Hi everyone! I'm glad to have found Fanfiction because there's no limit to how many stories you can write. Because of college, I've been very slow at updating. I do use author notes when publishing new chapters, but I don't keep them permanently because they become outdated and irrelevant over time. That's all!

Updates: Chapter 15 of My Dearly Relentless Mind

Status: 2020 sucks :/ Otherwise, I'm getting ready for graduate school.

Current Obession(s): Hyoyeon - "DESSERT" (feat. Loopy & Soyeon)

Random stuff:

01. I'm a girl and the youngest of three! Never a dull moment with my siblings! As for my cousins back home...they're a never-ending spectrum.

02. My pen name comes from my birthstone, which is the diamond and symbolizes innocence (in addition to other things). Now I'm a lot older, but the pen name just stuck.

03. College is killing me. More like "drowning" me if you know what I'm majoring in. It will specifically be a slow death!

04. I'm ethinic Chinese, and it's fun watching people guess where I'm from or was born. I also include random Chinese references in my fanfics by accident...oops.

05. I still have a slight accent in my English. I've pretended to be an international student on campus before, and some people fell for it until I told them the truth!

06. Call me weird, but I also (re)watch anime in more than one language if subs and dubs are available. On the other hand, watching RWBY in Japanese is a novel experience!

07. However, when watching anything, I really need subtitles! (but can live by without them if I understand the language) I'm a visual learner, maybe that's why.

08. I can't stand using Apple products, Windows phones, or Chromebooks. Android mobiles and Windows PCs all the way XD

09. I still love PC HOPA/IHOG games, but I don't have time to (watch people) play for now. Who can resist any game with excellent plot AND artwork?

10. I don't know why I made this account on September 20, 2009 (US date order). In DD/MM/YYYY order (which I rarely use now), it reads 20/09/2009. Not creepy at all...

11. I prefer writing in alternative universe and anachronism because they give me flexibility.

12. OTP is Shurisu. I also came up with the name. Fight me if you wish :P

13. Tiffany Young's (SNSD's Hwang Mi-young) music is life. "BORN AGAIN" is undeniably the best.

14. I ALWAYS update EVERYTHING around/on New Year's (Eve), depending on everybody's time zone). That's something everyone can look forward to!

Top 10 Favorites in alphabetical order: (if I have at least 10 in each category)

Japanese Anime:

- Bakugan Battle Brawlers (my elementary school's book order form once contained a listing for the handbook/guide, but I watched the anime instead)

- Gunslinger Girl (three words: customized to kill)

- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (favorite magical girl series to focus on technology, defense, and in-world politics more than aesthetics)

- Puella Magi Madoka Magica (the darkness of this series perfectly portrays humankind's true nature)

- Senki Zesshou Symphogear (the music and action are outstanding)

- Shugo Chara! (bless this anime for keeping me positive during my childhood and beyond!)

- Snow White with Red Hair (second favorite period anime series and one with more Western styles)

- Story of Saiunkoku (all time favorite Eastern style period anime series!)

- Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles (I stan CLAMP and absolutely love TRC for all the crossovers, but it's interesting how fans initially called this "Cardcaptor Sakura for guys")

- Your Lie in April (never thought I would like an anime with lots of classical music)

Other Animations:

- gen:LOCK (I got into this thanks to RWBY, and the whole administration battle thing reminds me of the main Nanoha series)

- RWBY (lots of friendships, school, self-improvement, and good action!)

- Tai Chi Chasers (techinically this is a Japanese/South Korean collaboration, but I really liked it for the hanja and East Asian aesthetic)

- Turning Mecard (reminds me of Bakugan, but with a very different cast)

- Winx Club (fashionably magical? magically fashionable?)

Manga:

- ARISA (going undercover using your somewhat-estranged twin's identity to uncover a homocidal game/scheme is a lot to handle)

- Barajou no Kiss (mainly read this for the roses and card aesthetics)

- Kilala Princess (you might like this if you love Disney Princesses!)

Chinese soloists: Stephanie Cheng, Linda Chung, Elva Hsiao, Gin Lee, Kary Ng, Fiona Sit, G.E.M, Jolin Tsai, Jude Tsang, Joey Yung

Chinese groups: A2A, Super Girls, S.I.N.G, Twins; lots of Chinese remakes of K-pop songs

Chinese dramas:

- Chinese Paladin (the one I watched with Hu Ge and Crystal Liu was great, but the sequels were all over the place)

- Condor Heroes (I also preferred the one with Crystal Liu with Huang Xiaoming, but got lost keeping track of all subsequent remakes)

- The Imperial Doctress (this is a period/medical/palace drama all-in-one and one of my favorite works to reference!)

- Master of The House (not easy for a woman to remarry and still uphold a mix of love, friendship, patriotism, and dignity)

- The Myth (got to love a plot that involves seeking longevity and complicatedly connects conspiracies in the past and present)

- Painted Skin (when you fall in love and will do anything to hide your fox character and become a human...that sent lots of chills downs my spine)

- Spell of the Fragrance (a cat-and-mouse chase with inter-family feuds and another complicated past-present plot, plus giant plot twists)

- Ten Deadly Sins (despite not actually having 10 arcs but rather 4 episodes per arc, each new element that drags the cases longer is worth the suspense)

- A Terracotta Warrior (got to love another plot that involves seeking longevity and reincarnations of people through 3 millenia)

TVB dramas:

- Daddy Cool (instead of traveling to the past, you travel to the "present/future" and discover how messed up your descendants have become)

- Dead Wrong (hidden deep behind 10 years of kidnap and revenge-scheming is the secret that set it all off in the first place)

- Destination Nowhere (lots of oxymorons, in which little do you know that you're connected to unseen people around you and their true personalities)

- The Executioner (living under the same roof are two people whose occupations involve bringing life and death)

- A Fist within Four Walls (lots of martial arts, crazy neighborhoods, exploitative bosses, and assassins)

- My Dearly Sinful Mind (reminds me a lot of Criminal Minds, which is a good thing to me!)

- Two Steps from Heaven (all the ugliness of humanity regarding status, achievements, and inheritance just pours out)

- The Unholy Alliance (it's not easy maintaining a business syndicate when enemies target your entire family inside and out)

- The Unlawful Justice Squad (lots of drastic measures to solve cases or win lawsuits, especially when many things happen to a long-lost but very close friend)

- Witness Insecurity (male and female leads want to be together, but her family will do anything to stop him; the ending made me cry!)

Taiwanese dramas:

- Autumn's Concerto (aside from some traditional mindset and manipulation on both ends, this drama is very bittersweet)

- Black and White (when the police, government, and gangs get involved with each other in more ways than one)

- Fated to Love You (started with an accident, but the love becomes real, until fate tears you two apart, and you want to escape for a while before returning or not)

- The Fierce Wife (great advice on self-improvement and how to maturely deal with third-wheels)

- Queen of No Marriage (also great advice on how to overcome misunderstandings, maintain work-life balance, and learn to love again)

Japanese soloists: Kang Jiyoung (she sings in Japanese now!), Nana Mizuki (BEST! SEIYUU! EVER!), Kana Nishino, Ayahi Takagaki, Yoshino Nanjou (she's in fripside); lots of anime original songs

Japanese groups: some AKB48 family songs, Perfume; lots of anime songs and Japanese remakes of K-pop songs

Korean soloists: Suzy, Tiffany Young (ALL! THAT! ENGLISH!), Hyolyn, HyunA, Yubin, BoA, IU, Lee Hi, Sunmi, Ailee

Korean groups: AOA, BLACKPINK, CLC, EXID, (G)I-DLE, Girls' Generation, KARD, MAMAMOO, Red Velvet, Secret Number

Korean dramas:

- Dae Jang Geum, aka Jewel in the Palace (very first Korean period drama that I watched and I love the culinary details)

- Full Sun, aka Beyond the Clouds (this was so heartbreaking...knowing that everyone around you isn't as they seem and losing everyone close to you)

- Glass Mask (not sure if I want to watch a 100-plus episode drama again, but the revenge plot was nice and very detailed)

- Marrying a Millionaire (both female and male lead still miss each other from the past but must maintain their facade in present day to get by life)

- Queen Seondeok (definitely more complicated and political than DJG, especially with cursed twins and crossdressing disguises involved)

Current Stories:

1) Yesterday, Today, and Rainy Days

Who knew that the rain can determine what a person will love and hate? Who knew that the rain can bring back good and bad memories? Who knew that the rain can bring two people together in the most unexpected way? Everything started with a simple rain shower.

The title and story background are from an old Cantonese song by Angela Pang. The lyrics are about how the rain is always around us and how it preserves our most precious and sentimental memories, with subtle timeskip from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. The plot came from a Taiwanese drama called Autumn's Concerto. Like the drama, Alice meets Shun in his town one day and become friends, but then she had to leave against her will and never came back. They meet again years later, this time in Alice's city, but people surrounding Shun have their doubts because of misunderstandings in the past. This story starts out sad, but eventually brightens up as the truth reveals. Feelings develop, relationships grow, promises break, and wounds heal.

2) Hearts at Unrest

A meeting with a mysterious person led this girl to thinking back about memories of her and someone whom she now hates. By helping others who have suffered because of the loss of loved ones reach peace, will her heart rest in harmony and forgive that very person?

I was playing a hidden object game called House of 1,000 Doors #1: Family Secrets, and thought of making a story out of that. Alice's mission is to help the souls of various people reach peace because of bad events that happened to them when they were alive, so most tasks feature other pairings. It's like how some ghosts refuse to cross over to the "other side" because they have unfinished business, so Alice is the one with physical abilities to help the souls out. I've watched a few episodes of Ghost Whisper in the past, and it's not too bad...when no human is in physical danger. Alice and Shun fell apart for other reasons, and as she helps the souls reach peace, Alice occasionally reflects on how they had good times together. All this is done with the help of other people or ghosts that she encounters and interacts with.

3) Lost the Way

A minor accident after visiting old friends gave him no choice but take a detour, leading to an empty town where a girl from his past now supposedly resides. Questions he asks to the residents lead to more questions and a desire to find out what happened to the girl and this town.

I based the plot on hidden object games Shiver #1: Vanishing Hitchhiker and Lake House: Children of Silence. This story is different form my others because Shun investigates with the help of some couplet riddles (inspired by Isadora Quagmire from ASOUE!) and vague drawings, while Alice isn't physically present for a reason. He supposedly meets up with her again after Alice moved away, but she disappears once more, only to lead him into a mysterious remote town. Despite the few inhabitants present, they all know a lot about Alice and the events that happened here, but Shun gets more questions than answers. Another catastrophe that hit the town also gives him another reason to stay, so there are quite a few heart-racing scenes. There are flashbacks, but they most focus on Alice's perspective of what she went through and wrote down for the others too see.

4) Exiled Undercover

Saving a fox kit led him to meeting a servant girl and her subordinates who are protecting an exiled yet targeted princess while seeking help everywhere. But the more he spends time them, the more he realizes she may be more than just a servant, and definitely more than just a girl.

This story was created from five different sources. I'm using ideas from the anime Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, hidden object games House of 1,000 Doors #2: Palm of Zoroaster plus Dark Parables #2: Exiled Prince, and Chinese period dramas Chinese Paladin plus Painted Skin. The common concept among all five is collecting objects necessary for survival (and peace, in some cases). All five sources don't exist in modern day, so the story is very historical AU and not too modern overall. Shun's the outsider who meets Alice and protects her from danger as she and her team look everywhere for help and clues to find the missing princess. On the way, she tells him about everything she knows about palace life and all the people she's met on her travels, but it's the information about her own life and past that led to an unexpected conclusion.

5) Reteaching Life

After his mother's death and father's disappearance, a resentful son is sent to a mountainside village to live since his grandfather doesn't want him. Unable to find any meaning in life, he gets lessons from an instructor who just might be able to bring hope into his life again.

I gave a try at writing a serious angst story, especially having seen many situations where Shun is completely isolated. It's evident who Shun's instructor is, but living in a mountainside village means a lot of restrictions. The story based on Dai Sijie's novel Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress, which I read for summer homework once. The novel takes place during China's Cultural Revolution, but I didn't include that in the story, so unwanted interactions with other people and pressure about moving forward in life is roughly what I used instead. Since the theme has angst, the relationships in the beginning are quite sour but sweeten as time passes, even if both Shun and Alice still have their own struggles to face. It all comes to knowing what you want and need to do to make life meaningful.

6) Sacred Force

Danger lurks in Equinox, a buffer zone protected by the Sisters of the Scarlet Shawl. Two of them disappear, and the Night Queen unleashes a massive attack. Will the newest Sister save some boys who arrived by accident, or fight by her Sisters who still critique her every move?

This is my first story to feature Dan and Runo, mainly because I had other plans for Alice (and Shun). It's based on hidden object game Dark Parables #4: Red Riding Hood Sisters, and will have some supernatural elements. The Sisterhood will use mainly physical weapons for combat, so their supernatural abilities won't be too common. Other heavily supernatural powers will be from the Night Queen and the protagonists' backup, last resort abilities, or rare upgrades. One side of the story involves morals and loyalty, such as where only people that truly care for you will give you the absolute honest truth. The other side is something completely different and more complicated. I think Runo fits perfectly because she wants to become stronger, inside and outside, but she also wants to be someone that people will enjoy being around with.

7) Catch Me When You Can

Excavating a new artifact sent him back thousands of years, only to help an herbalist trainee investigate a series of bizarre events. His present-day colleagues uncover the mystery behind the artifact, but both sides discover conspiracies that are both dangerous and connected.

I had the urge to write another period drama AU story, and this one comes with time traveling! This is a mixture based on Chinese period drama The Myth, TVB period drama The Executioner, and hidden object game Angelica Weaver: Catch Me When You Can. I used the title from the game because the story takes place simultaneously in the past and present, so "when" sounded more suitable than "if," since the game's catchphrase is "Catch the killer in the past and the present!" Shun accidentally gets sent to the distant past and can't return, while Dan can't go back because the artifact chose to stay dormant after Shun activated it. Both have no idea what's happening with the other, but as they work in sync, they realize that there's way more to this dilemma than just helping people and cracking clues. The only thing worse or equally bad is Alice's situation. (You could say this is a spin-off to Exiled Undercover.) This story also has some poetry; once again inspired by Isadora Quagmire from ASOUE!

8) My Dearly Relentless Mind [in-progress]

He studied diligently to keep the memory of his closest loved one alive. She worked endlessly to forget the traumatic event that left her alone. But his determination to uncover the truth isn't the only thing that's pushing her to the edge while starting a new life.

My main inspiration was TVB drama My Dearly Sinful Mind. I really, really, really loved how well Grace Wong portrayed Wong Hoi-Ching in the drama. She may suffer from severe PTSD, but there's a terrible secret beneath her fragile exterior. I was also reading the manga ARISA and (re-)watching the anime Blood-C at the time, so I combined all of Hoi-ching, Tsubasa, Arisa, and Saya's personalities and surrounding atmospheres into Alice. Some elements of this story that differ from the drama, manga, or anime's storyline. The main conflict occurs between finding the truth at all costs (because of unfulfilled promises) and avoiding all reality (because of the suffering that's happened already), all outside of every possible expectation. Alice was like that in Season 1, and I want to try express similar conflicts in this story.

9) Sound of Affinity [in-progress]

They each excelled in completely different fields, yet crossed paths over a personal matter. Despite not getting along at first because of their differences, there was still one thing that they had in common...one that would be the deciding factor between success or downfall.

I had the urge to write another angst story after watching two episodes of American police-procedural TV dramas (won't reveal names until the story ends), TVB drama Tiger Mom Blues, and musical anime Your Lie in April. The setting is modern AU, with elements of school and education from USA and some Asian standards (nobody is a real "tiger mom" in the story), mainly to emphasize how Shun and Alice excel in what they pursue. This story focuses on academics and social pursuits that students go through, as well as seeking personal interests versus parental pressure to succeed, especially when parents/guardians do what they do because (they believe) it's the best for their kids. There's one specific thing that really draws these two together, hence the word "affinity" in the title. In terms of academics, I referenced the anime for basic musical elements and my own education for STEM elements.

10) Maiden in the Golden House [in-progress]

A poor family background led to poor life decisions, but he still agreed to help a conman steal a lonely heiress's inheritance in return for partial profits. Convincing her to fall in love with the conman's disguise seemed easy, but resisting his own attraction to her was not.

This is my first Victorian-ish era story based on Chinese drama Spell of the Fragrance and Korean movie The Handmaiden (I know what you're thinking, but I'm keeping this PG-friendly). You can probably how difficult it would be to make a living in this time era (or its [East] Asian equivalent) if you're not from a decent family, thus Shun (and the others) had no choice but to agree take on this task offered by another more successful conman. Alice is going through some personal and family issues and is somewhat oblivious and really doesn't care. But as time passes, Shun starts to doubt his involvement in this task, and Alice finally wants to break free from the one thing that binding her here in misery. So...who's conning who?

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