Reviews For Overwhelming Loudness


Name: Felpata_Lupin (Signed) · Date: 28 Mar 2021 03:48 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hey, Ineke, sweety! Here with another review for the guerrilla gift tag! (But of course I was beated to it... :P) <3

Sharing personal stuff like this can be so very scary... but also freeing, in a way? Like, just getting it all out, expressing your true self, it's so liberating, and the great thing about FFT is that everyone will give support and not judgement, so that's a plus, right? <3

Anyway, I just really, really want to give you a huge hug right now! The way you write this piece, the way you describe the experience of feeling everything in this amplified way, and the pressure of everything that you need to do (this is something I strongly relate to, btw), and the need to adapt to external expectations... I'm feeling overwhelmed just by reading it, and I can't imagine what it would be like to experience this on a regular basis.

I really love the way you describe everything, the way you pick out the single noises (which seem so inconsistent, so secondary to a "normal" ear, but they are clearly not so for the protagonist of the story), the idea of focusing on something else, filling your head with your own music, to overcome the external loudness. You just write it all so effectively and... beautifully? It's just lovely writing, even if it's a painful experience and maybe one that I can't fully understand.

Also, and you can tell me to just shut up here, because I know that telling yourself rationally these things doesn't really help, you are not a failure for needing to take a break or for not managing to do it all right now and perfectly. Even people who don't have your struggles can get there late or not at all and need a break at times... I think we all need to learn to be a bit more lenient towards ourselves... although I do understand that it's hard, especially when you feel like you always need to prove something to the rest of the world...

I hope this review wasn't completely insensitive and/or off topic... in any case, I'm rooting for you, sweety! <3

Big snowball hug,

Chiara



Name: ImaRavenclaw (Signed) · Date: 24 May 2020 07:12 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hey Ineke! I came by to review your story for bvb and I'm sad that it's so short. I really love it and you've done a really excellent job writing sensory overload. One of my favourite shows has a character in it named Alfred who has synesthesia which is debilitating for him, and the way you captured all of the senses in the story reminds me of that.

 

I know that it's in the 2nd POV, but your character is really powerful and comes through.

 

Thank you for this sweet and short little treat.

 

 



Name: maraudertimes (Signed) · Date: 18 May 2020 08:28 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hello Ineke! Here for our Review Swap!!


This was a really melancholic piece. I think that’s the only way I can think to describe it. It’s obviously about someone who isn’t neurotypical, although I’m not going to make assumptions about what exactly the MC is dealing with.


I think the description about all the noises and exactly how they affect the MC is very powerful, and as someone who doesn’t experience that, it helped me understand what it means if someone tells me things are too loud when to me, they seem fine. I’ve read other stories and articles and heard first hand from some people about the general feeling of it, but I think how far you delve into it is really eye-opening and definitely an amazing touch.


I love that you specifically added that even when someone tries to help, there’s always something at the back of your mind telling you that it’s not enough and you have to keep going. Again, I’ve never experienced this specific situation, but I’ve definitely had some bad times where even when people tried to help it felt useless and like I was causing more of a problem taking time for myself than just pushing through.


I don’t want to make assumptions but this feels like a very personal story, and if so I am so sorry. It’s not even close to the same thing, but I get very up in arms when people try to use ‘I have depression’ to excuse their behaviour - much like how you’ve written because they feel that their ‘traits’ mean they automatically get to be placed under the umbrella of mental health (usually when it’s just a depressive period and not a disorder). It’s frustrating because explaining yourself to people shouldn’t be required just to get them to stop using your diagnosis as a punchline, or an excuse.


This was a very powerful piece and like I said, I think the best word is melancholic. It’s not just sad because it grabbed me by the throat and made me feel so many things deep down inside and it was absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful. I tend to stick to HP stories, but I’m so glad that I started reading this OF because not doing so would’ve been a mistake.


Thank you so much for writing this Ineke, every single sentence was so beautifully written and every paragraph was a rollercoaster. It was amazing to read.

 

Lo <3




Name: abhorsen (Signed) · Date: 09 May 2020 05:51 AM · For: Chapter 1

hiiii here for our swap <3 <3 <3

omfg so here's the thing

1) your description is so fucking perfect

2) ohhh god this is so real, i feel this in my goddamn soul

like, there are so many amazing lines here. the madness in your head, the guilt, the wishing you could've remained calm (WHAT A FUCKING MOOD), and just the frustration and anger around the idea of like normal? because fucking fuck

"you don't look like" i know we have discussed this before but can i just say +10 fucking thousand to fuck all of that?

i mean, we've discussed a lot of this before? and i just love that you were able to articulate all of this, you did an amazing fucking job



Name: grumpy cat (Signed) · Date: 05 May 2020 05:56 PM · For: Chapter 1

hey ineke, i’m here for our swap!

 

first of all – i really loved the way you chose to write this. the second person perspective is something i often find really hard to connect to and more often than not it doesn’t flow (at least for me…maybe i’m just weird?) but i feel like for this particular story, it was the perfect choice because it both gives a very intimate account of the struggles the narrator is facing and a certain type of “distance” from it which only, at least it’s how i see it, adds to the idea of the story and of being misunderstood as someone on the autism spectrum. because you can never fully explain it and you can never fully have people be immersed in the experience like it happens with first person pov.

 

so it definitely adds to the mood and the atmosphere of the story in a way that …simply works really really well. the feeling of being ‘not normal’ (while i’m not on the autism spectrum, i like to ask myself what even is normal whenever i contemplate the ways in which my brain is fucked up. and while it doesn’t really help, it at least makes me laugh from time to time) and ‘misunderstood’ and like nothing you ever do is going to be enough, both for yourself and for other people, is explored here in a way that’s horrifically tangible – with all the sounds and the sensory overload and the snapping at people… in the descriptions used, it all becomes too much even for the reader, and how could it not for the narrator who is actually experiencing this?

 

i think it’s a great feat of you as an author, that you’re able to draw from your own experiences and write them in a way that presents them to the world and doesn’t shy away from all the frustration and even heartache (not sure if this is the best word to describe it) for the way that there’s this awful dichotomy between what you feel and what the rest of the world feels, and neither you nor the world is able to fully ..hm..help? or understand? each other in a way that doesn’t result in a type of frustration on both sides. because even the colleague that tries to be understanding and helpful, even that behaviour, seems to further the frustration of the narrator because it means they somehow need to be helped, while all they need is to be understood, and then we cycle back to the fundamental problem of understanding. so it’s all a circle.

 

the motif of music as a counterpart to all this other noise was a really effective way of showing just how something can help a person focus, can help them feel better, less frustrated, less tired and anxious, even if there isn’t actual music being played – the act of focusing on the lyrics or the tone of a song feels as if it’s this… comfort blanket? but you know, mentally. i just found it really beautiful, even if ultimately the narrator didn’t manage to get there and the sensory overload was too much, the idea that sometimes they can and that beautiful music helps them keep themselves together is really powerful.

 

i think that the way you used repetition of certain words was also effective in conveying the overload to the reader as a way to overload them, to an extent, with these excess words, and a great way to convey the growing tension and frustration without actually describing them, but using a stylistic tool to make the readers’ brains recognise the overload through reading.

 

thank you for sharing this story – i think it was a wonderful exploration of this sensory overload episode (wonderful in storytelling, not in the actual content, sadly :I ) and the way the person who is experiencing it is feeling.

 

i hope that in some smol way it helped to write it out, but then again, i don’t doubt that things often get like this and that just dealing with people and like…everything… becomes this tiring chore that you just want to get over with.

 

i enjoyed reading this, it was a glimpse into the narrator’s thought process that i feel is very valuable, and it was truly well written.

 

thanks for swapping with me!

 

kris



Name: ravenclaw_Scientist (Signed) · Date: 03 May 2020 03:28 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hey Ineke,

Thank you for writing (and mostly sharing) such a beautiful piece. It's an honour to get to live inside your head for a bit and get some perspective on how different brains work. I love how you describe the escapism of music and I think it's amazing that music is so powerful to pull us away from everything. Please keep expressing youself like this, it's so brilliant to read and remember that nobody is sane in Ravenclaw!

Love! 



Name: potionspartner (Signed) · Date: 21 Apr 2020 11:44 PM · For: Chapter 1

Ineke,

First I love the way you put it into 2nd person. I think it was a good way to immerse your reader into the day and helping them understand the challenges you are dealing with. The comparison of the noises around you with the music within your mind was well done and it helps people see the dichtomy between what they perceive versus what others might experience. 

Then when the emotions overwhelm and you try to overcome but to no avail. It just breaks my heart and reminds me so much of my own child who suffers from anxiety.

I'm sure your job has been even more stressful during this atypical world that we are currently living in. I think you captured so many emotions very well in this story. Thank you for sharing. 



Name: Rumpelstiltskin (Signed) · Date: 20 Mar 2020 09:31 PM · For: Chapter 1

Hey Ineke! 

 

I'm here with a review but first I just wanted to say thank you for doing your job like the rockstar you are -- I know you're probably overworked (not that you weren't before all this) and stressed and tired and everything else in between, but you're a superstar and a real MVP. I hope you're well!

 

Onto the story! You wrote so much emotion into such a short piece, and that emotion was amazingly hard-hitting. The effect that the sensory overstimulation has pours off the page in a way that makes it incredibly tangible and easy to understand what the narrator is feeling. It creates a very realistic sort of desperation that, as a reader, strikes deep inside -- your ability to create empathy through the power of your words here is incredible (and is teeming with an extremely deep ache). 

 

What I admire most here, is through all of this chaos and desperation and pain, the narrator seems extremely strong and determined beneath it all (even if they are feeling very weak in the moment). To be to at a point where even taking a break is not relieving like it should be because of the sheer amount that needs to be done, and what needs to be done to help the narrator gain some relief from all the chaos they're experiencing -- is absolutely overwhelming and it takes a very strong person to get through it. 

 

And the lashing out and pulling away, trying to put everything into focusing on the task and everything else beyond that to keep it together -- they're all very understandable things. And, on top of that, to have to deal with very not-understanding, very narrow-minded people who can't actually help the situation because of there ignorance and intolerance only makes it all the worse. 

 

This was absolutely wonderful! You did such a fantastic job with writing it! I hope it was cathartic for you <3

 

-Rumpels



Name: TidalDragon (Signed) · Date: 01 Jan 2020 07:26 AM · For: Chapter 1

Howdy Ineke!

 

This story is short, but strong. I love the way you used the second person POV and succeeded in keeping in consistent (something that is so hard) to really immerse us into the work as readers.

 

I understand much of the story draws from experience and though I'm probably not going to put this perfectly, I think that while the fact that you have to live the experience is not enviable, it's good that you're able to shed light on what it is like to live in your position(s). This is especially true for people who don't appreciate the everyday struggles involved.

 

Thanks for sharing this with us!



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