The Reader's Post Hall of Fame

A recent discussion in the Parthenon about reader?s posts that ?make author?s hearts sing? got me thinking about favorite readers? posts, and why we love them. A reprise of the same ideas on the ?Frustrations in Fanfic? thread, and an open wish that there could be a workshop on how to write good ones, got me thinking some more.

First, let's get one thing straight: receiving a reply on a story is joyfully welcomed in ANY form (even a smilie to say you're reading!) by ALL authors (just check the ?Parthenon? thread if you don't believe me!)

But sometimes? just sometimes? a reply is a creative tour de force in itself.

I thought it would be fun to share such creative posts with a wider audience and to provide a kind of archive for them on this thread.

Just to be clear, here are some very basic guidelines for submitting examples of inspired reader posts for enshrinement in the Reader?s Post Hall of Fame:

1. The submitted post(s) shouldn?t be your own. The author for whom it was intended should submit it ? the very author whose heart proceeded to ?sing? upon receiving the post ? with the reader?s permission, if you?re in doubt. It would be a courtesy to check with the reader first, after all. Be civilized. Ask whether it?s OK to post it here.

2. The most suitable posts for sharing here would be those that are intrinsically interesting and entertaining enough to be appreciated by a wider audience that might not know the details of the story. While we may not understand every detail or nuance of the post, if it?s a superstar ? serious, funny, philosophical, academic, heartwarming, inspired, heart-wrenchingly honest, silly, or a story in itself ? we?ll get the gist and be able to enjoy it, too.

3. By all means introduce these pinnacles of reader creativity by telling us a little bit about why they made your heart belt out a show-stopper with five-part harmony and full orchestration.

All hail the readers/posters without whom all this writing stuff wouldn?t be nearly as much fun!

 

geo3-This is an interesting idea. I like it. We can post our favorite responses to honor our readers. Well this a response I received recently for a Ben Skywalker story called Crushin'. The author is Yodimus, and during some time spent in the OC Anonymous thread, I came to enjoy his humoruos, yet considered responses to the challenges and other authors postings. He uses the same humor in his resposes that he does in his own fics. In the case of Crushin', I was thought my little foray into humor might be to his liking(we traded comments in OC Anonymous). So I commited the mortal sin of sending an unsolicted PM asking him to take a look. I was humble and admitted my sin upfront as part of the request. Here is what followed:

First of all: *THWACK*
That's for the unsolicited solicitation, you unsolicitating solicitor, you.

But I'll admit, you kinda had to do that in order to drag me in here. I tend to avoid stories that threaten me with unfamiliar canon characters. Words like Tenel Ka, Zekk, Tahiri, and so on...frightening. I don't know anything about them, and I'm always afraid the story will throw me in the middle of something too hoplessly complicated to understand for a person who is unindoctrinated.

Thankfully, your story was not one of these.

That said, let's look at this thing:
We got a love sick Ben Skywalker, who's mind has gone one-track to the extreme. Let's all be glad he merely fell in love with his pointedly not dead cousin's wife, rather than, say, a large rancor. Yikes. Disturbingly, I have memories of fellow classmates from back in the days of middleschool who had this exact problem (the single-minded crush, not the rancor love. It wasn't that kind of school). So kudo points for reviving those.

In the next installment, Jacen comes in with his typical low-key theatrics. It's almost as equally enfuriating as Ben's infatuation. Clearly, they were made for each other. The only questions left are, when's the next update...

...and who the hell is Tahiri?

The reason this response made my heart sing as it were, is because Yodimus was able to see through his inexperience with the EU and enjoy the story for what it was. He commented on content and humor. He also added some personal anecdotes about his life. I'm just glad he enjoyed it and glad he took the time to let me know.

Does this fit your mold, geo3?

 

brodiew, thanks so much for being the first to post and for sharing this great reply! I absolutely love it! I laughed out loud. Like your brilliant reader, I don't know much about those characters either, but this warm, funny, generous post makes my heart sing, too.

Truly one for the Hall of Fame.

More?

 

No one else? Not one? I can't believe that. We have some very creative post -leavers in this community, I know we do.

It occurs to me that perhaps many might be hesitant to post a glowing review that they loved because it might seem self-serving or boastful to showcase praise? I think that if we keep in mind that this thread is more about the reviewers than the authors, we can get past that. I hope. *shrugs* We all know that reviews are left by people who enjoy our stories, or they wouldn't take the trouble.

Brodiew's was a great example.

To offer another one, I'd like to enshrine a cartoon that I received from the wildly creative gauss1after a deep philosophical discussion on my story thread about whether Palapatine ought to be given overdoses of Metamucil in his dinner...

Page 1: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/thegeo3/rof1.jpg

Page2: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v29/thegeo3/rof2.jpg

I think it's self-explanatory...

 

My favorite response of all time was MzAmethystCrow's response to the Anakin/Obi-wan duel in All the Wrong Places:

"Oh...my.....GOD!....Oh...my.....GOD!....Oh...my.....GOD!
....Oh...my.....GOD!....Oh...my.....GOD!....Oh...my.....GOD!....Oh...my.....GOD!.... Ish...... ISH!!!!!! THIS IS THE.....GOD!!!! The....the.... I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
You better get weepy, you sick Sadistic and twisted nut... This the best story I have ever read IN MY 19 YEARS ON THIS
PLANET!!!!!!.... DEAR GOD!!!!!"

The most mind-boggling post was from Amidala_skywalker in the same fic because she was psychoanalyzing the Jedi Purges and kept going...and going...and going... 2 days after 9/11, I posted the post that I was working on when I found out, which involved the disembowelment of younglings, the bombing of the Temple and beheadings among other things. Here is the disjointed massive response of all time:

Now that was long, I'm not sure if Iccan beat that but by the force I'll sure try. Let's begin, now I've finished searching for my other braincell and what it basically told me was that it was very busy and didn't wish to be distrubed right now.

::Grumbles::

I had high hopes of using it on this thread, especially in this reply on well I'm just have to try, it's not like I could top Ish's last post either, I can imagine one of us typing out a post that is so large it's even bigger than the post itself, christ that sounds weird. I've actually only played baseball once and that was in Year Six, it's a pretty cool game - very fast track. I'll take my keyboard where I wish but maybe next time, do you think I should unplug it? LOL

Yes, yes I'm a crazy person - but aren't most of us crazy either that or just addicted to Star Wars or just anything which actually relates to Star Wars. If you hear the word Star Wars you either think of Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader. I personally think of Anakin Skywalker, after all he is being played by the devilish hunk Hayden Christensen! Now let's not get me started on that subject otherwise we'd be hear for about two hours just explaining what I like about and why I'm intending on going to see ATOC and LAAH straight away when they come out. Your not human.. . . .Oh well Ish, I loike you the way you are now so just keep on doing what your doing - it obviously is right. Your right about me being hear to stay, I'll be haunting you forever ahahaahaha, no seriously I love this story and all the many other you have written. Well the words many others don't quite fit what I am, maybe the word millions is getting close.

You seem to update the story nearly everyday and I love that, everyday I get on here I at least have something to read. Even if it is dark or just mushy mushy. I do wonder how many pages all our responses will equal out to, maybe I'll start up Word and actually have a look someday. But I'm willing to write pages and pages of responses if you willing to write pages of the story itself, that's what I called quality-filled time. So far, I haven't seen a piecec of you work that I haven't liked, well actually I like everything you write: dark or light. I find myself wanting to go over and talk about how much I enjoyed the last post, it was super! (Who uses te word super anymore? Well this is the first time I've used it in two years and I must look like a idoit)

If you keep piling out posts exactly like that one, I'll have to keep writing miles and miles of responses as I'm doing now. Though, I too have hardly ever taken part in a competition anything like this usually my friend and I would get up to about a half a page and stop...sore fingers of something. But I just feel like I could go on forever. I don't eat Vegemite or Weetbix, both of them I hate more than life itself. Vegemite is the more disgusting of the two though I do eat marmite which is a meat extract, unlike vegemite which is a vegetable extract. My friends at school love it and sometimes I just take Vegemite sandwiches to school for just the fun of it, also I get to trade with my friend who had I quot

 

Here is another one, geo3. This response came on my WIP, Anakin's Escape. As premable, emeraldshadow and I traded quips when she first corrected a couple of content error in my aforementioned short story, Crushin'. I now know that Tahiri's eyes are green, and that Anakin is Ben's cousin, not his uncle. I knew that! During that exchange, I dubbed her my official cheerleader and she has been a great inspiration since. It was after a pity party I had in "how to get authors to update", that emeraldshadow came to my aid. Here is what followed:

I saw your post on the ?how to get a writer to update? thread and I decided that, since I?m your official cheerleader, I had better get over here, read your story, and offer you sufficient encouragement.

I know how it is to be intimidated by an upcoming scene in a fic. You have the ideas for the story as a whole, but first you have to get over the hurdle, and most times you end up running away from said hurdle and turning your back on your story instead of closing your eyes and taking a leap of faith. Not to mention the ?My readers don't really care if I update so why should I?? factor and the ?If I do try to jump over the hurdle and end up tripping on my shoelace and falling flat on my face, will anybody ever let me live it down?? factor. I understand and sympathize with your plight (I?m facing some hurdle issues myself with my one WIP, Worth It.) and am telling you not to worry about it and to take your time.


Anyways, I?ll stop with the weird analogies and misguided attempts at offering advice get to reviewing the actual fic.

I really like this story. Anakin being alive is always a great way to start off a fic and you make it more interesting and believable than the average AU.
Admiral Palmane is an intriguing and strangely likeable character and I?m looking forward to seeing more of his flashbacks to his time with Han and his interaction with Anakin in the present.

I like your periodic incorporation of the first sentence challenge lines, but I don?t believe for a second that Tahiri is thinking of anyone but our Ani.

So when is it going to dawn on Anakin that he can?t sense the Force because he?s still trying to sense it as an outside influence instead of realizing that he is the Force now? Hmmm?

As I said before, I am enjoying this so far. I?ll be sure to check back in on your progress every so often and offer you story assistance if need be. (Although I won?t interfere if I?m not asked to. I?m not a meddler. I?m just saying that I?m always happy to help if requested to.)

-Marie, who you should of realized would be hard to get rid of once you gave her the title of cheerleader

Emeraldshadow had the forsight to see that I was struggling at that point and rushed over to my WIP to give it a review. She is encouraging and offers helpful hints. I was also eager to hear her thoughts on Anakin's Escape.

 

Really fantastic idea, geo3. It made me go back through my story threads to see what gems I had These are only a few examples of the very detailed replies our readers have left us on occasion




Posted by Maychorian to Days Like These

Oooh, cool story. I love little Kyran. He's adorable and friendly and perceptive. M'telnen certainly has a lot to deal with, doesn't he? How can he be accepted as a Jedi after all he's seen and suffered?

I love the bond between the little ones, and their desire to protect each other. That's lovely and special.

Feel bad for Drex. It's hard to lose someone you care for. And this mission seems specially designed to bring up all sorts of memories.

Great job!


Posted by raisedbywolves to Days Like These

Ohh, this was very nice. I liked:

1. The language barrier, and how Shane knew "play" as a threatening word.

2. How Kyren's innocence conquers all, and even seems to be giving Shane some of his own childhood back as the two become friends and sneak around the Temple.

3. The kids' emotional understanding of the Force, which seems a lot fresher and truer than some Masters' new agey theoretical babble: Kyren sees "a bright spot", Shane instinctively knows it's a little off to give this all-encompassing power such a simple name.

4. Kyren trying to mind-trick a master! Ahhaha! I can totally imagine Jedi initiates having the misconception that being persuasive *always* includes using that little Force push. It would be normal to them, I think.


Posted by Fluff-Slayer in Days Like These


Oh wow. It's taken me all day to read through these five pages...but I'm so glad I did. Why in the world didn't someone kick me over here sooner?

Guys, I have fallen helplessly in love with your cast of lovely OCs (particularly Zephir--couldn't tell you why). Kyran's very, very cute as a child, and quite the fiery personality--and this storyline. Mmmmm.

The climax is really making itself apparent now. Where is Kyran? Will the others ever catch up with him?

Oh, please update soon! It's terrible to catch up in the middle of the climax. worried

Thank you for inviting me over! It's been great! hugs

Love,
Fluffy

Edit: I'm SOOOOO sorry, Star! I totally forgot that this was a collaboration! (My head is splitting open today, and my brain is not working.) Forgive my forgetting you for a second--It was a complete accident, I promise!

Your characters are fantastic too!

Sorry!

 

Brilliant idea, geo3! I was a little shy about doing this because if you pick one great response, you feel almost like you're ignoring the rest. But I've given it some thought and decided that I simply had to draw this one out into the open. I may go look for others but this one really stuck in my brain because it was so unexpected. What follows is a response by Exeter to a viggie I wrote:

 

Now this is what I?m talking about!

DarthIshtar:

I can see why you loved these two! MzAmethystCrow?s is a classic ?you blew me away!!!? response. Who doesn?t adore those? Amidala_Skywalker?s heartfelt, almost stream-of-consciousness outpourings read as though you?re curled up on the sofa talking to a friend. You just want to laugh and cry and hug her.

brodiew:

Another one! Yay! The post by emeraldshadow reminds me of just how friendships are made here on these Boards?they are built on shared interests and experiences and reaching out to one another and before you now it? yeah. Great stuff.

layren:

The posts you shared by Maychorian, raisedbywolves and Fluff-Slayer are quite individual on the surface but they all have something very important in common: they show real enjoyment of, attention to, and interest in the story. WAY to an author?s heart, dear readers!

Souderwan:

I was a little shy about doing this because if you pick one great response, you feel almost like you're ignoring the rest. But I've given it some thought and decided that I simply had to draw this one out into the open.

I?m really glad that you expressed this? it?s another one of the worries I had about opening a thread like this. I?m hoping that everyone will understand, from the sheer variety of the posts here, if not from anything I say, that writers love and adore ALL RESPONSE POSTS. There are so many different ways to go about saying ?I?m reading, and I love it!? These are merely examples of posts that have plucked writer?s heartstrings in a shining moment, and why?

Exeter?s thoughtful and insightful post is the kind that always makes me run back to my story and re-read it again through the reader?s eyes, thinking, ?I wrote that? Really?????

Keep them coming, everyone!

 

The fun thing was that as I was posting her response, she got on AIM and I IMed her to give her a hug and remind her of that funny conversation we had.

 

Excellent thread, geo3. You come up with the best ideas. LOL @ those cartoons. Those stones have no idea who they're messing with.

Gosh, I hate to single out one review - I appreciate all the feedback I get on any story that I'm a part of. But if I would put a little spotlight of one of recent memory...

This is a little something a certain character by the name of Black, whose a little bit eccentric (to put it mildly) left for me and my co-writers. We were asking about the non-Mary Sueness of our Barriss Offee (whom he has a crush on, btw). He reassured us (of said non-Mary Sueness) and we thanked him for describing her as 'positively complex'. This was his reply:

I strongly suspect that his reviews are more engaging than the actual story. And yes, eccentric does put it mildly.

 

I hate to single out a favorite review--I'm always astounded by the idea that I have readers. However, it really makes me happy to read a review where the reader says that they can see or visualize the worlds and characters I've created. That always means alot to me.

Here's a few that stand out:
GrandAdmiralV: Amazing, fabulous, wonderful...you know the drill. We're all chipping in to buy you a statue, actually. Would you rather be marble or bronze? (Burn!Burn!Burn!)

Yodimus: Like those foreign people say - Bravo! Magnifique! Encore! (Burn!Burn!Burn!)

Correllian_Ale: Thank-you for letting us(me) share in this marvelous adventure!!! It truly was one of the most wonderful works of fiction I've read (ever). I don't care where you are or how silly you feel, stand up and take a bow!!!
I must say I devoured a whole ice-cream cake yesterday, and it didn't fill me up the way Burn! Burn! Burn! did, and if I say something is better than ice cream cake...well...
(Gawd, you'd think you were going to Shoda with Mai or something the way I was carrying on...) That one actually made me snifflely.

PadwanKayla: The descriptions in this are so rich with so much detail. And even in the midst of the suspense, you provide us with the absurd. (Keeper of Secrets)

Jennifer_Lyn (who's a master of words): words, words, where to find the words. (Keeper of Secrets)

RoguePilot: Amazing as ever. I love all the character development your putting in this. It really makes your characters come to life, so that you expect them to meet you next time you go out. (Keeper of Secrets)

Egads, now I feel guilty for the kind readers I didn't include. As suggested before, every review is a gift.

 

solojones has posted *so* many wonderful, insightful things in my stories that it's hard to choose . . . I'll have mercy on people's scroll-wheel fingers and post a short one:

Well I finally made myself finish it. And of course it was every bit as wonderful as I expected it to be and as it has always been. That 'We fight, they win' bit has to be one of the best endings I've ever read I was defintely feeling the Seven Samurai bit there Seriously, though, you know how much I admire your insight into the Jedi and especially into Obi-Wan. This just all rounded it out completely. And Anakin's story was wrapped up, too, in the sense that it *wasn't* wrapped up, as he's still left with his demons... Their relationship though, goodness. So touching. I love your Alec-esque take on Obi-Wan. I was definitely feeling it these last few posts.

More importantly than writing yet *another* ridiculously long and rambling discussion piece, I just have to say thanks so much. Not only because this is in all honesty one of the best stories I've read of any kind, but also for your lovely inspiration and friendship. This story has been tough, tough, tough for you to write, I know. It's been crazy at times. But I am so, *so* thankful for your perserverence in writing it. Honestly, it was one of the biggest things that got me through my senior year. Just knowing that almost every day I could come home and read something I loved and have great conversations about it with you and these other wonderful, witty, fun, insightful people made my year and really got me through the ridiculous stress.

I know I'm just a stupid kid, but I admire you so, so much ophelia. For whatever dorky sentiment it's worth, you're my Obi-Wan Kenobi

Awwww . . .

Actually, a lot of readers posted wonderful, make-my-day replies in my old "Spirit Warriors" thread . . . posting them all would make this thread almost as long as that novel, and that might cause the residents of the boards to kill me. So I'll just say thanks, guys and post a link to the thread's last page, which has many lovely posts in it, as well as sj's magnum opus, a reply that runs some 10 pages in Word: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/15836193/p38

 

Geo, this is a lovely thread. I can't even recall the number of times someone has made my heart sing by posting a response beyond my wildest imaginings. Often those posts are simple, others almost books. When I have time I'll go back to find a few of those.

The responses people have posted thus far are all beautiful and a testament to how blessed those of us who write are to have such fabulous fans.

 

I thought I'd add a few more that struck me for different reasons...

Why? Becuase this reader, entirely on his own, converted my story to a .pdf and a .doc file. He still does it religiously and it is the highest form of flattery a guy can ask for. Also, this post is similar to a few that talked about how much the story made them feel like they were watching the movie. I got a kick out of that.

Why? Dianethx read my work and liked it! Do I need a better excuse? Beyond that though, I loved how she focused on my character work. It meant a lot to me that the story seem as authentic as possible and that's precisely the feedback she gave me words that could make a guy cry. (I didn't cry though. I don't cry. What?)

(FTR, I didn't ask Diane's permission to post this so I may have to take it down..)


I have tons more I'd like to enter in the HOF but I'll guess we can wait. I'd like to acknoweledge some readers that are super-consistent in their responses and make my heart sing just about every time they post (hope this is ok, geo3).

In no particular order: Anakins_Force, Darth_Lutgerous, Darth_Scroobius, LadyLaurel18, GrandAdmiralV, Zonoma, geo3, Cobranaconda...

Sorry to any of my readers I'm accidentally blowing off. I am blessed to have readers that make my heart sing on a regular basis. I can't fill up the entire thread with mine.


ETA: Special shout-out goes to my long posters--Mr_Fantastic, LukeSkywalker2001, and __JM___--It genuinely fills an author's heart to the brim to know that something he's written inpsires a well-thoughout out and detailed response.

 

This is such a good idea!
One that made me all fuzzy:

Because I had been so worried about the stupidness of the chicken this made me wanna glomp Bale silly.

And then there are the comments of my dear MoeTharen that are almost as long as my posts. (Which is why I won't clog the thread with them.)

Anyway, I'm till new enough to be over-the-top happy with any comment, be it only: good work <smiley-of-choice>
and 'names' (the big, reknwon, board-famous ones) almost give me DWB.

I wished I had something better to offer...

 

You know I have had some beautiful posts from the likes of Red and Lex, and some blow me away analysis by Wildcat, CrazyRodian and Preggers. I also have a few readers like Shinar and Chimpo who keep me in line.

But if you want to talk about making my heart sing, I found this reply -

Okay so maybe it makes my heart want to dance I can't begin to describe the infectious enthusiasm I get from my readers when they simply anticipate the coming of a post.

 

leia_naberrie

Oh, a Mr.Black post! Goody! I have a whole collection of his one-liners from a while back. I still treasure them.

oquidun

As suggested before, every review is a gift.

So right! And I think your examples [glitchy Board won't let me list them for some odd reason...] show that a review doesn?t have to be a dissertation to be great.

P.S. Could you come back and spell out their usernames so we all know who is being honored? Thanks.

Ophelia

? you?re my Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Awww! Just? *sniff* AWWW!

Thanks for the link ? that?s a really good idea. All hail solojones and Ophelia?s other Beloved Readers ? you are hereby enshrined in the Readers Post Hall of Fame!

T?Keira_Lea

Your example from ChissGoddess shows exactly how important something as simple as enthusiasm for the story can be.

Do come back to the thread with some gems from the other readers you mentioned when you have time!

Souderwan

Ah, that wonderful ?you?re giving me the Star Wars I love? response. Talk about a singing heart! And readers like Baby_Death_Star who give gifts of their time and effort are just? *tries to think of something vaguely operatic to say* ? *fails*...wonderful.

Why? Dianethx read my work and liked it! Do I need a better excuse?

Exactly! That needs no further explanation! When someone whose work you have long admired shows up on your thread and tells you your work feels ?authentic,? among other lovely things, it?s ? just? yeah.

Anakins_Force, Darth_Lutgerous, Darth_Scroobius, LadyLaurel18, GrandAdmiralV, Zonoma, geo3, Cobranaconda, Mr_Fantastic, LukeSkywalker2001, and __JM___

OK, OK! We get the picture! You love all your readers and don?t want to leave out anyone!

Wait? I thought I saw? geo3 on your list????



MsLanna

Your enshrinement of Bale?s reply to your story illustrates a very important interaction that takes place on every story thread at one time or another:

Author: (thinking anxiously) Did it work? Did it work? Did it work? Oh, boy, what if it didn?t work?

Reader: Cool! I loved that bit!

Author: (unspeakably relieved and wanting to kiss reader) Yay!!! It worked!!!!

*

Before I go back to what I was supposed to be doing, I'll leave you wiht a few more {b]Mr_Black[/b] one-liners from my collection:

[Note: story quotes in italics; Mr_Black?s comments in bold]

the crystal-clear holo-image of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic appeared before him.

Talk about a buzz kill.

Breathe, Anakin reminded himself while his mind raced. Now talk.

Note to self: Print Anakin a set of cue cards.

?What??

Ha. You don't know everything. Feel the burn of human limitation.

?I see?

OR

You did know, but you were just testing Anakin to see whether he'd own up or not. If he'd make the mistake of lying.

Holy ambiguous Batman!

There was a rather heavy pause.

Someone's sleeping on the couch tonight.

The breeze ruffled her hair again, more insistently this time.

It's a wind...of change, perhaps? [face_(pseudo)witty] *arm pump* Yes! 2 points!

?It never used to be this hard to know whom to trust"

Who can you trust, really, when the entire universe is at war, and everybody's lookin out for Number One?
Pessimist's answer: Nobody
Mr_Black's answer: NOBODY!

"A charge of treason is not a frivolous thing.?

Huh. Good thing Anakin isn't an ambitious intern. And doesn't have a taste for cigars.

That slithering son of the seventh pit

*scoff* Dagnabbit, Padme. Learn some more choice epithets from your flim-flammin' well-versed Darth Sugar Daddy.

Hello, child.

Luke: Hey ma. So...how's bout them power converters?
Leia:

 

I haven't been embarrassed since the age of 6, when I accidentally bumbled into the women's locker room at a waterpark and got a crash course in some of life's astonishing mysteries, but I'm embarrassed now. In fact, I feel a blush coming on.

I actually committed that stuff to print? What's wrong with me?!

May the patron gods of wit and savvy not strike me down for my aggregious affrontage, for it was with varying levels of haziness that my most vicious assaults were committed.

As they say, that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.

Alas, it's good to be treasured (such epithets have the magical ability to transmogrify to ), so thanks muchly to geo. I must get back to your story; it's been too long--besides, if you're collecting, new additions can't hurt, no?.

By the by, my dear leia, my goofy weirdness should, would and could not do anything to your story, approach any level of your evocative, startling, standard-setting narrative virtuosity, except maybe to provide a quaint distraction between posts. And I don't have a crush on Barriss. I think you know who I crush on .

...That little mini-story with The Twins (and, absurdly, Uncle Owen) in gestation actually made me chuckle. I'm surprised it never got edited, to be honest. Since the eyes of authority seem to be looking above or below me at the moment, I feel I must continue it. Next stop - Ring of Fire. I have some serious catching up to do.

Mr_Black: Now officially Enshrined!

Edit: "...what a spacious uterus you have[?!?!?!]" I made this comment on a forum that has a 97% installed user base of women?! Shoot me if you must, but only in the back please; I can't even look at the needle when I go to get my flu shot.

 

Souderwan, I meant what I said in my post and it was lovely of you to remember it. May you write many more stories!

 

Well, well, well? it seems I?ve accidentally stumbled on the fanfic author?s pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: a way of getting back long-lost readers. Apparently all one needs to do is to enshrine them in the Reader?s Post Hall of Fame? I expect to see you back on my thread pronto, Mr_Black!!

But no new enshrinements have emerged over the weekend, so I guess I?ll pull out one I?ve been saving. It falls under the category of Reader?s-Post-as-Prank, and it was in fact an April Fool?s prank by the irrepressible Darth_Lex

Briefest background: I had to go away for a week or two, and I had left Darth_Lex in charge of my thread and with a new story chapter for him to post under his name in my absence (I used to post on an ironclad schedule back then. Those were the days.) And yes, I left in the waning days of March, and yes, readers had been informed to look for the new post under Darth_Lex?s name.

So he posted. On the 1st of April?. a post of his own devising. Using the ongoing story?s plot dilemmas and characters and a wicked dose of some of my own writing mannerisms, he posted a chapter that had quite a few readers fooled? until the very end.

Why did it make my heart sing? It was completely unexpected, elegantly devised and carried out, and I?ve never been so flattered in my life.

I?m going to post the whole thing here even though it?s long. Darth_Lex fans, think of it as a bonus post!

Chapter 11. (Part Deux)

Padmé found herself sitting at her desk in her Senate office. It felt as if she just had awakened from a long slumber. Yet she knew she had been here, trying to read a report about the Academy bill, for some time.

For how long she had no idea.

Her mind had become more and more muddled recently. The last few days it had been almost impossible to focus on anything at all. Well, almost anything.

Anakin?

Nothing.

That was odd. Usually he would answer Here within an instant.

She was about to try again when she realized what it was that had broken her daze and brought her thoughts back to reality. Her stomach was churning and heaving.

She ran for the refresher and made it in time. Barely.

A few minutes later she returned to her desk and downed her glass of water in one big gulp. She tried to read the report again but the words blurred. Her mind buzzed with static.

She felt something. Something not related to whatever was disrupting her stomach. Anxious. Tense. Nervous.

Anakin?

Nothing.

The buzz in her mind had spread to her hands. The datapad rattled against the desk in her grip.

Anakin?

Nothing.

The buzz was in her heart too. Sweat was forming on her brow. Goosebumps were on her arms.

Anakin?

Nothing.

She dropped the datapad on the desk and grabbed her COM link. ?Sabé? Are you there? Sabé??

Finally after what seemed like forever the reply from the apartment came. ?I?m here, Padmé. What is it??

?Have you seen Anakin? Have you heard from him?? No greeting. No friendly chatter. Nothing but two frantic questions.

?Not since I got back here, no.?

?But you saw him earlier? When was that??

?I don?t know. This morning. He was at the speeder docks when I arrived.?

Padmé felt another flutter in her stomach but held her concentration. ?Who was with him??

?What?s going on, Padmé?? It was not so much a question as a demand.

?Answer me!?

There was silence over the COM.

?I?m sorry,? Padmé apologized.

?I? I? I can?t find him. I was expecting to hear from him by now and I haven?t heard from him. I haven?t heard from him.?

There was a long pause. ?All I can tell you is that I saw him arguing with four or five men in blue uniforms. I don?t know who they were or for whom they work. He was at the Senate speeder dock this morning. That?s all I know.?

?Thank you, Sabé. I?m sorry I snapped at you.?

Padmé clicked off the COM and held her head in her hands.

He could take five men easily. He couldn?t possibly have been kidnapped.

 

I'm still ticked off remembering that I was one of the few people to be fooled until the bitter end.

Curse you, Lex! may the wrath of good writing strike you down!

 

Gods. That is one fantastic review (And I remember reading it in the thread itself.)

Kudos to you, geo3! And Darth_Lex, of course.

 

This is a wonderful post I recieved from TKeira_Lea . I admire her very much for the writes she does. This post was one that I recieved for my SongFic Tonight I Wanna Cry. I'm not a hardcore Star Wars fan. I've seen all the movie but that's about it. A good friend of mine who has read most of the books got me into writing FanFictions. I hear the song on the radio and it wouldn't leave me alone. So I decided to turn it into a SongFic. My friend is also a member her and goes over my writing to make sure they are up to par (so to say). Since I don't know much about the characters I used or weddings, this post made my heart sing and my eyes water.

I hope you all enjoy that as much as I did.



~Angel~

 

Posted by Mr_Black about my fic "A Single Tear":

---

This fic surprised me by being incredibly well done.

I'll be frank; most of the RotS fic flood that I've read, stories centering around the climactic confrontation of Anakin's internal battle--pitting who he was against what he is at the end of RotS--is painfully melodramatic, coming off as indulgent at best and soap operaish at worst.

You've managed to establish a true and resonant emotional core by wisely choosing to show what Anakin is feeling, and not endlessly pontificate on who he is. You don't explain Anakin; you display him. You display what is most likely his last true act as Anakin until his son begs him for help some 20 years later and he chooses to step forward and save him. Your story is infinitely more dramatic, captivating, and poetic because of this. This was some undeniably excellent work, and I loved it.

[i]*wishing there was a Mon Mothma fan club*[/i]

If you established one, I'd join in a heartbeat; Mon Mothma rocks (but not as much as this story) [face_wink] .

[hr]

I think you can see why this made my heart sing. [face_wink] But there was more to it than just the incredibly kind words. "A Single Tear" was my first Star Wars fan fic ever and I was terrified to post it on the boards. Before this, the only people who ever saw my stories were my friends, and I couldn't trust them to honestly tell me if they didn't like them. This fic was my "premiere" so to speak to a real audience. To receive a reply like Mr_Black's... Let's just say I spent about five minutes jumping around the room in complete bliss! [face_grin] Thank you, [b]Mr_Black[/b]!