" 'I detest the term 'Can Lit' ', I told Ms. Pribst. 'We do not call American Literature 'Am Lit', I see no reason to shrivel this country's most interesting literature to a derogatory abbreviation..."
John Wheelwright, in John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany"
BIO
Greetings and hello! Welcome to my humble bio. My name is Carmen Takoshi. I am a wannabe author who wishes to make something with my writing someday, but until then I just write for fun, or for shits and giggles, as they say in some parts of the world. XP
I'm eighteen, female and Asian-Canadian. I also desperately wish to write a set of fantasy novels. Someday the first blurbs of those novels could be posted here. You never know. :)
I am very obsessed with anime and manga in general (but since when is that an original thought). My current all time favorites are, in order, Gundam SEED, Mai HiME, Princess Tutu, Fruits Basket, Death Note and Full Metal Alchemist. I do know a lot more than that, though. Don't get me wrong. XD
I also say "XD" a lot.
So far I have only one story, titled Imperfect. It is in the manga section (big surprise there) because it was a story that I originally created in manga form. I was going to draw it, but seeing as I have less confidence in my drawing skills than my writing skills when it comes to this story, I decided to write it out, at least for now. It's mostly so I can figure out the plot and lay it out in a coherent fashion before drawing it, and also because I'd like feedback from an objective party (a.k.a. not me or my anime/manga/shounen-ai fan friends). And yes, it is shounen-ai, ak.a. boy x boy relationships. That's the whole premise of the story, since ever. Believe me, I've tried changing it, but I just don't see it in the same way if I do. So that's that. It's your choice whether to read it or not, and your choice to flame me for it or not. Although to tell the truth, it would be amusing if someone did...
Anyway...if anyone wants more of the stuff I do, you can follow the handy little links right here. I especially recommend the fanfiction.net link. :D -subliminal messaging-
Carmen's Fanart Central account
Carmen's fanfiction.net account
Carmen's Deviantart account
Also, if anyone is ever in need of a competent, thorough and nitpicky beta reader, then I'm your man. I mean woman. Yeah.
MEGUMI'S DONATION BOX
The very lurvely b suggested in a review that I create a donations box so that fans can feed Megumi, so here it is. =) The drawing is by me, of course. Feel free to review Imperfect or PM me with a donation for the box (don't just put that if you review, of course, a review is still a review). I'll put all of the donation items up here for the world to see how generous you all are. =D So be generous! It's good karma!
There are 4 items in the donations box
-Curry katsu, from b
-Ramen, from MidnightChaoticPhoenix
-Chocolate birthday cake, from b
-Chocolate muffin, from Mari-chan
(lol for my profile being interactive XD)
IMPERFECT - The WHAT, WHO and WHY
This is the section in my profile where I've decided to ramble about my own story. I usually do this is in real life too, this kind of rambling, usually to the same person, but she enjoys my story almost as much as I do, so it's all good. I'm hoping that it's well received here on fictionpress.com, but if not, -shrugs- well, life goes on.
Spoiler alert for the Who and Why sections. You have been warned. ;)
What
Set in Tokyo, Japan, year 2006. Megumi Takahata, 21 years old, is living alone in a dingy apartment, struggling desperately to get through university and life on meager funds. Enter Seth and Sean Black, 19 years old, English twins come straight to Tokyo from the UK to study at Toumo University, which has a worldwide reputation. Throw in Hiroyuki Kotobanwa, the alleged "Yuki Yukinojo", a 24-year-old soap actor, and you get Imperfect, the slice-of-life romantic comedy by Carmen Takoshi. (Now that was uber corny... XD)
Like any young man in the world, each of these four have their own goals and aspirations. Each live things that bring them joy and sorrow, hope and despair, and looming in the background is the ever-present threat of sexual oppression, of desires restrained or, on the contrary, let loose with reckless abandon.
Each of these men have regrets, but slowly, as they meet and bonds are tentatively forged, the regrets may transform into something a little brighter. Time passes...relationships are built or broken. What they desire most may not be so easy to obtain, but are they willing to strive and change to obtain it?
Who
-Megumi Takahata-
"Takahata Megumi"
DOB: February 21st, 1985.
Blood type: B
Star sign: Pisces
Family: mother = Sakura (deceased), father = Katsuya (deceased), sisters = Yuko (+5), Kisako (+2), Momihiko (-1), Takiko (-4)
Since childhood, his dream has been to become a professional dancer. Although his mother Sakura supports his decision and pays for his dance classes, his father Katsuya is skeptical and even disapproving, not really believing that he would succeed.
When Megumi is ten years old, Sakura dies in a freak car accident. Particularly grieved by the loss of his mother, Megumi's excellent school grades decline. His two older sisters are forced to take care of the younger siblings, as their father has resorted to drinking when not at work, in an attempt to drown the thought of his wife's loss.
Megumi is still determined to become a dancer, and although no one pays for his lessons any longer, his kindly dance teacher allows him to attend the courses in exchange for helping with her household chores, seeing as he is an excellent student. Katsuya and now Yuko frown upon his interest in dance. To regain their approval, Megumi strives to improve his grades and gets into a decent middle school.
Katsuya becomes erratic and unreliable, belittling Megumi during his rare sober states, for not being "man" enough to support the family. Megumi, then just beginning to develop strange, awkward feelings about his sexuality, withdraws upon himself when he is at home. Soon after, when Megumi is 13, Katsuya commits suicide, no longer able to live without Sakura.
Yuko claims guardianship over her four younger siblings, working full time in order to support the family. She is a tough mother. Megumi comes out to her when he is 14 to seek advice, but instead of reassurance and support he finds sharp disapproval. Again, he hides himself from his family and sets off to come to grips with his feelings on his own.
During high school, he meets another boy, Hikaru, with whom he soon forges a sweet, romantic relationship. Near the end of high school, Megumi tells his sisters about his boyfriend. Although the younger ones do not know how to react, Yuko becomes furious and forbids him from seeing him.
Megumi decides that he will not be able to live freely or happily with Yuko watching his every move, and plans to leave for Tokyo once he graduates from high school. Hikaru begs him to stay, but Megumi is adamant. After writing a letter for his youngest sister Takiko, explaining where he has gone and why, and asking them to not look for him, he leaves by train with nothing but his own savings and two backpacks full of his things.
Life in Tokyo is hard. His poverty causes him to apply for a job in a seedy host club, where he is favoured for his boyish good looks and is soon promoted to a private room. Ashamed at this turn of events but unable to break free of it, Megumi lives with this and his crude customers, hoping for a better future.
A few years later, he has accumulated enough money to live comfortably for a while, and quits his job to have time to study for the Toumo University entrance exam. He fails it, and is discouraged for a while, but soon cheers up and gets a job in a grocery store, using his evenings to study.
The next year, he passes the exam and becomes a student for the spring semester. Megumi is then 21 years old.
-Seth Black-
"Sesu Buraku"
DOB: December 22nd, 1987
Blood type: A
Star sign: Capricorn
Family: mother = Angèle, father = Johnathan, brothers = Ryan (+3), Sean (twin)(+48 min.), sister = Jude (-5)
Seth lives a normal childhood with his family in London, but as he comes to teenagehood, strange feelings begin plaguing him about the boys around him. Instead of analyzing these feelings, he pushes them away in favour of his studies. He gets older, the feelings grow and accentuate, and to suppress them he gets more and more engrossed in his studies, out of fear that if his mind is not constantly occupied, then his weird thoughts would come surging back.
Despite his efforts, his lack of romance with the opposite gender causes certain classmates to poke cruel fun at him, which convinced him to withdraw even further. His family is by then concerned with his attitude, but he assures them that nothing is wrong. He drowns himself in studies, feeling outcast and miserable all the while. When he is 15, he attempt to commit suicide, but Sean finds him and stops him.
Things continue on for a time. As they graduate high school, Seth is the top student. Although he gets several recommendations from his teachers to attend certain schools, he has long since decided to continue his education outside of the UK. He has chosen the reputable Toumo University, in Tokyo, and has been studying Japanese for some time in order to be accepted.
Sean learns of his plan and decides to go with him. They study alongside each other for the entrance exam, and are accepted when they are 19. Their parents decide to let them attend, sensing that it would be good for Seth to get away for a while, and send Seth and Sean to Japan together.
-Sean Black-
"Shon Buraku"
DOB: December 21st, 1987
Blood type: B
Star sign: Sagittarius
Family: mother = Angèle, father = Johnathan, brothers = Ryan (+3), Seth (twin)(-48 min.), sister = Jude (-5)
Sean is the cheerful, outgoing foil to Seth, with whom he shares a special bond born mainly of their twinship. He too develops certain feelings of homosexuality during his teenage years, but sees no need to worry about them, and accepts himself completely. He dabbles in romance with the opposite gender for a time, then moves on to boys, whom he enjoys just as much. Several times, he tries to encourage Seth to let his own feelings loose, but Seth denies having any at all, which despairs Sean somewhat.
He gets average grades in school, merely because he does not try too hard, preferring to relax instead of studying. Seth tells him of his plan to study in Tokyo, and Sean resolves to go with him, if only to provide him with company.
(To tell the truth, I don't know much about Sean myself. -sweat- He's the character with the least background, so I'm obviously still working it him.)
-Hiroyuki Kotobanwa-
"Kotobanwa Hiroyuki", "Yukinojo Yuki"
DOB: May 17th, 1982
Blood type: AB
Star sign: Taurus
Family: mother = Miyuki, father = Hiroku, sister = Ayaka (+1)
Yuki has always had a attraction for music-making and singing, but was discouraged by his parents to take this too seriously. His sister Ayaka, however, sharing the same liking, was noticed by a talent scout and soon rose in fame after releasing a single. Yuki, frustrated and angry, moves on to pursue an education in acting, hoping to find an opportunity to use his real talent on stage, but does not find the chance.
After school, he is involved in a few cheap acting gigs and plays the guitar for a while in a small bar where no one pays attention to him. He gets hired for a soap opera type show and has been working there ever since, despite his hate for the profession.
He sleeps around often, sometimes with the other members, both female and male, of the production staff and acting crew.
He is unsatisfied with the turn his life has taken and looks bitterly upon his own existence. He is, however, too indecisive or cowardly to quit his job, since he is afraid that the world would forget about him completely then.
Why
Ah, the Why section. I've decided to write this up in case anyone wants to know, since I myself am usually interested in the things that inspire other authors to write the things they do, whether on this site or elsewhere.
I began to visualize the actual story of Imperfect in the year 2006, but Seth and Sean were characters that I had actually created beforehand. Their sister Jude (herself created for the purpose of a Gundam SEED fanfiction that was never written) was going to be the main character of her own story, but when I failed to come up with a suitable plot for that, I began to brood and in the process created Megumi. It started out with me just doodling a cute young boy out of boredom, but I liked the design and named him Megumi, after Megumi Hanajima in Fruits Basket. It was only afterwards that I learned that "Megumi" is mainly a girl's name, but by then I had come to associate the name with him and would not change it.
After a few days reflection, I decided that I wanted to make a story about this Megumi, and immediately made it shounen-ai, because I had been meaning to write an original shounen-ai story for some time. Seth and Sean's characters were modified a little to fit in, and I also created Yuki a few months later. He used to be nice. XD
I played with the story for a bit, changing the roles and personalities around. At some point, Megumi was a mean, jaded supermodel of some sort, but that only lasted a few weeks at best. XD Some really weird things were added in too, so that the story was almost supernatural/fantasy, which was tempting but rejected in the end. I had already decided that I wanted to write a more realistic story, more "slice-of-life", something that would be at once reflective and entertaining.
The title "Imperfect" was inspired from an imagined conversation between Seth and Megumi. (Yes, I do imagine conversations between my characters) The gist of it was that Seth was hesitant about asking Megumi for a steady relationship because he did not feel that he was "perfect" enough for him, but Megumi replied that he loved his imperfection, which was obviously something that Seth did not understand until then. So, the end of the actual story will probably end with something relating to this. And that was a huge spoiler. XDD
In 2007, the characters's personalities were pretty much set and I began to think more seriously about the plot. These reflections eventually started coming out in writing form, as you can see.
Although I originally intended Imperfect to be a manga, I have decided to at least finish the novel before moving on to drawing. I really enjoy the process of writing out every character's chapter in their point of view, since it helps me flesh out their thoughts and actions better. It also forces me to think of the plot in a more systematic way. XD
So that's it. I hope it was informative/interesting. Any questions or comments can be messaged to me. :)
Carmen
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