Between2Worlds [Story] 06/04

1. Did you enjoy the story?
Yes. But you know that already! :) It’s unlike any other simlit I’ve read, probably because of the intertwining of the magical and the mobster underworld. Neither of those elements felt underdeveloped. Also your characters are really easy to get emotionally invested in, and you’re very good at creating multi-dimensional villains.

2. What was your favourite part, and which was your least favourite part?
Oh, that’s hard, I liked so many! I really liked Merchant of Time Part 2 (Is that weird? It was arguably the darkest part of the story, but really well written, and filled so many missing pieces, and I loved learning more about Masato and Kirino’s past.). I loved the lighthouse chapters, obviously Curtis and Athena finally kissing for the first time was something that was built up, and then the dramatic confrontation in the graveyard afterwards was really captivating. Also really enjoyed Curtis and Athena’s non-date. Oh, and the first introduction of Curtis and Kian was pretty awesome, they made such an impression.

Least favourite part was probably the finale, but I’ll get into that later. Other than that, the parts with Athena finding her footing in the new school were not something that hugely spoke to me, but I understand how and why it was an important part of her journey and had to be shown (it’s likely because I’ve been out of high school for a very long time, and because when I was in high school, I was not very popular at all haha).

3. How do you feel about the ending?
I would have preferred for Curtis and Athena to go their separate ways at the end of season one (that’s not to say I would mind them finding each other later) – but you already know that. The culmination of Masato’s storyline was really satisfying, as was the grim reveal. I liked the hooks for season 2 as well, making it clear there’s more of both worlds to come, though Kian’s potential storyline already has my stomach tied up in a twist :D

4. Do you feel like the story was different from what you expected when you started?
I actually didn’t have any expectations when I started reading at all. I remember thinking that you did a really good job at introducing the reader to an established family (this is so hard to do if you weren’t intending on writing a story about said characters in the first place, and a lot of people don’t pull it off, so they are in an uphill struggle to try to get their readers get as invested in their characters as they are), and you immediately established a connection with Athena through her journal entries. Well and after that, it got even better :) But I was pretty open to whatever was going to come.

5. What do you think of the darkness from chapter 6 until the end? Was the darkness too much, not much, present but not bad, present but bad? Etc
I thought you did this really well. Yes things got progressively darker, but It felt gradual and not shoehorned in, a natural progression of the established storylines and settings. You also did a great job with foreshadowing a lot of it, so I was mentally prepared for the events of Mercy. I actually really admired how you handled the dark aspects of the story.

6. What are your predictions for S2?
I have no predictions, but things I would like seeing explored would be the aftermath of Masato’s plans coming to fruition, and whether that brought him any satisfaction (my guess is no lol), Athena’s pursuit of untamed magic – I’m guessing she will to some degree become “power-hungry,” and might need to do some soul searching about who she truly is. Heck, I can see her becoming the villain and Curtis the “good guy” trying to save the world (wasn’t that kind of thing always his motivation anyway? On a smaller, more personal scale, trying to avenge those he’s seen harmed).

Oh, and I want Kian to be very happy and unharmed, k thanx :D:D

What did you think about the comic strip ch. 6.4? Did it adequately summarise Curtis's role? Were there any plot holes? Any thoughts on its delivery?
Curtis’s part was pretty clear, as was his struggle of his conscience to deal with the consequences of what he contributed to. I did not fully understand Fisheye's operation but got the general feeling. Some of the multispeech bubbles were hard for me to follow, but I don’t typically read comics, so that’s to be expected. Oh, and on the first read I did not realise there were multiple pages to that part, my bad haha.

What do you think of Athena and Curtis's Not-date scene at the promenade?
I loved that chapter, it was really cute and showed how young they both were, just a nice illusion of a sweet teen romance for a bit. It was also a big step for them bonding, with Curtis letting Athena in and taking her to the grave. And the sunset pictures were really pretty, some of the prettiest sceneries in the story.

What do you think of the progression of Athena and Curtis’s relationship from strangers to lovers? Did it flow realistically? Did any parts feel forced or too fast?
For me it all flowed really well until the final chapter. The instant attraction, the intrigue building up, them getting to know each other and falling for each other – likely accelerated due to the shared trauma was very believable, it was hard not to root for them and was built up really well.

I also really liked that them finally getting together and sleeping together for the first time was ultimately hollow and unfulfilling for both of them (ok, really liked is probably a weird way of putting it :D I have an appreciation for things that are sad in a beautiful way, I guess).

So I bought into their rise, and into their fall, a hundred percent. I think my issue with the final chapter was that you did such a great job convincing me to root for them, and then such a great job at convincing me that they (well, mainly Athena) changed too much for it to work, that I struggled to buy into them saying ah well, it’s fine, we care about each other anyway so let’s give this a shot.

Maybe it’s a pacing issue. Because the end part sped over several months of them dating, we didn’t really get to see the parts of the relationship of the “new” Athena with Curtis, so it was hard to see why they would want to keep going. Them wanting to stay together didn’t feel earned.

Their romance was never intended to be ‘pure’, even if it started out that way. Did you catch it as a reader? Did you realise at any point a shift beginning to happen? Where? Did you catch yourself responding to it? (I.e. you were rooting for them then decided not to; or other change of perspectives; like suspicion or started disliking certain characters etc)
Well, yes, haha. I don’t really think that any relationship can stay “pure” sunshine and rainbows anyway (not that these two got many rainbows going on in their lives, but I suppose that’s exactly what that romance was to them initially, a ray of light in the darkness).

Yes, I stopped rooting for them after Athena’s memory loss, but not because of the relationship loss, more so, because there was a whole new relationship to root for (albeit technically between the same people), one that we did not see grow and evolve like the first time around. I guess if you and/or a significant other lost your memories, would you fall in love again? Maybe, maybe not – boils down to whether we fall in love because of your personality or because of your shared experiences. I think both play a role, as does timing. But I could probably go really deep into that rabbit hole and there’s still a million more questions!

I will say this though, contrary to the many many things I have said – and this may surprise you -I do still root for them in the long haul. I would like them to fail the sprint in order to get to the marathon. Because no marathon can be ran if you break your leg in the first mile because you grossly underestimated what you can do. Actually, that’s probably a bad analogy. I want them to break that leg, but meet at the finish line. Something to that effect. I hope you know what I’m trying to convey (poorly) :D

How would you describe their romance/relationship?
Stubborn :D From Athena’s side, especially, basically throughout.

I think initially their relationship formed because they both desperately needed something, someone to give things meaning, to make life bearable. Because of that and the fact they were both attractive and misunderstood. Then as they opened each other, it got more substance.

For Curtis, their relationship was what kept him alive (and that’s disregarding the fact this was literally why grim did not reap his soul) – he said himself he didn’t have much of a reason to live other than vengeance. Anyway, I’m dwelling on this.

What do you think of Curtis's neighborhood shown from Athena's perspective? Was it believable? Did it make you respond in any way? (thoughts or feelings) Was it effective in its delivery of mood/message/setting/danger? Did it make what comes after (Mercy) believable/possible?
It was the most effective way to show it, through the eyes of someone not desensitized to it all. Just seeing it as Curtis for the first time would not have really delivered to the same effect. And yes, definitely felt incredibly tense and dangerous throughout.

What is your view on ‘Mercy’ chapters (Assault)? Were they handled appropriately? Can they be handled better? Did they deter you from reading further? Did they change your impression of the story? Were you expecting them?
It was handled very well, and yes I saw it coming – but not in a “so predictable” kind of way, more so like “ok, I can mentally prepare for this” kind of way. I don’t think there was a better way you could have handled it. I can’t say that I expected it at the start of the story, but the way you got to it was well executed.

What is your view on ‘Memories’ chapter (Curtis)? Were they handled appropriately? Were they portrayed realistically? Were they and the characters portrayed believable? Were the scenes portrayed, haunting enough for Curtis to revolve his entire life around revenge and locking Scorcher away?
Oh yeah, definitely believable that he would want revenge – it’s almost not a case of “was it believable that he was traumatised?”, but “was it believable that he did not turn out to be a sociopath?" (I’m guessing this may get censored, we’ll see). But then the answer to that was in there too, and that answer is Kian (and Rue to some degree).

There is a darkness that looms over chapters 14.4, 16.4 and 16.5. Was the mood obvious to you or too subtle? Did it affect these chapters and your desire to read them?
I’d say pretty obvious. I guess I could see someone missing it in 16.4 and 16.5 but I don’t think it needs dumbing down, it would do more harm than good.

What do you think of Avery's revelation/Athena losing her memory in Chapters 15.1 - 15.4. How was the pacing? Did it feel realistic? Did any feel forced? What do you think of Avery's backstory? Was it believable that Athena didn't realise what she was doing?
I’m trying to remember how much we knew about how Avery left the magic realm at that point. The trade-off made sense and provided a good setup for Athena’s own, without that stepping stone the revelation of Athena losing her memories wouldn’t have the same impact.

I do think it was believable, because Athena’s relationship with her mother was really not the closest to begin with. Athena completely bought into Avery’s front, which is what alienated them – perhaps if Athena were older, she’d understand better, but Athena was always very focused on her own motivations and narrative.

What do you think of the NSFW poem chapter? Was the poem hard to decipher? Did the pictures make the process tougher? Was it a cringe chapter?
It was very tasteful, and the poem was really well written. The chapter was heart-breaking and I loved it.

Did all of these scenarios make sense to you? Were they believable? Did any feel forced?

- Curtis kept in the dark about his identity – Makes complete sense. If you’re a cog in a big masterplan of an evil mastermind, obviously you’re not going to know about it if they’re any good at what they do.

- Curtis having his own home – Yes, makes sense. I mean, I would imagine his job pays pretty well.

- Curtis being able to survive despite his lifestyle at such a young age – Probably the one that requires the most suspense of disbelief out of these, given how young he was at the beginning, but given his special abilities and his importance to Kirino, it’s not unbelievable.

- Curtis’s complete out of character aggression, manipulation and exploitation of Athena at Trevor’s house – oh definitely, he was desperate, and desperation brings out the worst in people. He had just killed the scorcher, his soul motivation for existing, with that gone, how could he allow Athena to just walk away in that moment? I wouldn’t say it was exploitation, exactly, though, I mean, is it exploitation when it’s mutual? It was exactly what she was looking for that night, after all.

- Athena’s complete out of character aggression, loosened and unhinged behavior at Trevor’s house – yes, she just lost a big part of herself and had a huge confrontation with her mother. Teenagers act up over much less existential things.

- Trevor’s fixation on Athena – Trevor has had most things served to him an a silver platter. Of course he will fixate on the one thing he can’t have.