Aight, been a long time since I really actually updated this thing. In fact, I think at most, I'd just change the basic template I'd kept since I first joined this site, in what, junior high? Yikes.

Anyway, new and familiar readers alike, my known net name is Hikaru Irving. I can be found with this name on DeviantArt, the Tales of oekaki board, and a number of other websites (which I may or may not recall).

I'm a 23 year old female who's been into writing and stories ever since I was a little kid, and when I started playing RPGs, I'd get really into the stories, the characters, and wonder, 'what if ...' and that's how I first got into fanfiction. I didn't come across this website itself, until my older sister, who was also into games/writing, showed it to me. She was all excited that someone reviewed her story, so I asked her the site name, and checked it out. Ended up making my own account.

My stories weren't really successful until I started writing for Tales of games, starting with Tales of Symphonia in junior high. Not only were the stories and characters all kinds of tantalizingly multi-faceted in and of themselves, it was the perfect category to write in, because it's not as hugely, insanely popular as other categories, say, Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts. So my stories actually had a chance to stand out, unlike those other sections because they get swamped and utterly lost in all the other stories, and reader feedback is the main reason I wrote fanfiction in the first place.

For all fanfiction might not be all that respected and seen as a juvenile thing, it's been a fun, indispensable tool to me as a writer--it was my literary playground. I'd explore these types of plots, characters, see what my readers responded well, or badly, to, and take all that in accordingly as my writing style grew and developed. I drabble original fiction from time to time, more confidently as my writing improved, but the most growth and fun I've had, was with fanfiction.

Now, I hope that someday, I might actually publish some original fiction (had an idea for a fantasy story for years that I've worked on, on and off, oi).

Oh, I did make a Figment account (which is like DeviantArt, but for literature), but its got my real name on it, so I think I'll make another Figment with a pen name similar to this, and see if any readers would like to take a gander at that. The pen name I'm thinking of using is probably Alkaru or some variation. I'll get back here on that.

Some other general stuff:

I am currently working as a combat medic in the United States Army. Deepest apologies to readers, I may not have time to update stories as often as I used to before I enlisted. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

--Hobbies include writing, reading, gaming, drawing, painting.

--I took kung fu classes weekly; my school is in the Plum Blossom Federation headquartered in San Francisco, what I've been learning is Choy Li Fut (which I believe is Yang style, though I may be confusing it with the style of Tai Chi'Chuan my school also teaches).

Currently Reading: The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, Fire Heart by C.S. Marks.

Currently Playing: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Dragon Age: Inquisition.

So, uh ... yeah. That's Karu in a nutshell.

Happy reading and writing, all.

Note to my familiar/regular readers:

Thank so much for your continued support and interest in my writing, even for all I'm a lazy f_ and don't update a great deal of my stories. It means a lot to me, when someone supports something I've written years ago, and gives me details of what they liked/didn't like about a chapter or a story.