At Least We Have Forever 57 - Christmas Eve

Riya looked out of her bedroom window before heading out to the veranda. Despite the cold morning breeze blowing over the fields, it was still refreshing for her. She woke up earlier than usual for no reason. She couldn't believe how her life drastically changed over the past years. It all started when the weapons began choosing their masters and she transferred to Hanasakura Academy. And that school became a gateway to her destiny.

She sighed after breathing in the fresh air that blew forth. The cool minty scent of the evergreen and the pines calmed her as she breathe them in. Hours from now, she would be celebrating Christmas Eve not just with her family but also with her friends. It would be one of the best Christmas for her ー especially now that she got to celebrate it with Kurama.

I'll Hold On To You 65 - As The Sun Sets

[Relaina]

Okay. Kahit sabihin pang naging maganda naman ang araw namin ni Brent, hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit walang salitang namamagitan sa aming dalawa ngayong naglalakad na kami pauwi sa amin. Nag-insist ang loko na ihatid ako pauwi dahil nga ipinagkatiwala ako ng mga magulang ko sa lalaking 'to.

Hindi naman na nito kailangang gawin iyon, eh. Pero mukhang kakabit na yata ng pangalan nito ang salitang "makulit", sa totoo lang. At matagal ko nang dapat na alam iyon.

Then again, I guess I didn't mind the silence between us at the moment. Gusto kong i-relish ito, for some reason. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ganoon ang nararamdaman ko. Ang weird, 'di ba?

"Seryoso ka ba talaga sa desisyon mong ihatid pa ako pauwi sa amin?" tanong ko ulit kay Brent na tahimik lang na naglalakad sa tabi ko.

At Least We Have Forever 57 - Conclusion

"I can't accept this!"

All of them faced the man who said that. The atmosphere in the room turned tensed upon seeing the man's enraged face. But why would he feel enraged?

"And what is it that you can't accept, Nishimoto-san?" Lord Shoutaro asked sternly that increased the tension in that room.

"How could you let this demon thief be with Riya like this? He's not even worthy to be with her in every way. I can't accept this at all. It's me who should be with Riya, not him," Nishimoto said.

Yusuke was about to stand up and give him a good punch on the face but Keiko stopped him. Same goes to Kuwabara and Hiei but Yukina and Yumi stopped them respectively. However, it was the girl's mistakes. Before they knew it, Nishimoto materialized a double sword made out of spirit energy and charged towards the surprised Kurama.

At Least We Have Forever 56 - Family Conference

The next morning...

Like what Kurama said to Riya, he headed out to Hokkaido as early as he could. What he didn't plan, though, was for the rest of the gang ー including the wielders and the demon shinobi siblings ー to come along with him. According to them, they received a call from Ritsuko and Haruna saying that they should come along, as well. They made sure, however, not to let Riya come with them since the issue had something to do with her.

In fact, it was her grandfather's request.

Upon arriving to the airport of the said island, Ritsuko and an old man probably not older than 50 greeted them. She said that he was the head butler of the family. With a bus waiting for them, all of them rode in it and they headed to the Miyuzaki estate where Riya's grandfather was waiting for Kurama's arrival.

(one-shot) The Only One Who Remembers

Walking by the lake that she knew was somehow familiar to her, Sakurako was still trying to rack her mind for reasons why she went there in the first place. The location looked really creepy, not to mention dangerous, especially at night.

And yet, here she was...

Why did you lead me here?

I'm Back! Or Not Really 😂😂

Okay. I know. It's a weird title. But I just kept posting something that was originally from my Instagram account and I just want to post something else that's a little bit sensible here. I'm actually tempted to post the Thoughts From Quotes category again. I also want to continue posting some of my journal entries here, as well. But let's see when will I do that.

I really should take this writing craft seriously. A lot of the pick-a-card tarot reading I've watched on Youtube keep on pointing out about my life purpose being the one related to what I love to do the most. And only one thing keeps on popping up in my mind when it comes to that — writing.

Things had gotten a little hectic around here since the CoViD-19 issue began. It was frustrating, to be honest. Even for me who doesn't go out that often, it's still a disconcerting thing to handle. Writing my thoughts still helps. But not everyone do the same thing as me. And yet, even with that, I truly believe that the world are going to get through this. At least, one step at a time, the world would be able to.

As for me, a lot of things kept on making me busy (or distracted should be the right word for that) since the enhanced quarantine (and now, lockdown) started here in our area. That would be watching videos about BTS. Yup, I know. I can't really remember the real reason why I started watching video compilations about them. I haven't watched any of the music videos yet. Just clips and video compilations.

But yeah, these guys are the ones that kept me busy, distracted, and most importantly, sane from all of these commotion caused by the pandemic. I'm more into listening some of their songs, though. I have to blame my sisters for actually suggesting the songs to me. She's an (inactive and silent) ARMY, by the way ー with Suga as her bias.

Okay, so I guess for now, that's all I have to write here. I'm pretty much active on Instagram (UN: @pllrnsjs), though. So if you want to, you can visit me there.

Till next time!

Yes, I'm combining two days' prompts for this challenge because I know I'm quite behind doing this.

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⚜️Day 18: What's the way to your villain's heart? →So as you can see on the aesthetic, the way to both Naizen and Miyame's hearts (if they really had one considering the horrendous things they've done to the three races) is the destruction of their enemies. That was why they well hellbent in doing everything to make sure it becomes a reality. But then again, there's still Princess Rusumi's prophecy about the "children of the four hearts bearing the powers of the shattered pieces of the Flower Heart Crystal" that they had to worry about.

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⚜️Day 19: Share the last line you wrote in your WIP. →The rain fell incessantly with the queen's horrific scream resonating throughout the silent palace as she held her sister's lifeless body one final time.

I'm combining three days prompts for this challenge this time because I know I'm way behind in doing this—again. But just a note: the aesthetic have nothing to do with the prompts. I just like to post it here. The aesthetic was actually about a scene from the first chapter of the story, where the deaths of two royal members of the Choiran and the Kushan courts respectively had drastically started a change. 😂😂

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⚜️Day 20: One thing this WIP taught you about writing. → Getting out of my comfort zone and challenging myself to something new and grand.

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⚜️Day 21: How do you get in the zone to write your WIP? → Most of the time, it's after I watched some episodes of the Tokusatsu shows where the MCs were. Or at times, listening to the playlist specially picked for the story.

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⚜️Day 22: What's your MCs' Hogwarts House, MBTI type, and Enneagram type? → You know what? This part, I'm still trying to figure that out, especially about the four Choiran princesses. Maybe I'll let them take the test for me to figure that out. 😂😂

How is your WIP different from other titles in your genre?

At the moment, I can't really answer this question with confidence as I have stated before that it will bear similarities to a certain fantasy TV series and some books and anime. I'll only able to see its difference from the others as I write along. But the idea of creating a story like this using 8 POVs featuring the female leads (four mothers and their daughters) was really appealing to me way back 2005. And now, I'm going to do it and do my best to write it as coherently as I can. I haven't read any story with this many POVs so I want to challenge myself. 😐😐

Which shady side character/s do you have a soft spot for?

I haven't fully written the story, but I pick these three as the answer to this question. Soukawa Kingdom's knight Toyonobu (visual: Itagaki Rihito), one of Lord Naizen's warriors Hirasue (visual: Katono Taiko), and the guardian of the centaurs in the land of Rahae named Shiwu (visual: Watanabe Keisuke). Even when I was planning about their characters, I knew that at some point, looking all ruthless and cunning, there was something in their personalities that would make me love them.

What kind of food would your MC order take out?

As you can see, I only thought of foods for these four Choiran princesses, only because these girls grew up in the mortal world and was able to live normal lives far from the war in the Realm of Lasiris. I tried to be loyal to that of the foods that Japanese would eat. 😁✌️😁✌️

Share a line showing your WIP's theme.

One obvious theme here is the maternal bonds between the four queens of Choiran towards their daughters — with which one of them still wanted to convey it despite the colossal distance that separated them. I did mention once that one of the scenarios that this story had was quite similar to that of Encantadia was about a reigning queen separated from her daughter and got thrown into the mortal world. The other theme was acceptance—of destiny, of duty, of responsibility, and of family and friends that once felt estranged.

How does this WIP take you out of your comfort zone?

Since high school, the one I considered my comfort zone when it  comes to writing was writing romance. But when Encantadia aired in the 🇵🇭 back in 2005, this story was the result of my curiosity and desire to write a story outside of the ones I used to create. Writing this story back then was a challenge for me, as descriptions and narrations for writing fantasy—especially a large scale one—wasn't exactly similar to writing romance. At the time, I thought of it that way. And when I watched the 2016 version of the TV series, I wanted to finish what I have started back in 2005. So here it is. I want to continue the story that happened within a magical realm where three worlds and seven lands floated. A magical story that started with this royal family coming from Choiran (the world of the Asune race) and Kushan (the world of the Ladin race). 😁✌️😁✌️

Who would you cast to play your main cast in a movie/TV show?

Obvious answer would be the same visuals I used for the characters. At this point, they're the only ones I can see in my head as the portrayers of these characters. Even though I know it's going to be impossible. I'll mention what characters these visuals are going to portray next time. 😁✌️😁✌️

Share songs in your WIP playlist.

As you can see, all of the songs on this playlist are love songs that varies in language. Lately, I've also been listening to some fantasy background music compilations with varying themes. And yes, listening to them helps a lot with my writings, regardless of the genre. As for the other photos on the slide, these are the visuals of the established couples to appear in Flower Hearts Chronicles, placed with the background of their respective elemental domain in the story. The songs here would more or less talk about their love stories.

If your MC could go on vacation anywhere in the universe (real or not), where would they go?

Having used to the peaceful life they had in the human world, the four young Asune princesses wanted to relish that again—even if it was for a day. It doesn't have to be far from Choiran. As long as they could relax and have fun like they used to, it's fine by them. Tea parties, nature exploring, dancing like there's no tomorrow in a field of flowers or a pavilion... Things like that.

Describe your ideal reader.

For this story, I think I'm aiming for those who likes reading fantasy stories set in a world far beyond their own. And from the start, I know I've been aiming for readers who liked the characters from the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider shows that aired and currently airing. I want them to see these visuals and imagine them as princesses of their respective kingdoms who would do everything to fight for what they believed was right.

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My explanation made sense somehow, right? 😕😕

Why do you love this WIP?

This WIP had actually ignited something in me and made me want to write a story in fantasy genre. And this is why this story is one of those that I consider close to my heart. Usually, I focused on writing teen romance and nothing else. But this story changed it for me. This story made me realize that I could actually break free from writing on just one genre. Though I never got to finish writing this back in 2005, I've never forgotten this. And now, I'm going to continue writing this. Aside from that, I wanted to write a female-centered story—each of the characters were strong and determined to fight for life, peace, justice, and most of all, love.

What inspired your WIP?

As I kept on stating, "Flower Hearts" was inspired by a Filipino fantasy TV series "Encantadia", which was the series I've watched back in 2005. Rewatching the episodes uploaded by GMA on their Youtube Channel (both the 2005 and the 2016 versions) ignited my desire to finally finish writing this. There had been changes, of course, considering the shows that I've watched since then. From names, to the places. But the plot remained the same. The first time I wrote it, I don't really have any visuals for the characters. And now, after more than a decade, I finally have. And yes, considering that the visuals chosen were Japanese, the story will have elements found in East Asian culture—mainly Japanese and a few touches of Korean and Chinese.

Share the first page of your WIP

I haven't been able to type down the words that will encompass the first page of my WIP since I've written it down on a scrap paper. But it will involve the introduction of the worlds within the Realm of Lasiris and how the war between good and evil actually started because of the deaths of two royal family members (Queen Furiko's sister Princess Rusumi and King Atsunaga's cousin and Rusumi's lover Prince Moriuji). These two were the designated protectors of a powerful Flower Crystal holding the powers of the four elements but the queen's former confidante Naizen killed them both. But he hadn't succeeded in stealing the crystal as Rusumi had divided it into 4 main parts using Moriuji's sword and transporting them to her sister's palace, entrusting it to the queen of the Asune race.

What are some comparison titles? Explain.

Personally, I think Flower Hearts was based to several movies, books and a particular Filipino TV show. I recalled watching "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and some scenes of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Recently, I've started reading their book versions. But even from my former classmates' perspectives who read the original—albeit narrated—version of Flower Hearts, they said that the story truly resembled that of the 2005 version of Encantadia as my story was heavily inspired from that. I truly liked the concept of the TV show, even the ones added in the 2016 version.

Introduce your MCs (include pics/aesthetics)

I did mention on one post that Flower Hearts Chronicles is a revised version of an old writing project from 2005. And that includes the visuals used in the revision. All of the visuals I used were from the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider shows I've watched and were familiar with. But the characters that these 8 visuals represent are my MCs for this story. Yes, I know they're too much but I guess I could pull it off. These are the two generations of a powerful race called "Asune", basically about the lives of the four daughters of Choiran's Queen Mother Furiko chosen to rule the four regions of their world and also about their respective heirs/daughters. Maybe next time, I'll introduce who is who.

What's your WIP about?

I've just started writing this and I haven't posted it on my Wattpad account as I've planned. But this is actually the revised version of the passion project I've started in 2005. I only remembered that I wrote this when the Filipino fantasy TV series "Encantadia" started airing and recently, I was watching the uploaded episodes of the 2016 version of the series.

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So, yeah. There are several similarities of this story to that of Encantadia. Then again, I'm doing my best not to let this story become a mere copy of the TV show.

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"Flower Hearts Chronicles" isn't actually the original title of this story. In fact, that story doesn't even have a title when I wrote it. Only now did I think of a title for this. This story will span 3 generations of magical human-like beings (still thinking of the terms I'm going to call them) dealing with the ultimate darkness that threatened the peace of the three worlds and seven special lands of a magical realm.

At Least We Have Forever 55 - After The Battle

A week and a half after the big battle, everything seemed to have returned to normal. Well... not exactly everything. What appeared to be the end of the storm for Riya and the rest of the wielders seemed to be the start of another predicament for Yumi and Hiei. Riya expected it to happen. Yumi's mother, Saeko Hisakawa, was obviously worried for her daughter's welfare ー especially now that Yumi decided to claim what was rightfully hers. Several secrets about Yumi's past and the true source of her powers were finally revealed to the gang which, of course, Hiei didn't take lightly. But the fire demon decided to follow Yumi to the Demon World in order to be there for her.

Upon arriving, they were surprised to know that a battle between father and daughter had ensued since Yumi was forced to fight her brainwashed father and the leader of a certain fire demon clan ー Hideoki. It was the only way for her to reclaim what she had lost on the day of her "birth" and to discover a mystical flame residing inside of her powerful enough to let her rule over the clan. Hiei finally accepted Yumi's past and destiny upon learning the truth about her. Of course, it made Yumi happy now that she didn't have to choose between her love for Hiei and her duty as a future clan leader. The problem was solved with the help of the gang and the wielders and Yumi was allowed to return to the Human World after that.

At Least We Have Forever 54 - A Kiss Of Life And Promise

Kurama entered Riya's room as quietly as he could even though he clearly ー and sadly ー knew that she won't be waking up even if he entered loudly and in a hurry. Of course, that rarely happened. He wouldn't be the legendary bandit and master thief Youko Kurama if he entered in some place loudly.

He saw Riya lying peacefully on the beautiful ー and surely comforting ー bed. From his position, he could sense her spirit energy. Though weak (which surprised and worried him at the same), he knew she was still alive. But at the same time, he could also sense the mysterious but powerful force that Carissa and the doctor was talking about. But how would he be able to get rid of that force inside of her? He shook his head rashly when he felt that his resolve began to falter again.

At Least We Have Forever 53 - A Way To Save Her

"What do you mean she's not breathing? How is that possible?" Kurama continued to ask since his mind couldn't fully accept what Yumi said.

"I don't know!" Yumi blurted out of frustration. "When I checked on her, her pulse was faint but she's not breathing. Her lungs suffered too much. I-I can't fully explain it."

"Could this be the result of the power surge she did to all of us? She didn't think about her health just to end all this," Keiko commented sadly.

I'll Hold On To You 64 - Sun's Shine

[Relaina]

HINDI ko akalain na talagang mag-e-enjoy ako nang araw na iyon sa pamamalagi sa treehouse ni Brent. Weird as it might seem, but I really felt as if everything was so unreal. Na para bang ang lahat ng pinagsaluhan naming mga ngiti, tawa, kuwentuhan at biruan nang araw na iyon ay para bang isang panaginip sa akin.

Panaginip kung saan nakikita ko ang mga pangyayaring iyon sa hinaharap.

Oo na. Ang advance ng takbo ng utak ko dahil doon. And besides, I really thought of it as part of my future? And to think it was a dream-like future with Brent in it…

Then again, that was a weird idea at the moment. And I meant truly out of this world. Ewan ko ba kung ano na ang nangyayari sa utak ko. May dapat yata akong sisihin tungkol dito, ah.