I am a big fan of the "What I do" meme which has been popular all over the internet for a while now and thought I might do one for Card Captor Sakura.
I was hoping to have a new chapter or fanart up but I am traveling this Christmas and unfortunately have unstable internet connection. But hopefully you find this somewhat amusing. If you haven't heard of this meme do look it up some of them are hilarious and so true. mashable.com/2012/02/15/what-i-really-do-meme/
Sakura and Syaoran - Masquerade by ~wishluv on deviantART Happy Halloween 2013! I'm a little late this time, unfortunately. Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. You don't know how much it means to me. And loved all the artwork and vocal talents of everybody.
Thanks Kamaku Lemjane of FB, Draugurok, Saloni Khoja (loved a reverse-harem with long-haired Sakura,and Bubulona20 for awesome fanarts. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone. Loved all the song presents too. Kirei Blossom has the sweetest voice ever--a blend of Sakura+Tomoyo in my head. I got excited that you sang "Part of Your World" because everyone knows I'm just a Disney maniac. OLD SCHOOL DISNEY TWO-DIMENSIONAL ARTWORK Disney. Yes, that deserved caps. Anyhow, I had to giggle because I actually had been drawing a Disney-themed Halloween pic but postponed it because it required too much effort. You will see it someday, and I'll dedicate it to you. And Arigatou was so cute! Have you become fluent in Japanese over the years? You sure sound like you are now. I'm debating whether or not to add the links... May I have your permission to do so? But I respect your wishes. Hazuki Goldair of Syaoran the Waiter Boy fame covered one of my all-time favorite songs, "On My Own" from Les Miz and nailed it. And boy do I know what a difficult song it is--you should head on straight to broadway! Between all the musical talent in the New Trials fan community, I'm surprised we haven't been able to make a full-production anime. Lol. One of you two can sing the OST. Best scene of Little Mermaid--Part of Your World Reprise. I think Ariel has the prettiest hair of all the Disney princesses.
I saw over at the New Trials Yahoo Group that Kirei Blossom has posted up a very fun Card Captor Sakura questionnaire, and here is my take on it though I left some out because they were not applicable or were spoilerish. I began answering them early August and just got around to finishing it. Belated Happy Birthday Tomoyo! ---------------------- BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1. Tell us how you discovered CCS:
I didn't know it at that time, but I first discovered CCS through a stationary my half-Japanese friend gave me with a manga image of Sakura and Tomoyo in a kimono back in 1996 (the year the manga came out). I still probably have it saved somewhere because pretty Japanese manga stationary was hard to get back then. A couple years later my country began to broadcast CCS anime on TV on June 1999. Even from the previews, I knew I was going to love the show, but following episode, "Sakura's Never-Ending Day," I knew it may become a lifetime favorite show. 2. Did you watch the original subbed version, or a dub? I first watched the Korean dub version, which is nearly on par with the Japanese version. A few episodes were missing, though, I discovered later, like ones with the characters in kimonos. I managed to get caught up with CCS-sphere and for CCS season 3, I watched live NHK2 broadcasts since I got the channel via satellite in Korea. It's the first and last Japanese show I watched live I think on Japanese channel. Back in the days, subbed anime weren't all so readily available on the internet. Since then, I've watched all the subbed version and movies. Multiple times. 3. Where did you first read the manga? (Bought hardcopies/read scanlataions?) I bought Korean hardcopies for all the volumes... Which got lost when I moved in high school! I'm still so angry. Each book came with the character bookmarks. But I think back in the days, I read translated scripts for the latest manga volume. Old school. 4. How did you get into fanfiction? I was feeling frustrated somewhere between season 2 and season 3 of CCS anime and found the Anipike website and that there were fanfictions written about CCS characters. These were the olden days where we all had dial-up connection and LQ images took a long time to download. And there were no streaming videos. Oh, how far we've come since then. 5. How and when did you find NT? I was looking for a credible continuation to the CCS anime/manga, and because back then, it was difficult to find CCS fanfiction which I thought kept Sakura and Syaoran's characters in tact, I decided to write New Trials in the fall of 1999. (CCS has a huge fandom now, but back then, I don't think there was as big of a fan community as now, though it was substantial). I didn't have my own website then, and I just sent it off to website that hosted CCS fanfiction after a bit of hesitation. it was pretty surreal, thinking back on the process. 6. How long have you been following NT for? Since its womb. ^_^;
7. Your first reactions about NT (for example, your instant thoughts
during the first few chapters or halfway through the first arc) 8. And now that you've read up until three-quarters of Arc 4, what are your thoughts at this point of the story? 9. Why are you *still* reading NT? Why do you wait more than a year for a chapter to be released? I am curious too. ABOUT NEW TRIALS 10. Your favourite parts of the story? 11. Your least favourite parts of the story? 12. Your favourite New Trials character originally belonging to CCS: If I didn't like them, they didn't make it over to NT. 13. Your favourite original NT character: (Tell us who ranks as the first OC for you and WHY, and then list other favourites): Kai's probably the most popular OC. I rather like Amamiya Hayashi, and the sad thing is, I haven't really written much about him but hope I will be able to when I continue the legacy series. 14. Your least favourite original NT character? Yes, I even like Li Wutai. There's more Wutais out in the world than Syaorans, for sure. 15. Favourite Dark Forces? The Fantasy. 16. Which couples do you ship? Sakura and Eron. Syaoran and Meilin. Kai and Kara. Naoko and Eriol. 17. How do you think New Trials will end? 18. What are you waiting eagerly to see? 19. Any unanswered questions you want answered: 20. What do you think should happen to the twins when NT ends? 21. What should happen with the Li Can at the end? 22. Any character subplots you'd like to see more of before the end? 23. If you could change anything about the story, what would it be? 24. Your words for Wish-chan: YOUR TAKE ON: 25. Sakura and Syaoran: Maroon 5 - "Payphone" (Boyce Avenue cover) 26. Kai and Meilin: I loved Taylor Swift's performance of "I Knew You Were Trouble at the American Music Awards 2012, and still think the choreography, stage, costumes and camera work made it a standout performance.
27. Eriol and Tomoyo:
28. Nadeshiko and Ryuuren: My favorite original couple. Too bad they didn't happen. Or thank goodness.
29. Chiharu and Takashi: Amethyst Beloved's favorite
30. Miho and Aki: Oh dear.
31. Rika and Terada:
32. Eron and Sakura:
33. Erika and Jinyu:
34. Leiyun and... whoever is freak enough to be with him: Good luck.
Yes, I'm just a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and we had to sing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat for choir in sixth grade so I know all the lyrics by heart till this date. And this whole part of the questionnaire is just for a way to share random songs with you. I think I usually share Japanese songs but this is sort of my more eclectic taste, including even both pop and oldies, all English songs.
35. Any other pairings/characters/plots:
ABOUT YOU: 36. Your name/screenname and why you chose your screenname? Wish-chan because I was 13 years old and in the middle of Chapter 3 or 4 when I realized fanfiction writers need nom-de-plum, and I was I wasn't creative enough to come up with anything better. Wishluv because it was cool to spell love as "luv" back in the 90s.
37. Are you male or female? Female.
38. How old are you? I was 13ish when I wrote the prologue for New trials. You can do the math.
39. Where are you from / Where do you live? NYC/Seoul
40. What languages can you speak? Bilingual in English, Korean, and at one point French un peu but no more.
41. Which NT character are you most like? Tomoyo, since I too am an observer and listener. But truthfully, I've invested a little bit of me in each of the characters... Like Kai's non-confrontational tendencies, Sakura's hopefulness, Eriol's AB bloodtype evilness...
42. Your interests / likes: Writing, drawing, matchmaking. 43. Your dislikes: Deadlines, smelly things. 44. Favourite food/cuisine: Ice cream and Italian 45. Least favourite food: Weird slimy creatures 46. What was the last thing you ate: Shrimp and avocado pasta and mango pudding. 47. Any random fact about yourself: I willed my fingers to be double-jointed. 48. What is most important to you in life: "Life is a journey not a destination." 49. Your birth order (Are you an older child, middle child or youngest child) and how does that affect your personality: 50. What else did you want this questionnaire to ask?
I'm here for you, Syaoran... S+S in Hong Kong by ~wishluv on deviantART Happy International New Trials Day 2013! I can't believe it's been 14 years since I began writing this fanfiction but think its a blessing that I undertook this because I met all of you wonderful readings and the awesome CCS/New Trials community.
I've been working on the next chapter already, though I've sort of remained low key since the release of Chapter 69, but I'll just say I'm excited by the level of discussion and theories that have been floating around since then. It takes a lot of restraint on my part to not say a word. I came back from a short business trip and holiday (and perhaps the hottest summer I've experienced in my life) and am excited to get going with Chapter 70.
I'm very happy to see how active the New Trials community over at the Yahoo Group (btw what what's with the unnecessary new layout?) and Facebook has been thriving, as well as all the fanart, manga, drama CD, etc is coming along and how Amethyst Beloved is keeping everybody updated here. As you know, there are times that I am very active in the community then I go into submarine mode and disappear usually because I'm feeling guilty because I haven't finished the next new chapter of New Trials. Luckily, I quit freelancing doing radio on top of my job, so I have some more time. Seriously, when I was doing radio three times a week, I was waking up at dawn or staying up late writing radio script after I got home late from my job.
My top priority is always finishing the next chapter. I work on fanart for special occasions or when I have a writer's block. I try to refrain from chiming into any discussions online because I have strange notions that I don't trust myself not to give away spoilers. But I just wanted to ask all of you what are things you want to see from me. 1. Do you want to see more frequent blog posts? I sometimes write posts on various things and just end up not posting and use the blog simply for updates nowadays unlike when I first opened the blog. I also tend not to give in-between updates because I'm afraid to break promises.
2. What are some of your top scenes you want to see illustrated? I'm pretty sure I have more than 50 pieces of artwork that I started on and never completed. Which characters do you want to see more artwork on? 3. I've been pretty horrible about getting back to individuals emails as of the past year. It's partly because I have a policy of replying back to all emails or none. Lol. I know it's ridiculous. I just need to sit down and have a day for correspondence. But I was thinking it might be fun to do an author Q&A session sometime. Maybe people can post questions on FB or Yahoo Group and I can collect them and answer them here. 4. Over the years, I've had so many different New Trials projects I wanted to do including the special series such as the Legacy of the Five Forces and the Kaitou Magician special. I also started editing the earlier chapters. This is something I just thought of recently but my ultimate vision for New Trials I think is to go back and edit all the chapters once I'm done with Arc 4 and maybe make a mobile devise friendly E-book version with perhaps a "cover art" and also select artwork from the fans to create an ultimate "illustrated" version, which Amethyst Beloved's project probably has made a good head start with and will of course need all your help.
I've made "Ending Theme" Youtube videos for New Trials, but I've since circa 2003 wanted do make an animated "Opening Theme" for New Trials using a cut of Utada Hikaru's Sakura Drops. However, I'm afraid that Youtube will probably delete the video. Does anybody know how things work these days with deleting samplings of songs. I'm also going to do an updated New Trials trailer for Yesterday's Letter in Arc 3 which Youtube unceremoniously deleted. I mourn the wonderful comments more than anything else. Or 5. Just go back to writing silly Wish-chan.
The song spotlight of the day is one of my ultimate favorite songs, Cyndai Lauper's "Time After Time," sung the the legendary Eva Cassidy in an acoustic rendition which I believe is the ultimate version of the time-old song which has seen many different covers and renditions over the years. It's a song I've always liked but I think it became one of my top favorite song in more recent years when I stopped and thought about the lyrics.
I have mentioned in my chapter endnote that this chapter was the most difficult one to write to date. Those of you you have already read the chapter probably understand why it was so difficult to complete it. I'm almost scared to check my hotmail inbox (which sadly I haven't been able to check in months--I do not like the new layout). But on the brighter side, hopefully the next two chapters will be out quicker since Chapter 70 is 70% done and I've also worked on Chapter 71 already. I feel like I am always giving excuses on why it's taken so long to update a new chapter (which you guys know are the size of a moderate-length YA novel.) But you guys have been so understanding and supportive, which I am utterly grateful for, so I though I might give a brief run through of life. This is my take two on this blog post-I was finished with a very long update on my life and my internet crashed on me literally as I typed in my last sentence which irritates me exceedingly. And I thought blogspot was supposed to save interim drafts?
So, as I may have mentioned before, I work in journalism which is a very time-consuming, exhausting profession which leaves me little time for hobby-writing. My poor fingers are exhausted at the end of the day. But anyhow, I was aiming to get this chapter up for Sakura's birthday but in March, I changed beats hence work got hectic. May, my Sony VAIO driver crashed, and I took the my laptop to the A/S center in my country. They told me I had to get the whole thing reformatted, and I told them, the whole reason I brought my laptop to pro technicians was so that they can fix it--I can reformat the computer myself at home if I want to. So, I had to say bye-bye to three-years worth of files and programs. Actually, I did manage to save most of my important files onto an external harddrive. But it was a pain to install programs all over again and I kept delaying the process of transferring files throughout the rest of the month. Needless to say, I am very sad that I have so few songs on my computer at the moment. I need good BGM to write. Also, I am not liking Microsoft Word 2010.
Flashback to several months ago, I was asked by a close sister-like to be a bridesmaid for her June wedding. She's Korean, he's Chinese-American, and they had a beautiful garden wedding albeit chaotic. It was a very international wedding, and her other bridesmaids were coming from abroad, and I was busy running about interpreting for the guests. Funny story, it was so hot during the ceremony outside that I almost fainted from heatstroke. The interpreter just made the whole process very slow, and I hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day because it had been so hectic. I began to see white spots, and I kept telling myself I could not faint and ruin the wedding. I almost tripped as we made it back down aisle but thank goodness for the groomsman--I wouldn't have been able to walk in the straight line otherwise. Lesson of the day: eat and drink before big events. July was the busiest month ever because I was working on a feature series, people were gone for holidays so we had to write an extra article a day, and it was so hot my brain worked twice as slow. Sorry Syaoran, but it was a horrid month, and I'm glad it's over. The song the Tomoyo sings in Chapter 69 is "I Do" by Ilaria Graziano and composed by of course Yoko Kanno, a part of the Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex OST. I was surprised to realize that there actually was a Yoko Kanno song that I didn't know, but recently I listened to an amazing cover of the song by Rasmus Faber (in his Platina Jazz ~Anime Standards Vol.4 album), which might even be better than the original version. It had been a long time since a song captivated me and low and behold, it was Yoko Kanno's song.
Some notes on the recent chapter that are not too spoilery. First, I was scouring the CCS Movie 1 to figure out where Syaoran lived. The CCS crew went up the tram to Victoria's Peak and then the next scene panned to Syaoran's mansion. Victoria's Peak is one of the most expensive real estate neighborhoods in the world. Yes, Syao-chan has just been that humble all along. Second, I really didn't care much for Erika in Arc 1 but she's grown on me over the arcs. Jinyu also was a sideline character, but it was fun seeing what his personality was like for the first time. Thirdly, oh my goodness, is it really the 15th anniversary of CCS? I'm very excited about all the pretty new CCS artwork I've been catching glimpses of.
Everything's gonna be all right, Sakura... by ~wishluv on deviantART Good news or bad news first? Bad news first because that's how I like things--Chapter 69 is not yet finished but good news is that it's getting there, perhaps 90%? I was targeting a release for Sakura's birthday, a friend was visiting from the States for the past week that I haven't seen in three years. Throw social and work obligations out the window so I can finish writing Arc 4! So, I'm rather mischievous in my own way amongst people I am close to and love playing Aprils' Fools jokes, but I just don't have the heart to play any prank on you guys and have a fake chapter up. But I do admit the thought has crossed my evil mind.
I know it's Sakura's birthday, but I wanted draw sort of a canon fanart pertinent to an Arc 4 scene so it can be added to the New Trials picture book. I know I rather rushed through drawing it so I see it more as a concept art. Maybe I'll redraw from another angle some other day. How I went from drawing the pink ribbon scene in Arc 2 to this one, I do not know. Actually, I'm pretty sick of drawing S+S at the moment and really want to draw Meilin and other characters. Can't wait to finish Chapter 69 because there are so many side projects I want to do and have stalled.
Happy Birthday Sakura 2013!!! Happy Aprils' Fool Day and Happy Easter as well! The music spotlight this time around is an obvious choice, Sweetbox's "Everything's gonna be alright." I think I included this song some time ago on the New Trials OST playlist. The song is a quintessential 90s song, released in 1997. This was sort of therapeutic song during my high school and college years, I think, when things were tough for me. I still enjoy listening to it once in a while because you really can't go wrong with classical mixed with hip-hop. I'm a big fan of Bach, especially Air on the G String from Suite No. 3, which is the classical piece playing the background in case you are wondering. There is another version of the song, the Reborn Version, featuring Jade, of Final Fantasy X-II fame (English singing voice of Yuna), but for this song I prefer the original Tina Harris version which is just more raw.
Wow, this is my first blog post of the new year. I can't believe it's already 2013. Happy New Year, Lunar New Year. My heart is still stopped at 1999, it feels like. Which is the year which I first began writing New Trials, now that I think of it. I had my first very short break in nearly two years last week. I went to Japan for three days again, this time to Fukoka, so I might blog about it later. It's my first time traveling in ages.
It was recently the New Trial Yahoo Group's anniversary, but I didn't get to do anything to celebrate so I felt guilty. But thank you to the Yahoo Group for keeping me inspired through all the ages.
Cherry x Kiss is a concept that I thought would be cute for Sakura and Syaoran. In the Korean-dub broadcast of CCS, Sakura's name was "Cherry." Strangely enough, Syaoran was kept "Sha-o-rang"--perhaps because he's supposed to be foreign. I wonder if anybody would photoshop the picture and erase the cherry, squish them together and actually make them kiss. I might do that actually someday if I'm bored. I was actually doing a Meilin and Kai fanart for Valentine's Day but it ended up coming out so angsty that I decided to stick with S+S for a lighthearted day.
I know you are all waiting for Chapter 69. I was able to get out of my writer's block all thanks to Kirei Blossom's The Secret Wedding Chronicles which I definitely would recommend to pass time if you have't read already. So, though I don't have a lot of time to do personal writing, I've been working consistantly for the past two months, even if its several lines a day. And then I asked myself, why in the world am I making no progress in Chapter 69? It's because I've been writing ahead again. But since there are only an estimated 4-5 chapters left, it's kind of necessary to plan ahead instead of the "plot of the day" sort of chapters that has usually been the case. So, perhaps future chapters will come quicker, but I do promise I'm working hard on Chapter 69.
Song of the day is an all-time favorite feel-good band, Spitz's "Cherry." I didn't realize how much the lyrics can apply to Syaoran in Arc 4, but totally can imagine him singing the song to Sakura. Actually, the song is sadder than I thought, now that I think of it.
Happy Valentine's Day 2013! And belatedly happy birthday to Amethyst Beloved, the wonderful person who has done so much for New Trials over the years, not least of all maintaining and running the New Trial Fan Project site amongst many other things.
