Nerys Dax

Since the other review reply topic is getting a tad cluttered from the longer WIPs I got going and the two completed fics, I decided to start a new review reply topic for my shorter stories (Prisoner and Victory). Prisoner - Chapter 1 Review Replies: Lady Miya "Oooh, does this mean you are finished with it?" - Nah, not yet. I am just a huge masochist, needing the updating pressure. LOL. However, since it's a short story, compared to my other WIPs I felt I could start posting it. "I will read it when you have a little more chapters out But good for you! I've been waiting for having something else good out there to read, besides Apprentice and SIT " - Well, I hope you will enjoy it when you get to it then. XDDD Serp and I also want to point you to "the gold puppet", our joined project. Thanks for reviewing without reading (sniggers), xx Nerys MarksPet "Oh, this promises to be a VERY interesting story." - Thanks, I'll do my best to live up to those expectations. "Why are the wards affecting her, does it have to do with her attempt on Riddle's life?" - The explanation to why the wards are affecting her is in the next chapter, so I won't go into details here just yet. I can say it doesn't have anything to do with her attempt on Riddle's life. "And exactly which door did she open?" - Well, the fun one of course. "PLEASE CONTINUE!!!" - Will do. Thank you for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys Roo "This is absolutely amazing!" - Thanks. "Please update soon." - I will do my best, but my betas have to go through the chapter, too. "I can't wait to see what Riddle is going to say. He is just damn handsome and wonderful and evil and sexual and powerful. All the best!" - Eh, he's my favourite character, too. *drools along* Gotta love that deliciously evil bad boy vibe. Thanks for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys

Nah, not that bizarre. Sometimes you just get enough of a ship after a while. And I am giving you a huge compliment here, because I find Snapione just ewwie, but in this particular fic I think I can stand it. Somehow the way you describe Severus makes it doable to me. Somehow you make me forget the yucky hair and the shitty personality, because I actually like him in your fic. I know ... but that doesn't stop me from demanding more. Muahahhaha! UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!! You may want to watch out to not turn into another Chelle with a kazillion WIPs and nothing ever gets completed, which is always my horror scenario and stopped me from working on more than two stories (not counting the joint projects). But I do think I am going to feel a bit more free and do what you do, which is post another WIP myself, too. I usually only have two WIPs posted at the same time. I do work out some plot bunnies on the side, but normally I only start on them AFTER finishing one of the WIPs I got going. But I figured what you said about going from one fic to the next if you got a block on one does help. And both Masters of Manipulation Part Two and The Apprentice are such big stories that it will take me some time before they're even close to finishing. If I have to wait to write/post this slightly shorter plot bunny, it will be a long time coming. LOL. Oh come on, you know you love it when reviewers start to bitch about a plot-line. Well, I do. It always makes me snigger gleefully when they get upset. XDDD Nah, I am no sadist at all. *believe me* Muahahahhaha! xx Nerys

Reply to Strawberry Passion: "I just wanted to drop in right quick to tell you that I really enjoyed your story. It was well written and the characters were so beautifully thought out." Thanks. I am glad you liked it. "I believe I stopped reading your fic when you killed off Snape. I'm sorry, I simply cannot read a fic where he's killed (if he were dead before the fic I could tolerate his character not being in a story). I have a soft spot for the dark bastard and simply find it very difficult to cope with his death when he's killed in the middle of a fic." LOL. Actually, I personally think without Snape the entire potter series would've been incredibly boring. However, for me personally, I always had a problem with him in romantic pairings. I just don't see him as someone who got over Lily Potter-Evans. He's so obsessively in love with her that it borders on becoming creepy stalkerish. As fpr him dying in The Apprentice, that was done deliberately, seeing how vital Snape was for Harry's victory in the end. All the things he now cannot do, make it interesting for me to write this AU story. And to be honest I also killed him off, so I wouldn't get reviews asking for more Hermione-Snape time as the story progresses. Snapione just isn't my thing. But to each their own, and I am sure there are plenty of Snapione fics for you out there. *grumbles in envy since that list far supercedes the tiny tomione one* "Now this is not me trying to make you change your story or to make you feel bad about killing him off or anything else--I simply wanted to tell you that despite me not continuing the story, what you did have down I truly enjoyed." Thanks. And I didn't get the impression you were trying to influence me or make me feel bad; you were just relaying your thoughts concerning the event. "As a writer, I know how frustrating it can be not to get any feed back or reviews or anything else for that matter. I know for a fact that you'll really appreciate getting feedback--even if the reader does stay along for the whole ride." Yep, feedback is always stimulating, even if it contains critism because you actually learn from those. On a couple of occassions I even made changes in my chapters when I felt the reviewer had a good point and I was still able to alter it. But if I can't make alterations or I disagree with the person's point of view I do always try to reply to my reviewers, because I feel it's the least I can do to show my respect for their efforts. "Thank you for contributing to my procrastination (Uni homework sucks)!" LOL. My time writing is again well spend. I am always happy to oblige a fellow procrastinator. XD "Hopefully, there will be another story you post that I will stick around for. Until then! Strawberry Passion" Well, I only write Tomione as a pairing, so if you're into Snapione, I might not be the writer for you. I do have two completed Tomione fics here that comply with your Snape-being-dead-before-the-fic-started. And I am working on a new Tomione bunny that I may start posting soon, which takes place after DH (EWE). Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys

YES! Vengeance is mine, MINE! Muahahhahahahha!!! UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE! *sniggers* Well, then I would work on the story my mind was on. So, enjoy writing on the first horcrux then. I liked the idea of it, but Tom's a tad too young in looks there for me - I am not really into 14 year olds, so that's a bit of putting to me and it might be the same for your other readers. Ermmm... naaaah. Maybe for two seconds, but then... where are the rest of our updates?!?! *sniggers* They're right in the Godfather. Vengeance is a dish best served cold. Muahahaha!

*snnnrks* Same here. You're probably right about it being an uncompleted WIP. And it's one of those things that drives you crazy: like having a tune in your head and not knowing the words or remembering what the song is. It's just nagging there in the back of your mind. Grrr ... Well, as long as magenta updates hers (insert warning glare), I suppose it doesn't really matter.

Well, it's not THAT similar. It's just the feel of the fic that I found similar. The same haunting atmosphere. This was what reminded me of it and I have to say I love that you had that same "feel" in your fic. I think you can read it safely and not be worried afterward of it being a copy. If you haven't read Sionnain's Voldemort-Hermione's fics yet, then I highly recommend them. They're great. Oh, I know what that's like. It can drive you crazy if chapters don't work with you. But I gotta say, I loved the updated chapter. Often we're our own worst critics, so ... no worries about the pushed chapter. And I am glad you enjoyed the updates of Apprentice. I am now at the same point as on FFnet, so I am at the chapter that's giving me problems. (head-desk) But I hope to tackle the emo bit soon. XDDD

Review reply to Ssserpensssotia: ROFLMAO. Somehow, I think your computer should come with a pre-installed breath/blood-analyser. For your safety. And everyone elses. Nerys hides. Drunk Serpie is scary Serpie. Even worse, slightly sick, drunk and nearing-period Serpie is scaring Lord Voldemort. Yep, he's in hiding. He read the comments and figured it would be safer to re-emerge in a week or so.

Apprentice chapter 30 Review Reply to Morwen: "I love your story!! The smuttiness is great and the plot is intriguing. Can't wait to see how it all works out!" - Thank you. I am glad you like it. I am planning to update in a sec. Review Reply to DalekStar: I am glad you enjoyed Bittersweet and are now enjoying this one. So, a converted Snapione fan? I'm honoured. Personally, that's not my ship at all, so I usually scare readers who love Snape away. *giggles* Thank you for your flattering review. And the update is here, as in now. LOL. I'll do my best to update soon again. xx Nerys

*snnnnrks* Well, yeah, that whole whining thing of Remus bothers me, too. I loved how Harry told him of in DH. I wanted to applaud for Potter. O.O *double snnnrks* about the bare steps above the Weasleys. - Eh, you'll enjoy the next Apprentice chapter. *sniggers evilly* Poor Mollywobbles and Arthur. Muahaahahaha! True, Rickman's voice is brilliant. But I had seen him in roles before Snape, so that voice is not automatically just Snape for me. Although I have to say, somehow, it does fit Severus. AAAHH, the good ol' procrastination motivation. LOL. Unfortunately, I am all done in the essay department. Perhaps I should go for another masters? Then again, I always liked essay assignments, unless the topic was really REALLY stupid. Grrr... Oh dear, ROFLMAO, I think we're all alike. I've only knew two people in my life who had shit finished long before it was due and both of them worked incredibly on my nerves with their Hermione-ish "Best to get it done straight away". LOL It's why I prefer to work with two ongoing fics. Right now I have three (not counting Mary and Gary, since that's no fic but crazy shit), but I can't imagine having to keep track of so many plots at once. Well, I started writing there before I found this site and I just felt like staying. But I'll admit, I won't do two versions such as with Apprentice again. Live and learn. LOL. What I like about FFnet is that you can directly communicate with your readers and respond to their reviews via the PM system. The alert/fav system is pretty nice. And you simply get a bigger audience there, who are also more likely to leave a review than here. I also like that you don't have to do the codes thingies to post a chapter. Another thing is that I don't write fanfiction for the smut, so to that effect, my stories fit FFnet better since on AFFnet readers soon start asking for smut if you write a couple of chapters without. The Gold Puppet is a joined project of me and Serpent In Red, and I am having problems drawing her away from her SIT obsession. LOL. And I so am not going to write the last chapters all by myself. So you can harass her. XDDD Hmmm... depends. I think only the ones who can't see the difference between what's fun in reality and fiction. The ones who really love Tom. I've had some reviews that made my eyebrows rise; even someone stating they had a boyfriend just like Tom and my mind went: I hope not. Seriously. RUN! Because as much as I adore him as a fictional character, in real life, his type better stay the hell away from me, because I will shoot first. OK, no gun, so I have to send my creepy large dog at him (who's more likely to lick him to death than anything else). OK, I am toast. I'll admit it. LOL Although gorgeous psychopaths are rare. LOL. And I think Riddle is more the sociopath type anyway. Have fun writing, I know I am. xx Nerys

"precious mudblood (which isn't so much a HG/SS pairing as a HG/everything but the kitchen sink pairing." LOL. Eh, I only mentioned Snape because he in any romantic pairing is a major eww factor for me. It has nothing to do with the quality of a fic or whatever, just my personal preference. I like Snape as a character a lot, just not in that way (the hair ... *shivers*). To me, the man is too obsessed with Lils and too bitter to grow past it. But that's just me, I know loads of people love Snape with Hermione or whoever and they're welcome to do so - I like a weird pairing (if not weirder) after all, too. "It was the first thing I started writing and was, as such - a bit experimental." Eh, experimenting is what makes all the fun in writing fanfics. And you do make up lovely creative smut scenes. You have to tell me how on earth you're getting so much written in so little time, though. 6 WIPs, I'd go crazy. How do you do it? Don't you sleep? And how do you keep the muse going after writing all that smut? Mine usually vacates the building after I've written a couple of scenes. I'd love to know your secret. COMPLY! "No.. I havent been following apprentice on ff.net." - Oopsi. My bad. I thought I had seen your name in a review, but it must have been in another fic. LOL "To tell the truth I dont really like FF.net. Not only does it feel like everyone's mouths have been washed out with soap most of the time (leading to an overabundance of cuteness and fluff in some cases)" - Ooooh, I sooo agree with you on this. The whole no sex is so hypocritical. You can torture and murder to your heart's content, but write even an innocent fluffy vanilla sex scene and your fic is against the site's rules. How screwed up is that? And since my smut is usually not fluffy and often plot-related, it takes me a lot of time to adapt my fics so it still fits there. I recall having the problem in Bittersweet when Voldemort produces a dog patronus; to the AFFnet readers it would be instantaneously clear this was Hermione and what had caused his Patronus to change to a dog (since they would've read the whole lemon that triggered it). On FFnet, I had to make up some excuse about how Ron's patronus had been a terrier, representing Hermione. And even though most readers found it logical, to me it stayed a feeble excuse. And with Apprentice, it's even worse than with Bittersweet, because the story is actually considerably different on FFnet. It's not just that I left the explicit scenes out there, I had to substitute it with something else and that even caused the chapters not to be synchronised anymore. Some readers, who read both versions, even get confused due to that. But eh... I didn't point a gun at them and told them they had to read both versions. I actually recommend sticking to one. "but I don't like the colour.. the format.. I dislike it that you can't tab the chapters." - I thought they fixed the latter? Meh... doesn't matter. Personally, the colour, etc. doesn't bother me as much as the continuous hiccups of the site. Like when you write a review and the cursor keeps jumping back to the top of your page. Or when you post a PM or review and the site decides to make it vanish for some incomprehensible reason, now THAT really pisses me off. Or even worse ... when you edit a chapter, and you press change, and NOTHING changes. Or the idiocy of sticking words together or making your paragraphs disappear or... Well, I can continue for a while longer. LOL. "So I'll wait. And write." - YAY! Write away.

Oh, I never meant to say my out of phase idea was original. I raised it because in your previous post you basically suggested I got it from you and I don't much appreciate that since you know I didn't read it because of Snape. I think I got it from watching way too much Star Trek and from reading Hawking's book, which is a real treat. I always find it amazing when someone that brilliant can explain things in a matter most people can grasp, because most professors are just lousy at simplifying their difficult theories. And with all the fanfics around, there are bound to be similarities between fics. There are only so many plots out there. And I get the feeling you think I am attacking you about this, but I merely am responding to the concern you yourself raised over it. If you don't have any concerns and feel completely comfortable with the way you write your stories, then neither do I. Yeah, well, Tennant also had some really emotional scripts to work with: Donna, Rose, the stuff with the Master and "The end of days" being the one that probably topped all of them. Seriously, I kept crying. I don't think they've ever before dragged out the death of a doctor like that before. It's almost like with Matt the writers wanted to start a new cheerfuller line... Maybe Moffat wanted to show how a regeneration took away the darkness? And I do agree with you, I think Tennant or Eccleston would have pulled off more emotions in some scenes - with Matt, it's all jolly and good. I do like how he has this busy, ADD-like part of the doc nailed, but I am too not convinced about him pulling of the darker sides of the doc's personality. Hopefully, I will be wrong. *keeps fingers crossed* Playmobil design. *sniggers* Well, I can live with the Tardis changes, but the rest...

I don't know the name of the Tomione fic I read the cage bit in, but I think it was an old one. I didn't fav it, so I probably didn't like it enough or I read it somewhere it couldn't be faved. I could ask at the community if anyone there recalls it. " E.g. in 'necessary sacrifices' there is a part in a future (as in about seven to ten chapters in the future) where a spell I cite is similar to the 'out of phase with reality' spell in the apprentice ch 30. I wrote it in November so clearly it isn't adopted from this fic " - Actually, the out of phase spell was used before by Luna in Apprentice in an older chapter. Gellert identified it as such, but no matter, I have no problem with you using my shit. I just know there have been huge rows on fanfiction about similar situations. So, I only wanted to warn you. It's up to you to make a decision on what to do with it. Hmmm... I actually blame the leaving of the head-writer Russell T Davis to the quality drop of the stories. But it could be Matt, too. His looks don't do as much for me as Tennant did, and I even preferred watching Chris and he's no beauty, but he has something. Plus, Matt is after all new and not an already established actor like Tennant and Eccleston were. But most of all, I think it's that the transfer from Chris to David was more smoothly, because you kept the same supporting actors. Now, it feels like a whole new era where everyone has changed. River is the only one you still see from the seasons before Matt.

Review Reply The Apprentice Chapter 30 to Magentasouth: "What to say. Where to begin. That was freaking AWESOME!!!!" - Thanks "I know that delay of pleasure was very much keeping in the spirit of these chapters but next time - please don't make us wait quite THAT long." - I'd love to promise that, but I can't. I have a very fickle muse, which usually works by handing me a lot in one row and then disappearing on me for an equal amount of time. I actually recall having a much longer hiatus (one whole year) on this story before but that was after two chapters, so less people were upset. However, despite all that, you don't have to worry about my fics getting abandoned. I will finish them, because I love to write tomione fanfiction. It's my guilty pleasure. And I think the next chapter won't be too long, I am already far into it. "Admittedly.. the finish almost made it worth the wait." - Almost? *pouts, sobs, throws a childish tantrum* "If you're going to continue updating the story then I don't have to write anymore, right?" O.O Ermmm... is that supposed to be an incentive for me to stop updating? "Cause, frankly - I'd rather be reading your story than writing any of mine." - Eh, I started writing Tomione because the stories I liked got abandoned or suddenly turned "strange". So, I recognise your reason for writing for this fandom. And personally, as an incredibly lazy person, I'd prefer reading Tomione above writing, too, since writing is hard work at times. On the other hand, I know I'd miss writing my own stories, because there you can do what you want. "I've read too much and now there are so few really good stories left to read and the ones I like best always involve long painful waits for the next chapter." - Well, I suppose the painful waits also have something to do with you liking the stories. For the last three months I have been writing the next FFnet Apprentice chapter. I must be at about my twelfth version now and I am just not happy with it. There is something wrong, something's missing, and it's vital to the plot, I can sense it. So, I don't post the chapter. I want the story to be good and not sloppy. Sure, I know everyone errors (tells her perfectionistic self one more time), but I think if I rushed things the story wouldn't be half as good as it hopefully is now. I don't expect perfection from myself anymore (too old for that), but some level of writing quality I do expect from myself and it pisses me off if I notice myself diving under it. Well, I can understand why it would bother you since I would feel the same if it happened to me, but as for the elements of my stories, you don't need to worry. I've always found it kind of strange and hypocritical when fanfic authors start to complain if another fanfic author uses some of their stuff. Seriously? It's called fanfic. We use the entire realm from the original author without batting an eyelash, but we get upset when someone uses something from our borrowed-without-profit fics? It seems odd to me. However, you might want to check upon the inspiration you had for your cage story, because that one as a whole has a very familiar ring to it. I love how you wrote it, but it feels like I read the Hermione being in a cage and ignored during meetings before - I just don't recall where and by whom. And if you want to avoid rows, you could easily add a little A/N or disclaimer to your chapter where you give credit to the fanfic author in question. I know I did something similar in Bittersweet when I used a phrase Chelle invented. I just let readers know it was hers and pointed them to her fic. *snnnrks* With that "provide! provide!" you made a visual occur in my mind's eye of a Doctor Who character. Delete! Delete! Exterminate! (Eh, eh, where are you going with that Tennanty hotness? Bring him back!!! *grumbles*) - OK, never mind me, I am just upset he's gone. I like Matt Smith's performance, don't get me wrong, but I miss him. (wonders if magentasouth is now staring at the screen, thinking, "what the fuck is she talking about?") - ROFLMAO. Anyway, I already answered that one, so ... *points to above paragraph* and promises to do her best to update asap. Thanks for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys

Ooooh, exaggerate much. I know you also read it on FFnet, so the last update wasn't that long ago for you as compared to some who only read the AFFnet version *sticks out tongue* But eh... if it gets readers to write their own Tomione fics, perhaps I shouldn't update fast at all? Finally, some fics for me to read. XDDD Anyway, I am working on the smut for the AFFnet apprentice chapter, but the smut muse continuously vacates the building when I write a couple of lines. Sorry, but I am not in the custom of keeping chapters hostage, therefore I don't have any ready in periods when my muse decides to go AWOL on me. I suppose it's always nicer to finish a story first and then start posting. It saves one the pressure of updating and the guilty feelings towards the waiting readers. But alas, I've not been that clever. Oh, I saw the other one. Are you trying to kill me? Snape and Hermione? Ewww... *runs away hard with flailing limbs* Eh, don't mind me, everyone knows I am a monogamous Tomione fan. xx Nerys

Review reply to VictoriaVouire's review of Bittersweet: *snnrks* I misjudged time. It was one hour earlier than my mind made up. So here is the other reply. LOL. "I have to confess that firstly I was reluctant to read story in witch Hermione is involved with Voldemort. I was reading only fanfictions where Hermione travels back in time. Tom Riddle Jr. and Voldemort were for me two different characters that had nearly nothing in common. That's why I've firstly read "Master of Manipulation". Then I was completely enchanted by the way you write and immediately start reading "The Bittersweet Taste of Victory". Because of them my view of Voldemort/Tom Jr. changed completely. Oh, you're definitely not alone in doing that. I've had more reviews stating that same emotion. And if you look on FFnet, you can see that they even have two different categories for one and the same person (Tom Riddle Jr. and Voldemort), which always make me snort when I have to decide where to post a story there. I usually just go with looks to decide where then, since I think that's what most readers would be looking for. Anyway, I always enjoy writing something that's difficult, and to get Hermione and the readers passed how he looks is a challenge I just can't resist. Also, I think that voldemort's snakelike exterior has the advantage of being so alien that the brain starts to look for human characteristics in it just to be able to make sense of him. Therefor, if confronted with him long enough, you'd start to see beyond the snakelike eyes, flattened nose and odd skin colour and focus on the parts that are still somewhat identiable as human and which can be considered attractive, if not only for self-protection purposes. The mind is a wonderful thing. XD "I love when songs are involwed in fanfictions. But you've done it incredibly well! Those introdustions with songs were so fitting, that I was just stunned." - I usually don't use songs, but with this fic, it felt fitting to start a chapter with a quote. I am glad you felt they were spot on. "When I finished reading chapter 29, I thought I was going to cry. You don't want to know what I was thinking about you right then " - Oh, I think I have an idea or two. "Fortunately there was epilogue " - Now there is a new sentence with respect to HP. LOL. '"It is incredible how you combined dark fanfiction with humor." - Well, to me Angst is only doable as a genre if it's laced with humour; otherwise, it runs the risk of becoming too - er - emo or overly dramatic if you get my drift. Glad you enjoyed the bunny bit; it was actually a scene which I've gone back and forth about in my mind whether or not to keep it in. In the end, fortunately (since I got a lot of positive feedback on it), I decided to leave it in; but I had some doubts about it. "Now I'm going to start reading "The Apprentice", so I hope you will update soon "- Working on it. XD And I hope you will enjoy that one as well. Thank you for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys

Reply to VictoriaVouivre's review on MOM: I want to thank you for your amazing review. It's always great to hear I converted someone to the tomione ship. LOL. Eh, there are so few of us; we desperately need to multiply ... er... okay, that came out wrong, but you know what I meant, don't you? LOL. Ugh Ron and Hermione, may I puke now? I can understand a brief teenage romance, but 19 years of marriage ... please, what was Rowling smoking when she made that up. So, I completely agree with you on that coupling. I'd personally preferred it if JKR had kept the three of them all friends and gave them love interests outside the strong friendship. Anyway, I will stop before this turns into a rant. *giggles* Personally know him ... ermmm... nope. *sobs* (although my poor defenceless muggle body would probably be dead if I did - LOL). But I've always felt you could pick Voldemort of the pages of Rowling's writings; he's such a wonderful three dimensional villain. So, he's easy to write to me. The only problem with him in this pairing is making sure he doesn't get fluffy. Or if he is, I as the author better have a damn good explanation as to why, why, why. LOL. As for my unfinished stories, "The Apprentice" is a huge one in length, so that one will be a long time coming before it gets the completed sign on it. I am right now in the process of working to get the chapters of this story up to speed to where the plot is on FFNet (considering their censorship, I had to make two versions of this story and right now FFnet is four chapters ahead of AFFnet since I had a bit of a no smut inspiration streak). "The Gold Puppet" is closer to completion; I'd guess about 5 chapters; however, I am writing that story together with Serpent In Red, so we need to find some spare time to both be available, which has become a lot harder since she decided to get a job. The nerve of her. (winks to serp). Anyway, I have no intention whatsoever to stop writing Tomione. It's my guilty pleasure. I may not be a regular updater, because I don't write in advance and keep chapters hostage and my muse usually has periods in which it sprouts out huge amounts and then moments when it's dryer. But I won't stop writing. As a reader myself, I seriously dislike all the abandoned stories (seriously, how hard it it to take a story off if you never plan to finish?), so you have my word I will finish all my WIPs. Again, thank you for reading and reviewing, (and I will reply to your other review later; real life demands are dragging me from my computer now), xx Nerys

review reply to Risotto for the Gold Puppet: "Hmm it won't let me review...trying again...anyhow, finally another updat!!" - Sowwie for a late reply. Anyway, we were glad you enjoyed the update and apologize for the lacking updates at the moment. Both Serp and I have our muses focused on the other stories we're writing. We'll try to get some time soon to write together, but we're having problems synchronising our online time. 'Thanks for reading and reviewing, xx Serp and Nerys

Review reply to Anon for Apprentice chapter 29 "I dont like snapes death other then that love the story" - I am glad you love the story. As for Snape's death, it was inevitable. He's far too meddlesome and useful to Harry/Dumbledore in book 6 and 7. I can't have that. XD Thank you for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys

The Apprentice, ch. 29, Review reply to Anon: "I love this story. It is so original. You are a great writer, and I hope that you continue it soon." - Thank you. And I am sorry for the long delay in updates. I haven't forgotten about this story. I am writing two versions of it (one for FFnet and one for this site), and at times, that means one lies ahead of the other, after which I need to see how to fit in the events into the other one. *head-desks, while vowing never, ever to write two such different versions ever again* And then, there is the need for smut-inspiration for chapter 30, which has completely left me at the moment. Every lemon I try to write seems boring or corny or over-used already in my mind, so that's not helping the next chapter either. But I won't abandon Apprentice, it might take me a while, but eventually, I'll get it done. XD Thank you for reading and reviewing, xx Nerys

The Gold Puppet, ch 19, review reply to Alannalove: "I love this story! =D!" - Thanks. "I think evil Tom Riddle is the best!" - You do? *frowns* Me thinks I saw a review of you on FFnet stating you enjoyed redemption Toms. Another Alannalove? *snickers behind palm of hand* Yes, anything you write can and will be used against you. I should know ... I got pwned over very old reviews of mine the other day by a snickering Serp and co. "All of the sex scenes and everything are so so detailed and perfect!" - *insert relieved sighing authors.* Thank you. We're happy you enjoyed them. "Y'all are doing a great job with this highly original plot! Please oh please update soon! =D!" - Glad to hear you think the plot's original. As for updating: We've decided to work together once a month on this story, so we can keep updating it. As you may have noticed, Serp is on a roll with SIT and I was with Apprentice (till this latest chapter from hell where the characters are all being abysmally annoying and trying to drive me insane <no, it's not too late for that already!> ;p). "Thank you so much for this awesome story! YAY! BTW bring on Hermione realizing for real that Seth is Tom!" - Hmmm... on some subconscious level she already knows, but is ignoring it. The soul-splitting had some side-effects to her character that make it easier for her to be less moral and not do the right thing. But at some point, she won't be able to ignore it any longer and you will get to read that and we think it won't be long now. There are a few things that need to happen first before we can have that happen. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing, xx Serpent In Red and Nerys

The Gold Puppet, ch 19, review reply to Risotto: "Hmm it won't let me review...trying again...anyhow, finally another updat!!" - Oh? Internet problems? Maybe you tried doing it when they were working on the database in that moment? But you got to post this anyway. Yessss, finally an update. I had to drag Serpent away from her SIT addiction for a second to work on this one. (Nah, of course, I wasn't obsessed with Apprentice at all; I am innocent with regards to any delays. Very innocent. Stop snickering Serp). Anywaysssss, we hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reviewing despite the problems you ran into. xx Nerys and Serpent In Red.

The Bittersweet Taste of Victory; review reply to Blue Lagoon: "HAHAHAHA The last sentence was just ahhhh soooo voldemort. Loved it!!!!" - *snickers* Yes, very him. Always looking out for number one, himself. And I did want to leave this story showing that side of him hadn't disappeared, even though he may "love" his family in his own "special" manner, he's still who he is. "I was practically glued to my mobile in the last couple of days. Breathing? Eating? Naaaay...no need for these utterly useless things..." - Exactly, it's much more important to read and review. "I loved how you did not turn voldemort into a muggle-loving-puppy-hugging-i-can-see-the-light weirdo lol" - Eww... Ugh... Yuck... You have no idea how much I despise all those fluffy bunnies hugging Voldies. I don't mind it if someone goes for redemption, but please try to do it somewhat IC. Alas, I have yet to see someone pull that of. Most just distort his character to a degree that you wonder why they picked him as the male lead and not some real fluffy bunnies character. What's the point in writing about an evil character if in chapter three, you turn him into "the amazing hero" or worse ... some cry baby? *shivers* "All the time when his relationship to Hermione got more intense...he himself did not change his believes and neither did she. I mean...of course they did to some degree, but it was always believeable..." - Thanks. That's a great compliment. "There is nothing I hate more than a nice voldermort. I can see him pretending to be nice to give his children a chance..but more than that? Never." - Eh, I completely agree (points to rant up above). "Your story was complex...really really complex...with merlin and viviane and the amulet and the elves. I really admire you for that. You did not just borrow rowlings character, but put in your own ideas and created something of your own." - Thanks again. It's good to hear those bits were liked. I always try to find new things that I can fit into canon in a manner that doesn't conflict too much with the original, because you do want the story to stay Potterbased. Otherwise, I could just write an original fiction or so I see it. But I do love to toy around with canon and add things of my own. That's all the fun of fanfiction I believe: trying out new things and expending on it. "And...wow...do you know how to make it hot lol " - *sighs relieved* That's so good to hear. I've gotten requests for lemons; but when I write one, it's often silent on the review front. So, that makes it hard for me to determine if parts are liked or not, especially with regards to future fics. "Love you story and hope I get the chance to read muuuuch more from you ^^" - LOL. Well, I got one other completed tomione out there, one Tom Riddle one-shot, one Tomione WIP multi-chaptered monster called Apprentice, and a joined fic with Serpent In Red which is posted under my account (the gold puppet). And even though updates may be slow at times, I dislike discontinued fics tremendously, so I will finish my projects. I never start posting them until I got a good grasp of where it needs to go in the end. Anyway, I want to thank you for reading and reviewing. XD

The Gold Puppet, ch. 19, review reply to Fleur K. "*fans self* Oh my....Voldemort in all of his dominant glory. Yet another amazing chapter! I cannot wait to see where this goes " - Yeah, we figured Hermione may want to, but she still needs to learn a few tricks in order to beat him. Hence, he got to her instead. Glad you enjoyed him dominating her. We'll do our best to update asap. We're trying to make time once a month to write together, so we can at least keep some kind of update rhythm. Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing, xx Serp and Nerys