It's so rare to find a story where Barret has any sort of meaningful role, rarer still one where he's fleshed out. I've never really had much of a opinion of Barret - good or ill - but he definitely feels more real to me now. An excellent piece.

Poor Barret.

The literary irony at the end is rich. The entire tone of this piece comes off very Steinbeck. The details are precise and jagged. I want to vote for the reactor.

Basically, goddamned gorgeous.

Great piece. Very accurate portrayal of their society, and I'm glad that at least someone out there tried to investigate Barret's character (there's so much to him, it's sad how he's so neglected by this fandom). I liked the way you followed the established canon timeline so closely, only expanding on it, making it richer. I find myself enjoying this particular kind of genfics the most whenever I look for new stories to read.

Thank you for writing this.

D: SUch a wonderful story!

-Hana

Thanks for giving us this glimpse into Barret. There's a quiet and fierce desperation woven through the imagery in this piece, getting louder as Barret grows older. Your use of detail—the bit of chalk, the flared calico skirt—really locates this piece and lends it an old-timey feel that just works.

The irony of Barret being pro Shin-Ra was there in the game, waiting to be expounded on, so it's a real treat to see somebody's taken it and run with it and produced a fine piece that stays true to Barret while elaborating upon his upbringing, in a wholly believable way. I should mention that this story was recommended to me after I sent out a plea for some Barret fic, and I wasn't disappointed.

It's like you split open Barret's head and made a transcript of his thoughts.

Seriously.

I am extraordinarily pleased to inform you that your story, The Nitty Gritty of It All, has been nominated for The Genesis Awards Best Short Fic Category. The Genesis Awards exists to reward the authors of FFVII fanfiction that show a certain standard of grammar and formatting, relevance to canon and characterization. Your story was nominated by mastershaper and passed to the judging rounds because of the quality your story possesses. On April 15th, the Shortlisting for the Genesis Awards will take place, and on June 15th the final results will be tallied and posted.

If you have any questions or comments, please visit our Fan Fiction Net Profile or The Genesis Awards forum.

Congratulations, and good luck.

Best Regards,

Sai, Co-Admin of The Genesis Awards

Seriously? Wonderfully done. This piece was so emotional; I felt like you really got into Barret's head and understood his suffering and where he came from.

On top of that, it was strikingly vivid: I easily saw Barret's dad washing the coal-dust off himself and letting it drip down onto the porch, and even heard his hacks of pain. It was all so...descriptive.

No concrit from my end, because there really isn't any to offer. Favorited.

~Koky

As always, wonderfully written and original. I like how you dig into the past, show the reasons Barret supported Shinra although his friend was so against them.

A story that is beautiful in its own ironic way.

To think that Barret would later end up fighting the very people who he voted for... Though the validity of his vote could be questioned, since he probably didn't know that much to go by when he decided.

Well done,

MS

Once again, a fitting tribute to someone who has so much story behind them.

Heart-breaking, and the prose is as thick and solid and colorful as our man Barrett himself. Maybe it could use a few more paragraph breaks, if only because insists on keeping its pages so wide that there has to be a break somewhere so the eye doesn't get lost, but the overall effect of the story itself is really satisfying. Morbid as it is, I particularly like the description of Eli's coffin; it's such a statement on the man himself, the sheer presence and bulk of him, and a touch of humor in the sorrow. Oh, Barrett...

Amazingly done. I loved how you managed to blend the colloquial feel of Barrett's hometown with such vivid imagery. And it wasn't awkward at all. It just flowed naturally and maintained a wonderfully strong voice. Wow.

Ahem. Get. Published. Now.

Geez. Even the other people who reviewed this fiction are more eloquent than me. I fail at life. I think I would sell my soul if I could be just a fraction as good as you are with your writing abilities.

Alright, the dialect was a marvelous idea. It sounded like you went to Corel to do research on the town before writing this story and came out utilizing their accent without knowing it. It was a wonderful tactic for emersion sake. That and it reminded me of Barret the entire time, even though he wasn't the one talking. So it all fit together rather nicely.

The descriptions were, yet again, disgustingly astounding. I want to hate you for being so talented while at the same time bow and exalt you for redeeming this site from all the barely articulate fanbrats out their intent on destroying the universe.

This is the first time I can ever say I was truly captivated by a story that held no dialogue whatsoever. This has happened, like, never. (I have witnessed so many poetic retellings of dramatic landscaping and drawn out explanations of character backstory that at times I felt like resorting to gorging out my eyeballs and impaling myself on a pitch fork.) However, your writing is riveting and I think you could probably rewrite my old geometry textbook and make it an international best seller. Sick. I'd kill to have talent like yours.

You did a fantastic job of being medically accurate while descibing the father's death. (Oh, it makes a prospective nursing student squeal with glee when ailments and sicknesses are executed correctly!) The mother's death was also painfully poignant and I distinctly remember her finger nails being black because for some reason, that stuck with me.

You make even the articulation of death elegant. Again, I say: sick. (In a good way.)

The swearing was well placed (and yes, swearing can be ill placed and horrendously over used, I've seen it) and you did a good job not sabotaging us with dirty words so we became desensitized to it and lost the meaning. So kudos to you.

The dripping color line was brilliant. Where do you come up with these things?

Bottom line: phenomenal. I am seething with envy.

(BTW: Forgive spelling errors. I kan't spell and it's a well known fact my sentences would scarcely be coherent without the help of spell check.)