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runicloreComplete 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.
Judas (and also Raeger, but she belongs to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kytha) was created for Illusion of Memory, an interactive fiction project based on the game Valkyrie Profile. What that means, if you're not familiar with the term, is that they're from a big, interactive fanfic - it's kind of like role-playing, in that we each had our individual characters and interacted with each other, but we were all writing within the same overreaching story arc.
So, they're original, but created with that theme in mind. Although there are no bards in VP, Raeger is part of the world as a citizen of Artolia, and Judas fits into the canon simply because he's from Amenti. But that's where the resemblence to the game ends. You could almost say that these two characters are completely original, except for a few names that need to be changed to protect the innocent.
That's especially true of Lapis Rose, which is even further removed from Valkyrie Profile than IoM itself was. None of the other IoM writers have any clue of this as far as I know, and the crack story we're talking about now was mostly me, and for Kytha's amusement.
You can find the real IoM archive in Divine Seal's section for fan work. The posts are sorted by author, storyline, and order of posting. There are only twenty-nine formal story posts, plus a few extra plots (listed on the nav bar as 'Flenceburg mini-plots' and 'IoM GAIDEN'). Character sheets (our original character concepts) are also available under the 'Persona' link.
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 perkytha'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.
* * *
- 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.
Judas (and also Raeger, but she belongs to
kytha) was created for Illusion of Memory, an interactive fiction project based on the game Valkyrie Profile. What that means, if you're not familiar with the term, is that they're from a big, interactive fanfic - it's kind of like role-playing, in that we each had our individual characters and interacted with each other, but we were all writing within the same overreaching story arc.So, they're original, but created with that theme in mind. Although there are no bards in VP, Raeger is part of the world as a citizen of Artolia, and Judas fits into the canon simply because he's from Amenti. But that's where the resemblence to the game ends. You could almost say that these two characters are completely original, except for a few names that need to be changed to protect the innocent.
That's especially true of Lapis Rose, which is even further removed from Valkyrie Profile than IoM itself was. None of the other IoM writers have any clue of this as far as I know, and the crack story we're talking about now was mostly me, and for Kytha's amusement.
You can find the real IoM archive in Divine Seal's section for fan work. The posts are sorted by author, storyline, and order of posting. There are only twenty-nine formal story posts, plus a few extra plots (listed on the nav bar as 'Flenceburg mini-plots' and 'IoM GAIDEN'). Character sheets (our original character concepts) are also available under the 'Persona' link.
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.
* * *