#Dron recs

[sitp-recs]

Any good Dron recs that are in the longer side?

Hi there, you’re good :) I haven’t read many long fics with them but these are all great. I have a longer list including short fics here.

A Soft Spot for Lost Causes by Helenish (E, 13k)

"Remember at school? Weasel? You’re so poor and dirty?" Ron said encouragingly "You hated me." "I did," Draco said.

Dreaming Skies by @sweet-s0rr0w and @tackytigerfic (E, 20k)

Draco's life is going nowhere, so when Charlie Weasley offers him a job out on his reserve, Draco doesn't think twice before booking a Portkey. After all, it's not as if he has many other options. But when he arrives in Romania, he realises that nothing is quite what he expected...

A Fine Foray into Fashionable Fellatio by @wellhalesbells (E, 31k)

First comes tolerating, then comes shagging, then comes unintended consequences.

The Black Adder: Knockturn's Caped Crusader by @fangqueen (M, 41k)

Seven years have come and gone since the Battle of Hogwarts brought the Second Wizarding War to a close, and unfortunately there are still too many Death Eaters running around free for anyone's liking. The Aurors tasked with cleaning up the mess are doing their best, but times are tough.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by Mad_Maudlin (M, 42k)

Draco Malfoy's life takes a turn for the traumatic when he's kidnapped by Ron Weasley to protect him from an murderous foe he's never heard of. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

Is This It by MildredMost (E, 52k)

Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy get trapped in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during an attack drill. HOWEVER WILL THEY PASS THE TIME? Cw: past non-con (not between main characters)

[wolfpants]

You may have posted this before but do you have a list of your very favourite fics? Any pairing but my heart melts for Draco/Ron

Good morning anon!

Tastemaker extraordinaire @sitp-recs just posted a very fine list of Dron recs, including my fave by @sweet-s0rr0w and @tackytigerfic's Dreaming Skies.

Here's the full list.

Also, I hate to toot my own horn, but @dronarryfest will be posting next month so look out for some more dron/dronarry deliciousness there!

[peachpety]

✨dron✨ fic recs as requested, m’dear!

@sitp-recs has this fantastic dron list…an excellent place to start (and with bonus dronarry recs)

i’m also adding…

Inevitably Everything, by CheekyTorah (M, 8.2k)

Ron and Draco Go on an Island Adventure [Gee Thanks, Hermione], by @schmem14 (M, 15.2k)

(and, naturally, a self-rec sequel fic to my dron, A Weasel in the Hamptons, bc pshaw)…

Massively Magical, by peachpety (E, 3.6k)

and once you’re completely on board this ship, welcome to the club. we have jackets. 🧡

every day i inch closer to shipping dron. not YET. but soon......

[saintsenara]

Favorite Ron Weasley fics?

thank you very much for the ask @thesilverstarling! my king's birthday seemed like the perfect time to drop this...

six ron-centric fic recs

[for the best sixth son in literature]

envy by @floreatcastellumposts

harry potter & ron weasley teen | 8.6k words

why i recommend it:

ron's capacity for jealousy is something which generates a lot of fandom discourse - especially the role it plays in his relationship with hermione. this fic is a look at one of the canon moments which foreground this trait - ron's falling out with harry when his best pal's name comes out of the goblet of fire - and it does a wonderful job of exploring ron's less pleasant characteristics without bashing him.

like a brother would by @wolfpants

harry potter/ron weasley explicit | 5.2k words

why i recommend it:

i have a real weakness for ronarry - largely because i love how ron would give anything in the world to get to take care of his bestie. this fic takes that urge to its natural conclusion...

the english opening by lordrowantree

fleur delacour/ron weasley teen | 55k words

why i recommend it:

because it respects ron���s canonical rizz and asks the very important question: what would happen if fleur said yes when he asked her to the yule ball?

and, in doing so, it also respects all the rest of ron’s canonical traits - his intelligence, his kindness, his big-picture thinking, his sense of daring - and uses them to offer an exploration of fleur’s character which is considerably kinder and more nuanced than the one she receives in canon.

plus, it’ll teach you something about chess, which is a bonus.

ghouls in the attic by speechwriter

tom riddle/ron weasley general | 8.9k

why i recommend it:

because - as the author correctly notes - i have seen your heart and it is mine is an outrageously romantic thing for the horcrux to say to ron [especially because it happens just before voldemort canonically suggests that hermione is mid].

collateral damage by @danpuff-ao3

draco malfoy/ron weasley explicit | 16k words

why i recommend it:

i also have a weakness for dron - above all because the two of them are narrative mirrors, defined by their relationships to their families and their relationships to harry, brought into conflict by their polar differences [draco's wealth versus ron's lack of it, etc.], and possessed of similar personality traits [a desire to be recognised as important and be the centre of attention; a capacity for jealousy]. this fics plays with those similarities - and also with ron and draco's more positive shared traits - in a really striking way. i ship these two losers. i hope they're happy.

some i love who are dead by brightened

hermione granger/ron weasley teen | 2.2k words

why i recommend it:

because it's a lovely, bittersweet look at ron's character from the perspective of hermione's old age - thinking about the man he became and the husband and father he was.

[potterblog]

If you like both Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy as characters, please comment or reblog this with some fanfic recs featuring them both positively as flawed, nuanced characters without any bashing!

I don't care what ship or what subset of the HP fandom you're from! ❤ This question is for everyone, but especially the multishippers and the gen fic fans! 🥰 Whether you ship both Romione & Dramione, Hinny & Drarry, Ronarry, Dron, Drinny, Tomarry, Remadora, Lucissa, Tedromeda, Jily, Snily, RonLuna, Ronsy, Drastoria, or random rare pairs, or if you're a Snape fan, a Marauders fan, a Weasley fan, a Malfoy fan, a Dursley fan, etc.

I'd love to know your fic recs that are both pro-Ron and pro-Draco! Bonus if these fics are also featuring Dumbledore, Snape, Pettigrew, Sirius, or other interesting & complicated canon characters! 🥰

[schmem14]

It’s my birthday! Celebrate with me by reading my top favorite fanfic discoveries this past year. (Feel free to flail with me in DM’s!) I feel so lucky to have found so many wonderful talented friends and amazing stories! 

1. flour and flesh by foxglovetonic (nocturn) Hermione x Pansy, wc: 666 rating: M

(Mind the tags) This sapphic horror fic gripped my soul from the moment I read it and it lives rent-free in my head because of its amazing imagery and masterful use of unreliable narrator. I’ll be forever creeped out by carving pumpkins and pie (but in the BEST way, I swear!) This is the #1 reason Halloween is my fav. 

2. Usually by @lumosatnight Percy x Oliver, wc: 1k, rating: E

What’s not to love about banter, chess as foreplay, and stripping down until there’s nothing left but heart-pounding hot AF sex? This pairing is fantastic, and Lani’s writing is on point, as always, and I was incredibly impressed by the real live chess match taking place in the background. Read it, you won’t regret it! 

3. drink up, boys by @emilyrickman gen work featuring Parvati Patil, wc: 1.5k, rating: M

(Mind the tags) I URGE you give this gripping revenge story a chance! Between Parvati’s confidence and the absolute heartbreaking and empowering ode to sisterly love, this story gave me goosebumps. Emily is such a great writer, and I can’t stress enough how well the feels come through on this one. Also, give the song What It Means To Be a Girl by EMELINE a listen as you read, it will elevate the whole experience! 

4. One Woman’s Trash by @nanneramma Lavender x Hermione wc: 2k, rating: T

My friend Nan can do it all, and I don’t care that coffee shop AU has been done a thousand and one times before, THIS is the one to read! Lavender is to die for in this, and the fluff is pure, gourmet sweetness. It will have you kicking your feet and squealing by the end. 

5. Head Over Heels by @vdoshu Narcissa x Mrs. Zabini, wc: 575, Rating: M

This itty bitty fic is singlehandedly feeding my Narcissa Mommy delusion. I want her to step on me SO BAD! Ugh. Doshu packs a punch with every story, and the punchline of this one is sure to have you gasping like a beached fish. Please come scream at me about it if and when you know what I mean. 

6. Welcome, Peasants by @fluxweeed Draco x Ron x Harry, wc: 15k, Rating: E

It was nearly impossible for me to pick just ONE of my favorite fics from Dronarry fest this year, but I narrowed it down to two. Strap in for an hour and immerse yourself because the payoff is WORTH IT!  This one blends the juicy polyjuice trope with a healthy dollop of mistaken identity and a pinch of jealousy. Better yet is the twisty reveal and the absolutely smut-tastic finale that follows.

7. For I Have Found Salvation by @lumosatnight Severus x Harry, wc: 7k, Rating: E

Yes Lani, I couldn’t resist another! I feel like I have to preface this by saying I’m not usually a Snarry fan, but this filthy Priest AU fic is EVERYTHING. The dynamic of guilt and forbidden church sex (while church is IN SESSION) is so fucking delectable. I’m going to just say it and embarrass myself: Insta-Wank Bank. Yep. 

8. Nightswimming by @sweet-s0rr0w Draco x Ron (x Harry), wc: 5k, Rating: M

…Which brings me to my SECOND Dronarry fest pick from this year, and I love it so much because it’s all banter and hypotheticals. Draco and Harry are a couple, but Draco and Ron share a car ride where it comes out that maybe they’ve been considering a three-way with Ron. They don’t even fuck, but the tension of them just talking about it is too hot to handle. Bonus: There’s art at the end! 

9. Mistletoe Mojito by @amethystheart2421 Sybill x Severus, wc: 3k, Rating: E

This fic knocked me flat on my ass. This lust potion fueled one-night stand fic had me laughing and crying (from hilarity and absurdity and sadness) all at once. Such delightful writing, and the perfect example of crack taken seriously. 

10. All That Is Beautiful, Burns In The Making by @sailtomarina Narcissa x Bill, wc: 8k, Rating: E

Narcissa is hot. Bill is hot. We all know this from canon, but imagine they get together and how much hotter they are as a couple! This fic contains such delights as werewolf Bill, seduction, forbidden love, infidelity, knotting, endless refractory periods, voyeurism, rough sex, and mating. It’s not quite A/B/O but it has a lot of the elements that make it such a juicy AU.

11. A Perfect Answer by @p1013 Draco x Harry wc: 9k, Rating: E

Downton Abbey AU. Harry is Draco’s valet and the love is very much forbidden. Contains: pining, jealousy, decorum, emerald cufflinks that Draco favours, and BATHS. Something about it reminds me of Jane Eyre, though I know that’s a different time period and there’s no crazy wife in the attic. I loved this fic so much because it was a well-written AU and it brought a breath of fresh air to an old favorite otp. The angst is divine, and the ending is such a lovely payoff. Enjoy! 

[getawayfox]

Draco rattles around in his brain for something to talk about, something beyond the immediate obvious—we are lying in bed together, we are spooning, you are shirtless, you are holding my hand, my chest feels like it’s on fire, my head is as light as air, do you feel it too? I will die if I get hard, I might die if you change your mind about me.

Quote from beautiful and absolutely heartbreaking fic with impeccable vibes In My Room by @wolfpants (draco/ron, E, 21k)

[ghaniblue]

HP Recs Fest: Days 8 + 9

@hprecfest prompt: canon-divergent + rare pair

I struggled a lot with canon-divergent because I almost always read EWE, but I avoid canon-rewrites, resorting or what-if fics.

A Soft Spot for Lost Causes (13099 words) by Helenish (Draco/Ron, Explicit)

"Remember at school? Weasel? You’re so poor and dirty?" Ron said encouragingly "You hated me." "I did," Draco said.

I first read this fic in 2004 when canon was still open so it differs wildly from the last books. This is not a pairing I normally go for, but Helenish is so good at writing messy, uncomfortable sexual situations. (The warning on this fic is not for Draco/Ron.)

empire builders (25213 words) by shecrows (James/Sirius, Explicit)

Say, James, he rehearses in his head. Remember that time we were both roaring drunk at the end of term, and you put your cock in my mouth, and I came so hard I still get tingly thinking about it? Was that just a one off, d’you think, or did you want to do it again sometime? He blows out a cloud of smoke, releasing a thready little peal of laughter. “Fuck me,” Sirius mutters, and swallows. “Fuck. Shitting Christ.”   James, Sirius, and a summer in the south of Devon.

I got this story off @ashesandhackles fest recs and devoured it this morning. I am now a Prongsfoot shipper. This fic altered my brain chemistry. James and Sirius in this are both too much and so deeply emotionally entangled. The intensity of feeling is off the charts. It felt like I was getting a second hand high reading this fic.

>> rec fest masterlist <<

[dewitty1]

Fic Recs Wrap Up - April 2023(ノﾟ∀ﾟ)ノ⌒･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Pages of You by wolfpants @wolfpants

Summer, 1980. Harry is floating between university and becoming a Real Certified Adult. He’s not ready. He really isn’t.

In a desperate attempt to have the Best Last Summer ever, he takes a casual job at his godfather’s bookshop in London, starts an illicit pen pal affair with a wordy posh boy that he’s catching feelings for, all while dealing with the son of Sirius’s business rival, one Draco Malfoy, insufferable know-it-all extraordinaire.

A story about trying to figure out who you are, where you’re going in life, and who you want to take along with you. Rec Post

Once More With Feeling by InnerLilith

Draco is dosed with a consummation-compelling potion, with Harry Potter as his intended. It’s a cruel irony, because he’s wanted Potter for years. But not like this.

In which the boys try to deal with the fallout from an excruciating fuck-or-die, and end up with much more than either of them expected. Rec Post

The Foxing Ring by Vukovich @vukovich

What. The. Fluff.*

Harry’s got no magic, one good ear, no great dating prospects, and a nice little wand workshop.

Draco’s got too much magic, a history of biting off ears, no great dating prospects, and a growing fondness for wandmakers. And a very fetching tail.

*and smut! Rec Post

any day now by oknowkiss @oknowkiss

Draco supposes he should be grateful. 

The rehabilitation centres were the Minister’s idea, or that’s what the Prophet said anyway. Their stated objective is simple: to provide a safe space for low-tier Death Eaters and high-tier sympathisers to reconsider the entirety of their life choices. All guests–because no one is a prisoner here, the literature brags–are to be provided with shelter, food, clothing, and the guided support of a Mind Healer via a programme they call “ideological restructuring,” which is, of course, mandatory. 

//

OR: Draco Malfoy considers the circle. Rec Post

A Soft Spot for Lost Causes by Helenish

“Remember at school? Weasel? You’re so poor and dirty?” Ron said encouragingly ���You hated me.”

“I did,” Draco said. Rec Post

Ten Steps To Learn Everything About Draco Malfoy by bafflinghaze @bafflinghaze

It’s a horrible day when Harry needs to visit Gringotts: the goblins there detest him, and it’s a frustrating bureaucratic battle to get anything done.

But that all changes when Malfoy starts working at Gringotts.

What was Malfoy doing before? What is Malfoy doing now? Harry has an endless list of questions, and there’s only one way to get them all answered (visiting Gringotts extremely frequently), and Malfoy won’t suspect a thing.

Turns out that Harry doesn’t suspect a thing either. Rec Post

An Inconvenient Attachment by FangQueen @fangqueen

Draco Malfoy has a secret ― a crush that he’s harboured for years. He poured his heart out into his journals at school, but now over twelve years later, he’d rather just forget it all. He’s wrapped up in the world of being Pansy’s Best Man, helping her put the finishing touches on what’s supposed to be her happiest day, when the letters start getting leaked. Will Ron Weasley ever figure out they’re all for him? And if so, what will be his reply? Rec Post

Tiny Home by wolfpants @wolfpants

The last two people Draco expects to find chopping wood on his property are Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter.

But there they are.

–

Harry and Ron left the Aurors years ago to travel the world and make up for lost time. When they finally decide to settle roots back in England, together, building a tiny home in the Lake District by hand seems like the perfect plan. What they don’t realise is that Draco Malfoy already lives on the plot of land that they choose to build on.

A story about years of feelings, about weaving lives in and around each other, and about finding a place safe enough to call home. Rec Post

Here are a few more fics I've read recently that y'all might like to check out as well! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

Nothing Like the Sun by Lomonaaeren

Harry finally realizes that he has trouble keeping lovers both because of his looks and because he isn’t very good at sex. He does what he can to alter that, but it seems he’s never going to be good enough to satisfy a wizard lover. When Draco Malfoy offers, Harry thinks a casual relationship with him might be the solution to his problems. But he should have remembered one thing: when it comes to Harry, Malfoy has a problem staying casual.

And Still I Dream written by greenmegsnoham @greenmegsnoham with art by Gaudium_Chara @gaudium6191 

Draco was beyond frustrated with the school's preferential treatment of sports programs over the arts. Determined to collect what is due, Draco must come toe to toe with the ever incessant thorn-in-his-side, Varsity Basketball Captain, Harry Potter. Though Draco may not receive the financial support he'd been hoping for, he just might get a boyfriend out of it instead…

OR

When you Dream a Dream, it just may come true…

Curiosity, Wonder, Spontaneous Delight by cloudings

After Harry hears some rumours about Malfoy, he becomes more and more curious until he just has to get some answers. Malfoy is more than prepared to give him anything he needs, just as long as he gets something back in return. Harry’s not sure why he’s surprised that it’s something moderately illegal.

In which Ron continues to get far too many eyefuls, Hermione has had quite enough with everybody, and Harry’s not sure why enemies to friends to friends with benefits isn’t enough for him.

OR

Harry becomes incredibly curious, and somewhere along the line ends up accidentally falling in love with Draco Malfoy. Because of course he bloody would.

A Shower, A Meal, A Nap, and A Shag by chickenlivesinpumpkin

Harry's supposed to be alone in Grimmauld Place...so why is there a Malfoy in his shower? And what's Harry going to do about it?

Part 1 of It Started in the Shower

Sunseeker by shiftylinguini @shiftylinguini

Harry is a struggling writer.

Namely, he is struggling with: writing his next book, dealing with his agent, finding a decent tea strainer, fielding his friend's concern over the aforementioned book, and figuring out who the cat loitering in his garden belongs to.

He also has a slight liking-Malfoy problem. Okay, he has a massive liking-Malfoy problem.

A Life Worth Remembering by Writcraft @writcraft

Severus Snape wakes in St Mungo’s, to discover that a potions accident has wiped the last forty years from his body and mind. Just twenty-five years old, Severus is reliant on Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, now both in their forties, to help him fill in the missing decades. As Severus tries to navigate a much-changed world, Harry and Draco struggle with a secret of their own.

( •ॢ◡-ॢ)-♡ I hope you enjoy these fics as much as I have! Happy reading, y’all! xoxo Carey  (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*💜💙💚💛❤💗💕💖

[ducky1783]

Day 9 of the HPRecFest part 1

A rarepair fic

@hprecfest

[danpuff-ao3]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💙

Oooh, thanks for passing this to me, Lizzy! 😄 Let's see....100 fics, how to choose 5? 🤔 Well all know #1 already, don't we? 😂 So I'll take a leaf out of Lizzy's book and do a countdown to 1!

5.) A Matter of Time

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 3,686. Written for Snarry Adopt-a-Prompt 2022. Features reverse chronology and alternating POVs! Also: ambiguous/open ending (my love!) It feels like the Snarry of my youth, that angsty and spicy student/teacher, and some good old fashioned tragedy! I really feel like I pulled the thing off with this one! (What is said "thing"? Who knows.) Also, not to pat myself on the back but...that final line? Ouch.

4.) Cruel Summer

Harry/Sirius. Rated: E. Words: 5,445. Minor Harry/Severus. Written for HP Chan Fest 2022-2023. Features gorgeous art by @mrviran. It's a fic I've had floating around my noggin' for a few years but finally felt the call to write for Chan Fest! Our two beloved, troubled boys (Harry and Sirius) live together post PoA, and sees them through plenty of dysfunction, manipulation, and other problematic content 🤭 They have a very complicated (and angsty!) connection and I am so so pleased with how it came out! It's very bit as spicy, sad, and twisted as I'd hoped!

3.) The Curse of Anteros

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 52,566. Written for Snarry Bang 2023. Inspired by an episode of Charmed called "Magic Hour" (which itself was inspired by a movie called Ladyhawke). This is another idea I've long wanted to write, but never knew how to write it until now. Curses, fairytales, magical animals, true love!! Begins with student/teacher and carries on through time to old men Snarry!!!! This fic really grew way out of control and I'm so glad it did. It feels like...a "proper" story, if that makes sense? Actual plot! Novel length! Who am I even???? Anyway I'm stupidly proud of this one. Also: ART BY MRVILLAIN AGAIN, MY BELOVED TEAMMATE, I'M OBSESSED. Like...idk I'm blown away. Which sounds bad cuz this is my story, but I don't care. This is genuinely a story that not only was I so pumped to create, but one that I'd have LOVED to read as a reader! Had someone else written this I'd have lost my mind reading it. I hate saying that, it sounds so arrogant, but I don't care, I'm losing my mind over this one. I wrote it in like 2 weeks!!!! This fic POURED out of me! And I love it!

2.) Collateral Damage

Draco/Ron. Rated: E. Words: 16,071. Written for Ron-Draco Fest 2021. The first draft of this got to like 10k before I had to scrap it and start totally over. Somehow the original opening kept winding down the wrong path. So finally after fighting with it for way too long (and only 2 weeks to go until it was due), I gave it up and tried again. Decided: "hey, let's open with porn and see what happens." Well...That worked. That did it. All I needed was to open with a BJ for magic to happen, who knew? I ended up with a story I was super jazzed about, and to my great surprise (and pleasure!) others loved it, too!!

1.) Contempt | Devotion

Harry/Severus. Rated: E. Words: 20,400 | 25,843. Written for Snarry-a-Thon 2022 and 2023. This one's cheating a bit since it's technically 2 fics, but it's also the same story in different POVs so...it kinda counts, right? Also I know people have told me they liked Devotion more but I can't help but admit that Contempt itself still holds the top spot in my heart! And while I think say The Curse of Anteros is a better overall story, I don't think any fic ever will top Contempt. I mean, never say never, but Contempt is the story of dreams. It's my heart and soul. It's the Snarry I've always wanted to write. The story, the dynamic, the characterizations, everything. It's everything I've wanted in a Snarry since I first began reading Snarry 20 years ago. Like...I have no words to express just how meaningful this work is to me. This is literally the culmination of all of my Snarry feels. I dragged this story out of my gut. I pulled it out of my skin and wrote it in my blood. That's how connected I am to this work. (Wow that sounds really dramatic but also...true.)

Genuinely I was so cared people would hate it, but I wrote it anyway because I needed it and I loved it. I'm very glad to say that plenty of others love it with me! And this is another one @mrviran offered love to in the form of a podfic! (Plus cover art!) I'm fully obsessed with the podfic (AND ART!) and I get all teary eyed when I think about it, that my dear friend worked so hard to bring more life to my baby. 🥹

Kinda funny how my favorite works (and what i consider some of my best works) were all for fests. Fests really do inspire me, even if they make me want to pull my hair out. 😂

Also is it cheating to give honorary mentions to Lover Boy at Play, In My Veins (In My Blood), Orange Blossoms, Teardrop in Your Palm, and Black Skies? 👀

[emsuemsu]

@hprecfest day 26: ending I can't stop thinking about

I love surprising and unexpected endings so much, and endings that I never in a million years could’ve predicted always linger on my mind. Of course happy endings (especially if it’s a very angsty or intense fic) have my heart, but there’s something about the sad, shocking and/or bittersweet endings that really do it for me. Check the tags (!!!) for todays rec before diving in:

clutched your life and wished it kept by @brightluminae 🩵 110,077 words, draco/ron

Ron did not want to get involved with creepy houses that seem to loom and things that hiss in the darkness. All he wanted to do was to finally get a lead on a serial killer that his boss refuses to even acknowledge exists and make the streets a bit safer again. In hindsight, Ron should have known that following Harry and his crazy conspiracy theory into Malfoy Manor would not achieve that goal. But now here he stands, the Manor brimming with something unseen, and whatever is stalking these shadows, it isn't going to let him go.

110k vampire horror dron???? Sign me the fuck up 💥💳💥💳💥💳 now this is a recent read (as in I just finished this fic at 4am today), I had a different fic planned (and written) for this prompt but here I am, rewriting this rec. I’m utterly and completely speechless. Shell shocked. This fic serves exactly what the tags say. I did manage to get so immersed in this fic that somewhere in the middle of it I was certain I had a stroke back when reading the tags - like they couldn’t possibly be true. There’s no way this fic ends like promised. And until the very last fucking letter of this story I had my hopes up. Silly me. I love this fic so much. It is a roller coaster full of suspense, emotion, it tore me up and didn’t fix me up in the end. I was clutching my pearls so hard reading this. The author does an incredible job building up the tension throughout the story. It has it’s dark moments, it has it light-ish moments, and the ending (and the whole thing tbh) for sure is going to stick with me for a while.

[wolfpants]

Hey! I'm curious, pls indulge me: which book or fic that you've read in 2023 has made the most impression and why? x

Hi friend 💐

Okay, I have something rather embarrassing to admit: I have been terrible at reading this year.

I don't know what it is. I keep telling myself it's because I have so many writing projects on the go, one after the other (I'm just about to embark on another big one), but that never really stopped me reading in the past, so, I'm not sure this is a viable excuse.

My attention span is really bad at the moment. That's another thing. I've started books, wonderful books (In Memoriam, A Marvellous Light), but somehow I've got distracted along the way and when that happens, I find it really difficult to pick things back up again, no matter how wonderfully they had me in their grasp before I did the Bad Thing of dropping them for something else.

I hear all the time that as a writer I should read, read, read, and never stop reading, and part of me wonders if that lack of reading has reflected in some of the roadblocks in my own writing process. I'm not sure. According to ao3 I've written 163k words this year so far, and that's not counting any fest work that's yet to be revealed or WIPs in my folders, but I have to say, even though that's a lot of words, not every one has flowed from me easily. I've been constantly asking myself this year if I'm finally starting to run out of ideas (this is probably my biggest fear!), if I'm as mediocre as I tell myself I am when I'm at my lowest/most annoying 😅

I can think of one fic that really stopped me in my tracks this year, though.

@sweet-s0rr0w's entry for Dronarryfest, Silhouttes. Sweet really has this way of writing that draws a reader in from the first line and keeps you in the work's grasp until the very last word. It's an exploration of grief and loneliness and sharing and caretaking, and it also includes one of the most beautiful portraits of the Burrow I've ever read. It also features a Ron I love very much: blunt, gruff, confrontational, possessive, but ultimately loyal and kind and caring. Sweet is also great at incorporating dark British humour and subtle references that make me feel really at home whenever I'm reading her works. So this fic has become a little bit of a comfort read for me, in a sea of me feeling confused and lost over not being able to focus and feeling a bit disconnected from a number of things.

Anyway, this turned out way longer and more navel-gazy than I ever wanted it to turn out, so... I'm very sorry about that! x

[indigo-scarf]

I would read Dron if it were about making each other worse. They could be perfect enabler soulmates — well, mostly Draco bringing out the worst in Ron.

Like now they both hate Harry and Ron loves having expensive things and Draco loves stealing Harry's person.

[saintsenara]

asenora i will listen to anything you have to say about these characters ever. please tell us what the tea is with dron

as i rummage through the backlog of messages in my inbox the thing that i have discovered is that you girlies [gender neutral] are absolutely clamouring for citizenship of dron nation.

[thank you to @spectral-kitty, @thesilverstarling, and two mystery anons!]

to which i say, the borders are open, baby. you just have to read the following manifesto:

why fandom needs to stop sleeping on dron

something i am continually banging on about, as regular readers know, is the harry potter series' fondness for assigning [male] characters to narrative mirror pairings.

exploring these pairings is interesting in and of itself without a romantic dimension being involved - i could talk for hours about the mirrored approach to guilt and grief in snape and sirius' characterisation - but it's also true that several of the most interesting ships which can be drawn [however non-canonically] from the text are between the two halves of each mirror pairing.

tomarrymort is the obvious one, snack [or starprince or snirius or whatever we're calling it] is starting to get the attention it deserves, but people are still sleeping on draco malfoy/ron weasley [and also, may i say, on lucius malfoy/arthur weasley and narcissa malfoy/molly weasley], largely - i fear - due to the sheer popularity of drarry and dramione.

i'll be honest that i really don't like dramione, and i'm generally ambivalent towards drarry, but i do love dron. and the narrative mirror aspect is entirely the reason why.

ron and draco begin the series as mirror archetypes within the genre conventions of a children's boarding school romp. ron is the loyal, humble sidekick of the everyman protagonist, draco is the everyman protagonist's posh, stuck-up rival. both are insiders to the world of the story - whereas harry, the reader surrogate, is not - who introduce harry to the positive and negative aspects of the wizarding world respectively.

as a result, ron and draco are mirrors in terms of personality, and are much more similar to each other than either is to harry or hermione. this doesn't, of course, preclude ronarry [a ship i adore] or romione [which i've defended here] or drarry or dramione [if ya nasty], but it introduces a specific - and very interesting - tension into the pairing which is absent from these other ships.

both ron and draco have shared positive traits - they're both loyal [and their loyalty is very practical and pragmatic - ron is not hagrid, whose faith in e.g. dumbledore is totally unwavering; draco is not bellatrix, whose faith in voldemort is the same], they're both highly observant, they're both quick-witted, they're both capable of doing the right thing - if not always immediately [which is, in fact, more admirable than being preternaturally willing to suffer and sacrifice], and so on.

they also have shared negative traits. they're both attention-seeking [ron fucking loves nearly being knifed by sirius and you just know draco was seething], self-aggrandising, insecure, sulky, and predisposed to jealousy.

and this is a gift for authors, because it means that dron butt heads in a relationship in ways which allow for real character growth... or otherwise.

one issue that i have with drarry is that it often feels like the change either one goes through within a fic is kind of out of character. for example, you have a harry who feels insecure and haunted by his ill-treatment of draco [this is a man whose response to committing attempted murder is to be raging that it reduces the time he has free to hit on ginny], or a harry who is chasing after a cool and sophisticated draco who eventually learns to open up [whereas if there's two things draco isn't, it's someone who keeps his thoughts to himself and someone who isn't a distinctly unsophisticated flop].

dron, however, react to conflict in the same way - which means that the two of them finding themselves in conflict with each other absolutely slaps. they also have similar levels of emotional intelligence, and are likely - if they're inclined to - to be able to communicate with each other and work through issues surprisingly effectively. they can be a mess, or they can be a happy-ever-after, and i like that in a ship.

but, while ron and draco are mirror archetypes, they are specifically children's literature mirror archetypes. ron's role as harry's guide to the world diminishes in the later books, as the series' horizons move beyond hogwarts to think about wizarding society and voldemort's impact upon it more widely [he is replaced by characters such as dumbledore]; while harry becomes considerably less bothered by the pettiness of draco's rivalry with him [concerned as it is with things like being good at quidditch and getting away with misbehaviour at school] as the enemies he's focused on shift to being the resurrected voldemort and his death eaters.

which is to say that dron makes considerably more sense within a hogwarts setting than drarry.

as i've said elsewhere, an issue i have with drarry is that it's frequently written in a way which suggests that harry and draco have a mutual obsession with each other - while the actual evidence of canon is that, while draco is [as his archetype demands] preoccupied with what harry's doing, harry rarely gives the impression of caring what his rival is up to unless directly compelled to by draco's own attention-seeking.

ron, in contrast, spends a lot of time noticing things about draco unprompted - he can, for instance, recall overhearing him boasting offhand about what broom he owns in philosopher's stone - and retaining this information in order to deploy it at the opportune time to get a rise out of him. he delights constantly in his misfortune [him being hyped for days because draco's annoyed harry gets a firebolt is beautiful]. he's ready to throw hands with him at any given opportunity, often giving those of us who thrive on cheap innuendo plenty of material in the process [draco finds himself, for example 'on all fours, banging the ground with his fist' after having ron's wand pointed in his face... same, girl.] and he tends to consider draco much more integral to the various shenanigans which take place in the castle than harry does [ron is the main proponent of the 'draco malfoy is the heir of slytherin' theory in chamber of secrets - and he is shook when draco reveals that he's wrong].

and draco does the same. he comes into the trio's compartment on the train in goblet of fire and immediately starts telling ron how unfashionable his dress robes are. he obsesses over ron's position as gryffindor keeper for months - and, of course, makes up a song about it, which isn't exactly helping him pull off 'i don't think about you at all', is it? - and ron is profoundly affected by the taunts in way that harry, who doesn't really care what draco thinks of him, isn't. and he constantly goes out of his way to provoke ron into trying to punch him [him shoulder-barging ron in half-blood prince just after harry's essentially outed him as a death eater in madam malkins... exquisite pettiness].

all of which is to say, their interactions feel very teenage and petty and silly all the way through to the end of half-blood prince in a way that draco's interactions with harry and hermione don't, and - therefore - i sincerely think that dron can be made to work much more plausibly as a pairing in fics set while the characters are at school.

my final point in favour of dron is that they mirror each other in their approach to their other relationships, and the tension this causes is really interesting to explore.

both ron and draco have mirrored attitudes towards their place within their own families - something neither harry nor hermione can have with draco for obvious reasons. ron is one of many siblings and feels overlooked in the crowd; draco is an only child and feels overburdened by the visibility, especially once his father is sent to azkaban. they both conform to behaviours expected of them by family [they are both in the same hogwarts house as generations of their family, they share their families' political views etc.]. they are of the same social class and their families both have a reasonably similar level of political influence [despite what we're told about his insignificance, arthur weasley is known to everyone in the ministry and he's able to throw his weight around to influence policy even before the promotion he receives in half-blood prince], but their material circumstances are divergent. they both heavily resemble their fathers - to the extent that they are immediately recognisable as each man's son - and spend their schooldays defending family honour by playing out lucius and arthur's own petty feud [lucius and arthur - and, indeed, narcissa and molly - are also narrative mirrors, and we deserve many more enemies-to-lovers fics featuring them]. and the course their lives take during the war is dictated as much by their role within their families as it is by their relationship with harry - the scrambling post-dumbledore order operating out of the burrow is a mirror image of the ascendant voldemort operating out of malfoy manor.

they are also obviously defined by their mirrored relationship with harry - most interestingly by a major similarity in their attitude towards him: that both struggle with how jealous they are of harry.

this leads to lots of excellent tension which just isn't possible in drarry or dramione. how do both sets of parents react to the news their sons are in love? how do ron and draco's relationships with harry change as they find each other? how does draco cope with the hustle and bustle of life at the burrow? how does ron deal with having to have dinner at the manor [particularly interesting because the world in which draco lives is one that's familiar to him - he's not going to be shocked by any of the weird stuff in that house, he knows how it all works, so he can ruin christmas by deciding to have his dad arrest lucius for fun instead]?

it's messy, and fun, and it sustains me.

and some recs for the lads?

collateral damage by @danpuff-ao3, which starts out with both of the lads working out their... issues with harry and ends with declarations of going to lunch with each other's mothers.

dance the night away (aka it's true love, you bastards) by evandar, which has as its premise ron and draco ending up, largely by accident, going to the yule ball together.

this great stage of fools by @nanneramma, which correctly demonstrates how ron is charming enough that him being supremely annoying is actually loveable.

[hp-soulmates]

💞 HP Soulmates: Fated 2 Be - Week 4 Roundup 💞

Our penultimate week is now over — how time flies! Are you looking for a nice fic (or podfic!) to curl up with today? Here are all the soulmates works posted this past week for the fest:

💞 [FIC] Small Silver Linings 💞 (T, Severus/Hermione, 33k)

Three touches – that's what it takes to activate an ancient Merfolk binding magic, long forgotten in the wizarding world, and only applied to humans under rare circumstances. When Hermione Granger gets marked by the queen of the Merpeople during the Triwizard Tournament, she doesn't know that she is bestowed with the ability to recognize her soulmate. Quite unfortunate so, Severus Snape would rather pretend to be dead than face is insufferable soulmate. However, he had made the calculations without Hermione, who is not so easily discouraged.

💞 [FIC] unless you're choosing me 💞 (M, Draco/Ron, 31k)

A soulmate was a choice. It was two people deciding to spend the rest of their lives together, weathering any storm. That was a fact that Ron would hold as truth for the rest of his life. Even when the Unspeakables found a spell in some ancient text that tied soulmates together with a red cord and showed them a moment of their "true love". It was a hoax, he was sure of it. But no one else agreed, willing to upend their lives just because a stupid spell said so. Ron wouldn't have minded so much if it hadn't wrecked his.

💞 [PODFIC] Finders Keepers 💞 (T, Harry/Severus, 50 min)

Based on the fic by Lilian Severus Snape doesn't find a single thing until he's twenty. By that time, he has given up and ignores a young boy, when he arrives at Hogwarts.

💞 [FIC] Invisible String 💞 (G, Harry/Severus, 3.7k)

The first time Harry saw Snape's black eyes — him truly acknowledging Snape's existence beyond him being his mean professor — it was the night after Harry killed Professor Quirrell. He was dreaming and in his dreams he was screaming. Harry dreams of Severus over the years.

💞 [FIC] He’s already in me 💞 (T, Severus/Remus, 2.9k)

On the night of Dumbledore’s death, Lupin’s mark appeared.

💞 [FIC] Stories that end and begin 💞 (M, Tom/Harry, 4k)

Tom had been right. Now that he was in his fifth year at Hogwarts, he could state that Soulmates were a nuisance. With the exception of a few souls who could consider themselves lucky, most of them were forced to put up with people they despised and who would do no good for their future.

💞 [FIC] Sparks 💞 (E, Draco/Harry, 20k)

“I’m sorry,” Draco turned to him, “are we boring you?” Greg looked up. “No, I’m just hungry, and you’re taking far too long to just tell them that you and Potter are soulmates. Do you have to be this dramatic?” There was a moment of silence, before all hell broke loose. Harry didn't know soulmates existed until he was fourteen. He wasn't sure what he imagined it would be like, but he knew it wasn't this. But that's not to say he didn't like it.

💞 [FIC] i will love you even if the oceans turn to sawdust and the trees fall in the forest without anyone around to hear them 💞 (E, Narcissa/Lily, 60k)

Anything your soulmate draws on their skin appears on your skin. And the universe has a really fucked up definition of "drawing." The story follows Lily from childhood to early adulthood.