Creative Corner

I logged onto this website with an edge of dread this morning. I was worried -- very worried -- that my wonderful followers had given up on me. I swallowed hard, typed in my login information, and checked. 15 Notifications.

And all of them were so nice.

I wanted to make an update to reflect the magnitude of my absence, and here I am crying so happily because goodness damn it, I love this community. I love how supportive you all have been even when I disappeared. But most of all, I love you guys. :') I've been at a loss for words for about half an hour now, I've been so overwhelmed by your collective and individual kindnesses. Thank you. <3 Thank you, thank you, thank you all! I've missed you guys so much!

I owe you all so much. Let me start by filling you all in...

The end of this year has been hellishly busy for me. Those papers overwhelmed me at every waking moment until the end of finals week, and as soon as that burden finally ended and I felt like I could breathe again, work picked up due to the holiday season. Time became something of a stressful blur and I only got to work up a minimal Christmas spirit literally on the Eve. Christmas day was full of cooking on my end.

And then -- that same night -- one of my best friends and I went to fulfill a promise to one of my aunts and uncles, whose recently built new house needed housesitting as they took a vacation into New Year's Eve. Their internet was... variable. For ten minutes it would be sweet hi-def, then it would lag like hell for thirty, and then it would flicker out entirely for the next two or three hours. This neutered my ability to write in general since I use Google Docs and dumbly didn't upgrade mine with the offline writing feature. Thank goodness Pokemon Sun and Moon exists and that my friend was there to support me! In spite of the technical difficulties, though, I got to calm down at least somewhat in the final week of the year.

I still don't entirely excuse myself, though, for not popping in and letting everyone know I was alive at the very least. :( And I'm sad as well for all the time I haven't been writing Tainted Eden or my projects, and I've missed you all greatly. I'm bummed, as well, that I missed both the Rockbreaker's Ceremony and the Night of the Nocturne.

But you know what?

Here where I live, on FR time, it's a new day. A new year. :) I'm finally home and I have over a week before my final two classes at college begin -- a much lesser load that should enable me to write more! My best friends are looking over my novel, we're making fun plans for a comedic webcomic on the side to relieve the dramatic tensions of our big stories, and I'm at long last in a state of mind where I can relax and channel my creativity.

I will be replying to the beautiful PMs I got in just a moment! They came with food, which I definitely welcome after a hiatus like this. I will start writing my big return update to the story today, but because I'm hoping for it to be substantial -- worth the epic wait! -- it might not come up until tomorrow depending on how long I start making it. Or it might be divided into multiple parts, at the very least! :)

Thanks again to everyone who's read this through and wishes to continue following Tainted Eden. :) Have a happy New Year, and may 2017 bring you IRL and Flight Rising prosperity!

@Meonox @InHeritent @tahwarts @Elzerei @Silverhame @Whimzica @PaintedLiger @Achi @OverTheWolf @fairyhalo @221bdisneystreet @Deathwolf555 @Skyeset @Ambrose @GreyMoth @End3rStorm @NyxHeart @ScienceGal8 @wintergreenroses @Abysea @softbun @Amerigland @Shanuuk @Lae @Purpleberries @Delmaria @Tempestuous

@TaintedEden

Welcome back!!! I'm so glad that you're alright, and that you're back now. Good job on surviving finals(My midterms are at the end of January...fun. Hopefully it won't consist of paper writing.). Take some time to destress a bit and relax, you've earned it!

As always, I look forward to the next bit of this wonderful story! And Happy New Year! Already, it seems like 2017 is gonna be better. Considering how 2016 was, it doesn't have to try hard ><

@TaintedEden
OMG JUST WHEN I HAD THE WORST OF DAYS
A RAY OF SUNSHINE BANISHES THE STORM
I hate New Years'. I hate it to the core, it's never new to me, I'm bitter, mean to everyone and mostly sad. But then! The Eden is back! HECK YES!

Jokes aside, I am - as we all surely are - very happy everything is alright! There is nothing wrong with taking breaks, hiatuses or even quits (like hey, we are allowed to get tired with our story sometimes:), but I was hopeful you didn't give up on this one! AND I WAS RIGHT YEAH THE REBELLION WAS BUILT ON HOPE
(Have you seen Rogue 1?)
I'm definately sending more food your way, as that donation was rather small (I didn't know how long your exams and deadlines go. That seems dreadful, for them to go on for so long!).
Can't wait for the next Edensode, but do take your time if you need! (And maybe drop us a link to that webcomic when it's online?) Have a good one! :D

@TaintedEden
Welcome back! Do you need anything? Did you get at lest a few NOTN things? If you didn't, I have some of the apparel that I could give you!
I'm so happy that you're back! Now I have another thing to look forward to!


EDIT: Sorry if I sound confusing. I'm very a bit tired, and I don't even know what I'm writing ;-;

@TaintedEden

Welcome back! I'm so happy to see you and to know that you're okay!
If you need something (food for dragons? NotN stuff? I have several extra NotN familiars that I'll be happy to give away) - just tell ^^

[center][size=5]Day 59[/size] [i]Special thanks goes to literally all of my magnificent followers reading this right now! All of you rule for sticking by me past the hiatus. :D I love you guys![/i] [item="Fractured Tusk"][/center] As Reda grew, the whole clan began to murmur of the things she did. They were all little things which, on their own, could have been classified as odd anomalies. Not much to worry about. Just a phase. These words tickled Jac’s ears with a sense of falsehood that he -- as her father -- innately sensed was wrong. He knew his little one. He watched her first steps, taught her to speak in spite of a slight impediment, witnessed her smile when she discovered a love for beasts, and held her when he hid her from the terrifying rain. “She’s just different,” he’d chuckle, waving a paw and shrugging their gazes off. Not all of them were judgmental -- in fact, most of them were simply curious -- but Jac nonetheless felt a need to protect her from that. Now, however, when he saw the way she slumped out of camp to see Agnes and Ages in the Alchemy Clearing, his eyes flickered and he bit his lip, pushing his tears inside. He bumbled his way towards Barda and asked if she could use her alpha influence to pull a meeting with everyone currently in the camp. And Barda, with her gentle smile and a warm paw around his shoulder, wholeheartedly agreed. Jac looked around at all their faces. Barda stood on his left side and Anzu on his left, respectively offering him a reassuring smile and a small, comforting frown. Imriel sat directly across from him, her icy eyes glimmering with worry and tail wrapped around Maratra’s legs, trussing her like an incorporeal dinner as she struggled to get away. Honeysuckle quirked a lazy brow from his vantage point on Peasley, who was bunched up with a pout on his face and his paws hidden beneath a mass of fluff. Doshima looked on at Jac with a resigned sort of concern while Price leaned on the bridge of her nose, his head in his paws and offering Jac a reassuring smirk. “What’s the matter, Jac?” the Spiral asked, tipping his gilded armor up and searching with his deep blue eyes. He couldn’t hold it anymore. His lip quivered and eyes welled with tears. Before anyone could talk, Jac began bawling, pressing his face in his paws and shuddering. “M-my little baby is unhappy!” The effect of Jac’s tears was immediate. He was swarmed with affectionate hugs from everyone but Maratra, who let out a muffled grunt as she was dragged by the legs towards an assembly of tails, just outside of the cuddles’ reach. Gentle coos caressed him as the catharsis of his pent-up feelings took place, and the world steadily became even and clear again. After a few minutes, Jac wiggled a little, sniffling loudly. “Okay,” he burbled. “Okay. I think I’m okay, now.” “Gods damn this,” Maratra grunted, looking over her shoulder towards Jac with a defeated scowl. “What the hell caused this breakdown, anyway? I mean, I get that Reda’s weird and quiet but--.” “Mara,” Barda murmured in a warning tone. “--I mean, crap, she seems happy enough to me.” She stretched her wings out, glaring directly at Jac as he wiped his nose with the back of his paw. “Part of the reason I stay away from her is exactly [i]because[/i] she seems happiest when she’s in her own damn head. So, there.” Jac sighed before mumbling. “Mary, I know she reminds you of Pyros, but--.” “No she doesn’t!” Maratra interrupted, finding the strength to break away from Imriel’s hold. “Go to hell, Jac!” She fled towards her personal den. Jac shook his head as everyone’s gaze locked back on him, shooting the clan a resigned look. “…I nailed it, didn’t I?” “Yep,” Barda replied, her tone flat. “Knew it.” There was a pause. Doshima cleared her throat a little, fidgeting forward before puffing out her chest a little. “Umm, I’m afraid I’ll have to disagree… with what Maratra said, I mean.” She instinctively flinched as the eyes landed on her, but Price pet her head. As if this little action imbued her with courage, she continued, “B-but, uhh, the thing is that I don’t exactly think she’s unhappy, either….” “Mmh,” Honeysuckle grunted, standing up for a brief moment on Peasley’s head. His own head bopped a little like it was blown forward by the wind. “Seems pensive. Reda’s content.” From underneath his father’s small feet, Peasley shook his head. His paws kneaded a little at the ground, scrawling a few brief words: [i]Not so sure.[/i] Jac couldn’t blame him for thinking so. He wasn’t so sure, either. Not with all the evidence that the whole clan knew but left silent and unsaid. The baku in the clearing, hiding away, right there on all their consciousness but unacknowledged by anyone with words. Imriel stepped forward, placing a delicate paw on Jac’s chest. His dull aqua eyes flicked down to the spot as she spoke, her silver voice sending a calming shiver across the clearing. “Jac, we understand your concern over Reda, but we could use a little more information. We can jump to conclusions all we want, but until we backpedal a little bit, I doubt we’ll be able to come up with anything effectual. Is that alright?” Jac snuffled, meeting her gaze. For a brief moment he considered pulling back, especially as Anzu had begun to nuzzle his cheek. His ears twitched a little and he pouted. “Meaning…?” She gave him a tender look. “Did something happen, Jac?” Their eyes were all on him again, and for a moment Jac could hardly breathe. The words came slow and hesitant. Quiet, but just loud enough for the clearing to hear, as he told of what he had witnessed that morning…. [center]x[/center] [i]“C’mon….” Jac peered past the bushes to the bestiary. Since Reda had arrived, space had been cleared to host some of the beasts she tamed. It was a passion she possessed since she was a little one, and with the help and support of her father and Anzu, a wooden cage had been made to hose these remarkable creatures. Goblins, elks, and janustraps alike all found sanctuary there, tended to by their tamer. But the sounds of a struggle were unfamiliar in those parts, and Jac flitted in there with wide eyes and perked ears. “Reda? Reda, are you alri--?” He stopped mid-sentence as he peered around the corner, gasping slightly at the sight of the dark Pearlcatcher attempting to fix a jagged branch to the end of her snout using a spare piece of leather that she had dangling from her mouth. At the sound of her father Reda coughed, spitting it out and turning to eye him, the branch thumping to the ground as her tail curled anxiously around her pearl. Jac was speechless. And, for once, it wasn’t because he was surprised. If anything, it was because he wasn’t surprised at all. A shaken smile worked his way to his face. Words trembled in his throat, wanting to come out as tiny tears pricked his eyes like little emblems of acceptance. Reda, however, pulled back, ears flat against her head and breathing shaken -- a change from her stoic demeanor. “Dad,” she drawled with her too-long tongue, voice raspy and low in her throat. “How much you see?” “Does it matter?” Jac said, wagging his tail a little bit. “It’s alright, sweetie. No matter what happens, you’ll always be my--.” “Save it, Dad.” The coldness of her tone struck Jac like the claws of the Icewarden and he flinched, backing up as Reda stood up. “You saw nothin. Ranger and I was just playin pretend like we always do.” She gestured her pearl -- a thing she always did when she brought up ‘Ranger’ -- but what really drew Jac’s attention was the fact that her left ear twitched. Her tell. Jac shook his head, a loud gulp travelling down his throat. “R-Reda, really, it’s okay….” “I said, ‘save it.’” Reda’s voice cracked to a feminine pitch. She flinched as if by her own sounds and cleared her throat, bringing it back to its usual controlled low. “…We’ll talk when you’re ready to drop it.” Jac was paralyzed. He wanted to say a million things -- to not go, that he loves her, that he supports her, that he’ll do anything it takes to help her true colors shine through -- but it was already too late. Reda had fled into the bushes, determined to be alone.[/i] [center]x[/center] “So, wait, back up,” Price piped as soon as Jac was finished, his navy eyes wide. “Are you telling us that Reda prefers to sit on the king’s side of the throne room, if you know what I mean?” Jac nodded, his head hung low and eyes still lost in the past. “That… weirdly enough makes sense,” Price finished, a grin quirking his face. “Never thought of it that way, but that would explain a lot, you know? The way she makes her voice sound all low and deep for one -- I mean, that can’t just be the accent-thing she’s got going, right?” Doshima nodded in such a way that Price almost fell off of her snout, but he managed just barely to maintain balance. “I’ve always had a feeling,” Doshima murmured. “There have been lots of little signs, but the main one that stood out to me was her manner of dress. It is as if she fears her chest to be exposed… much like, uh, how I feared my scales to be exposed for so long….” As she trailed off, Anzu spoke with his firm and gentle tone. “I grew up in a palace where Pearlcatchers taught the children of nobles everything they knew. One once told me that those of them who name their pearls often give it a name that speaks to their innermost soul.” He put a paw on Jac’s shoulder, his frown softening to something more gentle and parental. “Ever since she began to call it ‘Ranger,’ I had a feeling.” “Not only that,” Imriel added, her voice softening, “but she never seemed to take to being called Jac’s ‘little girl.’” Honeysuckle, lounging on top of Peasley’s favorite hat, gestured sluggishly towards the dens. “Uncomfortable in female’s dens.” Barda blinked at that, looking to Peasley with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes. “Is that why she’s always sleeping over in yours?” Sensing motherly probing, Peasley crinkled his nose, puffed up in horror, and bobbed his head. He scrawled hastily in the dirt: [i]Geez, Mom, what did you think we were doing?[/i] Barda seemed satisfied with that response. Jac’s eyes were on the ground still. They only left when Anzu lifted them gently towards his. It had been a while, but something in Jac’s heart still fumbled when their eyes would meet, as he bore witness to the deep and calming green -- and yet, every time he did so, it came with a pang in his gut, crumpling him from the inside, a reminder of what may never be. As unknowing as the changing seasons, Anzu murmured, “Is… this all okay with you?” Jac blinked back a few tears and took in a shaky breath. “Are you kidding, Anzy? How could you not think I’d be okay with this?” The clearing quieted, though Jac wouldn’t have paid them any more mind anyway as he continued to speak. “All our lives we try to look for who we really are and what makes us most happy and comfortable in our scales and skin, and if that’s what will make Reda happy, I support it with all my heart.” “Then go to Reda,” Imriel said, spreading her wings. “Be firm, be honest, and be kind.” Jac puffed out his chest. “I will,” he murmured. A determined smile spread on his face. “Now, who’s with me?” [center][item="Unhatched Nocturne Egg"] [item="Animated Armor"][item="Axe Mimic"][item="Accent: Pillar of Ages"][item="Greatshell Crate"] [item="Harlequin Ladybug"][item="Blue Bandit"][item="Wetland Ghost"][item="Sugarmelon"] [item="Frost Whisper"][item="Incorporeal Dinner"][item="Leech"][item="Greenpod Bloom"][/center] [i]A huge thanks goes to @InHeritent for donating a special surprise for Reda ([b]to be seen next update![/b]), the Nocturne Egg, and the first row of items, @GreyMoth for donating the first row of food items, @Meonox for donating the second row of food items, and to everyone who stuck by to watch [/i]Tainted Eden[i] return to form! :) In terms of multiples, I received 10 of each food item from GreyMoth and 20 from Meonox (which I deem all right, since I was gone for over a literal month). As always, the one who donated the egg gets first dibs if the dragon is to fall! Though he will not be introduced today because I know I don’t have time for a second part and I wanted to hatch this baby on New Year’s Day -- in honor of my return and a hopefully prosperous 2017! -- I will give you all a little peek of what he looks like now. However, he won’t get a name until tomorrow, at which point he will have been introduced in the story. Here is our new Nocturne, the first one since Widow![/i] [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=29770774] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/297708/29770774_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] [i]Feel free to scry the heck out of him! I’d love to see your suggestions! :D Sorry this update wasn’t as massive as I was hoping it would be, but I’ve been jittery and beyond ready to get back to this. XD [b]@Delmaria:[/b] Thank you so much! ;w; It’s so nice to be back! I definitely needed a breather (which I finally got last week compared to the hecticness of the world) but now I’m so ready to just get back to what I love. :D Happy New Year! [b]@Deathwolf555:[/b] Thank you! :) I’m glad I survived those finals; they were killing me so much, but thankfully I may never endure such a grueling end of term ever again. Though I definitely plan on resting, I’m certainly going to get back to writing now, starting right now. :D Happy New Year! [s]Agreed on all of that. Even if this year is painfully average, it would be miles ahead of 2016, that’s to be sure.[/s] [b]@wintergreenroses:[/b] Hey, there! :D Thank you so much! I’m definitely still short on food (if you check my lair, you may see that poor Price is starved right now) and would be glad to take up to 20 of each category of normal foods (4 food points or less) or 10 of each category of advanced foods (5+ food points). Of course, this is totally optional, but I’d be happy if you did so. ^^ As for Pokemon, I’m farther in my Sun version and have just arrived at the third of the main islands! My starter was a beautiful Popplio who turned out female on the first try. :) Her name is Penelope! [b]GreyMoth:[/b] Aww, I’m so happy I could make your day better. :) I hope that the story will continue to bring you happiness (and I’m sorry that New Years isn’t a fun time for you -- at least it should be over by the time you read this!). And thank you so much! It feels great to be back! (I’m afraid I haven’t seen Rogue 1, though). More food would be wonderful if you’re willing to send some! ^^ My exams and deadlines last for roughly half the quarter, so it’s very draining whenever they come up considering how short quarters are. I’d be happy to drop a link to the webcomic when and if it comes. :D Take care! [b]@PaintedLiger:[/b] Thank you very much! :) That’s so sweet of you. I’ll probably get back to writing as always, but I’ll be sure to breathe and take time for myself as well. Happy New Year! [b]@End3rStorm:[/b] Thank you! ^^ The thing I need the most at the moment is probably food, and I’m afraid I didn’t get anything for Night of the Nocturne since I was absent. Donations of either of these things would be greatly appreciated if you’d like to send anything! :) I’m glad to be back, and I hope you’ll enjoy the story as it carries on! [s]And don’t worry! You sounded quite coherent to me.[/s] [b]@Silverhame: [/b] Thank you! :D It’s good to be back. I’m sorry I made you worry! Looks like we both have a lot of writing to look forward to this year, and I can’t wait to see what direction your locke goes once you resume it. ^^ Take care! [b]@OverTheWolf:[/b] Holy crap, I’m so sorry you cried. :( I’m okay, I promise! I mean, you were kind of half-right -- I was dead emotionally and physically due to so much work and not enough time to recharge -- but I really should have come on and let everyone know I was okay and alive. Normally I’m much better about these things but something about the end of last year really took a toll on me and I hardly felt like myself. Thankfully, I’m back now, and I hope you can forgive me! ;-; [b]@Lae:[/b] Thank you! ^^ I’m very happy to be back and I’m ready to return to what I love, and all is well and okay. :) I’m not going to lie -- all of those things sound wonderful, and I would love it if I could receive any, but that’s entirely up to you! ^^ And to my other beautiful followers who have commented on this thread or my profile during my absence or have just been quietly waiting -- @tahwarts, @Elzerei, @Whimzica, @Achi, @fairyhalo, @221bdisneystreet, @Skyeset, @Ambrose, @NyxHeart, @ScienceGal8, @Abysea, @softbun, @Amerigland, @Shanuuk, @Purpleberries, and @Tempestuous -- I look forward to seeing you again should you decide to return to this thread and say hello! :D