“No story is not worth hearing.”
Angeal Hewley, FF7: Crisis Core
I was never really a fan of Final Fantasy 7 (yeah, fight me! xD). I’ve played the original before, three times to be exact, but never got to finishing it. Why? Well, if you must know… it was because every single time I play the game, something happens to my saved file along the way and baaam! I lost all my saved data and have to restart the whole game again. I somewhat know the story of the game and its characters, but yeah… never did get to finish it.
Crisis Core was a different story, though. I love Zack Fair. I beat the game (and am now trying to replay it). And yeah, that quote up there is from Angeal. *winks*
That is, until FF7: remake came out. Yeah, I fell in love with the graphics, new battle system and the nostalgic soundtracks. (I sound like a newbie, huh? Lol) But yeah, I fell in love with the story AND the characters too! They have all become so relatable, with their little conversations and all.
But enough segue and let’s get on to the main story.
I was ten years old when my confidence as a writer was first crushed and trampled on by a close friend when she accused me of imitating her story.
Here’s a slight context: We have an odd relationship, but we are close friends, nonetheless. Why odd? Well you see…
She thought of me as her best friend because we both like to write stories. I just happened to be the first one to write between the both of us, with some people having also claimed that I was the one that introduced that hobby to our entire grade school batch back then. But she was the first one to write an original story, unlike me, who only wrote a recap of the anime episode for the day.
And I was a dumb kid back then that I rejected the notion of us being best friends. Jerk move, right? I know. Yeah, we’re close. But hey, in my defense, I thought you could only have one best friend! And back then, I already had declared someone else with that best friend status…
Anyway, it took me a while to get back to writing. I don’t remember how long exactly, but knowing myself, it must have taken me… I don’t know, maybe weeks or months to get over it, I think? I wallowed in my crushed confidence, shattered dreams and broken heart (wait, that sounds like a lyric to a song…).
And voila, the monster called self-pity was first born in my heart.
I’ve watched a bunch of other anime/s to get me back to the groove, but nothing happened. I still kept reading my friend’s story, but she never got to read mine. Told her I didn’t feel like writing anything or whatsoever, putting on a smile on my face and pretending that it wasn’t her fault or anything. Yeah, it was torture.
And that lasted until I watched my brother play this game that will be my all time favorite.
Yeah, Suikoden 2!
I watched him the moment he started playing the game until he finished it. The moment I first laid eyes on the game, I was mesmerized. The vivid colors of the pixelated game, beautiful soundtrack, the gameplay and battle mechanics, its ensemble of characters…. amazing!
But what made me fall in love with the game more is the storyline. ABSOLUTELY, GORGEOUSLY EPIC! Two childhood friends were forced to battle each other due to their destined fates as they got embroiled in a war where they led on opposing sides. Suikoden 2, hands down, has the best storyline in the entire Suikoden series (yeah, fight me on this one!)
And that jump started my creative mind, once again. Yeah, war is a tragic thing that I wouldn’t want to happen during my time. My motto back then was love and peace. But I love war stories, especially those with parts where everyone sets aside their differences and comes together, uniting to fight a common enemy or reach a common goal.
And my idea was this: two souls share one body. And as if bound by fate, they will be embroiled in a war.
Sounds unoriginal? Yeah, no kiddin’. Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria came out and with the same idea too. Don’t get me wrong, I love VP. But please don’t judge me as I had this idea when I was freakin’ TEN YEARS OLD.
Anyway. One is a magical princess, less the transformation ala Sailor Moon, while the other is an ordinary, boring person. Washo (taken from Tenchi-Muyo, was her alias, while her princess/goddess name is Nanami) is the magical princess/goddess. While the ordinary, boring person? Yeah, you guessed it. it was none other than myself. Heck yeah, I starred in my own “epic” war story (since I wasn’t aware of the Mary Sue ideas yet).
And the twist? I had my real classmates added in the story too, with their real names and personalities too. I also threw a bunch of anime characters in the mix too.
Fun Fact: My now husband was in that story too. But he was not my character’s love interest or anything like that, per se. He was more of a flirt, and one of the three main jokers in the story.
The story starts with me waking up and knowing that another soul is inside me. Then me and my classmates get transported to a new and magical world. We all got separated, so me and the princess would have to track them all down, while fighting against those who are after the princess’ life.
Then we get tossed into a war ala Suikoden and recruit my classmates and other people to join our cause.
Me and the princess were at odds at first, since in the story, my focus is to get everyone back and find a way to get back to our own world, while the princess… well, she has her own problems to deal with too. xD
Fun Fact: I titled that story “Timequest”. But then I felt bad when I came across an anime with that same title. So even if I kept the same title, somehow, it feels illegitimate, if not illegal. But eh… I was a poor kid back. There was no way I could get something copyrighted, lol.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
Oscar Wilde
Anyway, I started writing it and showed it to my friends. And man, they were hooked. I mean, of course they would be, right? Since I have them as characters in the story, they were curious to see how it goes, what happens to them and they even gave me ideas on what they want to happen with them. Everything is possible in the story, right? Sky’s the limit!
I wouldn’t say my story became a big hit, but it quickly spread across the whole room. Most of them wanted to read it, especially the scenes where they have a part on it.
Looking back to that memory now… I guess it was just like setting up a theater play, huh? Lol.
I never got to finish that story though.
Neither did the “Alamat ng Dragoon”.
But by the time we were in our 6th grade, another story that would send our batch into a frenzy, was written.
To be continued…
Ayana's corner! 