years older and more experienced than the ones we know in canon, and the nuanced characterization reflects that--they have healed in some ways and are still aching in others--while never losing sight of what makes these two characters distinctive and compelling, both individually and as a duo. annietalbot gets to the heart of what makes this pairing work, that they are not broken so much as they are oddballs and outliers, strangely-shaped pieces who are not the same, and yet nonetheless fit together beautifully. It's an uncommon pleasure to watch their tentative friendship and romance grow, and it's hard not to share their happiness in discovering unexpected joys--not only the romantic sort--together.

( Read an excerpt )

Title: Safe as Houses: A Wizard's Guide to Home Repair
Author: bethbethbeth
Length/Word Count: short story
Alternate Links to Fic: ?
Pairing: SS/LL
Rating: PG
Why everyone should read this: Here is another story that is a snap shot of Severus & Luna’s marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Snape have just purchased their first home together, naturally its not all sunshine and unicorns. Bethbethbeth has gifted the readers with a sort of sentient home for the Snapes. Severus refuses to believe and therefore things go badly for him. ((giggles))

( exerpt )

Title: Life Force Depends on Elemental Power
Gaining Access: Open
Artist: camillo1978
Pairing: SS/LL
Rating: G
Author's Website: http://camillo1978.deviantart.com/
Why everyone should view this: Snuna art is hard to come by. Its like when you see the Oscar Mayer wienermobile on the road. You jump up and down and bust into a happy dance of gleeeeeeee! Camillo’s rendition of a discussion between Severus and Luna is truly amazing. When I first saw it I felt like I had been dunked in the 70s pop culture all over again. Its one of those works of art that the longer you look at it the more you see.