 WritingSchizo101 12/4/11 . chapter 1First off, cool video. I am a little sad I didn't get to be the first one to vid them, but I DID make something for DeviantArt. Yay. :)
On your Dr. Quinzel- I personally never thought Harleen would be all that bubbly unless with her friends like any normal girl. Harley Quinn on the other han mad. :) Obviously she can't be Harley Quinn here since she's not under Joker's influence, but Tate's. I am interested, if a little wary, to see where this goes.
I like the thought in the begining. Interesting way to start off the chapter, as it let's us in her head. The proganity matches her style too. I find Harley (well, Harleen, but I use Harley as a nickname here) to have a brutal streak in her and this seems to work well already with what we've been given. Adding to this, I like how she rolls her eyes and mumbles 'about "piss-pour" assignments.' Again, the honesty and the slightly 'vulger' word choice is good for Harleen, in my opinion, at least.
Hmm. I don't buy that she'd be kicked out of Arkham for the reason you gave. You see, with psychologists especially, counter transference is very normal and expected. Doctors are often encouraged to be honest in surveys given to them and their feelings toward the patient (hatred, anger, lust, sympathy, trust) are analyzed and then the doctor is helped to use these feelings to their advantage. It sounds strange, but it works. Anyway, "romantic feelings" are normal and they would not get in trouble for them, per se. There is nothing wrong with having feelings- the doctor must act on them before it beocomes a problem. If by "romantic feelings" you are trying to imply that she had sex with or otherwise let her patient touch her in any way, then it would make sense. Even then, I'd lean more toward sex, simply because that's the only thing I can think of (as far as 'romance' goes) that would warrant her getting kicked out of Arkham. She also would have had to have been in trouble before, maybe on probahtion. Otherwise, she'd simply be reassigned and closely evaluated, especially on a psychological standpoint as well as an employee. I doubt I explained this well enough, but if you have any questions, feel free to email me. I just think if you are aiming for realism, the only way you could get away with this short explanation is if these are her boss's coy words and Harley is being evasive about what happened. You could probably revisit it in another chapter, actually, and expand on it, and everything would be fine. I appologize if this made no sense; it startles most people and they don't believe there has to be actual touching before any action is taken on the employer's part. Otherwise, it's not a big deal unless the patient and/or doctor feel they are at high risk.
Now we return to the review of the actual story. lol! So Harley has been reassigned but no longer works for the Asylum? this confuses me. Unless Tate is a former/Out-patiant, it doesn't make much sense to me that the Asylum would bother with him. Even if he had a criminal past. Also, I was under the impression that she was fired, yet she still appears to work for the Asylum (i.e getting an assignment). Maybe you could explain this to me? Unless I am wrong, I have suggestion. Since hospitals for the criminally insane (like Arkham) don't usually deal with 'potential dangers', but those who have ALREADY commited a crime and been deemed unfit to stand trial (i.e 'insane'), maybe Harley could have started her own practice. Or maybe she could work for a different hospital. Regular psychiatric wards deal with out-patiants and also sned psychologists to deal with potentialy unstable people like Tate whose family is concerned and requesting regular at-home sessions. Arkham? They would probably direct Tate's mom to a privately practicing doctor.
*sigh* I did it again. Sorry. Just to warn you, I'll probably end up posting another review logged out of my account so I can finish this chapter.
Poor Harley falls. That sucks. I like the description of 'bony ankles' here and then how you coyly hint that she's been through worse pain. Interesting.
Uh-oh. You might not agree with anything else I say, but I promise I know what I'm talking about where dialog is concerned. First of all, 'greeted' is not a way to replace 'said'. It is not a dialog tag. It is an action. You can say that 'she greeted the maid.' and then start the dialog. This might be better because you tend to have long almost run-on setences. I'll compare it to "Hello," she smiled.' Can you smile a word? No. You can SAY a word. You can reply with a word. You cannot smile a word. 'She smiled' is a seperate action. It is best to keep things simple. You can use actions (like 'and greeted the maid. "Hi.") to let us know who is speaking, or the word 'said' or no dialog tag at all. You can use a different word every once in a while, of course, but make sure it's a word that involved speech. Again, if you have questions, feel free to ask me.
As for puncuation, I'd like you to remember that commas are required with dialog. Examples: 'She smiled and said, "Hi." 'She smiled. "Hi." and lastly, 'Hi," she siad.') I won't point them out to you, until I see how you do with commas in the next chapter now that you know the rules.
'breathily praised' i not working. The missing comma aside, it feels like you are going out of your way to create interesting dialog tags. It has the opposide result. 'Said' is much less distracting. I feel like action would work better here, though. Maybe her breath could catch in her throat as she takes in the beautiful house. Just remember what the author of Animal Farm said: "Simple is better." Also, know that you don't always have to have a dialog tag. You're doing fine enough that we can tell who is speaking.
Though I'd much prefer different wording on the dialog tag, I think you have Moira's character down. Her words and soft speech and manerisms are good so far. Well done with her.
I won't keep bothering you any more about the dialog tags, but I'd like to say that 'acknowledged is not a very good one either. It acceptable, I suppose, but very distracting. "Thank you" doesn't need much explanation anyway unless we get some insight into her emotions. Her thanks doesn't seem to go with the unease that accompanies it in that line either, so I really would seperate the two. Make it 'realizing' instead of 'realizing' so that she isn't doing both at the same time.
Again, good job with the maid. I like how Harleen is still uneasy but is not making a big deal or jumping to big conclusions. Yeah- some writers do that, sadly. :)
Remember that slight brutality I brought up earlier? This is what I mean. I really like how she demands attention, making noise when she meets her new patiant.
Again, nice diction on Harley. In keeping with that brutal honesty, you have her toss the file onto the table like it's nothing, and then almost plop down into the chair. Not only that, but she crosses her legs even though it must hurt a little because of her knees. I love the use of 'forced' with the skirt. It's no accident that a lot of her legs are showing.
This brutal type personality does raise the question of how you are going to keep her likable as a character. Too little and you risk damaging an interesting personality. Too much and people might want to see a side that is more vulnerable. So I am interested to see where you'll take her. :) I'm sure you'll do fine.
Love how she just starts smoking without really getting an okay.I also like how she compares him to the Joker. I agree. Tate's unnerving. And then poor Harley burns herself. It is natural for doctors to want to appear flawless and collected- now that's ruined and it's probably damaging to Harley's self-esteem. I do like how she recovers faily well, though. She was made to take the hard cases, it seems.
I like the cat-like stretch. It makes me wonder why she feels the need to be so sensual. That's her way of having power over him, I suppose. I just wonder what events in her life taught her to consider her body as a tool, even as Harleen.
I like how he mentions Dr. Harmon. Nice touch. As an added bonus, it'll make Harley feel like an outsider, which is what he wants. She's stronger than that, though.
"You're lonely."- He's observant, pointing out things even Harley isn't aware of. I feel sorry for her, and now the whole sexual vibe she has makes sense. If she's lonely, she's more likely to unknowingly- and intentionaly- give off these "fuck me" vibes.
'Reiterated' is a GOOD dialog tag. :)
Ah, Tate's right on the money. I like he compares her to his mother, proving to her that he knows her type and what she did to get reassigned.
Do you realize that all your dialog tags work like this: 'Quote, adverb, verb.' It gets very annoying after a while. Try changing it up a bit or just leaving them out all together.
'impatiently snapped' is redunant. 'Snapped' indicates anger or impatientce, so 'snapped' would suffice.
I like how he announces that time's up- takes away her athority. The part about finding Violet was funny and very like him. You're also doing pretty well with his character so far.
Ha ha! I love how Moira just shows up, and Harleen makes no secret her distaste for the magic act. I also like how Moira always knows what's up and yet still calls Harley 'madame' out of respect.
'please tell me he's not his sister'- cute. xD
I like 'she sounds like my kind of woman' but the whole 'I, too, always get what I want' part is awkward to me. It works with her, but I still feel like it seems a little TOO overconfidant out loud so as too be unbelievable. Maybe make it a little less blunt. It sounds like, with that, you're going out of your way to make her into a bitch.
I like her open distaste about the house, and her unease there.
You don't need this: 'Not even bothering to agree, the blonde wanted to know'
The novel suits her |