F&L Chapter 65 - "Blames and Deadlines" now up ^_^

7-pages in MS Word - - action-packed, full of emotions, dramas, and a little serving of much-anticipated revelations...

65 in Fictionpress

65 in Soompi Forums

And yeah, things will get more serious from this point. I'll drop more bombs, so hold on tight, okay? Hehe...

I'm very overwhelmed with the kind reviews I have received lately. A lot of new readers too, both signed and unsigned. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you. Too many to mention, but man, it was one heck of a ride and despite everything, you're all still there giving me your words of encouragement and support.

*Bows*

Thank you everyone ^_^

F&L 64 - Race of Fists *uploaded*

Short chapter...

F&L 64 in Fictionpress

F&L 64 in Soompi Forums

This chapter has the Kosuke-Crosse face-off (I figured that this scene should be expected... but I created the scene in a manner least-expected by starting it off with a race before the fist-exchange part...)

And with the ending - this makes chapter 64 the "transition chapter" I was talking about.

Did I surprise you? Was it too soon?

Damn you, hiro0911! I was just enjoying the sweet romantic scenes in the previous chapter, you write something like this?! %*^&^!

Hehe, I'm sorry.

Don't hate me yet. There are a lot of things to be revealed that would make you hate me more, hehe... *evil grin*

I'm considering changing the rating of F&L... Not yet, but I'll weigh things out as to whether I should stick to the Teen rating or not... But for now, let's just let things be...

... as we prepare for Ayane's "mad scenes" ^_^

Thank you for reading F&L.

-hiro

F&L Chapter 63 - "Real" Gangster Date - - - Uploaded

9-page chapter with all the cheesiness... and drama.

F&L 63 in Fictionpress

F&L 63 in Soompi

I could say that this chapter is one of the chapters that readers really look forward to. It would be including those sweet, little scenes while retaining its hilarity and depiction of the character's emotions. You'll see the soft side of Ayane & Kosuke in this chapter.

It would get a little dramatic towards the end, though... I made a 'foreshadowing' scene to ready you for the escalating events now coming near.

And like I've said, the climax chapters are coming near now... And yeah, there's going to be another big twist in the story... So hang it there, okay?

Hehehe...

Thank you very much for reading F&L!

-hiro

F&L Chapter 62: Power of the Heart - Uploaded

Short chapter... Seven pages in MS Word, but isn't very wordy.

62 in Fictionpress

62 in Soompi

Kosuke comes back (due to insistent public demand, hehe). LOL, nah. He really is coming back in this chap. Some comedy on this chapter, but will get really cheesy on Chapter 63 so go enjoy the 'happy times' while you can ^_^.

... because I feel that F&L is now nearing climax chapters...

And when I say "near", I mean it this time.

It has indeed been a long run, this story... I'm truly grateful to the readers who are still hanging on till this day. I hope you enjoy this installment.

-hiro

F&L Chapter 61: Backseat posted

A cheesy and sad chapter, but answers the latter bunch of questions: What's the complete decoy plan? How did Ayane come to replace Aya eventually? Why are there replicas of her Circa Constellation? How did Crosse truly feel about Ayane?

Here are the links:

F&L 61 in Fictionpress

F&L 61 in Soompi Forums

And for sure you guys miss Kosuke and the rest of the gang. Well, welcome them back next chapter ^_^

-hiro

Concluding Reminiscence Chapter for F&L Released

This is the longest chapter for F&L. Brace your self for a 20-page chapter which contains major revelations regarding Aya's past.

Chapter 60 in Fictionpress

Chapter 60 in Soompi

The chapter originally spanned 25 pages. To maintain its readability, I decided to cut down on superfluous descriptions that may just confuse the readers. It took me three days (and roughly 12 hours) to create the scenes as they appear. I decided to keep individual details for later (like details of what transpired in the court trial).

The original plan was to include here the flashback scene where Ayane decides to take Aya's place, how she tricked the Spectra by making herself the lure, the rationale behind the thousands of Circa Constellation replicas, how she met her gang (Ruri, Kaede, and the others...) how she ended up in Tsuzuya Academy, which marked the start of the story. But then, given the amount of pages, I decided to stop here for now. I devised a better plan of how to retell that particular parts.

I feel good being able to finish the Reminiscence chapters at last.

But as I've said, this is only the beginning. Lots of things are still bound to happen... now that Kosuke has entered the picture.

I'd like to thank the readers for taking the time to read this really long chapter. I apologize if it strained your eyes (hehe...). I guess it just can't be helped.

^_^

- hiro

"100 Goodbyes" Wins April's Soompi Short Story Battle

I was snoring in the middle of my peaceful sleep, dreaming about... (nevermind... *grins*) when my mobile phone suddenly rang. On the other line was Meia, my girlfriend. She was literally screaming (as in 'fan girl' screaming).

She told me that Ben Faraday won in the Soompi SSB!

Read 100 Goodbyes in Soompi Forums

Read 100 Goodbyes (unabridged version) in Fictionpress (soon - currently editing grammar errs...)

Haha, it was totally unexpected. With all the good entries, when the 18 stories were first posted, I initially felt that my entry was a little out of place with all its 'silliness'... To be honest, I haven't gone online recently because of some projects for school which I had to finish with my group so I really haven't dropped by to check the forums to see if there were people voting for #3, and I feel kinda guilty of not being able to vote too. But I've finished reading the submitted stories, which I have downloaded into my Palm.

Wow, brilliant people with amazing talents and thoughts... God surely is giving.

During the writing process, I had difficulty cutting down the piece to 2500 words.

First thing was a huge amount of deletion in the first part. Ben should have been further described as a "dumb, fat guy who separates himself from the world because he feels that everyone dislikes him ... a guy that would lock himself everyday in his apartment, if not making/executing suicide plans, caught with food and popcorn, slouching on a sofa, and preoccupied the whole day with watching DVDs - hence, his movie-like monologues like the part where he says - - "To the tides of Death, I shall submerge myself..." which pretty much sounds like Sailor Moon preparing to make a magic attack". (LOL... but you get the idea...).

The initial plan was to present 5 scenes depicting the last 5 needle pricks, but I ended up deleting the other two - -

The deleted scenes were the following:

5) A train station scene, where Ben meets a run-away teen, crying and guilty from running away from home (like the Bible story - the Prodigal Son... but this one's a Prodigal Daughter bound for home). The female teen wanted to go home already, but she has no money left. Ben helped her by lending her money and sending for a cab to take her back to her home. As she rides the cab, she thanks Ben for his help and told him "to stay if you could stay rather than leave with uncertainty and regret it in the last hour..." and waves goodbye.

4) Where Ben helps an old man cross the street - and the old man will say that he hopes that more people should be as kind as he was, then says goodbye to him.

I also deleted some of his suicide attempts like the voodoo doll scene, drinking expired poison, jumping to a snake pit in a zoo, but the snake goes to him and acted all friendly like Puss in Boots of Shrek...

About the inspiration, it all came from a crazy mixture of ideas. A reviewer actually mentioned about reminding her of 'Death Note'. Actually, that's where the idea of 'Death' first occurred to me (I was reading the manga the night before I started 100 Goodbyes). I'm glad that someone pointed it out. Then, the evening when I worked on the piece, Meia & I were watching Brad Pitt's movie 'Troy' on DVD. After watching the movie, we went to dinner and mentioned it during our conversation. I mistakenly said '300' instead of 'Troy'. So yeah, part of Ben was me... okay, fine. I'm dumb sometimes, but I'm not a mermaid and I have an original Lacoste! *grins*

And the briefs?

Uh... nevermind that... I'll leave it to your imagination *grins*.

And there's something I need to apologize about, BTW. I made a mistake about the dinosaur. I actually found out that there IS a dinosaur that floats! (LOL!)

Okay guys, I'd like you to meet Mr. tPod. Nah, kidding. Above is a non-avian therapod dinosaur.

And yeah, it floats...

But the T-rex definitely does NOT float (lol...)

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070524091023.htm

To those who voted for 100 Goodbyes, namely:

T w e e !
kc_chua
PsstChii
Orange Ogre
SoompiSnoopi
lenaaa._
rootless. (although the vote was not counted...)

And to everyone who made comments for my work, I greatly appreciate it. Thanks a lot and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope that in one way or another, my piece inspired you to think positively of life. Every hour of this life may be difficult. Problems may wound you, but don't let these wounds kill you in the end by giving up on everything. Remember that every person has a purpose, even those who are not blessed with physical features of that of Kwon Boa or Brad Pitt. All we have to do is bring out our goodness to inspire others, and you'll be surprised that one way or another, people will come to love you naturally.

Ahhh, what a beautiful world.

Kudos to all the writers of the other stories. You all made me happy today ^_^.

-hiro

Second to the last Reminiscence Chapter Posted

Much much more revealed in this installment.

FL 59 in Fictionpress

FL 59 in Soompi

I'm updating really fast recently. It's because I'm excited to get to the bottom of things once and for all!

And it's because I'm ready to throw in some new batch of questions hehe...

I'm in such a good writing mood recently. I dunno... The ideas just continued to drill in unceasingly as I type. I just had to put it to Word before it disappears in my head.

The next chapter will tie several loose ends up - How Aya went into a coma, how Yoshida Akira was sent to jail, & how Ayane came to double for Aya.

But then again, this is just the beginning...

Bigger things are bound to come...

~hiro

Fists and Lipsticks CH 58 posted

Lots of questions answered in this installment:

1. Who are the original members of the Miyazawa Gang?
2. How did Miyazawa Aya learn how to fight?
3. Who is Tanaka Seiichi's (a member of Yoshida Ayane's fake Miyazawa Gang) older brother? How is he related to Miyazawa Aya?
4. How did Ayane and his father, Yoshida Akira, come to Japan?


It's getting to the big part... And I already feel the climb of this story towards its climax ^_^

Thanks to the readers - especially to KittyKaiya & Kaiyako Kagami from Fictionpress and the bunch of kind reviewers from Soompi Forums, non-silent & silent readers alike.

BTW, here are the links:

58 in Fictionpress

58 in Soompi

Thanks everyone!

~hiro

F&L Summary has been changed

I realized that the summary really sounded lame... It didn't reflect what F&L truly is. It sounded more like a love-story-cutey-cutey story when it is far from that. Hehe.

Here's the new summary:

The prestigious Tsuzuya Academy is home to Tokyo’s most fearsome high school gang,
led by the famous, arrogant, yet exceptionally attractive Yamazaki Kosuke, who gets away with all his trouble-makings, being the only son of Japan’s most respected judge. And so, he, along with his four other colleagues bounded by their strong influences to the school administration, vowed to drive out anyone who attempts to claim their reign.

One day, however, a transfer student arrives in Tsuzuya.

Her hair is perfect,

her eyes are sapphire,

and her lips are pink - - -

VERY pink.

Turns out that this girl is no other than the infamous Miyazawa Aya – who is a gang leader herself !

Rumors have swept every corner of the campus. The news of Aya’s rising popularity
did not fail to alarm Kosuke's gang.

Now, they have a new mission:

Drive Miyazawa out of Tsuzuya Academy after making her life a living hell!

However, what if things do not turn out as planned?

What if Miyazawa Aya happens to be much more than a high school gangster?

That she rides fast bikes and is wanted by the world's biggest mafia?

That everything would go beyond matters of school 'kingship' - -


To a struggle to keep oneself alive...


This is a story of nasty bullies,

powerful punches,

fast bikes,

very pink lips,

and... love.

F&L Reminiscence 7 & 8 has been uploaded

I realized that I forgot to write a blog entry regarding the Reminiscence 7 (hahaha...)

Anyhow, here they are:

Reminiscence 7 (Chapter 56) in Fictionpress
Reminiscence 7 (Chapter 56) in Soompi Forums

Reminiscence 8 (Chapter 57) in Fictionpress
Reminiscence 8 (Chapter 57) in Soompi Forums

These chapters will reveal how Miyazawa Aya and Crosse Williams were involved in the underground motorcycle racing. It would also tell about the secret of the Williams Motors Corporation.

Secrets are now unfolding one by one, like finding the matching puzzle pieces to fit in their right places. I hope you do enjoy reading these flashback chapters. After these Reminiscences, there would be a little drama left and right, then the end of F&L will be near...

Wow, it has been a long journey, hasn't it? I'm pretty happy that you're all still here to give me your support.

~hiro