I don't remember if I said before, but I did read it, and it was awesome. ^_^ I really love the fact that, despite me not remembering the canon sequence at all, I can construct the story of what's happening in the DoM purely from the trace - at the same time as Ms. Hopkirk is. The amount of story inherent in some of your simple phrases - 'Something was banished, something was summoned, and something was split' - is just chilling. And the way the tension ramps up until the very end - it's really very good.

But I'm not here to (re?)review the story (which I couldn't resist rereading, as you may be able to tell); I'm here to talk about the cover art. I really like the explosion, with the pieces of paper flying out; it looks extremely realistic. And even though Ms. Hopkirk's expression looks fairly neutral, there's something about it... the set of her jaw conveys determination, but something about her eyes also conveys the bewilderment she feels all the way through the story.

(Also, her buttons match the emblem on her door. Character profile in a button, how's that for nifty?)

hS

And congratulaions and actual birthday too, of course.

And congrats on the title page :)

Congrats to you and your daughter for getting that awesome story up and running! :D

Also, happy birthday to you for yesterday! :D

* starts singing rather out of tone *

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU
ON THIS DEAR DATE
MUCH HAPPINESS
MANY YEARS OF LIFE!

I do remember it! And I love the image, that's great!

*deep breath*

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
MAY ALL YOUR WISHES COME TRUE
HOPE NOBODY MAKES YOU BLUE
AND YOUR CAKE DOESN'T EXPLODE IN GOO!

*blows noisemakers*