shakespearedraconian

[shakespearedraconian]

Fanning Over Fanfic

Love Potions and Their Many Uses by Accio_Saucy

Chapters: 24

Status: Complete

Site: AO3

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind" - William Shakespeare

Hey guys, I'm back with another fanning over fanfic. First things first, how do we rate my Canva skills from 1-10? I made this cover for the fanfic to add to the EPUB file so it shows on my Kindle. Who knew silhouettes could be flagged as mature content?

I discovered this fanfic based on a fanart posted to TikTok with captions "Draco accidentally drinking a love potion and falling in love with Hermione, so she has to figure out a way to fix it... Her seeing a completely different side and falling in love with him". MASSIVE THANKS to sunflowerrainbow for commenting this fic in the video.

Let me tell you this fanfic delivers this headcanon, but it's not just Draco that takes a love potion, Hermione AS WELL. But don't fret users, they don't ingest amortentia, no, Accio_Saucy creates a love potion that causes the consumer to fall in love with the first person they see. It so happens our characters both take this potion under dubious circumstances that neither could have forseen. Talk about a twist of love at first sight. Now who would have the motive to do such a thing to our characters? Well that is for you to find out in this fic, because I was stumped until the reveal and it's someone I didn't think would do it either.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fanfic and I will say Accio_Saucy was pedal to the metal on the smut. No it was not exceedingly graphic, but I will say she is very generous with us readers. Dare I say we got some type of smut scene in every chapter or, at least, every other chapter. I enjoyed watching our stubborn leads fall for each other more than the steamy scenes, and watching them navigate their past and finding ways to move forward as a couple.

If you're looking for a fic with full blast romance and horizontal tangos, this is the one for you. I will give those a warning that there is mention of SA in this work, and advise to skip the last 1/4 of chapter 19 if it causes distress.

That concludes this Fanning Over Fanfic. Stay tuned—as the dust settles on this fanfic, something mythic looms in the shadows. A god is coming. Can you guess the fanfic? Until next time!

[shakespearedraconian]

Binge First, Cry Later

Subbed, Dubbed, and Emotionally Destroyed...

I love watching shows and movies where I can say, "Oh, that's where the meme comes from!"

Let me preface: it takes a lot for me to be into a shounen/seinen anime, but when I do... Oh, boy, do I binge to my heart's content. Recently, I've been in an anime void and TV show void in general (I just finished watching all 3 seasons of Invincible in one week). I've seen recommendations to watch Solo Leveling for a while, but the scenes in season 1 did not grab my attention right away, unlike the fight scenes from this new season. These fight scenes filled the little black void that I had for a couple of weeks. If you're looking for action-packed and great fight scenes, this is an anime for you.

Did I cry later? No, I actually cried during, and it was over Jin Woo's mom and another character towards the end of the season. Am I emotionally destroyed? Uh, yeah, over the fact that Crunchyroll has not announced another season, knowing DANG WELL THERE'S ENOUGH MATERIAL FOR ANOTHER SEASON. But rest my animators, I know animating the lovely MC and his awesomeness was a lot of work.

Overall, I'm really looking forward to the rest of the webtoon being animated, even if I have a bone to pick with a specific story arc. Let me know your thoughts on the new season and what show you're currently watching or recommend for me!

[shakespearedraconian]

Popcorn Thoughts 🍿🎬

The Lighthouse

Directed by Robert Eggers Starring Robert Pattinson & Willem Dafoe

The light has its mysteries.

There is a time and place to watch specific movies, and I can confidently say that this movie was one to watch, either in theaters or in the comfort of your room. Or you can be like me and watch when you are in the middle seat of a 5-hour late evening flight.

Now, don't come into this movie "review" thinking I'm some bibliophile or cinephile that can catch every movie or literary reference. Contrary to the first half of my blog name, I am an average joe watching movies and sharing my thoughts on the movies.

For my horror movie lovers, this movie isn't teemed with screams. In all honesty, my heebies were jeebied watching this. Again, definitely not a movie to watch in the middle seat of an airplane. I think the shots were perfectly set up to give the creepy, uneasy feelings. The choice to make this film entirely black and white gave it an old horror feeling that I love. The night scenes of the movie were marvelous in conveying this dream-like, borderline-nightmarish feel that Pattinson's character goes through.

Major kudos to Dafoe and Pattinson for their acting. It truly felt like I was descending with Pattinson into madness as the movie went on. And to Dafoe, I bestow the triple M crown (mansplain, manipulate, & manslaughter) to his character. There's a specific scene, mid biscoff cookie munch, where Dafoe's character is gaslighting Pattison, and I, too, was like, "Wait, is what he is saying true because I could have sworn that's what happened, but perhaps Winslow (Pattinson) is an unreliable p.o.v." My gaslight goblin paid his rent in this scene. 🫶🏻

All in all, I was thoroughly entertained on the flight home. A profuse apology to those that sat around me or behind me in the darkness of our evening flight that witnessed me witnessing Robert Pattison have a wank on my iPad.

At last, I leave you with a popcorn thought from the artist himself:

"Nothing good can happen when two men are trapped alone in a giant phallus." - Robert Eggers

[shakespearedraconian]

Fanning over Fanfic

A Lamb to the Slaughter by FantasyJune35

Status: Complete

Site: AO3

Chapters: 42

"She was his. His. Magically bound to him, their souls so deeply intertwined until one of them was holding Death’s hand."

Hey everyone, I'm back with another Fanning over Fanfic!

This is probably one of the few fictions I've found on my own, and it was not recommended to me. This particular work interested me because of how original this alternate universe FantasyJune35 created. In this fic, Hermione lives on an isolated isle with other characters from the HP series. On the isle of Alec, every 90-100 years, a witch is born and is offered to the mighty members of the Six. It is these ruling houses that take the powers of the witch to harness as their own. Unfortunately for Hermione, this is not considered a blessing but a curse in the eyes of her people. Torn from her family and given to House Malfoy, the cold and most cunning, it is up to Hermione to discover the secrets of the Six and the mysterious power they hold over the Isle of Alec.

This is another slow-burn fanfiction, but I would say that the love story of Hermione and Draco is more of a secondary plot. Nonetheless, I love where their relationship progressed toward the end of the fic. I would advise readers that there are scenes in the fic that depict violence and allude to/reference attempted S.A. I really was hooked on the mystery of the fanfiction more than the love story because of the snippets of previous witches that FantasyJune35 incorporates into the story. Just when I think I have the members of the Sixes' true powers figured out, FJ35 surprises me. Perhaps it's just me as a reader missing context clues, but I thought the twist at the end of the fic was a very nice touch and one that I did not see coming. I really do love how FJ35 incorporates the elements of the HP series in her own universe. I think it gives a nice touch to references of the canon universe. While FJ35 tags it as a happy ending, personally, I did not think it was happy, but at most realistic and best-case scenario for our main characters to live a content life together.

This fanfiction will be available until October 31, 2025. Congrats to FantasyJune35 for getting this work picked up and published. If you happen to miss this fic after Halloween, you can find our characters as Naomi and Henry in Cold & Most Cunning.

If you have any fanficition or any other creative media you want me to "review" (aka just a mini rant and give vague details without spoiling), submit a recommendation on my page. I have another FoF coming soon and, dare I say, you may think I might have cast a love spell (or ahem potion 👀) on you after you read it. Hehe, can you guess the fic?

Until next time!

[shakespearedraconian]

Fanning over Fanfic

Lionheart by greenTeacup (@greenerteacups)

Chapters: 74

Work Status: On-going

Site: AO3

“How Draco Malfoy met a girl on a train, ruined his life, started a war, and ended one.”

Hi everyone! I’m Shakespearedraconian, and I’m in pursuit of great (fanfiction) love stories and great movies. I'm hoping this blog can connect me to other works in fanfiction and movies that people love.

Shout-out to the Dramione community on TikTok for putting me on this AMAZING piece of fanfiction. You guys are the best and always keep me up to date on the latest piece of Dramione work.

Before I begin my fangirling, I will say that slow burn is not typically my favorite genre of fanfiction. I KNOW, I KNOW: murder me, burn me at the stake. But this work changed the game. This work is a canon divergence and "retelling" of the HP series. I put "retelling" in quotes because a simple change in Draco's backstory changes the course of the events in the series. To me, it's a great example of the butterfly effect. I truly love GT's version of the characters and I love how they grow as the series continues. You really do feel like you're watching the characters grow up as you read.

"Okay, Shakes, but what about the romance?"

This romance is top tier and not in the way you think. I think the reason I LOVEEEE this slow burn in contrast to others is because of how organically GT progresses their romance. Remember this is a "retelling" so the characters are 11 at the start of the story. I love the work that goes into establishing their friendship first before we dove into the amorous feelings. Once we get to the point where our characters see each other as a person of romantic interest, it's feet-kicking-in-bed inducing joy and sometimes biting the edge of my laptop. GT gives these amazing moments between Hermione and Draco that are swoon worthy (literally in bed going "UGGGHHHH my heart!"). GT somehow knew I love Pride and Prejudice and Bridgerton, and gave me all the yearn and desire that emanates in this relationship. (*ahem* subtle hand touch à la Mr. Darcy 🫣)

Please send love to @greenerteacups, this has been a WIP since 2022, and it keeps getting better and better with every chapter update. GT, I hope you're doing well, much love from us Lionheart fans, and we look forward to your return.

And that my friends concludes this fanning over fanfic. Until next time!