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crack_van2005-09-14 09:50 am
blacksquirrel.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2005-09-14 09:50 am
Entry tags:
Chaos Is Come Again by Ashby (NC-17)
Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing: Hermione/Severus
Author on LJ: Theatresm's Livejournal
Author Website: Palimpsest
Why this must be read:
"Chaos is Come Again" is an amazing story, but I do want to provide some reader warnings.
1) It is really really really long. Really. A true literary achievement.
2) It's not romance. In addition to being an amazingly tense political thriller, it's also a twisted, uncomfortable, human relationship. I almost stopped reading several times, but in the end, it was very satisfying. (I actually wanted it to be a little longer to see the rest of Hermione's psychological journey, but see #1)
That said, it's a fascinating, deftly plotted, awe inspiring piece of fic. It has house elf exploitation and rebellion, sexual politics, an incredibly spooky search through an abandoned mental institution, and a Wizarding version of the European Union - what more could one want? The author's footnotes are well worth reading along with the fic.
"Chaos is Come Again" also dovetails with WIKTT's "Marriage Law Challenge" - an incredibly popular list challenge which asked authors to write a post-Voldemort story wherein the ministry creates contractual marriages between half-bloods and purebloods to promote genetic stability in the Wizarding world. The contract allowed half-bloods to choose between suitors if they received multiple contracts, but they could not refuse their consent to marriage. Often these stories included some kind of contractual, forced sex. Not itself a formal part of the challenge, "Chaos is Come Again" de-romanticizes/parodies the many hundreds of Marriage Law Challenge stories.
Chaos Is Come Again
Pairing: Hermione/Severus
Author on LJ: Theatresm's Livejournal
Author Website: Palimpsest
Why this must be read:
"Chaos is Come Again" is an amazing story, but I do want to provide some reader warnings.
1) It is really really really long. Really. A true literary achievement.
2) It's not romance. In addition to being an amazingly tense political thriller, it's also a twisted, uncomfortable, human relationship. I almost stopped reading several times, but in the end, it was very satisfying. (I actually wanted it to be a little longer to see the rest of Hermione's psychological journey, but see #1)
That said, it's a fascinating, deftly plotted, awe inspiring piece of fic. It has house elf exploitation and rebellion, sexual politics, an incredibly spooky search through an abandoned mental institution, and a Wizarding version of the European Union - what more could one want? The author's footnotes are well worth reading along with the fic.
"Chaos is Come Again" also dovetails with WIKTT's "Marriage Law Challenge" - an incredibly popular list challenge which asked authors to write a post-Voldemort story wherein the ministry creates contractual marriages between half-bloods and purebloods to promote genetic stability in the Wizarding world. The contract allowed half-bloods to choose between suitors if they received multiple contracts, but they could not refuse their consent to marriage. Often these stories included some kind of contractual, forced sex. Not itself a formal part of the challenge, "Chaos is Come Again" de-romanticizes/parodies the many hundreds of Marriage Law Challenge stories.
Chaos Is Come Again
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I love it because the descriptions are so very evocative and the situations mirror reality in a productively provocative, thought provoking way.
Glad to provide an excuse for a re-read!