Friday Fic Rec!
Hello, figliaperduta here with another Friday Rec! We're delving back into fic this week, and I have for you our first Remus/Sirius rec. There are a lot of really popular offerings for this pairing which you lot have probably already heard of, so I've attempted to find something less well-known. On with the rec!
Title: Song of Songs (on AO3)
Author: mad_martha
Pairings/Characters: Sirius/Remus, with appearances by Harry, various Blacks, various Lupins, and a few OCs.
Rating: T (PG-13)
Author's Summary: Sirius Black returns to a world that has moved on without him … but fortunately Remus Lupin is still there for him.
Word Count: 103,178
This fic is part of a larger series, an alternate universe, and really the only things you absolutely must know about it are that A) Harry was sorted into Slytherin, and B) Sirius and Remus were married in the '70's (there's a short background fic that discusses how that came to happen, if you're interested). The whole series is worth reading, particularly if you're interested in wizarding politics and/or religion, but this particular story can stand alone. Also, in spite of the AO3 publish date, the story predates the release of Deathly Hallows (and I believe Half-Blood Prince as well), so some portrayals of the Blacks particularly are not in line with canon--notably Regulus. That said, the series is very firmly AU.
The story is told mostly from Remus' POV, and deals with the aftermath of Sirius in Azkaban--how he comes to be legally free, and how they come to re-establish their household. There's a lot of politics and history in the story, and the Blacks are fleshed out well, complete with family ghosts, magical gifts, and badly behaved architecture. Notably, it doesn't gloss over peoples' issues. Sirius' mental issues are not handwaved away, and there's a full range of *phobias--against Sirius for his past, against Remus for his lycanthropy, against the two of them together for being gay. Remus' narration of Sirius' condition and the comparison to what is known about Azkaban in the first section and their later discussions of Sirius' nightmares remain some of the most heartwrenching scenes I've ever read.
It's worth noting that when this story was first released, it consisted only of what is now called 'Book I,' the first chapter on AO3. This is how I first encountered it. The other two books were added later, but it's still worth pausing at the end of that section. The way they quote the titular 'dodgy poetry' (Sirius' words, not mine) at each other and the contexts in which they do so make for a powerful statement on the nature and the necessity of faith in relationships.
Title: Song of Songs (on AO3)
Author: mad_martha
Pairings/Characters: Sirius/Remus, with appearances by Harry, various Blacks, various Lupins, and a few OCs.
Rating: T (PG-13)
Author's Summary: Sirius Black returns to a world that has moved on without him … but fortunately Remus Lupin is still there for him.
Word Count: 103,178
This fic is part of a larger series, an alternate universe, and really the only things you absolutely must know about it are that A) Harry was sorted into Slytherin, and B) Sirius and Remus were married in the '70's (there's a short background fic that discusses how that came to happen, if you're interested). The whole series is worth reading, particularly if you're interested in wizarding politics and/or religion, but this particular story can stand alone. Also, in spite of the AO3 publish date, the story predates the release of Deathly Hallows (and I believe Half-Blood Prince as well), so some portrayals of the Blacks particularly are not in line with canon--notably Regulus. That said, the series is very firmly AU.
The story is told mostly from Remus' POV, and deals with the aftermath of Sirius in Azkaban--how he comes to be legally free, and how they come to re-establish their household. There's a lot of politics and history in the story, and the Blacks are fleshed out well, complete with family ghosts, magical gifts, and badly behaved architecture. Notably, it doesn't gloss over peoples' issues. Sirius' mental issues are not handwaved away, and there's a full range of *phobias--against Sirius for his past, against Remus for his lycanthropy, against the two of them together for being gay. Remus' narration of Sirius' condition and the comparison to what is known about Azkaban in the first section and their later discussions of Sirius' nightmares remain some of the most heartwrenching scenes I've ever read.
It's worth noting that when this story was first released, it consisted only of what is now called 'Book I,' the first chapter on AO3. This is how I first encountered it. The other two books were added later, but it's still worth pausing at the end of that section. The way they quote the titular 'dodgy poetry' (Sirius' words, not mine) at each other and the contexts in which they do so make for a powerful statement on the nature and the necessity of faith in relationships.