For all of you lovely Castle fans out there, I now write Castle fiction, under the name badge-and-pen.

I regret to say that I am leaving behind Bones writing on a relatively permanent basis. If I were to post new stories, they would be AU and non-canon. Why is this? Well, I wrote a long explanation that didn't get received all that well on the ending of my last story, and have moved it here. Read if you like, but I refuse to sugarcoat. I try too hard to please people in real life and sort of get stomped on all the time, and I'm not going to lie about how I feel to all of you here. So here goes:

Every new episode simply makes my heart grieve for the show it used to be but no longer is. You may have noticed that I strive to recreate the old, kick-ass versions of Booth and Brennan in my stories. These, I believe, are the characters in their purest, most honest form. From seasons 1-3, Bones was the most wonderfully creative, bright star of a television show. It was captivating, humorous, and gritty. The darkness played wonderfully with the chemistry of the characters.

As things often do, though, the show changed. Post season-3 there was a shift. Something happened, and suddenly our characters were mockeries of their former selves. I can no longer happily watch the show. I spent last season in torment, struggling with the desperate hope that surged before every episode only to be crushed within the first ten minutes the moment there was a car commercial fitted into the script or Booth made some cruel comment about Bones' level of intelligence which went straight over her head while she simultaneously insults someone else because she's more socially clueless than she was in season 1.

I want back the old Booth and Brennan, who had deep conversations at the end of episodes, consoled each other after a tough case, gave small tokens of affection, shared 'guy hugs,' and cared about the victims and their families with a sympathy that managed to seep through the dark humor no matter what.

Whoever wrote that 'Sign in the Silence' episode was responsible for my ability to even start Season 7. When nothing even close to that appeared this past year, though, and the characters sunk even deeper into OOC-land while completely ignoring every last detail of everything all of the fans had been looking forward to for SEVEN YEARS I got sort of fed up. I watched eagerly for six seasons waiting for the first I-love-yous, waiting to see Booth and Brennan in the opening phases of a relationship, dealing with how to tell their coworkers and figuring out how it was going to work in the long-term, and those were exactly the details that got skipped. My heart broke a little bit.

I watched the finale of last season over a week after it aired, and merely because I felt the need to find out what happened, not because I was actually excited about it. I feel betrayed by Hart Hanson and the writers, who ignore the cries of the fandom and do whatever they please. They seem to believe that what the fans want is a cliffhanger at the end of every season followed by a large time-gap that doesn't provide any satisfaction.

I am tired of filling in these gaps and making excuses for the characters' actions. I simply cannot continue. If I post another story here, it will be an AU tale that I was working on around a year ago that is completely off canon.

I am moving on to write Castle fanfiction, and apparently this is a bigger deal than I realized it would be. I had assumed that I would leave Bones writing behind, provide my explanation for those that cared, and then anyone who was also a fan of both series would have a link to continue following my writing, if they so desired. It turns out there's this odd rivalry sort of thing between Castle and Bones, though, which honestly... I just find sad. Both shows have been wonderful to me, and have given me so much satisfaction in very different ways. They are similar, yes, and they get compared a lot, yes, but this is not completely negative, as I keep seeing people believe. They both have really strong elements of character chemistry, and that was what drew me to start watching Castle when one of you wonderful people on this site recommended it to me. From there I found Firefly, and from there Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You don't have to take things negatively when people suggest a show that seems to 'compete' because of the similar elements and the different ways the show has handled situations. Yes, I like the way Castle dealt with the romance more than I like the way Bones did. Not about to deny that. But there are many different elements that pushed me away from Bones, and they had nothing to do with Castle. It just so happened that Castle was there for me to watch, just as NCIS, Criminal Minds, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any other show are available to watch.

I would recommend Castle for you to watch, simply because you clearly like crime dramas and character chemistry if you're reading my Bones stories. I would also recommend NCIS or Criminal Minds, though, because you clearly also like mystery and angst. What I'm trying to say is that by going to Castle I am not trying to follow some trend of 'Bones-deserters.' Until the influx of comments I got earlier, I had not been aware there was this trend at all.

I'm glad so many of you are still capable of so fiercely defending your fandom. I once felt the exact same way about Bones, and almost regret that I do not still feel that way, because of how large a role Bones played in my life these last three and a half years. I don't regret a single second of the time I spent here.

If you read all of that, then I apologize sincerely if you take this for ranting and thank you again for your patience with me. I don't mean to sound bitter, as some of you have mentioned, and I do not mean to 'insult' the Bones fandom. All of you should know how much I have loved Bones and how much I have given to that labor of love. You have all been wonderful, regardless of my current opinions of this show. I will miss all of you.

Farewell.

I'm 19 years old, in college, and I used to love Bones. Probably way too much. This site truly became the perfect outlet for my obsession, and has helped me in so many ways to become a better writer. Novel somewhat-in-progress? Check.

I love Castle, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Mentalist, Numb3rs, Firefly, The Big Bang Theory, Law & Order: SVU, House, The Office, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Glee, Body of Proof, Prime Suspect, Revenge, New Girl, and Veronica Mars. The latest shows I have been looking into and rapidly falling in love with include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, How I Met Your Mother, Pretty Little Liars, and X-Files. I am always looking for new tv series to get addicted to.

My current favorite TV show (this tends to change on a daily basis): Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I also love writing (obviously), drawing, and reading. My favorite books include the Harry Potter series, the Warriors series, the Dragon Chronicles series, and several others.

My favorite characters of all time include Willow Rosenberg, Hermione Granger, Temperance Brennan, and Malcolm Reynolds.

My longer stories (and story ideas):

Always All For You- This one gets its title from my all-time favorite song, What If by SafetySuit. Danger, a hostage situation, romance, and the aftermath of the Brennan's-pregnant-finale-scene. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

In The Worst of Times- One of my newest stories, chronicling the lives of the team seven years in the future, after Brennan met and married someone new while Booth was still with Hannah. An angsty, powerful, emotional ride; probably my favorite story I've written so far.

What She's Been Through- My first fanfiction idea; it's not the greatest, but I had a wonderful time writing it. Even if it doesn't seem worth plowing through, I promise that the writing gets better closer to the end, and the storyline is powerful. This is the story that created the Brennan I write with; it introduced me to fanfiction and taught me how the character dynamics needed to work in my own writing. I've learned a lot since the days when I was first experimenting with this one, and I will never regret it.

What Brings Them Together- My latest project; sequel to What She's Been Through. Probably will be fifty chapters like the first one. On hold, but it kills me to leave it abandoned with all the fan support I have gotten and all the story alerts I keep seeing in my inbox. It's possible I will someday take the time to finish it off.

The Isolation of a Lone Suffering- FINALLY finished. Brennan turns away from everyone on the team when a case reminds her too strongly of her past, and she does exactly what they've always worried she might: she runs. And Booth follows, finding out more about her than he ever imagined.

To Never Know- This one is on temporary hold. Now that I'm done with Isolation, I might donate some more time to it... but I think I'd like to write the entire thing out before I update any more. Just be aware that it could be a very long wait, as I have Hidden and Always All For You to contend with, as well as the very persistent ideas for an ItWoT sequel, which don't seem to understand that I don't have the free-time to donate to them.

The Safety of a Hope Destroyed- Season 5 speculation story going off of Harbingers in the Fountain and the line that Booth took back. Complete.

Abyss- Um... this one's on hold. Like... forever hold. I sort of lost my inspiration, and the spoilers for season 5 pretty much made them disappear to the point where they aren't going to return. Sorry.

Heart in the Host- This story is on permanent hold, and might even get itself deleted at some point.

Lessons for the Lost- Maybe some day this will actually get written. I still like the idea, so let's just leave this here so that I don't forget ;)

Hidden- It's been one year, to the day, since the explosion that crumbled their world. One year since she was taken from them. One year that they were unable to capture the culprit responsible for her death. One year... since she became who she is. And she knows that she can never go back now. On hiatus at the moment, but have no fear. This one is NOT abandoned by any means.

My Ships:

Booth/Brennan

Hodgins/Angela

Castle/Beckett

Esposito/Lanie

Tony/Ziva

Jane/Lisbon

Veronica/Logan

Rachel/Finn

House/Cuddy

Kaylee/Simon

Mal/Inara

Leonard/Penny

Melinda/Jim

David/Zanna

Harry/Ginny

Harry/Hermione

Ron/Hermione

Draco/Hermione -- This is a new one for me, but I just realized how much I like them. I wish we'd gotten a chance to see more of a possibility for them in the books.

Lily/Marshall

Barney/Robin

Willow/Oz

Willow/Tara

Buffy/Spike

Xander/Anya

Spencer/Toby

Emily/Paige

Hanna/Caleb

Because Willow happens to be my favorite character of all time, I have a horrible time trying to decide who I like her best paired with. Oz and her were simply adorable and they fit together so nicely, but at the same time I really see a wonderful side of her whenever she's around Tara. Mind you, I'm only on Season 4 at the moment, so things might change.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I'm sure I'll come back and add more info again at some point.

Jill