Fanfictions Authored:
次元の傷 (Undergoing 7th rewrite)
Shikotsumyaku (Complete)
Jyuuken (Stalled)
Shintenshin
Title Pending (Undergoing 1st rewrite)

Thought of the year:
"To understand a literary style, consider what it omits."
-Mason Cooley

If you're here because you didn't like my review of your story:
I regret NOTHING!!

If you're here because you want to know why I have not been updating much recently:
I'm still trying, but I lack the time and motivation to write anything significant.

IF YOU'RE HERE:
Vote on the poll. Results don't just collect themselves, you know...

16/01/2013 Update (dd/mm/yyyy format, 'a'ccause I'm Australian)

Happy New Year. And stuff.

I really did want to have the newest chapter of Shintenshin ready for New Year's Day, but it just "weren't happening." Better 2 weeks late than 6 months, I suppose.

Those of you who pay attention to such details may have noticed that I've put up some very badly edited cover art for Shikotsumyaku and Shintenshin. I may still work on some for Jyuuken, but that will be largely dependant of my finding some time and motivation- the two things I never seem to get a handle on.

At the moment I've got a bit of a nasty cold. You know the type where you "collect" a new symptom every day until all you want to do is sleep for another 10 hours? Yeah, that. So, between oozing on my keyboard and playing the most time-consuming games I own, I've had some time to actually do some writing. Hoo-ray.

Still, I'm not going to rule out the possibility of picking Jyuuken back up, dusting it off, and having another crack at writing a new chapter. It's actually been quite a while since I last read it, so refreshing my memory might give me some inspiration. Though I think my writing style has changed enough in the 2 years I've let it be that anything new I write may seem jarring. I might have to re-work some of the existing chapters- or just work with that abrupt change in style the same way I did with Shikotsumyaku's epilogue: put in a large time-skip and try to use the physically older brains of the characters to (unsuccessfully?) illustrate the changes time has left on them.

Well, we'll see anyway. I hypothetically ANYTHING!

08/06/2013 Update

Damn, but those last six months really flew by, didn't they? Winter is starting to get into its stride in the Southern Hemisphere, but is obviously not trying very hard. Standing on a stone surface at high-noon for 2 minutes barely makes my bare feet go purple at all.

In regards to my previous update; sourcing suitable images to cannibalize into another of those GLORIOUSLY BAD cover images for Jyuuken has proven to be oodles more difficult that I would have guessed. Why this should be, I have no idea. But I retain the conviction that I hypothetically ANYTHING.

I find it quite interesting how so much can change in half a year while simultaneously staying more-or-less the same. Maybe it's just my imagination. Or maybe I'm just thinking about it too much. I tend to do that. I have, on the other hand, noticed an increase in anti-Crack Pairing sentiment lately. Possibly I'm just old-fashioned in my thinking, but when I started reading fan fiction that was almost the entire point. Exploring new ground that the canon storyline left no room for, fleshing out characters that were originally far too under-developed. Also shamelessly inserting an idealised version of yourself to run around kicking everyone else's ass- that was (and still is) a popular, misguided direction to take. But I digress.

Lo and behold, the stars recently aligned or something, because two things happened at the same time:
1) I have some free time that I don't wish to otherwise employ.
2) I had me a crazy idea; a fun activity that Hinata might want to force on Kimimaro. An idea so crazy and stupid I simply can't NOT make it into a new chapter of Jyuuken. There are rules that must be observed. A woe unto the keyboard-monkey that disregards such omens.
I'm not wholly sure how long writing the chapter is likely to take, but I've made a start (that I feel confident I'll have to re-visit multiple times before I'm satisfied with it) and, barring excessive Writer's Block, I hope to add upon soon.

Also because I just read "Illuminated" by Renaerys. I feel oddly encouraged by such a confident display of emotional storytelling, and can barely restrain my desire to flex the muscles in my fingers (which don't exist, the finger muscles are actually in the forearm) and hammer out a synthesised formula of my own. Whether or not I find the finished product cringe-worthy or facepalm-inducing will be an interesting surprise.

One last thing: I just realised that I have completely removed any references to the results of the last poll (which may become more important soon). So I'd like to quickly go over that again:

Least Favourite Pairing:
5. Kimimaro x Sakura (4 Votes) - hard to tell if this is a direct indication of people disliking Shikotsumyaki, or just Sakura. More research necessary.
4. Kimimaro x Hinata (7 Votes) - I have a sneaking suspicion that this IS mostly Hinata-hate (a shame, since she got awesome in Part II).
3. Kimimaro x Tayuya (9 Votes) - one of those votes is mine (not really, since voting in my own poll strikes me as oddly sanctimonious).
2. Kimimaro x Ino (10 Votes) - why u no like Ino?! I'll admit that the idea seemed plain crazy before Shintenshin, but the pairing (and Ino in general) grew on me.
1. Kimimaro x Kin (12 Votes) - hey now! None of that! Leave the poor dead girl alone.

Still, such a negative reaction did nothing but encourage me to work harder on my next story, which will be unapologetically Kimimaro x Kin. While that pairing may, at first glance, seem even weirder than Kimimaro x Ino; where there is a will, there is a way. (Also the ability to alter the fiction universe with a few choice words.) Prepare for, as per the current poll trends, a grim, blood-stained romantic thriller with solid characterization, lightly dusted with (dry/dark) humour and unique and interesting original characters (necessary for padding).

15/06/2013 Update

Took a few more days than I was hoping, but chapter 12 of Jyuuken is now available.

Also, I must retract my previous statement regarding the relative feebleness of Winter this year. I just went outside and was able to breathe clouds of vapour that neared my own body size. PLEASE FORGIVE ME, WEATHER!