Fic rec, and top F & SF moments

[birdsofshore]

Title: See You at Eight, Potter (or, Draco Malfoy and the Impossibly Tight Jeans)
Author: this_bloody_cat
Pairing, characters: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley/Pansy Parkinson; Narcissa Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Severus Snape
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 4025
Summary: Four weeks after his twenty-second birthday, Draco found himself with a mysterious gift, a cheeky house-elf, and an assortment of wilfully unhelpful acquaintances.
Warnings: None

This fic! I had a wonderful surprise this week when this_bloody_cat (who shall henceforth be known as this_darling_cat) posted this gorgeous, funny and daft fic which she wrote for my prompt. I only gave her the words 'new jeans', and how she managed to come up with this perfect romp written in a deliciously irritable Draco voice is a marvel. It's delightful and surprisingly romantic. It made my week; thank you, dear cat.

***

I was interested to read that SFX magazine had published poll results of the top 250 horror, sci-fi and fantasy moments. The full list only seems to be available by buying the magazine, but the top 10 is here:

1. DOCTOR WHO The Doctor and Rose say farewell at Bad Wolf Bay in “Doomsday”
2. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE “Puny god!” The Hulk owns Loki
3. ALIEN The chestburster
4. FIREFLY Mal Reynolds kicks a bad guy into Serenity’s engine intake (“The Train Job”)
5. STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Luke learns that Darth Vader is his father
6. BLADE RUNNER Roy Batty’s “Tears in rain” speech
7. GAME OF THRONES The Red Wedding: “The Lannisters send their regards”
8. THE MATRIX Neo dodges bullets in the bullet-time scene
9. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE Dumbledore’s death
10. BACK TO THE FUTURE “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads”

What do you think? It seems very dominated by film moments, and I don't think any of those class as horror, do they? I definitely think that no 1, with the Doctor and Rose, is a stunning moment, but as for the greatest moment in all of sci-fi and fantasy... I'm sort of sceptical.

Having said that, I'm not really sure what would be in my personal top 10. I suspect moments that touched me personally might rate more highly than impressive or climactic scenes. Perhaps that's what's happened here - voters simply connected to the scene from Doctor Who and voted accordingly.

What would your top moments be? And does anyone have the full list, to let us know if there are other HP moments featured?

***

Finally, in dull personal news, both my phone and my netbook (where I write all my stuff) died this week, and the new phone is driving me slightly crazy. I haven't got a replacement for the netbook yet. So, if I owe you an email or seem grumpier or more terse than usual this week, apologies: this is probably why....

Comments

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

!!! *flails madly* You're such a dear :') I'm so glad you liked that silly little (well, maybe not so little) thing I wrote you! ♥♥♥

No, none of those are horror -- granted, I haven't watched Firefly, but I'm reasonably certain it's sci-fi. Also... Dumbledore's death? D: I think I'd have chosen Snape's death over Dumbledore's. I don't know, perhaps I'm biased, but it certainly had more of an impact on me. Dumbledore's death mostly just succeeded in making me cringe a little and go "Oh, Draco..."; Snape's, on the other hand, has me crying every single time xD

[birdsofshore]

I loved it! So chuffed.

I don't know, that whole chapter on the tower is one of my favourite chapters from the whole series. Not so much the particular moment where D dies, but the whole scene, the genius way in which JKR allows us to believe that Snape is working for Voldemort, while also making it completely work as a description of Dumbledore begging Snape to kill him, so that Draco doesn't have to. The humour amongst the pathos of the scene amazes me. And it's such an affecting part of Draco's journey. *sniff*

I agree Snape's death is bloody awesome, as well. I'd love to see which other HP moments figure in the list. I may have to procure a copy of the magazine, if no-one else obliges.

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

It is genius. I kept hoping it would turn out differently -- even though I think we all knew it wouldn't, but back then, I really, really hoped Draco could have a happy, Cruciatus-free ending :'( And it was so close, too... so close.

[capitu]

That fic is bloody awesome. :D Heh! See what I did there? LOL

TOP TEN! Only mine would go (as far as this list goes...):

1. #9
2. #7
3. #5

And the rest. lol

But on my personal list, Hermione Obliviating her parents, man, I cried right away. ^^ It'd def be there.

<333

[lumosed-quill.livejournal.com]

Oh God, that slayed me, Hermione Obliviating her parents! The other part where I cry big time is when they rescue the dragon from Gringotts. Like, I SOB.

[birdsofshore]

The dragon! I love that you sob about that :DD Snape's death gets me, and Harry going into the forest, of course, and lots of other moments. Perhaps we should make a poll ourselves?

[lumosed-quill.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, both those!!!! Harry going into the forest pretty much guts me. Also, when Dudley apologizes and becomes a human being to him. I couldn't believe they didn't somehow fit that into the films. It moved me so much, I cried. I used to cry at Sirius' death, too, but I've read it two or three times now, so it's better for me. From HBP on, I've only read once, so I'm sure they'd have a greater impact on me than the first five books; it would be like reading them for the first time.

But, you know, I really hate how JKR wrote the battle of Hogwarts. I thought it was clumsy and childish compared with the actual subject matter and what she'd built up to. So that might explain why I haven't pushed through a reread all the way to the end again. I'd love to read HBP again, though. I'm stuck in the middle of GoF right now, not giving any fucks about the Triwizard stuff. LOL.

/terrible fan

[lumosed-quill.livejournal.com]

And, you know, writing this out, I finally came up with the reason why GoF has always been my least favorite book and movie: it's the most masculine rendition of the Hero's Journey. It's all about taking these physical actions, conquering quests, about the contest. I much prefer the more feminine aspects of the journey that are showcased so well in OotP (dreams and visions, things coming to Harry from an emotional perspective, dealing with relationships, loss, family, feeling alone); it's just much more of an emotional, spiritual journey than purely one of action. HBP feels the same, especially adding in poor Draco's quest and his emotional, psychological, and spiritual turmoil over it. GoF feels like a concession to the little boy energy (and there's nothing wrong with that, of course, but it just doesn't resonate as much with me personally, because it doesn't feel as well-rounded as the books that find a balance between masculine energy action and feminine energy knowing, feeling, sensing, understanding).

Thanks for letting me rambling on your journal, Birds! <33

[birdsofshore]

It was very interesting, no need to apologise at all! I'm sorry I had a cruddy week and got behind with all my replies. I'm really glad thinking about this question sparked off a lot of reflection and realisation for you. Fandom discussions are so lovely when that happens.

[lumosed-quill.livejournal.com]

Don't you sweat it. (I'm so tired it took me five tries to type that sentence.) I haven't been sleeping well, so I've been offline a lot, just doing the bare essentials and holding it together. <3

Here's to the new moon, a restful weekend, and a new week after!

*hugs you*

[capitu]

Oh, that part!!! The dragon, yes.

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

OMG. Yes. Hermione. I swear I heard my heart shatter.

Oh, my tags x'D I'll never learn.

[capitu]

And it was the opening scene. I remember how much I cried when Harry saw his cupboard one last time in the book. *sobs* but the visual of Hermione doing that was very powerful.

[birdsofshore]

Yes, lots of people mention that scene with Hermione! I'm not close with my parents, so, I don't know... it didn't really get to me in the same way, maybe that's why. I also don't feel all choked up about Harry and Sirius in the way I know a lot of people are. I always feel like I'm being manipulated and it just doesn't get me there. Snape kills me, though! Every time!

[capitu]

When Sirius died I cried buckets-- in the book. In the movie it kind of felt like manipulation, and I remember LotR came out not long ago and they used the same effect for Gandalf. *nods*

[dustmouth.livejournal.com]

Oh thankyou for the reminder about that story! I saw it right before I had to leave the house, and I'd forgotten it in the mad rush of the week.

There aren't enough moments involving curly mullets and dragons on that list, a sadly neglected area in my experience. And no Fifth Element reaching into the top five? FOR SHAME
>:(

[birdsofshore]

Such a fab story <3

I think we need to make our own top moments list!