Right, step 1 in keeping my promise not to disappear: posting blog entries regularly.
Step 2, actually post a new story.
Step 3... er, let's take this one step at a time.
Hi all, thanks for your comments on my last entry. Sorry if I didn't get back to all of you, I'm going to try to answer some stuff here.
1. Whateley. Hooo-boy. I'm sorry but I'm really not up to opening that can of worms. I know some people really loved Sara, but trust me, for every lover there was a hater. There are certainly things I regret that happened but if it were things that I'd done holding me back from writing more, I'd just make amends and get back to it. Unfortunately, that's not the way it is which is a very difficult position. Sara was on rocky ground right from the start, I don't think it ever really came though that I was trying to write a redemption story with her and I got into a position where Sara was the go-to girl when another author needed someone to perform a morally questionable or downright dark action. Also, Sara was something that twenty-five-year-old me needed to get out. Current me doesn't have the same drives or needs, if that makes sense.
2. Fate and the Iron Tiger. I'm toying with finishing it. I got a good slog of Part VI done before I imploded in slow motion, with luck I might be able to finish it. Little worrying because my writing style has probably changed after 5 years, which could be jarring. I'm sorry but FatIT was only meant to be a self-contained story. Also, there's a 3rd edition of Exalted out which is the absolute tits, so if I supported Exalted any more, I'd want to do it in 3e. All that said, I don't see myself making money writing TG Exalted fanfic and I've got a transition and other real life stuff to fund. But I did say that I'd finish FatIT and I don't want to bail on everyone. So, one step at a time.
3. New writing! So, I made a friend people might have seen around the Fan Fiction community called Thrythlind a few years ago. I've been helping him playtest his Divine Blood RPG along with doing the graphic design for the splat-book Demon Next Door. My latest character has hit me in the inspiration bone, so I'm thinking of writing some stories in his universe. Big plus side, he's a personal friend, he's interested in letting other people do stuff for the universe and the Divine Blood universe is very TG friendly. If I had to describe it, it's somewhere around Oh! My Goddess meets Full Metal Panic or Happier Shadowrun.
My character for the next game is a Kitsune. Divine Blood Kitsune merge with willing people to get new tails, so multi-tailed Kitsune are really multiple people, this happened to my character in utero. They were fraternal twins and one of them began developing male physical characteristics, so the two merged into a female body to prevent that. Unfortunately, Kitsune try to keep their ability to merge a secret, being afraid of persecution, and having a small child around who can't really control themselves risks exposure. So they end up, after some trials, sealing both girls into a new male personality and body. This gets broken when the skyship they're travelling on accidentally travels through a rip in space-time a decade later and breaks the seal.
As always, love hearing from you all. Thanks for all the love and support, it's much appreciated. :)
Comments
Mental/emotional stability first
Writing second. They can complement each other of course but a little instability can add some grit to some authors' writings.
But, thank you for the update. I am very happy to see Fate possibly being finished!
It's up to you which edition to go by as long as it is consistent with the story elements so far. Honestly there is no reason you can't bend the rules to what makes the most sense to you as it is a fanfic after all and it will be a self contained story.
I never suggested that you can make major bucks writing in exalted, just that there are folks who would kick in to get it finished, badly.
Sadly Bek, will probably never finish Anathema so for you to finish Fate would be a prize indeed.
We are here to provide support beyond merely stories. Dorothy has gotten support here for a long time, I a, sure you can get folks here to give emotional support, bounce trans ideas around etc.
I miss Sara...
And it's a real shame IMO that none of the other Whateley authors apparently grokked her fully according to what you just wrote. Though from my outsider perspective, it seems you Whateley authors had a lot of communications issues in those days, but the current crop of authors seem to be doing a better job of it. Perhaps when you're up to it you can try a short piece and see how it goes? No pressure, just a genuine love of the character.
Good luck on your endeavors though, Dr. Bender. Yours are some of the classics of TG. No worries if you never do return to Sara either, just know she had fans who were recognizing what you were attempting and cheering for her.
Abigail Drew.
Sara
I would love to know if they ever find her after she was called to the summoning and trap in that paper.
Glad that you are thinking of writing anything as you are a talented writer
KUDOS Hugs
Cliffhanger Sara
I too would like the Sara saga to continue enough to at least close out the Cliffhanger, and answer a question or two about events both before and after her capture.
1. I don't recall much information about the controller of the one who captured her. Who was he or she? What happened to him or her?
2. It would also be nice to know some background on the one who captured Sara. What happened to this person and are they still a potential character in the Whateley universe.
3. The cliffhanger: please find a way for Sara to be found and released from her captivity. I think other excellent authors have included Sara in their stories, so perhaps one or more could resolve these issues for us, with lots of ideas from you of course. Sara is one of your characters so you definately need to be involved in this Cliffhanger, and the other incidentals above. At least get Sara rescued somehow, and then perhaps let others take care of the incidentals. After this is resolved, others could continue Sara's story as they wish.
4. Please, please, please at least somehow resolve the Cliffhanger, with or without the help of other writers.
Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?
Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm
Sara
Problem is, integrating Sara into the new timeline will be a bear and require coordination with the current cabal so the option of doing it without help of another author is off the table. We don' know how good of a relationship Dr Bender has with the current cabal.
Personally I suspect Dr Bender would need a very long time before doing more Whateley stuff.
As much as one may like a character, sometimes it just is not meant to be.
current 'cabal'
The current cabal is supportive and happy to see the old authors around simply because that means they're alive and well... and that's far more important than any universe planning conflicts, misunderstood characters, or whatever. If they want to pick up with old characters and move forward, they're welcome to do so... they are also welcome to introduce new ideas in either existing generation, or write in either the future or past. They'll have to spend a little time getting a feel for the things that have changed... and they have. Some for the better, some for the worse; depending on your perspective. Some may decide that the world, in moving on without them, has moved on to somewhere they aren't inclined to write anymore... and that's ok too.
I look forward to seeing Dr B's new work, whatever it turns out to be... but not as much as I am glad to see her posting and saying hi. While a new story would be good... seeing that she's ok, made my day. :)
Don't be a stranger, B. Even if you're not writing WU stories, keep in touch. :)
Yeah... What she said. :)
Yeah... What she said. :)
It's good to know you're back to writing again and looking forward to your future stories, whatever universe they may take place in.
have fun run around and party
have fun run around and party
Write what you want to the Muse talks, yells, or stays silent on its own terms!
Might hit up the 'expert' on questions for a Fan fic-er from time to time!
Proud member of the Whateley Academy Drow clan/collective
Sorry to hear about the issues with Sara......
Personally, I thought she was a wonderfully intriguing character. All of us have a dark side - I certainly do, and I struggle with it every day and every night. It is that struggle that makes us who we are - good or bad, depending on whether we are winning or losing the battle. It was that struggle which made Sara the truly interesting and human (yeah, I know she wasn't reeeeeaaaaaaly human!) in the most realistic ways.
As to those who had a problem with her, and with you for writing her, the way I look at it is that they should get a life! When all someone has to do all day is criticize an author who has more talent than they have, then perhaps they should re-examine their lives.
Please, please, please don't let small minded and spiteful people get to you. Always remember that there are those of us out here who appreciate your talent and love your work and your characters.
D
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Cannot deny that Sara was one
Cannot deny that Sara was one of my favorite whateley characters but I think what is frustrating is her just held in suspension. I will say this time has no meaning in a pocket dimension, if Sara is not the sara when you were in your mid 20s what would Sara be now because in another dimension this time she is gone can be for her one minute or Five Thousand years. She too might not be the same person.
I'd just like to see her escape and if she feels it is time to leave whateley then so be it.
Sara
Well, Sara is one of my favorite chatacters. And if she's the go-to girl for disappearing the really bad guys (or Gothmog), so what? After all, someone has to take out the trash. >:->
Other than that: thx for some of the best sories out there, ever.^^ If I could, I'd suggest you for the Nobel prize in literature.