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Reviews for Mirror Mirror

Andromache 2009.10.28 - 01:19PM 5: Part IV: Apart Signed
Poor Severus. It's both touching and poignant that he misses his mother so much. I can't help but wonder if Snape would have become a DE had he still been blessed with her open-minded yet moderating presence. He wouldn't have had to hide then, and perhaps wouldn't have been so angry inside. His mother may have had every faith in him, but Stephen obviously didn't, and good on Snape for his elegant show of contempt in the epilogue. I tell you, Stephen sure gets on my nerves. All this constant simplistic good/evil shite. I don't know how you managed to spend just about the entire fic in his head. I couldn't have written him in the unbiased way you managed. Heh, can you tell I'm bitter? I think "Mirror, Mirror" is a very fitting title indeed. Severus's name, his face, his mannerisms - all show both his parents. You did well showing the resemblances. While I can't say I enjoyed the fic exactly, not being one for the protagonist, it still serves its function well about explaining Snape's character. The writing was excellent as always.

ffswoo 2007.07.08 - 05:02AM 6: Epilogue: The Boy Again Anonymous
Great backstory about Severus' childhood - his questionable reading material was a nice touch! I wonder about his mother leaving though - I hold the general belief that she'd love him too much to leave and not even keep in touch, no matter how ugly the marriage became. Or I'd expect her to put up more of a fight over the custody issues, anyway...

Author's Response: I know I made Septimia a strange woman... I'm not sure I would do the same if I wrote Eileen - probably not. Septimia is very self-absorbed and lives in her own intellectual world; I don't think she understands what her leaving does to her son. She knows Stephen will take good care of him, and thinks that is enough... Thank you for reviewing! -S.

eleison 2007.04.17 - 06:58PM 6: Epilogue: The Boy Again Anonymous
I am amazed at the amount of conflicting emotions seemlessly woven together in Tobias Snape. Your portrayals of him and his son are some of the best characterizations I have ever read. Tobias belatedly realized, as Harry hopefully will, that the key to Snape's character lies in what he leaves unsaid. Thank you so much! eleison

Author's Response: Thank you very much for the nice review! I'm very glad you liked the story... I think a lot of conflict results from poor communication; Severus, too, didn't manage to interpret the things his father left unsaid. Let's hope Harry is not too old to learn! :) -S.

Penguin2006 2006.02.26 - 10:23AM 6: Epilogue: The Boy Again Signed
I read that you consider this the best story that you have ever written and I can see why - it builds up to a fantastic emotional climax. You've used dialogue really skillfully to, increasing the amount of speech in each chapter so that the epilogue has the most and so feels the most immediate and gripping. (I noticed that on re-reading.) Using dialogue at the emotional turning points and building up the tension with it was very effective. This is something I've noticed you're very good at. I also got a kind of 'ah, so that's how it worked' feelling in my head every time you worked the books' information so skillfully into your story - like how Snape learnt his Dark arts, or how he got word to Dumbledore when the other Aurors just wanted to FRY! him. Very satisfying. The one thing I didn't like was the prologue. It was very confusing. Most of the time I couldn't tell who was saying what to whom. And then the pace jarred when you went into a lot of description in part I. The poem was apt, but I think you could have lost the prologue because it put me right off. If I didn't know already what a good writer you are, I would have stopped reading. I loved Stephen and spooky Septimia. Even though they are now obselete, lots of what you wrote is still valid - the family background of repression, suspicion, incompatability, the Dark Arts, deception and violence and Snape's sneaky teenage rebellion. It all still makes sense. Going to write an Eileen and Tobias Snape? Or wait for HP7? was trying to establish a mental image

Author's Response: Ah. Okay. I wasn't aware the prologue was so off-putting. Maybe there is something of a problem in the fact that I knew Stephen through and through by the time I wrote the prologue, and that his voice was very distinguishable for me but not for the reader... I'm happy to hear I managed to make up for it as the story went on :D.

Yes, I do plan to write Tobias and Eileen (I have lots of notes already), but it will take some time. I think that after reading Mirror you will understand that it takes some effort for me to distance myself from Stephen and Septimia, and Eileen and Tobias have still to come into their own. Thanks for the review! -S.


Vocalion 2005.01.10 - 04:33PM 6: Epilogue: The Boy Again Signed
Well done, Sigune, with excellent insight into Stephen and Severus' mindset. "Young Stephen’s eyes were like burns in a carpet, like dark pits, like unlit hallways leading nowhere. They had contemplated horrors, and their brilliance had been replaced with the kind of emptiness that comes from too much experience at too early an age." I thought there were no fresh descriptions to be found of Snape's eyes, but you succeeded in finding them. Very, very nice. “Of course it must be frustrating for you to realise that I accomplished more good through deviance than you ever could through decency.” This one, concise statement conveys so much. Please post more of your work.

LariLee 2005.01.10 - 02:46PM 6: Epilogue: The Boy Again Signed
Such a wounded, dysfunctional family. But what a different ending had Stephen not listened. Beautifully done, Sigune. Kudos!
~Lisa

Vocalion 2005.01.03 - 10:53AM 5: Part IV: Apart Signed
So many interesting things going on here. Snape's pursuit of the Dark Arts being tied into teenage rebellion against his father, along with the earlier influence of his mother. And, the length and condition of his hair being a statement of rebellion, as well. Fresh ideas here, not the same old Snape cliches that are the staple of many stories. Looking forward to the confrontation in the finale.

Silverthreads 2005.01.02 - 09:28PM 5: Part IV: Apart Signed
Talk about a dysfunctional family. Stephen Snape was not a very good parent (nor was Septima for that matter) and here is the result. Good story!

Author's Response: Thanks, Silverthreads! I did at one point considere "Nature/Nurture" as a title, but in the end I thought it might sound too dry... It seems to me when reading Snape in canon that he is always trying to tell Harry something like, "If you'd *known* your parents you wouldn't adore them quite as much" - and that set me thinking. - S.

LariLee 2005.01.02 - 06:40PM 5: Part IV: Apart Signed
Wonderful reasoning on why Severus had graying underwear and was tattered. Seems as if he naturally picked up on the Dark. But I still see blame at Stephen's door. If he hadn't so thoroughly cut communication between him and his wife, then between him and his son, this might have been averted.
~Lisa

Author's Response: Maybe it's just me, but the lack-of-communication theme seems to me to be at the core of many fictions *and* realities, and I find it very prominent in the Potterverse - so here is my own version of it. Thanks for reviewing, Lisa! - S.

Vocalion 2004.12.31 - 03:15PM 4: Part III: Estranged Signed
The ending of this chapter was unexpected. I wasn't prepared for the father to approve of his son's reading material no matter what the subject. Chinatown is a nice atmospheric location in which to place them. I was a bit surprised that the mother flew the coop leaving her son behind, as they seemed so close in your other story that ties into this one. Up to that point, my sympathy went to her, so I hope she will find a way to stay involved in his life.

Author's Response: Thanks for reviewing, Vocalion! I'm afraid I can't say too much about Septimia's reasoning here - it's material for another story... As to Stephen, he's so worried about abnormal 'vice' (in his view) he's happy to forgive a normal 'vice' that harms no-one. And all in all he's strict enough already, don't you think? :-) - S.

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