War Reports

Fictional Football Army (FFA) is preparing for an onslaught during the next two days after their battle at JS2216 yesterday as the war against examinations rages on.

"We've managed to survive the battle yesterday," Fictional Football Directing Manager Tobias Fong declared, panting from yesterday's exertions. "The past few days were spent studying and preparing for tomorrow's battles. We will duel with the Samurai tomorrow and tangle with the Japanese language on Wednesday. These back-to-back skirmishes will prove to be a trying moment for all of us. But we will endure. And we will triumph!"

However, he was unsure of the outcome of the battle yesterday. "I'm unsure of the outcome of the battle yesterday," he admitted. "The results will only be out on 21st December, I think."

A General from FFA, who declined to be named, agreed that this would indeed be a trying period for the soldiers. "We've gotten quite a bit of rest, but that's okay. We studied hard, and prepared well for the tests. This will test our mettle and challenge our mental strength to the extremes. However, I have braced my troops for the onslaught and I assure you, WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!"

Mr. Fong was also asked to deliver a speech to boost the morale of his troops.

"I come to you today, not as the directing manager of Fictional Football, nor as an emperor, but as a fellow man. A fellow soldier, who will fight alongside you all, shoot side-by-side with you, run beside you and risk my life with you. Not all of us will emerge unscathed, but I will be honest and tell you all now, that even if we lose our lives here and now, we will die gloriously in battle. We may leave our loved ones behind, but remember that it will be our sacrifices, our blood, our lives and our tears that protects them and ensure their safety. So I ask you all now, to FIGHT WITH ME! We will win this through, NO MATTER THE COST!"

The soldiers reacted positively to his speech, cheering uproariously and enthusiastically. They are without a doubt ready to lay their lives down for Fictional Football.

Mr. Fong has this to say to all the citizens back home. "We'll make sure you guys are safe, so please be assured, we will definitely win this war. We are on the side of EVIL and the bad guys always win in real life. So rest assured! We'll win and alter history to be on our side. The winners will always write history, so if we win, we can pass ourselves off as the good guys! WA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Fictional Football is open to any new ideas or writers who wish to write for free.

Supreme Commander 2 release confirmed!

Fictional Football Managing Director Tobias Fong revealed that Square Enix had yesterday announced the release of Supreme Commander 2 next year, confirming the dates of the PC version to be March 2nd, and the Xbox version to be March 16th.

"This is incredible news!" Mr. Fong gushed. "The best news I have ever heard! It seems that all my favorite games are coming out next year!"

On top of Supreme Commander 2's release, Sega's Aliens versus Predator is also slated to be released on February next year. While Supreme Commander 2, with Chris Taylor and Gas Powered Games building upon the success of their first game, is touted as the spiritual successor to Total Annihilation, Aliens versus Predator is developed by Rebellion, the British Studio that created the game of the same name back in 1999.

Supreme Commander 2 boasts a variety of improvements over its predecessor, including the Demigod graphics engine, a new tech tree with an entirely new system of upgrading, and faster build speeds, as well as promising to be less demanding on their gamers' hardware; the previous Supreme Commander game had brought even the most powerful machines back then to their knees. Enhanced with a new pathfinding system, also known as Free-Flow, which was developed in the University of Washington, units will no longer clumsily collide with each other in order to move; fluid formations are now possible. Experimental units will be able to be obtained earlier, as compared to the first game, and focuses more on offense. The UEF Fatboy II, for example, is now a moving powerhouse of artillery, as opposed to a mobile factory like its predecessor. The UEF Novar Cannon is another UEF experimental that launches freshly built units across large distances into the heat of a battle, which can sometimes turn the tide of that particular skirmish. The Cybran also have their own Megalith II and Dr. Brackman's pet experimental, the Cybrannosaurus Rex, which promises a whole meaning to destruction. The Illuminate, which was formed by the merger of the Aeon Illuminate and Serraphim factions from Forged Alliance, also retain their sleek alien design, and their Universal Colossus is back. Interestingly, they are rumored to be the only faction without naval units, but their hovering land units that are able to transverse water, more than make up for it.

On the Aliens versus Predator front, it looks like the Marine campaign is shaping up nicely for the ultimate Survival Horror experience. Mr. Fong only had this to say, "it looks AWESOME!" Unfortunately, he is unable to research further because of other commitments (read: FINAL-YEAR EXAMINATIONS), so AvP fans will be disappointed with the lack of information. We at Fictional Football sincerely apologize for this. He did, however, reveal that the M41A Pulse Rifle, Smartgun and Flamethrower will be back, with the former sounding exactly like the movie Aliens. Other weapons include a shotgun, a sniper rifle (that can apparently sight Cloaked Predators) and a pistol, and they all include alternate fire. The pistol, for example, will fire off automatically on its alternate fire mode, and the Pulse Rifle, of course, retains its classic grenades, staying true to the movie.

There are also new Skins for fans who wish to pre-order, such as an Alien Head Predator, Number Six Alien and Sergeant Kaneko. All information is from http://www,avpgalaxy.net/ and the videos listed on them, so please proceed there for more information. The news for Supreme Commander 2 have been obtained from http://news.bigdownload.com/tag/supreme-commander-2 and please watch the Supreme Commander 2 walkthrough video below for further information.

Kuroko - Oneesama!

This is the introduction of Misaka Mikoto's roommate, Shirai Kuroko. I think her way of speaking (Maa! Oneesama! Maa! Maa! Oneesama!) is hilarious. Credits go to 7Muramasa for the youtube video.





And yes, Mikoto, Touma doesn't just look like your boyfriend, he is your boyfriend. Spoilers - in case you didn't know, she forced Touma out on a date in volume 12 of the Light Novel, on the pretext of him paying the loser's penalty (his school lost to Tokiwadai during some sports festival in volume 9 because Touma and Tsuchimida were trying to save everyone else), and in volume 16, she admitted that she loved him and after finding out about his memory loss, vowed to help him.

Faith and evidence

I have even more evidence that God exists.

I prayed.

He answered.

What more can I say?

I know people are going to accuse me of materialism or whatever but isn't it fine? As long as it proves that God exists. I'll keep praying and keep my faith in Him, and whenever they come true I'll take it as a sign that God exists. It doesn't matter what atheists or other Christians say. I'll do what I think is right and believe what I believe in. There is all there is to that.

And I'll carry on drawing manga. My dream will come true. I'll make it happen.

Well, the person I was talking about in the last post seems fine now. Being anonymous is good, in that she doesn't know I'm one of those who know. If she finds out, I'm in big trouble. So much for thanking me for my concern, but put my face behind it and she'll probably do a 180 degree turn and bite me. It's okay. As long as I can express my concern for her in this way, and pray for her, it doesn't really matter whether she knows who I am, does it? Heh. This is why I love being so mysterious and secretive. Ha. Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Never mind. Must do my best for the examinations. Till then.

Setback

The Army of Fictional Football suffered a setback yesterday when they were defeated by the Physical Geography project.

Despite losing to a B- for the first, they fell even lower when they got C+ for the second, an all-time low.

"This is a very trying time for us all," a General of FFA (Fictional Football Army), who declined to be named, admitted. "Our troops are suffering from low morale, and we've been dealt quite a blow."

This is, as Fictional Football Managing Director Tobias Fong, described as a "coming back to earth" after their giddy achievement of A- for the Human Geography project.

"This just proves I'm an Art student, after all, not a Science one," he explained, dejected. "It doesn't matter now, because now we have to look forward to the real decisive battle - the ultimate battle that will decide the fate of our war, the final examinations."

The General insisted that FFA will carry on marching forward, despite the morale-sapping defeat. "In fact, I'll use the troops' bitterness and desire for vengeance to our full advantage, and crush the enemy. We will march on and progress, no matter the odds."

Mr. Fong agreed, declaring that "we will do whatever it takes, using whatever means necessary, to emerge victorious from this war."

On other hand, there is a rising trend of break-ups that seems to be alarming Mr. Fong. "First, I have a friend who got dumped because his girlfriend...sorry, I'm not authorized to disclose the details. Next, I also heard of another friend - if you can still call her a friend after what she said to me - who got so bitter over her break-up that she now believes there's no such thing as true love. Well, both of them seem fine now, especially since this is such a crucial period, but still...the trend is worrying indeed."

This led to the Fictional Football psychoanalyst, who also declined to be named, to classifying the stages of romance into four categories.

"First, you have the Sweetheart Stage, where both parties call each other 'sweetheart'. Also known as the Honeymoon period, it seems all sweet and heavenly to the couple, but it usually lasts up to three months before the real cracks begin to appear."

Then he continued on, "this then leads to the Sourheart Stage. Usually, this is the most crucial period of the couple's relationship, as this is where relationships begin to sour. The true self of the other party is revealed, and suddenly you realize that he/she is not as perfect or sweet as you originally made him/her out to be. This is followed by melancholy, regret and disappointment. However, if a couple makes it out of this stage, their bonds will be forged stronger than before. Unfortunately, 90% of couples usually break up at this point."

This will eventually lead to two different stages. "On one hand, you have the Bitterheart Stage where you're extremely bitter and jaded by the destruction of your relationship. This is very common, you'll be bitter about it, and blame your other half for causing the relationship to slide. On the other hand, the Saltyheart Stage is named so because of the tears - hence the salty aftertaste of crying. In contrast, you will cry and blame yourself for being unable to maintain and salvage the relationship, still unable to let go of your ex, and finally sink into depression. While not rare, it is less common than the Bitterheart Stage because many young people these days prefer to point fingers and blame others instead of taking responsibility themselves."

Mr. Fong, however, declined to comment on this issue. "No comments," he tersely replied. "Their relationships are none of my business, and I have no right to interfere or comment on them. In fact, you should not too, so leave them alone! This is why I hate parapazzi..."

Fictional Football will continue marching onward to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, as their final, decisive battle with the final examinations loom ahead. No matter how many defeats they suffer, they vow to fight on and secure victory from their enemies. As in Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, they hope to overcome impossible odds and overthrow their opponents in a last-ditch attempt to secure that elusive A and maintain their A- so far. However, the bleak present absolutely dismisses all chances of that. Nevertheless, FFA will never give up, and continue fighting for our freedom and soverignity for the Fictional Football Empire.

Waging War

Fictional Football managing director Tobias Fong has declared war, declaring a state of emergency over Fictional Football today.

"As of today, I am going to mobilize all of Fictional Football's forces," he was reported to have said. "We are to wage war, with effect from today. No expense will be spared, and we will put in every effort to crush our enemy."

When asked who was the enemy, he would only smile mysteriously.

"It's the examinations," one of the most-ranking officers in Fictional Football explained. He declined to be named because he was not authorized to provide information. "Director Fong is going all out to defeat the examinations."

The Fictional Football Army is gearing up for the University Final year examinations at the end of November. They have begun studying hard, launching a successful campaign where they have managed to secure several past-year examination papers.

"The war has already been half won," one of the soldiers, who also declined to be named, offered his optimistic opinion. "I mean, we've been working hard, we've been revising, and we threw in everything to beat the essays and projects for our respective modules."

Despite being annoyed that information had been leaked, Mr. Fong was more forthcoming and relenting when pressed with more questions. "Despite the disastrous defeat at the hands of the Japanese Oral Examination, I am planning on launching a full-scale invasion on the final theory examination for Japanese. I will concentrate all my forces there, and we will storm the questions with overwhelming efficiency and brute force."

He also added that he was planning to study extremely hard in order to preprare for the impending war ahead. "We will conquer the examinations, no matter the cost. I am prepared to give my life if necessary, to secure our victory. And sacrifice as many troops as necessary. Fear not, for they will be honored forever in our Honorable Shrine of Sacrifices for Fictional Football. We will win through this war, NO MATTER THE COST!"

Behind him, tanks, mechs and artillery rolled out. Overhead, fighter jets and bombs streaked ahead, ready to deliver their devastating payloads. At the sea, dozens of battleships readied their shore bombardment cannons, as well as tactical missiles. Strategic submarines submerged, containing their last-resort strategic nuclear missiles should the situation call for it. And behind them all, massive experimental units marched forward slowly, creating a path of destruction in their trail.

Mr. Fong only had this warning to issue to his examinations: "Be prepared to lose."

Absolute Zero

Chapter Zero Two is up! It's titled: Zero Two: Reizoshi Academy. Please read and review it if you have the time. Thank you very much.

As always, click on the link to my fictionpress account under my LINKS section on the right. See you! Thanks.

Annoyed

I actually wanted to post this story yesterday but I was busy studying for my Japanese Oral examination this morning. Which, by the way, I screwed up. Damn. I made a lot of stupid mistakes, forgot the right words, and made even more mistakes. The last part, especially, was the worst because I couldn't even continue the conversation and was stuck...until my Sensei told us "time's up. Owarimasho."

Damn. I screwed up. Royally screwed up. The only thing I have left to work for is my final exam. Must work hard now. TT__TT

And I'll be annoyed by my mom, who's going to comment on my Japanese again. She's always complaining that I shouldn't take Japanese, Japanese is difficult, hard to study, will pull my marks down, etc. She always pick on my choice of Japanese Studies, keep asking me if it has a future.

If Japanese Studies didn't have a future, why would NUS offer it in the first place? If anything, it's my incompetence, more than anything else, that will cause my failure in future employment, not the module itself. Make no mistake, I regret nothing, and I will definitely go forward with my decision to major in Japanese Studies.

By the way, my mom was the one who pressured me into taking law two years ago. I screwed up my interview then. It may seem delibrate, but actually, to be honest, I was just nervous. I blurted out "I'm actually a boring person" out of nervousness rather than any delibrate intention of sabotaging my chances. But they were nice enough to continue conversing me, and I ended telling them about my interest in Literature, writing and reading. So they decided to let me go to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

About Literature, I am planning to take Introduction to Japanese Literature, along with Approaches to Japanese Studies and Japanese Language 2, regardlesss of how badly I do in Japanese Language 1, next semester. I really look forward to studying Murakami Haruki's works, because I really enjoyed reading his Underground and Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I also hope I get a chance to read Twelve Kingdoms.

But for now, I have to concentrate on my examinations. TT__TT

Wait a minute, how did my post on Annoyed deviate so far from my topic? Let's get back on track.

Anyway, I am extremely annoyed at my Human Geography teammate from GE1101E. I will not name him, because he is my friend, and I really do not wish to see people flame him or verbally abuse him. I'm sure he has his reasons, but that still doesn't stop me from being annoyed at him. Nonetheless, I can't keep it bottled inside me for too long.

It isn't that he was completely uninvolved either. After all, he did help with the interviews, more than half of them, actually. Five out of nine interviews were done by him. I did the other four, including my interviews of my good friends Justin Hui and Toh Ching Han. I'm sure they still remember it. Heh.

Anyway, the story began way back before the midterm break. I was desperately trying to contact him for a week, emailing him several times (I stupidly forgot to ask for his handphone number), but got no reply. He eventually replied a week later, just before the midterm break, explaining apologetically that he had a lot of midterm exams. Okay, I understood. But by that time, I've already finished writing both essays. Thankfully, he gave me his number. I begged him to help me interview people, but he was quite reluctant to meet up during the break.

Most groups would gather together to go around interviewing people everywhere. He was like, "can't we just interview our friends? Don't need to meet up, right?"

I gritted my teeth, but I compromised. I wrote out an interview template for him to send it to his friends. I interviewed Justin. Hopefully, he still recalls this incident, though he doesn't read my blog, but you can ask him. So instead of fieldwork, we interviewed people online without meeting or conducting fieldwork.

After that he sent the results back to me, and I analyzed the data, and wrote everything myself. Now, before you start jumping him, please take note that I was the one who willingly wrote the essay myself. I was the one who didn't ask for his help to write the essay. Wait a minute, that was because I had already completed both essays before he managed to reply my frantic emails. The only stuff I was lacking was the fieldwork and interviews, as well as the analysis that was to come out of them. And since I've already planned a structure and everything out, I thought it would be better to personally write it. Besides, I enjoyed writing that bit. So if it's anybody's fault, it's mine. Not his. Let me make this clear. So don't blast him for that.

The gaming phenomeon essay was my favorite. I was the one who chose the topic, I was the one who convinced (read: practically forced) him to do it. So I understood if he wasn't enthusiastic about writing it. So I single-handedly wrote the Globalization essay on gaming phenomenon by myself. I did all my research, I did all the fieldwork and interviews (Ching Han should remember this: I ended up interviewing him twice because my Professor suggested a new question that was extremely relevant to Geography), I did the South Korean case study on Starcraft ALL BY MYSELF. No, it's not to criticize my teammate. I'm just proud of having written the essay, that normally took a group to write, by myself. I really enjoyed writing that essay; it was one of my best and one of my favorites. Unsurprisingly, it did much better than the first essay, which was based on tourism and changing Singapore's tourism slogan.

The problem with doing all by myself was that, unlike all the other groups who were out taking photographs with each other and their interviewees, their favorite places and whatever, my essays were sadly lacking that camaraderie and friendship element. Well, I enjoyed myself writing them, so I have no complains, but when I look at the other people's essays with all those numerous photographs, I can't help but wonder: what if I had been in their groups?

Oh, and don't be fooled by the four photographs, (only one had the both of us in it) of the LAN shop I conducted my fieldwork in. That happened just a few days before the submission deadline. As it was compulsory for all of us to include at least one group photo, I got desperate and begged my teammate to come down to the LAN shop to take at least one photograph with his camera handphone. Neither of us had cameras. To his credit, he obliged, and I included the pictures of the LAN shop to show evidence of fieldwork. Though to be honest, I did everything myself, except for the photographing, of course. In fact, I've already finished everything then, except the photographs. If the photographs weren't compulsory, I would have just submitted the essays as they were.

I guess my professor noticed that I was doing most of the work. He made that observation during consultation where only I turned up. My teammate had another group meeting if I remembered correctly. Here's the story:

"Has (your teammate) been doing anything?" my professor asked, concern etched on his face.

I nodded. "Y...yes, o...of course, he helped me with the interviews."

He didn't look convinced, but let it go. "You must make sure he contribute as well. It cannot be you do 90% and he does 10%. Maybe not 50-50, but at least 60%-40%. If you're better at writing, then you can do the editing and overall structuring of the paper, but he has to write something."

"I understand," I replied.

After that, I sent yet another copy of the essays (I already did after completing my first drafts), and as usual, I asked him if he wanted to edit or change anything. He said he would edit it, but he never sent any edited version back to me. Well, he did reply to me when I sent him my first draft. "Whoa, your essay damn solid, man. I also don't know what to change."

The subsequent drafts, I'm not sure if he replied or anything, but when we met for the photographing just before the deadline, he explained that my essays were impressive. Okay...but they can't be perfect, so where's the editing?

Well, he was busy with so many other project work, so he apparently didn't have time to really edit it. But so did I. I also had six essays, including the Geography essays, to write. He wasn't the only one who was busy. But I persevered and wrote my heart out and was forced to edit on my own (I spotted several errors on my own).

And all the effort paid off. I got an overall A- for both essays, with my second gaming essay doing better than the first tourism one. I just got it yesterday and I was so happy, I immediately called him after the lecture.

"Hello, (his name)? Where are you? We got our essays back! You didn't attend lecture, is it?" I demanded. I was looking around, hoping to see him, but he was nowhere in sight. Hence, my last question.

Never mind that he didn't answer my question straight away. Instead, he immediately asked me a question.

"Er...who is this?"

What. The. Fuck.

Didn't we have each other's contact numbers during the process of doing our project? Don't tell me you deleted my number immediately after the project was over?

Well, maybe he lost his contact list, I reasoned, trying to calm myself down. Instead, I replied good-naturedly. "I'm your Geography Project teammate, remember? The one who did the Human Geography essays with you (yeah, right, I did them myself)?"

"Oh, oh. Yeah. Yeah, what's up?"

I almost sighed. "We got our essays back, where are you? You didn't attend lecture, is it?"

"Er...yeah, I'm not in lecture, I'm outside (cannot hear clearly because it was too noisy)...with my friend. Sorry, last night I studied until very late, so I didn't attend lecture."

That annoyed me. I studied till after 2am. I woke up at 5am to attend my Samurai lecture (which is my favorite module this semester) at 8am. And I struggled all the way through the Geography lecture at 12 noon to 2pm. Even if he slept at 6am, and got up at 11am, he would still have gotten 2 more hours of sleep than me, AND made it to lecture (he drives to school, by the way). Are you telling me I don't have to study and sleep late too? Well, maybe he didn't mean that, but I was very annoyed at that...excuse. I'm sorry, but an excuse is an excuse no matter how you look at it.

But I swallowed my anger and continued calmly. "Okay."

"So how did we do?"

"A-," I replied, quite pleased with myself.

"Really? That's great..." silence. "Okay. Thanks for everything."

"Hey, don't you want to take a look at it? The comments by Professor (name) and everything?" I asked, almost frantically. I mean, even if I wrote them myself, it was still OUR project, and his name was on it, he was still my teammate. He had a right to look at it.

"No, it's okay. Never mind. The most important thing is the grade, so it's okay."

I was bitterly disappointed. I wrote the essays by myself because you were so busy doing your other projects. Granted, I enjoyed writing them, but you didn't even help me edit them! Those were minor things, really, but right now he wasn't even the LEAST BIT interested in looking at how we did for the essay (or rather, how I did). His name was on it. I mean, come on! At least show some interest or something! And the most important thing is the GRADE? So what about all the hard work and effort I put in writing them? All those blood, sweat and tears? Are you saying they are less important than the GRADE?!

But I didn't say that to him. Instead, I hollowly responded, "okay, see you next time."

I hung up. Thinking that he was in the canteen (like I said, there were too much noise in the background so I misheard), I ran there, grabbed a seat and texted him. You in the canteen? I'm here now, can show you the essay. We got an A-.

His reply: No, I'm outside school right now. Thanks, man, really. I'll treat you after the final year exams.

That lifted my spirits a lot. But still, I wanted him to read the essay, show him how we managed to get the grade, and what the Professor thought about it, so I responded with, okay, just make sure you look at the essays.

He agreed. Ok sure. And that was the last I heard of him.

Now really. He's my teammate. Even if he didn't help much, he still contributed with the interviews and photographs. Please show some interest in the essays at least.

And the funny thing was that he couldn't come to school because he overslept, but he was outside with his friend...hmm...

Whatever. I'm extremely grateful to all my other group members from my other modules, namely Postwar Japanese Film and Anime, Samurai, Geisha and Yakuza as Self or Other and...wait, that's about it.

It was fun writng those essays, though. And to be honest, I had the freedom to write whatever I wanted (GAMING!) without being restricted by other people's interests (though, to be honest, my group in the Samurai module followed my decision to do an essay on Aum). So I guess I win some and lose some...though I must admit, I had the same freedom in my Samurai module group, so maybe that isn't exactly true...

Well, life goes on, and I've finally let it all out. Thanks for reading this far. Really. Thank you very much. And to Shuiqi, if he is reading this. And you thought your group mates were bad? You obviously haven't teamed up with mine (though there's just one of him).

No News

No news is good news. Let's keep it that way.

New chapter for Absolute Zero

Yes, I know it's pretty late, it's almost 4am here, but I've finished Chapter One of Absolute Zero. Chapter Zero One: A Certain Meeting. You can check it out at my fictionpress account under my links section.

Well, I know Hideto and Mai eerily resembles Kamijyo Touma and Misaka Mikoto from Toaru Majutsu no Index and Toaru Kagaku no Chouden Jibou, but I hope you enjoy them all the same.

In other news, Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Portsmouth 3-1. O-Hara scored for the visitors in the 15th minute, but a rare goal from Ryan Nelsen and a brace from Jason Roberts sealed the win for Rovers. Blackburn moved out of the relegation zone after claiming three precious points.

Absolute Zero

The Prologue of Absolute Zero is up!

If you're interested, check it out at http://www.fictionpress.com/~tomoyukitanaka and I have the link down there in my links anyway.

Please read it and leave a review! Do tell me what you think of it! Thanks.

Absolute Zero:

The top thirteen assassins of the world are gathered together on a lawless island, rife with crime and anarchy, in a mad billionaire's game where they must battle it out and kill each other for the ultimate prize - survival. Fujimoto Hideto is a relatively new assassin who gets mixed in by mistake, gets included in the game and must now slaughter his way out...or die trying.

The actual battle royale won't take place just yet, the first few chapters will be more of an introduction to his life as an assassin instead of jumping straight into the island scenairo. I hope you'll enjoy it!

I'm hoping to turn this into a manga one day!

Thanks.

What's the difference?

Can you hear the difference between these two songs? Because I can't.

According to the poster, the first one is just high quality, but the other is the revised authentic quality (I could be wrong though, my Japanese is still really bad).
Edited: I just checked Google Translate and it turned out I was right. The first one is indeed high quality. The second one is just revised quality (actually, it said fixed quality, but revised has the same meaning.) Wait, that makes me half right because I included authentic and it doesn't mean authentic. Still, half-right is better than completely wrong.





Here are the lyrics of both songs, if you're interested. Like I said, where's the difference? But it's okay. I'm happy with both songs either way.

【歌詞】
放て心に刻んだ夢も未来さえ置き去りにして
限界など知らない意味ないこの力が光散らす
その先に遥かな思いを
歩いてきたこの道を振り返る事しか
できないなら今ここですべてを壊せる
暗闇に落ちる街並み人はどこまで立ち向かえるの
加速するその痛みから
誰かをきっと守れるよ
Looking the prism this planet to search away
Only my railgun can shoot it 今すぐ
体中を光の速さで駆け巡った確かな予感
つかめ望むものなら残さず輝ける自分らしさで
信じてるよあの日の誓いをこの瞳に光る涙
それさえも強さになるから

立ち止まると少しだけ感じる切なさに
もう戸惑うことないなんて嘘はつかないよ
空に舞うコインが描く
放物線が決める運命
打ち出した答えが今日も私の胸を駆け巡る
sparking the shaining ray a wake to desire
Only my railgun can shoot it 必ず
貫いていく戸惑うことなく
傷ついても走り続ける
狙い撃てと煌く視線は狂いなく闇を切り裂く
迷いなんて吹き飛ばせばいい
この心が叫ぶ限り
誰一人邪魔などさせない

儚く舞う無数の願いは
この両手に積もっていく
切り裂く闇に見えてくるのは
重く深く切ない記憶
色あせてくる現実に
揺れる絶望には負けたくない
私が今私であること胸を張って
全て誇れる
Looking the prism this planet to search away
Only my railgun can shoot it 今すぐ
体中を光の速さで駆け巡った確かな予感
放て心に刻んだ夢も未来さえ置き去りにして
限界など知らない意味ないその先に遥かな思いを

Beautiful Japanese Song

Akai Namida by Kawada Mami is an extremely beautiful song. Yes, it's used as an insert in Shakugan no Shana the Movie, but it's very moving. This is why I love Japanese songs. They usually are very beautiful, emotional and touching. People demand that I listen to Western songs, but I only like stuff like Collin Raye's Love, Me and You Raise Me Up, and I hate most of the other depressing songs that keep harping on break-ups, infidelity, depression and what-not.

Here's a single line that empitomizes the beauty of Akai Namida. In Japanese, it's Namida mo, uso mo, kanashimi wo, koukai wo subete kimi to koko ni ita akashi da yo Wakare wa futari dake ga shiru omoide no hajimari da to kono mune chikatte...

Translated into English, it's: Your tears, lies, sadness and even regrets, everything is a proof that I was here with you. I vow in my chest that our parting is the beginning of a memory that only the two of us know...

Beautiful melody with beautiful lyrics. What more can you ask? And the line above is one of the best lines out there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking you to hate Western songs and start listening to J-Pop. That's ridiculous. I'm justifying to all those critics out there why I like Japanese songs such as these. I had enough of people criticizing my taste in music while listening to stuff I consider superficial (I really hate Rihanna's songs). I'm not saying she's a bad singer or the stuff everyone listens to is nonsense, don't get me wrong. What I'm trying to do is tell you that I'm going to stick to Japanese songs because of verses like these. Another of my favorites, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari auto-plays every time you visit my blog, and I like it too. If you hate it, that's your problem because this is MY blog, not yours, and it wouldn't make sense if I deny my taste in music just to please my readers. Then it wouldn't be my blog, it would be...I don't know.

Here's the entire lyrics, credit to animelyrics.com and Atashi, who transliterated and translated it.

Description: Insert song from Shakugan no Shana the Movie

Vocals: Kawada Mami
Lyrics: Kawada Mami
Composition: Nakazawa Tomoyuki
Arrangement: Nakazawa Tomoyuki

Original / Romaji Lyrics English Translation

Yuuyake sore ga someru machi to kimi no yokogao
Nani o omoi, nani o mitsume, nani o kanjite iru no?

A city dyed by the sunset sky and your face from the side-
What are you thinking about, what are you looking at, what are you feeling?

Tatoeba sono saki ni boku-tachi no asu ga mienai nara
Boku wa kimi no te o nigiri, doko made mo kakete yuku yo

For instance, if we can't see our future ahead
Then I'll grip your hand and we'll run endlessly

Egao to yume to itoshisa to yorokobi o torimodoshite
Ima de mo osokunai
Katachi aru mono, sore dake ga koko ni iru subete nante
Dare mo semenai kara

Recover your smile and dreams and love and joys
It's not too late even now
Because no one will blame you
For the physical things, that only those are the everything here

Yuugure toki wa aseru kokoro wasuresaseteku
Isogashii nagare o kitte shashin ni shita you de

The time of dusk hurries by, making my heart forget
Like how I cut up a busy flow and turned it into a photo

Kono basho ga suki da to hanashiteta kimi no hoho o tsutau akai namida
Mou nido to, aenai yokan ga shiteta

You told me that you love this place and red tears fell down your cheeks
I had a feeling that we wouldn't ever be able to meet again

Namida mo uso mo kanashimi mo koukai mo, subete kimi to koko ni ita akashi da yo
Wakare wa futari dake ga shiru omoide no hajimari da to
Kono mune ni chikatte
Mata itsuka...

Your tears, lies, sadness, and regrets, everything is a proof of that I was here with you
I vow in my chest
That our parting is the beginning of a memory that only the two of us know
Someday, we'll meet again...

Sasayaku koe ga kono mama tooku natte
Kimi no kage mo yuuhi ni nomareteku
Muda ni sugiyuku toki nante nai n da to iikikasete...

As it is, the whispering voice grows afar
And your shadow is swallowed by the setting sun
Tell me that I didn't spend any time in vain...

Egao mo yume mo itoshisa mo yorokobi mo yobiokoshite
Towa ni hibikitsuzukeru
Katachi aru mono, sore dake ga koko ni iru subete nante
Shinjirarenai kara

Recall your smile, dreams, love, and joys
And they'll echo eternally
Because we can't believe
That the physical things, that only those are the everything here


Translated and transliterated by Atashi ♡

Football Fan

Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0.

Yeah, I know. WTF?! How is that possible?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy. No, happy is an understatement. I'm so overjoyed I feel like calling all the Manchester United fans right now and laughing at their faces. Seriously. This has got to be the best result in the whole week. I'm sort of against Manchester United, and I was overjoyed to see them lose. Sorry, this is not meant to offend or gloat over Manchester United fans, and obviously I will not be calling them and laugh at their faces either. That was just a figure of speech to describe my elation, nothing more. I know Manchester United is not a horrible team, and a few of their fans are my friends. So no offense to them, seriously.

You know, I've been really considering to jump ship right now. No, not to Liverpool. After the dismal showing Blackburn Rovers have been putting on right now, getting thrashed 5-0, f***ing FIVE-NIL! by Chelsea, you have to excuse my jadedness and bitterness. Not forgetting the 6-2 hammering by Arsenal a few weeks ago. I mean, seriously. What's going on with Blackburn Rovers? For starters, I don't like Sam Allardyce and I really wished Mark Hughes had stayed.

Let's see, I've been a Blackburn fan for about 7 years now, since 2002. When I was 11 or 12, I used to support Liverpool for a stupid reason. My Mom apparently bought me Liverpool shorts, and since Liverpool was the only team I knew at that time, I naturally thought of supporting them.

Step into the English Premiership League and 19 other teams. I saw Blackburn Rovers and I liked them immediately. I remember Damien Duff scoring when Blackburn beat Arsenal, which led to the latter's failure to win the league that year. We finished sixth under Gramme Souness. Cool! I became a Blackburn fan instantly. Yay! Not forgetting Liverpool was horrible under Gerard Houlier and was on a ten-match unwinning streak or something like that. The fact that I couldn't be bothered to remember showed that I was no longer a Liverpool fan.

So I followed the course of Blackburn for the rest of my life. Through the bitter betrayal of Gramme Souness when he left Blackburn for Newcastle. I laughed at him when we eventually beat him and he got sacked. And my favorite manager of all time, Mark Hughes took over.

Those were the golden years, other than the 1995 Kenny Daglish era. We survived relegation, and finished sixth the next season! After that, we dropped to tenth, but we exceeded expectations to finish seventh two years ago! And I still remember the year we finished sixth, we beat Manchester United 4-3. That was my favorite game ever, and is still my favorite game. David Bentley hat-trick, Louis Saha equalizer, Lucas Neil penalty, Ruud van Nisterooy's nerve-wrecking brace, but we hung on to win 4-3! Best game ever! All thanks to David Bentley. I used to like him until he backstabbed us for Totteham Hotspurs, where he's a complete flop right now.

Alas, it did not last. Mark Hughes had left for Manchester City when Abu Dubai or what's-their-name came knocking. Enter Paul Ince. Then Allardyce. And two dismal seasons with no light at the end of the tunnel.

I had an inkling of following Mark Hughes to Manchester City. I didn't. I thought I would remain a Blackburn fan because I was loyal. I'm the loyal kind of guy who wouldn't leave my friend in trouble if I could help him. Anyway, after losing to Sunderland, drawing with West Ham, getting thrashed by Everton, and then SCREWING UP with Arsenal and Chelsea, I'm left raging. Seriously, what's going on now? I mean, I don't mind losing. Even the 3-0 defeat by Everton I can take. But 6-2? 5-0? What the hell?

Fast-forward to Chelsea. When Roman Abrovmich took over in 2003, I was considering jumping ship as well. I thought, cool! Chelsea's gonna be a new superpower. Maybe I should join the boat and become a Chelsea fan too! I pitied Claudio Ranieri's sacking, I mean, I liked the guy, but I absolutely loved Jose Mourinho. He was the most fun manager I had ever seen, even more fun than Mark Hughes, and it was him who tempted me to become a Chelsea fan. But I stood firm. I was a loyal guy and I decided to remain loyal. I guess it paid off when Jose Mourinho was sacked and Avam Grant took over. I didn't like Avam Grant. And Chelsea wasn't Chelsea without Jose Mourinho. Good thing I stayed at Blackburn. Claudio Ranieri I liked though. I still remember cheering when his team beat Manchester United 1-0, which led to Arsenal and their unbeaten run to win the title.

You know, if I were a Blackburn player (this is IF, I know I'll never be good enough) I would stay at Blackburn all my life and refuse all transfers, no matter how lucrative or tempting they are. I don't care about the money.

Unfortunately, seeing Blackburn in their dire straits right now, even I would want to move away. Seriously.

And Allardyce's blaming his players? I mean, look at Mark Hughes. In his time, never had Blackburn been trashed so badly before, with the exception of the 6-2 thrashing by Arsenal. And we still finished tenth in that season. I still remember Nonda scoring both goals. And he didn't exactly blame his team either. Go, Sparky!

Whatever it is, don't take my words seriously. It's just a fan ranting. At the end of the day, I'm still a Blackburn Rovers fan, and I will always support Blackburn Rovers. I'll just patiently wait for the day the next Mark Hughes take over and make Blackburn a top 6 contender again. I don't know, but yeah, I hope David Dunn gets back into the team again. He's the Steven Gerrard of Blackburn Rovers, and hopefully he'll be able to turn the game around at Old Trafford next week. Because if we don't...we are screwed.

I know we aren't going to be relegated, Allardyce is too experienced for that. But I don't want another season finishing 15th or 13th or outside the top ten. That's really depressing.

The other way us for me to become a billionaire like the Sheikhs at Abu Dubai or Roman Abrovmich and buy Blackburn Rovers, pump a bit of money and get them to be a top-ten contender. I have no intention of buying a title-winning team, I want Blackburn Rovers to take a leaf from Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and start devloping the youth academy. Buying great players will only win a superficial, mercenary title, which I don't like. I prefer Arsenal's style.

And that's assuming I even become a billionaire. With my dream to become a manga artist, being a billionaire is impossible. I know. Which do I work toward then? My dream, of course. The football club will survive with or without me, but my life is centered around my dream. As simple as that.

And as a final note, go Blackburn Rovers! Don't give up!

P.S. my favorite Italian team, Fiorentina lost to Napoli. By the way, I was a fan of Fiorentina way before, even during the time they were accused of match fixing and were deducted nineteen points. So don't accuse me of supporting it because it's a regular top 4 team. And they finished 6th that season before finishing 4th twice. Go, Fiorentina! Make sure you aim higher this time!

Helz0ne translation

Please ignore this post if you're not from Helz0ne. Thank you very much. I'm only using this post to prove my point and to translate a little bit of Korean. You probably won't know what I'm talking about because it is, frankly, completely unrelated to you. Thank you very much.

Debreceni VSC 3 Fiorentina 4

Fictional Football would like to apologize for the lack of English in this video and are unfortunately, unable to translate it as its directing manager, Tobias Fong, only understands English, Mandarin, and a bit of Cantonese and Japanese.

Our managing director is a fan of Blackburn Rovers, but Fiorentina is his favorite Italian football club. Don't give him that look, he may support the underdogs but please remember that Fiorentina beat Liverpool 2-0 a few weeks ago.



Thank you very much for your kind understanding.

Crush and Crushed

This is not a true story.

I used to have a crush on this girl. Let's call her J for now (it's just a random alphabet, don't go around guessing randomly, especially the poor girls whose names start with J). Anyway, I really, really liked her.

What happened? Good question. I want to know too.

One day, she just gave me the cold shoulder. And told me to get lost from her life. Simply put, I was to never see her again.

This is when I recalled a nice little quote: "When you lend someone twenty dollars, and never see him again, it was probably worth it."

Problem is, I might still occassionally run into her at school.

Another quote: "The Early Worm always get eaten by the Early Bird. So sleep in and wake up later."

She almost got run over by a truck while going to school at 6am. Serves her right...I think.

Later I found out that she already had a boyfriend. That was what caused her change in attitude toward me. Ouch. I was crushed. Both emotionally and pridefully. And as a man.

Then Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."

So I picked up the pieces of my life and continue plodding on. And as I lay on bed one day, it occurred to me.

Ralph H. Blum: "There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy."

And I laughed. Just laughed. That's also when I realized something. A nice thing that I actually gained from the whole experience.

Erma Bombeck: "Laughter arises out of tragedy, when you need it the most, and rewards you for your courage."

Unfortunately, she launched a scathing attack on me, flaming me online and humiliating me in front of everyone.

Fortunately, I planned a counterattack and exposed her lies, humiliating her and forcing her to eat her words. She still hasn't apologized to me, but everyone's avoiding her after the facras she pulled on me. Plus a little extra revenge where I "accidentally" spilled an entire bucket of tomato juice on her and sent her into a panic because she thought it was blood. It was an amazing sight of her screaming and running around shrieking. I believe someone uploaded it into youtube.

Not exactly my favorite person, but his words spring to mind. Hilarious, I admit, and relevant in this context. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - George W. Bush

And another of his funny quotes: "Yesterday, you made note of my -- the lack of my talent when it came to dancing. But nevertheless, I want you to know I danced with joy. And no question Liberia (or in this context, J) has gone through very difficult times."

How about this? "The people in Louisiana (or in this context, Singapore) must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer -- prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them."

And best of all, "And they have no disregard for human life." Supposedly, it was a comment on the brutality of Afghan fighters, but I'm using as "And J has no disregard, I mean regard, for my life".

But forget about Bush. I never liked him. However, I believed there is a better lesson to be learned from here.

Henry Ellis hit the nail on the head with his words: "All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on."

And pretty soon, I got rich and happy. One day, while I was relaxing in my lounge, I received a knock on my door. I opened it to find J. Apparently, she was dumped, broke and had no place to stay. I offered to lend her some money and book a hotel for her to stay for the time being.

She shook her head and suddenly confessed her "undying love" for me, and begged me to let her stay in my home, maybe as a wife or even a mistress.

I laughed into her face.

You know what they say, "he who laughs last laughs the loudest."

I lent her twenty dollars, and I didn't expect to see her again.

Unfortunately, this all didn't really happened.

But it should HAVE, damn it...

Youth

I was sitting on a park bench one day, enjoying the cool breeze and basking in the sun, when I saw a young couple.

They were barely out of their teens, about my age, I suppose, but they were strolling hand in hand, and kissing in public.

"It's so good to be young, isn't it?" I commented to the elderly man sitting next to me.

He gave me a strange look.

I couldn't blame him. After all, I am young too, I guess.

Manga

Goodbye, everyone

Goodbye, everyone.

This is going to be my last post.

Well, it's not like anyone reads this blog anyway. I guess it's better this way. No one to stop me from jumping.

I've slogged long and hard, and I finally give up. There's no point in living any longer.

That's why, goodbye, everyone.

I know the media is going to blame it on games, television or comics. Screw them. That's not why I'm killing myself. I'm killing myself because of stress. Nothing else. In fact, I haven't played Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance for at least two months. I'm suffering not from being unable to play it, but from too much stress.

Don't blame my parents as well. They aren't the ones who place stress on me.

I just can't take it any longer.

My brother hates me, I have too much homework to do, I can't play any games, I hardly have time to draw...my grades are horrible and I can't even write a proper essay. My life is ruined. So is my future. I can't take it anymore. I give up.

It's hopeless.

Thank You, God, for everything You have given me. It's not Your fault either. You weren't the one who forced me into this. I was the one who chose the path of self-destruction. I will bear responsibility for my own actions. In fact, it's my fault for not praying more often, not visiting Church and for reading atheists' books. Well, I still think there's nothing wrong with reading atheists' books. They are humans too, and they have a right to their beliefs and opinions, just as I do for mine. Rather, it's not their fault for writing stuff, it's my fault for not staying true to my own beliefs and opinions. And to atheists who are reading this (which I seriously doubt because no one will ever read my blog), don't blame God or religion and use this as an example of suicide of religious fanatics. I'm not a religious fanatic, and while I believe in God, I'm a horrible Christian. And like I said, my death is because of stress.

Don't blame the Professors at my university either. They aren't the ones holding high expectations or stressing me to do well either. Neither are my parents. I'm the one placing stress on myself. I'm the one who can't handle it and now crumbling under it. I bore the weight myself; no one placed it on me.

I may listen to friends, speak with them or whatever, but it's my decision for not telling them anything. I choose to endure my troubles alone, to keep my anger bottled up. My brother may vent his anger and temper on me, but I never retaliate. I just keep everything inside.

And now I can't take it anymore.

No one is going to read this anyway. But it's best this way. Better for me to disappear from this world without anyone knowing. Slowly fade out of everyone's mind. Well, of course my family is going to suffer, but...I can't be strong enough. Well, the less people knowing of my death, the better.

I just want to die. To curl up a corner and sink into eternal slumber. To forget about my responsibilities, homework, everything. Just sleep forever. Or die. If I'm dead, I don't need to do any of this...stuff.

Therefore, goodbye everyone. And thank you for everything. Don't bother calling me. By the time you read this (if you ever read this), it'll be too late. I will be long dead. If possible, ignore this. Forget that I ever existed. A loser like me shouldn't even deserved to be born. In fact, my brother should have received everything I was given - it's my pathetic existence that has caused him to suffer. I completely understand his resentment toward me. If only I weren't around, he would have his all-important privacy and everything that was given to me that he didn't get. And to my friends, I think I've done nothing but bring you trouble, offend you, anger you, irritate you. Whether my brother or my friend, I think you've been irritated by my presence long enough. Therefore it's better if I just die. Then there will never be anyone to irritate or annoy you ever again.

You'll never see me again.

Farewell, everyone.