for I'll Be5/11 c20 S
Yes, I know I'm a decade late to the party, but whatever. This rocks. From the first few chapters, I completely understood why this was one of the top fics for this ship - genuinely had moments where I had goosebumps from the sheer emotions in the scene. Most likely this now is old for the author, maybe looking back on it and finding some parts they'd fix or rewrite, but it holds up even years later, still being found by new readers - ones like me.
I love how it probably had every trope it could fit in. I love how the character development slaps you in the face with juxtaposing scenes from the start and end, callbacks, the like. From them disliking each other's traits to not being able to live without it. From stalling to go back to the apartment to can't wait to get home. From she'll be good for my career to can't wait to carry her children. I ate all of it up. Sure, it may intended to be crack-ish and humorous, but it's the heart and sincerity pouring from everything that gets me.
When I finished reading it for the first time, I ended up re-reading it all over again. It's that good. I loved the little fourth-wall breaks, the repeated curses, the banter. It's funny and real. It's perfect. Thanks for writing this, wherever you are.
Yes, I know I'm a decade late to the party, but whatever. This rocks. From the first few chapters, I completely understood why this was one of the top fics for this ship - genuinely had moments where I had goosebumps from the sheer emotions in the scene. Most likely this now is old for the author, maybe looking back on it and finding some parts they'd fix or rewrite, but it holds up even years later, still being found by new readers - ones like me.
I love how it probably had every trope it could fit in. I love how the character development slaps you in the face with juxtaposing scenes from the start and end, callbacks, the like. From them disliking each other's traits to not being able to live without it. From stalling to go back to the apartment to can't wait to get home. From she'll be good for my career to can't wait to carry her children. I ate all of it up. Sure, it may intended to be crack-ish and humorous, but it's the heart and sincerity pouring from everything that gets me.
When I finished reading it for the first time, I ended up re-reading it all over again. It's that good. I loved the little fourth-wall breaks, the repeated curses, the banter. It's funny and real. It's perfect. Thanks for writing this, wherever you are.
4/18 c3 awsome muffin
why the fuck go to collage if your not even going to do it wasting time hahahahahaha
why the fuck go to collage if your not even going to do it wasting time hahahahahaha
4/18 c2 awsome muffin
oh fuck me thats soo sad ಥ‿ಥ only two people who are lying to each of ther so badly could ever believe this painful awkward interaction I can't even hahah
oh fuck me thats soo sad ಥ‿ಥ only two people who are lying to each of ther so badly could ever believe this painful awkward interaction I can't even hahah
12/12/2023 c14 V
This is positively hilarious! Pregnant Santana was killing me, the way she switched to a bitch for 10 seconds the back to emotional mess.
Chuckling the whole way through, but this about killed me.
""Wait a minute…" Quinn said firmly as she held up her hand. Both Lauren and Rachel stared at her, waiting for the blonde to protest. "They make bacon-covered chocolate bars?""
This is positively hilarious! Pregnant Santana was killing me, the way she switched to a bitch for 10 seconds the back to emotional mess.
Chuckling the whole way through, but this about killed me.
""Wait a minute…" Quinn said firmly as she held up her hand. Both Lauren and Rachel stared at her, waiting for the blonde to protest. "They make bacon-covered chocolate bars?""
12/11/2023 c10 V
This is so brilliant, it's snowballing into something bigger and better with each chapter. The inner thoughts crack me up, the sexual tension between the girls can be cut with a knife and I LOVE the Quinn and Jesse interactions. They're both fairly similar in their manipulativeness(?) And the way they ping (slightly affectionate) hatred back and forth off eachother is more like a sibling relationship. They're a brilliant trio to read!
This is so brilliant, it's snowballing into something bigger and better with each chapter. The inner thoughts crack me up, the sexual tension between the girls can be cut with a knife and I LOVE the Quinn and Jesse interactions. They're both fairly similar in their manipulativeness(?) And the way they ping (slightly affectionate) hatred back and forth off eachother is more like a sibling relationship. They're a brilliant trio to read!
12/10/2023 c6 V
I'm actually living for the inner thoughts. It's literally how I argue with myself 24/7!
I'm actually living for the inner thoughts. It's literally how I argue with myself 24/7!
12/3/2023 c20 fabshipper1999
Amazing, truly just a historic piece of art in my heart, it has been close to 20 years but this story still seems to captivate me
Amazing, truly just a historic piece of art in my heart, it has been close to 20 years but this story still seems to captivate me
7/21/2023 c20 Ci
Don’t mind me just doing my yearly reread :)
Don’t mind me just doing my yearly reread :)
7/15/2023 c9 excat94
I know its been a while but i guess i want to offer an explanation on why it would be so easy for Rachel to accept Quinn as her best friend after the lies are out
1. Quinn, in the process of her mission to become the Stepford wife, while under pretenses, became a perfect support for Rachel. She did everything she could with zero credits (including college) to advance Rachel’s career and popularity. She did not sit idly by and whilst at the beginning a lot of things are for appearance’s sake, once Q became R’s (and J’s) pitbull, once the perfect proposalring were picked out, it was extremely difficult to see this ~origin story~ lie as anything BUT the literary device for creation of tension, to be broken later by emotional and physical intimacy.
2. Lie vs lie? Let’s look at this from 2 different possibilities: if Q is lying and R is not and if R is lying and Q is not.
a. If Q lies to get out and is completely selfish (which a lot of the ‘show dont tell’ in the next 7 chapters flipped around), Q uses R’s supposed feelings for an escape from a place where she’s seriously in danger of hurting herself..
b. On the reverse, R uses Q’s supposed feelings for an escape from an overwhelming situation where shes in danger of burning out completely..
Both of the lies are selfish in nature, both were necessary and possibly life-saving. They make the meta in which both characters have to confirm again and again that theyre not un-loveable, from different perspectives. Q for her actions in the past, and R for not taking Q’s feelings into consideration when she basially accepts Q as a housewife from the 50’s who is also doing something absolutely outside of any college’s honor code so R can better her career.
3. Attraction as manipulationa sweep-away of the lies coming out? Dang, Q was doing the exact same right before she blurted out her secret in order to ADVANCE Rachel’s (and Jesse’s career, again. What Quinn was doing was a shortcut into a situation where they actually have the time and space and emotional support from each other (because we KNOW that that is real from both sides now, what’s with Q always putting R’s needs firstR’s small grand gestures ie. MercedesNYU application). It’s so obvious thru their actions that they care about each other. And the thought of not standing side-by-side tackling the world is emotionally draining for both, no matter what R’s “tiny realistlovely name btw) has to say.
4. Obviously them being in love doesnt make everything “ok,” but that’s what the rest of the story is for. Building up trust, emotionally supporting each other, Q becoming a bulldog (lets face it shes always been a bulldog when R is concerned, positive or negative lol) and protecting R (and then a roster of artists lol) from the harsh entertainment industries.
5. Rachel Berry being able to forgive Quinn Fabray and vice versa is quintessential canon Faberry, and they always start over at friendship. The ‘best’ moniker works here, because of the (no matter what the intentions might read) endless number of big and small things (and time) that they dedicated to each other under the guise of fiancée. Also, theyre attached at the hip, Q always having minute details of what R needs, and R seeing outside the bubble of her fledging career to give Q what she doesnt know she needs to become independent.
MY ACTUAL COMMENT: this fic is the romantic comedy that can bring the entire genre to shame. I love the silly self-dialogue, love how it’s Just angsty enough to cover their trauma without scratching open all the scabs. Some of the pov switches were random but for everything else, it’s still a very satisfying read 10 years later. I was kind of intrepid of reading this again, remembering thisTST as my favorite all-time Faberry fic, both from the feelings they bring me,the absolutely wonderful conflict resolutions that don’t close the door on character dev in the post-fic universe. Brava!
I know its been a while but i guess i want to offer an explanation on why it would be so easy for Rachel to accept Quinn as her best friend after the lies are out
1. Quinn, in the process of her mission to become the Stepford wife, while under pretenses, became a perfect support for Rachel. She did everything she could with zero credits (including college) to advance Rachel’s career and popularity. She did not sit idly by and whilst at the beginning a lot of things are for appearance’s sake, once Q became R’s (and J’s) pitbull, once the perfect proposalring were picked out, it was extremely difficult to see this ~origin story~ lie as anything BUT the literary device for creation of tension, to be broken later by emotional and physical intimacy.
2. Lie vs lie? Let’s look at this from 2 different possibilities: if Q is lying and R is not and if R is lying and Q is not.
a. If Q lies to get out and is completely selfish (which a lot of the ‘show dont tell’ in the next 7 chapters flipped around), Q uses R’s supposed feelings for an escape from a place where she’s seriously in danger of hurting herself..
b. On the reverse, R uses Q’s supposed feelings for an escape from an overwhelming situation where shes in danger of burning out completely..
Both of the lies are selfish in nature, both were necessary and possibly life-saving. They make the meta in which both characters have to confirm again and again that theyre not un-loveable, from different perspectives. Q for her actions in the past, and R for not taking Q’s feelings into consideration when she basially accepts Q as a housewife from the 50’s who is also doing something absolutely outside of any college’s honor code so R can better her career.
3. Attraction as manipulationa sweep-away of the lies coming out? Dang, Q was doing the exact same right before she blurted out her secret in order to ADVANCE Rachel’s (and Jesse’s career, again. What Quinn was doing was a shortcut into a situation where they actually have the time and space and emotional support from each other (because we KNOW that that is real from both sides now, what’s with Q always putting R’s needs firstR’s small grand gestures ie. MercedesNYU application). It’s so obvious thru their actions that they care about each other. And the thought of not standing side-by-side tackling the world is emotionally draining for both, no matter what R’s “tiny realistlovely name btw) has to say.
4. Obviously them being in love doesnt make everything “ok,” but that’s what the rest of the story is for. Building up trust, emotionally supporting each other, Q becoming a bulldog (lets face it shes always been a bulldog when R is concerned, positive or negative lol) and protecting R (and then a roster of artists lol) from the harsh entertainment industries.
5. Rachel Berry being able to forgive Quinn Fabray and vice versa is quintessential canon Faberry, and they always start over at friendship. The ‘best’ moniker works here, because of the (no matter what the intentions might read) endless number of big and small things (and time) that they dedicated to each other under the guise of fiancée. Also, theyre attached at the hip, Q always having minute details of what R needs, and R seeing outside the bubble of her fledging career to give Q what she doesnt know she needs to become independent.
MY ACTUAL COMMENT: this fic is the romantic comedy that can bring the entire genre to shame. I love the silly self-dialogue, love how it’s Just angsty enough to cover their trauma without scratching open all the scabs. Some of the pov switches were random but for everything else, it’s still a very satisfying read 10 years later. I was kind of intrepid of reading this again, remembering thisTST as my favorite all-time Faberry fic, both from the feelings they bring me,the absolutely wonderful conflict resolutions that don’t close the door on character dev in the post-fic universe. Brava!
1/17/2023 c4 Anon
Nearly 10 years later, I still come back and reread this story. It is my absolute favorite and cannot stress enough how good it is.
Nearly 10 years later, I still come back and reread this story. It is my absolute favorite and cannot stress enough how good it is.
9/16/2022 c19 
11gasolinemoon
Okay I’m legit confused about the timeline of this story. I hadn’t thought much about it when I read it several years ago or during my rereads, but for Rachel to be 20, they would’ve had to have been together for over 2 years, so sorta confused on all the drinking in bars because they’d be carded. And there’s just the whole thing in relation to both Broadway shows because there’s just no way with new shows they’d be that quick. They usually get workshopped for a while to work out the kinks. On top of that, films aren’t usually released that quickly after Sundance. It takes a few months. And then the Oscar noms before the tonys even happen when they don’t do Oscar noms until February. The dates and general timeline of the story confuses me a lot.
And then there’s the grammatical errors/incorrect phrases. You just used the wrong role a lot and I can’t remember which phrase it is, but you used the wrong word for it frequently.
11gasolinemoonOkay I’m legit confused about the timeline of this story. I hadn’t thought much about it when I read it several years ago or during my rereads, but for Rachel to be 20, they would’ve had to have been together for over 2 years, so sorta confused on all the drinking in bars because they’d be carded. And there’s just the whole thing in relation to both Broadway shows because there’s just no way with new shows they’d be that quick. They usually get workshopped for a while to work out the kinks. On top of that, films aren’t usually released that quickly after Sundance. It takes a few months. And then the Oscar noms before the tonys even happen when they don’t do Oscar noms until February. The dates and general timeline of the story confuses me a lot.
And then there’s the grammatical errors/incorrect phrases. You just used the wrong role a lot and I can’t remember which phrase it is, but you used the wrong word for it frequently.
8/25/2022 c20 Jelaineyyy
I think i read this one at least once every year. It's already 2022, and after a decade, i still go back to this one. This is my most favorite fanfic ever and faberry was my first ever ship. Thank you for putting this out into the world that it felt like a home to me.
I think i read this one at least once every year. It's already 2022, and after a decade, i still go back to this one. This is my most favorite fanfic ever and faberry was my first ever ship. Thank you for putting this out into the world that it felt like a home to me.
8/14/2022 c10 Empreintes Fauves
I am very desapointed. I don't understand why on earth Rachel still think about Quinn as her best friend. ZERO SENS. After this kind of lie ? After tgeir past ? After averything she didn't even question Quinn sincerity and want, not made it her priority to take care of her. For fuck sake ! Rachel would NEVER does that. Not right away at least.
Its seems Quinn isn't the only one to think that lust can fix trust issues since she flirt all the time to "accelerate" their reconciliation, it seem the writers think that too since its dismiss that easily. I wish you never brought this lie issue ever. If it to put drama without actually fixing it in a realistic and mature way its tainted the story in a negative light for me, its a waisting for say the least. You treat Rachel like her hurt shouldn't even exist because after all, at the end, Quinn love her so what did she want more ?
Except that doesn't change the fact that EVERYONE in her life used her one way or another and Quinn is just the last and worst one. The fact that Quinn still does things for herself, Rachel being her last objectiv, and not for Rachel's happiness. She still manipulates her and you turn Rachel as an idiot. She is smart, she should be suspicious of Quinn's behavior. She didn't even question the fact that Quinn never try to sleep with her during their "engagement", quite the contrary, she actively avoid it and now all of the sudden, she has no problem to try to get into her pant. That in itself should be enough for Rachel to question her goal and behavior.
The fact that she is so horny and can't things straight around Quinn should push Rachel to sleep with someone, anyone else, just to regain some clarity. Its totally what Rachel berry would conclud since now they are just friend and she should don't trust her. Add bonus, that would serve Quinn her own medicine since she is the one who dismiss Rachel's attempt at the freaking time.
Frankly, i want to think that you will adress all of this at some point, because your story is long and until this issue, your writing and all were very realistic and mature, but the way you have treated things here, has a plot device and not in its own, did not give me hope. (Quinn has way too much fun when she should feel guilty and try to make it up, its irritating as hell, especially since she is the only one who knows how the other feel. All of this is actually very unfair to Rachel)
And that push me to want to stop your story. I don't want to but its seriously too desappointing; so i guess at the very least a break is needed. I will see to come back, maybe, at a later time, when i will feel less desappointed. (that in itself is a testament to your talent. To invest people so much that they take the story at heart, but it can also be difficult for the reader to pass some big desappointment)
I am very desapointed. I don't understand why on earth Rachel still think about Quinn as her best friend. ZERO SENS. After this kind of lie ? After tgeir past ? After averything she didn't even question Quinn sincerity and want, not made it her priority to take care of her. For fuck sake ! Rachel would NEVER does that. Not right away at least.
Its seems Quinn isn't the only one to think that lust can fix trust issues since she flirt all the time to "accelerate" their reconciliation, it seem the writers think that too since its dismiss that easily. I wish you never brought this lie issue ever. If it to put drama without actually fixing it in a realistic and mature way its tainted the story in a negative light for me, its a waisting for say the least. You treat Rachel like her hurt shouldn't even exist because after all, at the end, Quinn love her so what did she want more ?
Except that doesn't change the fact that EVERYONE in her life used her one way or another and Quinn is just the last and worst one. The fact that Quinn still does things for herself, Rachel being her last objectiv, and not for Rachel's happiness. She still manipulates her and you turn Rachel as an idiot. She is smart, she should be suspicious of Quinn's behavior. She didn't even question the fact that Quinn never try to sleep with her during their "engagement", quite the contrary, she actively avoid it and now all of the sudden, she has no problem to try to get into her pant. That in itself should be enough for Rachel to question her goal and behavior.
The fact that she is so horny and can't things straight around Quinn should push Rachel to sleep with someone, anyone else, just to regain some clarity. Its totally what Rachel berry would conclud since now they are just friend and she should don't trust her. Add bonus, that would serve Quinn her own medicine since she is the one who dismiss Rachel's attempt at the freaking time.
Frankly, i want to think that you will adress all of this at some point, because your story is long and until this issue, your writing and all were very realistic and mature, but the way you have treated things here, has a plot device and not in its own, did not give me hope. (Quinn has way too much fun when she should feel guilty and try to make it up, its irritating as hell, especially since she is the only one who knows how the other feel. All of this is actually very unfair to Rachel)
And that push me to want to stop your story. I don't want to but its seriously too desappointing; so i guess at the very least a break is needed. I will see to come back, maybe, at a later time, when i will feel less desappointed. (that in itself is a testament to your talent. To invest people so much that they take the story at heart, but it can also be difficult for the reader to pass some big desappointment)