Right. Bloodstone is officially finished. I need to do some editing work on it, but as it stands, it's

a) 120K,
b) 39 pages long in single-space 10-point Times New Roman,
c) over 21,000 words long, or
d) all of the above.

If you chose "d," you are a winner. Not bad for a silly little crackfic.

Next to last piece. Actually, the last piece but there's an epilogue. Thanks to racerxmachina who let me bounce ideas off of her this weekend, luidaeg, who did the same online, and aishuu, whose excellent story "Brightly Burning" had the best description ever of Hikaru's eyes when he gets cold and angry in his play. I couldn't best it, so I borrowed it.


( Bloodstone, part 16 )

I note that I post a section with hints of heterosexuality, and all of a sudden people stop commenting! [j/k] *grin* I can't quite believe I've been writing this for two weeks. I also can't believe it's hit 94K. It doesn't feel that long! In any case, enjoy.


( Bloodstone, part 13 )

To see/read about the gemstone in question, go here. Since I finally managed to work the title into the story.

Shortish, again, and mostly based on the image I was searching for earlier. It's Hikaru in below-described outfit playing Touya in a yukata, Isumi in the background, and Akari and Nase also in kimono. Summery, and feels like they're either going to or have gotten back from a festival. And, of course, where Isumi goes, Waya must follow, so he got written in as well. For luidaeg, who pointed out that it's "not in as big and splashy obvious a way, but Touya completely changes how he interacts with the world and the people in it after he meets Hikaru... he comes out of his shell... and maybe that's to chase Sai originally, but he stays out for Hikaru. You see him starting to socialize with the other young pros."

( Bloodstone, part 11 )

Costume College day 1 was interesting. I learned things for costuming, for sewing in general, got information that'll be useful for The Novel (which I need to resume on as soon as I finish this fic, since I've gotten into a nightly writing habit recently), and something useful for this story. Tomorrow morning, wig class! But for now, fic.


( Bloodstone, part 9 )

I've checked the file size for Bloodstone and realized with some surprise that it's hit 50K already. The next longest single-part story I've written is 48K, and Bloodstone isn't done yet. (Stories pre-built into multiple chapters, like Lady Killer, are horses of a different color and thus were not counted for the purpose of this survey.) It doesn't feel like it's that long, probably because I've just been posting a page or two a night. I'm actually quite pleased with some of the language stuff I've been working with in it. There are sentences I need to change or reposition, though, after just a cursory editing glance. Thinking of which, I need to write tonight's... didn't write at work today because I was actually busy for the first three-four hours, and was rereading the early manga after that.