Fairy tales are more than true: not because
they tell us that dragons exist, but because
they tell us that dragons can be beaten.
- G. K. Chesterton
.Chii.
23rd March (same as Minekura Kazuya-sensei)
21. Dragon. Aries. Atheist. Cynic. Lamer. Perfectionist. Packrat. Ngee Ann Pri. School choir.
Tanjong Katong Sec. School choir. Temasek Poly. Logistics & Ops Mgmt. · · ·
The University of Newcastle (PSB Academy, Singapore campus). BA of Communication.
.Wishlist.
48 hours each day.
iPod nano 2nd gen skin and pouch.
My first university semester is OVER. Assignments: ALL DONE.
PHEW.
Now I can relax and watch the fourth series of Doctor Who. Yayness!
And to all my other friends in NUS and SIM who are still in the midst of examinations, good luck! Persevere! And the whole of December will be ours!~
* * *
And before I forget, here's the Torchwood fanfiction that I've completed months ago.
Type: One-shot Words: 100 Pairing: Jack/Ianto Warnings: Slashy hints and mentions of canon m/m lip-contact. Don't like, don't read. Spoilers for Series 1, episodes 4 and 6. Rating: PG-13. Disclaimer: BBC and Russell T Davies own Torchwood. Sadly, no matter how many tantrums I throw, it will never be mine.
I've finally posted the new CSI:Miami fanfiction that was completed last Tuesday.
As usual, I'll use the excuse of my laziness and procrastinating nature. And that I'm almost half-asleep by the time work ended to do anything productive when I get home.
Type: One-shot Words: 360 Pairing: Eric/Ryan (HardyBoys) Warnings: Slashy hints. Minor spoilers for Season 5 episodes 14 to 16 and 18. Rating: PG-13. Disclaimer: CBS, Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn and Ann Donahue own CSI:Miami. I don't own anything related, save for some avatars.
Summary: Eric Delko's stubborn determination was not the only thing that kept him away from more screw-ups.
I had this random inspiration for another CSI:Miami fanfiction about an early Season 6 episode when I was watching a much later episode. Strange, I know.
Type: One-shot Words: 700 Pairing: Eric/Ryan (HardyBoys) Rating: Gen. I think my pervy alter-ego has taken a vacation. Beta: WY, at the risk of losing his "manly-ness". I thank you for your courage. Warnings: Slashy hints. Squint hard to see it. Don't like don't read. Minor spoilers for Season 5, episodes 22 to Season 6, episode 4. WY says it doesn't get in the way of the fanfic, though.
Disclaimer: CBS, Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn and Ann Donahue own CSI:Miami. I don't own anything related, save for some avatars.
Summary: For everything he could not understand, there is another that he knew crystal-clearly.
First thing I did as a twenty-year-old (gosh, that sounds strange):
Clean (mop) the kitchen floor.
Okay, that was too random and really, who wants to know?
Anyway, first, gotta thank Fabian for calling just a few minutes past midnight because he wanted to wish me happy birthday, even though we're both on MSN Messenger and I wouldn't mind if he said it over the Internet instead.
I'm a low-maintenance friend, really.
And in chronological order (because I'm marginally OCD that way (technically, I'm not, but I can be obsessive sometimes)) of SMSes, thanks to:
WY, Rashidah, KY, YM, HE (whom I've known since kindergarten, the poor girl), BH, Jon, Chuan, Phoenix and KT!
Then there's Noel, for uh... the well wishes sent through KY. Better than nothing, I suppose =)
And of course to SL, BH, JT, Samantha and QJ for the card, and KY, YM, Fabian and my sister for the presents, although I wouldn't mind if there isn't any. (Note aforementioned Low Level of Maintenance.)
Last, and most definitely not least, darling Pauline for "singing" for me on my tagboard. Which, reminds me, I'd better go get a screenshot of it.
Love you guys LOADS!
Oh, look! A new chapter of Lacuna! Can today get any better? =)
Helped one of the sales people do some minor typing and major editing for a project quotation. Never knew that reporting typing skills would actually come in handy, along with the patience when it came to adjusting alignments and numbering bulleted points.
And knowing that a formal letter ends with "Yours Sincerely" instead of "Yours Truly".
When work ended, one of the Ops staff, the admin/receptionist and I went to Singapore Expo to
1) Take a walk around hall 5 for the Asia Pacific Food Expo.
2) "Spy" on the sales people who were in charge of our company's booth in hall 6A.
We guffawed when we walked pass one of the interior design booths because we remembered how that comfortable, nicely made bed with beautiful bedsheets had looked the night we went to pass 2 packets of floorboards to our installation workers:
Mouldy, yellow, tattered mattress... And let's not forget the holes in the fabric.
We made a stop at Novena before heading down to the Expo, because the admin/receptionist needed to visit her friend, who was hopitalised at Tan Tock Seng Hospital for tiring himself over work (don't we all ended up doing just that?).
While having lunch there along with some random chatting, I realised that there are... conflicts of interest, between the admin/accounts and the staff in the outside office. And that it's prudent to be wary around the admin/accounts staff because obviously, my giving them a benefit of my doubt won't be reaping anything positive for me.
So much for me thinking that it's just her who's having a bad influence on them. Turns out my grandmother's right (the way she always is right); birds of a feather flock together.
Anyways, the Expo food fair was all right, and that when you exit the exhibition hall, you'd suddenly realise that the stalls sell mostly the same things. But we had fun, so that offsets everything else.
I have no idea how some people are able to shop the whole day away. Just walking around for a few hours was enough to tire me out, not to mention the crowd. Oh gosh, the CROWD. It's a common knowledge, what crowds do to me, so I was dead beat by the time I got back to my aunt's place.
Had almost 11 hours of sleep. If it weren't for my protesting bladder, I'd get to slept longer.
Whew! Just got off the phone with YM. Our topic changed (strangely) from Major Project arrangements to guys to internship life to MSN emoticons to Harry/Draco and finally to Koike Teppei. It's nice; sort of reminds me that I'm still connected to the rest of the world, or rather, the eastern side of Singapore.
Well, work today resumed its hectic-ness, and it almost took me the whole day to complete checking the top-up and returned materials on the ROs, amidst the times when I had to make delivery confirmation calls, fill in ROs, key in over-time hours and service jobs, answer calls and- get this- help the boss's wife buy her lunch.
Like, hello, it's not as if she's a salesperson, or that she has things to do in the office. I, on the other hand, had to answer calls for 3 other people while they take their turn for lunch and she expects me to abandon the calls just so she can eat? What is she? Three-years-old? Not feeling competent enough to buy her own lunch?
Naturally, I was swearing at her the whole trip to the canteen and back.
Even as I was typing this, the numbers have reached 156. And look! Zero reviews still! Pfft.
For the hits that The Bullet has, I am half glad and half upset. If you do the maths, the conclusion is that in a same period of time, The Bullet has more reads than Novelty. To say that I'm feeling a little... complicated, is quite an understatement, considering that Novelty is my first fanfiction and will therefore always be special to me.
Didn't do/learn anything new today. Was calling up customers to confirm delivery and installation dates before I got called by Jessie because the boss wanted a "chat" with us. It turned out to be regarding the motivational book he wanted to write using the experiences he had through the setting up of the company and stuff he read in other motivational books. After that, it was almost time for lunch and when we came back, Jessie and I continued our work on the proposal about inventory tracking that we had somewhat abandoned last week due to the crazy workload the boss's brother gave her, and because staring at Excel spreadsheets all day long compels me to give in to slumber.
Isn't it irritating that guys will always have something about their girlfriends to complain about (weight, lack of high-heels collection, etc) while the girls will go all out to make themselves more special? Wearing high-heels for a date, start wearing heeled shoes just because the guy said that she wears flats too often, attempt slimming just because he said she looks "fit"... It gets on my nerves, the way female empowerment is somewhat undermined and that the girls don't really mind. And I don't like it that Jessie can't see for herself how unnecessary her actions are. I mean, there is a limit to the things one does to make her boyfriend happy. Not to mention the way she gets all sparkly-eyes and squeally when she talks about how they managed to meet up when he couldn't contact her (it's just instinct to wait at the place familiar to him, not some telepathic connection to decide on the location together). The near bimbo-ness of it all goes against every rule I have about girls needing to be more intelligent than the guys who think that they are.
Anyway, I found a long list of Harry Potter fanfiction recommendations, and I've just finished reading one of the fiction-verse half an hour ago. It's very good. Very, very good. There are the twists (twists are good), un-clichéd answers to questions (hate it when I can predict what the characters will say, especially if it's ugh-clichéd), angst (have I mentioned my love for angst?), unravelling of what happened in the past (suspense? Cool!) and UST*. The story kept my attention throughout, which is no simple feat as I have now developed the skill to skip over words that are redundant and I'm sure karma will strike when in the future people tell me that they've overlooked some parts of my story. Plus, I like reading the quotes (from poems and song lyrics) at the beginning of each chapter. They really fit in and prepare you for whatever is to come.
( Tomorrow ) Is a prequel to 3T, and should be read after finishing 3T. I wonder if there are people out there who have no idea how to read a prequel. Reading it after will fill in the background behind the small details mentioned in 3T, and also gives the story more depth.
( Daybreak ) And if you, like me, prefer a confirmed ending rather than one that is concluded but still have space for imagination, that's the official ending to 3T.
For the best results of racing hearts and breath-taking angst, read the above fanfictions in that order, all in one sitting. It's intrguingly sad enough to steal the bottom of your guts along with your attention, but the ending is good enough that you feel relieved enough for the boys.
I have just read the one of the most amazing Harry Potter fanfictions. Really. It had me crying through the second half of the whole fanfic when I started reading it in one sitting this noon.
Well, the English wasn't without fault and I found myself automatically correcting sentences while reading it (strange habit that I've developed after reading tons of fanfics). Brace yourselves for some typos, repetitive words and strange sentence structures, because beneath the mistakes, the story is heartbreakingly beautiful. The plot isn't senseless, and there are such subtleness between the lines that holds you to the sentence until it stays imprinted in your mind.
Um, it's Harry/Draco slash, by the way, but you shouldn't let slash pairings deter you from a good story. And there's some sort of violence in one of the chapters, I mean, what can you expect from those two characters? A normal happy romance? Try a crack!fic, if that's what you want. You have to persevere through the violence of that chapter because it affects the chapters that follow after. Oh and if some chapters don't show up (chapter19: Part 18 and the Epilogue, by the way), just select it from the dropdown list. Can't believe how stupid some of the readers are, to complain about missing chapters in the reviews without trying to work out the gliches themselves first.
And yes, I'm using fanfictions to help me forget about the stupid Epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where Harry ended up with Ginny. Ginny! Of all people! It should have been Draco! But of course, slash isn't mainstream for children's literature.
Just finished watching the first episode of the lastest (fifth) season of CSI:Miami. Well, one of the few reasons why I watch the Miami spinoff is because of the eye-candy. More specifically, Jonathan Togo, who acted as Ryan Wolfe (wonder why the producers gave him such an amusing name).
Gah! He's just too adorable. And he's getting hotter as the series progress.
Anyway, I've been prowling sites for info and *whispers* slash fanfictions of Eric/Ryan (because the television screen is this close to smouldering when the two characters appear on screen together) *ends whisper* but sadly, there wasn't much.
Someone, please! Write a really good SmartAngstyUSTfilled(eventually fulfilled)- Eric/Ryan slash fanfiction, won't you? When it comes to fanfictions, I'm better at reading them than writing them. It's difficult to imagine characters who already have preset personalities and backstories, as compared to coming up with original stories and characters. *Sigh* I need my dose of good slash fanfictions. Withdrawal symptoms are nasty.
But still, I found a video of Jonathan Togo and Brendan Fehr, who acted as the laboratory technician Dan Cooper in CSI:Miami, visiting the set of another TV show, Degrassi (I have no idea what show that was; I just watched the video for the sake of Togo).
I have a feeling that I'll never learn how to use fully utilise Photoshop. And I'm getting the urge to draw again. It's just that I am painfully aware that my skills aren't as good as they once were. Even just being mildly rusty was grating on my nerves; I feel sad and depressed when I flip through my old sketches. Well, I'll have to start investing in 180gsm papers and colour pens because I really want to do something about my laughable colouring skills. Then, when I know how to use Photoshop at a less embarrassing level, perhaps I'll try to do some illustrations for Aki Kitsune.
Speaking of that, I have loads of plot inspirations. Not just for AK, which I am still a distance away from completing, but for other stories that are waiting to sprout from the deep figurative soil of my laptop word documents.
Thought I'd list them down, because it looks nice, as if I'm some professionally amateur author and because I'm bored. Please bear with the Japanese terms, because I'm a fanatic that way.
.: MULTI-CHAPTERS :.
a. Shiki Chronicles (aka. Four Seasons Chronicles)
1. Aki Kitsune (Work-In-Progress):
Protagonists: Kuromura Aki, Torikawa Sekai
Well, I'm done laying down some explanation for Aki's past and more will be revealed towards the end of the story. Where else would the suspense come from if I had explained everything? Shame on you, if you've never heard of AK until now. This story has been up since last Christmas, or earlier than that. Go read it if you've haven't. I'm typing chapter24 now, by the way.
2. Atarashii no Kisetsu aka. New Season (Upcoming):
Protagonists: Hasegawa Aoi, Kawasaki Kaoru
This one's going to be less angsty than AK, more playful and- dare I say it- flirty. I'll attempt to write heart-racing scenes and also heart-wrenching scenes. Believe it or not, I have an ending all done. The beginning chapter is done too, although I may use it as a prologue or cut out a part of it to be the prologue. It's about... adventure? Somewhat about adventure, self-discovery, inner-growth and fending off instinctual reactions of teenage hormones and confusions. Expect some Japanese-anime-manga-ish fantasy stuff. No Evangelist-Sailormoon-crazy-outfit-madness, I assure you.
3. Yukichou aka. Snow Butterfly (Upcoming):
Protagonist: Yuki, full name not decided yet. Ditto for male lead.
I'm going to base this off a little off my one and only experience on relationships. The things I had to go through, the notions, the conflicts, the lessons learnt... Yeah, those rubbish *shrugs* This one's more musically-based, like, a band or something. I predict that I'll be draining out major volumes of brain juice for lyric-creating.
4. Natsu no E aka. Summer Picture (Upcoming):
Protagonist: Tsukino, Katsuya. Full names not decided yet.
Think Hanazakari no Kimitachi e. Think Lovely*Complex. Minus the boys' school and minus the tall-girl-short-guy-banters. Add in the comfortable friendship, constancy of each other's presence. Slight angst (because I'm an angst-junkie) but will still make you break a gentle smile at the two leads.
b. Déjà Vu:
Protagonist: Name not decided yet. Female though. I'm seeing a pattern here.
I've wanted to try a story involving time travel and time paradoxes. Perhaps I'll attempt writing an Alternate Universe this time. In this story, the female lead is not the usual angsty-but-secretly-kind-person, nor the innocent-but-fiery-when-provoked-by-a-certain-individual, and definitely not someone you can ask a favour from. She will be somewhat selfish and she sees people as a mean to attain an end. A person you wouldn't want to make friends with, and if you already did, you'd avoid stepping onto her figurative tail. Anyway, she meets someone, courtesy of a death and she gets on a journey to reverse that death. That's as vague as I can put it to prevent too much of the plot leaking out.
c. Bait of Blood (tentatively titled):
Protagonist: Anna, temporarily named.
I got the inspiration for this from Phantom of the Opera. Strange, I know. I'm weird that way. Anyway, there's no phantom in this story of mine. No sudden bursts into songs. Although, it's a vampire story, hence the title *points upwards* A little spiteful, a tad rebellious and a touch melancholic. Oh, the different things I want to experiment on.
.: ONE-SHOTS :.
a. Five Senses Collection
I'm done with the Touch ficlet and there's still four more to go. I have some ideas for the Sight ficlet but they're all over the place and I'm having trouble putting everything together coherently.
Remember the one time I mentioned CaVG? I haven't gotten about to write it. Damn.
2. Harry Potter: Soap Gets In Your Eyes
Pairing: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy
Strangely, that wasn't my first OTP* of this fandom. And this would be my first attempt at crack!fics. If it ever gets written/typed out, that is. The title and the whole plot of it came to me one day when the title of the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" popped into my mind mysteriously. Told you I'm weird.
Yup, those are the stories/plots that have been swimming in my head, trying to get out. And I have a feeling that it'll be a very long time before I can finish all of them.
*OTP: One True Pairing. For your information, my first OTP for Harry Potter was Sirius and Remus. Which reminded me, Chong guffawed at me when I told her I read Harry Potter fanfictions, afterwhich we got into another conversation topic of slash-fanfictions.
"There is strength in our differences, And there is comfort where we overlap."
Can't remember the exact place where I read that from, but I'm sure it was from a Harry Potter fanfiction. It seemed like the older fanfictions have more depth and better plot and character development, as compared to those updated/created in 2007. In the case of HD* fanfictions, anyway. And I haven't even begun reading SR** fanfictions. Grr...
I am now trying very hard to try completing chapter23 of Aki Kitsune, but it's proving to be an annoying pain in the rectum area. But, I'm still persevering, because I know there will not be much time for me to when school starts again after the end of this week, what with all the projects and stuff. I don't even want to start thinking about those things.
One thing that's recurring in my mind though, is Wild Adapter fanfiction. I've got an inspiration on a new WA fanfiction long ago in the bathroom (what's the deal with my muse intruding with my private bathroom-using time?) and I'm wondering how it may turn out to be.
It has crossed my mind to try writing an outright smut fic but I'd get all flushed up just arranging for the plot to develop towards that point and coming up with different yet classy and uncrude vocabulary for body parts and *ahem* positions so... to prevent myself from dying from embarrassment before the fic could even be finished, it may become one other fanfiction with only vague Minekura-sensei styled yaoi hintings.
And it's the first time that I've got the title and summary planned out before the fic's even started, much less completed. I am only so aware of how writing summaries for posting at FictionPress.Com and FanFiction.Net could stump me to such a horrible extent. Plus, I'm fickle when it comes to choosing a title.
Title: Cigarettes and Video Games Summary: You have the world twirled in your fingers while I played it in my hands. Your balance, my constant. Or was it the other way around?
I just can't get to starting the fic, when AK chapter23 is beckoning to me to complete it. *sigh* Dammit.
*HD: Harry/Draco slash fic. **SR: Sirius/Remus slash fic. My yaoi-contaminated mind is too lazy to explain how I crossed from Japanese yaoi to English slash.
i must be getting desperate. my ex-classmates are starting to look really good.
my LOMe tutor seems to be getting high on something everyday. or maybe he forgot to take his pills. perhaps it's the pills that have this effect on his uber-hyperness?
i've just reread this fanfiction, Beneath You, from long ago that i've favourited. apparently i've favourited the list of favourites this person had and it linked me to that fanfic but anyhoo- here's the link, for those who might be interested. the descriptions are beautiful, the characterisations stay canon, and it's just heartachingly good. it's the really effective sort of angst that stabs a pain in your heart, makes you short of breath and starts this sharp throbbing tingle right in the centre of your palms. it's my kind of angst, by the way. if a story has good angst, those are the effects i have and it's a good way to measure it, because- oh, i have such high standards for fanfictions.
i had a satisfying TWELVE HOURS of sleep last night. woohoo!!
although i've missed csi:ny just for it. but still, i could watch the rerun on sunday.
and i've finished all the tutorials for this week! um.. except logistics measurements though. the layout looks too confusing for me to burn my precious brain cells to work out.
i have about 800 words left to finish chapter20 of Aki Kitsune and just yesterday, fabian told me chapter11 felt a little confusing to him. *ahem* people, those who actually read my story, if you have any comments about any of parts of my story, please post it as a review, or at least tell me right away so that i could at least try to salvage the situation and bring the story back on track. not to say that phoenix wasn't doing her job as my beta. and i was only so aware of fabian's less than perfect reading skills (no offence, fab, you know i'm just joking). plus, i can only reread my chapters so many times to check before i go looney toons myself.
people! there is a function for that little option at the bottom called "Review this chapter?" so please use it for goodness' sake!
i find that when writing, the words come faster and flows smoother in the dead of the night. when the silence is absolute and the only thing i can feel is the familiar crisp sea breeze shifting about with a colour of inky-blue while the words that eluded me in broad daylight return with an articulate insistency. and although listening to music is fine and all, fast and heavy beats of various rock songs (i'm playing You Give Love A Bad Name by Bon Jovi on loop now) seem to help because slower ones, regardless of their intensity, render me helpless by getting me to sing along either aloud or in my mind, attempting to match the musical passion in the originals'. typing direction through the laptop saves me the time needed to transfer words from paper to bytes, but somehow, my muse prefers the good old blank notebook pages- or any blank ones, for that matter. strangely, the words refuse to stop when a pen rests in my right hand and receptive pieces of paper lie before me.
my muse works in mysterious ways, i conceded long ago. sudden inspiration hits me in weird places like the bathroom and with bad timing like when i'm studying for exams less than 24 hours away. sometimes it comes in short phrases, split second scenarios, sudden images, or unsuspecting questions like "How about..." and "What if this...". when i begin to answer them subconsciously, a story unfolds with branching plots that i can't stop fast enough to get a pen to jot them down before they disappear with a taunting smirk.
i must admit my love for sarcastic contradiction. cynical irony had somehow made me fall head over heels in love with it. paradoxical sentences felt so much more intriguing and held such texture and tangibility that draws me into it, forcing me to read the phrase repeatedly until there's nothing more to absorb, daring me to not use such techniques in my own writings. the intensity and weight of these sort of words seem to possess unimaginable power and charm that i'm sure will appeal to anyone with a love for words, whether reading or writing them.
that being said, it's back to writing. 1400 words more to finish chapter twenty of Aki Kitsune.
the fanfiction i've mentioned? it's a birthday fic for all having their birthdays today, especially minekura-sensei!
here is a list of sites i've post the Wild Adapter fanfic. - my website - FanFiction.Net - LiveJournal (if you can't see it in the main page, it's in the memories. click on userinfo on the right to get there)
by the way, thanks for all the birthday smses! it's the first time i've woken up to 5 smses and my barely awaken mind didn't register the reason for multiple smses until 3 seconds after. and phoenix, let's hope my plot bunnies felt your blessing and will start prancing about in a mad frenzy once more.
OMG! what have i done?! i've actually written a Wild Adapter (another manga series by minekura-sensei) fanfiction. sort of yaoi-implied too..
kyaaa~~~!!!
anyways, it was hard, doing a fanfiction on minekura-sensei's story. her characterisation and storytelling style is so so so difficult to replicate and predict what the characters would do or say in certain situations.
i need a beta for this fic though and i'm not sure if phoenix wouldn't be freaked out by the yaoiness of it.
kinda surprised that my calculus was lower than my LOG MOD results. ah~ but the worst was purchpp. and i wrote so much for my answers. oh well *shrugs*
been trying to not get distracted from finishing my communication skills 2 journal/report thingy that i have to submit tomorrow. i can't really help it if there's nothing i can write about, anyway.
there's this harry potter fanfiction that i'm hooked onto. hopefully the person updates faster.
click here. this author's good, especially her Darkness Trilogy: "let the darkness take you", "remember you", and "lacuna". read it in that order. lacuna isn't finished yet.. *pouts*
clickie~ this one's good too, the homour fics, because the rest mostly doesn't have a happy ending and i'm such a sucker for happy endings.
ah, a little warning. if harry/draco or draco/harry pairings make you squirm in a bad way.. don't read those. although the plots for the Darkness Trilogy is quite nice.
*yawn* back to that sodding report that i have to complete~
