City Lights - Comments

Wow. This story of yours is amazing. I love it from the bottom of my heart. Please continue with this!

Gorgeous...just...please? Jesus. This is heart-aching, chest clenching stunning (in the best/worst way) and I will simply just ... I don't know - seize up and die? if you don't continue this.

Gerard is just so beautifully fucked up...and Frank. I need Frank to be your Frank because, blind or not, he is the fantasy we all have of how Frankie Iero really is...or maybe it's just me? I don't know. It's my fantasy, at least.

Just. Please continue this? I'm literally begging (can you hear me in there?).

x

It would be shame if you gave up on this, you should really update..

I'm really bad at writing comments... But some of the ones above me pretty much sum it up. You're an incredible writer. The story is very captivating. I completely adore Frank in this story!

I am mindblown by your beautiful writing.
I'm sorry that I don't have a long, thought through review for you, but know that I this is seriously amazing. I will definitely subscribe.
Also, I'll have you know that a pretty big chunk of the chapter is written in cursive, though it seems it due to a midtake with coding. Just so you know.
xo.

This story is brilliant. You should really keep up the writing.

I'm really happy you updated this.
I rarely, if ever, use Mibba these days but there are certain stories I'm subscribed to that I still hold out for because, in my opinion, they're some of the best on here, and I hold City Lights in that category.

I'm out of practice with the in-depth analysis that would really give this update justice, so all I can say is thanks and I really hope you stick with it and there'll be another update some time soon.

Oh my god, okay, so, I just wrote up this huge, long comment for you, and then I clicked submit and it turns out that mibba had logged me out, and so it proceeded to tell me so, and in doing so, lost the entire comment. Which is a huge bummer, because I had a lot to say.

I can't remember everything exactly as it was, but this is essentially the gist of it.

1. That scene in the subway bathroom in the beginning absolutely fascinated me. I am so so jealous that you came up with this perfect image of Gerard, alone in a bathroom, practicing how to die because he is fucked up inside, and because he is curious as to how it feels. It was so beautiful and lonely and heartwrenching, all at the same time. Absolutely lovely.

2. The way you write Gerard's world is so bleak and desolate, and it really makes me ache for the contrast of Frank, whose world is dark but strangely and simply beautiful. And Gerard is so...stuck. He has been the same person for so long that he just isn't sure how to change. But you can tell, with all of his secret smiles, how much he kind of aches and longs to absorb the change that Frank just naturally instills in him. God, their dynamic, even when they aren't even together in this chapter.

3. Your Gerard character is so tragic and sad, and I love him for it. Just the way that you write his interactions with Bob, and his non-interactions with his family. It's sad how he seems to have been friends with Bob for a while, yet they don't even hardly know what to say or how to act around each other. It makes me feel terribly lonely. And his father's message on the phone. Oh Gerard, he just...it's like he can't even accept that other people around him are humans, and that he needs to be human around them too. He is so very isolated, and I love that, but at the same time, it makes me hurt inside because...well, because the way you write Gerard kind of mirrors the way I see myself sometimes. Especially when you wrote about him spending the whole day looking forward to being by himself with a cigarette and his window sill, but then once he actually gets to that point, he realizes how that one moment makes him feel so empty. So I'm kind of attached to him in a love/hate kind of way.

4. Bless Frankie's existence. Seriously, I love how when Gerard is fucked up on drugs and loneliness and his own inability to interact with people who care about him, he runs off to be with Frank, someone who he hardly knows and can't possibly relate to. It's just wonderful and uplifting at the end of this desolate chapter, and I want so much to see them together in the next chapter.

I know that this comment is brief and probably not too fulfilling, but the gist of it is that I still love this story and the way that you write, and I'll wait patiently for the next installment, however long you need for it :]. Good, work, as always.

Hm. Will there be another update for this?

'Cause I really, really love it. :D

I've read some of the comments, and realised everyone here is talking about the characters
but ahh I have to, they are perfect different from how most writers write them
but still really true to frank and gerard
please don't forget about this. UPDATE!!!

Please update? =]

I just read this and, I'm pretty much in love with it.
I love how you've characterised Frank and Gerard and it's so perfectly written that you've hooked me from the start.
Frank seems to make me feel oddly nervous but I still love how free he is.

This is excellent, update soon!

Can I let out a resounding YESSSSSSSSSSSS?????

So maybe I'll admit that I suspected you'd given up on this. And maaayybee I'll admit that I was severely disappointed in that.

But I'll definitely admit that I fucking love you for updating this once again. I started it from fetus-status (as in, just an attachment to an inbox message), to, well...this masterpiece.
I'm typing this up as I read, so prepare for a ramble. First off, your beginning sentences are...epic. They're long enough so that you have to kind of read them twice before getting the full context, but they have such a presence. It's like stepping into your story and stretching out a bit, just preparing for the rest. And they're so detailed and strange that even if you haven't read any part of this story in months, you still know exactly where you stand with the characters. It's incredibly cool.

The dog. Of course it's exactly like Frank to feed this homeless dog, even if he's not allowed to keep him in his apartment. It's just...that's so exactly like Frank to be so generous. It goes along with the whole idea that he's considered impaired, but he really isn't; not only does his blindness not impair him, but he goes beyond the normal compassion capacity that people like Gerard don’t even have. I know that I tend to read into things a little more than I should, but I just feel that because Frank is blind, he has more compassion for unfortunate circumstances, such as this dog being homeless, such as Gerard being this utterly lost human being. And he is the remedy.

“And miss out on seeing all this beauty?”

God, this line made me fucking grin. Frank is this amazingly simple creature trapped in a complex situation, and the contradiction is astounding. His simplicity is his beauty, and I think that's what I get most out of his character. Frank has life in the palm of his hand, he is so far from disabled that he's almost perfect. And the fact that someone like this could exist, even through fictional words, is amazing and inspiring. It's so obvious while reading this that vision is in no way equal to beauty, and that we all epically fail to realize this. Gerard wants to take a cab, Gerard takes his world for granted. Frank wants to walk, and he fucking takes nothing for granted. He can't see, but he can feel the cold air, and that's just as good. It's just so fantastic to read your words and feel like maybe I can look at the world and not see it as just something tedious.

The fact that Frank knows a shortcut while Gerard was lazy enough to just want to take a cab makes me kind of want to tell Gerard that he sucks at life. Frank, who is blind, knows more about his city than someone with vision. Which totally makes sense logically, since he has a vital need to know his surroundings. But just…for shame, Gerard, for shame. It sort of makes the reader realize how utterly oblivious we are to everything except for ourselves. How selfish we are that we don’t even take time from our own reserves just to get to know the place that we live in. And again, that just puts Frank higher up on the amazing pedestal in my mind because, well, he’s the perfect human being.

But it does make me wonder how Frank knew a shortcut to the cinema, of all places. You’d think he wouldn’t have much need for that particular direction. It’s just that Frank is so…odd. The contradiction is odd, how he can be so simple and yet so complex all in the same minute, all in the same person. He’s a strange guy, but you don’t really need to question his methods. They just are, and I think that’s one of the things that really makes him such a magnetic character.

He’s just so damn manipulative. Frank has this power, and he knows it so well. He knows that all he has to do is tell Gerard to do something, and Gerard will do it. But at the same time, it’s totally not a command at all. I think that Frank has this…this way of knowing exactly what people want, of knowing exactly what he makes them want, and he just sort of lets them say it out loud. In the movie theater, Frank is giving Gerard permission to admit that he wants to spend time with him. He’s letting him know it’s okay to want that, because obviously Frank has realized by now that this is not normal Gerard behavior. Gerard is the dismal loner workaholic who pretty much has no life, and Frank is telling him that it’s okay to hate that, it’s okay to want to get out of that sort of life. And like I said before, Frank is the remedy.

It’s good to see Gerard finally stop being such a dumbass. It’s good to see him finally realize that he doesn’t have to be such a miserable man. And how could he not want Frank? Frank is turning out to be this multifaceted wonder who makes Gerard feel just uncomfortable enough to know that something is really going on here that’s worth checking out. It’s good to see him giving in to the remedy.

I think I might be falling in love with your characters.

Dreaming in fiction,
Fink

Dude. This is so amazing, I can't even begin.
Therefore, I shall subscribe!

Update!
This is so great =]

Update!
This is so great =]

That was amazing
I love how Gerard has finally given in

You updated :mrgreen!!!

Fuck, I love this story.
I especially liked the end of this chapter.

“Say it,” Gerard heard Frank’s voice through the projected sounds of voices, dramatic music, explosions, and any other possible sound that he assumed could come from an action film. Catching Frank’s eyes with his own, he froze as he felt Frank’s fingers connect with Gerard’s hand again, delicately crawling across his skin like spider legs, lightly tracing across his knuckles, caressing his entire hand. “Say you’ll come to the movies with me more often.”

...

“Say it,” Frank persisted softly, grinning as his fingers continued to teasingly caress over his hand, tracing over his skin until it had begun to tickle. “Say you’ll go out with me.”

That part was just...awesome.
I love how you portray Frank through the dialogue and the small things he does.

Dude! Long time, no read!

Anyways, I really like this story. I really like Gerard's character and how he's so shy and somewhat submissive. And Frank's a real go-getter.

FINALLY.

I was actually quite nervous for this because I know how bad I am at comments and I know how much you deserve one, but with this I don't really find myself having to try hard at all because I just adore it. It's my favourite story of yours by far, and just generally a genuinely great story, which is a much more heartfelt compliment than it sounds, trust me. Usually I find it hard to read many things with such a laid back air as this, because I find that if a story is pumped full of gore and sex and drugs and general obscenity, the shock I get from reading it makes up somewhat for the lack of quality.

This, however, I love, because it's really given you a chance to shine as an author where, I think, other authors tend to fail. There doesn't need to be constant drama for it to hold my attention because the narrative is beautiful and flows just like it should, the dialogue is easy and natural, and you manage to do it without compromising on emotion. And THAT is really much harder than it sounds, which is probably why I'm all impressed and gushing and happy and totally LOVING this Frank.

Oh my goodness, this Frank is my favourite Frank in the whole entire world. Usually cheerful!Frank annoys the crap out of me because most writers seem to think that cheerful is synonymous with hyper and yeah, we all know how that turns out, but I just can't stop myself finding this one absolutely wonderful. And Gerard, too, I'm not gonna be biased, I love them both and especially the way that they're so different, at least as far as attitude goes. What I'm really digging is that you can start to see how Frank is getting under Gerard's skin already, just in these fleeting little moments where you can see how he's starting to affect him, and when he's watching Frank and noticing all his little quirks and it's just so nice and you think, yeah, wow. Or at least, I do. Perhaps because I appreciate it when characters actually act human. It's wonderful.

And yeah, despite the fact that you say how hard you find beginnings, I think the intro to this was perfect. It set the scene, but with purpose. Bringing the dog into it was genius for showing even more of Frank's amazingness, I think, how he's all sad and concerned about it for like, a second, and then is straight back up.

ONCE AGAIN, BY THE WAY, I LOVE HIM. And I love this, enough that my mum is yelling at me that we have to leave the house and I'm still here because I absolutely had to gush about it as soon as I'd read it. And I love YOU for bringing this big pile of awesome into my life. : )