James Hiwatari

And here is the image of Nessa's calligraphy attempt!

16th January 1995 Dear Diary of Calligraphy Fails, If you had eyes I would tell you to look at the pile of books I just dropped next to you. They were so heavy I thought I was going to burst my stitches carrying them from the library. The dictionary alone is like two bricks in one! And the worst part is that it might have been all for nothing. I got all those books to help me learn the funny alphabet, but none of them tell me how to read the funny letters. They all either show

16th January 1995 Dear Diary of Useless Mornings, I found only one book about dwarves in Fadalesh in our library. I’m sorry I ended up writing my notes all over you, but I didn’t have another place I trusted enough to do that. I didn’t want to leave marks on the actual book, and I didn’t want to risk Unn or Lydia accidentally finding and reading my thoughts about them. I’m sure you understand. I read that book 3 times by now, and I still can’t be sure I should trust the au

NOTES FROM “DIGGIN’ WITH DWARVES” I can definitely feel Lydia’s fire. She doesn’t seem like an Earthy being at all. I wonder what giants are like (other than really tall, that is). I knew Lydia has a penis, but I don’t remember ever learning that all dwarves do. Maybe it’s a failure of the fairy education system? This book has this really weird obsession with writing Dwarves and Giants and Six Great Elemental Races and any other words it thinks need Special Emp

15th January 1995 Dear Fertiliser Diary, I must hold the record for shortest romance ever. We didn’t even last a day… Though there is a tiny, tiny, tiny chance that it’s not over. Lydia and I just need to sit together and talk quietly without my intestines overreacting. I don’t even know what happened, it’s not like I ate things I wasn’t supposed to like when they fed me corpses at the hospital. Bottom line is that I must not have bodily functions in front of Lydia. It’s a

15th January 1995 Dear Diary of Unhealthy Fixations, I didn’t need to be afraid of nightmares, because I didn’t have any. All I dreamed of was Lydia. Her body, her lips, her warmth. She’s really warm, actually. I woke up sweating just from lying next to her. Must be because of all that body hair. And after almost waking up from the sound of pen and paper, she slept like a rock. I woke up first, stared at her for an eternity (because she’s cute and gorgeous like that), and she

14-15th January 1995 Dear Diary of Romantic Dreams, Lydia is sleeping next to me on the bed, though unfortunately we’re both wearing our pyjamas and we haven’t done anything remotely sexual yet. At least it’s not for lack of interest (that was all we talked about for the last hour before going to sleep). It’s those annoying stitches that keep me from doing any vigourous activity least they burst open (again) and chaos reigns supreme. We had to limit ourselves to kissing and light

Hold on tightly, we're in for a bumpy ride! (and one of those sickening ones with so many turns you lose sense of direction and expel remains of your lunch on average every 5 seconds) There will be demons. There will be romance. There will be Lydia and Nessa doing the romance and the demon-slaying. Probably. I'm going to be mean and not commit to things one way or another, so that you can better enjoy all the twists and turns still to come.

Yes!!!! The demons must the brought forth for your enjoyment!!!!!! But first Nessa needs to sort her love life out. Otherwise, how will she give everything she has to protect her loved ones one the time for the big battle comes? We can hardly expect her to want to give her life to protect Kris, right?

I'm actually in the same situation as you - I'm not a hardcore gamer by any stretch of the imagination, the most I've delayed going to bed because of a game has so far been around an hour, I think. But I do know a few gamers who would completely ignore the concept of "bedtime" if whatever they are currently playing is interesting enough. The good thing about Nessa being a 16 year-old new arrival is that she'll definitely have plenty of time to talk to and get to know her housemates. She's going to be staying there for the next few years, so apart from some horrible misfortune like a mass demon attack where everybody is killed (bonus points if killed while trying to protect Nessa), she still has a long way to go with these people. At this point, Nessa's "heavy drug" might as well be called "Lydia". Though I'm not sure how heavy a dwarf is. All that body hair probably adds up...

I haven't, actually, so it's good to know people who do think it's relatable enough. That said, if I could ever get Fairy Fun Greenhouse made, I would probably give it a try, if only so that I can say I know exactly how Nessa feels.

Nessa's relationship with her housemates is a work in progress... You'll see what I mean over this next week. But I can say it might take a while for her to be on generally good terms with everyone. Or even everyone at once... And she's such a nice fairy too, right? Who wouldn't want to be friends with her?

Yay! I'm glad you like Nessa that much - it wouldn't do for people to get tired of the protagonist, right?

You're just one scene away from finding out the truth! So close... I did try to make Nessa's action somewhat justifiable in our worldview (even if in hers it isn't), otherwise I would be potentially writing a story about a violent murder machine of a fairy, which, although might be an interesting idea, is not quite the idea for this particular plot. (And now I'm picturing Nessa in Terminator style, guns and robotic parts and glowing red eyes and all. What are you doing to me?)

Thanks. It looks like the scene did what it was supposed to! I can't quite have Nessa spell out "I was born with a penis and no uterus, but I'm still a woman" because her world sees nothing "contradictory" about that, so Nessa wouldn't have a reason to point it out (and the same goes for guys born with a uterus, and for non-binary people of whatever body configuration). And she won't be the only one either.

14th January 1995 Dear Diary of Mother Deity’s Sacred Underpants, Lydia is my new lover! Sort of. We’re still figuring it out. But she sure as hell knows how to kiss! That was quick, wasn’t it? And sudden. But it’s now dinner time and we’ve been together since after breakfast. Getting to know each other. You know, talking (at first, anyway). If nothing else, I made a friend, got a shoulder to cry on, and some luscious lips I can kiss whenever I want. Her lips… I’m p

14th January 1995 Dear Dairy of Surreal Expectations, Lydia doesn’t have the telepathic powers my fantasies hoped for. She didn’t hear my mind screaming her name and begging for her to show up in the office while nobody else was around. She appeared in my dreams, sure, but that’s not the same thing. The one who eventually showed up was Lóránt, but by then it was already morning and I had been asleep on the couch in just the right position to give cramps to all the major muscle

13th January 1995 Dear Diary of Bad Life Decisions, It’s been an hour since we last spoke. Most lights in my room are off. As far as I know, everyone else is asleep. It’s late at night and if I had any common sense I would be trying to sleep too. But here I am putting on my slippers to sneak into the office to play Fairy Fun Greenhouse. It’s not that I’m addicted to the game (I mean, I am addicted to the game, but that’s not why I’m circumventing bed-time rules). You see,

Heh, that comment made my day yesterday. Now we can pretend I made some funny remark that lives up to your expectations.

I'm glad to know you like the random changes in plot direction. Sometimes I worry it makes readers think I don't know there the story is going and don't have a plan in mind - which I do. It's not a scene-by-scene overly detailed plan, but I do know the vague order of the plot arcs. The changes in direction happen because this is Nessa's diary and she's unpredictable and gets excited about things and obviously she has to write about things that make her excited. It's a lot of fun writing in this style, trying to make something half-coherent from a teenage girl's exceptional circumstances. The bottom line is: it's good to know I'm doing the right thing. The existence (and death) of Kris's past girlfriend is for the moment a random rambling at a scene's end note. Nothing has been confirmed or denied about her. Schrodinger's girlfriend? Maybe I should have her name be actually Schrodinger... (not that it confirms I have her as a character). As for his relationship with Nessa... all I can say is that there is still a lot of plot to happen between them. Seriously. A lot. And I don't even mean it in the hypothetical "they fall in love after a week, get married the next day and spend the next 20 years having children together" sense. So hold your horses! Kris's character arc will be partially about dealing with his problems like a mature person (which, considering he's still 17 might be a bit too much to ask right now). What would be the difference between a guardian angel and "an angel that protects those in their care"? We still have quite a bit more to learn about angels in general, so no need to worry that you've seen everything there is to know about Lóránt and their kind. On a side note, I found it quite interesting that you went for "she" with Lóránt before you corrected yourself - in my mind Lóránt used to be a "he" before they turned more towards the "who needs gender?" camp. I guess I'm doing something right if my previous conceptions of the characters are hidden enough that some people read them as belonging to the "other end" of gender spectrum. The demons will come back eventually (even Lóránt can't protect Nessa forever), but for now Nessa will be given a chance to settle in, make new friends (and maybe some more), and live the kind of adventures that don't end with people dead, bleeding, or severely traumatised. And thanks for the comments. It makes my day when I see the story got a new enthusiastic reader.

Lóránt is as literally a "guardian angel" as they can get in this world. As for whether this means the same it would mean for us... Why would I spoil the surprise so soon? I'm glad you like them, though. Kris at this point has been given the role of "be as much of an antagonist as you can be without turning into an actual villain". I can say all I want about him having reasons to be like that (which in this case is "nothing" because those would be big spoilers nobody is ready to know yet), though none of them excuse the fact that yes, he is an arse to Nessa and she didn't deserve that. At least your wish for Nessa's first romantic interest has been fulfilled. It's not Kris - this time. (Oh no! Does that mean he'll eventually fall in love with Nessa and she'll forgive all his arseholeness and they'll walk hand in hand towards the sunset, get married and have 15 children??) (Place your bets...)

I wish I knew how to make games, so I could try to make real-life version of Fairy Fun Greenhouse. My cousin has a degree (or two?) in game design, so maybe we can come to an understanding...

I actually enjoy writing the non-depressing chapters (particularly the funny ones) much more than the serious ones. We'll have quite a few of those for now, while Nessa is settling in and getting used to her new life. So enjoy it while it lasts!

13th January 1995 Dear Diary of Virtual Farming, I wasn’t even planning to write today. Almost nothing happened other than me spending the whole day playing Fairy Fun Greenhouse. I can happily report that I’m now level 20, my neighbours have publicly denounced me for mass plague-forwarding, and my newest plant can play the fiddle. Nothing in that game resembles the fairy life I knew, but that only makes it more addictive. I keep trying to guess what the game will come up with next

12th January 1995 Dear Gamer Diary, Lóránt is the best guardian angel ever! They came to check on me when I was so bored I was counting the number of flowers on my bed cover (I stopped at 128) and they rescued me from this terrible destiny of mind-numbing non-tasks! They stormed in like a superhero and swept me from the bed, carrying me like a princess all the way to the library/office. I was made to lie in the middle of the couch like a Queen surrounded by tasty snacks, and just as