Name: MadiMalfoy (Signed) · Date: 01 Sep 2019 06:48 AM · For: Pretty Little Thing

Hey Sam! :) 

 

I love a good rare pair, and this is even better considering it’s between the arithmancy professor and quidditch professor! And boy is the Angst genre true, oh wow. The imagery you write is flawless and puts a twist on our favorite Hogwarts castle from the eyes of a relatively recent alumnus and new professor. For some reason I never realized Madam Hooch’s first name was Rolanda, but regardless of that, Septima’s nickname for her is great and speaks to the emotional depth of their relationship. The ease with which Septima thinks she can control and plie Rolanda just by speaking with her is very intriguing, and I’d love to know your reasoning behind this dichotomy in their relationship. But boy you make it less angsty by Rolanda telling Septima she’s had enough of her words and ways, and refuses to deal with it anymore. Septima’s reaction is so telling and that whole interaction was written so well! Rolanda seems much stronger for having this final interaction with Septima, and I can tell she’s going to channel all of that energy into being a great flying coach and quidditch referee. This is such a great little piece, I enjoyed it a lot! :) 

 

~MadiMalfoy 

(Puff-a-Claw-polypse Reviewing Event, Team Huffleclaw)

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 19 Jul 2019 04:21 PM · For: Pretty Little Thing

Sam! <3

 

I can see why Emily loves this story so much; you’ve always handled difficult characters and complex relationships incredibly well, but wow. This is on a different level from the other things I’ve read from you before, mostly because the dynamic itself is so different! The story summary said this was a Rolanda Hooch/Septima Vector story, so I was originally looking forward to seeing how their relationship played out, but perhaps I should’ve taken the Angst label more seriously because starting from the middle all the way towards the end, it was so much pain and suffering omg. And you wrote it all beautifully.

 

In the beginning, I completely did not realize that this relationship was a manipulative one; I just thought that Rolanda Hooch was just incredibly nervous to meet a former lover again whose relationship with her ended badly. I thought that these were your normal “meet your ex” jitters, BUT I SHOULD’VE REALIZED. From the beginning, the fact that Septima Vector called Rolanda Hooch “her pretty little thing” should have set off warning bells—but as I was reading I just frowned a bit, thought it was a little weird to call a romantic interest that, and then continued without much thought. But it really came to bite me in the butt when the confrontation happened later, and by the end you have no idea how proud I was of Rolanda!

 

You write all these beautiful lines that are amazing and wonderful and describe things more beautifully than a straightforward description could ever give, for instance—"Her words seem to flow out of her like liquid, but by the time they reach me they are solid, wrapping like tendrils around my torso and constricting my breath.” It’s just so gorgeous, Sam?? How do you write such beautiful things? Like, it shows exactly how manipulative Septima is, how she’s been using her words to confuse Rolanda all this time, and how this relationship was most definitely not a cute and romantic one. The difficulty of Rolanda getting her words out in the beginning was just so painful, BUT SHE DID IT.

 

[“No,” I object again. “I am not pretty, I am beautiful. I am not little, I am grown. And I definitely am not a thing.”] YES ROLANDA. YES. I’M SO PROUD OF YOU. It must be really difficult standing up to someone significantly older than you who’s manipulated you throughout your relationship (I can’t say the exact age gap but it seems like it must’ve been a fairly sizable one if Septima didn’t want to be seen together with her) but I’m so glad that she managed it. <3

 

The freedom in these last lines is incredible—"I maneuver my broom in bold arcs and dives, and the world bends around me at my will. I breathe deeply, and all that I hear is me.” Ugh this was such an incredible read, Sam. I love you and your writing so much! <3

 

Love,

Eva

Name: LadyL8 (Signed) · Date: 05 Nov 2018 05:08 PM · For: Pretty Little Thing

Hey Sam,

 

It's been a while since I last read something of yours, so I thought I'd come and check out this story since it's Hufflepuff's Story of the Month this month (congratulations!). It looks really interesting, and I love rare pairs so I really think I'm gonna love this story too. And that's why I'm not gonna waste any more time talking. Let's get to the actual reading and reviewing.

 

First of all, wow. This story did not go the way I expected at all (you tricked me with the story summary :P), but I really liked it. It had me hooked from the beginning, and I really liked that you revealed the details of the relationship gradually. The way you describe Rolanda's pain... it really made me curious to find out what had happened between her and Septima. At first I thought maybe they had gone through a bad breakup and Rolanda still missed her and wanted to get back with her again. I even thought maybe Rolanda was to blame for the relationship not working out, but when the two of them actually met in the story, it became really obvious that this was never a good relationship to begin with.

 

Septima is just awful. So manipulative and horrible, and I just hated completely her by the of the story. But I really liked Rolanda and I thought it was great that we got to see her break away from Septima's control and that she finally got to feel free again. And also, I really loved that you wrote about a young Madam Hooch. There aren't many stories about her, but I've always wanted to read one because I think she's an interesting character. I didn't imagine anything like this would ever be written, but you did such a good job with the characterisation that I just found the characters really believable.

 

So good job, Sam! I can definitely see why this won the monthly award. It's a really well-deserved winner! Congratulations!

 

- Lotte

 

Name: Renacera (Signed) · Date: 02 Oct 2018 01:48 AM · For: Pretty Little Thing

Holy. Wow.

I did not expect this story, and I love it even more for what it is.

After my shameless Deanmus read, I had to move on to this. Stories about queer women are too few and far between. This read made my night.

I absolutely love what you've done here with language and emotions throughout. At the beginning, I was feeling this loss and confusion, and the repetition and resonanace of Septima in Rolanda's life felt so heavy and painful. It felt like a story of a breakup that truly hurt Ro. But then I read on.

Your ability to write two such realistic characters is amazing. I completely understood Rolanda and her feelings and experiences and desperation to change her emotional circumstances. I've been where she is and could see all the things I experienced in what she was experiencing. And Septima was so perfectly awful. I've met way too many people exactly like her—manipulative and condescending and cajoling and just...awful. Ugh. She's so real that I hate it. Why do people have to be that way?

The confrontation between Rolanda and Septima is flawless. It shows such a strength of character in Ro and such a beauty in her revival and escape from a toxic relationship. I loved it. I basically fist pumped the air at the line, "But I cannot stand here and let her rewrite our history when I also hold a quill." FREAKING PERFECT.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the toxic relationships I had when I was younger, and this story was so cathartic for me. I absolutely adored Ro escaping her demons—both internally and externally—and the feeling of freedom she had at the end. God, I hope she keeps that.

The writing in this was stunning. Your characterization was beautiful. The emotions were real. I loved it. I loved it. I loved it.

Thank you for writing this. You're wonderful.

—Emily

Name: victoria_anne (Signed) · Date: 06 Jun 2017 10:46 PM · For: Pretty Little Thing

Transferred from HPFF (*mwa*)

 

ME!

Hi Sam ♥

I don't see any cupcakes in this story, but that's okay. There always next time, eh?

A young Madam Hooch! Love it love it love it. Ooh the angst! You promised, and you delivered ♥

Omgomgomg THIS: "Her words seem to flow out of her like liquid, but by the time they reach me they are solid, wrapping like tendrils around my torso and constricting my breath." Argh you are so talented, this is beautiful! 

(Also, 'Ro' is one of my characters' nickname, squee!)

ARGH SAM: "But I cannot stand here and let her rewrite our history when I also hold a quill." THAT IS SO BEAUTIFUL!

HOOCH POWER! What a boss lady! I LOVE that! I can see by the way Septima talks that she was probably very manipulative, so I'm glad we see Rolanda finally break free from that, and grow up to become her own woman.

How you do dis in so little words?

Gorgeous work as always Sam ♥

Love B    

Author's Response:

 

YOU!

 

I mean, of course you're here. You're always here. You're wonderful like that. Thanks for being here.

 

I am a total sucker for quidditch players (apparently), and also (apparently) I headcanon every female quidditch player as queer. Not sure where that came into as I don’t really follow the whole jock girls are queer thing in real life… But who knows!

 

Hooch strikes me as an interesting character who we don’t get to know much about. She seems very passionate and driven, and I definitely wanted to explore what she would have been like as a young woman. She is very confident when we know her, but I wanted to see ait about what was behind that and if she was always that way.

 

Haha, I'm glad you liked that sentence! I wasn't sure if I was too tired or going too over the top when I wrote it, so I'm glad it works =)

 

Same thing with the quill line. My brain gets really poetical when I'm tired, which is apparently okay.

 

OMG. I was just thinking someone was going to comment about me doing so well with so few words. This is one of my LONGER one shots. =P

 

Yay for Hooch power! High five for our 'Ro's!

 

♥

 

Sam.

Name: Stella Blue (Signed) · Date: 02 Nov 2016 12:57 PM · For: Pretty Little Thing

*Transferred review from HPFF*

 

Saaam! ♥ Apparently the review hot seat was still continuing via twitter, but I didn't know about it until yesterday. So here I am with some belated reviews for the hot seat!

This is so beautifully written, and I love how you unfolded the details about the relationship gradually. At first, it just seems like a relationship that ended sadly where Rolanda is still in love with Septima - seeing and hearing reminders of her everywhere. But as soon as they cross paths and start to have a conversation, it illuminates exactly what went wrong in the relationship, and how unhealthy it was in the first place. Septima really is so rude to her :(

And yet despite that, the narration is absolutely beautiful. Her words seem to flow out of her like liquid, but by the time they reach me they are solid, wrapping like tendrils around my torso and constricting my breath. -- at first I read that as how breathtaking Septima is and that her words are just captivating, but it can also be interpreted as that Septima's words are kind of poisonous and suffocating Rolanda. And it probably means both, given how Rolanda's not totally over Septima. Gah, it's just so good!

And THIS! But I cannot stand here and let her rewrite our history when I also hold a quill. -- ugh this is seriously just gorgeous

I love the end too. She doesn't hear Septima as a voice on the wind or feel her as a cold space. Instead Rolanda just hears herself soaring through the clear air. A perfect end to an amazingly written story. Seriously, you're such a talented author.

Author's Response:

<3