Dear StaidWaters:

How dare you have the audacity to turn off your pm feature after giving me such a scathing (I'm not mad – I rather liked it) and questioning review? I mean, really! Now I have to post another chapter just to reply!

However, she (I'm assuming here) brought up a good point.

Why am I against this fic being adopted?

There are several reasons for this. First is the writing style. I hate reading a fic and then getting halfway through only to find the whole tone of the writing suddenly change and the story's going in a different direction and the pacing has switched and the chacterizations aren't quite the same and …

Well, you see my point there.

Second is that I have issues. I've nearly failed in school because I have such high perfectionist demands of myself. If I don't think I can do perfect, I Will. Not. Do. It. That's gotten me lots of zeros. I do not give up the things I start. Will it be a long time before this story is back? Probably. I've actually re-re-read the first chapter and now plan to rewrite everything from scratch.

Third: As much as I can see where StaidWaters got the idea that I was writing a character development fic about Ryou, that's not where this was going. I'd tell you if you asked in a review, but I think that may ruin what I want you all to see at the end of the fic. My ideas aren't exactly common and I don't want anyone to take this story in a direction it isn't supposed to go. Actually, the title is a perfect statement about what this story is all about so I believe I'm going to change the title on this one (if possible) and keep the title because it says so much about what I want to show all the readers at the end.

Fourth: I'm just plain possessive. If I abandon it, that was my choice and no one shall over ride my say on my story. Yeah, I know, that's kinda mean, but really! For the reasons listed above, it's my story and I don't want anyone taking it and messing around with it! If I've inspired anyone – I'd be thrilled and surprised! However: This one is mine. This is my twist on 'so-and-so' is related to 'so-and-so' and I'm not giving that up. Ever.

I would be happy that someone like my fic so much that they wanted to see it through to the end themselves, but this is something I feel very strongly about. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with my vehemence that this story not be adopted. *bows* Gomenasai.

*-#-*

(Because I know not everyone is gonna search through my reviews to find this specific one I'm gonna post it here so you all can make sense of this.)

staidwaters7/11/12 . chapter 7

Sooo...I went back and forth with myself about whether to write this, but...I was enjoying the story and had a huge list of things I was going to review about, and then I was reading your author's notes and one of them uh...bewildered me and then I pretty much forgot everything I was going to write because of that. So, then I was just going to not write a review, and then I thought I'd better at least tell you why I wasn't reviewing...
A lot of fic writers I know consider it an honor when people ask to continue their abandoned stories. In fact, a lot of times it's a gift from a fan; the author can't accomplish the thing they love due to stress at work, or an injury, or whatever, so a friend or fan offers to do it for them, so the author doesn't have to see their masterpiece be forgotten, never to be completed. I realize your story isn't abandoned, but so many authors say stories aren't abandoned and then never ever get back to them, you can't blame people for not being sure. It just seems...weird that you're upset that people want to gift you with their time to help you accomplish something you obviously want to see accomplished.
Anyhow, I know people are different and all, and you totally have the right to think however you want; maybe people were really offensive about it; I know the HP fandom is really bad about readers being rude to authors who are basically offering the readers a free gift of their time and efforts, but in summary, the rant at the end shocked me enough that I pretty much forgot the story and am now planning to go look up blog entries about how the fandom in general feels about story adoptions, so I thought I'd point out that if you want reviews on the story, controversial statements in the author's notes are probably not the way to go.
I did enjoy the story in general though. I'm guessing you didn't like it because the plot wasn't set up in a manner that would get you where you wanted in a logical manner. I suspect the reason your readers didn't care is that it comes off as a character growth fic, not a solve the problem fic, so I figured there was a 50-50 chance that absolutely nothing would happen as far as the war goes besides the danger adding some nasty tension and short tempers, and we'd get to see Bakura messing with Voldemort and snarking at Death Eaters. Basically, I expected the war to just be a backdrop to Ryou coming into his own and discovering his own worth and loyalties, without him actually doing much of anything, or affecting the war at all. And I for one was delighted with that scenario (which you were handling very well, incidentally), even if it wasn't where you were planning to go.