Illusion of Memory: Lapis Rose (part 5 of 5).

Title: Lapis Rose [5/5]
Author: Amber Michelle
Rating: PG (at most).
Setting: The official IoM whatthefuckverse

Previous installments: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four.

Notes:
- "Yamato" is a historical name for Japan that was used in the Valkyrie Profile translation.
- "Chugoku" is the Japanese name for China.
- I chose Yule because, according to this site, "This is the most important of all the Norse holidays. . . . [Yule] signifies the beginning and end of all things; the darkest time (shortest hour of daylight) during the year and the brightest hope re-entering the world."


( Yule was nearly upon them before the familiar hint of snow finally hung on the air... )

Why am I not asleep? Notes forthcoming, because I really, really need to go to bed. >_>;

Illusion of Memory: Lapis Rose story notes, chapter index.

Complete story index:
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five


1. Further Reading
This story is a crack AU of a crack AU, you could say. It's based on The Original Adventures of Judas and Raeger (also known as IoM GAIDEN), which is an AU take on the original IoM project. (Which... is itself an alternate story based on Valkyrie Profile. Don't you love where this is going?) If Lapis Rose doesn't have enough of the characters to satisfy you, there's plenty more to read.

( Also, a short explanation of Illusion of Memory, with links. )

2. Inspiration
I've been reading too much Victorian Lit lately. Also, as noted in the first installment, this was sort of written on request, as per kytha's request in our thread about Hear Reproach No More, which can be seen here.


3. IoM "canon" vs. AU
Although Judas is supposed to be a vampire, I'm kind of ambivalent about that sort of character in general. They feel so cliche. But I liked the character design for the Demonic Barons in Valkyrie Profile, and that's what inspired the character concept; he just ended up in the vampiric category. I'd prefer to consider him, for this story, as just a very powerful sorcerer, because it fits him better.

Lapis Rose is just a big "what if." What if Raeger stayed home and persisted in trying to fit the demands of her aristocratic family? What if Judas won his freedom sooner and had different goals? What if Ragnarok never came about, and the gods minded their own business? Etc.

Judas and Raeger weren't originally intended to have any romantic connections, but it kind of ended up that way over time. I prefer to dance around that, but this was an easy chance for a simplistic romance.



Ultimately, the point was to have fun. I could nitpick and edit, and probably should just to get in practice, but I reached my goal just by finishing it without freaking out about the usual stuff. I feel more comfortable writing Judas and Raeger than any other characters or fics because I don't feel the constraints of others' expectations, real or imagined.

kytha seemed to like the story, I had fun writing it, and it's finished. Those were my goals, so I'm satisfied.

I do have ideas that go beyond this, which are sort of discussed in the comments to chapter five. Any further stories will probably come in the form of scenes or fic snippets, since that's all I have time for right now. I still have to rewrite Famine Stela.


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