[Fanfic] Red West II. - Chapter thirty seven

[witchann2]

Title: RED WEST II.
Author: Kasumi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Western, Drama, Romance
Warning: AKame pairing; vulgarisms, violence
Beta-reading:

Comments

[atago4]

Alright, this time, I really am sorry for the delay, I know there could be excuses, but my head didn’t get into gear about Red West in last few days - what with all Christmas stuff and the like… But, I came across an idea, that some things should really be accomplished this year, and not push them into the next one :-)

First of all, great chapter! The talk with Leo, and others, was very… fulfilling, I would say. I seriously loved Cullen´s reaction, it was all I could ever hope for, it really fits his character :-) I never doubted he would have any sort of problem with Akame… Others were a bit of a mixed bag, and their reactions weren’t as sure as Cullen (or Jane or Koki for that matter), but still, very positive. As for Leo… Well, now that he - finally - cooled off, or should I say Jane helped him cool off, I am starting to see a lot of his point of view. There wasn’t anything specific, or definite about it, but I am starting to get suspicious about some stuff. And if my suspicions are correct, well then… poor Jane :-/ But still, that shouldn’t be a reason to lash out on his brother like that. I mean, I get his temper, and I am not angry with him myself, but he owes Jin an apology, seriously ;-)

As for the other things… Well, Grenet has the scary knack for finding new and unexpected ways for me to hate him :-D Have to admit, his “fair fight” with Kamenashi was a bit unexpected, very much so from Kame, for having to come up with that. I have to say, he has learned quite a lot from his “early days”. On the other hand, he obviously still hasn’t learned enough. Or maybe he underestimated Grenet, just like me - to be honest, I half expected Kame to kick Grenet´s ass (and only then to get beaten up by his goons). Kame´s tactics were even working, for the most part, but that’s where Grenet surprised me - I would call his moves clever, but very experienced and seriously confidently applied. Because we only saw Grenet mostly as dumb and arrogant in last few months, I almost forgot that in RW I. he had a cunning side, and he still was a very good gunman as well as fighter. This was a scary reminder of that, and… well, I can’t say I think you for it, because now I am really worried for Kame (before, I wasn’t as much). But still, awesome!

And the last part. I can only say that Jin is really, really desperate. Which I get, but still, I want him to WAIT FOR LEO!!!! HE IS COMING!!!
His plan, as surprising as it will be for the other side, could hardly work in my opinion… And now it is only a matter of whether Leo will be arriving in a last second to help Koki save them both, or will Leo have to rescue all three of them, when they get captured? Well, fingers crossed and I will not complain if Jin´s desperate plan will work, but I know the author of this story, and… I don’t think things will go as smoothly as planned.

Well, good luck in the next year, and I wish you (here) a lot of time for the Wild West and certain two adventurers there ;-)

[witchann2]

Well… Now, I´m the one looking for excuses to be so late with my reply.
The things kinda piled up upon me; before, during and even after Xmas… But I won´t name them, you know more than well about them, so… ^_^´

First of all, thank you for such a lovely comment!
It´s hard to believe you really wrote it so late in the night. :D

Cullen´s reaction… of course! What else to expect from him, right?
As for Leo, or Jane… Not only Jin or Kame have their issues… But I would not blame Leo for his immediate reaction to ´that´ revelation, he was really surprised.

Grenet… I´m pretty sure there is already a very numerous club of my readers hating him. :D Kame is a capable fighter, but just as you said, maybe he forgot a little bit about how sneaky Grenet is. That man is a bastard, but he´s not an incompetent weakling, unfortunately… Anyway, I´m glad you liked their confrontation.

Jin… What can I say? It was already mentioned before; it´s hard for Jin to think completely clearly when it comes to Kame (or Leo) in danger. (And it works vice versa too, of course.) In other cases, it was also difficult for him to keep a cool head, but somehow, he did, but this time… You know, this time it´s GRENET. I think everybody remembers what this man did in the first part of the story and Jin is someone, who remembers it the most…
No comment on any future development, though… :P

Thank you once again, for reading and beta-reading and commenting my precious RW. There are moments, when I´m still surprised by the fact how much you like it. And also thank you for your wish, even though this year hasn´t started so well, I do hope it will get better soon and no matter what changes await us this year, I will keep writing this story to your satisfaction.

<3

[atago4]

Well, as you said, I know about those events, or 'excuses', as you put it, so don't worry, I don't blame you at all for replying so late ;-)

As for Leo, well... I am not blaming him, or... Not entirely ^^' He is an Akanishi, so of course we can expect his temper, and he really didn't find out about it in a best way. So I can huff about calmness and importance of listening to the other side, but don't worry, Leo is still my favourite :-)

But the other thing, one that got me replying again, is Grenet, it rather, villains in general.
I recently came across several interesting discussions about what makes a good villain, and also, I had the misfortune of reading (or watching) about several really weak ones. So. This is one of the things I really like about RW, even though I think this came up before. Even such a 'character' as Grenet gets some sort of personality, can surprise reader (at least me) and isn't simple one-dimensional buffoon. I am not saying he is deep or developed character, but even this small bit makes him different, better than 75% of bad guys I read about lately. He is no Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter or Joker, but still, as far as RW goes, pretty much an iconic villain :-D
I know how easy it is to slip into 'easy' mode and leave lot of side characters in the background, keep them simple (and dumb), only as the 'bushes', as we use to say :-)
And this probably applies double for RW, because this very much a work of passion, and I unfortunately know a lot of authors that would concentrate only on those several, or even only two, main characters, to the detriment of all others. Way back when I was starting to read RW, I was somewhat afraid of this focus (and please don't blame me for this, my experiences with ff were mostly really bad), but you continue to surprise me ^-^ Even truly side characters like Augusta, or Grenet, get a bit more development and personality, and that bit is all it takes :-)

Maybe I am reading to much into it, and I think we already covered it before, so gomen if I am repeating myself; but things like those are one of the reasons I love reading new chapters of Red West ^^

Crossing fingers for the next one ;-)
Ganbatte!

[witchann2]

Thanks for understanding. ^^´

Leo… I´m relieved to read that.

RW villains… I can only feel proud of my precious fanfic and say thank you so much for your praise, I appreciate it a lot.
I use ´bushes´ as well, but during the years of writing I learnt how to make even those practically useless characters interesting. It was not easy, but as I see, it paid off.

There´s absolutely nothing you should apologize for. ^_^

Arigatou gozaimasu! <3