Great story.

Very well done! There should be more fic for Ninth Gate and you combine it with Gaiman beutifully! bravo

I just started this, and was going to wait until I'd finished to comment, but I couldn't. This is a fantastic, intriguing piece of work, and I'm enjoying it immensely. Your characterizations are spot-on, and you've really managed to capture the spirit of 'American Gods'. Thank you so much for writing, sharing, and finishing this.

That was singlehandedly the best American Gods fic I've ever read. Wonderfully plotty, and you've got Gaiman's gods down perfectly. It was so nice seeing the Egyptian gods again :) Thanks a lot for this story!

Absolutely /brilliant/. I'm not familiar with American Gods, but I'm a big Ninth Gate fan. You've got Corso down perfectly. I mean, he's a bit OOC at the end, but it's believable after what you put him through if that makes any sense.

Peace out

~TSD

your story is great, I love "American Gods".

a very good story but i think u stryed a bit away from sahdows chrecter at points and changed him slightyl he seemd to be far more conversational in this.

1.-I am familiar with the book American Gods.

- Yes. I think I mentioned that I bought my own lately.

2.-I am familiar with the movie The Ninth Gate.

- Yes. Own that, too (though liked the book better - they left so much out of the movie!).

3. I read all the other Ninth Gate fics by vanillafluffy and wanted to see what else she wrote.

4. I am also interested in mostly anime fandoms like Weiss Kreuz, Saiyuki, Angel Sanctuary, Hellsing, etc. Also Forgotten Realms, Sandman, and oh, Pitch Black. Love the movie. *laughs*

*

Well, hmm, I'm not sure I can think of anything constructive - all I can say is that I couldn't help but think about Neverwhere when I read "Angels In America" chapter and about the similar show arranged in England several years earlier. Please, let me know if that was it. (It's wonderful to find those little references to other textes in stories). And I just couldn't help but like Jinx and Crush. Very beautiful, very gaimanish.

Ok, now I have FINALLY read this story till the end (I somehow slipped from the train after Angels in America). And I love this - I am now thinking lusty thoughts about Dean and Shadow and trying not to succumb to the temptation here. Oh my, what a ride! And since I still haven't actually read American Gods, and I COULD very well understand what was going on, who the characters were and how they looked like, I think doing much more would be ruining it!

1.-I am familiar with the book American Gods.

very.

2.-I am familiar with the movie The Ninth Gate.

very.

3. I read (insert title here) by vanillafluffy and wanted to see what else she wrote.

Okay

4. I am also interested in (which) fandoms.

by this i can assume you mean...authors? stab in the dark. and, of course my eyesight isn't as good as Shadow's. okay into the survey...

Why didn't ruben intervene in some way? what happened to jinx? towards the end, i felt the voice was less strong. Dean on second glance doesn't really charm me and i feel to be a stronger character his charm really needs to come through to the readers. i want to be able to understand how he got to fuck the devil. Also, the devil didn't seem as menacing as the devil "ought to" be: rather, some dark smoke behind them like debt, but nothing really tangible. earlier chapters suggested her seductiveness, but i didn't see her tempt or really seduce anyone. at the end she was just a wild eyed woman. there wasn't enough back story to it for people who perhaps hadn't seen ninth gate [poor souls] or read american gods [uninformed souls] so the story / plot would DEFINITELY lose people who didn't share your taste. at times helpful reminders are helpful for readers and even the most well versed need refreshers.

why the hell is she out to kill them anyway? after a couple of chapers i felt i lost [if i had it at all, which i don't think i did] her reasoning behind it and now she was just...doing it for the sake of doing it. it was almost as if she had more of a grudge against shadow than against dean, which made me unable to correctly grasp her character. not to mention her description was never really more than a beautiful blonde [not suggesting all blondes are the devil wink wink] and i couldn't picture her, hate her, fear her, and rejoice in her death. i was left with this empty shapeless blonde thing running around with an axe in my mind...she wore a jean jacket. here are some [helpful?] questions:

1. what is her figure? hourglass? skinny?

2. what makes her attractive / seductive?

3. what color is she wearing mostly?

4. what does her voice sound like if you heard it?

5. can she assume the shape of anything a person desires?

6. is she highly sexual? does she get off from torturing?

7. how does she move? is it smooth and snakelike, feline like, rough and calculating, wiry, etc

8. what does she want?

9. where is she from? describe it, visualize it and it will help capture her.

10. what does she think? how does she feel?

11. is she a skilled fighter? does she have minions?

12. what are her powers? can she read minds? can she juggle? giving a sense of what she's capable of gives a sense of urgency to her allowing us to say "she can really fuck dean up if she gets the chance" and allows us to see her strut her stuff in terms of bad-ass-ness. give her that badness and she'll practically writer herself.

help? these questions will help shape the character more and give her more...character really. when dean said that the devil was a beautiful blone and he fucked her i was hooked, i wanted to know why, what happened, etc. but she didn't live up to my expectations. hopefully these questions will give her more body [physically and figuratively]. i think that by fleshing out her character a bit more, giving a bit more detail and history and reasoning not to mention that seductive nature we all know and love would be good. maybe a chapter dedicated to her and her hellishness. plus, since she's the devil, i'm sure she can come back so nothing is fine and dandy for dean, but a little time bought.

too, the attempted capture scenes ... after some time it felt almost mechanically placed [the smoking crop circles was when it started although the fight sequence was pretty vivid] and became a little repetative. but i hope that by working on the characters it will get a little clearer. oh! and the setting needs to be fixed. i couldn't tell what state they were in or anything. it was as if i'd missed it, or i was expected to know and i felt kind of lame and stupid. descriptions are needed, setting, night time day time, trees...etc. i'm not from those states [i'm a cali girl at heart tho the family is from old miss] so i have no idea where you're talking about. make it familiar to me because despite my great imagination from years of going cold turkey on t.v. i couldn't visualize the cemetary or the funeral home or much of anything. by fleshing out the scenes with thicker fuller descriptions i think the scenes will come alive. some questions to ask when writing:

1. what's the weather like?

2. night, day, mid afternoon? time is important.

3. what kind of neighboorhood?

4. what are the dimensions? how far away is the next object?

5. what does it smell like? familiar? disgusting?

6. what does the room / area feel like? creepy, new, cold?

7. what are the colors? how do they tie in with the mood of the characters? of the story?

8. what do the objects feel like?

9. what do the objects remind you of if anything?

10. where are they placed? is that significant?

it helps to think of a room you've already been to when constructing scenes. they don't have to be exact, but there's always a place that strikes a particular mood. use that to channel in construction a setting and filling description. i hope these helped as well.

as far as dean goes, raise the same [ish] questions for him. character development was a weak point as i've pointed out so work on developing his natural sly charm. make me believe he fucked the devil and it's not just ego. there's one thing about having ego: it comes with a sick charm that draws us in and makes us hate them, but love them to the point we want to see them come out good despite the odds. without that charm, however, we're just conceited. make him a bit more cocky, still swaggering in his wit despite his affliction, that will play on his being unable to learn from his experience as pointed out by cerridwyn. i didn't believe he was really an asshole, i didn't, honestly, have an opinion about him. whether or not shadow stuck by him mysteriously. because i couldn't get his charm i did not for the life of me get why the devil fucked him. work on dean and making him more charming and more the asshole he, jess and shadow think he is / was. i couldn't get [even with your usage of the word "charm"] how he got the have sex with the devil, and why she wasn't saying "good riddance" instead of "i'm going to kill him and make him mine." what were her intentions anyway? to kill him and take him to hell because she liked him and he refused her? or payback for burning the ... you know ... stuff ... or was it just because she was particularly bored and had no other souls that needed a good psychotic stalking? my point: make him charming, that way we can better sympathize with his situation and want him to get better like everyone else. also, i don't want him to lose that charm and wit in his turning and it felt like he did. let him have his natural charm, but this time in a non-menacing way.

all in all, i think the piece definitely needs work. there is no joke about that. but it's a fanfic, but all works need work. that's why they call them works. liked the neverwhere angels reference. nods there. not subtle, but effective for obvious gaiman fans. i know i've been rambling and repeating myself horribly, but i really see great potential. i mean hey, despite my criticisms i was kept by the story, which is a good sign, believe me. oh and the houdini showing up part was random. but i liked the distraction.

and did you mean siddhartha guatama? the budda of the shakyas? i'm not aware of a siddankini of any buddism...maybe i'm overstepping something...that would be nice to clarify. especially the bit with all the girls. reminds me more of hinduism for some reason than buddhism. still no siddankini in hinduism that i know, but at least with the dankini girls it did. yeah, so that would be nice...am i forgetting anything?

good bones, awaiting the flesh. i hope you don't hate me, but one day you'll thank me for being totally honest. maybe tomorrow...

fare thee well.

i've been reading quite eagerly. i don't usually review until the end, until i've had enough, or until it just gets boring enough to stop, but the chapter title Motel Hell inspired me. Very much like film. Classic in the culty awesome sort of way. many kudos.

so far i'm in awe. the style never drops the dime for a second and i'm so into it. clear and in keeping with Shadow's character that i'm astounded. we all know the obligatory neil gaiman genius and american gods classic literature so i feel no guilt in omiting my overtures. i do lose Corso's voice though-not as strong a representation from the film, but very much fun to imagine johnny depp swaggering along my favorite muscle bound softy.

please expect a detailed review once i'm finished. for now i can say that i'm so caught up. and your reference, although sometimes not as subtle, do pan out nicely.

I thought you were a dog person? You haven't done half badly by the cats, whether or no. Though I'm sure the Egyptian name of the language would be Miau...

It may be a while before I get back to chugging your stuff, as I now have to go find Neil Gaiman and see what you were working from. (The hazard and special joy of crossovers, there.) Even without knowing that, your story still looks like a take worth writing. And write it you did! I winced when you spotted the Calvary at the Christmas Museum, for instance-but you wisely left it to the reader to make something of that, and let it fit in a story which gets Corso the healing he needs in one theological system by way of help from others. Likewise, you did a convincing job with The Blonde. She was different from the movie's character, and far different from Reverté's sympathetic one: it must mean you're getting it right, that you could wear down my resistance to seeing her as a pure incarnation of evil.

This one showed an increase in lapses of copy editing; but that's to be expected, with the length. Nothing a small blood sacrifice or offering of red pencils can't put right. All in all, you'll have me coming for more sometime.

Having lived near Christmas, Florida for most of my life, I was actually gratified to see it pop up in someone's story. You described it pretty well... a wide spot in the road between Orlando and Titusville/Cape Canaveral.

Your story was wonderful, and carried the sense of both its source material. Bravo.

1.-I am familiar with the book American Gods.

2.-I am familiar with the movie The Ninth Gate

4. I am also interested in (which) fandoms:

Harry Potter, POTC, LOTR, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Labyrinth, Pitch Black, Doctor Who and X-Men.

Loved this story!

I am familiar with the book American Gods.