Over the holidays I was going through a hard time. One of my readers, Summoner Luna, sent me a Christmas Present. She made me a scarf with Griever on it and also a soundtrack. The CD was inspired by my writing and is absolutely wonderful (as is the scarf!) she has made the play-list available to everyone. The title "Calling the Wind" is a reference to Somewhere in Between.

I'm posting this here, so please feel free to check out her work. Thank you again.

The picture of the scarf and CD can be found on the Ashbear Facebook here.
The play-list tracks can be found on her Live Journal here.

I don't know if I'll have time to be on again, so Merry Happy New Everything to all of you! Hope everyone is doing well and ready for the new year. I'm not, my son will be 18 in 2012...I'm going to cry. I'm old! 

For the Holidays, I did another chapter of "The Selphie Letters." It was so fun and honestly probably my favorite one so far. Plus, I finally got to use my Albert Einstein action figure for something... because everyone has one just sitting around the house, right? Don't answer that please. ~_^ I know a lot of you aren't following much anymore, real life can be that way, but wanted to mention it because it's ultra short and has pictures! I've also come to discover the embarrassing secret that I enjoy playing with action figures (or rather posing them) waaaayyyy too much. Finally, I got to use my miniature dollhouse for something. It was a hobby my mother, grandmother, and I had growing up. Here is my favorite picture from the story so far... including my sad attempt at MS Paint.



Also, one last thing (just because some of you thought I'd never try.) I did my first attempt at 'adult content' story. Shocking, no? It's a standalone one-shot based on the scene in After the Fall although it's not necessary to know. If you feel like being brave the story is Until I Fall Away. Oh, one last thing, if you've given me art in the past, I'd like to post it on a community facebook page that Alessia Heartilly made for me. She's been so awesome over the  years. Anyways, let me know if you don't want it posted; this way at least I can keep it in a photoalbum there! 

Again, Happy Holidays to everyone. Hope your new year is full of cheer!
Kris

...That writing a wedding scene could be so difficult. In ten years, the one thing I've never managed between my OTP is to have them get married. Now that I'm writing it, it's a little more difficult than I would've thought. Who knew?

It has me thinking, I believe that any 'main' event in a story can be difficult to write based on preexisting expectations - wedding, funeral, child birth, etc... as people have their own beliefs and it's hard to deviate from tradition. Anytime I've done it in the past, it's been a background event and usually exploring others' emotions at the time. You wouldn't think that something so simple as a wedding would make me worry so much. I just want to keep it neutral, but true to character (or in-story character, depending on the situation) without bringing  religious or country-specific traditions into it. Hopefully, it turns out well... I'm crossing my fingers. ~_^

Spiders. Without a doubt. I grew up with a five foot boa constrictor, loved her so much. She would sleep with my dogs and I had a toy train I'd give her rides on... spiders however, freak me out to no end. I even broke my finger when one came down on a web from my ceiling. I instinctively tried to kill it, ended up jamming my finger on the floor and the x-rays showed a fracture. I was at lunch from my job - that was fun call to make to my boss. ;)

For now, my Live Journal will be sem-friends only.

( Wait, there are Chocobo macros! )

I haven't laughed so hard in years at Saturday Night Live. With the new Pirate's movie in a few days, this video is rather perfect - or that could just be my geeky side showling, either way, I must buy this album! 

I'm linking to the 'unedited' version so beware. (Here is the hulu version 'as aired' )

...Now back to the good part. <--I love this line!

...And somehow, I never left. I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported me throughout the years. Like life, this decade has been filled with both high and low points.... I honestly don't think I could have made it through certain times without the encouragement of fandom. The friendship of everyone I've met through Final Fantasy VIII can never be replaced. Thank you for those very first comments on Castles in the Sky years ago. It may have only been two reviews over the first three chapters, but it was those words that kept me writing. Who knew my love for Squall and Rinoa would still be as strong a decade later? 

The fandom might not be as popular, but my  heart is still very much in it. I'm not sure if that's good or bad - but it's simply the truth. In ten years the world has changed, but I'm sure that can be said of every decade that came before. Still, through all those times, those changes, I had a constant. I'll never deny that I needed that. In some ways, we all need something to be rooted to. I still have to laugh at the way I randomly picked an 'author' name. I had no idea that it would be something that I'd become to be known by, even years later. It was a password for my old job, as the computers wouldn't accept 'real words' for security purposes.  So, back then, I combined the nicknames of my children. Ash - for Ashley and "Bear" for my son Aaron, who was called that until preschool. (He hates being reminded of this now that he's sixteen!) It's funny how we, as internet users/authors, can come up with names and how nonessential words, or random words strung together, can suddenly take on new meaning.

Anyways, I'm being way too sentimental over this. I blame the constant changing of my medication, life in general, and my kids and husband - because those last three are stressful by nature (but I love my family dearly!)  Still, it's important to remain thankful for even the little things in life. On fanfiction.net, I posted one of the very first (and very random) scenes I wrote for the Dancing in Time series. It was posted as a 'one-shot' under my secondary account, but it was fun to write. It was inspired by my son (then six or seven) asking random questions while watching cartoons one morning. I'll leave it at that for now. ;) If you want to read it - it's titled Waking Moments on my Eternal Tiet account. Again, it's part of the Endless Waltz/Dancing in Time series, but is also a standalone, hopefully you won't have to know great details of that universe. It's fluff; fluff is pretty universal. ~_^ I love you all, thanks for all the years.

Thank you for sticking with me.
Kristine (Ashbear, Eternal Tiet)

Title: House of Cards
Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Characters: Nina-centric, all main
Rating: T
Warnings: Dark themes, implied death (secondary character)
Summary: He had built his house of cards. It was beautiful and grotesque. It was both intricate and simple. It was built by the blood and the fears of others; nobody would truly appreciate the beauty in his ascent.

A/N: This is completely different than most of my work. It was my first attempt at a more stylized, artistic piece rather than fluff, alth. It's a dark, bitter look at the Final Fantasy VIII characters through the eyes of an unlikely madman – Nida. If you speak with him before the results of the SeeD exam, he has an unexpected reply. I've taken a single 'throw-away' line from the game and twisted it, giving it a rather dark outcome.

( Read more... )

...The letter "c" broke off my keyboard. It got stuck down somehow and then I tried to "un-stick" it. Fatal error. It flew across my computer desk, landing in two parts, but it did sail with all the grace and dignity that one has come to expect from the letter "c." I have part sitting on the keyboard now, but it's not the same...it will never be the same.  *sigh*

You served me well, Microsoft keyboard, but now I must find another... On a side note, I wish had been the letter 'N' so i could have sang Lowercase 'n' from Sesame Street. Ah, the 70s and it's haunting, memorable music that spans the gamut from being dust in the wind, disco towns that were 'funky,' and lonely lower case letters standing on a hill.

The big question? Does anybody have a damn idea what Sesame Street song I'm talking about...or am I just showing my age again?