(More) Erised Recs!

[dicta_contrion]

SO MUCH GOOD FIC. So much good fic that reccing is hard because narrowing it down is so difficult. Just go over to hd_erised and read everything. Everything.

Some things to start with:

Another Mask Behind You by lettered - NC-17, 120k - Draco is a high-end prostitute who hides his identity. Harry unknowingly hires him. And then there is porn, questions about identity, domestic bliss, more porn, and truth as seen through a web of lies. (And then more porn. Seriously, if you don’t want sex scene after sex scene you probably shouldn’t read this. And please read the warnings.)
If anything, I think this summary sells the story short because while the sex is hot - and hot damn the sex is scorchingly, meltingly hot - there is so much more to this fic than the sex. The hidden identity component becomes a fascinating device for exploring the evolution of these two men's beliefs about themselves and each other. Draco, especially, is explored in such beautiful, complicated ways as he sees who he could be without the baggage attached to being a Malfoy post-war. The whole story is moving and engaging and the end had me quite literally gasping out loud. It was so easy to get invested and so worth it, and even at 120k (which really flew by) I would've been happy to read more.

House Style for Gryffindors by femmequixotic and noeon - NC-17, 11.5k - The Slytherins have always ruled the Sortilegus, a wizarding society magazine popular since the Middle Ages which lost most of its staff during the recent Unpleasantness (informally known as the Campaign against Noses). Pansy Parkinson has just been made the youngest witch ever to head the publication and has been charged with livening up the magazine and helping it move into post-war society whilst maintaining tradition. Which is all fine by Draco until she brings Harry Potter on staff, an obvious attempt to force Draco into a nervous breakdown by requiring him to work cheek-by-jowl with his arch nemesis.
This fic is so brilliant snarky. Draco is delightful - snappy and clever and just a bit hilariously oblivious, and his interactions with Harry are fantastic. There's an excellent cast of secondary characters - Blaise and Pansy are everything wonderful you could imagine about Slytherins running a fashion mag - and the hilarity that ensues at the big main event at Hogwarts is, well, hilarious. To say the least. One of those fics that is seamless and lovely and feels like such good, indulgent fun. Like a good cocktail in fic form.

On the Turning Away by blamebrampton - PG, 25.5k - It's one thing to be good at not making a besotted fool of yourself over a man when he's busy being the most famous wizard in the world and you're tucked away quietly in Wiltshire. It's quite another when you have to see him every morning.
This story was positively lovely. It was full of fabulous lines and descriptions that were funny and warm and clever. Every line of dialogue hits the nail on the head; I could read these conversations forever. Harry and Draco are both more adult, in a really charming way - they have a different sort of appreciation for each other and come to slowly enjoy each others' company on new terms, but without forgetting the past. There's also a fabulous OC, a fabulous Luna, and a moment with Lucius that is positively priceless. The whole experience of reading was a pleasure.

A Private Reason for This by femmequixotic - NC-17, 92k - When the wife of a star politician in the Scottish Ministry turns up dead just outside Hogsmeade, Draco Malfoy and his murder investigation team are called in from the Edinburgh Auror force to find her killer. What DCI Malfoy doesn't expect, however, is to have an ex from two decades past end up in his murder room, cocking up not only his case, but also his heart.
I don't even know where to begin. As evidenced by the at least half a dozen lengthy comments I've left? (*cringes* Sorry, MA!) Anyway. Whew. Deep breaths. This was my gift, so perhaps I'm biased, but jfc, it's perfection. It's so beautifully written that it felt less like reading a story and more like taking a trip into another world. Every setting and every character felt so perfectly, amazingly real. The way they speak to each other and know each other, the complexity of everyone who is in this story, is mindblowing. And I haven't even talked about the plot yet, right? Well. It's a murder mystery, and it's a really good one. There are interesting, viable suspects and the pursuit of the killer is excellent. Draco's team - Pansy, Susan Bones, Lee Jordan and, in this case, Harry Potter - are all motivated to solve the case by different and equally compelling reasons that tell us so much about them, and seeing how they work together is a pleasure. (The whole cast of secondary characters is a thing of beauty.) And the relationship between Harry and Draco...holy shit. They're brought together by the case, but it goes so much further. Their relationship becomes - already is, in some key ways - really close, and they challenge each other and know each other. And the sex is fucking steamy as hell, and there are also not-quite-sex scenes that blew my mind for the sheer intimacy between these two. There's no amount of flailing I can do that will really convey how much I love this story. I will say, though, that this is one of those stories that I wanted to read all in one go but also had to ration out so it wouldn't end, and then when I got to the end just started reading it again. Which I highly recommend doing, and then we can be speechless together.

Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop - NC-17, 70k - It's Potter's fault, of course, that Draco finds himself trapped in the same twenty-four-hour period, repeating itself over and over again. It's been nearly a year since the unpleasant business at Hogwarts, and Draco's getting on with his life quite nicely, thank you, until Harry sodding Potter steps in and ruins it all, just like always. At first, though, the time loop seems liberating. For the first time in his life, he can do anything, say anything, be anything, without consequence. But the more Draco repeats the day, the more he realises the uncomfortable truth: he's falling head over heels for the speccy git. And suddenly, the time loop feels like a trap. For how can he ever get Harry to love him back when time is, quite literally, against him?
I was not necessarily expecting to get totally sold on the time loop premise. I got totally sold on the time loop premise. It's brilliantly done. Draco's reactions to repeating the day are so telling. He evolves slowly and beautifully over time as he rethinks/re-imagines his options and gets to know Harry. This characterization of Draco in general felt really wonderful and spot-on. There's snark and cleverness, but also that desperation and frustration that we see in the books, and his evolution in this story is one I can absolutely see as an extension of canon. And the depiction of Harry is brilliant as well, as is the whole world of the story. Thoughtful and skillful and wonderful.

Un Noël Très Parisien by noeon - NC-17, 14.5k - When Draco crossed paths with Auror Potter at a political function in Paris, he was not expecting their former animosity to change into something rather more intriguing. But he could be certain their casual flirtation would not last more than the night, couldn't he?
Somehow, someway, this fic came out feeling like the best parts of the holiday season. It's got a wonderful, festive, glamorous feeling in parts, and really moving warmth and nostalgia in others, and loads of humor and wit all the way through. Harry is fabulously (hotly) confident, Draco is both wonderfully skillful and doing Slytherin proud in moments of sneakiness. Hermione and Pansy, as their besties, are a delight as well. And while it's going along being funny and charming, the feels are building and building, towards a conclusion that is hot, then gut-wrenching, then sweet.

Comments

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

This Fic is right. With the capitals. Exactly right. I've been reading this murder mystery that won a bunch of national awards and stuff, and it's been like pulling teeth and I had been hemming and hawing like "maybe this genre isn't for me, maybe whatever, I think it's just bad writing, but it's been recommended, I'm gonna keep trying" And then This Fic. I started reading it and the plot and the characters and the setting, all of it - all of it - is better than this whatever schmancy novel. Turns out it was not a problem with genre or anything other than the difference between an author whose characters are one dimensional and an author whose world-building is A++. I was entranced, start to finish, and every character mattered to me and felt so complete, and the ending - goodness. That ending. Finding out who did it was so perfect. I had had a guess, but there were enough real leads that it wasn't until after Lila Goldstein was revealed as M. Renaldi and Lee had slipped Susan the bit that showed up in the Prophet that I really felt comfortable to call it a guess. And then that confrontation between Susan and Draco in Hogsmeade broke my heart. It was so human and humane. I love that there was never really a villain, but confusion and jealousy and loneliness and regret. The distinction Susan makes between guilt and shame...I was so wowed. And that Draco still goes to visit her, but Pansy can't. Goodness. I just want to discuss and flail about this, and feel so grateful to have been given this faith-in-genre-restoring, illuminating, amazing gift.

And those quotes around 'mystery'! I have some suspicions, between something in the author's note and the Millicent Bulstrode appearances, but am still dying to find out for sure. Tomorrow!

(I did say I was going to come back and flail at you when I was done....so, flailing! And if you want to discuss I am so down to book club this fic. And also want to know more about how it was a watershed for you. How was it a watershed for you?)

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Yes, totally get the idea, and with you.

On the first count, I mean, I read it side by side with a published murder mystery and thought it was better in every way, so obviously on board there. And yes, agree, very much so, that fanfic is a worthwhile endeavor on its own, and also tend to think that writing standalone stories/novels is a different beast, but with this, characterization and plot and dialogue and emotional investment and world-building - all the component pieces that make any type of story work - are all there. So there. And if we're thinking of the same MA and it's the MA I think we're both thinking of, then all the pieces are there so consistently that...yes. I've no idea if publishing is something the person I think we're thinking of wants, but if she does I know I'd pre-order that book in a hot sec.

The more personal reason is awesome. Those are the best kind of reads, I think - the ones that stick with you not only because they're great stories but because they expand your horizons in a different way or enable you. I'm just ready to motherfucking write again." That's amazing. That's such a great feeling, from what I've experienced of it so far. And I hope you will! Run with it - when you're that kind of ready, and feeling that free from expectation/those extrinsic motivations, that seems like the ideal moment. Rooting for you to do it!

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Surely similarity can't be enough to disqualify an idea. If it were, there'd only be a few books out there. The way the story is told makes such a difference, and especially if there are already enough dissimilarities (and they're the kind to induce rage) and you're feeling ready to go for it - why the hell not? Yeah, tell your story. By virtue of being yours it'll already be different from whatever the other is.

That's a pretty awesome takeaway to get from fic! And all the more reason to go for it... :)

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

God, yes, these are all wonderful! I kept reccing Another Mask Behind You everywhere, reccing it to everyone I knew because I loved it, and then there was Tea and No Sympathy and On the Turning Away and I had to rec those too -- because they were perfect! -- and then it just got messy :'D

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Isn't it SO GOOD? There's all SO GOOD!

And the potential for messiness...yes. Between this and the first round of recs I think I've recced a quarter of what posted? And there are still more I could rec? I don't even know what to do with this embarrassment of riches.

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

YES. EXACTLY. I wrote an email to a friend of mine reccing my favourite stories -- and I was really picky there, because I only wanted to rec the best, but still, by the time I'd finished, the list had sixteen stories. SIXTEEN! Out of 39. And just, wow. How is that even possible? We have so much talent, dear God ♥

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

I know!! I sort of tried to cut myself off after a point, but there were a bunch more that I could've recced and might still rec and just...we are some lucky ducks, with this fest. With this fandom! So much talent.

[gracerene]

ALL THE RECS!

Wonderful choices, hon! :D

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Thanks!! Though I could've just kept going. So, so much amazing fic.

And I will remember to come back and add names. I'm saying it publicly so I extra do it. Your thoughts on the subject are fresh in my mind and yes...will do.

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

Oh man, these recs. I super agree with all of them! And seriously, the fest was just so awesome this year. So much top-notch work. :)

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

I'm so blown away. Like, in awe. And feel like I could just keep reading and reccing forever. And there are stories I still haven't gotten to and I don't even know whether I want to plow through cause they're bound to be awesome or hold them in reserve so this never ends, and just ;alsjrasdklgjncmasd. This fest!

[blithelybonny.livejournal.com]

alkdjf;laskfj RIGHT!? I finished them all and then I was like ...but now what? What do I do now?

Just so many gems. It really was an embarrassment of riches. I don't think there was a single fic that I didn't enjoy at least in some way. AND ALSO THE ART THOUGH.

Where did all these amazingly talented people come from and how did we get so damn lucky that they like writing and drawing Harry and Draco smashing each other?

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

NOW WHAT? I am having that crisis a little bit. Which is kind of okay cause work is bananas and I have a huge to-read list? but at the same time....what do I do now?

So with you on the quality. I still have a few left to read (which is really what I should do now) but have been really blown away by everything I've read so far. Like, whoa. Whoa. AND THE ART!! It would need to be a whole other rec post and it would be equally long.

Basically, we are the luckiest. I don't know how, but shit, we are.

[huldrejenta.livejournal.com]

Oh, recs! Unfortunately there are so many entries from hd_erised that I haven't got to yet (or maybe I should focus on all the great stuff I've got to look forward to :)), so recs are great!
I've only read Another Mask Behind You and Tea and No Sympathy from this list, and I couldn't agree more, they're both wonderful. Looking forward to reading the others :)f

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Focus on all the great stuff you've got to look forward to! That's my recommendation, at least. There is so much of it. And as a writer I always worry a little that after a fest ends and there are reveals that no one will keep reading the fics, so I'm always really relieved when people keep reading. And you absolutely can't go wrong with any of these. If you're looking for places to start, these are all excellent!

[capitu]

All I want to say is I KNOW!!!! ALL OF THESE!!!! :D

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

ALL OF THESE! But then more, too. I think I've recced more than a quarter of the fics in this fest? And it was still difficult to choose, and I could still rec more and at a certain point was just like "alright, self, you can't actually rec half the fest" except, I probably could. This fest. You mods put together something so incredible! In total awe.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

I just realized your icon is the DC metro. I've wondered for ages.

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Well-spotted! I think one other person's spotted it? Though you've got an edge at the moment.

[zeitgeistic.livejournal.com]

Ha! Love it! So clever.