Reviews For Warmth
Name: b1elliot reviewed Warmth on Oct 11, 2014 03:13 am
All I could say is "Wow!". That was such a great fanfic. You write beautifully, and thus have made a magnificent story. Please make some more, and thanks!

Author's Response: You're welcome! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! n_n
Name: Anise reviewed Warmth on Oct 09, 2014 05:05 pm
Okay, this is the LAST thing I'm actually saying about this fic... it obviously made quite an impression. ;) I don't think that Draco did come across as being *aware* that he cared about Ginny before he dropped her, or of specifically thinking or being able to think "well, I'm getting rid of her for her own good." I just think that Draco... like most of us... didn't understand all the reasons why he chose to do what he did. The key to his choices may not actually be so much when he drove Ginny away for the last time, but when he got up the courage to try to find her-- and then realized both that he loved her, and that he had to leave her alone and couldn't even try to contact her again.

Anyway, I'm going insane from this horrible WP thing, so I'm probably rambling hopelessly by this point. ;) (looks for a nice, peaceful, quiet padded room...)

Author's Response: No, no! Please continue. ;) The reason I write is because there's something about the characters that I want to analyze or discover, and I think one reason I wasn't a fan of this story is because I wrote without that analysis in mind. I just--wrote. But your reviews have revealed things about Draco that I probably hadn't realized while writing, and it's definitely warmed me up to the story more. I don't like characters without motivations or motivations, and I especially hate to write them, but you've convinced me that maybe I didn't do too badly, even when I wasn't putting much thought into it. n_n Anyway, I'm really glad you enjoyed the story. Or at least that it stuck with you. Thanks so much for both of your reviews! ;)
Name: Anise reviewed Warmth on Oct 08, 2014 06:20 pm
I was reading this fic on my phone, and I'd turned my desktop off and I was ABSOLUTELY DETERMINED to not turn it on again tonight, because I was so totally DISGUSTED by Wordpress right now and I didn't even want to LOOK at that page anymore...

And then I read this fic. And had to turn the desktop back on. Because wifi isn't working right now, and I HATE typing anything of any length on a phone.

Wowowowowow. Wow. How heartbreakingly beautiful. How exquisitely sad.
And Blaise was so horribly awfully wonderful!! (The image of him with blood on his mouth at the last battle... I don't want to know. I just don't.) It was such a great final plot twist for him to reveal that *Draco* had been his real target all along, and it kind of makes me wonder how much he knew about Draco's feelings for Ginny.

It's like we keep chasing after that thread of hope the entire time, and then we never really find it.. .and yet... somehow, the ending isn't as horribly sad as it could be.

I think this is why.

Part of what makes Draco such a fascinating character is that in so many senses, he could go either way. There's so much that's good or potentially good in him, but then he has the seeds of so many negative qualities too, and they could all become fatal flaws. Sometimes it's his love of the dark arts, sometimes it's his complete snobbishness, and yes, sometimes it's his cowardice. But the thing here is that I don't think cowardice *was* his fatal flaw. There was a point where Draco came through. Nothing could have been more cowardly in a way than continuing to be with Ginny, because that would have been the easiest path to take. Instead, he gave her up. The tragedy, maybe, is that he never really understands the value of the choice he made, and that his last thought is of what a coward he was. I don't think that he actually showed cowardice here, but he doesn't really get that.

Poor Draco... :(

Anyway! I really loved this one. And I'm so glad you did post it. :)

Author's Response: Yes yes yes! I almost added an extra line to confirm that the task Blaise gave Draco wasn't about Ginny at all. It had nothing to do with Ginny; she was famous and random. It was all about his control of Draco, and the other Slytherins' tasks were the same. It wasn't really about the task, but the fact that Blaise was a puppet master pulling strings. I was afraid that wasn't obvious enough, and I'm so glad you picked up on it!

In the original version of the story, I emphasized Draco's cowardice more; he was actually quite detestable and selfish. His actions were more about saving himself, and who cared about Ginny, and I'm really tempted to go back in and make that a liiiiittle bit more apparent. Because Draco isn't supposed to realize he loves her until she leaves him, and it's a little misleading if he's concerned that Blaise will hurt Ginny as well as himself while he's still with her, when he isn't supposed to realize those feelings yet. But I love that analysis that Draco would see cowardice where someone else might see courage in his choice. He thinks he's a coward because Blaise scared him more than he loved Ginny, but he doesn't see that he actually showed some selflessness by giving her up to save her, at the risk of giving Blaise what he wanted. Draco doesn't really care about Blaise. After it's all over and done with, he only sees what he might have had with Ginny if he hadn't had to give her up. She was one of the only people to believe in him, for whatever reason, and he regrets not having that anymore. So Blaise really won in every way. He not only controlled Draco--he broke him. :(

I'm so glad you liked the story! I like it a lot more now than I did last year when I wrote it. It was just so sad and depressing, and Draco was so awful. It's nice to see that the response has been so positive so far. :)

Name: GingerBaby28 reviewed Warmth on Oct 06, 2014 08:10 pm
Wow! I did not see that coming... Blaise, I mean. But I just loved it! Thank you for writing such a great DG fiction! And you posted it, what, two days ago?? I thought I was the only one still looking for DG stories nowadays! I hope you write more!

Author's Response: Oh, I'll definitely be writing more. Can't stop, won't stop. :) And I'm certainly not the only one still writing, so keep an eye out! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
Name: TwistedPixie reviewed Warmth on Oct 06, 2014 01:46 am
Wow, well wasn't that something. I have never seen Blaise portrayed like that before, and since he is one of my favourite characters normally, it ruffled me to see him being so cruel. But honestly, the relationship he has over the rest of the group was written so wonderfully, you can see how easily he has a power over them all. It helps too that we know barely anything about him and his family, so it was very believable. Gods how I hate weak Draco though, why can't he just be a man and protect her and so spend the rest of his happy life with Ginny?? Sob.

Stunningly written, thank you xx

Author's Response: This was definitely a different story than I'm used to writing, probably in every way. Blaise is one of my favorite characters to write and it broke my heart to make him so sadistic in this, but as you said, we don't know much about him or his family from canon, so he was the perfect character to use in this role. I needed someone that the other Slytherins were unsure about, and that mystery in him is definitely what keeps him in control of the others. Draco, also, isn't a character I like very much in this story. He was actually a lot worse in the original version, I think, since I didn't do a great job of explaining the threat Blaise held over his head. But while I was writing this, I kept thinking of how JKR said Draco is a coward and not really someone who can be redeemed. Personally, I like to write redemptive Draco because I'm pretty sure JKR got him all wrong in Deathly Hallows. ;) But in this story, I stuck with that theme of being a coward so Draco could save his own skin. He just came to care about someone else's, too, in the process. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Name: vintagepearls reviewed Warmth on Oct 05, 2014 06:07 pm
You write so beautifully. I loved that your format wasn't linear -- I went back to read it a second time -- and it helped to capture the different stages in their relationship. I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I knew what to expect at the end, and I still loved it. Also, I've never read about Blaise in this kind of way before - very arrogant and sadistic, but you pulled it off well. Good work :) I could definitely see myself coming back to this story over and over again.

Author's Response: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I don't like to write Blaise this way. ;o; I prefer to write him more sophisticated or a little silly, but since his character wasn't developed well in canon, sometimes I like to write him as not getting along with Draco to some degree. I'm glad he worked for you in this story! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. n_n
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