I won't waffle too long with the excuses and the apologies et al nobody really wants to hear that. All I can really say is, by god, I've been busy as all balls, and I can only imagine the other PGs are too (if not moreso, what with them all being actual like adults and all that with like, decent jobs and the like). Nevertheless, this was left ignored for far too long. Sorry about that.

Anyhow, thoughts thoughts thoughts: I liked the hell out of this! I haven't read, like, anything in far too long (blame the old covid upside-down-brain-itis) but these stories were just really smooth reads. Your writing style is straightforward and polished, with a lot of characterisation all slickly weaved through it. It's got a good flow going on--I didn't even need the bios to get a good sense of these characters, which is always fantastic stuff. The characters themselves are likeable, and you do a good job at capturing the deep awkwardness of working together with somebody you still don't really know yet. I'm particularly fond of how one sided this awkwardness seems to be, with Kaito seemingly barely even able to understand what Tanner's getting so worked up about all the time.

Which is, truly, the anxiety experience.

I'm fond, I must also add, of Kaito's powers. I tend to get (admittedly unfairly) leery of agents from shounen-sorta canons, but Kaito's origins feel very genuine and central to his character, and his powers read as very distinctly My Hero.

I wish I had more criticisms to balance this out, really, but I don't have anything particularly big, so far. I mean, it's kinda weird that you specify that Kaito is morally against rape (I would assume this of any protagonist we're meant to like, but I guess it's not... like, wrong?) I kinda just wanna see where you go with these two, so far!

In terms of badfic, I mean, this one seems alright enough. As far as bad writing goes, it doesn't seem, like, hyperawful, though it's definitely obnoxious and definitely bad. The important thing is if there's enough in here to make a fun to read mission and, yeah, I reckon so.

In terms of community engagement: well, you're here! I see you around, I know who you are, what your deal is, et al. You seem a good guy though, I admit, I think you gotta like. Chill out a little. No offence, I'm much the same--I'm an intense guy myself, and I get very harsh unnecessarily more than I wish I did. Got hot iron in the veins and all that, that's what folks like us are like. I'm thinking mostly of your critique of Kittyauthor's recent mission (which, and I will admit, I have not yet read entirely), which, while seeming all around well intended and also generally good and helpful, was, like... very intense? You really didn't do anything wrong in it--like I said, it did seem quite helpful, though I can't speak for Kittyauthor--but you open it with a spiel about how high your own standards are et al et al so on.

Don't get me wrong, we're all for good hard critique in here--it's a cornerstone of our community. But, on that same note, we're not writing for a literary journal in here, y'know? Perhaps I'm talking outta line here--perhaps, also, this entire thing is just me tone policing, because, again, you really didn't say specifically anything wrong--but this stuff's meant to be more primarily fun, y'know? And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we gotta lower our standards just because what we're writing is meant to be fun, but, moreso, er, just maybe chill a little. This is among a couple other thises and thats. Like, don't get me mistaken--I really am very much the same as you. I'm also well aware that just saying 'chill out lol' is a very not helpful thing to say (it wouldn't work well for me, for instance), but I also feel I would be remiss in not mentioning it, you know?

You haven't done anything wrong, really, and I can't foresee you doing so, at least, certainly not intentionally--it just had to be mentioned, as it were. I think I'll just say--you're real hard on things. You're hard on other folks' things, you're really hard on your own stuff. You are almost certainly a far better writer than you seem to think of yourself as.

So, er, take it easy, hey?

Oh, and, permission granted! Yay!

Now that you've brought attention to it, I think what happened is that I saw it, was a bit amused, figured I'd leave it for someone else, and now somehow it's only been two weeks, not a month?

/Checks calendar/ What was I doing?

Oh. Right. Busy (TM) work week followed by another full of sudden changes (for the better) and putting other things together and doing big things around the house. Okay. No wonder it feels like it's been a month. Heck, today feels like a day and a half (though I admittedly took a nap after the busiest chunk of it).

Anyway.

I definitely can't promise to go through this today, and possibly not at all, but I'll try to keep it in mind, and maybe in the meantime someone else will have the time/energy/focus to spare for a proper read-through and response?

Good luck,

~Z, possibly rambling a bit

PS: Regarding Scape's comment--I take it you've decided to remain for a while, and had your enthusiasm for PPC writing, etc, renewed? A comment on where you stand now wouldn't go amiss. Thanks.

While your Permission Request wasn't really looked at, that might have something to do with the fact that there's a post still on the front page about how you don't feel any enthusiasm for writing for the PPC. I know a lot can happen in three weeks but still.