Dark, but very original. I enjoyed reading this! I did read it out of sequence, but I think it still works.
Wow, that was intense..realy unique.
Author's Response: Thank you! Writing this series is a lot of fun.
| Title: Mercies
| 03 Mar 2012 5:14 pm
|
| Reviewer: Eileen Blackwood (Anonymous)
| [Report This]
|
I don't know how I didn't see this, but you are one of my favorite authors and this is my favorite series. But I have to disagree with you that we don't know anything about James except that he was bully. We don't even know that he WAS a bully. I always got the impression that Snape gave as good as he got in canon. Lily discusses his proviclivity to curse others, so it is probable that Snape was using dark curses on the Marauders as well (why wouldn't he?) And, we also know that James as brave man, working for the Order (and stood up to the dark lord 3 times... powerful stuff) and that he loved his wife and son immensely. Dying so that they might have a chance to live. And we see him in the forest of Dean, still obviously loving and caring for his son. He was also a good and loyal friend. All important facts. But saying that, it is still amazing that you have made the average Snape lover sympathatise with him in this story, since Snape lovers are too often James haters. You are a very talented writer. This series (and this story is no different) plays with our emotions, toying with them and making us want to cry. I hate that James is a slave. I hate that he can't know he is son, and yet I love that Snape gets to be a father. It's almost like I can't stand to read this story, with Voldemort as he is, and yet I can't stand not to read it. Ugh, how do you do that?
Author's Response: Thank you! It's one of my favorite verses.
What I mean I suppose was that one of the few times we see James instead of hearing about him is when he's bullying someone. I don't think that the Marauders and Snape had a strict bully/victim relationship for most of their school days, I think Snape turned it pretty quickly into a feud, but hanging someone upside down and taking off their pants a bullying act. I know former bullies who grew up to become decent human beings, which I like to think is what happened to James, given how many people held him up as a good man, and how he obviously loved his wife and son, but what fascinates me so much about the Marauders and Snape is just how many shades of gray there are to it, bully/victim, vicious feud, righteous anger against a future Death Eater, take your pick. All are part of it. And I like to poke at it.
Aww! This was a marvellous little plot bunny you had to play with, wasn't it? I like that you kept it all short now. Sometimes less is more, especially when you're creating a dystopia and everyone knows the original world so well. Nicely done with James especially, he was just as you'd expect him to be.
Author's Response: I love this universe so much! I'm glad you like James. He really is both the hardest character to write, and my favorite. It's dfficult to make him sympathetic, given that we know he was a bully, and we don't know all that much else, especially in this installment, where he uses the knowledge he gained bullying Snape to manipulate him. I intend to show a bit more of the universe outside the Snape family home in the next installment, even though a great deal of the story thus far has been a family drama set against the backdrop of a dystopia (which isn't something you see a lot of, or at least I haven't) and i'm a little worried that I'll show too much. Oh well.
Poor James! Watching his worst enemy claim his son as his own is heartbreaking! My heart goes out to him, and I'll admit I cried! You write beautifully and your idea's originality is a wonderful change from the usual Snape and Harry Fanfics! Please keep up the great work!
Author's Response: Thank you. On a site like this where we all like Snape so much, it's difficult to make an audience sympathize with James. I'm glad I've been at least a little successful in that area. This is my reemergence into Harry Potter fandom after a nearly two year hiatus in which I wrote for other fandoms. In fact, I had the first 1,800 words of this already written and ignored on my computer. Anyway, I plan to write three more stories in this verse and finish up a Marauders era chapterfic before I leave the fandom entirely.
|