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snarrymod (snarrymod) wrote in snarry_games,
@ 2008-05-20 19:12:00

Entry tags:

entry, perverse_idyll, team phoenix

TEAM PHOENIX ENTRY: Perverse Idyll "When the Rose and the Fire Are One"
Title: When the Rose and the Fire Are One
Author: perverse_idyll
Team: Phoenix!
Genre(s): Alternate Universe *Hover/Click for Games Definition of Alternate Universe*
Prompt(s): Flesh Memory, Spilling Fire
Rating/Warnings/Kinks: *(HBP but not DH-compliant) Violence, rough sex, character death (not Snape or Harry)*
Word Count: 81,000+
Summary: Harry's haunted by guilt. Snape's warded by roses. Each must free the other in order to free himself.
A/N: First, thank you to the mods for creating the Games in the first place and for having the patience of saints. leela_cat did a phenomenal job with this in a ridiculously short time. Whatever coherence the fic has is due to her heroic efforts and hand-holding. Also thanks to Team Phoenix for putting up with my fumbling captaincy and for helping to make this an enjoyable ride. Lastly, many thanks to my beloved rinsbane for talking me through to the images I needed. I wish this were a better first offering, my dear.

*With gratitude to leela_cat and apologies to T. S. Eliot.

"When the Rose and the Fire Are One by Perverse Idyll"

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.

Mod note: Due to the length of this story, we will not be posting another until tomorrow evening. Thank you!

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aestus
2008-05-22 02:44 pm UTC (link)

this is just. . . this is absolutely nothing short of staggering. the world you created is so thick and heavy and trapping with atmosphere, your writing was exquisite, absolutely exquisite. i felt at times like i was clawing my way through the reading of this, and at times i felt light and like i was treading through with extraordinary delicacy. i am so shellshocked right now that i fear that i cannot leave you a coherent review. this is hands down (for me) the preeminent story of these games, and possibly the best snarry i have ever read. (and there have been many hundreds, if not thousands) most of it has to do with the atmosphere you created, of harry's obsessiveness, of the incredible precision and craft of your language. your OC Odile was so incredibly delicious I wished it were possible to have her in all the scenes. The poignancy of Ron's storyline was beautiful and lovely. I am at a point in my Snarry consumption where I have read so many sex scenes that I tend to skim over them in favor of the plot, but the sex between Harry and Snape in this story was so intense it was almost overwhelming.

I need another read so I can go through more slowly and savor the words and enjoy the plot a bit more. My rush to finish this was fevered and frenetic and I wish that I could convey to you, without being a gushing mess, how I felt when reading this. This story is a fantastic gift to fandom. Thank you so much.

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perverse_idyll
2008-05-25 06:36 am UTC (link)

Augh, I wrote you a response two nights ago and somehow it didn't get posted. I must have closed the window before hitting the "post" button. My sincere apologies.

Because, you know? Your comment absolutely blew me away. I've never had the experience before of a reader entering so wholeheartedly into a story of mine, and it makes me feel intensely grateful and just, well, euphoric - with that little hysterical voice inside squeaking, "I did it! I seduced a reader! I breathed life into Harry and Snape!" And I want to wrap myself up inside the words "incredible precision and craft of your language," because I've always been prone to stylistic excess, to overindulgence in imagery, and it's been a lifelong struggle to bring my purple prose enough under control that readers don't feel suffocated.

I'm humbled by how much you love this fic, even though I can't agree with you about how it compares to other Snarries. There are writers in this fandom toward whom I feel nothing short of adoration. But I'm thrilled to my toes that this fic swept you away, that it touched you like that.

I'm guilty as charged of writing obsessive Harry. ;-) I think when he's around Snape, something gets triggered. Or maybe it's just me. But Harry needs to learn, at the most visceral level, how the weight of sin and guilt can twist one emotionally. He's in a position now to understand Snape - never mind whether understanding Snape is something he ever wanted - because he's far more like Snape now that he's lost his innocence.

I'm delighted that you like Odile, because let's face it, for an OC she gets a lot a screen time and that might have backfired. And Ron - oh dear. The devastating irony of Ron's storyline is that I wrote the scenes of his death and funeral the month before my oldest friend fell ill and died. So for me this fic is haunted, and always will be.

Now I have to confess that I'm *really* chuffed you found the sex scenes to your liking. Because I'm with you - I often skim them, since the initial thrill of OMG-hawt! has worn off. Mostly because it stops being about the characters and becomes just about the sex. Don't get me wrong, I also miss sex scenes when a fic seems to be crying out for that sort of intimacy and the author doesn't provide it. But when Snape and Harry are fucking I feel as if they should be even more themselves, more Snapish and Harryish, more deeply at odds and yet deeply connected. I put off writing both the big sex scenes until the very end because I knew how important it was to get them right and I worried I wasn't up to the task.

My rush to finish this was fevered and frenetic - hah, that describes me during the final two days and nights of writing this fic! I'm rambling now, but I hope you know how very much your comment means to me. Your generosity fills me with joy, and my muse is positively shivering. In the typically egotistical fashion of neurotic writers, it makes me want to rush forth and commit more fic. *g* So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Which is what I meant to say two nights ago. I've been floating on air ever since.

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