Bits and Pieces.

My Places.
Twitter.
Lingering Dream
.
Facebook. Fanfiction.net.

Status: Bored and restless.
Watching: Kuroshitsuji II.
Reading: Viewfinder Series by Yamane Ayano.
Currently into: Claude x Alois, Asami x Takaba, Sebastian x Ciel, Charles x Van.

Howdy.

I'm Hilaire and this Blogger account is for my writings, and my e-life in general. My posts will include updates about my fan fictions, my original characters and their profiles, my sudden flashes of genius, my muses, etc.

I'll also make posts about the anime, manga, fan fictions, and all other things that I find particularly interesting.

At present, I'm working as a beta-reader of one of my favorite fics. :D

07.08.12

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Birthday Gift.

My birthday was last September 11, and I gotta say I received one of the most fabulous birthday gifts I can possibly ask for: a NatsumeHotaru fan art. The pairing is probably one of the most un-heard of in the fandom, and I didn't think anyone would actually humor me and give me so much more than what I had requested.


The gracious Mari/Innocent Sorrow actually took the time to draw the pair, even though she's mostly a NatsumeMikan fan. Thank you very much, Mari! I can't tell you how much I appreciate this! :D

Friday, June 10, 2011

Rants and Updates

Ah, so where do I begin?

Last night, while I was going through my files, I realized that I have no copy of The Game of Let's Pretend in my laptop. I only have a list of its chapter titles – but not the chapters themselves. It was so ridiculous that I laughed (what kind of author doesn't have a copy of her own story?), and ended up looking all over my room for my old flashdrive, where I knew I saved my copy before my old computer died. When I found it, I checked for TGOLP, and sure enough, all the chapters were there.

I wanted to read where I left off; I wanted to remember where I was when I stopped writing. But then I realized it would be more fun if I start from the very beginning. So I went over chapter one, planning only to read it, but ended up making edits to it, even when I had no plans of updating or doing anything with it - at all. In the end I posted it back up, and decided in that moment that I'd continue. Hell, I already have several chapter fifteen scenes in my flashdrive; I might just well make use of them instead of ditching them completely, no?

Yesterday night I decided I'll temporarily remove the chapters while I make edits to them. This, which to my surprise earned me a nasty "fuck you" welcome greeting when I checked my email today, was done for several sound reasons, most of them for the benefit of those who are reading the story.

  • Temporary removal of the chapters will give new readers a chance to pace their reading, as old readers have previously done. In other words, they get to wait, too, for the good bits. Kind of reliving the old days. By this I'm trying to somewhat control how much everyone is reading, so they won't get bored of the story.
  • Posting the chapters back up only after they're edited gives old and new readers a chance to read the story more smoothly. More fluid narration, less errors, less typos, all the good stuff that results from editing.
  • Temporary removal of chapters will ultimately benefit old readers. Unlike some reviewers might think, I'm very much aware that I haven't updated in two years. I realize that readers might have forgotten the little crucial details that shape the story (hell, I've forgotten many things myself). By posting the chapters one at a time, I give them incentive to read only the materials that are up (since they've no choice), and I'm hoping this will help them recall the events/ideas/theme/details of the story. I need my readers to read again and remember. Because trust me: The devil is always in the details.
  • My decision to NOT suddenly throw chapter fifteen out there is because I'm aware that people are always to eager to read the new materials posted, even when they've forgotten why and how things must have gotten there in the first place. It's already been two years since my last update, and the last thing I want to do is read comments like, "You took so long to update that I've completely forgotten the story; I had to reread the chapters to understand this." Even worse is the probability that the reader wouldn't even bother to reread the previous chapters because they're too long, etc. Either of this scenario would have ruined the fifteenth chapter entirely, and this is what I'm keeping from happening. I'm trying to help my readers avoid this, because I want them to completely enjoy the fifteenth chapter once it's up - hence my efforts.
Although, it would seem that there are several who failed to grasp the logic behind what I did and instead threw a bitch fit at me without even trying to understand where I'm coming from in the first place. At the moment I'm seriously, very much pissed off and put off by this fiasco. Here I was making an attempt to assure everyone that they're not waiting for nothing and I'm finally going to update after two long years, but all I get back are nasty, unsigned comments telling me to delete my story and fuck off. Like, seriously? How about having the courage to actually sign your rude messages? Didn't the GAFFN population mature even the slightest while I was away?

I explicitly stated in my author's note that I lost my muse for TGOLP a long time ago; which is why I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was last night, when I realized that I could edit a TGOLP chapter in less than a day. I was so excited to get back to writing this story because I finally decided I want to get chapter fifteen out there; I want to share it with the many readers who have been through this story for so many years. I still do, even after the horrible messages, but I'd be lying if I don't say that my excitement has been ruined - quite ruined, in fact. I'm put off and very disappointed by what has happened. My words have been taken out of context; I've been called stupid for the repost and author's notes even when I can very well explain my good reasons and intentions for them; I've been accused of having an attitude; I've been told to fuck off - all because I'm finally going to update my story again, after two years! I doubt anything could be more ridiculous than this!

Just for the record, I'm not forcing anyone to read my story. Frankly, I don't need readers as barbaric and as impolite as these people.

Friday, November 5, 2010

The Gift of a Friend.

I'm supposed to be in school right now, enrolling myself for the next semester, which will start on the 9th of November. (Yup, it's a Tuesday; and no, I don't know what's up with the crazy let's not have classes on Mondays and start the week on Tuesdays instead thing. Well actually I do, but that's not the point.) I didn't go to school today, or yesterday, because I'm sick. I've a cough, a cold, and a slight fever that cannot make up its mind whether to stay or leave. Seriously.

In my uni we have this computerized enlistment for our subjects. Every student has her own account through which they post our grades (because class cards are sooo last decade). Every scheduled date before the sem starts, we're supposed to enlist ourselves in the subjects we fancy. When the enlistment closes, the uni's computer processes all our accounts, granting classes in absolutely random order, or according to your priority status.

I was granted 16 units, which is 3 units short of the 19 I'm planning to take this sem. This means I still have to prerog - a manual enlistment, if you may. When you manually enlist, you go to the college where the subject you want is, fall in line, and wait for them to enlist your name in the subject. Usually this takes a really long time, and people are practically dieing over the limited slots (hey, they can't enlist a hundred students in one subject, y'know), because not everyone gets the subject they want.

I wasn't able to get the Econ 141 that my friends told me to get during the computerized enlistment, so I was pretty depressed about it. I was not going to go through the nasty lines just to get that subject OH NO. I've been sick since Wednesday evening, and I wasn't going to school on Thursday to prerog. It's just wrong; I might faint or something. I felt pretty bad I couldn't join them, though.

It was then that one of them, Hannah, told me over Facebook that she could do the prerog for me. I was very  surprised by the offer, of course; prerog is really, really no laughing matter! That she'd do it for me was very kind of her! I said "Oh, wow, really? Will you really do it for me? Isn't it too much trouble? Thank you!" or something to that effect. I sent her my form5a, which contains my class schedule (kind of an ID during the prerog. You're supposed to print it, then show it to the person behind the computer so he'd enlist your name).

Yesterday morning she was texting me how long the line for the prerog was. I couldn't do anything about that, so I just sent her text messages every now and then, checking on her and her progress and stuff. I wasn't hopeful; the subject I wanted had only two slots left. It'd be a miracle if I get one of those two.

At about 3 PM she texted me again, abusing the caps lock and raving about how she managed to get me the subject they wanted me to take. I could hardly believe it myself, but well, she pulled it off, and I could just message "Thank you x 1000000!!!" to her. One out of two slots? That's just crazy. Lucky crazy.

It was later that night that I received a message from Marie, another one of my friends and college-mates, telling me I should go today (Friday) to school, because she's holding my form5a. Apparently she went with Hannah during the prerog, which of course means she fell in line,too, for my sake.

When I signed into Facebook I thanked them again, barely able to imagine how much trouble they must have gone through the day for me. And then Hannah told me how much trouble exactly they went through. It was A LOT.

Apparently there were three of them who had to fall in line so I could get that subject. Hannah and Marie left the line at 9:30AM to prerog in a different college, for a Math subject. They left my form5a with Amel, another of one of our friends, who I'm guessing must have also been manually enlisting for a subject himself. Hannah and Marie came back at 1:30PM (gracious, four hours!), only to find that Amel was still in the line!

The details of the whole thing is still not clear to me at this point, but apparently the officer inside the computer lab took my form5a so I could enlist, but since I was not there, he rejected it. Amel, thank goodness for him, told the officer that I was out for some bit, but I'd come back, so I MUST HAVE THAT FRIKKIN' SLOT!
Once Hannah was back she claimed to be me, and asked the officer to give the slot to her (who is now me, and man this is confusing). The slot had supposedly been given to someone else already, but Hannah's persuasion worked, and the officer granted her (me) the slot.

When I heard the whole story I nearly cried, because I was so touched that they really went that far for me. Marie asked me to come today so I could pick up my form5a. Since I'm still sick (and a lazy arse), I asked Jazelle if she could do that for me, to which she said yes. I'm going to school on Monday for the final prerog in another college, where I'll meet up with Jazelle for my form5a.

I'm just so very thankful for my friends, and I thought I'd tell this fancy little story. 

Of Tears and Tempers: a Gakuen Alice fan fiction.

"I'm turning thirty today, Misaki! Thirty! That's three-zero!"
In which Narumi weeps over his thirtieth birthday, and Misaki knocks some sense into his narcissistic little head. Oh, and Persona arrives with a few words of wisdom himself.

Category: Anime/Manga » Gakuen Alice.
Title: Of Tears and Tempers.
Characters: Narumi, Misaki, Persona.
Genre: Drama/General
Rating: K+.
Status: Complete (?)

This was supposed to be a snippet, and it's supposed to be titled Heart. Unfortunately it refused to be concluded - not until it was well past 1000+ words, which is not a snippet anymore. I didn't want to ditch it after taking the time to actually finish it, so I posted it as a one-shot. Besides, Persona needs more love. And fan fictions.

This was prompted by the manga I've been reading, Hana to Akuma (I still insist that Vivi looks a lot like Natsume. A WHOLE FRIKKIN LOT). There was a chapter there about birthdays, which was just funny and random and sweet; I thought I'd write something like it. 

I'm thinking of making this another collection, this time not exclusively about Narumi. I've about a ton of snippet-turned-one-shot that need to be posted out there. And besides it's really fun to mess with Persona and Narumi.

Best part of the fic (at least for me):


"Celebrating old age, Narumi? How interesting. Congratulations on being a step closer to death," Persona said unfeelingly, his cynical smirk as if to remind everyone that he wielded the alice of death.


Yaaay Persona. 

Plums and Lemons » Snippet #11 : Fiction.

A collection of snippets about Narumi.

"And they all lived happily ever after."
"But this book is labeled fiction, Narumi-sensei."
Of reality and fiction, and the line between.

Category: Anime/Manga » Gakuen Alice.
Title: Plums and Lemons » Snippet #11 : Fiction.
Characters: Narumi, OCs Midori and Mizu
Genre: Drama/General
Rating: K+.
Status: Complete.

This snippet was difficult to write, because I'm not as optimistic as Narumi is. I don't like fairytales, and I'm not too fond of what they call happy ever after. I just think they're usually overrated.

The original inspiration for this was Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest. I was rereading it so I could sleep just a few nights ago, and I think it was Miss Prism who said that "The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what Fiction means." It was somewhat cynical, but it's still true.

Here's a couple of my favorite lines from my own snippet (how terribly narcissistic! LOL).

"No work of fiction, no matter how acclaimed, can capture Life's finest details; and no words, no matter how beautifully phrased, can stir the emotions felt by living Reality itself."

"Unlike in fiction, we don't need magic to get our own happy ever after."


"But what if there's no happy ever after, even after we've gone through so much?"
"Then it's not the end just yet."

I love this snippet. ;)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Plums and Lemons » Snippet #10 : Gift.

Inspired by Demi Lovato's Gift of a Friend (it's wonderful, I swear it!). Dedicated to Cara and Juliette. :)


A collection of snippets about Narumi.

Only one so naïve wouldn't realize that every gift came with strings.

Category: Anime/Manga » Gakuen Alice.
Title: Plums and Lemons » Snippet #10 : Gift.
Characters: Narumi, Misaki
Genre: Friendship/Drama.
Rating: K+.
Status: Complete.

Because we all know that the best gift we can ever receive is friendship. :)

This snippet contains allusion to Azure Yacht (that lovely restaurant from The Game of Let's Pretend) - it's where Misaki is celebrating his 21st birthday. I've also given bits of my interpretation of Misaki's life, including how he feels about his parents' business associates and the party which had been arranged for him.

I don't know how the manga illustrates Misaki's life outside the Academy, if it does. Please overlook any inconsistency, as all interpretation of Misaki in this snippet are mine.

Plums and Lemons » Snippet #09 : Surprise.

Because I wanted to post something on my birthday last September 11. Yaaay. :)


A collection of snippets about Narumi.

Because nothing can ever surprise Narumi. Or so he says.

Category: Anime/Manga » Gakuen Alice.
Title: Plums and Lemons » Snippet #09 : Surprise.
Characters: Narumi, Misaki
Genre: Humor.
Rating: K+.
Status: Complete.

'Probably the silliest snippet I've ever written. Oh, well; that's the fun part! :)