I've been having computer trouble, hence no reviews before now. But the last couple of chapters have been awesome. Although things didn't exactly go well for Cabal, I am very excited about the fact that he's able to manipulate the environment--that's a wild card that will no doubt prove useful in future chapters. If he survives, of course. (I'm sure he will, ;p -- but I do wonder what it will take/how long he can go in such a state without blood or special healing mojo of some kind...)

The scene between Michel and Winthrop was awesome--great characterization on both ends. The whole chapter was really well written, one of my favorite so far. Both of them, actually. Aderyn is crazy as ever, but I'm really interested to see what happens with her and her mysterious visitor--it's like two super powers are about to battle it out or something. I'll bring the popcorn! ;D

All right, this is the last chapter I have for you, and what a BLAST it was to reread!

I keep pulling more nuance out of these as I reread the chapters! I love what you've done with this piece...

Another tense and quite well handled chapter...

And I love how wishy washy Michel gets about whether or not to leave dependent upon what he thinks is the greatest threat at the moment!

Great stuff! (I'm looking forward to getting a look at the new stuff!)

Another great chapter, it's amazing how much world building we got done in such a short amount of time, and yet in such a way that there wasn't a data dump to it!

Your characters are so twisted - so realistic and haunted an dit really lends validity to the events they all are going through.

And I still think you handle Cabal and Renate brilliantly.

I love the continued conflict between Michel and Cabal in this chapter.

I would love to see these two go head to head for real and see who ends up on top...I think we both might be surprised!

I really doubt that is going to happen here, because as much as Michel despises Cabal, he'll take all the allies he can get for what's coming!

I Like, I Lust, I Love!!Please Update Soon!!

"What was with him and getting ensnared by tenacious women?"

Haha. Poor Cabal. :P

I like that he's trying to push back against Aderyn's power, or subvert it, at least, by doing his little psychic scrying thing. I don't even know what you would call it, actually, but it's cool. And it looks like he succeeded in doing something, that's for sure.

The next chapter sounds interesting! Woo, go Milla!

"Michel never let an insult or an attack slide, no matter how offhanded. He plotted, planned, and, ultimately, delivered and avenged."

Heh. Oh, doesn't he.

That was a fun bit about psychics through the ages - explanations for various ecstasies and visions from saints and other mythic/historic figures. I am interested to see what's/who's behind the creation of the church, however, especially since this is the second time this has come up (I think) - the permanence of it, and the fact that nobody else seems to have anything to do with it. Like with Milla and her vessel-ness, I wonder what that could be about.

Also, I like Winthrop. Can't help but feel sort of bad for the guy. Wrong crowd, dude. Wrong crowd.

Renate is kind of funny; the few times that Cabal shows his wit, you can see where he gets it from. ;]

I LOVED the explanation of the virus and how that led to vampires being born, and the inevitable hybrids that come out of it. It helped explain a lot of what I remember reading during Cabal's story - what happened before the apocalypse. And I think it actually ties in kind of nicely to the Blanchfleur story line, as well. I feel like that would be the very beginning of a resistance movement, and over the long years of training and research those involved in fighting the vampire hoards would eventually look for alternative ways to curb the vampires. Woo, science! What a double-edged sword you are.

Didn't get to comment on the last chapter, but I still love... Michel. (Very frequently I want to call him Jacob. Old habits die hard.) The whole thing about Milla being an empty husk is interesting/terrifying. I can't wait to see what sort of problems this will cause, and what Michel meant by bringing her in the first place. Good times.

You guys have such different writing styles, it's always interesting to make the switch from one to the other. It really emphasizes the switch between perspectives as well, and generally adds to the disjointed and foreign environment the characters keep finding themselves in.

I do remember this chapter from the first version, but it's always nice to get a recap of the individual characters' histories. And Aderyn's meddling is a great angle, too, because it only goes to show just how manipulative the beastly little girl really is. She's pretty much the epitome of what all horror movie children are modeled from, I think.

I found when I reread this, A) I understood a lot more about the dynamics of what is going on between Milla, Michel, and Winthrip. But I also noticed B) I've been glazing over this chapter in the rereads...

Shame on me...little miss narccissist that I am...I was rereading my own and glazing over yours.

I see now that I was missing a lot of details and delvings into the characters.

And I absolutely LOVE that Cabal got the upper hand on Michel! Goes to show how good a vampire hunter he really is when it is described so eloquently as this! THank you!

Whoa...you mean I can actually review my own file? SWEET!

Chica, this chapter absolutely sets the tone for the entire work in my opinion. You've established Milla's character, you've given up a definite antagonism between her and Michel, and you've put her in a situation where she's over her head, she knows it, but realizes she hasn't much choice in her desperation.

I love the addition of a very Cajun-like setting at the voodoo house...and of course your descriptives are to die for!

Glad to be back in the saddle again, lol. I'm very exciting to see Common Ground back in action, and this time we're going to finish it!

Already I like the little edits you've made. I can't wait to really get things going again!

Yaay. Michel is probably my favorite, simply because his motives are so slippery and his purpose vague. It was definitely interesting to get a glimpse of Milla and Cabal through his perspective, as well as a peek at his former life and what made him change. The build up around Milla is especially intriguing, since it's becoming apparent that there's something going on with her that makes her especially vulnerable where they are. It'll make for some fun future chapters, no doubt. :]

Imagine my surprise when I wandered over to BBQ's page to see that she'd actually changed something on it, and that you guys were actually getting back to Common Ground! There are definitely a lot of changes - like the names of Milla and Michel, for instance - and in general the setting and the details do seem to be cleaned up a little, but it's been so long since I've read this in the first place that the whole thing is going to be new again anyway. I'm pretty excited about it, though - always been a fan. So welcome back. ;]