Saturday, November 27, 2021

ETB Book 2 Story Plot (Tentative)

NOTE: This is the initial plan for the story which will be the second book of "Eight Thorned Blades" series. Puwedeng magbago ang mga ito depende na rin sa takbo ng mood ko sa pagsusulat nito. Hehe! Anyway, hindi ko pa naman naisusulat ito dahil wala pa nga ako sa kalahati ng Book 1.

The second book will follow Kourin's adventure along with Seiichi and Raiden several months after the conclusion of the first book. The story this time, however, will be mainly focused on a character named Akari Ayu na dumating sa Shinomiya mansion dala-dala ang isang artifact na nakita nito umano sa Kusanagi Shrine sa Casimera ilang buwan bago iyon pinasabog ng Dark Rose noon. They realized that the artifact, an unusual four-bladed scissor katar, was something that an ancient leader of the Yasunaga clan forged as one of the three clues they needed to find para magamit na pruweba ng isang partikular na tao tungkol sa isang bagay. From there alone, Theron, Amiko, and Raiden knew that another danger awaits them.

It was discovered that just a few weeks after the funeral, a mysterious scroll was delivered to Shingo under the suspicious name "Blath". It turns out that the scroll wasn't just an authentic one but it also contains the detailed records of an event called "The Blood Moon Massacre" which actually tells the story about the annihilation of the Yasunaga clan 300 years ago. The contents of the scroll seemed to have a second part that Yasha and a person named Ishin Hamahara decided to retrieve from a hidden temple just beside the fortress of Himeji Castle in Japan, hence leaving Raiden under Shingo's care. Upon her return, not only did they retrieve the second part of the scroll but also comes in contact with one of the members of a mysterious organization. Fortunately, a mysterious man saved Yasha and Ishin but in exchange of bringing him to the Shinomiya clan princess' presence.

The second part of the records on the retrieved scroll revealed more than what they could all think of. Not only did they learn that four children of the Yasunaga clan's main family survived, but they also come across a feared name—the Yasunaga clan's murderer called the Black Thorns. Shingo soon revealed that the direct descendants of the original Black Thorns carry on the 300-year-old mission of fully obliterating the members of the Yasunaga clan at all cost. The said group was led by a person bearing the codename "Kirin" and that he has four sub-leaders codenamed after the Four Celestial Beasts namely Suzaku, Seiryuu, Byakko, and Genbu. At dahil sa mga nalamang iyon, na-realized nila na wala na silang ibang option kundi ang hanapin at pagsama-samahin ang mga miyembro ng tanging pamilya na nagsasanay para sa araw na tuluyan nilang mapapatay ang mga Black Thorns. And the 12 Knights—which was just completed following the succession ceremony done to determine which trainees were skilled enough to fill in the position of the Knights who died during the Dark Rose event—were given the task to locate the members of the Yasunaga clan in question.

The story deals more with Akari and Ishin's journey, together with Kourin, Seiichi, Raiden, and Reiko, of finding the members of the Yasunaga clan, which they later learned had four branches with each branch representing the descendants of the four children who had survived the Blood Moon Massacre. Each branch has a pillar—similar to the position of the Shrouded Flowers' designated clan leaders—with centuries-old mission to fulfill, and that is to find the direct descendant of the First Clan Prince Tasuke of the Yasunaga who will inherit the title of Schwertkreuz ("Sword-(shaped) Cross" in English). The said title was actually meant to hide the dangerous responsibility that lies with it, and that is to lead the four branches of the Yasunaga clan into eventually eliminating the Black Thorns for good.

But the journey was something that none of them had ever realized would test them to their limits. The Black Thorns turned out to be even deadlier and more dangerous than any of them could think of. Shingo stated that even though there were only 20 active members, the skills of the group are deadlier than that of the Dark Rose's and they were truly ruthless. At first, the members of the Silhouette Roses, especially the four pillars, were reluctant to accept any outside help. But there are others who were open for it, especially those people who were considered to be the pillars' right hand men.

During the course of the story, several secrets were also revealed, including the reason why the Yasunaga clan decided to remain hidden from the rest of the world. Though most of their members decided to hide their links to the clan when they were in the outside world, their loyalty to it and to their 300-year-old mission of protecting each other from the wrath of the Black Thorns remains. But the most shocking secret of all was about the identity of the man who had saved Yasha and Ishin from a Black Thorn member's attack. Several romantic relationships were believed to be established here, as well, including those that were left hanging at the conclusion of the first book. But as everyone had expected, their mission must come first before anything else.

The journey to defeating the Black Thorns and the battle that goes with it became even more dangerous as several members of the Yasunaga clan were killed at the hands of the enemy in more than one encounter. The final straw came when the older sister of the First Branch's pillar and even Chizue and Theron were killed. It was then that the other pillars realized they couldn't win the battle alone, especially if their way of thinking remains about accepting any outside help. They accepted the collaboration from the Shrouded Flowers with a pretty amazing convincing from Akari, especially upon knowing the fact that the group had experienced much more than just losing in a battle and having other people sacrificed their lives to attain the victory they've longed for. They could also add another fact that during the 12 Knights' encounters with the Black Thorns, the enemies hadn't succeeded in killing any of the active members of the Shrouded Flowers, especially their young leader. It only proved that the Shrouded Flowers were determined not to lose anyone anymore after the Dark Rose event.

The collaboration had strengthened the bonds of the two parties, especially after finally learning the identity of the First Clan Prince's direct descendant who will inherit the title of Schwertkreuz because of Akari and Ishin's investigation. The final battle ensues with only one ultimate goal in mind, and that is to end the Black Thorns once and for all without losing anyone among the Shrouded Flowers or even the Silhouette Roses anymore than what they had initially lost.

Sunday, November 21, 2021

What are you most grateful for right now?

I have a lot, which the majority of them, I'd fail to actually see due to a lot of frustrations. But perhaps what I'm grateful for right now is my ability to rein in my negative emotions and not let them out. I have a feeling that, if I did let it out, I could hurt a lot of people. Sure, having this ability could allow people to take advantage of me. But that's where one other thing I'm grateful for comes in.

My journal writing habit. This is the real reason why I'm able to control my emotions, especially the negative ones. I would write them down here since I don't usually blurt out my emotions and I was choosing not to, anyway. I'd rather let it all out here, even when I know that people would never listen to my sentiments.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Your Smile While Waiting (KR Zero-One: Aruto/Kiramager: Sena)


It was a normal day in one of his days off at work as the president of Hiden Intelligence.  There hadn't been any disturbances lately, so he decided to give himself time to rest and enjoy some time off from his responsibilities.

And one of those things he'd like to do during those times? Visiting the amusement park. Well, there was a reason for that. A reason that he only mentioned to Izu recently. Even so, he was just glad that she allowed him to go there by himself as he didn't like any disturbances or people watching his every move.

At the moment, he just wanted to do one thing.

Friday, November 5, 2021

Write down the lyrics that keep looping in your head.

Since I constantly listen to songs (even though I'm not that updated to new ones), there are a lot of lyrics that would usually strike my heart. But for this prompt, I'd be listing 7-10 lyrics -- with no explanations this time -- and the title of the songs in which they came from.

  1. やっと見つけられたんだ (Finally, I found you...) - Only One, Fujita Maiko
  2. I'm still, I'm here, and I'll be there... - Here I Am Again, Baek Yerin
  3. 何十年 何百年 何千年 時を超えよう 君を愛 (Ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, we'll be together no matter how long. I will always love you...) - Kiseki, GReeeeN
  4. At ihiling sa mga bituin na minsan pa sana ako'y iyong mahalin... - Hiling, Silent Sanctuary
  5. If I ever had a line to heaven, I swear I'd call you there... - Line To Heaven, Introvoys
  6. You are my prayer - my every thought that I will treasure here the most... - Carry My Love, Sarah Geronimo
  7. We learn just what we can become through the triumph of the one... - Triumph Of The One, Lea Salonga
  8. Kung 'di rin tayo sa huli, aawatin ba ang puso kong ibigin ka? - Kung 'Di Rin Lang Ikaw, December Avenue ft. Moira dela Torre
  9. 願いが 祈りが 惑う心 打ち消してくれる (Wishing and praying will counter a confused heart...) - Blessing, Aira Yuuki
  10. 내 사랑을 그대가 부르면 용기 내 볼게요 (But when you call out my love, I will have courage and look...) - Moonlight Drawn By Clouds, Gummy

Tuesday, November 2, 2021

What (Else) I've Read In October 2021

  

Yup. I know I'm days late again in posting this thing. And I even recall that I have to do a monthly wrap-up, as well. Then again, things got a little busy around here. I'm not going to go deeper on that since this entry is about the books I've read. Or should I say, the books that I've re-read this month aside from the ones I've already posted prior to this. Let's just say that I don't want to remove the book comments I've already posted here. I ended up doing a wrap-up with regards to the rest of the books I've paid attention to (or at least I tried) this month.

So here we go!

xxxxxx