(Contains spoilers)

I'm a sucker for good metafiction-- especially those that are introspective, reflecting on the author and their relation to their work. I've written a few myself, even; so, please understand when I say that I truly feel like FailPen feels like a story laser focused to be for me.

Where I'm at right now as a creative, where I feel like I've been for years-- especially as I'm nearing *my* 30's... I see myself in Aya. So, needless to say this was a very personal story for me.

It was fascinating seeing an Isekai where the other world felt less like a generic fantasy story (though, deliberately so it kinda *was*) and more like a genuine afterlife, a purgatory wherein the main character is grappling with their unresolved feelings they left when they passed on. It's a take on the genre I've never seen, and genuinely left me intrigued to see where things would go.

I love the characters, as well. They're all very fun in their own little ways. The idea of the author having the ability to interact with their own work-- especially one they wrote when they were a child, is very entertaining-- especially when placed within the idea that you put a part of yourself into everything that you write, characters and all. The idea of Dalylah being both a reflection of Aya as a teenager and something more than that is just... so cool to me. I love it.

The demon lord as well, representing the perfectionism that chokes the life out of stories, that prevents stories from being finished in the first place, is a very inventive spin, and one that puts a lot of fascinating texture into the story.

Especially with how Aya's pen, her magical abilities, force her to rid herself of the past, of what proverbially weighed her down with how she felt she would never amount to anything in life. It's just so beautifully heartwrenching.

The ending absolutely melted my heart in the best of ways, it absolutely put a massive smile on my dumbass face.

If I had to make any complaints I would really only say that, and though I realize I don't have an elegant solution to it, the pacing felt a bit imperfect at points-- specifically in the sense that a lot of chapters felt like they started with "Not much happened, it's been relatively quiet for some time-- and then it happened." The story felt more like it was Aya reacting to things happening to her rather than actively acting on her own, even if when she does take action it was very well thought out. It's not really something I feel is necessarily a problem, given how self-reflective the story is meant to be, but I thought it might be worth mentioning, especially with how a few chapters felt like they fell into the "nothing is going on, but then--" introduction more than I would've preferred.

Building off of that, I do feel like at points sometimes things were described multiple times across different chapters, (e.g. the general imperfection of the world after being rewritten) making the story have a bit of a repetitive vibe with its descriptions. But, that may be just be a problem because I was bingereading the story-- it may have made more sense to me if I were reading it as it was coming out-- or maybe it's just my personal preference for descriptions. I'll fully confess I haven't done much reading as I'd hoped, and I'm actively trying to get back into doing that.

But still, I genuinely loved this story, and genuinely felt both seen and moved by it, to the point I don't think these minor gripes even need to impact the overall rating. It's definitely given me a bit of a second wind myself to write, as much as I worry saying so might make it seem like I'm blowing smoke. I just genuinely love this story so much, and I'm very glad to have read it. ❤️❤️