Oh, GOD. I don't think I could come up with a more fitting and beautiful and awe-inspiring description of a soul if I tried for a million years. Especially the soul of a person like Harry - it must be so beautiful it hurts. And while I am in despair over Harry's stubbornness and inability to accept Draco's help, it's so fitting, so right. That poor baby. All Malfoy sees is his strength in surviving for a year, and all Harry can see is his failure to solve it, or rather his failure in communicating with someone he loves and trusts to solve it. I love them. Neither of them is completely in the right, but their reactions are so totally consistent with their character.
This may sound like an odd questions, but have you read Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay? One of the main characters is a mosaicist, and your descriptions of the light and brilliance of the soul remind me of the way Kay describes the art of placing each tile so that it catches the light just so and the creation of something that shimmers and glows
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Sorry to intrude, but I had to say how GGK rocks my socks. His description of mosaic does seem like it could be a landscape for the soul, as the inverse is true in this fic.
No apologies necessary on my end! GGK is the reason I started reading fantasy as an adult - my older brother (a fantasy/scifi nut) gave me Tigana and A Song for Arbonne for Christmas ten years ago, and I became completely sucked in as a result. His writing makes my heart hurt in the best possible way. I lurve him and am always looking to spread His Good Word.
Wow, thank you! That's exactly what I was trying to convey with the description during the Dive, the beauty of Harry's soul.
I think that Harry can be a very self-blaming person (obviously he blames others too, like Snape, but he takes more responsibility on himself than he should). If he can do one impossible thing- killing Voldemort- why can't he do another? And he's hurting and jealous that Draco managed to solve the problem where he couldn't.
I actually have read GGK's work, and I am a simpering fangirl of the Sarantine Mosaic. I borrowed the idea of a mosaic for the soul because I think that description is the most beautiful in all his works. (I like most of his books, but the Sarantine Mosaic remains my favorite; The Last Light of the Sun and Ysabel weren't as powerful, IMO).
I just read all 11 chapters of this and had to tell you how much I enjoyed it.
I love how its Draco's ambition that really drives him at first, and then that motivation slowly builds towards something more. I like how Draco becomes willing to sacrifice more and more to it, and every time he thinks it's enough, but so far it hasn't been (I hope it will be, in the end). That's kind of the story of Draco's life, for good or evil. He tries and tries and then doesn't end up getting anywhere.
I love anything to do with truth/lies and the differences between the two, the difficulty of trust and the ease of deceit. You've handled that all beautifully, especially in this chapter where Draco's the one to trust and Harry's the one to disbelieve. I think H/D is about learning to have faith in an unexpected place, and you really captured that. Thanks for this fic; I'm eager to see the rest.
I liked writing Draco as an ambitious, domineering sort of person, because I just can't see him becoming a Healer for "traditional" reasons. And he does fail. Even Psyche-Diving shouldn't be an unmitigated triumph for him.
You've hit on an important theme of this series. The next chapter is called, "Trust."
I love that Malfoy has finally helped him, and realizes what Harry has been saying is true. I feel so bad for Harry, though...so long cut off, so long spent in desperation, and the thought of hope becomes so...terrifying. More terrifying than the thought of dying. Because hope can kill you again. Hope can hurt him.
You describe their personalities so well, and I love how niether of them lay down and die. Magnificent!
And yes, you've hit the nail on the head. Harry can live without hope. He can't live without some sense of independence and power, and he thinks Draco just took that away from him.
Oh, the suspense! It's so sad that Draco gave Harry a piece of his soul and Harry can't even seem to feel it. I hope Draco gets to him somehow. Harry has been isolated so long an now he's scared of letting someone get close, Terrible, that. And what's that about a sequel? I hope Harry and Draco will work together then (I'm allready making stuff up in my head about what you might have planed. I'm so glad the story won't be over, yet!)
Harry isn't feeling it right now because, well, he's busy feeling other things. But that piece of soul does have consequences later.
Draco will do his damn best to get close. He's not about to let Harry just run out now. But Harry's been scarred, and his developing relationship with Draco won't be like his relationship with Ron and Hermione.
And yes! At least one sequel, to be called 'A Determined Frame of Mind.' There might possibly be a third story after that, but the second story will be considerably longer than this one, so I don't think so.
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This may sound like an odd questions, but have you read Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay? One of the main characters is a mosaicist, and your descriptions of the light and brilliance of the soul remind me of the way Kay describes the art of placing each tile so that it catches the light just so and the creation of something that shimmers and glows ( ... )
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I think that Harry can be a very self-blaming person (obviously he blames others too, like Snape, but he takes more responsibility on himself than he should). If he can do one impossible thing- killing Voldemort- why can't he do another? And he's hurting and jealous that Draco managed to solve the problem where he couldn't.
I actually have read GGK's work, and I am a simpering fangirl of the Sarantine Mosaic. I borrowed the idea of a mosaic for the soul because I think that description is the most beautiful in all his works. (I like most of his books, but the Sarantine Mosaic remains my favorite; The Last Light of the Sun and Ysabel weren't as powerful, IMO).
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I love how its Draco's ambition that really drives him at first, and then that motivation slowly builds towards something more. I like how Draco becomes willing to sacrifice more and more to it, and every time he thinks it's enough, but so far it hasn't been (I hope it will be, in the end). That's kind of the story of Draco's life, for good or evil. He tries and tries and then doesn't end up getting anywhere.
I love anything to do with truth/lies and the differences between the two, the difficulty of trust and the ease of deceit. You've handled that all beautifully, especially in this chapter where Draco's the one to trust and Harry's the one to disbelieve. I think H/D is about learning to have faith in an unexpected place, and you really captured that. Thanks for this fic; I'm eager to see the rest.
Reply
I liked writing Draco as an ambitious, domineering sort of person, because I just can't see him becoming a Healer for "traditional" reasons. And he does fail. Even Psyche-Diving shouldn't be an unmitigated triumph for him.
You've hit on an important theme of this series. The next chapter is called, "Trust."
Reply
I love that Malfoy has finally helped him, and realizes what Harry has been saying is true. I feel so bad for Harry, though...so long cut off, so long spent in desperation, and the thought of hope becomes so...terrifying. More terrifying than the thought of dying. Because hope can kill you again. Hope can hurt him.
You describe their personalities so well, and I love how niether of them lay down and die. Magnificent!
Reply
And yes, you've hit the nail on the head. Harry can live without hope. He can't live without some sense of independence and power, and he thinks Draco just took that away from him.
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And what's that about a sequel? I hope Harry and Draco will work together then (I'm allready making stuff up in my head about what you might have planed. I'm so glad the story won't be over, yet!)
Reply
Draco will do his damn best to get close. He's not about to let Harry just run out now. But Harry's been scarred, and his developing relationship with Draco won't be like his relationship with Ron and Hermione.
And yes! At least one sequel, to be called 'A Determined Frame of Mind.' There might possibly be a third story after that, but the second story will be considerably longer than this one, so I don't think so.
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I thought so. Probably something with tracking and feeling-connection, yeah?
But Harry's been scarred, and his developing relationship with Draco won't be like his relationship with Ron and Hermione.
I sure hope so ;)
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