Oh, holy hell, this is raw and wrong and right at once, and I'm deeply impressed by how the soft malice and jangling nervousness of it reads so smoothly and quickly. You make me feel as if I were in the story with Minerva and Severus, your prose is so gloriously vivid. Brava!
Iuls, thank you so much for encouraging me to participate in the fest and being patient with my cold feet. I have so many thoughts about Minerva and Severus and the terrible ambiguity of that year, the deceptions and double meanings dividing them, and the emotional consequences that await Minerva once the truth (and the blood) spill out. I'm glad the rawness feels right, because the erotic bargain is an uncomfortable plot point that could easily have backfired. Yes, it's meant to be disturbing, but it does make for an unhappy story.
Most of all, thank you for organizing and running Snapecase again! I looked forward to the posting of every single entry, and I'm going to miss that lovely sense of anticipation now that the 2020 round is over.
Damn, that was hard to read. This really brought me right back to that year he was headmaster and what he must have gone through. So much hate and vitriol directed at him from all sides.
Your Minerva is very much in character, her indignation just simmering under the surface. I wonder if she'll ever regret her words about not crying for Severus?
I've always been fascinated by the last year of Severus's life and what it must have been like for him to walk that tightrope without breaking under pressure - especially considering that, to the best of his abilities, he had to protect his students and colleagues and at the same time give them reason to hate him. The strain must have been horrific. I doubt he slept much at all that year.
There's more I want to write about Minerva's reaction to this whole tragic episode, and I imagine her feelings will be very complex, most likely a mixture of anger and grief.
Thank you so much for reading this, even though it doesn't offer much hope for Severus.
This Minerva is tragically magnificent and this Snape magnificentl tragic, if that makes any sense at all. You've distilled them into the very essence of power, and brilliance and malice and desire--all the things that make this pairing so compelling.
Thank you so much! I'm relieved as all heck that Minerva is convincing here, because I've had a lot of practice writing Snape but none at all writing her. I've always been fond of the two of them as a pairing, but setting a story about them within this particular year meant having to recast their relationship in the worst possible light. I love the conflict, the strong personalities, the ambiguity, and the betrayal contingent on Snape (and Dumbledore's) deceit (I have opinions about Albus' refusal to bring Minerva in on his schemes) - but it emphasizes the painful, compromised version of them. I have a lot of thoughts about where this leads, and I may end up enlarging the scope of this tale. The after-effects of the war on someone like Minerva, especially as those consequences relate to Snape, would make an interesting, and probably deeply sad, story.
Ah, thank you! Sexy and deep and sad are high praise, and I'm glad those qualities came through. It's a terrible experience for both of them, and I wanted those complications to leave the sort of emotional scar that never fully heals.
This is stunning, so much intensity of emotion and burning passion of all kinds intermingled: hate and fear and lust and anger and despair and courage and love. So many dimensions of power explored, too, the careful negotiations and balancing acts.
I'm in awe of your skill with language, too, the way you ratchet up the tension and bring scenes vividly to life. There are many elegantly crafted bits; this might be my favorite: He didn't forbid it, but his very presence was a counterweight to joy, ensuring that no one grew too merry or bright, that none of them forgot the lengthening shadow of the Dark Lord lurking around the corner of the near future.
I admire this Minerva so much, a true lioness, holding to her work (Time to light lamps and candles, sit close to the fire, and behave as if pedagogical standards meant anything. ), always thinking, willing to pay any price to protect her students. And Severus -- the iron self control, the sheer strength of him (...his careful control, his sense of purpose, which suited him far more
( ... )
Wow, thank you for this wonderful comment! You summed up all the contradictions and hidden emotional disturbances I wanted to cram into this fic. As usual, I had a hard time scaling the story down to fit the word count limit, so in certain instances I feel I did Minerva a disservice and rushed her emotional shifts. I'm relieved to hear that most of what I hoped to convey came across. I do believe Minerva's strength would be equal to the complexities of a bargain like this; she's as strong as Severus and as capable of ruthlessness, I think. But there are so many layers to this deception, and part of the pleasure of writing it involved the reader's understanding of Severus' motives and the true meaning behind some of his more damning remarks
( ... )
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Most of all, thank you for organizing and running Snapecase again! I looked forward to the posting of every single entry, and I'm going to miss that lovely sense of anticipation now that the 2020 round is over.
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Your Minerva is very much in character, her indignation just simmering under the surface. I wonder if she'll ever regret her words about not crying for Severus?
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There's more I want to write about Minerva's reaction to this whole tragic episode, and I imagine her feelings will be very complex, most likely a mixture of anger and grief.
Thank you so much for reading this, even though it doesn't offer much hope for Severus.
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This Minerva is tragically magnificent and this Snape magnificentl tragic, if that makes any sense at all. You've distilled them into the very essence of power, and brilliance and malice and desire--all the things that make this pairing so compelling.
Well done!
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I'm in awe of your skill with language, too, the way you ratchet up the tension and bring scenes vividly to life. There are many elegantly crafted bits; this might be my favorite: He didn't forbid it, but his very presence was a counterweight to joy, ensuring that no one grew too merry or bright, that none of them forgot the lengthening shadow of the Dark Lord lurking around the corner of the near future.
I admire this Minerva so much, a true lioness, holding to her work (Time to light lamps and candles, sit close to the fire, and behave as if pedagogical standards meant anything. ), always thinking, willing to pay any price to protect her students. And Severus -- the iron self control, the sheer strength of him (...his careful control, his sense of purpose, which suited him far more ( ... )
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