A Fading Hope Prologue

A Fading Hope Prologue.


Song- The Hanging Gale, by The Browne Sisters and George Cavanaugh. From the album "Miles through the Night"
( All the songs by this band used in this story are from this album.)

This song doesn't play a role in the on going puzzel/riddle/thing though, so don't worry. The only part that I listened to during writing was the first verse, 

   All the way, all the way

Go batten your doors

there's a hanging gale just off the shore

but it's not the wind or the rain

that you've got in store...

     A Hanging Gale is a coming storm. Essentially, the song warns of the storm that is coming, and in the case of both the song and story, a storm that will cause bad stuff for a long time- more than just the storm itself, what what comes within it ( the song refers to the Irish potato famine and how it's still causing problems in Ireland. The story refers to.. well, you'll see.)

     On to the story part. The style for this was inspired greatly by the style of the only romance books I have ever read and liked, ( they were only about 60% romance. the other 40% was time travel/save the world/ good vs. Evil type stuff) The Hourglass Door Trilogy by Lisa Mangum. Good stuff.  In any case, her prologues always feature one character- it changes in each book- and is more.. the feelings of the character than anything else. Very vague and mysterious. I figured it'd be fun to try, and it was. 

     As I said in that author note, this story was set in mid season two- just after Ken's Heel-Face Turn (TV Tropes again. Just keep a tab open. ) but before the next story arc. I'm not sure what time period that puts this in- I'm going to say october. Ish. Not that it comes into play or anything. Anyway. I wasn't sure when to put this at first, but this seemed like as good a place as any, although it did mean that unless I came up with a dang good reason for Ken to have gotten in the kids' good graces- not likely after A Captive Light, he'd be absent, since he doesn't join them till after the next arc started. Still, don't dispair Ken fans. He plays a big role in this story( despite not showing up) as you'll see in the companion story. It'll take a while, but with luck, it'll be worth it. 

    Anyway, that's about it for the Prologue. Not much to left to say. It was fun to see reviews for this, already making guesses about the plot and prophecy....hah. if you folks thought that A Captive Light was mean....

A Captive Light Chapter 13 and Epilogue

Almost done! Then I can get started on A Fading Hope. Not that I'm trying to get done with Captive Light- I put a year of my life into writing that, and loved it.

so.

A Captive Light, Chapter 13: Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

yes, It's named for the TVTrope. ( if you don't know what those are.. look, but do it on a day you have an hour or four to spare.)

This was the chapter I had the most... not fun with, I guess, but all the same. I was even more emotionally torn up by this, mostly because of Kari's ( well deserved) angst-pain filed monologue. That was very hard to write, because I had to do it right. I owed it to them, in a strange kind of way. I went through at least a dozen drafts. but that comes in a moment. NOW I get to talk about one of my favorite characters in all of Digimon- Ken. I love Ken. Honestly, I do. It was very hard to write Emperor-Ken, because I don't want him to be so cold and cruel. He was a good kid at heart. I still feel like I messed him up.( I may go back at some point and rewrite the first bit of this chapter.) The thing was, I was trying to fit this mess back into the canon. and I couldn't have Ken crossing the Moral Event Horizon( that's another trope). I had to make it clear that he was very out of his depth. that he wasn't trying to be the villain he was, but trying to achieve his goals, twisted as they were. also, I couldn't kill him off. Some folks, me included, wondered how the kids would ever be able to trust him- let him join them- after this. I'm pleased to say that you will get your answer. it'll just.. take a while. I'm going to be writing a third Fic set in this universe, a companion story to A Fading Hope that deals with Ken. he's very important in the story, although I don't think he'll be showing up until his story. but I digress.

back to Kari and T.K's death and all the sads.

It was sad. I know I cried while writing it, but I cry at everything, even my history class lectures. yeah, that was awkward.

anyway.

I was very proud of the T.K. not-being-dead-reveal. Of course, some saw it coming, but they were mostly real life friends who know how much I hate downer endings. I was very pleased with the scene myself.

I had a very hard time trying to find a good ending for the chapter- unless it's cliffhanger, I hate writing endings, but I remembered that I'd lost Teek's hat, so I thought that hit. Sort of as a way of also saying, it's all ok. the hat was.. a symbol of- oh crap. Am I putting symbolism in my work? Sigh. I guess that's the English Major in me. ah well.

And that was the chapter. It was as I wrote that, that it really hit me how much work the story had been, how long it was, and how little there was left.

A Captive Light Chapter 14/Epilogue: The Sun Shall Rise /Home

yes, I combined them, both in the story and as a post. What? They were to short for me to post alone!

pretty much, this is what you don't see in the books- the what happens when the hero gets home, half dead or whatever. I always wondered about that. I mean, how do you explain that to Mom and Dad? TK does tell them, though, which I just now realized I said in a later chapter of A Fading Hope he hadn't. oops. ( no one caught it, but my moral...moralness says I need to fess up. so I fess up.)

anyway, It took ages for me to do to three things for this:

One: come up with a good excuse for what in blue blazes had happened. While Izzy's parents might understand, the cops sure wouldn't! I'm still not satisfied with the excuse, but playing the " trauma card" works well enough, so I'll let it be.

Two: end the thing. As I said, I'm awful at endings. Truly, I am. It took a few hours at my computer, typing, deleting, typing, deleting, on and on, until I thought it was... right.

Some folks may have wanted more Takari out of it, but I remind you that i didn't age the cast up. Teeks and Kari are 11. They should not be declaring undying love for each other, not for another few years. At least, that's my mind. but they are good friends, and I see nothing wrong with very strong friendships, with little crushes, that can blossom later. (this is why I was Team Gale until book three. Then I changed to " team whoever makes her happy" and stuck with that. I still disliked Mockingjay though.) ANNNYWAY, you don't care 'bout my shipping choices. my point is, I wanted to emphasize the friendship stuff. the Conversation between Kari and TK in this chapter was one of the easiest to write, I remember. It just felt good. I ended it with a final conversation... and a Promise. yeah. that right there, that's not going away. The Promises are still going strong in Fading Hope.

Three: stop crying. that may have taken the longest of all. this story was pretty much my child. it was the first thing of length I'd ever finished- and the longest work I've ever done, to this day, at a whopping 106 single spaced pages, not counting my disclaimers and author's notes. I spent a year on it, and it was a year of great changes in my life. The story, and getting all the lovely reviews, was one of the stable things, and I re-read those kind words so often, whenever I had a bad day. I still do. They meant- they mean- the world to me.

I honestly couldn't believe it was over- and yet it wasn't. people wanted more. that's never really happened to me before. usually people tell me to shut up, as I tend to ramble. so the seeds of A Fading Hope started, and 8 months later, I started. that's a whole other story though, and we'll get to that next time.

Music in A Captive Light.

I listen to music while I write, always have, always will.

Question- can anyone tell me how to hook up spotify to a blog? That way you'll be able to listen to the music I mention... Hmm.

Anyway. here is a list of songs I listened to as I wrote. Not in any order or anything.

" Man's Road" by America, from " The Last Unicorn"

"1000 Miles" by someone famous. honestly, I don't know. I should probably look it up, but I'm lazy.

" Candle on the water" from "Pete's Dragon"( my own recording, not the movie's, but the words/ tune is the same)

" At the Beginning" from " Anastasia" ( pattern- I listen to stuff that's from stuff a lot)

"Once and for all " From "Newsies"

" Power of one" from " Pokemon, 2000"

" May it Be" from Lord of the Rings

"Into the west" from Lord of the rings ( both the regular and the cello solo)

"Far Away " by Nickleback. ( no judging, got it?)

" the time has come" from Pokemon.

"Battle on the Tower" From Beauty and the Beast

" Solla Sollew" From Seussical

" Battle" From Chronicles of Narnia

" We Are" by Ana Johnsson

" When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt

" Tidal wave" by Owl City

" You'll be in my heart" From Tarzan

" With you all the time" by.. I forget. sorry.

" Never Alone" by Barlow Girl

" Someone's waiting for you" From The Rescuers

"Where" from Narnia

"River" by the Browne Sisters

" Return to mother" from Tangled

and the " Musical Core" the song( two, in this case) that I Listened to on repeat during the core, that I feel captured the story. the first was " transformation" from Beauty and the Beast and " the Tear Heals" from Tangled. funny, both were composed by Alan Menken. I love that man.

anyway, another fun thing about both is they both tell the same story- a Love hurt, dead, dying in the girls arms( near enough) and that sparks something, and he ends up not dead. of course, it's not the SAME as my story. obviously I didn't use the Power Of Love to save anyone. but the emotions- he was dead, suddenly not- are there. plus they have some super sad bits. and then really heartwarming bits. so it works.

anyway, next time I'll get back to posting about the chapter- I'll try to finish up ACL and get onto AFH, which I just posted chapter four of.

and now I'm off to bed.

~HNA

A Captive Light, Chapter 12

If more than three people were reading this, I might apologize for taking so long, then laugh at the irony. On account of I'm notoriously slow at updating. never mind

Chapter 12 of A Captive light. It gets it's own special post all to itself. why? BECAUSE IT"S THE CORE! yay! finally!

So...

A Captive Light Chapter 12: History repeats.

My gosh this was a fun one to write. that also probably says a whole host about me, none of it good. I know. The disclaimer for this one was one that I am particularly proud of, and caused some mood whiplash. perfect.

So I started off with a few simultaneous snippets. that was a lot of fun, and not originally planned. I threw it in to kill everyone with the terrible, awful suspense. Hee Hee.

but it worked nicely. then, of course, I killed off a character. sort of. have you ever hit something really hard, and then your hand is sort of numb? that's what happened to Kari. It wasn't that T.K wasn't breathing, do much as she couldn't tell.

This came from my cat. I should explain. My cat, Lucy, is an idiot. Oh, she can pee in a toilet, but she can't find her food in the morning. she's not too bright. She slept on my bed before I moved to middle of nowhere Idaho for school, and snores. And sometimes I'd wake up at 2 or 3 AM, and she'd have stopped snoring. and I'd pet her, and she'd be stone cold and not moving and breathing so shallowly that I'd think she was dead. and I'd shake her. and a few minutes later, she'd purr. darn cat.

Anyway. you can thank my cat for that gut wrenching bit of dramatic flair.

moving on. in addition to being the most fun, this was also one of the hardest to write. Why? because of my writing style.

I have hypo mania. That's a mental disorder like bi-polar. basically, my emotions are way extreme, and uncontrolled. I try to get into character when I write, and I start to feel like whoever is the focus of the story. In this case, Kari. during this chapter and the next, I pretty much sobbed all the way though.

this was not helped by my music, which will be the next post.

So yeah. I cried like a small child as I wrote this. But it's sad. Sad stuff. :'(

This was the core:

Kari, kidnapped by ken, is nearly killed but saved by the heroic sacrifice of a friend-the first version was T.K, then I had it be Tai, but it went back and stayed firmly with T.K. flashback to wizardmon, the digivice glose and Gatomon digivolves. stuff then happens

here is the idea as I wrote it in my story notebook:

Digimon fic- trapped light? captive light? hmm.

ken kidnaps kari. gatomon first? hostage. others come to rescue, in the chaos, Kari attacked. TK dies- heroic sacrifice. Kari HBOD( heroic blue screen of death). remembering wizardmon, Kari's grief allows Gato to DV to Angewomon. Ken runs away. magic happens, T.k not dead, takari fluff. yay.

And with a few adjustments.... that's what happened.

I was very please with the outcome of this chapter, very pleased indeed.

mostly because I liked knowing what was coming next and no one else knowing.

~HNA