1/9/2018 c16 14elizasky
This is a beautifully quiet moment between two shore-dwellers, far from home. For a moment, I thought that you were lulling me so that you could turn the knife and slaughter poor Gallou, but no — you let Rilla find a moment of peace and connection. The atmosphere was wonderful — it really felt like an intimate little discussion illuminating a quiet circle in the middle of a big, silent night, just like the tiny stove making a small dent in the cold.

You do a lot of nice things with inversions here. You have Rilla awake all night, which leads right into the idea that it is more pleasant to be awake than it is to be asleep, where bad dreams can ambush you. That is unexpected — with all this misery, you might expect that people would want to escape waking however they could — but when you put it that way, it makes sense. There are lots of other inversions — we hear that Gallou has lost his right hand, but surprise! he is left-handed. And we hear that Maurice is leaving, but really it is Rilla who is going. Are they going to the same place or nearby?

I wonder how Rilla will like the CCS. On the one hand, she will be back among English-speakers, which might help her feel more connected. On the other, she is going to start seeing some pretty bad stuff — I think the hospitals she has been in so far have been far enough back that most of the patients are fairly stable by the time they reach them — is that correct? I don't know how many quiet little interludes there will be at a CCS, but I'm sure you will show us what they were like!

1/6/2018 c15 5OriginalMcFishie
A bit of fun and joy in wartime, with Rilla catching Colette in the act and Colette and Maurice starting a romance. Then the conversation got serious. What a difficult letter to write. Poor Nan receiving it. Will we get her reaction? What Rilla said about not changing anything even if you knew the outcome is some of the bravery and courage you expect from LMM. It inspires me in my own decisions and helps make sense of the hopelessness that one initially feels. Night duty will be interesting (I wonder what Colette will do with her evenings), as will visiting Dr Malvern, will they become good friends I wonder.

1/5/2018 c15 14elizasky
Rilla! What are you doing interrupting people's kissing time? Rude!

It's lovely to see that Rilla and Colette know one another well enough now that they can tell one another difficult things (Colette's loneliness, Rilla's painful letter to Nan) and give nicknames and be playful with one another. I'm glad Rilla had Walter there to help her write that letter, though. It is a lot of responsibility, even though I suspect that she is right that clever Nan would have figured out that something was seriously wrong by now.

Rilla is uncannily perceptive here, knowing that Colette is afraid that Maurice will mean too much to her, and having some eloquent speeches on the subject of love and devotion. I'm not so sure that I agree with her about bad times never erasing the good — that seems like a romantic notion that isn't really coming from someone who has lived day-to-day with how bad the bad times can be. But I'll have to think on that more. Would you do things differently, knowing how they might turn out? Maybe.

But in the end, she makes the essential point, which is that you have to be brave enough to try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. "Nothing ventured, nothing lost" is not quite so inspiring a sentiment, even if it is perhaps easier on the heart.

In any case, I hope Colette and Maurice have a lovely fling, even if it doesn't turn into eternal love. If only a nosey roommate would let them have some peace! (I hope I am not being outrageously wicked in hoping that you have given Rilla the night shift to allow Colette and Maurice some other alone time together — it will be very cold in a lonely bed!)

And now, I am off to bed myself, wholly in sympathy with Rilla and her frozen uniform. It's been positively arctic here in the eastern US for weeks now. At my house right now, we have knee-deep snow and a windchill of -8 F (-22 C).

1/2/2018 c14 elizasky again
I forgot to mention that "had he not become a priest, he would have been unbearable" was a great line.

1/2/2018 c14 19Alinya Alethia
I did not put those dotes together when you gave us the date. It was good to see Walter so well, and Rilla in England again, and then Rilla began musing on the kind of hospital and my heart sank.

You’ve written this beautifully. Achingly, painfully, but with a beautiful touch and sensitivity both to Jerry and the discombobulated Rilla and Walter. Though I like seeing how steady Rilla becomes back on her own ground, as it were. The smell of the place is enough and she goes right into Crisis Rilla mode, managing the suruation, thinking about it by largely not thinking about it, and then by asking questions and stockpiling knowledge. But not about Jerry, until the end. This is more like her anaesthesia study. She wants to know all she possibly can, just in case.

Walter makes her an interesting mirror. He has that same modelled personality, as it were, thecself that the profession dictates he present to the world, and between them, dealing with body and soul, there’s a feeling they should be able to claw Jerry back from that precipice. But he’s so deep in the pain of that story that it’s hardly surprising they can’t, and I wonder, have either of them seen grief quite like that in their work before?

I’m glad you thought to give the batmen a mention, even if this one was doomed. That bond always strikes me as a powerful one when I read about it, and Jerry’s shock here is it’s own kind of tribute. As for whether he’ll get better -I’ll be watching. But the bulk of my attention is really for that letter Rilla had better write to Nan. Are there words to articulate quite what she’s seen?

I’m going to carry with me ‘That’s not to mean lying in bed in a nondescript guesthouse I won’t cry for him. But tears are for the darkness and loneliness if night’ with me for a while. It captures perfectly Rilla’s particular kind of compartmentalisation and is beautiful writing. But then, as I said, you’ve crafted a beautiful chapter here.

1/2/2018 c14 47oz diva
Oh Jerry, sad to say he is one of the lucky ones because at least he is being treated, so many men were accused of cowardice and sent back as you’ve stated. Though what good a warm bath is clinically I can’t say? I’m pleased Rilla didn’t have to visit on her own. Better to have Walter with her through this. Her moment of shock at hearing about the boredom of being on the front was interesting.
As has been noted, this isn’t the sort of chapter you enjoy but it is important.

12/31/2017 c13 10Excel Aunt
“Had I known that I’d end up having a large papier-mache nose tied to my face for the entire evening, maybe I would have put more effort into thinking of an alternative costume. Snake, maybe.”

Might I suggest eel for Rilla?

I’m glad that Colette is finding happiness or at least making the happiness of her own by winning the costume party. She mourns for Aimée as if they are lovers, where they? Did I miss that? That sort of makes Colette a disappointing prospect for Maurice, another reason for his heartbreak.

And I love how you remind us of the front not so far away with the sounds of the never-ending guns!

12/31/2017 c13 5OriginalMcFishie
It's nice to see them having some fun among the horror. I suspect 1917 has more horror to impart