*beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!!!8*snerk*~Lotm

Last time someone suggested that to me, I ran away screaming.~Lotm

Heheh, watch it, or you'll make the bloodpressure machine go crazy!  ~Lotm

*blushes, curtsies*  I'm glad I can entertain you while you're in hospital care.  I've never been so bored as when I was stuck in a hospital myself...especially as they kept moving the phone out of my reach, so I couldn't call out, and I couldn't answer the *expletive* thing when it did ring.  (It is very difficult to get out of bed right after abdominal surgery.)...If I had to go back into the hospital today (and could afford it), I'd prolly kill any nurse who separated me from my laptop.  Of course, when I was in that time, they didn't have laptops with internet access (12+ years ago), so I'm very glad you have access to yours!~Lotm

Considering you've reviewed darn near every chapter, as far as I can tell...!  Yeah, I'll forgive you.  Glad you're having fun,~Lotm

It's a very long and intense storyline, just to warn you.  Lots of stuff will be happening in the background, with very subtle cues that don't get explained until much later.  But many have deeply enjoyed the story despite its length and the complexity of the plots.  Just take your time; it's not going anywhere.Each of the chapters is quite long, and the first few might seem a little slow, but they do build to a heck of a climax near the end of the story.  (And just to warn you, there's only a little bit of smut between here and chapter 9 & 10, when things start to heat up considerably.)  A slow build, but consider it like taking a few hours to stack up a whole bunch of logs for a huge bonfire; the effort should be worth it in the end.Hugs,~Lotm

It was indeed far more tightly plotted, and it did involve the other characters a lot more than FSS--I put about as much plot into IA as I did into FSS, but with a higher octane fuel additive to make the engine race faster.  FSS was an experiment; IA was an attempt at getting a fanfic as close to canon as possible...without losing any opportunities for yummy smut scenes...~Lotm(can't wait for the books to come out, myself!)

You're very welcome, DarkX.  I'm glad I could please you with my efforts!~Lotm

*blushes at the compliment to Sigurd*  Thank you--such high praise!  Alas, I am not a witch.  I'm a professional writer--(squee, I get to say that, now!!)--which, as everyone knows, is a much more dangerous breed, teehee!Hugs,~Lotm

You're very welcome!~Lotm

Be verrrry careful when reading 'Frogs in Winter'.  You think Snape-plus-Veritaserum is funny in this fanfic?  I pulled three muscles in my ribcage just writing FIW!  (It's also significantly shorter, but quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever written.)Enjoy!~Lotm

Thank you!  That's a wonderful compliment--I feel like I put more effort into IA than FSS, in an odd sort of way.  FSS was longer, yes, but IA is more plot-condensed and intensive--I literally had a stack of 47 sticky-note scribbled plot-notes at one point, trying to keep everything in the correct chronological order.Hugs,~Lotm

*purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs, blushes, purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs some more...admires shiny stars*Thanks, Togspled.  Hugs!~Lotm

Thank you, Lucia.  And thank you for noticing the perspective was entirely Hermione's!  That was a conscious choice I made...and yes, it is a harder way to write a story, rather than the usual third-person-omniscient wherein you get to see several different characters' thoughts and perspectives.When I first started writing fanfics (ages and ages ago, long before I even learned the term 'fanfic'), I realized I could use them as a self-teaching tool.  For one, I could teach myself to try to copy the language and style of a particular writer, and for another, I could teach myself how to get into the characters' heads so that their reactions come across as true-to-canon...which is a great way to learn character development and consistency.  Including in how they express themselves.  For instance, Snape is the sort who doesn't use contractions very often when he speaks (i.e., he does not use contractions very often when he speaks).By confining the story to a specific character's point of view, you actually miss a lot of the action that takes place elsewhere...which forces the writer to get creative in 'dropping hints' as to what's happening elsewhere.  One of the biggest unwritten rules in writing is the anti-deux-ex-machina clause--no springing a "sudden savior at the very end" on your audience.  (Deus ex machina means 'machination/manipulation of God, more or less--you know, like the first season of Star Trek: Original Series, where the powerful aliens would swoop in at the end of the episode, say "There's hope for you Earthlings, yet!" and save the day.)The rule basically states that, if you have a major (or even medium-sized) plot development or character action at the end of the book, you HAVE to suggest, hint, or otherwise set it up at the beginning or somewhere on the beginning side of the middle, and NOT at the last minute.  In For Someone Special (aka FSS), I had to make sure the DADA professor, Kathleen Frejne, was mentioned early on (I believe she made her first appearance in chapter 37), in order for the readers to know who she was later during the later chapters, especially chapter 124.  This prevents the reader from doing a whiplash doubletake,  "--What the...?  Where did she come from?"  since she ended up having a major role in that particular part of the story.  By inroducing that character earlier in the novel, the readers aren't blindsided by her involvement.  (And, I should point out, FSS was itself written entirely in either Hermione or Snape's viewpoint, and no one else's.)By forcing the perspective into a single character's viewpoint, the challenge then becomes even harder for the author, for you have to drop enough hints into what the character sees so that the reader isn't totally blindsided by a sudden development later on in the story...even if you want the character to be blindsided by that same development.  Of course, some stuff the main character just cannot experience directly, even in hints, so the use of 'post-event revelations' becomes a tool for the author to use--Snape explained a lot of his actions after the fact in chapter 17, when he explained how he originally planned to use the ring to lure Hermione into trusting him, and how Voldiebutt knew about the ring's existence (though not its veritaserum-quenched properties) and his plan more or less from the start of its use, and so forth.It was very hard to stick strictly to Hermione's perspective; there were several times I wanted to use Severus', and even Ron's and Harry's, but I refrained.  Harry's perspective is simply too canon, Ron's perspective would be too biased, and if I'd used Severus' perspective, it would've spoiled several surprises and mysteries.  That's the other reason for limiting a point-of-view when writing; if you show all, there's nothing to spring on your readers that they aren't already braced against!...Heheh, betcha didn't expect such a lengthy reply, did you?  *grins*  You pushed one of my (positive) buttons!  I love the craft of writing, and to me, it is a craft.  It has many different tools with which to get a job done...and the tools you do or don't select have an important impact on the appearance and appeal of the final product.  To me, writing is like woodcarving:  you can refine your techniques, sand away the splinters, plane smooth the rough edges, join passages and plotlines with dovetails and finishing nails and polish it to a satiny sheen...  Art is a bit more freeform, in my mind.  When you paint something, you're able to change radically from one style to the next with ease, with very little restrictions.  When you do woodworking, you have a lot more restrictions in the type of wood selected, the functionality of the finished product...Yup, waxing poetic.  I love writing; it is my bliss, my reason for existence.  And I am proud of IA.  It has its flaws, but it also has its strengths.  I'm very glad I could give you so much pleasure with what I crafted when I wrote it!Hugs,~Lotm

You're very welcome,

.  And thank you for such a wonderfully detailed review!The scenes revolving around Hermione's angst were very important to get just right; Severus had betrayed her with his lies and deceptions, yes, but it wasn't the betrayal she initially accused it of being.  And the "love advice" from Tonks...I had fun writing that scene.  It just seemed to fit that Nymphadora Tonks was the one who could say all of that so bluntly yet casually and get away with it.Kissing...well, I miss kissing, myself.  I had just come out of a three-year relationship wherein the fellow neglected his dental hygiene, and so we stopped kissing...and I missed it.  Frankly, it is an intimate thing to do.  Too many people rush through it time and again, when it can be quite fulfilling as an appetizer.  Almost a main course all on its own.The final battle...oy!  I had a stack of 47 sticky-notes to guide me into and through that one.  From the brewing of the Anima Te to the moment where Sigurd Ports Severus away, it was very intensely plotted.  The trial...wasn't as meticulously planned.  I had about a dozen key points I wanted to make, but the rest of it just flowed from the heart, ya know?As for Albus' condition...well, it just makes sense.  The way he consistently avoided telling Harry about his injured hand, and why it hadn't been healed by anyone.  The part where he looks so terrible after drinking the brew in the cave, and R.A.B.'s comment in the note about how he doesn't think he'll live for very much longer, intimating that he's essentially marked for death.I also really wanted to skim close to canon with this one; whatever happens, I honestly think that Dumbledore will definitely be dead by the end of book 7, even if JKR brings him back to life at least for a little while through some trick or ruse.  After all, the first book has that wonderful bit of foreshadowing that Dumbledore isn't afraid of death; to the organized mind, it's just like going to bed at the end of a long and tiring day.  Death is very much a part of life...and that's the way I want to go.  Not necessarily surrounded by my friends at a party, but with friends and loved ones in my life, and a peaceful passage when the moment itself comes.The most important scene in the whole story, I think, comes during the trial.  In book 7, if it turns out anything even vaguely like my version, I honestly believe the wizarding world will still be hypocritical towards Severus Snape, regardless of how much his actions and bravery and cunning as a spy turned out to be monumentally helpful in the war-effort.  And I can see Snape--under the influence of Veritaserum at his trial--exposing, deriding, and decrying the hypocrisy of those who would condemn him, even as they enjoyed the freedoms he had helped wrestle from the jaws of the war.He's a very passionate character, with a lot of potential locked up inside of him.  I love writing him.Hermione is fun, too, in her own way; she has her own passions, and they do run high; she just doesn't have the life-experience to temper her beliefs into feasibility.  (For example, her insistence on S.P.E.W. despite the majority of house-elves' own beliefs to the contrary.)  That's why I took the time to show the agony she went through after chapter 17.  It allowed me to forge her character from impetuous, idealistic youth into cautious, thoughtful adult.I'm glad you enjoyed this one.  I hope the others I've posted are equally enjoyable...if much, much faster to read!Hugs,~Lotm

*hugs*  Do your schoolwork, or be sentenced to a detention with Professor Binns.  Then you can enjoy the rest of the story--and thank you for the review!  Now, back to homework, and then on to the angst--er, the rest of the story!  ~Lotm

Toes.  Spit-covered toes.  They seem to like snogging my toes.  A lot.  (*prays to herself* oh god, I hope they're only snogging my toes!!)  ~Lmao, aka Lotm

*hands you a box of tissues*  Well, I don't know about a stint in Azkaban; the prisoners get the joy sucked out of them, so they don't get to enjoy my writing nearly enough.  As for the other comment, there's a company locally here in the States that does custom bras, and they're very comfortable.  (*cough DecentExposures cough*)  Not sure where they ship to...as they're close enough for me to drive down to see!  ~Lotm

Thanks!  ~Lotm