who knew you could add a fifth to the marauders and spin gold! bertram aubrey thank you ever so kindly for your services to people and plot <3
Sirius' collection of racing brooms!! oooo this is just too clever! handed down to his Seeker brother [check] early musings on his introduction to the fast, furious, and unreasonably expensive world of motorbikes [check] MWAH! I'm definitely sold.
"nose diving at the Whomping Willow for a game of chicken" I am endlessly delighted by them
Sirius' care, silent and surreptitious, is written with such clear intention. from the extra helpings paired with averted eyes to the cooling spell in the bathroom. and I can't help but notice, in that perfect little example, the way in which Sirius ensures Remus' comfort eclipses that of anyone else's in the room (read: James and his poor glasses)-- not quite unlike how his icy silence and fiery temper are swirling about their group in equal measure, not unlike how his silent moves on the matter affect other people even if they're not intended to. listen, Sirius, you can set yourself alight to keep him warm but look alive when the wind turns and everyone else starts coughing from the smoke.
Sirius slowly warming up to Lily! I love this tidbit!!
the sheer amount of times Sirius has resorted to a certain checkpoint of proof for when everything will be Fine (tm) with their cohort and swiftly ignoring how this is actually a set of enchanted shifting goalposts is active avoidance of the highest order -- and that's next to the guy who wouldn't even hang out with them for the last SIX MONTHS!
"James understood where he was coming from, even if he didn’t like the way he was handling it." and if that isn't the very definition of these two
"It was a huge relief to see Remus trying new things and stepping back into his old self after watching him fade nearly to the point of vanishing last year." title drop title drop!! and what a relief it is! sometimes you just need a refresh, guys. or a Refresh Guy even. the rowboat reading sounds just charming, even if it is during the end of autumn in Britain :)
"The Dane was not a Marauder. On this, Peter would not budge." I huffed a laugh! listen Pete, he may not be an animagus, but he is a pretty great Dane! with half your cohort being canines, you're surely gonna have to stay on your toes out there
"Aubrey was more Remus’s friend than anything, and Remus only counted as Marauder-lite in Peter’s book anyway." this is endlessly amusing from Peter's perspective here in this story, seeing as you could so easily put these very words in, say, canon-Sirius' mouth about Peter. so self-centered yet not self-aware! I increasingly look forward to your peeks into his mind :)
I almost expected Peter to twist the rumor-spreading request, but I'm sure any task to help sure up his role in the group trumps a chance to further oust Remus - which is a really interesting choice to see him make!
"...it was good for Remus, Sirius knew. And so he didn’t call Remus out when he passed him in the Great Hall on the way to the Ravenclaw table without so much as a nod hello, or when he stopped asking for Padfoot to stay by his side while he transformed beneath the full moon." HEY WAIT WHAT WAS THAT LAST PART! HELLO? okay everyone slow your roll (or row, on aubrey's part) this just got serious. I know I just waxed poetic about his self-immolation tendencies but surely he cannot have been That bad the last few months...sirius......sirius you are tangled up in the leash. you're losing oxygen to the brain. stop rolling about, oh my god, hey, stop that, can someone get him please-- James...soloing the full moon then? just Prongs and a reluctant Wormtail? I know we said post Prank but lordie.....wow, that line really just brought all my thoughts to a screeching halt!
okay, back on track,
sirius' enthusiasm over the map is so easily infectious, I smiled at him tromping down the stairs in high spirits!
I think something that's coalescing into words as I read on is that you manage to depict both character projections as well as a factual (?) account masterfully well. that is to say, every one of their minds is so carefully individualized that not only do their own thought processes shine through, but the judgements they make are left to be one of many we read and decide the severity/clarity of, rather than The one that we end up coloring the whole narrative by (how many times can I say "GreenIbis, I love your multi-POVs!"). it shows up so clearly in Peter, but Sirius' discovery of Aubrey and Remus was the moment that really sealed that particular deal for me!
and on that note, I was actually thrilled to see the introduction of veritaserum, with all its huge and haughty plot potential, ultimately get caught behind the teeth of its taker. the only thing that came of it was the only thing Sirius himself even knew to be true, and it was said without the audience of the person who needed to hear it most. there's something just so bafflingly charming about showing off a deus ex machina (just like The Summer!) and promptly torching it with fire. the author will not save you, Sirius! you are a product of your own design and you need to work this out yourself!!! (seriously, someone get this leash off him--)
I must admit I thoroughly missed Remus' thoughts here, but I can appreciate what you said in another comment about refraining from interpeting what he's thinking still so close to a situation you haven't had to interpret yourself. very fair! he didn't vanish completely in the slightest, and I'm so eager to see what he thinks himself of Aubrey and Sirius behavior -- if he's noticed at all! thank you for another lovely chapter :)
Aah! I don’t have the time at the moment to reply to your last 2 amazing comments in their entirety (honestly I’m so moved that you’re reading with so much eye to detail), but I wanted to hop on quickly before you get much further to clarify that Sirius WAS NOT BANNED from running the full moons!! I meant that Remus stopped asking for him to stay literally right next to him while he underwent the transformation; I pictured Padfoot being a comforting presence for him in simpler times, but him deciding that he didn’t want Padfoot in the room with him during that vulnerable process after Sirius had stopped talking to him.
Also, “Refresh Guy” and “Great Dane” – hilarious. Also also, it never even occurred to me to use Veritaserum to force Sirius to open up. That’s just way too convenient/easy, and our boys don’t do easy!
I’m so glad I’ve reversed your position on multiple POVs and that you're even enjoying the ‘unreliable narrator’ element where you can’t take everything they decide as fact. (Sirius discovering Remus & Aubrey in the boathouse- oof.) And you’ll finally get a taste of Remus’s thoughts in the next chap!
It's really fun revisiting these early chapters through you're experience of them. I've been so focused on developing what's next I haven't looked back in a while! So thank you for that as well as the rest <3
Comment on The Point of Vanishing
skippinginclouds on Chapter 3 Tue 17 Dec 2024 01:31AM UTC
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GreenIbis on Chapter 3 Tue 17 Dec 2024 04:04AM UTC
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