Literatti: Fiction By Deslea

Newlyweds Draco and Astoria, Lucius and Narcissa, and Bella and Rodolphus take part in a group-handfasting ritual on the eve of the final battle, which is consummated. Based on the WWII Air Force "key parties" that pre-date modern swinging, the ritual is a commitment that those who survive will look after one another's families. The sexual content is considerably more explicit than my usual fare, but what I like about it is that it is genuinely a vehicle for the relationships, with each person's sexual style a reflection of their personality and their vulnerabilities. 5800 words. Read it here

"Through 2013, my writing has been heavily focused on Voldemort and his first, last, and best lieutenant, Bellatrix Lestrange. While I've always liked antagonists, I have been particularly intrigued by their contradictions. Bellatrix has an utterly selfless devotion that would be considered saintly if not employed in the service of a genocidal maniac. Voldemort publicly disdains love, and according to J K Rowling, cannot love at all due to the magical coercion employed in his conception, yet he demonstrates a clear special connection with and devotion to Bella. He abandons his other soldiers but rescues her, is indifferent to all other losses in battle and screams at hers, uses pet names with her, and questions everyone's devotion but hers. Rather than a magical impediment – which as a theory has several holes – it seems more likely that Voldemort has an attachment disorder of some kind and that Bella has somehow managed to bridge the barriers, and that is a very interesting thing to work with. Also interesting is the source of his disorder. I imagine that it would be very damaging to be a child and be able to see the uncensored thoughts of everyone around you, especially in an institutional setting where the overall equation is probably not a loving one."

Ratings are roughly equivalent to those used by the Motion Picture Association of America.

G: General audiences.
PG: Parental Guidance. Adult concepts and dilemmas, but without graphic detail.
M (or R): Mature audience. Adult concepts and dilemmas, anti-social attitudes, people doing the wrong thing and not necessarily feeling guilty about it. Also includes low-level sexual content (a few soft-focus paragraphs with little or no direct discussion of body parts). Most of my work is M.
NC-17: No children 17 or under. May contain explicit and extended descriptions of sexual activity, brief but graphic sexual descriptions, or graphic violence. A couple of my works contain rape scenes; these are graphic but not sexualised, and are appropriately marked with content warnings.
Trigger/Content Warnings: I take a conservative approach to triggers and will generally warn for anything that might trigger reader trauma to do with violence, self-harm, or grief. If the term "dark themes" is used, this may mean too many dark themes to mention, a dark theme that I don't want to reveal because it's a plot twist, or a vague dark feel that doesn't have a more precise description. Caveat lector.