Tweak

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Tweak says, "You expect too much."

The Porn Santa (smutmas_mod) wrote in merry_smutmas,
@ 2007-12-20 16:00:00

Entry tags:

fic, severus/aberforth

Merry Smutmas, bethbethbeth!

To: bethbethbeth
From: atdelphi

Title: Goat Song
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Aberforth Dumbledore/Severus Snape
Disclaimer: All recognisable elements herein are the sole intellectual and legal property of JKR and her associates. No profit is being made from this work and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: A tragedy in five scenes.
Author's Notes: Big thanks to my beta, who knows who she is, and happy holidays to Beth!

Goat Song

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(Post a new comment)

chazpure
2007-12-20 09:28 pm UTC (link)

Oh, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending.

Yes.

I love this. It might not seem so on the surface, but the pairing just makes so much sense! I love the gruffness masking the tenderness and all the words not spoken.

Beautifully done, Mystery Author!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:33 pm UTC

josan
2007-12-20 10:52 pm UTC (link)

He took out the rest of the case, placing a lump of sugar on the spoon and pouring the first glassful over it.

My jaw dropped at this. OMG! Absinthe...the perfect addiction for Severus!

I really enjoyed Aberforth. The forgotten child. Who has found another forgotten child. Both of whom have suffered at Albus Dumbeldore's hands.

Brilliant pairing.

bethbethbeth is one lucky recipient!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

josan, 2007-12-20 10:54 pm UTC

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:33 pm UTC

bethbethbeth
2007-12-20 11:05 pm UTC (link)

Oh, this is just exactly what I wanted for Smutmas!

Even the introduction of Dramatis Personae was perfect (poor doomed Bess!) and the Prologue worked beautifully, not just to play into the theatrical theme, but to set the stage for just how different a character Aberforth is: everybody's dancing to somebody else's tune in this New World Order, but not him; Aberforth's directing his own one man show.

And what a rare and wonderfully executed pairing! Snape and Aberforth...where's the romance in that? No sugared words or floral tributes for these two. Unless...maybe the romance and the love can be seen in a lifetime of knowing someone (better than Albus's Legilimency could ever do, apparently) and years of taking away pain (even if sometimes that can only be done through Absinthe or sleep spells) and demonstrations of trust (...and if you know me - which I suspect you must to have written something so right for me - I don't have to say how much I loved this particular brand of LimitedVocabulary!Drunk!Snape . . . or the morning after.)

Just...yay! Thank you so much, mystery Author!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

bethbethbeth, 2008-01-04 11:14 pm UTC

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:34 pm UTC

bethbethbeth, 2008-01-05 09:36 pm UTC

	psyfic 2007-12-21 12:11 am UTC (link)
	Brava! This is stellar. :) I would use a few quotes, but I'd have to quote the whole thing, so suffice it to say I love it and you are brilliant. :) hugs fic Lucky Beth! (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:34 pm UTC

	regan_v 2007-12-21 12:17 am UTC (link)
	This is wonderful work. I've rec'ed it on my journal, as well. And thank you. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:35 pm UTC

	schemingreader 2007-12-21 12:39 am UTC (link)
	This was a very good story. I think that is one of the best last lines I've seen in fan fiction. No wonder everyone on my flist is so excited about this. Really intelligent writing. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:35 pm UTC

red_day_dawning
2007-12-21 12:41 am UTC (link)

Was totally shocked with the pairing - almost decided not to read it, thinking it would be comically grotesque.
Instead, it's so tender, & moving & deftly written - so healing, & it works so well.
The sense of Aberforth as gruff & kindly & sincere that comes across in his interactions with Neville in DH, is amplified here, & this line is so perfect: "He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending.", this says it all. Wonderful.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:36 pm UTC

	innerslytherin 2007-12-21 12:56 am UTC (link)
	Wow. This is not something I would have ever expected to enjoy, but you weave a fabulously tender and intimate tale here. I love seeing their relationship develop over the years, and I love how so much has to be read between the lines--but how easy it is to do so. Great job! (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:40 pm UTC

	ziasudra 2007-12-21 01:09 am UTC (link)
	Amazing and beautiful. I'm seriously at a loss for words. Just... wow. Wonderful job, Mystery Author! (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:40 pm UTC

	violet_quill 2007-12-21 01:31 am UTC (link)
	Oh, this was absolutely lovely! Wonderfully creative and touching. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:40 pm UTC

	maddiec24 2007-12-21 02:16 am UTC (link)
	I think this is my first time ever for this pairing, and what a way to begin! This is how it should've been. And this - - He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending. - - is one of the best lines ever. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:41 pm UTC

moshesque
2007-12-21 02:29 am UTC (link)

My god, this is so amazingly done. It's beautiful, and bittersweet, and gh;asjhga that ending! I'm blown away that you got so much in such a short piece, that you brought Snape back in such an original way. As someone else said, this stood out to me probably the brightest:

He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending.

Gah! Gorgeous. *___* I absolutely love this fic. :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:41 pm UTC

	kate_tur 2007-12-21 02:31 am UTC (link)
	I never thougth this pairing possible, but you did it, and it was amazingly beautiful. Loved it. Congrats! (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 09:46 pm UTC

(Anonymous)
2007-12-21 02:52 am UTC (link)

Oh, so beautiful. I especially loved Aberforth's odd -- Yorkshire? -- dialecties -- " he'd come up in a spiteful house," "This time of morning there was no getting any fancier than a good tug and rub," "Can't say his soul's clean on that one."

And funny! -- "so regular that Aberforth set his week by him."

Here's the nut, eh? "If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending." He's mending all along here, and in a big way at the end. This is so cleverly constructed, Mystery Writer, and beautifully written.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:12 pm UTC

	amorettea 2007-12-21 03:00 am UTC (link)
	AH!!!!!!!! How beautiful, painful and utterly perfect. I am in AWE! I do love a broken Severus being saved by someone with some cracks of his own. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:12 pm UTC

florahart
2007-12-21 03:24 am UTC (link)

It was, of course, perfectly foreseeable, that end; you put it right there for us. And still, I did the whole splayed hand to chest thingy.

Aberforth's ...I hesitate to really call it dialect, but just, his word choices, those are great, and the way they're both so gruff and, hm. Physical, not in the muscles and sweat way, but just the practical way, I suppose.

/least clear review in history of ever.

:)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:12 pm UTC

	secretsolitaire 2007-12-21 03:29 am UTC (link)
	This is excellent, and it fits so well into canon! I like the way the prologue sets up a space for the "hero" to make an entrance, but what you give us are sort of the anti-heroes, the men behind the scenes. And the ending wraps that up beautifully. Very well done! (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:24 pm UTC

	accioslash 2007-12-21 04:29 am UTC (link)
	I have no words for this except for brilliant. He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending. My God. Yes...just, yes. Outstanding, mystery author. I think I may have found a new OTP. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:25 pm UTC

	(Anonymous) 2007-12-21 04:36 am UTC (link)
	What a fantastic creation. So thoughtful. Bravo! --sangredulce @ LJ (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:26 pm UTC

bluestocking79
2007-12-21 04:54 am UTC (link)

How completely brilliant! Though the idea of this pairing had occurred to me before, I'd never, ever seen it written... but what a wonderful job you've made of it. For a story about two gruff, wounded, taciturn men, the story is really very humane and oddly tender, resonant with all the words left unsaid, yet clearly demonstrated.

I must confess that although the setup for the climactic "scapegoating" was perfect, I was still utterly stunned by it. What a clever and original way to resurrect Severus--not to mention explaining the story behind those "improper charms" on the goat. :-)

He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending.

Everybody is singling out how fantastic this line is, and with good reason. In a story filled with great lines, this one stands out, poignant and revealing. It tells us so much about all three men: Albus the careless, Severus the cast-off, Aberforth the mender of broken things, spotter of virtue in unlikely places.

Bravo!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:26 pm UTC

	islandsmoke 2007-12-21 05:56 am UTC (link)
	This is amazing! Excellent take on Albus, and "scapegoating"? OMG, what an original concept! Poor, poor Bess, though, but yeh! for Aberforth! He'd had his share of cast-offs in his life, worn out clothing and broken toys. Albus never was careful with his things. If nothing else, it had made Aberforth a fair hand at mending. weeps (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:28 pm UTC

	itsajack 2007-12-21 06:29 am UTC (link)
	this is absolutely perfect. I'm dead tired, but before I go to sleep I wanted to add my voice to the chorus of praise you're so deservedly getting. there were so many points in this fic where I simply had to stop and breathe and read a line again in sheer awe of your talent. thank you for writing this. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 10:28 pm UTC

slashpine
2007-12-21 07:21 am UTC (link)

Ah, I loved this. When we were all thinking "Snape_after_DH" I thought Aberforth, FTW! He'd have known Snape for years, and a bartender -- especially one who just happens to be Albus's brother, and not necessarily on good terms -- is exactly the person a spy would know.

The "wabi-sabi" appreciation for the broken, the bitterly brought up, the ones who are carelessly treated by a golden Gryffindor, are again exactly IC for the owner of a rural pub. Aberforth knows how to deal, as Snape eventually does, too. (I wonder how much of that pragmatism and competence Severus learned from Aberforth? And I wonder what House Aberforth was in?)

The magical extension of the concept of scapegoating is very creative, and fills that canon hole about the goats perfectly.

Well done, all around.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 11:38 pm UTC

	gingertart50 2007-12-21 08:07 am UTC (link)
	Oh! What a wonderful, wry, uplifting, unusual, poignant and beautiful fic! Thank you, mystery author, I loved it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 11:38 pm UTC

jeddy
2007-12-21 02:16 pm UTC (link)

Oh, this is lovely. I am in awe of your ability to take two seeming misfits and, not only make them human but also fit them together as though they should always have been joined. I love the structure and the way you used the prologue to support is wonderful

Plus, I love the fact that you took Albus's throw away comment regarding his brother's fondness for goats and turned it into something beautiful. And also something that is reflective of the state of their relationship as brothers.

And this bit of commentary on JKR's Snape backstory...

He left the lad his secrets. It made him more interesting.

...amused me greatly.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

atdelphi, 2008-01-05 11:40 pm UTC

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