Hi! Here for Magical Menagerie! :)
Ohh, this was so cute and fluffy! There’s such a broad range of possibilities with Luna/Rolf and I really like what you did with it here. They seem so compatible with each other, but they’re interested in each other not just romantically but also because they’re genuinely interested in what the other has to say and enjoy their company, which is also important. Luna warmed up to him pretty quickly despite his first impressions, but the romance wasn’t rushed into immediately. Although I can see the beginnings of it...Rolf was so sweet, he booked the same train just to see her again XD
I think you did a really good job with Luna’s character here. She’s imaginative and maintains that same love for (non-existent) creatures and utter uniqueness from the books that we know and love about her. It’s what makes her her. You show her in stark contrast to ordinary Muggles, and I guess it just makes her seem more real? Everyone’s met/seen someone similar to her, dressed and acting completely differently to others, and in everyday life those people seem odd, but here, we see into the mind of one of those people. I liked all the observations she was making, without any willingness to talk to anyone, because it seems very classic of Luna. She mostly keeps to herself. And then Rolf came haha
OF COURSE she was doing a report on Heliopaths, which may or may not exist. No one else wanted to, did they? And yet she doesn’t mind, she loves it. She doesn’t take advantage of being The Quibbler’s editor’s daughter, she doesn’t feel bitter or jealous about Neville and Hannah. She’s just so pure-hearted omg
Thanks for the read :)
Author's Response:Hi! I loved writing Luna/Rolf, because I definitely imagine them as the type of couple who are friends first and lovers second. Luna's just always struck me as that type of person, and it felt right to write Rolf that way as well. And she's always been the type to stand out in a crowd, and I don't imagine that'd be much different in a crowd of Muggles - she's so brightly coloured and quietly observant, which is so fun. She's absolutely in her element watching people, and doing reports on a creature that may or may not exist - she's definitely super pure-hearted (which is such a contrast to the types of characters I usually write) and it made her a joy to write.
Thanks for the review!
Hello there!
Just dropping by for November's Red vs Gold Review Battle in the common room! I must admit that I'm woefully behind on your work, so this seemed like a great opportunity to catch up on some of it!
Luna is definitely one of my favorite characters. She's so pure and she sees things through such a unique lens. I thought you did a great job capturing that. She's whimsical the whole way through and I really appreciated that.
I also thought you did a good job of conveying that while she's still Luna, she has grown up a bit and that the war has touched her too. All too often in fic, I feel like people write Luna as completely impervious to the damages of war. She might not be someone who mopes or drinks, but in her own way she too has experienced horrors and had to come to terms with it. I mean she was imprisoned in the Malfoy dungeon and I doubt she was treated particularly well during her stay there.
I loved the symbolism of the journey here. Both Luna and Rolf truly seem to be like the sorts to really focus on enjoying the journey. I thought that was a nice touch and more poignant because of the way you looped it back to Luna's mom. Nice job!
It's so sweet that Rolf changed his ticket home just so he could see Luna again. She certainly made as much of an impression on him as he did on her. It made me really happy that he asked her out at the end...and what better way than to take her off on a search for Gulping Plimpies. Too perfect!
I always try to offer a bit of critique in my reviews, but this was so cute it's hard to find anything. I think my only thing would be that the first paragraphs were really focused on telling instead of showing. I know that's a super hard thing to balance in a short one-shot, but it did stand out a bit to me since you were a lot more descriptive in the rest of the story.
All and all, I found this a really sweet dose of fluff. It made my heart happy to see how Luna and Rolf met. Really nice work! I look forward to checking out more soon.
~Kaitlin
Author's Response:Hi Kaitlin! This is such an old fic of mine, but writing Luna was definitely a lot of fun. She's very different from a lot of the characters I usually write as well, so it was a nice challenge in that respect as well. It's good to know that I did her justice in capturing her more lighthearted nature but still including how she changed as a result of the war.
I love the whole 'the journey is sometimes even better than the destination' maxim, and it definitely seemed to be the kind of thing that would fit Luna's personality. And the appearance of Rolf just happened to make that life lesson even more pronounced, haha.
I'll definitely keep your comments about the first few paragraphs in mind - I definitely think you're right that it's a bit too much telling - although I'm not sure I'll ever go back and edit this, purely because it's so much older and I have so many other things that also need editing, haha. But it's definitely a good thing for me to keep in mind in my writing going forward, haha.
Thanks for the review, Kaitlin!!