Fic: December 18th for LuminousGloom

[lhazzie]

Title: December 18th
Author/Artist: lhazzie
Recipient: luminousgloom
Rating: R
Contents or warnings (highlight to view): *Contains scenes of a sexual nature *
Word count: 4,500
Summary: December 18th in three different years for Remus and Sirius. (Some deviation from canon)
Notes: Happy Christmas, Luminous! I originally claimed your first wish, for logs burning in a

Comments

[brighty18]

Well, you know how much I like this piece, but I wanted to say it in public, too! You aced the wishes, such a perfect way to incorporate all of them and make it feel so natural and unforced. And that takes skill!

I also meant to tell you this in my comments, but I really love the form of this piece. Beginning and ending each section with dialog and threading the motifs of baths and fires throughout the whole thing was brilliant.

[lhazzie]

Ahh, thanks! And thanks for making the effort to comment again too :) (i've been behind on my commenting and replying this year!)

I am really pleased that it came across well as a recurring theme. I planned each aspect separately and i knew i had repetitive imagery but i didn't actively try to create echoes across the three sections so i am pleased that that worked.

And again thanks for the betaing - i often can't see my own weaker aspects and sometimes when i re-read my own work i focus solely on the spelling and watching for typos and i fail to take a step back and read it on a more conceptual level. It's definitely a better story because of your input.

[museinabsentia]

Oh! Well, wasn't this lovely. I love how, despite being completely separate, all three sections sort of echoed each other. Brilliant way of tying it all together even with that much time passing. Also, thank you for having a section post second war, so that they get their happy ending, even if you did break my heart a little when Remus explained the nature of their relationship when they were younger. I wanted to hug him. But then Sirius did it for me and it was better. Just a lovely piece.

[lhazzie]

I am really pleased that the echoes worked really well - i was aware that i wanted some repetition of imagery particularly of the prompts i was writing from, but i didn't overtly plan for them so i am glad it came out naturally in the story.

And i do have to confess that covering multiple time periods was entirely selfish as i like to focus on different emotions at different times. Sirius especially is a hell of a lot more emotionally mature as an older adult than he had been as a teen. Remus has the advantage of being old beyond his years in my mind, but his emotional journey for me is from a more cynical place. So for me there is a lot of melancholy or bittersweet aspects when they are younger, and they need to mature into themselves to get a happy ending i think.

I really enjoyed being able to get them to a place of contentment and easy life sharing domesticity even though they both have different journeys to get there. (and ignoring the canonical inconvenience of death and destruction).

[laroseminuit]

I love that you managed to hit upon the Hogwarts days, lie low at Lupin's era, and post-DH with such fluidity. It was nice to see how Sirius and Remus grew over time and coped with the tragedies of their lives - and I always appreciate an everyone-lives AU.
Beautiful.

[lhazzie]

Emotional growth is a particular favourite of mine for writing. It provides a challenge for me to effectively convey it, and also an element of reflection and even maybe catharsis - i was young and emotionally immature when i got into fandom and writing and now i am a self assured and confident adult! (Some of the time, anyway...)

Plus, by covering multiple time periods i didn't have to choose between bittersweet and happy feels because there was more room for both!

[mindabbles]

Well, I'm glad they're not dead, too! I loved the way the three sections fit together. I adored James in the first one. I also really liked your handling of the prank -- it was there, but without melodrama. Sirius is a bit thick, eh? Remus was lovely with Sirius in part two, and Sirius with him. I loved how they were both taking care of each other. And the third part? Charming, and yep, that's how it ends. :)

[lhazzie]

:D I wanted to subtly acknowledge the events of canon, and maybe make it feel like a bit of a parallel universe rather than totally ignoring their tragic canon endings.

And i love including James - i like to think of him as being emotionally stupid about his own life but sort of obliviously insightful into the lives of his friends. Like he won't consciously try to help them out with problems, he'll just say something supportive off the cuff which will actually be incredibly perceptive and helpful and he won't even (seem to) realise that he's done that.

And yeah, Sirius is incredibly thick when it comes to emotions - but how many teenage boys aren't? :D

[llaeyro]

This is so sweet! I really love James and how casual he was about the whole thing. The skip through time was lovely and showed beautifully the different stages in their relationship and how they dealt with the tumultuous events in their lives which we're already familiar with.

[lhazzie]

James is brilliant i think. If questioned (as a teenager, at least) he would claim to not have many political opinions and he wouldn't have a particular view on social issues, other than a vague sense that he is against pureblood extremism. But he will just accept anyone he likes at face value and once you're his friend he will support you regardless with the sort of well bred self assurance he has because of his white boy upper-middle class pureblood privilege. (One of the reasons that Lily initially dislikes him, aside from the obvious bullying, is that he's blind to his privilege and fails to understand that others don't have it.)

Thanks for taking the time to comment :)