Fic: Any Colour You Like by brighty18

[remuslives23]

Title: Any Colour You Like
Username: brighty18
Art: Colourful Side of the Moon by chalada
Word Count: Just over 4,000
Rating: R for swearing, implied sex and drug use.
Contains: *Drinking, swearing, drug use (duh), a little bit of angst, a little humor, and just a hint of crack. (Crack, however, is not the drug in question.)*
Summary: Sometimes memories are

Comments

[pavlablack]

This was a great piece of art and you've done a fabulous job with it. Framing the memory within Sirius's time in Azkaban was a stroke of genius and gives the story just the right amount of angst. I love that Sirius outsmarts the Dementors here as he does in the books, but this time in a completely different way--his philosophy on memory rings so true and the way you describe it conveys how so much has been lost to Sirius--not just Remus, his friends, and Harry-but also color, sensation:

Yet, what he sometimes misses most is that which is most ephemeral: sensations, feelings, stimulus. The prison is not designed to engage a Wizard’s senses, but to deprive him of the small joys that might help him feel alive. Light, colour, taste, scent, softness, warmth, and beauty all disintegrate into the vague, grey mist that shrouds the prison

[brighty18]

Thank you so much! Your comment totally made my day, my dear. I remember Sirius in OotP saying something like, "Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." That's what made me think of all this. He, of all people knows that good and bad are just aspects of one thing.

And as to the Remus bit at the end, I am so glad that worked for you. I was almost afraid it would be a bit corny. That said, research has suggested that people actually do flash back together even if they are separated by great distances. It made me think that there was a such a deep connection between the two that they would do that.

Thanks, again.

[protegonox]

Strangely enough, I felt like I was the one on drugs. Somehow I lost myself to this story, to the point where I was surprised to read about Sirius in Azkaban again and that I had been leaning in while I read.

Loved how you included that little bit about Remus at the end. It made me wonder what the Remus from Sirius's memory had been up to.

[brighty18]

Wow! That was an awesome comment - and very much the feeling I was going for, so I'm glad it worked. Hallucinogens are very much all about the present moment and being what you are feeling. I am glad I made that translate into words. Yay!

And as to the Remus bit at the end, I am so glad that worked for you. I was almost afraid it would be a bit corny. That said, research has suggested that people actually do flash back together even if they are separated by great distances. It made me think that there was a such a deep connection between the two that they would do that.

Again, thank you so much!

[livinglibraries]

I love what you did with the art here - they feel free but at the same time connected to each other. The humour was good as well and offset the angst nicely, I especially liked the comb:

“A straight part just looks smart!” trilled the comb as Remus tentatively pulled the protective tissue paper off its plastic body. “And with clean hair you’re beyond compare!” it added.

That sounds like it came straight out of Rowling's pen! The colours and feelings were all so vivid as well, I felt like I was reliving the memory with Remus and Sirius.

Oh the last line was just perfect.

[brighty18]

Thank you so much! I'm glad the balance part of it worked for you and that's quite a compliment about being Rowlingesque.

[epithalamium]

I was so happy when I found out you'd be writing for chalada's art, because I think you'd give more than justice to psychedelia (not that I'm implying anything or whatever *shifty eyes*). It really surprised me to see that you started the fic in Azkaban, but then I was caught in the story, the complexity not only of emotions, the memories and the feelings they evoke. I love how you look into the human psyche and make it sound like it makes sense, somehow. And the bleakness of Azkaban, which I really think of as washed out gray in colour, gave the best sort of contrast with the sheer explosion of colour in Sirius's memory. I love that.

The ending is rather bittersweet and perfect. You know, no one writes Azkaban fics quite like you. I hate myself for not reading this sooner! XD

[brighty18]

Thank you so much! What an awesome comment!

I was so happy when I found out you'd be writing for chalada's art, because I think you'd give more than justice to psychedelia (not that I'm implying anything or whatever *shifty eyes*) LOL. I'd never do anything like that... erm... yeah.

Anyway, your comment really made my evening, my friend. You know, no one writes Azkaban fics quite like you. That makes me so happy. I've no idea what it is about that period, but I feel really drawn to Sirius during that time. Perhaps I just want to comfort him, but it's a time period that gives one so much room to explore.

[remuslives23]

This art was made for you! I was hoping you'd get it because I knew what a wonderful job you'd do and I wasn't wrong. This was so fantastic! Bittersweet, vivid, and just plain brilliant.

[brighty18]

Thank you so much! That makes me so happy!