Hi there!

Just in case you're curious, a bit about me:

My intended pen name was Karama, which is a random collection of syllables I came up with for the name of a fictional planet. I started using it as an irc nickname because I wanted a planet name (Sailor Moon fan...) and all the reasonable variations of the real ones were taken. I found out later that it means something in the fictional world of Dune and in Arabic (or so I was told), but any double meaning was unintentional on my part. Karama was taken, so I went with my usual alternate of Karama9. The 9 is because I like using multiples of 3.

Current Projects:

- A sequel to Arashikage - not ready for posting

- Serpent Rising, my idea for a sequel to GI Joe Rise of Cobra - abandoned

- Moving On, the sequel to Hero, my Zelda fanfic - on hiatus

- Ninja Spirits - in progress

- Ensemble piece - this one is special; it's a learning exercise for me since I usually focus on a very small group of characters, AND I've set myself a goal for it. The goal is: draft finished, with at least 70,000 words, by the end of August 2013.

Working Teaser Titles for Upcoming (eventually) One Shots:

The Talk

Doggy Tricks

Professional Pride

Renegade Twins

Corsairs and Musketeers

Timelines

GI Joe

Since I mostly write in the AU I created with Arashikage, I thought some people might like to see how things fit together, and what, if anything, is not in fact within the same timeline. Here's a rough meta-timeline for my GI Joe fics. I even threw in where I'm planning to fit in the one-shots mentioned above, although that may change.

Arashikage Timeline

Changing Meaning

Clan War

Early Years

Petite Histoire Risquee 1

Arashikage chapters 1-8

Within chapter 8 of Arashikage: Death of a Master

Around Arashikage (roughly) : Ninja Spirits

First Blood

Petite Histoire Risquee 2

Within Arashikage : Priorities

Arashikage chapters 9-34

How to Handle a Sick Ninja

Vigilante

A Ninja by Any Other Name

The Greenshirts and the Werewolf

Reunion

The Talk

Doggy Tricks

Professional Pride

Corsairs and Musketeers

Apprentices

Blue Hair, Glitter and Ninjas, Oh My!

Fatherly Love

(Untitled)

Sequel to Arashikage

Independent Stories

Attack of the Wereworms

GI Joe Serpent Rising

In the Pipes

Loss and Justice

Viper, Viper in the Pit... (who's the Beachiest of them all?)

Renegade Twins

The Disowned Master

Identity

Zelda

I have this tendency to create universes for my stories and then just keep writing in these universes. I did it for GI Joe, and although it's less apparent since I haven't posted much else than my initial story yet, I've done it for Zelda as well.

In Zelda's case, I wrote my first story before the official timeline was made public. I made up my own timeline and wrote the story, and planned the sequel, with that in mind. I've since decided to incorporate elements from Skyward Sword, which wasn't out at the time, but after careful consideration of the official timeline, I've decided I couldn't write the story I wanted if I followed it. Too many things hinged on the timeline I had made up in my head, including a very major plot point.

Since it's not meant to be a mystery, here is, roughly, the timeline I had made up in my head, with Skyward Sword a recent addition. I'm mostly referring to games without going into details to keep at least my profile as spoiler free as I can.

- Creation of Hyrule
- (much later) Events taking place in what is the distant past in Skyward Sword
- (much later) Skyward Sword

- (much later) Minish Cap
- (much later) Ocarina of Time

Path 1: Child timeline - the one Link lives in following his being returned to the Past by Zelda. His remaining title of Hero of Time is due to his relating what has happened to Zelda as a child, so they can avoid the same seven years of misery. Ganondorf is defeated without ever acquiring the whole Triforce.

- (shortly after) Majora's Mask
- (much later) Twilight Princess
- (much later) The Legend of Zelda
- (shortly after) Adventure of Link
- (much later) A Link to the Past

Path 2: Adult timeline - this is the timeline adult Zelda still lives in after sending Link back to the past. Ganon has been defeated, but major reconstruction is needed in Hyrule, and the Hero of Time is gone, lost to this time.

- (much later) Wind Waker
- (shortly after) Phantom Hourglass
- (much later) Spirit Tracks

Added to these timelines are the other Link's encountered in Hero:

- The Link met in a store can be from anywhere - he's just generic, honestly. I don't have a backstory for him right now.
- The older Link who gives mine a ton of food, a sheath and some training is from somewhere between Adventure of Link and A Link to the Past. He has a story... I might write it someday.
- The Link who rather impatiently instructs mine to use fire against the ReDeads is from somewhere between Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess. He has a story, I'm working on it.
- The 5-year-old Link killed by Ganon lived sometime after A Link to the Past
- Hero thus takes place over 1,500 years after A Link to the Past. It is in Path 1, making Path 2 the 'alternate universe' in my fics. Why there are still some sort of records of Hyrule being flooded, and why Link can connect with the Hero of the Wind, will be explained in good time.

A few notes on GI Joe canon vs my stories

Without spoilers, those following the ARAH comic books may be wondering if I’ll ever be introducing the Cyber ninjas storyline in my verse. “The Disowned Master” and "Identity" notwithstanding (which are not part of my usual AU anyway), I don’t intend to, because it would prevent me from writing what I want.

Fact is, I do write in an AU. Arashikage is probably as close as I’ll ever get to matching any canon story lines, except for one coming one-shot (The Talk). And if you read Arashikage, you know that was a loose fit at best. The sequel I have planned picks up the tradition of taking canon story lines and sticking them in the blender, but it will again very much be a rethink, mix and match affair... and the main thread is from the disavowed continuity rather than from ARAH.

As for the characters, I tried to keep them true to themselves when I defined them, with my interpretation being mostly (but not exclusively) based on early A Real American Hero issues (before 100), and I'm doing my absolute best to keep them consistent and their evolution natural.

Because they are based on my own interpretation and because I've changed their circumstances and what they've lived through a bit, the way I portray some characters won't necessarily match with newer issues of ARAH (and I can tell you now, they don't seem to match at all with the Dixon continuity). I would prefer not to write OOC, but I have decided to stick with my own take on things because basically, I've grown attached to it. Deviations can hopefully be seen as minor enough that the characters will still feel right to my readers.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, my whole verse is very much a re-invention (as advertised right at the start of Arashikage). I hope you enjoy it... personally, I've grown to like the fanon that was developed here (and I don't mean just by myself!) better than canon. Such a bad, shameless fan I am.

What to expect romance-wise:

When reading, I'm open to just about anything that is not complete canon-rape and that is well-written (no objection to two lifelong best friends becoming more, not a fan of 13 year old enemies suddenly feeling horny), but if there's nothing else than romance going on for more than a few thousand words, I just kind of lose interest. When writing, I chicken right out of most romance, err... I mean, I usually focus on other things (typically less rosy things).

I also have a Deviant page: http:/// .

Finally, I have a twitter page, where I tend to talk about whatever I'm writing on that day or to mess around with some buddies from here: http://twitter.com/Karama9 . Plot bunnies often pop into existence on twitter.

If you don't paste things into your profile, don't paste this into your profile. (I didn't, I made it up)

Special Contest as of May 14th 2012!

All your dreams could come true! Not because of this contest mind you, the prize here is absolutely not on the dream come true scale. I was just saying. I guess it was an odd spot for a random positive thought. Sorry.

So, what is this contest about, you ask? The one with the not that great prize?

Well! I found a chronology error in my story Vigilante. I was about to correct it, but I started wondering how come nobody pointed it out to me. My guess was that nobody noticed, so I thought I'd encourage people to try and find it and see if I'm the only one who can detect it at all.

The error is that an event that occurs after Vigilante in my timeline is referred to as having already happened. I use the term event, but it's not necessarily anything major (or minor... I'm not telling you anything).

Find the reference, tell me when the event actually happened, and you win... something. I'm thinking some kind of story request, where you can either ask for a story or for a particular character to show up in an existing story. I can't guarantee I'll give you your first choice, but I'm sure we can work something out.

Hints given on facebook and reproduced here for fairness:

1) It's not in the flashbacks to Storm's time in Cobra.

2) Part of the information implied in the reference would indeed have been known at that point, but only part! Also, like I said above, the reference is to an event (big or small) that has not yet happened, not just to a fact.

Good luck! With those hints, I'm sure someone will figure it out. :)

Update: we have a winner! Congratulations to Cloud Clavell, and better luck next time to anyone else who was scratching their heads (I choose to think there must have been one or two of you)!

Oh, you want the answer? In the last scene, Storm Shadow tells Snake Eyes he had already told him he didn't look that bad. This happens in The Greenshirts and the Werewolf, when Tommy sees Snake Eyes' face post-scarring for the first time and rather than being horrified at all, just tells him he looks like his father. Chronologically, The Greenshirts and the Werewolf happens after Vigilante (see timeline above), so Storm had not told Snake Eyes anything like that yet (in fact he hadn't seen his scars yet) in Vigilante.