The lurker's guide to holiday fests
merry_smutmas has been revealed! Since I followed it, as well as hd_holidays, all through december, I thought it would be a good idea to point to the fics I truly enjoyed. As a lurker, and a non-English speaker, I may have a different approach than some readers so here are my two cents:
Last year, even if I followed the fests, I felt a bit awkward and didn't leave any comment, mostly because I wrongly thought that only those who took part in the fest were allowed to do so, and also because as English is not my first language, I found it difficult to adequately express my feelings. This year, I decided to pass over these concerns and I tried to comment at least each time I was really enraptured by a fic. However, It doesn't mean I didn't like those fics I read and did not comment: it could be laziness (yes, it's quite good, but I will comment later, and of course I didn't); or maybe I found it good, but well, there were others I liked better; and finally there were fics I enjoyed but there were also things I couldn't manage, or didn't like that much and It's a fest and I don't see the point in beginning a comment with praise to finish with criticism...Finally I must add that the length of my comment is not proportional to my interest in the fic. Sometimes, there were wonderful fics I would have wanted to thoroughly analyze, but there are things I feel I can do in French, but not in English, especially if I want to do the author justice...
More specifically, I found there was a lot to read this year, so I had to develop some strategy of a sort to keep afloat:
1) I read my OTP: harry/draco. In this case, I tried to read everything that was published. In fact, I read almost everything, except when mpreg was mentioned (I can't, really...). Some fics I abandoned rapidly however, either because there was too much fluff, or too much crack, or because of a premise I couldn't bear (forced bonding or whatever...).
2) I read draco-centric pairing (ron/draco; snape/draco). Here I was more picky, and I only read when:
a) there were already ecstatic comments
b) it was recced somewhere by a favorite author of mine
c)I was hooked by the summary or the first lines
3)I read almost all torture fics (yes, I know) except when it was femmeslash (a big mistake, since it is how I missed
amanuensis1 fic) or when the pairing was a definitive no-no for me.
4)I had a look at all the art because:
a) I love art
b) It doesn't take time so even if it's not a pairing you're generally interested in, you can give it a try. It you don't like it there is the back button. And sometimes you're just *guh*.
So finally here my very subjective recs for this year merry_smutmas:
[Since I am a total jerk with lj coding and I'm unable even to write correctly the name of a community, please don't hesitate to tell me if the references to the fics are wrong or aren't working. Help is welcome!]
Here are my absolute favorites:
furiosity wrote Their Kind of Forever (harry/draco; NC-17). I adored this fic and I'm deeply ashamed that I didn't find out who wrote it. It's -according to me- a feelgood fic, well written, witty, charming, with loveable Harry and Draco, a lot of hot sex, and a satisfying ending. Just what I wanted to read during the holidays!
xylodemon wrote Office space (ron/draco; NC-17). I am always careful when reading ron/draco because I don't believe in the pairing. I love Ron but I can't ship him with anyone except Hermione, and I'm deeply convinced of his heterosexuality. However, I sometimes fall for Ron/Draco. After all, everything is possible to Draco ;-). Anyway, here it works. The context is hilarious, office life is described at its best (at its worst?), poor Ron is prisoner between Oliver Wood's poster and two dreadful secretaries and Draco, well, Draco is full of nuances and delicate touches, and it's perfect.
femmequixotic wrote Infinite Shadow of the Soul (snape/draco, NC-17). This is a masterpiece. I can't even describe this fic. It's a real novella, and I don't know how the author managed to write it in such a short time. It has an incredible plot and, as an historian, I enjoyed the way she managed to intertwine elements of the Russian Revolution to the horcrux quest. The characters are amazing. I fell in love with Anastasia, and Snape's mother, and Andromeda, and it was so finely crafted. The Snape/Draco interaction is perfectly done and the sex scene was a love scene and it was all you could hope for. And I almost cry at the end, and I'm not an emotional person.
Even if I'm not detailing the following, I also really liked:
-Fics:
Brave New World (Harry/Draco, NC-17) by
silentauror and, I am, as everybody, waiting for the sequel.
Noticed Him Fading (Harry/Draco, light NC-17), by
marksykins
Mother of Pearl (Harry/Draco, R) by
geoviki
I would like to make a special mention for: Under the Cold, Wan Moon (Harry/Draco, NC-17) by
slytherincess
This was a fabulous fic, very well written and deeply compelling. However, as far as I'm concerned, this is Draco gen (and I'm not complaining here) but not Harry/Draco. The sex scene felt a bit rushed (yes, I know, it was very long to come, no bad joke here, but I didn't feel it had to come at all. I didn't think either was ready for it, and I don't know if they could ever be.) Anyhow, I deeply enjoyed it.
ETA: I realise I didn't refer to any snape/harry. I love a good snarry when I found one, but there were so many of them here, that I just gave up. I didn't know where to begin and it wasn't my priority. Nevertheless, I hope I'll be able to catch up with some of them, maybe after I see a few recs.
-Art :
Fama Annus Sulum (snape/lupin, NWS) by
lizardspots
ShallowWounds (snape/lucius, NWS), by
ponderosa121
Ok, it took me hours (and I'm not joking, to write this post). I'll try to do the same for hd_holidays after the reveal if I have the time!!!
Last year, even if I followed the fests, I felt a bit awkward and didn't leave any comment, mostly because I wrongly thought that only those who took part in the fest were allowed to do so, and also because as English is not my first language, I found it difficult to adequately express my feelings. This year, I decided to pass over these concerns and I tried to comment at least each time I was really enraptured by a fic. However, It doesn't mean I didn't like those fics I read and did not comment: it could be laziness (yes, it's quite good, but I will comment later, and of course I didn't); or maybe I found it good, but well, there were others I liked better; and finally there were fics I enjoyed but there were also things I couldn't manage, or didn't like that much and It's a fest and I don't see the point in beginning a comment with praise to finish with criticism...Finally I must add that the length of my comment is not proportional to my interest in the fic. Sometimes, there were wonderful fics I would have wanted to thoroughly analyze, but there are things I feel I can do in French, but not in English, especially if I want to do the author justice...
More specifically, I found there was a lot to read this year, so I had to develop some strategy of a sort to keep afloat:
1) I read my OTP: harry/draco. In this case, I tried to read everything that was published. In fact, I read almost everything, except when mpreg was mentioned (I can't, really...). Some fics I abandoned rapidly however, either because there was too much fluff, or too much crack, or because of a premise I couldn't bear (forced bonding or whatever...).
2) I read draco-centric pairing (ron/draco; snape/draco). Here I was more picky, and I only read when:
a) there were already ecstatic comments
b) it was recced somewhere by a favorite author of mine
c)I was hooked by the summary or the first lines
3)I read almost all torture fics (yes, I know) except when it was femmeslash (a big mistake, since it is how I missed
amanuensis1 fic) or when the pairing was a definitive no-no for me.
4)I had a look at all the art because:
a) I love art
b) It doesn't take time so even if it's not a pairing you're generally interested in, you can give it a try. It you don't like it there is the back button. And sometimes you're just *guh*.
So finally here my very subjective recs for this year merry_smutmas:
[Since I am a total jerk with lj coding and I'm unable even to write correctly the name of a community, please don't hesitate to tell me if the references to the fics are wrong or aren't working. Help is welcome!]
Here are my absolute favorites:
furiosity wrote Their Kind of Forever (harry/draco; NC-17). I adored this fic and I'm deeply ashamed that I didn't find out who wrote it. It's -according to me- a feelgood fic, well written, witty, charming, with loveable Harry and Draco, a lot of hot sex, and a satisfying ending. Just what I wanted to read during the holidays!
xylodemon wrote Office space (ron/draco; NC-17). I am always careful when reading ron/draco because I don't believe in the pairing. I love Ron but I can't ship him with anyone except Hermione, and I'm deeply convinced of his heterosexuality. However, I sometimes fall for Ron/Draco. After all, everything is possible to Draco ;-). Anyway, here it works. The context is hilarious, office life is described at its best (at its worst?), poor Ron is prisoner between Oliver Wood's poster and two dreadful secretaries and Draco, well, Draco is full of nuances and delicate touches, and it's perfect.
femmequixotic wrote Infinite Shadow of the Soul (snape/draco, NC-17). This is a masterpiece. I can't even describe this fic. It's a real novella, and I don't know how the author managed to write it in such a short time. It has an incredible plot and, as an historian, I enjoyed the way she managed to intertwine elements of the Russian Revolution to the horcrux quest. The characters are amazing. I fell in love with Anastasia, and Snape's mother, and Andromeda, and it was so finely crafted. The Snape/Draco interaction is perfectly done and the sex scene was a love scene and it was all you could hope for. And I almost cry at the end, and I'm not an emotional person.
Even if I'm not detailing the following, I also really liked:
-Fics:
Brave New World (Harry/Draco, NC-17) by
silentauror and, I am, as everybody, waiting for the sequel.
Noticed Him Fading (Harry/Draco, light NC-17), by
marksykins
Mother of Pearl (Harry/Draco, R) by
geoviki
I would like to make a special mention for: Under the Cold, Wan Moon (Harry/Draco, NC-17) by
slytherincess
This was a fabulous fic, very well written and deeply compelling. However, as far as I'm concerned, this is Draco gen (and I'm not complaining here) but not Harry/Draco. The sex scene felt a bit rushed (yes, I know, it was very long to come, no bad joke here, but I didn't feel it had to come at all. I didn't think either was ready for it, and I don't know if they could ever be.) Anyhow, I deeply enjoyed it.
ETA: I realise I didn't refer to any snape/harry. I love a good snarry when I found one, but there were so many of them here, that I just gave up. I didn't know where to begin and it wasn't my priority. Nevertheless, I hope I'll be able to catch up with some of them, maybe after I see a few recs.
-Art :
Fama Annus Sulum (snape/lupin, NWS) by
lizardspots
ShallowWounds (snape/lucius, NWS), by
ponderosa121
Ok, it took me hours (and I'm not joking, to write this post). I'll try to do the same for hd_holidays after the reveal if I have the time!!!