Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Author Notes form F&L2 Chapter 34, 35, and 36

This is copy-pasted from Soompi Forums for Fictionpress readers to read too. Hope the clarifications help... - The Author

===================

Author note & Review replies for
Chapter 34 – Smears


This chapter came a little difficult for me to write. For one, I wanted it to come out as a ‘hybrid’ of themes – silliness of Saori + flirty but sweet Kosuke scene + cascade of betrayal + overwhelming rage + sadness = Chapter 34 --- that kind of pattern. I hope it didn’t turn out so bad, hehe.

Now, for the shock pans, shall we?


Regarding Ayane’s rampage...

iLOVEyunho=)
whoa shes gone insane?
fuuko-chan
It was expected that Ayane might just lose control suddenly but how she lost it scared me. And yes, she felt scared of herself too...
ningmeng
she went insane.and that was scary.
noona
she's gone crazyyyy..
puppaluppa
Somehow i know Aya is going to break down eventually but hjshdjkshkjs that was intense!
fangirlism
it was kind of about time for her to explode. She kinda needed it.
azn_chick91
woah that was intense
whohungjen?
holy mini cooper that was pretty scary it was so emotional
blah.blah.blah
OH MY!!! So powerful...
x3_b3b3
woahhh Ayane totally lost it O_O she sorta scared me for abit..but I could feel her anger, her hate, and her sadness
anokakoolio
omg O.o This chapter was so emotional. She finally cracked
macdoox3
she's gone INSANE. In a crazy psychotic way.
renchew
Amazing, this side of Ayane. She mustve been waiting to release all her emotions for a long time but that was pretty insane sigh shes gone a bittttt crazy =(
angielyn;s2
omgggggg! she went crazy there for a minute, i was like brooooo wthhh
jaja13
omg, she totally went ballistic.
rufflezz
Wow. Her rage is out of control.
bby-aye
but waddah angry child! she sounded really really mad! better not mess with her..
babii_peach
whoaa hectic!!! wat the hell happened there she went crazy!!!
5imply_5wt
i never knew she was capable to do all of that..
rufflezz
Nothing can really calm her down now, although she thought that love could.
sweet_rose_20
poor girl, she had so much inside of her
PSiloveyu
I'm speechless completely and utterly speechless....................
x__nga
woah, this is crazy. you really did mean it when you said its going to be action now.
Denied86
Perhaps that was how you were trying to depict her as; crazy, if so, you totally succeeded lol!


^ Exactly. And not just ‘crazy’ but scary and freakish crazy.


Why?

I wrote this chapter to emphasize a couple of things: (And I’m happy that people actually pointed out exactly the things I’m trying to portray.)

EMPHASIS # 1: Ayane is powerful. Not just rich-powerful or pretty-powerful, but physically powerful. Among the members of the Silver Crescent, she can fight the best. She took down all those hitmen all by herself, even took down the higher council of the gang themselves (Rei and the others). The fight scene was not merely created to spice things up or created just to abide with the action genre consistently.


jinx1791

No one could ever replace the Empress.


^ It was to show WHO IS in-charge – “in the Silver Crescent’s face!”

EMPHASIS # 2: Ayane is angry. Not just plain angry but hellish, freakish angry.

lollipop517
I cnt believe they tried to replace her! Wtf?!
LoveItLiveIt
Whoa! What a big mess!! >< Everything..Ohh gosh..I can't believe the gang..
? ENN ?
I never expected for them to try and get Rei to be the new boss!


She is angry because she felt betrayed by the gang when they tried to oust her without her knowing. Remember that, somehow, being the almighty Lady Nu Huang built up her pride into something soaring high. She is angry because the Silver Crescent seems to not understand her feelings - of being torn between her duty and Kosuke. Above all, she is angry because she felt as if everything is going against her ‘being’ with Kosuke, not just the people who wanted them to separate but the circumstance/scenario itself. She thinks that people and the events had not been fair at all.


EMPHASIS # 3: Ayane refuses to listen. Notice that the rest of the Silver Crescent Gang, especially Rei and Lin were ‘trying’ to wake her up – ‘trying’ to remind her that “Hey, you have a duty to do!”. They told her of the past, of how many people sacrificed their lives under the cruel hands of the Spectra gang, of how much she craved for that revenge. But what did she do? She seemingly shut her ears to their pleas and had that ‘as-long-as-I’m-with-Kosuke-I’m-good-so-no-one-gives-a-damn’ attitude. Yes, she’s too blinded and deafened by love, and that brings us to #4…

EMPHASIS # 4:


lenaaa._
She hid away her emotions so good and now that she broke out I realized she loves Kosuke soooo much.

chng234
ayane must be very upset at this point.
but i believe she made the correct decision for choosing kosuke.


And her love for Kosuke was so strong that it leads us to # 5…

EMPHASIS # 5: Ayane admitted that she is selfish.

QUOTE
“Maybe Rei was right…
I have become selfish…
Because all I wanted to do right now was to be with you…”


Not only did Ayane admit that she’s crazy. Let’s see this one - -
QUOTE
“Let them say that I am selfish for all I care. I could go on and on, enumerating the number of instances I have lived for other people in the past. It is only fair that I claim my desires this time around…”


From the Yoshida Ayane in Book 1 who is willing to go too far for other people without asking anything in return, this time, she has begun ‘calculating’ her good deeds to justify her actions and mistakes. Though you can say that…

jusplainmeh

it's obvious that the b*tch is crazy.
1shinhwa
omg! that F*kin b*tch!


… and that Ayane is being too irrational with her actions, decisions, and emotions… that…

chocoberryjam*
…Aya overreacted
bee21192
if u make aya feel so self conscientious for being so emotional i think it'd be the typical protagonist's under-confidence that u find everywhere..
myxlove101
I think she needs another session. ^^;
Maybe a chill pill?


… we should remember # 6 - -

EMPHASIS # 6: Ayane is suffering from a psychiatric disorder.

I like this review by miss Silent Serenity - -

Silent Serenity
I just wanna add that probably Ayane, because of her psychological issues, tend to feel the extremes of emotions. Meaning, if she's sad, she's really sad. If she's happy, she's really happy. If she's angry, she's REALLY REALLY angry. She is unable to moderate her feelings and that's precisely what Shizuki has to fix.


^ Exactly. Although it does not occur in all post-traumatic stress disorder patients, sometimes they present with signs of being quite ‘bipolar’ at times. She bursts out not because she is overacting but because she simply isn’t mentally and emotionally capable of controlling her feelings.

But…

xradiostarx
shes uncontrollable unless shes with kosuke.


Very good opinion. As narrated in the romance overload chapters (a.k.a. Chapter 20-31), during that time she was with Kosuke, she seemingly warped back to that Ayane from eight years ago.

However, we can also look at this in a different dimension - - - that the thought of losing Kosuke’s love is precisely the thing that drives her mad and uncontrollable.

pie.x3
i wonder how she'll be able to keep track of the gang AND keep kosuke..
rikuu
huh why not.? I thought love heals everything ):
MRS.CHANGMIN(:
i still believe that love and revenge can both be had.


It’s a double-edged sword, and so, how does she pull out the balance so that she won’t falter both in her mission and love?

Well, that’s why this story’s still ongoing, hehe…

Anyway.

EMPHASIS # 7: Well-said by miss pinkslippers and meOz –

pinkslippers
Ayane was overpowered by her rage, by her desperation to protect Kosuke, to protect her only reason for living.i think it's just normal for Ayane to have her heart smeared with things other than love. Like hate. Like revenge. Because whoever undergoes what she has experienced in the whole duration of her existence would, i think, be having the same kind of heart too. or worse, much more tainted. Hate and revenge would always be part of Yoshida Ayane.

me0z
Holy moly your writing was so pro that it really painted a picture of the story. and man i felt lucky i wasn't actually there when Aya blew up cause that was just scary. it was unexpected, unpredictable and you could say not like aya at all. truly it is tragic to see a heroine falter just when all the things was brightening up for her. The rage was just overpowering.



EMPHASIS # 7: Well-said by miss loveme100x

loveme100x
In my honest opinion, every character in this story is selfish. They place greed and revenge above love, happiness and the well being of others. But I guess... in a selfish world, only the most selfish would succeed right? Ayane is in many ways wrong. But in other ways, she's right. They obviously don't know her if they went to that length to keep her from Kosuke and to even attempt to replace her.


If perfection was one of the major themes for Book 1, the counterpart for Book 2 is ‘selfishness’. We see how much Ayane and Lin seemed to scream “Look at me! I’m miserable, so feel sorry for me. It’s your duty to understand me!”. And it is precisely this self-pity and selfishness that makes them all the more broken (and precisely the thing that irks the readers).

maizakichi
ayane's so emotional now T_T
i don't know if i should hate her or love her atm~
kawaii999
I absolutely despise Ayane.
Chiiikk
And Lin .. Feel like she really hate aya-chan ..
sentuhmentalfo0l
and lin.. i thought she was her friend but she seems the most eager to get rid of ayane


And yes, I’m irking you guys on purpose, hehe…

However, there is someone in the group who does not bother lamenting about his dreadful past at all. You’ll find out who he is in the next chapters – and you’ll be shocked. This would actually change and fix things a little as far as the Silver Crescent is concerned.

EMPHASIS # 8: EVERYONE in the Silver Crescent hates EVERYONE in the Spectra… except Ayane and Kosuke.

mangoes-dbsk
She (Ayane) should realize that she is the only one who likes Kosuke here. All the rest of them hate him, even though whatever happened wasn't of his own fault. They hate the Spectra, they hate the people associated with the Spectra, and they hate the most, the people who is working in the Spectra. She should realize that, since she created the gang formed with ... antis? Haters, of the Spectra.


And so, the same question as before - -

shamansha
If these people wanted revenge then they should just go for Yamasaki Daisuke and leave Kosuke out of this...he was innocent ever since he was a child... he was brought up to be like this...poor kosuke...
jaeyoungg
think the Silver Crescent shld jus plan to kill yamazaki daisuke and dimitri Williams since they hv the most power and daisuke is nt kosuke's real father it shouldnt matter right? haha


Big secret for now… But if you’re good enough to catch the big yet discreet clues I’ve dropped both in Book 1 and Book 2, you’ll find out why they can’t just target Yamazaki Daisuke or why they can’t leave Kosuke alone in this mess – especially now that he angered Rei… a LOT.

EMPHASIS # 9 :

miss a??c a?s?r
The gang for the first time saw Ayane crying, to me it shows how much they really don't know about her then they think they do.


^ Self-explanatory.

EMPHASIS # 10: Ayane and Kosuke are going through similar dilemmas in relation to their gangs.

MINisVIP
why do kosuke and ayane have the same fate? T__T
being replaced..


^ Precisely.


Others questions / inquiries / random stuff

dreamer88
god that was
exciting like imagining an action film you´ve
put my imagination to work

Hehe, thanks.

jvang_07
If it were me, I would have had her kill Lin.


Couldn’t kill Lin because she had to serve ‘some other purpose’ in the story.

RHAINE
i personally think that saori should back off.
sure she gets teased a lot and wants to show kosu-kun that shes something better but jeez
she acts like a highschooler not a 25y/o chrr.


^ Very good observation. Take note of this. May come handy, who knows?

sARAnghae_oppa
Wow I never thought I would be so into the characters... But the story really does draw you in=)


Thanks, glad you feel that way. As much as possible, I’m trying to develop both the plot and the characters in every possible way.

simpleangel
I still want to see what would happen when Ayane meets with Crosse. Will Crosse still like Ayane?


You’ll go crazy from Chapter 40-50 -#-evil grin-#-

cambochinkanese

Hahaha, Kosuke, even if he's in pain he still had the energy to be flirtatious.


Hehe, Ijust thought of adding some mushiness so that the chapter wouldn’t be all that depressing.

.luckii.
AND SAORI!! CAN YOU JUST FRACKIN KILL HER??
cause...im guessing that none of the characdters will end up with the ones they love...


Give Saori a chance, trust me. Just forgive her… st*pidity for now.

sayuri ko
if her watch responds to gun wave lengths, then why didn't it detonate when rei shot lin's arm right before she revealed her watch?


It’s because Ayane activated/turned ON the wristwatch-bomb AFTER Rei pulled the trigger.

Denied86
What if she finds out that Kosuke was hurt by Crosse?!
HYPERGURLY^^
i wonder when kosuke is going to tell her that crosse did this to him!


The question is, would he?

lil^jenniie
Fuuko, wasnt there this tape that she aya
and isnt kosuke building or place built but her coompay, she is an architeture isnt she.???


Yes, Ayanami Fuuko (the resident female bully of Tsuzuya Academy in Book 1) is the one who gave her the tape. When will the tape come handy here in Book 2? What is the significance of her being an architect? Good observations and points to consider, but I can’t reveal that part yet.

kc_chua
her exterior was ninja-hot with those slamming moves with her nunchaku (cool weapon choice by the way!)


Hehe, I got the idea of the nunchaku while re-playing Suikoden II on the Playstation.

silently_solitude

I guess there'll be many more traitors and drama going on.


We barely got to that part, hehe.

benchi101

I hope that the explanation about Crosse's disappearance update soon.


Errrr… not too soon yet, I guess.

milk-o
The fight scene was a bit vague...I was hoping the action parts would be something that would make me wanna say, "god I missed every f*cking inch of that!"
I know that you're just starting to introduce the deception chapters along with the bloodier, action-packed ones... So maybe I'm just expecting things too soon? Its hard to say, I don't want to ruin the fun...


^ Hehe… *cough cough* Chapter 39 *cough cough*

yamaki_LOVE
Yoon & Chris doesn't hate Ayane or mad at her eh??


Chapter 36 will answer that.

syndryx
they all have their points and it's quite difficult siding with anybody...not that i really intend to do it, but as readers, you let us know a hell lot of things about what the characters are thinkin...and it's really difficult to see them all troubled and wild because of misunderstanding...


You yourself said it before right, syndryx? I remember it well when you said that there’s no one in the world that is pure evil.

Everyone has a story once you hear it… probably even Yamazaki Daisuke himself ?


MisoSoupOfKpop
I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVENT COMMENTED AS MUCH AS I SHOULD HAVE. I blame school.


School first before F&L!

kc_chua
I nominated Fists and Lipsticks for Original Fic & Most Original Plot category for Fic of the Year!


Geez, thanks hehe. I actually thought that that thing was for fanfics only.

To those who placed their nominations, thanks a lot for the support… although there’s still no greater price than the experience of having to interact dynamically like this to you readers. You know, you guys throwing in your opinions and views of the story, posts that do not solely contain praises but intelligent exchange of information and criticism. I really appreciate it.


Author Notes & Review Replies for
Chapter 35 – Sessions (Part 7)


This chapter took me long to make, not because it was hard writing the plot but because this required me to do some research. I got to learn some basics on how actual psychiatrists do their psychiatric interviews. I came across an interesting article where in a violent, uncooperative patient was placed under some sort of ‘drug-interview’. The procedure makes use of drugs like barbiturates and sedatives to make the patient not just calm but, as said as miss milk-o - -

milk-o
5% intravenous sodium amobarbital at rate no more than 1ml per minute<= she isn't just letting her relaxed! Sodium Amobarbital has both sedative-hypnotic and analgesic compounds. Though it's an anti-anxiety drug, the rate of 1ml per minute might induce the patient to partial hypnosis, thus Ayane's 'readiness' to answer Shizu-chan's questions...

^ Precisely. It’s ---

kc_chua
…like a Veritaserum in Harry Potter! L0l


Yeah, pretty much like it, but it is actually used in real-life, although in rare and special instances.

me0z
Because Aya is kinda relaxed or just numb lost between feelings, her words were really simple, what really stood out, her simple statements "i'm angry'and 'sadness'.


That’s the purpose of the drug-assisted interview. The patient is able to define her thoughts and feelings more directly – more focused and easily relayed.

bloo
Wow you did a lot of research huh? Although I was expecting more psycho-analysis


Regarding the psychoanalysis, it would come later in the story. For those who do not know what a psychoanalysis is, think of it as a ‘psychiatric medication/treatment’ not using drugs or surgery but using psychiatric techniques. Right now, Shizuki is still in the interviewing/history taking phase. And yes, she is going tad slow.

whohungjen?

only a tad slow? its going soooooooo slow


^ Why? Well, hehe… Can’t tell yet.

simpleangel
-Gasp- Voice recorder?


Sometimes psychiatrists use voice recorders to record their sessions because patients do not like it when the doctor is scribbling and scribbling too much during the interview, indicating lack of sympathy in what the patient is saying and just after the information he/she is saying. Some doctors say that this is unethical though, but yeah… who knows? This voice recorder just might be handy in the future? Good way to point out.

MisoSoupOfKpop
I love the "Sessions" chapters. They provide insight into Aya's raw emotions and feelings
silently_solitude
I'm glad that Aya is able to cry now, and in front of Shizuki!
5imply_5wt
it's really good to get to know more about ayane and all the things she's going through right now.
sweet_rose_20
poor aya-chan......she has so many things inside of her to deal with.
? ENN ?
Aya's pasts is makes me wanna cry.
a??c a?s?r
It helps us know how ayane is feeling as well as giving us tiny clues
jaeyoungg
i feel so sad for ayane, hving an internal conflict
PSiloveyu
aya...the poor thing =(
rikuu
SO SAD! omg. poor her. poor shizu-chan. POOR EVERYONE.
Chiiikk
poor aya .. after all she is still a woman .. >...<


As I’ve said before, instead of writing ‘Reminiscence’ chapters for Book 2, I decided to make the flashback chapters in a form of a psychiatric session to make things a little different from the usual.

aya_fantasy17
nice research u've done on psychiatric interview.
chocoberryjam*
i liked the intro to the session, it sounded so professional .
kc_chua
Very few authors in Soompi, Winglin, & Fiction Press (or almost close to none) go through the pain of looking up complicated medical books for the sake of making realistic clinical diagnosis or treatments if they're necessary in the story.
I've seen fics (and even movies) where in the characters, for some reason, are brought to the hospital and the doctor in the story explains the condition of the patient, saying info that are not even realistic when you make a real doctor check it up (not that I'm ranting...). But that precisely makes your fic stand out. The fight scenes here may be quite towards the unrealistic side, but that is understandable because it was meant to be like that. However, when it comes to things like medicine/surgery related issues, you bring to us a case that is actually seen in real hospitals. That makes it authentic, and coming from someone who isn't in the medical field, being able to write like this is impressive. Excellent job!


Geez, thanks. I’m happy to hear that I sounded convincing, hehe.

Regarding the research, you’re correct miss kc_chua. I just thought that the fighting scenes of F&L are quite unrealistic – but I wanted it to be like that because I am inspired by movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix, Kill Bill, So Close, and kung fu movies. To make a little diversion from the ‘unrealistic’ fight scenes, I thought that putting realistic elements like the psychiatric sessions, for instance. I wanted to make the diagnosis and treatment as real as possible. I have a pet-peeve regarding unreliable medical information in novels and movies too (There’s a TV show in the Philippines where the lead character is some sort of mermaid. I think she was shot and the freakin’ mermaid was brought to the hospital, and there they performed CPR and blood transfusion ON THE MERMAID. I was… stupefied, hehe. Sweet Jesus, do mermaids have blood-types?).

And now, regarding Crosse Williams - -

RHAINE
their first meeting was sooo kyoot. crosse was such a shy kid.
dreamer88
it was a nice memory of how she met
crosse oh i feel sad now.....
.luckii.
the tearless me is still crying out to crosse. why is his life so sad? WHY DID YOU MAKE IT SO SAD?!
panguyfm
IT WAS SO SWEET HOW THEY MET FOR THE FIRST TIME
HE WAS HER FIRST CRUCH A GOOD FRIEND & COULD HELP HER HEAL HER WOUNDS
s2naomii
i tear up at the name of crosse williams T_T
and aya T_T
chocoberryjam*
i feel sorry for crosse and aya now... their lives have become so twisted. . . Im still waiting on more CROSSE ! !
azn_chick91
how she met CW is soooo cute ^^
x__nga
aww, cute meeting. childhood is an very important factor in psych. i think your doing a great job with the reports, seem real enough for me, although i never seen one before lol. but i took psychology last year, and everything sounds pinpoint.
rufflezz
It's cute the way that Ayane had met Crosse
yamaki_LOVE
0MG awhhh lil Crosse & whaa too cute!!
babii_peach
i love how ayane and crosse met . its totally adorable!
x3_b3b3
its soo cute how Crosse and Aya became friends!
sentuhmentalfo0l
aw the crosse flashback makes me miss him
sweetgirl_121
Hiro u make it hard to hate anyone, don't u? aya and cross first meeting was cute, i still they are more meant for each other.
pie.x3
oh so crosse is mentioned in this session chapter huh? he sounds really sweet as a little boy
iLOVEyunho=)
thats so cute aww!! i reckon shes better off with crosse
bby-aye
so thats how crosse and her met.
MINisVIP
crosse sounds so cute when he was younger, lol.
xradiostarx
i loved the flashback! poor crossee!


I started the narration of Ayane’s childhood with Crosse in the cutest way possible. And yes, it is not just to make you go “Aww, how cute” but to emphasize this fact - -

jaja13
i didn't know that a simple high school love story could turn into THIS!
fuuko-chan
I feel so sad for Ayane. T__T And the flashback of her and Crosse as children made me feel worse. D: Who would've thought that those two innocent kids would end up having so much problems as they grew.

And so, now for the common clamor:

macdoox3
i seriously can't wait when Crosse will meet Ayane face to face.
lenaaa._
I long for the day Crosse and Aya will meet again.
It seems like centuries ..
mangoes-dbsk
I want him to come out now! I want! I want!!
myxlove101
And have more Crosse time, kk? :]
lollipop517
Cant wait for him 2 be more involved in the present!
HYPERGURLY^^
i like kosuke and all but crosse.. he needs some loving too.


Hehe, cough *chapter 40 - * cough

xherodbskx
but I cant believe crosse is evil now T_T
renchew
But crosse's changed so much now =(
qiianer
Actually, I don't believe that Crosse has turned bad. I believe that he's somewhat planning a get back plan too.
cambochinkanese
Things are becoming unfortunate as things get going


Whether he has something in mind or not, that would be revealed later in the story.

Have your ‘shock meters’ ready, hehe.


Other stuff / questions / randomness:


~*BaeSeulGi*~
lin doesnt sound nice......don really like her alot


Chapter 36 would rationalize that part.

anokakoolio
Rei's threat was pretty scaring especially his implying on how people died because of her.


Things people do when they’re angry… and jealous. Yeah, the craziest things…

lil^jenniie
The gang are pushin her to hard I reckon because ... what she been through is more devasting than the others she was on the run most of her teenage years, not be able to be herself. Being portrayed as someone else.


The Silver Crescent has such high expectations for Ayane. Why wouldn’t they? She’s the leader after all – the high and mighty Lady Nu Huang. If you would look back to Book 1, Ayane worked hard to portray a role she wasn’t. The same thing is happening right now, but in a much greater scale.

Things in the gang would get a little crazier in the next chapters. Hold on to your seats, hehe.

pinkslippers
little did she know though, her impending meeting with Kosuke was actually the one driving her forward. each day. each minute. each second. Not to kill as she had always been telling herself, but to finally quench that longing to, at least, see her high school sweetheart. which she had always denied to herself.


Yes, precisely - - as would be emphasized in the next chapter.

W0z13
wait.
so crosse is his son?
waaaaaah? >-<;;
iim so confused = =;;


Crosse is Dmitri Williams’ son. Dmitri Williams is the CEO of the motorcycle corporation in Book 1. And Dmitri Williams is also the same guy whom Lady Nu blackmailed in the earlier chapters of Book 2.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you guys are confused with some parts. I’ll be more than glad to clear things up. *thumbs up*

dreamandlove
OMG!! I love the story...it's just soooo awesome!!!
I read the first part and I'm truly hooked


Hey, welcome to F&L and enjoy your stay!

amandahs
i just realized that you update pretty fast, and your chapter are all fully detailed and are interesting.You must be really good. I guess researching on the topic helps as well.


It helps writing at least 5 chapters in advance. It helps me come up with constant updates without compromising the quality and length.

milk-o
I was just a bit too happy getting to top 5. The retention policy of our school was too high! Did you know that in our 5-unit subject, out of 48 students in the second year, only eight of us passed the required grade quota?! Oh, and add the fact I am running a business and stalking my fave threads here in fanfix (that includes your thread mister)... So it was really such a pleasure to see that all my slacking hardwork paid off... We are now actually down to twenty-two this second semester, so I hope I could maintain things as it is...


Geez, you’re awesome. Law school must be really hard huh? I just had a conversation with my friend via YM (he’s in Ateneo de Manila) and he said that it’s hellish hard, especially Taxation.

sARAnghae_oppa
Their love could have been a great one if it weren't for so many misunderstandings along the way...


But come to think of it, it is because of these trials that fortifies their bond.

gule2
i like both Kosuke and Crosse. I don't want any of them to die or end up hurt. Hiro, please give F&L2 a happy ending!!


Well, we have a long way to go before this story ends. Let’s savor the moments for now, hehe.

littlemisstiny
want to apologise for not being around lately but my exams finished
snowy_life
OMMMGGG~~
SOORRII FOR NOTT REPPLLYYINNGGG FOR ALOOTT
didi-anime
SORRY for my late reply ><
i've just had heaps of work, my yearlies and everything crammed together so didn't have much time but im back now
cuti3gurl
wow i'm VERY late haha. i haven't read the past three chapters until now. the story has gotten SOOOOOO GOOD!


Like I’ve always said, school and real-life matters first before the Internet! Hehe. We never (and will never) require readers to reply chapter after chapter. The fact that you spend a fraction of your time to visit our thread is more than enough for me to appreciate your support. The kind words you leave give me the extra hyena-smile factor though. Man, how I dig them.

Author Notes & Review Replies for
Chapter 36 - Lullaby


This chapter for me was kind of disturbing to write. I'm a self-proclaimed homophobic and I do not enjoy stories with homos on it. It's a choice thing, so no offense to any particular person or fic around here in Soompi. All of us have our own likes and dislikes in this world, you know laugh.gif .

But somehow, perhaps this ‘dislike’ is precisely the reason why I made Yoon's story like this.

littlemisstiny
but even worse that people like this probably do exist in the real world taking advantage of children


^ What could be worse than a gay pedophile molesting 9-year-old male kids?

fuuko-chan
THAT WAS JUST SO NASTY! STUPID PERVERTED PEDOPHILE!
maizakichi
darn..yoon's past is troublesome too~
.luckii.
OMGG~ PEDOPHILIC CHILD, MUCH? THATS FRICKIN DISGUSTING
5imply_5wt
perverted old bastard.. i can't believe he did that to yoon.. * cries in a corner*
xKANA
That perverted old man! >:O He's so disgusting, thank god Kim Yoon Jae took care of him.
azn_chick91
poor yoon jae T.T he had to go through so much
didi-anime
yoon's story is so sad
HYPERGURLY^^
poor yoon!! his past was so sad and sickening.
sweet_rose_20
omg poor kim yoon jae..........had to go through all that
myxlove101
That's disgusting. That pedophile. Should have died years ago~
~~PuhPuhMuh~~
poor yoon
cambochinkanese
Yoon seriously has been through too much hardships; it's a good thing he's started fresh with Spectra.
silently_solitude
Goodness gracious!!!! What a scary yucky man!! And that poor Yoon! Ugh. The Spectra is really pissing me off!
qiianer
That Mr Han is a sick man okay!
Forget the fact that he's gay, but did he have to attack CHILDREN?!
PSiloveyu
this chapter put me in massive shock mode. the sick, disgusting, perverted, pedophile ==" poor pooor poorr yoon TT_____TT"
iLOVEyunho=)
poor yoon
babii_peach
who would hav thought. eurghh pedos man. seriously how could they?
amandahs
we got to know more about yoon
benchi101
NO! Yoon was harassed by a pervy ugly pedophile!!! TT^TT I feel so bad for him! I want to murder Mr. Han!!!!!!!
s2naomii
disgusting pedophile . . and aweeeeeeeeeeee yoon jae
Denied86
That was just depressing...
Chiiikk
wow .. yoon >..< poor him
fangirlism
IT was like an episode of Law & Order: SVU! Holy crap. D: <
~*BaeSeulGi*~
that Han guy is pure disgusting..........ewwwwwwww



Disgusting, true. Not only that, I’d like to emphasize. He came from a poor family, sold to a stranger at age six, molested at nine, witnessed the death of SangHun (the 14 year old kid who tried to save him and the other kids when they were nine), murdered a lot of people (including Mr. Han) in the bomb explosion and joined the Silver Crescent at age seventeen.

A little too much?

yamaki_LOVE
Poor Yoon his story is the saddest T-T I'm glad Lin realizes what she said to Yoon! & gosh he is smart!!
macdoox3
Yoon's past is truly one filled with pain. It makes me said thinking about it.
jusplainmeh
I don't care about any other of the silver crescent member's history. None of them can be as heartwretching as Yoon's...
kc_chua
I actually think that Yoon's past is a lot more brutal than Ayane's, given the fact that he was molested by a gay pedophile!


^ I’m happy that a number of people pointed this fact out, because this is precisely what I was trying to unveil through this chapter. Although Chapter 36 seemed to be merely one of those flashback chapters regarding a ‘minor’ character’s past, this narration aims to stress out a few facts:

1) Yoon’s past is dreadful… perhaps even more dreadful than the rest of the Silver Crescent, including Ayane herself.
2) Yoon never once showed he was bothered
3) Yoon never once ‘bragged’ about his past

And so…

RHAINE
i still hate Lin. its not like shes the only one who has been through all that shi*. i bet the others wouldnt have joined if they didnt have a reason. its not like they think lifes meaningless and they just want to jeopardize it for fun. dur. think lin THINK. LOLOL. im overreacting xD
w00dchild.jnR
I don't like Lin. She's selfish and spoiled and she thinks she's the only one that is hurt. Doesn't she realise that all the Silver Crescent are scarred? She's so bitter and unreasonable. She might be good at fighting, and maybe her mother was killed by Spectra, but everyone else also experienced terrible things. It's so unreasonable. That's so sad... I feel bad for Yoon ><
rufflezz
Lin shouldn't accuse her friends like that ):
But I guess now she knows the stories behind them all, or most of them.
sweetgirl_121
and here were Iam thinking that yoon was annoying that poor kid, I'm seeing him in very different light. now both lin and aya should be a shame, throwing all the fits like nobody was hurt as them when some were hurt really beyond their imagination.


Now, with Lin knowing this fact, Yoon somehow indirectly became her ‘means’ of re-assessing her actions and realizing her own mistakes.

noona
good that lin and ayane made up^^
sentuhmentalfo0l
i'm glad that lin apologized. i feel like she was being selfish
x3_b3b3
and its a good thing that Lin and Ayane made up. AND IT WAS SOO CUTE THAT LIN RAN OUT!~ keke
bee21192
even though a greater part was about yoon, lin is the one that really touched my heart.. i'm glad to see that the silver crescent gang knows when to get together and stand up for, or better, WITH each other..
renchew
Its good that lin understands everything now !
blah.blah.blah
Yay! Aya is forgiven!
puppaluppa
auw how cute Lin just ran out like that haha
xradiostarx
im glad that lin had understood things and hopefully everything will work out
macdoox3
I'm so happy that Lin apologized to Aya-chan. Finally I can see the friendship they share on a deeper level. And I'm sure Aya-chan can figure something out where ALMOST everybody is happy. She's smart, she can figure things out. ^^


By looking not only at the plot but the ‘motive’ behind the plot, we would see that this chapter aimed to show not just how characters commit mistakes but how they struggle to ‘rebuild broken bridges’. In this case, Lin realized her mistake of being too harsh with her judgment towards other people and her ‘crying over spilled milks’. True that her past was horrible too, but she finally realized that she’s not the only person shattered in the gang - everyone is, including the person alongside her who does nothing but smile.

Ayane also has almost the same flaw as Lin for Book 2 now that she has begun ‘calculating’ her good deeds to justify her actions in the present. She would find herself thinking about how good things would be with Kosuke as if totally forgetting about the task set on her shoulders. She is torn between playing heroine and playing the girl-in-love. This is to be fixed not only by Shizuki, but also by herself.

I like this comment by miss nganrinat0r:

nganrinat0r
it seems that the Silver Crescent is made up of exceptional people yet the most unexpected; aya, inititally the daughter of someone who manufactures cars while Yoon is the son of a poor family. their challenges in life made them the exceptional people they are. they are also strong due to barriers that they can relate and created; Yoon and his smile while aya and her fake identities.


^ Precisely. Ayane’s fake identities as Miyazawa Aya and Lady Nu Huang (and as Mei Lee) and Choi Woo Seok (Yoon)’s new name and smile are their self-made defenses.

simpleangel
I liked how he creeped Mr. Han out with his smile.
strawberrylova79
cant imagine that he was *shiver* the story for his never ending smiles/giggles is so sad
supergeek;3
Yoon's past made me go O____O he had such a terrible, and hard life yet he's still able to smile like that.
dreamer88
that´s why he smiles all the time it made me cry
renchew
Ahh i love yoon and his smile =)
bloo
...his smiles and goofy attitude definitely concealed his dark past well.
chocoberryjam*
WAHH!! what a sad story... hidden behind a smile i never knew Yoon would have such a . . . X_X past...
MINisVIP
and the fact that he smiles all the time to cover up his sadness/anger/upset is so.. i don't know how to say it, but it's kinda sad. WHY IS EVERYONE'S PAST SO COMPLICATED?!?!?!??!!?!?
jaeyoungg
i love this chpt though it's suppose to be sad =x cos i get to know better abt yoon, and i think he is becoming one of my fav char in F&L2 ;DDD
lollipop517
I've always loved him and now i love him even more! Bless! He's had such a hard time! Atleast it's made him stronger tho!


These uncanny defense-mechanisms may make them seem insane and frail at times, but these defenses show that they are human, desperately struggling to survive/escape from their own traumas

gule2
It's something that finally bring me closer to Silver Cresent's members.
pinkslippers
i hope Silver Crescent would be one again--one in friendship, one in taking revenge.
bby-aye
it seems like the crescent gang is coming back together.


Seems like it… but there’s still someone to worry about - - Rei.

This leads us to this:

macdoox3
I think, the complicated past that everyone in the crescent gang is what connects them, bind them and somehow divide them. The division, i think, is because of the different views.


I’m glad with the fact that you pointed out how the gang members have such diverse views and priorities when it comes to revenge. For Lin, revenge is getting rid of the Spectra in the soonest time possible. For Rei, he initially wanted to get rid of the Spectra to avenge her mother, but somehow his new anger towards Kosuke overrides this previous motive. Now, he wants to exterminate the Spectra including Kosuke so that he can have Ayane for himself. For Yoon, he wanted revenge against the Spectra because of the abuse he got when he was still a child, but he doesn’t take things as seriously as he ought to be because his defense-mechanism of smiling seemingly mask his true feelings. And so, he is misunderstood. For Ayane, she wanted to get rid of the Spectra, but at the same time protect Kosuke.

What about Chris?

milk-o
How about Chris? I think I'd wanna know about him too.
lil^jenniie
Chris sounds like a nice guy. I havent heard of him much since this chapter.
pie.x3
oh and chris seems to have alot of trust in ayane and it makes me feel like she's gonna have a comeback with this super awesome plan XD i'm looking forward to it
jinx1791
..go chris!!..woot!!..woot!!..
..such a nice man..a very transparent person..
..he didn't take any sides..he even makes things better and let them realize bout the situation..
..he's so smart..i started to like him and i know more if him now..
linnienguyen
i wonder what chris's past is too


Can’t say much about Chris at this point. But definitely you’ll read about his story soon.

Given these facts, this leads us to another reason behind writing Chapter 36 as it is - -

blurr
this adds a whole new meaning to "Spectra"
kawaii999
My disgust for spectra has been taken to a whole other level.
shamansha
Ughh stupid spectra! they do nothing but ruin everyones lives!


Yes, it is to again emphasize how POWERFUL the Spectra Gang is. They have a faction in Korea, meaning they have even more groups all over the world. They run drug laboratories, manufacture and sell illegal drugs and weapons, runs wh*re houses and casinos, host illegal street racing, and now even buy and abuse children. The Spectra gang is not just about dealing with an exchange of immature and petty deals or arguments like “This is my territory” or “I’ll beat you down because you beat my men”. They’re powerful, they’re rich, and they’re evil.

But then again, there are still LOTS of things about the Spectra that have not been written yet.

Hang on to your seats, hehe.



Other questions / stuff / randomness:

Sungminnnie
I was wondering, how old Yoon is right now?


Yoon is 21 right now. He joined the Silver Crescent when he was 17 years old. Chris recruited him in via the command of Ayane.

sweetgirl_121
i reread the chapter, am I missing something? weren't the Silver Crescent in for replacing aya with rei? how come Chris is rooting for ayane and asking for lin to understand her? so she is still the boss?


Ayane is still the boss. Remember how he kicked the ass*s of those people who tried to oust her? She threatened them all in Chapter 34 –

QUOTE
“If any of you wishes to be the new boss of the Silver Crescent,” I declaimed. “I suggest you come and try…”
“… that is IF anyone of you would dare to stop me.”

I placed my nunchaku back into my pocket, “Otherwise, no other person will lead the Silver Crescent except ME.”


anokakoolio
The Sae-ya Sae-ya song was song haunting. ONe of the people who sang that song had such a haunting voice that it was scary but beautiful.
Silent Serenity
And I tried playing the song in YouTube too and omg the song is creepy..... in a sense, lol.


I tried looking for a song that had that 'eerie effect'. Hehe, it’s probably inspired by the Hotel 626 game scene where you sing a lullaby to the baby. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can click on my sig. Freaky, hell.

sarw
this fic ROOCKS

Geez, thanks… Hehe.

sARAnghae_oppa
I was wondering how you came up with this story. The plot is very complicated and none of the conflicts repeat themselves even when there was a prequel. I think you're so awesomely talented as an author. Ook That's it=)


It’s hard to describe exactly how I came up with Fists and Lipsticks. Probably it’s the way I could draw out inspiration out of anything under the sun (glow-in-the-dark stars because I really have them in my room since I was a kid, cookies because I was eating cookies when I made that chapter, Santa Clause because Christmas is coming pretty soon, wedding gowns because I happened to pass by a really beautiful one when I was strolling around a shopping mall, locked doors (hehe, I’d leave that to your imagination), lipsticks (because Zhang ZiYi is the model of Maybelline),… etc) and twist them into something that would fit the story.

A specific technique I do in order to string the events is to center the plot of each chapter around the chapter title. So you’ll notice that the chapters of F&L2 individually seem like a series of interconnected one-shots. I don’t cut the chapters just because another scene is about to start or just because I think that the chapter is getting too long or just because I wanted to leave a cliffhanger.

Another specific thing I do is that I make some sort of flowchart of events. Helps me track which scene comes next. If a new idea pops in my head, I insert them wherever they fit.

I also pre-write chapters before posting so that I can still change some parts where some inconsistencies may ensue.

eternal_bliss
anyone care to tell me if Crosse came back yet? It seems like I missed a lot....


Yup, he’s back.

jenibeth
it takes me almost a month to catch up with this fic, im glad i finally did!heheh
well, i love everything about your story, its kinda different from the other stories i have read!


Hey, welcome miss jenibeth. Enjoy your stay with us!

mangoes-dbsk
And, you changed your signature? Funny for me to notice. I don't remember your signature to be like that last time. And about that Hotel 626 thingy... isn't it on the soompi humor section? I go around that section a lot. I told my sister to play it. My sis thinks that we have to take photos of ghost? We can't play bcuz we have no webcam. Mind telling me what it's about?


Yeah, you have to take a picture of a drifting ghost and sing a zombie baby a lullaby. Freaky but cool, that’s why I’m recommending it.

Funny that I received PMs asking me if I started a new fic, hehe. Hotel 626 isn’t a new story by me. It’s a Flash game brought by Doritos.

Linnsterr
sorry lately alot been going on & i don't have time to comment
or read. but after this week -- i will catch up then ima leave you a really really long COMMENT =D


Hehe, it’s okay. Take your time.

kc_chua
More and more people should try reading something NEW here in Soompi and this is the story to read!


Thanks miss kc_chua. Although it could be really hard to gain new readers nowadays, especially when they find out that we still have a prequel and that I use Japanese names instead of Korean. Add to it the fact that F&L is quite different from Soompi fics. Let's admit that a greater fraction of readers like the ‘cliché ones’ more than the ‘weird ones’.

And yes, F&L is one of the weird ones, hehe.

That’s why I’m especially thankful to the new readers. I really appreciate how you spent a fraction of your time to give this ‘weird fic’ a shot.

milk-o
Hiro, kapag tinanggal ako ni Meia sa PM list, babalatan kita! Wahahaha! Kidding!


WAAAAAA! Wag po…………


Speaking of...

This brings us again to the common question / PM:

ARE YOU REALLY FILIPINO HIRO?!

Yes, I'm Filipino hehe.

I'm not a pure blood, though. I'm half-Chinese. But I'm a US Citizen.




Monday, November 03, 2008

Author Note for Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent: Chapter 32 onwards

Author Note for Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent:
Chapter 32 onwards


It’s time to push the story forward…

… and as we end the “Romance Overload Chapters” a.k.a Chapter 21-31, we now go deeper into the story – to uncover secrets of the Silver Crescent & Spectra Gang, re-meet ‘old characters’ (*cough* earrings *cough*), and develop the characters either positively or negatively.

From here on, things may get a little bloodier, little confusing, and a little towards the mystery side of the fic. Not that I will completely remove the comedy and romance, but I find it necessary to put the mystery/action/drama side of F&L to the top of the list as far as this section of the story is concerned.

Upon reading the reviews left by the readers so far, I think I’m getting just about the right feedback I was expecting. I’m glad that people actually noted the drastic change in Ayane (some have actually started ‘hating’ her at this point of the story… ‘hating’ even Kosuke for his perseverance… while some are ‘hating’ Rei for his excessive jealousy and rage to the point of calling Ayane selfish… ‘hating’ Yuken for his excessive stealth… ‘hating’ Saori for her annoying attitude… ‘hating’ Prime Minister Yamazaki Daisuke for his evil doings as the Spectra Lord).

Now, I believe that this would be the part where you could actually look back to Book 1 of Fists and Lipsticks, where Ayane was once introduced as the ‘kind-hearted, almost-perfect, beautiful, courageous, self-giving/selfless’ girl – so good at everything, so nice, so pure… This is where she starts to ascend to her ‘breaking point’, some sort of ‘release’ to crush each of these sweet seeds one by one. And yes, this is part of the character’s so-called ‘negative development’.

Same goes for the opposite. Remember that point in time when you used to hate Crosse Williams and Ayanami Fuuko in Book 1? -#-evil grin-#-

But Ayane would not be the only one trapped between the raging wars between the two powerful gangs. Mistakes would be made, jealousy would start the fire in its summit, wide smiles would turn into tears, and remorse and guilt would be sowed all over again. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

I have actually written five chapters in advance (like I always do) and looking at the plot from where it is right now, I would see to it that every event that would unfold would not be unjustifiably “too much” for Ayane and Kosuke. Like in F&L 1, as much as possible, I make sure that there is a reason behind each event, and so, if the events become too much, chase me down with a frying pan, hehe… No seriously, if things go overboard, tell me what you think and I MAY consider it – not unless ‘that’ event is linked to something else I have in mind that has yet to be revealed. If they do, just forgive me for a while. Hehe.

I’m really grateful for all the support you readers have been giving this humble fic, especially the old loyal readers. I’m also very thankful for the new readers (the fact that there’s a Book 1 prior to Book 2 so it’s quite unusual/rare nowadays to gain new readers because of the burden of having to read a 600+ page Book 1 just to catch up with the story). Despite having gone through that burden, the warm welcome and appreciation and the boost you’ve been giving me to finish this story had been beyond overwhelming. Geez, I could only scratch my head and say thanks. I wanted to send you all some Tootsie Rolls, but Yoon might tease me so yeah… maybe not. Perhaps you can all come to my wedding? Haha.

Regarding Chapter 32, I consider this as one of my ‘transition chapters’, although I’ve dropped some really good clues here that MAY be useful in the future chapters. Definitively not going to anyone’s list of favorite chapters, but hey… as I said, we need to push the story from here on – and this chapter offers that ‘initial’ push.

Also, I’d like to take this chance to thank Miss Rebekah (from LA Youth Newspaper), Miss Andy (from the Mirror – CSA School Publication), Miss Polly9 (from LiveJournal), and Miss Megan (from AZ Teen Magazine) for their kind mention of Fists and Lipsticks in their newspaper/magazine/blog reviews.

Big thanks!

-Hiro

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Chapter 21 - 31 a.k.a. "Romance Overload Chapters" Uploaded

Well guys, we just reached the end of the Romance Overload chapters. I hope it wasn't bad and didn't bore you to death from cheesiness, hehe.

The plan was to build up the Kosuke-Ayane relationship in a whole new level in merely a month's span. The process came difficult for me, coz I had to squeeze the events in merely ten chapters. I wanted to write it in a manner that would not seem rushed, for I aim for that "beautiful" character development and transition as far as the two characters are concerned.

In contrast to Book 1 of F&L where the romance chapters were mainly composed of 'cuteness' and 'high schooly' love, I created this in a way that catered to all aspects of love -
cuteness + corniness + hilarity + clever/witty + sexy + passionate. Again, this process did not come easy as well. I had some of the chapters re-done several times as to create the perfect balance and chemistry. I also had to go to a real hotel to picture out the setting (with Meia? Hehe, I'll leave that to your imagination).

And the *cough cough* sex scenes *cough cough* were the most difficult to do, hehe. I had Chapter 30 and 31 revised more than 5 times. I wanted it to turn out in such a way that the readers would end up smiling with the unfolding of events, not laughing at the way it was written. Above all, as much as possible I wanted to avoid writing them "by the fluid" (a.k.a. no unnecessary mention of human organs, 'burning rods', 'red flowers', and 'goo' - those shit, hehe... sorry to other authors...)

Well, we now proceed to the deeper parts of the story. The old folks are going to make a come back, new secrets to discover, new problems, new love teams, and more more more action.

To the readers, thank you for your continued support! I guess I couldn't possibly come up with this story without your honest feedback and encouragement.

-hiro

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks PDF Version 4.0 Released

Due to insistent public demand, here's the long overdue COMPLETE downloadable version of Fists and Lipsticks Book 1.

Here's the download link - http://www.mediafire.com/?y2iwx0mqmy0

This PDF can only be downloaded through this link. Any other link or re-uploads in other website is considered an unauthorized copy, therefore illegal distribution. Inform us right away if you've seen this story somewhere else.

This file is shared and archived in Soompi and Shoebox. Feel free to spread the link, but again, no re-uploads please.

DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. The sky shall punish he who defies this law with death... -#-evil laughter-#-

===========
A/N on F&L2:

"Romance overload" chapters are about to end... Well, time for some action folks! Thanks for your continued support

-The Author

Monday, September 01, 2008

What's up with Lady Nu's "Emo-ness" ?

I've been receiving tons of emails, PMs, signed & unsigned reviews both from Fictionpress & Soompi regarding the 'terrible things' I've been doing to Ayane and Kosuke. Guys, I still wanted to do so many things in my life like get married, have kids, become an astronaut... so please don't kill me yet! AHHH!

Anyway, kidding aside...

Regarding the question about why Ayane was acting the way she was -
Why was she acting so "emo"? Why can't she just get over it and be with Kosuke and forget everything else? Why does she have to make her life and love-life so overly-dramatic with the way she acts? Why does she have to react that way? Why does she have to deny that she was Ayane? Why can't she just blurt out that "Hey, I'm your Aya-chan!". If she wanted revenge, why can't she just kill Daisuke? Why is Kosuke on the kill list?

Lots of questions, huh? Told you, I'm the Brain Fryer, hehe.

I couldn't answer those questions straight up, but instead, let me point out several things to you that may answer your confusion a bit - -

Fact # 1
If Ayane told Kosuke as early as now that she is Ayane and just live happily ever after, F&L2 will be over before it even reaches the climax! Before killing me, please let me have the opportunity to bring out the stuff I have on my 'secret box' gradually. Besides, if I came up with such 'rushed' ending/conclusion to F&L as early as now, you would surely be left hanging with all the questions unanswered.

Fact # 2
Remember that Ayane is currently suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In the reader's perspective, her reasons may seem 'dense' - - I understand that it may make readers think that "...she's so stupid... Why does she have to go emo like that when she can just tell him that she's Ayane and live happily ever after...". But if you would consider this fact along with those terrible things that have happened to her in the past, it is only logical that her fear and guilt affects her ability to make decisions. That's why if you have noticed, I emphasize that each time she and Kosuke meets, she kinda goes 'out of her mind'. Her 'assassination mission' was going well in Chapter 14: Lost Memories, but when Kosuke appeared, she suddenly goes *blamm!*.

Fact # 3
Remember that Yamazaki Daisuke is now the Prime Minister of Japan. Meaning, he's now more powerful - - a lot more powerful than before. The Spectra is under Kosuke's command now, but even though this is the case, Daisuke is still the 'big guy' over the gang <---- WHY? I can't reveal the reason for now. I can't elaborate because it may spoil some things that should be revealed on the pending chapters, but here's the thing - Daisuke is still 'technically' the Grand Boss of the Spectra gang... and at the same time, he is also the leader of the entire Japan.

That makes him twice or even thrice as powerful.


And as I've mentioned in the chapter where Nami finally confessed that she is not Kosuke's real mother, she told Kosuke that Daisuke made him take over the gang because it was part of his revenge - to make Kosuke the leader of the very gang his real parents started, meaning:

1) He has to undergo the pressure of being the leader
2) It was in his job description to kill - to transform into a person he's not
3) He was made to take over despite his unwillingness
4) He had to suffer by going through all these ^
5) Daisuke has just successfully made his ultimate revenge upon Gendou and Lily Akiyama (Kosuke's real parents) - - making their own son suffer.

And knowing these, this brings us to Fact # 4 . . .

Fact # 4
Because Yamazaki Daisuke is twice or thrice as powerful than before, even the Silver Crescent couldn't just jump onto him and kill him that easily. And so, as the leader of the Silver Crescent, Ayane formulated a 'grand scheme' to take down the Spectra as stealthily as they could. If you have noticed, they have been doing things gradually - killing important affiliates first, raiding storages, assassinating more affiliates, hacking into their computer systems... all these rather than going straight to Daisuke to kill him, because she knows that doing so would not be as easy as it seems even though she can fight better than Bruce Lee, Jet Li, or Lara Croft. This way, it would be like taking down the foundations of a building first rather than bringing the whole structure down in one blow, which was basically impossible, granted that they were battling against another big gang.

I do hope you get the picture... Makes it more realistic, eh?

But the other big question is... Why is Kosuke on the 'kill list' of the Silver Crescent?

Fact # 5
Kosuke IS the NEW leader of the Spectra Gang. Even though he seems like a puppet of Daisuke, he is where he is. I couldn't expound on this yet because it would be another major spoiler if I say as early as now the reason why Ayane 'had' to include him in the kill list.

But hey, if Kosuke has been in the 'kill list' for such a long time now, why aren't the Silver Crescent killing him yet when they all have their chances? Besides, he's been out in the open too often, unguarded and leisurely going around... For the reason, let's just say that it has something to do with Fact # 4 ^ (doing the revenge plan 'gradually').

Not satisfied with the reasoning in Fact # 4?

Hehe.

Well, if you're good, that alone gives you a clue...


Next stuff - - Why can't Ayane just tell Kosuke that she IS Ayane?

Fact # 6
One symptom of someone suffering from post-traumatic disorder is 'denial' and 'diversion from self'. If you have noticed, Ayane has gone through a drastic personality change. She has transformed into a completely different person, yet somewhere inside her was longing to find her true self.

I read an almost similar psychological case from a medical journal from my research and I kind of applied it to Ayane's case - that because of her sudden 'shift' to a persona that she isn't, she begins to become confused of who she really is. The result is that she has been acting as different personas ("multiple/split personalities") - sometimes she act as a really cruel gang leader. One time, she acted like a child at such daze during the "glow-in-the-dark-stars" Sessions chapter. Then on one chapter, she was drinking and drinking while willfully telling Shizuki of her past. One chapter, she was dancing so gracefully that no one would think that she's the same person as the gang leader, that she's the same person that was at daze with the glow-in-the-dark stars chapter, that she was that drunken girl...

This psychiatric condition + her guilt + her sadness + her hatred + her grand revenge plan = FACT # 2

You could imagine the overwhelming emotions swarming inside her.

Now, I ask you - - Who wouldn't go insane?

And that's why she couldn't tell Kosuke that she's Ayane. It's not because she's emo, or because she's being too dramatic... She could not tell him because she wasn't mentally capable of doing so, even though inside her, she was screaming "I AM AYANE!".

And Shizuki's role in this story is to fix this mess ^ .

And besides, if she did tell him that she is indeed Ayane, there would be no need for me to write Chapter 21-30 - the much awaited romance chapters, hehehe...



^ So there, I hope those things I've written spared my life, hehe.

Thank you for your continuous support! If you have more questions, don't hesitate to PM/e-mail/message me in Fictionpress, Hotmail, or Soompi.

-hiro

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Chapter 19: Perfection

Meeting number 2 up! No room for the good old amnesia bombs this time...

Chapter 19 in Fictionpress and Soompi

I'm happy to have completed the 'emo' part of the stories (well, nearly complete - there's still Sessions Part 4).

As much as possible, in this chapter, I'd like to emphasize the overwhelming emotions of guilt, hatred, helplessness, frailty, and imperfection of Yoshida Ayane. This is part of the contrast between F&L 1 and 2. This is sort of like an ascend to how things have gotten complicated, then later as we go on, we'll fix these things little by little by revelations left and right. I think that writing the chapter in first person really made it work, although I am still having a hard time doing so. I did not want her to sound whiny or 'incessantly miserable'. I wanted Ayane to tell her thoughts in such a way that she sounds 'tough', yet once you read between the lines, you'll actually see that she's very much shattered inside.

Now, time to lighten things up a bit for chapter 21-30. I have bad news for Crosse fans though... I don't think he'll be coming out in 21-30 yet.

-hiro

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Chapter 18: Costumes uploaded

The Olympic season has finally come to an end, hehe.

I brought Meia to the airport an hour ago. Geez, talk about a massive crowd. I've never seen the airport as crowded as that. But everyone, you have to see the Chinese Airport. Gotta be one of the best airports around the globe.

Anyway, regarding Chapter 18 - tons of revelations up for grabs for Kosuke, although most of these have been exposed already in F&L 1; however, I revealed something here in this chap - another 'branch of the family tree'. Yep, they're siblings...

It has been revealed here also what Ayane and Lin have been practicing for... and for the next chaps - I bet romance fans would love the next bunch of chapters, hehe. I've done angst, action, drama, and bits of comedy for the earlier chapters. So, time for some thrilling romance, I guess (Don't tell me I didn't warn you) ... The next chapters (after Sessions Part 4) would be something that Ayane-Kosuke fans would enjoy.

And holy crap, my internet is like doomed in deep sh*t. Yahoo takes around a minute to download. You can imagine how long it takes for Hotmail / Fictionpress / Soompi to open. Maybe those massive fireworks zoomed to some communication wire or something...

Oh, thanks for dropping by... and thanks for reading F&L.

-hiro

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Chapter 17: Cookies & New Chapter 3-5 for F&L 1 uploaded

Yes, the chapter is entitled 'Cookies' because I'm eating cookies right now. The original title was supposed to be 'Revelation' but I thought that it was too big of a word for the chapter, so yeah, cookies, that is...

And another yes, this is another transition chapter, but if you would notice, I dropped quite a number of clues in this chapter. Clues to what? Well, look closely, hehe.

Kosuke gets to hear a big shock in this chapter too. What is the reason behind Yamazaki Nami's involvement? That would be revealed in the latter chapters when Ayane talks about the contents of the Silver Disk in the next Sessions chapters, specifically the account written on Yoshida Akira's diary.

Chapter 3 - 5 of Fists and Lipsticks 1 has been re-written. It was a hard work, really... Revising stuff that was too long and horrendous upon second read... I remedied the chapters into better ones, but it would be perfect still. More revisions needed!

Cheers and enjoy!

-hiro

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Prologue for Fists and Lipsticks Book 1 Uploaded

As I've said, I'm currently doing massive revisions in Fists and Lipsticks Book 1, specifically Chapter 1-30 (which, upon re-reading it... I found abhorrently horrendous...)

I also added a prologue. Feel free to check it out both in Fictionpress and Soompi.

I've also uploaded the 'new' Chapter 1, but still I'm not fully satisfied with it. Maybe it WILL undergo another round of revisions. I don't know... The whole thing just does NOT sound right for me.

Also, I'm pulling out the .DOC version from Soompi temporarily until further notice. It has something to do with the massive revisions, so yeah, the next DOC version I'd upload would be the COMPLETE one. My target is within the next two weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Chapter 16: Loyalty

For me, honestly, this was supposed to be a boring transition chapter. To avoid such utterly horrendous and boring transition chapter, I added up some Yoon bits into it to make it rather amusing at some point.

Nothing much to say, except that I thank you for reading F&L and for your continuous support ^_^. Sorry if I give poorly-written author replies compared to other writers in Fictionpress and Soompi. It's just that after reading your comments, I end up grinning like a hyena, and then I would totally go blank, speechless... -_-

Meia was telling me - "Hiro, you should give author replies to each one! If I were your reader, I would love to see you responding to my posts and will continue reading your work!"

I need an anti-hyena-grin pill. Someone give me a anti-hyena-grin pill!

Anyway, regarding F&L1 by the way, I am re-writing Chapter 1-30 of Book 1 of Fists and Lipsticks. This is to make the first part of the fic more captivating to read, less on the 'anime-ish' side and a little more to a type that is acceptable in 'book standards', if you know what I mean. After rereading the first few chapters, I really wasn't satisfied. It felt like reading a monotonous comic book... I dunno, all of a sudden I am not satisfied with it. I got bored reading my own work, hehe... So I'm doing a massive revision, yeah... The plot will be the same still, same with the events, but some speaking lines and the descriptions may be changed a little. I'm still thinking whether to pull out or to leave the Onion Emoticons on, or maybe lessen them a bit... But after writing Chapter 16, I think it's more hilarious letting them stay at some point... I have to think about that.

Anyway, thanks again for reading F&L...

-hiro

Friday, August 08, 2008

F&L Chapter 15 - Sessions

A chapter spanning 3000+ words...

And yes, the 'love-web' is now complete.

I told you...

You wouldn't be able to guess it was HIM, hehe.

So yeah, things would be rather twisted from this point on... really twisted, but I'll do my best to make sense out of everything.

The question is why Yuken? Well... you have to read on. The other question is how Yuken was able to 'make it out' of the Lethal Lily amnesic effect that time Yoon attacked him? Well... I can't reveal that yet either.

And I decided to show the 'serious, gangster-ish' side of the goofy little Korean bomber: Yoon ^_^

And why did I update? It's because I just got home from the Olympics opening ceremony and heck whoah omfg combined really...

(Sorry for the quality of the two pictures above ^.
They were taken via mobile phone)





I haven't witnessed anything as marvelous as that! It was awesome, especially the mandolin players (who were directly below our seat btw) and the lighting of the torch. It was one of those moments when you just can't help but drop your jaw in awe and feel the goosebumps from head to toe.

In case you're wondering, I have the habit of pre-writing 5 chapters in advance, that's why sometimes updates are too fast and sometimes not too fast. I've already finished up to Chapter 18 though, just 3 chapters in advance for today since I was too eager to post a chapter today. It must have been the Olympic spirit, hehe.

-hiro

Thursday, August 07, 2008

F&L2 - Chapter 13 & 14 uploaded

^ New poster by the way. Photo used with permission from Kevin Tze of Flickr.


Two quickly uploaded chapters as a pre-Olympic treat ^_^

F&L2 Chapter 13 in Fictionpress and Soompi

F&L2 Chapter 14 in Fictionpress and Soompi

The original plan was to put chapter 13 and 14 together, but it would be impossible because of the length so I decided to cut them into two chapters.

The concept of these chapters was to stress the big contrast between Ayane's seemingly 'split' personality. Chapter 13 talks of a tough Ayane while Chapter 14 shows a frail person behind her seemingly impenetrable shields.

And yes, finally they meet but... hehe.

People, don't kill me. I can't finish this story and I can't watch the Olympics if you kill me now, you know... LOL

I had a hard time in Chapter 14. First, the first-person narration (which is in a female's POV by the way) came a little difficult for me. I had to re-write several lines to make them more feminish.

Second, I had to edit a lot of colors while fixing the post in Soompi.
Those [b] and [/center] stuff to format the whole thing came pretty hard, since there were a lot of lines delivered from the Spider Web. I had to color the speaking lines to demarcate them from the actual scenes.

Lastly, it has been always difficult to write an action scene. Like you have to describe how they move, how they kick, how they punch, how they glide and point their guns... It was a lot different from F&L - the feel of writing this chapter. I only had the chance to describe fight scenes with such animation with the Keiko chapters nearing the end. But here in F&L, since we have a new Empress, we had to expect more action chaps... *SIGH*. Writing action fics is a lot harder than writing fantasy and dramas, you know... I hope I did justice to F&L2 at least...

But the conflicts and deception are just about to start. For the next chapter, I will unfold the last love rival on the 'love web' I've been talking about.

You'll never know who it is, hehehehe...

Thank you for reading F&L. I also noticed that there are new readers too, so yeah, welcome and hope you enjoy your stay.

-hiro

Sunday, August 03, 2008

F&L2 - Chapter 11 & 12 uploaded

The Olympics is fast approaching. I'm excited, hehe...

Anyway, back to the fics, here are the links:

F&L2 Chapter 11 - Vodka, Champagne, & Tequila Cocktails in Fictionpress & Soompi
F&L2 Chapter 12 - Lethal Lilies in Fictionpress & Soompi

I really don't know what to say except thank you for taking the time to read F&L. I've said this a million times I know, but it just feels great to say it often... So yeah, thanks!

By the way, for Chapters 11-20, there would be a... let's say... rather shocking twist. So prepare for that *evil grin*. It has something to do with a "new" villain - a part of the 'love web' I was talking about. Remember that I said once that there's another character in the web besides Aya, Kosuke, Crosse, Saori, and Rei? Well... there... hehe. That's all I can say for now.

The much anticipated Aya-Kosuke meeting? We're getting to that part. It's not too near, but not to far either.

Again, TY for dropping by and enjoy!

-hiro

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks 2: 8, 9, 10 uploaded

I have been updating pretty quick recently because I MIGHT be gone for a week because Meia arrived here in China yesterday. We'll be going around places for vacation, hehe.

F&L2-CH08 in Fictionpress and Soompi
F&L2-CH09 in Fictionpress and Soompi
F&L2-CH10 in Fictionpress and Soompi

Chapter 8 is the chapter that Yoon fans would love. I apologize for the lousy Korean parts or if they are wrong or if they sound ridiculous. Meia just found the translations in Babelfish. Special thanks to people in Soompi for helping me correct some parts (luckii, bee, cmacaronee, and woodchild.jnr).

Chapter 9 contains the deal between Ayane and Mr. Williams. In writing this chapter, I made her as intimidating as she could be, from her clothes down to her manner of speech. I wanted that 'startle' factor with a mix of tension, angst, and sarcasm. Also, I made it as such to demark the great difference between her outer self and her 'lost self'... a transition between this chapter to the next one - Sessions Part 2

Chapter 10 contains the second day of Ayane's theraphy session with Shizuki. Aside from this, you would be given a little glimpse of what happened in the airport that night Ayane escaped from Japan with a certain Yoshifumi Shigeo (in Fists and Lipsticks Book 1). A little warning though... Meia cried after reading this chapter, hehe.

Thank you for reading F&L!

-hiro

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Silver Crescent Chapter 6,& 7 uploaded

Lately, I've been really lazy updating my writing blog. Will someone please hit me on the head?

OUCH!

Anyway, here -

Chapter 6 in Fictionpress & Soompi
Chapter 7 in Fictionpress & Soompi

Well, Chapter 6 must be the most hated chapter of the Anti-Saori Club hehe... It just proves that my writing is effective in relaying that feeling. I created Saori's character to cause such pester and annoyance, not only to the characters but also to the readers. Bad news is, you're going to read more of her in the succeeding chapters.

Chapter 7 named 'Orders' particulary offers a glimpse of how Kosuke and Ayane are as 'gang leaders'. There would be an appearance of Dmitri Williams in this chapter too, and a face off between Nu Huang and the doubtful Yuken, who has turned into a professional photographer as you have read.

Who is Ayane meeting? Lots have been speculating that she's meeting Crosse... Well, let's see in the next chapter who that person will be (hehehe...)

-hiro

Saturday, July 12, 2008

F&L2: Sessions Part 1 uploaded

A chapter that took me three days to make.

F&L2 Chapter 5- Session on Fictionpress & Soompi.

For Fists and Lipsticks 2 – The Silver Crescent©, Reminiscence chapters will be named Sessions. Instead of being composed entirely of flashback chapters, the narration of ‘untold events’ would be done through a battery of psychological treatment sessions for Yoshida Ayane under Dr. Okamoto Shizuki. Like the Reminiscences, the chapters would be in first person, this time as told by Shizuki.

I had to learn the patho-physiology behind Post-traumatic Stress Disorder including the signs and symptoms. I had to learn how to make an acceptable medical history too. It was a hard task, but worth it since I learned a lot too. For a while, I felt as if I were a real doctor, hehe.

I figured out that using 'flashbacks' the ordinary way is too overused, so I came up with this new approach. Tell me how was it, was it hard to understand? I appreciate your opinion.

BTW, do I have a Korean reader around? I need help for Yoon's future speaking lines. Do PM me if you're willing to translate some lines for me and I'll credit you. Thank you.

-The Author

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

F&L2 Chapter 3 & 4 uploaded

For some reason, I couldn't access Blogspot the previous day so I wasn't able to post an update AN.

Anyway, here it is-

Chapter 3 in Fictionpress (unabridged)
Chapter 3 in Soompi (abridged)

Chapter 4 in Fictionpress
Chapter 4 in Soompi

These chapters will tell what became of Yuken & Shizuki ^_^. Also, a little glimpse of Kosuke's 'new' life and 'hobby' hehe...

Also, I casted myself hahaha. Oh come on, give me the role of the Senior Investigator Hiro. That's one of my dream jobs, you know (aside from being an astronaut, lol).

Hope you enjoy it. Thank you for dropping by.

-hiro (for some reason I've been growing lazier and lazier in updating this blog. hmm.)

Saturday, July 05, 2008

F&L2 Chapter 2: Changes uploaded

Chapter 2: Changes have been uploaded...

Chapter 2 in Fictionpress
Chapter 2 in Soompi Forums

And yes, for Fists and Lipsticks 2, it would be written in 1st person (except for parts without Ayane, which would be written in the usual 3rd person).

A little glimpse/introduction to the new characters...

Enjoy and thank you for reading, especially to the old readers who have come back to read and the new readers too!

-hiro

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Chapter 1 of F&L2: Dance of Death uploaded

Ah, at last we're ready for another chapter posting spree, hehe.

Hey readers, welcome back to F&L. I've finished up to chapter five now, but I'll post the first one at the mean time -

Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent
Chapter 1 in Fictionpress
Chapter 1 in Soompi

Ayane's back for some big revenge. New characters, new conflicts, new love-triangles, new secrets, new action...

No censored scene for Soompi for Chapter 1. Contents are the same.

Happy reading!

-hiro

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent - Prologue posted!

I was planning to keep this first until I finish at least the initial 5 chapters, but due to insistent public demand, okay guys here it is - -


The prologue has been posted both on Fictionpress and Soompi Forums.

But Chapter 1, I'll be holding it first. Give me a week or two since I'm still making the flowchart of the sequence of vital events so that I'll not end up lost in the process.

Thank you for supporting me and this project ^_^

-hiro

Monday, June 23, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks "Season 1 Finale" uploaded

Hehe, sounds like CSI or something...

Season 1 Finale at Fictionpress.

Season 1 Finale at Soompi Forums


Thank you to all the readers!

(I'll be right back for a longer comment... I'm hungry right now. I'll just go out and grab a dumpling!)

-hiro

Sunday, June 22, 2008

F&L currently undergoing massive revisions for PDF version

Since the next chapter I'm going to post will be the last chapter for Part 1 of Fists and Lipsticks, I decided to proofread the chapters not included in the Version 2.0 PDF/.doc Version so that once the final chapter is released, the .doc version containing all the chapters can be released too.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

F&L Chapter 74: Bloodstains - uploaded

Second to the last chapter up... One to go before Part 1 of F&L ends

74 in Fictionpress

74 in Soompi Forums


I've included some confirming data regarding the 'hinted' secrets that remained unanswered. Also, a brief narration of what happened in Keiko's past is included in this chapter (about the Silver Crescent).

I intentionally made that narration confusing. I have a chapter that would explain that part in-depth, but it will come in the "Season Two".

Another bulk of Reminiscence chapters? Well, maybe... maybe... But it wouldn't be as long as those in the first part.

Thank you for reading F&L. One to go... ^_^

-hiro

Thursday, June 19, 2008

F&L Chapter 73: Keiko's Secret - posted

This chapter contains the two biggest twists in the story.

Chapter 73 in Fictionpress

Chapter 73 in Soompi

I was always to confident that no one could guess both these twists. Well, the one for Keiko's identity - as I revealed several clues on the previous chapters, I could say that that was pretty much easy to predict, but the big twist towards the end of the chapter, surprisingly, someone from Soompi was able to guess it (hehe, and here I thought I was being perfectly unpredictable ... geez... lol...)

I'm sure you guys know "whom" I was referring to with the last sentence of the chapter ^_^

Well, see you in Chapter 74. I'm happy, there's 2 more to go before I conclude Part 1 of F&L. Thank you for reading!

-hiro

Monday, June 16, 2008

F&L Climax Chapters uploaded

First part of climax chapters of Fists and Lipsticks uploaded - -

Chapter 70-72 in Fictionpress

Chapter 70-72 in Soompi Forums


I feel happy that at last, I'm already writing this part of the story. It has been a long road indeed... and in 3 more chapters, Fists and Lipsticks is to be finally concluded ^_^.

As early as now, I'd like to thank you, the reader, who took your time to read this humble work of mine. You're part of this creation, and at every chapter, I am inspired to write and tell this tale by to the encouraging words and even your clicks to links leading to my fic.

I bow to you, saying thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Due to a drastic change of genre & ratings for the second part of the story, I decided to cut F&L at Chapter 75. The story will continue in a new thread, in a new story link - a sort of 'Fists and Lipsticks Book 2' - but I won't reveal the title of the sequel yet since it would be a major spoiler as of the moment. I'm hoping that you'll join me in this new journey. It would be long... but definitely shorter than the first part.

Again, thank you very much for reading Fists and Lipsticks.

-hiro

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

"Bridges Over Ropes" wins Soompi Short Story Battle for May 2008

The goal is to create a <= 2,500 word story which conveys the month's theme (See image above). I am happy to win again for this month's round (which was unexpected hehe...). There are fewer voters for this month's round compared to April, but there are 18 participants (and all works were good I may say).

I tried out writing something new by using Korean names and coming up with a romantic story with a 'Soompi-ish' touch.

Some scenes depicted some of my real life experiences... (I'll leave that to your imagination, haha.)

You can read Bridges Over Ropes by clicking on the following links:

Read BOR in Soompi Forums

Read BOR in Fictionpress


Much thanks to those who voted and those who read my story.

-hiro

Fists and Lipsticks PDF Version 2.0 Released

Fists and Lipsticks E-book 2.0 (.doc Version) released.

Here's the download link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mmmybskjgz2

The following changes has been made:

1) Added Chapter 1 - 40

2) Spelling and grammar re-checked (but I will appreciate it very much if you would be kind enough to point out things I missed)

3) Added Table of Contents

4) Added Author Notes and credits

5) Minor editing for some speaking lines


Fists and Lipsticks can ONLY be redistributed via this PDF file. Any MS-Word version is unauthorized and considered as unauthorized copying and distribution.

Monday, June 09, 2008

Chapter 70: Game Over - uploaded

3,000+ words on this chap. I wrote this on the plane going to Tokyo (stopover) then to Beijing. Wow, they have cozy seats in Northwest Airlines ^_^.

Chapter 70 on Fictionpress

Chapter 70 on Soompi Forums

Action-packed scenes here... Uh, just read it, hehe. I'm off to rest for a while. Thanks everyone for reading F&L!

-hiro

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Chapter 69: Password Accepted - - uploaded

Another quick update before I fly to Beijing tomorrow. I MAY not be able to update as quick I as I did the previous weeks now.

Chapter 69 on Fictionpress

Chapter 69 on Soompi Forums

This chapter will hint a lot of things regarding the contents of the Silver Disk, noted by the 'weird passwords' the disk had as noted by Tomo. Also, a hidden feature of the Circa Constellation is discovered here (but was also hinted in the previous chapter). Now, Yamazaki gang cracks the disk... but will be halted by some 'unexpected visit'.

Thank you for reading F&L.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Chapter 68: Silver Secrets uploaded

Chapter 68 has been uploaded

68 in Fictionpress

68 in Soompi Forums


A handful of revelations were given here. You'll read about the secret of the Circa Constellation and how it is related to the Silver Disk. Ayane also pays her father a visit in jail while Crosse receives a visit from his father, Dmitri Williams.

These are the chapters that I'm so excited to write - the action ones. Now we're all escalating to reveal another major secret in this story - something you'll never expect coming.

Thank you for reading!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Chapter 67 - Vigilant Watch ... now up

Chapter 67 is quite long (8 pages in MS Word, a little wordy).

Chapter 67 in Fictionpress

Chapter 67 in Soompi Forums

There's another Kosuke - Aya scene I prepared here... A little cheesy and funny, but hey, these scenes could be of reference in the future episodes, don't you think so?

And now that the funeral's over, Kosuke and the others are already on the move to take action to defend themselves from the Spectra.

Geez, I feel lazy to blog again today. Hehe...

Thank you for reading F&L!

-hiro

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Chapter 66 - Aftermath - - - uploaded

Someone unexpected pays Yoshida Ayane a visit...

Chapter 66 at Fictionpress

Chapter 66 at Soompi Forums

A little Tomo-Makiko segment has been added too to dampen the panic a bit... but not for long.

I'm too lazy to make an author note today, I don't know why, ehehe. Sorry if I sound lame today. My pizza's taking so long! Where's that delivery man?!

Oh, thank you for reading F&L!

-hiro

Friday, May 30, 2008

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 ^_^

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

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

Monday, May 26, 2008

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

Friday, May 23, 2008

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

Sunday, May 18, 2008

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

Friday, May 09, 2008

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

Thursday, May 08, 2008

"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

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

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

Monday, May 05, 2008

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

Thursday, May 01, 2008

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

Monday, April 21, 2008

FL55 - Reminiscence Part 6 now up

A long chapter (see, I warned you...) 11 pages in MS word.

FL 55 at Fictionpress

FL 55 at Soompi

This chapter unveils how Aya got into motorcycle racing in Japan. Don't kill me for more questions presented here (especially regarding Keiko's blindness).

And yeah, things will get more serious from here on...

Thank you for reading F&L! --hiro

Saturday, April 19, 2008

New Fists and Lipsticks Cast Chart

Made by Meia - - here it is:


Cool huh?

Friday, April 11, 2008

Chapter 54: Okaa-san - F&L posted

This is a very short chapter. Second to the shortest, by the way (next to Date? No Way)

Here are the links:

Fictionpress 54

Soompi 54


This is short because the next chapters are going to be long (hehe). Yes, the remaining half of the Reminiscences will be next. Stay tuned until then.

Thank you again for reading F&L. --hiro

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks PDF Version 1.1 out

Finished 5 more chapters.

This PDF version 1.1 has Chapter 1 - 30:

http://www.mediafire.com/?wtmda0lgdj3


To the old readers of F&L - - Sorry if the next chapter is taking so long. Right now, I'm making revisions to my previous chapters, specifically grammar errors and inconsistency checks.

You would also notice that Meia has revised the first 25 chapters of F&L in Soompi Forums. Now, each chapter has the cute emoticons care of Onionclub. Feel free to re-read the first chapters. You'll notice some changes AND some additions (especially the staircase scene and Miyazawa and Kosuke's post-auction ball date). After reading them, I realized that the bonding between Miyazawa and Kosuke just WEREN'T enough. There MUST be something deeper, and the progression of how Kosuke has come to like Miyazawa should be drawn clearer and more dramatically. I realized that it came too dense and too fast. I don't like it that way. I'm pretty happy with the new one though. And yeah, the emoticons were really funny. Credits to Onion-club ^_^

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks PDF Version 1.0 Up ^_^

Good news to new readers (and old readers as well).

I have completed almost half of the revisions to Fists and Lipsticks. This time, it is available as a one-click download in PDF-version.

Here is the link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?vmwtewtwt3n

http://www.mediafire.com/?vmwtewtwt3n

If for some reason the link does not work, you can e-mail me and I can send it to you personally.

Version 1.0 only includes Chapter 1 - 25. You will also notice that I have added, changed, and revised some conversation lines, events, and names.

Revisions included the following:

1. Removed the excessive usage of honorifics. I heard from a Japanese friend that these honorifics are not always used in typical conversations, especially among male friends. So you may notice that some -kuns are omitted, but the -chans remain.

2. Hidemi's coffee shop - I named it this time as 'Concorde'. I just liked the name ^_^

3. As for the conversation lines, I've done some revisions to correct several inconsistencies (like the fact that only Yuken should call Kosuke as 'Kosuke', while others should refer to him as 'Yamazaki' instead). I can't give the complete details of the changes I made since they were MASSIVE. I realized that there were really many grammar and spelling errors, especially in the first ten chapters. It took me a long time to edit them. I feel good that I finally finished them. But if I happen to miss some parts, I would really appreciate it if you could point them out to me so that I can change them in the next version release.

In addition, I also added some conversation lines that weren't present before.

4. I changed the staircase scene. Yup, that sweet staircase scene. You're free to re-read it if you want.

5. I made some minor detail revisions too. Like the 'speeding ticket' for instance. Instead of having that law where "in incessant over-speeding, all people in the vehicle gets a ticket too" - I scrapped that one and changed it to something else (since I realize that it is really unrealistic and stupid, hehe...) . Feel free to check out that revision too.




The revisions for the remaining 28 chapters will be release probably in three days.

I'll post the link as soon as I'm done.

Thank you for reading F&L ^_^

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks PDF version - Soon

Due to the great number of chapters F&L has involved into, a lot of people has been requesting for a 1-click download version (or what they call the .doc version) of Fists and Lipsticks to facilitate easier off-line reading (especially for new readers who would like to catch up).

Currently, I'm starting to do massive revisions to Fists and Lipsticks (including grammar and spelling checks and correcting some inconsistencies as noted by the helpful replies from Fictionpress.com). I'm targeting next week for the release of the 1st part of the PDF version (Chapter 1 to __... depends on what I can finish). I prefer uploading a PDF version rather than a Microsoft Word document version so that the format and the text would not be easily altered.

Friday, April 04, 2008

F&L Chapter 53: Herbivore Now up in FP and Soompi

Here's a light chapter. Some humor and yeah, some cheesy ones too.

Chapter 53 in FP

Chapter 53 in Soompi

As you may have noticed, the previous chapters and this one has been a little bit like 'filler chapters' (well, not really. These chapters are necessary, but compared to the other ones, they don't contribute much to the plot). This is because I am establishing a smooth transition from drama to heavy emotional drama to a little comedy (like this one) then later to heavy action. I'm just doing a little 'building-up' as far as the characters are concerned.

And while things are getting a little too romantic around these past few chapters, I'd say they would be really necessary. As much as possible, the bond between the characters (Ayane to Kosuke, Kosuke to his friends, Kosuke to his father and mother, Ayane to Crosse... Ayane to Aya.. and the list goes on...) must be stressed in preparation for the later chaps. There are still pending scenes like the second half of the 'Reminiscences' and the big 'heavy action' transition I was talking about. I don't want to 'shock' my readers by putting those scenes right away.

As you might have expected from the very first time you opened this story, this is a "gangster" fic... and with the present chapters, there hasn't been a "full-blow" of "gangster-ness" in the story - up to this point, just little fights here and there, puny school brawls, nothing much, eh? However, this would be reserved for later. Lots of things are still bound to happen, lots of secrets to be revealed, and yeah... Ayane's gonna go "mad" at some point. That's the "heavy action" part I'm talking about. I hope that you, the reader, will still be there to give it a read ^_^.

Thanks again to all the readers ~ hiro

Sunday, March 30, 2008

F&L Chapter 52: On Emergency Kits and Refuge now up!

No Kosuke-Aya scenes... but is a must read for Shizuki-Yuken Fans ^_^

And also, we get to know more about Tomo too.

52 Fictionpress

52 Soompi

So there, I'm too lazy to put up some good author notes... so till then!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Fists and Lipsticks Trailer - New and Improved

Meia bragged me for almost a week, asking me to teach her some more about video editing.

We started with a few of our personal videos, but then later she had this crazy idea to come up with another video for F&L - this time, not a promotional video but a TRAILER.

I guess the bragging-sessions were worth it. It came out... Wow... ^_^



Kinda pixelated though (since the videos were only downloaded randomly via YouTube)