On fiction- logging review replies

As I've mentioned before, I'm writing a little Prometheus fanfic over at fanfiction.net. It's not 'selling like hot cakes', as they'd say, but still, some people did feel inclined to leave a comment, and it's only fair to make the responses to their public comments also public. Most of the responses were PMs to the review authors. Apart from cases where the authors reviewed "anonymously" (not having logged in), in which case this is the first time I could respond. Here goes: 

Day of the Wolf (on ch. 7): Oh David...I want to love you but you're such an a-hole!

Unlike your previous review, I'll treat this latest one as a thumbs up. I'm not aiming for a completely cooperative, cute and cuddly David, he's got his own things going on, which aren't always ... kosher. 'Ass-hole' may be a bit strong but that's a matter of each reader's perception.

Thanks for the review, it's nice to know that there's -some- scariness left in my portrayal of David.

PS: feel free to use ass-hole in reviews. Or other naughty words. I think I disabled the filter. Feel free.

 EmpireX (on ch. 8) : Oh dear. He just can't get it right , can he? Excellent chapter! Can't wait for the next!

Alas, poor David, I love torturing him so. Happy to know you're still around, I feared I lost you there for a while. 

megumisakura (on ch.8): excellent chapter,hope you can write the next chapter. :)

MaddAlice (on ch.8): Poor David, he finally does something (sort of) good and it bites him in the rear. Anyways, can't wait for the next chapter ;)

I won't promise speed in delivering chapter 9, because right now even I don't believe that it will be done too quickly. Sometime next week, or the week after that, though, I'd hope. {Note: it turned out much later. Missing deadlines is a common occurrence.}

David 8 (on ch8.): Deadpan snark? Sarcasm?

Dear Miss, I think you might have misunderstood me slightly. I am unable to express proper... human emotions. It doesn't mean that I dislike your writing. Quite the contrary, I enjoy it very much.

 Lol, ok, my sarcasm detector needs repairing. But so does your gender detector ;)

diadelphous (on ch. 3): Ahh I love this story! She made him a keffiyeh! Why do I think that's so adorable?

I wish I could finish the rest of the story right now, but I have to get back to work. I'm really looking forward to seeing where you take this.

Hi, and welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy your stay on Death-Doughnut the 2nd, though it was not intended as a particularly comfortable vessel.

Nice to know you like the keff detail. It's one of the more whimsy details I put in here and there, to alleviate the morbid monotonous mood a little.

Kawaiicreole (on ch.8): I am really enjoying this story and I hope the update comes soon. David is my favorite android, Ash, Call and not even Bishop can hold a candle to him. He's supposed to be the first and greatly surpasses. very nice writing indeed

 Hi, and thanks for the kind words! I'm afraid I'm a little cruel on your favorite android, lol, but hey, a hearty welcome aboard the Death Doughnut 2.0 to you too, and may you enjoy your voyage. Hope you brought your own washing water cause that on the ship's in short supply. And it's best to have your own food, cause the one in the ship tends to do wonky stuff to one's body.

Guest (on ch. 9): excellent chapter!

Thanks. I for one am not too happy with it (rather indulgent with the prose there) so, what was good about it?

ShardsOfBrokenGlass (on ch. 9): I liked this chapter just fine. Please continue!

Thanks for the encouragement, and the patience to still be reading after the many eons I take in between updates, lol. And worry not, continue I will. I may have various and sundry stylistic doubts about the writing, but one thing I decided from the get go is that I must bring PS to a conclusion. Thanks again, and watch this space!

 timi55 (on ch.9): Im a bit confused but keep going!

{After some prompting to explain the source of confusion} Elizabeth's change of appearance is easy. Supposedly, the Engineers' DNA is completely similar to our own. Yet, they look rather different. So something in their environment may cause that difference and I chose to make their diet responsible.

As for the mold spores. This is a text-book example of "kudzu plot", an author's weird throw-away idea that ends up growing unexpectedly in their story. In my case, it started as an answer to a problem nobody but me cared about, but it was such a weird detail that it just had to be revisited.

Hope this helps.

LilaGiese (on ch.10): Just stumbled across this story. Nice! :)

 Thank you, tell your friends :D

I hope you've generally liked it. It tends to ramble a lot- particularly the early chapters. I'm getting a bit more coherent as of late. Hopefully :)

timi55 (on ch.10): love it cant wait till next chapter

Thanks, but the next one won't be soon. {Note: published today, 12thDec.} 

KawaiiCreole (on ch.10): Brilliant chapter indeed I quite enjoyed this. I wonder what will happen when they reach the homeworld please keep writing

 Don't worry, I will keep writing :) Will be a month or so until the next one, but watch this space.

Mitsu (on ch.10): Thank you for writing this wonderful piece of fiction. It's beautiful. I look forward to your future updates.

 Glad you liked it, and worry not, future updates will appear. Rather snail-paced, but they will appear.

megumisakura (on ch. 10): excellent chapter,it was awsome!

 Thanks for your sustained attention, it is very encouraging.

Daniela Crimson (on ch.4): Lol, way to go for me. I youtube'd the song you mentioned {In Slaughter Natives, 'The Vulture'}out of curiosity and... found out I've heard it, like, VERY often in the background of skype calls with my closest friend. But yeah. I like this story so far. I like the witty dialogues between David and Elizabeth especially. Kudos.

Originally, I thought I'd do a screwball comedy take on Prometheus' surviving duo (screwball as in the genre of comedy from the Depression era), which would require even more witty repartee between our dear mismatched adventurers.

However for various thematic reasons I decided, even before I actually started writing, to aim for morbid monotone moods. Hence, for example, the In Slaughter Natives playlists I listen to when thinking about plot.

-Some- screwball influence persists, and will be more visible in ch11 as a bit of a breather before the finale.

Daniela Crimson (on ch.7): Heh, seems I'm not the only one to notice that improbable thing of any living thing growing to such enormous size without any sustenance whatsoever XD If someone can write a good story out of such a movie, I don't really mind ;)

Yeah, there were a few things that irked me a little, lol. I think that Spaihts' version of the script, with Elizabeth kept in the pod for hours while lil' Cuddles is thrown out and starts mauling the crew, would make more sense on at least two counts.

OTOH, if Spaihts' version had made it to the screen I wouldn't be writing something like Paradise Sought ch10. So swings and roundabouts, I guess.

Asmodel (on ch.10): A captivating story !
I swore I could picture David's delirium clearly in my mind so clear was the description. Witch is paradoxical since chaos would hold more order than it XD

I'll be waiting for more.

Thank you.

Reading what I wrote in earlier chapters makes me very grumpy and depressed, and in general I doubt my prose and pacing. Sorry for testing your patience with the early buildup and indulgent prose of ch9. However, I do feel pride in ch10; so far it's my finest work. I do believe however that there's better things yet to come in Paradise Sought, so watch this space. Which, seeing as how you've become a Follower, you probably will :)

As for David's delirium and its clarity. Well. There's Titanic method to this madness. I wrote PS because I had "things to tell", themes to explore, that sort of thing. One way to do that would be to just blurt things out in expospeak, or some essay, or some author preaching. Which, I'm afraid, I did do. However, one other way to get the theme of different kinds of souls across was what I did with ch10. I may have managed it decently.