Formerly known as Fall of Normality. Why did I change my pen name? Meh...No good reason. I decided I needed a change after so many years. Maybe it'll help me be more consistent with updates.

Now also writing under the name scripting life for my Castle fics. I'm not necessarily giving up on this account and all the incomplete fics I still have going here, but let's just say that I'm finding inspiration elsewhere at this point. Also, Castle is an awesome show, so go watch it if you've never seen it before. Caskett love, baby. Caskett love. :)

:Who am I:

Freshly graduated and trying to figure out what to do with my life. In this economy, there's really not much for a humanities major such as myself. lol. sadness. Anyhow, I'm old enough to be an adult in all aspects of the word but the strategic positioning of certain siblings in my vicinity will automatically subtract a substantial number of years from that number. I can't blame my strangeness on being an English major anymore seeing as how I'm no longer one, so I'll just straight up admit that I'm weird. Or special. Unique. Though personally, I really just prefer quirky. :)

:My Blurb:

5/23/11: Finally starting to get back in the swing of things. Check out the new stories and show me some love, please! :)

10/15/10: Ahh...frustration. Just when I was resolved to stop procrastinating and get going on all the things I have to do, my computer decides to crash on me. Lovely...that means, my poor readers, that much of everything I've written is GONE! Suffice to say, I'm somewhat discouraged right now and it will take quite some time before I get back to the point where I can rewrite everything I've lost. This, unfortunately, also means that there's going to be even more of a delay before any of my fics get updated. I'm sorry!!!

6/8/10: Technically my last week of finals in my college career. Rather, I should say hopefully my last week of finals in my college career, if I don't fail any of my classes, that is. In the next three days, I have three finals and two papers due. Lovely. Graduation, I'm so close to thee!!

5/3/10: This week I die. Seriously. But once I finish dying and make it to next week, I'm home-free in terms of classwork for the next three weeks. So here's to surviving this coming week. In other news, I was browsing dictionary (dot) com for the next Word of the Day prompt to hit when I saw the word sesquipedalianism. Now I know that it's my arena to write fics based on their word of the days, but I don't think I can do it. Seriously, if there's someone out there who can write a fic using this word smoothly (no cheating by making it a word somebody tries to spell), I'll...I'm not sure what I'll do, but I'll be super impressed.

9/14/09: Summer school has not been kind to me. In fact, it kinda owned me. I haven't had much of an opportunity to do much (recreational) writing because all my time has been taken up with writing papers and whatnot. I do have this week to recuperate before Fall quarter starts so hopefully I'll get something up within the next couple of days. My apologies for the delay.

6/10/09: Six pages to go on my history paper and six hours before it's due. Somebody shoot me. Why am I even on this site right now? I think it's the procrastination bug that's biting me. That and lack of sleep. And caffeine to make up for the lack of sleep...Six hours before I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

5/29/09: There is such a thing as sleep debt. I'm paying back mine.

4/14/09: Last quarter of my junior year. That means I actually have to figure out what to do with my life (i.e. grad school, go overseas...bum around home...). If only I could be a fanfiction writer as a profession eh? Actually probably not. I'm not consistent enough to make a sustainable living.

9/5/08: Only one more week at home before moving back down to LA. Ah...so sad. There goes my summer. Not much else going on. Though I did lock myself in the garage the other day and was stuck in there for a good 2-3 hours. How I managed to do that is beyond me.

:Completed Works:

The Beat of Her Heart: Tragic Inuyasha oneshot.

I Wish I Could Forget: They say forgive and forget. But how can you forgive if you can't forget? Angsty Inuyasha oneshot from Kagome's POV

Who Am I?: My first (and only) hand at poetry in the Inuyasha universe. There's a reason I don't write anymore poetry. Lol.

The Changing of Times: Yet another angsty/tragic Inuyasha oneshot. Man, I have a lot of these.

Love to Hate: My first FFVII fic and it shows. Definitely not my best piece of work.

Scrabble: Fluffy nothings. Sweet and pointless. What else do you want?

Sardines: Because 'sardines' is an awesome game and FFVII is an awesome game. Put them together and you get uber awesomeness! (and some fluff to go along!)

Her Hands: An examination of a fighter's hands.

Strength: It takes more to have strength of heart than it does to have physical strength.

Only Human: Because in the end, when facing imminent death, we are all only human.

Everything's Gonna Be Alright: The lie that everyone would love to believe.

Assumptions: Because it seems irrational to me that they would put Cloud and Tifa in the same holding cell unless there was a reason for it...

In Their Wake: History is written by the winners. Heroes are determined by history. The winners are usually heroes. Yet, the path of destruction that they left in their wake was no less devastating—if not more so—than the one he left. For those whose loved ones perished in the wake of violence they left behind, justice only means one thing: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Left for Dead: A rather bitter take from Cloud's POV right before he gets picked up from the train station by Tifa.

Insecurity: A five-year anniversary at Fanfiction-dot-net celebratory oneshot. Cloti fluff. Not much else substance.

Promise Me Nothing: A bittersweet Full Metal Panic! drabble. Because everyone knows that promises are made to be broken.

Disembodied: Sometimes he sees himself as if through another pair of eyes. Confused!Cloud set during the game.

Like a Flutter in the Wind: Four different drabbles introducing a very different beginning for four individuals. FFVII

Constant: He was always there, but she hadn't always acknowledged him. Now, she just wants him to see her.

Penthesilea: Probably the only Seph/Aerith fic I'll ever write. Ever. Based on the legend of Achilles and Penthesilea. I recommend looking up the myth before reading because it'll make little sense if you don't.

To Write Love on Her Arms: Inspired by the vision statement of the organization by the same name. A story of pain and the long, hard road to recovery.

and the world will spin: We are much smaller in the light of things than we usually think.

The Portrait: A dark Cloud and an oblivious Tifa. And you thought they had problems before.

Thirty Seconds: Two-shot. Time marches on without care, but sometimes, people just need some time, even thirty seconds, to pull themselves back together. FFVII

:Works In Progress:

Cursed Blessing: On hold indefinitely.

For This Purpose: On hold indefinitely.

Household Rules: A series of one-shots meant to capture family life in the Lockhart-Strife household.

In the Blink of an Eye: A rewriting of the original FFVII game with a whole lot of background meat added in.

Oceans Away: An attempt at the oh-so-trite theme of Cloud's sudden abandonment and return.

Word of the Day: Title says it all. I'm an English nerd, so deal. FFVII

Pro Bono: A lawyer, his client and all sorts of other fun stuff that happens to pop up. FFVII

Another Lifetime: AU one-shots meant to help jump-start my muse. FFVII

The Killing Hand: An alternate look at the post-game world. FFVII

Impressions: Drabble collection charting the development of Auldrant's would-be saviors. ToA

:(Possible) Future Fics:

Matchmaker: Tifa had always assumed that Cloud was in love with Aeris and vice versa. There were all those times when their conversations would suddenly stop when she neared them or how Aeris would always drag him away from the group to “talk.” It was obvious. So obvious that she had long ago told herself to stay out of their way, regardless of the sharp pain it left in her own heart. However, what she didn’t know was that Aeris was playing matchmaker for an all-too dense Cloud. It began as a simple ploy to make Tifa confront her feelings for Cloud, but it had the reverse effect of burying Tifa even deeper into herself. Matchmaking had never been so difficult. Cloti

Fandom: FFVII

Genre: Humor/Romance

Rating: T

A what-if scenario set within in the game. I'm kinda holding off on writing this one, though, because I haven't played the game in a while and have kinda forgotten a lot of stuff. But, I thought it would be a rather amusing thought to look at the love triangle between Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris in this angle. Also, while I personally think Cloud is better off with Tifa, I think too many people take their relationships (i.e. Tifa and Aeris being best friends, Tifa and Aeris hating each other, etc.) to the extreme. While the scenario that I want to present is highly unlikely as to the game-writers' original intention, I think I can make it fit well into the scope of things.

Babysitting Heaven’s Grandson: Twenty-two year old Tifa Lockheart’s biggest dream is to continue on to grad school. Unfortunately, the Seventh Heaven, a popular bar in downtown Midgar is her father’s sole legacy and she would sacrifice anything to ensure that it stays in the black, even if it means her own education. Cloud Strife is a twenty-eight year old successful business man and father to a seven-year old son. Plagued by guilt and love for his deceased wife, Cloud’s exterior has hardened into bitter callousness. When Tifa is hired to look after his son, things get complicated when pasts are exhumed and emotions that have been buried for far too long come roaring back to life. AU

Fandom: FFVII

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: T

Conman: Their lives were little more than a mountain of lies built upon a foundation of falsehoods, the only truth between them being their love. With only one con left to pull, Vincent must ensure that everything is executed to perfection. Love takes many forms, and the one he wants her to keep is hope. AU. Yuffentine.

Fandom: FFVII

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: T

Yes, that's right. I'm thinking about writing something in the FFVII world that's not revolved around Cloud and Tifa. Amazing, I know. Anyway, this is based off a Chinese movie I watched recently of which the English name escapes me right now. Initially, I had thought to make it Cloti, but as I was thinking about it, the characters fit so much nicer with Vincent and Yuffie. Anyway, no projected date as to when this might be up though, so don't hold your breath for it.

That's Life (title subject to change): Cloud's a promising young doctor who has just lost his first patient. Taking some time off to question whether the medical profession--and the inevitable failures to save that comes with it--is really something he can handle, he meets the beautifully spirited Tifa Lockhart in his travels. Taken in by her carefree and ever optimistic approach to life, Cloud learns that success is not indicated by how many lives he saves, but by how many lives he touches. Yet, life is unpredictable and just when he thinks he has it all figured out, fate throws a curveball that he isn't sure he can hit. AU

Fandom: FFVII

Genre: Romance/Drama (possibly Tragedy...we'll see)

Rating: K+/T

I'm maybe ten percent finished with this one and it will probably end up either being a very long one-shot, or a short (as in 3-4 chapters) multi-chapter deal. Still, I like the premise and if I can pull this off, I think it will be one of my best (at least most emotionally involved) works.

:On Shipping:

For the most part, I stick with orthodox canon pairings. My thought is that the people who put the original story together wrote the characters in such a way that they are literally written for each other. As such, I think that changing a canon pairing would be nearly equivalent to changing a character's very personality. Take Tifa and Cloud from FFVII, for instance. As much as I've enjoyed reading Fack fics recently, I think that Tifa's love for Cloud defines a part of who she is. Therefore, when it comes to FFVII, I will always ship Cloti over Fack. As for the Clerith pairing, I'll admit that I've never even gone near that particular fandom. Part of it is the lingering remnants of back in the day when I found her character annoyingly cheery, but even now that I've grown to appreciate the deeper facets of her personality, I just can't see her as anything other than an older sister type figure for Cloud. Despite Cait Sith's predictions in the game about their "compatability" (and really, who would trust that stuffed cat's fortunetelling of all things?), I adamantly do not believe them to be canon.

If there is no defined canon relationship, I'm usually pretty open to other pairings that are plausible. For example, I don't know why, but recently I've been very attracted to Seiftis fics in FFVIII fandom. They have no canon pairings and so I find it perfectly legitimate to write them together. That and their personalities are just way too much fun to analyze. Unfortunately, that particular fandom is not very large. Meh.

Anyhow, there's my little blurb on shipping. Sometimes I still think I'm taking all this way too seriously for my own good, but eh, oh well. Life's more fun that way. :)

:On giving reviews:

I'm going to apologize ahead of time because I will readily admit that I do not review every single story I read (gasp!). However, most of the time, this is not because I don't like your story. It's more because I tend to only write reviews that are rather analytical. Interpretation, you say? I write reviews when I see a point being made about a certain of a character, relationship, or situation that I find unique or well-addressed. As such, my reviews also tend to be long, both in length and the time it takes for me to write them. I realize that this is not the best policy in giving reviews because it ends up that only a select few fics get reviewed by me, and this does not give proper credit where its due a lot of the time. I'm trying to phase myself out of this and drop at least some sort of review anyway, knowing as a writer myself how much feedback means to a writer, but it'll take time to break this habit of mine. Please bear with me until I do.

:On receiving reviews:

First of all, thank you so very much for taking the time to review my stories! It's encouraging as a writer to see positive responses (and even not so positive ones to see what I do to improve). Realize that I am deeply thankful for every single one. However, I also need to apologize here because more often than not, I will not be giving individual replies to reviews. I wish I could and sometimes I really should because of the nature of the review, but to honest, I really don't have the extra time to be doing that for every single review. If you don't get a reply to me for a review, it's not because I don't appreciate it; it's just because I have a lot to juggle and I think you all would appreciate it more if I updated quicker than if I responded to your review. For those who are able to do both, I am utterly amazed at that ability. Unfortunately, I don't have that capacity so I'm sorry.