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snarrymod (snarrymod) wrote in snarry_games,
@ 2008-10-25 21:24:00

Entry tags:

entry, pg, team dragon

TEAM DRAGON ENTRY: "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" By LittleBlackBow
Title: What I did on my Summer Vacation
Artist: littleblackbow/Chibitoaster (Rana)
Team: Dragon
Email: sblackdog (a) gmail
Genre(s): Post-War
Prompt(s): Message in a bottle, Vacation
Rating/Warnings/Kinks: PG; None
Artist's Notes/Thank you's:Dedicated to Ven, Djinnj, and Ria who have shown me more support than I ever thought I deserved. Thank you so much!
Media used: pencil, paper, music (see credits), animation
Archiving/Usage permission, including the Tribute Video (only after the polls have closed and medals have been awarded): with credit, absolutely!!

What I did on my Summer Vacation, by Littleblackbow

"What I did on my Summer Vacation"

*Will open in new window. High res Quicktime movie (30 mb), please let the animation load first!*

Or, watch it on Youtube:

MOD NOTE: POLL IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE SNARRY GAMES.

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perverse_idyll
2008-10-26 02:50 am UTC (link)

God. This just made my stomach go all quivery. It's so incredibly inventive and sweet-natured and there's something about it that's just - well, beautiful. Heartbreaking, but in a way that makes everything right. (And by "everything" I mean Snape's death and the utter desolation and loneliness of it and That Stupid Epilogue.) The drawings - I'm not even sure I can describe how they make me feel. The kids are wonderful extrapolations from their fathers, but it's the way you draw Snape and Harry that really gets to me. Your ability to imagine them older and show them to us, recognizably themselves and so vulnerable to the past, is breathtaking. The emotion you manage to distill in a few sweeps of the pencil, gah! *hand flail* You've got a devastating gift for expression that shoots right past my defenses. I love the use of the shocked, staring eyes as a glimpse into each man's sudden comprehension, how the sight of each child jars the other's parent into aching for what he's lost .

Okay, I just watched it again for the fourth time, and I couldn't help it, I cried. It's as if the more I understand the story, the more poignant it is. Your Harry is gorgeous, btw - so mature-looking, intelligent and warm. And his little chin-beard! Aw, sophisticated. And your Snape - how much do I love the fact that he's wearing Dumbledore's half-moon spectacles? Or his stubble? Or the way his hair straggles in his face, making him look careworn and sharpened by grief? I admit I don't entirely understand why he suddenly falls ill, but you do a shockingly good job of making him look feverish and somewhat gruesome, as if he's dying. The teeth really nail it there. I love the panel of Al standing over him, the woebegone look on her face. And you depict the meeting between them with such outstanding narrative skill - my heart catches every time the frame pans from Harry opening the door to Snape's face - Jesus, his expression kills me. Such grief and longing. As if he's tried his damnedest to stay away. As if he's exhausted his resistance and he's here to ask Harry for forgiveness and doesn't know what kind of reception he'll get. The moment when Harry leans into his touch, followed by their fierce hug (and their children's jumpy surprise, heh) is cathartic. What a perfect build-up and consummation.

There are lots of lovely bits strewn all through - like the panel where Snape caresses the photo of Harry and through the window we see the kids walk off together. I adore how expressive all the hands are; you truly have a knack for beauty and the telling emotional detail. Also, the song! *clutches* What a stroke of genius. It has the same tender, almost child-like qualities of playfulness and poignancy that the story does. It's as if it were written expressly for it.

I can type until I'm blue in the face - or crippled in the fingers - and I still won't be able to convey how much I love this or how much it touches me. The word "beautiful" just keeps ringing in my head. This is brilliant from beginning to - God - the end. Which, I confess, took me completely by surprise. Until that moment it hadn't occurred tome that Almosteria was a girl. Which just knocked this out of the quidditch pitch for me: a wicked feint, a homage to their fathers' epic love, and a romantic epilogue all in one.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Pure magic, that's what this is. I'm almost dazed by how happy it makes me. Thank you so much.

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	perverse_idyll 2008-10-26 02:53 am UTC (link)
	Argh, of course I meant Alstromeria. facepalm Sorry. I shouldn't try to be coherent after midnight. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	hogwartshoney 2008-10-26 03:08 pm UTC (link)
	OMG ditto EVERYTHING YOU SAID!!!!! A thousand times!!! I'm still all weepy over it and it's been ten minutes and three more run-throughs of the vid. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	littleblackbow 2008-10-26 05:50 pm UTC (link)
	OMG, thank you so much! Seriously, this really made my day. I was so worried about it - the sketchiness, the black and white (no color), no slash... sigh you guys are the greatest!!! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

hogwartshoney
2008-10-26 08:31 pm UTC (link)

... but the sketchiness and the b/w was what MADE it so.... *has no word for it*

I absolutely loved this. I still have the window up with the video just so that I can ~~weep again~~ enjoy it a few more times. The part that truly punched me in the gut... well, 2 of 'em really, was when Severus caressed the pic of Harry and we could see the 2 young ones through the window, and at the end, the hug, their body positions and the sheer 'unnngh' of it - it's so expressive and emotive and just.... again, no words for it.

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littleblackbow
2008-10-26 05:48 pm UTC (link)

I love love love you!!!

OMG. Thank you so much! It was such a long process, and I wanted to make sure I got the story down. Which, by the way, Femmequixotic is gonna write!!! :D:D:D

Thank you so much. I wanted to make it ambiguous as to whether it was a girl or boy. (doesn't really matter. Snape is a parent - that's what's important)

And... just... this is the best comment EVER. I've NEVER received anything like this. So moving.

Thank you so much!!!

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effie_chan
2008-10-26 08:15 pm UTC (link)

Someone's going to write a story for this?!? OMG! *does a little dance*
This is my favourite bit in the whole games so far. Like many other's here I got a little teary eyed. That never happens to me from watching pictures!
I also watched it a second time after reading perverse_idyll's comment and it was even more moving after really understanding everything.
I hope you do more with this pairing because I absolutely love the way you draw adult Harry. And Snape with half moon shaped glasses! *melts* Just wonderful.

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perverse_idyll
2008-10-27 10:41 pm UTC (link)

Sorry, I've been jerked around the past couple of days by obligations or I would have replied earlier. I could blather on at even greater length about my joy in your work, but really, it boils down to this:

I hope you are being carried upward on a great wave of audience love. Because this deserves every jot and tittle of praise and every tear showered upon it. It has stayed with me since the night I first watched it. Yesterday I woke up with the song and the images in my head. The memory of it visits me at odd moments during the day, and it always makes me smile.

Also EEEEEEEEEEEEE!! *runs around in circles* Femme's going to write the fic to this! OMG, could there be a more perfect match between author and inspiration? I think not! Hallelujah, this is glorious news!

Let me just shake my head and say, once again, that the talent in this fandom astonishes me.

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frek
2008-10-26 10:40 pm UTC (link)

You've said everything about this that I wish I was able to say. :)

Seriously,

littleblackbow, you've done an amazing job with this. I'm still a bit weepy and speechless, but I wanted to say something to you about your artwork before I forgot.

I've watched the video three times now, and may have saved it to watch it a few more times. Your images were amazing, how you pictured Harry and Snape, how they're both older but still them, few artists get it right, but you did. The transitions from image to image and the panning and scanning really helped to move the story along and create the emotions that really made this.

I loved the emotion in their faces and their body language. The scene where they're clutching each other tore me up, as did the scenes where Snape is looking at the photos of Harry. Oh! And the scene where Harry comes to his side. Each of these moments were really done just right. I can't describe it, but really, it felt so perfect.

Your choice of music, too, couldn't have been more perfect for this story. I've never heard the song before (and I may have found a new band to investigate), but the lyrics, the music, the tone of the song was absolutely perfect. If anything, it made the images of this video even more emotive.

I'm still a bit weepy, but I can't wait to watch it again. I just wanted to let you know that you've done an amazing job and I'm really in love with it.

<3333

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