- love for the elegantly homicidal -

[reenka]

It's funny to read two Harry-- er, and-- Draco fics dealing with the theme of spying and intrigue in the same night-- one angst, one fluff. One of them worked for me like a 4th of July firework, and that's cupiscent's `Firebrand', which is inventive, fast-paced, gritty and gripping. The thing is, it doesn't matter how far-fetched the scenario is if one develops one's core idea to the max, and Dee really does that with gorgeous rigor in a tight, effective short story.

I really love it when I read something different in H/D which avoids sacrificing characterization for ease of realization of the scenario and realistic character dynamics for romance, as well as having a fascinating plot. I can't help but love a story which features strong characters, less than nice characters-- and not ones who're 'nice' or 'not nice' divided along their roles in the story (i.e., the 'good guys' are nice while the 'bad guys' suck). It's just so tempting to make your favorite character into a beautiful misunderstood martyr, I know, but if you buck that impulse and write people as they honestly are, the result is often a thing of true beauty.

Dee's fic is vivid, unapologetic, fierce and meaty. It makes me happy to be a shipper-- someone who wants to see these two make it together because they need each other, against all odds, rather than is willing to believe in some easy fix-- much more than any shmoopy lovey-dovey romance with remorseful Draco and charitable Harry (who make sweet & passionate boylurve at first opportunity) ever could. Because while this scenario isn't necessarily any more likely than the one where Draco 'repents', one -could- project our boys as they are into it, without much need for a lobotomy. Always a good thing.

...Let's just say that the idea of Draco Malfoy in Vladivostok, wearing a grey sweater and holding an AK-47 isn't one I'll want to forget anytime soon. There's just something oddly fitting about renegade!Draco in Siberia. There is!! Also, this greeting by said sweater-wearing person--

"Hello, Potter," Draco Malfoy says. "Fancy meeting you here."

-- made me clap my hands in glee, which is a first. I just really love Draco sometimes. I just do. But especially when he's going for elegantly homicidal. <333 And I love them together, not even in a romantic sense, but in terms of bringing them into contact because they -matter- to each other-- whatever happens, whether they'd admit it or not, whether they realize it or not, they matter. This whole story is a vodka shot-- smooth and harsh and it burns all the way to your heart with seemingly effortless precision.

I do want to see 'what happens' later on, but I don't need to. The fic is more of an image-- a feeling-- a taste at the back of my tongue. Bitter, smooth, gleaming hard like steel and glitter-dry like dust in the sun.

EDIT - Incidentally, cupiscent's post on writing angstfic was rather helpful and inspiring, but I especially loved the bit about the writer not intending angst to make the reader cry but rather to strand them in helplessness or render them incapable of expressing an excess of seething emotion. That is rather what I've noticed about great tragedy, as well. Ahahaha, resolution is for wimps!! ;D

Comments

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Whoo! Thanks for the rec. I really liked Dee's fic, but got like *no* HD or HDish vibes off it at all. I'd almost say that Ginny loomed the largest.

It's just so tempting to make your favorite character into a beautiful misunderstood martyr,

Hm, this actually made me rethink the fic's portrayals a bit. Draco wasn't *quite* this in Firebrand, it was more... all his prejudices' solid bases were justified and all the nastier aspects were ignored (it would have been nice to see a parallel drawn in the wizarding and muggle prejudices, I think, just a sentence or adjective or look or something. I think she did do well in showing the stifling bureaucracy running through both. And how natural it was to intertwine)

I could also make weenie arguments about the likelihood of Harry and Hermione doing what they did, but really, I feel like good counter-arguments could also be brought to bear. And the *story* was so powerful in and of itself that it swept away almost all my resistance as I read.

[sympathetic-ink.livejournal.com]

[starts laughing]

so that's the coincidence! [dies]

[malafede.livejournal.com]

You don't know how much I loved to find this post after what you forced (I am so oppressed) me to read, though admittedly the whole experience was more funny than anything else.

...it makes me want to not have Harry and Draco fuck like, ever. And then Moody (their spymaster) would be like, CONSTANT ERECTION whenever they dare eyeing each other less than professionally. /lame joke

Off to read good spyfic!

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

...I do hope you think it's good. *is afeared, omg*
har. BUT AT LEAST YOU CAN'T SAY YOU DIDN'T LIKE IT 'CAUSE THE DRACO WASN'T (er, bottom) ENOUGH FOR YOU <3 HAR.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Well, it's just that I -wanted- them to get together-- which is all me. This happens whenever I read a fic which has a strong 'image' of both of them (to me), so I like their characterizations enough (and whatever their interaction is in the fic) to want to see them make it together. I don't think(?) I explicitly said it was H/D, right :> They didn't spend much space within the fic talking or interacting-- but I still feel like they have potential, I guess, moreso than in some established relationship fics. I mean, Ginny loomed, yeah, but she's dead, y'know~:))

I actually did do a double-take at myself when I wrote that line, too. I realize Draco was sleek & attractive in his dark-rebel sort of way (as was Snape, and even Pansy). Really, even though it was Harry pov, Harry was the least 'likable' character (for me) 'cause what he did was so distasteful to me-- and yeah I don't think he'd do it, but since he -did-, even though nothing would turn me off him, I was still disappointed in him, y'know? Like yeah, the story swept away my resistence... and like I sort of said, it might be a far-out unlikely premise, but it works with what it takes as a given in a rigorous way. When I said it wasn't anymore likely than the spyfic with 'redeemed' Draco, I meant that precise thing-- I don't think they'd do what they did. But then, neither would Draco Malfoy do what he did in Olivia's fic.

Like, the fic is... not quite finished-feeling and Draco's... not that well detailed/painted, partly 'cause it's not his story, precisely... and I'm usually semi-dissatisfied with Dee's Draco, anyway, so maybe that's for the best ^^;; It's not school!Draco, to be sure, but then, neither is it school!Harry or Ginny or Pansy. Snape was great, though, I thought.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Hey, I started to read and it seems really cool, but then got distracted by shiny things (XF season 2 DVDs omg! Jaded Mulder laughing at Fake Green Krycek's stuffy outfits = <3).

He could still be OOC, you know. :/ It's not the bottomness I protest (that's my gonad protesting) but the coolness, in that rpg you linked me to. It's the same with Bond Draco, but everyone has their buttons, right. I just have a grudge against this tendency some sections of fandom (and mainstream culture as well) have to write everyone as The Fonzie. Don't beat me, I don't mean you.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

...Sometimes people write Draco so not-cool I can't take it. Or so cool I can't take it. It's all about making him the right sort of cool~:)) AHAHAHAH. Cool but with uncool spots. Human. Hopefully also amusing and hot (to me). :D :D :D :D
I really didn't think Bond!Draco was that cool. He could be (hahah, like in Snitch!) but he... wasn't. Bond!Draco wouldn't need Harry to save him, see. Bond!Draco would be stealing Harry's wand while Harry kissed him. Bond!Draco would use Harry's affection against him, bedding him then escaping, etc etc. That Draco was a complete Hufflepuff.

Dee's Draco is pretty Slytherin in his coolness, at least :>

[malafede.livejournal.com]

You know I am not talking about Dee's fic or your Draco. :) I was just going off my typical tangent about mainstream culture's populist evils, and the compulsive need to have APPEAL - have you notice how often it seems like the writer is writing the same character all over, like, everybody's COOL, and they NEVER fail, and they ADORE each other, and they have PERFECT sex, the end. Ahaha, I know it wasn't Bond Draco in that fic, but it's pretty obvious the author was going for that. She just isn't very good.

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Sometimes people write Draco so not-cool I can't take it.

Is sst so not cool you can't take him? :D :D :D Don't be afeared to speak the truth, I am just curious. I would lurve him anyway, ahaha. Is that egomaniacal, delusional or simply confident?

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

It's kind of hard to say whether I think he's uncool :-?

Y'know how... er... I have issues being too close to... er... SG (hahahah *snorts*), who can't stand Draco (PATHETIC WHINY LOSER FREAK GOD I WANT TO FUCK HIM... er...) so it's like... he just inspires emotions in me/Harry/etc. Lust is an emotion too y'know ;)) Well, it's like, lust, disgust, need, annoyance, frustration, sometimes tenderness....

Malfoy was never cool. But he's always hot :D :D

*spams! and plants flag on this journal*

[malafede.livejournal.com]

everybody's COOL, and they NEVER fail, and they ADORE each other, and they have PERFECT sex, the end.

Oh, and they are always right. They never make mistakes. If they do, it's LOVELY mistakes that would charm the most hardened hearts among the audience, or so sympatethic you just can't find it in yourself to resent them. This is why the best characters are never the heroes. /pontificating sniggers

*steals back flag*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

You've been reading about stupid heroes, man ~:))
Real heroes are defined by their mistakes, who lose spectacularly and then suck it up and try harder to make restitution. The best characters are heroes whose heroism is a form of personal growth.

Also, my hero beats your non-hero & then fucks him into doe-eyed docility, so really it all works out. With the hero on top.
*cackles*

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Maybe he'll be cool in an intellectual way after I'm finished laughing at him. WHD Draco is pretty cool in his "can never win and I can only blame myself for it not that I'm ever going to admit it" ways. Btw! Would you like to let me read what you have so far? I know you added a lot of more scenes.


(...

... PATHETIC WHINY LOSER FREAK

May I ask... am I good at writing him that way...? Cos that'd make me rather proud. *siiiiiiiiigh* OH DRACO YOU FERRET I LOVE YOU SO.)

Re: *steals back flag*

[malafede.livejournal.com]

(I hope you're not answering to this, although I like to make you work double.)

Man, your hero beats my non-hero at doe-eyedness as well, har har.

Mulder is a anti-hero!!!!!!!!

(And you know JKR's going to white-wash Harry. You know. But he's still mine to play with. For now.

... I want to keep scanning sentences like that. I've been reading about child killers all afternoon and my brain's started working like this sociopath character giving speeches to his dead victims.)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

...WHD Draco....? Er....?
I want Draco to be cool in a punk-ass AK-47-wielding way, man~:D


...hehehe yeah you're pretty good with the pathetic whiny loser freak thing :D :D

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Oh Snape was mucho with the coolness. The detail about his dark mark worked into a tattoo was the one that stuck with me the most. And I found myself thinking the most about Ginny. I think I have a weakness for a character-shaped hole in a story, though, and what it does to the other characters (like in circe_tigana's "Revisionism" series).

Much agreement with your thoughts on Harry. For some authors, I just mentally adjust myself to the idea that they will handle certain characters certain ways (Draco really cool, Harry really a quivering innocent etc etc). Then it's just a matter of which interpretations I can live with and enjoy, OOC or maybe-this-is-possible-after-character-extrapolation aside. For example, quivering innocent Harry is ok by me, not because I think it's always the best characterization, but because it pushes my buttons. :D

Then again, some really skilled authors handle characters in ways that just set my teeth on edge, and I just have to stop reading. Their skill only twists the knife of their oogy idea that much deeper.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think I was scarred by extreme badness in uke!Harry fics-- like Vinagrette's with the weepy!Harry-who's-desperate-for-Draco's-approval. That sort of still scares me ><;;; It's like, innocent doesn't mean wussy. I hate wussies. DIE WUSSIES DIE. GAR. *bares teeth* Okay, no, not really, but that was fun. :>

I know about the skill & the oogy idea (AHAHAH OOGY!!)
...Man. But I'm a whore for style so I read it anyway -.-

[shaggirl.livejournal.com]

Haha, I know the other spy fic you read, and as much as the author's version/vision of Draco is not my version/vision, I cannot help but love such unapologetic cliche. :P

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Usually it's her writing-style/execution that bothers me more than the clichedness of the idea itself, though. I mean, Dee's concept/characterizations weren't necessarily mine either, but she was rigorous and precise, y'know? :> It counteracts the questionability of the concept pretty well. Whereas I don't think the other fic suceeded at actually implementing its own cliche :>

[shaggirl.livejournal.com]

Based on comments she made while the fic was being written/beta'd, my impression was that she knew the cliche was completely silly, so I didn't approach it from the perspective that my suspension of disbelief was required, I guess. And, I thought the smut was rather nice. :\

[malafede.livejournal.com]

Putrid Draco could be cool in a vomiting way. The vomit enables him to see the light of anarchy...?

I meant What He Deserves. :)

Sirius/James is canon, omg

[stellabelle.livejournal.com]

Haha, you've been listening to a lot of cover songs lately, seems like...'Blackbird' and then 'Paint it Black'. You should so listen to Ryan Adams' cover of 'Wonderwall'. It's so beautiful and minimalistic, and just...*sigh*.

Yay, I'm totally going to read your rec next, cause it sounds good and also cause I'm a Total Procrastinator today, OMG. So sad. (It's like, I was totally being good and writing and then it started running away on me and turning porny and now I'm scared of it and aughhh whyyy does everything turn into porn whyyy?! Not that it's a bad thing that I'm a ho, but... *ahem* I meant. Um. I'll be okay. Eventually. Hehe.)

the bit about the writer not intending angst to make the reader cry but rather to strand them in helplessness or render them incapable of expressing an excess of seething emotion.

Dude, I just had this convo with a friend of mine the other day. Totally. And we were also wondering how can someone say, for example: 'I'm going to write angst!' You know? I mean, obviously I do have a vision for whatever I'm writing, but I just don't like to label it that directly. (I don't really like labels for most things, I suppose...) But I feel as though it's sort of a cop-out to the writing to say 'this is [whatever].' Hm. I dunno. Probably that's just me. :)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Nono, what I'm saying isn't that `it's silly, omg, she didn't know!', 'cause I can tell she knew, but it's like... mer? It wasn't the concept so much as the execution...? I should say I'm deeply biased against purplish prose re: smut ^^;;;

[shaggirl.livejournal.com]

Speaking of purple disasters (not that we were!), you wanna take another look at the squid thing tonight? I have upped the porn content and the H/D interaction, and eliminated some of the randomness. I hope. It's better, but I'm not sure if it's better enough.

I hate this fic.

[newmint.livejournal.com]

Ahh, that's jsut what I've been trying to vocalise for such a long time about angst... the horrible, heart-in-throat, choking-on emotions feeling at the end of a really fulfilling angstfic, the way you want to wail and wail and wail and can't find any way of exorcising the huge, horrible mass of helpless, raging, despair. And yes, that post does pain angst as (greek) sort of tragedy, with the protagonist creating their own downfall.