Erised Recs! (+1)

[dicta_contrion]

Can you believe that December is half over? I cannot. Really, I can't. There might be some denial involved, but wow, that flew by. And if December is half over that means Erised is half over (definitely in denial about that! I want more!) and this is post is going to be so long already that it's probably best to get reccing before the list gets any longer!

Erised Fic Recs

The Light More Beautiful by firethesound - NC-17, 81k - Thirteen years after Draco accepts Potter's help escaping the horror of his sixth year, he returns to England where he makes the unfortunate discovery that Potter is still as obnoxious as ever. And worse, more than a decade overseas hasn't been enough to dim Draco's obsession with him.
This fic has one of the best collections of memorable, well-developed, fascinating details I can remember coming across. There are so many parts that had me laughing out loud (not in the colloquial internet "lol" way, in the "don't wake the neighbors" way) and so many others that got me right in the feels. I'm really torn between talking about what they are and not wanting to spoil them, so you should probably go read this and then come back and flail with me about them.

Love Comes Tumbling by taradiane - NC-17, 22.5k - 'Harry's thoughts were of how much he would have done differently with Malfoy over the years, and of Dumbledore's final words to the other boy . . . "It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now." Maybe, Harry wondered, he could find some mercy, too, and give Malfoy the second chance that Dumbledore had believed him worthy of.'
This eighth year fic is so well written! It feels seamless and just flies by, in that way that looks easy but that only a really good writer could make look easy. It brings out all those things that make eighth year fics a delight - there's castle rebuilding, there's student gossip, there's sneaking into dorm rooms. It's great! Also loads of fantastic details and a Ron and Hermione whom I totally buy and adore. Lots of fun, with a not-insubstantial side of feels. Wonderful.

No Quiet Find by blithelybonny - NC-17, 10k - War makes a man tired...some more than most. Draco needs rest.
I'm worried I'm not going to be able to do this fic justice. It's unusual in the best of ways: immersive and gorgeous and emotional. I felt so thoroughly pulled into the world of the story. It tells the story through Draco's POV after he's become a member of the Order, with the caveat that he can't quite keep track of time or the order of things, and the way the story is told makes that into an experience. It's moving and beautiful.

One Thousand Bars by lumosed_quill - NC-17, 19k - And I will hold on hope / And I won't let you choke / On the noose around your neck / And I'll find strength in pain / And I will change my ways / I'll know my name as it's called again
This Draco is fantastic. Sharp and snarky and stubborn and proud and complex. And Harry is a wonderful match for him - smart and stubborn and a fighter. The dynamic that evolves between them is wonderful. I was (quite happily) torn between heart-soaring and heart-wrenching moments, and the gorgeous writing and fantastic details made reading this a pleasure.

Erised Art Recs

Easy Like Sunday Morning by this_bloody_cat and iwao - PG, Graphite on Paper, SAI - The best mornings start with a kiss and a coffee.
This portrait of Harry and Draco's weekend mornings is a thing of beauty. The image itself is beautiful, filled with light and color and wonderful details. It also does a fantastic job of conveying warmth and comfort and attraction; basically, it really feels like an easy Sunday morning, and that's a joy to behold.

Everything by disapparater - PG-13, Hand drawn, digital - Whatever Harry's question, Draco's got the answer.
This is so charming and adorable that I don't entirely know what to do with myself. It's told as a comic strip, with Harry and Draco going on a bunch of dates, and each one is so perfectly detailed and funny, and seeing their relationship together and how it progresses and how the story ends - just, so many delighted feels as things unfold. And there's this adorable refrain throughout that I don't want to ruin, so just go, check it out, it's fantastic.

Let's Duel by kazuya22 - G, Digital art, Photoshop and SAI - Shall we dance?
The sense of tension and anticipation that this artist has managed to convey is awe-inspiring. It's a gorgeous image, full of movement and suggestion. The color palette and the composition really drive it home. One of those images I could (did) sit and stare at for a while.

Love and Communication by anemonen - PG, Pencil - Harry’s jealous that Draco and Ron have got so close while working as Auror partners.
This piece is so evocative! The artist has made fantastic choices about what not to include. The details we see - changes in Harry's eyes, in Draco's posture, in Hermione's expression - convey emotion beautifully. Also, Harry with a cat! It's adorable and the conclusion is delightful.

You are my sun, my moon, and all of my stars by primea - PG-13, Digital - Sometimes the questions are complicated, but the answers are simple.
The composition is the first thing that got me here. The sky behind Harry and Draco looks so vast and, in addition to being beautiful, it makes the intimacy between them even more special and, for lack of a better word, intimate-feeling. And then, Draco's tattoo. It's wonderful, and the symbolism of it is moving. Gorgeous.


And one non-Erised rec! There's so much to read right now that I'm mostly resigning myself to falling behind on Owlpost and minifest and advent fics (and week two of erised, whoops). But I fell into reading one advent fic, and it's beyond awesome. vaysh is drabbling in the verse of Frayach's Bound Skerry, with nods to marguerite_26's remix, Come back to me, and if you haven't read either of those fics, I'd totally advise it. But, not why we're here!

Vaysh's extension of this verse is gorgeous. Every installment is spare and beautiful and moving. I'm in awe of anyone who can tell a story in 100 words and these drabbles not only achieve that but elevate the form. They're stunning and, especially if you know the source material, very moving and engaging and thought-provoking. They say so much about the characters and what they want and how they need to find it, and do it through consistently beautiful, poignant images. I'm permanently on the edge of my seat about them, always keeping an eye out for the next installment and thinking about what might happen next. Serious highlight of every day, and the kind of story and story-telling that's stayed on my mind even when I'm doing other things. So, go read The Postmaster here, or go here to start from the beginning. And if you want to talk about it after, I am so all about that.

Enjoy these fantastic stories! And really, go check out H/D Erised in its entirety. There's so much amazing writing and art coming out every day that it was, tbh, a bit difficult even to pick stories to rec. We are one hell of a lucky fandom.

Comments

[gracerene]

Yay recs! Don't worry, there are still tons more amazing things coming in the next two weeks at Erised. I'm still a little blown away by how fabulous everything is! <3

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

I'm so blown away! It's such a treat to have so many amazing new things to read and look at and the quality of the fest is stellar. Part of why I figured I better rec now; if I waited another couple of weeks, the list would be (even more) ridiculously long.

Also, have to give a hats off to the mods! Y'all have done such a great job of pacing things so that it's actually possible to keep up and I so, so appreciate it. Can't wait to get fully caught up and, seriously, waiting every day to see what awesomeness is coming our way next!

[gracerene]

Aww, thanks, hon! It's definitely been a challenge trying to space things with so many (wonderful) long fics! Good luck catching up.... :D

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I bet. I can't imagine how crazy it is behind the scenes, and every time I try to I just want to send y'all extra chocolate and wine and all that kind of stuff. But you're doing such a fantastic jobs!

And thanks! I need it. But then, if it lets me prolong the experience...silver lining.

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

Yay, lovely post of recs! ♥♥♥ I'm totally in denial as well. Can't it just keep going on forever? Why not? D: Am I an addict?

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

I wish it could! Oh, how I wish it could!!

aren't we all, just a little bit?

[capitu]

OH MY GOD I KNOW!!!!

But like Grace said, there's so much awesome stuff still to come! :D:D TRUST ME! <3

I need to read Bound Skerry. It's the only thing stopping me from reading vaysh's Advent. I'm actually a bit embarrassed at admitting I have read Frayach's original yet. ^^

And these recs:



Thank you, for your support, for being such an awesome part of erised. I'd copy one of this_bloody_cat's heart, but she hearted you for us all! *lol*

[vaysh]

Bound Skerry: 2300 words. It's a quick read. Well, it will leave you in a daze for hours after. *hugs*

[capitu]

Most of frayach stuff leaves you like that - in the best of ways. :)

So reading it, and your advent. <3

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yay! Excellent choice! And if you want to discuss it all...you know where to find me!

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

I get so ANGSTY when I'm on my phone because I can't do hearts and it feels like something's missing x'D

[capitu]

LOL I know!!! My phone doesn't do cool stuff either. Or maybe it does and I don't know how to make it happen. ^^

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

I trust! I am so excited. Seriously. I cannot adequately convey.

And Bound Skerry is really good! Like Vaysh says, it's quite short. And there's a very nice podfic of it here if you're up to your eyeballs in reading and need to lean back and let someone else read to you!

And thank you! You mods are made of win. I'm so excited to get to be a part of it! Also, that gif is awesome :)

[capitu]

Podfic! I love podfics. Thank you! <3

*hugs* You! <3333

[vaysh]

Aw, sweet, you make me blush. And tear up a bit. How to respond to such a wonderful, wonderful rec? You're actually waiting for the next installment every day? Awwwww! (Note to self: post earlier!) Thank you so very much. It means a lot. And you know Fray's and Maggie's stories, and you can see how much I am stealing remixing from them. ;) ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Remixing! Remixing, not the other thing. What you're doing with them feels really different to me. Testing the relationship in a different way, seeing what potential it holds. I am loving it so much!

(And omg, no rush! It is, maybe, possible that even when you post early in the day I sometimes save them as incentives for getting work done. Um, so. Yeah. Just knowing it's coming is exciting!)

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

<3 erised!!

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

♥♥♥♥♥ Erised!! It's like hitting the jackpot over and over again.

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

The Postmaster is killing me with its perfection. alfja;slfj It's giving me so many feelings, and frankly, it's nice to read something a little angstywangsty, as opposed to the general fluffiness of the holidays.

But seriously, fuck, it's so good. I have so many feelings about it. And your rec has classified them all. <3

Also mad Erised love!

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

OMG YES!! So glad to squee about it! It's giving me SO MANY FEELINGS. I'm dying to know how it will resolve and what drove Harry's decision to do the thing he did at the beginning and what his expectations were/are now and what, if anything, will change now that yesterday's installment happened. Can they go back to how things were before? And if they do go back to some of the same routines/behaviors/dynamics can it ever mean the same thing now that these things have happened? And what will that mean for them both? And, um. I have a lot of feels about this. But basically it's SO GOOD!

And agree about the angst. It's really nice to have a touch of that. Using different emotional muscles.

HUGE Erised love! So much of it!

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

alk;djf;askl fYES. YOU HAVE TO READ TODAY'S HOMG.

But seriously, yes. I love the tension that's just running through the whole thing--there's literally nothing I love more than ~tension.

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

OMG. OMG. Okay. Okay. Reading today's is an incentive for finishing unpleasant work tasks. Now I am so excited. OMG. Will read and report back asap.

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

Haha, that's how I've been the last two weeks at work. Finish a thing, then you can read a bit of fanfic. It's not that weird, don't worry, no one will know.

ahaha <3

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

OMG THIS INSTALLMENT. P390TI;ESJVP LAS,DF;!!!!!!!!!!

Totally worth the wait! This is killing me slowly. So fucking good. And already can't wait for tomorrow's!

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

AGREEEED.

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Aw, yay!! I enjoyed the story so much and that was totally my experience of it - I got to the end and realized I'd just been able to slip into the world of the story really seamlessly and everything fit together beautifully and it was so smooth, like whoa. Loved it to bits!