Just wanted to say that I admire your writing style and over the years I always find myself coming back to this particular story. I first read it in 2010 and it has been in the back of my mind ever since. You managed to flesh out Ivalice and their characters with such a level of depth and polish it's astounding, it was honestly a delight to read through it again even in it's incomplete state. Thank you so much for creating such a fantastic and enjoyable piece.

I know it's been some years now, and it looks as if you're on indefinite hiatus now, but I hope this gets to you all the same. I read through this fic again because I started playing Zodiac Age recently and I thought of it, though really I never stopped thinking of. All this time, little details and various mental snapshots of this story have always been just floating around my mind ever since I first read it. Images of Lente's seething, superhuman wrath, the battle on the shores of Iona, Balthier and the Cohort's narrow escape from the tower, even Fran's red hat. (I'm 100% I even drew a picture of her in that hat with the line "It is a red hat." written across top of the page and it's somewhere deep in my studio.) I was awed then and I'm still awed now, and while it's unfortunate for us that we haven't seen any more from you here, I wonder if you've moved on - maybe gotten yourself published. There's absolutely no question in my mind that you have the chops for it. I mean, this is probably the best fanfiction I've ever read, out of so many gems I've encountered, and one of the best stories I've read in general. You've got such a great instinct for cinematic action, epic scenes, intricate plot, absorbing description, extensive characterization, and creation, of these characters and places and situations. I've long since jumped ship for Ao3 like others, but I just had to revisit Lente's Burden. I probably will many more times in the future. I'm not sure when/if you'll see this, but if you'd indulge me, I'd love if you shot me a message, to this name on Ao3, letting me know if you have published or have any other work out there that you've done since, because I'd really love to check it out.

Because I always do something else when I’m supposed to study (I reread Lente’s Burden during my courses today, haha), I post my review now (obviously) :D

So, where do I begin? You already know how much I enjoy your writing style. Unfortunately, I can’t really pinpoint what I like about it so much. Your choice of words and the way you’re describing thoughts and feelings might be part of it. My personal favorite sentence in this story is what you’ve written about Fran, Jote and Mjrn in chapter 17: “While Jote saw only the one path and Fran could only walk the other Mjrn saw them both for what they were and what they could not be; she saw where they twined and where they parted.” I was momentarily stunned while reading this, because you absolutely hit the nail on the head with this statement. It’s exactly what I have in mind about these three, but lack the eloquence to express and you’re doing it so marvelously.

I also think that you’re writing style is quite complex and I did need to reread a few passages here and there to understand what you mean. I don’t know if I can attribute this to my stupidity or because I’m not native English (though I did manage to score level C2 in the reading part of IELTS last year). However, this is no complaint. Your writing style is somewhat challenging and I actually like that I have to think about things and have to interpret here and there. I also like your complex story lines and it fascinates me that you can come up with so many interesting plots and subplots, while at the same time keeping close to things we already know from the game: A relationship between Lente and Raithwall is a brilliant idea, as well as Balthier trying to find a way to use sun energy as replacement for magicite (did I got it correctly?) and then of course is getting himself into trouble with it.

Speaking of Balthier (haha perfect transition), I simply love him in your stories. I do think he is out of character sometimes, because he is so much crueler and also more ruthless than I would personally characterize him from I’ve seen from the game. But at the same time, I think you are keeping him very well in character, especially when he speaks. I don’t know if that makes any sense, but in any case, I love your darker take on him and you give him, and also other characters, so much more backstory and personality that it’s completely impossible to not get addicted to your version of them. Nothing I’ve ever read comes even close to the depth you are giving the characters.

I needn’t say anything to the relationships between the characters anymore; you already know my thoughts on Fran and Balthier and also your male bonding part between Balthier and Vaan was written so beautifully. I really had to laugh at how uneasy Balthier was during their talk. Oh, and I love that you are including Nono in your stories. I love Nono. He is great and should get more attention! :D

Anyway, I don’t want to bore you any longer. It’s a shame that you weren’t able to finish this story, but I absolutely understand what it feels like to lose interest in fandoms and real life is also something that cannot be put aside so easily (er, at least not always…) and I’m really looking forward to how you are concluding this story in The Resurgence of Legends. Thank you for writing such amazing fanfictions! (and… sorry for the long review? I really tried to keep it down and I did have to review 23 chapters after all… xD)

Oh how much I willed this story to have progressed from a few years back. I had thought of ff12 recently and quickly remembered the landis phoenix. Hoping against hope that this one would have been completed, alas no. If you could but share what you had in mind for the ending I woulda greatly appreciate it, I was always a fan of your work.

Matheous Bunansa of the wood

Dude when are you going to update this story! Please don't give up on it...!

Wow I really wish you would continue this story. I mean really it's so well written and I love it. I'm also curious what will happen next. hope you will update...

Oh Balthier! Your life is so hard. Assassination plots, political mechanisms, a little death, and he says, I will be the one to bow at the applause. But one moment of male bonding and he gives the words as if he's reading a script for the first time. Brilliant.

Are you still there? It seems like you stopped right at the cusp of everything.

Hey I know you'll prob never update this story but could you give us the skeleton of what you had planned for the plot? I was really curious about what Lentes Burden was and Balthier and Frans role in such. I don't mean to be troublesome but I am a huge fan of all your FF12 fics and just wanted to know the ending.

thank

I read your FFXII stories quite a while ago. It's a pity you have not been working on this for a while. I really like your version of Balthier and Fran.

elo. I just got caught up in this story. I still love the nuances in your Balthier, despite not having read this story in a while, and also ... you ended on a cliffhanger. That's mean P

I have to admit, while I like the story and subplots and the complexity of it all, reading about three different subplots in one chapter update is difficult. At the very least, you do time skips, so the story still stays moving.

I hope Myrn isn't going to do something too stupid. And I hope Penelo is going to be OK ( And Ashe..

Ahem. Anyways. Hope you update soon! Thanks for the story, as always )

BROMANCE!

Had to like Vaan in this chapter

"...passing resemblance to a man now generally considered dead. As always he was a brother pretending to be a brother; a living man in a dead man's boots"

Love the way you phrase and decribe basch. So true

"Balthier had always stood a good example of how one went about feeding one's vanity"

I had to LOL on that one.

You wrote really well and beautiful.

I am still in awe at how well the language is expressed in this fic. The story surprises me in every way.

Great job, keep up the good work.