Oh my goodness! We get to kick off the fest! Thank you so much for my gift! Rabastan and Goyle--so different that I couldn't imagine how you would put them together, but you made it work! I love the tone and dark theme of violence--it's perfectly suited to them.
You did a great job of making me care about these two, without sanitizing their natures or their pasts. I was really impressed with how you actually gave made me hope that Rabastan might be redeemed by his caring for Goyle, someone he would never have considered outside of Azkaban. You gave him a chance to have empathy for those who he'd made to suffer, and possibly learn humility and regret. Wonderful!
I also loved that Goyle compared Rabastan to Draco--someone he cared for and admired in his life before prison. His confusion over the feelings he had for Draco was endearing. He may not be able to articulate it, but he finds both Draco and Rabastan delicate and refined and therefore beautiful. That was very poignant to me. As was the scene with the guard when Goyle so matter of factly accepted that he would have to stay in prison longer for using violence to protect Rabastan. Having found someone who cares for him back he won't give that up even for freedom. Wow!
Thank you so much for writing these two together. You used so many wonderful ideas and images. I'll be thinking about this wonderful pairing for some time to come! Very nice work!