delacourtings | [recs] hc_bingo amnesty challenge

hc_bingo is having an amnesty challenge this month where you comment on this post, get a strip of three randomly chosen prompts, and then complete and submit a reclist of fifteen works corresponding to those prompts. here's my strip and my recs!

nervous breakdown

lost childhood

side effects

nervous breakdown.

harry potter.
01. [fic] to dwell on dreams by

_melodic_. | gen. 1,100. t.

no, this was not reality. not this potter standing here with disgust and pity spread across his face, staring helplessly at a deteriorating draco. the truth lay in that dusty room, within that majestic mirror. there was the proper harry potter, with his broad smile and strong hands that he could never seem to keep off draco.

this fic is a fascinating look into how the mirror of erised can, as the mirror itself warns, drive men to madness. in this case, the man being driven to madness is draco, who becomes obsessed with the version of himself and harry that he sees in the mirror. you slowly start to see draco's grip on reality and sanity start to slip, and it's heartbreaking.

lost childhood.

harry potter.
02. [vid] breaking point by

miicoleelee. | gen. 3:28.
this is an ensemble vid that focuses on the "big seven" and the horrific events each of them went through. it's a beautifully edited video that perfectly encapsulates how the characters in hp were never really children. they never got the chance to be. from the minute they enrolled at hogwarts, or in some cases, from the very minute they were born, they've had such horrible things happening to and around them that they had no choice but to grow up too fast. i mean, harry was ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good of the world at seventeen. hermione was ready to lose her parents forever, if it meant keeping them safe. and those are just a couple of examples. the children in the world of harry potter, their childhoods were lost to the war, and this vid excellently explores that.

03. [art] he read the letter again by

loquaciousliterature. | harry, james, lily, bathilda, peter.
this is a beautiful interpretation of the scene in deathly hallows where harry finds lily's letter. loquaciousliterature has drawn certain parts of lily's letter so that we're able to actually see what harry's first year of life was like, which makes it even more heartbreaking, as we now know that his entire childhood could've been as equally as happy and wonderful as this one moment, if only his parents, and his childhood, hadn't been lost to the war. perhaps even more heartbreaking is seventeen year old harry's expression when confronted with this.

04. [art] the mirror of erised by

bevsi. | harry, james, lily.
this is the first of three interpretations i've included in this list of what harry looking into the mirror of erised would look like. this first piece by bevsi really conveys the loneliness harry feels and how desperately he wishes for a normal childhood, one where he's happy and safe and loved and his parents are still alive.

05. [art] the mirror of erised by

nessakain. | harry, james, lily.
this piece doesn't feel as desperate as the one mentioned above and instead feels more dejected, showing harry not happy and with his parents, but instead just a reflection of him as he is. this piece almost feels like harry's resigned himself to his lost parents and childhood, but there's a part of him that wishes there was at least some way he could reach out to them, even for a moment. which there is, in a way, and this is it.

06. [art] chapter twelve: the mirror of erised by

susannedraws. | harry, james, lily.
this piece is happier than the others, at least in terms of the character's expressions, which is why i think is what makes it hurt a bit more. harry is so clearly happy and excited to see not only james and lily, but the rest of his family as well. the fact that the viewer knows that there's no possible way for this scene to ever happen makes it all the more heartbreaking.

07. [vid] when you break by

yllvajo. | draco. 4:25.
this beautiful vid focuses on how draco was only a child during the events of hp, and one that was a victim of his surroundings and upbringing at that. draco may not have lost his early childhood to the war in the way that harry did but draco definitely lost his adolescence, and himself, to it and to voldemort himself. this video showcases that.

the hunger games.
08. [vid] they're all dead by

meeshell384. | gen. 2:33. pg-13.
there isn't really such a thing as a childhood, in the way that we understand it, anyway, in the world of the hunger games. this video examines that and how the any semblance of a childhood that a character may have had is immediately is ripped away from them as soon as their name is called and they're forced to enter the arena. this video is a haunting look at what the children are forced to both do and endure.

stranger things.
09. [art] #givewillagoddamnbreak by

holepsi | will.
this is an absolutely gorgeous piece of artwork with a limited color palette, an incredibly complex background, and a great attention to detail. will's face is haunted, his posture tense and frightened. it's clear from the piece that this character is experiencing anything but a normal childhood and that will's childhood, and will himself, is being lost to something evil. the detail of labelling will "the spy" really drives this home for me, as i think it suggests that will's being used as a pawn in the demogorgon's games, and he's probably going to lose the rest of childhood to the demogorgon too.

10. [art] will and eleven by

ashes-acedia | will, eleven.
i think this piece conveys the same as the one above, but it goes about it in a bit more of an obvious way. placing will and eleven, with their haunted and saddened expressions, in the foreground, with the demogorgon clearly in the background really depicts how the demogorgon is after them and any normalcy, including their childhood, is going to be upended by the demogorgon. all of the kids in stranger things are losing their childhood to the demogorgon and all of the other mysterious things happening in hawkins, but none more so than will and eleven, as along with the demogorgon haunting them, they're also constantly haunted by what they've been through.

torchwood.
11. [fic] reclaiming the past by

meatball42. | gen. 2.2k. g.
the rift drops a therapy device into cardiff, and we all know that team torchwood could use it!

this fic is an extremely interesting take on the lost childhood prompt. the team are all reverted back to various ages, ages during their childhood in which they lost something. despite the plot, this fic isn't as sad as it sounds, but is actually quite an enjoyable and adorable story full of affection and found family.

the walking dead.
12. [fic] today's lesson by

cindergal. | gen. 1.1k. g.
she didn't look that much like sophia, not really.

this is another fic that was written specifically for the prompt lost childhood (and the prompt coming of age/rite of passage) and goes down a path i never would have expected. instead of focusing on a character with a lost childhood, it focuses on a parent who's lost a child, and offers a glimpse into how she mourns for her. mainly though, this fic shows two sides of an issue, where carol believes in teaching children how to protect themselves so they don't literally lose their lives like her daughter did, and the parent of one of the children she's teaching, who believes the children should be acting as if nothing has changed and wants them to have the same normal childhood they had before. it's a wonderfully characterized and written fic with some complex ideas.

x-men first class.
13. [fic] evolution by

katsuko. | gen. 691. g.
most of her life had been spent looking out for number one.

another fic written specifically for the lost childhood prompt, this fic focuses on how raven never hard much of a childhood at all, being abandoned by her parents at two and how basically from that moment on she had to rely on herself. the author manages to fit so much characterization and backstory into a smaller number of words and does so wonderfully.

side effects.

harry potter.
14. [fic] flying by

fancifulrivers. | gen, ginny/luna. 1,056. m.

there are a thousand ways to self destruct. ginny's found only a few of them.

this fic takes on the challenge on what the side effects of being possessed by tom riddle might have on a person. in ginny's case, the side effects take on the form of various ways of self-destruction. ginny tries to destroy herself only using muggle means because as she says in the fic, magic betrayed her.

fancifulsrivers's writing is beautiful and evocative. this fic is filled with angst (and potentially triggering topics, be sure to read the tags/heed the warnings) but there's still a bit of hope with the ending.

15. [fic] a feeling of weightlessness

fancifulrivers. | gen, ginny/luna. 2,450. m.
tom riddle's hollowed ginny out and she doesn't know how to fill herself back in. maybe luna can help.

it seems

fancifulrivers has an interest in what the side effects of being possessed by tom riddle might have on ginny, which i am extremely grateful for, as i have an interest in that too. this fic has ginny self-harming (in a different way than above) as a way to prove that she can feel, that she's her and not somebody else. again, the writing is gorgeous and evocative and though heart-wrenching at times, still provides a bit of hope with a happy(ish) ending.

teen wolf.
16. [fic] aftereffects by

dsudis. | derek/stiles. 1,473. g.

stiles lives with the aftereffects.

as we can see, i seem to have a new type of favorite fic: fic that explores the aftereffects of being possessed by someone/something and the trauma that results from it. this fic deals with the side effects of being possessed by the nogitsune. stiles has to come up with ways for himself to be sure that he's awake, which he uses even years later. the tone of this fic, i would say, is almost...soft. it's a softer, less stark exploration of trauma and the way derek is there for stiles throughout feels as comforting to the reader as it does to stiles.

17. [fic] anhedonia by

venis_envy. | derek/stiles. 1,563. explicit.

stiles nods, rubs his other hand over the back of his neck as his eyes dart around the room. “it’s...you know, the nogitsune didn’t exactly do his part to take care of this body while he was in it.” there’s a little bit of bitterness in stiles’ tone, but more determination. “i only just started taking my adderall again. abruptly stopping that sort of medication can cause a few adverse side effects.”

after so many fics that were straight-up hurt/(and a little) comfort, i wanted something a bit lighter/something a bit different. this fic provided that in spades. it's rare to come across a fic that 1) discusses the side effects of medication, 2) discusses the side effects of medication on a person's sex drive, and 3) is still a great story, with some great, hot sex. this fic did all of that and more and even works in a little bit of comfort.

18. [fic] i see that you've come so far [just like them old stars] by

crossroadwrites. | derek/stiles. 2,304. g.

but her big brother’s unwillingness to touch anyone, like he thinks he doesn’t deserve it isn’t the only thing she notices. she also notices how stiles doesn’t touch him.

everyone reaches for derek in some form or another, but stiles- stiles is something different altogether because he reaches for derek but he never makes contact.

he’ll be trying to shimmy past derek and instead of putting a hand on his arm like most of them do, he’ll reach out with a hand and stop it scant centimeters away from derek’s skin.

or they’ll be walking alongside each other and stiles will hover a hand on derek’s lower back.

it’s both fascinating and tragic to watch, like nasa lost control of one of their robots and instead of it landing on the moon it’s fated to gravitate around it.

this fic is less obviously about side effects than the others, but i think it still definitely is. this fic is about derek's issues with touch and self-worth, which are clearly a side effect of all of his previous romantic relationships where both he and his body have been used as a means to an end. stiles recognizes that and makes sure to let derek know that his touch is always available if derek wants it, and only if derek wants it. told in alternating point of views between cora, stiles, and derek, this is a lovely fic about slowly getting better after experiencing trauma (especially in a romantic relationship) and letting one's self enter into a new relationship, letting one's self be happy.