Sapphires and Emeralds

Disclaimer for the Story: I do not own anything you recognize, including songs, lyrics, movies, quotes, other branded items and places. I do, however, own the plot, characters and the setting for the story. Plagiarism will be met with firm legal action (read: I will sue your fucking ass from here to eternity).

Prologue: Once Upon a Time

Before I started my senior year at WA, I thought my fairytale was done and over with. I thought that the first fourteen years of my lifetime had been my fairytale. And I was bitter because I hadn't gotten my happy ending.

But then, I went into my senior year. It didn't take me long to realise that my fairytale hadn't ended… it hadn't even begun yet. Because I wasn't the dainty, feminist princess and he wasn't the perfect, one-sided Prince Charming. And we weren't blonde. I was the mentally fucked up princess and he was my obviously flawed, cynical Prince. We were both black-haired and together, we fucked up so many times that I lost count.

Yes, my story had the cringe-worthy clichés because it would hardly be a story worth telling otherwise. But it did have its downright depressing moments.

My fairytale was a one where the flawed Prince Charming rode up to his commoner on a black steed and transformed her into a beautiful princess. He took a long time to fall for her and once that was done, he nearly killed her with his apathy.

But when it all came down to the plain hard facts, he loved her and in the end, that was the only thing that mattered.

NOTE

Right, this is a move that's going to make me very unpopular, for sure. But I've actually been debating about it for a while. The truth is, writing is everything to me and someday getting published is a sincere hope and a goal that I tirelessly work towards. And quite honestly, my chaptered stories (SaE in particular) are my ticket to being a successful author. Lately, there's been a lot of worry about plagiarism going around and I'm worried too. Yes, it's cocky to think my stories are worth that, and yes, I probably am being a little paranoid. But better safe than sorry.

And so, I've decided to remove the story. It's not only the plagiarism thing, it's also the fact that this story requires serious revision. Yes, it's not a foolproof method, and there may be copies of this floating around in cyberspace and people have probably printed out the story and I've recently discovered that having an old cache (whatever that means) displays the story with all the chapters. But if it hasn't already happened, then I've just saved myself the heartache and misery that several authors are going through right now.

In many ways, this could not come at a better time, because all of a sudden, I'm hit with severe writer's block and discontent. It is almost impossible for me to remain focused on or interested in a story or come up with plot lines. So, what I'm going to do is take some time off. I'm just going to be gone for a while, just to try and figure out where exactly my love for writing has gone. I've sorta sold out, become a consumer-item, doing things for reviews and awards. But not any more. Plus, it's my senior year and if there was ever a time I needed to concentrate, it's now.

I will return, I promise. With a bang. I just don't know when.

Thank you for all the love and support you've given me over the last two years. Your constructive criticism has made my stories better– one of the reasons I'm so apprehensive about leaving the site. I'm also asking people to report to me if they see a plagiarised version of any of my stories. It would mean the world. I will definitely reply to emails, PMs and important reviews. For those who were in the middle of reading the story when I removed it, I am sincerely sorry. Maybe one day you'll see this again. But what with my being disillusioned (waking up to the true danger of posting on FictionPress, I mean) and suddenly worried about my big-time publication chances, it is, at the moment, a very remote possibility.

Again, I thank you for everything. Mucho love,
Quill

P.S: Time-stamp, on the story. Just a warning. And I've discontinued Katie-Ann. Read the very similar author's note there, if you want.