Status: Ongoing, Word Count: 43,900, Pairing: Harry Potter/Luna Lovegood, Genre: Romance
Read the Fic Here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13805680/1/Lunar-Calendar
Author’s Summary: Both of them still affected by the war, Harry and Luna decide to escape Wizarding Britain and to travel around the world for a year, in which they find out more about themselves and the magic and mundane worlds around them.
My Thoughts:
Characterization: In this fic, only two characters really matter: Harry and Luna. Harry’s characterization is incredibly strong. Ubiq does an absolutely fantastic job fleshing out his feelings now that the war is over. The first chapter opens with a deep dive into his psyche as he struggles to adjust, and it’s all uphill from there. As for Luna, a lot of time is spent examining her feelings about her father, as well as her struggling to find her place in post-war Britain. This all leads to them deciding to leave, and I think the decision works really well as a natural result of their respective feelings and motivations. I also have to mention Ubiq’s interpretation of Luna, because it’s easily the best, most canon compliant interpretation I’ve ever seen and I absolutely love it. In fact, I’d argue that there are times when this version of Luna surpasses Rowling’s original interpretation of the character. Luna and Harry also play off of each other really, really well, and their interactions are all incredibly fun to read.
Plot: Lunar Calendar’s plot is a simple, straightforward setup for a compelling romance. You have two characters, both of whom are broken in their own way, you have them decide to spend a year exploring the world together, and boom. You can explore their dynamic and relationship and have various cool cities and locations as a backdrop. This is a setup that I’m naturally inclined to enjoy, but it’s made even better by the time Ubiq spends fleshing out the culture of each city Harry and Luna visit. For example, in the Paris chapters, we learn all about various locations that exist within Paris, as well as learning a bit about a few paintings in a small museum. I thought an especially outstanding moment was the scenes in chapter six involving the Monty Python movies. Overall, the plot does exactly what it needs to do for the story, and it also goes above and beyond by making sure everything is extra fleshed out and interesting to read about.
Dialogue: The dialogue is great. Harry and Luna play off each other really well. The flow is natural, the jokes are funny, and the emotional moments really hit. The absolute standouts are the scenes involving emotional comfort and bonding. As the romance continues to build, the dialogue becomes more and more adorable and entertaining. Harry and Luna’s developing relationship is believable almost entirely because of the excellent dialogue.
Romance: Although the romance is still in its early stages, everything that’s been set up so far has worked well. Their friendship in the early chapters is absolutely fantastic, and is one of the more realistic interpretations of Harry’s friendship with Luna that I’ve seen. I also think the transition to romance has been absolutely wonderful so far. The thing that Ubiq does so well is making their romance character driven. It’s not about confessions of love, or big romantic gestures, it’s all been incredibly subtle and almost all told through very small acts of comfort and support. I’ve been insanely impressed with this fic’s romance’s subtlety and complexity, and the cherry on top was chapter eight’s fucking gut punch of an ending. I’m insanely excited to see where it will all go from here.
Writing Mechanics: The Grammar is accurate, there aren’t any spelling mistakes, and the writing is tight and stylized. This fic has a very unique tone that stands out and makes the read very fun. I also think the pacing is absolutely fantastic. Not too fast, and not too slow either. It hits this wonderful, calming, meditative vibe throughout that is just an absolute joy to read. While there are times when it’s a bit lighter and funnier, and times when it’s a bit heavier and more emotional, it always returns to that feeling of calm and tranquility, and it absolutely nails these shifts.
Overall: Lunar Calendar is still a new story, so I’ll add more stuff here as it continues to update. However, the first five chapters are incredibly fun to read. The author does an excellent job incorporating French culture into the first chapter in Paris, and I’m super interested to see what other cultural tidbits I learn about as I continue to read. It also reaches emotional heights that I didn’t know the author was capable of hitting. However, there are also no shortages of adorable, cute moments as well. Reading about these two good friends just hanging out in Paris is shockingly entertaining. It really feels like Ubiquitously Verbose is pouring his heart and soul into this story. I just…. fell in love with this story from the moment I started reading, and I eagerly anticipate the release of each new chapter.
Final Thoughts: I would argue that everyone should at least give this fic a shot, as it’s one of the best ones in the fandom, but if you like romance, Luna, Harry, and/or post Hogwarts fics, you absolutely have to check this fic out. I promise you won’t be disappointed. This fic is absolutely brilliant, I adore reading it, and it never fails to put a smile on my face.
Tier: Top Tier
Written on 05/20/2021
The Master Archive 