SpellBound
Friday 19th October 2007 19:09 | The Squib |
aww, such a sad background... I never thought about how the children who are squibs would feel or their parents. I definately should've given this more thought. Thanks for opening my eyes.
Sherellyn |
dogstar
Saturday 7th July 2007 08:23 | The Squib |
| Oh, this is lovely. So sad. The characterisations and relationships between the characters are really well-drawn. I *loved* the scene with Minerva and then the playing afterwards. You're a bit harsher on Hermione than I would be, but fair enough . |
| Saturday 7th July 2007 08:27 | The Squib (Author Response) |
| Thank you! This was one of my favourite chapters to write - one of those that just flowed naturally without having to think too hard. Probably because it is stream-of-consciousness, so all I had to do was imagine myself into Ben's head. And to be fair to Hermione, I can see why small boys wouldn't choose her as their favourite aunt. Ron didn't like her much when he was eleven! |
Patches
Wednesday 25th April 2007 04:19 | The Squib |
| rough times for the twins. It must be terrible to have a secret like this from someone you have shared everything with all your life. I hope the boys can work this out. Ben needs to talk to Zoe for one thing. Very complicated. Thanks for writing. I look forward to more of this story. p |
| Wednesday 25th April 2007 06:51 | The Squib (Author Response) |
| Oh, they'll talk! I'm glad you're enjoying it. |
Rhetor
Sunday 4th February 2007 21:23 | The Squib |
I was positively absorbed in Ben's backstory. You got into the mind of the child superbly, and I saw the layers of feeling, not only in the adults the child was dimly perceiving, but in the grown Ben looking back on his own childhood. Wonderful. And normally I don't like flashback sequences -- but this one was so smooth and had so much feeling that it was a delight. The way you have completely normalized the wizarding world that Muggles seem exotic was perfect! You know, when JKR has Arthur Weasley fetishizing Muggles I never really believe it; it has the ring of a repeated joke. But when you do it I believe it completely, and can sense the child Ben's confusion and disappointment. And the word "special" as applied to being a Muggle made my jaw drop.
At this stage I am getting very uncomfortable with Ben's mistaken guilt over "Bert's girlfriend." You probably mean me to be, but I hate sequences like that, you know, where A is upset because he thinks B will think one thing, when B is thinking something totally different, and if only A knew what B was thinking then A would feel better... It just feels like so much wasted energy. I'm hoping the payoff will be sooner rather than later.
McGonagall is still teaching at 100? Good for her! I smiled ruefully at Hermione being the twins' least favorite aunt. It's so unfair, but it's all-too-likely! (And I do hope Harry & Ginny's daughter turns out to have something more on her mind than nailing the most good-looking boy she can find. What a come-down.)
I have to say, by the way, that my daughter is good friends with a pair of 10-year-old twins -- and one of them is named Ben.
This is splendid. I'll keep reading.
~Ken |
| Sunday 4th February 2007 21:31 | The Squib (Author Response) |
Thanks so much, Ken, for your thoughtful and encouraging review.
I agree with you about flashbacks. They often seem overdone and clumsy so I tried really hard to fit this within the sequence of the main story. I'm really glad you think it worked. One of the big things I wanted to think about with this story was the interaction between the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, so I tried to think about how the Muggle world must seem to purebloods with no experience of it. It's kind of how I feel living in America - you think you know what you're doing and then something comes along and hits you in the face and you realise just how different the two cultures actually are.
And keep reading - I can't bear conflict so you won't have to wait too long for the 'resolution' of the Bert/Ben/Zoe situation.
Laura's 18, beautiful, talented, popular, ever-so-slightly spoilt - of course she's only interested in getting the best looking boy she can find.
Ah, but is your daughter's friend a Muggle or a Squib??!!
I'm glad you like it. I'm just at a point where I need to work out some of the actual plot (which I am very bad at) so the next chapter may be a while in coming. But you've got a few more to read first. |
GryffindorDragon
Sunday 3rd December 2006 13:01 | The Squib |
| Oh, I want to say you've captured the anguish brought about by Ben's being a Squib very well |
GryffindorDragon
Sunday 3rd December 2006 12:59 | The Squib |
Well written back story on finding out Ben's a Muggle.
'Ben didn’t really understand what that meant. Everyone could do magic. That was how you did things. That was why children had to have parents to do things for them, because they couldn’t do magic yet.' -- quite a good line there
It seems like he's only seen Zoe twice -- in Diagon Alley and at Laura's birthday party -- is this love at first sight?
|
| Sunday 3rd December 2006 14:11 | The Squib (Author Response) |
Wow - you're quickly becoming my new favourite reviewer!
Love at first sight? Watch this space. |
Gallywise
Friday 6th October 2006 05:56 | The Squib |
| Cool story but one question. Did Fred marry Angelina Johnson? |
| Friday 6th October 2006 07:07 | The Squib (Author Response) |
| Glad you're liking the story. No, sorry, in 'my' world, Fred marries Parvati - I hinted at this in the first chapter when George tells Padma he and Fred never fell for the same girl - they found 'one each'. But I don't think Fred and Parvati are going to make much of an appearance in this story anyway. |
dancinginmagic
Thursday 5th October 2006 13:18 | The Squib |
Oh, the loveliness! I adore stories that give us a glimpse of any non-clichéd platonic relationship, and I think this story is just perfect. I don't normally click on authors I don't recognise - but I did, and I'm so glad!
Looking forward to more updates,
Sarah |
| Thursday 5th October 2006 14:29 | The Squib (Author Response) |
| Glad you're liking the story and thanks for taking the trouble to review. It should be updated reasonably regularly at least for the next few chapters before my plot nightmares begin... |
