Name: ShadowRose (Signed) · Date: 22 Jan 2019 03:56 PM · For: period three

Hi Plums! I admittedly read this story aaaaaages ago (how could I not, it’s a Jily AU and those are my favourite things in the world) but am just now making it here to leave a review on this thing.

 

I obviously loved this whole story for a whole host of reasons - how wonderfully you’ve incorporated the hockey and ice skating elements into it, the way you built up all of James’ background before even starting on the romance part, the fact that their words are such strange ones, all the ways that their personalities clash and all the ways that they’re alike as well, and all the various ways they cross paths on campus (because the coffee parts evoke a little bit of a coffee shop AU vibe which I’m also totally here for).

 

But this chapter in particular is incredible, because I love how realistic it feels. Like, yes, it’s a soulmate AU and they’re supposedly soulmates, but their relationship is still real and authentic and there’s still those pre-relationship jitters when Lily asks James if he’d kiss her if she asks (and thinks even for a second that he’d say no). The build-up is phenomenal, and the relationship itself is really sweet. I love that they maintain their teasing, funny relationship even once they start dating, and I love that they still struggle with it and it’s not some picture-perfect relationship either.

 

“Sometimes, they don't fit together like the world told them they would. But they try their hardest anyway.” Like, this line is just. I love it so much.

 

And then it ends perfectly too - it’s no dramatic ending, but it’s one of those soft, sweet endings where everything in the world is right, which is absolutely my favourite type of happy ending.

 

Anyways, I loved reading this months ago and I loved reading it again just now. <3

 

-Taylor

Written for the Magical Menagerie event and January RvG

Name: LadyMarauder (Signed) · Date: 22 Jan 2019 08:45 AM · For: period one

That summery is one heck of a way to get a reader's attention, so I just had to click on this. Also, I ADORE everything Jily and this was no exception. I'll admit, I don't often read soulmates ones as it's not really my thing, but this was great! I loved the ice hockey player idea for James and Sirius, still giving James the sporty character we know from HP. I loved your Sirius, he was talented but a bit too lazy to actually do anything with it, but he was still so funny. Also, as though I was so sad not to actually see Remus, I was totally happy he was Sirius's soulmate, I mean, who else could it be? 

 

Your Lily was cracking too. She was feisty, quick and just a little bit scary, which I think is pretty spot on to be honest! Even though I knew they would end up together at some point because of their soulmate tags, I was still rooting for them throughout this. It was also cool you didn't actually have them get together in the end, it made it quite organic that they were on their way to being friends first. I loved it and it may well make me click on a soulmate story again. 

 

Tasha xx

For Menagerie and RvG Team red

 

Name: poppunkpadfoot (Signed) · Date: 22 Jan 2019 03:11 AM · For: period one

Okay so I absolutely read this when you first posted it and I can't believe I didn't review it?! It's so GOOD like I literally love it. I don't even know where to begin with how good this is.

 

I guess from the beginning? The description of toddler!James is so cute it's ridiculous. I can picture him so clearly in all his chubby friendly adorable-ness. Honestly I was smiling so much through that whole section, and I love love love the idea of James and Sirius being friends since they were three instead of since they were eleven :') and Sirius protesting that he was James's best friend when they were first discussing James's soul mark made me happy hahaha.

 

Just going to get this out of the way: nothing makes me melt faster than Sirius calling James's parents mum and dad, it literally makes me so happy, and Sirius CALLING JAMES'S MUM ALMOST EVERY NIGHT? I CAN'T HANDLE IT, it's so perfect. Also going to get this out of the way: "One day, Sirius asks him for a pen; he ends up with a tattoo of black on his wrist and a panic attack instead." The way you phrased this was so good, I love that little section even though it makes my heart hurt.

 

This was brief and ended up being inconsequential, but I loved the description of James's relationship with Mary and that he fought someone for being rude about her. (And also that he fought (presumably) Regulus. omg)

 

Your characterization was SOOOO on point in this. Like you've literally taken these characters and put them in a modern-day university hockey/figure skater AU, that's really hard to pull off and you've pulled it off SO SO well. I just really enjoy James in this in particular, even if he's a little bit of a jerk at several points in this chapter hahaha. And Lily was also basically just how I imagine her! Except a figure skater! Which is awesome!

 

(Sirius falling on the floor laughing at James when Lily says The Words made me lose it, that moment was so perfect.)

 

The dialogue between James and Lily in the last scene where she's sprained her ankle is so funny and flawless. I'm really blown away by how effortless this story comes across.

 

Obviously I thoroughly enjoyed this, thank you for sharing! <3

 

TTFN!

 

-Kayla

Name: adorably cute (Signed) · Date: 17 Jun 2018 12:36 AM · For: period three

I've been meaning to read this for so long and I've finaly had the time! I am so glad that I did because it was so wonderful and adorable and cute and I just loved it so much!

 

Ok, squealing (maybe) over! In all seriousness, I think you did such a great job with this prompt and the whole soulmates thing while also tackling the Jily angle as well. You captured a lot of their essence and personalities in a whole different universe and it was so well done! I really enjoyed a lot of the side pieces in this as well--James and Sirius' friendship, their relationship with his parents, Sirius; and Remus' relationship. Everything just flowed so naturally and made it such a nice read!

Name: MadiMalfoy (Signed) · Date: 03 Jun 2018 07:30 PM · For: period three

 

Hello hello hello plums! I'm finally getting to everyone's entries for my Soulmate AU challenge so here I am! :) 

First of all, I just wanted to say that I originally read this on AO3 as the monster one-shot you had it in before breaking it up for HPFT, so it was a truly immersive reading experience. :P I did a quick read-through here to see where you had the chapter breaks, and I think they work well and served their purpose to split up James's experiences with Lily from beginning to end. I’ve not seen much with how James and Lily get together (oops I haven’t read fic in FOREVER…) so this was super refreshing! You worked with your soulmate prompt (tattoo of first words) extremely well, even drawing in Remus & Sirius (which I loved!) and their first meeting. Your random prompt (“Please put me down it’s just a sprained ankle.”) also fit wonderfully with your ice skating/ice hockey theme. I can confirm my ankles hurt anytime that I go skating for fun, so I can only imagine how painful it can actually get for those who do it for sport or professionally! You also made that moment into a pleasant and light-hearted piggyback ride to the school health center, which I thought was cute and totally fit their characterizations. 

Backtracking a bit to the first section, the backstory for James & Sirius was absolutely fitting. The opening line of the fic had me hooked right away with laughter and an interest to see how James’ position to hit Sirius with a puck would coordinate with meeting Lily. Seeing how James & Sirius meet at pre-school and their toddler interactions was cute and some of the best writing of that age group I’ve seen in a while! Reading about their progression through school and friendship was very nice and a solid segue to James developing his love of ice hockey alongside casually dating Mary before going to university. The boys’ bickering reminds me of many of my male friends when they’re together, so I can appreciate the banter all the more for that. Once Lily says the line that James has tattooed on his arm and Sirius busts out into hysterical laughter, I really got behind your story. Through the rough, angsty middle section, you really allowed for James and Lily’s characters to gain some serious depth and dimensions to them to keep us enticed with their not-quite-yet love story. 

Overall, I truly enjoyed this piece and the significance with which you placed the random prompt quote within the story to serve as a turning point for how Lily sees James. The writing in general was fantastic and scenes flowed smoothly from one to another. Characterizations of James, Lily, Sirius, Remus, and the elder Potters were all great and matched each other very well. Great piece, and I’ll be posting challenge results later. Well done! :)
~MadiMalfoy x

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 04 May 2018 08:38 PM · For: period three

I got distracted by John Mulaney for half an hour (I didn’t mean to, I just mindlessly scrolled through tumblr, saw one of his videos, and then lost track of time) but I AM BACK.

 

[Okay, I have read the chapter now.]

 

And ohh my heart. I’m sorry that this review is going to be shorter than the rest, because I just really don’t know what to say after finishing a fic like this. You know that satisfied feeling you get after you’ve spent some time reading a fic that makes you smile without realizing, and then like some time’s passed and you’re still smiling? Reading this one warmed my soul tbh. I’m definitely going to be coming back to this whenever I’m feeling down because I just can’t imagine anything sweeter honestly. My eyes are slightly bleary because I’ve been at this for more than an hour, but honestly I’m just very, very happy I read this.

 

All of James and Lily’s kisses just warmed my heart, I was so happy reading about them. Their dynamic literally hasn’t changed, and I think that’s super important, you know? But also the way you wrote their kisses was just wonderful to read, because of how wonderfully descriptive your writing is.

 

Ravenclaw House has the best writers omg.

 

I love love love this story so much. Favoriting now! xo

 

Love,

Eva

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 04 May 2018 08:06 PM · For: period two

I AM READY TO BE BLOWN AWAY BY EVEN MORE CUTENESS.

 

(I have now read the chapter. And I would first like to comment on your author’s note, because Monster by Exo is the soundtrack I would like for my life to have, but in reality my life is probably like a meek little Disney song or something. Don’t get me wrong, Disney is wonderful, but Monster is so epic?? Aaaand I’m off-topic again okay time to get back on track.)

 

SO UM. I THOUGHT IT COULDN’T GET BETTER, BUT IT DID. SO NOW HERE I AM, IN DEEP DESPAIR BECAUSE THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST AND IN TERMS OF FIC-LENGTH THIS ISN’T THE LONGEST BUT I’M GOING TO BE SO SAD WHEN IT’S OVER. But really I should stop being melodramatic and instead actually start commenting on the chapter. Why are my review beginnings always like…stupidly long??

 

Anyway! Speaking of melodramatic, James Potter would probably qualify as Exhibit A. (I mean, he let out that strange wail in the café, and also later when he and Sirius returned home, he let out his “pterodactyl” imitation haha.) Literally that entire interaction with Lily in the beginning was so cute (he!! wanted!! to!! wipe!! the!! whipped!! cream!! off!! her!! lips!!!!) and I love seeing the leaps and bounds the two have had in their relationship. Also James being jealous of Remus made me laugh so hard lmao.

 

And she actually went to his game! AND THEY HAD A DATE. A BURGER DATE. WHERE THEY TRIED TO OUT-EAT EACH OTHER. Also I really love that they sat down and talked. (There’s this one line in here that I can’t find -- OH HERE IT IS: “Somewhere in the past, he's sure fifteen year old James has fainted at the thought.” I snorted milk tea out of my nose here, god it was painful.) But on a more serious note, I do appreciate that they did get to properly talk to each other about something serious, because that’s also very important. And it must hurt a lot to have a terrible relationship with your older sister. I literally have no idea what I would do if I had younger sisters who hated me omg.

 

(I would also not object if you wrote an entire fic centering around James and Lily’s texts because holy mother of Jesus I was smiling so so hard while reading this?? Cute and hilarious and wonderful UGH MY HEART COULDN’T TAKE IT.)

 

I would like to quickly apologize for my over-use of caps lock. I’m just very excited about this.

 

The end was really, really well done I thought. My heart broke a little seeing her long string of texts. Imagine having a sister as petty as Petunia aww, poor Lily. I feel for her. Like I said last review, you are exceedingly versatile, and I love it. Which reminds me, I do need to check out some of your darker fics, because I’m sure they’re just as amazing as your lighter fics.

 

Wow I love this so much. <3

 

Love,

Eva

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 04 May 2018 07:28 PM · For: period one

I AM HERE AND READY TO SCREAM.

 

It’s been much, much too long since I’ve read your writing (and even though the only story of yours I’ve read is When Dahlias Bloom, I already know for a fact that the rest of your writing is top-notch, so). Dormitory 2.6A has just been sitting there, neglected in its lonely tab on my browser, but just know I am dying to read it and am just waiting for an opportunity to binge-review the whole thing.

 

At first I was mildly surprised to see that you split this up into three chapters, though maybe I shouldn’t have been? Did you mention that you split it up, because my mind is like a sieve these days. (I feel like that’s a line for someone older, and not for someone my age.) And it’s definitely not a bad thing that you split it up! I was just expecting a long 16k one-shot. I gotta admit, long one-shots are my jam. HOWEVER a bonus to multi-chapter stories is that I get to leave you more reviews! HALLELUJAH.

 

Okay after that too-long introduction I shall actually begin reading the story now lmao. I shall be back with a proper review.

 

SO BEFORE I BEGIN THE ACTUAL REVIEW PART, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I LOVE THE FACECLAIM YOU HAVE FOR JAMES. JUST. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. Literally the entire time I was reading this fic, with his annoying confidence and just shamelessness, I was picturing the guy in the banner smirking and smiling cockily and just. Perfect omg. (Sorry, I’ve forgotten his name and I feel terrible about that but I’m also too lazy to check right now. .__.)

 

Also. I’m just absolutely floored by your impeccable writing style? It’s got such a distinctive flair to it, and literally every word you pick serves to highlight James’s character to a degree I could only ever hope to do, and I actually cannot get over those opening paragraphs and how good they are. (Baby James omg!!! My heart practically burst with love for the boy.) That adorable introduction to Sirius was just perfect, and I love the way you gradually wove the explanation for the soulmate rule into the beginning. (ALSO. SIRIUS’S SOULMATE BEING REMUS JUST PRACTICALLY MADE MY LIFE, I WAS FLAILING WITH HAPPINESS WHEN I GOT TO THAT PART, IT WAS SO FREAKING CUTE.)

 

For someone who knows nothing about hockey, you are very good at BS-ing your way through it haha. I don’t know anything about hockey either, so maybe I’m not the best judge, but you could’ve fooled me with the way you write hockey. (On a slightly different note, your description of Lily’s ice skating was honestly breathtaking. You’re so versatile. Please remind me to nominate you for the next FROGS awards because holy crap I’m in love with your writing.)

 

THAT MOMENT WHEN JAMES MET LILY THOUGH AND SHE SAID THAT LINE?? I IMPLODED. IT WAS SO WELL DONE. (It’s at this point I was expecting a chapter cut-off, because I think cutting it off at this moment would’ve been really impactful, but tbh this is really the only comment I have about your story.) And all their interactions afterwards, with that dumb cockiness of his, just made me smile a lot. Lily must have been annoyed out of her wits hahaha but it was hilarious and heartwarming and you’re so good???? What are the rest of us even doing here.

 

I just want to say, this line here: “One,” she replies and then adds drily, “Which is one more than necessary.” -- this is my absolute favorite line in the world and I laughed when you posted it in the preview post and I laughed when I read it here. Ughh these two, I love them so much??

 

I can’t believe you have the audacity to say that this isn’t that good I mean if this isn’t the best soulmate AU fic I’ve read in my life, then I don’t know what is.

 

Anyway I’ve already spent far too long on this first chapter review. It was just so good. I can’t get over it omg. Well anyway I should probably get moving on the second one haha.

 

Love,

Eva