Name: WriteYourHeartOut (Signed) · Date: 20 Dec 2023 12:45 AM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

This is beautifully written, Pix; so poetic. I love the imagery and the metaphor of the seasons throughout. The ending is quite sad, but necessary, with the way you've written Charlie and with the type of person Luna is. I don't think she would chase someone who wasn't sure about her, and Charlie seems unsure about a lot of things, outside of dragons and bread. I picked out a few favorite lines that really struck me:

 

"She only absorbed the brightest of the sun, and didn't reflect it back into the world." - Love this. I love the idea that Luna is special in this way to Charlie, that she gives light, she doesn't just take it.

 

"But inside, she felt like her father's Golden Retriever, when she'd treated it as a thing to be loved because that's what it needed.  Luna remembered the satisfaction and relief when she'd found her father's dog a good home, and wondered if Charlie would brush her blonde hair off his couch as soon as she was gone." - Ugh, my heart broke for Luna here. This is not the way a person should feel in a relationship - or potential relationship. She made the right choice in walking away, and I'm glad Charlie had enough self-awareness to accept it, knowing that his feelings weren't stable enough to be something she could rely on, and that one day he might do damage that can't be undone because of that.

 

Truly lovely. I've never read a Charlie/Luna before, but it seems sort of obvious now, with their shared love of magical creatures, even if they didn't quite work out in the one-shot. Beautfiul job!

Author's Response:

Tanya!

 

What are you doing over here?!? Ha, thank you so much for this unexpected review, it was so sweet of you to come and take a peek at my stuff while you're in the middle of all your stuff. I have to admit that I have this whole headcanon for Charlie/Luna, but it never seems to work out. Thought I'd meddle with them in a short form so I wouldn't completely wreck myself. I really don't think I can keep up that sort of thing for too long without needing prescription strength antihistamines. (I'm allergic to angst, you see). Sometimes I dip my toes in, as a writing exercise... just to break out of my comfort zone a bit. Though lately, I've been practically living outside of my comfort zone, writing-wise. 

 

That poor dog! It's that thing about obligation vs true feelings, and whether the committment is worth the inevitable suffering. At least these two are aware enough, as you said, to see it while they are both still in a position to walk away without being totally wrecked. At least, that was my intention. 

 

I... I think I feel a sneeze coming... gotta go.

 

Thanks for this sweet review!

 

Pix

Name: Owlpost68 (Signed) · Date: 12 Dec 2023 06:30 PM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

This was absolutely lovely. I can absolutely see Charlie and Luna having a romance. Both characters are really passionate about their work and it would be really hard for them to keep that relationship going but the way you beautifully wrote the caring they had for each other really brought out their personalities how I envision them. I wish Luna had kept the dog! That was an adorable and heartbreaking touch. Hopefully it's someone who she can visit and see the dog every now and then :)

Loved this, thanks for the swap :)

Author's Response:

Thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked this story. You've picked up on the main idea of these characters and why they don't seem to work well long-term. I'm not sure the dog would appreciate Luna's travel schedule, lol!

Thanks for the swap!

Pix

Name: lostrobin (Signed) · Date: 19 Sep 2023 03:03 AM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

Hi!

Thanks for swapping, and I’m so sorry how long this took!

I have to admit, when I saw that this was about Charlie and Luna, I was intrigued. I don’t think I’ve ever read a fic about that specific pairing before, and I’m curious as to why you put them together. I can see it, but I’m just curious about your reason.

So I know you said this was an experiment with minimalism in the notes at the beginning. I think it was an experiment that turned around really, really well. Also, ow, my feelings. I should have known from the song that it was going to turn out sad, but I had hopes.

I like how you compared Luna to spring. She does seem like someone who flutters around. Using fire throughout the fic worked beautifully, especially since it is Charlie we’re talking about. He loves a shadow of a person, not the source of the heat, but the shadow. That’s a really interesting take.

This was a really interesting take on these characters, and I’m glad we swapped. Thanks for swapping, and I’m so sorry for how late this is!

-A

Author's Response:

Hi! 

 

Thanks for the swap! I'm glad you liked this. I'll give you a band-aid for your feelings, yeah. They got poked a bit. The prompt for this was "yellow", so I just ran with that throughout the entire thing. It was fun, but also, ow, my own feelings.

 Pix

Name: Halie_15x_ (Signed) · Date: 06 Sep 2023 09:53 PM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

Hello, i am in so much awe at your writing. i am slowly getting back into reading HP and this was my first fic back and i have to say you blew me away. the imagery and the structure works really well for this pairing. i have never given luna and charlie a read before and i am glad i chose you to be my first. this might be my new hyperfixiation. it was something unexpected yet works so well you cant help but wonder if it was always there.

lots of love,
Halie_x_

Author's Response:

Oh, hi there! What a nice surprise! Want some tea?

 

Oh gosh, thank you! Your compliments are such a warm piece of pound cake with raspberry drizzle! I had actually never encountered a Luna/Charlie pairing either, but in my head, it makes a kind of sense that I couldn't put down until I tried it out. 

"Unexpected yet works so well" is exactly what I was aiming for, so thank you so much! So glad you dropped in and left such wonderful words!

 

Pix

Name: inmyownlittlecorner (Signed) · Date: 21 May 2023 05:43 PM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

Hi Pix! I’m here for our swap :D

 

I love this lean style. It works so well in the story. Each sentence has so much weight, each emotion and thought is just put out there raw and bare like the winter. I think it is very effective at evoking emotion in the reader. And this story definitely makes me cry. Charlie and Luna understand each other so well, and it’s devastating that because of that knowledge they can’t be together long term. Charlie is a little too in the moment, is always moving on and not trying to hold onto anything. Luna doesn’t want to be left behind or burned up, which makes perfect sense. But it still makes me sad.

 

I love all the different ways yellow shows up in the story. The beauty of Luna’s hair, the warmth or harshness of the sun, the sunflower pillow at the end. The color takes on all these different moods, so very well done with that. I also thought the way that Charlie shaves/doesn’t shave, and what he bakes on the shaving/not shaving days was interesting. We only get pumpernickel on days when he doesn’t shave, and we get the sweeter Challah on days when he does. It’s like the not shaving days are almost a penance. The way that Charlie isolates himself feels like a penance too.

 

I really hope that Luna needs Charlie again sometime too. I hope that next time they won’t have to just move on from each other.

 

This is such a beautiful story!

 

Yours,

Noelle

Author's Response:

Hi hi!!

 

Yes, the lean style. I think I've done this style a few times. In fact, one other was with Charlie as the MC as well. I think I prefer this style for the way I see his character too, just straight up, no frills, get to the point, eh? But it still leaves room to be expressive - pointedly so. 

 

Yellow was the theme prompt, and yeah, it does show up in all kinds of ways. It was fun to play with it, to bring it in from different angles and such. 

 

I have this whole Luna/Charlie headcanon, but they never seem to make it past recurring flings, unfortunately. I'm glad you liked it!

 

Pix

Name: RogueSlytherin (Signed) · Date: 10 May 2023 02:11 AM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

This story was so beautifully tragic <3 <3 <3 This pairing makes so much sense - just a couple of oddballs finding each other in a sea of normies. I really liked your choice to swap perspectives, it pays off really well. And your use of language is so fucking pretty. The way braiding the Challah bread makes him think of her, the way she feels like a burden that he'll clean up - brush away the dog hair - once she leaves, the way he says Svetlana absorbs the sun but doesn't reflect it back <3 <3 <3 

And I have to make a special shout out for this line, "his feelings settled around him like leaves, and he often raked them up into piles and burned them when he was ready to move on." I mean can we get a slow clap going?! This is so visual and emotive and spot on. The way Charlie can't just grasp hold of anything - but I feel like he wants to. He wants to he just is so stuck in his ways and routines and whatever he feels doesn't matter as much as his routine to just rake it all up. EXCEPT HE DIDN'T SHAVE THAT DAY! He broke his routine for her! 

But he tells himself it's all ok so that he can be ok with it. She might get swept up too. Ugh. That line just stabbed my heart. I love the humanity in this story. Two broken people, leaning on eachother when they need someone, but not crossing that line that could risk everything because it's scary to do that and they're broken enough as it is. BUT YOU COULD BE SO HAPPY TOGETHER. But that's what makes it a beautiful tragedy and I, for one, am a huge fan. <3 <3 <3 Very well done!

- Jacquelin

Author's Response:

Hi there!

 

Oh, this angsty thing... yeah. Can you tell that I took antihistamines? Lol

I did want to use pretty language throughout, but also to be brutally pointed with what they were going through. I have no idea how the whole 'raking up emotions like leaves' thing came about, only that when it happened, I knew it was something to hang onto. I love self-aware characters, and I wanted Charlie to be able to see what was going on, and also to know himself enough to recognize that maybe what he wanted from Luna wasn't what was best for her. It took a while for him to articulate it, but he finally got there, through a painful, yet necessary epiphany. Sometimes it's just like that, yeah?

 

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

 

Pix

Name: Felpata_Lupin (Signed) · Date: 30 Apr 2023 05:40 PM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

Hello, Pix! Here for our swap! Sorry if I'm a bit later than I intended... *hides*

I really, really loved this fic! What an emotional rollercoaster! I love the way you've portrayed this relationship between two characters that I would've never imagined together, and yet they weirdly make so much sense? I love the complexity you've built, the bittersweetness, the way they both need something, and maybe sometimes it's each other, but not always... it's all so deliciously angsty! I love the characterization of both Charlie and Luna and their alternating perspectives. I love how Luna only allows herself to connect with people when she can see a future for it, and then when she does connect with someone, she doesn't want to let go (which, yeah, makes sense when you link it to the trauma of losing her mum so early), and I love how Charlie is sort of an exception, how he is a bit of a mystery, but also has this warmth that attracts her. And I love how her warmth attracts him in the same way. I love the way you play with the theme of the seasons... He missed her like springtime. It's just so poetic, I love it so much!

The final section is so painful but I love the raw honesty in it. I love that, while there is sincere love between them, it's fleeting and destined to thaw with winter, and I love that Charlie is honest enough to recognize that and let her go. I also really love how the story comes full cycle, how it reconnects to the beginning with that "I'll be here if you need me" I just love how well crafted, how well thought out the whole fic is. It's so deep and so emotional and every word seem so meaningful. Just beautiful writing. So well done!

I'm not sure if I did the story any justice, sorry if this review is just one big rambly mess... But really, you did such a wonderful job with this! <3

Thank you so much for swapping with me! <3

Big snowball hug,

Chiara

Author's Response:

Hi Chiara!

 

You write such lovely reviews! I'm so happy you found this and liked what I did here!  I do have a soft spot for Luna, and I'd love to see her happy. I think she would have a basic attraction to someone who is focused and intense and full of life... but also I feel like there'd be another side to that. Like, what happens when the intensity is too focused...? 

 

I did want to bring out the rawness of the situation. These two aren't hiding themselves from each other, but there's this innate detachment they both have, which I wanted to explore.

 

Thanks so much for your words! I loved hearing your reactions and thoughts to this story!

 

Pix

Name: Goatspeed (Signed) · Date: 25 Feb 2023 11:15 PM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

You've captured an appreciation for life's imperfection that somehow manages to love the imperfection while mourning its necessity.  It's a touching story in the very old fashioned sense.  Thanks you for the chance to read it.

Author's Response:

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story! I am so glad that it meant something to you. I never know how it will come across once it's put into words.

 

Pix

Name: Crimson Quill (Signed) · Date: 21 Feb 2023 02:12 PM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

 

hey pix,

 

here for the murder mystery reviewing event :)

 

this was so beautiful, it was wonderful and just so bittersweet. i loved the formatting between different povs that was really clever at showing the both sides to this relationship. i'm obsessed with the imagery that you used throughout the whole piece and you really run with the yellow/spring themes with the contrasting with winter. I thought the way that both luna and charlie described each other as warmth that the other needed. it's really clear how much these two people mean to each other.

 

i thought you did a really good characterization of luna, a lot about her made sense through your vision of her. she doesn't let people go. i think that's obviously from the way we saw her react in her friendship with harry and the others. i think it makes sense that she would love so deeply too. charlie totally confuses her though. the prose is just so lovely in this piece. it does feel so poignant to reach a place of understanding between two people that they aren't meant to be. it's a total journey as a reader you're totally rooting for them but the ending does just make sense. 

 

Abbi xx 

 

Author's Response:

Hello!

 

Ah, thanks for all your lovely words on this story! It really was a stylistic choice to keep things right in front of the reader and not embellish too much about what was going on. I think the style lends itself to the way I see Charlie as well. If he wrote stories, I'd imagine this to be his writing style. 

Yellow was super fun to play with here, all the aspects of it and the different ways it can appear in the story to 'highlight' what was going on emotionally. 

I have this whole headcanon about Luna/Charlie for a few years. Unfortunately, they never quite make it.

 

Thanks so much for the review!

 

Pix

Name: RonsGirlFriday (Signed) · Date: 19 Feb 2023 05:44 AM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

mountain mystery review

 

It wasn't fair to want something and not to want it at the same time.

 

Gosh this is... all sorts of feelings. I can imagine this story might speak differently to different readers. There's something about this theme that resonates with me, the different way different people approach relationships and what they need and want from one another. Charlie and Luna are interesting to pair for this theme because both of them strike me as independent/unfettered. But that still leaves a lot of room for wanting, for wanting to be wanted.

 

Charlie's not bad or wrong for being the way he is; he and Luna simply aren't what one another needs. At least, not 100% of the time, anyway. I loved how Luna seems like this constant season, while Charlie goes through different seasons, different phases of his life, cyclically, having those times when he doesn't need a Luna or a Svetlana because he has his dragons -- but during the times he doesn't have the dragons as his focus, he needs something else. Very compartmentalized, very into one thing to the exclusion of all others.

 

But in the end it felt like a beautiful story of understanding.

Author's Response:

Hi!

 

Thanks for taking a chance on this story! It really was a dive into the minimalist style. I think the style itself expresses the way I see Charlie as a character too, how he gets to the point of things quickly, without too much second-guessing. Yes, I see both of these characters as independent, and yes, there is a lot of room for the wanting.

 

Thanks so much for your review! I always love hearing your thoughts!

 

Pix

Name: Predictable Chaos (Signed) · Date: 19 Feb 2023 01:50 AM · For: It wasn't a plea for more time...

Hi, I'm here for the FFT Fest Review.

 

What a great connection between love, needs and the seasons. I love how you explored their relationship through the lens of seasons. Luna is the perfect summer, all bright and yellow, from her hair to the crazy dresses she wore. 

 

As I read this, I felt a lot of pain for both of them. They wanted to make this work, but realized in the end, it was for naught. I think the line "You love what I do, but not who I am" was perfect and describes a lot of relationships that never quite make it. I picture them as two hemispheres, always experiencing a different season at the same time. 

Author's Response:

Hi there!

 

It was all about Yellow, which was the prompt. As with any color, there are many shades and moods. That line was one of the main themes for this piece... when you fall in love with all the parts, but not the whole. 

 

Thanks for your review!

 

Pix