hd_worldcup: The Devil's in the Details

[annafugazzi]

Fourth set of fics at hd_worldcup! The prompt is The Devil.

• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Team Fanon
  Wordcount: 14,066
  Rating: R
  Warnings: AU, non-graphic dubious consent.
  Summary: Draco Malfoy always gets what he wants. Only, this time, what he wants is someone he can never have.
  Author's Note: Thanks to my betas J, S and L. Some text was lifted from DH pg. 458. I used the figurative explanation of 'The Devil'-obsession, losing control, and sexual desire.
  
  
• Smile, You’re on Camera -- Team EWE
  Wordcount: ~14,000
  Rating: NC-17
  Warning: A bit of Harry/Ginny but nothing serious or explicit.
  Summary: Harry Potter has lost sight of what it means to listen to himself—he’s depressed and confused, moving through life only to please the Ministry and the press and his friends. One day he wakes up on a train next to Draco Malfoy and that all changes.
  Author's Note: Thank you so much to Team Sheep and all who betaed. Thanks to other people who helped when they didn’t even have a stake on this team.
  
  
• Better The Devil You Know (Mehen) -- Team Epilogue
  Wordcount: ~14,800
  Rating: NC-17
  Warnings: Infidelity, misuse of magic, self-harm(inflicted by another), angst, mentions of character death.
  Summary: Any chain is freely worn. You are enslaved only because you allow it. Throught the passing of time, Harry comes to realise we are each our own Devil.
  Author's Note: Author's Note The meaning of The Devil card can be found Here Thank you to my teammates and to my betas W&W—I could not have done it without you.
  
  
• Shadowplay -- Team Canon
  Wordcount: 5,500
  Rating: NC-17
  Warnings: Imaginary non-con, violence, and bondage. Non-imaginary (in the context of a fictional story) fully consensual but slightly violent sex.
  Summary: Harry knows what he wants, but Draco knows what he needs.
  Author's Note: "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions."— Jung

OK, re. the hd_worldcup... um, fandom's gone kinda splodey re. this, yes?

Have written and re-written the same two paragraphs about five times, mentioning how I haven't seen any of the authors themselves complaining about their fics being trashed, but there seems to be some hostility towards them for being "whiny" anyway, and how, folkses, it's just supposed to be fun, and...

...and then I realize I can't expand on that in any way that won't add to the wank. ::sigh::

So. To sum up:

1. hd_worldcup = fun.
   
   
2. hd_worldcup = competition.
   
   
3. hd_worldcup = people will give their opinions, for good and bad, and while we might wish some would be gentler and may roll our eyes at others, it's not quite like trashing giftfics.
   
   
4. hd_worldcup mods = doing a great job, IMHO.
   
   
5. hd_worldcup = fun.

Enjoy it, guys. We all worked too damn hard to let it go all pear-shaped, you know?

Comments

[scrtkpr.livejournal.com]

Looks like an excellent summary to me. ♥

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Have to agree that the calls for nicer comments have not been coming from authors, though some have come from team players. I think this is because there has been a lot of bonding done through the cup and people are being protective of others they see as younger or newer and possibly open to being hurt.

I think that this is all motivated by kindness at the base, and that it was just surprise at the critical depth of some comments. A to those comments, I think they are a logical extension of people wanting to explain some of their voting choices and being invited to view the fics as competing against each other.

And yes, the mods are doing a great job, though, given I am about 100,000 words behind in reading, I'm not having fun yet! had some good reads, though ...

[iamshadow.livejournal.com]

Both the bottom two links lead to Better The Devil You Know. Which was a great story, even if it wasn't the one I clicked to read. :)

[casynne.livejournal.com]

I don't know about other readers and commenters of the hd_worldcup stories, but I, for one, have tried to comment every story I read and, as not all stories are equally well written, some authors may have gotten more concrit for their work than others.

However, reading the posts made by furiosity, pir8fancier, and frayah which, may I tell you, took me completely by surprise, I realized that perhaps, instead of offering concrit, I'd be much better off leaving out those parts of my comment that could be considered open criticism. I'm considering making the comments shorter (one or two 'thank-you' lines) to fics that I did not particularly like.

Feeling rather discombobulated here *g*

[rainae.livejournal.com]

Changed account~ Add me!