I keep coming back to this one. Could it be? My absolute FAVORITE fanfiction, tops. Nothing can compare. Just wanted you to know, you need to know how much your writing means to me. So please, know. You really made me feel. Happy and scared and sad and relieved, all that good stuff I read for. I can’t believe you came up with this story, and I get to read it. I wish I could give an actual critique, but I’m a reader, not a writer. But stories like this make me so glad I am. Thank you for posting this!

I read this story a long time ago(since before the last chapter came out) and today, I went back and reread this once again. This is still one of my favorite stories floating around the Oliver tag on fanfiction and it's a true crime that I have yet to review it, though that's about to change as of right now! I can't even begin to tell you how well-written this is and how well you described everything-you used gory details and you used them effectively to where it didn't feel like you were adding them in just for a shock factor, but rather, so it accurately portrayed how horrific the situation was. The characters were amazing as well, I could feel what they were feeling and sympathize with them and what they wanted. I don't have much else to say other than a thank you very much for writing such an amazing story!

Sorry I don't have anything better to say, but I know I'll be thinking about this for a while.
-TheMistyLion

And the awaited reunion finally happens. I'm very interested to see just what kind of trouble the two of them will end up running into; on a surface level, finding one another may seem like the end, but I get the impression that it's really only the beginning of problems for these two.

Another tonal shift in this one with a lot of graphic and dark description. I really enjoyed it and how it gave the entire thing a gritty vibe. You didn't shy away from the dark reality of the situation and what sort of psychologically damaging impacts that might have. I feel that it reflected Oliver's view of everything and how his situation has so quickly deteriorated wonderfully.

I also positively loved how near the end there were bits and piece of Oliver and Gakupo's thoughts that were very similar. It creates a strong connection between the characters and I do wonder if there's anything more to that...

As for your response to my previous review, after I read the first two chapters, I just had to pay some compliments to the author. And I'm delighted that we may get a bit more about the setting and circumstances surrounding this story. I'll take whatever I can get, no matter how much or how little, so just add in whatever you believe fits with your style and flow of the story. I'm sure that I'll love it either way!

You're very welcome, Suset-sempai! I fell in love with yet another one of your glorious works of literature! Though I would like to ask: Where does the inspiration for all these stories come from or is it just one of those thin air things?

I'm enjoying the story so far and I can't wait to see where it goes next!

I think my favorite part about this story is your use of tone and, to be even more specific, your use of shifting tone. Your choice of wording and sentence structure seems to be different between the more 'mysterious' first chapter and the more 'active' second chapter. The fact that the structure of your writing seems to facilitate that shift is very enjoyable and adds an extra layer of depth to the story.

I'm also a huge fan of the setting, but man does it make me want to/hope that it's explored a bit more. I understand that this is simply meant to be a short story, so I'll allow my mind to speculate on what brought about the circumstances in this story (or wait till you answer them in the coming chapters) but I'm really intrigued by this world you've set-out in your story. In particular, I'm super interested in the how and why of the Birdcage - it's just such an interesting location!

There's also something that I rather enjoy about the characters. I'm not sure if it's the way you write them or the way you have them interact, but it's engaging and interesting, managing to keep my interest throughout the whole story and hope that they're able to resolve their issues. This is especially impressive considering you're using a back-and-forth narrative style between Oliver and Gakupo (mostly) so the reader doesn't have as much time to connect with each character. However, you give enough of their thoughts and insights that I feel invested in both of them and can do nothing but wish them the best as the story goes along.

All in all, it's a very well written story so far and I can't wait to get my hands on the next part. Keep up the great work!