blamebrampton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blamebrampton) wrote2008-05-11 01:48 pm
blamebrampton) wrote2008-05-11 01:48 pm
Worldcup and Team EWE, post 1
I had such good intentions. I was going to read every fic as it was posted, review and comment, rec for my team and others.
I think I made it through four or five cards ...
SO, in the spirit of we are coming down to the end of the voting period and the other teams are all pimping like crazy, I am going to start with my team's fics and art, then hit my faves from the other teams. I'd love to tell you when voting ends, but to be honest I have no idea. I had a vague theory that it was May 31, but others have said next weekend, and they are more likely to be right than I am!
I'll spread the load over several posts, and I'll be reviewing my own fic, too, but using a CUNNING plan, will be relying on one of my team mate's reviews to do that one, just as she used my review to comment on her own fic so no one would be able to spot the one she missed. Sneaky like Slytherins, we are!
And if wading through my verbose blather doesn't appeal, check out Raitala's genius artistic versions of the last four EWE fics, and lovely Romaine24's overall worldcup summary, but read her EWE picks first!
Catch me if I Fall -- Prompt: The Fool, Wordcount 15,800
Team Ewe's opening foray, this was a great start to the fest. Draco Malfoy has been told by his mother to restore the family name, which would be so much easier if people didn't start casting hexes the minute they spotted his face.
After Eden -- Prompt: Judgement, Wordcount ~15,000
This story takes a dramatic and fresh tack on the Harry and Ron super-Aurors motif, opening with Harry in St Mungo's after a serious accident at work.
London, 2:00 a.m. -- Prompt: Cups, Art
A simple scene that sets up a world of potential. Draco is falling asleep over a whisky and Guinness chaser, Harry walks in the door behind him. The simple line art and greyscale colouring of the figures is contrasted with a photorealistic poster in the background for a real slice of life.
Matchmaker -- Prompt: Justice, Wordcount 8690
Framed by the story of a narrator who may or may not be wholly reliable, this is the fairytale-like story of how Harry Potter was roped into finding a wife for Draco Malfoy by a conniving, if perfectly groomed, Narcissa.
Smile, You're on Camera -- Prompt: The Devil, Wordcount ~14,000
Harry is a tired and slightly emotional Auror, which may explain his series of strange choices when he begins to believe Draco Malfoy is stalking him.
More team EWE recs tomorrow!
I think I made it through four or five cards ...
SO, in the spirit of we are coming down to the end of the voting period and the other teams are all pimping like crazy, I am going to start with my team's fics and art, then hit my faves from the other teams. I'd love to tell you when voting ends, but to be honest I have no idea. I had a vague theory that it was May 31, but others have said next weekend, and they are more likely to be right than I am!
I'll spread the load over several posts, and I'll be reviewing my own fic, too, but using a CUNNING plan, will be relying on one of my team mate's reviews to do that one, just as she used my review to comment on her own fic so no one would be able to spot the one she missed. Sneaky like Slytherins, we are!
And if wading through my verbose blather doesn't appeal, check out Raitala's genius artistic versions of the last four EWE fics, and lovely Romaine24's overall worldcup summary, but read her EWE picks first!
Catch me if I Fall -- Prompt: The Fool, Wordcount 15,800
Team Ewe's opening foray, this was a great start to the fest. Draco Malfoy has been told by his mother to restore the family name, which would be so much easier if people didn't start casting hexes the minute they spotted his face.
A chance encounter with a tarot reader leaves him unsettled, metaphorically and literally. From here the story follows both Draco and the Trio as they return to Hogwarts for a final year of schooling. As Draco says, last year was fine if you wanted to learn how to use Unforgiveables, not much use otherwise. Once at school, Harry feels a strange sympathy for the friendless Malfoy, and a growing respect for his resilience and determination. Using the time-honoured traditions of help with Potions and an interfering (and perfectly written!) Snape portrait, the author brings the two boys together often enough that Hermione becomes suspicious and Ginny starts raising her surprisingly reasonable eyebrows.
Now I am making this sound like another one of those fics, and in a lesser pair of hands it could have been, but you need to know that at the same time, Malfoy has the younger Slytherins clamouring to be taught Secret Slytherin Business so that they can respond to the random hexing they are receiving in the hallways, and that there is hot tree-frottage in the Forbidden Forest. Most hilariously, this author actually had Draco chat with Harry about fashion! It's so unexpected yet quite spot-on. The ending is a positive, hopeful epilogue, in a future where our favourite characters have been allowed to change and grow far more than they ever were in Canon.
Now I am making this sound like another one of those fics, and in a lesser pair of hands it could have been, but you need to know that at the same time, Malfoy has the younger Slytherins clamouring to be taught Secret Slytherin Business so that they can respond to the random hexing they are receiving in the hallways, and that there is hot tree-frottage in the Forbidden Forest. Most hilariously, this author actually had Draco chat with Harry about fashion! It's so unexpected yet quite spot-on. The ending is a positive, hopeful epilogue, in a future where our favourite characters have been allowed to change and grow far more than they ever were in Canon.
After Eden -- Prompt: Judgement, Wordcount ~15,000
This story takes a dramatic and fresh tack on the Harry and Ron super-Aurors motif, opening with Harry in St Mungo's after a serious accident at work.
His right hand has been sliced off and re-attached, but the magic that did it was Dark, and he will require all the help he can get if he is to regain use of it. So when his Healer suggests a specialist, Harry is only too happy to agree. Until he hears the specialist's name, at which point it takes several more days of frustrated lack of progress and a further recommendation from Healer Ginny Longbottom to push him in the direction we know he'll eventually take.
This story had hands-down (sorry!) the best What Happened to Ginny line: "So how's my favorite homosexual ex-boyfriend today?" And that's indicative of the easy, cool tone that this author sets all the way through, with many flashes of wit and charm that keep her prose sparkling. Draco is exactly right as a specialist healer: intellectually engaged, unsympathetic, at times impatient, but constantly tenacious and demanding as all the best physical therapists are. As someone who has spent literally years being rebuilt from bad accidents, I perhaps identified with this fic more than most, but the dialogue is splendid, the pacing perfect, the magic inventive, and the eventual climax is scorchingly hot, and followed by a wholly delightful dénouement. To give you a taste, this is not even the best section of dialogue in the story:
"I don't know. Older men can be very attractive."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows as if to ask Harry to elaborate.
"Your father's kinda sexy."
"Now I've lost my appetite for the next month. Please never mention my father and sexy in the same sentence again."
This story had hands-down (sorry!) the best What Happened to Ginny line: "So how's my favorite homosexual ex-boyfriend today?" And that's indicative of the easy, cool tone that this author sets all the way through, with many flashes of wit and charm that keep her prose sparkling. Draco is exactly right as a specialist healer: intellectually engaged, unsympathetic, at times impatient, but constantly tenacious and demanding as all the best physical therapists are. As someone who has spent literally years being rebuilt from bad accidents, I perhaps identified with this fic more than most, but the dialogue is splendid, the pacing perfect, the magic inventive, and the eventual climax is scorchingly hot, and followed by a wholly delightful dénouement. To give you a taste, this is not even the best section of dialogue in the story:
"I don't know. Older men can be very attractive."
Malfoy raised his eyebrows as if to ask Harry to elaborate.
"Your father's kinda sexy."
"Now I've lost my appetite for the next month. Please never mention my father and sexy in the same sentence again."
London, 2:00 a.m. -- Prompt: Cups, Art
A simple scene that sets up a world of potential. Draco is falling asleep over a whisky and Guinness chaser, Harry walks in the door behind him. The simple line art and greyscale colouring of the figures is contrasted with a photorealistic poster in the background for a real slice of life.
Matchmaker -- Prompt: Justice, Wordcount 8690
Framed by the story of a narrator who may or may not be wholly reliable, this is the fairytale-like story of how Harry Potter was roped into finding a wife for Draco Malfoy by a conniving, if perfectly groomed, Narcissa.
Lucius is dying, and Draco must be married with an heir by the time he does, or Bad Things will result. A great ball is planned for Malfoy Manor, and al of the eligible young ladies in the land are invited. But with Harry and Draco delivering the invitations and planning the event, you'd be right to suspect that not everything will go as planned.
Filled with a nicely judged humour, this story is a light, bright, sparkling read. There are many great one-liners, such as: "If you complete that sentence with 'I've been sleeping with your mother,' Potter, you won't live to let her kill you" , and just as many clever twists. Including that great HP rarity, basin sex. The ending is a highly amusing twist on the traditional fairytale, one where the magic potion cures rather than curses, but in a way I didn't expect and laughed out loud at.
Filled with a nicely judged humour, this story is a light, bright, sparkling read. There are many great one-liners, such as: "If you complete that sentence with 'I've been sleeping with your mother,' Potter, you won't live to let her kill you" , and just as many clever twists. Including that great HP rarity, basin sex. The ending is a highly amusing twist on the traditional fairytale, one where the magic potion cures rather than curses, but in a way I didn't expect and laughed out loud at.
Smile, You're on Camera -- Prompt: The Devil, Wordcount ~14,000
Harry is a tired and slightly emotional Auror, which may explain his series of strange choices when he begins to believe Draco Malfoy is stalking him.
From annoying humming on a train, to pretentious footsteps and help with fashion choices, Malfoy is suddenly everywhere in Harry's life, and that life is going to hell in a handbasket -- though in entertaining ways that are producing the best sales the Daily Prophet has seen in ages.
The author follows Harry through a few of his worst days, as he discovers that most of his certainties were based on outdated information, and that a man who he thought had fallen out of his life actually knows him better than anyone. It's a strong and assured tale with a clear authorial voice that makes the story spin by organically and enjoyably. Draco is wonderful, using all of his wit and guile, and showing that canonical edge of loyalty that fandom often denies him. Plus, angry Kreacher! This one has a shamefully low comment count, go and make things fairer for the author!
The author follows Harry through a few of his worst days, as he discovers that most of his certainties were based on outdated information, and that a man who he thought had fallen out of his life actually knows him better than anyone. It's a strong and assured tale with a clear authorial voice that makes the story spin by organically and enjoyably. Draco is wonderful, using all of his wit and guile, and showing that canonical edge of loyalty that fandom often denies him. Plus, angry Kreacher! This one has a shamefully low comment count, go and make things fairer for the author!
More team EWE recs tomorrow!