Matryoshka Vignettes

Very good chapter.

gunny

I'm surprised Ron can criticize himself and see his own flaws like that. He really grew a lot.

god this chapter made me cry.

Hey Tim,

So my ever-cyclical fic-reading style has drawn me back here again and I'm finally giving this a try. And I have to say, this is some of your best writing yet. I think it's great that you can take your recurring theme -- Harry meets the perfect girl and kicks Voldemort's arse -- but give it just a slightly different spin and come up with something so profoundly different.

I enjoyed the way you presented Perfect Situations. Of course the final twist was completely transparent, but I throughly enjoyed Daphne's smugness as a narrator and liked that you came up with a way to tell the story and mix in immediate character reaction as well. Plus, you deserve a lot of credit for stepping away from your comfort zone and coming up with a way to make things come out right without making a happily-ever-after ending.

But, based on what I've read so far, the vignettes really make the overall story. I love the concept of variations on a theme, and with Ginny, Ron and Hermione you do it so well that I've found it quite profound. Seeing truly broken characters come to terms with the depth of their mistakes, hitting bottom and then rediscovering themselves through understanding and hope and compassion worked out brilliantly each time. I couldn't help feeling for all of them. Like I said, profound -- and so different from Hope or TMW.

But I like that it hasn't all different. Neville's loyalty, compassion and force-of-will bravery all ring true to canon and continuity. It's perfect that he's the first person Harry lets in on the secret because he's earned it. And, your Snape's spot on, too, even if I did find his first 'reward' a bit more enjoyable than the last.

I can't say everything I've seen so far sits perfectly for me. Flirty!Harry took some getting used to, and I still struggle with seeing Dumbledore as darkly as you portray him in this or in Hope. Plus, the way you bring across Neville begs the question of why Harry didn't turn to him in his time of need. But that you've made your characters -- even Harry, to an extent -- think and come to terms with who they are and who they want to be takes this at least a full step above your other main stories in my eyes. Great work!

So anyway, I've become rather bad about reviewing in my old age (as I'm sure you can tell considering how much I've gone over here), but you have my sincerest thanks for all your hard work. As ever, you are the very best.

-KC

Seriously...I can't imagine Ron Weasley having any attractive traits......and he goes after smart girls...girls who should damned well know better than to deal with him in the first place.

Thanks for writing,
Matt

Hello Jeconais.

Just wondering, how exactly is it betraying Harry by convincing him not to go horcrux hunting when all the horcruxes were already pinned down, hunted, caught, gathered and destroyed?

What there to trust Harry when he wans to go on a quest leading no where, to go combat the wind-mills?

And what exactly did Dumbledore wanted, r needed, Harry's friends to help him with? Seems to me they didn't really have anything to do!



stealacandy

Most fanfiction versions of Ron disgust me. This one... not so much. I've really liked all of these chapters. Shows that Harry did a lot of good in his supposed death, unlike Dumbledore.

Good one, maybe there is hope for Ron.

gunny

Poor Ron, being so insecure you're easily molded into someone else can't be fun. Good thing he realizes what happened and has started to take steps to change. Will he ever be able to mend the damage, though?

Thanks for sharing...
Cheers!

Don't get me wrong I liked it but isn't this a bit deep for Ron? He would be more likly to blame everyone else.