Fans of fanfiction are familiar with this dance. You become interested in a fandom, a particular pairing, you see some interesting potentials, and wonder if someone else has seen them as well. Perhaps, they've even written a fic about it. So you grab your walking stick, put on your mud boots and start trudging through the catalog, all the while testing for something solid in the mire.
In my head I saw a love story with maturity, subtlety, humor, and quiet sincerity. And then, lucky girl that I am, I came across this magnificent fic. Even from the title- which to me implied the potential for pain in the relationship between Roy and Riza, but also lightness and joy that saves it from intolerable angst- I felt I was getting into something special.
I like how this feels like a whole story and yet works as a series of stand alone vignettes. It really conveys as sense of the specialness of small moments, their individual integrity, while stressing their importance as brush strokes in the larger landscape.
You captured and built upon this relationship so beautifully. The dialogue is so very believable, so often light but so very layered. I was continually impressed by how well you simply 'show' the audience what's happening, as opposed to telling us. Yours is a world of layered suggestion of meaning that felt very real, very much like how our real relationships are.
The style of writing demonstrates a beautiful use of restraint. As I read I found myself repeating, Nice choice there. And then the ending! Wow! I was wondering how you were going to pull all these threads into a bunch, and was praying you wouldn't tie them in a bow. You certainly didn't disappoint. What a great moment to choose. What a beautiful exchange. Somehow it ended up climactic and mellow at the same time. I actually had little pin-prick tears as I finished reading. It's the sort of story that makes a reader want to sit with the author and talk about every line, but I think the review has been quite long enough. I look forward to rereading often.
Raikiba 5/8/09 . chapter 27
I have to admit, it's pretty decent. I was a bit disappointed when you didn't delve further into how their relationship developed but then I discovered you included a deeper history into the on they already have (It's pretty safe to say you haven't read the manga while writing this) so that made sense.
At first, it wasn't anything impressive. Entertaining, humorous, yes, but not really something that leaves a lasting impression...until the end. It was beautifully executed. Not the end chapter per se but the last few words. You were right when you said every word counts and those last four ones sure did leave an imprint on me.
I like the idea of how you wrote through a series of their whole lives together and then ended with an emotional flashback sort of, and like I said, the ending was perfect.
Haha, I don't usually review before the last chapter, but this one really made me laugh: "Meet me at my dive. Signed Mr Horse." The horse bit really cracked me up, and I love their characters now, the un military kind, although it is kind of hard to imagine Riza randomly hugging him, but I found it very endearing. :-) Looking forward to your next update.
Wow. Fabulous. Insightful. Msrvellous. (Insert another few adjectives describing how great this piece is!) Brilliant.
This was quite simply a marvellous piece. From the dialogue which was spot on, to the description of events past and present, the character motivations intricately woven into canon and out of your imagination, the deft and sure plotting and craftsmanship. Well Done! I greatly enjoyed this, and will be marking this as a favourite to come back to! I am also hopeful then when I click on your homepage, that a few more pieces of this standard will be waiting for me to savour. Oh and as an aside, while I can appreciate your point of view re: more Royai in the series, I do feel that a bit more could have been included without cause for concern. and more could have definiely been added to the movie!
this story is with absolutely sure one of the most beautiful things i've ever read , and i must thank you so much for her ! you just made me happy , sad , emotional, angry , teary .. and all the others emotions altogheter. congratulations for the lovely story
"Seven years, it had been, almost to the day. Seven years of luck, of honesty and of friendship, of knowing he was never alone or unwanted or unappreciated—there was nothing in the world he would have traded that for."
I love that. It makes me feel all warm and bubbly inside.
This is wonderful ] Maybe it's just me, but this fic seems like a circle: the ending goes back to the begining, and it all makes sense no matter where I start because I'll always end up where I started, feeling... satisfied. Great job.
This is one of the most enjoyable romance stories I've ever read and I don't like reading romantic stories unless its part of a humor or a action/adventure fic.
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