Review Replies

[Nerys Dax]

The Apprentice chapter 28 review reply to Amber:

"I love it on here it is so different and Hermione's darkness rocks I hope that she picks gray tho "

Yes, keeping the smut out of this story on FFnet posed me with several challenges to get the same information across without the smut since I add plot-relevant issues to my smut, and that created the rather huge difference between both versions. I am glad you enjoyed it here, too.

As for what she's going to pick, ... well, you really didn't expect me to spoil that info, did you?

Thanks for reading and reviewing,

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

The apprentice, ch 28, reply to Nicky123:

"I still love this story and can't wait for the next chapter!!! " - Thank you. I'll do my best to update asap.

[Nerys Dax]

The Apprentice, ch 28, reply to Lady Miya:

"Do I dare hope that we'll see Voldemort shopping in the next chapter? At the same time as Hermione and C:O does?" - *sniggers* Well, I am sure he will time his shopping just right.

"Oooh, and maybe he can take care of that spell he put on her then and make her be able to come. Yeees, that would be nice." - And seeing he's anything but nice ... LOL. Well, you'll see.

"Hehe, and that thing Dumbledore was doing inside Hermione's mind, learning her how to turn her mind into a weapon, was so cool. It's really facinating those sorts of illusion and I think you described it wonderful!" - Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed her lessons with Dumbledore. It was fun to write for me (to my surprise, usually DD gives me more troubles in scenes).

"I find it very interesting that Harry and Ginny seem to be able to do Dark Arts and not Ron. Is it because they have been influenced with Voldemort before while Ron hasn't?" - Yep, it's what I have in the back of my mind while writing those scenes. Plus, it's Hermione teaching them. Harry and Ginny are pretty certain of themselves, while Ron has those envious, I-don't-measure-up feelings; so, he has more problems when she bluntly tells him he's not doing it the right way.

"Hm... but I do wonder what it is Voldemort wants Yaxly (sp?) to do. Do he want him to mess with Hermione's papers so she appears to be fullblood or halfblood or something like that? Well, I guess that would be needed if he were to include her among his Death Eaters. Merlin knows he can't be seen with a Mudblood." - No, the horror! *sniggers* And the thing with Hermione's papers will show up soon. Not in the next chapter, but the one after that.

"Ha, and Hermione is such a little masochist, getting turned on when Voldemort humiliates her. And not to mention, hurts her. It was a hot scene though!" - glad you enjoyed the smut. I daresay it's been a while since the last smut scene, so ...

"You really do well on both making him evil and with humour. And he is so charming as well and it's all a great combination." - Well, he's in the process of trying to lure Hermione to his side, so naturally he's got to be charming. *giggles* And I couldn't write him without humour, I'd get bored myself. And he has to be evil: if ever emo!Tom fluffs bunnies in my pen, I shalt kill said bunnies and hang them by the rafters.

"I've just started watching Dexter (not sure if I'll be able to continue, it's rather gruesome with all the chopped up bodies and such) and he kind of remains me of your Voldemort. Although, Dexter got a very strong sense of moral... only kill the people who have killed and all that. Nice little monster. And Voldemort isn't nice... hehe... and he doesn't mind sex. Okay, so I probably like your Voldemort better, but I still see some similarities." - *snnrkkss* Well, they're both serial killers - just with different targets. I think I saw one or two episodes of Dexter, but it didn't struck my fancy. Although the voice-over is hilarious in all its darkness at times. The excuses he makes up in his mind and the comments on his "victims". *giggles*

"Okay, enough ramblings. I should go to bed like a good little girl and dream pretty little dreams... about Voldemort. Yeeees...

winks." - Hope you slept well. And there can never be enough ramblings. NEVA!

Thanks for reviewing again,

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

Puppet reply to Lady Miya:

"Hm... my memory are not that good when it comes to fanfictions, it would seem. I'll just have to wait until more chapters are out and reread the whole thing Since I know how busy you are, I'll probably manage to forget this before the next one is out and all anyway. So take your time I'll read again when this story is complete!"

- Sure, we understand perfectly.

(We do? Serp asks)

(For now, Nerys replies, whispering conspiratory, out here in the open for anyone to see, we are very, very understanding. Yet, when we arrive in her msn...)

(We shall bombared her with emo!Tom, Serp suggests deviously.)

(Nice, Nerys replies, liking THAT idea very much)

Loud maniacal laughter enveloped the planet as the two scheming writers open their messengers.

Run Miya, RUN! Emo!Tom is heading in your direction. Muahhahaha!

[Nerys Dax]

The Gold Puppet, review reply to hero_jaejoong:

"ladies i have no words to the describe the brilliance of your fict. after months of banning myself from the internet and to return and find such treasures of chapters you have written. i'm forever humbled in the presence of masters. bravo! bravo!"

- curtain call - alleged masters bow - another curtain call, since there were two bravos and we are sooo marvellous we deserve those. *snnrkkss*

"p/s: i hope my shameless obsequiousness will induced the masters of tomione kingdom to write the masterpiece that is the golden puppet."

Obsequiousness ... whoa! Big words! It seems our brilliance is attracting a different breed of readers now. *flap through dictionary frantically to avoid looking like a morons in their response* Alas ... Too late. Our secret is out. XD

"if that doesnt work, i'm not above begging!!" - Really? We should probably warn you, we're not above receiving begging. So ... get on with it. Muahahhaha!

LOL

Anyway, thank you for your funny review. It made our day.

xx Serp and Nerys

PS. Banning yourself from the internet? @@

We'd get major withdrawal symptoms after a few minutes of inability to go online. *shivers to think of it happening for months* You're a true hero, Hero.

[Nerys Dax]

The Apprentice chapter 29

review reply to Anon, Magentasouth and Nicky123:

Anon: "Yay! Another chapter. I can't wait to see where you take this story. I love your characterization, it is spot on." - thank you. I'll do my best to update asap, but the next chapter will require two different version and I'm working on the FFnet one first. But it does have Hermione-Voldemort interaction, and that always makes me write easier and faster than Order scenes. LOL.

Magentasouth: "Awesome!" - Thank you.

"I liked the little conversations with dumbledore and with harry best." - That's funny. Those bits were written the fastest on my end. LOL.

"Need more - update soon!" - FFnet will be the first to get the next update. Considering I have a Hermione-Voldemort scene up ahead, which interactions would be different here since they got much more intimate on this site already. So, I have to tweak it somewhat and possibly add some lemons to it.

Nicky123: "This story is so good!" - Thank you. I am glad you like it.

"I can't wait to see some more interaction between Hermione and Voldemort." - Next chapter. For as far as I can tell right now, it will be solely Hermione-Voldemort.

"I am still hoping that Hermione stays good but Voldemort has to save her a few times. " - Ermm... you don't honestly expect me to spoil something that big, do you?

Thank you all for reading and viewing,

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

The Apprentice, ch 29, review reply to Summer Leah:

"Yayyyy!!!! Well, you already know how much I love this story, so I won't repeat that." - You won't? @@ *sobs, acts like a little baby and throws a tantrum* You have to tell me how wonderful I am!

"But I don't think I mentioned how much I enjoy the bits about Hermione's research and magical theory. Not sure why, but in the hp books I loved reading about the lessons." - Me too. I think, because on the one hand it's so foreign and creative, and on the other, it's so recognisable, because well, the way Jo writes the lessons, it's like I was back in class again. *shivers at the thought*

"And I'm so happy you added some more smut! It was wonderful." - glad you liked it. The next chapter will have smut too.

"So, now everyone knows what's up (kind of)." - Yep, sort of anyway. XD

"And Hermione Granger is now a pureblood. lol." - *glares.* You saw the reviews on FFnet about this subject and are now trying to drive me crazy, aren't you? LOL. Resists the enormous temptation to shout: "NO SHE IS NOT!" Pats herself on the back for her restraint.

"Please update again soon!" - I am working on the next chapter, but it will probably appear on FFnet first since I have to add smut and change the LV-HG dynamic in it for this site.

Thanks for reading and reviewing,

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

the apprentice, ch. 29, review reply to Mr. Galion:

"Weee Update!" - You're welcome.

"I know this isn't a herm/harry story but all last chapter I was sort of hoping she'd seduce him to relieve that itch and then get caught." - It's funny you should mention this, because I did toy with that idea, seeing Harry is a Horcrux and as such it may work since only Voldy could relieve that itch. But I couldn't think of a sensible reason for Hermione to consider that fucking Harry would help her (after all, she doesn't know about the Horcruxes), so I let it slide.

"I can see all the adults going crazy as this was Voldie's plan and how she would bring harry to him and such rot. But then again I am delusional." - sniggers. Well, according to Harmony shippers, there is only one delusional woman in this world and it's Rowling. LOL. And I think the others would definitely go crazy finding them go at it. XD

"I liked the Florida scene." - thanks.

"I humbly await your next update." - I'll do my best not to make it too long a wait.

Thanks for your review,

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

The Apprentice, ch. 29, review reply to NataliaGAG:

Thank you. And I'll do my best to update asap.

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

Masters of Manipulation, review reply to Magentasouth:

"LOVE this story - soooooooo very much. Especially the ending. LOVELOVELOVE!!!

(happy)"

Hi,

I tried first to reply to your review on FFnet since I noticed a bit late that Masters had received a review, but you disabled PMs there; so ... I am glad you enjoyed the story, and the ending (why do I get the feeling you also read the FFnet ending? *giggles*).

Thanks for reading and reviewing,

xx Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

The Gold Puppet, ch. 19, review reply to Soniab:

"What an intriguing chapter." - Intriguing ... now that's a new word to describe smut. LOL. As in intriguing good or intriguing bad? As in "please my eyes are burning, can you two stop trying to write lemons asap, so we can all sleep better at night" intriguing? *sniggers*

Well, we're curious, because we noticed that we do get requests for lemons; but when we insert them in a chapter, all goes quiet. I can tell you that's quite disheartening at times and makes us somewhat insecure about the quality of it. Since, without any comments from readers, it's hard to tell what's liked and disliked about the lemon, so when we write the next one, we just muddle through as we deem fit.

"LV shall prevail and rule the world " - Yeah, if it were up to him and us (which I suppose it is... oh shoot, did we give away the ending now? *sniggers*), then he'd prevail and rule the world, the moon, the stars, the sun... everything. *snnrkks* However, Hermione is still there and I am sure the two of her will have an opinion on this matter, too.

"Thanks for the update." - You're welcome. We're going to try to work together once a month on a new chapter of this story. (Yes, that may seem slow, but we both have our other, private fics as well, which is why it's not faster). Anyway, hopefully we'll find some update rhythm this way.

Thank you for reading and reviewing, with love,

xx Serp and Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

The Gold Puppet, ch 19, review reply to Aviendha:

"Yay another chapter! " - Nice happy face. Glad you were happy about the update. We're trying to work Puppet in our schedules, so we can update this fic once a month. We both have a solo projects that are a bit all-consuming at the moment. But we decided to somehow drag ourselves away from them for a brief period of time to continue this one. XD

"I love how utterly dark Tom/Voldemort is." - Well, he wouldn't be him if he wasn't.

"Serves Hermione right...if we can't have him, we can make him beat her. *snicker*" - ROFL. Okay, Serp, let's hand Aviendha one of our custom made Serp-Nerys Hermione voodoo dolls (registrated trademark). Serp ruffles through their huge supply and finds one that miraculously still survived the authors' frustration intact. "Got one!"

*Hand out their Hermione voodoo doll ® to Aviendha*

"ENJOY!"

Thanks for reading and reviewing,

xx Serp and Nerys

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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.

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Guest Nerys Dax]

Review reply to Relatela for apprentice chapter 29

"Love the story!!! Please update soon - the two weeks at the Burrow are almost up right? I'm looking forward to some more LV/HG quality time =)." - I am sorry for the long wait. I am having a bit of a smut-block. Well, the two weeks are halfway through, but LV/HG time is coming up in the next chapter already. LV really doesn't need her to be away from the Burrow to get some quality time. wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Thank you for reading and reviewing.

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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

[Nerys Dax]

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.

"Also.. when I reread past chapters of the apprentice (I suppose the effect would probably be repeated on other stories I've particularly loved) I notice little things.. small elements that have ended up in my own stories. Kind of bothers me. I don't intend to plagiarise. If you ever notice something familiar - I apologise. I don't know (or think about) where the ideas come from when I'm writing."

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.

Please.. pretty pretty please with sugar on top - please keep writing and updating with normal length intervals between chapters.

(I know begging didnt work last time.. but I don't know what else I can say. you=dealer, I=smackhead. drug required! provide! provide!)

*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

[magentasouth]

Review Reply The Apprentice Chapter 30 to Magentasouth:

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.

(shrugs) - You're probably right. Can't fault perfection. Still...for me, my stories aren't my opus magna - just something I do to amuse myself. Some of them have been read and edited a number of times - but as you move closer to the edge of updating, they are less filtered and modified. I'll have to see if anyone complains that they've lost something. I'm fairly sure they weren't all that to begin with. Still.. there are so few tomiones. I have read some pretty raw things myself simply because there was little else available.

[/b] 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.

Actually that one was inspired by a fic - but it was a SS/HG fic called caged bird and it was quite different in every possible way. It was just the idea of a cage that stuck in my mind - but not even my cage is similar. If you do know of a similar cage fic with HG and LV - flick me a link!!

[/b]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.

I haven't had any rows so far - I don't think i've ever used anyone elses actual words/plots. And the things in question are rather small - props at best. 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 - it't that kind of little similarity i'm talking about. Not actual adopted phrases or things. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine. It was just when I was rereading that I suddenly became aware of how my impressions of some things have been coloured by the stories I've loved.

[/b]*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.

No no.. I love Doctor Who. I actually have the entire series. Tennant is the best! I have to say, I don't like Matt Smith's portrayal - but then I don't much like any of the new characters in the latest version.

On the other hand - I suppose I was dubious when David Tennant first took over. Perhaps Matt deserves the benefit of the doubt to grow into the role.

He just seems so... - no the whole series just feels less gripping, less moving. I fully admit that there were some episodes of Tennants Doctor who where I actually cried. Matt is..watchable. That's about it in my opinion. At least thus far.

It was good that they didn't allow the daleks to be destroyed once and for all... though i'm not sure what i thought of the new redesign. Bit playmobil really..

Anyway - I'll look forward to 31!!

[Nerys Dax]

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.