Name: ImaRavenclaw (Signed) · Date: 10 May 2020 07:18 AM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

Hello Emma! Lily here for bvb. I was really excited to read this oneshot because I love a good Wolfstar. When well done they are such a good ship. And I have to say, the way you write them is pretty damned close to the ultimate sweet spot (though really, how is one supposed to be 100% perfect? It's truly impossible.) 

 

First off, I have to mentioned that I love Iron and Wine and I really liked that you took your titles from them. It's always fun when people use song lyrics/titles/stuff/etc. for their stories. It brings this extra external life and force to the story. And I love listening to music while i read (I mean, if you were to name your story after an intense metal song it would be sort of hard to concentrate, but nonetheless haha.) 

 

Your descriptions for this story are so light and lovely. It feels like I'm in a warm cozy cabin reading a nice storybook. Remus and Sirius are so sweet with each other and I feel terrible that they're in the situation they're in. But they also shift so quickly to fit the slightly darker moments of the story, which is good.

 

Honestly I know that there's so much else going on here but I can't help but focus on Sirius and Remus. The way you've written them together is really perfect. I can feel Sirius's happiness at being out of jail and Remus being happy to see the man he loves again. I'd like a little more background about their relationship and how they got together, but even without it's still a lovely story. 

 

I only have two notes...

First, maybe you could mention the fact that Moody was in Barty Crouch Jr.'s trunk. Just the way you made it that Remus was telling him about Voldemort being back kind of made it seem like he didn't go through all of that and it felt a little... wrong to him. I don't know.

 

[At this last, Sirius rolled his eyes and (for the first time in this house, in Remus’s house, while he’s cooking them both dinner and there’s flour on his nose from whatever he was doing with the courgettes) kissed him, putting a hand in Remus’s hair and making him look as if he’s gone greyer than he had.] Is quite wordy and confusing and I also sense a tense (ha! sense a tense, that rhymes) error in there somewhere. I would just suggest trying to break it up a bit more. 

 

But overall, besides that your story was so lovely and poignant and also just... heartbreaking. I feel so bad that Remus and Sirius have to live through this disasterous war and can't be happy together.

 

You've got a great story here and I hope to be reading more from you in the very near future.

 

All the best,

Lily

Name: poppunkpadfoot (Signed) · Date: 27 Jan 2020 07:51 AM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

Hello my friend!

 

Honestly I am of the opinion that this story is criminally underrated. I absolutely love the dynamics in this piece. Sometimes people will ask me if I think Wolfstar could have happened/resumed post-Azkaban, and I think from now on I should just point them here :P

 

I love the opening scene, you painted the first image so beautifully. It makes so much sense that, although this certainly isn't the first time Remus has seen Sirius since his escape, seeing him right there in his living room is another creature entirely. And then the bombshell drops, of course, because nothing is allowed to go right for our boys, ever. Ugh. I hate canon.

 

But anyway, what I really like about this story is that the opening bombshell is actually not really the direction that the rest of the story ends up taking, if that makes sense? Despite the return to war, this story is really about these two characters coming together again, and through each other being able to escape that reality. They are so soft!!! They love each other!!! I swear I melt every time I read this story. One of my favourite lines - and this is such an inconsequential line, so this might seem silly, but I love it - is "Did I say anything? You're too defensive, my love. We could go to the pub?"

 

The other thing I have to say is that every single villager in this story is freaking iconic. I find it so impressive that you managed to whip up several different OCs who, despite making (for the most part) VERY minor appearances in this story, are all unique and fun. I LOVE Mrs Williams, she's so no-nonsense and she really is trying so hard, bless her, even though she... doesn't necessarily have Gay Etiquette down pat. You know me, so it won't be at all a surprise for me to say that I LOOOOOVED the scene with Rhys, and that even though you've written this blissfully judgement-free little village, you didn't shy away from getting real about the reality of LGBT rights during this time period and over the course of Remus and Sirius's lives. Just very touching and it allowed for great character moments for both protagonists.

 

I'll leave it there for now, but seriously, great work! Love this, love you.

 

TTFN,

 

Kayla

Name: LadyMarauder (Signed) · Date: 15 Dec 2019 03:41 PM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

Hi Emma! I'm here for your Christmas wishlist.

 

I'm not usually really a WolfStar shippper, though since I've read such amazing stories on here - such as this one - it's started slipping into my own fics, so I guess I've jumped onto the ship, so to speak. Anyway, I loved this so much! Your writing is incredible and you have created a Remus Lupin and Sirius Black that I fully believe and fell completely in love with. I have read a lot of stories about them reuniting after Sirius's escape and this one felt like it would happen. There wasn't loads of screaming at each other, it was just right.

 

Sirius diving into cooking was a lovely quirk. I imagine he would be desperate to integrate and get back to some kind of normal after spending so long in Azkaban. I also loved adding in Rhys and his struggles with his sexuality to tell Sirius and Remus's story about how they got together, I liked that James was pretty integral to it all too. The advice Sirius gives is hilarious - basically, be yourself and if anyone doesn't like it, just punch them in the face. Fair enough!

 

The end about the war coming to them was pretty sad considering we know how it all ends - but I adored everything about this.

 

Merry Christmas! - Tasha x

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 06 Sep 2019 09:23 PM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

EMMA. THIS IS INCREDIBLE, AND I ADORE IT TO PIECES.

 

I treasure fluffy Wolfstar pieces, and store them in a very protected, loved space in my heart, but never have I come across a beauty such as this one—a fluffy Wolfstar set during the second wizarding war. There is no angst or sad feelings or crushing hopelessness anywhere, for which I am incredibly thankful. (I still love reading angsty Wolfstar! Just that the fluffy ones give me so much joy and happiness, and that this one right here may have just sent me flying higher over the moon than I’ve ever flown from a Wolfstar fic before.)

 

So, seeing as courgettes play a major role in the progression of this fic (if this were an English class and I had to analyze this piece, I would suggest that courgettes symbolize the humor and endurance and love within the relationship, and that the reason why the courgettes never run out is because Remus and Sirius are destined to be together for the rest of eternity), I had to consult the dictionary as to what it means, because I have never heard that word before. And it turns out it’s the equivalent of a ZUCCHINI, which is one of my absolute favorite words in the world (and one of the few Z-words that I can think of off the top of my head, alongside “zebra” and “zoology”.) But now I adore “courgette” equally. Is this like the difference between eggplant and aubergine? It’s so fascinating. The things I learn from reading, wow.

 

THIS WAS SUCH A SWEET AND HOPEFUL LINE—"He almost asked what the recipe was, but realised as he opened his mouth that he didn’t have to — he could just ask Sirius to make it again.” SO SWEET AHHH. Really, this entire fic is just full of little sweet moments like that; every little bit made me happy that these two got this sweet, lovely little haven in this Muggle town, away from the messiness of the magical world. Sirius being the cook in between the two of them makes me incredibly happy. (Though, for all I know, Remus is just as talented, but just enjoys having Sirius make meals for the two of them.)

 

AND EVERYONE GIVING THEM FOOD TO HELP SIRIUS’S GAUNTNESS. I love love love this, how they accept Sirius (Stubby omg, I can’t believe that Remus has to call him that in public, non-stop) immediately as Remus’s partner. And I don’t know why, but the fact that no one from the town has ever tried to pair Remus with a girl really warms my heart. Like, they’ve known this entire time. And now they want to feed Sirius because they’re that kind and loving—ahh, I love this little place so much.

 

I have to talk about Rhys, who is adorable and reacted adorably to condom talk. I’m so glad that he was able to chat with Remus, and was willing to listen to Remus giving his own personal story—he seems like a really good kid, and I am willing to fight his bullies to the death. NO ONE TOUCHES RHYS.

 

How is this so good? How are you such an incredible writer? I adore this story so so much. You’re amazing.

 

Love,

Eva

Name: down-in-flames (Signed) · Date: 03 Sep 2019 04:14 AM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

emmaaaaaaaaa! i’m finally here with your first of three challenge award reviews. i’m horrifically slow but the other two are coming eventually. :P

 

i knew i was picking this as my free pick review because i saw soft wolfstar and that just sounded exactly like what i needed in my life. I love that you’ve made this fit into canon and the war, while not necessarily being smack dab in the midst of the fighting. they’ve got some distance from that, even though they spend the first part of this story starting to bring the order back into existence, and that isolation allows for a lot of really wonderful fluff and tenderness. it makes a lot of sense that remus would kind of retreat into small-town society after his third year of teaching, and that makes it all the more easier for sirius to come there and hide. (also, the fact that sirius just… showed up and immediately went to sleep on his couch is just such a wonderfully sirius thing to do and I love it so much)

 

also, all the details of this small town are wonderful, like the postman with a bizarre amount of courgettes (off topic, but both courgettes and aubergines have different american names and for some reason I get them confused a lot - good thing I like them both because i’ve messed this up in other countries so! many! times!! - and I spent half this fic thinking you were talking about eggplants before I realized i’d gotten the names flip-flopped yet again).

 

the rhys moments were also really wonderful in the sense that they brought out a lot of remus and sirius’ backstory in a really natural way. i also love both sirius and remus giving him advice for how to punch someone as soon as his grandmother walked out of the room :P

 

but augh there’s so many melancholy little details where i’m reminded of how unfair everything that happened to these poor boys was - the moment when remus and sirius are undressing each other and each noticing new scars and changes and they’ve missed so many years of each other’s lives because of all the things that happened to them, and remus’ moment of realizing they’ve known each other for twenty years even though it feels like so much less because they’ve gotten much less than that actually together, it just….. ugh they deserved so much better - they deserved this kind of sweet small town existence for many, many years instead of just a few months before the war started up.

 

their entire dynamic in this is just so nice to read, it’s evident that they’re the sort of couple that is so incredibly comfortable with each other and they just fall back into the patterns of it so easily, even when they’ve been apart for so long.

 

anyhow, this whole thing was soft and wonderful and made me feel things and I appreciate that.

 

-taylor

Name: Noelle Zingarella (Signed) · Date: 20 Aug 2019 05:42 PM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

Hi Emma! I’m here for your Challenge Entry Review!

 

I want to start by saying that I think it was an excellent and clever choice to tell this story through Remus’s eyes. The fact that he loves Sirius so much gives him the ability to highlight all of the positive aspects of his personality, as well as soften and understand the negative ones. We should all have someone who loves us as well as Remus loves Sirius—and kudos to you for structuring your story in this way from the get-go.

 

Your descriptions are beautiful. I particularly liked the idea of the “muchness” of Sirius being in Remus’s house, and the way the light plays over the dust motes (that is one of my very favorite sights and images by the way). 

 

The sympathy you raise in this statement: “It felt less surprising than it should that Voldemort was back. Sure, he’d assumed Voldemort was dead, but somehow it was as if Voldemort’s return was just the next logical step for a universe to take when it had already given Remus lycanthropy, made the love of his life a wanted felon and forced him to live through a war that took all his friends from him.” It’s beautifully put and heart wrenching. 

 

The sadness of the familiarity of the war plus Sirius is also heart wrenching. I’m not surprised that Moody takes it the best. And, just when I thought I knew where this story was going, you take it in fresh direction! I love how you move on to the normal life that Sirius and Remus get to have together for a while. The postman with the courgettes, the WI, the fact that Remus politely keeps Christmas presents (even though he’s Jewish—and I love that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so he just takes the presents and doesn’t mention it, it’s so Remus). The little detail that Sirius likes to cook and takes it up again. Really, just the whole way that these two fall back into the relationship they used to have and try to put the war out of their minds for a while is so charming and warm and fuzzy. And the way that you write these two playing off each other is very polished and well done—I can tell how comfortable and well thought out this is—it’s so developed. 

 

I’m impressed with how chill most of this little town seems to be when the truth about Remus comes out—and maybe that is why nobody tried to get him to date their daughters ;). But it seems that things are not all roses and wine, since Remus and Sirius are called upon to help young Rhys, who is having difficulties with bullying as a result of his sexuality. The men are sympathetic and empowering to Rhys, and I was very amused by the exchange where Sirius admits that sometimes a well placed punch does not go amiss—and Remus protesting that they are bad role models and should not be emulated. Even though he knows that a hex once in a while can do a lot of good. If nothing else, Rhys no longer feels alone here, and that probably gives him a lot of hope. Kudos again for showing Sirius’s playful and helpful side here!

 

I would say that hope seems to be the theme of this story—Remus and Sirius are finding a way to be happy despite all of the looming troubles. And it’s all the more bitter-sweet since I know how it all ends (in canon at least). 

Thank you so much for entering my Challenge with this lovely story! I’ll have the results up as soon as I finish reviewing the other entries!

 

Yours,

Noelle

Name: Lacey Black (Signed) · Date: 20 Jun 2019 02:28 AM · For: your fake name is good enough for me

Hey Emma!

i am here for the RvG Battle for June 2019!

 

I rather enjoyed how you brought this story together. You started off with beautiful imagery, helping us to build a picture of what the scene of Padfoot on his couch both looked like but also felt like for Remus. A moment in time he wished to preserve and cherish. It’s so heart wrenchingly beautiful that after 14 years that Remus still loves him. Such a beautiful and touching moment then quickly broken by the knowledge of Voldemort still being alive. It was so right that they have the time to be together after so long apart and that Dumbledore doesn’t insist on their presence and maybe Dumbledore knows they need this. Time to be. He was a brilliant man, and quite meddlesome. I think that this story really hits my heart because we all know what happens. And it makes me wonder about how Remus felt, what he thought in the moments after Sirius fell through the veil. It feels so right to have a story where they can be happy for awhile, and I just love how you brought in a muggle boy who just came out for Sirius and Remus to give advice to. I feel like this could help them reconnect with their past and their relationship. I think my favourite part of this story was the moments they looked upon each other’s changed bodies, still in love and able to appreciate and love the changes that make them who they are now as adults. That’s love, seeing all the imperfects and loving anyways not despite it either, but because those imperfections make them who they are, are evidence of living, of pain yes but most persevering. I love Wolfstar so much, and reading this story was such a treat! I am excited to read more of your work!