To Napris: A Serious Response to a Seriously Awesome Review

Dear Napris:

You are my hero. Literally. ^-^ So I made this self-imposed deadline to force myself to finish chapter two, and it’s essentially killing me. And you, you wonderful you, you! wrote this review on a day I wanted to but off my hands ^-^;

So, as a thank you, let me obsess over every word you wrote to me and get out the horrible anxiety I have building up in me as the deadline draws ever closer...





wai! your ONE chapter is like ONE volume of Skip Beat. Enough to satisfy english-translation/scanlation-waiters. xDD

Yay! =D YAY!!! That’s what I was going for!

Wait, let me just say really quick, that everything that you wrote would satisfy the biggest ego a writer can have; and you actually liked it too! I thought it was amazing how you managed to boost my morale and enthusiasm by pointing out my strong points and my weak points (all of which I agreed on, by the way). This review is a real gem--and I am so very grateful that you wrote it <3

I really liked how you kept everyone's role in tact and in character. everyone's appearance has meaning! And i can imagine nakamura-sensei's penstrokes and words mesh in together with yours. The length is very much enjoyable, yes. :D Kyoko's tendencies to be sensitive around Ren and the way she avoided him was portrayed well. Fantastic use of words when describing facial expressions and inner turmoil, especially Ren's, when he was berating Kyoko about her revenge on Sho!! Loved it, really. I loved the description of Lory, it was good.

Glad you liked the length; you’ll find something like it in Chapter Two. I tried very hard to keep the characters in check! It’s really important to me because if the characters change in anyway from what we know them to be, then it’s not really Skip Beat! anymore, is it? ;.; And that comment about matching with Nakamura-sensei’s strokes was too, too kind (it makes me feel all tingly inside!)

I wish a thousand times over that I had paid even more attention to the Ren & Kyōko scenes. I definitely plan on rewriting a handful of the stuff in Chapter One (maybe if I have time before the deadline) just because... I know I can do it better...? I’m glad I got a little better grasp on Ren than I did on Kyōko, but I’m sure we both think the scenes could be written better.

=) I had a lot of fun writing Lory’s scenes.

Thank you so much for the comments on my writing style. The truth is, sometimes when I sit down to write, I can’t help but think that I’ve totally lost my writing style. I don't know how I did it all those years ago! Now I can't think about anything but the technical side of writing. It feels like there are times that I’m just parroting lines and describing action, without any real elegant style and it frustrates me. So, please bear with me while I’m trying to hammer out my own writing style! But in the meantime, I’m glad that my current style works for this FanFic =)

The only thing slightly lacking is probably the five pounds of comedic relief Nakamura sensei smothers on her stories. If you weren't going for the happy-light-laugh-laugh thing, then it's rahter nicely done. Kyoko's demons have yet to appear in the story, but they CAN get in the way when on paper, I guess, so if you're still planning on adding those little tricksters in, be carefulxD Otherwise, the sort of wacky word style you use now and then can replace the silliness of Nakamura-sensei. :]

I... will probably never, ever be a third as funny as Nakamura-sensei LOL She is freaking hilarious--makes me laugh out loud every time! I seriously look like a fool reading Skip Beat! manga, giggling evilly to myself ^-^ I’m trying to tastefully add in some humor here and there, just to get silly smile-feeling you get when you’re reading the manga. But what I’ve found, is that if I try too hard to be humors, it quickly turns... lame. Heh >.> So yes, I can only add a little heartfelt laughter here and there, and if that’s ok with you, it’s ok with me =)

OH those demons... In my second rough draft of Chapter One, I did write this... weird, emo-like scene with the Demons, trying to put my own spin on that world... but I guess I’ve finally decided not to continue with that plotline. >.> If you could see the story shaping in my head, you’d probably tell me there’re too many plotlines for this FanFiction. Well, the demons are there in the story, not to worry! They’re just very subtly inserted ^-^

Perhaps Kyoko was a little serious when talking about Sho, and a little too sad for my liking. =/ To me, she came across as a cold-macho-IRON-chick when she talks about that person. Except the cold-macho-IRONness is sorta funny, and makes Kyoko appear sort of bipolar.xD But it's okay, if you were trying to get kyoko to appear sort of broken and slightly devastated in front of Ren, to get him to understand. ;]

;.; Yea... ;.;

I totally know what you mean.

My grasp on Kyōko is totally bipolar LOL I had a lot of fun writing the scenes with her and Seiji, just because Seiji is an easier character to write (we don’t really know that much about him!) But Ren. Ren, my love, you are too difficult to portray--and it’s hard, you know? To try and write about his mushy mushy feelings when you know he’s such a hardcore guy...

It also really doesn't help, that at this point in the Manga, Kyōko has grown a little out of her need for revenge--totally concentrating more on her acting skills, her relationships, and her own personal growth. I think the Yahoo! Group or LiveJournal Group was talking a little bit about this... but she's not really as obsessed with getting revenge as much as I portrayed her to in this FanFiction... so if I want to make this work, I've got to add in another scene or something, to show a little more of the back story on Sho... Sigh. So much work... (Sorry about the tangent).

I just... really need to rewrite that scene better >.>

Anyway, I really, really enjoyed your story. And your usage of words impressed me a lot. The way Kyoko interacted with Seiji was funny and had that 'Nakamura' touch as well. It makes Kyoko appear as this funny ball of weird sunshine. =3

Doesn’t she make you feel happy inside? =) I like how you wrote that: “funny ball of weird sunshine” ^-^; She totally is...

Thanks so much for posting another Skip Beat story, and such a heavy, fat one, at that! I can't wait to see more of the story, and I wonder who that blonde-haired person is that made our normally silly Lory upset.

... Oh you know who he is >.> You know.





Thank you, thank you, thank YOU. You really saved me from a morning of writer’s angst =)

Your doting fan,
LyL