Hello! :) Now that the GH Cotillion is over, I had to stop writing and read this. :D This is a sweet fic, and the pairing is so out of the blue lol. I do wonder why you didn't include Molly at all.I always had the impression that she and Arthur had been together from school and married quickly lol. YAY for intriguing pairings, and good luck for the challenge!

Author's Response: I mentioned her in the first part - he broke up with her temporarily in my head-canon. Thank you so much for the review! I sincerely *hope* it does well with the challenge. :D

This story has Depth.

Now, let me tell you about Depth.

Once upon a time, there was a king called Fic who had a wife called Genius. Genius gave birth to twins: Depth and Undepth. Undepth ran rampant throughout the kingdom, hobnobbing with booby traps and jugglers (if you know what I mean). Depth was more reserved. Actually, Depth was a bit of a self-satisfied asshole and very elusive, but once Depth liked you, you were set.

Maybe, Depth likes you. I could see hir (for Depth is neither "him" nor "her" but a happy combo) in the way Justin's hesitation had taken its toll on Theo's life. Depth was also kissing the two of them when Theo cleaned up well for love and Justin decided to say "IDGAF" to the world.

Lastly, Depth was spotted sipping a Diet Coke and munching on baked potato chips, as a hat that thought it was a chair (but was really a reindeer) was exposed for the kind of stupid stunt it was.


~ Natalie

Author's Response: Depth came calling, one rainy day

He said, 'Hey, Biyotch, don't turn away.'

I looked him in the eye. I called his bluff

Cause depth for me, aint nearly enough.

I shall write more about Depth and Undepth another day

I expect you’re tired to hear me say this, but exactly how do you write with such clarity? Descriptive prose that flows so well, even with so much detail, is actually a difficult thing to do. Yet, in every single fic that I’ve read by you, it has read effortlessly. In this fic, for example, I love the way you wrote her struggling with writer’s block:
Ink idly dripped onto the parchment, but it went largely unheeded. At least there was something on the page other than flickering candlelight and a vast expanse of eggshell-coloured nothingness. It was probably best that the Dictaquill had given out a few weeks back and was too expensive to replace, since it probably would’ve curled up and died from the lack of activity.
The part about the peanuts:
About halfway through that round, she felt rather than saw someone sit down next to her. With a sigh, she nudged the peanuts in that person’s direction. There was a muttered thank you, which told her the newcomer was male. She had to fight a groan of annoyance. The last thing she wanted was to fight off some random who either recognised her as someone semi-famous or just wanted a roll in the hay with the prettiest girl in the room he thought he had a chance with.
It’s the little details like these that give so much life to a story!
As far as characterisation goes, I love how mature Romilda seems. But there are good reasons that caused that maturity: the vagaries of adult life, and the things she has seen in her youth. The old, ambitious Romilda is still there, of course! She’s been successful and carving a niche for herself, and she doesn’t hesitate to let Oliver inspire her, without his knowledge.
I felt sad for Alicia :( However, losses do occur in life. I was rather pleased by Oliver’s stoicism, laced with unbelievable tenderness and vulnerability.
The romance developed so naturally. Although their meetings span over weeks, you’ve written the courtship in such a way that nothing seems prolonged or shortened. I cheered very loudly when Oliver led her to the bedroom ha ha ha.
And the ending?
What can I say? It was perfect!
This review does no justice to the beauty of the fic, but I hope it does convey how much I adored it. Happy Birthday, Jezza!

Author's Response:

Oh, Hestia Jones, shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Oh, hellz, no! It just means sweat in horrible places. You be cool as iceeeee, amigo!

Anyway, I suppose I write the types of stories I want to read: clear but not blunt, some description but not to the point where it overwhelms everything else. Whether or not I succeed is a different matter entirely, but I'm glad you see what I want to write and like it. I'm not really capable of painfully beautiful things, but I like to think I am capable of things that are beautiful enough to look at for as long as one likes.

Hahaha, bar peanuts! Anyone who's ever been to a bar with bar peanuts knows to never touch the peanuts - not until your very well drunk enough to pickle whatever might be festering on them. But I dunno...it just felt like a fun thing to throw in there, to show how people share tiny moments with one another but never even realise it. But Romilda, being the observant lass she is, I think she'll always have an eye for these moments.

Poor, poor Oliver. His life was so broken, but he decided that he had better things to do than keep throwing it away, and I think that might've been one of the qualities that attracted Romilda to him, that base practicality. And, of course, I felt bad when Oliver felt betrayed by having his life story recycled for everyone to see, but I don't think he'll ever underestimate Romilda again in things she writes. I, too, cheered when they decided to f*ck it and just f*ck. But is it weird that I was happier when Romilda came up with the ending to her book? I probably need help, lol.

Anyway, thank you for the wonderful visit. I'm glad you picked this story, as it's one of the best things I've written in the past year. <3 you, and though you've been epically busy with Stuff, I'm glad you took the time to stop in. :D

~Jess

Oh dear.

I fell about laughing so many times while reading this fic. If you have a chaptered/one-shot somewhere, I need to fish that out. This was brilliantly done, so brilliant that I could stomach Uncle Sev marrying Aunt Lily. :3 I say that as a hardcore James/Lily shipper.

And oooh! Draco/Dudley? Dear me, is that my new OTP?

Nice work!

Author's Response: Thanks very much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :) The Draco/Dudley relationship intrigues me and I hope to explore it more in the future; there's just a lot of potential for these two spoiled blonde boys to see themselves in each other. We'll see if and when inspiration strikes! Thanks for taking the time to review. :)

Love it. LOVE IT A THOUSAND TIMES! This is why I keep encouraging you to descend further and further into J/L pit, because you get their banter so damn right. -sigh- What an amazing thing to read after the non-stop fanart browsing :D I must say I'm even more in love with James, and J/L will forever be my OTP of OTPs.

Thanks for this treat! And Happy Birthday to James once again!

~Natalie

Author's Response: Thank youuuuuu! Do you think I'll ever hit the bottom and run out of J/L things to write? I sort of hope not. I do love writing them, fun or serious. I'm glad you reminded us it was his birthday, it was fun to see some good fan art! I'm glad you liked how this turned out. I had actually opened it a week or two ago to expand and this gave me the impetus and inspiration to do so, so thanks!! To our OTP *sigh* Thanks!! ~Gina :)