hikari_adams

 I have amazing news.

I have finished Genevieve.

Finished, done, complete.

I'm bouncing off the walls, now that it has finally sunk that Genevieve is really done.

The last line?

"He was happy, and he hoped she was too."

*squeals*

I am so happy.

I have nothing else to say.

 Alrighty, then. Let me see if I can explain this. For the one or two people following this, I have a community up that will have all of my writing from now on. It's pretty secure, though. Any problems, just talk to me. 

Now, as the few reading this probably know, Peeling Onions (SnapeLily) is part of a currently unnamed series. This series contains a few others. 

Shoot the Moon (RemusNarcissa, Narcissa-centric)
Runaway (various pairings, Lily-centric)
The Trial (mostly gen, mentions of past pairings)
Saving Grace (pairing would be a spoiler)
and now Unforgiven (Hermione-centric, final pairing unknown but probably Harry/Hermione)

I feel that I should warn my precious few readers that this series has a particular order that is not orderly at all.

Peeling Onions and Runaway occur completely within the time frame of Shoot the Moon. Saving Grace has every other chapter within Shoot the Moon and every other chapter post-Shoot the Moon. The Trial takes place after Shoot the Moon and before the post-Moon chapters of Saving Grace. Unforgiven takes place after them all. 

The summaries for most of them should be up. The ones that aren't will be posted later.

Oh, and for the record. Even though I mostly sign reviews, responses, etc... as Hikari or Annie(from Annette, my other penname), I've also been using Emmy. Sorry if that confuses anyone. 

So, I have replaced The Hurricane with a new blog.

The Great Harry Potter Debate.

It is to be the new home for the Great Harry Potter Rant, and I would love to have some more help working on it. I need anyone willing to write about the series, be it to critique or to support it. Tell everyone!

 greatdebatehp.blogspot

I don't know why it depresses me to read some of J.K. Rowling's comments about the Harry Potter series.

Strike that. I know exactly why it depresses me.

Of course, that depression very quickly turns to fury.

It's a natural response of mine. Something that I can't help. I've been a writer longer than I've been anything else; it's in my blood and it's just something that I've always done. My strengths, I like to think, are in character development and in the complex relationships between those characters to form the plot. Oh, and plot twists. I know I'm good at those.

Rowling, however, had the right idea in the beginning. The first four books were beautifully written and they showed a finesse in writing constantly growing characters and relationships. The characters were easily likable and easy to relate to. They were complex enough that people could see real life in them.

And then she got struck with a nasty case of FTS.

Faerie Tale Syndrome.

It is, without a doubt, the worst thing that can happen to a fantasy writer. I've suffered from it myself a few times until I went back and reread the stories and realized with growing horror just what I had done to my characters. Needless to say, I fixed it.

She didn't. In fact, she supported it 200%.

As a reader, it makes me sick. As a writer, I have never been so offended.

And as a side note: when I am offended, you know you've gone too far.

Writing is a sacred art to me. It is language and without language, humanity is nothing. Writing must be respected and for that to happen, one must understand that writing is, in fact, not about the author at all. What I want to happen has nothing to do with what happens in the story. I simply create the characters and let them do their thing. It is, after all, their story. It is the lives of the characters that we are telling, and we must respect them as we would any any living human we would write about. They have their quirks and their ups and downs, but they do not live charmed lives that clean up neatly at the end.

Characters are people too, if you're a writer worth your ink. The line between fiction and reality is quite easy to keep, though I know it sounds as if I cannot make that distinction, I assure you that I can. It is the reason I can write some of the things I can write. I compartmentalize everything. It helps.

Now, I have learned the hard way that sometimes characters grow together. When I began developing them, Lydia Mason and Aleck Smart of ARA began to revolve around one another. It just happened. It wasn't planned, nor was the relationship between Alexei Kokinos and Cassidy Turner of Lady Masquerade supposed to be so...genuine. But it was and when I just let it happen, it became a much better story. Even in stories where I write the entire thing, I sometimes don't notice that the pairing I had planned simply doesn't work. I had Genevieve planned out, with Blake sweeping her off her feet (or rather the other way around), but instead it became apparent half way through that Blake was meant for someone else--Genevieve too, albeit in a different story--and so the extended ending came about to preserve my dear friend Diane's romantic dreams about the story.

I let that go, because I wrote the real ending too.

Now, Rowling didn't do this. The thing about romantic pairings between characters, undoubtably one of her greatest failings as a writer, is that the subtle hints you're supposedly leaving, sometimes aren't there.

Again, I learned this the hard way. The VERY hard way. 100+ pages had to be thrown out and the plot ripped to shreds because my "subtle hints at true love" between the two main (human) characters was something that had no real chemestry. In real live, they would've hated each other, and the little spitfire narrarator of mine simply wasn't going to let me write her with someone completely incompatible with her. I like to think that Broken Wings is an exponentially better story now that I've gotten over that case of FTS.

There are questions that have to be asked when working on romantic pairings in stories, mostly concerning the female in heterosexual relationships (though I ended up answering these with a character in Salvation and came to the conclusion that the character was a lesbian. Unsurprisingly, the character development for her turned out better than ever when I faced the truth about her). Now, of course, these could probably be applied to a male character, but since I mostly write female leads, I direct these towards the female.

When upset, who does she rely on?

Who does she stand by through thick and thin?

Who will stay by her regardless of what happens?

Who does she strive to help?

Who strives to help her?

Who matches her on an intellectual level?

Who actively tries to protect her?

Who runs to her when things go wrong?

Who does she always make time for?

Who does she always defend?

Who is she willing to suffer for, even if the pain is coming from them?

Who will she break the law for?

I could go on forever with these questions, but by this point I usually already have my answer concerning the character. Sometimes, it ends up being two, although I would like to point out that there were extenuating circumstances in that particular case, but that when I asked more in-depth questions, it was finally brought to one character.  I was willing to accept that the other relationship was genuine, and it made for a better plot.

It always does.

Now, when reading the Harry Potter novels through the eyes of a writer, rather than those of a reader or a fan, and you will see things different.

Hopefully.

In first year, who stands together through everything, truly helping each other and showing caring for each other that, at that time was unparalled in the development of the other characters?

Harry and Hermione.

In second year, who finds the note in Hermione's hand and to whom does she run to upon her release from the hospital wing?

Harry.

I would like to point out that that second point in the question is by far the most important. Regardless of our age, humans see the importance of various people in different ways, and it is often our unconcious treatement of them that differentiates between future romantic and platonic relationships. She always goes to Harry, except in the literary travesty that is the seventh and final...no, I can't bring myself to call it a book. My pride as a writer won't allow me.

Now, in third year, who did Hermione break the law for?

Harry, and in the case of the Firebolt, she only sought to protect him, willingly taking any ire to do so.

In the fourth year, who did she sacrifice so much for?

Harry: helping him with spells and the like and standing by him when no one else did.

Also in the fourth year, when presented with an unknown force, who did Harry rush to protect?

Hermione: with Grawp, he could have left her to take care of herself, as she could have done and, let's face it, Ron would have left her to fend for herself.

Fifth year brought the incident at the DOM. Which character's injury caused more worry within Harry: Hermione or Ginny (who is heard screaming)?

Hermione. The fight with Dolohov leaves him worried for her survival in a way that is decidedly not platonic. No one worries that much about someone who is "meant" for them and not the one who is.

Sixth year is when the disaster really began and Rowling's FTS grew to have an epic nature. Seventh year, however, is extremely important.

Who stayed by Harry's side and went with him to visit the one place that carries more emotional significance for him than Hogwarts?

Hermione. Something that important should have been shared with Ginny, not his "sister".

Now let's examine the other side of this: the Weasley siblings.

I do not, under any circumstances, pull punches when it comes to the Weasley family (save the twins and Charlie, who I have always found to be an intruiging character and was quite disheartened when virtually no information was given about him). I do not like them. They are the perfect example of what NOT to do when developing characters.

They are made out to be the perfect family, when in fact, they are not. Rowling leaves a lot to be desired in her characterizations. This is where being a seasoned reader (preferably one with a history in creative writing) comes in handy.

Character archetypes.

Every character has an archetype. Not all archetypes have names and are widely recognized, but they are always present in a story, sometimes combined with other archetypes and welded together with a brilliant characterization.

...needless to say, such characterization is lost in HP after book five (except in Snape and Narcissa Malfoy, but that's another discussion for another time).

The archetypes for most of the Weasley family are...not pretty.

Molly, taking what is known and extrapolating, is a controlling manipulative shrew. Which would be right, based on my readings of the books. She was just too interested in the lives of her children, too eager to do some things and she seems, based on her treatment of them, to have already planned Ginny's and Ron's weddings to Harry and Hermione.

It's disgusting.

Realistically, being brought into a family like that so quickly and without question would be expected for Harry. For Hermione? 

Not so much.

Molly's family proves this. She's a Prewett, and with her aunt's infamous statement regarding Hermione's heritage, it only goes to follow that something is not right with Molly. The Prewett's were likely wealthy, an old pureblooded family. Given what most purebloods are like, and what Augusta Longbottom is suggested as being like, I have trouble believing that Molly would be completely free of her family's views. While not as vicious about blood purity as other family's, they clearly take status seriously.

I bring up Augusta Longbottom because her son Frank's wife, Alice Longbottom, is listed as having the maiden name of Prewett (I cannot seem to find this information, but I do know that it was Alice Prewett at Hogwarts. Then again, Rowling likes convoluted families more than I do, and I wrote Lady Masquerade).

Why does Molly not have any family money to fall back on? Why does she have a rather...archaic view of the family? The way her children react to certain things is an indication to her character. Arthur is too timid to be the force needed to raise six sons and one little princess. Molly would have been the one to be there and to spoil Ginny, since daughter and father have very little (if any) interaction over the course of the books. As such, taking the archetype and extrapolating, Molly would be the character to drive them all insane.

Take a look at what she does in DH. When she realizes that the Trio have plans that she might not like, she separates them and works from there. Divide and conquer, anyone? That's a little Slytherin for good old Gryffindor Molly. Actually, it's very Slytherin. Molly's not a saint, and that manipulative move is enough to convince me beyond my lingering doubts through the previous six installments that Molly is not the character for to be looked up to as the perfect mother. Her control over the family is admirable, but even my feminist views are irritated by just how much control she has. Even at Grimmauld Place, Molly attempts to control those around her. She shelters those who shouldn't be and she turns her nose up at those who need it (Harry and Draco, respectively).

And Ron's words about the "scarlet women" in fourth year? Yeah, one of the instances that cemented my dislike of the character. There's a war going on. Children have to grow up quickly in such an environment and her manipulations (I hold she was one of the ones setting up the nausea-inducing ships within the confines of the books) are keeping those children who need to grow up from doing so.

Thus, I am brought to Ronald B. Weasley.

The absolute WORST best friend for a character like Harry. The fact that I find Grint to be one of the best actors in the films has done nothing to save my opinion of the character.

Looking at the mess called a plot within the HP 'verse, the logical action would have been Ron's death in book...five or six, probably five at the DOM.

Ron is not as talented as Hermione and Harry. He knows it. He is insecure and he has temper tantrums that are not even befitting of my tempramental three-year-old neice. He is easily moved to jealousy and he is gullible because of that. In GOF, as a true friend, he would have stood by Harry, rather than following the crowd. He's a sheep. It's far beyond irritating.

Now, looking at the characters of Harry and Hermione, they should never have forgiven him in DH after he abandoned them. They were in the middle of a war, constantly in danger, and he turned his back on them. Perhaps this has to do with my personal views more than anything, but I trust my analysis of the archetypes and the characters themselves. Harry was unstable, and therefore unpredictable upon Ron's return. Hermione, however, should have sent him packing. He did something unforgivable in a crisis, proving that he was unreliable in a time when they needed stability of the strongest kind. Draco Malfoy would have been a better choice to arrive at that time, but it would take far too long to back that up right now, so I'll save that discussion for later. Even Neville would have been better.

Ron's petty emotions, of which he can only manage a teaspoon of at a time, are what make him the wrong choice for Hermione. She would be too successful and he would always be known as Harry Potter's best friend and Hermione Granger's husband. He wouldn't stand for that. It was why they fought all the time. Ron couldn't stand the fact that he was being overshadowed yet again and that immaturity is exactly why the Trio was never really a Trio. Ron did not belong. His characterization simply didn't fit.

Ginny...wow. I'm going to have to have some more time to talk about her. She's in a class of her own, the lying little *****.

:)

Character development is important beforehand when writing. Try to develop the characters past the point of knowing the basics. You don't need to know everything, you never will. Write the story, not how you want to, but how the characters would really live it. FTS is dangerous. The best work can be ruined by it. Having a good knowledge of who they are can make writing characters at the beginning so much easier because it becomes much easier to respect them. Characters a part of the author, and aspect of our own being, regardless of who we base them off of. *cough*Draco*cough*

And please, DO NOT write the ending first unless pink elephants in tutus can come sweeping in with a musical parade and turn everyone into canaries and not change a word in the ending. In all my years of writing, this has only happened twice: once in my own fiction and once in a fanfic.

So I broke my own rule and started a few new fics. I blame Peeling Onions, which I wrote without really thinking about anything. These new fics are all Harry Potter, and right now they are all Marauders' era. Below are the summaries:

Peeling Onions: Andromeda Black has realized that one day, the history of Lily Evans will disappear into pretty lights of imagined happiness. She also realizes that Severus Snape will disappear from that history. So, like every good friend, she sets out to document their relationship, interviewing people and stealing memories, letters, and other things to immortalize their time together for the future. SSLEJP, obviously. Mentions of other pairings.

--Peeling Onions is actually part of a loose series. The stories are all connected by the same AU events, and Peeling Onions alludes to many of those.

Shoot the Moon: Narcissa Black is many things. While her sisters are the extremes, she lives in the middle, only wanting the freedom to live her life her own way. Caught up in a whirlwind of activity and romance her seventh year, Narcissa is forced to see the world for what it is when the war inches closer to her and her freedom is stripped away from her. She must choose what is right when her love for a Gryffindor she should have hated is brought to a screeching halt by her parents' announcement that she is to marry Lucius Malfoy. RLN(B)M. Yes, you read that right.

Runaway: (title subject to change): Lily Evan, now Lily Potter, is aware of many things. The first being that she made a terrible mistake that has led to her estrangement from her sister and the grief of many others around her. Disillusioned with the Order and left with a marriage in shambles, Lily takes young Harry with her as she stays with various friends. The war is progressing, however, and doors are closing as freedoms and lives are lost. The final year of her life is spent searching for something she believes could fix everything. SSLEJP, again.

Thoughts?

With Peeling Onions, I'm trying to compile a list of people for Andromeda to interview. Right now, I've got Petunia's posted and I'm writing Remus and Minerva. Any suggestions?

I'm looking for someone to beta the Harry Potter fics. Please contact me if you're interested.
 

Hey! I've got a new story up. Peeling Onions is a different kind of story for me. It's Andromeda's pursuit of the truth when she realizes that one day, no one will remember the reality of Lily Evans's life, namely her complicated relationship with Severus Snape. Not wanting the future to only remember Lily as the charming girl James Potter fell for, Andromeda sets out to record the truth for the sake of the future.

The first chapter is Petunia's first explanation. It's just an experiment and wow the style is hard. It's only Petunia's side of the conversation, nothing else.

Please give it a read! I'd love to know what you think of it.

To any of my readers who follow this the way good readers should (:P) I am a terrible authoress. Please, throw the rotten vegetables.

I'm falling in love with the Harry Potter series again. This means that I'm more likely to work on October Wind than I am to work on my Naruto stuff. I swear I'll try to do both. The next chapter of Serendipity, "Tinman", is partially written.

But Draco...and Severus too.

Yes, Severus Snape. I have a weakness for the not-so-bad Slytherins. I'm thinking of a drabble series about Severus in a post-Lily life and what he might be like if he ever moved on. It'll be an interesting study in characterization if I do it, methinks.

Any thoughts, my nonexistent readers? Do a girl a favor and prove you're there and comment, s'il vous plait, mes amis?

I think I need to work on my French. I'm pretty sure I misspelled something there.

On another note, I have a blog. I'm quite rude in it and I try not to mention that I am Hikari Adams in my current dissection of a fanfic (I don't want to blatantly use one of mine but I only know mine well enough to do any sort of analysis). It's strange writing about my fics as if someone else wrote them.

Please check out my blog, The Hurricane, at westernmonsoon . blogspot . com.

Merci beaucoup, toute la monde!

If you have not read Genevieve, then DO NOT READ THIS. It contains SPOILERS for Genevieve:

I finished Genevieve, as I've stated, and I think I should answer some things about it. If there is an (ae) next to something, that's the alt ending.

Genevieve Kane only directly deals with two characters in the story: Zelda Hale and Blake Cadens. Indirectly she deals with Martha Stark (ae) and Fallon Cooke. It's mentioned that she still talks to Alexandrina, Zachariah, and another sibling. She doesn't get out much.

The Cadens family is Italian, for the record.

Blake and Gabriel both, in some ways, have real-life counterparts. It was unintentional, and I didn't realize it until I was almost done with the story, but they do. 

All questions about Laura Taylor are answered in the alt. ending.

The reason Blake doesn't snap at Adrian following the one funeral of the story is that he was in too much shock over seeing Carrie again.

Abby is an interesting character. She really is as selfless as she seems.

Zelda is not an orphan. Her great-grandmother stepped in over something else.

Gabriel got his middle name from his father and uncle. They are Reed and Rhys Cadens, respectively. When I needed a middle name for Gabe, I just used the American spelling of Rhys, Reese, and I'm treating it as a cross between the two names.

Originally, the brothers all had black hair, but I couldn't imagine Dannell with anything but silver hair, the same for Henry. I needed a way to explain why two men in their prime would be all grey, so I came up with the story of Molly's brother. If a genetic predisposition towards greying at a young age is present, then it makes perfect sense for it to affect these five. It also helps because Blake is supposed to be good looking in Geni's view, and the black/white thing is something she finds attractive (ae).

Genevieve is known by a couple of names: Genevieve, Vivie, Geni, and Viv. I wanted each group to call her something different.

There are four siblings in total for Genevieve. She didn't meet them until she was about fourteen, though, when their father died.

The new regime doesn't really have a name. The star emblem was chosen because they wanted something that couldn't be mistaken as religious in any way, and the particular design of the star used isn't connected to any religion. It was designed by someone in the family (ae).

END SPOILERS.

Le Cygne Noir is my new story, and one I can't seem to stop working on. That's mainly because writing Pippa is like writing in a diary. It's set in a different world and with a different society, but she's a lot like me. The title, which means "The Black Swan", does play an important role in the story. It's also probably the closest I will ever get to writing a western.

Yes, the main character is named Pippa. I love that name.

I have officially lost interest in Naruto. I'm sorry, but after Itachi and this most recent death, I can't get into it. Maybe someday something will revive my interest, but right now, I doubt it. I've actually lost interest in fanfiction all around. NaNoWriMo was a complete train wreck (no time whatsoever to work on Finding Stella). I have, however, found my love of original stories once again.

I speak, of course, of Genevieve. It is now done, weighing in at 56 pages and over 30,000 words. It's a monster and it answers no questions. There is an alt ending in the works for those who like having their romantic dreams crushed in exchange for answers.

Burn: About to be revisited.

Peccavi: Just started. Clara's creepy and I have to be in a certain mood to work on it. Clara Barathrum sets out to find a replacement ink resevoir and ends up revisiting her family's dark past. From her mother Georgiana to her brother Harlan, Clara inadvertently discovers that just maybe, there is something to that Barathrum curse.

Le Cygne Noir: Just started. Inspired by Australia, although the movie really only brought back my love of horses. Pippa is a proper schoolgirl and the adopted daughter of famed horseman Vance Markey. When Vance goes missing, Pippa sets out to uncover his whereabouts and to find out just what he was searching for in the wasteland beyond the University walls. Along the way, she meets Rogue, a charming drifter who seems to know Vance, as well as how to survive in the wasteland. By the end, Pippa must decide whether or not society is really worth it, and just what it means to be alive.

Finding Stella: going nowhere. When Sara Darling was a child, she idolized the mysterious Stella. Now, at seventeen, she must find her hero to prove she exists to both her town and to Sara herself.

Lady Masquerade: dead end. Eliza and Alex just won't fight enough.

Salvation: Forget Rowena, Duvessa's the pain.

Broken Wings: No time, no inspiration. I need to read Brisingr to revive my love of dragons.

Miscalculation: I don't know what that previous Miscalculation was, but here's the official one: Euphie Fitzgerald does not fall in love. Ever. So just what happens when she does right before graduation, only to learn that while she's going to Chicago, he's going to LA.

My computer is going crazy.

My myspace has already seen a similar post, but I might as well write this here too.

GO SEE AUSTRALIA!

The story is of Lady Sarah Ashley, who goes to Australia in search of her husband. After a series of unfortunate events she finds herself a widow who must drive over a thousand cattle to the port city of Darwin.

Enter: Drover.

I now understand my mother's fixation with Hugh Jackman. It took this film, and seeing him without a shirt on and water falling over him for me to realize that he is without question the sexiest man alive. The list got it right. His character, the Drover, is a scruffy and lawless man, first seen fighting in a bar. The Drover is what every girl's fantasy man is, even if she won't admit it.

The movie goes from the Outback to Darwin with amazing ease, telling a story of love, loss, and family. It tugs at the heartstrings and even made me cry. There are no words for 'Australia'. Honestly. All I can recommend is that any readers see it for themselves and then maybe a conversation can begin.

Wow. Updates have been super slow around here, but I have an excuse!

I started writing Genevieve, a short story, on a whim. One of my friends fell in love with it, so I'm trying to finish it for her. It should be done sometime soon, so I can get back to everything else. November will put everything on HIATUS, though. I'm joining NaNoWriMo this year, so November will be my time for working on Finding Stella.

Lady Masquerade: a little progress has been made, and the outline has been drawn up.

The Butterfly: the most recent two chapters need serious revisions before I can do anything with the story.

Salvation: ...

The Ouroboros: Again, a little bit of progress, but nothing great.

Genevieve: almost done.

Deus ex Machina: halfway through Part II

The Senate: I finally got around to writing the prologue and the epilogue

Last Train Home: Book I has begun, but it is nowhere near done

Broken Wings: ...

Burn: ...

Halcyon: ...

Miscalculation: ...

Windy City: ...

Yeah, it's been pretty crazy around here. I've had almost no time for anything but Genevieve.

Comments are encouraged.

This is the third time I've tried to post this. Let's hope it works this time.

Election, election, why must you be so cruel?

It's the most historic election in the United States, and I can't vote because I turn eighteen in December. I'm really not happy about that, but at least I can help out with the Obama campaign here. I was actually really surprised that we got a place for it here, because this is a little podunk town in southern Missouri, aka the Ozarks. We're mostly conservative republicans (read: the old folks without proper education and the youth they've brainwashed from birth), but some are liberals (read: the younger generations with proper education). I was actually quite surprised that Missouri is a true swing state this year (again, upset because I can't vote) . It's really cool that some tiny backwoods town like mine can make a difference.

Stories....

Vulnerable Europa has been handwritten. I'll try to get the other four parts up here if anyone is interested. This requires you to leave a comment. Yes, that means you.

The Alaska Files, also known as two short stories with the same character taking over my mind. That an Alaska is a lot of fun to write. She's weird and I like the style.

The Butterfly...I finished the epilogue today. I just have everything before that to finish. The third chapter, The Lady Thorn, is about halfway finished.

Lady Masquerade...hmm, I'm still having trouble with that one, so let's skip it.

The Ouroboros...is doing pretty good. I've got one of the later chapters partly written, and the next chapter is close to halfway done.

Salvation...Rowena's a bit of a pain.

Deus ex Machina! My new story, it was started in the fifty or so remaining pages of the notebook I wrote VE in. This is likely as sci-fi as my stories will ever get. But I like the main character's name. Her name was Nora in the beginning, but I fell in love with the name Twila. So that is her name.  Anyone who wants the summary should comment.

 My other new thing. I'm writing a script. I don't know why. I've had the characters of Hazel and Nicholas for years now (about four-five years) and I've finally found the perfect story for them. 'Notes' is something that I really like now that I've figured out the plot. I'm hoping it will be an honest depiction of what life is like for teens in my hometown. In this backwards place, it gets interesting.

Fanfiction....see Lady Masquerade.

Also, I won't have a lot of time for the next couple of weeks. I'm a part of the Ridgerunner, a folklore magazine published by my school, staff, and I've been having some trouble with an interview. Most of my time will likely be wrapped up with that. Sorry!

Finally! It took me about twenty tries, but I finally got this page to work.

The shorts I started are slowly coming along. alaska runs and Vulnerable Europa more than the others, but that's just what I have with me at school. I also started a script. It sees the revival of two of my favorite original characters from a scrapped story.

alaska runs is part of The Alaska Files, a new shorts series I've started. Alaska is a fun character to write.

Vulnerable Europa is told in five parts the first is here:

...or not. My computer isn't working with me right now.

Ah, there ig goes.

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Feedback is enjoyed. Part II is already written, I just have to type it.

I said I'd do this for The Butterfly, so here is the first and second files

I've actually been back since early Tuesday morning, but I liked being away. Alberta was amazing, though I was expecting there to be more grass on the campus of the University of Alberta. Still, the university has the BEST view in Edmonton. It looks right over the river and is in the old part of the city. It was amazing, but I don't think I want to go there. Right now, the University of Montana is strangely appealing. I was rather shocked by that. As a vegetarian, it was easier to eat in Montana than it was to in Edmonton.

I have a bunch of half-finished chapters and short stories right now. I blame the CD I got while in Alberta. It is Tokio Hotel's 'Scream', and it is AMAZING! Of course, 'An Ancient Muse' by Loreena McKennitt and 'Fortune's Favour' by Great Big Sea were also bought there, and each one is super-inspiring. McKennitt's 'The English Ladye and the Knight' has become the new theme song for The Ouroboros, though GSB's 'Heart of Stone' and Tokio Hotel's 'Sacred' came very close to beating out McKennitt. In the end, however, the line about the ancient city of Carlisle caused McKennitt's song to earn the title of theme.

I pre-ordered 'Breaking Dawn' by Stephenie Meyer, so it was in the post office midnight of the 2nd. I went to Canada the day before. Now I'm back, and I won't get the book until Monday. As a result, I'm actually quite depressed right now, though Banira told me I shouldn't expect it to be as wonderful as the previous books.

So, line-up of stories I need to work on:

Acor: the story of Rory of the Niveri, and the travels she and her friends make amidst a war. Their troubles only get worse when it is discovered that the one with the power to end the war is among them and refuses to do anything, instead searching for the mastermind behind the slaughter of the Tionian royal family. Answers, however, are sometimes best left unknown.

Broken Wings: allow me to give you the original prologue, which will no longer be used:

I like to think that I'm a better writer now.

The Ouroboros: thanks to the new theme, the next chapter is halfway completed. It's a filler, though, so it isn't great.

Lady Masquerade: I know point A and point B, it's the line in between that's confusing me with this new chapter.

Salvation: still haven't gotten around to cleaning up the next chapter. Need to do.

The Butterfly: see Lady Masquerade

Jinx: Wow, I really need to revamp this. I think I'm still going to run into the problem fitting everything in one book, so I'm going to clean up the series outline first.

Halcyon: short. Anita has always existed in an endless plain of wheat. There is a lake, and her land is marked across the lake and beyond by a railroad on which no train has ever appeared. She has never gone to the platform in the middle of the lake, nor has she ever wanted to. On the other side of the lake/tracks, sunflowers rule the landscape. Anita's life is simple. And then it got complicated.

I'm still looking for a name for the main male character of Halcyon. Any suggestions? I'm considering Liam right now, but I don't quite like it. Halcyon, on a note, is the result of a nearly neverending drive across North and South Dakota (sorry, Dakotas).

Frostbite: short. She ruled the glaciers and protected the mountains. Humans destroyed it, so she destroyed them. She cannot live beside them, and believes this until she comes across an injured black panther in the snow. (the result of three days in Banff).

Burn: short. Montana 'Monty' Collins is a strange girl. She has three days in a tiny town in her namesake, the state of Montana, on the edge of a park. The hamlet is on a reservation, and with her two sisters off exploring, Monty explores the town. By chance, she meets Beaumont Starr, a local with the desire to leave. Monty, who wants to stay, ends up discovering so much with Beau. With only three days, can they manage to find happiness that can last when they say goodbye? 

I loved Montana, and that is why Burn is the longest of the shorts.

......

I'm going to work on everything, though it would be nice to know if anyone would prefer one short to be up faster than another.

The fanfiction is moving slowly because right now, the originals are more appealing.

On the subject of fanfiction, the SasuHana contest closed at midnight, just fifty minutes before I wrote this. I'll wait a little while to see if any entries were delayed (I know the site doesn't always get things up fast enough), but right now there are three entries, and if that's it, then I could tell you the winner right now. Anyone who is curious, the three entries are by Pandastacia, Quiet Moon, and Amynta. Please read them!

Glad to be home,
Hikari

I shouldn't be typing at this time of night, but I'm trying to finish 'London Calling', the next chapter of 'The Butterfly'. Chi has be adjusted, and London is appearing again. I'm really liking this chapter, though it is a transition.

Work now... 

'London Calling' should be up sometime soon.

I've lost interest in Naruto. I hate saying this, because I really want to finish my stories under that fandom, and I will eventually. I just keep moving to other fandoms, though. Bleach, for instance, is quickly becoming one of my favorites again. Code Geass has also caught my interest. Really, did Itachi HAVE to turn out to be a good guy?

Currently, Psychomacy is underway in the Code Geass world, and I've started sketching out 'Thunder', which will go under Bleach. I'll get around to finishing the other Naruto stories. I think I might be able to work on them now that I've finally found the perfect name for Karin's zanpaku-to. That was bothering me for a while. 


Barking dogs....annoying....so very annoying...

Dear fanfiction readers,
     Hate me if you want to. 

I have finally revived 'Hymn to the Night', my Vampire Knight story. It is an epic crossover, currently with Trinity Blood. It is also the official book one of the Nighttime Trilogy. I had no intention of writing a trilogy when I started on this, but right now, book two 'Stars of Mercury' is in outline stage, and part of the outline for the currently untitled book three is complete. I still need a title for book three. My current idea is Empress of Moonlight, but I'm not too fond of that. Any ideas? As of right now, Trinity Blood and xxxHolic put in appearances, though it is Vampire Knight centric. It's not a happy story.

The Academy will soon be finding a home on FP. I think. I'm still not sure about that. Anyone have any ideas about that? 

Other than that, I have nothing to say.

I'm so happy! Last night, Mitchan and I finally got Hi Miss Alice! up on myspace. We don't have any songs there at the moment, but we're still up. We're already plotting the title of our first album (currently: Greetings from Wonderland). We can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/greetingsfromwonderland. 

The Academy is moving, once again. I've got some of the introductions (it's so much easier to follow this pattern of introductions instead of going through and introducing each character in an actual story setting) done. I also ended up working on a Zane fic, which is strange because I usually don't write him. However, 'Closer' has been working it's way around my mind from a time before Amber Rose Academy actually existed. Zane, and this particular plot, have existed since the days of the Monroe Institute, one of the many precursors of ARA. It shows that I've got serious writer's block if I'm working on ARA again. This is what I do when I can't find the words for other stories. Which is why ARA has over a hundred stories, but let's ignore that. It's been fun working on it again. I'm trying to switch everything over to 3rd person, because right now, every story all hundred-some are written in 1st, and I don't like it. Only the intros will be in first. 

 

( Meet Stephenie Baker... )

It's been interesting, trying to figure out who's intro to write next. I'm really annoyed, though, at the fact that my font keeps changing on me. I like the other font.