Anterograde Tomorrow

'Kyungsoo is stuck in the hours while Jongin begs the seconds, because time stops for someone who can’t remember and runs from someone who can’t miss the last train home.'

(Source: http://zachela.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/anterograde-tomorrow-quotes/)

Kyungsoo and Jongin are names of people.

Why is Kyungsoo stuck in the hours? Why is Jongin begging the seconds?
*Boy/Boy pairing

Anterograde Tomorrow

'Anterograde Tomorrow' is a popular kpop fanfiction that has captured the attention of millions of kpop fanfiction readers since 2012- especially fans of the kpop group 'EXO' because the main characters are from that particular group. (A One Direction fan even copy-pasted the entire story and changed the names into the people of One Direction. The fan plagiarized everything except the names.) Go to kpop fanfiction recommendation blogs and sites and I assure you, you will see 'Anterograde Tomorrow' in almost every one of them. 

The author of 'Anterograde Tomorrow' goes by the pen-name of Changdictator. She prefers to remain anonymous. Besides fanfiction stories, she writes fanfiction drabbles (really short stories). She is one of the most famous fanfiction writers in the EXO fandom.

'Anterograde Tomorrow' is a fanfiction about two characters: Kyungsoo & Jongin. Basically, Kyungsoo has Anterograde Amnesia and Jongin is a writer he meets. Anterograde Amnesia is the loss of ability to remember anything after the event that caused the Amnesia. Kyungsoo keeps a scrapbook of things he learns each day to read them all over the next morning.

Literary Techniques

The writer uses several literary techniques in the fanfiction to make readers feel what the characters are feeling. 

(Below are some examples)

Repetition:

- “Maybe there has been a day between today and yesterday. Maybe there has been more than a day.”

- “...how many ten o’clocks have you spent doing the same precise thing, with the same glue gun and same bucket of marbles and the toy from the day before the day before the day before all of yesterdays? How many times have you sat down at your empty dinner table and wondered if tomorrow you will remember today?”

Similes:

-“...slip between his fingers like fleeting memories.”

-“It’s as if his muscles are straining for something that his tendons hold back, as if he’s caught perpetually chasing some melody that is always a beat faster.”

-“Words are like little comets, streaking behind them a reign of tears and hesitation.”

Personification:

-“...the wind sharpening his bones and coursing through his hair...”

-“...melodies frosting delicate and translucent despite the suffocating atmosphere...”

-“More sour than disappointment, more bitter than loneliness.”

Contrast:

-“It’s so sad it’s funny.”

-“...watching an ant die under a magnifying glass and squealing in joy over the sadness of it all.”

Hyperbole:

-“... consonants broken full-stop and vowels tapering to infinity.”

-“His bones ache and his ribs cut into his lungs and he can’t breathe and everything hurts, spins, hurts, spins.”

-“There is only the tsunami of text and slow wave of music.”

These are just a few of many others that are throughout the fanfiction. She uses repetition to give emphasis on the topic. She uses similes and personification to give the readers a more vivid imagination of the scene and the characters' emotions. She uses contrast to give dark humor and again, more description to the scene/emotion. She uses hyperbole, once again, for deeper description.

'Anterograde Tomorrow' has inspired readers to create many trailers, fan edits, fan arts, and many other things dedicated to the story. There also have been many 'top-notch' reviews about this fanfiction, one of which is from a kpop fanfiction review blog:

Do I Recommend This?: Only if you don’t mind sad stories that will rip your heart out when you finish it and even when you have the slightest reminder of the story. This is 1) The first story that ever made me cry and 2) The first story I have ever voluntarily re-read. Therefore, it had a major impact on my reading life. Although it is only 4 chapters (if you count the prologue), they are pretty long, so it should take up a good amount of time if you read it all at once. They were all extremely well-written, descriptive, and overall amazing. The story gave an immense amount of suspense, along with feelings of sadness, guilt, sorrow, and depression. The story does go along with a few things that happen in real life, such as how Kai wanted to be a dancer and D.O. wanting to be a singer. The targeted audience of this story would be anyone, not just EXOtics or even kpop fans. To sum it all up, this story is probably the story that had the biggest impact on my reading and writing life, and I really hope I become as good an author as changdictator one day. I hope more of your stories will be as good and heart-touching as this one!
~Sophia (http://kpop-fanfic-reviews.tumblr.com/post/56637044666/fanfic-review-3-anterograde-tomorrow)



'Anterograde Tomorrow' continues to bring tears to fans even up till this day, and it will go on as a fanfiction legend.

I will end this with some memorable quotes and words.


-  You’re caught in time but time moves on. You can’t remember people coming or leaving.

The world diminishes around you while you’re stuck in the center.

All of your old friends leave or die and you can’t make new ones.

You can’t love. You can’t hate.

- It was kind of funny, like watching a hamster run itself to death in a wheel,

for an exit that didn't exist.

- “Where does a thought go when it’s forgotten?”

“Well, it dies. The thought dies.”

“Don’t let me die, hyung. Promise me you’ll remember me.”

- “My name is Jongin. I’m the writer who lives next door. See you tomorrow, hyung. Don’t forget!”

- "No, you don’t, because you don’t actually love me. Without all my notes, there is nothing. There is actually, exactly, really nothing. I’m really just a stranger to you, and this relationship is all just a play.

It’s just another novel. Fabrication. Everything.

I’m not even writing a fucking novel, fuck, I’m living it.”

- "You can remember tomorrow. I’ll remember all of our yesterdays."

-  “remember Jongin; our birthday tomorrow (13th January 2014).”

- “I’m on borrowed time… How much do you think the interest is?”

- Sleep takes Kyungsoo away, anyway.

- My name’s Kim Jongin. I call you hyung.

Yesterday you loved me. Today you’ll love me again.

(Source: http://zachela.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/anterograde-tomorrow-quotes/)

If you have not read the fanfiction yet, please read it, even if you don't know the characters, it's a story, so give it a shot. 

Anterograde Tomorrow

What is Fanfiction? What is Kpop?

[WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD]

Hello.

For those of you who are new to the topic of fanfiction and Kpop, this is a post dedicated to you. 

First things first!

What is 'Fanfiction'?

Let's start off by breaking the word into two: 'Fan' and 'Fiction'

The word 'fan' here doesn't mean an electrical appliance that you use to cool yourself off when you feel hot, nor is it the manual one. The word 'fan' in 'fanfiction' means a person who has a strong interest or admiration for a particular activity/thing/person. In this case, Kpop- a strong interest in Korean Pop. 

Now the word 'fiction' just literally means 'fiction'. 'Fiction' means writing that describes imaginary events and people/things. 

Now put the words together and you getttttttttt

Fanfiction!

Fanfiction means fiction stories about the particular subject/interest that are written/typed for a fan's entertainment. Most fanfictions (almost every) are written to share amongst a fandom. 

A 'fandom' is what you call a group of fans that share the same interest. For example, Person A is a fan of Sherlock, and Person B is also a fan of Sherlock. Put them and other Sherlock fans together and you get a Sherlock Fandom! 

Fanfictions come in different genres. They literally can be about anything. Usually however, fanfictions are written because the fan has too much 'feels' while 'shipping' one character/person with another and therefore has to create a fictional story to express his/her 'feels'.

Are you confused?

Okay firstly... 'feels'.

'Feels' basically means a wave of emotions that cannot be explained. 

'Ship' or 'Shipping' or 'To ship' someone or something with another someone or something means you want them to become a pair- whether it be romantically or platonic, you just 'ship' them together.

So now that you understand (I hope) the meaning of 'ship' and 'feels', let me repeat. Fanfictions are usually written because the fan has too much feels while shipping one character/person with another and therefore has to create a fictional story to express his/her feels. A fan that has too much feels for his/her ship also finds and reads fanfiction to indulge even more in their feels.

Now that you get a basic idea of what Fanfiction is, on to the next topic...

What is 'Kpop'?

The word 'Pop' here is a genre of music. The 'K' in 'Kpop' is 'Korean'. So basically 'Kpop' is Korean Pop. In the Kpop fandom... there are many fandoms. Groups or solo singers that are produced in Korea and have made their debut are Kpop stars- basically Kpop celebrities. To be specific, groups or solo singers that sing/perform 'K-rock', 'K-trot', 'K-Ballad' or 'K-anything' are also called Kpop stars.

Just because,

Personally, I have a lot of respect for these Korean idols because the road to stardom for them (although also for others in other parts of the world) is a really difficult journey.

Korea is known for plastic surgery and some people have the view that every Korean undergo plastic surgery. To be honest, I feel that people tend to not care about what lies beyond them taking surgery in the first place. I did a research paper on the beauty standards of South Korea and I found so much information. In short, the importance of looking good in Korea is very, very, very serious.

Back to the topic! Why did I mention plastic surgery when I was in the middle of talking about Kpop? It's because they're related to each other (ohohoho of course).

I had an English project one time where I had to teach the class. I could teach about anything I wanted to teach and since I like Kpop, I thought hard on what 'Kpop subject' I could teach the class. I decided to go with 'Trainees'.

All actors, singers, comedians, announcers, and other people in the media in South Korea were all trainees. Trainees are people that train to become singers, actors, and so on. In this post, I'll just focus on the trainees that train to become singers -Kpop stars- and what I say here is for MOST of the trainees but not entirely all.

To become a trainee, one has to either be scouted or audition for companies that create these stars. They usually range from the ages of 11 to 19. Those who are scouted are usually in the good looking side because looks (like most of South Korea) is one of the main criteria of becoming a trainee. Since looks are already very important in South Korea, people expect Kpop stars to have a high amount of that. Now because of that, if the people that audition to become trainees do not fit the criteria for looks even if they have the talent (with some exceptions), they would be rejected.

However, if they see potential in a person (for example he or she sings or dances good and doesn't really cut in looks for the company but they see potential for that person to improve their visual appearance), they would take them in.

What I mean by that is that companies tend to have this vision of : 'Oh she just needs to lose this amount of weight and maybe fix her nose and eyes, she'll be fine.'

That is why, even though thousands of people audition each week (there are weekly and yearly auditions) not a lot of people get accepted because it's rare for someone to have what these companies are looking for, and that is also the reason why many trainees were scouted.

When a person gets accepted, he or she will become a trainee, and will start training. They will train in singing, dancing, acting, broadcast etiquette, and other things despite what they auditioned for. For example, Person A auditioned by singing, but he has to train in the previous lessons stated. Because, Kpop stars are supposed to be able to do everything.

The training ranges, depending on their ability and what their company has in mind, from just a few months to years.

Trainees are not automatically put into groups (unless the company has already planned for them to debut as a solo singer). Therefore, they come daily to the company to train without a stable future. This means that they are not certain whether or not they would someday be able to debut. Trainees go through what is called a monthly evaluation. A monthly evaluation means that they are evaluated on what they are strongest in (ex. singing) every month and this will continue even after they debut.


This is an example of a monthly evaluation of a trainee:

(Wendy has already debuted; this was taken when she was still a trainee)

If what they performed is not up to standard, they would be kicked out. So, even if a person was accepted to be a trainee, if he or she does not perform up to their company's standard a month after or even if they have trained for 4 years, they would still have the possibility of getting kicked out and have their dreams crushed. This is why some trainees give up after a few years because they still have to study and need the assurance of a more stable future.

That is why most Kpop stars have undergone plastic surgery, be it minor like a double eyelid surgery, or major like nose jobs, either before or after becoming a trainee. And although some of them just agree to do it, think about it, maybe they're just forced by their desire of fulfilling their dreams.

Nowadays groups and solo singers keep on coming. More and more debut. Back in 2010, around 40 stars debuted but only around 20 managed to get their name out there. From 2011 to 2014, more than a hundred have debuted and more and more are still coming (ex. Wendy just debuted a few weeks ago in a group)- only around 20 are well known. The groups who aren't successful usually disband after their debut promotions end. The ones who are successful often come from the major companies like 'SM Entertainment' and 'YG Entertainment'. (another heads up, Wendy is from SM)

My point is: Don't underestimate Kpop.

Did I go too far ahaha? This is informational. Right? (I am sorry to the classmates who were present during my 'lesson' and have already heard everything I mentioned just now.)



Now that you know what Fanfiction and Kpop are, let me put them together once again.

Kpop Fanfiction

Kpop fanfiction come in many genres (as stated before) and it also comes in different gender pairings. Girl and boy, boy and boy, girl and girl, girl/boy and OC(original character), or no pairing whatsoever. Most fanfictions are written in the normal girl and boy pairing, the boy and boy pairings come in second, the 'no pairing' third, while the girl and girl come in last. To be honest, the best fanfictions -in my opinion and not that I'm biased or anything- are that ones that have boy and boy pairings (and the 'no pairing').

Now that that is explained, here comes the last of my very long informational post. 

Kpop Fanfiction trailers

I'm not entirely sure whether other fandoms have fanfiction trailers but Kpop Fanfictions tend to have them. Fanfiction trailers are basically trailers for the fanfictions, though usually made after the fanfiction is released. These trailers are made either by the authors themselves or the readers. The really good fanfictions tend to have a lot of trailers created by different fans.

Example of a girlxboy trailer:

(I have never read this.)

Example of a boyxboy trailer:

(THIS ON THE OTHER HAND <3)

Example of a girlxgirl trailer:

(I couldn't find a nice girlxgirl trailer so here is a girl trailer instead.)

Example of a 'no pairing' trailer:

(Never read this before.)

So that is all for the trailer examples. The best one was the boy and boy one and I am not being biased, really. Most of the Kpop fanfictions that I find good are of the boy and boy pairing. I have read fanficitons with all types of pairings but I found that the ones with boy and boy pairing have better quality plots and writings so I shall stick with that. 

That is all for the 2nd post, see you on the third!

"I'm just a little different from the many people of the world, with different dreams. Different doesn't mean wrong, I don't want to be trapped in a typical border." 

- Teen Top, Don't I

Hello!

Hello everyone! :3

Welcome to my blog! I'm setting up this blog for my English Semester Project and in here, I will be talking about fanfictions. Not just any fanfiction however...

 Korean Pop Fanfictions.  a.k.a Kpop fics

Kpop Fanfictions - you might think - are unqualified for an English semester project, but you might be surprised at how well many of these fanfiction writers write.

So, I dedicate this blog to all the Great Fanfiction Writers out there, whether it be of Kpop or other types of fanfiction, and I also dedicate this blog to Jeon JungKook, because today is his birthday. (And this blog is born on the same day) Happy Birthday JungKookie! <3

And also, thanks to The Great Emilia for typing this out, even though I am saying everything out beside her right now. And it is she who wishes to type this out because she is a good friend, instead of creating her own blog, because she has no topic yet.

(Now it is my turn to type because I'm at home and there is no Emilia)

Basically, in this blog I will be taking some Kpop Fanfictions that I find really good and I will analyze them. I will be breaking the analysis down to the writer's style of writing, literary effects, and so on.

I hope this will be a fun English Project for me and I really hope that the people that read this will enjoy reading this blog!

That is all for today, bye bye! ^^
















P.S

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN

Pic: From 2013 but still Happy Birthday!^^