#my current wip owes this piece a huge debt

[pangaeaseas]

seconding times a million.

In the Garden by @yeats-infection (E, 261k+, Stubby Boardman & OCs)

The trials and tribulations of the finest wizarding punk and noise bands 1982-1998, as chronicled outside the pages of Wizarding Rock Weekly. Ongoing indefinitely.

Specifically:

A Handful of Dust (E, 62k, Stubby Boardman/OC, mentioned wolfstar)

Or: the Decline and Fall of the Hobgoblins, 1983-1991. "Nothing good ever happens in a Knockturn Alley dive bar after midnight..."

I cannot think about "Mudblood Blues" without getting emotional. I never understood why people wrote band RPF until I read this fic. I think I never understood bands in general until I read this fic.

I know people avoid OC-heavy works for good reason, but, my goodness, please read this fic if you trust my taste at all. It's not "la la la having fun with my OCs." It's 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead' but with a very different tone.

This fic is so intensely thought-provoking in the world building of blood supremacy in the interwar years. I've never read a fic where these power dynamics and experiences of oppression where so well explored through characters existing way outside of the main events of the battles against Voldemort. These systems are primarily explored by how they impact intimate relationships which is so realistic for most of us. (We're not like... fighting actual battles but we are trying to navigate loving people who are part of groups we are oppressed by and which we oppress.)

Because my read was so emotional, I'm just going to quote from my comment for the last chapter for 'A Handful of Dust:'

"I'm trying to find the words for this chapter's comment, but all my words are vague ideas - "sinking," "relief," "held." This chapter feels like after a rugby match when I'd curl up, bruised and battered, with a teammate. But, like, emotionally. 

As I reflect on this story, I'm literally crying cathartic tears. What a reminder of the beauty and fandom and art and fanfic."

Just read the fic and then read the whole series.

My other recs for @hprecfest here