[Report This]Date: 07/25/2006 06:56 pm Title: All That Jazz
This is perfect for Neville. He's too often portrayed as something of a bumbler, but I think you've captured his inner strengths and determination. I enjoyed your descriptions of the magical music notation! If I could only get my damn muggle fiddle to tune itself!
Author's Response: *laughs* I'm right there with you. I'd love to have magical paper like that. Thanks so much for the review. I knew you'd enjoy this!
[Report This]Date: 04/02/2006 11:51 pm Title: All That Jazz
Awwwwww... That was so amazing! I'm glad someone finally gave Neville something he was good at. I am getting so tired of seeing him picked on. (hugs Neville, ignoring the squawkes of protest)
Author's Response: Thank you! Neville is one of my favorite characters. I can't stand to see him being picked on either. Everyone is so harsh on him. I'm glad you liked the story!
[Report This]Date: 03/17/2006 02:08 am Title: All That Jazz
Oh. My. Goodness. You have absolutely no idea how hilarious it is for me to be reading this right now. It's almost 2 AM, and I've been composing for... oh, I dunno... a few hours. Therefore my initial reaction to this fic was somewhat... unusual. As in, me being jealous that Neville gets a magic quill to write things down for him and I don't. Not to mention an entire orchestra to play it back for him. Ah, the sorrows of being a muggle... =(
Anyway, this was a really neat idea! For some strange reason I've never thought about Hogwarts having an orchestra, or practice rooms - but it really should, shouldn't it? I guess it's one of those things like Gobstones Club that Harry just doesn't pay attention to, and therefore we don't think it exists. I actually came across a fic about the Weird Sisters once - but it was absolutely horrid, and I ditched it halfway into the first chapter. This story, on the other hand, is actually pretty believable. I think it must be because many people tend to glamourize and romanticise a music career (especially popular music), but you've experienced it firsthand, and thus are able to write about it realistically.
My absolute favorite part was the way you described the music notation - you had me giggling hysterically for awhile with the phrases "sheets of parchment that had odd lines on them", etc. It's so true though - one can get the weirdest looks when sitting in a coffee shop adding in dynamics to their score. It also made me wonder what on earth I'm doing devoting my life to "dots or circles with lines and such on them" instead of sleeping right now...
It was very cute how you made Neville so shy, and so oblivious to why the girls hadn't gotten much sleep. And you even made Ron sweet! Parvati is really the perfect person to play violin at the end, as well. And I'm glad he got over his fears at the end. This is a truly delightful fic, Vickie, and I'm glad I chose this one to read now. =)
Author's Response: *blushes* Now you've gone and embarassed me. Granted, a musician, a composer really, would only find this extremely funny. =D I had to describe musical notation in the simplist manner so that "normal" people would understand. I could have gotten all "andante" and technical, but then it would have only been understood by anyone who'd taken music seriously. But, I think I left enough mystery so that those people would wonder about writing music. I only hope it encourages more people to become musicians.
But I digress. Neville is such a great character to write. I found that playing piano suited him well. And especially after seeing GoF and him being the first to want to dance made me extremely happy. That showed that the boy has a sense of rhythm. As for Pavarti, she may be vain, but I can see her being a very studious violin student (probably Suzuki) who craves having an accompanist as talented at Neville. Yes, she may use him, but she may actually fall in love as well. :) Thanks again for the spectacular review!