Reader's Guide: My K-Pop Fanfict Recommendation (part 1)

Hello reader fella!

This time I'm going to talk about one of my biggest interest in life since 3 years ago. yep, it's K-Pop. You know, those pretty boys and girls that sing and dance and act in a tear-jerking dramas and also do foolish things on a variety show. Yep. 

But, this post isn't about how the trend and culture of K-Pop itself. It's about one of the most essential part of being a fan of K-Pop idols (or any kind of idols actually). It's about fanfiction. 

Well, the thing about me is... I'm a hardcore reader. Like, ever since I was a kid I love reading everything I could get in sight. A brochure, my father's newspaper, my mother's old collection of Enid Blyton's series, even the boring stories about perang kemerdekaan on my history textbook. Growing up, I started to read various novels with various genres. I remember to have finished reading one of Dan Brown's novel (I forgot which one, was it Da Vinci Code? Was it The Lost Symbol?) only in one day. I was like 11 at that time, lol talking about nerdies.

And with that, when I joined this cult of K-Popus Fangirlismus, the fanfictions has become my biggest interest. I spend a lot (A LOT) of times browsing the net to look for the best fanfic every fandoms can offer, and God do they have amazing authors with amazing works. I even dare to say that those authors are even better than some of a cliche teenlit novels author whose book you could easily find on some popular bookstores.

And this is it. I've summarized a few of those fanfictions that are read worthy and not the usual 'oppa unnie saranghaeyo. omona waeyo? Arasseo' fanfictions (bleh, I cringed so hard writing those words). So... enjoy!

(Disclaimer: This isn't in a particular order, okay. I'll just write whatever title that comes into my mind first. And this will not be based on any particular fandoms too. Might contain BoyxBoy act)

1. Prayer For The Impossible by chasingbreaths

Genre: angst, romance

Cast: Bang Yongguk and Kim Himchan (B.A.P)

Angst is my favorite genre and this fanfic will always be on the top of my list. Quick summary: Himchan is a broken and sick artist while Yongguk is the one who destined to take his life. They fell in love. And you know the rest.

So fucking heart-wrenching, is what I could say. I read this fic on one summer night, it was almost 2 AM and I sobbed hard on the last few chapters. Like, seriously. Aside from the fact that its pairing was my two ultimate bias (Yasss BangHim shipper here yow!), the plot and storyline is just... too much to handle without tears. Just a glimpse of the story:

Unfortunately though, it seems like the author has deleted the entire story so I can't give you the link to the full story :( Author-nim, I'm still hoping that you would repost this...

2. Der Marchenclub by pinboo
Genre: thriller, suspense, angst
Cast: Super Junior and SNSD (Main)

It'd be a sin if I don't put this great masterpiece on this list. This is what I call: MINDBLOWING. I read this when I first entered the cult of K-Popus Fangirlismus, thus I didn't really have any particular fandom yet. I just browse mindlessly through asianfanfics and apparentlyl I had stumbled upon this masterpiece.

What can I say? The author has succesfully twist those fairytale we used  to know as a kid to some sick, maddening, emotionally-draining thriller plot. Death and blood would be everywhere, those characters you thought is an angels might be the actual lucifers, and those you think you could trust... might be plotting your death by now (MUAHAHAHA).

I don't even like Super Junior nor SNSD, let alone ship them but... this fic is definiteley a most read.

3. Flavors by Scheherazade

Genre: Slice of life

Cast: Jang Hyunseung (BEAST), OC

Sweet would be the only word fit to describe this fic. The words are enchantingly beautiful and as the title was saying, this fanfic would bring you to a journey of a thousand explosions of flavor. From the flavor of Peppermint Dewdrop, Anise Sunflower, Kaffir Velveteen, to the flavor of Numb.

You know, I kinda have a trust issue of fanfic that involves Bias x OC pairing because

it basically filled with cliche trash and shits. But this one completely changes my bad impression about the OC fanfictions. I love the way the author write the OC. Like, she was fragile, but not. She seems like insane, but not. She looks like she's in love with him, but not. She's simple but also at the same time has the most complex character in the story.

4. THIN AIR by asweetdepravity

Genre: angst, romance, a bit of fluff, and more angst

Cast: Choi Seunghyun (T.O.P) and Kwon Jiyong (G-Dragon)

I don't ship GTOP. I don't ship GTOP. I don't ship GTOP

But I think I might just change my mind after reading this fic.

Or maybe I just got a thing for broken people.

Quick summary: amnesia, terminal illness, broken Jiyong, equally messed-up Seunghyun.

Did I summed everything up?

5. Chopin's Embrace by elisaexplosive
Genre: angst, slice of life, mystery, thriller
Cast: Random idols

Beautifully thrilling. Ooh, I got goosebumps from reading this in the middle of the night. This story is a collection of connected one shots. But what is the connection? Well... Suicide. On the first chapter you got this bullied lesbian, played by Amber, who's in love with her bully. On The second chapter you'll get Zelo as the anxious teenager who's stalked by a mysterious middle-aged man (creeeeepy), the next you'll find the lonely Bom and many more. But well, as stated above, this is a thriller fanfic so don't expect that the characters will live happily ever after.

Maybe they will. I don't know. They're all died from suicide, right? Who knows.

6. SCANDAL by kpoponly
Genre: angst, angst, AAAAAANGST, a bit fluff
Cast: G-Dragon & Taeyeon (Main), Kiko Mizuhara, Leeteuk, Suju, SNSD, YGFam, Nuthang (Minor)

Never thought I'd put this fic on the list, though. I don't even know there are people who ships this two. Like... Can you imagine? G-Dragon and Taeyeon? Exactly. But that is exactly what triggers my curiousity towards this fic. To be very honest, I was kinda skeptical at first. You know, just like the OC fanifc, I also have trust issue about this crackpair fanfic. But, well, I thought there's no harm in reading a few chapters right?

And damn, I was wrong. Past the third chapter, I was already sold. I love how the writer describes G-Dragon's character as if it is the real him. The real Kwon Jiyong with all his cockiness, fluff, hopeles-romanticism, and shits (I don't know how's the real Kwon Jiyong is, but that's just the vibe I got from him so yeah. Subjective). And don't forget the fragile-and-sometimes-annoying-but-adorable Taeyeon. This is what I call imperfectly perfect. And oh, how can I left out Kiko, my dear Kiko Mizuhara? Wild and broken Kiko... God, I love how the author potrayed her. The plot, maaaann the plot is so thick with drama with just enough amount of fluff to balance the angst.

This fic is an absolute emotional roller coaster. Put on your seatbelt, and just enjoy.

1.

 2.

3.

(Lol, I even put three screencaps. That shows you how much I love this fic. I'm so biased /facepalm)

7. Grey by jongbuttbutt

Genre: Angst (maybe?), implicit smut
Cast: Bang Yongguk (B.A.P) and Kim Himchan (B.A.P)

This fic, has successfully illustrated its title. It is grey. The relationship between the character is grey. The character itself is grey. What is Himchan? Is he human? Is he angel? But angel didn't come to this part of town...

(And even the smut scene is 'grey' lol)

Overall I like the vague-ness of this one shot. It's like you're trying to read through a thick fog, if that's even possible. I like how the author wrote down every words, thumbs up for that.

Yeah, so I guess that's all for now. I'll update when I find another read-worthy fanfics. I hope you enjoy this recommendation, and don't be shy to drop any of your recommendation here if you happen to have one. See you another time!

xoxo

F.

[BOOK REVIEW] All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Another book review, yaaaaayyy!

Now this is my new baby that has just been added to my preshus collection of babies (re: books! Don’t panic, I don’t collect literal babies) very recently. And this baby is quite fat, it weighed 530 pages to be exact but that’s not really a problem for me though because I’m a fast reader, kinda.

So, first the thing that captured my attention was the little badge on the cover that says: “Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction 2015”. And I thought, wow this must be some awesome sh---udgecake. And for that, I was sold.

Long story short, this book is about a blind girl and an orphan and a magical-slash-cursed diamond called Sea of Flames. It was set during the world war 2 in the city of Paris, Saint Malo, and Zollverein, Essen. The blind girl, whose name was Marie-Laure, has a father who worked at the National Museum of Paris as a locksmith. During the attack of Nazi, Marie-Laure and her father ran away from Paris to her great-uncle house in Saint Malo. Without the knowledge of Marie, her father has smuggled (or rather, been told to smuggle) the extremely rare yet beautiful but cursed diamond called the Sea of Flames. It is said that whoever carry the Sea of Flames with them will live forever, but the people around them will stumble upon a very very bad luck. (Marie Laure did stumble upon a strings of bad lucks because in the story she’s the one who practically carried the diamond, though)

On the other hand, the orphan whose name was Werner Pfennig is a genius with radio. Live in a place called Zollverein , he was destined to work as a coal miner for the rest of his life. That is until he and his sister, Jutta, found a broken radio that fills his life with possibility and brings him to the notice of Hitler Youth.

The rest is how the two found each other in the most peculiar, twisted, beautiful, surprising way. You’ve got to read them yourself, seriously!

Doerr is awesome (with capital A) at storytelling. He was very, very, very, very descriptive, detailed and… I don’t know, visual? The way he describes the city of Saint Malo, the miniature that Marie-Laure’s father build for her, how the siege happen on Saint Malo, how he describes the Sea of Flames seems very visual to me. I can almost smell the scent of sea every time Marie Laure goes to the beach near  her great-uncle’s—Etienne, the name’s Etienne—mansion. The furnished model of the city of Paris and Saint Malo, and the beautiful yet cursed Sea of Flames.  Every word sways me and has successfully brought me out of my quiet bedroom to the world of Marie Laure and Werner Pfennig.

The plot is also awesome. It was rather confuseing at first because, Doerr wrote it back and forth from Marie Laure’s perspective, to Werner’s perspective,  from the year of 1944, then goes back to 1934, then leaped to the year of 1954, and going back again to 1944, and so on until in the end it finally reached the year of 2014. He was basically trying to give us hints about how will Marie Laure and Werner meet through those leaping of time settings. And when they finally met, you will not be spoiled with a usual dramatic sappy meetings of a boy and girl in a romance novel. They meet in an unusual circumstances, unusual time, unusual place (kinda), and unusual situations. Even though the meeting was short (underlined the word SHORT), but it was… memorable. At least for me. And Marie Laure. And Werner. Doerr wrote it very swiftly and just the right amount of a supposed-to-be romance.

The ending… well, this is a big spoiler ahead. Werner died. Marie Laure got back to Paris with Etienne, and grow old peacefully.

And the diamond, you ask? Well… it was back to where it belong. To the earth. Waiting for another (lucky? Unlucky?) person to find it again and meet their fate. 

***

Title: All The Light We Cannot See

Author: Anthony Doerr

Publisher: Fourth Estate, London

Page Count: 530 pages

Score

Storyline: 4.5/5

Diction: 5/5

Cover: 4/5

Overall: 4.5/5

#4 Let's Not Fall in Love

“Let’s not fall in love,” he said.

His eyes, two irises as black as a coal, looking out to the distance. He seems so far away even though the space between us was only an arm reach, even less. It’s as if his soul is nestling somewhere else, as if he was somewhere else (so far away, I can’t even reach), as if… he wants to be anywhere else but here.

Wasn’t he always?

“We don’t know each other very well yet,” His voice was raspy. Like the sound you make when you step on a stack of dry leaves during autumn.

We don’t know each other very well, yet. Sure, I thought. I only know about how much sugar you like on your coffee (3 spoons, or was it 4?), how much you love reading your old comic books on weekend, how you always woke up at 5 and then continue to sleep until 6.30 before officially starting your day, how much you hated to shave, and how you would hug me so tightly (so long) when you’re sad.

“Actually I…” he took a long draw of oxygen into his lungs before continuing his words. “…was scared”

Aren’t we all?

He turns his head towards me. Even now, when he’s looking straight into my eyes, (or maybe he was just trying to) his eyes were always seemed so distant. It’s as if he’s not looking at me but something far beyond me.

It seems like you’re here, but not. Why?

“Let’s not make promises. We never know what tomorrow may bring,” he said. “Please, don’t ask anything to me. I can’t… ever give you an answer“

But, darling, you are the answer to all my unasked questions.

“We’re as happy as we are right now”

Unconsciously, my lips curved into a small smile. Are we?

He turns his head away, again. He’s ready to soar through the horizon, again. Ready to drift away from me, even further than he was before. Ready to not fall in love.

Then came a whisper from the gap between his lips. A whisper so soft, it almost feels like a morning breeze.

“Let’s not fall in love”

The wind flows, caressing my cheek ever so gently. I closed my eyes and imagine the place he was always looking for in the distance. I imagine myself there. I imagine us.

Then came another whisper. This time, it was from mine.

“Let’s”

THE END

Now Listening: Bigbang - Let's Not Fall in Love