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atdelphi (atdelphi) wrote in hp_beholder,
@ 2014-05-13 15:31:00

Entry tags:

aberforth dumbledore, aberforth dumbledore/severus snape, beholder 2014, fic, rated:pg-13, severus snape, slash

FIC: "Elegy for a Goat" for pauraque
Recipient: pauraque
Author/Artist: ???
Title: Elegy for a Goat
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Severus/Aberforth, background hint of Aberforth/Albus
Word Count: 17,460
Medium: Fic
Warnings/Content Information (Highlight to View): None.
Summary: Ab has never been fond of his brother's protégés, but he's always had a weakness for goats. He's not sure what to make of Severus Snape.
Author's/Artist's Notes: Thanks beyond measure to Delphi, who is the most encouraging and kindest of mods and has more patience than a thousand saints put together.

Elegy for a Goat

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perverse_idyll
2014-05-31 01:40 am UTC (link)

I've tried to figure out exactly what to say in response to your comment, Kelly, because it's so very moving and delightful - the sort of unexpected pleasure that makes staying up all night cudgeling one's brains and hammering the keyboard entirely worth the effort. Partly it's because I'm thrilled to have written something you enjoyed so much, because you're one of those writers I envy like mad and whose stories never fail to touch me in that twofold realm of reader/writer. (It might amuse you to know, since I saw your rec where you said you wished you could write like this, that during my long writer's block I quite consciously wished I could write like you, because of your confident grasp of the material, your ability to write comedy and tragedy, your mastery of multiple voices, and your love of language. So it goes both ways!)

I was also tickled that you singled out the egg yolk metaphor, because it came within an inch of being cut. I worried it was too much of a muchness, but in the end I left it alone because I'm self-indulgent like that. Besides, I needed to set the tone and open up Aberforth's voice to make it plausible that he'd perceive his surroundings with that kind of lyricism.

Also, I'm glad the bindweed worked. It popped in at the beginning, one of those accidental gifts, and proceeded to suggest all sorts of parallels throughout the fic. I didn't quite tie it together (ahem) the way I'd hoped - during the headlong race for the finish line I was working off a set of notes, and I completely skipped a moment I'd planned to put at the end, referring back to Snape burning the bindweed entwining his bare hand. A minor loss, though, if my intentions still came through.

Your enthusiasm and generosity completely astonished me and gave me so much joy, since I wrote this while lost in a fog of emotional distraction and thus had no idea whether I'd made a hash of the fic or if it was even coherent. Your feedback had me walking on air. Thank you so much for the unlooked-for gift and for your eloquence.

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