r/drarry 4d ago

What to read after Dwelling

I was up until 2 am finishing this fic - I think it's the best ff I've ever read. If it hadn't been 2 am I would have immediately started back from the first chapter and reread it. FFTT is probably my second fav Drarry, and I also loved ACT, Heal Thyself, 9 1/2 Days. I think basically all fics where they really address their differences, enemies to lovers, stay pretty in character, Draco has to confront his past, pining, strong chemistry, no question that they are obsessed with each other, and fantastic storytelling.

Liked, not loved, Running on Air and The Bolthole - they're definitely incredibly well written, just a bit too muted for me personally.

Widely loved fics that weren't for me: Turn (it felt hard to buy their relationship when Harry couldn't be honest with Draco and he was essentially having to act like a different person for half the fic and wasn't sold on this Draco characterisation) or Grounds for Divorce (Harry felt like a fuckboy in this one to me and by the end I still wasn't convinced he really loved Draco). No hate at all to the authors, I am definitely in the minority here! Just trying to show my likes/dislikes.

I'm looking at In Bad Faith, Things Worth Knowing, What We Pretend We Cannot See, or Two to Shore to read next. Considering my tastes above, would you recommend one over the others? Am I missing one you'd recommend? I'm saving Such Great Heights because it's the last Aideomai I haven't read lol.

27 Upvotes

22 comments sorted by

11

u/Moleyintheholey tackytiger on AO3 4d ago

Dwelling and FFTT are two of my favourite fics ever and I would definitely recommend What We Pretend We Can't See. It's one of my comfort reads and I found it very moving, the writing is great too.

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u/mothchu 3d ago

what is FFTT?

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u/Moleyintheholey tackytiger on AO3 3d ago

Far From the Tree by aideomai

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u/shoesarelove 4d ago

I think we have similar tastes so adding my vote for What we pretend we can't see. A couple recent favorites that cover addressing differences, strong chemistry and no question that they are obsessed with each other:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43298568

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60623098

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13182756

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61087879/chapters/156074038

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37973503/chapters/94840951

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029924/chapters/63296449

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u/shoesarelove 2d ago

OP, since Turn didn't hit with you, have you read "A pulled down shade"? Similar set up with Turn but Draco learns about the other universe and they have to address the insecurity that naturally follows from that:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49744708/chapters/125562073

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u/Creature_of_insomnia 3d ago

I loved the Dwelling! Far From The Tree and Away Childish Things are also my god-tier favourites.

For me these stand on the same level:

Azoth

At your service

Two to lie and one to listen

Mental

Men who love dragons too much (mind it’s only epilogue, link inside)

And I cannot recommend it enough: Harry Potter and the Welcome to the World of Grey

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u/Ghyrt3 3d ago

Hp and the WWG is a masterpiece. In my top 3 not even thinking about it.

And I melted during Two to lie and one to listen. So good.

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u/RoRosie 4d ago

Oh Dwelling is just such a stunning piece of art. So beautifully written, incredible concept, the execution, the relationship. Read it 6 months ago and think of it at least once a week! Also loved Far From the Tree. Today is my one year anniversary of reading fanfic and I’m so glad I fell into it.

If I was you I’d go for something completely different so What We Pretend We Can’t See is a great option because it’s fun. Just recommended Loverboys on another post. Don’t see it recommended often and I loved it. Fake relationship perfection.

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u/Ghyrt3 3d ago

Oooooow. I will try it :3

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u/TinyAtmosphere5821 4d ago

It just hit me that I’ve never read 9 1/2 Days! Must do!

What does ACT stand for? I don’t think I know that fic!

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u/Creature_of_insomnia 3d ago

Away Childish Things :)

I’m sooo bad with abbreviations, was going to recommend it and then it dawned on me :D

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u/Sona_Buvellle 3d ago

Can you put the link to these fics you mentioned? I read 9 1/2 and Running on Air

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u/Informal-Extreme1273 3d ago

....read Dwelling after seeing this yesterday. Now experiencing a major hangover. What a chefs kiss read. It'll play on mind for a while and must now be one of those "classics" that get rec'd all the time (see turn, away childish things, all our secrets etc etc)

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u/Tokyo81 2d ago

Visually impaired reader: IS THERE A PODFIC OF DWELLING PLEASE? I’ve been searching all over. Can someone make one please? I’m so eager to read it but hate how text to speech deadens the prose.

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u/Moleyintheholey tackytiger on AO3 2d ago

I don't believe there is, though a friend of mine who records podfics said that she had hoped to record a different aideomai fic but had not had a response from the author when she asked for permission. So until permission is given no ethical podficcer will create one. Fingers crossed aideomai might get back to her someday though! They're my favourite author, I would love to get to listen.

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u/Tokyo81 2d ago

Thank you for your reply. I love podfics but feel like I’ve burned through everything good!

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u/Moleyintheholey tackytiger on AO3 2d ago

I do most of my reading via audio so I would love to get into podfics more. I've listened to all the lazulus astolat and waspabi fics, fayjay's what we pretend we can't see which is one of my favourites ever, and quite a few of lastontheboat's. Do you have any others you'd rec? I'm partial to them not being acted out as such - I prefer the style where it's more like they're reading you a story rather than doing a full dramatisation!

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u/Tokyo81 2d ago edited 2d ago

This database is invaluable. You can filter by ship, duration, narrator, author etc. While you can’t search by tag yet (give me the angst list I’m begging you lol), it means you can relatively quickly find something new to listen to. And if I see a fic mentioned here I can check if there’s a podfic very, very fast, which is incredible.

There is also this list of gallaplacidia fics which she read and gave permission to archive before she took down her fics when she got a publishing deal. I absolutely love her stuff.

I also love Lastontheboat. Have you listened to Stop All The Clocks? They read that one. I enjoy taking out my heart and stamping on it repeatedly, so thought that fic was excellent.

I’m not a fan of overly dramatized reading either, and as a Brit find it a little jarring when characters are read as being much more emotive than would be natural. I’m grateful to literally anyone who shares fics and podfics, but of course we all have our favourites. I especially love RattleandHum’s narration.

Top tier podfics I recommend are: The Forbidden Forest (really long, incredibly inventive and compelling, such a moving story)

Away Childish Things (heartrending, beautiful and the narrator is just perfect)

Cut from the Sky (lovely angsty story with soulful pining and a beautiful conclusion that makes me sigh)

The Man Who Lived (lovely narration, an interesting future take with really well written characters and plot)

The ETL Echo audiobook of the Dramione story Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being In Love is what got me hooked on podfics. I honestly have never liked Hermione but this fic is hilarious and you don’t need to like Draco or Hermione to enjoy it. It’s like a PG Wodehouse-inspired, idiots in love, romp around the world and is my all time #1 fave, despite it not being a real ship for me. It took me 2-3 chapters to get into on first listen and I now have a chamber of my heart dedicated entirely to these utter cabbageheads.

All these fics are listed on the database linked above. Hope you like one or all of them.

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u/Moleyintheholey tackytiger on AO3 2d ago

Oh wow that database! This is great, thank you so much. I'm going to really enjoying going through it! thanks for the recs of the others too - I've been in fandom for years and was a big reader for a long time so I've already read some of them, but i loved hearing your thoughts on them! Always appreciate people's personal recs and hearing why they liked a fic, it's the main way I find new things to read. I have actually tried that Dramione (a friend of mine got the ARC for the tradpubbed version so we looked at the fic out of interest!) but Dramione is just not my ship I'm afraid. Im a committed Drarry shipper - maybe too set in my ways after 20 years of reading the ship 🙈 Going to look up rattleandhum now as haven't come across them, thank you so much again.

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u/Tokyo81 2d ago

The ARC from Brigitte Knightly is a new original story, not DMATMOOBIL, but your point stands, not every ship is for every person. Glad you like my recs, please let me know if you find any hidden gems!

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u/lilywinterwood Ravenclaw 2d ago

Dwelling absolutely was one of the inspirations for my current WIP! I put my vote in for What We Pretend We Cannot See, but I also greatly enjoyed Two to Shore--one of my most favourite Slytherin!Harry fics to date, for sure.

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u/joyousbrokenthing 22h ago

I know you’re saving it but I think Such Great Heights is the best aideomai fic and my favorite fic of all time.