Hey there. I'm El Conservatore, typically called El Con, since the second part of my name is annoying to type out.

I write mostly GSG and PMMM fiction. Mostly because they're my two favorite anime/manga. There's not much to say about me, so I'll keep this bit short. I occasionally go on essayic rants, so I guess I'll leave them down here. Other than that, I hope you enjoy my writing.

Oh, also, my avatar was made using this Reddit post: http:///r/homura/comments/1tv54t/

Also, is fantastic.

Solemnis is a Puella Magi Madoka Magica fanfic that is also a spinoff of the fantastic To The Stars, by Hieronym (or Heironym, the spelling keeps changing). I'm told that it's basically a coming-of-age fic at this point, and I suppose that's not untrue. I guess it's going well? I'm trying not to fall into the trap of "super dark death of all things", as nobody really likes that sort of story. At the same time, I do want to make sure that the story reflects a realistic sort of growth in Emma Sinclair, so that it's not just another Magical Girl Story, but actually does some sort of analysis of what it'd be like growing up as a Magical Girl. Needless to say, this is somewhat difficult, and it's compounded by the whole Alien Invasion deal. It's difficult, and I'm not sure I'll succeed, but we'll see what happens.

Solemnis is also the most autobiographical of these two works. A lot of the things Emma goes through I'm pulling out of my own experiences in High School and College. A tiny list includes working with other people in teams, finding out just how much you don't know, and dealing with younger students who are freaking out over what's ultimately nothing. You'll probably see those three very clearly.

The Department of Work and Labor is more of an independent work, but it's also supremely ambitious and a much more difficult challenge than Solemnis. It's my first work, and that's readily obvious through the writing style and characterization. Everything keeps evolving as I write, and it's very irritating. It doesn't help that the plot's laid out in the very long term, comparatively, with a lot of interacting possibilities for subplots and character development.

Ultimately, I don't want to write a story about Girls with Guns Blowing Things Up. DoWL is supposed to be a story about finding yourself and understanding yourself, and it reflects a lot more about just getting through the day than something supremely profound. At the moment it's on the back burner, largely because Solemnis is easier for me to write and will be good experience for doing DoWL better. It may end up getting revised extensively as well, so watch out for that a few months/years down the line.

A word on titles. Solemnis is a pretentious latin title. In my defense, "solemnis" or "sollemnis" apparently translates to a variety of things that center around custom and ritual. It also translates to "established, appointed, fixed", which is also interesting. There are probably things about this that relate to the themes of the story, if you assume I'm not just being pretentious. Only you can decide which it is, but that's the explanation behind this title.

http:///wiki/sollemnis#Latin