Hey, pals and gals! I know you probably got all excited or confused or whatever when you saw that this was a new chapter, but…it's not.
Sorry.
I kind of decided to do a little overview-type thing. Like, answering questions some of you reviewers had, filling in some holes I left in the story, telling you about stuff I TOTALLY meant to put in but COMPLETELY forgot, ect. So basically this is one whole huge Author's Note. Not technically a chapter, and not technically a fan-fiction either, but I think it deserves a spot anyway. Because if I put it in my profile, no one would read it. And there's nowhere else to put it, is there?
Okay. So. Ahem. I shall begin by answering some questions.
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Chibi Carru asked: Well actually, Chibi Carru asked several questions. :D
#1: …err im sortuve confused of whats happening right now, i mean it looks like Raven took a day job or something...and thats about all ive caught on...Does she still live with the titans? And what is their relationship now with each other?
—Yes, Raven took a day job. She actually had a job as a waitress/table bus-er/cook at The Last Drop Café (I took that café name from some music video I saw on Youtube…so to whoever came up with it, my apologies). And no, she lived in a depressing apartment home in Jump City. She was completely isolated from the Titans after Robin's dramatic confession-type thing. So in the five-something months she spent away from the Tower, she had no communication with them.
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Foi asked:
#2: I WANT TO know what happened!! How did she leave the titans? unless i missed it...
—You didn't miss anything; I deliberately left that part of the story out. I left it out partly because it was kind of cool to go from a super-dramatic scene in the Tower, to a foreign kind of environment somewhere where Raven was failing miserably at making coffee. But I also left it out because I have no freaking idea how she got from one place to the other. And I was too lazy to come up with something. So it was kind of a deleted scene.
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Paprika90 asked:
#3: question because i forgot: was it underthe assumption that she is with child and she never was? or is she really pregnant?
—Shoot, did I forget to add something in there as well? Haha. (blush) No, Raven was never actually pregnant, because I am actually extremely afraid of pregnant people and would absolutely HATE to make Raven suffer through that…And it doesn't really fit in with the theme of the story.
I wanted just wanted Raven to be afraid of something like that, and also to realize that her little fling with Robin could have more lasting repercussions than she realized. Plus, she got to throw tea at Beast Boy. I have ALWAYS wanted someone to throw something at him. xD
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RavenRobinGirl asked:
#4: also does Rae's co-worker person thingy hav any real importance or is he just some random person u threw in 4 kicks?
—Keith was originally supposed to have a really, super minor role. All I wanted him to do was teach Raven how to properly make coffee. But as I started writing more of chapter 9, I kind of thought, "Wow! This guy is one hot tamale! I wonder what would happen if he and Raven hooked up?" And so the disastrous chapter 9 was born.
…And to all those people who seriously thought this was going to be a Raven/Keith fic…I kind of have to laugh here. Excuse me for a moment.
(extremely loud laughter is heard from somewhere off in Cyberspace)
Ahem. I'm back.
Story of a Girl was never going to be a Keith/Raven fic, because I hate it when people put random OC's in their stories and make them go out with a main character. However, I needed some way to instigate some more confusing feelings for Raven, and also as a way to get her back to the Tower.
I originally planned for Robin to see Keith and Raven talking in the street and get all jealous, then have Robin kidnap Keith and lure Raven back to the Tower. But that was kind of stupid. And anyway, if Robin was all drugged up, how would he manage to kidnap Keith, who (although I never mentioned this) has muscles that are like ten feet high?
It was kind of fun to think about, though.
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Chibi Carru asked:
#5: what do you mean "when she had powers" does that mean she no longer has powers anymore?! There gone, banished, nada?! If yes, how the hell did that happen then!
—Jeez, I forget to explain this too! :D Maybe I should have had a beta-reader after all…
I put a little part in—what was it, Chapter 5 or 6?—about Raven losing her powers, but I kind of forgot to add in everything else. So here it is.
After she had sex with Robin, Raven was so overcome with these horrible, confusing emotions that her powers kind of vanished for a while. That was part of the reason why she couldn't defend herself when Robin was "confessing", and also why she found it easier to fit in as a civilian during her café days.
But then—in chapter 8 or 9, I forget which—she had been working out at the gym for ages and got pretty buff, and she felt that if Robin ever tried to hurt her again, she was strong enough to defend herself. So when she looked in the mirror, she saw someone worthwhile—and some of the confusing emotions were gone, and she could use her powers again.
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Tennisgal456 asked:
#6: what drove robin to use drugs?
—This was another one of those tricky things that I just skimmed over. I really don't know why I had Robin use ecstasy. I needed more drama and a reason for Raven to be horrified and whatnot. Because the crappier she felt in the story, the cooler it would be when she finally "let go".
Maybe he was feeling guilty about the whole cheating thing as well. I mean, he had to live with Starfire. At least Raven got to go away for a while.
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SylverEyes said:
#7: …you made me go back to eighth grade science; nine feet per second per second. Twelve stories, about four and a half seconds to fall. Raven can sure think a lot, and fast, in a very short amount of time. XP
—Twelve stories? That's it? I thought the Tower was, like, at least twenty stories! :O That's crazy!
Hmm. Maybe it was one of those life-flashing-before-your-eyes kind of things.
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And now, I have some random information.
My favorite scene:
Probably the "confession" scene in Chapter 6. It was so dramatic and angst-filled and crazy that I just had to love writing it. Plus, since people always call Robin and Raven "the birds", I had always wanted someone to make a bad pun about Raven being a bird. That was why I put all the stuff with Robin saying "Trying to fly away from home, little bird?" and whatever. Corny. But kinda cool.
My least favorite scene:
I'd have to say the part where Raven was in the hospital. I despise that scene. It didn't really fit with the story, her nightmares were really weird, and it was just kind of stupid and insane. I wanted to have Cyborg and Beast Boy visit, but I couldn't get the dialogue natural enough. And I hate hospital scenes as a rule.
My favorite chapter:
I'd say Chapter 4 was my favorite, yeah. I don't know why. I think it was because I got the Starfire/Raven dialogue to sound good, and it was really fun to have Starfire being super-nice and caring while Raven felt guilty about it. Because that was kind of the essence of the story: if you're lying to people who care about you, every kind gesture they make is just going to make you feel worse. And if you keep lying, then it's going to eat away at you until you confess.
My least favorite chapter:
Mmm…a tie. Between Chapter 2 (which was short, melodramatic, and kind of pointless), and Chapter 3 (pointless as well). I dislike them both.
My two favorite characters:
Ahh, I love Leslie Albertan, Raven's boss. He was hilarious. I was going to make him gay, but that would have been awkward to fit into the story, and it wouldn't have done much to make you dislike him more, since most of you already disliked him.
I also adore Becky, the girl who told Raven that Keith moved away. She was so hip and cool. Even though she's the type of person I'd be a little scared of in real life (she smokes, swears, dresses amazingly, wears a lot of makeup and is capable of jumping over counters in one incredibly smooth move), she was still awesome. I loved her way of speaking. Plus she was totally oblivious to anything that didn't really concern the latest gossip. She was a jerk. But a really, really cool jerk.
Time it took me to write a chapter:
It usually took a couple of hours to actually write the chapter. But I'd have to think about it for about a week or two. Here is where I thank my fabulously lovely friend Dallas (XxNightfirexX) for giving me SO MANY fabulous ideas, listening to me rant about issues I was having, and coming up with the solution for the whole Keith-is-supposed-to-leave-but-where-the-heck-is-he-going-to?! problem. She's awesome. Go read her stuff.
I swore a lot in the stories. Do I actually swear in real life?
Well, yes and no. I only really swear when:
a) I want to express a strong emotion, or
b) I want to impress people and decide that acting all cool and aloof and tough is the way to do it.
It usually makes me look like an idiot. But I do it anyway.
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Now that we've covered that, there are just a few more things I want to put in. See, when I was writing, I would always think of things to put in, but I usually forgot to put them in. Here are a few examples…
In Chapter Four: You know that scene where Raven throws up and Robin comforts her, but then his phone rings? And Raven has never seen the phone before? And when she asks him who he was talking to, he kind of answered too quickly? And then he said his bike was at the mechanic's and yet he somehow managed to ride away on it?
There was supposed to be a scene with Robin following. He was actually talking to some of his "clients" (AKA the people he supplied with drugs) on the phone, and was telling them that they would get their drugs soon. So when Raven asked him what he was doing, he just said he was talking to the mechanics. That was why he could drive away on his bike, even though he stupidly told Raven it was getting fixed.
In Chapter Six: Remember when Raven was talking to Beast Boy and he was all, "OMGAH YOU'RE LYK TTLY PREGGERS!!11! :D :D :D"? And she sort of randomly spazzed out and threw her precious herbal tea at him? He was kind of supposed to make it a joke, like be laughing when he said it, but I forgot. Oh well.
I'm sure there are absolutely stacks more of these, but I really can't remember any more.
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So yeah, I just wanted to clear some of that stuff up. Hope you understand everything now! And thanks for reviewing, guys. It made my day(s). :)
Oh, and before I forget: I now have a poll! Another one! It is the "Guess How Old Seraephina Is!" poll! I'll tell you the answer after a decent amount of people answer it.
That's it. Toodles, and happy fiction-ing! )