I seem to have hit a writer's block for 'Till You Die' after writing in angst mode for so long. Or it could've been due to the courseload from school (I have 5 papers this semester for 1 course alone, and 4 other courses including 1--argh!!--programming course). Well, what I plan to do is to struggle through this by maybe writing some other story that's much much fluffy-er, as that usually works in connecting me back with my 'dark side'. So don't be alarmed, I haven't gone inactive on the Madara fic yet.

About me:

I am 21 years of age, female; a Psychology student.

My ethnicity is Chinese, and I live in Canada; English is my second language.

When I was in elementary school, my mom tried to force me to read novels because she figured it'd help me with my...english and grammar (...no comment). Well, eventually she miraculously succeeded. At one point I was inhaling one novel a day. And I tell ya, when you've been exposed to enough cliches...you start seeking the unpredictable and the intense...like how I try to make my stories.

I think I started 'writing' when I was fourteen. Nothing serious, mind you. I was writing for myself, so it was the usual process of the Mary Sues and the 'Apocalypses' grand schemes--things that could've been remedied by a little more experience. But you wouldn't find any of my old stuff on here: Since I find it irritating that FF.net doesn't filter out abandoned fics, I tend to delete my own old/discontinued fics when I feel I have far surpassed my past writing. Just take my word for it. They. were. bad.

Despite the fact that it was my mom who had always encouraged me to read and to write so as to improve my english, I don't think she's too happy that I am writing fanfics now, instead of studying 24/7.

...But then she was the one who forced me to take drawing lessons as well, to combat my tomboyishness (which I got from the martial art lessons she forced me to take).

Parents, be careful what you wish for...

So now my dream is to someday become a mangaka (to my mom's utter incomprehension...). Maybe it is for the fame. Maybe I just want to tell stories. The only thing I'm certain at this point is that I desire to do better than the many types of cliche manga for girls out there right now.

I am quite feminist. Or rather, I was one before I became aware of it. While I understand that certain cultures and histories (or in FF.net's case, in keeping the male character 'In Character') have a very degrading view on women--which the authors try to reflect in their stories for verisimilitude--I cannot understand why an exception cannot be made if the darn story is going to be labeled a romance anyway. It's not like I'm asking for fluff (no, yuck!) but do you have any idea how many bestsellers out there portray heroines as spineless worms and the heroes as incorrigible brutes? I can name a few authors off the top of my head!

And it just boggles me to know that a great deal of female readers can sympathize with a villainous--but sexy--male character but cannot do the same for a less-than-perfect female protagonist (no wait--she'll be automatically labeled a Mary Sue if she's half as awesome as he is!).

That isn't to say I am an advocate for Mary Sues...but...we are women, aren't we? Why do we look down on our own gender, even if we're a little different from the female characters? Well, I am extremely tempted to write a fic where it is a reverse situation: where the male will be the light to the female's darkness, but that will have to wait.

I must finish 'Till You Die'. I must finish 'Till You Die'. I must finish 'Till You Die'. Must finish.