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- Good Draco characterisation -- and by "good" I mean he's the same snarky, spoiled, aristocratic bastard we see in canon;
- Good Harry/Draco -- in the sense that I'd like to see their relationship develop, realistically, from what we see in canon;
- Humour and wordplays and quotable lines;
- Darkfic -- as in, really dark fic;
- Unexpected pairings that work nonetheless;
- Beautiful prose, prose with a rhytm, prose that's almost poetry;
- Long, epic, character-driven stories;
- War!fic;
- Post-War!fic;
- Non-cliché AUs;
- Good use of secondary characters;
- Digging into the backstory and theories of Magic; bonus points for bringing old (Celtic) myths and legends into it.
- Mireille - The Last Time
Marcus/Oliver. This is the last time I'm doing this," he said...So I have this "thing" for unhappy endings, for stories that take out my insides, rearrange them and then put them back. I like happy endings, especially for pairings I know would never stand a chance in canon, but I still want to read about Doomed Love. This is one of those stories, one which I reread every now and then, and it still breaks me every time.
And as the door closed behind him, it occurred to him that for once, Marcus hadn't said it was the last time, hadn't tried to push him away--not really; had only tried to avoid the messy emotional scene that Oliver knew he was all too capable of making, after eight years of refusing to let himself do anything of the sort. The one time Oliver would have had no choice but to agree, and he hadn't said it at all.
There was probably some grand ironic lesson to be learned from that, but he wasn't in the mood. - Lady of Shalott - Weather Trilogy
Harry/Draco. Malfoy makes Harry an offer he can't refuse.One of the first Harry/Draco stories I read, and in fact probably one of the first H/D stories ever, if memory serves me right. Hilarious dialogue, and half of the reason I fell hard and fast for this pairing. I had a hard time picking one bit to quote, because if I could, I'd quote the whole damn thing.
[Harry kisses Draco.]
"That--that was stupid, Potter." Grinning, "I don't know, I think it was the best idea I've had all day." "That's hardly a high mark to shoot for." "You're cute when you're sarcastic." "I see I'm going to have to strangle you." - Lady of Shalott - A Rare Descent, Passing Through, The Eleventh Doorkeeper and The Seasonless World
Gennish, but with H/D pre-slash vibes.The other half of the reason I feel hard and fast for Harry/Draco. The first time I finished reading these stories, it was like coming up for air after swimming on the bottom of the pool until my lungs were bursting. LoS is incredible at not only making the characters come alive, but also at incorporating ancient myths (Scholomance) in her stories.
It took me ovr a year to find these again, and in the mean time, this scene has fucking haunted me:Draco threw Harry one swift glance, raised a hand, and went through the door. The blackness swallowed him as if he'd ceased to exist, and then the door slammed behind him, just before Harry's fingers would have caught the edge. Fumbling for the doorknob, shaking off Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder, he pulled it open and found himself staring into the small bathroom. In the warm breeze from the open window, the shower curtain blew slowly back and forth.
The room was empty. Draco was gone. - Maya - Underwater Light
Gen, with Harr/Draco friendship (preslash?).A WiP, and the first chapter would've put me off it if it hadn't been recced and I hadn't been desperate, but it truly is worth it for the rest of the story. Harry and Draco strike up a strange friendship, despite (or maybe because) Draco being a spoiled, aristocratic little git. The story manages to blend humour (Draco's hissy fit about Harry's wardrobe) and a subtle undertow of fear and darkness (Voldemort's ressurection, students are disappearing, etc.), and I can't wait for new chapters.
"Harry, you seem a sweet, well-spoken boy," Narcissa remarked. "You really shouldn't associate with people like my son."
Draco circled them, still smiling, then leaned back against the pier railing. "You two could get married," he suggested. "Then you could club together in your efforts at raising me like a decent human being. Come on, Potter, you're a hero and all, you like hopeless tasks." "Not tasks that hopeless, I don't."p> - AJ Hall - Lust Over Pendle
Draco/Neville. A comedy of manners, in the Golden Age detective thriller genre, set in the year immediately after Voldemort's fall.Yes, I know, Draco/Neville? AJ Hall makes it work wonderfully, though, and this is one of these stories you just cannot stop reading. I lost two days of my life to this, reading it in bursts at work, and staying up till three in the morning to finish it. It's immensely quoteable, and on top of that, I found myself really liking not only the Draco/Neville relationship, and wanting to know how they got together in the first place (there are small clues throughout the story, but not enough by far), but also really, really liking the OCs, as well, which is no small feat to accomplish. Then again, one of them drinks Stella and smokes Gauloises, which has a lot to do with it.
Pansy’s lips curled. "I’ve been telling your mother all about me sleeping with your father, actually."
Draco raised one eyebrow. "Goodness, did you really? That would explain his uncharacteristic chirpiness that fortnight you stayed with us." Narcissa wriggled her way out from under the Doomsday Device again. "Really, Draco darling, whatever the circumstances, chirpy has never been the appropriate word to use to describe your father." Camilleri looked at Neville. Neville looked back. "Is it just me," Chris demanded laintively. "Or have you spotted that those two seems to conduct life as though it were Greek tragedy re-scripted by Monty Python?" - Al - Snitch!
Harry/Draco. London, 2003, and two old enemies have become partners in crime. But the wizarding world is out to disrupt Harry's none too peaceful existence ... sex, guns, rock n' roll, drugs and bad language abound in a fast paced romantic thriller.A WiP, currently on hold while the author rewrites it, but this version is worth reading anyway. Features an absolutely to die for camp!gay!Draco, as well as an interesting look at possible internal machinations of the Ministry and the wizarding world. I found it a bit difficult to accept some of the backstory, but despite that, it's still a great read.
"This guided tour of the delights of Brighton's fair city," said Draco. "It's a complete load of bollocks. You think I give a toss who built what when? I'm a twenty three year old hedonist and a gangster's stooge ..."
"Don't call me a gangster." "Well, you bloody are," Harry looked offended at this, and Draco softened his tone. "Look, I just ... I just think there's something between us, some kind of chemistry, that, correct me if I'm wrong, is a beautiful and all-round lovely thing to have going on." "I don't know," said Harry, looking hurriedly away. "I'm confused. Yesterday I was straight ... today I find I'm having sex with my best friend." - Nancy - Malfoy, P.I.
Harry/Draco, pre-slash. "I'm Draco Malfoy, private investigator. I've seen a lot--I mean a lot, and I'm like sweet seventeen a lot. I thought I'd seen it all, until a pair of green eyes stepped into my office." A noir AU set in L.A. where passion and magic collide. Slashy and sexy.AU. Draco is a Private Eye in the best tradition of Raymond Chandler, if Chandler had written touchy boylove. Lovely, lovely, and dammit, another WiP, although judging from the previous chapter dates, a next instalment shouldn't be too far off. I hope.
You know how they say that when you least expect something, it'll happen to you? That's what happened to me. I'm a smart guy. I know who takes money under the table. I know who cheats the government. I know which cops are dirty, and I know which hookers will give you a freebie now and then. But love? Love doesn't happen to guys like me. I have a good memory.
Memories. Everyone says that memories are your friend. Everyone also says they won't come in your mouth. - Silvia - Butter and Pigtails
Harry/Draco. In which we have boys crushing and kicking, and it's just so cute I almost can't take it.I really have very little to add to Silvia's own summary, because this, to me, is exactly what H/D is all about. Boycrushes and the violent expression thereof, and I really just want to pinch their cheeks and coo. Also, I rather understand Draco's desire to kick Harry.
Hogwart's hallways were surprising tight, and the swell of students between classes pushed insistently at the walls, mashing groups of pupils together and mixing them like salad.
Draco decided, quite vehemently, that he hated salad. [...] Salad was a simply dreadful thing. He wondered if his father could ban lettuce. A war against produce, Draco thought, takes no prisoners, and when he was bumped once more, beside the north tower, he kicked Harry Potter quite hard in the shin. - Amatia - Haeddu
Harry/Draco. There's only so much killing a man can stand.Absolutely brilliant story, set during the war, in which Draco is a Death Eater turned spy turned defecter, and there's a delicious amount of digging into the possible workings of magic, as well as that of the Dark Mark. Harry focused his attention back on Percy. "Where is he now?"
"Here." "Here?" "There's no place safer, besides Hogwarts, and even that isn't too safe these days." "So where _exactly_ is he?" "In your office." Harry groaned. "Percy, don't take it personally, but I fucking hate you." - Dale - Space Oddity
Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione -- but the relationships are really tertiary to the point of the story. War!Fic.I pimped this before, in my LJ, with the words "I have no words. I think I stopped breathing several times." I still have no other words for this. This is what war!fic should be like: bleak, and hopeless, and dark, and hitting you where you live.
"It's biological warfare," Hermione had said, her chin trembling. "But then we've got the chemical warfare, the concentration camps."
"Nuclear weapons," Draco drawled, sliding his hand around Harry's shoulder. "One of you over all of us." "And how many Muggles?" Ron said quietly.Right then. That's a lot more reccs than I'd expected. Maybe there's some hope for this fandom after all.
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(Ooooold! Jesus.)
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But, yes! "Underwater Light" charmed me against my will! (and I believe it intends to end up as slash, correct me if I'm wrong)
How pre-slashy is that stuff by Lady of Shalott? I've been avoiding the gen, because gen pisses me OFF when it's my favorite pairing not hooking up. I've heard fabulous things about those stories, but. er. I'll hate them on principle, I fear. (which has nothing to do with their quality)
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So, yeah, read PS if you can stand the not-hooking-up thing, or try just Eleventh Doorkeeper for a nice magic-centric piece, is my advice.
Have you read the Weather Trilogy, though?
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Do you know by chance Neville Shute's "On the Beach"? This is what it reminds me off.
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So, out of curiosity, what's the most depressing thing you've ever read?
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Y'know, so I have something to read after I finish reading my way through this recs list *g*
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*bouncebounce* Freaky pairings, freaky pairings! You know what I like ;) *giggle* *falls over*
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Right, freaky pairings. Do you like Marcus/Oliver? Cause really, all of Mireille's stuff is great, and she has some Percy/Neville, which is normally a "HUH?" pairing for me, but still cute. (Okay, so I'm a sucker for Neville. So sue me.)
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I like everything, as long as it doesn't suck *g* Bonus points for Snape, as long as it's not Snape/Harry.
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<-- is re-reading it right now, dammit, and I should be doing WORK!
I like Snape, but I always feel weird reading Snape/Harry or Snape/Draco. Apart from the fact that S/H just baffles me and that I see S/D as a completely different, non-romantic, non-sexual dynamic, I simply cannot see Snape starting anything with one of his students, you know?
Will stop babbling now.
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Er. I'm going to class now. Hee.
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Hit me up when I get on tonight, we'll talk HP. And Snape. And stuff!
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Did you know hir has begun a new series? Chapter one posted at Schnoogle, and looks to be a prequel of sorts to LOP, as well as a crossover with Lois McMaster Bujold's Vor books - it's good, and I can't wait for more!
Time Shall Not Mend by A.J.Hall: Chapter 01 Rating: PG-13
>A thousand years into the future, and half the galaxy away, a bereaved young woman stalks through a high society cocktail party and thinks bitterly: \"anywhere but here\". Meanwhile, in the most desperate days of the Voldermort conflict, the Dark Lord has unleashed a deadly plague upon the wizarding world. A potion to cure it does exist, but can only be made with a certain plant. Which exists on one mountain in Scotland. A very well defended mountain... Worlds are about to collide.
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