Updates 2002

19 November 2002

Not a huge update this time. Mostly, there are some updated character profiles, glossary, and chibi character portraits for Shitennou Monogatari. Cygnus-hime tells me she's currently working on Chapter 6, so we have that to look forward to sometime!
*I received an interesting essay on Nephrite's character from D. It's posted on the IMHO page. I can't say that I agree with all of the author's points in this essay, and I disagree with her conclusions, but I thought it brings up some interesting points. Read it and my response, then let me know what you think! (It's been a while since I've gotten involved in any controversy. Time to stir things up a bit.)
*Finally, a new link to The Definitive Sailor Moon Fanfiction Directory. This is a great resource for exploring Sailor Moon fanfiction sites.
*Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers in the U.S. And Happy 40th Birthday to me! (O_o Yikes!)

9 October 2002
Mainly a fic update this time. Betrayed and Shadows of Hope are now finished, plus you'll find three great new poems: Lonely Villa and Over the Stars by Kurozuishou, and The Deserted City Streets by Gita Toronjil-Lee. I've wanted this poem for NNP from the first moment I saw it on Gita's site, In Metallia's Name, and I'm grateful to her for giving me permission to post it. Yay!
*One new contribution to the Gallery, a nifty Nephrite animation cel from Rynn's collection. It's from one of my favorite scenes of him, where he's making the kurozuishou (star crystal/black crystal).
*A new link, to King of Illusion, a way cool Jadeite shrine.
Now that "Shadows of Hope" is complete, I'm starting another Neph-Naru fic, as well as getting caught up on my original fiction. I don't know where this new fic is going to go, or if it's going to be just a few chapters or an epic. We'll just see where it goes. I can promise two things, though -- a happy ending (eventually) for Nephrite and Naru, and I won't start posting it until the draft is completely finished. I take pride in the Moon Momma guarantee: I won't leave you hanging with an unfinished story!

12 September 2002
Yes, it's a real update this time! Don't everyone die of shock all at once, okay? As soon as my kids went back to school, I started getting hit with every germ that hitched a ride home on their backpacks. I'm better now, and here's the update! Note to contributors: I didn't get everything I have posted this time. I just wanted to get this update done quickly. If you sent me something and I've left it off of the update, don't worry. It'll go up in a few weeks. Also, would everyone kindly stop changing your e-mail and website addresses? *arrggh* I can't keep up with all the changes. If I've missed a new addy, please don't get mad, and let me know. Thanks. And now, on with the update.
*First off, in the Library we have new chapters of Betrayed, New Beginnings, Shadows of Hope, and Shitennou Monogatari. Lots of good reading! By the way, the concluding chapters of Betrayed and Shadows of Hope are residing on my hot little hard drive; they'll be posted next time, since I didn't have time to get them ready for this update.
*Rouen81 translated some bits of dialogue from the Secret Romance doujinshi for me. You'll find them here.
*Also some new lyrics on the Dedications page, also courtesy of Rouen81.
*New addys on the Links page.
*Check out the spiffy award and banners that some nice people sent me, on the main page! I've also added a pictorial tribute to the victims and survivors of 11 September 2001.
*Important bit of business: I've been getting a lot of e-mails with virusy-looking attachments. I love getting contributions, but in the interest of my computer's health and my sanity, e-mails with attachments that I'm not expecting will be immediately deleted from my mailbox. If you want to send me something, e-mail me first to tell me what you want to send, then send it after I tell you okay. Thanks!
*I think that's everything for now. Lots of stuff piled up over the summer, and I'm still trying to get through it all. Thanks for your patience! And please send me some fanart!

4 August 2002
Hi, all. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still around. Editing fics and updating the site while my kids are still out of school for the summer has proven to be hopeless. Never fear, though. School starts August 15, so look for an update a week or so after that. Lots of fanfic, some bits of doujinshi translation (courtesy of Rouen81), maybe even a fanart, if I get around to drawing the idea I have in mind.

See you in a few weeks!

14 June 2002
Yes, finally an update! My apologies for the delay. First of all, in the Library, three of the four fics-in-progress (I goofed in my note to you last time) have been updated. We have three new chapters of Betrayed by Kurozuishou, chapter 2 of New Beginnings by Lady1Venus, and the next two chapters of Shadows of Hope by Moon Momma. No new installment of Shitennou Monogatari, though I understand one is in progress, but Cygnus-hime sent some beautiful song lyrics, Jewel of Love, that she wrote herself, that go with the story. You can find these at the Dedications page and also at the Shitennou Monogatari index.
*Also, in the Gallery, there's a scan from Secret Romance that I've been holding back in case of a serious art drought. It's a mini-comic from the back of the book. Very funny.
*Finally, a lot of adjustments to the Links page. Links added, links down, and changed addresses. If I've missed any changes here, let me know!

28 May 2002
Not an update... yet. Just a quick explanation for the delay, since a few people have wondered. Real Life threw me a curveball (for those who don't speak baseball, that means something unexpected happened ^.^). For about a month, I had a fairly disabling series of anxiety and panic attacks, which I think were related to some medication I was on. I'm off the med now, and slowly pulling things back together. And now my kids are out of school for the summer, so between fighting them for computer time and keeping them out of trouble, my computer time is pretty limited. But never fear, there will be an update soon, hopefully in another week or so. All three fics-in-progress will be updated, and hopefully I can squeeze some fanart out of someone.

Till later!

24 April 2002

Big fanfiction update! I've added two new novels, the first chapter of New Beginnings, a sequel to "Return of the Negaverse," by Lady1Venus, and the first three chapters of Kurozuishou's first novel, Betrayed. Also, we have the next installment of Shitennou Monogatari by Cygnus-hime. Last, and possibly least :P I've posted three more chapters of Shadows of Hope. Lots of good reading; romance, reunions, smoochies, and Gratuitous-Neph-and-Naru-in-the-Silver-Millennium abound!
*A new song on the Dedications page.
*No new art this time. Come on, people, I need ART!! You don't want me to have to start drawing again, do you?
*The usual fine-tuning of the Links page. One link up, one link down.

30 March 2002
It's been a busy month. Not only are both my sons' birthdays a day apart in March, but I also realized I'd been severely neglecting some important aspects of my Real Life. (Yes, there is life beyond NNP!) But I've never let a whole month go by without updating before, and I'm not about to start now.
*In the Library, there's a new poem by Lady1Venus, along with Chapter 7 of "Shadows of Hope." Yes, only one chapter this time, but it's an important one, and there'll be more to come soon. Also, I've finished uploading the corrected version of Return of the Negaverse.
*In the Gallery, you'll find a cute drawing by Sherrie, and three pictures from Greenstone, which Sarah-neko is kindly allowing me to post. (Greenstone is currently on hiatus, awaiting a move to a new domain; hopefully it'll be up again soon!)
*Two new song lyrics in the Dedications section: a song from the Sailor Stars season of Sailor Moon, from Cygnus-hime, and "Insatiable," which Moosetracks16 sent in while reading "Lyra's Children." Very appropriate, I think!
*A few changes in the Links page. dalles's new personal page, Shake the Disease, is there; In Metallia's Name has a new address, and Troublemakers and All Things Naughty seems to have folded.
*Kurozuishou sent me some cool links to pictures of Japanese and German voice actors for Nephrite and Naru, and also a link to sounds for German Nephrite. You'll find these on the This and That page.
*Added a couple of pictures to my personal photo gallery. There's one for those of you who don't know jack (ha ha), and one from my ballerina days.
*Coming soon: more Shadows of Hope, plus Lady1Venus and Kurozuishou are working on new novels. See you next time!

27 February 2002
10,000 hits as of February 17! I'm still kind of surprised; I had no idea this site would take off like this. I'm so pleased, and glad that so many people seem to want what I have to offer here in my own humble corner of the World Wide Web. Thanks, everyone! (For the record, the 10,000th hit came 1 year, 1 month, and 5 days after the site was launched. Wonder how long the next 10,000 hits will take?) And now, on with the update:
*The next three chapters of Shadows of Hope are up in the Library, plus I added a few things to the notes.
*Big art update! Yay! There's some new doujinshi scans, kindly sent in by Wise Minerva, from her own personal collection. Remember, people, I always want doujinshi scans! (As long as they're reasonably decent, which I realize limits the selection somewhat ~.^) Also, four beautiful new pictures from the very talented Kira. Enjoy the eye candy!
*Two new songs in Dedications, both sent in by Cygnus-hime. There's the metalhead classic Don't Fear the Reaper, and my favorite song from "West Side Story," One Hand, One Heart (*sob* I've seen it a million times, and it still rips me up when Maria sings that to Tony while he's dying *sob*)
*Some changes in the Links -- two new sites, a change of address, and one site that seems to have disappeared. Info on whether TAATN still exists anywhere would be appreciated.
*Till next time, enjoy!

4 February 2002
Yowza. Big update this time!
*In the Library, we have two new short stories, Tennis Lessons by Kurozuishou and Second Chance at Love by Lady1Venus. These are unusual in that they face the Melvin problem head-on (I usually squirm out of it by having him and Naru break up before Nephrite ever comes back on the scene.) Also - ta-daa! - the first three chapters of Shadows of Hope by Moon Momma. I'm deeply indebted to Cygnus-hime for the fantastic idea that led to this story, and I hope I've been able to do justice to it.
*In the Gallery, you'll find, for your viewing pleasure, two lovely pictures which Naru-chan has kindly allowed me to post from her site, along with some DK calendar cuties by Kira. (Yes, I know that one of these latter pictures is not Neph'n'Naru. I will, on occasion and totally at my own sole and arbitrary discretion, make exceptions to my guidelines for friends and/or regular contributors. This becomes important further down.) Also, I can finally post the cute portrait of the Shitennous' children that Cygnus-hime did for Shadows of Hope. You'll find it in the Story Art section.
*On IMHO, I've got a little piece explaining my own opinions about the Nephrite Fashion Disasters poll.
*In the Dedications section, there's a new song sent in by Kurozuishou, along with lyrics to some songs from a CD compilation a dear friend sent me for Christmas. It's intended as a Goth soundtrack to Nephrite and Naru's story. If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll send you a list of the songs that are on it. Tres cool.
*In Totally Non-SM, you'll find two new educational pieces from my brother. One on building shelves (he's an engineer, and by golly he knows how to build shelves), and one for the guys, on avoiding those gift-giving pitfalls. (Before anyone reads this and yells "Sexist!" bear in mind that he moved to Australia for the sake of his wife's career. So, nyah.)
*New Linkies! One for Cygnus-hime's Collage Book, our own "Shitennou Monogatari" author's brand-spanking-new site! And one for Sic itur ad astra, a very nice little Zoisite (!) shrine. If you wonder why I, of all people, would link to a Zoisite shrine, go take a look at it yourself. (I'm a sucker for beautiful writing.)
*On the Shameless Self-Promotion front, I'm very pleased to announce the launch of my new site, Worlds Apart, where I'll be posting my own original (non-fanbased) fiction. If you like my Moon Momma stories, or if you enjoy fantasy with a dose of romance, you might want to check this out.
*And now, the hard part of this update. I was faced with a very difficult dilemma the last few days. Dark Amethyst, a good friend and sometime contributor to NNP, has finally completed an epic fic she spent about 2 1/2 years writing. She showed it to me, just between friends, not expecting me to post it. It's absolutely marvelous, and I realized this is a story I have to have in my collection. However, it violates one of my three carved-in-stone guidelines (these are, No Nephrite yaoi, No sexually explicit material, and Nephrite and Naru have to end up together). Decision time. I do not like hentai, and I will not promote hentai. However, there's a big difference between a lemon and a novel that happens to include a few sexually explicit scenes. This story is a powerful tale of redemption, healing, and love -- Nephrite's love for Naru, and the deep, non-sexual, non-romantic love that can exist between men. (It's also a difficult story to read; if you prefer to believe that Nephrite wasn't really evil, just "misunderstood," this story is not for you.) I feel that it's an important story, a must-read for the mature Dark Kingdom fan. Therefore, with Dark Amethyst's kind permission, I've decided to direct-link to Brothers in Arms on her site. You'll find the link in the Library. (And I want to emphasize: do not send me stuff that violates my guidelines. Exceptions to my guidelines are by invitation only, at my own sole and arbitrary discretion.)
*That's all, folks! Enjoy the update.

11 January 2002
Small update this time, just some this and that that's been waiting while I did the redesign. First off, I moved some things around a bit on the main page to improve the balance a bit. I've finally added a guestbook, so to everyone who's asked me why I don't have a guestbook, well, now I have one. ^.^
*In the Gallery, there's a cute ChibiNaru picture by Sherrie.
*In the IMHO section, I've got a new essay that may raise some eyebrows. My position on this matter is not what it might be expected to be. Since, like everyone else in the world, I don't want to be misunderstood, I decided to address the issue head-on.
*dalles's graphics for the old site are so good I hated to quit using them. Now they're back, in a special gallery linked from the Other Fanart and Images page. (btw, just because I'm not using them now doesn't mean anyone else can. So don't even think about it.)
*On the Dedications page, a new set of lyrics from Obsidian.
*Obsidian's writings about Nephrite are featured on one of two new sites I've listed on the Links page, Once Upon A Moon Kingdom. I've also added Metior's Lance Shrine, for you X-Men Evolution fans out there.

8 January 2002
Well, here it is, NNP's new look, right in time for our first anniversary! It's been a lot of work to get everything changed over, but I think it was worth it. Although I still love the snazzy title graphics dalles made for v.1 of this site, I was getting tired of the pastels (*real* tired of them) and wanted a new design that would better reflect what Nephrite and Naru's Place is all about. For starters, I wanted a more sophisticated look without going to the black background that seems to be de rigueur for Dark Kingdom sites. Not that there's anything wrong with black -- it is, after all, the *Dark* Kingdom -- but it didn't seem quite appropriate for NNP. The gray represents the combining of darkness and light -- in the pairing of Nephrite the villain and Naru the innocent, in the darkness and light within Nephrite's own character, and in the tragedy of their story combined with the happy endings they get on this site. The knotwork background is symbolic of everlasting love and of fates entwined together. The deep red color used for the title graphics and in other places around the site symbolizes both passion and blood. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Nephrite's blood is green. But red is more universally symbolic of blood.) I've been getting in touch lately with my Inner Goth (it's in there somewhere, I know it is), and felt that the gothic/medieval font on the title graphics was perfect for this rich, star-crossed, tragically beautiful love. Finally, the logo that appears on every main page of the site is intended to make it very clear that this site's reason for being is to celebrate Nephrite and Naru's love and to give them the happily-ever-after they didn't have in the anime.

Or maybe this is all just a pretentious way of saying I thought this design would look pretty. ^.^

The background came from Angelfire's image library, the font is "Carolingia," which I picked up off a free fonts site somewhere, and my son made the nifty divider for me. Also, I've tweaked the coding a bit to make the site work better on Netscape.

A few minor organizational changes: The polls are now located on the Miscellaneous page, where other fun stuff will crop up from time to time. My writings and other materials on September 11 have been moved to Totally Non-SM. Finally, there have been a few changes in the guidelines for submitting to this site, so please be sure to read them carefully before you send me anything.

I've got a few things to update, but I didn't want them to get lost in the chaos of the site redesign, so I'll do them in the next few days.

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