I want to preface this review by saying that I've had a lot of shit happen in my life, as we all have, and things are hard. Personhood isn't an easy thing for anyone, and stories, whether I create them myself or read someone else's, have always allowed me to escape and find the place where I'm truly alive. After watching in middle school and then taking a break until nearly a year ago when I was 23, I now find myself hooked more than ever into these WWE stories told on a weekly basis. I can't get enough, which is why I scour the internet for more ventures into this world I've found drawing me in.

I'll admit, I'm a sucker for the Shield because they're attractive, but I've been drawn to Seth in particular because I've fallen in love with his story: climbing the ladder of success, betraying your brothers for glory, falling from grace, returning, recreating, finding redemption, slaying the King. The Payton storyline you have is unlike anything I've ever read, and aspects of it absolutely fascinate me, which I'll share with you at a later time, but in this moment my focus is on the storyline for the superstars.

The depth in which you delved into not just the business or technicality, but the psychology, the emotion, the spirit involved in telling these stories not just as characters, but as real people- because it's not just Triple H and Seth and Roman, it's Paul and Colby and Joe and you display that stunningly. When he pinned Roman, Seth said, "Thank you." And his brother replied, "You're welcome." This is why I love wrestling. This is why I love storytelling. It makes you feel and emote and understand and fall in love.

As a writer, or what I like to refer to as an 'aspiring attempted writer' myself, I find it vital that when you discover something worthwhile, it is crucial and simply RIGHT to share that with the creator. This is worthwhile. You've done something good. You've made me feel and emote and understand and fall in love. And for that all I can do is thank you.

I hope this review finds you in good spirits and wish you nothing but the best. -Lo

The ending of this story had me crying so hard because I was so relieved that they wouldn't get Payton. I'm so happy they did. This was an excellent story.

Okay, so many moons ago when I was first getting into the whole wrestling fandom, the good Captain sent me an email with a list of her favorite authors and stories as a good starting point because I had complained that almost every story in the wrestling forum was some shoddily written smut piece. Eventually I began reading this fic on break at work. (I was basically using this as a reward system. Hey, I made it through half my shift! I get to read some of The Girl Who Lives! Woo!)

But this is seriously a fantastic story. I love all of your OCs; they seem like real people, which is so important. I thought that Cinnamon, Neil, Jessica, and Leah were wonderful additions into the story. I found myself really enjoying this makeshift family. Something about the way, you wrote them really made them seem natural. Well done there. I'm probably going to end up reading everything in this universe now...

On a side note, I don't know what people were talking about (if?) when they said that Kayla was Mary Sue-ish. She is definitely not a Mary Sue; she's just put together and organized, and there's nothing wrong with that. I even found myself shipping her and Seth, which... I think is a pretty impressive accomplishment since I might be super picky about that sort of thing. Then jumping to Payton, I thought you did a lovely job with her. Yeah, she was a little mature for her age; however, considering her life and how she was forced to practically raise herself, it makes perfect sense. She didn't have the luxury of having her parents by her side, helping her learn, so she did it herself. I could very easily picture the type of scenario where the healthy child becomes neglected in favor of the sick child. It reminded me of the novel. "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult in a way. And Payton's reactions to her situation were so heart breaking. Every time she would just brush off her treatment with a simple statement of Preston needing the extra attention more than she did, I just wanted to hug the poor girl. But her relationship with Seth was so perfect, and it all seemed pretty in character. I loved the scene with him climbing the roof to check on Payton; it was unbelievably adorable, and I can totally envision it happening (heh, he’s a high flyer).

Seth’s thoughts had me laughing, too. I loved him just grumbling over the fact that he was stuck in Dean’s shed before the wedding, going why the heck isn’t Roman here suffering as well? And I should’ve offered to give away Cinnamon, too, so I could avoid being in this stuffy, dusty shed! And even his thoughts about Gina during the trial were hysterical. Him repeating, she never liked me; true, I never liked her but… lol It was great though; I mean, I’m pretty sure she was only that tough on them just because she was doing her job, and not out of spite. But when you’re in a high pressured situation like that over that long of a time, I can see why Seth would take her questions and actions as kind of personal attacks, especially when Payton’s happiness and future was on the line. And I loved how useless he was with “girl” matters, like the lipstick situation. I can totally picture him just watching the two girls chat about all of these girly topics in front of him, leaving him just confused and left out with a WTF look on his face. Adorable. :D

And I have to say that even though Preston was not a character I particularly liked (not because you did a bad job in any sort of way, writing wise, but only because I sided with Payton pretty readily), I ended up crying during the scene when Payton and him say goodbye for the last time. That was quality writing, really. You made all the emotions so powerful; it was beautiful. It really was a special moment between the two. And even though I said that I didn’t like Preston, I could see why he was like that. He was never told no…And the whole hating Seth thing also made sense; the whole betrayal was so riddled with emotions, so intense that I could totally see why people would still hold it against the guy, especially a little boy, who’s also very sick…

And I’ll have to agree with everyone about Dean and the belt storyline. That’s adorable, and I could totally see it happening pretty readily. And it’s almost a hundred times better than most of the stuff coming out of creative at this point… So I’ll cross my fingers and hope that someone in creative reads fanfics for inspiration.

Thanks for writing and posting this fic. It was such a delight to read, and I truly am sad that I finished it. I’ll have to find something else to read on breaks now. But I guess I’ll have to get over that. :D And by the way, this might be one of the best fanfics I’ve read on this site.

An awesome ending to an awesome story. Yes, they got what they wanted, and I'm glad that now they can truly be a family and do what most families do. Nicely done on this. You are truly an amazing writer, and I'll definitely be reading more stories from you.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Awesome chapter. Yeah, it's frustrating for all of them and hopefully, things will get resolved soon and they can be a family without all of this stress. Nicely done on this. Can't believe I only have one more chapter to read!

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Another awesome chapter. Ah, Dean, you should know better than to joke about something serious like that! Don't give Seth a heart attack! I loved the impressions Roman and Dean did though. Great job on that. Yeah, now they just have to get through the adoption process. Nicely done on this as always.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Awesome chapter. That wedding was awesome and definitely something I could see Dean and Cinnamon doing, too. But I loved it, and the best part is that the wedding wasn't crashed. You know if they'd done it in a WWE ring, the wedding would have been ruined as it always is. So I'm glad it wasn't like that. Nicely done on this. I also loved Kayla's last line about trying to make it work. That's the whole point of any life and relationship. You try to make it work.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Another awesome chapter. I love the idea of a double wedding. It definitely sounds perfect, so props to Dean for thinking about that. Hopefully, after this, things will get sorted out and they can be the family they were meant to be. Nicely done on this. I loved it.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Another awesome chapter. I loved Kayla's conversation with Seth about how she grew up and how she wants to show Payton that side of belief. To show her that this is how she was raised and how she should live her life. I agree that both sides can be obnoxious about things. You've got the believers who act like anyone who doesn't believe what they do are going to hell for it, and you've got the non-believers who get offended if someone wishes you "Merry Christmas" in a store. It's ridiculous to see it all. I may not believe myself, but I don't care if someone wishes me a Merry Christmas. I just thank them and move on because that's the polite thing to do. I do my best to respect others who believe as long as they don't shove it down my throat or look down on me for not believing what they do. That's what it's all about. But if I get someone who tries to judge me, then I judge them right back. Yeah, that may not be the right way, but I believe in an eye for an eye so if someone's going to judge me for not believing, I'm going to poke holes in their theory of why they're judging me. That's just the way I roll.

And I loved how Seth and Roman wanted Dean to get the belt. It makes sense in a way because he's definitely a champion no one would expect and he would do a good job of it. Too bad they can't do this in reality though I hope one day he will be at the top. At least he has the IC title, and that's good for now. Nicely done on this. I loved it.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Awesome chapter. Yeah, we'll never know what happened to Andrea and Myron, though I'm with Seth in that they definitely could have killed themselves to rid themselves of the pain. And if they did, then that's awful. I loved Seth's talk with the doctor and agree that Payton needs Seth more than ever. I know Seth will make things work though because that's the type of person he is. Nicely done on this. I love it.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Oh man, that's not good. Just after Preston has died, now Payton has lost her parents, too. Oh man, this is so not going to be good for her. I feel so sorry for her and know she won't be taking this lightly at all. Nicely done on this as always. I love where this is going.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Awesome chapter. At least Andrea had the sense to let Payton stay with Seth and Kayla. My guess is that they just don't want to deal with what's happened with Payton around so they want her away from them so they can digest Preston's death. And I can understand Payton not wanting to kiss Preston while he's dead. That would make anyone squeamish although I do remember kissing my grandpa's head while he was in the casket (this was my dad's father). Nicely done on this as always.

And I'm sorry for the loss of your cat. Losing a pet is never easy. We went through that after my sister's dog, Toby, had to be put down. He was the best dog ever and we loved him dearly. And even now, we still think about him and miss him. We'll comment about how it's raining outside and how he'd never want to go out in the rain or how if he were here he'd be whining for my mom to give him food. So I feel you there. It's never easy to lose a pet.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

A very sad chapter. Yeah, we all knew it was coming, but it still hit me in the gut when I read about his death, and I did feel sorry for all parties regardless of how I feel about the parents in this story. They still lost their son, and nothing is going to change that. I think that's also the way I feel about my grandpa. We know it's going to happen, and I know that when it does, it's going to hit me like a ton of bricks and tear me apart. I hate thinking about that, but it's just something we know is going to happen. I just hope he doesn't suffer too much before the end and that he goes peacefully with little pain.

Nicely done on this as always. I loved it.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Awesome chapter. I loved how Seth vouched for Roman and tried to defend him and say that this wasn't the right way to do things. Yeah, he may have crossed the line, but someone had to speak up for him, and Seth did. I'm glad of that because it shows Seth does care about Roman and wants him to succeed.

Aww! Roman wants to help Seth! Yeah, I can see Roman's POV perfectly in that he didn't fight them about what they wanted to do and just let them do it. He could have fought back and let them know that it wasn't right, but he didn't. He went with it and feels he needs to be blamed for it. I don't agree though because in the WWE sometimes you have to go with what Creative tells you to do even if it sucks because it's a job like any other and if you don't do what your bosses tell you, you get the axe or you get buried. It's a sucky situation, but Roman has to be given props for doing what he was told even though it wasn't the right thing. He made the best of it, and that's all he could do.

Nicely done on this. I love where this is going.

The Bubbly One,
Shell

Awesome chapter. Yeah, I can see why Roman feels that way about himself and how the fans treat him. Yeah, some of his stuff on the mic wasn't that great, but that was Creative's fault, not his. He just did the best he could with what he had. I think the only promo I ever cringed at was the one with Big Show where Roman was telling that Jack and the Beanstalk story. Man, that was bad! But, hey, at least he's better than Brock with the whole, "I'm gonna make Cena wallow in his own blood, urine, and vomit" spiel. I hate Brock anyway and feel that he needs to go away as I hated him being the part time champion. The way I see it is if you're champ, you defend the belt at least once a month, and he didn't do that. If any other wrestler missed two PPV events, they would have been stripped of the title, but Brock wasn't, and that made me mad. Thank goodness he's not there now because I've always hated him. I'll take Roman over Brock any day of the week.

Anyway, nicely done on this. I loved it.

The Bubbly One,
Shell