- truth? -

[reenka]

One would think it was impossible-- surely there's no such beast as an in character, entirely canon-plausible NC17 Harry/Snape post-OoTP one-shot.... Right? I mean, Harry/Snape is a pairing that goes against the very grain of canon... right? (Not that H/D doesn't in enough ways....)

Wrong. That is to say, I've finally found an H/S I could believe in. And I studiously -avoided- reading anything but H/S smut 'cause I didn't -want- to believe in them. But thisveryinstant's `Truth' completely worked for me. I could... see it happening. Snape & Harry were... human. What's even more disturbing, actually, is that Snape became 'Severus' for the duration of the fic probably for the first time ever-- which mirrored Harry's own shift in perception rather well.

All without prettifying any of their ugliness or resentment or even the physical awkwardness. Snape wasn't the 'hot & sexy Potions Master'-- he was just Snape. And as another barometer of goodness-- Draco was well-treated, too. Not skipped over, not made into a complete caricature-- he had a in-character part, too. God, I love this fic.

I'd love people's opinions on this fic, mostly (well, given that you're at all willing to read H/S). Do you think it works? If it doesn't, why not?

Man, I'm trying to think of an H/D that's equally believable, and can't think of anything outside of Miss Breed's fics. Le sigh.

Comments

[djinniyah.livejournal.com]

haha, Harry/Snape is very much my guilty pleasure, mostly because some of those writers write so well. And I'm attracted to the potentialities of the pairing - honestly, no, I don't think it would happen in canon. But I don't think any of the slash pairings will, and so therefore they'll never be, exactly, realistic. However, I do understand what you mean with 'convincing you' and all. Personally, for me, it all comes down to the writing, to how well the writer explains and presents the characters (even if it's their view of them - though I rarely like OOC anything), how realistic they make the pairing. For me, some (of course not all or even a large ammount) do this very, very well with Harry/Snape.

And honestly (and I so don't want to be mean here, to the author or to your view of the story - which is fine! and valid!), 'Truth' didn't do all that much for me. It does keep Snape and Harry in character, but I've seen a lot of fics that do the same - if better. It was rather cliche, all-told, and I didn't feel that their sudden sexual view of each other made any sense at all... they just got angry and then horribly, inexpliquably aroused? I don't know... :( It just seemed to PWP for me, which are rarely my kind of fics. I need depth and intellectual angst. ::shrugs:: And I don't mean to demean the fic or your view of it - it just wasn't for me.

If you're interested in hellishly good harry/snape, check out alchemia and bugland's 'A Bittersweet Potion' series and the amazing J. Alfred Prufock Arc by vain_chan (it's IC, disturbing, and you should read it even if you hate harry/snape - b/c it brings in war and pain and manipulation and obsession with mythology and families and history... so good). :)

Hee hee. :D Hope I'm helpful.

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

I think I avoid long plotty angsty H/S 'cause it requires me to believe in the pairing as romantic rather than just... er... an ill-advised (but possibly fortuitous, as with Lydia Lovestruck's fics) mistake. Er. ^^;; Hee. I love angst & depth normally, but since I have such a hang-up about my OTP & not thinking of H/S as believable, reading a romance just messes with my head, like... by making me have to suspend my disbelief on a deeper level, if that makes sense. That is, a one-shot requires less suspension of disbelief, 'cause I can basically believe -anyone- would have sex at least once, and since I do like the Harry&Snape dynamic, sex doesn't bother me, per se. :D

It occurs to me that the reason the sudden UST worked for me (though there were hints when Snape was holding up Harry's head to make him drink the antidote) was because I can totally see anger = lust, since after all, I ship H/D, and part of the appeal of H/S is the resentment (for me, at least). So if you can see resentment/animosity as sexual tension, you're all set. Like... uh... sublimated. That is one of the appeals of H/S, isn't it? That they can't stand each other, I mean, and how that sekritly means they're gagging for it~:)) At least, Snape has to be... not from Harry, necessarily, but still.

I keep hearing very good things about `Bittersweet Potion', though, so I'm likely to crumble one day (keep in mind, it took me... awhile to read `Transfigurations', the big 'new' H/D novel... a year and a half ago). Heh. I love innovative magic & myths & stuff, too-- though in fanfics my priority is definitely characterization & intensity of dynamic between the two (if it's a romance). A think part of what's kept me from reading `Bittersweet Potion' is the lack of sex, actually, 'cause if there's none (at least for a long time), then I just feel like I'm... cheating or something, ahahah (insane, since the more gen-like it is the less cheating it'd be, theoretically, but it's just that smut distracts me). I think a long smutless fic is just... a bigger investment ^^; Though I didn't read `Truth' for the smut but instead for the concept of Harry taking veritaserum-- sometimes concepts just strike me the right way (like I -knew- I had to read it when I saw Lydia's fic say 'Harry becomes impotent & Snape has to brew a potion' or Predatrix's fic say 'Snape becomes a table'-- I just can't resist some things). Hee :D

[djinniyah.livejournal.com]

See, I'm not big into romances either - as in, romances like epic, true-love, roses-and-overflowing-passion and angst. I rarely like the epics whose main point is the getting-together of Person X and Person Y in Unlikely Circumstances. I mean, love can be amazing to read about if done well - however, too often love gets coupled with angst and crying and woe and we have (to use the HP/SS dynamic) Snape crying into Harry's arms about his horrible life and Harry being all fawny and sweet and student-boy-crushy.... >.<. I don't know, that's really stereotyping, and I realize not all 'romances' are like that - but two people growing to love each other just... I don't know. Is too flowery for me. Too much of a writing on an ideal that rarely exists anyway. (and yes, I'm rambling; I apologize:) )

I think good H/S has nothing at all to do with being romantic. That isn't who they are, you know? Harry perhaps, with the right person; Snape, absolutely not. He's a bitter, reserved, intellectual snob of a Machiavellian man. Not the roses-and-wine type, or even the sweet, considerate kind - he'd be selfish, mean, demanding, and prone to being in denial, no doubt. Harry is a kid. He's angry, he hates Snape, has had an emotionally-lacking childhood (i.e. he's no doubt maladjust anyway) etc etc - so, yes, resentment would play a huge role in any relationship they had! Absolutely. And yes, the whole thing with anger and lust can be hugely potent in any fic with sexuality - same with love and hate, or any seemingly polar emotion. I've just seen it done so well that I'm biased, I think ;).

I really do recommend to you vain_chan's JAP Arc... the whole thing builds realistically between the two of them (with a huge, complex, backdrop) and it all starts with an ill-advised, if innocent act that totally fucks over everything. And, god, their dynamic is nothing if not freakishly intense. And haha, I completely understand the inability to resist some things - weirdness is always good. I remember a fic (by trickofthedark I think) that Snape's animagus form was a polar bear... XD. LOL. It's just one of those things, you know? Hee heee. :)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

Heehehe just so you're not shocked later on... er... I am quite a romantic idealist, myself... with a healthy dose of cynicism. ~:)) And I often read for escapism value, so desire for emotional realism somehow combines in my head with a willingness to suspend my disbelief if the writing is good enough & the sex is hot enough~:)) Besides... reality isn't all it's cracked up to be :D But I dislike blatant... I dunno -lying- in fiction, I guess...? Like, there's a line, to me, between writing about emotion honestly but hopefully and writing about it while insulting the reader's intelligence, I guess...? Love stories don't have to center around their endings, anyway-- like, to me at least, the journey is more interesting than the destination in any case, so what I look for is personal growth & an in-depth exploration of what makes people tick & such. People who write romance by formula just give it a bad reputation, but then, almost every genre is full of crap. :>

Heeee! You reminded me of Didodikali's fics!! Eeee, I remember her from her Escaflowne days (and mine, ahahah). Omg, her Snape/Lily with the illustrations, omg, omg <33333333 (I have this... uber-sekrit... er... soft spot for Snape/Lily, and she draws them so wonderfully, ack). I love her art so much, wah.

Also: rambling is of the good. Does anyone actually mind that sort of thing? :>

[djinniyah.livejournal.com]

Hee hee, whee for romantic idealism. I don't know if I am or not - I think I fall into blatant aestheticism instead. Unhappy endings can be just as gorgeous as happy ones... yeah. Not so healthy, methinks, but... ;) Hee hee. And yes, I read for escapism too I think - not all the time, but sometimes it's actually depressing how much more beautiful fiction can be than life some of the time. Reality is never what it's cracked up to be, to some extent. Whether in a good way (?) or bad way. But... yeah. I think it's true that fic can be not-realistic in that way - yes:

there's a line, to me, between writing about emotion honestly but hopefully and writing about it while insulting the reader's intelligence

I.e. there's good fic, and there's bad fic. I also think I've have preconceptions in my head concerning how I think my favorite characters should act - romanticizations, of course ;). My own 'canon' in a way (that aren't bizarre extrapolations on actual canon or anything, just my interpretation that makes sense to me... yeah. So, I judge fics' good/badness based on that, on the use of emotion and ICness etc. Hn. I guess that's the point of fandom, though, right? Interpretation and re-interpretation? And we all want different things - that's why we're here, I suppose. :) Heeee.

And hmmm, does anyone mind rambling... haha, I know I don't except when it's my own, sometimes ;). Because then I feel like I'm being incoherent. So maybe, instead of rambling, it's babbling. Hee hee. And, omg, I sooooo planned out this huge Snape/Lily story once - it was awesome and evil. I lurved it muchly until I got all slash-happy and it's now on the shelf of That-Which-Will-Mostly-Likely-Not-Be-Written. :D