Between2Worlds [Story] 06/04

1. What are Athena's strengths and weaknesses? What do you think of Athena’s Character progression/development? How would you describe her?
- Is her character realistic? Is she adequately fleshed out for reader understanding?
- Any bits of her that you find confusing?
- What kind of person do you think she has become at the end of this story? What kind of person do you predict her to be in B2W?
- She insists that Curtis is relatable and her soulmate at the lighthouse scene. Did you find her insistence of them being made for each other believable? Do you have a theory why she thinks so? (I’ve never elaborated on this)

First of all I have to admit I couldn't help but compare Athena to one of my characters constantly as I was reading. She's a red head too after all. And of course whenever I found something about Athena's behavior and its believability I asked myself at the same time if I don't do the same when I write Kellie. If I found similarities I'd slap my hand not to criticize. :D
Is Athena's character realistic? How can one answer that? She has magical powers so that itself makes her unrealistic from the start. There's one problem with characters who have superpowers - the writer can always use the superpower/magic as a crutch, an easy explanation of any behavior or event. There needs to be balance for this to work. There must be rules, laws of the magic if you will that ensure this balance. I hesitate to make any judgements here as I'm super sensitive when it comes to characters that can do things a normal person shouldn't be capable of. Then again I myself walk a thin line with one of my own, so it's terribly difficult to give an objective opinion.
I could call Athenna reckless and then you could argue that she had confidence that she'd be able to defend herself with her magic. So what she is like when we take away the magic? Clearly someone who has uncontrollable desire to help and fix things and people. In that regard she is believable. Still a naive teenager, who believes she can fix anything by sheer force of her will and persistence. We saw her do some self-reflection at the end of the season and I think she should do more. She should look back and ask herself if all the pain was worth pursuing the man who is torn between two worlds and after all that happened isn't any closer to making a decision in which of those two worlds he wants to belong 100% I'm hoping she will make a serious attempt to extricate herself from that relationship. But given her bad luck she'll most likely end up in another unhealthy relationship. I didn't think about why she thinks she and Curtis were made for each other. Isn't it something people always think when they fall in love for the first time? That this is the perfect love that must surely last forever no matter what everyone else says?


2. What are Curtis's strength and weaknesses? What do you think of Curtis’s Character progression/development? How would you describe him?
- Is he realistic and adequately fleshed out for reader understanding?
- Did you find it strange that he cared for Athena with his background staring at violence every day?
With Curtis I have the same problem as with Athena. She has magic and Curtis is portrayed as a prodigy. Whenever you question something he does, you need to take this into account. His weakness is definitely the fact that he's not able to face the truth about himself. He keeps deluding himself he can quit anytime he wants and live anormal life, be a better man. Scratch that. He believes he is better man than the rest he's working with. Even after he killed a man he still believes it. What he doesn't realize is that even the worst criminals often think themselves good people. Someone needs to hold the mirror up to him. I kind of wish Kian does it at some point.


I know I did a lot of explaining of Masato and Kirino’s character in the comments. But without the comments and purely relying on story:
3.Is Masato a believable character? Does his character/personality, his motivations, and actions make sense to you? Is his love for Kirino surprising? Does his metaphoric speech make sense to you? Did the final reveal provide ample explanation of all the schemey scenes he was portrayed in throughout the story? Did everything make sense?
I think Masato is pretty believable. His love for Kirino was a nice surprise. It made his character more complex. And even if he's a rather despicable character because of his actions this made him more human. Perfectly in accordance with the rule that an antagonist should have at least one redeeming quality. ;)

4.Is Kirino a believable character? Does her character, desires and actions (including final action :( ) make sense to you?
- Did her scene at the end come as a complete surprise? Were there enough clues given throughout the story for you to find her condition at the end believable/acceptable?
- Was her ‘flashback’ chapter believable?
- Do you think she loves Masato (at the end)?
Kirino's character made perfect sense to me. I love it how there's something sad about her appearance. She played her part in what has become of Curtis but I suppose her final act made us all forgive her. I wouldn't mind more and earlier hints on her condition. I'm not sure if she was capable of loving Masato in the end. I wanted to believe she did, but she hurt too much. Is there even any space for love if one hasn't recovered from the loss of a child even after many years?

5.Were Masato and Kirino’s complicated relationship believable?
Yes. It was tragic and beautiful. Definitely one of the highlights of this story.

6.Is Scorcher a believable character? Does his character, desires and actions make sense to you? (I think I gave him a monologue and two lines of dialogue explaining his perspective on life lol)
I have mixed feelings about him. I can (and can't at the same time) understand why he took his anger on the son of the man who betrayed them. But why did he hurt others? The woman who Curtis lived with for instance. (Apologies for not remembering the names of all side characters) Did he lose his mind? Why didn't he hurt Masato too then? I may have forgot or missed some key hints about his characters, I admit.

7. What do you think about Kian? Then Carly?
I like Kian and his warm and friendly character. Curtis has a better friend in him than he deserves in my opinion. I'm afraid I don't care much for Carly yet. I wondered why you paired them up. Again, maybe I'm missing something, but I simply didn't feel any chemistry between those two characters. To me it felt like one moment they weren't a couple and next they were. In my opinion Kian had more chemistry with Athena than with Carly. It was as though he started dating Carly because he couldn't have Athena. IDK.

8. What do you think/feel about Dew?
Remind me who is Dew? Is she the girl who confessed her feelings to Curtis? Sorry again for forgetting names.
We know too little of her yet for me to form a complex opinion on her.

9. What do you think about Grim?
What can I say? I'm glad I wasn't wrong and that he is who he is. I only wish he stopped playing a match maker. That doesn't suit him. I don't want him to be a friendly grandpa, if you know what I mean. Now that you revealed that he was manipulative, I'd like to see his character become something more powerful and sinister. Wishful thinking, yeah.