More re-reads
One of the first fics I read was recently nominated for an award. Which is good, because it shows that the people who know about nominating these sorts of things are the same people who know about well-constructed writing.
From the Ashes, by fourth_rose , is set after the war. With the man they both loved dead, Harry and Pansy find a growing need to turn to each other. About nine-months of growing, if you catch my drift. Building a relationship out of the devastation left behind, they find unexpected comradeship comes with the solace. Even if there are casualties they can never recover among the living as well as the dead. Gently paced and melancholic, the present-tense writing is perfectly suited to the mood of this piece, and the characterisations evolve smoothly from canon. I have also read it thrice because I am a sad, sad person. It's a long read, with pleasant het coupling that will not in any way frighten horses.
Other good reads:
Flame and Shadow, by Maya, continuing the Pansy love-fest. Ron Weasley, dumped twice in the last year, goes out drinking one night and winds up with a scantily clad Slytherin in his arms, first on the dance floor, and then in sequentially more compromising positions. Agreeably racy without awkward directorial shagging, and with a cheerfully unrepentant Ms Parkinson showing Ron the error of his ways in not erring more often. For all that it's intentionally comedic, there's a genuinely touching relationship constructed, one that's built on real things, not the images of them.
When Harry Cursed Draco, by anthimaeria, half-breaks my rule of only listing finished fics in this lj, since on the off-chance anyone ever follows any of these links, I have no desire to curse you to the long waiting game. However, even though it's been written into a series, it was first written as a stand-alone, and the final chapter of that series is out at beta, so I'll let it pass. Who knew that attempted murder could end up being so pervy? And in the good way? While startlingly explicit for my sweet virginal eyes [excuse me, brief coughing fit, remnants of honesty making bid to strangle terrible lying person], it's the humour that carries every part of this text. That it is hot Harry/Draco humour is all the better. For a boy who keeps being written on his back and frequently unconscious, this Draco manages to skip merrily away from bottom stereotypes and emerges as an appealing anti-hero who still manages to keep all canon intact - a neat trick pulled off by fewer writers than you'd think. The Moaning Myrtle cameos made me laugh, since anything that indulges my mild Shirley Henderson obsession is a good thing.
Not for young readers unless they have snuck down to the library and are pretending to be 18; in which case, wait until you're older and it's with someone you love, we all did ... [sorry, must go, pancreas has joined with honesty in a bid to stop flagrant abuses of anything resembling truth …]
From the Ashes, by fourth_rose , is set after the war. With the man they both loved dead, Harry and Pansy find a growing need to turn to each other. About nine-months of growing, if you catch my drift. Building a relationship out of the devastation left behind, they find unexpected comradeship comes with the solace. Even if there are casualties they can never recover among the living as well as the dead. Gently paced and melancholic, the present-tense writing is perfectly suited to the mood of this piece, and the characterisations evolve smoothly from canon. I have also read it thrice because I am a sad, sad person. It's a long read, with pleasant het coupling that will not in any way frighten horses.
Other good reads:
Flame and Shadow, by Maya, continuing the Pansy love-fest. Ron Weasley, dumped twice in the last year, goes out drinking one night and winds up with a scantily clad Slytherin in his arms, first on the dance floor, and then in sequentially more compromising positions. Agreeably racy without awkward directorial shagging, and with a cheerfully unrepentant Ms Parkinson showing Ron the error of his ways in not erring more often. For all that it's intentionally comedic, there's a genuinely touching relationship constructed, one that's built on real things, not the images of them.
When Harry Cursed Draco, by anthimaeria, half-breaks my rule of only listing finished fics in this lj, since on the off-chance anyone ever follows any of these links, I have no desire to curse you to the long waiting game. However, even though it's been written into a series, it was first written as a stand-alone, and the final chapter of that series is out at beta, so I'll let it pass. Who knew that attempted murder could end up being so pervy? And in the good way? While startlingly explicit for my sweet virginal eyes [excuse me, brief coughing fit, remnants of honesty making bid to strangle terrible lying person], it's the humour that carries every part of this text. That it is hot Harry/Draco humour is all the better. For a boy who keeps being written on his back and frequently unconscious, this Draco manages to skip merrily away from bottom stereotypes and emerges as an appealing anti-hero who still manages to keep all canon intact - a neat trick pulled off by fewer writers than you'd think. The Moaning Myrtle cameos made me laugh, since anything that indulges my mild Shirley Henderson obsession is a good thing.
Not for young readers unless they have snuck down to the library and are pretending to be 18; in which case, wait until you're older and it's with someone you love, we all did ... [sorry, must go, pancreas has joined with honesty in a bid to stop flagrant abuses of anything resembling truth …]