The Duet by sheeiinewrites

VᴇʀꜱᴀEᴍᴇʀɢᴇ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ꜱʜᴏᴘ Archive。
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REVIEWER'S CORNER
I wrote a lot and It's been awhile since I've gotten into a review like that tbh. I hope I mentioned everything I wanted to because god forbid I didn't e_e

Sorry for rambling so much, lol, despite me being quite irl, I am quite the chatter box online.
The Duet
LINK
BY sheeiinewrites


Title (5/5):
I don't really find anything wrong with the title. I can see why it's called the duet (assuming that the duet is between both main characters) and although I don't think the title is overly exciting, it's fitting and I think that is what really counts; stories can have a cool title but if it doesn't relate or symbolize anything from the story, it's not a good title. So, in turn, this is a pretty good title as it relates.

Description/Foreword (9/10):
My first thoughts are that this is a bit unrealistic even though Western (sadly) is breaking more into K-pop. You do see a lot more non-Asian people in music videos but I wouldn't say they are in the scene [dancing, signing with companies, etc] (and they shouldn't be really but times are changing) so I feel like it'd be very hard for a Spanish girl to get into a ty (but very high maintenance) company like SM (I don't even know why anyone would want to go there with how they treat people but that's a discussion for never, lol). The fact that people have been saying that Koreans hate Mexicans lately too (because of Samuel or whatever the Hell people were ing about on P101S2 when he didn't get in [people are salty]) makes me think that this is even more unlikely. 

I don't think they would have her sign a contract either. I feel like she would be more of a 'freelancer', kind of like Shownu of Monsta X (I think it was him) before he got into a company to debut. I really don't see them having 'ties' (is that the right word?) or a contract with her.

BUT the one thing I do like about this so far (hopefully it stays this way) is the fact that she didn't go to Korea for K-pop, she went for a passion of dancing. So many people say they want to go to Korea because they like K-pop and they think it's a damn K-drama over there. I see people use non-Asian OCs all the time, which isn't a big deal, it's the fact that they make them 'fangirl' fanatics, I even reviewed a fanfiction where they stalked the band and only came to Korea to see said band. So that's what I really like about this and the use of a non-Asian. Problem is the Asian industry, as said by an Asian friend of mine, is quite biased and if someone does something different - it's a publicity stunt to everyone else (why is K-pop like this?).

I feel like I ranted in this, once I start talking I don't shut up so I'm gonna move on but generally, it's a fairly good description because it doesn't reveal too much. It's like a summary that reveals just enough to peak interest.

*Plot (48/50):
Okay first of all, you did your research. When you put in that she wanted to give her a tip but it was considered rude in South Korea, I was honestly impressed. Majority of people don't really put in details like that because they A) don't care enough to look it up because they only care about their idols (God forbid these types of people go to South Korea) or B) they are too lazy and assume everything works the same in South Korea as it does their country (and in some cases, things may be quite similar but the point still stands). So I honestly was pretty impressed with that small detail you added. Small details can definitely go a long way. 

Unimportant detail: I would possibly remove the chapters that don't have anything to do with the story such as chapter #6. That seems like something you can just toss in the 'story feed' on the right (or left depending on which you use) side bar. Your subscribers will get the notice and it removes clutter from the story.

Moving on though, I do stand by the unrealisticness of it due to her being non-Korean because of the fact that all of the other females involved seem to be Korean so why wasn't she? (I have nothing against Spanish people as I have Spanish blood inside of me, it's just the fact that this is technically asianfanfics). I just find it odd that only one girl isn't Korean while everyone else is - if there was going to be more diversity in the dancers then maybe it would make more sense or add realism but considering she seems to be the only Western one, it seems more unrealistic. You don't really see non-Asian back-up dancers either in Korean music for the sole fact that South Korea is still a little 'to themselves' (I forgot the proper term) but they're getting there. I think this kind of showed in Chapter three when they wanted to replace her with Ara because she would be center so it does seem like you implemented some realism to the situations. It seems as if he doubted her because of the fact that she wasn't from there which is, sadly, sometimes the case.

I wasn't expecting Tao to actually be mentioned since he's been gone for awhile but it was nice seeing people mention him. (I swear some fans start a riot at idols who leave groups and call them betrayers [e.g Jessica...] so it was nice to see Tao put back in (was he in Call Me Baby? - that's the one comeback I kind of ignored...)) But moving on, I do like how you brought up his injury and how SM pretty much said "who ing cares" towards it (that's what it for sure seemed like at least....) because you're tying in real life events.

Moving on, I really do like how this is pretty much slowburn because the story focuses solely on her and her dance career, not on her romance with a band member. A lot of stories lack this and try to force friendships as soon as they can and that always makes the story cliché and unrealistic so good job on keeping this in the light.

Also, I probably should have mentioned it sooner but I didn't read all the chapters and I didn't read them in full because there's a good amount of chapters and I am trying to cram more stuff in like a dummy. I think I said enough here really but the main things to pull out is A) good job on adding realistic events and attitudes to the characters and how they deal with things. B) for not speedily rushing the OC and the Main into a relationship/friendship off the bat. C) that the plot's conflict is very clear and you can easily see the struggles that happen. As I said, I still find some things unrealistic but that can't be helped in fanfictions, really.

Writing Style/*Flow (10/10):
As I said above, you did your research and made the story more realistic by including small details such as the tip thing into your writing. That makes your writing pretty damn good just for the sole fact that you can obviously see you take your time with things. Moving on from that even, the writing is just quite good in general. The details, the formality and professionalism of it and the no grammar issues are all examples of why this is well written. If you were worried about this section, don't be.

The flow is actually pretty good, you didn't try to force a relationship on the main characters, in fact they barely even interact much the first chapters which is good. Slowburn in stories like this makes sense, instead of just rushing in and making them fall in love cliché-like, you focused more on her career as a dancer. I also like that you paired her with Lay instead of Kai showing that you didn't want to immediately push the relationship between the two. 


*Characterization (20/20):
First impression of the character is that she's determined. I am so thankful that she isn't that OC that screams about going to Korea to be around Korean idols, I've seen it happen and it is very annoying. So you showing that she had a passion and worked hard makes me like her as a character. Her actions towards EXO are good, she doesn't have those inner thoughts about... spazzing about them or... so on. Her thoughts are logical and professional and THAT is what people FORGET TO ING ADD IN THEIR STORIES (caps for emphasis). I feel like so many stories forget this detail and are too busy putting their own thoughts into the character's they are writing (since really... when people do that, it's like they remove the character and add their own fangirlish thoughts which is a no-no) so kudos to you.  

As for character development, I think you're developing them piece by piece which is ing beautiful. It's like a flower, it starts off small, blooms into something beautiful over time. That's what this is because you take the damn time to explain her as a character. If writing a book is your end goal one day, go for it, you have the potential to do so. I think you know what you're doing in terms of character development because I feel like you take the time to show her as a person throughout the chapters.


Personal Enjoyment (5/5):
Overall, not a bad story at all. You seem to write with knowledge and everything sounds professional as if it were taken from a book so that's good. I'm still a bit iffy about the unrealisticness of it since I like to be realistic (despite not writing very realistic myself [though I consider myself to be a writer]) and I'm overall a very realistic person despite having some weird dreams man. BUT, that small detail didn't bother me since the quality of the story instantly makes up for it - I'm surprised it has not gotten much recognition BUT, sadly, I do think it's because of the OC being Western. Those fanfictions never seem to gain much popularity (koreaboo's are very rampant on this website too though so that may have a hand in why) even if they are very damn good which is sad. 

Total (97/100):
Pretty good score and I tried my best to focus on what you wanted - I let my mouth run a bit too much though since I tend to do that since talking about K-pop fans makes me irritated since K-pop has gone downhill (bring back 2k12 K-pop where everything WAS NICE) but anyways, I tried to pinpoint things but I will warn you (you probably already know), I am a HORRIBLE explainer and I tend to ramble so if I confused you at any point and need clarification, hit me up. 

Please don't forget to credit the shop and again, if you need anything let me know!

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