InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "K9!"

beholder_mod (beholder_mod) wrote in hp_beholder,
@ 2011-05-16 13:51:00

Entry tags:

augusta longbottom, beholder_2011, femslash, fic, mcgonagall/augusta, minerva mcgonagall, rating:nc17

FIC: "Let Us Escape Our Troubles" for tetleythesecond
Recipient: tetleythesecond
Author: songquake
Title: Let Us Escape Our Troubles
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Minerva McGonagall/Augusta Longbottom
Word Count: 11,708
Warnings/Content Information (Highlight to View): *None*.
Summary: How terribly strange to be seventy… ("Old Friends", Simon and Garfunkel)
Author's Notes: tetleythesecond, I hope you love this. It's been a true labour of love. I'm so grateful to have been given the opportunity to work with these characters. I hope it's got enough realism - and theoretical magic - for you. To my beta T, thank you ever so for whipping this into shape at the last possible moment. You're a lifesaver. All remaining mistakes are mine. And finally, bethbethbeth, I thank you immensely for hosting this fest, for promoting unpopular characters, and for putting up with my terribly slow writing and revising process. You're a gentlewoman and a scholar.

"Let Us Escape Our Troubles"

(Don't forget to return to this post to leave feedback for the author!)

(Post a new comment)

mairi
2011-05-17 12:24 am UTC (link)

Oh, how lovely! I am definitely not into femmeslash, but I adore this one because it's so intelligent! Not to mention, you meshed this fic well with all the canonical information, so now I think Augusta and Minerva being together IS canon!

Plus, you put science lesson into this. Sure, those lessons made my head spin, but I adore fics that does that to me since I like my brain to be stimulated once in a while.

. . . And that just sounded kind of wrong and kinky and whatever else!

Great job on this! :D

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	"Let Us Escape Our Troubles" songquake 2011-05-30 02:07 am UTC (link)
	Very funny, dear! Thanks again for the beta! I'm glad that you enjoyed it, even though there's the femmeslash aspect :) (Also, it shows mucho dedication to beta something that generally falls outside your comfort zone for reading!) And, you know--the brain is the most important sex organ! It's true! (Reply to this) (Parent)

woldy
2011-05-17 04:57 am UTC (link)

Very nice! I love this pairing, and it's a treat to see their relationship through the canon years. I love the image of Augusta doing research, and how she uses the theory in the battle at Hogwarts, and how together they're responsible for the passage from the Room of Requirement to the Hogs Head. Minerva's reflections on Neville are nice to see, but I like the way he's tangential to their relationship - there's such an intellectual and emotional bond between them here, as well as the physical attraction.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

songquake
2011-05-30 02:10 am UTC (link)

Minerva's reflections on Neville are nice to see, but I like the way he's tangential to their relationship

*pumps fist in the air*

Yes! I think I may have succeeded in passing The Bechdel Test! That was, actually, a goal of mine!

Thanks ever so for the comments. I enjoyed the opportunity to explore a mature love--one that isn't over-dominated by New Relationship Energy or adolescent hormones. I always think Minerva needs to have an intellectual equal, and the idea that Augusta would be her contemporary, that they'd have schoolgirl history, was tantalising to me.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

tetleythesecond
2011-05-17 08:21 am UTC (link)

Mystery Author! ♥

When I saw this come up last night I immediately dropped what I was doing, dashed to the kitchen, poured myself a wee dram, and sat down to savour this thing of beauty that you've created, slowly so as not to miss a single word, a single breath of those marvellous two women you've brought us! Does this have enough realism and theoretical magic, you ask? It absolutely stunned me with its beautiful, old bodies, with Augusta's physical insights (honestly, I once spent a whole train ride with a physics book trying to work out how to make sense of this whole Transfiguration thing; I simply loved reading Augusta's findings!), and the scorching hot, honest, frank, sexy old lady sex! Hooray for two women who know exactly what their pleasures are and act upon it!

I love the structure you give this, with the glimpses from every year, fitted neatly into Canon, and it was wonderful to see their perspectives on the events. I also love the voices you give them -- Minerva, intelligent, witty, ever the Gryffindor, who can however also drop her guard when she's with her friend and lover and show just how much of a toll those events take on her. And Augusta as an intellectual, physics-savvy dildo-maker extraordinaire -- by Circe's areoles, I'm willing to forgive her the vulture hat for that alone (but I'd forgive her the vulture hat anyway, given to what glorious use you put it. Sparkles? Sparkles!!!)

Your Aberforth is a triumph, too ("Just one old goat looking after another," *g*), and Ariana is wonderful to see. Love that Augusta arranges for their meetings in the Hog's Head (not at the tea shoppe for 'eccentric' old ladies) -- and that both women were instrumental in helping the Resistance at Hogwarts by directing the passage where they did! Also, the end made me sigh with happiness!

More bits I loved:
- "Bottle of Wizarding Aglianico, Taurasi if you have it."
Aberforth rolled his eyes. "Nobody asks for that kind of overpriced swill round here, lady. House red or house white."
"Red it is, then," Minerva cut in. This time Augusta was the one to raise a brow. "I have no interest in hearing your discourse on vintages today, Augusta, nor Abe's on public house economies of scale." -- Ah, I could hear and see them in front of me! Great fun to read and a perfect way to introduce us to the constellation of characters.
- Minerva's fondness of hygiene and the visual image of her irradiating the room. "You know how I feel about vermin," she said. "Especially those I would not eat in tabby form. -- *g*
- Addressing what a haunted bathroom might do to a young girl. Love that Augusta does not mock but lightens the mood with humour.
- Augusta's outspokenness. My, I do love an old woman who keeps an uncivil tongue!
- The entire, believable, loving, caring, non-domestic, non-possessive relationship you give them.
- Your great, IC, lively dialogue.
- Acknowledging their heroism!!! And the entire last three paragraphs, with exactly that acknowledgment, with the "cloak-and-wand business" being given up in favour of a coming-out (as much as I loved, loved, loved all their cloak-and-wand business!) and the choice of a drink. :)))

Mystery Author, this is absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much for this wonderful, long, thoughtful, sexy story, thank you for letting the old ladies shine, and for brightening a rainy day (for yes, I shall be re-reading)!

I love it!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	tetleythesecond 2011-05-29 06:56 pm UTC (link)
	OMG! I got a gift from the fabulous inventor of the PhenomPhallus! Thank you, thank you, thank you! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

"Let Us Escape Our Troubles"

songquake
2011-05-29 10:40 pm UTC (link)

LOL. Yes, you did! I'm so glad you enjoyed the story, dear!

(And I'd forgotten about The PhenomPhallus! Something makes me thing I'll need to write a femmeslash story that DOESN'T include a phallus of some sort soon!)

(Oh, wait. I did that for HPKinkfest on LJ.)

Off to comment on your truly lovely, long review in a minute, but I needed to acknowledge how much this comment made me actually laugh!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Had to pause for sis's birthday dinner, but I'm replying now!

songquake
2011-05-30 02:05 am UTC (link)

So, I think this is the single best review I've ever got, Tetley. Thanks ever so much for it! When I re-read the story after posting, there were some things I thought needed better wording (or better consistency); I'll pop you a message when I've posted the updated-final version to LJ.

I'm so glad that you loved the characterisations and the banter. I was trying to do a couple of things here; I wanted the story to pass the Bechdel Test (harder than one might think, given that it takes place during a war that is basically a pissing contest between wizards); make the sex both sexy and believable; not pigeonhole either of the women entirely; show how life does go on during wartime, even for those who are "serving"; play with magical theory.

The vulture hat is, I admit, one of my favouritest twists of canon in awhile!

I'm so glad that you enjoyed this work. It was a labour of love, and I was so delighted to get to work with these women--especially Augusta. She seems like such a minor character in canon, but there's really a fair bit about her character that shines through JKR's tidbits about her.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

songquake
2011-05-30 02:14 am UTC (link)

One more thing:

Addressing what a haunted bathroom might do to a young girl.

My idea there was that Minerva might have actually discovered Myrtles corpse, since Minerva was only a year or two ahead of Tom Riddle. Even more traumatising. We don't know all that much about what actually happened the first time the Chamber of Secrets was open, just that Minerva, Hagrid and Tom were all students, Dumbles suspected Tom of being up to no good, and that the Basilisk killed Myrtle. But imagining the horror of a teacher who had been the student to discover the body of the one person killed by the Basilisk the last time around... *shudders*

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	squibstress 2011-05-18 12:08 am UTC (link)
	I do so love this pairing, and I fine job you've done with it! I found myself clenching my fists with the escalating tension, both war-related and sexual. And the sense of relief at the end of the war made me almost giddy with them! And Aberforth! God love him! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	"Let Us Escape Our Troubles" songquake 2011-05-30 02:15 am UTC (link)
	Thank you so much for your review! I'm so glad that the piece was so effective/affecting, and that Aberforth came across as a grand old goat in his own right. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	atdelphi 2011-05-18 04:30 am UTC (link)
	Oh, marvellous! I am seriously falling in love with this pairing, and I love how you've brought it to wonderful, clever, academic life. Smashing work, mystery author! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	"Let Us Escape Our Troubles" songquake 2011-05-30 02:17 am UTC (link)
	Thank you! I'm always glad to enable another's love for a rarepair grin I'm seriously excited that the academic bits are so well-received. Because Minerva always did seem like rather an overachieving nerd to me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

therealsnape
2011-05-19 07:18 pm UTC (link)

This is such a glorious story! Augusta is wonderful in her outspokenness, and Minerva is a match for her in every sense of the word. Love Gussie's ideas on wine (very proper ideas, too) and Minerva's dislike of vermin she wouldn't eat in cat-shape.

The way you weave every meeting into canon, and the scorching-hot sex made this one of the delights of this year's fest for me!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

"Let Us Escape Our Troubles"

songquake
2011-05-30 02:26 am UTC (link)

Thanks for such a wonderful comment! I loved exploring how these characters might relate to one another; the idea of the two of them being old and dear friends (hinted at in Book 6) and their commitment to fighting were both fascinating to me--what purpose did it serve for JKR to have Augusta come back to fight!

The discourse on wine was one of the more-researched bits of the story, so I'm glad that went well.

And I'm so glad that the canon-follow worked, as well as the sex. Yay sex!

Thank you again for such a generous comment. It made my day when you left it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	leela_cat 2011-05-22 04:09 am UTC (link)
	I've never read this pairing before (no idea how I missed any of the stories), but you drew me in with your writing, and kept me reading with your characterisations. Not to mention the science and theory and insights into the goings on at Hogwarts. Oh, and the hot sex between women of a certain age with real bodies. What a glorious story. (Reply to this) (Thread)

"Let Us Escape Our Troubles"

songquake
2011-05-30 02:23 am UTC (link)

LOL - I'd never read this pairing before, either, to be honest! It's one of the joys of taking part in this fest - the opportunity to play with characters and pairings I'd not have considered before.

And I'm glad that you found the sex between women of a certain age with real bodies hot. *grin* I've (regrettably, since I have a bit of a thing for older women *blush*) not had experience with that sort of body yet, so I'm glad it came across as realistic.

Thanks for the review!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	kelly_chambliss 2011-05-29 03:40 am UTC (link)
	Minerva/Augusta is a pairing I love, and you've presented them just as I like them: no-nonsense and knowing exactly what they want and need. And did I mention hot? I liked Aberforth's cameo, too, and the canon background. Then there's Professor Longbottom -- nice touch. (Reply to this) (Thread)

"Let Us Escape Our Troubles"

songquake
2011-05-30 02:34 am UTC (link)

Thanks for such a lovely comment!

The bit with Professor Longbottom... Canon never really addresses at all what Augusta goes through during Neville's lifetime. We know she's a feisty woman who was terrible at Charms and selecting flattering headwear. But the stuff that we need to deduce--that her son and his wife were killed, so she raised their child; that her husband died only a few years after her son--leads to such a complicated profile. What is it for a witch in her sixties and seventies to raise a child on her own--especially since that's just middle-age for her? What would she have to give up to raise Neville? I think that she would have some ambivalence about her relationship with her grandson, to say the least. And since canon hints at a pretty deep familiarity between Augusta and Minerva (because really, why else would Minerva know a contemporary's OWL scores; they're not listed publicly, but sent via private owl), the characterisations became fascinating to work with.

Glad you found it hot, and enjoyed Abe's cameos. He always is good for some comic relief, I think.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	eeyore9990 2011-05-29 07:56 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, argh, I read this ages ago and didn't comment! flogs self I loved this. I loved how you wrote these women and their brilliant depth. I love their relationship and their meetings and how utterly proper they are before they disappear upstairs. This is fantastic! (Reply to this) (Thread)

songquake
2011-05-30 02:40 am UTC (link)

LOL-- well, better late than never, eh? And flogging yourself as punishment... well, if you consider that to be punishment rather than foreplay, I'll leave you it.

Character depth was definitely something I was going for--it's something Tetley likes :) And yeah--the mask of propriety over such passionate creatures is always fun to play with.

Thanks so much for such a lovely comment!

(Reply to this) (Parent)