Quote from GlacierValley on February 22, 2023, 3:49 am

Here's one from the Headmaster days, where Severus and McGonagall are forced together. It's so well done, and has some beautiful quotes.

[spoiler title="Warnings"]Contains rape/non-con and violence.[/spoiler]

Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart by Squibstress on AO3

 

Quote from GlacierValley on February 22, 2023, 3:58 am

This is an Albus/Sev one; it is impressively manipulative. Warnings; Albus, why are you like this. Why. General mind-fuckery.

In Infinite Remorse of the Soul by perverse_idyll

Quote from GlacierValley on February 22, 2023, 4:19 am

This is one of the few Sev/OFC I have ever enjoyed, and in fact is one of my favorites. It takes place when Severus is very young, new to teaching, is still drowning in Lily's death, wants to die but isn't allowed, and is in charge of many messed up adolescents. One of his charges gets attacked.

[spoiler title="Warnings"]This is a story built around a vicious rape, and everybody's responses to this attack are... less than stellar. The author wrote based on personal experience, and it is graphic. Please do not read if this could trigger you. It includes graphic depictions of the rape, gory violence, victim-blaming elements, alcoholic elements, and general-other people-falling-to-pieces messed-upness. It involves teacher/student relations. [/spoiler]

Bartleby by Quarantime_Blues on AO3

Quote from Heatherlly on February 22, 2023, 6:09 am

Quote from GlacierValley on February 22, 2023, 3:42 am

Let me know if I should be posting these to general fic-recs; I'm not quite sure what is allowed over there, or if this is dark enough for this topic.

The other thread isn't censored, so feel free to share stories over there at your discretion. I just thought it would be nice to have a separate thread specifically for the darkest/most twisted stories we read.

Quote from Krystal on February 22, 2023, 11:52 am

'The Reward' is definitely the most dark Snily fic I have ever seen, it is frankly horrifying and fascinating in equal measure and @heatherlly have perfectly described the feelings evoked by it

Quote from Heatherlly on February 22, 2023, 12:28 pm

I mean, I always thought my Severus stuff was pretty angsty/dark in places, but what I write is fluff compared to this shit.

@thegestaltprince Dark Severus challenge. Should we add it to the list? 😂

Quote from The Gestalt Prince on February 22, 2023, 12:30 pm

Possibly

Quote from Heatherlly on February 22, 2023, 10:39 pm

More thoughts on "The Reward"…

[spoiler title=""]I've lost any ability to empathize with (this version of) Severus. He is an objectively horrible person, and I hate his misogyny and perversion. I am particularly disgusted by his repeated impulses to punish Lily for you know, having the audacity to live her own life and choose someone else to marry. You all know I'm no fan of James, but that's not even the point. This version of Severus is an abuser and a creep… no amount of (occasionally) hot sex or inexplicable willingness on Lily's part can change that fact.

Also, I don't buy, even for a second, that this version of Severus actually loves Lily. The author might be attempting to show that through his inner monologue, but for me, it just isn't convincing. There's too much of a disconnect between his thoughts and actions, even if you accept the premise that some brutality is necessary to keep up the facade.

Other than that… all I can say is that I'm glad this version of Severus is so wildly out of character. If he'd been anything like this in canon, I doubt I would've even finished the books, let alone gotten interested in him as a character.[/spoiler]

This is not a criticism of the author, who has created a fascinating, compelling story. I do plan to keep reading, but yeah… this Severus (and so many other characters) can fuck all the way off with their bullshit.

Also, something I never thought I'd say…

[spoiler title=""]I hope Severus loses Lily. I hope she grows a goddamn spine, manages to escape, and burns his entire fucking world to the ground. At this point, that's the only outcome I can imagine being satisfying. First, he has abused her far too much to deserve her forgiveness, and second, I don't see him learning anything or actually becoming a better person without some catastrophic loss. Without that, what's the catalyst? I mean, we're talking about a man who was capable of viciously tormenting and abusing the woman he ostensibly loves, and not just because he feels like he has no other choice. As I said above, it's made clear that he's punishing her for marrying James, that (at least for a time) he feels 100% justified in doing so.

If he can do that, literally torture her mere hours after her husband and infant son were murdered… Jesus fucking Christ. If he can't put his own selfishness/grievances aside when she's at her absolute lowest, completely fucking broken…

Okay, this is making me incoherent. What I'm saying is that he needs a reason to change, and it's appalling that everything Lily has gone through isn't reason enough. That demonstrates his selfishness, his lack of compassion, and ultimately, that his motivation is possession rather than love. Yeah, he mopes about her not reciprocating his feelings the way he wants her to, but it's abundantly clear that he'd rather be with her in this fucked up way than not be with her at all.

That last part is the difference between love and possession, the one thing that would truly demonstrate his remorse. He needs to let her go, and he needs to do it for the sake of her happiness/well-being. That's the only thing that would prove he's learned from his mistakes/finally understands what it means to truly love another person.[/spoiler]

Quote from FIQ on February 23, 2023, 2:13 am

As for wanting him to lose Lily; yeah I can definitely see what you mean. While rare (since I tend to just outright stay away from dark fics), I've had the same feeling in a couple of fics. I remember an unfinished James/Regulus soulmate fic at one point with a SSLE side pairing. Having never seen that combination of ships before, I read the first chapter even though I generally detest soulmate fics. And basically canon happened with the 5th year and everything, and in 6th year they all got to know who their destined future romantic partner would be with Severus and Lily getting each other. He gloated about this to James and was so friggin *smug* about it that I just wanted to punch him in the face. This is basically exactly why I don't like these kind of fics; the concept of soulmates as romantic partners basically take away the need for true personal chemistry and having to truly invest in a relationship. At that point, why bother?