Yes, yes, I was one of the many who BELIEVED Hitomi was an actual person.
Yes, yes, I know Ninja High School. I figured it was an alias or something.

Do you know why I believed? Or wanted to believe, for that matter? It's
because of the quality of Hitomi's work. I wanted to believe that this
person who could write so well existed.

I'm almost ashamed of using an alias because of this, but Ed raises valid
points, on which I will just expound on. I began to use an alias when I
started this business to free myself from any contexts which might be used
to gauge my writing on. I want people to enjoy my stories just because. By
the virtue of the quality of the writing itself.

However, as the Scriviner, Nikholas F. Toledo, and Claire Francisco can
attest, I am Clifton James Fernando Sawit, a student of the University of
the Philippines, majoring in Biology, although I sometimes wonder if I'm in
the wrong course.

I belong to a group of eccentrics collectively known as The Hill, because of
our elevated base of operations. The Hill includes the authors Scriviner and
several Nikholas F. Toledos, including 'Switch, 'Vector', and 'Hollie'.

I am called by several names, one the aforementioned TimeRunner, the others
are Cliff, Keiichi, and Councilman Blaze, owing to my seat in the Council of
Five, based on the Chinese Elements.

My great-grandfather was Kisaburo Orata, heir to a commercial empire based
in Nagasaki, that he had turned his back on because he refused to accept the
arranged marriage his family had made for him. He left Japan, married a nice
girl here, and settled down. This is very fortunate for me, and for him too,
as decades later Nagasaki was nuked.

But I digress.


I used the alias 'TimeRunner' because, first of all, it was the name of one
of my characters in an RPG, and I thought it'd be cool if I were known by
that name. Secondly, and more importantly, I wanted to free myself of any
and all prejudices that might be attached to my work because of who I was.

If that were Hitomi's intention, then I understand. But if it was because of
an inability to separate reality from fiction, then I am sorry, I cannot
sympathize.


Ignorance was bliss.


Oh, yes. April Fool's may not be originally Japanese, but some pranksters do
practice it. Some sure the hell do here in the Philippines, and it's not
originally Filipino now, is it?

No matter what happens, people, no matter how many things we hold dear are
shttered before our eyes, we have to maintain our one duty.

Keep the faith.

=====
TimeRunner
Representative of the Crusaders of Nabiki Tendo at 
the Church of All Worlds

=====

"Put your money where your foot is!"

TimeRunner's Fics can be found at:

TimeRunner Central
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/7482/index.html