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Fic Spotlight

Title: No Name Woman
Author: bk11
Length: 20,303
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: profanity, sexual content
Summary: It’s a strange new world in which Hermione runs from the law and Draco is the one to bring her back.

Editor’s Thoughts: Wrenching, evocative, philosophical -- each word in this too-brief, too-lovely story batters against you, at times with the force of hailstones and at others, with the feather-touch of a drizzle. Told mostly from Draco's perspective, it's a time-disjointed tale of how Hermione Granger became one of Wizarding England's most wanted fugitives. The beginning of this story is also the beginning of its end.

Draco is an Auror in an AU-HBP-compliant world where extremists run a militant British government and fugitives are hunted down by hit squads. He finds Hermione in Casablanca and brings her back to be locked up in St. Mungo's until her trial. As flawed as Hermione is, and we're privy to much introspection on her part, we get to live and experience the turbulent times in tension-fraught flashes from Draco's eyes. He is/was a racist, he believes/doesn't believe in genocide, and he's no hero, barely a decent man, full of self-justifications, but just vulnerable enough to let another person in, and when he does and she does, it all comes together in a kaleidoscope of graphic, unusual prose that'll leave you with a thoughtful feeling for hours afterwards.

No Name Woman is not merely romantic; it's human.

July Fests in Review

hp_porninthesun
2010 Master List and Reveals!

hawthorn_vine Phase 1 Master List!
Art: D/Hr and Spider [K] drawn by itsbeenvery
Death by House-elf [K] by pips_n_chiaw

Art: Couple’s Portrait [K] drawn by kalina_blue
Smithereens [MT] by strawberrykait

Art: Plump Unpecked Cherries [T] drawn by riptey
The Goblin Queen [M] by yesterday4
Art: How to Pick Them [K] drawn by riptey
We All Fall Down [T] by blackestfaery
Dandy Lies [T] by vox_rowan

hp_wishes
Flashbacks of Fancy [PG-13] by liebedance


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Fic Spotlight

Title: Of Daisies and Stars
Author: elektra30
Length: 2.5K
Rating: G
Warnings: EWE?
Summary: Sometimes, this boy reminded him too much of too many people.

silvia_elisa's Thoughts: If there is one thing that I think it's difficult to portray in fanfiction, realistically portray, is children. It takes a skilful writer and a good story, Of Daisies and Stars has both; the way it unassumingly starts in medias res, without trivial preambles, is the perfect kick-off for a terrific fic.

The point of view stays so close to Draco that I felt a connection with the child myself, and as his thoughts pass you by, you'll find yourself breathing in the diary of scents, sights and sounds – as the author puts it. The strong emotions that Draco is experiencing are cleverly juxtaposed with his son's babbling and Hermione, almost imperceptibly, is with them both the whole time.

I wish I could quote just a couple of lines, but I'd end up quoting the fic in its entirety. The vocabulary used is so interwoven with the narration and so rich in detail that you'll get the scope of their lives together, instead of being hindered by the fact that it is a one-shot story. And the final part, well, the final part will take your breath away.

Fic Spotlight

Title: Ceiling Tiles
Author: inadaze22
Length: 1,055 words
Rating: T
Warnings: Mild Profanity
Summary: Seventy-seven tiles comprise the ceiling; perfect squares that stretch from all four walls.

elektra30's Thoughts: It is an art to express complex emotions and intricate characterisation within just a thousand words. It is even more difficult to do it in second-person POV and pull it off well. This fic is a carefully crafted snapshot of how sometimes we are so caught up in our own perception of a person, that we never realise who they really are and what they truly mean to us all this while. Despite being together physically for such a long time, it is only till this moment that both Hermione and Draco see each other in a raw and emotionally vulnerable light.

July Fest Sign-Ups

mini_fest: Christmas in July/Post-War Parties (theme)
Sign-ups: now to July 10
Due Date: July 10

hp_mhealthfest: Round Two (prompts / your own ideas)
Sign-ups: July 1-14 (prompting); July 17-31 (fest)
Due Date: October 17

hermione_smut: Round Four (fic exchange)
Sign-ups: July 1-22
Due Date: October 15

fantasybigbang: Round One (big bang)
Sign-ups: now to July 31
Due Date: September 30 (rough); November 1 (final)

polybigbang: Round Two (big bang)
Sign-ups: July 15-September 20
Due Date: September 20 (rough); October 27 (final)

harry_holidays: 2010 Holiday Fest (fic/art exchange)
Sign-ups: July 20-August 5
Due Date: November 5 (new), November 20 (veterans)

harrypotterbang: Round Two (big bang)
Sign-ups: July 30-October 18
Due Date: November 17 (rough), January 7 (final)

hp_wishes: Summer Themed Activity (themes)
Sign-ups: now to September 20
Due Date: September 20


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