"He liked those literary cooks
Who skimmed the cream of others' books;
And ruin half an author's graces
By plucking bon mots from their places."

-Hannah More

Hello. For a long time I have made little use of my FanFiction account (formerly under the pen names Spring Pearl and Philolyra), mostly reading people's stories and writing none of my own. But I am now going to reform my life from its gutter of laziness and actually exercise my idle mind. I am quite the literary bibliophile, so you can expect from me fics primarily based on classics. Recently, the fantasy genre has ceased to interest me for some reason, so no, I am not partial to books such as Harry Potter, Twilight, Eragon, and Artemis Fowl (well, I was in love with Arty for awhile, but I have gotten over him, really). My opinion is based on my experience of actually reading them, mind you, not some ridiculous urge to be a nonconformist.

Here I am going to post information about my stories (ahem, once I start writing them) as well as some of my opinions about literary works.

My new pen name is the pseudonym I will probably use if/when I actually publish something in the real world. Inspired by Oscar Wilde's mind-blowing work, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Amazing and terrifying, isn't it, when one sees a reflection of oneself in Dorian's twisted, corrupted soul?

Completed:

"It Creeps Upon You Unawares" - My first fic, if you can call it that. I wrote it for an English assignment; basically I had to choose a character from Lord of the Flies by William Golding and put him in a story with a modern setting while still retaining his character. I am actually quite satisfied with it. It details the experience of Ralph as he gradually moves over to "the dark side," with a not-so-gentle push from Jack. I have also included some minor characters from the book in symbolic roles; can you guess who is who?

"Phoenix" - A oneshot for The Phantom of the Opera. It is a very brief and sketchy retelling of the well-known tale (with elements from Leroux, Kay, and Webber) using legends about the mythical phoenix.

"All I Have to Offer" - A sweet Phantom oneshot, this time completely Leroux-based, except that Christine and Erik are already married. This one is set during the Christmas season, and features a frustrated Christine and dense Erik to make the season extra jolly.

"Homecoming" - A tribute to Jerome/Eugene and Vincent in the film Gattaca. Sketchy scenes of the two's relationship as well as an alternate ending for those who think Jerome was an asshole (with good intentions, admittedly) for committing suicide.

"Flying Lessons" - A cute and credible alternate ending to the 2003 film Peter Pan. I really admired Wendy in the film for acting as the "voice of reason" (a.k.a. Peter's conscience) and for making the right choice in the end despite her desire to stay in Neverland. I disagree with those who believe she should have stayed with Peter; as heroic as he seems, I must say that Peter was quite cowardly in his refusal to grow up. In this oneshot, Peter somewhat matures and learns to face the music.

In Progress:

STATUS UPDATE (10/04/08): Some may be devastated, others relieved, and still others may roll their eyes and say, "I knew this was going to happen." I am putting Black Death on hiatus until I have some idea of how to move the plot along. I know there are some authors out there, like me, that write brilliant beginnings and ends before even planning out the middle. That's what happened with this fic, and as a writer I cannot bear to just whip up some weak, incredible plot just so I can finish the story. My apologies to any readers out there, if any, who actually liked Black Death. I swear I had the next chapter and--believe it or not--the epilogue already written out. Then I thought of what would happen next and realized that I had no plan after that.

I am working on one for The Phantom of the Opera called Black Death. It will be set in the 1300s when the bubonic plague was sweeping throughout Europe. I am doing extensive research on this time period, as I want everything to be historically accurate; imagine my dismay when I found out that opera had not been introduced until centuries later!

Anyways, my story will be divided into three parts. The first will provide most of the background and history behind the characters. The second will be the bulk of the love story. The third will wrap things up. Frankly, I have gotten the first and third parts practically written out; the second is a bit misty, but I am sure my romantic mind will give some burst of creativity once I get to that point. The main setting of the story will be Rattenberg, Bavaria (although now it is part of Austria), a city that gets no sunlight in the winter. A perfect place for a certain masked criminal to dwell, no? Especially with centuries-old castle ruins; in case you do not know much about medieval castles, I will tell you that underground dungeons tend to house quite a few torture devices...