Tonks' puddled state of mind was an ideal plot device for letting us be filled in on what's going on as well as her, and getting her to ask the questions for us. So we now know that Lestrange is working with someone else and Tonks gets the unwelcome news that her parents are under suspicion by association, because of their relatives and,almost certainly, because of her relationship with Remus. It's nice to see how loyal everyone is to her, not saying out loud that she rushed in without thought, treating the idea of her not being quite trustworthy as ridiculous - so many parallels with what Remus has always faced - and my favourite part was the end where she realises this and says exactly what Remus needs to hear:
I know all that, and I want you anyway was a language Remus understood in his heart, where I don't care fell like a foreign phrase on his ears.
It's also lovely when she praises him for "teaching" her what to say, because she surely couldn't have said anything better to help the battered male ego! Perhaps it will help them both in the long run now that she's getting a taste of what it's really like for herself.
I might have a small complaint about Mad-Eye; flowers are one thing but I rather like ladybirds! There are a few courses he might need to go on himself, lol. It's also interesting that Bill is obviously still accepted as a human first, despite his appearance, and attracts sympathy rather than suspicion. (This set me off on a good five minutes of pondering about DH and possible ideas...;)).
And I'm very, very chuffed that you rate Mr Yuhong highly enough to give him a mention, so thank you for that. He's so pleased that both eyebrows are now stuck permanently on his hairline but, hopefully, he knows just the potion to fix that.
So I'll end as I nearly started in some other part of this review - I enjoyed this tremendously, loved the humour throughout, and thought the characterisation was some of the best in the fic yet. Plus Remus must have the most fantastic bedside manner (and mirror;)) ever! How long till the next one?!
Is it completely stupid of me, after your ordeal in reviewing, to write this reply in the LJ screen, while a huge thunderstorm rages outside? Probably. But I like to walk on the wild side, and I thought it was only fair to try and understand what you went through to write this lovely review. And I really must thank you first of all for doing it even though all of technology seemed to be conspiring against you. I'd have thrown up my hands and written, "Cute chapter!" or said something about PTSD!Moody. ;)
Anyway, I'm completely thrilled you liked this chapter; not only do I not feel very confident about whether other people actually think my humor is funny, but I was terribly nervous about how this series of high conversations worked as far as moving the plot along goes, and giving the readers some much needed exposition. So I'm very glad you felt I accomplished those things through a realistic lens of someone who's all drugged up and not sure what's going on, and yet very frustrated, too. I've never been hospitalized, but I have been on some pretty potent drugs that made me feel just like this. ;) It was great fun to write poor Tonks in a haze, and to let all her visitors have fun with how cute she is. I'd hoped it would take some of the sting out of her foolhardy actions back at her parents' house. And I'm so very glad you liked all the little cameos with her parents and the Weasleys, who, as you can imagine, are going to be pretty important in upcoming plot points. And I just can't tell you how thrilled I am you like Pye, as he is, for all intents and purposes, an OC, and I've done enough rants about OCs that I realize I've now got a lot riding here as far as not coming off a hypocrite goes. But I am beginning to understand why people do like writing OCs in fic. :)
And speaking of, I'm glad you liked Mr. Yuhong's cameo. I really desperately needed a name for the Diagon Alley apothecary, and all I could find for the name is the one from the movies, and I didn't really want to do a movie nod, and as I couldn't think of anything creative myself, I thought a nod to a fic would be fun. ;)
Though I am sorry to have put you off with Mad-Eye blowing up the ladybird. I like ladybirds, too. But now you'll probably never read anything else I write, as you've now seen me harm ladybirds as well as horses! (But really, don't be too harsh on him; he's got PTSD! ;))
But most of all I'm so very glad you like what's developing with Remus and Tonks. I'm always quite wary of dealing with instances of prejudice or hostility because they can so easily become OTT, but I really needed to set up this idea now for some things to come. And I'm glad you liked the way it was dealt with. I think the interesting thing about Remus and Tonks is that they have to learn to deal with problems that aren't going to go away; it's an attitude they have to hone, and I think it chiefly requires them first to get on the same page about how they're going to react to these things. Tonks can't just say it's unfair and tell Remus she wants to go picket the Ministry, because it's not that simple. I'm glad you liked what Tonks said to relieve his fears, and I must give credit to godricgal for pushing me to expand on that idea of them teaching each other how to deal with this.
Wow, I think I covered everything, and survived the storm, so I'll close. But thank you again for your lovely feedback. It means so much to know you're enjoying where this fic's going!
Tonks' puddled state of mind was an ideal plot device for letting us be filled in on what's going on as well as her, and getting her to ask the questions for us. So we now know that Lestrange is working with someone else and Tonks gets the unwelcome news that her parents are under suspicion by association, because of their relatives and,almost certainly, because of her relationship with Remus. It's nice to see how loyal everyone is to her, not saying out loud that she rushed in without thought, treating the idea of her not being quite trustworthy as ridiculous - so many parallels with what Remus has always faced - and my favourite part was the end where she realises this and says exactly what Remus needs to hear:
I know all that, and I want you anyway was a language Remus understood in his heart, where I don't care fell like a foreign phrase on his ears.
It's also lovely when she praises him for "teaching" her what to say, because she surely couldn't have said anything better to help the battered male ego! Perhaps it will help them both in the long run now that she's getting a taste of what it's really like for herself.
I might have a small complaint about Mad-Eye; flowers are one thing but I rather like ladybirds! There are a few courses he might need to go on himself, lol. It's also interesting that Bill is obviously still accepted as a human first, despite his appearance, and attracts sympathy rather than suspicion. (This set me off on a good five minutes of pondering about DH and possible ideas...;)).
And I'm very, very chuffed that you rate Mr Yuhong highly enough to give him a mention, so thank you for that. He's so pleased that both eyebrows are now stuck permanently on his hairline but, hopefully, he knows just the potion to fix that.
So I'll end as I nearly started in some other part of this review - I enjoyed this tremendously, loved the humour throughout, and thought the characterisation was some of the best in the fic yet. Plus Remus must have the most fantastic bedside manner (and mirror;)) ever! How long till the next one?!
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Anyway, I'm completely thrilled you liked this chapter; not only do I not feel very confident about whether other people actually think my humor is funny, but I was terribly nervous about how this series of high conversations worked as far as moving the plot along goes, and giving the readers some much needed exposition. So I'm very glad you felt I accomplished those things through a realistic lens of someone who's all drugged up and not sure what's going on, and yet very frustrated, too. I've never been hospitalized, but I have been on some pretty potent drugs that made me feel just like this. ;) It was great fun to write poor Tonks in a haze, and to let all her visitors have fun with how cute she is. I'd hoped it would take some of the sting out of her foolhardy actions back at her parents' house. And I'm so very glad you liked all the little cameos with her parents and the Weasleys, who, as you can imagine, are going to be pretty important in upcoming plot points. And I just can't tell you how thrilled I am you like Pye, as he is, for all intents and purposes, an OC, and I've done enough rants about OCs that I realize I've now got a lot riding here as far as not coming off a hypocrite goes. But I am beginning to understand why people do like writing OCs in fic. :)
And speaking of, I'm glad you liked Mr. Yuhong's cameo. I really desperately needed a name for the Diagon Alley apothecary, and all I could find for the name is the one from the movies, and I didn't really want to do a movie nod, and as I couldn't think of anything creative myself, I thought a nod to a fic would be fun. ;)
Though I am sorry to have put you off with Mad-Eye blowing up the ladybird. I like ladybirds, too. But now you'll probably never read anything else I write, as you've now seen me harm ladybirds as well as horses! (But really, don't be too harsh on him; he's got PTSD! ;))
But most of all I'm so very glad you like what's developing with Remus and Tonks. I'm always quite wary of dealing with instances of prejudice or hostility because they can so easily become OTT, but I really needed to set up this idea now for some things to come. And I'm glad you liked the way it was dealt with. I think the interesting thing about Remus and Tonks is that they have to learn to deal with problems that aren't going to go away; it's an attitude they have to hone, and I think it chiefly requires them first to get on the same page about how they're going to react to these things. Tonks can't just say it's unfair and tell Remus she wants to go picket the Ministry, because it's not that simple. I'm glad you liked what Tonks said to relieve his fears, and I must give credit to godricgal for pushing me to expand on that idea of them teaching each other how to deal with this.
Wow, I think I covered everything, and survived the storm, so I'll close. But thank you again for your lovely feedback. It means so much to know you're enjoying where this fic's going!
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