Something Right

[bratanimus]

Title: Something Right
Author: bratanimus
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13 for language, and slightly Scrooge-like tendencies. ;)
Prompts: Candy canes, and
“So here it is, Merry Christmas
Everybody's having fun
Look to the future now
It's only just begun”
- Merry Christmas Everybody, by Slade
Word Count: 3,840
Summary: It’s all Kenny Kringle’s fault that

Comments

[gppr]

That was great! So visual. I loved drunk Remus :D And I loved how those fragments f Kenny Kringle's show tied all together.

[bratanimus]

Thank you! I'm very glad that you could visualize the scenes; that's something I'm always trying to work on. :) Thanks for commenting on the Kringle show tying everything together; I like the idea of something so over-the-top being the thing that draws them together in the end. Thanks again for reading! :D

[lady_bracknell]

My parents went to school with Noddy Holder out of Slade, so I won't hear a word said against them ;).

I loved this. I love the sound of those WWN Christmas shows, and now I really wish Kenny Kringle were real. It's such an inventive idea, and I love the idea of this connection between the two of them that exists at the start in an intangible way, and then morphs into something more real through what's an ostensibly quite simple conversation. But I think that's how love is - these little moments that mean nothing out of context, when you find out that someone you like does something you do too, and there's a really powerful sense of connection in that, that I thought you really captured in this.

I really loved this: We both smile at the same time. The outer corners of his eyes crinkle in that way that makes me feel weak and insatiable, and I wish I were drunk enough to just take his face in my hands and give him the wettest, sloppiest kiss he’s ever had., especially the line about being weak and insatiable - it's the perfect lead-

[bratanimus]

My parents went to school with Noddy Holder out of Slade, so I won't hear a word said against them ;).

Remus said it, not me, so you'll have to take it up with him, lol! ;) I actually really like that song (I own it ;)). And how cool that your parents went to school with Noddy Holder!!

I'm so glad you liked this story. The whole Christmas show thing always got under my skin, even as a kid, because our family was far from nuclear. So I hated those shows for several reasons: (1) because the producers were lying to me because no one's family is like that, or (2) because there actually are families that happy and I'm jealous, or (3) it's so saccharine I can't stand it, or (4) it's so saccharine and I am ashamed to admit that I want it. Probably combination of all four, lol. (Did I not say I was going to stop making lists for New Year's? LOL) So I figured characters like Remus and Tonks might have a similar response.

I'm very pleased that, as you said, the connection between the two of them that exists at the start in an

[an_fhanai]

Nnngh. That last bit did me in for a while. Requited sexual tension, hoorah!

“Does Mad-Eye Moody wear footy pyjamas?”
You win so much for this line. So. Much.

I loved this, all the little details you throw in, but especially the way you've written Remus and Tonks - you've captured a characterization not often seen. I'm fully behind the motion to get you to write more of this. :D

[bratanimus]

Yay! I just loved the thought of Remus on his knees in front of Tonks' chair, snogging her senseless. Glad it worked for you, too! :D

Heh heh, I'm happy you liked the Mad-Eye in footies line. I'm really hoping that someone will do a fanart, because that image just makes me giggle.

I'm very pleased that you liked the slightly jaded yet hopeful Remus and Tonks I wrote for this story. Perhaps I will write more. :)

Thanks again for reading, and for your very kind review! :D

[gilpin25]

It's a shame there isn't an award for coming up with the best witch and wizard names as you'd win hands down! Though I'm still coming to terms with the news that Doug and Delilah, aka the Osmonds, are secretly married. Now why aren't I surprised? ;)

I enjoyed this enormously, especially the idea that it's them thinking that the ideal happy-clappy-family Christmas scenario is forever denied to them both, for different reasons, is actually the catalyst for much drinking, cynical witticisms and certain walls coming crashing down. I also really liked that you didn't spell things out in capital letters for us, such as when they have this exchange: “I’m sure Arthur was glad to see another adult male in the bunch, though.” “I suppose.” Remus looks away, almost shyly. His eyes darken for a moment, and I wonder what he’s thinking, but he doesn’t tell. Which immediately made me think that, of course, he's been to the hospital and seen the other werewolf and realised what's in store for him, as well as seeing Arthur adored by all his

[bratanimus]

Hee hee, glad you liked the witch and wizard names. I had far too much fun coming up with those. And re: Donnie and Marie ... erm, Doug and Delilah, rather -- there was a sketch on Saturday Night Live years ago in which (I think) Chris Parnell and Julia Louis Dreyfuss played Donnie and Marie, and every once in a while they would be overcome by their lust for each other and snog each other madly. It was yucky and hilarious all at once. ;)

I'm pleased that you liked this Remus and Tonks, two people who think that 'happily ever after' is for other people, not them; and yet they can't help but hope and long for it all the same. And thanks for commenting on the moment when Remus becomes quiet, thinking about just exactly what you said: he's been to the hospital and seen the other werewolf and realised what's in store for him, as well as seeing Arthur adored by all his family. I feel sure Remus couldn't come away from that day unscathed, sitting in the middle of such disparate situations and realizing which one is closer to his own

[seer_of_spots]

Bratanimus, you just keep on giving, don't you?

I absolutely adore the socks off this crazy thing.

I'm sitting here with a stupid grin on my face as I read this. It's just so gorgeous.

The first thing that struck me was the tone. The utter Tonksness of the style of this piece is really strong. And I love how crabby she is, right at the beginning. Just tolerating her family because she feels it's Christmas (but also feels that 'Christmas' is a bit of a lame excuse), getting tipsily grumpy with stupid little things like the wireless channel ... it's utterly hilarious in a completely subtle way.
And I love how that's all summed up:

“Well, I understand,” she says, pulling me into her gingerbread-scented embrace under the mistletoe. I hold her for a moment and wish I didn’t feel the need to escape, but I really have to go. If I don’t I’ll start to get angry. That’s my Christmas tradition. It’s not her fault, it’s Kenny Kringle’s.

(I particularly love the 'gingerbread-scented embrace'. Genius!)

“Unbelievable. Bunch of has-beens,” a

[bratanimus]

Wow, THANK YOU for this fabulous and thoughtful review!! You made my day. *hugs* :D

I'm so, so very pleased that you thought this piece had a good amount of "Tonksness" in it. I actually have not written her POV much, preferring to write from Remus' most of the time, so I'm glad it worked for you.

I'm also happy that you liked FestivelySloshed!Remus and his graceful little spill onto the floor. I, too, had a giggle imagining Remus walking around with a cache of candy canes in his pocket for emergency firewhiskeys. I had a bit too much fun writing him, lol, and may well do so again. ;)

Thank you again for reading, and especially for leaving such wonderful thoughts. I'm glad you liked it. :D