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Reviews for A More Merciful Man

Trixee 2007.11.29 - 10:28PM 14: The Waters of Lethe Anonymous
Ok.. I must admit by the end of the chapter my face was glued to my computer screen... Good job on him coming on all scary and intimidating (his safe zone I guess) and then running scared the minute his emotions get in the way...

Trickie Woo 2007.11.27 - 03:15AM 33: Vespers Signed
I wonder if they used any kind of birth control? I think not, it was too sudden, too impulsive, and too passionate. I think I see the way clear now for each pair of lovers to end up with who they were destined for, their soulmate. She will never abandon Draco now, and Severus must know by now that Jane is his destiny.

linda0506 2007.11.26 - 04:08PM 33: Vespers Signed
Wonderful! Methinks there is trouble ahead. More please!

SNAPECRAZY 2007.11.21 - 04:23PM 32: Shot Anonymous
I love this story and have been following since the very beginning. Please update soon!!!

moon_muse 2007.11.21 - 02:13AM 32: Shot Signed
another great update. :) Remus should know better by now to forget the chocolate. So what will severus spend his present on I wonder?

Trickie Woo 2007.11.20 - 10:13PM 32: Shot Signed
As much as I adore the chapters that tell of Severus and Jane together, and pant enjoyably when I read them, I have to admit that I have enjoyed the way you have let the friendship between Severus and Lupin come into being and the evolution of that friendship. Though I miss another account of the time he spends with Jane and what they are doing during that time, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. Lupin knows Severus better that Severus knows himself. If Severus ever gave Lupin the chance, he could explain it all to him and Severus would know that he had to make a choice: Jane with all her love, passion, and warmth, or a comfortable marriage to Princilla. I know that Lupin would prefer that he make the same choice that I hope to see, Jane. He wants Severus to be happy, but even more so, he wants to keep the friendship with Severus going. His relationship with his lover doesn't mean he must forego a close friendship with a man, straight or gay. Severus is the only contemporary male left to him with such a long connection and they have much in common, though superficially they seem to be poles apart. I think Lupin needs him and Severus is just beginning to see what a real friendship is like.

linda0506 2007.11.20 - 06:40PM 32: Shot Anonymous
Please do not leave it so long before posting the next chapter. Thanks!

Ellyn 2007.10.25 - 05:38PM 31: Hot Toddy Signed
I really hate it that these comboxes don't allow for paragraph breaks.

Ellyn 2007.10.25 - 05:37PM 31: Hot Toddy Signed
Love the story, but given that Snape seems to be stuck in a holding pattern (I want Jane and I want the manor with house elves, so I don't want to sign the contract yet), I would love some depth on the psychology and motives of the characters. I do realize that Snape isn't examining his own motives and conscience so we aren't going to get deep insight from any narrative written from Snape's point of view. But why is Roland Gash so eager to have Snape marry Princilla? Gash is proud to have avoided connection with Voldemort, but Princilla is a pureblood, so blood purity has mattered to the Gash family until now. Snape is a former Death Eater who is not a hero in the eyes of the MoM (given that he's been passed over for war honors and is regarded with suspicion), and he's a half-blood whose family's position in the wizarding world's social order is far below that of Roland Gash having no family money or property or name (everyone is below Roland Gash in that world, but Snape is lower than many others). Snape is intelligent and an accomplished Potions Master, but not to the degree that he's considered an intellectual giant in that world. Snape is admired by former Death Eaters for seemingly having fooled Voldemort and Dumbledore, but why would Roland Gash care about the opinion of former Death Eaters now that Voldemort is gone for good? Snape is well regarded by the OotP, but Gash never aligned himself with that group (he seems to have been most interested in staying neutral), and members of the OotP are hardly in Gash's social circle, so why would he care about their opinion? I really want to know why Gash wants Snape above all other prospects. Is there something hidden in Gash's background that would explain it? And why is Roland so set against a connection between Draco and Princilla? I don't recall that Draco was a Death Eater in your story. I know Lucius is beholden to Roland financially and Lucius is free only because of amnesty, not because he is innocent of wrongdoing, so is Roland afraid of being tainted by Lucius's Death Eater past by association? Is it because Roland has such a poor opinion of Lucius as a person that he doesn't want to be connected to him through Draco or because he believes Draco is too much like Lucius and so he has a poor opinion of Draco? Not every pureblood family sided with Voldemort (for instance the Weasleys, the Bonses, the Abbotts, etc. and there must be ithers who aren't regarded as blood traitors), and if Roland has no problem with the idea of a half-blood marrying his daughter, the pool of high-quality potential suitors untainted by Voldemort is even larger (although I expect Princilla would demand a pureblood match if it were up to her). So again, why is it so important to Roland Gash that Severus Snape (and no one else) marry Princilla? I would love an explanation. Even more, I would love some insight, even through a perceptive character like Lupin to unpack Severus's conflicts.

Author's Response: These are good questions, and I think they are answered implicitly in the story, but perhaps it would be good to articulate them. Gash has already revealed why he wants Snape foremost, though he obviously has an "anyone but Draco" mentality. His reasons in part deal with his own past. He has been hard done by in love and he wants Princilla's union to be based on what he feels are more lasting criteria: a demonstrated concern for her as a person. Of all the people Gash knows, I think he believes that Snape demonstrates this best. He has reason to believe that precisely because Snape has heretofore demonstrated that money and power are not his main objectives. Even Snape has admitted that to himself, in as much as he has not eagerly signed the contract the minute it was offered. Gash feels that Snape has a concern for his daughter, and would treat her well, and in that he is very correct. But he also wants someone that will "handle" her. She's strong-willed, and he knows ultimately she won't be happy with someone that cannot stand up to her, intellectually and otherwise. Gash is correct on all these things: Snape, I believe, would actually be a good match for Princilla, and were it not for Jane he would definitely have signed the contract by now. They would have settled into no doubt a companionable and friendly marriage. But, unbeknownst to him (and even unbeknownst to Snape himself), Snape is violently in love, and this does indeed color his behavior. As for himself, because of his position and his power, Gash is woefully short of friends. He has plenty of toadies, plenty of people who will bow and scrape at his feet, but in the end, like most people, he is evolved enough to want a friend that he can respect. Someone he can talk to. He doesn't respect Lucius precisely for the same reasons that we don't. He's paid attention. Lucius' whole sense of self-worth is based on his pureblood status and his wealth. Gash, though rich and pureblood himself, thinks that these criteria in the end are empty ones. You ask: "Is it because Roland has such a poor opinion of Lucius as a person that he doesn't want to be connected to him through Draco or because he believes Draco is too much like Lucius and so he has a poor opinion of Draco?" hits the nail on the mark. He doesn't like Lucius and he doesn't want Lucius as an in-law. He believes Lucius would try to use that connection to gain a firmer foothold at that ministry, and to have the rent eliminated at his mills. And he's right. Lucius does not like or truly respect Gash; he wants to use Gash, and Gash senses this, and does not want their families connected by marriage and by blood. He wants Lucius where he is: beneath him. I think he underestimates Draco, and Draco's feelings for Princilla, but that he will have to learn of in time. Gash understands how the world works, how other people work, and he uses that knowledge to manipulate them, including Lucius. Then, like many people, he ends up hating them for it. Snape is not manipulable. And because of this, his opinion of him actually rises. It speaks very well of Gash, despite everything. Severus is not rich, or a pureblood, but pure blood is not Gash's concern. His conversation with Severus at Cordial Spirits reveals that he thinks such concerns are in fact pretty stupid, and reveal something about the mental faculties of those that adhere to them. Gash uses money, and certainly he is attempting to in a sense "bribe" Snape with wealth (and Snape is tempted), but Gash I think is just as happy that Snape is refusing to be bribed. Everyone else he knows does what he wants, and is motivated by money and their relative position. Gash is a good judge of character. And Snape is a person of good character. Gash tells himself, I think, that he wants Snape as a son-in-law because of the respect accorded Snape now within the wizarding world, because Snape is perceived (and rightly so) as the most powerful wizard in Britain. But that's not what Gash really wants, because he has all the power he needs. He is drawn to Snape because because he wants a friend, and because he wants a man of character for his daughter.

Carrot top 2007.10.22 - 08:47PM 31: Hot Toddy Signed
Wow! Loved it as usual. More soon please, and yeah, where is Lucius? And Lupin?

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