VIC'S VIEWPOINTS (Private)

The Disease Called Lovesickness

Victor sat on the floor of his shared bedroom, brushing the soles of his dance shoes. The task was relaxing as the hands stayed busy, but the mind wandered. And now, his thoughts centered on the recorder he'd found buried in a drawer, the item used months ago for a rather dreadful review site called Victor's Viewpoints. The teen stopped, running fingertips over the soles, checking for the nappy texture vital to ballroom shoes.

"Vic? You busy?"

Victor turned, and a smile spread across a face blessed by the gods. His green eyes turned to the pink-haired girl who had slipped into the bedroom unnoticed. He twisted to his feet, the soles now forgotten.

"Kristy! So sorry, I didn't hear you come in." The lilt of his voice hinted at rolling hills and green grasslands of England. The boy plopped on his bed, patting a spot next to him. "Have a seat."

The genie sauntered over to the bed, sapphire eyes dancing with glee. "I came to ask a favor."

Victor grinned and reached out, taking one petal-soft hand in his. "Anything for you, love..."

Her slender fingers intertwined with his. "I just discovered Vic's Viewpoints on Wattpad. I was wondering if you'd open back up and do one for me."

"... Except that," said Victor, his hand moving backward. "I had the worst bloody review shop on Wattpad. I can't wrap my head around why anyone read anything I reviewed."

"Please? I'm only asking for one chapter." The full pink lips assumed a delightful pout. "Please, Vic?"

Running a hand through his messy cap of curls, Victor knew he was done for. She said please.

"All right. But if we're booed off the website, you've only yourself to blame." He climbed off the bed, headed toward the desk as the lithe little genie squealed with anticipation. "What story, love?"

She bound after him, perching on his desk as he picked up the old recorder and turned on the computer. "It's called 'The Disease Called Lovesickness.' There's only one chapter."

It felt good to hold the familiar record again. The dark-haired teen logged into Wattpad and pulled up his old account, listening to Kristy's instructions on where to find the story. Once he pulled it up, the teen patted the chair next to him. "Come on. Let's take a gander at the story together, shall we?"

Kristy slid into the chair next to him, and the two began to read.

***

Half an hour later, Victor switched on the recorder. "Welcome to Victor's Viewpoints, a dreadful site, still closed but having a go at a chapter of a story for a demanding friend of mine..." He paused as Kristy tinkled with laughter. "But honestly, the chapter was worth a read, so let's have at it. Per my usual, I'll try and hit on several key elements as much as I can for, The Disease Called Lovesickness, written by the talented @VocaloidThalia."

"The first is ORIGINALITY, which means how unique is the story. As we only have one chapter, I'd say the starting is quite creative. We're introduced to our protagonist, Renae, as she does a bit of cleaning extraordinarily. The story starts with its own bit of worldbuilding, and we meet several characters, only three that we're led to think of as prominent figures. In some parts, the story's freshness works, and in others, mainly the beginning, not as much as it seems our author was finding her footing. But for a first draft, I'd say well done. Our clever author should check uniqueness off the list. "

"Next comes the SETTING, where we hit upon locations, landscapes, and places. We ask ourselves, does the author put us AND the characters there? We start in the protagonist's home, then the mall, hit a shuttle, then a new residence. The author has us visiting these places with bits of descriptions, and we explore some interesting situations with our protagonist." Victor paused to gaze at his companion, her exquisite eyes watching him in admiration.