HD MPreg Fest 2012 - Week 04 Recs
Week 04
The Recs of Fic and Art for the fourth week of the MPreg Fest. If it doesn't have opinion piece yet, I just haven't gotten round to writting one.
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Post 44. - 10-06-2012 - Art: Babies, Birds, & Bees - OH MY! - Preg!Draco
Sum.: From the mouths of babes.... And from Harry Potter-Malfoy.
MY OPINION:
Post 43 - 09-06-2012 - Art & Fic: 'ASP' - Preg!Harry
Sum.: Asp runs the most infamous masquerade nightclub, he is always seen but never interacts with guests until the night Harry Potter walks in. Asp takes advantage of it and fucks Harry. Harry ends up pregnant, he has no idea who the other father really is, and in honour of Asp, names his son Albus Severus Potter. Draco has to say something, no Malfoy can be named Albus.
MY OPINION:
I liked the prompt and the collaboration between the artist and the author really worked well. Both the art and the fic really complemented each other. Plus this was a pinch-hit which made the results just that bit more amazing.
This fic is meant to be fun and relies heavily on the fast paced interaction / dialogue between the characters. The focus of this fic is not necessarily plot, but is more on the style in which it is written and here that style works, plus the author really does have a way with words. The fic is BORDERLINE CRACK but in a good way (this year’s first crack fest fic I believe J). And because of the crack the focus is on humour and not on logical development or IC-ness … both plot and characters are done in pure crack style and they are done in a good way. So the characters are IC in a cracky way J. The fic is fast paced, has a good cadence to it and while it is a bit all-over-the-place that is on purpose and it works here.
Also amazing was how much detail and explanations there was in this fic, I loved the explanation of how MPreg was possible ... Good old Snape ..., the only downside of the fast pacedness of the fic was that in your speed you sometimes read over stuff. But that is just a reason to re-read it J.
The art itself is so great it could have been stand-alone pieces, you do not necessarily need the fic to appreciate them. But put together both the fic and art pieces just shone that little bit more. I really liked the authors style of drawing and the B/W with splashes of colour look really great here.
My only comment would be that I had a bit of a hard time reading this from my computer screen. My favourite type of fics are ones that have a good balance between dialogue and text blocks, because they look the clearest on your computer screen and you can read them diagonally and still understand the fic. This fic had just a bit too much text blocks and because you really had to read every word to truly appreciate it, I had a bit of a hard time. So I’m going to c/p this fic and convert it so I can read it on my kindle and then I think I’ll have an easier time getting into the pace and cadence of the fic.
This was fun and well-pulled off piece of crack and the art and fic really worked well together. So great fic - and pinch-hit - guys.
Post 41 - 08-06-2012 - Art: Wake Up, Papa! - unknown (past pregnancy)
Sum.: Scorpius is tired of waiting to play with Papa.
MY OPINION:
This is absolutely GORGEOUS and dripping with cuteness. This art piece is literally pure perfection.
I loved the composition of the characters the artist choose and the way it just oozed family contentment. There is so much emotion in this piece - in how they touch, look, smile etc.
Her Draco and Harry are spot on and while her characters heads are gorgeous, perfect and very much how I see them, I especially love the way she draws their bodies - both have thin and well-defined bodies, but the author really manages to convey their physical differences. And despite this being a one piece artwork, the artist really manages to convey so much of their characteristics in here - example, just look at their choice of swimwear J!
Oh and the baby is just pure baby adorableness, all the babies in this fest have been absolutely “I-want-to-gobble-you-up-cute” and this baby is no exception. Plus he is such a good mix of both parents in both appearance and attitude J!!!
So, this is another magnificent piece from a not so mysterious author.
Post 38 - 06-06-2012 - Fic: Exposure - Preg!Harry
Sum.: A happy marriage can still be full of secrets and lies.
MY OPINION:
This fic was a nice read, although it was at times a bit too much “telling” rather than “showing”.
The opening is WOW, this is a sex scene that is not all smut but also so much loving. The opening sequences was a good way to go, it grabbed you and threw you in a loving and established HD relationship.
Now I’m not going to tell you anything else about the story, because that would ruin it all. The story did feel a bit rushed in places and also a bit disjointed, because we were only seeing bits of the story and not the entire timeline. Plus Draco’s job and the reason behind his assignment wasn’t every really explained.
IC? I would say they were all fairly IC, although Draco was maybe a tad bit OOC. But he was a very fandom Draco and he was still recognisable as Draco.
So in short this was a nice story - not a great one - that had its more mediocre moments which were offset by some WOW moments and the beginning and end made up for a lot.
Post 36 - 05-06-2012 - Fic: I was a Teenage Wolf! - Possible Preg!Draco
Sum.: Harry Potter -- Boy-Who-Lived, Chosen One, and . . . well . . . werewolf -- has returned to Hogwarts (at Hermione’s insistence) to finish his education. On top of classes and homework, he’s living in a tent (again) and helping to run the weekly HOWL -- Hogwarts Organisation for the Welfare of Lycanthropes -- meetings. What’s more, there’s something odd about Malfoy . . .
MY OPINION:
This is an 8th year Fic and by making it also a werewolf!fic (and thus slightly AU) it is actually quite a believable fic in total.
Now this is a “knotting” fic with the whole “OMG, I’m going into heat and I need you - or anyone - right now” situation. Now I love creature!fics and in general I’m pretty mellow and just go with it, but this one actually made sense!!! Now the author could have made this pure smut - and ok, the focus here is getting Harry and Draco to do the naughty - but she still actually managed to give the whole thing some background and place it in the canon story line etc.
Also the author totally managed to keep all characters IC!!!! Everyone has changed a bit - a war will do that to you and being bitten by a werewolf will definitely change your outlook on life - but Hermione is still championing certain cause, Harry & Ron still hate classes, Harry is still his curious yet oddly gentleman self and Draco has mellowed but is still a bit of a pointy and self-entitled prat. And what is even more amazing is how the author managed to keep HD IC through the smut scene. Sometimes a fic will have brilliant characterisations and then all of a sudden during the sex scene the characters become badly written or well-written, but just not IC porn actors.
Also good balance between dialogue and Harry’s inner POV, so this was the perfect lay-out to read something of your computer screen.
So I loved this and this is a great - 8th year - fic with brilliant characterisations and the smut is hot and at the same time sweet, what could a HD fangirl ask for more J!
Post 35 - 05-06-2012 - Art: Bouncy Babe - Past Pregnancy (unknown)
Sum.: It's a good thing babies bounce!
MY OPINION:
This art piece was done in a more traditional japanese manga style (ie more pointy). And I like that style and the artist used it in a good way, as in these depictions are Harry and Draco and not just random manga dudes with blond and black hair/scar. The artist really managed to capture both characters and their expressions were just great. Plus their conversation was just spot on. And their baby was just so adorable :)!!!
The only min-point would be that the background is a bit weird, in my eyes it made it look like they were at sea or something and I don't think that was the intention. I think the artist either ran out of time or just isn't big on BG, but didn't want to leave it white.
Post 34 - 04-06-2012 - Fic: When Jealousy Strikes - Preg!Draco
Sum.: Draco and Harry have been married for a few years and have a five year old daughter named Ariana. Unexpectedly, Draco falls pregnant and the couple are ecstatic. Their five year old on the other hand, is completely against the idea when she finds out what a new baby means.
MY OPINION:
This is more a fic about the other parent and other children discovering that one parent is pregnant. And the author really captures both Harry and the little girl's reaction beautifully. Especially the little girl was very realistic. At first I thought the child's "voice" was a bit too young, since the prompt asked for a 10 year old. But the author changed her into a 5 year old and then she was spot on. Plus the author really captured how little kids must feel when something so huge happens in there lives.
This was a nice short fluffy read that actually had good characters sketches, esp. her little girl was great.
Post 33 - 04-06-2012 - Fic: Take What’s Left of Me - Preg!Harry + Preg!Draco
Sum.: One day Draco just left without saying a word, leaving Harry reeling. You’d think that after what Draco did, Harry could move on, but he can’t. When Astoria miscarries and Draco comes to him pleading for a baby, Harry can’t say no.
MY OPINION:
This is kind of a hard one to review. I actually really did not like either character depictions or actions in this fic, but especially I loathed Draco. But that said I did read this fic entirely and never once did I actually want to stop reading. So yeah, this fic is a bit of an oxymoron really (I think I'm using it correctly here).
While I did have quite a a lot of "Really, I mean really" moments with certain decisions, reactions and plot twist/moves and I did not like the way Harry thought or acted and Draco really was absolutely horrid, all actions and reactions actually did fit in the author's plot and stayed consistant in their own bizarre way. But then her ending ... kind of SPOILERISH *** ... was just totally a 180° turn, which I have to say was a bit too bizarre. It was like in a movie were you have only seen strife and pain and then all of a sudden it has this Disney Happy Ending. It just feels a bit misplaced and forced, so I personally would have liked it better if she had just left of that ending part.***
Are the characters IC? Well my first reaction was a resounding negative, but then I read crazyparakiss comment and review of this fic and I do see her point about the ICness of the characters. So these are not my favourite depictions of either Harry or Draco, but both depictions have been developed from certain character aspects that are present in canon. Although I'm going to guess a fair few people might find them at first OOC.
It did have one MAJOR GOOD POINT for which the author deserves kudos: the author created an OC that played an important role in the fic and she really did that well. Creating major OC’s can be a rather dangerous route to go, because the Mary Sue is always just lurking around the corner. But here the OC was an asset and not a burden.
This is my personal opinion and maybe you will love the character depictions and reactions, so give it a go. But I would suggest that if you have a few “Really, I mean really” moments that you should concede that you are not the target audience for this fic.
EDIT: I pretty much agree with badcook, ura_hd, deekchan and some other people's comment on this fic. So if you are thorn and unsure whether to read and don't mind spoilers, then read some of the comments and maybe that will help you make a choice.
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