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hdcup_mod (hdcup_mod) wrote in hd_worldcup,
@ 2008-04-01 07:20:00

Entry tags:

fic, prompt: the fool, r, round i, team ewe

Catch Me If I Fall -- Team EWE
Title: Catch Me If I Fall
Team: Team EWE
Author: alisanne
Prompt: The Fool
Wordcount: 15800
Rating: R
Warnings: None.
Summary: As the world recovers from war, Draco faces an uncertain future. Unusual advice sets him on a new path, but only time will tell if he can avoid the pitfalls.
Author's Note Everlasting thanks to the members of Team EWE and to my beta readers who shall remain nameless for the moment in the interests of anonymity. Special thanks to S, without whose unfailing cheerleading and support this story would probably not have been possible, and to the moderators of this fest for hosting such a fun event.

Catch Me If I Fall

Poll #1287
Open to: All, results viewable to: None

Is the author/artist true to their team? Yes/No vote ("yes" is worth 2 points, "no" is worth 0)

How well did the author/artist use their Prompt? 1 to 9 (1 being the least)

How much did you like this story/art overall? 1 to 9 (1 being the least)

For a description of teams, please see our FAQ.

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greenjuly
2008-04-06 08:44 pm UTC (link)

Nice! I like eighthyear!fics, so you had me at “returning to Hogwarts”.

She may not have been in the story much, but I liked your Ginny a lot. If someone read all my comments of the HD_worldcup fics, they’d probably think (apart from observing that I am the queen of tl;dr) that I'm a big Ginny fan. I'm not particularly, but to me she seems one of the characters who suffers the most in fanfiction, and especially in H/D fanfiction. Anyway, I like the fact that she said "It's all the pressure, isn't it?", and that she was understanding of Harry's indecisiveness. In post-DH fic Harry is often portrayed as not quite knowing what to do now that he actually has a life; a viewpoint which is very reasonable and understandable. The "we'll always be friends" conversation was kind of sappy but pretty realistic, I liked it.

Hermione and Ron, too! They seem to disappear in a lot of H/D fics. I like the fact that they had a presence here, and the trio conversations were great (my fave part of the fic). I thought that they were well characterized here – Ron still casually prejudiced against Malfoy (but somewhat mellowed out) and Hermione as the more objective voice.

"Does he have to get in our carriage?" Weasley stage-whispered.

Ha ha! Good old Ron.

Some nice meta moments, too!
If nothing else it'll get me away from these bloody peacocks, Draco thought.

Madam Malkin’s II : (Electric Boogaloo) probably qualifies as a meta moment as well. The camaraderie between Malfoy and Harry was a bit more than I would have expected, realistically, but it was a fun scene.
I do think that the development of friendship between them was a bit rushed and a bit too “warm fuzzy” ... I would have built it up more subtly. All the discussion of “is this a friendship” seemed ... well, a bit girly. I must say that I don’t buy Harry’s immediate trust of Malfoy (or at least his willingness to cut him some slack); I can see Harry letting things go (to a certain extent) as water under the bridge, but I also would have thought that he’d retain more suspicion and distrust towards him. Canon-Harry wouldn’t say "He was as much a victim as we were”, IMO.

Still, I really enjoyed this overall. The only thing I really didn’t like was the first scene with the tarot reading, just cause it’s such a cliché (though I know you know this, and were playing off it – it just didn’t jive with me personally).

(Reply to this) (Thread)

alisanne
2008-05-23 11:58 am UTC (link)

*laughs*
I knew some would see the Tarot reading as cliché and really, it is, but it was the best way I could think of at the time to convey my Tarot card's meaning. Linking to a meaning in my summary never occurred to me I'm afraid. :) Thank you for giving the rest of the fic a chance after that!

I tried very hard to write a reasonable Ginny, so thank you. She really is one of his good friends (practically a sister. *g*) and I wanted to reflect that in this story. It's interesting, but I have received nothing but good comments regarding Ginny in this fic. Makes me think I need to be nicer to her in all my stories. :)

I love trio interactions and I have been working on them, so thank you for noticing!

The observation that their relationship may have developed a bit too smoothly has been a frequent one as well, actually. The "girly" comment is interesting, though. Was that just because boys typically don't talk or think about relationships?

Also, I suspect that Harry saw a lot of people traumatized in the war, and while I did write him as a more mature person here I do think he would have that viewpoint given all that he's seen and given time to absorb Snape's memories. I'd be interested to know if you thought Draco's POV was reasonable if Harry's wasn't.

Thanks SO MUCH for the detailed comments and especially for letting me know what didn't work for you. This is the sort of helpful feedback that I crave so I appreciate it more than you can possibly know!

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

greenjuly
2008-06-01 03:58 pm UTC (link)

Thanks so much for your lengthy reply! I'd meant to come back and reply earlier, oops.

I'm glad you weren't offended by my comment on the tarot scene!

The observation that their relationship may have developed a bit too smoothly has been a frequent one as well, actually. The "girly" comment is interesting, though. Was that just because boys typically don't talk or think about relationships?
Haha, yeah, way for me to fall back on gender stereotypes. Yes, I was referring to the fact that guys are generally less forthcoming and less willing to discuss feelings. (Gross generalization, but true, IMO). This especially applies to Harry/Draco because let's face it, Harry's not that much of a chatty bloke, especially in regard to personal things.

Also, I suspect that Harry saw a lot of people traumatized in the war, and while I did write him as a more mature person here I do think he would have that viewpoint given all that he's seen and given time to absorb Snape's memories. I'd be interested to know if you thought Draco's POV was reasonable if Harry's wasn't.
I respect your reasoning here. If and when I do a reread (sorry, I don't have the time right now), I'll comment on the Draco POV.

Thanks SO MUCH for the detailed comments and especially for letting me know what didn't work for you. This is the sort of helpful feedback that I crave so I appreciate it more than you can possibly know!
I'm glad I was able to be constructive for you! It's really nice of you to send a reply, I appreciated that. =)

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alisanne 2008-06-01 06:07 pm UTC (link)
	If you do end up re reading I would be honored and I would definitely love to hear your thoughts on Draco and anything else you notice. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

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