Much As She Had Lived

Much As She Had Lived by Ignipes

Summary: “…That’s Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally…” Oneshot, 4,900 Words.

Why You Should Care: There are a few takes on the last moments of Dorcas Meadowes, whose major claim to fame is that, for some reason, Voldemort took the time to go after her personally. Now, a Dark Lord is a busy man, and can’t be expected to make house calls (especially when he’s got a full staff of excitable and murderous Death Eaters at his disposal), but something about Dorcas made him want to see to her himself, and this is not the first time this situation has caught an author’s imagination. I have rec’d fics about the death of Dorcas Meadowes before, but I think this is my favorite. It’s a departure from the standard, and the author ties theme into a tone that is both uplifting yet melancholy, dignified yet undignified. Beautifully structured, the author is well disciplined and this is perhaps one of the best examples of that much uttered matra, show, don’t tell. The characters — both those we know and those we don’t — are all created thoughtfully and with surprising originality; each presence is felt strategically, even if they only appear for a stanza.

Why You Might Not Care: This is another one of those wonderful pieces you should just read, regardless of character, ship, or genre preferences. Lovely.

Thanks To: Ellie K for this wonderful rec and the insightful review of it she sent to me.

The Human Factor

The Human Factor by Mari-grem (This link is broken as Mari-grem’s livejournal account has been deleted.  If anyone manages to find this fic elsewhere, please email me and send me the link.)

Summary: “We all bleed red, even you.” How close did the boy Tom Riddle get to friendship? Oneshot, 1,729 Words.

Why You Should Care: An intriguing little fic that leads with Dorcas Meadowes but is really about Tom Riddle. This fic uses tense and flashback to its advantage, and some of the word play here is excellent. It toys with the idea that, while Tom Riddle was never a good person, he was at least — at some point — a person, at least a little. Unique.

Why You Might Not Care: Some of the punctuation within this story is… a little odd. The dashes have all been made hyphens, and you’ll find yourself having to read some lines several times over before you stop tripping over them. There are commas where there should occasionally be periods, and this author doesn’t quite grasp the fundamentals of punctuating and using capitol letter within and around dialogue, but it does the job and by and large the quality of the words written far outweigh any lack of skill punctuation-wise.

Precious Things

Precious Things by Paperchain

Summary: Honorable Mention in the Phoenix Rising “A Phoenix Moment” Fan Fiction Contest. Dorcas Meadowes faces Voldemort. Oneshot, 1,492 Words.

Why You Should Care: If you remember the details of canon at all, you’ll already know the end to this one, and so it becomes all about the journey. It is both hopeless yet hopeful, and right to the end we are reminded that — just as there will always be true villains — there will always be heroes willing to stand in their way. Dorcas Meadowes is no hero of old, here, but just an ordinary person trying to do what’s right even when they know they can’t win. This story is far more general than it looks at first glance. Inspiring.

Why You Might Not Care: Beware angst ahead, and one of those endings that tries to be as uplifting as it can without being a happy ending. The characters here aren’t really the point, just the means for the message.