New HP novel: Transfigurations

[resonant]

I know, I know, it's not Easter Monday. I didn't get as much writing time as I expected during my vacation.

But now, glorying in the knowledge that I completed my HP novel before JKR completed hers (though not by much), I present:

Transfigurations
Harry/Draco -- NC-17 -- 400K
No underage
Five years after Voldemort's defeat, Harry returns to England to help re-open Hogwarts.

Or read one chapter at a time:

1. Homing
2. Ruins
3. Sacrifice
4. Synergy
5. Lessons
6. The Ripple Effect
7. All Souls
8. Greetings
9. Modern History
10. Finding
11. The League of Protection
12. Magic Fatigue
13. Duels
14. Dungeons
15. Memorials
16. Sorting
Epilogue

I can't even begin to list all the people I need to thank here -- you can read about them in the story notes (watch out for spoilers) -- but I owe it all to julad, who deserves to be showered with chocolate, rose petals, good-looking pureblood wizards, and anything else her heart desires. I also want to give special mention to darthfox and cesperanza and kaneko for beta.

Comments

Oh, this is marvelous

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Sigh. I wish there were more. I dutifully sent reviews for the first five chapters, but then lost patience and devoured the rest straight through.

Sigh. Delicious.

~Icarus

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

...reading ch.7, reading ch. 8, reading ch.9 (it's excellent, Res)...then I had to pause and laugh at this:

"And the title of Headmaster? How is that assigned?" Harry asked.

"By the Sorting Hat, of course," Hermione said. "Have you still not read --"

That's my girl; never change, Hermione! *g*

-Beth

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*grinning* One of these days I'm going to give Hermione her moment in the spotlight, I really am. But I'm glad she's still herself here.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

I'm really bad about reviewing, but I wanted to drop you a note and tell you how much I enjoyed reading this. It's subtle, understated, so full of plot and action and story and in-character characters... And well, lots of good things. It's obvious that great care was taken with the story and it really shows. Like "The Familiar" this strikes me as both a reclamation of the canon and an expansion of it. It was lovely and sweet and just so subtly powerful at once.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*beaming* Thanks so much!

It's obvious that great care was taken with the story and it really shows.

Not just by me, either -- I had some truly amazing thinking-and-writing partners on this.

[kaiz.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you finished! ::spinkles confetti:: I very much look forward to reading it.

[zvi-likes-tv.livejournal.com]

It's marvelous. It's so funny, and poignant, and hot, and the mines are really, really devious, and I like a lot.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm glad!

and the mines are really, really devious,

Slytherin, ain't they?

[rrrosa.livejournal.com]

I have not yet read this, but it's already been rec'd enthusiastically on my friends page. I have to leave for a long, long day of work, but I'm so excited to have this to come back to!

first chapter

[fabularasa.livejournal.com]

Oh, Rez! Okay, I've only read the first chapter, but wanted to get my thoughts down before I was tempted to be a selfish beast and read straight through and then send a message that says itz kool really really liked it plz write mre :)

Disney World? The actual Magic Kingdom? I fell out laughing. The opening is sheer brilliance -- the haunted men's room, indeed. Credulous night workers pissing in pairs. Too funny. Your careful scene setting pays off -- I can almost taste the food on Harry's plate. Almost it's enough to make me forgive you for killing Snape off. Gasp. Harry's wonderment at the changes around him is the perfect vehicle for the reader's sense of displacement. Dear God, did Hermione marry Finch-Fletchley? Egad.

I am off to read more. I will ration myself so I don't sit up reading the whole thing today, turning bleary-eyed and headachy at the screen.

Fabula Rasa

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

read straight through and then send a message that says itz kool really really liked it plz write mre :)

*snicker* Gotten those, too, have you?

Almost it's enough to make me forgive you for killing Snape off. Gasp

I didn't want to do it! Really! The canon made me!

^_^ Awesome story!!

[shoorihoshi.livejournal.com]

Hey! I saw the link to your story on Veela Inc list, read it, checked out your site and wound up here. I figured I might as well give you some feedback since I enjoyed this story so much. *cackles madly* This was brilliant. ^_^ There was so much about this that I liked that I'm just going to hit on a bunch of little details. Calligromancy is a beautiful concept. I also loved the way Draco had changed so much since his years at Hogwarts- the details about him getting along so well with Hermione's family were really great. The H/D scenes were amazingly sexy, and very believable. *_* I wish I could write stories like this. Gah.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it.

[tradescant.livejournal.com]

I was so excited to see this that I stayed up till 4am reading it, and only regret doing it because I feel sluggish this morning and unable to comment intelligently. I'll try to reread it this afternoon with an eye for detail, but I did just want to say right away that Transfigurations is an achievement to be proud of. It's well-planned, immensely complicated without being difficult to understand, funny and wrenching and sweet by turns, and the most impressive thing of all is that even though I know you've agonized for months and months over the whole thing, it's done with such a light, deft touch that it seems effortless.

CONGRATULATIONS!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Ha! As Falstaff might have said, I'm a cause of sleep deprivation in myself and others.

And I'm more glad than I can say that it isn't as much work to read as it was to write.

:D

[mctabby.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading it a few minutes ago, and I'm still high as a kite.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it!

Yay!

[(Anonymous)]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I <3 FixIt!Ron.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And thank darthfox and rivier for Fixer Ron. All I could do with the guy was whine about him.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm usually pretty lazy about reviewing but I just wanted to to let you know how much I enjoyed this. It has so many intricate details that it kept me engrossed for about four hours.

I also can't believe that I didn't realise why Draco kept calling McGonagall "Kitty" until the ghost cat appeared at the end *smacks her forehead*.

Anyway thanks

Jeddy

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*beaming* Thanks!

Poor McGonagall. I put her through so many indignities, but being called Kitty has got to be among the worst.

review (contains spoilers)

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

I can't tell you what a joy it is to read a fic like yours - compelling plot, solidly-written characters, and such a fluent, unpretentious style. I really immersed myself in the world you created, and was reluctant to resurface at the end of the story.

Firstly, I must commend you on the Harry/Draco dynamic. Their relationship developed in a slow, but credible and controlled way, and the sex scenes were exceptionally well-handled. I adored the offbeat locations, the awkward conversations, and the physical and emotional contortions of the characters in their pursuit (and at some points avoidance) of intimacy.

There was so much to revel in when it came to the characterisations. For instance, Harry's refusal to call Draco anything but "Malfoy" until the very end, while Draco seemed to have extravagant nicknames for everyone except Harry. There was also Draco's varied wardrobe, and Harry's initial irritation and then growing fondness for it. And the way Draco was always stealing food off people's plates, and Harry noticed this every single time - even to the extent of photographing him while he did it.

These elements were all so well integrated into the shifts their relationship underwent (antagonism, understanding, affection, love) during the course of the story. These lines near the end really got me: "Harry spotted him under the portmap with Ron and Phoenix and an empty seat where Hermione must have been, eating fruit from a bowl. He had on that same plum-colored robe he'd worn at the opening feast, and as Harry watched, he met his eyes with the same look -- recognition, attraction, a sort of cautious, well-guarded hope --". It pleased me so much that Harry no longer appeared to mind Draco's affected clothes or annoying eating habits. And, even more importantly, that he had seen behind the facade, and finally grasped what Draco's feelings toward him had been from the start.

I do have one minor reservation, and that was the way you handled Ron. Don't get me wrong, he was in character - rather more laid-back than in canon, but that was a valid approach since he was an adult. I was just surprised at the way he faded from the action after his early comments about Draco's sexuality. Harry worried in passing that Ron would notice his affair, but Ron never actually did so. Ron's reaction to the revelation about Sunday's gender was peculiarly muted. And when the Harry-Draco relationship did go public, we were simply left to assume Ron was one of the people cheering in the background at the party. As Harry's best friend, I think Ron would have been a little more engaged in events as they unfolded. However, I want to stress that this in no way undermined the overall quality of the story. (Let's face it, the prominence or otherwise of Ron is a canon issue. If this was original fiction, rather than fanfiction, I wouldn't even raise it).

So, you'll have gathered by now that I really loved your work. I looked forward to reading it for a long time, and I was delighted by the way it turned out. I guess I will understand if this is your last word on the Harry/Draco pairing, but I really hope you'll carry on writing HP stories.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

This made my day -- thanks!

I'm getting more comments (positive and negative) on Ron's characterization than on any other aspect of the story, and I think you've put your finger on why some readers aren't liking it -- he's really a fairly minor character in the story.

He isn't Harry's best friend any more; the two of them have been badly out of touch (though not for want of trying on Ron's part), and that role of "guide, humorous commentator, and reality check" has for the past five years been played by Kat rather than by Ron.

I do see more and more distance in the future of that relationship -- that's my interpretation of the canon. As long as Harry longs for Ron's family and Ron longs for Harry's importance, it's going to be increasingly difficult -- maybe ultimately impossible -- for the two of them to connect. Of course it's possible that they could deal with that openly and together, rather than just by drifting apart -- but I don't see this particular variant of Harry is being capable of doing that -- at least not at the place where he is in the early part of the story. He's not connecting with anyone.

Creating a new connection with Ron is something he could have been doing throughout the story, of course. Honestly, it didn't occur to me until I read your review that that, too, would be something he'd need to deal with if he was going to move forward. (Maybe somebody else will write that one. I had a friendship like that, and don't trust my ability to get enough distance on it to write about it.)

Thanks for the thoughtful review!

[marigolde.livejournal.com]

I read this when I should have been studying for my French final. Eh, priorities. Excellent fic.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! See me for all your procrastination needs.

Thank You.

[ashlle1.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to say to you, beyond thank you so much for writing such a wonderful novel. Transfigurations went above and beyond even my wildest expectations of what a post-Voldemort Hogwarts could be like. The darkness, the depth of character, the intricacy with which you wove your world...

Still the words fail me.

This review/rec, which I posted in my journal, addresses some of what I feel. Above and beyond all else, you rock.



My dear fellow readers,

I don't know if you've heard, but there's a new piece of fiction in town.

It's called Transfigurations, by resonant8. This is a Harry Potter fanfiction novel with a slash relationship between Harry and Draco, but please don't let that put you off. Even if you don't read Harry Potter fic, even if you've only seen the movies, even if... no excuses.

You need to read this.

It's long (400k). It's NC-17, for explicit sex and extreme darkness.

It's 'fanfiction'.

But that doesn't mean a thing.

This is a novel in the best style of novels, taking a war's aftermath and making it into something more than a celebration. There are dark things still at Hogwarts, terrible and complex and so utterly dark that you want to go hide in your bed with all your childhood stuffed animals around you.

I was sniffling by chapter 14, full-out crying by chapter 15. It's something rare, indeed, when I cry. I can count on one hand that which will make me cry, but this story, my friends, is one of them. The gamut of emotions that you will feel while involved in this novel is huge. There are humorous points, there are lonely points, there is nostalgia and confusion and utter despair and sadness...There is the sense of hopelessness and being overpowered by the darkness in the world. And there is that glimmer of hope when you set everything right, and there is love and affection and acceptance and triumph.

This is a masterpiece of characterization. Familiar characters: Harry, Hermione, Draco, McGonagall, Ron, the Weasleys...they're all there, just as you remember them from Rowlings' work, but they've been fleshed out, given heft and depth and reality. They are confusing at times, but they are always true to character. Resonant has taken these familiar characters and enhanced them in such a natural, fluid way that it seems wrong to have them any other way. More than just fleshing them out, however, the characters have been given a dynamic nature (as of yet) not seen in the books. They undergo significant personal changes, and this is what makes them so wonderful, so appealing, so human.

It's not always easy to read, like some fan stories, even the dark ones, can tend to be. This story draws the reader in. You don't always like the characters, and there are many points in the story where their decisions just make your heart ache and your head spin, but it's worth it.

There are some things that aren't completely easy to deal with from a long-term fanfiction standpoint, such as original characters and the big Weasley family of happiness, and a new subject in school, but these are handled, for the most part, masterfully. The few rough points (I do mean few. Very few) among these simply make you appreciate the rest of the story more.

Take this story seriously. Get yourself involved with it. Lock the door, turn off the phone and the instant messenger, get rid of the pesky homework and whatever is preying on you that must be done for tomorrow. Get a nice big glass of your favorite beverage. Keep a box of Kleenex near you. Put on the best emotional music you've got (I chose the two Titanic soundtracks) if that helps you to read, or keep it quiet if you don't like music while you read.

And just read it.

This story contained such a catharsis for me that I cannot adequately express it. But I'll keep trying.

I want everyone to read this. Everyone. I don't care if you've never really gotten into Harry Potter before this, or that you don't care for slash, or that you don't have time, or whatever your excuse is. Take the time soon, clear several hours on the weekend when you would normally be watching TV, and just read it. Transfigurations (http://trickster.org/res/transfig.html), by resonant8.



Ashlle (http://trickster.org/res/transfig.html)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

No, thank you. I'm bowled over.

You know, when I write HP, I always think I'm writing something light. The darkness in that universe always takes me by surprise, even when I see it in my own stories. (And this is true even though it would be fair to say I went overboard in giving each and every character a happy ending here.)

Where you had reservations, I'd like to hear more about them; I'm learning a lot from reader comments. My e-mail is resonant8@att.net.

i'm also bad with feedback, but..

[aerie.livejournal.com]

The only thing I loved more than your delicious, utterly credible characterisations in this story was the way you immersed us in the setting itself. All the creative ideas necessary for the quirky wizarding world are there, but more importantly they are seamlessly interwoven in your narrative, in the dialogue, in everything. Subtly and skillfully you gave the characters /culture/, and realistic depth to a fantasy story.

Impressively complex. And the journey was long and hard (darktensefunnysexysweetmoving) but it all came together neatly in an optimistic, very Harry Potter ending. Absolutely enchanting story. (:

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The HP universe is incredibly fun to play in, because it gives you a chance to create everything from scratch -- card games, funerals, beverages ...

[istima.livejournal.com]

I've read Transfigurations like many other lucky and smart people. I'm ready to go to sleep now. It's one of the best stories I've ever read, and you and your friends are the genius. Though I thought Ron was too perfect and should have been more fleshed out. I wish he was more present in the story. Hm, I think that's my biggest and only bone to pick from the story. I feel like you deserve such a reward for this story and wish I can pay something for reading it.

And I want to see Sunday Coneskey/Scott Luniak, damn it. (g) I'm hoping many pretty please with a sweet birthday story on top will work as incentive? (g)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Yes, in retrospect I do wish I'd done more with Ron. Though he was damned useful, with the fire extinguishers and all.

I'm thinking about Sunday -- he's very much present in my mind. Tricky to get Scott all the way over from Cascade, or to get Sunday that far west. (Unless ... I was thinking that Sunday could decide to leave the Coven to walk the Trail of Tears ... that gets him as far west as Oklahoma ...)

*pricks up ears* Did somebody say "birthday story"?

[dreamiflame.livejournal.com]

That was amazing.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*beaming* Thanks!

Transfigurations

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

This was excellent. I liked being *shown* how devastating the war was - all those people gone or injured or changed. I loved the concept of the magical mines that resembled nothing so much as software, the necessary reorganization of the school, the slow unfolding of the H/D romance without sacrificing their characters - Malfoy is *still* not very nice, as he should be.

I also liked the development of American magic, the minor mystery of Sunday (although, honestly, to my slasher's eyes, I'm surprised when any romance is m/f. :)), the brother/sister relationship between Hermione and Draco, Draco teaching Muggle studies - pretty much all of it.

And I always knew Neville had a hero inside of him.

(Minor quibble - I would have put Hermione in Transfigurations and Harry in Charms, because that seems to be their strengths in the books, but either way works, and this way was necessary for the plot.)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

Yes, it was purely for title reasons that I put Harry in Transfiguration rather than Charms. That and the fact that I figured placing Hermione would be a breeze because she's good at everything.

[nyn.livejournal.com]

Amazing. Truly what an amazing accomplishment this story is. It's riveting and layered and fun and true to everything that Harry Potter is supposed to be true to.

Also, I have quite the crush on your Draco ;) He's perfectly snarky and sly and exquisite and all, but you added that rippling vulnerability that's not so very well hidden if you know where to look that just...gets to me. Pocket Apollo, indeed *G*

Some of my favorite parts were the details about the American wizards. By the end, I had to pinch myself to remember that they were just a creation of yours, and no, JKR was *not* going to be giving us a filler book about them anytime soon. ::pouts:: But hey, ya know, if you ever want to write the incredible adventures of the Coven, as told by Dr. Boktor...I wouldn't stand in your way ;)

Thank you thank you thank you for writing this! I stayed up waaaay too late last night reading "just one more section" and I snuck it open on my computer at work today to finish it and now I'm so sad it's over...hmm...maybe I need to reread already...

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I've got a bit of a crush on Draco, too, as is probably all too obvious.

Some of my favorite parts were the details about the American wizards. By the end, I had to pinch myself to remember that they were just a creation of yours, and no, JKR was *not* going to be giving us a filler book about them anytime soon. ::pouts:: But hey, ya know, if you ever want to write the incredible adventures of the Coven, as told by Dr. Boktor...I wouldn't stand in your way ;)

*grin* I might. I'd really like to see Kat and Hermione in the same room. (One of my dearest dreams is that other writers will want to play in this sandbox, too.)

[sheron]

Oh my God, a fanfic with a real plot. I can't stress how wonderful it is to read this story! I followed the rec from Lasair's journal and read it over the next couple of hours straight. (If I flunk my Algebra exam we know why, haha.) I'm very grateful to you for writing it, I read in your author notes that it took you about 2 years -- that's a lot of hard work. Of course, the size tells it's own story -- when I saw how long it was, I was ecstatic since long epics are my favourite kind of story, the longer the better. And with a plot...! Well, let's just say the hours I spent reading it were heavenly.
I promise to write a better review then this short note, but since my exams aren't over, and I don't really fancy failing however good the story is, I have to go. Wonderful not-over-the-top characterization, hot sex and most importantly elaborate and well thought out plot. Wait, am I groveling? I'm groveling. :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it! Hermione's upset with you for not studying, but Harry admires your sense of priorities.

[saffronra.livejournal.com]

I will eventually learn that 2am isn't the best time to start reading fic... but in this case it will be worth being dead on my feet this evening.
Very well written story, and I found it really realistic - mmm, in that I could almost hear the characters voices, and see them moving around.
There's more I'd like to say, but I'm practically a zombie now and it'll just come out as mindless gushing - but great story :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for telling me.

[(Anonymous)]

i'm very late to comment, but i'm very late to discover slash at all (only in the last few weeks), and just yesterday found my way to your page and read Transfigurations. like the others, i read it compulsively, avid to find out how it would end. as i read the last two chapters this afternoon, i had a feeling of total realization, the sense that it was all coming out just exactly right. i told my husband this evening that i had found the development of the draco/harry relationship emotionally fulfilling in the most pleasurable way. compared to most of the d/h pairings i've seen, yours is subtle and human and very warming. in fact, your draco, himself, is one of the most charming and winning characters i've enjoyed getting to know.

the visualized spells, btw, were a beautiful touch.

excellent work! thank you for putting it where people like me can run across it.

-vicki

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it!

And welcome to the wonderful world of slash. Hope you're finding lots of great stuff! There's an awful lot of time-wasters out there, but on the other hand, there are also stories that are better than anything you could find published on paper.

spoiler review

[deborah-judge.livejournal.com]

I recently discovered Transfigurations, and just raved about it on my own LJ, so I figured I should rave about it here too.

I'll start with the pacing. It was a very unusual decision to bring in the slash element so late in the story, and it *really* paid off. Even knowing that it was an NC17 H/D story going in I was still surprised by their first sex scene. For a while I even thought (like Harry) that you were going Draco/Hermione, and Draco's coming out took me by surprise. (Although Sunday's gender didn't - as a slashfreak, I was paying careful attention to the pronouns or lack of them.) By developing the characters and their relationship as slowly as you did, you allowed for an unusually satisfying payoff.

Draco. Wow. One of the best takes on him I've ever seen. He's still snarky and mean and rude and selfish and ambitious and vain...but along the way he seems to have gained real wisdom, which is a very hard thing to write. A favorite moment - when he talks about leaving the Death Eaters, not because they were evil, and not even out of love for his friends, but because they were pathetic. Like he's really seen how small and just plain uninteresting the dark side is.

Harry. I like very much his limitations here, and how he gradually grows to accept them. I guess this was harder for him than it was for Draco, because Draco had the advantage of having his limitations clear all along. Harry could imagine himself perfect or capable of doing every good and brave thing, and then be shocked when he wasn't. I just love his constant denial throughout the story until the end. Although even at the very end he needs Draco to explain things to him.

The one part that was hard for me to understand was the memorial sequence - why Harry needed to build that monument, and why that in partucular was what could help him come to terms with himself. Well, maybe I'll see it more next read.

Other things I liked: The way they never say 'I love you' to each other. Draco's full name, and the way Harry says it. Draco without magic, and all the things he can't do, right up to taking off his ridiculous clothes. Draco spelling off clothes at just the right moment. Draco with the ghost-cat in his lap. 'Sometimes you need a spell and a butter-knife.' The way spell-design seems to work like computer programming. 'Everything important leaves a mark somewhere.' That mechanical pencil. Bookworm house. Snape wanting to keep the dark mark, so someone should be left with one. Sunday's basket-weaving, and all the background about American magic. The new headmaster, and how he was chosen. Beautiful, beautiful sex scenes, that are so different from the beginning to the end of the story.

As long as it was, I still wish there were more. I've bookmarked your site, and I'll be back to read other things.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Wow -- this is great to hear! Thanks so much.

Although Sunday's gender didn't - as a slashfreak, I was paying careful attention to the pronouns or lack of them.

Hee! I wondered whether anybody was surprised by Sunday being a boy. In my first draft he was a girl -- who existed only because it seemed likely that Harry would have gotten involved with somebody in the five years since the war -- but Julad suggested that I change him.

He's still snarky and mean and rude and selfish and ambitious and vain..

I'm glad all that came through. I wanted him good enough to love, but not too good to be true.

The one part that was hard for me to understand was the memorial sequence - why Harry needed to build that monument, and why that in partucular was what could help him come to terms with himself.

More than anything, I think Harry just needed to look his grief in the face, and to realize that it was not in his power to save them. He could have done that in any number of ways, but that one seemed right, intuitively.

As long as it was, I still wish there were more.

I keep hoping someone else will want to play in that universe.

Thanks for your great comments!

[lilithilien.livejournal.com]

I’m a recent convert to the HP fandom (yes, late to the party, I know), and to Harry and Draco in particular. And it’s all your fault! I’ve resisted this fandom for years. Then my friend sarcasticchick insisted I read “Transfigurations.” Maybe it was that “Higher Education” and “Advantage” are two of my favourite stories ever, maybe it was that I was getting excited about the final book coming out, maybe it was just a weird confluence of the planets and stars, but whatever it was, I read “Transfigurations” ... and I was blown away. I can’t find the words to explain the effect that this story had on me, although maybe the fact that I’ve been obsessed with Draco and Harry since reading it will give you some inkling. As always you’re a master of characterization (I find myself now picturing Draco pronouncing spells with a “native tongue”) and after picturing him in the tightly fitted dress robes I have developed an unhealthy fetish for buttons. I’m sorry I didn’t write immediately after discovering this story -- I was too busy diving into the fandom and gobbling up all that I could. But I did want to take the time and thank you again for sharing your creative gift. Even if you’ve phased out of this fandom, you’ve left behind an incredible work.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's so cool to me that you found it and enjoyed it after all these years! There's lots more great stuff in the fandom -- probably a lot more than I know about, since nowadays I'm mostly only reading Harry/Snape and only by authors I already know -- so I hope you've been having a good time!

Thanks for leaving a comment -- in spite of how long it took me to respond, it really did make my day.