#review reply

"Fluff!! Such freshly baked fluff! I’ll care for you, no matter what you say! Ah, it’s always fun to read short blurbs like this."

It's comments like these that make me happy I dipped my toes into writing my take on FGO to begin with. And when thinking on all that's happened in FGO so far in NA history, well. I'm just glad I can inject some fluff where I can, and that you were able to enjoy it, Aqui. :>

And, just, ramble here. The feelings here were written from my listening to Friend from RWBY's Vol 8 Finale.

Even if the Robin Hood in Fate isn't the famous Robin Hood from Loxley and all that, there was something about him when I first got into Fate that captivated me. Maybe it's how his snark with Dan Blackmore really reminded me of Leo (I still love him as boyfriend, so much so), or the practicality of his Noble Phantasms and fighting style in contrast to all the other Servants introduced so far. When I look back at him now, though, I think what made me love him in the end is how he reminds me of my mental images of my dad when he was younger.

My dad came to America on his own after stowing away with another man on a boat while the Cambodian War took place in Vietnam for a few years, raised himself up to speak English and buy a home, and handled a lot of things on his own until he met my mom. It's still mind-boggling to me how he was able to handle all that. "I always came home to an empty apartment in those days," he told me once. And, to me, Robin reminds me of that spirit, of trying to do as much as possible while others live on not knowing what you've done.

Just as much as I hope I'm making my dad proud with I'm doing in my career to help him and mom, I'd like to think Vy sticks with Robin because she wants him to know that, yes, people looked up to him. That, no matter what others said about his methods and personality, he still made a positive difference in the world. The Throne of Heroes wouldn't have recognized him as "Robin Hood" otherwise.

"I'll care for you, no matter what you say," basically sums up Vy's demeanor towards Robin to a T. Because to Vy, Robin matters, Robin is someone worth the effort it takes to love, Robin deserves love, and she just wants him to know that. Poison or not, charlatan or not, Vy looks at Fate/Extra's May King and thinks, "I want to help this man believe in himself."

To Vy, Robin Hood is deserving of his True Name simply because he did something for her, way before he was even summoned. It's only with the Lostbelts (as seen in Day 12 of Passing Days) that he gets the gist of it.

Even if it wasn't a direct thing, Robin Hood still gave a little girl hope that she could do something with simple methods and kindness, even if his story had a bittersweet end. The least the little girl in Vy feels she can do for him is make it so he can enjoy his new story, whether it's by her side or with other Heroic Spirits who know of his tales in Sherwood Forest.

Yes, you did! :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the chapter! I’ll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

OMG I DON’T KNOW EITHER TO HATE YOU OR PRAISE YOU HOLY SHIT MY HORMONES. [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS] You tease asfhjfldjdh I’ll die of KakaSaku deprivation if they don’t do sexy stuff in the next chapter. Asfghjk this fic is so great, hope you could continue soon!

Hello, Friend.  You must have missed the Ninja Dorks debacle when I strung my readers along for 6 months of updates, 2k at a time.  A love/hate relationship with my readers is my ultimate goal.  At least this story seems to be a lot shorter.  Thanks for the keysmash.  You made this writer very happy!

dear incredible, fantastic, amazing guest reviewer, whoever you are:

most of all, i want to thank you for your lovely comments-- especially because i believe you’re the same person who’s been reviewing several of my latest stories tonight, and i love you so much for it. the idea that someone likes my stuff so much as to read more than one piece in one sitting fills me with utter joy. i’ll be smiling all day tomorrow. =) i wish you weren’t reviewing as a guest, because i really wish i could respond to your reviews directly, but i understand different people have different circmstances, and i appreciate the gesture regardless.

as for this review in particular, i just wanted to let you know, if you’re reading this, that yes, i absolutely agree with everything you say here. yes, proposals are mostly unnecessary. yes, women absolutely can and should feel empowered to propose if they want to. yes, there should be more representation of this in fandom culture. yes, marriage is something that should be discussed long before a proposal even approaches the horizon. (and for the love of god, no one should ever drop a proposal on someone else with the expectation that the person being proposed to just has to say yes-- especially not in public!).

so never doubt that you and i are absolutely of the same mind when it comes to this... i just don’t think el would be the type. joyce? sure. max? absolutely. nancy? hell yes. perhaps one day if i write about their respective love lives i’ll have the chance to write such circumstances. but i have a hard time seeing el taking that step, just based on how i perceive her personality and the dynamics of her relationship with mike. it’s just a case of my personal interpretation of her character and the storyline in my head that has led them to this point, though; i certainly don’t think this is the only way for them to go about this. i’ve read several stories where el does take the initiative and thoroughly enjoyed them, as well. i think i’ve written at least a couple of female-initiated proposals, too, just for other fandoms. i’m always here for my kickass ladies taking their fate in their own hands, whether it has to do with the upside down, the lab, or their life choices in general. it’s just that for this particular couple, at this particular point in their lives, this is how i see it happening in my mind. i hope that makes sense.

(el’s totally keeping her last name, though. that, i can tell you. i did not spend fifteen whole minutes sobbing in the dark in front of my tv at some ungodly hour of the morning the weekend season 2 premiered for her to just drop the hopper name that easily. nuh-uh. she’s keeping it for the rest of her life, period.)

ANYWAY (have i ever mentioned that “long-winded” is my middle name?) thank you so much for the comment, and for taking the time to review several of my fics in the same night! it blows my mind that anyone would care enough to do that, especially people as insightful and just overall amazing as you seem to be. thank you so much! <3

Review:

Guest chapter 19 . 19h ago I saw the preview for the next chapter but when are you going to put it up

When I post previews, there is no telling exactly when I will post the chapter. Usually I post previews when I am half way done with the chapter. Now! I will highly recommend you go to my blog and look at the left side column where the stories are located (I would check now) and it will answer your question. It also tells you the progress of each story and where I stand with each.

“--I have to admit though that at the moment, I would really like to strangle Hermione. I loathe cheaters. If you don't want to be in a relationship anymore or have doubts, just dump or take a break. Cheating... just argh!!! Sorry for this outburst but it's the one thing I can't suffer.“

Above is part of a PM that I recently received about a new story arc within my current multi-chapter (Chemistry & Timing) that deals with the idea of Hermione Granger having an affair. It’s a tricky moment, and as I’ve gotten several comments and reviews of a similar nature, I thought I’d post my thoughts on the subject here too.

Hermione Granger goes through a lot of stuff in the course of the series, and for someone known to be very practical and grounded, tends to make a lot of mistakes and often acts rashly and negatively. In the books, she makes bad decisions ALL THE TIME (She catches Snape on fire, brews illegal potions, makes rash judgements on House elves/Centaurs, physically disfigures Marietta Edgecomb, and imprisons Rita Skeeter, just too name a few) and completely gets away with it all! She's gotten lucky a lot, and she's good at talking herself out of these situations, but these are all when she's a young girl. It's much harder to do this once you are out of school, and I've embraced the idea that these sort of rash decisions would increase in severity as she got older.

In part III of my piece, Hermione, angry at herself after the war, rashly decides not to go back to Hogwarts and continue her education, taking a mysterious, self-centered job instead. And while she often scoffs and mocks her new celebrity status, she does tend to act hypocritically and take advantage of it sometimes. Hermione continues making bad choices left and right, and since this is a romantic story, I wanted her to have similar struggles in the romantic part of her life as well. Cheating and affairs are a really challenging subject, especially when a well-liked character is doing something so morally wrong, but I think that's why I wanted to do it. 

One reason people aren't happy with the idea of cheating is because I've written Ron to be so kind and loving. So many stories have the alternate love interest be a complete loser or jerk to help justify the main relationship of the story. Cheat on the asshole? Who cares? Cheat on Mr Perfect, and there's your drama. With this project, I've tried to keep both Ron and Tonks very innocent and kind. Their love for Hermione and Remus, respectively, is honest and genuine, and neither of them know that they are attaching themselves to people who are either emotionally connected to someone else (Remus) or in a state that can't quite connect with the world around them (Hermione). I could have made Tonks and Ron absolutely horrible, but that wouldn't have put as much tension on the two main characters to make their own decisions on the matter.

And let's not forget, Remus did make a decision, REMUS CHEATED ON TONKS in part II!! And I'm not just talking about the girl he hooked up at the Carnival, but an emotional affair for years. Remus married Tonks and had a baby with her, but all the while his heart belonged to Hermione. That's pretty messed up.

I think one of the reasons that his sort of cheating slides but Hermione's is disliked so much, is because A) he's a man, and throughout time/literature, men have always been more forgiven for infidelity B) his cheating on Tonks was an act 'love' for Hermione, while Hermione's affair is more of a personal escape from the normality C) And that Hermione is a placeholder 'female view' in this world/series, and is expected to be virtuous and perfect. So many female readers, myself included, look at her character and her experiences within the canon as a placeholder for our own dreams of attending Hogwarts. We WANT to be Hermione. We want to be the brightest witch and have the amazing friends. We want to go on her adventures and punch Malfoy in the nose. So when she does do something that is shocking like this, something the reader finds morally wrong and would personally never do, it's harder to digest because of the readers connection to the character.

But how is that fair to Hermione? Out of respect for the character, we need to put her in these difficult situations because we need to see how she gets out of them! She's amazing! We know she can do it! Besides, for the last 250K words I've been pulling Remus through the ringer, making his life hell and having him face bad decision again and again. Why not give her the same challenge?

I’m letting her fall because I know she can rise.