Do you think you've lost your way?
No one who comes to Arhasia, comes by accident. It is the doing of one we know only to refer to as the Lady in the Dark Hood.
Those of you who know about this place, wander not but proceed to cluster comfortably before the fireplace.
But if you are new here, well...You are standing at the doorstep of the secret Cave, the existence of which the InnKeeper of a certain Inn in Arhasia was kind enough to make us aware. If you have no intentions to stay, you may leave of course. No one is ever forced to remain here or forced to leave.
However, if you wish to acquaint yourself with Arhasia through what is learnt of the land's Legend, then come...Sit here, by the fireplace, with a favorite beverage of yours, cold or hot as suiting to the mood of your mind presently...
If you ask the one seated next to you, you will be provided the answer to the query in your mind, but if permitted, I will answer it for you myself: Why are we here?
They are here because of me. And I am here because of the aforementioned Lady in the Dark Hood. *shivers* Aye, it is either the thought of her or the coincidental gust of cold winds outside the window that makes me shiver every time I word her name.
Leastways, permit me to introduce myself. I am the Storyteller. They call me so because I come here to this Inn to narrate the tale that belongs to the Lady in the Dark Hood. I can't go into the entire details right now but you can skim through the old parchments and familiarize yourself with the situation here.
First Reader Surprise: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/60037045�
Second Reader Surprise: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/66401893�
Now, coming to the most important part: the tale. Aye, I am talking about "The Beasts the Bleeding Roses." True, the "name" kind of makes everyone reluctant and turns many potential readers to look for greener pasture. But like one of our comrades, Farwa says, this tale proves the validity of the saying that one cannot judge a book by its cover.
The tale is more of a fantasy, situated in a presumably factual land called Arhasia. The map I have crafted is a good help for those who are new to the land.
And those who come to hear the tale of Lord Arnav and Kushi and of everyone in the Raizada and Gupta families (and of the Prakash Brothers *wink*) are those whom I refer to as my Beloved Comrades' who took an oath to be the stronghold for my tale's progress, my Dedicated Readers' whose patience is of paramount significance, and I am also aware of some Silent Likers and Readers, who sit at the far end of the Room, detached by personal reasons but nevertheless attuned to the narration of a chapter.
If you are new, you may need to go through the old records of the chapters narrated so far which you may find in the scrolls directed below:
Scrolls in Thread One: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2901910/arhi-ff-1-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Scrolls in Thread Two: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3256949/arhi-ff-2-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Scrolls in Thread Three: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3280862/arhi-ff-3-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Scrolls in Thread Four: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3365278/arhi-ff-4-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Scrolls in Thread Five: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3431041/arhi-ff-5-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Scrolls in Thread Six: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3529424/arhi-ff-6-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses-ch-175
Scrolls in Thread Seven: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/3640836/arhi-ff-7-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Thanking the Almighty, the One who moulds my Mind and my Words; my Beloved Parents who are innocent of my love for IPK and of my membership in IF and of my flare in writing (I'm going to pay for all this!); dear friend Aura, the dedicated maniac behind my appearance in the Forum, I present now a special dedication on behalf of the thread.
I would like to dedicate this Thread (in which the tale will hit its double century, InSha'Allah) to a few persons, who are no longer my readers, but were a great source of encouragement and love when I was new to the Forum as a maker of IPK analysis posts:
Vimmiya: Yasmin, always made me blush and feel quite uncomfortable with her reference to me as Genius.' I kept telling that I was not one but the more I resisted, the more she persisted. And that too in public. I mean, not just in my thread, but if she saw me any other thread she would come there and give a valuable pointer of hers alongwith the tag Genuis.' In Yasmin's eyes I was always the young one who had a lot in her. She could look at the apple seed in me and see the orchard I had the potential to become. My dearest Yasmin will always be the first Elder Sister I had made in this unsure world I had stepped into. Yasmin has never read my FF and never might for she loved only analysis posts and not tales. She has a genius' heart herself. Though she left the Forum, feeling disillusioned by the way of the show and the way of the Forum, she is still a source of strength to me, always there when I need her.
Molten_lava: Golden Dragon. That was what I called her. I don't know why I began calling her dragon *mental note: need to check the old threads* but I know the daring Dragon in her turned Golden when she turned became goldie and I was there to witness it. You might know her as the writer of a lot of OSs and especially as the one who wrote the infamous "The Mirage." *chuckle* That work is the first one on my list as soon as I am done with this tale of mine. I'd promised her that. R is a real wonderland herself and I was only happy I had met her. Thanks a lot R, for being who you are!
coldy_07 (whom I refer to as Salsa): You will again remember her as the VM-maker, the one who made the ArShi VM on Pride and Prejudice Trailer which received wide acclaim by Gautam Hedge and someone in the Cast as well (I think Akshay Dogra). I was happy to see others refer to coldy as Salsa' though I believe and I hope I am not wrong, that the name originated in our interactions. A casual comment that I found it hard to refer to her as coldy all the time because it gave a different image in my mind, made her snatch at the first word she could come by: Salsa. And so coldy became Salsa and Salsa signed her name as "Luna" on the Comrades' Parchment. We struck most insistently when I came across her "Dancing Jodi VM" on ArShi. She had made it during a time she was new to the VM-making industry, but the VM caught my attention instantly because it was the song that inspired this FF in me and before writing this FF, I had wished if someone had made a ArShi VM on the song because it was just perfect for them. Salsa was acquainted with the tale too and you will see her excited comments in the First Thread of this FF but studies and other matters claimed her attention and she had to drift away. I told her she was welcome to return anytime. This is because she was real special to me and I remain in the hope that one day she will return. And even if she doesn't, that does not make any difference in how special she is to me.
smashitupsobti: Kalpana is someone I refer to as my Big Sister. Well, one of my many Big Sisters but if you'll see the comments she's given me on the FF Thread and on my humble analysis posts, she will have begun it with "LS" and ended it with "BS", signifying the little sister-big sister affection we shared. Kalpana was part of the Crooner (honeypriya being the lead captain) and Comrade Riti might know them. You will remember Kalpana as the one who formulated the A&K series, amazing shots of significant IPK episodes with an apt song to bring out the ethos in each picture. After the derailment of IPK and the coming of very many responsibilities in her home front, Kalpana left the Forum striking of the sobti in her name and neutralizing to just a safe smashitup.' But she does peep in now and then and it surprises me always, for she is a dear one. And just like Yasmin, is still in touch with me and reached out to me whenever I need her. Thank you BS, for everything!
Shwetachauhan: Shweta again was a massive part in the Crooner and I believe she had a major hand in the origins of Crooner which was sourced from honeypriya's and the said shwetachauhan's wonderful heads. Virtually, I met Shweta before I met Kalpana but I have no clue about what the former does and how she is presently. Kalpana and Shweta are in touch, though, and Kalpana tells me Shweta is fine but it does feel sour in your heart when you can't reach out to one who was real dear to me. Shweta was a precious pillar for me. During my timid unsure days in the Forum, Shweta, a Crooner-agent, would come down from her pedestal to the little me seated on a flower's petal and applaud me for my handful of thoughts and words. I don't know how she came by my posts and what drew her from her lauded pedestal to the common ground, but there she was beside me, always prodding me and encouraging me. I was always humbled by her presence. She even helped me grace the first steps of this FF and you will see her comment smack bang on the first page of the First Thread. She too left when life drew forth many matters that needed her ardent attention. I wish I could reach her just one more time and tell her how much she means to me, having been there for me and always so humble and helpful...maybe I will one day.
Shagun_sarun: Shagun, ah, dear Shagun. Wherefore art thou? Each person I mention means so much to me that it aches as I go down the list. It aches a lot now, because Shagun was a true friend. While most of the ones who came to support me where more like Big Sisters, here was one I could connect with like one of my own age, with my kind of troubles, excitements and beliefs. Shagun to me and to many in the IPK Forum was a pinnacle of positivity. She was everything that could hold back a storm and smile as the waves crashed against the boat in the turbulent wars of the Forum uncertainties. Shagun always sported a beacon of hope with a lighted smile that you could almost feel surging through you. And what I felt honoured by was her dedicated and resoluteness to be the first one to comment on my timid analysis Thread. "Right under my nose" was how we referred to it as. I don't think there is a single analysis post of mine in which Shagun has not strolled in a plastered a cheery presence. She's even danced her way about in the FF Thread. However, the end of the show and the end of Forum positivity was the end of Shagun's persistent vigour, and she let studies drown her in the wake of life and once more, I lost one who was always the inspiration for my heart to remain positive. If there is any positivity that I radiate in this virtual world, it is all thanks to the one who showed me how to smile when the clouds darkened by sheer logic of pessimism. Dearest Shagun. I don't know where she is and if she will come back to the Forum. But I just wish I could have told her, and if she could know I was telling of her to everyone here because she was real special to me and must have been to many others.
Lostlove: A curious communion, I tell you. I never thought and never would have known that one day I would write her name here. I don't know if lostlove was as vibrant as the Crooner agents and Shagun but she was sure one spirited person. I'd seen her in my analysis posts and she'd even peeped into my FF, but when I returned after an emergency break from the Forum, I never dreamed someone was there who missed me so much as to make a post for me in the IPK Forum. I blushed deep red and had my eyes tearing when she sent me a bunch of PMs and this little post.
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/3178336/his-smile-for-you-pix
I was so overcome by emotion that I didn't know how to react especially because I was still not much into the Forum and no one knew me so well as to miss me. Lostlove was the first one to make me feel I was worth something and I always grateful to her for this. She too has left the Forum and is no one longer and visitor. I believe she was a quite sort and only the handful who were close to her will have missed her when she left. But little does she know that there is someone here missing her like the way she missed me. I know she would be majorly surprised if she came one day and found this mentioning of her in a Thread. A quiet person like her must know that she can loved even when she is no longer there, that she is valued will be valued till my last breath...
Lovely: Keeping the best for the last? Sort of. Lovely. Where shall we begin with Lovely? Again, she is someone many may know because she used to make analysis posts on each IPK episode, even to the very last episode, and her analyses, called the "Pehla Pyaar" series were DETAILED. Detailed in caps and so detailed were they that you fell in love with an episode all over again. She gave pictures and apt songs and descriptive reviews about everything an episode contained, also mentioning the Art of the Director's Capturing, the Plus Points and the Minuses...*sigh* Lovely was really something. Lovely also was the one behind the Forum Award to Sanaya when Barun had consistently won many prizes for his Arnav character and the Kushi character had been neglected in the individual award rounds. When the Forum was going down and the show was going down as well, Lovely spoke her mind and tried her level best to make the Forum members see senses and stand together. I don't know if her efforts were fruitful for I was not active for a while when all this hullaballoo started but I can see traces of Lovely's dedicated echoes still lingering in many of the old posts. Now, what of Lovely and me? Lovely for me is much like Shwetachuhan. Because they were both present during that moment of my Forum existence when I was most vulnerable and uncertain. They were the names that echoed in my mind when I went about my house chores and studies. They were the first virtual people I dared to trust and till now, I know I didn't place my trust wrong. Lovely was always a willing inspiration. Even when I got disillusion and refused to post analysis post, there she was, still fighting, still loving the show she had fallen in love with. The spirited determination she showed is something I have always awed and I know I can never reach that level. Lovely was not just familiar was my analysis posts but also with my FF. She even told me she wanted the first copy of the FF when it becomes a book. And then it happened. She stopped reading my FF and when I asked her if she was too busy, she said she was not interested in the genre I was dealing with. It hurt me not because she was not reading or because she disliked the genre. But because I knew I was losing her. I sent her a PM to tell her if she could read the FF without having to comment. I had stopped making analysis posts and my FF was the only thing I had with which reach those I cared for. She was the only one I dared to want this way. I don't know why. We hadn't connected the way I connect with the Comrades I have now. But I felt like I didn't want to lose Lovely. I frankly didn't want her comments, I just wanted her to be there and not fade away like the others. Because now I don't have anyone I had then and it hurts to remember. I tried to keep Lovely from slipping away but she had to go. And she did. But I always have her memories and her little gifts of comments to look back to when I feel an emptiness in me made from a missing. I was always a serious kind and never had a bone of humour in me but there is a joke that I cherish with Lovely about the imminent change in the name of ASR. It was the episode where the married Kushi refuses to come to the Raizada Mansion and Arnav is forced to make the "I'll-make-Akash-divorce-Payal" game. Twice, first by Nani and then by the bodyguards before AR Office, Kushi refers to the then hated Arnav as Unhoney.' Arnav makes a bet with Kushi that if she doesn't reach his house within a specified time, he will change his name. Kushi comments that he not waste anytime then and start deciding on a new name. I still remember writing that Aranv doesn't need to waste time to find a new name because Kushi herself referred him by a new name twice, "Unhoney Singh Raizada." Lovely loved that so much that she kept referring to it now and every time! A casual statement from my head became a humorous perfection in her eyes and I was honoured by her admiration. Lovely remembers me more as the Bubbly and not as Aquiline. That is what I meant when I said Shweta and Lovely know me from my beginnings. I began with the username desibubbly and Lovely could not let go of the image even when I became more widely known Aquiline. I was shocked, surprised, speechless and surrendered to tears when one day Lovely said she has a surprise for me and she sent me this link. I never dreamed in my wild mind tha this FF to you. Whether you read it or not, doesn't matter. But this is a promise I made and I stand by it.t another casual comment on one of her VMs would make her dedicate the creation of an ArShi VM to me.
Lovely may or may not remember me now but I still do and still want her to come back, I don't know why. And Lovely, though you will not read this, if ever this FF becomes a book, even if you dislike the genre and stopped reading the FF, I will still fulfill the promise I made to you: I will send the very first copy of this FF to you. Whether you read it or not, doesn't matter. But this is a promise I made and I stand by it.
Because the above mentioned names are no longer active in the Forum, per say, I don't think they will know I mentioned them here. Except for Kalpana, Yasmin and Salsa, I don't think the others will even remember me! They may think that I was someone who came, smiled, held hands and then left to hold other hands. They may not know that for me every hand I held is a hand I still hold onto into my heart. I really wish I could get the old time back, the old excitement of the IPK days, the unity and laughter shared in the fast flying pages of the most active Forum in IF. *sigh* Anyhow, these are just the handful of the acclaimed members of the Forum who reached to aid me when I knew not this virtual world. The above mentioned names were acquainted with me during the days I made analysis posts in the IPK Forum and are more familiar with those threads of mine than my FF. I am really grateful to anyone who was there for me during any moment of my existence in IndiaForums. There are many others just like the ones mentioned above, like Sophie, Vamarhi, pixiegirl, Sia, Fazila etc. and I will mention them certainly if ever the Lord and my parents will my creation to be made public.
Now, let's dally not and carry on with the unraveling the mysteries of the tale herewith.
Chapter 187: The Letter from the Village https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/92445160
Chapter 188: Back to Square One https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/92578510
Chapter 189: Turning the Dire into a Dare https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/92733962
Chapter 190: A Gift for the Unborn https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/92938638 (Not PMed to readers)
Chapter 191: A Night of Assurances https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/93030121 (Not PMed to readers)
Chapter 192: Imrpovisation https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/93232218 (Not PMed to readers)
Chapter 193: Remembering a Dear Friend https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/93465466 (Not PMed to Readers)
Chapter 194: Where It Had Always Been https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/93541980 (Not PMed to Readers)
Chapter 195: The Basket, the Bottle and the Breach https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/94444366
Chapter 196: Around the Urgency to Visit the Village https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/94551826 (Not PMed to Readers)
Chapter 197: Bitter Battles https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/94605427
Chapter 198: Angered by the Answer of Abstinence https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/94726754 (Not PMed to Readers)
Chapter 199: The Vendetta of Seduction https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/94915493
NEW THREAD: Thread Nine: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/96889209
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