Ecstasy is...

[thrihyrne]

... receiving my first two unsolicited reviews of "Countdown" yesterday, one with several thoughtful comments. After a year's work on it while writing other stuff, and llembas's talented beta-

IT HASN'T GONE OUT INTO THE VOID!!! :D :D :D

:::puts on ghillies and does wild Irish stepdance in celebration:::

Comments

[cim-halfling.livejournal.com]

Countdown is one of my favorites of your HP fic! :)

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Awwww... thank you so much!! It's different, I suppose, but they're all different in their own way. I'm so glad that it's one of your favorites. I just love the twins, and George in particular. ;)

[seventines.livejournal.com]

Finished!

Well, that was very different... in the best possible way :D You're so right, nobody ever really expands on the twins, and I've certainly never read one that chose to show their differences. One of my best friends is an identical twin (he and his brother are left and right handed respectively, just the way you wrote George and Fred). Everybody assumes they're exactly the same, but they're not really that much more alike than any siblings.

It also read as a really good exploration of late adolescence in boys - Fred, George, Lee and Kenneth all showing slightly different takes on what it is to be 17, male and at boarding school. You also developed some other characters really well - McGonagall stands out in my mind as working well.

The story was good, too, adding enough to canon to make it a "jolly good romp" in its own right, but building on the actual events in canon.

You also had some really funny lines that had me snorting happily, and the names of the things you invented were great too.

Question: which did you write first, this or the one you mentioned as a sequel (which I'm not sure I've read yet - or have I read parts of it? Hmm, will have to check that out). It's just, I wondered was this a kind of prequel?

Anyway, that's it for now, thanks for posting, I really enjoyed it - your writing style works really well in this piece :)

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Well, that was very different... in the best possible way :D

I'm glad that you thought so! It is truly gap-filling for our friends Fred and George, and as you pointed out, most people just don't do that. I'm so pleased that you felt that the charaterizations were believable, even McGonagall. I figure that she would have made quite the impact on them by that point, especially in those few nightmarish moments when they find out that their father has been seriously injured.

You also had some really funny lines that had me snorting happily, and the names of the things you invented were great too.

*grins* Thank you!! They are a funny pair, most of the time. And one great thing about writing HP as opposed to Tolkien is that you (as the author) can really let your imagination run wild while still being 'in canon.'

Question: which did you write first, this or the one you mentioned as a sequel (which I'm not sure I've read yet - or have I read parts of it? Hmm, will have to check that out). It's just, I wondered was this a kind of prequel?

I actually wrote "Together, Alone" (http://www.thrihyrne.net/Together,Alone.html) last February; it was my third-ever HP story. Right around that time I started on "Countdown," and while I had an outline (which would be OotP, lol), I got thrown for a loop in July when I signed up for a twin-centric FQF at weasleyworship and was given "Sirius/twin(s) or Remus/twin(s)" and thought, "OMG. Now what? How on earth can I make that a believable pairing??" Thus came "Cartography of Fire," and now the 3 successive stories to it. But ultimately I wrote all of them within the "Together, Alone" universe, in which Fred... well... if you haven't read it, please do. It just took me a while to work through the entirety of OotP from George's POV while not simply rehashing what Harry sees, and then in the meantime I was focusing on George in his mid-20's, post- and mid-War, which then colored what I was writing in Countdown. That's probably more than you wanted to know. :P Regardless, they all work together, and even the R/S stories that I've written correspond with the Cartography series. I even have it all in an Excel spreadsheet if you want to see the George/Remus/Sirius timeline.

me <--- is a bit ridiculous when it comes to her fanfiction

I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! It pains me that people tend to skim over what could be in the twin/Weasley family dynamic, and the fact that while JKR pretty much paints them as one person, they truly are two individuals. Hence the differentiation that I included.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read it. I'm flattered!

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

::high five:: Fantastic, m'dear! :)
And thank you so much for the absolutely gorgeous card. (((hugs))) How are you doing?

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

PS. I just saw an icon here that reminded me of you (#3 of course), so I just had to share. :)

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, oooooh! I want both Merry and Gimli. Will have to contact the artist. Did I tell you that I finally overhauled my website this morning, and have put that pic of Merry on my Tolkien fanfic page?

Probably not. Urg. I meant to tell you. Anyway, in anticipation of The Book coming out and people perhaps going to my website, I've updated and revamped.

Now to finish those Eowyn/Faramir stories... when not going to TPAC...

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Doing okay... need to be getting dressed for opera this evening.

:::quadruple ugh::::

How are you? I feel like the world's worst friend. :(

[snottygrrl.livejournal.com]

congrats sweety. i am so pleased. good on you!

[thrihyrne.livejournal.com]

Thanks, my dear!

::off to get ready for Die Fledermaus, #2 of 4...