3-11-17

This account and all stories on it are to be considered DEAD until further notice. Any writing which I may choose to indulge in will be located under my account at forums .SpaceBattles .com.

Regarding The Power He Knows Not

After many requests to continue, rewrite, or let somebody else pick up The Power He Knows Not, I have finally made a decision. I'm not happy about this, but I don't really see any other options than to say that it is abandoned. It was poorly written, poorly planned, and poorly thought out. Now, that alone wouldn't be enough for me to say that it's dead- if that had been all, I would have simply tried to clean it up and redeem it as I continued to write it. However, it has a second flaw- the writing style is so completely different from my current one that it may as well have been written by a stranger. I'm not referring to the blatant Mary Sueism, or the poorly thought out plot here. I'm referring to the overall theme, tone, and attitude of the story. Therefore, with all of that said, I am sorry to announce that TPHKN is dead. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet it's maker, and so on. However, the initial premise still holds a great deal of promise, and I am tremendously pleased by the number of readers who have contacted me regarding its continued existence. As such, I am considering the possibility of rewriting the entire story from the ground up, and I already have a fairly reasonable outline and notes document planned out, so it's looking like the project has good odds of getting off the ground.

Hello, reader/potential reader! If you're here for updates regarding my stories, scroll down. If you're here to learn about me, that's what this is.

I'm not a particularly good writer, but I consider myself to be a moderately skilled author. To me, there's an important distinction between the two. An author creates a world, characters, and a plot. He designs and builds a universe, and all the interactions and connections that requires. A writer, on the other hand, tells about it. He tells what the characters are doing, and why. He tells how they feel, and what their lives are like. So when I say I'm a skilled author but a poor writer, I mean that I do a good job of creating these worlds, but a poor job telling about them. In my head, these characters are dynamic and multidimensional, the relationships and interactions are a web woven of words and actions, and the universe itself is a series of past actions and people. On paper... not so much.

As regards the actual substance of my stories, I'm rather unusual. I find fights, battles, and wars to be, frankly, boring. I don't mind reading them from time to time, but I rather dislike having to write them. What I enjoy is politics and social development. So if you're looking for, for example, a story where Humanity is constantly at war with the Mass Effect races, go elsewhere. If you're looking for a story exploring the political, economical, and social implications of a new race with a bizarre culture or technology, then I'm likely to try my hand at it. That's not to say I'm likely to stick with it- I think my track record speaks for me there- but I will at least try it, and write it until it joins my other fics and it winds up in Writer's Limbo.

That brings us to the next important topic- Writer's Limbo. My stories invariably wind up there within 30k words or so, and I don't know how to solve that problem. It's an annoying situation, and is usually brought about by a combination of shifting interests, outside forces, and my general mental instability. Once they're in Limbo, they might get updates every few months, but don't hold your breath.

Now, the story statuses.

Black and White: Comatose.

The Chosen Undead: Dead, but has a mild chance of resurrection or reincarnation someday- the idea still intrigues me, but I don't see myself returning to the story terribly soon.

The Gamechangers: Dead. This story was both a compromise and an experiment, and it didn't work. When I started it, my plan was a story inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's work, but my father was a sorta-kinda cowriter of mine, and he was horrified by the themes that I wanted to use. This fic was a compromise to keep him happy, but I could never truly get into it, and every time I tried to write for it, I was reminded of what I'd actually wanted to do. My original plan has been revived in the form of The Legacy of the Prophets, and The Gamechangers isn't something I think is likely to be revived. Sorry.

The Legacy of the Prophets: Still going, but I'm having a hard time finding opportunities to write.

The Power He Knows Not: Dead, see the above note on my profile.

Those Damn Primitives: Dead. It's a shame, but I've decided to face reality on this one- it's not coming back. And I put so much work into the aliens, too...

Vermin Lord: Comatose, requires experimental surgery for revival. I started this fic without much planning, and I'm no longer sure where to go with it.

Favorites

Games: Prototype, the Bioshock series (even if the plot for Infinite sucked, it was still fun to play), Mario, Mass Effect 1 and 2. I refuse to acknowledge the third, Bloodborne, Dragon Age.

Books: Codex Alera series, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Honor Harrington series (before War of Honor only), Deed of Paksennarion series, Ranger's Apprentice series, Harry Potter series (it was a great story written by, in my opinion, a horrible author. She was creative and brilliant, but didn't think it through), the Safehold series, The Legend of Nightfall and the Return of Nightfall, and too many others to count.

Characters:

Alex Mercer. Who doesn't love a homicidally insane, sociopathic, shapeshifting virus?

Gordon Freeman. Saved the world with a fucking crowbar like a boss.

Nightfall. The second coolest guy in the multiverse, only behind Alex Mercer.

Subject Delta. Just YES.

Dream. That guy's just friggin' cool, dude.

Things I Hate About the Harry Potter Fandom

This is gonna piss off so many people, but before I get to work making sure that I get lynched by angry Harry Potter fans, let me make one thing clear. I pride myself on being open minded and logical. If any of this seems wrong to you, feel free to contact me via PM, and we can have a nice, calm, CIVIL discussion about it. Should you convince me that I was wrong, I will openly and publicly apologize, recant my previous position, and defend the new one until I am disproved once more. It's happened before, and it will happen again. So, if you want to have a calm, rational conversation about these issues, feel free. If you want to tell me that I'm a complete dumbass and Snape totes desreved Lilly because he's a wonderful persona nd he's awesome and you love him, then piss off.

Ronald Weasley. Ron is a terrible character. Little intelligence, spoiled despite his family's destitution, painfully disloyal to his friends, bigoted and arrogant, Ron seems like he was specifically designed to piss me off. I could go on a whole rant about him, but instead I'll see about digging up my old essay, "Why Ron Weasley is the Worst Character in Harry Potter."

Hermione's supposed status as a genius. To me, she's a walking, talking encyclopedia, and no more. She can memorize facts, and that's all. That does not beget intelligence. The only time in the entire series (that I can recall) that she displays true intelligence is when she solves Snape's potion riddle in book 1, and using basic logic to solve a simple riddle barely counts, in my book. To me, intelligence is the ability to use the information available to you, combined with logic, to solve problems. Furthermore, *true* intelligence requires the ability to "think outside the box." Hermione doesn't do that. She just goes after more information. An example. If you were in a fight, but didn't know any combat spells, you could easily substitute normal, house-hold spells. A simple soaping charm on your opponent's eyes blinds your opponent. A slight breeze blows dust around the battlefield, cloaking your position. A cooking charm heats up your opponent's wand, forcing him to drop it or even causing it to ignite. Hermione would not only never think of these things, but would object to them, because that's not what the spells are for. The soaping charm is to clean items, not harm enemies. The breeze charm is for cooling a hot area, not to produce dust. And the cooking charm is meant to reheat food, not ignite a wand.

Snape fans. I despise Snape. Snape was evil, bigoted, hateful, abusive, selfish, sadistic, immature, and a million other things. He willingly abused and endangered children, neglected his job to actually teach them anything at all, and was generally a despicable human being. His treatment of the children in his class was disgusting, and could easily be called emotional abuse. Moreover, he happily put their lives at risk on a regular basis. Day one of class was not, as would be expected, a lesson on proper safety techniques. It was a hands on chemistry activity, with no explanation of what would happen. He gave a list of instructions, and then walked around insulting the children for every slight. When, due to his incompetence, a potentially lethal chemical reaction occurred (don't kid yourself- that shit melted a metal cauldron. It was clearly dangerous in high quantities), he punished and humiliated the student who was injured. He provided no explanation of what went wrong, and didn't even bother to provide a warning that such a reaction could occur at all. He basically gave a group of fifth graders access to a fully stocked chemistry lab, and told them to get to work making high quality medicines, then abused them when they didn't know how. And that shit was normal, for this man. Snape was despicable, through and through. He did good things, yes, but that does not make him a good man.

Snape/Lily*. Oh gods I hate this pairing. Snape is the worst kind of 'Nice Guy', thinking he deserves Lily's love because he was nice to her and because he didn't treat her the way he treated other Muggleborns. He found the antics of his proto Death Eater friends funny when Lily's tone implied they'd done something pretty nasty to a non-pureblood girl, saying that it was just a bit of fun. He is directly comparable to a rape apologist. When he finally snapped and called her a 'mudblood' and then begged for her forgiveness, she quite rightly told him where to get off, since she herself said that she'd been letting too much past.

People say that Snape loved Lily. He didn't. Loving someone is putting their needs and desires above your own. Snape did not. He chose the Dark Arts over her in their school days, and he admitted pleading with Voldemort to spare Lily at the expense of James and baby Harry, when their deaths would have absolutely devastated Lily. He was thinking of himself, not Lily, and Dumbledore quite rightly said, "You disgust me." Snape had no concern for Lily's happiness, only his own. He wanted her because he wanted himself to be happy, and didn't give a damn about the fact that Lily would be devastated by his actions.

He was obsessed with her and he cared for her, after a fashion, but love? No. I wouldn't call it that. His foul treatment of Harry, her only child, shows that.

Snape was a hero, but he was not a good man.

Harry/Hermione, Ginny Hate, and the ship wars. I know this is gonna lose me a lot of potential readers, but frankly, if you're going to be like that, I'm not inclined to be bothered by the loss. I actually have a whole essay defending this viewpoint, and I'll find it and post it, but let's focus on just a few points here. Firstly, the relationships themselves. Despite many deluded fans, the Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione relationships were pretty damned obvious from the beginning. What's more, they're better relationships. Hermione is a bookworm who worships the ground that authority figures walk on. Do you really think she's gonna have a good marriage with a hot headed, brash, action hero who doesn't give a damn what the rules are when they get in his way? Because that's who Harry is, and, in the books, the two of them clash constantly. Next, Ginny hate. In so many fics, Ginny is depicted as a conniving, manipulative slut who is determined to steal Harry away from his soul mate, Hermione. This is, quite frankly, fucking idiotic. If you didn't like the pairing, that's fine. I don't actually respect your opinion, but I don't disagree strongly enough to argue with it. However, twisting an existing character into a grotesque caricature of the original, with absolutely no basis from cannon, is just damned stupid. Arguing for an evil Dumbledore is possible, because so many of his actions are questionable. Claiming that Ginny was secretly feeding Harry love potions from the day they met? There's no base for that. Moreover, SHUT UP ABOUT IT. Just because the relationship you like didn't happen, doesn't mean you should whine and hate on the character who "stole" Harry away from a character he wouldn't have liked anyway. If you want to write a ship fic, fine. You have that right. But don't pervert and twist somebody else's legacy, just because you don't like it. Which brings us to...

The myth that Rowling said she should have paired Harry with Hermione. It's funny how deluded fans have twisted a statement which meant the exact opposite into this. If you actually go out and read the fucking interview, there are two major statements that should stand out. The first, and in my opinion, the most important here, is "I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That's how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron. I know, I'm sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I'm absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility." This statement makes it clear, in my mind, that Rowling recognizes that Ron and Hermione aren't the best pair, but is more emotionally happy with them together than with the Harry/Hermione pairing. The second statement, and the one that deluded fans have twisted around, was "In some ways Hermione and Harry are a better fit and I'll tell you something very strange. When I wrote Hallows, I felt this quite strongly when I had Hermione and Harry together in the tent!" This is a far, far cry from "Harry and Hermione should have married." I will freely admit that Harry would probably have been a better partner for Hermione than Ron would have. I will also admit that a gerbil would have been a better partner for Hermione than Ron would have. Hermione and Ron would have broken up in a week. Harry and Hermione might have been able to make it as long as a month or two. Harry is, generally, more mature, intelligent, and generally a better person than Ron is. But that doesn't mean that he would make a good fit with Hermione, as I said before. NOTE- if anybody can find and cite an actual quote where Rowling says that she should have paired H/Hr, then I will willingly cede that I was wrong, and remove this paragraph entirely.

Large portions of the Snape/Lily section were taken from a PM conversation with Nimbus Llewelyn, author of Child of the Storm. He said most of it first, and said I could use it here.