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Tweak says, "The banana ate Nana."

auctasinistra (auctasinistra) wrote,
@ 2008-09-04 20:20:00

Current mood:	thoughtful
Entry tags:	..

Not exactly a rec ...
... really more an observation. I've made it (to myself) many times over the last couple of years, and I thought I'd put it out there to see what other people think. It starts like this. Unlike, apparently, everyone else in the world of Snarry, my favorite fic by dementordelta is "Anybody Else." No one seems to pick that one, and I love it to pieces. The reason I love it to pieces is the darkness she explores in it. Delta tends not to go dark in her work (that's not a complaint!), but this story touches on a genuinely disturbed Snape and I found that that aspect of the story, very particularly, just delved into my heart and set up a special place. It is (I think) different from most of her oeuvre in that way (even the beautiful and slightly sad "Dreaming Spires"), and although I love all her stories, to me, this one is the best, and that is the reason. I don't know if it's because she generally doesn't do that that it resonates so strongly in that story, or because she did it so buggerin' well (and maybe I wish she did more angsty stuff *g*) ... but there you go.

As ever, any comment/opinion is welcome.

EDIT (duh): And if you haven't read it (why?), here: Anybody Else

(Post a new comment)

dementordelta
2008-09-04 10:46 pm UTC (link)

*hugs* Thanks so much for this! Oddly enough this fic came up in a chat conversation a little while ago. See, it was written on a prompt from Accioslash and was, as I told her at the time, quite a challenge for me. She said she realized later that it might have been too angsty a prompt. Actually though I loved the challenge of making that kind of angst work for me, for the kind of story I thought I could tell! I'm really thrilled that you liked it enough to rec it!

*blushes quietly*

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auctasinistra
2008-09-05 09:10 am UTC (link)

And I hate to say "you should write more angst" because I know that we write what we write, and I would have supposed (as you say) that it was out of your comfort zone. But it is good to push ourselves out of our comfort zone (we never know what we're capable of) and I just found the way you did it excellent. I've reread it several times (well, like most of your stories!) and it still gives me a fucking chill when Severus hushes Harry and Harry is all bewildered ... the way you capture it is just wonderful. I mean, I love the rest of the story too, but that aspect of it just massively hooked me.

So write more angst. Oops. That just slipped out. ;-)

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	elethian 2008-09-04 11:49 pm UTC (link)
	Do you have a link to this thingamabop handy? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	aliciajd 2008-09-05 04:15 am UTC (link)
	http://archive.skyehawke.com/authors.php?no=95 (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	elethian 2008-09-06 03:25 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	dancing_serpent 2008-09-05 12:41 am UTC (link)
	Huh! I think I haven't read that fic yet...have to change that. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	auctasinistra 2008-09-05 09:15 am UTC (link)
	As I say, I don't seem to see it on anyone's "Favorite Delta stories" list, but for me it took over the top spot from "Dreaming Spires" precisely because of the element of angst that is just right, just exactly right. Enjoy. :-) (Reply to this) (Parent)

aliciajd
2008-09-05 04:13 am UTC (link)

I dearly love this fic. And yet, I've nearly lost it several times because I can't seem to connect the title with the plot in my feeble brain. I've just had to sort through Delta's stories until I find it again. Now I've got it written down in a special place so that I can always find it again.

As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the most sought after story in the various HP communities dedicated to finding lost favorite stories. Every few months someone is searching for the story where Severus requires silence during sex or where Harry and Severus are working together to translate an old parselmouth parchment.

I think this one just sticks in our consciousness because it's absolutely that outstanding. But the title isn't as descriptive as say, Dreaming Spires, and so a new search is launched periodically.

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auctasinistra
2008-09-05 09:13 am UTC (link)

I always want to call it "Anyone Else." :-) I remember the concept of the title better than the actual words, partly out of senility and partly because it is a theme through the story that if it were anyone else but Snape ... and my brain puts "anyone" there instead of "anybody."

So this is defense for naming one's stories something unusual. Which I can never manage. :-)

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	torino10154 2008-09-05 06:57 am UTC (link)
	Thanks for reccing this. I always love a good re-read (as you know) so I'm happy to take a look at it again as I am sure I haven't read it recently. (Reply to this)

	elethian 2008-09-05 03:57 pm UTC (link)
	And if you haven't read it (why?) Because its date (at least going by its Skyehawke update) predates me in fandom by about two years? koff ;) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	auctasinistra 2008-09-05 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	That's no excuse! When I joined the fandom I read plenty of old stuff (mind you, when I joined the fandom there wasn't anywhere near as much stuff, new or old...). ;-) I think of it as one of her more recent stories (but I'm pretty out of date in general). (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	elethian 2008-09-06 03:33 pm UTC (link)
	Man, I simply haven't the time. I have enough trouble keeping up with new stuff. Also, I wouldn't have had any idea where to look. It took me a while to even hear of skyehawke and then, where on earth to start? It's overwhelming. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auctasinistra 2008-09-06 03:56 pm UTC (link)
	I believe it's a requirement of Snarry fandom membership that you read everything at Walking the Plank. Get to it! ;-) (I've read all the old stuff that fits my narrow parameters, but I'm sure not up on the stories that've come out in the last three years or so) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

elethian
2008-09-06 04:28 pm UTC (link)

Ahhh... I was speaking of Harry Potter fandom in general, which is vast and unnavigable. But if we are speaking of a particular slash fandom, then mine is not Snarry (although I do read some), but Snack. And therefore my membership requirement was instead to devour The Thin Line. Which I did. :) (Although like you, "stuff that fits my parameters". Not big on long established-relationship sagas involving children, for instance.)

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	auctasinistra 2008-09-06 07:16 pm UTC (link)
	Aha. Then of course you are exempt from the "requirements" of Snarrydom. :-) (And yeah, I too skip the established relationship stuff, and the childfic. Nothing against it, and I have no doubt there's quality stuff out there, but it doesn't float my boat) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

elethian
2008-11-21 01:36 pm UTC (link)

This comment thread prompted me to read "Dreaming Spires" (still haven't gotten to "Anybody Else"... erk, and this post was longer ago than I thought!) and it was definitely worth it. It's a characterization of Snape I find a little odd now, given its age, but at the risk of sounding like I'm trying to sound hip, it really hit me where I live right now. So thank you for bringing it up.

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	auctasinistra 2008-11-22 01:29 pm UTC (link)
	:-) You bet. If it weren't for Anybody Else, Dreaming Spires would be my top pick for favorite Delta story. But Anybody else just edges it out. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	angela_snape 2008-09-05 06:06 pm UTC (link)
	I'm sure I've read it - I've read everything dementordelta has posted - but I don't remember one being particularly dark(ish)... off to re-read & will return with comments (Reply to this)

accioslash
2008-09-05 07:05 pm UTC (link)

I have a number of thoughts about this fic which isn't surprising since, as Delta mentioned, it was written from a prompt I gave her. While I love the fic and was very pleased with the way it turned out, one of the things I learned from it is that it's important to match the prompt with a specific writer. I agree that it's sometimes a very good thing to stretch ourselves, but I still think the prompt was too dark for her style. She really did wonderful things with it, but it's such a departure from her usual work that I almost feel bad about asking her to write it. Her Snape and Harry are really such mentally healthy people that it feels a bit like pissing in the snow asking her to make Snape so emotionally damaged. Particularly since it wasn't for a fest or challenge, but came about because I e-mailed her and asked her if she'd be interested in the prompt.

I'm still thrilled she was intrigued enough by the prompt to write the fic and more than a little relieved that the experience was genuinely a positive one for her. Hopefully she'll enjoy writing my

livelongnmarry prompt as well. ;D

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auctasinistra
2008-09-05 07:31 pm UTC (link)

But that's the thing - even though it wouldn't have been, say, her choice (or mine, in general), look at what a wonderful fic came out of it! I don't think, as a rule, it's valid to say "write what you don't like to write" (which is what "write outside your comfort zone" sounds like, and seems like, very often) but this is sure a good example of how a person, when challenged, can rise to it. :-)

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	dementordelta 2008-09-05 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	jumps in again And that's one of the things I love about her LiveLongNMarry prompt. It's one of those things I never would have come up with on my own, and makes me really focus on certain aspects of both Snape and Harry's relationship, and some nagging questions from Book 7 that just need to be set right! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auctasinistra 2008-09-05 09:36 pm UTC (link)
	See, I'm usually too lazy to risk writing to someone else's prompt, but every once in a while I do, and it's always a challenge to try to address something that you wouldn't have addressed had it been up to you. It's just a good idea as a writer to do that from time to time. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dementordelta 2008-09-05 09:41 pm UTC (link)
	Heee, usually I am too, but I love Accio's prompts! You should try one sometime! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auctasinistra 2008-09-05 11:18 pm UTC (link)
	God, it's all I can do to get anything finished any more! (Reply to this) (Parent)

carpet_diemon
2008-09-05 07:17 pm UTC (link)

*shrug* I enjoy it, but it doesn't really strike me as angst. It focuses on Harry's slow comprehension of Snape's angsty past, but I think of angst as suffering people don't get ever on their way to personal goals. And well, Snape, in this story goes over them on his way to having his way with Harry.

0 being fluff and boas, and 10 being bleeding, tortured, wracked angst, I'd give "Anyone Else" a 4. And I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

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	auctasinistra 2008-09-05 07:34 pm UTC (link)
	That would be why I wasn't saying it was dark on a scale including every Snarry writer out there. :-) Of Delta's work, it's the darkest, IMO. And the darkness is excellently done, especially from a writer who doesn't go there as a rule. (Reply to this) (Parent)

orions_stars
2008-09-08 03:58 pm UTC (link)

some vague SPOILERS herein... just in case someone hasn't read it.

Actually, I love this story too. While I enjoy reading all of her stories, "Anybody Else" is one of the stories that I've got on my backed-up hard drive. I like stories where characters grow into a relationship after having to work together, but that one is one of my favorites. I think that if it had been from Snape's point of view it would've been a much different story, but I loved Harry figuring it out and that he cared enough to do it. And Harry trying to find a way to make it work. Also Snape's enthusiastic reaction to Harry trying so hard. Anyway, it had depth but also the sparkly humorous bits she does so well.

Okay, now I have to go reread it. :)

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	auctasinistra 2008-09-08 07:03 pm UTC (link)
	Yes, I think for me it was partly the surprise of this element of angst in her work that caught me, and of course partly that that element was done so well, so really chillingly, for me. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

ensnarryed
2008-10-02 03:01 pm UTC (link)

Hello there! *waving happily*

I am not really here for the observation/rec thing, and therefore would like to simply say that I adore anything by Dementordelta. I read Anything Else at some point, just not recently, but what I want to tell you is this: You had me at Cell Biology. It is short, it is to the point, it is incredibly sweet, which is important to me b/c most often, in searching out a fic to read, I go for the sweet, fluffy, romantic, hurt/comfort (doesn't matter much who is comforting whom, though I have this thing for Harry-saves-Snape) and I just really, really enjoyed the closeness of those two in the fic (b/c that is how I pretty much think of Snarry). I just read 9/10 Law and you should know that it is really, really wonderful. The first part made me cry, though that is b/c I still can't handle the idea of Snape's death and I keep associating coma's with brain damage and I do not want to think that that would be Snape's fate b/c I want him to be in a happy, sweet, adorably, in OTPLOVE4EVA with Harry. And the second part did just that for me. I like the subtle way you have that said that Snape does care for Harry, and Harry's fear that Snape does not, and I loved the end that made me think, "Snarry. Definitely Snarry. However many pairings and options that Snape and Harry have, they are best off together." I am not saying that this is your OTP, though. Nor do I love you just b/c I assume that this is the case. (I assume nothing of the sort.) I just want to thank you for writing in a way let me think that it was. :)

*hugs you to pieces as though you were a favorite Snarry fic*

(BTW, my favorite Snarry fic of all time is My Man Friday by Enahma. B/c you were kind enough to share your views with everybody, I just wanted to "bring something to the table" as well.^^)

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auctasinistra
2008-10-02 07:11 pm UTC (link)

Thank you so much for such high praise! :-) I am indeed an OTPer. I don't know why, really (in my other fandoms, there basically IS only one pairing) - I just hooked into Snape and Harry and no one else can interest me, although I have read other pairings (rarely) and thought they were done well. I'm fond of Hermione, so it's odd I don't care for Snape-Hermione fic in general, but I don't. I suppose I can see Snape, or Harry, romantically linked to others, and certainly several are more plausible canonically, but no other pairing ever clicked for me. :-)

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ensnarryed
2008-10-04 09:26 am UTC (link)

I'm fond of Hermione

As far as favorite characters, mine were Ron and Dumbledore (they were funny!). I actually don't like Harry or Snape much (by themselves, ie, just as they are). But it just so happens that from the first time I found a fic that said Harry/Snape, the first reaction is usu. correct, mind you, mine was "OMG! WTF! Snape is going to kill him!" Well, most snarry fanfiction starts out exactly at this premise. :P I still have no idea how I went from "OMG! LOL! How in the---!" to "Awwww, look how adorable they are together, with Severus's head lying on Harry's shoulder." Hermione.... I always found annoying, though to give her credit, I liked how she and Harry could get along much better than she and Ron ever could, even considering that those two were apparently in love with each other (R and Hr, that is).

I understand Snermione... how do I say this? Have you ever watched House? (even if only one episode. More than that would be overkill.) The first time I understood Snermione was when I saw the dynamic between House and Cameron. If I go from those two, yes, I can "see" Snermione. But I will be seeing House/Cameron in my mind's eye.

I suppose I can see Snape, or Harry, romantically linked to others,

Oh, I can too! *is determined to prove own open mindedness* I love the pairing SS/HP/AD and SS/HP/DM, and let's see, SS/HP/RL, oh and, SS/HP/SB (and if Sirius acts like a git Harry'd kick him in the nuts, or so I like to believe^^), and SS/HP/LM and SS/HP/LV (darkfic pairings are so in, wouldn't you say?:), and SS/HP/RW and SS/HP/HG and SS/HP/NL and SS/HP/Luna and SS/HP/SF or DT. And of course, SS/HP/GW (b/c Ginny's been paired with one about as much as with the other^^). Lots of fandoms to choose from, really! *laughing silently at the most repeated four letters in this paragraph*

I just don't like feeling like Harry is taken away from Snape (or vice versa). So post DH, *green light flies towards Ginny* THAT WASN'T ME! I'M A MUGGLE, I SWEAR! I just don't like her anymore. And I like HP/DM as much as I like SS/DM - one excludes Snape and the other excludes Harry. (Oddly enough, I like SS/LM more than SS/DM. I figure, before Harry was born, Snape has the right to have some fun!^^).

It's only SS/HG that I need to actually sit down and read, but... every time I start... SHE READS LIKE A SILLY SCHOOLGIRL... all crying and studying... and I just keep thinking that if people want a teacher/student relationship, there is nothing wrong with Snarry! :3 (I remember a discussion on... LJ... and somebody said, "Personally, I don't see the fascination about Snarry. MY favorite pairing is Lily/Sirius." Just... -_- NO COMMENTARIO! (There might actually BE a basis for Snape and Harry whereas there is NOTHING remotely about Lily and Sirius, and yet you are willing to ignore the more obvious and accept the under dog of the two... and I wasn't commenting. *nose grows an extra inch* Eep!)

But I LOVELOVELOVE the RL/SB and the DM/GW ship. OTP4EVABABY! Because! Because... you really don't understand... IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SNARRY! (And if Remus is with Sirius... he is not in Snupin and stealing Snape from Harry. Just like if Draco is straight (HAHAHAHAHAHA!) and with Ginny, he is not in drarry and stealing Harry from his one true love, the greasey gite himselfe. Manipulative, I know. But the end justifies the means. :) You can probably imagine why I would rather Sirius have lived after book 5.

:)

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auctasinistra
2008-10-04 10:42 am UTC (link)

Well, everyone likes to believe there's canon basis for their ship - it seems to be the nature of shipping for a person to say "LOOK! It's totally there in that scene!" where others go "WTF have you been smoking? They're just in the same room together!" I've come to the conclusion there's nothing logical about pairings. It's whatever strikes you emotionally. People like to try to apply logic retroactively, but it almost always looks a bit desperate to me, unless it's a canon pairing. And who cares if it's canon or not? Canon is there for canon nazis.

For my part, there's no canon support for my ship other than the similarities in their lives and the sparks that fly when they're together - hardly a persuasive argument for any skeptics. But no other ship interests me, because few of the other characters could hold my interest for very long (and I mean in canon). And none of them could hold my interest long enough for me to write a story about them.

(Haven't seen House. Haven't had TV in more than 10 years)

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ensnarryed
2008-10-06 03:25 pm UTC (link)

(Haven't seen House. Haven't had TV in more than 10 years)

*looks over channel guide* You're not missing anything. You obviously have Internet, and except for news, I honestly cannot name a single "thing" that has to be watched on tv.

I've come to the conclusion there's nothing logical about pairings. It's whatever strikes you emotionally.

YOU'RE RIGHT! Everyone seems to prefer their own ship, and even cites reasons for it, but other people don't see what they see, even though the argument seems very sound. But if it was logical, it would be possible to convince someone that there is one "right" ship - and, truth is, there isn't. Just b/c I don't like drarry, doesn't mean it's not a good ship. And same for ginarry. I don't like it (b/c it is forced on me by canon, and I don't like canon rape - ie - when canon forces itself on me), but that doesn't mean that there's not someone out there going, "awwwww, look how cute Harry and Ginny are together. And HEY! Perhaps Ginny was pregnant in the Epilogue, and James, Al, and Lily are going to have little sister Molly soon." As for me, one child between Harry and Ginny is one too many (1 - I don't like kids, 2 - I don't like Ginarry, and 3 - It implies that there is a time period where Harry was "with someone", when I would rather he be with no one other than Snape. He can be alone, he can be suicidal, depressed, doing drugs, having unprotected sex, or any destructive behavior - so long as Severus finds him and they complete each other and live happily ever after. :) And see? That's emotion talking here. Totally see your point about ships being emotional preference thingies.

:)

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	ensnarryed 2008-10-06 03:27 pm UTC (link)
	You obviously have Internet* (meaning, you can read up on news online - it's actually faster than watching tv what with all the commercials and all - are those things reproducing or what?) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	auctasinistra 2008-10-06 07:41 pm UTC (link)
	Yes. I worked in the news biz for 20 years and one of the best things about it was access to information. These days, you don't need to work for the media to have access to all the news organizations, thank goodness. I'd miss my info-fix otherwise. (Reply to this) (Parent)