24 September 2022
The most belated update ever
I do not think there is any other reader/follower of this story left who would take particular interest in this story anymore, but for those who care to read, I'm updating to provide closure on this story for good.
With a heavy heart I'm officially announcing that this story is discontinued, although given the duration I've been on hiatus, this will not come as a surprise at all.
In this update I want to let anyone who reads this know that life has its strange ways of working out. Writing this piece of fanfiction was a "megaproject" for me back then, due to the sheer ambitions I had for this story. I had already written out an entire storyboard (which I wrote extensively in more than two entire notebooks) and had 16 draft chapters written ahead of the previous chapter, which unfortunately never saw the light of day. But back in 2009 when I first started writing fanfictions, my hobby was seen by my friends/peers as "nerdy", "hardcore fanatic", and to some, "lame" or "cringey" even. You may even find such similar reviews on my stories, if not others'. To my parents, I was living in a dreamland in my own world, not working on anything particularly productive, nevermind remotely profitable to brag about. To me, all that mattered was how much I loved writing that nothing stopped me from continuing to write. As life went on and I got too busy to continue on this story, those draft chapters have since been lost when my old hard disk gave out years ago.
What I did not realise back then, was how my hobby of writing stories would translate into my calling in life. 11 years since I first published this story, I'm still writing, and have never stopped writing. The only difference is, instead of writing stories, I'm now a lawyer who "writes" up contracts, legal advice, and various sorts of legal/court documents. It's a different challenge that seems like a different ballpark altogether, but one that I enjoy nonetheless. After all, the basic premise of being a lawyer is similar: to write in the language known as "legalese", structured in a way that tells a story of the particular case in an easily digestible yet convincing way.
So to all my followers, reviewers, and readers, particularly those who supported me along the way as a young fanfiction writer, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your ever-reaching enthusiastic support. Without you to cheer me on and provide feedback to me to improve, I doubt I would be where I am today, doing work that feels fulfilling to me.
To anyone who manages to read this update to the end, I hope my story will inspire you to find and identify your hidden strength, talents, passion and skillsets that lie behind what might appear to be a "useless" or a mere hobby. Being young and dumb, it took me more than a decade to realise that my choice of career wasnt merely a teenager's gamble, but rather an unconscious gravitation to an existing skillset, strength and passion, all before I even realised what it was. It has not been an easy journey, but it was definitely worth it. I can only hope that you, the reader, will realise yours faster than I did.
Thank you all for reading and enjoying "Fate's Challenge to the Universe".
Signing out,
Panaeloons