A Little Background on Midnight Summer Dream

For as long as I can remember, horror stories and passed-down urban legends have always fascinated me. I may not be the most courageous in terms of watching horror movies but I devour folklore, monsters, and mysteries in my free time. 

The start of the decade was a stressful one and most people tried to find activities that is meant to fill the void of normalcy.  I work as a writer since 2014 and I have been writing fiction for my own enjoyment for as long as I can remember. This particular story came to me as I was doing some research for the comic book I was planning to finish. As I have mentioned, I am a huge fan of urban legends and folklore -- especially local ones. 

A story about an unlucky person dealing with the supernatural excites me and re-reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book gave a push to Midnight Summer Dream. Any Mamamoo fan knows the story behind the song of the same title. It was a ghost story, a personal tale of Moonbyul. I got the inspiration for that. 

Meanwhile, I got enamored with 4th gen girl groups (I mean, I got to give it to most of them, they are worth the attention). Winrina happens to frequent my Twitter timeline and I think they are cute. 

The characters here are connected with the characters from my other stores, namely Mamamoo True Crime and It's Going To Be You Always. I promise I will finish those soon.

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The setting for Midnight Summer Dream is inspired by my university -- an agricultural university situated in the middle of a small, sleepy town. My college years were eventful and unforgettable. To say that I have encountered lots of stories from there is quite an understatement. Winter's organization is inspired by the UP Entomological Society. Unlike clubs, the org culture in my university is tight-knit -- it feels like a family, toxicity included. Luckily, during Winter's time in her organization, everything was well and everyone is functioning. Geonhak is a good leader and Jieun is an understanding vice president, after all.

Although Ryujin and Winter belong to the same batch in college, Ryujin entered the organization first, that is why she can be considered as an org senior. 

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Ryujin and Yeji, in this story, have been dating since their junior year in high school. I have a separate story planned for them. Also, Yeji has an interesting family life which I would be discussing in passing in this story: Hyunjin is her twin brother, they are the youngest in the family. She has three older half-sisters: Seulgi, the eldest, Wheein, the second child, and the org vice president Jieun, the middle child.

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Most of the plants and herbs I will mention here are common medicinal plants from the Philippines except for Palo Santo which Ireh used in Chapter 13. This is mostly because 1) I am familiar with these plants, and 2) these plants are common in our garden from the province which the people use for medicine and for... supernatural dealings.

 

So far, these are what I had in mind. I am just babbling here. Hopefully, I can write the soonest and finish Midnight Summer Dream.

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