Before anything else, I just wanted to say that today, February 6, feels like the right day to share a few honest thoughts.
On March 2, 2025, I first started thinking about writing a fanfiction centered around Nico Robin. I planned it, imagined it, and eventually wrote around twenty chapters. But at the time, I didn't have much confidence in my own writing. So instead of continuing, I chose to translate a story I personally loved.
At first, I enjoyed it. But along the way, I went through several periods of exhaustion—something close to burnout, though not too severe. I still finished the project, but by the end, I realized I had drifted quite far from my original goal.
During that time, I kept returning to those same few chapters of my own story, rewriting and polishing them again and again. At first, each revision felt like an improvement. But later, every change seemed to make some parts worse. It became harder to tell what was actually better.
Even so, while I didn't add many new chapters to Blossoming Shadows, I slowly gathered hundreds of ideas for its future. Most of those ideas came to me even before I seriously started writing. If this story ever reaches its true ending, I believe it could easily grow beyond a million words.
I've had ideas for other fanfictions and original stories, but none of them have ever come to me with the same depth and clarity as this one.
About a year ago, I realized something important: I truly enjoy writing—especially when it's about a story and a character I love.
So in the end, this is my first real story.
I hope you'll support me, and just as importantly, I hope you'll be honest with your criticism. I want to make this story as good as it can possibly be.
Thank you for being here.