Tweak

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Tweak says, "I like pie"

snarryhols (snarryhols) wrote in snarry_holidays,
@ 2007-12-16 17:52:00

Entry tags:

fic, post-dh: epilogue compliant, rated: nc-17

No Place at All, for snakeling
Title: No Place at All
Author: ac1d6urn and sinick
Giftee: snakeling
Word Count: 28500
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Severus/Harry, Harry/Ginny (past)
Warnings: DH spoilers
Disclaimer: JKR owns. No copyright infringement is intended, no money is being made.
Notes: Thank you for the terrific prompt, Snakeling! As you can see, your bunny bit hard.
Summary: “No matter where you go, there you are.” – Buckaroo Banzai

( No Place at All )

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(Post a new comment)

	snakeling 2007-12-17 12:27 am UTC (link)
	Wow, wow, wow. Right now I can't offer more coherent feedback, because I think my brain shut down. I'll try to come back later with something more coherent, but I want you to know that this was absolutely brilliant! Thank you, thank you! (Reply to this) (Thread)

nopersonatall, 2007-12-17 04:29 am UTC

leianora
2007-12-17 12:48 am UTC (link)

Wow! The originality of this story is stunning! The plot is so beautifully constructed that I can barely bring myself to say anything coherent about it other than, wow! The characterization of Snape is not at all diminished by the fact that his voice no longer works. His actions and glances speak for him, as do his expressive poses. Harry's clumsiness is endearing and very sweet, and the fact that he no longer has the ability to speak to snakes did come as a surprise to me. I did like the juxtaposition of their roles regarding that, though. I loved the slow build of their relationship and the way Ginny was portrayed, not as a hateful love potion dosing bitch, but as a distracted socialite who wasn't the right person for Harry. This was a wonderful story!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

nopersonatall, 2007-12-17 04:36 am UTC

themadscriptor
2007-12-17 01:57 am UTC (link)

Holy crap! This is fantastic. As leianora said, this story is without peer in its originality. The details you've provided are so *vivid*, and the I love the personalities of the each snake. I admire the "Snape without his voice" element of the story, because he's not at all paled or diminished by the loss. Wonderful figurative languages - the similes were seamlessly incorporated, and Harry's youthful voice was so adorable, and I could go on forever. Absolutely bloody marvelous.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

nopersonatall, 2007-12-17 04:51 am UTC

elmyraemilie
2007-12-17 03:13 am UTC (link)

God, fabulous. There's a Fellini-esque sense of the macabre in the Circus, but the realities of its everyday life are comfortable and so very real. Harry in braids! And Snape. I could so plainly see him in the ring, gaining with kindness what no amount of force could wring from the snakes. Even without his voice, he commands respect from all. That you made it romantic amdist all this world-building and character work is marvelous--full of marvel.

Certainly going onto my favorites list. Incredible work. Lovely.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

nopersonatall, 2007-12-17 04:55 am UTC

ivylady
2007-12-17 03:55 am UTC (link)

Amazing, Mystery Writer. I can't even accurately describe how wonderful this story is. I've never read anything quite like it.

I love Snape gaining the ability to speak to snakes while Harry loses it. I love Harry with braided dreads, striking out on his own to discover who he is. Ginny is very realistic here. I may not like her much, but her and Harry drifting apart as they grow up is very believable.

The snakes were hilarious. I love how they're more family to Severus than anyone else. The supporting characters were interesting as well.

This story is without peer. I absolutely adored it. Your attention to detail and writing style are familiar, Excellent Author. *grins*

(Reply to this) (Thread)

nopersonatall, 2007-12-17 05:13 am UTC

sinick, 2007-12-28 01:54 am UTC

ivylady, 2007-12-28 03:04 am UTC

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:29 am UTC

	snarry_fan7 2007-12-17 06:37 am UTC (link)
	Most amazing work! I love how everything wove together and how you made it work with Snape only being a Parselmouth and not being able to speak English. Well done.~Sophia (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 01:57 am UTC

sjc_swank
2007-12-17 09:39 am UTC (link)

I can't even begin to tell you all the things I love about this story, but possibly my favorite thing is how Sev is the key to Harry truly learning how to fly. ^_^ I am obsessed with flying myself, and every time flying was mentioned it just sent me over the moon. Oh! And them not being able to communicate with one another through speech but still being able to make a connection. You did that brilliantly! Very, very well done dear! *huggles*

~Swanky

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 02:17 am UTC

	red_day_dawning 2007-12-17 10:22 am UTC (link)
	This is brilliant - everything is extraordinary; it's so easy to picture somehow, & seems so brightly colored! It is quite, quite wonderful! (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 02:19 am UTC

perverse_idyll
2007-12-17 10:41 am UTC (link)

There's no doubt in my mind who wrote this. :-) Your style and gift for magical detail are unparalleled. Also the way your themes are so carefully constructed, building by the end to an almost overwhelming experience of love - of recognition, rightness, of being set free by the other's existence. You work in so many strands, both original and canon-inspired, of magic and nature and mystery and freakishness, of beauty and belonging. The storytelling is exuberant, and you’ve always handled the blend of dark with light in a way that pays tribute to them both.

The first paragraph is masterful, accomplishing so much with a few deft strokes. Plus it just . . tastes good, the words, I mean. After that, oh, so many dazzling things. The way the circus starts out like a horror story, genuinely creepy and disconcerting. The macabre possibility that Snape may have ended up as an Inferius. I love Harry's thought at this moment: but apparently death had been kind to him. Probably the only thing in Snape’s world that ever had been kind. Then, everything concerning the voodoo-doll puppet-mastery of the Inferi is clever, slightly grotesque, and almost endearing. Luscus dancing with himself! The group hug! *snort*

Making Snape into a snake-charmer and a Parselmouth is just utterly brilliant. It fits him perfectly, and is such a believable result of what might happen if he actually did recover from Nagini’s fangs. Also, the way you portray his resilience, his adaptation to his new circumstances, is so very satisfying. For example, the lists he makes, of the kinds of snakes and their individual needs, gradually converting scientific interest into a genuine relationship that requires names. I was absolutely smitten with the posters Harry finds, that show Snape performing as a human skeleton and an hermaphrodite. I'm fiercely pleased by the fact that Snape's dignity and dark power are restored to him. It helps mitigate memories of DH. And the snakes themselves, gossipy, pushy, inhuman, affectionate – the rattlesnake with the hobby of giving Snape headaches – and oh god, the moment when Snape holds the python he calls Mother up to his face, as if to say, “See the resemblance?” Sheer genius.

The descriptions of circus life are marvelous, and Snape’s turn in the ring is genuinely mesmerizing. And sexy. His oiled arms and upper body, with snakes twined around them? Perversely hot. And I love the moment a malicious heckler slings an angry viper at Snape, and he catches it.

I also adore your imagery: Harry’s patronus was following Snape, its silvery-blue antlers a reverse image of the shadowed trees, just to choose one at random. Then when Harry accompanies Snape in search of potions ingredients, the delicacy of the description, of the hillside, the leaves, the pooled water, conjures up such a perfect mood. Harry tumbling golden leaves onto Snape’s head and Snape spinning them into a laurel wreath is a lovely moment of rapport and gentle flirting between them.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

perverse_idyll, 2007-12-17 11:08 am UTC

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:34 am UTC

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:32 am UTC

	alicebs 2007-12-17 01:48 pm UTC (link)
	Beautiful! A truly inspired and inspiring story that lifted me off the ground. The best of HP universe distilled into these few thousand words. Thanks wholeheartedly! (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:34 am UTC

	irana 2007-12-17 09:47 pm UTC (link)
	Fabulous, astounding, brilliant, awesome; none of these properly describe the sheer beauty and elegance of this story. Bravo! (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:35 am UTC

Fantastic!

chiakidark
2007-12-17 11:49 pm UTC (link)

I really loved this fic, and I'm triple glad; I'm glad for the fest, I'm glad for snakeling's prompt, and I'm glad the bunny bit you so darn hard.

This was such a visual fic for me. The bright colors of your imagery reminded me of the colorful and eccentric anime that I love. (Lydia and her "boys" were delightfully creepy.)

The meanings here were wonderfully full. I loved your telling of how Harry's hair to the magical object caused their tent to... "flit throught the air like a snitch?" :] I loved that you have Severus speaking only in Parseltongue due to Nagini's bite. I loved the drawing of Harry's eyes. I loved the title and how after reading this fic, it was loaded with so much more meaning. I loved the ending/beginning.

Thank you for such a brilliant read!!

♥ x 100

He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,

That daring young man on the flying trapeze.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Fantastic! -

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:37 am UTC

painless_j
2007-12-18 03:29 am UTC (link)

This was very interesting and different! My friend and I made a themed list of odd jobs in HP fics a couple of years ago. It began from a quote that said, among other things, "imagine that Snape joins a travelling circus..." :) But there hasn't been a fic like that on the list until now! Whee :)

The imagery and the magic in your story was so fresh and unusual!

The was one thing that jolted me: when you first switch POV to the snakes, one of them, after speaking about sex in "snake terms", suddenly says something about pheromones. Was a POV disruption, IMO.

But I really enjoyed the story. Am going to rec.

Thank you!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:39 am UTC

svartalfur
2007-12-18 01:46 pm UTC (link)

I fell in love with your circus. I want to become an Inferi-charmer and a magician and own a naughty sphinx. :D

The world you created is absolutely perfect. It's magic and a freak show at the same time, and like in a perfect freak show, you afterwards wonder who are the real freaks. I love the way you played with magic, the many details like the flying tent, the fact that Snape speaks Parselmouth but Harry not, Snape's old posters, the wonderful snakes ...

Thank you for sharing this wonderful world with us.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:41 am UTC

stellamoon
2007-12-18 11:07 pm UTC (link)

That was absolutely beautiful. I was simultaneously charmed and saddened by Harry's obsessive imaginary conversations with Snape. In fact, the repeated lapses into those conversations, backwards in time, caused me a little concern. I was worried that Harry was imagining the whole circus series of events, as well.

This story is wonderful, and I'm 100% certain that you are someone whose writing I already know.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:43 am UTC

stellamoon, 2007-12-28 12:39 pm UTC

sinick, 2007-12-28 05:33 pm UTC

	kate_tur 2007-12-19 05:25 pm UTC (link)
	This is the most original fiction I've read in a long while! I loved the sheer amount of details! And the snakes! The inferi! Lydia! Circus activity! Finally, the green eyes painting and whom they belonged to mistery was simply. good. Snakeling is a very lucky giftee! (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:44 am UTC

	ubifumis 2007-12-19 09:16 pm UTC (link)
	Brilliant. This reads like a walk on a tightrope; the dipping into the past, the swaying winds of change, the sweating concentration, and the euphoria of completion. Exquisite. (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:45 am UTC

nonajf
2007-12-22 05:14 am UTC (link)

When Harry first stumbles onto the Circus and the sense of darkness pervades, I thought of the too-soon-cancelled HBO series Carnival. It had that same sort of magical realism about it with a hint of things not being quite right. So in my mind the Circus existed in an odd Depression era America like the series.

I liked Lydia's explanation of why they all belonged with the Circus - because they didn't fit in any where else. I also liked your explanation of crop circles. (I love when stories take a bit of real life and spin it.)

There's a shared tragedy of Severus losing his (human) voice that had always been so integral, and Harry losing his Parseltongue that had seemed so integral.

Beautiful story!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:49 am UTC

josan
2007-12-26 01:01 am UTC (link)

Okay...first of all, the circus. I wanted to run away from home and join it.

Two: sexy, bare-chested, snake-entwined Severus. HOT!

Three: Harry. Those braids...OMG!

Four: the snakes themselves. Wonderful characters. Loved their 'mating ball' quips.

Five: Lydia. Macabre, creepy and yet loving.

Six: how the circus moves. Jaw-droppingly marvellously inventive.

Seven: the flying. OMG, ever since I saw David Copperfield do one of those flying acts, I've wondered what it would be like. Other than absolutely wonderful.

I really, really want to run away and join this circus.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 03:58 am UTC

	centaury_squill 2007-12-26 09:58 am UTC (link)
	Truly magical! The circus reminded me of the dark poetry of Ray Bradbury's carnivals: a fitting haven for two of Hogwarts abandoned boys. Snakeling is a very lucky lady. (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 04:01 am UTC

graculus
2007-12-26 05:42 pm UTC (link)

I've been remiss in commenting on fic, though I've been furiously consuming it and reccing like crazy, but this one has broken the stalemate - I can't begin to say how much I like it! The whole scenario, the supporting characters (particularly the snakes) and the entire relationship between Harry and a very different, yet completely believable, Snape had me entranced.

Brava! :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 04:02 am UTC

	randomlysane 2007-12-27 03:44 pm UTC (link)
	I really liked the idea of a magical circus here. It was very convincing too. Usually, Harry is the freak trying to fit in with the normal people. But here at the circus, he is normal and is trying to fit in with the freaks. Interesting. I like that he tries fit in and join because he wants to be part of Severus' life. Great job! (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2007-12-28 04:04 am UTC

gingertart50
2007-12-29 12:29 pm UTC (link)

This tale is truly magical! Thank you, I loved everything about it. I always found circuses and fairs fascinating yet just a bit frightening as a child, and you have given me back that sense of wonder.

(By the way, your python in the picture illustrating 'Fhah' is a royal python, who only grows to around 2 metres in length, you need a reticulated python or something similar. I owned a royal python many years ago; they are placid and make good pets, but don't get big enough to kill people even under Imperius!)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2008-01-02 03:13 am UTC

ac1d6urn, 2008-01-02 03:14 am UTC

	szefi 2007-12-31 03:18 pm UTC (link)
	Very original plot and brilliant story-telling. Still speechless (maybe should try in Parseltongue) (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2008-01-02 03:14 am UTC

	(Anonymous) 2007-12-31 03:59 pm UTC (link)
	Wow, your story has roots and wings. Exceptional writing. Reminds me a bit of Neil Geiman (Reply to this) (Thread)

sinick, 2008-01-02 03:15 am UTC

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