Ooh. Me likey. Full of twists and turns. You better keep churning these out or I'll have to do something drastic.

Heh, I'll see what I can do, V. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out in less time than it took me to get this one up.

Glad to see you liked it, as well.

Really really enjoyable, Dark. You know I love your fanfics. Plots and characterisation are probably your two greatest strengths, I would say, and you are an excellent writer. I have to agree with Peleus that the fight scenes seem to be a little slow... it feels like your watching something in slow motion. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, writing fast-paced action is a useful skill. If you decide you'd like to, try shorter, more concise sentences in fight scenes, and try and convey the confusion and the speed of it as well as the choreography, which you already do quite well.

My only complaint is that Victoria doesn't seem to have an awful lot of character in and of herself yet. Certainly, she has interesting qualities (such as the whole supersoldier business), and she seems to become very loyal, very quick. But mostly, she seems to be being carried by the plot. This often happens with main characters; they are given less personality than the others. This is very early on, so I guess its early to judge, but I'll remind you to bring forth her character, her unique flavour, rather than just setting her up as a 'good person' and leaving it at that.

Looking forwards to more, Dark.

I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying the story, Illusionary.

First off, I'm in complete agreement with both you and Peleus; I know my fight scenes tend to be a little slow. I suppose I have a tendency to put in too much detail for a more action oriented scene. I'll certainly try to keep a faster pace during the next fight scene.

In regard to Victoria's character, I'm actually glad to see you think that. Believe it or not, my intention was to convey Victoria as being relatively passive, and as you said, being sort of 'swept away' in the scheme of things. I do, however, agree that her personality needs to be given a bit more weight in the story.

I'll keep all these things in mind as I start work on Chapter 5.

Thanks again, Illusionary, and I hope you continue reading.

Nova, what happened to this? I hope this hasn't been stopped.

Pure greatness cannot be rush, Lord V.

No, I haven't stopped working on this. I just haven't gotten around to working on it lately, unfortunately. I've got a loose idea for what I want to do with chapter 5, though, so I'll (try) to get started tomorrow, and have it up within the next week or so.

Heh, no need to rush!

Guys, I really hate to do this, but I am seriously considering retiring this fanfiction. Frankly, I haven't been feeling that all important 'spark' for this story lately, and I'm thinking about possibly trying to start a more lighthearted fanfiction. I hate to have you guys read the story just to abruptly stop like this, but on the other hand, I don't want you to read something that I'm not really into, and just pumping out without any passion.

Sorry guys.

Awww, that is sad to hear But then again there really is zero point in writing if you have no inspiration or spark, and what you write when forced won't be as good. So I would say retire it, it has been an excellent read but like you said, it is hard for you to do.

I am still expecting another fan-fic soon though

That is unfortunate, but I understand why you are doing it. Good luck with your other endeavors and I'll be sure to read the next one you post.

Hrmm, well, I've been (attempting) writing for a while, and while having the right inspiration at the time is important, it's more important to actually finish what you started. Once you start throwing stuff away because you've lost motivation, it kind of starts a downward spiral, and it can become really hard to finish anything. Just like with exercise or sports, you probably won't succeed when you first try, but you keep going at it and eventually you can go all the way. So what I mean is, don't just toss out the story, put it on the back burner for a while, work on something else if you want, but keep it there. Eventually a time may come when the "spark" is back and you'll be able to continue.

This really is some pretty quality writing, so I hope you do finish it some time.

Yes but you can't force someone to write, and it is even worse to force yourself; it'll only make things worse. And I don't think he is going to forget about it.

I never mentioned "forcing" anyone. You can do that if you want, but the important thing is not to leave something behind until it's done and you have closure.

Why is that the important thing? Maybe he wants to leave it behind? How can you say that when he'd have to write a hell of a lot to get it done, which he doesn't really want to do in the first place.

Or do you mean over the time or a few months later? If so that is understandable. (But still only if Dark wants to)

I suspect that he means that part of writing is discipline, and leaving a trail of unfinished stories in an author's wake is a bad precedent to set. If you convince yourself to quit one story, it is easier to quit the next one and the one after that.

All it seems to me that he's saying is that he hopes he doesn't quit permanently, but instead keeps it in mind, so that if inspiration reappears he can go straight back to it. Not that he must continue with it. Who knows, maybe some of this might be re-used in a different story one day? Most writers have a (depressingly) full drawer or box of unfinished stories that they keep hoping to find a way of one day completing. It is one of the reasons why I always say that any of my unfinished work is a work in progress, rather than a story that I have given up on ? regardless of how much progress may or may not have been made. It would be a shame to see this story completely die, as I was certainly enjoying reading it.

If, of course, that is what he meant..

Yeah it was brilliant, we need more writers like good 'ole Dark here. Hopefully the spark will come back one day, and he'll want to start writing again. But until then we need to wait patiently.

That is the main reason why I kept writing a fan fic here on this forum for the past year. It sounds easy. "Oh, just keep writing." But it's not. It's surprising how few people appreciate the time a writer puts into his story, even if they enjoy the product itself.