I agree with you agreeing with me. Bahaha! Seriously, I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to get something out of con crit. I don't feel quite the same way about plain old positive fb; on some level I'm possibly thinking "ooh, if I encourage the author, maybe she'll write more!"--but mostly I just feel it's politeness to tell someone when I've enjoyed something they've created. That's my view on things though. Also, completely agree with you about beta'ing--the thing about the people I beta for, though, is I like the fic they produce. So I'm getting something out of that in the end as well.
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Congrats!
And congrats! I had no idea you were a professional illustrator; I should've guessed it. With skills like yours you best be getting paid!
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That bit on Japanese sounds like what I was trying to say about the nuances in Russian. Though of course I've heard Japanese is far more nuanced.