Review for Scars
Did the Flycatcher explain why this got nominated?
Grammar/Spelling/Punctuation: Technically it is narrated by someone who's obviously got a street edge to the tongue, and therefore there are occasional incomplete sentences... but the profanity is spelled correctly as well. This isn't a major issue, anyway.
Style: I mentioned the street tongue. This has style in spades.
Flow/Structure/Pace: It's short, slick, and slips straight off the tongue. Excellent execution.
Plot: That's why they call him one bitter motherfucker!
Characterization: Reno didn't get sly over nothing. Many have written and expounded on theories to explain his personal grudge with the rat race and this story does it quite well. It's believable.
Canon Consistency: Well here's a slight point of contention. Literally nothing has been written in the canon about Reno's origins, how he truly felt about the Sector Seven incident, or whether or not his straight-laced superior officer would actually get drunk and carve a profanity on his back. As it stands, the last one is hard to believe. Still, you got the working relationship with Rude, and you mentioned the red tattoos, offering an explanation about them. But like Grammar, some adherence to the canon is generally expected, and therefore you aren't going to suffer if I rank you low in this category.
Originality: I never heard anyone write Final Fantasy VII like he was Frank fuckin' Miller, okay? Get someone to applaud you.
Does this fit into the nomination for Best Short Fic as Pied Flycatcher had said? No, it belongs in either the Drama or the Angst categories. But damned if I see another story that's shorter than this one... or told with as much energy as this one.
Overall: You did okay on my score sheet. To be blunt, Hemingway would bear hug you before blowing his head off.
Author's response
First of all, forgive me for not replying to you before-I only recently become aware that one could both read AND reply to one's reviews. An oversight on my part, I know. I'm not normally that clueless.
Secondly..wow. I'm literally speechless. I always appreciate it when someone tells me exactly WHY they like one of my stories, but to read your very professional review of it is an entirely new experience for me.
Thirdly is being nominated for an award. Hell, in all the years I've been writing fanfic, I've never been nominated for anything, so even if I don't win, it's still a major event.
And I don't even know if it's been voted on or not.
So thank you very much for your thoughtful and insightful review. For what it's worth, I agree with you about Tseng. I'd only been writing FFVII fanfic for a short period of time at that point and I'm afraid I got a bit carried away.
Thankfully, Hemingway already blew his head off, so I'm safe from being slapped. I do worry about Frank Miller coming after me, though. "Sin City" creeped me out to no end.
Badger