A long but non-comprehensive list of things I love about this fic and why:
Say you aren't mine, Ronald Weasley
I love TIN!Luna more than almost any character in any other thing, and this moment captured her so much that it made my heart all clenchy and also made me kind of wish I could read an entire story just of you writing Luna. I actually think that you and TIN!Luna have a lot in common, which is maybe why you are able to write her so well.
Slipping into "Harry was" has been jarringly easy, as if her brain had always been preparing for the day Harry fell out of the present.
This hits me really hard, because that's the thing about Harry, isn't it? You can't love him without being constantly aware of the danger he's in and knowing his luck is bound to run out and probably soon. And Hermione, I suspect, knew that best of anyone. She's been ready for this day, in a way, since first year. It probably feels a little like a betrayal to her, how ready she is. And you pack all of that into one sentence. Which is pretty much true of this whole fic, line by line. You could write a dissertation just drawing out all the layers of meaning in all the sentences.
It's just that this is continuous. There's no end to Harry wanting them to be happy.
This gave me so many goosebumps. There's so much love in it. How much Harry loves her and how much she holds her love for him and his love for all of them as part of her life even after he's died. I've actually started to tear up just sitting here thinking about it.
They shouldn't be dealing with this and clearly, they are not.
I am skipping ahead a bit so I don't linger on literally every sentence. I love this because it's clever in such a Hermione way.
strange and messy and easy and right
That pretty much sums up Ron and Luna, yeah. Very much all of those things.
A year ago exactly she sat in a stupid uncomfortable fold out chair and tried to remember that her boyfriend was dead.
I don't even know what to say to this, except it's so beautiful and evocative and so incredibly sad. And I love the way you gave just enough detail about the chair to bring out the disconnect, the small irritating thing that isn't important at ALL but is right there and keeps entering her awareness vs. the world-shatteringly big and important thing that is too huge and terrible hold in her mind. Or... that's not quite it, but anyway I don't really *have* to find words for it, because your sentence already gets at it perfectly.
She just doesn't look at the bookshelves.
Is that a reference to her last post? I took it that way, and loved how very TIN it was, the little hints and references that you have to pay close attention to the whole story in order to understand.
the fishbowl in the corner
♥ Ron and Luna's goldfish and their magically-charmed fishbowls ♥
"Oh!" Justin's voice does the vocal equivalent of slipping into something more comfortable.
I see that Kaz already pulled this line out, so I will just add that I love how much the influence of Justin's upbringing shows in this early part of the conversation. Because it's a big part of him, you know?
And maybe that's why her brain knew to call Justin, Hermione thinks, because he knows her, and he can do this, just be there for her,
I was surprised but so pleased that you went with Hermione and Justin as the center for this fic. Their relationship was so great and interesting, and so underused in the game. They give each other something important, and as you show, sometimes they are exactly what the other needs. I think it was very insightful of you to select them as the people who could best tell this story.
no subject
Say you aren't mine, Ronald Weasley
I love TIN!Luna more than almost any character in any other thing, and this moment captured her so much that it made my heart all clenchy and also made me kind of wish I could read an entire story just of you writing Luna. I actually think that you and TIN!Luna have a lot in common, which is maybe why you are able to write her so well.
Slipping into "Harry was" has been jarringly easy, as if her brain had always been preparing for the day Harry fell out of the present.
This hits me really hard, because that's the thing about Harry, isn't it? You can't love him without being constantly aware of the danger he's in and knowing his luck is bound to run out and probably soon. And Hermione, I suspect, knew that best of anyone. She's been ready for this day, in a way, since first year. It probably feels a little like a betrayal to her, how ready she is. And you pack all of that into one sentence. Which is pretty much true of this whole fic, line by line. You could write a dissertation just drawing out all the layers of meaning in all the sentences.
It's just that this is continuous. There's no end to Harry wanting them to be happy.
This gave me so many goosebumps. There's so much love in it. How much Harry loves her and how much she holds her love for him and his love for all of them as part of her life even after he's died. I've actually started to tear up just sitting here thinking about it.
They shouldn't be dealing with this and clearly, they are not.
I am skipping ahead a bit so I don't linger on literally every sentence. I love this because it's clever in such a Hermione way.
strange and messy and easy and right
That pretty much sums up Ron and Luna, yeah. Very much all of those things.
A year ago exactly she sat in a stupid uncomfortable fold out chair and tried to remember that her boyfriend was dead.
I don't even know what to say to this, except it's so beautiful and evocative and so incredibly sad. And I love the way you gave just enough detail about the chair to bring out the disconnect, the small irritating thing that isn't important at ALL but is right there and keeps entering her awareness vs. the world-shatteringly big and important thing that is too huge and terrible hold in her mind. Or... that's not quite it, but anyway I don't really *have* to find words for it, because your sentence already gets at it perfectly.
She just doesn't look at the bookshelves.
Is that a reference to her last post? I took it that way, and loved how very TIN it was, the little hints and references that you have to pay close attention to the whole story in order to understand.
the fishbowl in the corner
♥ Ron and Luna's goldfish and their magically-charmed fishbowls ♥
"Oh!" Justin's voice does the vocal equivalent of slipping into something more comfortable.
I see that Kaz already pulled this line out, so I will just add that I love how much the influence of Justin's upbringing shows in this early part of the conversation. Because it's a big part of him, you know?
And maybe that's why her brain knew to call Justin, Hermione thinks, because he knows her, and he can do this, just be there for her,
I was surprised but so pleased that you went with Hermione and Justin as the center for this fic. Their relationship was so great and interesting, and so underused in the game. They give each other something important, and as you show, sometimes they are exactly what the other needs. I think it was very insightful of you to select them as the people who could best tell this story.