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snarrymod ([info]snarrymod) wrote in [info]snarry_games,
@ 2008-05-18 10:04:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:entry, team phoenix, treewishes

TEAM PHOENIX ENTRY: Treewishes "Kukolka"
Title: Kukolka
Author: [info]treewishes
Team: Phoenix
Genre(s): Romance, Alternate Universe *Hover/Click for Games Definition of Alternate Universe*
Prompt(s): Inheritance
Rating/Warnings/Kinks: Adult themes; *Minor character death*None (What? It's a romance.)
Word Count: ~17,500
Summary: Harry Potter receives a gift from his dying mother that is much more than it seems. (Pretty lame summary, you say? Where's the romance, where's the adventure, you ask? Well, I'll tell you, it's all here. Flying Cauldrons. Magic Wands. Bad men. Good men. Love. Hate. Revenge. Ugliest witches. Bravest wizards. Ogres. Giants. Curses. Death. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles. Come on now, try to keep up....)
A/N: Alternate Universe: *In 1913, Albus Dumbledore kills Gellert Grindelwald during a heated argument, and his sister Ariana lives. This changes everything.*

A reader may recognize in this hodge-podge pastiche a number of sources in addition to the Harry Potter books 1 through 7. Additional "borrowed-froms" include The Princess Bride: A Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The 'Good Parts' Version) by William Goldman, The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson, Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back by George Lucas, and two traditional Russian tales: Vasilisa the Beautiful and The Death of Koshchei the Deathless. Ideally, one should read all of these to appreciate what has been borrowed from previous works in this 'literary collage'. Those familiar with slash fandom may find additional irreverent references herein as well. The author has deliberately co-opted plot elements, inserted snippets of dialogue, and evoked scenes from movies to create a cultural blend. Whether all together this is more or less than a sum of its parts remains a question for the reader.

Many thanks for critical beta reads from Venivincere, Rubyrosered, and Ad Baculum; any errors that remain are my own doing. Also thanks for language ideas from Vorickson and painless_J, and structural discussions with BethBethBeth, cmshaw, and LightGetsIn. Finally, none of this would be possible without semi-constant advice and encouragement from Fuschia, whose knowledge of Russian literature has always delighted me.





"Kukolka by Treewishes"


Don't forget to review!




Mod note: POLLS ARE NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE SNARRY GAMES.


Mod note: If you rec this story, please link to this POST, not the story itself, or the author/team will not get their proper vote tally or feedback. Thank you.

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(Post a new comment)


[info]lazlong
2008-05-18 06:54 pm UTC (link)
Interesting mending of various fairy-tale and literary sources. Snape as Kukolka..well, it was quite obvious choice of "guardian angel".

Still, I have a question - where exactly Zelazny's "Nine Princes in Amber" come in? As a structure of the story? any specific allusion? (ok, taking into account that "Nine Princes in Amber" is compilation by itself, but still.. ) All other sources, including Princess Bride were detectable.

Huge gratitude for Your work. It was a pleasure to read and to enjoy.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-18 10:32 pm UTC
(no subject) - (Anonymous), 2008-05-19 07:45 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:15 pm UTC

[info]centaury_squill
2008-05-18 08:20 pm UTC (link)
"Harry Potter" works surprisingly well as a Russian folk tale. Thanks for the entertainment!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-18 10:36 pm UTC

[info]unbroken_halo
2008-05-18 09:32 pm UTC (link)
YAY! Go Team Phoenix! That was wonderful! I didn't recognize all the fairy tale references but catch some and I loved it nonetheless. I adored how you weaved the HP verse into the tales. Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable read!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-18 10:58 pm UTC

[info]gina87
2008-05-18 09:39 pm UTC (link)
Really interesting story. I liked Kuki a lot.

Fantastic story!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-18 10:59 pm UTC

[info]josan
2008-05-18 09:57 pm UTC (link)
I loved all the references to old fairy tales. I loved how you made us wait until after Severus shows up to reveal that Kuki the doll is also Severus.

And once you did, I found myself humming the theme song to a far-distant TV series "77 Sunset Strip", which went: Cookie, Cookie, lend me your comb...

Rather appropriate since Severus is always in need of a good combing.

(Story also made me want to pull out Princess Bride from the stack of VHS that populate a corner of my living room.)

Great read!




(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-19 12:42 am UTC

[info]galad222000
2008-05-18 11:03 pm UTC (link)
I may not have recognized all the references you included, but I do know when I reconize a totally delightful fic that I adore. Great work... :D

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-18 11:20 pm UTC

[info]painless_j
2008-05-18 11:41 pm UTC (link)
Oh my, such a strange story! :) I recognise only the Russian fairy tales and Princess Bride 'cos I'm not familiar with the rest. [Spoiler] as Baba Yaga still makes me shake my head and giggle :) And Voldemort in the cupboard!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-19 12:15 am UTC

[info]gin_tonic
2008-05-18 11:51 pm UTC (link)
This was great! I like how we met Harry as a boy and then as he got older. A wonderful mix of fairy tales and the HP world - and by the way the Kukolka idea was brilliant!

XD Voldemort in the closet. Bwahahahaha! Go Team Phoenix!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-19 12:42 am UTC

[info]gnomad
2008-05-19 03:14 am UTC (link)
Yaaaaay! Wonderful job, m'dear!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:06 am UTC

[info]simons_flower
2008-05-19 03:15 am UTC (link)
Interesting fic. My favorite bit, though that's probably because it's the one that I recognized, was the bit from Empire Strikes Back.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:07 am UTC

[info]telwyrd
2008-05-19 04:22 am UTC (link)
An incredible blending of fairytale elements with the Harry Potter-verse. It reminded me very much of the children's fairy tales I used to read when I was young. There were cruel relatives, a secret guardian, a dark forest, difficult challenges, and, of course, evildoers. I particularly loved the wonderful relationship between Harry and Snape, devoid of the usual animosity and recriminations. Altogether, this was an immensely enjoyable story. Very well-crafted. Bravo!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 01:18 pm UTC

[info]calico_sky
2008-05-19 05:09 am UTC (link)
What a fun read! I loved trying to identify all the 'pastiche' elements . . . and I love the idea of Snape as the doll. Great stuff! ;)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:08 am UTC

[info]bethbethbeth
2008-05-19 10:31 am UTC (link)
Oh, lovely work! I loved all the obvious (listed) elements - Harry's relationship with "tall, dark, and handsome" Kuki was wonderfully clever - and Due South was even in there!

I have to say, though, that my favorite meta aspects were these:

"What with one thing and another, six years passed."

and

"I remember there was a lot of chasing and killing and kidnapping and reuniting, and they had to find all of these cursed objects before they could kill Voldemort, and then get this extra-special wand from Baba Yaga- anyway, none of that was in the book at all."

Well done!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:10 am UTC

[info]torino10154
2008-05-19 01:53 pm UTC (link)
What an enchanting story! I didn't recognize all of the plotlines but it definitely read like a fairy tale. I loved the doll and wondered how and if it was related to Snape (as I was quite certain I recognized the voice early on). Definitely a unique take-nice job.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:11 am UTC

[info]dracofiend
2008-05-19 03:24 pm UTC (link)
Wow! That was a really unusual and yet so fittingly-told tale! All the surreal fairytale elements blended well with the moments and feelings from real life, like the way Harry had to say goodbye to his mother, or the terror he felt at running in the forest. I really liked both the Baba Yaga dialogue (so very folktale!) and the Yoda part, which made me smile. That was neat because it wouldn't have been incongruous at all for someone who didn't recognize the Yoda reference, but added a laugh for the reader who did recognize it. That was something I really liked overall--you didn't need to pick up all the references (and I'm sure I didn't!) to really enjoy reading.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:24 am UTC

[info]sookail
2008-05-19 03:55 pm UTC (link)
Wow! A truly original and interesting fic, especially loved the fairy-tale parts.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:12 am UTC

[info]mac_tunes
2008-05-19 04:34 pm UTC (link)
That was unbelieveably fantastic! So very AU with so many references to other works. I even went and read those stories you put on link as your references. Goodness me! Fab, just fabulous! You put all the exciting parts in this story! Wow! Thank you!

The only part I moan is -- why such a short scene between Harry and Severus? *pouts*

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:22 am UTC

[info]kabbers
2008-05-19 05:39 pm UTC (link)
Great story. I enjoyed it a lot. I loved how you incorporated other stories. The story of Baba Yaga is familar to me or at least some elements of it were. What story or stories was that based upon?

Loved it

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:13 am UTC

[info]alisanne
2008-05-19 05:39 pm UTC (link)
Ahahahahaha!
That was wonderful! *dances with glee*
There are FAR too many awesome lines to quote but Snape channeling Yoda was utterly priceless! "Do or do not, there is no try..." Hehehehehehe
And OMG, I adore "The Princess Bride"!
Beautiful and romantic and a superb melding of legend and fairy tale and HP canon. Really lovely.
This will be a re read for sure.

Go Team Phoenix! We RULE!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:14 am UTC

[info]trackpanties
2008-05-19 07:36 pm UTC (link)
Lovely. Lovely. Read it just before going to bed and afterwards (can't believe I'm admitting this...) kindda maybe talked to my teddybear a little?!!?! Sadly, No Snape answered;-)

Very nice story. Thank you.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:16 am UTC

[info]plantinshadows
2008-05-19 09:11 pm UTC (link)
aww sweet! Snape as kuki is genious!!
the name baba yaga reminds me of something.. not quite sure what. I loved how you brought in HP characters into a story that is really rather AU.
voldemort hanging in a wardrobe.. now that's creepy!! like in a ghostrain, where a skeleton suddenly jumps out of its coffin.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:17 am UTC

[info]leni_jess
2008-05-19 11:01 pm UTC (link)
A fascinaging story, Harry Potter reworked as a Russian fairytale, but still in a (mostly) English setting. A Harry with a happier childhood (but still with a father who didn’t pay enough attention to essentials); a far nicer Snape (but then, this one managed to reconcile with Lily, and never betrayed her). I love the idea of the charmed doll! And of Snape willingly looking after Harry for Lily. That was beautifully done.

You know, when I came to the end and realised that the narrator was Hermione's grandchild, but had no magic, I was sad – though clearly the narrator wasn't, so Hermione must have managed so that her magicless children and grandchildren (all of them? It certainly sounded like it – all the narrator was acquainted with) weren't made to feel inferior.

A really interesting and novel idea, from which you made an excellent story.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:19 am UTC

[info]zephyr_macabee
2008-05-20 01:52 am UTC (link)
Quite an interesting story. I especially liked Severus as Yoda in the swamp

'....there is no try!'

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:18 am UTC

[info]miriravan
2008-05-20 04:11 am UTC (link)
This is quite charming. I have a thing for framed stories anyway, and I *love* The Princess Bride (and I'm even willing to admit that the first several times I read it, I actually *believed* the frame story), and hey, fairy tales! So, what I'm saying is, you pretty much had me from the moment I read your summary. :)

I love the idea of Severus as a kind of djinni, bound to the doll and helping Harry out of all his crises. And Severus as Yoda is too, too funny; it makes a weird sort of sense, though Yoda is much less, ah, choleric than Severus.

You did a nice job integrating all your source materials into a coherent and accessible whole, and the relationship between Harry and Severus/Kuki was well-developed.

A fun and amusing story.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 01:14 pm UTC

[info]ziasudra
2008-05-20 01:27 pm UTC (link)
I had so much fun reading this! I'm tickled by the idea that Snape would agree to manifest himself in the form of Kuki to watch over Harry. But then again, where Lily was involved, I'm sure he would promise anything *g*

I really like the exploration of the "what if" scenario if Voldemort was confined to a closet (that in and of itself was brilliant). Besides all the little references to outside stories and movies, you also peppered the story with HP references. Loved the bit with Harry giving Sirius the two-way mirror :)

Very nice! Yay Team Phoenix!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

(no subject) - [info]treewishes, 2008-05-20 02:12 pm UTC

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