Author has written 6 stories for Life, Nature, Humor, Fantasy, and Fantasy.

---

Last updated: 2007-06-14

---

Hello, Ni Hao, and Ohayo Gozaimasu!

Welcome to my little corner of the intarweb that is FictionPress.Com, and the home of CyWave™ Productions. Grab some popcorn, and take a seat; you may be here for a while.

---

A quickie about some of my literary endeavors:

---

Ah... probably one of the meats of anyone's profile... but not for me. I have only one major story I'm working on right now. It's coming rather slowly, but I'll try to work on it as quickly as I can. It's all subject to my mood and desire honestly, so I can't really write if I don't feel like it.

Starlight Legacies:
Chapter 7 is uploaded... and it took long enough too.

A fic of mine that has had at least 20x more concept work than actual story writing (xD), it's an ambitious little piece (or intends to be) about a world under mysterious threat from an invading power (sounds original, I know). Truthfully, I've thought of the characters and settings for several years now; I'm just putting it on virtual paper for documentation reasons. I'm currently shooting for double-digit chapter amounts and have random chapter ideas already, but we'll see how it goes.

Poetry:

Pretty much constituting everything else I have, there's several random poems I've submitted (mostly assignments from my old English classes that seem to fit here). Poetry is definitely something that I do not write unless I can channel an emotion of some sort (usually angsty emo sadness, or something else fitting), so there's really no schedule for poetry releases. It's all on a "when I want to" basis.

---

Points to ponder -- writing on FictionPress:

---

Nothing special, these are just some random opinions of mine based on what I've seen and what I've formulated. And yes, they're quite similar to those of other aspiring writers... no comment about that.

1. Constructive criticism (a.k.a. CC) beats all other forms of feedback: Simple praise is a nice ego stroker, but as I've never been able to improve my writing through my "glorious" peers in the public education system, the burden has been placed on your sturdy shoulders to spot the faults/inconsistencies/mistakes/irritable habits of my writing, and inform me of them. Please do this in a pleasant and civilized manner, as anything considered a flame will not garner any response from me at all. If you choose not to be civilized with legitimate criticism, you can expect a delayed response to your review (or none at all, as the case may be). CC is the single best way to help a writer improve at his/her craft, why not lend them a hand?

Note: If there are any anonymous reviewers who've taken a look at my work and want to say something, feel free! Do leave your e-mail address or some way for me to contact you, as I have a nasty habit of replying to the reviews I recieve.

2. Mutual reviewing is what makes this site go 'round: Having wandered around other people's profiles has taught me that. Give reviews, take reviews, and let reviews be given/taken by all! They're the reason why we all write here. It's probably been said before, but those who don't need feedback are probably in the publishing business already (like, hmmm... J.K. Rowling maybe?).

3. Proofread your work before clicking submit: There's nothing that breaks my concentration more than having the glare of an atrocious (and often repetitive) grammatical error leering at me. You don't need it to be perfect, but try to get it more or less 90 percent bug free please. There's no excuse to not editing these mistakes as we're on PCs and not paper people (and yes, I'm well aware of the errors in Starlight Legacies, so burn me at the stake for hypocrisy later). I have made exceptions for certain cases, but honestly, we can all do better, right?

4. Clichés are NOT all bad: Other authors tend to abstain horribly from these, but I believe they're usable, provided that you're a skilled (read, sensible) enough writer to do something different with them. For example, everyone is convinced that elves/orcs/trolls/goblins should not be used in fantasy work that strives to be original, as they are cliché. I however, would be interested in seeing how it could be done differently, thusly breathing new life into an old archetype. I'm aware that there are some people on this Earth who wouldn't touch a cliché even whilst wearing a hazmat suit and using a 10-foot pole. I am not one of them. Remember, clichés don't have to be one-trick ponies.

5. Be unique with your characters: Whether this means trying to come up with something original, or adding a new twist to an old archetype, liven up your creations and give them some unique angle. How about a kleptomaniacal monk, or a near-sighted archer (okay, scratch that last one)? Think outside the box, or screw around with the box to make it something new, as long as your character comes out enjoyable (and well written). There's this really interesting thingy I was made aware of some time ago too. It's called "The Original Fiction Mary Sue Litmus Test", and it deals with the dreaded aspects of quote unquote "perfect" people. Do keep this in mind when designing your key heroes/heroines, m'kay (yes, I realize I should probably look at this as well; keep it down will you?)?

6. Do not try and dictate how an author goes about writing their characters: I cannot stress this enough. Though it is your job as a reviewer to inform an author of what they're doing wrong, or what can be improved upon in their work, it is NOT your place to control how said author decides to build his/her characters. Just because you have one problem with an aspect of a certain character, doesn't mean that the author necessarily has the same problem as well. You can't begin to understand the thought processes some authors have behind their characters, so why try? You'll only end up coming off as condescending and foolish.

7. Leave contact information whenever you review someone's work: Personally, I think it's quite cowardly to leave a reply without leaving some way for the author in question to contact you. Those with FictionPress accounts are off the hook, as authors can directly reply to your reviews, but anonymous reviewers really should leave a way for an author to reply to their commentary (whether or not it is good or bad... yes, there are authors that do that). Remember that reviews aren't a one way deal, people. I have the tendency to turn every review I get into a two-way dialogue.

---

Helpful guides to improve your writing/reviewing:

---

Notice that ALL of these are written by lovely women on FictionPress.Com? Let this be a lesson to us boys; listen to the women in your life. I feel bad about stealing this formatting from Eyetk's page without even saying "Hello", or "Hi, how are you?", but after reading that she stole it from someone else I don't feel nearly as guilt-ridden anymore.

Aspects of a Character by Alankria reviews
Tired of cardboard characters with only one personality trait? (The funny one, the heroic one, worst of all the emo one...) This might help! Updated when I feel like it
Essay - Fiction Rated: K+ - English - General - Published: 5-18-06

How to Write a Fictionpress Summary by The Mumbling Sage reviews
In this essay, I explain how a summary can me made to draw in the most attention with the most information about your story. Also includes a followup to my 'FengShui of Review'.Fact: Each summary can contain up to 255 characters!
Complete - Essay - Fiction Rated: K - English - General - Published: 3-29-07

The Feng Shui of Review by The Mumbling Sage reviews
An entire essay dedicated to that FictionPress staple, the review. Everyone who reviews gets a special treat!
Complete - Essay - Fiction Rated: K - English - General - Published: 2-15-07

Writing with Diversity by Eyetk reviews
You've got a wonderful plot, and well developed, intriguing characters, but you're still striving to make your work better. Perhaps this can help!
Complete - Essay - Fiction Rated: K - English - General - Published: 6-18-05

Read those. No, don't delay, read them NOW. You're only prolonging your own mediocrity by foolishly ignoring these guides. That is, unless of course you don't accept mediocrity and are a talented and avid writer, in which case I must ask what the hell are you doing reading my profile?

---

Personal statistics:

---

Name: Brendan Wong
Nicknames: B-man, Brendar, Brenny, "B"
Age: 19
Birth date: February 15th, 1988
Height: 5'8" (so I've heard)
Weight: 115 lbs (give or take)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black, dark reddish brown (in sunlight)
Ethnicity: Chinese
Astrological Sign: Aquarius
Chinese Horoscope: Technically I’m a rabbit, but I’ve been called a dragon for so long, I’m going to think of myself as a rabbit-dragon.

---

A little bit about me:

---

Being a first year college student is kind of scary really. I mean, you're back to square one. It's a foreign environment (again), and you're dumped into a world with a whole new set of rules to operate under. I miss the days when I could sleep like a rock until 7:30 AM. I miss those times when my concerns were about finishing that Study Package for Chemistry that's due tomorrow the night before. I miss seeing a truckload of familiar faces eating and talking just in front of their lockers in the Grad Hall (even if I did not do any eating or talking with/to them).

So yeah. The question you want answered is... who am I? Well, I like to think that I'm smart, caring, and definitely a lot more sensitive than you'd ever believe a guy could be. I try to be understanding of others, and for what it's worth, I'm a kick-ass supporter of most anything that I figure is positive. My grade 11 English teacher told me (and the class) that I was "a god among men." Whether or not that's true is up to debate, but I've tried not to let that go to my head despite evidence to the contrary. As one might guess, I've never forgotten the man.

This may sound like false propaganda, but however I'm talking to you online is how I really talk offline. I make no effort to dumb down my language (and yes, it's quite flowery, wrong, and unnecessarily annoying to most people) for the simpletons. I've had people on Battle.Net mistake me for a bot when I play Diablo II; that's how I talk. Yes, that's right. I'm like this even on MSN (what with the grammar, the punctuation, the spelling, the capitalization, and the Kung-Fu fighting!). Oh, and I tend to use emoticons after paragraphs, transmits my mood that much more clearly. Remember, this is just in case you begin to wonder why I'm a bit weird...

I wonder sometimes if my romantic situation will ever improve; I swear, I'm like Keitaro from Love Hina (minus the sheer luck, harem situation, and clumsiness). It's rather annoying when your opinions on romance shove you so far out of the mainstream that you feel like you're watching an ant colony. I'm not exactly good looking either; kinda scrawny, twig-like arms, and dangerously underweight. However, people tell me that I'm going to find someone one day. I don't know whether or not to trust in that completely, but I guess it can't hurt to try. After all, if it's meant to happen... why force it?

---

Some favourite things of mine:

---

Let’s move away from the somewhat depressing topics and head out to something more bouncy eh? Haha, I’m definitely feeling better already.

Dragons have been a huge part of my influences throughout the years. There’s just something so imposing about them… beasts that tower above mere mortals, with sulphurous breath that can incinerate metal to scrap, and char bone to ash. I’m not sure if it’s their leathery wings, or the whole sha-zaam of varieties they come in (metallic being my favourite flavour… what?), but there’s something indomitable about them: Dragons are timeless.

This may seem odd, but aside from the unreality, I do like spending time with my close friends. Some of my beliefs in them have been brought into question quite a bit, but I’m hopeful they won’t change. I miss being in their company, sharing good times, just goofing off… those carefree days are gone now. We’re grown-ups now, and like the big people do, we need to cast the spells that makes the peoples fall down. Not really, but it’s definitely time to step up our game.

But just to make a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really long story short, my favourites can be practically summed up with one word; "Fantasy."

---

Miscellaneous hobbies and interests:

---

Writing of course… because that’s like… why… I’m here to… begin with. Seriously though, I’m a good writer, and everyone who sees my essays knows it fo shizzle. I guess it’s kinda what sucks up all my brain power anyway, seeing as I fail miserably in Math, Chemistry, and Physics (xD). But yeah, my favourite genres are probably fantasy and science fiction. Let me just say that reality sucks, and my writing is one avenue of escape from it all.

Photoshop is also a great past time of mine. I’ve been a bit more active since I started foruming again, and a lot of my newer images rival the quality of some of my older ones too. I’ve practically got a Titanic full of JPGs and PSDs, so thank the stars I finally got a new computer a couple of weeks ago. 320 GB of storage space has never felt so good. The annoying part is having to reinstall all the programs from my old computer...

Video games ride high up on my hobbies list too. M.U.G.E.N. is a completely customizable fighting game engine for the PC. Obviously I've become obsessed with it if this page is any indication to you fine folks, so yeah. Castlevania is one of the most enchanting series ever conceived IMO, and although there are things I don’t like about it, I definitely favour these rare games over many others (yes even Final Fantasy… no, I will not apologize to Sephiroth). There’s something undeniably kinky about either a) being some dude in a leather skirt who’s sent out to whip Dracula into submission, or b) being stuck in a giant maze-like castle and having to free-range explore to find a way to progress. Either way, it’s all good.

Believe it or not I'm also quite talented at... drawing! I've actually done some very old (read: crappy) line art for most of the characters in Starlight Legacies, so I may decide to post links to those soon. Additionally, there's also profile view portraits for most of the main characters thus far (minus Xel, as I suck at drawing old people) that I may decide to scan and upload in the future.

---

Random quotes to make my profile spiffy:

---

“Love is like the butterfly that keeps flying around. You keep trying to catch it but it always seems to slip away. When you do catch it though, the butterfly looks so much more beautiful, and you know that it won't leave you until you give it a reason to do so.”
-- Yours truly (me), and frick you, I’m no narcissist

“I think the most important quality is probably to have fun and be happy. People don’t like being around depressing people, people obviously want to spend time with people who are fun to be around. We all get those feelings once in a while; just don’t let them get to you.”
-- A true friend

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not good enough, including yourself, because you are more than worthy. Don’t ever think otherwise, ever.”
-- Gwendolyn (sweetsakura), a fellow forumer from A4

“Like the old man whose heart is hidden amongst the scar tissue of all the previous breaks, you too will find someone to cut through past bullshit to make you happy.”
-- Dan McGuire, my 11th Grade English Teacher

"Every blessing from science becomes a curse. It's not a matter of ifs; it's a matter of when.
-- Brigadier General Blake, character from Quake: The Seal of Nehara

"The ends justify the means."
-- Niccolo Machiavelli, author of The Prince

"Flesh is a design flaw."
-- Robot voice taunt from the PC shooter, Unreal Tournament 2004.

PS: Second and third quotes slightly edited
PPS: I haven't actually read "The Prince", I heard the quote from Gendo Ikari (you know who I'm talking about)

---

Closing notes/final remarks:

---

It’s been a pleasure finally updating this section of my FictionPress.Com user profile in over a year, and I hope to do this again a lot sooner mind you, haha. If you’ve been diligent enough to read all the way here, you sir/madam, deserve a cookie. And if you’re someone I know from real life, thanks for taking the time to appreciate one of my passions.

Ciao, I’m gone.