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snarrymod (snarrymod) wrote in snarry_games,
@ 2009-08-28 08:02:00

Entry tags:

fic, snitch

Team Snitch Entry (FIC): "By Sulfur and Salt" by Elfwreck
Title: By Sulfur and Salt
Author: elfwreck
Team: Snitching Victory!
Genre(s): Gender Bender and/or Crossdressing
Prompt(s): Doppelganger, Alchemy
Rating/Warnings/Kinks: NC-17; Highlight if you wish to know: *Explicit Snape/Lily. Identity issues.*
Word Count: ~16,000
Author Notes/Disclaimers/Betas: Many thanks to joanwilder for beta reading at odd hours and a ridiculous amount of hand-holding. Special bonus points (whatever those are) to naatz who nudged me into this prompt and walked me through last-minute beta help, to chaosraven who helped me sort out POV issues, and the Team Snitch Random Beta Crew, who are too many to mention and all deserve medals. The team was wonderful; any flaws remaining are mine.

Summary: Snape's idyllic life with Lily is disrupted when the Ministry of Magic takes an interest in them.

"By Sulfur and Salt"

Don't forget to vote and review!

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

Mod note: If you rec this story, please link this POST, not the story url, or the author will not get her proper vote tally. Thank you!

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	synn 2009-08-30 02:48 pm UTC (link)
	What a great story! I love the idea of Harry playing lily. Very glad for the glimmer of hope at the end. I especially liked the way Snape treats harry and 'lily' differently, but it's clear he still loves both, and his exchange with Hermione and Arthur. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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elfwreck, 2009-09-01 02:58 am UTC

	npetrenko 2009-08-31 12:13 am UTC (link)
	Beautiful. Excellent story. (Reply to this)

	nestinghedwig 2009-08-31 01:39 am UTC (link)
	A hauntingly beautiful and disturbing fic. I've never bought JKR's premise that Harry remained uneffected by his past; your portrayal of his shattered sense of self and his relationship with a fiercely protective Sev is somehow more realistic (if more than a little twisted) than the cannon crap-alogue. Well done, fellow Snitch. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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elfwreck, 2009-09-01 03:07 am UTC

	jadzialove 2009-08-31 02:48 am UTC (link)
	Oh! Poor broken Harry. And my goodness the love Severus must have for him to keep it going for 'Lily'. I'm so glad there was a glimmer of hope at the end! Go Snitches! (Reply to this)

hogwartshoney
2009-08-31 04:06 am UTC (link)

Y'know what? The level of fuckupedness (new word) in this is pretty damn high, and talk about pushing the comfort level up several degrees? Oh yeah, it's all in there.

Despite the het (which was sexy and very well written) in this a, well, Snarry exchange, I didn't mind it at all. It more than served its function. Lily's twitchiness and desperation was almost palpable and I found that I was twitchily reading through the fic to see where and how the shoes dropped. Excellent premise, nicely detailed bits on the making of the potion (I totally believed it, btw) and Snape in character as much as he can be while living with - essentially - two people.

I was really fascinated by the way you lead the reader through the scenario, all the time giving us hints which we think we know but aren't sure, or mightn't be sure of just how to put it all together, and then the masterful unfolding... really, this one will stay with me for a long time.

Back to the potion. I really liked the descriptions of the process, the logic, the ingredients (and the procurement methods!) and how stressful it was on them both every time.

The confrontation with Hermione and Arthur.... that was really tense and poignant and quite sad, showing a hint of the depths of despair that Harry must have suffered through. I can't help feeling that there will be some more trouble for them ahead, but perhaps not for a while.

I suppose it's too much to hope for a sequel, but this truly stands out from the rest of the pack in these games.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

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elfwreck, 2009-09-01 02:51 am UTC

(no subject) -

hogwartshoney, 2009-09-02 02:17 am UTC

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elfwreck, 2009-09-02 02:54 am UTC

	mia_ugly 2009-08-31 07:26 am UTC (link)
	That was just excellent. Such an original idea, and so well-written. I'm going back to read it again, because it was so overwhelming - I'm still reeling a bit. My heart hurts. Well done. Yay Team Snitch!!! (Reply to this)

myshewasyar
2009-08-31 10:59 am UTC (link)

This was so disturbing - but in a really good way!
At first I could feel nothing but sorrow for Harry - driven away from his friends and the wizarding world, so helpless and so desperate to get away from himself. Snape's motives were hard to read - was he simply taking advantage of a chance to have his Lily back? But as the story progressed you could see that Snape was coming to love Harry as himself, and by the end Harry seemed to be more accepting of his true self as well. And yet there could still be pleasure in Harry's dual persona - pleasure rather than desperation. Really thought provoking.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

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elfwreck, 2009-09-01 03:14 am UTC

	ubiquirk 2009-08-31 10:58 pm UTC (link)
	Such an interesting idea! And I like the way you kept Harry broken, only getting slowly better while Severus loves him no matter his form. (And that the het sex was beautiful.) (Reply to this)

	shyfoxling 2009-09-01 12:13 am UTC (link)
	Ah, so this is the one you were talking about at the tea party? Interesting idea, although actually I find it nowhere near as surreal and disturbing as I thought you were going to make it, heheh. I loved this line: "So, if you're quite done adding stress to my life, you are welcome to leave now. Or sooner, if you happen to have a time-turner handy." I sporfled. (Reply to this) (Thread)

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elfwreck, 2009-09-01 02:10 am UTC

	montana_dan 2009-09-01 04:03 am UTC (link)
	sighs I loved this again and I will love this again and again in the future. Severus's apparent love for Harry touches me everytime and I know he will help Harry to acceptance. Harry's identity confusion is so moving. Beautiful work. (Reply to this)

	eeyore9990 2009-09-02 09:40 pm UTC (link)
	I love Harry as Lily fics and this was fantastic! From the first word to the last, I wondered how you were going to reconcile Harry with himself, with his past and his present. I love how manic you made him, how needy for some semblance of normalcy even as you had him searching for it in the body of a dead woman. So completely awesome. (Reply to this)

gina87
2009-09-03 10:57 am UTC (link)

Fantastic story! You had me from the first scene, I really could see Petunia freaking out.

Gender bending and crossdressing are not really my thing but after reading so many stories in this Snarry Games I can see it and you really made it work!

And I love your final scene with Snape and Harry...you could see that Harry no longer needed to be split but still choose it.

I really liked the way you wrote the het scenes

Great job!

(Reply to this)

	plantinshadows 2009-09-03 11:35 am UTC (link)
	whew! on what a emotional rollercoaster you took us! I'm glad that snape seems to accepts and love harry in either form and I'm even more glad (since I'm not a fan of totally unstable and insecure harry) that towards the end of your story he seems to be a bit more at peace with himself. (Reply to this)

torino10154
2009-09-03 01:20 pm UTC (link)

I've always adored 'Harry as Lily' the few times I've read or seen art. You did such a great job with this. Harry's desperate desire to be Lily, whom everyone loved as well as Severus's ability to take what he wants and yet, he does seem like really he'd be happy with either Lily or Harry. The end really was great-Harry seems to be happier, accepting perhaps that he is Harry but chooses to be Lily Prince. It was hard to see him suffering, worrying about first running out of potion and then brewing it as well as the interactions with Arthur and Hermione. Great job!

(Reply to this)

	antigone_x 2009-09-05 03:03 am UTC (link)
	Wow -- creepy and awesome! A very interesting and original take on the whole Snape-Lily-Harry dynamic. (Reply to this)

	leni_jess 2009-09-05 05:00 am UTC (link)
	Both facinating and distressing (the amount of mental and emotional pressure needed to create that determination to disappear in almost every possible way!). Good to see Harry so much more at peace with his original identity; that will make Snape easier and happier. A most unusual story! (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2009-09-06 08:52 am UTC (link)
	"guilty of weird sex that bothers us; here, have a prison term for making us think about it." I love you just for this, but the rest of the story is made of win, too. Excellent stuff. (Reply to this)

lavinialavender.livejournal.com
2009-09-07 03:57 am UTC (link)

This is honestly one of the creepiest and most brilliant fics I've ever read. And I've read a lot of creepy and brilliant fic (though not often together).

It had me screaming at first (my longtime OTP is Lily/Severus, by the way, and Snarry does not appeal to me at all), but I kept reading, and your writing got better and better, and yeah. I really enjoyed it. It freaked me the hell out, but it's very well done. I also liked the wealth of potions detail through it - very impressive. I love it when authors creatively and realistically build on canon magic.

So, really, very good job.

(Reply to this)

	undunoops 2009-09-07 02:23 pm UTC (link)
	Really corking, well-structured and different story. Snape turns out to be a nice guy after all, but I guess we knew that! ;-) (Reply to this)

loupgarou1750
2009-09-09 04:39 am UTC (link)

I'm not a fan of genderbending & crossdressing, because mostly, I don't care for the way it's handled, but I knew if anybody could do it without annoying me, you were the one, so I took a shot. And I was right; you did it well and you did it without annoying me! Well done, Elf! The whole thing was absorbing and touching, but I gotta say, even more than the main plot, I loved the, um, I'm not sure how to say this, peripheral stuff, I guess: Arthur being sidetracked by the Muggle game; the Hermione Petunia conversation; "guilty of weird sex that bothers us"; and most of all, the potion crafting, the tools, the way you really evoked the sense of how long it takes and all the antsiness around that.

(Reply to this)

alisanne
2009-09-10 06:48 pm UTC (link)

Wow. What a clever premise.
This was really disturbing in a couple of ways. One: because I am not a fan a fan of girl!Harry or Snily and yet I REALLY enjoyed it, and two: because you got the details so RIGHT. *g*
Of course Harry is messed up. In that respect this story make perfect sense. I can definitely see him reacting like this after the war.
As Loup mentions, the little things like Arthur getting sidetracked and Hermione's guilt, all read as very authentic.
Thank you for the touch of hope at the end as well. I like to think that Harry is starting to adjust to himself again, with Snape's help.
Well done!

(Reply to this)

	majmunka 2009-09-15 11:07 pm UTC (link)
	It's beautiful and heartbreaking and hot and twisted and brilliant. OMG... (Reply to this)

	myheartinhiding 2009-09-18 06:12 am UTC (link)
	One of my favorite Snarry flavors: Hot, warped innocence! There's so much hidden, genuine feeling on both sides as they manipulate each other for what they think they want--only to discover they're also getting (surprise!) their hearts' desire. Beautifully done. (Reply to this)

ziasudra
2009-09-19 02:27 pm UTC (link)

This is very nicely done. I almost wish this wasn't part of a Snarry fest because I was able to deduce who "Lily" was from the beginning... but then I probably would never have read such an original and intriguing story!

I loved the way you took us slowly through Snape's brewing process. The Polyjuice Potion felt real to me for once, as if it's something I can grab a recipe for and attempt to reproduce. And Snape's relationship with "Lily" and Harry through different points of this process was also very interesting to read. He definitely accepts them both, and might even love Harry as much as he's fixated on Lily.

Good job, teammate!

(Reply to this)

	bethbethbeth 2009-09-20 02:50 am UTC (link)
	A hard story to read, but a wonderful one. I hated how wrong Harry felt in his skin at the start, but the ending...it feels like Harry can finally embrace both the Harry side of himself and the Lily side of himself. And god, how much did I love that segment with Hermione and Arthur in all their officious glory, facing off against the blunt honesty of Snape. Perfect scene. (Reply to this)

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