CAT-ASTROPHY ZONE!

Enter at own risk :)

Hope you enjoy your stay!

- passionate person - catlover - literature addict - proud wanna-be writer - occasional harp player - music fanatic - free spirit -

My name is Stella and I live in Switzerland (near Zurich) in a little flat (number 13) I share with my three cats (or they share with me).

One of my great passions, next to cats, is literature. I can remember loving books from childhood on. This passion made me choose my study subjects (English and German, both Language and Literature), and I recently passed my final exam which allows me to call myself MA (Master of Arts). In addition, I am an aspiring journalist and a proud wanna-be writer :)

Current projects:

Have I mentioned before that writing is my passion, my life and my therapy? :)

That has been the case ever since I can remember, and my dream is to see one of my original stories published one day (I'm working on it ;)

My prefered type of story (both for writing and reading) is drama/tragedy, balanced with lots of bright spots. I love to describe the subtle play of psychological mechanisms that shape and influence the human mind, which can be seen best in somewhat 'darker' modes. When I write romance, it's usually the bitter-sweet kind.

As you can see, I'm currently practising my skills wtriting fan fiction.

So far, all stories published here can be read as 'stand alones', but if you read them all, you'll see that they are connected by hints and allusions to each other.

What I am working on at the moment (unless some sneaky plot cat gets in the way...):

"Final Fiction"

Fascinated by the storyline of Final Fantasy VII, I started a story called "Final Fiction". It kind of re-tells the events of Crisis Core and beyond; trying to be close to the original as well as involving my own view on things and my personal creativity. At some points, I'm having my doubt about that project (style-wise, OC-wise etc.), but rest assured that I will finish it somehow (is stubborn).

Please note that I am aware of the fact that my early writing is in desperate need for revision, as my style has improved thanks to this little project. Especially the first chapters of "Final Fiction" are still far from perfect... In addition, I wasn't really into those characters when I first started. Down to the point: It's my very first try at fan fiction, it's bad, I don't recommend reading it at the moment being.

Status: On hiatus. (Well, the next chapter is sitting almost finished on my desktop for ages... But my other writing project(s) is (are) currently taking all my energy and motivation. Sorry.)

"Fragile Bonds"

A somehow sequel to "Ties of Fate", a story that was suppossed to be a one-shot, but grew to a multi chapter and started the second 'arc' of my writing. For more information on questions like 'what?', 'how?' and 'why?', please take a look at the preface (first chapter).

Status: Ongoing

Expect updates to come along slowly... As the events depend crucially on each other (in the same way as hints in a detective novel lead up to a solution in the end), I need to finish the whole thing before I can start putting chapters up. So I'll have to ask you for a little more patience...

"A Guide to understand the Author's Mind" - More or less FAQ:

Q: Why do all your stories start either with a 'list-like' introduction part or with an extended author's note you call Preface? Do you want to confuse/bore your readers?

A: Not at all. I usually start my one-shots with a short explanation of setting, background etc. and my multichapters with a short 'excursion' into my creative mind (welcome to chaos), to help the reader settle in and to provide information that might be necessary. You don't have to read any of that, I guess you will understand my stories nevertheless, but sometimes it might be interesting, fun or even somehow crucial to know just a little bit more... So my introductory notes are like medical prescription leaflets - but much more fun to read (and without side effects), I promise!

Q: Why do you quote lyrics all the time?

A: All my stories happen to have a very extended sound track, including songs that just go with a certain scene (in my opinion) or that help me get into the mood. Music is a great way to convey emotions, and I love to display emotions in my stories/writing, so that's a natural match. A lot of those songs are never mentioned at all, yet occasionally I like to share my ideas with my dear readers; and that's when I mention or quote certain lyrics. It's completely up to you if you want to check out those songs (I'm not promototing any artist/group in that way, very often a quote is only about thewords, the lyrics as such, not about the actual song and surely never about the artist), if you just read those lyric bits as poetic quotes hinting on the following events or if you want to ignore them completely. Just like the 'mute' button on your remote control, I guess.

Q: Why are you so slow at updating?

A: I'm a real perfectionist, and I am never satisfied with the results of my work, so I correct endlessly (and still find something else whenever I re-read something I wrote). In addition, events in most of my multichapters depend crucially on things that happened before (like the chain of evidence in a detective story), so in order to avoid mismatching and confusion, I need to have a story pretty much finished before I can put up the first chapter. Next to that, I have the usual excuses: busy life, job hunting at the moment, my kitties demand time, etc... last but not least, inspiration comes at weird times.

Q: I read one of your stories, and I think your rating is too high. Are you somehow prude and/or insecure?

A: I assure you that I'm neither (ok, maybe a bit insecure about my writing in general). I guess I'm just a 'better safe than sorry' person, so I rate rather high, compared to most other authors. Most of my M-rated stuff is in that category because it contains 'scenes that certain people might find disturbing' (a point that includes themes like death, suicide, child abuse etc) rather than sexual content. You will get a rough idea about what to expect if you read my preface-parts at the beginning. In the end, I just want to be able to say: "You were warned..." ;)

Q: I hated/despised/loved/adored/... your stories. Can I tell you that?

A: Of course! I'd love to know. Any comment is welcome, feel free to review, message or email. And if you want to be especially awesome, just tell me what you hated/despised/loved adored/..., so that I can improve.

Finally: Feel free to ask any other questions you want...

I am not a native English speaker (you might have guessed by now).
Nevertheless, I decided to write in English, not only to be understood by a larger audience, but also because I really love the English language, and I think a lot in English, even if it's far from being perfect. So I apologize for any grammar, spelling or expression mistakes. If you let me know, I'll correct them ;)

You are welcome to rate, encourage and correct me.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Other people have plot bunnies, I have plot cats. =..=

The common sneaky plot cat (felis fabulae vulgaris) will appear out of the blue to circle your legs or to wake you with its more or less subtle purring in the middle of the night. If you dare to ignore it, it will disappear and you'll regret that forever. Plot cats are really temperamental. They turn up when they please, never when you want them to, so forget about any deadlines right now... But in the end, there is nothing sweeter than a cuddly plot cat sleeping happily on your lap...

My stories are sometimes underlined by quotes of songtext lyrics. Most of the time, it will make sense to check out the song, e.g. on youtube.

In case you are interested in the original japanese game scenes (English subtitled) or a complete script of 'Crisis Core', please visit this excellent site:

http://www.silenttweak.net

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. For entertainment purposes only. The writing published on this page is purely fan-made. I receive no material profit from it whatsoever.

All lyrics'/songtexts' rights belong to their righful owners. All FFVII characters and respective elements belong to Square Enix. The rest (self created plot/characters) is taken from my own imagination.

To put it short: They own the neighbourhood, I'm just playing in the back yard :)