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Should I be worried that this guy is basing the biggest decision of his life on a fortune cookie? However, it’s a cute story about how tough it is to make decisions and how unsure you are if it’s the “right” one; however, I think he made the best decision. Many people would take a pay cut just to be in work they are happy in.
This is a cute way to use the idea of fortune into the story. I like the way you added detail as he broke open the cookie in order to create a bit of suspension. It’s a good thing fortune wasn’t about seeking wealth. Then where would he be in five years?
They kept missing each other their entire lives, but the title of the chapter is fate so here must be where fate intervenes. A simple little event and he originally missed her by one minute. The funniest part is if he had left the bar two minutes later, she would have sat somewhere else in the bar and she would have missed his wallet. Perhaps it really was fate.
What I like the most is I have no idea who these people are! It’s just he and she and it creates an air of mystery surrounding their serendipitous meeting.
WAIT I LOVE PROPHECIES. I’m so bad at figuring them out, as they’re like longwinded riddles, but you’re obviously really good at writing them; the language of this one was just absolutely stunning, and I was just reading it open-mouthed, amazed at how beautifully you can write. I love the metaphor in the prophecy about the “frail flower,” which is clearly referring to Rose, who has the name of a flower haha, and how it continues and extends into how the flower’s roots grow into “soils of contempt so bitter.” Like, the extended metaphor is just absolutely stunning, and especially more when the prophecy mentions Scorpius (“born of the stars” because of the constellations associated with his name and family?) plucking out the “thorn” that ends Rose’s period of anger. I love this, so, so much, and how the same themes apply throughout the entire prophecy.
I do wonder what “unparalleled evil” means though. Worse than Voldemort? Or just within her family? Will she be awful and angry and furious at the world somehow, and do terrible things? Tanya omg I want a full version of this fic so bad, I want to know what happens. <3
Love,
Eva
Oh, Lavender. This one really hurt to read, because it reminds me of people who so firmly believe in astrology and omens and signs from intelligent design, and who really don’t want to hear anything from anyone else. And normally it’s okay because ultimately it’s their decision, their life (at least, until it negatively impacts other people), but it was just really painful to watch this time. I think because we know Lavender, and we know the struggles she’s gone through, and the devotion she’s had to Divination, it just hurts a lot more watching her throw her life away due to the pseudo-magic of predicting the future.
It’s just so hard to believe that she burnt her clothes, dumped her boyfriend, and changed her career path, all because of her beliefs. It’s really difficult to imagine being able to ignore your own personal thoughts and feelings over something given to you from the “higher realms,” but I suppose that’s just who she is. And ugh I wish there was a way for her to fix her life, even though she’s still in denial about it. Please, Lavender. Love yourself and find a different way. You deserve to be happy. <3
Love,
Eva
I love how this drabble depicts the rare moment that Chinese fortune cookies can actually impact someone’s life in a major way. Ugh I just love the themes of these drabbles, and how wonderfully you work them into the story. And though I’m not sure if this is the same young man as the previous drabble (I have a feeling it isn’t), I think that it doesn’t matter because I love just the idea of fate and fortune and prophecy impacting individuals in this world at all. It’s a really beautiful idea, in my opinion.
I completely understand his indecision between these two jobs omg. Like, financial security is always so so tempting, especially in a world where things can go very wrong very quickly with no real safety net, but to work at a place that would not give you anywhere close to as much happiness as the second job would probably just feel like a missed opportunity the whole time. And that would be really unfortunate, and so I’m really glad he picked the fortune cookie at the right time. Imagine what would’ve happened if he hadn’t eaten take-out Chinese food? Would he have been miserable?
It’s crazy how the small moments affect things so much. I love how you capture that in these drabbles! <3
Love,
Eva
TANYA THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. I love your writing so much, and I can’t believe I haven’t read this series of drabbles before! They’re so wonderful! <3
I love how you wrote about fate in this one, weaving it into the little details of the story. It’s so interesting how the story begins with fate working against these two (apparently for years and years and years), how they’re constantly missing each other. I’m actually kind of glad that you focused on the most recent fate-miss, of how she only entered right after he left the bar (whoever is in charge of fate must be a devious person oh my goodness), because if you’d told all of them I think I would’ve just wanted to reach through the screen and somehow pluck each of them into the proper position and force them to meet hahaha. (Though now I am curious how else they missed each other in the past? What if it was literally like every major moment of their lives, they just missed meeting each other?)
It’s so wonderful that she thought to return the wallet, and that she’s not one of those people who would just keep the money and then leave the wallet there. It’s so great that these two finally met! I wonder if we’ll get these same two characters throughout the other drabbles, or will it change as we go? Either way, I’m so happy you wrote this—it was beautiful and sweet, and the idea of a romance that only happened slightly by accident, that’s so controlled by fate, is a really compelling one.
Beautiful! <3
Love,
Eva
Ah, last chapter already?
I like that you split this evenly, with 2 OF and 2 harry potter stories, and also kind of put the harry potter ones in timeline order.
This one also stands apart from the other stories as they were more about fate, and this one is prophecy. There is kind of a build in the intensity of each of the chapters, so it makes sense to end with something as intense as this.
You wrote the prophecy so well. It is the perfect mix between poetry and riddle (who better to write that than you), and I really like the references of flowers and stars to make it about Rose and Scorpius.Honestly, this prophecy got me really interested in what comes next, and I’d be interested in reading more story about this. What I’m most curious about is the part about a new world order. Not only will Rose go dark, but it sounds like she’ll do so in a super powerful and world-altering way, and I’m curious what that would look like.
I like that in the final line you included the word “seemingly,” hinting that fate and prophecies are not necessarily as they seem, which I think is a relevant place to end this story on.
These were all super good and I’m glad you wrote them and I got a chance to read them!
Oh, okay now we shift from OF to HP. I sometimes find it a little jarring to include both in a collection, but your theme unites them well. And Lavender certainly is a good character to represent the fate theme.
Wow, this is really good. The structure you used is very powerful and every line feels packed with meaning.
Lavender seems very pro-pink, so using burning her pink clothes as an example of how deeply of a believer she is makes a fun and powerful introduction for her. The second section makes me wonder who the boyfriend she dumped was. She wasn’t with Ron for two years so it couldn’t be him, but I wonder if it’s someone we know. Kinda wish her tea leaves could’ve been more honest with her about Ron not being the one for her. I also hope that the tea leaves are accurate here, and that she’s not giving up something real and promising.
Ooh, Lavender as an Astronomy professor is interesting. Or not, as she’s on the search for something new. Honestly, all of these leave me a little uncertain how to feel. I want to believe that the choices she is making are in part because deep down they are what she needs and wants, but I really hope she’s not throwing away important things without good cause. I can believe that the relationship and carer were not the correct path for me, but funny enough the one that gives me the most pause is her stopping wearing pink, because that was something that was about her personality and expression that she suppressed.
Aaand that last paragraph does not bode well. There are not positive adjectives for her relationship or marriage. She could be happy, but the fact that she has to try to convince herself despite a deep feeling and that she gave up things she loved to get here doesn’t bode well.
The important thing is that Lavender survived the battle of Hogwarts, amiright??
I really, really liked this piece. Excellent job.
I was wondering if we would pick up with the same couple from the last chapter or not. We didn’t really get to know anything about them as individuals apart from the circumstances of that night, so it let me wondering more about them and where things will lead. It looks like this chapter (and assume all of them) are about different couples. Or maybe one of the people is the same in all of them and just keeps having these experiences? XD I’m interested in how these all tie together beyond the theme, even if that means I’m making up connections you didn’t intend.
The chapter has a similar tone to the first one, in that the narration is more factual than emotional, but because what you are describing includes a big decision of him weighing his priorities, it tells us more about what this character is like.
Oh wait, I was wrong, these stories aren’t all romance after all.. That’s good, silly me. The first chapter certainly set the tone of romance and make me assume the others would be similar, but of course there are many different ways that the idea of fate can appear in people’s lives, and I like how you’re showing different sides of that. It also does seem like these may be different characters with different attitudes towards fate. The first two in the first chapter instantly thought their meeting could be fate, which is an awfully bold romantic thought when first meeting someone, and the character in this chapter has a tad more of the skeptic in him, with his first thought being to disregard the fortune.
Excited to see what you play with next!
This story plays with well known tropes like fated lovers meeting and the lost wallet meet cute, but it still feels very real and fresh. I like how you include the exact moment he left the bar. It feeds into that sense of everything in their lives moving together on a set schedule in a kind of fated way. Oh, and they actually live right across the street from each other? XD I know it’s not tagged as such, but this story gives me a soulmates vibe as well as fate. I guess they’re kind of related. Ooh “parallel breaths catching” is both a beautiful line and ties in with the theme well. I also found it interesting how the narration was all kind of factual description, without going into either of the emotions much at all, except the last line, and yet it still has a romantic vibe to it.
Hey there!
I'm here to drop off another review for the Magical Menagerie Review event as well as for the Gryffindor Red vs Gold Review Battle for January 2019. I'm kind of bummed that this is the last chapter in this little story collection. I hope maybe you'll post some more.
This is an interesting little piece. What an eerie prophecy. It seems very ominous at first, but as you read to the end of it I realized that it was predicting two people falling in love...or at least it predicts that everything will be okay if the two people fall in love.
I liked the way you used the flower and star descriptions when talking about Rose and Scorpius. It was a nice touch. I'll be honest and say I had to read it three times over to figure out who it was (before I read the last couple of lines).
I'm not sure how I feel about destiny and star-crossed lovers and all that, but it is cute to think that Scorpius and Rose being together was prophesized. Although, I will say that prophecy sure puts a lot of pressure on Scorpius. He can't mess it up or Rose might turn into evil incarnate. Hopefully, everything works out between them.
This whole collection was really enjoyable. It was light and fluffy and just something nice to read. I hope you add more to it later.
Good job!
~Kaitlin
Hey there!
I’m here for the Magical Menagerie Review Event on the forums as well as the Gryffindor Red vs Gold review battle for 2019! I’m back to read some more of this very cute story.
The tone of this one seems a bit different than the last two. Ultimately, things turn out happy for Lavender, but everything is shaded by the tone of regret at the end. It feels like maybe there’s a little bit of doubt in her that she made the right choices. I wonder if she’ll ever be truly happy wondering what her life might’ve been like.
I could see the changing jobs or maybe even freshening up your wardrobe a bit, but to me it’s quite hard to imagine ending a 2 year old relationship over tea leaves or crystal balls. I guess I’m naturally skeptical about that sort of stuff though while Lavender is a believer.
I do hope that Lavender ends up happy though. After everything she goes through in canon, I think she deserves it.
I really like that after every one of Lavender’s questionable choices, you repeat that she’s a believer. It’s like you’re reassuring the reader as much as Lavender is reassuring herself. It’s a clever way of tying the reader into it.
Good job!
~Kaitlin
Hey there!
I'm here to leave you a review for the Magical Menagerie Review Event on the forums and also for the Gryffindor Red vs Gold Review Battle for 2019! Since I enjoyed the first chapter so much, I thought I'd read the next one.
I have to admit that I'm a little bit bummed out that the pair from the previous chapter wasn't in this chapter. I was so curious who it was and if they ended up together or not. That being said, I enjoyed this chapter too. To be honest, I've been in a bit of a funk for awhile, so it was nice to read about good things happening to people.
I'm happy for the main character in this one-shot. It's such a nice, secure feeling to have more job options than you can take. It's even better when they're good options.
I understand why he's having a dilemma about what he should choose, but I agree with the fortune cookie. I think he should follow his heart. You can always earn more money. You can always look for a job that makes more later, but you don't always have the chance to do what makes you happy. Quality of life is equally as important as financial security and sometimes it's worth taking less to have the job you really want.
I'm glad that he decides to follow the advice in the end. I think it'll be a wise choice.
Good job!
~Kaitlin
Hey there!
I'm here to leave you a review for the Magical Menagerie Review Event on the forums and also for the Gryffindor Red vs Gold Review Battle for 2019! Tanya! I haven't seen you around for a bit, but I did see this story pop up fairly recently, so I thought I'd come leave you a review.
I love how this starts. The way you start by talking about the direction people were walking and how they came to the same places and how they both had butter fingers. It really ties them together before they've even met. Makes them sort of feel like they're destined for each other.
I like that she finds his wallet and that's the impetus for her to go meet this stranger. I mean she's just being a good samaratin by returning it, but instead she meets this person and it seems like it might be destiny. It's such a cute meeting!
I really am curious to see where this goes and who these people in the story are. Is this going to be a love at first sight scenario or is this someone she's previously met? There are really so many possibilities.
I have to say that in such a short span of words, you've done an excellent job of setting up this story. It's really impressive. It made me feel curious and warm and fuzzy.
Good job! I'm headed over to the next chapter now!
~Kaitlin
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