Foreword
You may have noticed the url of this one changed. I had planned to post an editted version of this to ao3 for its first anniversary, back in May 2025. They fell through, and I didn’t even finish editing the first chapter.
(If you want to see what how it used to start, I’ve restored the original page.)
If you read what’s present here, you may notice where the edits stop. Only a few typos beyond that have been fixed. I have notes on changes and improvements I’d want to make to the story, but it doesn’t seem it’s in the cards.
The rest of this foreword will quote the Author’s Note I planned to add when this was uploaded to ao3.
If this is the first fic of mine you’ve seen, skip this author’s note, it’s mostly for my fans. If it is is the first you’ve seen of me, I’d put a caveat on this whole fic — consider starting with my other works; those are more polished.
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Don’t call this a comeback, it’s just a dead cat bounce. I’m only here to fulfil contractual obligations to my shareholders. Last year, especially during the big hiatuses between the later chapters of my main fic, I wrote several other fics that, for whatever reason, I didn’t consider polished enough to publish on here at the time.
(On that topic, those of you curious about when I’ll ever update that fic again should check its latest chapter; I’ve added some further explanation to its endnote. Don’t want to get too off-topic in the preface to a different fic.)
Anyway, it would have been smarter then to realize I don’t generally rewrite things anymore, and I should have just published the rough drafts anyway. But no changing that now.
So, what is this? An Opaque Heart is a figment of humble origins. One year ago today, I had a neat idea, a quick little plot bunny, and I just wanted to tell my friend Lilas about it (she’s the author of the Trojan Virus AU, by the way, which I loved). So I started typing. And kept typing.
Six days later, I had written a novella.
I shared that first draft with several others, and they all loved it. (If you’ve already read this story, by the way, don’t spoil it ;3)
Regardless, I wasn’t satisfied at the time. It bears the marks of its origin — this was only supposed to be a informal ramble in direct messages, after all. As a casual summary, it went above and beyond what was required. But as something to post publically, seen by those with no context? I have high standards.
I’ll do what I can to polish these early chapters — it hits a better stride later on, but the pacing leaves something to be desired — but I’m afraid I just don’t have it in me to bring this to the level of fidelity that my other fics boast.
Still, I hope you enjoy it for what it is.