Reason Why I Like Henhae #9001: He Dreamed of Paradise, Then Proceeded to Find it.

Title: The Smallest Hours

Author: Petitsos @livejournal.com

Pairing: Henhae

Rating: R

Summary: Henry leaves obnoxious notes all over Europe.

I legitimately had to stop reading at certain moments and blink the tears away.

Before I really get into the review, though, let me start off by saying that I have a certin bias towards 1) the length of this fic, 2) the time-switches, 3) ALL OF THE HENHAE, 4) the use of Henry Lau as an important character in general (there really isn’t enough of him in the fandom, imho), and 5) Europe as a backdrop. Just. Wow. There are no words for the emotions I am feeling.

Disclaimer: this is not going to be like my usual reviews. I may occasionally do this kind of ranting about fanfictions that really move me or are otherwise striking enough to do weird things to my body functions. (This means that if they make me cry, I’m doing this.)

WARNING: possible spoilers ahead. If you don’t like things being ruined, go ahead and read the fic first.

The premise that Henry leaves the public eye is so profoundly plausible that it scares me at times. If I woke up one day only to find that he had suddenly pulled a Kim Kibum and dissapeared off the face of the earth, I would say that it had only been a matter of time. In my opinion, Henry is not suited for a life of super-stardom; while he certainly has oceans of talent at his disposal, I can more easily imagine him as a café performer in Pointe Claire, Montreal, Québec, or living in a tiny loft in NYC working odd jobs and composing late into the night, content as could be.

(Before anyone rages at me for the above, let it be known that it was meant as a compliment of the highest order. There is something incomparably charming about grabbing a coffee at a hole-in-the-wall and nursing it while reading a novella with music in the background.

Of course, I could be totally crazy. You tell me.)

Donghae’s search for him is touching in a way that I haven’t read in far too long. Identafiable and endearing to a fault, his idealistic search for a loved one at times made me laugh and cry within a single paragraph. The way he grew over the course of the story inspired me.

Despite the slight over-use of suspension of disbelief, Henry’s notes engaged me with his whimsical and somewhat childish personality, as well as his choice of a final destination:

Paris.

Cliché, but somehow fitting.

As for the end: there is no “Goodbye.” There is only “See you later.”

Your frigid bitch,

-Admin L

P.S. Silas, I’m sorry for quoting you without proper citations. Everyone else: that last line came from Insatiable.

pyromaniac-kleptomaniac asked: One question before you disappear! Are you going to be looking at the reviews and sort them out if you don't think they live up to your standards? Just... like a poorly written review?

If the review is obviously biased for or against the author, main pairing, or characters, or if the review is something along the lines of “I tHiNk I aM a HoMeStUcK tRoLl”, then I will either delete it or make an example of it. In general, I will only attack reviews made in bad taste. Everything else will be accepted, probably with my own (informal) opinions added on seperately from the original review.

Wow. I am such a frigid bitch.

Why? Because I have four fanfictions lined up in my submissions box, ready to be reviewed, and I’m not going to be able to really work on this blog for the next six weeks at minimum. It will probably be longer than that.

I also have several new followers whom I shall be dissapointing with this post.

Today was Kick-off, the beginning of what FIRST Robotics founder Dean Kamen will call “Build Season” and any veteran member or alum of a FIRST team will call “Hell with good food”. It was fairly normal, in case anyone wants to know: we totally messed up the school’s library’s layout, people brought food in and we all ate breakfast for once, the broadcast from NASA TV was full of long-winded old people talking about us like we’re intelectual angels, Will.i.am’s glasses were opaque and he looked like an emotionless alien, Dave Lavery was a ninja and nobody but I saw him, etc.

So what does this mean for you?

It means two things:

  1. I will not be able to write my own reviews for fics dropped in my submissions box for at least six weeks, if not longer. There is no such thing as “Free Time” during build season.
  2. I will be changing the settings on the Submisisons Box to include text.

Up until now, I have only allowed people to submit links to the fanfictions. I have done this for one reason, and one reason only: I do not want to be influenced by the opinions of others before reading the actual fanfiction. I know my distaste of the opinions of others too well to trust myself in writing an unbiased review.

Because I will not be able to take the time to write my own reviews, I want you to write them for me.

This may seem a daunting task. Many of you will not have the courage or will be too lazy to submit a review. However, for those who will rise to the challenge I have set, the rewards will be great. People may actually listen to what you have to say!

At any rate, I really hope you guys will help me out with this. I have four fanfictions lined up to be reviewed, and I will have those reviews posted by the end of build season, but I can’t rely on those alone. Please help me keep this blog alive and submit your opinion to the world!

As always, I have rules, which can be found here under “submissions”.

TL;DR: there is a new option in the submissions box where you can write your own review. Please take advantage of this.

Your very frigid bitch,

-Admin L

To Umberela:

The moment I have a chance, I’ll go looking for them. It’s mostly things that an editor would notice, to be hoest, but I’ll go looking for examples when I can. I’m getting ready to post a review on a long-fic, so I may not be able to help you immediately, but keep an eye out, alright? ^^

-Admin L

Meh. Okay, anon. I’ll try to address all your points. Firstly, I realize that, on the internet, at least, grammar and punctuation are not deemed very important. I disaprove of this. If you’re using the language to create a work of art (and I count any form of writing as such), you need to have controll over it. You need to be able to twist it and evoke emotions with it without breaking any of the rules— like how you wouldn’t lightly shade in the top side of a cube with your fingers gripping the tip of the pencil. This takes practice, certainly, but it’s not something I can easily dismiss, becasue it’s an important part of writing in and of itself. You may not expect it to be perfect, but some of us do, and I want to be able to address as wide an audience as possible. Secondly, originality is very important. Like I said before, not everyone thinks it is, but please be honest: if all you ever read was “Member A meets member B; Member A hates Member B and vice versa; Member CDEFGHIJKLMNO intervenes and locks them in a closet; Member A kisses Member B becasue they fell or something; cue happily ever after”, you’d get bored with reading fanfiction pretty darn fast. Fanfictions can be very different; the challenge is making them that way, or at least finding the ones that stand out. Think of it this way: someday, far into the future, some great historian is going to look back on this fanfiction trend. Someday, he or she is going to go back and read what was written on the internet for all to see— maybe they’ll read Insatiable or Alone on the Water or My Immortal (dear God, please not that last one: what will people say about our generation then?) and maybe it’ll be the topic of their college thesis or something. They might compare them to great works of fiction such as Harry Potter, Disc World, or World War Z: all amazing works of artistry and originality. Where will fanfictions be then? Demoted to the bottom of the totem pole? No! If Wicked can be published and become a national phenomenon, then so can Gravity or any other work of fanfciton. As a writer, I was slightly offended by this point. But on with the show! My review parameters are still a work in progress. I’ve never done any more than editing the pieces of others, so reviews are very new to me. Also, because I’m the only admin on here, I have some very strong opinions about writing in general that a lot of the fanbase won’t have. I blame my childhood diet of fantasy novels and sheet music for that. Regardless, I realize that I have limitations as a reviewer. I have many plans for this blog and its future, and while none of them are very solid, I only came up with this idea about a month ago, and the blog itself is about three days old. :/ (Gosh, anon. Pressuring me already?) I especially want to have an admin group similar to the one on Perving on Kpop, but that’s just not possible at the moment. I’d appreciate it if you’d be patient, though, and help me by telling me your thoughts. I have an open ask for a reason! You really should bring those points up with the author. He’d probably be very willing to hear your opinion; he’s a nice guy. Lastly, thank you for taking the time to (very politely, I might add) share your concerns with me. Feel free to drop in any time you like. I don’t bite. Much. Your very frigid bitch, -Admin L

Meh. Okay, anon. I’ll try to address all your points.

Firstly, I realize that, on the internet, at least, grammar and punctuation are not deemed very important. I disaprove of this. If you’re using the language to create a work of art (and I count any form of writing as such), you need to have controll over it. You need to be able to twist it and evoke emotions with it without breaking any of the rules— like how you wouldn’t lightly shade in the top side of a cube with your fingers gripping the tip of the pencil. This takes practice, certainly, but it’s not something I can easily dismiss, becasue it’s an important part of writing in and of itself. You may not expect it to be perfect, but some of us do, and I want to be able to address as wide an audience as possible.

Secondly, originality is very important. Like I said before, not everyone thinks it is, but please be honest: if all you ever read was “Member A meets member B; Member A hates Member B and vice versa; Member CDEFGHIJKLMNO intervenes and locks them in a closet; Member A kisses Member B becasue they fell or something; cue happily ever after”, you’d get bored with reading fanfiction pretty darn fast. Fanfictions can be very different; the challenge is making them that way, or at least finding the ones that stand out. Think of it this way: someday, far into the future, some great historian is going to look back on this fanfiction trend. Someday, he or she is going to go back and read what was written on the internet for all to see— maybe they’ll read Insatiable or Alone on the Water or My Immortal (dear God, please not that last one: what will people say about our generation then?) and maybe it’ll be the topic of their college thesis or something. They might compare them to great works of fiction such as Harry Potter, Disc World, or World War Z: all amazing works of artistry and originality. Where will fanfictions be then? Demoted to the bottom of the totem pole? No! If Wicked can be published and become a national phenomenon, then so can Gravity or any other work of fanfciton. As a writer, I was slightly offended by this point. But on with the show!

My review parameters are still a work in progress. I’ve never done any more than editing the pieces of others, so reviews are very new to me. Also, because I’m the only admin on here, I have some very strong opinions about writing in general that a lot of the fanbase won’t have. I blame my childhood diet of fantasy novels and sheet music for that.

Regardless, I realize that I have limitations as a reviewer. I have many plans for this blog and its future, and while none of them are very solid, I only came up with this idea about a month ago, and the blog itself is about three days old. :/ (Gosh, anon. Pressuring me already?) I especially want to have an admin group similar to the one on Perving on Kpop, but that’s just not possible at the moment. I’d appreciate it if you’d be patient, though, and help me by telling me your thoughts. I have an open ask for a reason!

You really should bring those points up with the author. He’d probably be very willing to hear your opinion; he’s a nice guy.

Lastly, thank you for taking the time to (very politely, I might add) share your concerns with me. Feel free to drop in any time you like. I don’t bite.

Much.

Your very frigid bitch,

-Admin L

The Battle of the Post-Its: Sparta does not approve.

Title: The Battle of the Post-Its

Summary: Eeteuk comes up with a new way for Super Junior to stay bonded.

Pairing: Various, kangteuk, kyumin, eunhae, yewook, hanchul

Raiting: PG

Mastery of English: 19/20

  • Littered with minor errors.

Plot Originality: 18/20

  • It’s an interesting take on the “AIM” plot-line.

Flow: 15/20

  • This piece is rather jumpy. Granted, it’s crack. Also, there were some instances where I was very confused as to what was going on.

Pace: 18/20

  • While Ryeowook’s and Yesung’s solution to the post-it problem was clever, it took up a lot of text where a simple description would have sufficed. Seeing as this piece is rather small, I took off two points rather than the one I usually would.

Characterization: 17/20

  • The characters don’t have a lot of depth to them. I felt as though the author could have switched the names around and I would not have noticed a difference.

Style and Extra Credit: N/a

  • There was nothing particularly impressive about this piece; actually, I felt as though it was trying too hard to make me laugh.

Total: 87/100; B

Link: http://literrie.livejournal.com/2092.html

Admin L’s notes: Meh. Donghae was cute.

40 followers in two days! :D I’m so flattered. Really, you guys, I don’t know what to say. New review should be up soon. ^^ Your frigid bitch, -Admin L

40 followers in two days! :D

I’m so flattered. Really, you guys, I don’t know what to say.

New review should be up soon. ^^

Your frigid bitch,

-Admin L

Table Manners: stingy, angry bitches have them.

Title: Table Manners

Summary: iPod case obsessed Kyuhyun meets bitchy Sungmin who indirectly spoils his precious casing. Kyuhyun seeks dinner as compensation and Sungmin proceeds to drive him crazy. Eunhyuk is still stupid though :D

Pairing: main!Kyumin, Eunhae

Rating: PG-13

Mastery of English: 19/20

  • I found a few errors scattered throughout the piece. Meh. It’s not that big of a deal, to be honest; I’m just a Grammar Nazi.

Plot Originality: 20/20

  • I wasn’t taken by surprise, but this plot is really refreshing and sweet.

Flow: 19/20

  • The images in the beginning disoriented me for a bit, and while the banter between Kyuhyun and Sungmin is fun, it jumps around in a way that’s not always as funny as it intends.

Pace: 17/20

  • While the building of Kyumin’s relationship is important, it slows the story down considerably. I had a hard time paying attention.

Characterization: 18/20

  • Sungmin’s character is very impressive compared to how he is usually protrayed. Kyuhyun seems like he’s just there a lot of the time, though, and his personality is not always evident. Sungmin’s strenght over-shadows Kyuhyun’s brattiness.

Style and Extra Credit: N/a

  • There is not much else that stands out to me in this fic.

Total: 93/20; A-

Link: http://amillionsheep.livejournal.com/984.html

Admin L’s notes: I was rather put off by the portrayal of Henry in this piece. It seemed rather random and, dare I say it, malicious to give him a restraining order for trying to say hello and ask for his number.

33 folowers in 24 hours! -Admin L

33 folowers in 24 hours!

-Admin L

sakura2838 asked: Haha, thank you for the constructive criticism! ^^ And yes... I tend to erm mix narrative with an almost poetic kind of style? Also it's more of a drabble than a oneshot as I was just testing waters for myself. But yes sappy u_u But thank you for taking the time to read.

What else would this blog be for if not constructive criticism and reading? XD