Wow...it's certainly been a long time, hasn't it? Pardon me while I blow the dust off of my profile, LOL!

Honestly though, I didn't think I was ever gonna be able to come back...but after what seems like an entire lifetime gone by in 5 YEARS...I've finally managed to re-emerge from the all-encompassing abyss of inactivity. And man, what a ride it's been!

I'll spare you the long, drawn-out explanation of the overwhelming myriad of things that's kept me away from my love of writing all these years. What's important right now is that I'm back...and if I have MY way going forward - and barring any extreme life events, of course - I'll actually be staying and [ACTIVELY] hanging around this time.

A Few Basic Facts About Me (UPDATED, LOL!)

1. I REALLY love and enjoy writing; it's a therapeutic outlet for my imagination, and a totally awesome form of "escape" from reality. I had to remind myself of that fact, though, after I kinda let this beloved hobby of mine get buried beneath the weight of daily life...

2. I enjoy reading fanfiction just as much as I enjoy writing it. There is so much pleasure and inspiration to be found in immersing yourself in the vast imaginations of other writers and getting swept away in the worlds their stories create. It's just so great!

3. I love anime and manga - like a LOT - and my scope has extended greatly over the course of my extended absence. My top three all-time favorites are Bleach, Naruto, and Fairy Tail.

My Favorite Characters:

Bleach: Grimmjow, Ichigo, Renji

Naruto: Kakashi, Naruto, Gaara

Fairy Tail: Team Natsu (I'm ESPECIALLY fond of Natsu Dragneel himself, LOL!)

4. Aside from writing and reading, traveling and gaming are also treasured hobbies of mine. Nowadays, I do both every chance I get!

xLSx UPDATES:

Unbound Being Retouched!

I figured that since I'm coming back after such a long hiatus, why not go over a story or two and do some necessary retouching? And so, I've decided to give my Unbound story a good combing-over to correct any grammatical errors and retouch/refresh any wording where necessary. Rest assured, though...I am NOT changing ANYTHING about the story. It is just a retouch.

Quote of the day:

"If anything matters, then everything matters." (from the movie, "The Shack")

Random question of the day:

To all my fellow writers...what do you do to cure yourself of writer's block?

*If you would like, feel free to send me your responses. All opinions and comments are welcome, so speak what you feel.*

My Notebook of Ideas

This section used to be called "Prospective Story Spotlight;" however, I've decided to do something a little different here. Given that there are a lot of ideas swirling around in the cosmos of my imagination, I got to thinking...why not put multiple story snippets up here to be checked out? So that is exactly what I'm gonna do. This section will be dedicated to all of the story ideas that jump into my head. Feel free to tell me whether or not any of these random ideas are HITS or MISSES, or whatever else you might think about them.

I hope that you have fun reading them; maybe one or two may even spark your interest. Alright, here we go...

Anime/Manga: Fairy Tail ~*~ Potential Story Title: N/A

"Let me ask you something, Natsu..."

The pink-haired dragon slayer only barely looked up from the plate of food he'd been inhaling at that moment. "Yeah, what's up, Mira?"

The silver-haired beauty set down the mug that she'd been drying out and leaned down on the bar counter directly in front of him. "Ok, here's my question. Besides Happy...if you had to choose, who would be the one person you would pick to be with you for forever?"

"Oh no, Mira...you've gone and asked a question that's gonna require Natsu to actually think!" Happy chortled through the mouthful of fish he was currently nomming on.

"Tch, yeah that's real funny ya flying furball." Natsu retorted as he shoved what was left of his fire chicken into his mouth. "For your information, I don't have to think about that at all, because the answer's easy!"

"Really? Well that's a first..."

"Quit picking on me, dammit!"

Mira laughed lightly at the pair's exchange before speaking up again. "Alright then, Natsu...so who would you choose to be your forever person?"

The dragon slayer gulped down the contents of his mug releasing an overly exaggerated "AHHHHH" as he slammed it back down onto the countertop. He then immediately shifted his onyx gaze up toward Mira, his signature fanged grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Lucy, of course!"

Both Happy and Mira gasped, the former mirroring his best friend's grin while a mixture of mild surprise and knowing overtook the expression of the latter. She quickly shook it away before Natsu noticed, and replaced it with a gentle smile.

"How sweet! Somehow I knew that might be your answer!" she cooed, leaning in a little bit closer to the dragon slayer. "So...now you have to tell me why."

Natsu blinked at the woman. "...Why what?"

Mira couldn't help but to giggle a little in spite of herself. "Why you chose Lucy, silly. I mean there must be a reason, right?"

Natsu's grin softened into a warm smile as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Well, believe it or not, that answer's easy, too." he replied confidently. "You see...somewhere between meeting her for the first time and now, Lucy's not only become a really important part of our Fairy Tail family; she's also become an irreplaceable part of my life...like a piece of me that I never knew I was missing. And now, I...I literally can't picture my life without her in it, and the very thought of ever having to live without her...shakes me to my very core."

He paused then, bringing his forearms down to rest on the countertop; he shut his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly, banishing what had been the formation of an unpleasant memory from his mind.

"My days definitely wouldn't be as bright, that's for sure...," he continued thoughtfully, absentmindedly resting his right hand over his heart and clutching at the jacket that covered it, "and all my adventures wouldn't be nearly as fun or fulfilling. ...My whole life...it's gotten infinitely better all because I have her by my side. She...she completes me..."

A few seconds of silence passed before the fire breather looked up to meet Mira's gaze once more. He shrunk back just a little when he was met with a sniffling, teary-eyed mess of a silver-haired woman.

"Oh Natsu...that's...so beautiful..." she managed to say between sniffles as she reached over the counter and pulled the boy into a bone-crushing hug.

"I know right!" an equally tearful Happy cosigned, hugging Natsu's left arm as tightly as he could. He then giggled in spite of himself as he added, "I always knew you liiiiiiiiked her..."

Natsu rolled his eyes at the cat's comment, but couldn't ward off the small smile that curved his lips. Yeah...I guess I do...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anime/Manga: Naruto ~*~ Story Title: Leaving Her Alone

It was an overcast and uneventful day in Konoha. A constant breeze swept over the village, drawing its inhabitants out of their homes to relish in the fleetingly cooler temperatures whilst carrying the warning of impending rain. Naruto, being one of the many drawn outdoors by the suddenly bearable weather, casually walked through his neighborhood, making his way toward the Ichiraku Ramen Shop. It was Team 7's day off, and everyone - he assumed - was likely out and about doing their own thing.

"Tch...everyone but Sakura, that is..." he thought aloud as his mind haphazardly wandered to the pink-haired kunoichi. "Knowing her, she's probably running around looking for Sasuke..."

Releasing a semi-frustrated sigh, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he continued his unhurried trek toward his favorite food stop.

"I have no idea what she sees in that jerk, but if that's what she really wants...then maybe I should just suck it up and grin and bear it. Our teamwork would be all the better for it."

He paused in his trek then, a look of determination suddenly glinting within his coral blue eyes.

"That settles it then. When I see Sakura again, I'll see what she thinks about just being friends. Then she can stop being so abrasive toward me and maybe we'll all get along better."

Pleased with his new idea, he continued his trek toward Ichiraku with a bit of a skip in his step.

Phew...well, that's that for now. It sure is great to finally be back!

Later : )

xLSx