"Lucy looked up at him, and not the drawings, and never really thought much about how loosely he’d chosen to sketch her face. As if he hadn’t spent enough time looking at it. But he’d got the number of scars right every time."

Wow, this hit me like a truck. You have such a powerful way with words. x

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Hello! I'm here for the Twelfth Day of the Twelve Days of Reviewing! :)

You have a lot of really interesting things on your author page, but I clicked on this one because Teddy/Lucy is a pairing that I've never, ever seen before. I thought it would be beautiful and it was, but not in the way I expected. I think that's marvelous--you always seem to write the unexpected things, and those are worth more than any old, tired cliche because they are so very different.

Teddy and Victoire, the beautiful couple. I loved the colors that you used to paint them with. It takes them to a whole new level of "being meant for each other," and it couldn't be more obvious that Lucy is an outsider.

Drab Lucy made such a sharp contrast to Teddy with all of his bright plumage. The monochrome wardrobe, the bland lifestyle, the perfect grades--she was never given a chance to have a colorful soul, so as soon as Teddy came along, he painted over her grayness and then left her hanging. The cutting thing makes sense for Lucy--finally, there is some other color in her life besides gray. I thought it was going to be better with Teddy painting her, but the mention of her face being sketched halfheartedly told me that it was a fruitless hope.

And she carried Teddy's child. Shame on him for being a cheap charmer, and shame on her for believing him. Well, perhaps that's harsh. She was never popular or very loved, so she took her first chance and it ended in heartbreak and a reminder of that inside of her. Tragic.

You have such a unique and beautiful writing style. You're an artist, and the colors that you describe in this story are so prevalent and powerful. The description drives the story, and I really like that. Thanks for writing this wonderful piece!

~UnluckyStar57

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Lucy here was such a lovely character. She reminds me in a way of Lucy from Starving Artists (somehow when I read your stories with Lucy in them, I always think of Starving Artists Lucy because that was the first of your Lucies I've read), but she was so different, too. I also love your characterization of Teddy. Him being an artist is such an original concept. I love how you incorporate art into your stories. It always adds a really unique symbolism to them.

You have such fantastic description in so many places. It brings out the emotions of the characters and their relationships so well. There was a sort of creepiness to this fic ('breezeblocks' is a rather creepy song, I think), and you pulled it off so well! This was such a lovely one shot, wonderful job as always!

(also alt-j is amazing

Author's Response: Ooh, thank you! I've got a bit of a soft spot for writing Lucy (and, even more so, Scorpius) and I think I often risk writing the same person over and over again, so I'm glad to hear you liked this Lucy and thought she was different! I'm also glad you liked the characterisation of Teddy - he's a proper creep in this, and I wasn't sure I'd entirely pulled that off right :L

Thank you so much for the lovely review! :3 ♥ ♥ ♥

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okay so since this is called still life I decided to listen to the song of the same name by the horrors because I realised I hadn't listened to it for a while...I thought the feeling of the song fit well enough I suppose haha although breezeblocks definitely suits better! (and it's such a fabulous song and alt-j are perfection ♥)

I love this sentence, " Teddy sometimes turned up with a bruise of ultramarine on his cheek, a stain of cadmium red at the corner of his mouth. "

Oooh I love this! "in the plastic cage of a photograph." I've never thought of it like that.

I like this, it's nice, "Lucy was, dependably, always Lucy"

Also love your description of a quiet girl.

Ooh wow this is really eerie, "never really thought much about how loosely he'd chosen to sketch her face. As if he hadn't spent enough time looking at it. But he'd got the number of scars right every time. "

Wow though. This one shot is spectacular. You really have such fantastic descriptions and there are so many parts I want to quote here but really I'd end up quoting the whole things so I thought I should stop.

It was so creepy and morbid and I loved it (doesn't sound like that should belong in a sentence together but hey ho)

But really I just love all of your writing, you seriously have this amazing way with words ♥

(but there you go for a little spurt of reviews since I've not done very much at all lately and I really need to catch up on your stories especially blunderland since I noticed the other day you've already finished it! Pretty sure I'm waaay behind in that oops also just realised I'm not even sure if I finished weather for ducks :/ wow I have some serious catching up to do! aha)

Author's Response: Still Life is an amazing song! Have you seen the video from the NME awards where they performed it with Florence Welch? Also, I saw The Horrors last year and they were AMAZING live so, you know, great song :P Breezeblocks did inspire the fic but I couldn't find a way to work the title or lyrics in, hence Still Life.

Eee, thank you! Haha, I have a taste for the slightly morbid in both art and literature, this is that side showing through~

Baww, it's okay! Your reviews are lovely, I really appreciate them! Don't worry about catching up - both stories need a rewrite desperately~

Thank you again for your lovely, lovely reviews :3 ♥ ♥ ♥

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ooh, wow. I feel like you captured the delicacy of the situation perfectly, not to mention Teddy's creepy persona. it did give me the urge to shiver once or twice, purely because of how shady it was at some points, but overall I enjoyed it!

I also love how you managed to weave a subplot into this one-shot with the whole artist/muse circumstances. very original, very well written.

~she may contain the urge to run away but hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks~

such an amazing song. in fact, the whole album is just mind blowing! I think I'm gonna have to go and listen to alt-J now. yet again.

Author's Response: Thank you! Ooh, yeah, I had fun writing such a creepy Teddy (fun is possibly the wrong word - I just mean he was an interesting character to write!)

alt-J's album is pretty fab - definitely one of the best bands to come out of 2012.

Thank you for reviewing! ♥

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Julia's writing about arghteestes again! What is she like! Well, very good at writing about arghteestes and all other things for a start! I really, really liked this.

I could connect to Lucy on many levels, especially the quietness thing (and this bit was written beautifully): The thing about quiet girls is that they are rarely as quiet as one thinks. There's a special kind of girl that dresses plainly and lives simply and does well in her own company. She has little need for others when she shares her mind with a foil within. There is always a part that wants to dress a little more outrageously, a part that wants to uproot the wallflower from the wall and be a bit more dangerous for a change. A part that wants to live a little, but never does. Being able to relate to her made the story all the more poignant, and made me root for her - I did a little fist-pump when she ripped up Victoire's face. Awesome.

Admittedly was a bit wary of the self-harming, but it wasn't overdone - in fact, you managed it really well, and it reflected an aspect of Teddy's rather disturbing personality (that he would focus on the scars rather than Lucy's [probably rather lovely] face).

BREEEZEBLOCKS! Love me some Alt-J.

And this story. Very noice.

Author's Response: *slaps self on wrist*

Eee thank you! I'm glad you liked Lucy and, er, fist-pumped her ripping up of Victoire's face. For anyone skimming reviews instead of reading the story, I would like to assure you that it's not what you think.

Teddy is a bit of a creep, yep.

(hipster.)

Thank you lovely! ♥

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so i was listening to breezeblocks by alt-J when this came up on the next generation part of the archives i was scrolling through... julia (can i call you julia? is that okay), this is incredible.
i saw on your page that you're an art student- so am i! but not at university, sixth form... anyway, enough about me.
this was so interesting to read. i love the new spin you did on teddy; everyone else writes him out to be the best guy ever, this made me see him differently.
i LOVE the way you write about art. you've inspired me to write a one-short that weaves in and out of art, in an abstract manner, like some of your 3rd person stories.
this was such a great read.
yay alt-J!
bea x

Author's Response: ooh! spooky coincidence! it's one of my favourite songs (the entire album is amazing, actually) so it's pretty much on all the time around me. I even learnt to play it on piano so I can annoy people with it even further.

oh, excellent! ah, I was a sixth former once. I say once, but it /was/ only last year. we all had to start somewhere~

weeell this is also slightly born out of my dislike of Teddy because, well...he was raised in the Potter/Weasley family, so he evidently grew up viewing them all as family members. but he dates Victoire, and he's written in fic a lot as dating other Weasley girls. maybe it's just me, but this seems a bit sketchy (pun not intended)

thank you so much! ah, good luck with it, I'd love to see it when it's up :3

thank you for reviewing! ♥

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breezeblocks is one of my favourite songs ever atm and i did actually think about it while i was reading this. i love the fact you wrote about art and artists because it fits together so well with these characters and the plot. you've written this really well, i love it!

Author's Response: mine too! thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it :D ♥

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