#one of them is a crackship and the other one is taco 😎

[dracomort]

Except the full redemption from tom point what according to you is the main difference between tomarry and taco ?

The main difference is that one of them is a crack ship and the other one isn't.

Jokes, but actually it is true. Harry and Voldemort are the hero and villain, protagonist and antagonist, etc. Not only are they enemies, they're fated enemies. Harry carries around a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head for seventeen years; Voldemort spends seven years fixated on killing Harry; Harry learns everything he can about Tom Riddle; Voldemort killed Harry's parents (hot 🥵) etc. etc.

Draco holds a very different role in the narrative. Instead of hero or villain, he is very much positioned as a representation of pureblood wizards as a whole—their bigotry, privilege, cruelty and elitism. He's the youngest Death Eater, sure, and perhaps the only Death Eater of his generation, but recruiting teenagers is hardly a new game for Voldemort and in this case has more to do with Voldemort's anger at Lucius than with Draco himself.

Despite Tom and Draco both being Slytherins with similar views on Muggles, they're far closer to polar opposites than Tom and Harry. Tom was raised in poverty by Muggles in a group home with no knowledge of his magic; Draco was a coddled wealthy only child raised by magical people with little if any exposure to Muggles. Draco grew up in a sprawling manor home in Wiltshire, Tom grew up in the most populated city in England (country mouse, city mouse 🐭).

Harry and Tom start from similar positions and diverge. Draco comes in on the opposite side of the map to both of them. He's far closer to what Tom wants to be than who he was born as. Harry can bring counterarguments to the table that Tom can't dismiss because Harry has also seen some of the worst Muggles have to offer and yet still has no hate for them. Draco, raised in his safe, sheltered, Muggle-free home can never raise any sort of ethical argument that Tom will respect because he has no lived experience.

However, these similar upbringings might actually stifle Tom and Harry in a relationship. Harry doesn't experience unconditional love (that he remembers) till the age of eleven. Tom never experiences it. They're both majorly emotionally stunted and dating each other would not help that 😂. Maybe this is part of the appeal, but it's certainly going to be difference between Taco and Tomarry. I can see Harry as the 'heart' of his relationship with Tom, but only in an ethical sense, not an emotional one. Just... go read the Madam Puddifoot date scene with Cho.

Side note, there's also an interesting indirect-grooming element to Taco which I noticed the first time I wrote the ship. Harry has grown up in a world where he didn't even hear Voldemort's name till he was eleven years old. In contrast, Draco grew up at the heart of the cult. Draco might have tolerance for Tom's behaviour or share views with him not because of his nature or even normal pureblood attitudes, but because all of his family and friends' parents are Death Eaters. Imagine the mindfuck of every adult male role model in your life carrying the Dark Mark. I think it adds a fascinating dimension to their relationship in a time travel context.