Updates and Recs

[rurounihime]

You know what? Everyone should go play laser tag. It's an absolute must. Gaw, I hadn't done that for years, and then yesterday my dad and sis get it into their heads that it's time for a little quality time with the black lights and laser guns. Good stuff. i came in second out of seven in my score and I had a good time, though we were all playing everyone-for-themselves instead of temas. I need to get a group of folks together and do a team game. *sighhh* Talk about nostalgia... ^___^


Updates

~~New chapter of Darker Magic will be up soon. I just have a little more to write on that. Gonna finish that one in the coming months because book 6 is coming out and all... even though DM takes place during 7th year...

~~Also, if people would like me to focus on a new chapter of The Fourth Unforgivable (find it in my memories) as well, I definitely could. Right now that one is sort of undergoing a break period.

~~Music fic is in bits right now. It's coming along but it won't be for a while. Still haven't chosen a band name for the boys, but the suggestions I have been getting have made me grin like a lunatic, so we'll see.

~~Sparks and I just sent in Chapter 3 of In Another's Hell. I'll let you all know when it's up at Fic Alley.


Recs

Stuff I've been reading and loving lately...

Soumission Chapitre Deux by lilysunshine1 (H/D, rated NC-17) Previous chapters here

Summary: Sometimes, the cold that comes from within feels no different than the cold from the outside.

...

Staring by Tangelo Licker (H/D, rated PG-13)

Summary: Sometimes staring can get you into a bit of a tough spot.

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Ice Skating by Ebony Star (H/D, rated PG)

Summary: Harry takes a walk by the lake on Christmas morning and ends up getting an ice skating lesson from someone unexpected.

...

Two of CorvetteClaire's fics (Thicker Than Blood and its sequel Adamant and Starlight). (H/D, rated PG-13). These are gorgeous! Please read them. I haven't really gotten into a long fic in a while and Thicker Than Blood had me right from the instant I started reading. Halfway through the other one. ^_~

...

Okay, so those are my recs for today. Got a challenge coming at you soon. *kiss*

Comments

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

thanks for the recs! i'm always looking for new fic to read :)

i read "thicker than blood" just the other day, and i had the same thoughts as you: it's been a while since i've read a very long fic that had me this enthralled. in fact, i couldn't think of much else during new year's eve when i was away from my computer.

aside from the slowly developing relationship between harry and draco, i really liked the setup. i haven't read that many fics in which hogwarts is under siege. i actually wish that the siege had gone on for longer than it did. the part after the severing of the blood link was also excellently done, imo [the week that harry and draco spent apart; the agonizing on harry's part]. finally, i liked her hermione, and that hermione was given a pov in this fic.

i looked at "adamant and starlight" and was a bit put off by the disclaimer that there wouldn't be much romance, but mainly angst and action in this one, so i didn't start reading it right away. i do think i'll read it anyway, but how much romance is in the story?

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

I'm only about four chapters into it so far, so I can't really give an informed opinion on that, except that the first two chapters have romance pretty plainly. I am not sure if I like the style of the second one as well as the first, but like I said, I don't feel I've read enough to judge yet.

Hogwarts siege fics are quite interesting sometimes. there was one I read that had a decidedly dark look at it. Very hopeless. It was H/D as well, but very despairing. If you like, I can try to locate it for you. I have an idea where it might be.

Did you rec TTB on your lj? Because if you did, then i think that's where I first got it into my head to read it. ^__^

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

oh, okay. well, i guess i'll just have to read it for myself, then.

the premise of hogwarts under siege is bound to generate lots of angst, which is always good for h/d fic. the fic you read, did it have a happy ending? because i don't mind despair if there's some hope at the end.

i did indeed, maybe two or three days ago :)

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Okay, a little farther in, and yes, there is romance, but not actively so much. It's more Harry's thoughts on the matter and this is because Draco is pretty messed up... It's what I would call romantic development, but then, I have always loved heavy angst in my romances... The thread is definitely there, though.

Okay, that fic I read? Not happy, in any way. Not a happy ending. So i will rec you another one, about a different sort of siege. Transfigurations by Resonant. Unfortunately, I am having the worst time finding it. The site of my link will not allow access. But if you can find this fic, please read it. It's long, but beautiful.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

well, i do like harry angsting over draco, so that's fine. i thought it might just be action/adventure and nothing else, which i wouldn't have liked all that much. also, messed-up draco is always good. especially if harry's there to help him get through it :)

no happy ending? too bad. i have read "transfigurations." it's one of the first h/d fics i read, and i love it. i should reread it and see what i think of it now that i've read lots more h/d fic. what's your favorite h/d fic, if you have one?

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Here's an H/D rec post I did a while ago. these are my all-time favorites. But My favorite of them all is Just Like This by Jackson Rayne. It's in the one-shots section. Enjoy!

What's your favorite fic?

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

i've read "just like this." it's very good. it reminds me of "disintegrate," in a way, excpet that i like yours better because it's not spelled out so much that it's about love. i'm a big fan of "show, not tell" :)

my favorite fic is "resolution" by dragon_charmer. it's one of the earliest fics i've read and it still takes my breath away. i also really love the cicatrix [sp??] cycle. ivyblossom's writing is amazing, imo.

my favorite current wip is novembersnow's "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow." again, the writing floors me. she can do so much with so few words.

hmm. i have probably forgotten a fic i absolutely adore, but those came to my mind first without me going through my bookmarks.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Resolution by Fances Potter? I have that one bookmarked but I have not found time to read it yet. I will definitely have to read these. Heard of both of them.

Aw, thank you about Disintegrate. That one is so close to my heart. *smooch*

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

yes, that's her pen name. it's just... *sigh*. it has great plot, and angst, and those heartbreaking moments between harry and draco. god. it's very long [> 250,000 words].

i should warn you that in the cicatrix cycle, draco has suffered quite a lot of abuse [which makes the fic so compelling to me. there's this scene in there btw draco and ron where the extent of the abuse comes out and it just kills me]. i know some people don't like to read that, so i felt i should let you know.

"disintegrate" is really heart-wrenching. i've been meaning to write up a proper rec post for it.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am not so into the abusive types of fic. But I do love ivyblossom. Her parody Extracurricular knocked on flat with laughter. I laugh harder every time I read it. I will see about Cicatrix. Sometime when I'm in the mood... I need to be in the mood for the really depressing fics. Otherwise it drains me entirely.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

i am strangely fascinated by fics in which draco has a history of abuse. it makes me wonder why people are inclined to write him that way besides the obvious hurt/comfort potential [which doesn't figure into ivyblossom's story so much because for the longest time, harry simply has no clue].

while the backstory of draco's abuse is certainly important to the story, it's not the central element, i'd say, and it's not a depressing fic, either. i would however agree that you'd have to be in the mood to read it.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

The thing with the abuse of Draco, to me, is that the writer would REALLY have to work to convince me, especially if the abuse is coming from Draco's parents. I definitely think ivyblossom could convince me because she is a wonderful writer. But the thing is, reading th canon, I just don't buy it for several reasons. One is Lucius. I don't believe he would ever sexually or even physically abuse Draco. His abuse is of the mental sort, and it is of the child trying to please a parent who just cannot be pleased. Lucius is that mental type of abuser. When he does things, to me, he does them full out, but his way of belittling people is not such that makes me think of physical.sexual abuse. He has other ways of getting people to cower before him.

The other reason is Draco himself. He has the elements of a bully, which doesn't negate phys/sex abuse, certainly... However, Draco's entire mannerism around his father is too self-confident, too certain of them both to make me think he has been abused in anything other than the mental way. I would think he would be terrified of his father if those things were happening, and even in public it would show as a certain cowering, quietness, what-have-you. So abuse fics, while I do read them, are highly uneasy ground for the writer to tread in my opinion. The story must be very convincing, the reasoning plain, etc, or I will not believe it and give up on it. I don't go in for the stories where the element is just thrown in to make me feel sympathy for the characters. That's manipulative and offensive to me. But I love ivyblossom. If anyone can convince me, she can.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

hmm. i'm in general fairly flexible when it comes to canon and draco simply because there's so little in it about him, and i think that most of what constitutes my image of draco comes from fanon. if i a story is well-written i tend not to immediately think that it would clash with or seem unlikely in light of canon. that said, a lot of what you bring up makes sense, like that if lucius were really abusing draco, draco would probably act differently around him. as for lucius, i tend to not think about him, and i don't know if i have any sense of him as a character beyond someone who's cruel.

i think most of the abused!draco fics i've read don't feature lucius as the one who's abusing draco.

I don't go in for the stories where the element is just thrown in to make me feel sympathy for the characters

that's certainly not the case with the cicatrix cycle. the abuse is def. a plot element, or rather, it contributes to a significant plot element. she handles it in a way that does justice to the topic.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

I guess I need to read it then. I may not do it for a while; I find that reading fic while writing fic sometimes does not work out very well for me. Gets too distracting, you know? My own plot falls by the wayside or gets mixed up too much... But there are a lot of fics I have been meaning to read. I'll definitely stick it on my list.

And yeah... I kind of a stickler for in-character portrayals, at least to a certain extent. And Draco is definitely easy to write about for the reason you mentioned, that there is not all that much to go on and so building a story around the info we have is very easy and quite tantalizing. Probably why he is my favorite character to write. ^_^

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

also, i love that icon. it's georgous.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Made by raelala. She(he?) does wonderful icons. ^_^

[chibirat.livejournal.com]

i'm in for laser tag! just let me know in advance so i can be there, heehee.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

You goose! Knew you would be. *kiss* Okees, I shall let you know.

[elusivefool.livejournal.com]

Eeep, a rec! *glomps* I’m glad you enjoyed Ice Skating. :)

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

It was gorgeous. Thanks for writing it! My favorite sort of H/D angsty sweetness. ^__^