Words Go Here

Dear Dullahan,

Once every few thousand fanfics, I read something that simply defies expectation.

Maybe I'm a Lion is not one of those stories.

I came in with a good impression; the audience saw to that. Every once in a while, another forumite would post, regarding MIAL, "'Tis long buried. But we believe, and so long as we do, one day the headless one shall rise again."

So, my expectations came in expecting a nice dinner and a quiet evening at home.

And an AC unit exploded, starting the rapid acceleration that sent them into orbit.

Maybe I'm a Lion is a bastion of English literature, and something that deserves more praise than I think myself fit to render. That said, I shall make my sad attempt regardless.

The core of literature is research, which is generally what separates "ideas that I made up" from "ideas that other people made up" but in the case of MIAL, I would guess that the time spent researching material probably exceeds the time spent writing by an order of magnitude. A great amount of the information that's casually dropped during the narration is uncommon knowledge, and even further, some of it is almost arcane. Your work is superlatively impressive in general, and in this regard especially.

It's even more beautiful when I consider that it combines elements from the spread of academia, military operations, and urban logistics, and a hundred other things that I hadn't bothered to think about, and you cared enough to investigate to such infinitesimal details that all I can do is continuously feel awed. And then you have to go and make me feel all embarrassed by being humble, polite, and uniquely genial in your normal interactions. Even the memes you unleash are controlled, and creative in a way that is rarely seen.

But I'm not trying to compliment skillful memeing. Though that is something I consider a virtue.

MIAL is one of those stories that opens up the world from a new perspective. Lio is, well, if someone else had tried to do what you're doing, he might easily have been a classical diagram of "THINGS TO AVOID WHEN WRITING." but then I read it and that thought didn't even occur to me until I finished. A lovable basket case is an elementary description of his character. But more broadly, I can say that he does every single thing in an interesting way. I don't believe I've been able to say that very often.

So let me say, then, that he is a dazzling amalgamation of traits, and a wonderfully wonderfully insane bastard, who works better now as a protagonist than I could have ever dreamed, but like I said, MIAL was not something to take on with flimsy things like expectations.

Somehow, it doesn't really matter that you've been unable to update it lately. This isn't to say that I wouldn't be elated if you did. But, what you've written so far is already an experience worthy of diving out of a plane to find.

And someday, I hope I can become worthy of this thing you've allowed me to enjoy.