Happy Valentine's Day and Happy 15th Anniversary of the Yahoo Group!

Syaoran's Birthday Omake #5 by wishluv on DeviantArt

I've always wanted Sakura to wear a statement green evening dress at one point in New Trials, especially after seeing Keira Knightley's green dress from the 2007 film Atonement. I still haven't watched the film, but the shade of that green dress really was alluring. I'd forgotten this thought for a while, however, until I was trying to decide on a dress for Chapter 73.5: The Hong Kong Encounter. Sakura's dress was supposed to be gold in the first draft, but it didn't feel right, and then I remembered I had been "saving up" a statement green dress all this while. Below is a concept art I did of Sakura's green backless dress when I was writing Chapter 73.5.This is an artwork I do plan on coloring eventually. I don't really share WIP frequently, and I wasn't quite sure I was convinced on the dress design, which is why I never finished this up last year.

The fanart I draw for the particular holiday never seems to really match the holiday and I have to scrap it (like the angsty Meilin and Kai artwork I was sketching for Valentine's Day). I doodled a Yue and Touya piece for Christmas last year which I never finished. Yukito's birthday is on Christmas Day, which I rarely remember. I'm never inspired to draw Yukito, for some reason. Yue on the other hand I do enjoy drawing, but his outfits are so hard to put together. I think he might be the hardest character in CCS to draw (besides Cerberus and Spinel Sun). 

I was just looking back and realized how quickly the past year passed by and was a bit taken back. This year marks the 20th anniversary of New Trials. It's all thanks to you guys that New Trials existed for 20 years, growing alongside the marvelous Card Captor Sakura franchise which has also made an awesome comeback. Again, belated Happy Valentine's Day and Happy 15th Anniversary of the Yahoo Group! The Yahoo Group really has been such an important support system, and despite it's somewhat outdated (and unreliable) platform, as a creature of habit, it really is my security blanket in a sense.



Music Spotlight:

I haven't gotten over my "I'm sick of everything on my playlist" ennui since last summer--I don't listen to as much music anymore in general lately because of this (I mean, I still do listen a lot, mainly when writing), but I have been seeking opera and then cycling back to my favorite musicals just to get through. And I supposed Korean drama OSTs because that's most readily available to me. I actually had a few more depressing songs picked out, but I realized this is the first "Music Spotlight" of 2019 (the Year of the Pig), and this is technically a Valentine's Day post, so I decide do share an uplifting song. 

Junggigo (정기고) - "D-Day" 



This song was from the Korean drama "My ID is Gangnam Beauty" and it was my rare groove last summer during my music dry spell. It's a feel-good song that puts you back into that excited campus crush, first love state of mind. Junggigo has a really soothing voice as well.

New Trials Update: Kaitou Magician Origins Chapter Six

Kaitou Magician Origins Leon Reed Character Sketch by wishluv on DeviantArt

I posted over on the New Trials Yahoo Group that Kaitou Magician Origins Chapter Six: Leon Reed would be updated, and for the first time I actually kept my promise! Truthfully speaking, this chapter was mostly written out and nearly ready to release when I wrote Chapter Five: Mizuki Mayura, but I only held it back for possible spoiler reasons in the main New Trials of Card Captor Sakura storyline. 

Chapter Six marks the second half of Kaitou Magician Origins, Thief of the Night, where Mizuki Kai officially begins his training as a thief and also may be marked by a darker tone than the first half, Prince of Light. I'm definitely excited that Leon Reed finally gets introduced in the KMO storyline because he probably is the character most full of intrigue in the Nadeshiko generation. I find KMO Part Two more interesting than Part One, so hope you guys can enjoy as well, while waiting for New Trials of CCS to get finished up!

You can find Kaitou Magician Origins Chapter Six newly updated on my New Trials website's Kaitou Magician Origins page: http://wishluv.com/kaitoumagicianspecial.htm.

KMO Chapter Six is also up over at: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4670496/1/New-Trials-Special-Kaitou-Magician-Origins.


I don't do it often, but I posted on devianart a rough character study sketch of Leon, because I did that for Kara Reed years before she was introduced in the New Trials story line at the end of Arc 3. You guys probably saw a roughly half-colored version of it in my WIP collage posted a couple years back.  

I also corrected some typos in New Trials Chapters 1 to 3 which had a few Kero-chan-chans because of my careless editing attempt some years ago, which Amethyst Beloved kindly pointed out to me. If you guys spot weird typos like that, or broken links, do let me know! 

And don't worry, I've been working on the New Trials final arc as well.  

Music Spotlight: X Japan - "Rain"



I am pretty sure I must have featured X Japan before, though I can't remember clearly. The main reason I chose X Japan today was because there is a scene in New Trials Chapter 73 where Kai is listening to the band in the classroom during the cultural festival, and he probably was listening to this song. The reason he listens to X Japan was because it was one of Leon Reed's favorite bands, though it probably isn't his own taste in music. 

X Japan probably bears no explanation since they are that famous, even if Japanese heavy metal is not your usual genre. "Rain" composed by Yoshiki is probably X Japan's most emotional ballad, as it was written about the death of his father. Check out the lyrics here. I think it rather fits Kai and Leon's relationship as well. X Japan has its links to Clamp because of the X anime. I've probably listened to X Japan while writing New Trials since Arc 1, because it is one of the first Japanese bands I have known, since I was introduced to them through "Rusty Nail." I also love "Crucify My Love" equally as much as "Rain." It's too much to listen to frequently, but every once in a while, I do go back to their hits.

I was asking the Yahoo Group for music recommendations because I've really hit a stump with my current playlist and would also welcome any suggestions here as well! Similarly, I asked the Yahoo Group if anybody has any trouble when searching for New Trials on Google. My wishluv.com domain didn't seem to show up for me right for a while, (and rather the wishluv.revolutionhosting.net site did) but it seems to be okay now. Still, just wanted to make sure because I'm never sure how the Google algorithm works.

New Trials Chapter 73 Part 2 Updated on ff.net

Sorry, did I say in my last post Part 2 would take two weeks? I meant actually two months. At the end of Chapter 73, in my author's note, I do include a lengthy long-winding existential non-excuse. In other words, I have been working consecutive six-day weeks, sometimes seven days, this month for some reason, and I don't think my schedule is going to let up much through December, atop year-end obligations. I do love the time I do get to spend writing New Trials though, that hasn't changed in all 18 years of writing it, and I am eager to be working on new material (well, actually, when I got tired or revisions to Chapter 73, I was writing the special chapter.)

I don't I don't want to give away any spoilers, but those of you who have read Chapter 73 Part 1 may have to go back for a reread (probably necessary anyway because it's been so long since my last update) because I added back in a scene that I cut during my revision process initially to include as a flashback in Part 2. If you are too lazy to read the whole thing over again CRT+F "Wednesday," it's the scene between Tomoyo, Leiyun and Eriol that some of you were curious about and noticed was missing. I also updated a few typos pointed out by the hawk-eyed Amethyst Beloved, much thanks to her.

I planned to update this chapter for Halloween, since I think it's appropriate for Halloween, but at least you can use Thanksgiving break, those of you living in the United States. Nope, no holiday for me though.

Please check out New Trials Chapter 73: The Other Side of Midnight Part 2 over at fanfiction.net.

I can't get over how ugly my chapters looks on ff.net though. And I can't tell if that site is awfully slow, or if it's just my computer. Hopefully I get to actually update my website at wishluv.com. I'm actually a little bit scared to try to log in again.

Music spotlight:

Maaya Sakamoto's "Saigo no Kajitsu" is my favorite theme song from the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle franchise, and was the ED them to Tokyo Revelations. I'm so excited for a new Maaya song for the OP them of CCS Clear Card Arc (which I totally called), but I am a bit bummed it's not another Yoko Kanno collab.

Happy International New Trials Day 2016!

Happy International New Trials Day 2016!!! by wishluv on DeviantArt

I wish I could have finished the full version of this fanart, but I didn't think I would have time to color it in. Syaoran, unfortunately, is cut out but he's there, besides Sakura. 

I was trying to figure out how many years have passed since I began writing New Trials, and this year, I just couldn't do the math until I saw a Facebook post which said it's been 17 years! I realize now that I picked the right fandom to pursue when I chose to begin writing New Trials in fall 1999. I seriously think CCS has the best and most united fandom out there, and it hasn't disappointed in the near 20 years that I've known this series.

I think I mentioned before that one of the reasons I began writing a fanfic for CCS was because I was dead sure that CLAMP would never write a sequel for it. Boy was I wrong. I'm so excited that CLAMP did choose to write a sequel for the 20th anniversary of CCS, other than Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles of course. It means new artwork, new merchandise! And I'm hoping that the Card Captor Sakura Clear Arc will be animated as well. Dare I dream of a new collaboration between Yoko Kanno and Maaya Sakamoto?

Of course, I am so far along in New Trials that a new sequel really has no impact on the story I have in mind. I didn't get much of a chance to work on Chapter 73: The Other Side of Midnight over my summer break, but it's a chapter I'm really excited about. 

So, thank you for supporting New Trials and for us for supporting CCS for so long that CLAMP felt compelled to revisit their pet series. I swear, I think they must love Sakura and Syaoran as much as we do. I once wrote in some post long ago that though CCS is my favorite of CLAMP's works by far, I believe X, though yet unfinished, to be CLAMP's magnum opus. But perhaps, I was wrong, and it will be Card Captor Sakura, after all. I can go with that. 

Do check out the fabulous artwork being posted on Facebook celebrating New Trials Day!

Music Spotlight is Yui's Gloria. I listened to Yui's Orange Garden Pop album on the airplane and remembered how much I liked her music all over again. She has such a poignant voice. This song's been stuck in my head for some reason though.

Update: New Trials Chapter 71 Part I and Part II on ff.net and Happy Valentine's Day!

 
Sakura and Syaoran Seijou High by wishluv on DeviantArt

Both Part I and Part II of The New Trials of Card Captor Sakura Chapter 71: The Alliance of the Stars are up on fanfiction.net. I posted up Part I on ff.net earlier this month. I'm getting some website issues sorted out, but hopefully I can have a final version of the chapter up on my website soon.   

Yes, in case you were wondering where that S+S fanart in their uniforms comes from, it's this chapter. 

Happy Valentine's Day 2015!




Music Spotlight: Adam Levine - "Lost Stars" 

"But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?"

As you guys know, I was on a Maroon 5 kick last year. I got my Western pop fix and I've been back to listening to J-pop recently. Onitsuka Chihiro was on repeat on my playlist this chapter (after failing to find a good new playlist to write to.) If I had to pick my favorite song of 2014, I'll probably pick "Lost Stars" from the OST of the movie "Begin Again." I was a big fan of "Once," so it was no surprise I loved "Begin Again," which I watched on the airplane last year. I love a good cover of a song, but this is one of those songs I think that only Adam Levine can pull off, especially the falsetto part. I also loved the lyrics of the song, especially, "God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young. And I think the song fits nicely with Chapter 71. 

Update: New Trials Chapter 70 posted on website... the longest shoujo anime fanfiction ever?

I don't know how many times I have posted an updated for Chapter 70 this time around, but without further ado, Chapter 70: Eye of the Dragon is up on my website. Now, you can see it in its unadulterated formatting. But truthfully, it was fun posting up the landmark Chapter 70 Part II up on fanfiction.net first. The lovely Amethyst Beloved has been uploading the chapters up on ff.net for me for years, so I didn't really keep track of the page much. I've been feeling a little bit like the narcoleptic Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland, in contrast to my insomniac days (which is better for writing!). Maybe it's the summer heat and humidity.

Years ago, I tried to do a word count of New Trials and gave up because MS Word crashed. I should have just checked ff.net first. I couldn't believe the series is reaching 1.7 million words--I think it surpassed that number if you count all the side specials like the Legacy of the Five Forces and Kaitou Magician specials. Of course, numbers are only numbers, and as you guys all know I've never been big on stats. My motto was as long as I have one reader, I'll continue writing New Trials. But the continued fan support for this fanfiction again humbles me. You guys who stuck around for 1.7 million words are awesome as well. For reference, the Guinness Word Record holding longest novel is around 1.2 million words. There definitely are longer fanfiction out there (and I don't really have any intentions of breaking records), but I'm sure this is the longest Card Captor Sakura fanfic. It might be the longest shoujo anime fanfic out there, but again, who knows. Conclusion is, kudos to all of you for reading that many words, some over the span of many years, some who have marathoned through the series! 

Because the chapter was posted on ff.net first, it was fun to see the stats generated by the website. I don't think I realized I still had so many readers, especially because CCS ended so long ago, so thanks for checking by to read the latest chapters whether on ff.net or by website or backup sites after all these years. Also, I loved reading all the comments on ff.net. I have been very blessed as a writer in the wonderful comments and feedbacks I have received since 1999 via email, the Yahoo Group, Facebook, Bravenet Guestbook, Geocities guestbook, blogposts, etc. Of course, I've seen hotmail delete my inbox, Geocities crash, etc. And Facebook and Yahoo posts are for members only, so I realized how nice it is having a dated record of readers' comments up for the public to see. And I know how for many budding fanfiction writers, each comment is very precious and after all these years, that hasn't changed. I feel blessed to have more than 2,000 comments on ff.net--and this is discounting the much more numerous feedback I've received in many different medium over the years. One of my favorite recent comments was by SnowCharms who said: "I swear, I hate and love you with equal fervor." I'm having a lot of fun reading feedback for this chapter, for it was an experimental format and also one I worked really hard. Interesting stats while I knew I had the most readers from the U.S., that's followed up by the Philippines and India. There are times when I think if the internet disappears, all record of 15 years of work will disappear as well, as I've never printed a single page of New Trials. I probably should in the editing process, but hey, save the trees. 

Thanks for pointing out that CLAMP is going to write a new sequel of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. So, my dream of a new CCS sequel must have been for a new TRC chapter due in August, darnit. I'm excited for any glimpses of CLAMP Sakura and Syaoran artwork I can get. And who else wants a chibi-Syaoran figurine? How adorable are chibi S+S? How do you get one?

I mentioned in my last post that for Chapter 70 Part II, I had Imagine Dragon's "Demon" in mind. For Part I, I had in mind theThe Band Perry's "If I Die Young."  I love the simplicity and poignancy of the song, contrasting with the bright, whimsical music video, reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables and the Lady of Shalott, as Elaine was my favorite Arthurian heroine. Gosh, I despised Sir Lancelot for many different reasons, but I can probably write a whole blogpost or two on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, probably Syaoran's inspiration for Sakura and her Alliance of the Stars. 



I absolutely love Kurt Hugo Schneider's piano rendition of "Demons" as well. I kind of wish there is a nonvocal piano version of the piece--I would totally use it for my writing playlist. 

New Trials Chapter 70: Eye of the Dragon Part I and II is up on ff.net

It is just one of those ironies in life when I finally decided to post up the official completed Chapter 70 of New Trials of CCS Part I and II up, and my website http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net was down over the weekend. The site is up again, but I'm having trouble logging into my ftp at the moment, so I really didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer (as if you haven't waited long enough already), so I posted up the full chapter myself on fanfiction.net. (Usually darling Amethyst Beloved has been diligently uploading the chapters for years, so this is the exception, especially because I didn't want to burden her with editing in all the annoying scene breaks!) I already posted Part I on my website, without an official update notice. Not much changed except some typos, a few pointed out by Amethyst, and a date error pointed out by another kind reader S. Halliwell (and a bunch more that I discovered and hoped you didn't). No content change, so if you already read Part I, you can skip right ahead to Part II (but you can also read Part I again as a refresher!)

Without further ado, you can find Chapter 70 Eye of the Dragon Part I: A Midnight Toll and Part II: The Dragon Isles here: 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/197453/115/The-New-Trials-of-Card-Captor-Sakura-and-Friends
 
And of course you can read the rest of the post after you finish reading the chapter. I am not a big fan of how ff.net changes the formatting of the chapter, so if you don't mind waiting a couple more days, hopefully by then I will have the ftp problem resolved and you can read the chapter with proper formatting on my website at http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net/newtrials.htm soon enough. Despite ugly formatting, I kind of like the idea of debuting the landmark 70th chapter on ff.net first, for the first time. For a while, I entertained the idea of ending New Trials at Chapter 70, to parallel the number of anime episodes. But not happening, obviously.

There are so many things I can say about this chapter. As you know, I had this chapter almost finished for Sakura's birthday and posted up the first half in mid-April. An apology is due, however, for taking so long to get Chapter 70 completed, however, (plus the nearly two-month hiatus to get Part II out.) Work (organizing an economic forum on top of everything else) and real world drama took over, as usual. I was really being nit-picky about this chapter as well, because it is a significant chapter to me in many ways, and there was one last scene that I was stuck on. This is actually technically the length of two chapters (around the length of the first Harry Potter novel), but I wanted it to be under one chapter. As you guys know, I've been writing ahead, and I've actually had to cut out the last third of this chapter because of length. 

This was probably one of the most technically difficult chapters to write to date, but I had a lot of fun writing it (in retrospective)--I feel like it's a bit different from any other chapters so far, and I've imagined so many years writing this chapter, I'm excited I finally got to it. I don't think the 13-year-old me could have pulled off this chapter at all.

Before I forget, it's odd but I had a CCS-related dream last week. I think this chapter was stressing me out subconsciously. I haven't had a CCS dream that I remembered in years and years. Themost vivid CCS dream I think was over 14 years ago. I had a dream (in anime) with Meilin with short hair crying and looking very sad in a snowy place. I used to hate Meilin during Season 1 and 2 CCS days (sorry girl, love you now), and I think it was because of this dream I decided to like her (and after she got rejected for good by Syao-chan.) Anyhow, I had a dream that I was watching on a screen CCS!Sakura in a trademark white and pink dress, levitating in space with stars around her, and shooting an arrow up into the sky, emitting light like a shooting star. It felt like a promotional teaser or something and in my dream, I think I thought it was an ad for a CCS OVA or remake or something. I think I was excited by the stream of new CCS merchandise being released, and also thought if Sailor Moon gets a reboot, why not CCS. Though I probably won't want a reboot for CCS. Maybe an OVA or third movie. I'm pretty sure I had another CCS dream over the past week, but I can't remember it at the moment. 

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle provided the concept art for this chapter. Refer to 0:22 of my TRC AMV. 
 
I really like Boyce Avenue and Jenel Garcia's acoustic cover of Imagine Dragon's "Demons" which reminds me of Chapter 70 Part II. The original version of the song, though I would use as Kai's OST.   

New Trials Chapter 69: The Betrayal

New Trials Chapter 69: The Betrayal is up at my website! Many apologies for the long delay.

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.

Happy 13th New Trials Anniversary!

Sakura and Syaoran: Till the Sunrise by ~wishluv on deviantART

Being 13 years old, I don't really think I would have envisioned writing this Card Captor Sakura fanfiction 13 years later. So, I don't recall when I really started writing New Trials. All I remember is that it was around fall 1999. That seems so long ago, now. Luckily, years later fans have designated September 1 as the International New Trials Day, and it seems befitting. I am lucky in the fandom I chose because Card Captor Sakura (1996-2000) till this day remains a hugely popular CLAMP work and has had enduring power as a shoujo anime and manga franchise. Firstly, I think CCS is probably one of the best mahou shoujo anime and manga of the last decade and a half, and secondly, CLAMP revisiting the characters of Sakura and Syaoran et. al. in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (2003-2009) also helped revive interest in CCS and make it relevant today to a wide group of fans of all ages, male and female and all over the world. It's been three years since TRC ended already--makes me think it's about time for CLAMP to reboot the franchise one more time.

But in the meantime, New Trials has endured all these years. I wish I can have the new chapter ready, but as you all know, I do tend to go MIA when real life takes over. I haven't had a day off in over a year now. Ah, Asian work ethics. Sometimes I miss being a student. Anyhow, the several past months have been hectic. I'm working in journalism at the moment, so I have crazy hours, and I do radio broadcast early in the morning as well. Recently, my mom broke her leg, so I've been staying at the hospital--actually writing this post at the hospital. Just a warning, be careful of rain.

These days, I've been itching to draw since I couldn't for several months. My middle finger that I strained still is stiff and hurts sometimes; I think I overuse it. But it was fun doing none chibi-artwork for a change. I really wanted to draw scenes from Chapter 4: The Camping Trip since I wrote it, and I've been sketching out the scene. So, I finally wanted for the 13th anniverary of New Trials to revisit good old Arc 1 days. 

I also posted up the newly edited and annotated versions of New Trials of CCS Prologue to Chapter 4. I was tempted to do a whole lot of rewriting, but I thought for nostalgia's sake, I would keep editing to a bare minimal, just fixing up typos and grammar mistakes here and there, along with just a few factual consistancy changes.

You can find the newly edited chapters here:
Prologue
Chapter 1: The New Beginning
Chapter 2: The Mysterious Past
Chapter 3: Of Ghosts, Statutes and Quarrrels
Chapter 4: The Camping Trip

The annotations say August 2012, but these five chapters were edited in October 2010, probably right after the shock when revolutionhosing.net went down. So, in case you're all wondering why I'm editing old chapters when I haven't even finished writing Chapter 69, then it's because these edits have already been done, and I've been just too lazy to upload the edits. As for the progress of Arc 4, there's probably around five chapters left, maybe more. When I draw or write side chapters, it's usually when I have a writer's block, but these days, it's because my day job is writing, so I just down have energy to write anymore at home. 

I haven't been able to check my email or really respond to much anything this couple months, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up come fall. (Stupid heat wave this summer which made my brain melt). Seriously, I worry about global climate change but even more about my inability to piece together coherent thoughts when  hot.

This is a meaningful anniversary because it marks that I've been writing the New Trials of Card Captor Sakura for half my life now. It's sort of a sombering knowledge.

It's an awful long time to spend on one fanfiction. But writing this makes me happy, and hopefully it makes others happy or entertained as well, so that's why I keep doing it.

Happy International New Trials Day 2013!

I am always shocked, amazed and delighted by the wonderful creativity that New Trials has spurred, which can be seen collectively here: http://newtrialsfanprojects.weebly.com/updates.html many thanks to the amazingly organized Amethyst Beloved. 

Thank you so much for giving this little big fanwork so much love and support for 13 years! 

Lots of dialogue happening at the New Trials Facebook page these days so check it out!

New Trials Chapter 68 Fanwork Spotlight

Sakura Chapter 68 Wedding Dress Sketch by ~wishluv on deviantART

Happy Friday the 13th. First off, I posted on deviantart a rough concept art for New Trials of Card Captor Sakura Chapter 68: Regeneration. I normally do not post doodles, but sadly I don't think I'll be able to actually ink this sketch till my finger gets better, hence, I'm posting it up. I sketched it on a crowded subway on my lap, without support, hence the messiness. Upon Amethyst Beloved's request, I also posted up a HQ version of the entire cast of New Trials (not really, but closest to it you'll see in one picture). It's more of a collage of old and new artwork, some incomplete. I actually like Chang Ruichi and Risa the best in it, but they're not really completed. The picture was used in the pan-up sequence in the New Trials Ending Theme 4 I made to Maaya Sakamoto's Koucha.

Kris from the New Trials Yahoo Group did an awesome video review on Youtube on Chapter 68. Warning, it has spoilers! 

My favorite part of Kris' review is his Asuma and Leiyun's Anyhow, Kris is so very articulate and has a great sense of humor, I feel like I'm listening to a pro film critic or something. Anyhow, if you're feeling to lazy to read the chapter or forgot what happened, Kris does an excellent job summarizing what happens, and it's so fun hearing a reader's POV on the various events. So, may I say, I think this review does a better job of relaying Chapter 68 than the actual chapter. I loved it when he recaps the Magnet scene. Oh, poor Syaoran.

While you're waiting for Chapter 69, please do check out other fanworks. The talented and beautiful Melenie Mackey from the Yahoo Group (the Malanie who appears as a model in Chapter 63) wrote a HILARIOUS New Trials side fanfic "The Gang Plays Love Truth Game." 

Of course Eriol would wear Armani. And I suddenly began to wildly imagine what could be on the Hiiragizawa Eriol Blackmail Diaries. Oh ho ho ho... Anyhow, loved all the Tomoyo x Eriol interactions and also seeing Leiyun in somewhat of a regular setting. ^^

Then, there is the great Kirei Blossom's Tomoyo Video Diaries, New Trials Edition: The Sniffing Chronicles. I cracked up so much... Poor Eron-kun. So, I've always told Kirei-chan if something ever happens to me, I'll let her finish New Trials.

You know, I never realized how popular the Li Syaoran Blackmail Diaries would be. It makes me wonder, what will be on it. Any ideas? Syaoran wearing teddy-bear print boxers? Syaoran tying a frayed green ribbon around his hair, Eron-style. Syaoran folding Sakura's underwear, only trying to be helpful? 

New Trials of Card Captor Sakura Entire Cast by ~wishluv on deviantART

Kaitou Magician Origins Chapter 5 Up!

Young Mizuki Kai x Kara Reed by ~wishluv on deviantART

I never thought that I would be able to say this... But I've caught up on months and months worth of backlogged emails. If by any chance you have emailed me in the past several months, and you have not received a response, please do shoot me another email and let me know. Hotmail might have simply gobbled it up as junk mail and I might not have received it. 

Reading my inbox made me very very happy and very very guilty at the same time. It's so horrible, I feel like a wretched person reading everyone's lovely emails and then taking so long to respond. But I do respond eventually. 

And when I'm bad, I'm really bad. But when I'm good, I'm really good (about updates I mean). So, Chapter 5 of the New Trials Special: Kaitou Magician Origins is up. It's not an eventful chapter but it should provide a lot of back information. New fanart of Kai and Kara when they were young is also up at deviantart. It's an old artwork/ doodle.

So, I'm officially "Nine-Finger Wish." How's that for a pirate name, aye? I finally went to the doctor because I got scared from everybody's warnings. The first doctor I went to at a general clinic looked at my middle finger and said that it looked like it was broken and that I might need to have a surgery and put a wire in it and won't be able to use it for eight weeks. Seriously, I kind of felt faint when I heard that. I value my hands a lot. So I went to an orthopedist who took an x-ray. As I thought, it was a stretched ligament, and there's nothing to do about it. Did some rehab and got asked what I've been doing for the past month. I'm trying to type with nine fingers these days though. Sigh. 

The Goo Goo Dolls' Iris from the City of Angels OST is one of my most favorite songs ever. There are just some songs that reach the soul, and this is one of those timeless songs. This live version of the song just sends shivers down my spine because the pouring rain just makes it all the more epic and unrepeatable. I listed before in the "New Trials OST" list that Iris would be Kai's theme song. (And Syaoran's too, but more Kai's). The lyrics really are resonant with Kai. It's kind of what the whole Kaitou Magician Origins story is about too. "I just want you to know who I really am." I hope Johnny Rzeznik doesn't strain his voice and continues to sing the song with the original chords instead of the modified version so I can hear the song live in concert live someday.

Happy Birthday Sakura 2012!

Today is CLAMP Day. ^^

I'm not very good at April Fool's Day jokes. I don't think I've ever done one properly for the past decade.

So a couple hours, I post: Anyway, believe it or not, Chapter: 68: Regeneration is finally up!

Just kidding!

No, actually, it really is. It's not edited though. I've never really posted an unedited chapter before, but I didn't want to break another deadline. And it's Sakura's birthday. ^^ Thanks for the patience. This chapter's dedicated to Amethyst Beloved.

New Trials Manga Doujinshi by Asocialcat

One of the greatest joys in me writing the New Trials of Card Captor Sakura over the years was undeniably the awesome fanwork that I have seen inspired, even in the tiniest bit, by my writing (which in itself is a fanwork inspired by CLAMP). I have seen spin-off fanfiction, fanart and many other creative projects and am always eager to see all the creativity out there. I got a request to make New Trials into a doujinshi many years ago from a reader in Asia, but I never really heard back about the results. Some time last December, Asocialcat (from the Yahoo Group) asked if she could make a manga out of New Trials. I said definitely yes. And as you know, I went in MIA for a while. Somehow, half a year or so has passed by, and Asocialcat-sama has completed the first chapter!

It's a whopping 74 pages. 74 pages!!! It's as many chapters drawn as the average New Trials Chapter, and I know how painstaking it is to draw even a page. Truthfully speaking, I haven't looked back at the first chapter in a long time, and it was so fun reading the chapter in manga-format. It was fun reading it, and I felt like I was reading everything for the first time just because it's in a different medium. I told Asocialcat to take whatever liberality she wants to take with the story, but overall, the first chapter is very faithful to Chapter 1: A New Beginning. I love how you can see how much thought she put into each panel and page, and truthfully am a bit overwhelmed at thinking how much time the project took her. I had so much fun reading the doujinshi, so please go ahead and check it out! here: http://www.butterflyspell.com/ntmanga/

This is a message from our humble Vanessa-sensei (aka Asocialcat): "I apologize for the inconsistent character designs and sketchy artwork. I promise that it'll get better as I get more comfortable. Also, I am planning on getting as far as I can into the series, but don't expect it to be an exact replica of Wish-chan's work. After all, I'm making a sequel to the manga and not the anime, whereas Wish-chan tends to follow the anime more often than the manga." 

She is just being overly humble, and she is a very talented artist, writer, singer and pianist, a little bit like our Tomoyo-chan. ^_^ She is a very talented young lady, and do check out her site at: http://www.asocialcat.butterflyspell.com/ and give her feedback either via the New Trials Yahoo Group or at the New Trials Facebook Group (and please join either group if you have not already done so!)  

New Trials Fanwork

Reunion of Hearts by *selenityshiroi on deviantART

The artwork is by our talented Selenity Shiroi who has illustrated a scene from the latest New Trials chapter. I'm so excited she drew it, because it's a scene I wanted to be drawn! 

As you all know, the readers of New Trials of CCS are a very talented bunch. Artwork, songs, spin-off fics; there have been numerous artwork (in a very liberal sense of the term) inspired off of Card Captor Sakura and also as a response to New Trials. I think Chapter 67: Sacrifice has had a very good response in terms fan response. Ever since I began writing New Trials. I love, love, loved all the fanart, fanfics, spin-offs, projects, etc. that people have emailed me about. Some of the compiled artwork can be found in the New Trials Devianart group http://newtrials.deviantart.com/ kindly put together by Amethyst Beloved; if you type in "New Trials of Card Captor Sakura" into deviantart, you'll find a plethora of awesome New Trials related artwork. Below is my favorite Meilin + Kai fanart, also by Selenity Shiroi

Meilin And Kai Sunset Ch 53 by *selenityshiroi on deviantART

Similiarly, there have been quite a few New Trials AMV made on youtube. I should probably make a New Trials youtube channel to compile all the videos. Check out Winxc1ub's version of Jinyu dancing the infamous internet meme "Caramelldansen." It's oh so hilarious and wrong, yet so right. I can never look at Jinyu the same way again. 

Kirei Blossom posted up her awesome Tomoyo’s Video Diary: New Trials Edition: ~*The Sniffing Chronicles*~

on the New Trials Yahoo Group today. It's hilarious, check it out! And finally, the Yahoo Group itself is a grounds where numerous people have shared their talents, ranging from singing, (check out Hazuki Goldair's "Syaoran the Waiter Boy" if you haven't already), artwork, found in the Files section, to professional photoshoots such as those of the lovely Melanie Mackey inspired from the Veil Card artwork I did of Syaoran and Blindfolded Sakura. I absolutely adore how the photo shoot turned out, and Melanie made a cameo in New Trials Chapter 63: The Joining of the Circle as the model "Malanie." I just wish I did a better job of compiling and documenting everything from the beginning. But I'm horrible at computer organization. But sometimes I just have fun googling "New Trials of Card Captor Sakura" and seeing all the fun stuff that pops up. 

Anyhow, thank you to all you talented artists, writers, musicians, singers and readers. You all are inspiration to me!

New Trials CD Drama

Exciting news, winxc1ub from the New Trials Yahoo Group is holding auditions for a New Trials CD Drama! Discussion is going on at the Yahoo Group. If you are interested in lending your voice to the characters of Card Captor Sakura and New Trials, then contact her. Check out her lovely New Trials AMVs on her channel and her CCS fanfic and fanart on her deviantart account.

New Trials Chapter 66: The Truth in the Heart

I wonder if it's just me, but in the summer time, the heat makes my brain function twice as slowly. Chapter 66 of New Trials is up for real this time, a month later than I intended, but it's a long one so hopefully it would be worth the wait. I was supposed to post it up yesterday, but I fell asleep before I finished editing. Truthfully, I'm still not quite satisfied, but I felt bad keeping everyone waiting any longer.

Without further ado: Chapter 66: The Truth in the Heart

Spoilerish but not really: It's a chapter where a lot of people act like idiots and a lot of characters appear. I am starting to wish Sakura only had 5 points in her star circle. Lol. But I do enjoy writing about all the characters, especially expanding more on Jinyu and Kara. I remember I posted a character design for Kara back in 2003-ish, and everybody was speculating who she actually was. There was even a poll, and I was impressed many people guessed correctly simply based on her dress. Who knew it would take so many years to be able to write about her. I'm glad to give Jinyu more "screentime" as well. He was supposed to be a silent character, but while it can work in visual works aka anime/ manga/ movies, it's pretty impossible to do that in writing. And I never planned on Leiyun being an otaku, either. He was such a cool character, I don't know what happened to him. In a sense, this chapter signifies a new semi-arc, and I am pretty excited about writing the following chapters, much as I had difficult writing this one.

When I grow sick of all the songs on my playlist, I usually end up returning to the classics. U2's is always a song that always finds its way back onto my playlist, which I think is an indication it's a timeless song. Not that U2 needs anymore publicity. But I think it's a song that fits well with the theme of Chapter 66.

New Trials Plagiarism Drama: Part Deux

In case anyone of you were wondering what happened to the New Trials plagiarism issue involving a fanfiction.net author who decided to copy and paste New Trials under her account and claim it as her own, there was some drama, some histrionic name-calling, and then the erasing of evidence. Well, this was her response to my (in my opinion very civil and polite) message to her on fanfiction.net. PG-13 because of language (not that it's particularly intelligible):

If you know me, I wasn't insulted by the uncouth response. I AM insulted that it was just a copy and paste message from her profile page (seen screencaptured below with name erased) and didn't reply to my message at all. Sigh. Some people just never learn. I would have loved to get a personalized message, you know? As I mentioned previously, I vehemently hate the world "plagiarism" and its variants because it is misused and overused, but in this situation, because the plagiarizer herself stated that she has stolen and doesn't care she has, then I guess that is what she is.
Yeah. She decided to rename "New Trials of CCS" to "New Trials." What makes me sad about this affair is that the individual did not really seem to learn anything from this experience (perhaps other than "don't mess with CCS fangirls,") which was NOT the message anybody was trying to relay to her. I think somebody reported her since then (thank you whoever did), and currently New Trials seems to be permanently removed from her profile.

Truthfully, the individual in me wants to reach out to this girl and try to figure out what is wrong. The realist thinks ignoring is the best measure. As we all know, it happens all the time on the internet and will continue to happen. However, the writer in me just heaves a long sigh. This could have happened to anyone, and one way or another, I might have expected it to happen to me at one point. The person shows no sign of logical coherency, therefore I am not going to think that New Trials was particularly targeted for any reason of logical coherence or devise. New Trials is the variable, the interchangeable factor, and the constant is that individual who could have substituted New Trials for any number of anime fanfiction out there. That is why I am writing this post, because writers ARE helpless in this situation. All we can do is spread awareness. I am grateful to all those who cared enough to point out the plagiarist's wrongdoing, because it is all of you who do bring about relative "justice," but at the same time, I feel bad that you all had to waste time on someone like her and probably woke up to having such an unpleasant copy-and-paste message waiting in your inbox. And I also regret that the plagiarizer herself probably came out of this mess feeling like the victim, that she was flamed and she was wronged.

I went through bemusement at the situation to befuddlement then disappointment. I get disappointed when a person acts according to what is expected of them. What is more cliched than a plagiarist who is seeking attention, denies wrongdoing, can't write proper English (by proper, I mean sentences with punctuation and without profanities and doesn't apply to those who are not native-speakers, but hey, English wasn't my first language either), flames everybody and then quickly destroys all evidence, as is easy to do online? Yeah, I've worked in the legal field, so I'm big on evidence-keeping, hence the ready screenshots of profile pages that keep disappearing. I was writing a longer blog entry trying to make sense out of things, but at the end of the day, I grew weary of making excuses for this individual and really didn't see much resolution to the larger issue at hand which is not plagiarism but why this individual (and many others out there) was compelled to commit this act (as I mentioned before, I classify internet plagiarism differently from academic or professional plagiarism). It could happen to anyone, but it happened to me, so now, it is something that I am going to ponder over. I will love to hear what others feel about this issue and how you would handle this situation because truthfully, I am stumped.

Anyhow, it's all for the better to just let her be. All I can say is, girl you picked the wrong fanfic author to mess with.

New Fanart: The Girls of New Trials

CCS: The Girls of New Trials by ~wishluv on deviantART
The Female Descendants of the Great Five: Kara Reed, Tanaka Miho, Kinomoto Sakura, Li Meilin, Daidouji Tomoyo and Chang Eron. (Representing Landon Reed, Mizuki Mayura, Amamiya Hayashi (both Sakura and Tomoyo), Li Shulin and Chang Ruichi and Risa.

I had a lot of fun drawing everybody's outfits and it is Kara Reed's color debut. I remember I posted up a pencil sketch of her up in the Yahoo Group years ago and everybody speculated who she actually was. Some people guessed correctly that she was associated with Mizuki Kai based on her punk outfit. I'm glad I got to finally introduce her. This is my first time posting up a colored picture of Miho as well, though I have quite a few Miho art that I just haven't posted up yet. She used to be a rather annoying little girl in the New York Saga in Arc One, but now, she's quite popular. She's the youngest in the group and is like everyone's little sister. She's actually wearing the Mizuki locket, but it's hard to tell. Sakura has gone through a lot over the past arc of New Trials, most notably a hairstyle change. But it's fun drawing her with both long hair and short hair. Meillin is probably the character who has evolved the most since CCS days. Truthfully, she is my favorite character to draw because she has sharp features; I used to not like her in the CCS anime when she was first introduced because she was such a pretty character and I felt concerned about her as Sakura's rival. I also like drawing Tomoyo a lot; I guess I'm partial to drawing long dark hair. Tomoyo's the character I ironically worry about the most (considering she probably has the least amount of drama in her life). And Erika has surprisingly grown on me over the past 65 chapters. Considering how spoiled and selfish she can be, she is quite self-aware of herself. She's actually one of the characters I look forward to writing about in the upcoming chapters.

Happy Birthday Sakura! New Trials Update: Chapter 65 Up!

Chapter 65: Cohabitation, Part Deux is up at http://wishluv.revolutionhosting.net/nt65.htm.

Happy Birthday to Kinomoto Sakura! (And Watanuki and TRC! Syaoran).

Happy April's Fool Day!

Fanfiction Spotlight: Chronicles and Trials

Chronicles and Trials TheamPic by ~WinxC1ub on deviantART

I've been promising WinxC1ub-chan that I would be able to read her fanfiction "Chronicles and Trials" once I finish Chapter 64. Gomen, I took a long time! Anyhow, I finally got around to reading it finally, and I love the premise. Our main characters are Hiiragizawa Daidouji Renae and Li Kinomoto Seiru (yes, you can do the math ^_^) and there are lots of familiar faces everywhere, from both the CLAMP universe and New Trials characters cameos as well!

It's very fascinating reading about an alter-universe New Trials amongst other things. Lol. It's like one of those Russian matryoshka dolls, a fanfiction within a fanfiction. Lol. Needless to say, I was most excited to see Eron's appearance. I'm sort of ashamed to say it's been many years since I read a CCS fanfiction. Don't get me wrong, I love reading CCS fanfics, but I think I sort of made a conscious sacrifice when I began writing New Trials that I probably will not be reading CCS fanfics and use that time to write New Trials. I remember when I was 12 and very innocent and naive as a newcomer to the world of fanfiction and stumbled upon a CCS one-shot lemon. There were just a handful of CCS fanfics at that time, and I really just read randomly (no picking and choosing back then.) I had no idea what a lemon was at that time and was a bit traumatized with the one-shot about a certain Lust Card and Sakura and Yukito-san. Don't ask anymore. Well, in the long run, I think all the trauma I felt when characters were OOC helped me write New Trials. When I began writing New Trials, I used to be afraid of the "bleeding" of ideas, which was sort of why I did not even read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle for the longest time. But I've reached a point in New Trials were I became so comfortable with the realm, characters and plot, that I no longer have those worries. Heck, CLAMP parodies their own work. Lol.

Anyhow, check out WinxC1ub's fanfiction "Chronicles and Trials" which is a big crossover between New Trials and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle among other things. The fourth chapter is on its way. She has many adorable CCS-related artwork up on her devianart account. She also makes lots of wonderful New Trials AMVs that you can check out on her youtube channel. Arigatou!


Lost Sunrise by ~WinxC1ub on deviantART