Author's Own Blurb:
"When an angel loves, it means forever".
16 year old Himig Buencamino suffers from amnesia. That is, he doesn't remember anything but the past two years of his life. Little did he know that the search for his memories will unearth more that just the truth, but secrets that are better left in the past.
Love and lies, friendship and betrayal... and it all starts with a dream about wings.
This story was written when I was in my teen years and has various degrees of.. er... suckage in the first few chapters. XD
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It's confession time!
I was a bit leery to read this work noong una.
I'm a fan of the fantasy and supernatural genre and nabasa ko na yata lahat ng kuwento tungkol sa lahat ng uri ng creatures there is: wizards and witch (hello HP world), vampires (before the sparkly Edward, Anne Rice's and Christine Feehan's vampires ruled my nights), shifters (shout out to Ilona Andrews for having the best kick ass shifters in the supernatural world), dragons (G.A. Aiken I'm still waiting for the next installment, nasaan na?!), and even the fighting chimera and angels of Laini Taylor's world. May griffin pa nga, and blood prophets, and weather mages, and gargoyles, and etc.The list goes on and on and on.
Yeah. Most of these works ay foreign made. Nabanggit ko na yata before na nag-despairna akong makatagpo nang magagandandang fantasy world na gawang atin, until YowenFate's 100 Words: Arcane that is. Ngayon, nabuhayan na ako ng loob.
So, back to Project Wings. Nangingiyeme akong basahin ito kasi nga this is about angels and I've read a lot about that before. Natatakot akong ma-disappoint na this would be another rip off and nahihiya din ako kay lunatrix (of The Scribe fame. Sinusundan ko din ang kuwentong 'yon kahit hindi pa tapos) na siyang nag-recommend nito sa akin if hindi ko magustuhan. So what did I do? I read It Started in the Library instead. That's another work of AlaraChan and it was good. At dahil nagandahan naman ako doon, I decided to give this a go and bam! Lumagapak na ito sa list ko.
I think the main reason why this story worked well for me is that it was short. 11 chapters lang, included na ang prologue at epilogue dito. Dahil sa maikli lang siya, there is less room for AlaraChan to build a complicated angelic world. If this was longer, kailangan na niyang mag-elaborate sa kung ano-anong makikita sa heaven and sa descriptions ng mga angels and dadami na ang mga characters and I'll get lost along the way. Ang nangyari, binigyan niya lang ako ng glimpse of the heavenly organizational structure and let my imagination fill in the rest. Sa ganoong paraan, na-focus ang energy ng brain ko sa plot itself instead of the world-building.
The next thing that I like about this work is the character names. For a work that's written (and written well, if I may add) in English, the names are uniquely Filipino. Himig. Mayumi. Amihan. Sinag. Kahit ang kontrabidang si Diwa maganda ang pangalan. Siyempre, hindi puwedeng hindi banggitin dito si Alab na very masculine ang pangalan. Maganda palang maging pangalan ang purely Filipino words, noh? Unique at masarap sa dila.
Another strength of this work is the characters. They all remained true to who they were in tone, in actions, and in dialogues. And mahirap ito ha considering na ang mga chapters ay hindi naisulat sa parehong life period ng author. Sa end note ni AlaraChan, she mentioned that some chapters were made while she was in highschool while the others were drafted after college I think. Sabi niya, may discrepancy daw sa writing styles and all pero para sa akin, she was too hard on herself kasi hindi ko naman 'yon napansin.
Project Wings only have six characters and kahit hindi masyadong dinescribe ni AlaraChan ang mga ito, nae-envision mo sila in your mind's eye dahil each character has a distinct flavor and that is the main reason why I am putting this work here instead of the It Started In The Library. Don't get me wrong, ha. ISTL is a good one. Nagkakaproblema lang ako doon minsan sa dialogues especially sa dialogues ng mga lalaki doon. Ang dami kasing lalaki. Hahahha. Anyway, minsan parang may discrepancy sa character and sa tone nila. I didn't encounter that here.
Himig was stoic from page one to the end. Although he was more alive when he got the twins (Oooops… Spolier alert!) Sinag was naughty and playful all the way. Amihan was a bit of a well-meaning amazonian bully especially to Alab. Alab was the loyal bestfriend who was half-in-love with the overbearing kid sister. And Diwa was the consummate evildoer. As for Mayumi, well, she's the requisite damsel in distress at hindi ko siya masyadong gusto.
Sorry, AlaraChan, for not liking Mayumi as much as I like the others. Feeling ko kasi, parang filler lang siya sa kuwento or maybe it is because maikli ito kaya hindi mo siya masyadong na-brought to life? Pero bakit okay naman ang ibang five characters? I really don't know pero her character doesn't work for me except to create tension for the story to move forward. I just wish you created her into something more para mag-fit siya with Himig. She's like Sakura sa first few seasons ng Naruto. Alam mo 'yon, the leading lady na hindi alam ang purpose niya in life. And as a viewer, ayaw mo siyang mapunta either kay Naruto ('cause they'll be miserable) or kay Sasuke (she'll be eaten alive and she'll bore Sasuke enough for him to kill her na lang). And I'm done criticizing Mayumi. Sorry, again.
Para sa potential na mga mambabasa, Project Wings should be on your reading list right now! Ignore mo na lang ang reklamo ko about kay Mayumi. Nandiyan naman si Himig at Sinag and their awesome banter :-) Gaano ba kadalas kang makakapagbasa ng isang kuwento tungkol sa mga anghel that wouldn't make you feel as if ripped off ito sa ibang kuwento? With this one, hindi mo ito mararamdaman. This story could get you out of your Filipino fantasy slump.
And to AlaraChan, thank you so much at ipinagpatuloy mo ang kuwento despite the long gap. I know how difficult it is to bridge that gap in ideas through the years. Thank you so much sa effort and kita mo naman, nagbunga. I really like the ending. I hope may continuation or may side story about Sinag and what has he been up to. Or a slice of scene from the twins' life later on. Hehehe. Meron man o wala, satisfied na ako dito.
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Wattpad Must-Read Stories by Filipino Authors
RandomCompilation of all COMPLETED Work of Filipino Wattpad Authors I've read and liked. They maybe in Filipino or English or both. Across all genre except horror. Sorry, hindi ako nagbabasa ng horror.
