China: A Writing Inspiration + The Birth of "I Want To Be A Turk!"

And hello again!

From the beginning of this blog's birth, I've been wanting to talk about my China trip. And so I shall!

Back in early 2011, I promised my father that I'll visit him in the June holidays (yeah, our holidays are in June). He is working in China and he suggested that I fly over to find him alone. So to keep my promise, I dropped my schedule in June (which was full of dance rehearsals and the like) and flew to China to visit him.

I thought I'll be more sulky about it because I'm missing out almost a month of rehearsals, but I wasn't. It was really because I was getting really tired and worn out from the daily practice. The trip did me some good; a short getaway. Most of all, I brought my laptop along because I thought it would be a great opportunity to write.

At that time, I was beginning to write again. If you remember, I mentioned in my writing history that I went on a very long hiatus in the middle of writing "Their Memories of Fukinara High". When I wanted to continue the story again, my old readers have left already. Still, I continued to write. I knew that I had one reader who was still waiting for me to finish that story and I knew that I can't let her down until that story is finished.

So anyway, I thought it was a good time to clear my head from the busy day-to-day schedule and write instead.

I've been to Nanjing a few times. However, in this trip I did not have many pictures (because my dear father accidentally deleted them all). All pictures below are taken from good ol' Google. Here, let me show you some pictures of Nanjing and the places I was in. I've been in other places while I was there but I thought I'll just show you the place I was in most of the time.



This is Hunan Road, Nanjing. It is one of the most popular eating streets in the city. Yup, you've heard me. I reside in a hotel that is filled with FOOD. (I was obviously in heaven.) Food prices ranging from USD 1.60 for a large bowl of noodles, to USD 100 for a highclass restaurant, you have your variety right here! This is one end of the street, of which it is right next to a departmental store...




This is the other end of the Hunan street. See that huge-ass hotel on the left? Nope, I didn't stay there. I stayed in a small motel on the right. It was opened by a friend of my father's, over the last 15 years it had been a place of accomodation for my father whenever he's in China for business.



While I was there, he brought me to this tower above, which boasts of one of the nicest daytime cityviews of Nanjing. Indeed, Yuejiang Tower was gorgeous.

Okay, so that's how my four weeks were like. In the weekdays, I'll follow my dad to his company, where he works and I sit by his table and write. In the evening we would return and have dinner. Then I would return to my room and continue writing. Did I mention that I was writing like a mad woman, as if I don't have much time to live and I wanted to write everything? Thinking back I felt kinda bad for leaving my father alone sometimes. Sometimes he hangs out with his friends, but sometimes he leaves me be and watches TV.

On the weekends, if I'm game for it, he'd bring me to tourist attractions, like the tower. I went to the zoo to look at pandas and then we took a train to our ancestral hometown, Hunan, to attend my cousin's wedding.

Honestly? That's A LOT of time to write. So there I was, writing my "Their Memories of Fukinara High" happily. Blogspot and Facebook are banned in China, by the way, leaving me with nothing to muse about. So apart from writing, I was reading fanfiction. I was reading some Final Fantasy VIII fics and then suddenly, I was reading Final Fantasy VII.

Truth is, I knew nothing about FF7 then. I remembered playing it in secondary school, but I can't remember much, except that Aerith died and that my freaking chocobo wouldn't turn gold. So guess what? I spent my time on finalfantasy.wikia, reading up on FF7. Yup, dear readers, that was how I eventually became the expert on FF7 :P The formula is just 'lots of time' and 'finalfantasy.wikia'.

While reading one of the FF7 fics, "From Slum to SOLDIER" by UnchainedMelody94, there was a sudden thought in my head: Yeah, this story looks cool. Maybe I should have an OC like this, but she'll fall in love with Reno instead. (I fell in love with Reno after watching Advent Children... yes, it's 'cause he moved from hooligan-looking to smexy!)

The idea was profound to me. After FF8, I've never ventured into anything apart from Samurai Deeper Kyo. Do I dare to take the plunge? What if my characters were out of character?

Then, as I was reading Samantha Sheffield's "Storm", I was paranoid that our stories will be too similar, and I shared my doubts with her. Thankfully, she encouraged me to give it a try. So, even while finishing "Their Memories of Fukinara High", I began my first chapter of "I Want To Be A Turk!"

And the rest is history.

Of course, I had two weeks to play with, when I began "I Want To Be A Turk!". I was writing like a madwoman who had a burning secret to share. I would eat, sleep, dream and wake up thinking of the story. There was once that I wrote until 11 PM and I was so tired I fell asleep. But my brain was still thinking... I automatically woke up at 5.30 AM, with the only thought in my head: I must get that into the story. Now.

Gee whiz.

Amazingly, it was the fact that I had nothing. Absolutely nothing on my schedule, no facebook or blog to wander around, that my mind cleared and plot ideas just couldn't stop coming. I could focus on writing and enjoying the beautiful China. It was one of the happiest four weeks of my life. I've accomplished a lot, in my opinion.

The stories I've written while in China were:

- Their Memories of Fukinara High (Chapter 41-44)
- Dress Off!
- Brotherhood
- I Want To Be A Turk! (Chapter 1-5)

It was quite a feat for four weeks.

So guess what? Perhaps someday I'll run to another country for four more weeks to write and write only. Alas! My job is not going to let me have that luxury...

Taken from:
- http://www.visitourchina.com/guide/hunan_road.htm
- http://farm1.static.flickr.com/194/482597031_7caabb5a6d.jpg
- http://www.panoramio.com/photo/59861499

Book Review (4): Fifty Shades of Grey

(YOU NEVER THOUGHT I'LL ACTUALLY READ IT, DID YOU??)

I wish I can go back my posts here, here and here... and change my views.

Because I LOVE IT.

...

Ha! I'm joking! (I hope no one has switched off the window in frustration) Well, I did mention the other time that I would read it, then the book was in my office untouched for almost three weeks (for it would be most inappropriate to read such a book in my workplace). But I finally brought it home and I read it.

I better give my opinion before going into details. As many of you know, I was pretty apprehensive about the book because so many people flames the book for being really bad. As in, bad writing. I wouldn't say that after reading it my mind has been completely converted. I have different feelings about this book in many areas, which I'll reveal shortly.

The plan was to review only after I've read all three books, but as I've found out, I should review after I read because the book is still fresh in my head and delaying the review will dull the feelings and criticism. So I'm going to just jump in.

(by the way, my reviews will have a bit more structure, but I'm still ironing out the crinkles. Please bear with me!)




Fifty Shades of Grey
E. L. James

Story Sypnosis (in my own words): Anastasia Steele meets Christian Grey, who is hot, wealthy and very very desirable. However, Ana soon finds out that he is a terrible control freak. Yet she falls for him anyway. The book continues in a medley of uncomfortable positions (pun intended) as Christian and Anastasia bare themselves to each other (literally and figuratively).


Characters
This is my number one gripe in this book. I hate the characters. HATE. Most of them all, Anastasia Steele. She is, in essence, very very unrealistic. I'm sorry, but just WHO in this world actually still don't know anything about the birds and the bees? Heck, even ten year olds are speaking in innunendos, how so for a twenty one year-old? She has none. No desirable thoughts of guys, in fact she didn't see any guy that way until she met Christian. Oh-kayy... if you say so, Ana. But how does this innocent girl all of a sudden become this sexually-deprived woman who would do anything (even enduring pain) for... that? A little too much of a character jump.

Another thing, how is it that she does not know ANYTHING about laptops and email accounts? How the heck did she go through her college? This book is printed in 2011, no excuses there, EL James. Don't get me started on her appetite. She's perpetually not hungry. No breakfast, no lunch and still, "No thanks, I'm not hungry"??? Thank goodness she didn't go all whiny about her weight, I'll clobber her with a turkey leg.

Many reviewers have criticised the book for shallow characterisation, and I join them in this accusation. The other characters didn't irk me as much as Ana, but it's just that she could've done so much more. Her best characterisation, ironically, was Kate the roommate. Always sharp, bossy and overprotective. Good.

Christian Grey... ah. Apart from his ridiculously good looks, I don't know much else about him. He has a very wide spectrum of characteristics, which should've made him more real and 3-dimensional, but instead I feel really confused. What is he really like? The only thing I know is that he's a control freak (and trust me, that's all you need to read this book).

Perhaps I should move on.

Twist
No twist. Everything was within my expectations. The story has yet to reveal what is that dark, sinister past of his. It has dropped hints, and nothing much else.

Writing (general)
It's fanfiction standard. I'm sorry. When I read her story, the entire feeling was like reading fanfiction. Sometimes overdescriptive, sometimes vague. Not wanting to be a snob, but if I work hard enough, I can publish something of that standard in the next five years. In fact, I think in terms of writing, some fanfiction writers have already surpassed her. So you'll be sure to know that I'm not reading the book because it has wonderful writing.

Also, the wonderful feature of Fifty Shades is this. Every page is littered with at least one of these:

- Oh my
- Holy crap
- Holy shit
- my inner goddess
- my subconscious

As you might have figured out by now, I don't like vulgarities (look how clean my stories are! *insert cute unicorn and rainbow here*). Seriously, these words are more offensive to my eye than the vulgarities.

Writing (description)
Ana is a Literature student, giving EL James a reason to put in bombastic words that I basically skim through just by reading in context. For some reason, Christian Grey likes to use bombastic words too. The whole feeling is rather thesaurus-ish. You know... like the author writing "That's really reckless of you" and decides to check the thesaurus to see if there's a more fanciful name for reckless. Then she changes the sentence to "That's really profilgate of you." I know because that's my trick too. Well, the word is kinda out of place. That, or I'm not well read enough to feel that it's appropriate in normal conversations.

Going back to Ana's inner goddess and subconscious, I couldn't understand the author's intentions. I kept asking myself what is their role? Only further research with my trusty friend Google told me that they are her desire and her logic respectively, the heart and the mind kinda thing. Ah. That finally made sense, if not I wouldn't have gotten it at all.

[sidenote: she uses it an awfully lot]

Content (sans sex scenes)
Probably the only reason why I'll continue reading this. I'm really interested to know why Christian Grey is so messed up. And just how is he going to get rid of his inner demons. As of now, there are  no subplots. Okay, there are, but not significant enough to affect the main plot.

(a short commercial break as we enjoy the little comic below)



I shall not comment on the sex scenes because I do not have the experience nor writing expertise in that area to judge. Nevertheless, I should say that thank goodness our local bookstores have the sense to shrinkwrap and stick a rating sticker on it.

Association with Twilight
On that note on content, perhaps it's time to assess its similarity to Twilight. As I've mentioned before, it started off as Twilight fanfiction. I sincerely hoped that there had been major changes that led to Fifty Shades, because I'll totally shoot her for being OOC. Ana was fashioned off Bella Swan, but man, she is NOT like Bella at all. I actually liked Bella, for Twilight at least. Ana is nothing like Bella, puh-lease. And Christian Grey is a control freak. Edward Cullen will never do that to Bella. See how he abstained from even kissing Bella? This is like the vertical opposite!

Still, I see how the story parallels lightly with Twilight. The entire helpless-for-the-other feeling, the knowledge that the guy has never fell for other people but the girl, breathlessness, not knowing what the other is thinking, the girl's cluelessness on just how pretty she is... yeah.

I prefer Twilight to Fifty Shades.

Themes... and a bit of a moral lesson here.
The book centralises around submission. But rather than talk about the themes of the book, I really should set my foot down on this. I am not advocating the actions of the characters. Christian Grey is a compulsive control freak. He controls EVERYTHING about Ana and I'm not talking about the dirty stuff. He decides what she wears, what she eats, what she does, who she talks to... ARGH! No one should subject themselves to that. Nobody. By the way, I've not found anything romantic in this novel. Nothing. Boys, please take notes. This is NOT the way to win a girl.

Of course, Ana is at fault too. She could walk away from all these. Grey had the slightest bit of sense to let her decide from the beginning. Of course, she wouldn't leave Christian. No, she'd rather go through all that just to be with him. In Chinese when we see a situation whether it's very disadvantaged but both parties aren't complaining, we would say (literally), "One is willing to punish and one is willing to endure".

What many reviewers are saying is right: I don't care how good-looking you are, how traumatised your past is. You don't treat people like that. Will you allow your daughters to be in such a relationship? I wouldn't... I can't bear to. I hope my readers, if they ever read this book, will not be over their heads with the 'romance' and thus endure abusive relationships. If you need to get out, get out.

---

In conclusion, this book is over hyped-up. But the entertainment value is there, alright. There is a school of thought that sometimes it doesn't matter if you can write well... as long as your story can captivate readers. That is indeed the case for Fifty Shades. You either like it or hate it. I can thrash the story and writing all I want, but I know that it wasn't boring me for the 4-5 hours that I was reading it.

Rating: Consider It. I'm serious. I'm not loving it, but I'm really not going to give it a "thrash it" rating. If you have the time and brain cells to spare, do it. Also, if you're like me and you cannot help but wonder what the fuss is about, spare yourself the torture and read it.

Finally, for my little readers, Fifty Shades of Grey is rated M18 (in my opinion). Don't read it if you're not of age.

Don't worry, you aren't missing much.

aichioluv

-

Disclaimer: Despite the official term, the above book review is not a wholesome and fully critical one. The book is merely reviewed and reflected on based on story writing skills and other literary elements.

Layman terms: Don't judge my reviewing skills. Thank you. :P

I need time to write!

My post below was absolute rubbish, so don't sue me if it was real boring.

I've been thinking about my other fanfics. I love to write Days of Exile, but there are many times when I feel like I need a break to look at my other stories. There are many stories that I've been hoping to look into but... hasn't happened. Argh. It doesn't help that I've been putting all my effort and energy into Days of Exile. Perhaps mid-2013, I shall write other stories along as well. 

As I've predicted and feared, the new year meant that my workload has increased a little. Not much, but I'm feeling it. Last year, I could afford to return home and write and write. Now, it's harder because I spend that time... falling flat on my bed to sleep.

One tip I figured for myself as I'm juggling the workload is this: Actually, I wake up earlier than usual sometimes. Suppose I can get ready in half an hour but I woke up one hour early, I'll actually devote that time to write. Writing also shakes off my fatigue, because I get my brain thinking. Saying that you'll think of plot ideas while at work is complete hogwash, not my line of job anyway. So the only time I write is early in the morning when I wake up, and right before I sleep, like what I'm doing now.

So to my busy fanfic writers who are also working now, try writing early in the morning. But I guess most of you rather use that time to sleep more...

FF7 Tag!

I was reading someone's fanfic profile and I saw this, so I decided to take it and do it the FF7 style :3 If you're interested, you can do it yourself and just let me know (provided it's FF7!)

Write Down Ten Random Characters! (Final Fantasy 7!)

1. Cloud

2. Tifa

3. Reno

4. Rude

5. Elena

6. Barret

7. Tseng

8. Vincent 

9. Yuffie

10. Rufus Shinra

(here we go!)

Four invites Three and Eight to dinner at their own house. What happens?

Rude invites Reno and Vincent to dinner? They end up drinking and it'll be a Reno-solo conversation. 

You need to stay at a friend's house for a night. Whose house, One or Six?

Cloud's house, so I can grill him with questions like "Why the heck did you allow Zack Fair to die!?!" Then again, I'd love to go Barret's house because I wanna play with Marlene :3

Two and Seven are making out when Ten walks in. Ten's reaction?

Tifa and Tseng making out? That has NEVER occured in my mind. If Rufus Shinra were to walk in, that would mean that Tseng is working or something. So... no. it's not going to happen. It's just weird. (Just for the sake of answering, Rufus wouldn't give a care who Tseng snogs.)

Three falls in love with Six. Eight is jealous. What happens?

Hahahaha! Reno falling in love with Barret???? Vincent jealous? Hmm, following logical understanding and past experiences, Barret would probably lock Vincent in the laboratory and Vincent would end up sleeping in the coffin for the next 30 years again. 

Four jumps you in a dark alleyway. Who rescues you, two, ten or seven?

Rude jumps me in a dark alleyway. Between Tifa, Tseng and Rufus, I believe I can trust Tifa more. Besides, Rude will gladly allow Tifa to save me :3

One decides to start a cooking show. Fifteen minutes later, what happens?

If Cloud starts a cooking show, it might actually work out. You never know these finer things in life...

Three has to marry either Eight, Four, or Nine. Who do they choose?

Reno has to marry either Vincent, Rude or Yuffie? OOOOhhh... tough competition. All yaoi fanfic writers are screaming "Reno/Rude!!!!" and others "Reno/Yuffie!!!" I think Reno will pick Yuffie, but chances are she'll fall for Vincent instead *wags eyebrows at Yuffietine shippers*

Seven kidnaps Two and demands something from Five for Two's release. What is it?

Tseng kidnaps Tifa and demands something from Elena for her release. Hmm... A date?

Everyone gangs up on Three. Does Three stand a chance?

Everyone on Reno? Nope. Not a chance. I mean, I love Reno and all, but hello? You're talking about Reno's boss and Cloud Strife here. If Cloud can omnislash Sephy, what chances do Reno have?

Everyone is invited to Two and Seven's wedding except for Eight. How does Eight react?

Tifa and Tseng (again?)'s wedding and Vincent is not invited. Guess he can't be bothered.

Why is Six afraid of Seven?

Barret is afraid of Tseng only because Tseng has better looking hair than he.

Nine arrives late for Two and Seven's wedding. What happens and why were they late?

Yuffie is late for Tifa and Tseng's wedding? She looks like the sort to be late, Tifa probably wouldn't really mind anyway. 

Five and Nine get drunk and end up at your house. What happens?

Elena and Yuffie get drunk and end up at my house. I will dump them in a cold shower and send them to bed. I've got work tomorrow!

Nine murders Two's best friend (Has to be someone on the list). What does Two do to get back?

Yuffie murder's Tifa's best friend (of which should be Cloud). Tifa is too nice to exact revenge. But Cloud wouldn't be killed that easily anyway!

Six and One are in mortal danger. Does Six save One or themselves?

Barret and Cloud are in mortal danger. I believe that they will save one another and work together to get out of danger.

Eight and Three go camping. But they forget food. What do they do?

Vincent and Reno go camping and they forget food. They don't need food, just give them beer!! I doubt Vincent eats, I mean, he's been sleeping for thirty years!

What might a good pick-up line for Two to use on Ten?

Hmm... I really don't know. Tifa doesn't look like the sort to use pick up lines. 

Would Three and Seven get together?

Reno and Tseng = No.

Who would make a better college professor: Six, or Eight?

Vincent. Barret will shoot the ceiling off if he found his students not focusing on their work enough.

Do you think Two is hot? How hot?

Tifa is HOT. Look at all the fanboys!!!

Ten sends Eight on a mission. What is it, and does Eight succeed?

Rufus would send Vincent on a mission for some immortality potion since he needs to live as long as he can as Shinra's President. Since Vincent is already immortal, I guess there's no more chance for Rufus.

What would Five most likely be arrested for?

Elena will be arrested for being too annoying.

If you had to walk home through a bad neighborhood late at night, would you feel safer in the company of Seven or Eight?

Both are equally good. Both carry the same amount of apathy, which Tseng just slightly more. So it depends whether you're a Turk or in AVALANCHE :P

7 and 4 start a conversation about Michael Jackson. How does it go?

Tseng: Who is Michael Jackson?

Rude: ...

Would Two and Six make a good couple?

Tifa and Barret are working partners, they don't have that kind of chemistry.

Make up a summary for a Three and Ten Fan Fic.

Reno and Rufus first met in Shinra Company. Reno was a rookie Turk and Rufus was Vice President to-be. Some misunderstanding and fighting, and they'll be fine. Perhaps eventually Reno will find something in Rufus that's worth his effort to protect and guard.

--------------------

Phew! That's really long! I'm glad it's over. I wish that the tag had more variation with other numbers. They seem to like the numbers, 2,3,7,8

Give it a try, maybe?

Storytelling

I was rereading my previous blog entry and I'm pretty appalled at my writing. It looked like I didn't even proofread. I was tired, I admit.

At my workplace, there are many children. So sometimes when I'm done with my work, I'll gather them and once they're seated, I'll tell them a story. Well, that is not something that I've always been doing. Truth be told, today is the second time I did that.

Now, I do tell stories to children, but they're usually established stories like Greek Mythology and Fairy Tales.

A bunch of immoral Gods, nutcase animals and kidnapped princesses... 

What can be better than that?

Those two are my personal favourites in my reading repertoire, and these two are my field of expertise, if I can boast. This time, when I told a story, it was a completely original story. The worst thing is that I create them on the fly. So half the time I didn't really understand what I was talking about, and half the time my brain is going fullspeed trying to come up with a coherent storyline.

I tell you, the challenge is exhilarating, and thank goodness they are too young to challenge my incoherence. I do cliffhangers so that they are excited to hear more the next time. Then again, because I'm thinking how the story as I go, I can see them getting bored as I figured my way around the story. Moral of the story? Plan out the story, at least.

That being said, allow me to tell you the story. It is "The Adventures of Mr. Superbean", depicting a superhero, Mr. Superbean, that loves to eat beans. And there's a baddie named, Mr. Broccoli, who hates beans but loves broccoli (what a surprise!). Meanwhile, there's a girl named Angela who hates beans but likes broccoli. So one day, Mr. Broccoli kidnapped Angela and kept her in a dark cave.
(I ended the story at that moment and continued a few days after.)

When no one came to rescue her, Angela decided that she'll find her way out of the cave. While doing so, she stumbled upon a large rock but could not see what it is because it is so dark. She picked it up and when she escaped from the cave, she saw that it was not an ordinary rock but a rock that is sparkling red.



The colour is something like that, but just that it's not nails, obviously!

She continued to traverse her way back to town, where she bumped into Mr. Superbean. Not having met before, Mr. Superbean was about to walk away when he saw the rock in her hands. It was the Sparkling Bean, Mr. Superbean's ultimate weapon. Mr. Broccoli had stolen it from him last year and he had been looking for it ever since. Mr. Superbean asked Angela to help him. Mr. Broccoli has a mega plan to build an army of children to control the town. After a moment of deciding, Angela agreed to help Mr. Superbean and together they walked to...
(and again, I ended the story. This is where I left off.)

Funnily, as I'm recapping the story on this blog, I am forming my ending already. So guess what? Perhaps I can complete the story in two more installations and then... I intend to publish it. It's a little informal to upload it here, so I thought maybe I'll do it on Fictionpress. Also, once I'm done with telling the story, I'll type it out, get some children to draw and colour, and publish it as a book. So the children in my workplace can read it whenever they want.

If I upload it on Fictionpress, will you guys support me by reading and reviewing?

Well, I'm done here. Back to doing my work. :) In other news, my fingers are peeling. Why?
(proceeds to reach for the moisturiser)

Signing out,
aichioluv

Picture credits (for I've shamelessly taken them off Google):
1. http://themoraltimes.com/?p=3163
2. http://balticmissionarymemories.blogspot.sg/2012/11/sigulda-place-of-fairy-tales.html
3. http://liquidjelly.blogspot.sg/2012/09/red-velvet-triaccents.html

Random editing and reviewing thoughts

(This post was meant to be posted on 31st Oct 2012 but for some reason, it's not. So here it is!)

You know, I should make it a personal commitment to blog once a week, at least. That way, you people will know that there's always something to read by Sunday (IF there are people reading this!).

Anyway, I'm on a editing spree. I'm realised that I tend to write 'seem' and 'as if'. Examples as below:

It seemed that he wanted to talk as well.

He waved his arms, as if he was swatting flies.

It seems that I write A LOT of them. Yeah, look at that previous sentence and you'll know that I really, really write a lot of them. Not that it's a bad thing, but I tend to cringe when I repeat certain phrases too much, or use some words too often. It's always good to break the monotony with new expressions. So I've been reviewing my chapters, those that are just waiting for a final proofread before uploading.

Which also brings me to this: I have been on a dry spell. Kinda ploughing through my writing with dread and all. Mainly because I've run out of descriptions, expressions, feelings. It feels like everything I write is so dry, dull and bland. Of course, I'm referring to the chapters that I've been writing (which is Chapter 16 and 17) and not the ones that I'm uploading. Those chapters were when I was writing furiously and words spew out of my mind like alphabet soup.

Despite reading so many books the last two months, I didn't seem to integrate any new techniques to try out. (Opps.) But do not fear, I have many, MANY months to figure out how to better those chapters. Meanwhile, I better pick up some new writing tricks.

Okay, here's I, signing out!

Days of Exile: Chapter 17

It has been a while since I wrote chapter notes on my blog :D

So thanks to one of you, I had a sudden paranoia that you guys may note even understand what I'm writing all this time, so here's a quick story recap. If you guys need THIS to understand what just happened in the last 16 chapters, it's high time I do something. If you guys still don't know what it is about, then I should retire into seclusion...

Since the destruction of Zirconiade...

1. The exiled Turks are living on their own... until President Shinra was assassinated by Sephiroth. Veld called the the Turks to ask for their help to support Shinra (without their knowledge because only Veld will be in contact with Tseng). In addition, they had to remove of the Jade WEAPON, who are after them because they destroyed Zirconiade.

2. Meia is in Shinra as lookout and intelligence, under the disguise of Professor Hojo’s assistance.

3. Sephiroth seemed to be alive and running around. Cloud’s party and the Shinra Turks are chasing him across the Planet (by the way, THAT is the storyline of FF7... at least at this point).

4. What is the purpose of Sephiroth? No one knows… not yet.

There. I hope it was clear enough this time around. Please tell me if the story is not coherent at any part of the story. You see, having played/read every installment, it's pretty hard to write for readers who have no FF7 background. If you spot any incoherence, let me know so I can rectify. Of course, certain incoherences are present... because it is meant to be so :P

------------------------------

Tseng’s POV was indeed adapted (if not retold) by the FF7 novellas: Case of Shinra. Also, I know some of you talked about Elena. I love how indeed she is so out of the loop even though she’s a Turk. Eventually she’ll know everything, though how I’ve not figured! In the coming chapters, I'll be using "Case of Shinra" heavily to bring across the Turks' perspective.

Also, December is ending. So please take note, chapter updates will resume to once every two weeks again! The next chapter release is 12 Jan 2012.

------------------------------

Time for my replies to your reviews!

Takara: Haha, no need to be so angsty there :) Elena being surprised is completely normal. Don't be jealous just because Tseng asked her for dinner ;)

TWA: hurray! doomsday has granted us more time! Reeve is going to be a character I'll try to divulge and analyse more. Hope I'm able to write him in his fullness by the end of this story (Yes, I'm hinting that he'll appear more often in the story).

Rachel: Great that you enjoyed Don Corneo's scene! I loved writing that too, though I had to rewatch the scene to fully capture that moment again. So seeing Reno flip his hair countless of times can be considered as irritating XD

Dontgotaclue88: Yeah, Reno is quite the poor chap, although the game didn't perceive him so. Really tough trying to fit a humane side of him in the story, but so far so good, huh?

rnn21: Yeah, the story is quite fast paced, I admit. I wrote it with the assumption that everyone has played FF7 (because I forget how young all of you are). It is next to impossible to write this story with half the portion retelling the game. It will not do this story justice because I don't have the stamina and the standard WILL be diluted. 

Days of Exile is no where near 25% of completion. If I had wrote more of FF7, this story will never end and truth be told, as much as I love this story, I am eager to finish this so that I can focus on new projects too. I know you don't need me to retell everything, so I'm doing my utmost best by selecting the scenes in FF7 most relevant to Meia and the Turks. If I'm not retelling, I've most likely explained what had happened through reports and narration. So I will take a risk by telling you to read it without thinking how it ties in with FF7 (it will... very very soon). I'm not sure if you've played the game, but basically most of the time Cloud and gang are just chasing Sephy all over the place. Haha!

Jefri: It was never specified how much Reeve controlled Cait Sith, so here's my own answer. Cait Sith has its own mind and intelligence, but Reeve has the ability to control its will. Reeve is able to command Cait Sith to tell a fortune, but neither Reeve nor Cait Sith has control over the results of the fortune. :)

Kadajclone100 (longest for the last!!):

First up, thank you for constantly trying to bring me back to focus. I admit, there are many MANY underlying themes/POVs/overlapping arcs in this mega story and it’s really hard to juggle them all. I’ve noted your questions about the grey area of morality and have been trying to, bit by bit, fit them into the story.

Regarding the BC Turks, not everyone joined Shinra with a vengeful intention. Over the course of the two stories, I’ve mentioned some Turks’ backstories. Cissnei, KK, Masons’ were explained sufficiently and everyone else’s were hinted at here and there… except Cassie (I’m currently writing it!). Not to worry, it has been my intention to eventually write about every single BC Turk and you’ll see that most of them joined Shinra because they ran out of luck in their own trouble and saw no better alternative. These people didn’t hate Shinra at all, they merely see the company as an escape route.

Indeed if Shinra had not turned on them they would continue to be a Turk. As for looking down on Heidegger and Scarlet, it’s pretty human for people to do the ‘pot-calling-the-kettle-black’ thing. Since they’re all equally guilty, it didn’t matter. Then again, you’ll see that in this story, no one can call on distinguishing the line clearly. It had been pretty evident from the beginning that everyone thinks they knew what they are doing… but they don’t. So if I don’t clear up the mess myself, that might be what’s going to happen, haha!

Morality is one of the hardest themes in this story, but it’s thanks to people like you that I can recalibrate my bearings so that I can write with more focus. In the future chapters you’ll see this theme being unfolded more so hold on to your horses. I intend to end this mess by the end of the FF7 timeline so that we can focus on ‘the future of Midgar’!

I certainly hope that I have appeased your question. Do let me know if I have been giving satisfactory answers so far. It’s so hard to give a straightforward answer without spoiling. Feel free to ask more if you’re not sure.

Yeah, plain irritating about the Don Corneo part (let’s not spoil the surprise… in case I intend to continue writing X_x) Have you read “The Kids Are Alright”? Where did you get the material?  Been trying to find the translation in vain.

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Whew! What a long post! I have tons of things I wanna share, but I'm simply too tired to write. I'm starting work again this Wednesday and I've not prepared for the new year! Let's hope that God is merciful enough to give me time to write always!

Have a happy new year lovely people and see you in two weeks' time!