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Tweak says, "Ad Exec & Teen r totally OTP"

beholder_mod (beholder_mod) wrote in hp_beholder,
@ 2011-04-18 14:23:00

Entry tags:

beholder_2011, dudley dursley, dudley/harry, fic, harry potter, rating:pg13, slash

FIC: "Principles Before Personalities for catbirdfish
Recipient: catbirdfish
Author: leela_cat
Title: Principles Before Personalities
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Dudley Dursley/Harry Potter
Word Count: ~21,000
Warnings/Content Information (Highlight to View): *alcohol abuse, addiction issues, physical violence*.
Summary: After being arrested and sentenced to a Community Order, Dudley finds help in unexpected places.
Author's Notes: catbirdfish said she liked many things that appealed to me, including character study, imperfections, characters undergoing a change or maturing emotionally, and redemption arcs and, thus, this story was born. Many thanks to my betas and my brit-picker and to bethbethbeth for giving characters like Dudley a chance to shine.

The section titles, except for the first one, come from a non-denominational version of the twelve steps, and the story title comes from the twelfth tradition.

"Principles Before Personalities"

(Don't forget to return to this post to leave feedback for the author!)

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alwaysasnapefan
2011-04-19 07:58 am UTC (link)

This was really interesting.

I loved Harry's casual wizard speak ("Obliviated", etc.), and its contrast with some of Dean's Muggle speak (like "hoover"). And this line in particular of his seemed so absolutely perfect:
"There's a place." Harry moved in front of him and waited until Dudley looked at him before continuing with, "It's got the best ice cream ever. Flavours you can't even imagine."

I like Dean's art show. I thought it was touching to see his sketches and hear his reasoning.

I really like how British this is in parts. And I really liked Dudley's revelation to Arabella. Nicely done.

I love the little moments in this like this:
he didn't want to be cursed for being rude
Or when Dudley asks if the food at the restaurant will give him a swollen tongue or a tail and Harry says "not tonight."

Some nice turn of phrase, including:
- Insults and names that belonged to his dad
- that had been too tight before he stopped drinking and started gardening.
- Some days, he hardly remembered what it had felt like to hurt people, to hurt Harry. He didn't think it was safe to forget though.

I'm a little weirded out that all the events seemed so canonically possible. Well done.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Principles Before Personalities leela_cat 2011-06-06 01:52 am UTC (link)
	Thank you for this lovely comment. I really appreciate knowing that you liked so many of the details. Also, knowing that you found these events to seem so canonically possible is a wonderful compliment, even if it weirded you out. ;) (Reply to this) (Parent)

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