So excited!

Aloha, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter that I've written.

Tomorrow (21st June), I will be attending a workshop on Fiction Writing, conducted by Academy of Literary Arts and Publishing Singapore. Any Singaporean writers here who are going tomorrow, I guess I'll see you. I would be super stoked if someone came to me and said that they have read my fanfiction, but then again, I don't have many Singaporean readers. Oh well.

Now, to be honest? I'm super anxious about tomorrow.


(K-ON! An anime that I would really love to watch, but it's not quite high in my priority list.)

What am I anxious about? Tons of things! This workshop is supposed to be an advanced workshop. Yes, I have experience in writing. But experience does not always equate to ability. I can just imagine.

Facilitator: let's have a short introduction around the room.

Participant A: Oh, I dabble a lot on writing. I've written articles for the Strait's Times (Singaporean newspaper).

Participant B: I've been sending manuscripts to publishers so I'm hoping for the best.

Aichioluv: Um... I write fanfiction?

*cue awkward silence*

I know, I should be proud of my 'heritage' but I am worried. What if I'm not cut out for this? What if I end up being more confused? What if my writing is so kiddish and I completely humiliate myself tomorrow?

What if, what if, what if...

I guess I'll only know tomorrow.

I would love to give you details about the workshop but I really want to get back to writing my chapter, so I'll tell you more after the workshop.

Meanwhile, have a good weekend!

Gif taken from here

Days of Exile: Chapter 47

Hehe, I must at least keep to my promise and come back after the two week break, right? No, I did not manage to reflect on how to be more efficient. But at least, the busiest part of my work is over for a few weeks or so. I will try to get my writing done.

Anyway here's the exciting chapter. In many things, I kinda outdid myself. This chapter is seriously a chapter which was in my head for the longest time. So to see it materialise and be published is something I never thought I had the commitment and dedication to do.

I took things to my own hands and did my own interpretation of what happened between Cloud and Tifa at the airship. If it is true as many speculated that they did naughty stuff, then it's just unnatural. I feel that their relationship was not very well-executed in the entire story, and it would be just weird if Cloud all of a sudden decided that Tifa was good to be with.

Also, maybe a lot of you do not agree with the way I portray Tifa. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but so far, I'm kind of liking it. Tifa has this whole world of feelings and emotions, but she is finding difficulty in expressing them. I'll see where this leads and hopefully I can see a different side of Tifa that I've never seen before.

I like to write about the scenes concerning "On The Way To A Smile - Case of Shinra". I definitely look forward to writing more about Rufus Shinra. Though with my new plan, I'm not too sure how that will turn out...

Ahhh, finally. Reno and Meia have crossed the barrier, once and for all. I honestly struggled with whether I should ever write about them getting intimate. It was the original plan, but halfway through I pondered as to whether it would be too cheesy, or too unnatural. Truth be told, I played Meia as such an innocent character that such elements would hardly be related to her at all. So I did drop hints to remind you guys that hey, Meia is twenty, and well, she is grown up already.

Sidenote: Gee, do people even bother with abstinence before marriage? It seemed to many fanfic writers that the characters are all such... frivolous people. Gah, this would take another long time to explain. But in a nutshell, in the end I decided that I'll just go with it. Next time I may make more considerations before writing something like that, but it was interesting to weigh the options then.

Whatever the case is, the chapter is over, and uploaded. I would really, really, really appreciate it if you could review it. But whether there are reviews or not, I will continue to write this. I want to finish this.

Have an awesome week ahead!

If I had never admitted it, I'll admit it now...

I'll take a break.

Yes, I know. I haven't been writing actively in the first place. I was mainly reading more manga and books, so I haven't had time to focus on writing. But really, for now, I gotta stop kidding myself in thinking that I am getting any chapters done. Work is piling up, more than I can even imagine. Therefore, I will really, officially, take a break for two weeks. I have to settle my work and really reflect how I can be more efficient in my life.

Right now, I can imagine everyone who is reading this is thinking, "That's what every author says before they disappear from the face of earth and leave their fanfiction unfinished." I'm not going to blame you, neither will I make any promises. Of course I want to finish "Days Of Exile", but the time is not now. Ideally I want to continue in two weeks' time, but life is unpredictable.

Yup, so I'll take a break. I've been receiving your story favourites and reviews, though. And even though it's just a few of you, it really warms my heart. Thank you.

I'll see all of you on the blog in a few weeks' time!

Update: May 2014

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Have I really been gone for two months?
Gee, I'm really sorry. I did mention in the other post that if I were to ever stop, I will at least have the decency to announce and say goodbye properly, right?

Here it goes... I'm still writing.

Yup, you've heard me. I'm still writing my fanfiction. It's just that of course I'm not focusing on it as much as I would like. I am not joking when I say that my work is taking up a lot of my time. However, in my free time, I've actually returned to another hobby: manga-reading.

Here's the thing. I have so many interests that I can never juggle them equally. So subconsciously, I kinda did some sort of a rotation thing. It is true. I change from hobby to hobby, because I cannot keep up with all my interests. I started fanfiction in 2005, but my school activities and manga/anime got into the way. Then in high school I was so focused on my student council work that I barely did anything else. I did end up playing a lot of online games and went back to fanfiction. Entering university, I stopped playing online games and fanfiction in order to pursue dance. After I ended my 3 years of dance, I finally went back to fanfiction (which was what started "I Want To Be A Turk!") and it has been that way ever since...

Until now.

Recently, I've gone back to reading manga again. I've not read manga intensively for a long time and I kinda missed it.

So yes, if you were wondering where have I been, I've been reading manga for almost 2 months. I'm super inspired by many of the stories out there and it encourages me to put in more effort to my story. Anyway, here's a message to assure you that I'm still here. I'm still updating the story, albeit a little slow. Give me more patience, please!

Meanwhile, it doesn't hurt to hear from you, but I guess maybe my readers are also going through a stage in their lives without fanfiction. Whatever the case is, feel free to drop a message and say hi or something :)

Confession: What I think of Fanfiction

I live a life of double-standards.

I refer to myself, of course.

Sometimes when I talk to avid literature students, the topic of fanfiction would inadvertedly pop out. Then, comes the wave of comments from the nay-sayers.

"It's not original."

"It's stupid, why would people want to use characters of others and not make their own?"

"Fanfiction is full of writers who can't write."

To top the cake with icing, along came "Fifty Shades of Grey", which is a hit and miss with the world. Hit, for people who want face-value trashy entertainment. Miss, for (hipster) people who insist that Fifty Shades of Grey was a literary abomination. If you want my opinion, it's over here. The annoying thing is, even though I do defend the quality of fanfiction, I cannot deny that there are fanfiction out there that are not worth one's time. 

What would be my usual response? I would say along the lines of "Yeah, most of them are bad. But there are some stories out there that are absolute gems."

Don't get me wrong, my fanfic writer friends, in case you are now doubting my perception of your stories. When I say bad fanfics, I really mean, BAD fanfics. I'm talking about fics that are filled with absolute randomness, incoherence, horrible sentence structure and spelling... Things like that. I'm not referring to fics where characters are out of character or the story plot escalates too quickly. I'm talking about fics that make no grammatical sense at all. 

Stories that have issues like out of character, escalation, fluff and Mary-Sues, those can be easily refined and improved. My stories are full of nonsense too. Sometimes I am proud of my writing. Sometimes I want to burn them and never write again. However, slowly and surely, we fanfic writers are improving. As long as we keep writing, and we have a heart to learn and observe, we WILL improve. 

To those people who think fanfiction is a whole horde of trash, please go to a fanfiction website, and dedicate yourself one hour. All will not be in vain. It's like going to a thrift shop sometimes. You spend 80% of your time going through weird, incoherent, dubious-looking fics, and the other 20% you will be gushing at how amazing that fanfic is at painting a picture, how emotional you felt with this character, how awesome it would be if you could write like that, and so on. 

Regardless of how bad or good the fic is, the existence of a fanfic is the highest compliment anyone could ever pay to the author... on some level. No one would bother to meddle a story that meant nothing to them. Of course, I'm saying this as a fanfic writer. Maybe when I become a legit writer (IF that day comes), I may think differently. Although it would be such a tragedy for me to think so.

I say to you again. Fanfiction is NOT just a whole horde of trash. Despite what the public say, I believe that there is value in fanfiction that not many sees.

I have met many fanfic writers who wrote beautifully. People who will make me emotional just with their words. I know many fanfic writers who, like me, share a big passion for writing, and would do all they can to improve themselves day by day. That's why the community is worth staying, even if it's just for a bit longer.

Anyway, to end this post, it all came about because I was in the car with a bunch of friends, and then I was talking to someone (who knew about my fanfiction writing) about how Meia from Days of Exile was of a particular personality. And another person was curious. 

"I am actually a closet fanfiction writer," I said to her with an embarrassed look on my face, though she could not see because it was dark.

"Oh..." She trailed off and I was ready to let it go but then she said, "That's quite cool. I'm a closet writer myself too."

:D Imagine that! Finding a fellow closet writer. She writes non-fiction, but hey, I don't care! I found a fellow closet writer! So we talked and all, and she showed some interest in reading my fics, but now that I'm back home, my panic is setting back in again. My writing is so childish, and so superficial...

Maybe I won't send her my fanfiction link so quickly. *hides in a shell*

Manga and Anime... What makes me squeak?

Of course I meant squeak in excitement :D

Warning: Lots of fangirling ahead.

I came upon this realisation about myself recently. You see, I like reading manga and watching anime. Of course in recent years where I need to juggle these hobbies with other interests as well, I could not focus on these things as much as I like to. Nevertheless, I like manga and anime. If there is a chance, I'll definitely want to make time for them.

There are many titles to read from, and so I did. However, I noticed that certain manga/anime (let's stick to manga as I read more of them then watch anime) appeals to me more. What I mean is that while reading the story, some titles make me want to read more and more and I simply can't stop. Some titles just does not make me feel like "I've GOT to see what happens next!" Usually if these manga are still in publishing, it takes a long time for me to pick it up and continue.

Due to this, often I have to answer to why I am just not as interested to continue Toriko or HunterxHunter. But I think I've got it all figured out now. I need to have at least one character that attracts me physically. Like, I found out that very often if I were to read something and I go "So handsome!" or "So cool!"... most likely, I will be motivated to pick up the storyline again.

In other words, there needs to be something for me to FANGIRL about. ...

IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

Okay, I don't have to go hardcore fangirl at all. Many characters that I am going to list below ended their charm on me when the series ended too... maybe just lasting till a week after :P As long as the "attraction" is there while I'm watching it. That's all.

Here are the various manga/anime that I've been reading in the last two years... Of which within the first few episodes I found someone to fangirl about.

Full Metal Alchemist (I know right... what took me so long to watch this awesome work?)



I was watching Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (a long awaited promise that I made to myself years, years, years ago). All of a sudden, I feel the spark of fangirlism. That's when I remembered that once upon a time, when I was still watching Full Metal Alchemist (the original), I had a small fangirl crush on Edward Elric. How can such a small guy have so much charm?? :3

Needless to say, I'm charmed by Edward Elric's seriousness whenever he fights.

Ao No Exorcist



I love this anime, and love the manga more (Why aren't they publishing the translations quickly!!) Absolutely started fangirling when Rin declared that he'll defeat Satan. Renzo Shima and Shura are also my favourites.

Sidenote: Oh crap. I believe I just stumbled upon a spoiler in the wiki. NOOO!!!

One Piece



Zorro and Sanji are my favourite characters (I like everyone though!) Sanji was the very first character I saw while first watching a random episode in the anime. But upon reading the manga at last, I saw Zorro, and instantly I was like "So cool!!!"

Fairy Tail



Natsu. Grey. Super mainstream. But who could dislike them? Even though I've stopped reading Fairy Tail, I don't mind picking it up again, for this reason among others.

Samurai Deeper Kyo



Ah. Seriously, the best manga I've read in its time. SDK was one of the first shounen manga that I've read and I seriously love it. But oh wait, we are not reviewing it. I must admit though, I may not like this manga as much without the presence of my dear scatterbrained Hotaru (bottom right).

Here's a shoutout to all SDK fanfiction writers, the people who were the first few to read my serious fanfiction works.

MAGI (Recent anime and manga that I've started)



MAGI is currently a series that I feel a lot for, but that's for another blog post if I ever got a chance. Yep, needless to say, Alibaba is just so handsome :D Okay, Alibaba also happens to be someone whose character development and portrayal is awesome. That probably adds more points, in my opinion.

Sharrkan is cool too, but let's just focus on one now, alright?



*sigh*

Finally, who can forget?

Final Fantasy VII




EDIT: Apparently two pictures of Reno show up when I publish it, but I don't know how to get rid of it. Oh well, I'm not complaining.

If you do not know that I'm fangirling over Reno, you should seriously go back and read my fanfiction agian.

There are many more, but we shall not list them all, haha! Hmm, I should totally do a post on reviews of the anime that I've watched too. Like, a short paragraph describing... okay, I'm digressing.

Ah, looks like I'm out of time. I will post another post on anime/manga that I could not begin to like or chase after despite its popularity.

Thanks for sticking with me through the fangirling. Hopefully I've recommended you some titles to try too :)

Pictures taken from:
FMA
Ao No Exorcist
One Piece
Fairy Tail
Samurai Deeper Kyo
MAGI
Alibaba
Reno

Slow update!

*sheepish laugh*

You would think that after my big decision on the direction of my story, you'll see me writing with more vigour, huh?

Unfortunately not. I have been caught up with work and some new things. I'm really struggling with my work, I guess. How do my experienced colleagues handle all that? I cannot imagine.

Anyway, I will get the long long overdue chapter up and going soon.

Soon.

Sidenote: I need to stop doing this before my blog becomes a blog of apologies!!!