Together Again: 1996 Chapter Annotations Chris Davies Annotations ACT I: Naoko Takeuchi: Creator of "Sailor Moon". Rumiko Takahashi: Creator of, among other things, "Ranma 1/2" and "Maison Ikkoku". Kosuke Fujishima: Creator of "Oh My Goddess" and "You're Under Arrest." Matsumoto Izumi: Creator of "Kimagure Orange Road". Masaki Kajishima: One of the people credited with the creation of "Tenchi Muyou". "original characters created by C. Richard Davies": Actually, this one has more original characters than any fanfic I've written to date. Some of these characters have been in development since 1985 ... incidentally, my choice of artists to create animated versions of these characters would be either Kia Asamiya (creator of Silent Mobius, among other things) or Satoshi Urushihara (creator of Plastic Little, among other things). AKANE's narration: John Biles asked me, when I was done, why I'd chosen Akane as the narrator for this. I don't know. "man -- shaved bald, wearing bulky black armor, with an eyepatch targeting device over one eye, carrying a huge bazooka-like device": This isn't menat to be anyone or anything in particular; although it *is* an indictment of a certain style of American comic book writing. No names mentioned though ... "strange flecks of gold in the iris": This is a pointer to Kent's father, Doc Savage. According to Phillip Jose Farmer, it's a genetic quirk inheirited from Armand Chauvelin, the man who hunted the Scarlet Pimpernel, from whom Doc was descended on his mother's side. (He was descended from Sir Percy on his father's side.) "does a crossword puzzle in pen": A frequently used expression of intelligence is solving the New York Times' crossword puzzle with a pen. "Sheila": Kent's wife, dead for nearly ten years. "Theresa": A female associate of Kent's, also apparently dead. "tatzelwurmen": This is a real, cryptozoological creature that apparently inhabits the Alps. The corpse of one appears in "The Mad Goblin", a novel by Philip Jose Farmer about a thinly disguised Doc Savage. "increase in cult business": Several horror/fantasy writers have picked up on the tentacles of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu, and tied that entity to the "kraken" (giant squid) myth of the North Atlantic. "Secret Masters of the World": This comment arises out of a realization on my part, while reading S. John Ross' "GURPS Warehouse 23" (a collection of unusual artifacts, supposedly contained in a secret warehouse complex by the Secret Masters) that, besides the warehouse glimpsed at the conclusion of "Raiders of the Lost Arc", there was another possible inspiration for this conspiracy theory theme -- again, Doc Savage, who frequently placed the unusual gadgetry used by his opponents in his "Fortress of Solitude" (yes, the Superman writers stole this from Doc; they also stole the idea of a female cousin, but that's another story) for the safety of all mankind. This set me to thinking -- what if the people who are running this complex don't actually have any sinister ends? "Lum": Central character of Rumiko Takahashi's "Urusei Yatsura", and a classic anime character -- she is as fictional in the Together Again universe as she is here, thankfully. "NINIANE": Derived from the Arthurian cycle, this is the Lady of the Lake. Her character design is slightly influenced by that of Rally Cheyenne from "Silent Mobius". I've checked and rechecked my Arthurian sources, and I've come to the conclusion that I managed to mangle together the names of "Nimue", "Nineve", and "Vivienne" (all names given to various Ladies of the Lake) in order to create Niniane. Calling her Nimue alone, as I have elsewhere, would have made what I was doing really obvious. (P.S. My major Arthurian source is GURPS Camelot, by Robert and Peggy Schroeck.) " it's fate": A reference to "Urusei Yatsura"; the wandering Buddhist mendicant, Cherry, frequently does this routine. "red-auburn hair": Has anyone else noted that this has become a really common hair-colour in Japanese animation? Miki, Miaka, Tita, Sana-chan, and several others all have it. Maybe it started with Noriko of "Gunbuster". My personal concept of what Patricia looks like, though, has her as rather similar to Anise, from "Sonic Soldier Borgman". "black vest over a white shirt": A reference to the usual garb of Han Solo. "a Chrysler Cordoba": My first car was a Cordoba. God I hated it. "STENGOVITCH": This is, in fact, the young Dr. Stingray, who was first given the last name "Stengovitch" in Adam Warren's largely reviled "Grand Mal" comic book adaptation of "Bubblegum Crisis". He's here largely in a Kato role. "a pyramid with an eye at the top": A standard conspiratorial insignia, possibly of Masonic origin, which can be seen on the seal of the United States. It has nothing to do with Steve Jackson Games. Really. Would I lie to you? The Sign on the Fence: This was transcribed from a picture, in Paradox Press' "Big Book of Conspiracies", of the entrance to the real world's Area 51. "acting submissive in a bunny suit": Taken from the first "Kimagure Orange Road" episode I ever saw. "Twin Peaks": "Twin Peaks" was actually very popular in Japan; in fact, a series of commercials featuring Kyle MacLachlan (as Special Agent Dale Cooper) and several other characters from the series were filmed for a Japanese canned tea company. I'm not making this up. I couldn't if I tried. The makers of "Key the Metal Idol" have acknowledged that their work contains stylistic similarities to David Lynch's work as well. "Get your butt down here or you and your family are on CNN.": This may have been derived from a similar line uttered by an evil Immortal in the TV series "Highlander". I can't remember. "The one who didn't break the oath can stick red hot needles in the oathbreaker's eyes.": I think I heard this in an episode of "Marmalade Boy". Don't ask which one -- although I remember the scene very clearly, and there was something disturbing about Miki being so enthusiastic about doing that to Yuu ... "The X-Files": Also very popular in Japan, and yes, there is a manga. It adapts the TV episodes. I don't know if it has text pieces like the version in this story does, though ... "She is dressed in a red jacket over a pale pink shirt, and tight black pants.": I believe I first saw her in this outfit in the Sailor Moon Super S movie. It may or may not have been designed in reference to Tomizawa Michie's Michael Jackson fandom. "when we went to Canada a couple months ago": In an as yet unwritten story, featuring Aethan, Lita's old boyfriend, and Mamono Hunter Ayako. "MIHOSHI, dressed in casual clothes, walks towards the van parked in the driveway": The story of how Mihoshi, of all people, got a driver's license, can be found in the manga "No Need for Tenchi", Vol.2, No. 7 -- easily one of the funniest Tenchi stories ever written, and a must for all Mihoshi lovers. " Please try very hard to not damage my mother's dress": The last time he saw one of "his" girls -- chortle, snicker -- in something his mother wore, Ryouko wound up destroying it. "Rumiko-san": I just got tired of "Kimiko" being used as the name of the Tendou mother. " Sorry.": Apparently, some people think I don't like Nabiki. Why would I give her such great lines if I didn't like her? "that Yuusaku guy is crazy" and "strongest man in New York": Yes, this is Hino Yuusaku (from KOR) and he is still obsessed over Hikaru. Poor wretch. (Yes, she's cute in Shin KOR.) "Scary, isn't it?": The lines before this are a quotation from the first episode of Ranma 1/2, with Ranma saying a variation on Akane's line. Interpret that as you will. "DARIEN () and SERENA ()": I couldn't think of anything else for them to be wearing, okay? "[SERENA] slams into AETHAN DEGALES": This is exactly how they "met" (Interesting digression: The French verb "to meet", rencontre, when used in the form "Je rencontre une arbre", means to hit a tree) in Aethan's first appearance, in "The Roads We Walk". It will also be how they meet in another story about Aethan and Minako I have planned. "Cape Boy": Admit it; you can see Minako calling him this sometimes. " Has he been released from that sanitorium yet?": It's as viable an explanation as any for why he disappears from the later manga. "Jun Fan Kung Fu": Otherwise known as Jeet Kune Do, invented by Bruce Lee. "[SECOND HAND OF THE PHOENIX!!!]": Taken from Hero Games' "The Ultimate Martial Artist", this is a high-speed parrying maneuver. "KONATSU": This is the second male-to-female crossdresser that Takahashi introduces in "Ranma 1/2" -- and like Tsubasa, s/he's crazy in love with Kuonji Ukyou, although s/he expresses it more subtly. (Note on pronouns: Konatsu is decidedly male, yet acts as a female, and thinks of "himself" as a female with a few mistakes. (He can thus be differentiated from Tsubasa, who is male and just enjoys dressing up like a girl.) Hence, I use the pronouns "s/he" (shuh-he) and "hir" (heer) for hir.) "`I love you, I love you, Ukyou-sama, I know that it's wrong, but --'": This sequence was taken from Scott Johnson's "One Hour Challenge" story about Konatsu and Kodachi. It was *such* a Takahashi-esque moment that I couldn't resist. The Otaku: This character was derived from my general impression of a LOT of comic store operators that I've come across, but Austin Loomis suggested that he was derived from "a sleazier version of Tanaka, from Otaku no Video, who was in turn based on Ohata Koichi", the creator of Genocyber, one of those anime that I haven't seen yet and never intend to see. Since there *is* a physical resemblance, I'm going with it ... "I *Will* Forgive You": This is from the Shin KOR movie -- it's a manga being done by Komatsu and Hatta, the perverts from the original series. It's probably not any worse than, say, "Bakuretsu Hunters." "Why would he be so foolish as to try and drive away half of his customers?": A good and interesting question (he said, glaring at the unwashed comic shop owners of the world.) "We cannot have forgotten how they LET THEIR WOMEN *BURN* THEIR *BRAS*!": I've seen quite a few "serious Ranma fanfics" dealing with the question of Japanese prejudices and grievances. I've never seen one trying to be *funny*, though. That's what I was aiming for, here. "And everything freezes, turning a cold shade of blue.": What has happened is that Kent's thought processes are shifted into such high speed that the rest of the world seems frozen to him. The blue is really cinematic ... the light hasn't blue shifted. The Code: This is entirely of my own invention, although it does explain why Ranma gets so pissed off at Mousse in his second appearance, and why Ryouga was ashamed (after a momentt to think about it) that he'd cut off Akane's hair. "I was born in Kansas": This was a bit of misdirection, intended to make people think that this might be Superman in disguise. "... but the good part was watching her doing the dishes for a month!": Also from the "Mihoshi earns her drivers license" story. "Her", naturally, is Ryouko. "Love always surprises ... you think that someone is the last person on Earth that you'd ever want to be with ... and one day you'd realize that you'd give anything to be able to say how you really feel. And it scares you to think how much you love ...": Yes, she's talking about Serena, although she doesn't fully realize it (yet). The Nexi Skuld is tracking: Obviously, they are Serena (Jyuban) and Kent and Ranma (Nerima). "MASEFIELD.": This was borrowed from a Brian Lumley Cthulhu mythos story in which Cthulhu deigns to address a human being, inadvertantly paying humanity "its greatest ever compliment." ACT II The Gangers: This was intended to be subtle, but these guys were inspired by Lum's Stormtroopers. "": Ayeka's translator headband is causing her to hear everything as though it were in much more polite Japanese than it actually is. "`Chinese whore go home no da!'": "No da" is an archaic way of showing that a character who is speaking Japanese is actually Chinese, roughly equivalent to having a Frenchmen speaking in an outrageous French accent. "the face of the young man who served Roosevelt": This young man smoked a lot. (I came up with this bit of backstory before Chris Carter took the cheap way out and had Cancer Man as the guy on the grassy knoll.) "the Sleeper in the Pacific": First mention of Gojira in this story. Others might have thought it was Cthulu ... "That's *DOCTOR* to you, *youth*!": This is to identify Bran as Dr. Raven, from "Bubblegum Crisis". "Tegasajutsu": Believe it or not, this is apparently a real martial art. It was referred to in "The Ultimate Martial Artist". "Oh, Ryouga-sama, I never dreamed that you could be so puissant. I forswear my silly, adolescent infatuation with Ranma in favor of a healthy mature relationship with you!": Uh-huh. This was just to confirm that Ryouga isn't *really* in love with Akane as he is an incredibly idealized version of her. Rather like Ukyou, later. "For your sake, Ryouga-sama, I shall learn to love her too!": To a degree, this was intended to foreshadow what happens between Onna-Ranma and Akane. Ryouko and Shampoo: This is a mild injoke. Ryouko is derived from, among other characters, Lum, and Shampoo has been said to be Takahashi's attempt to write Lum as she originally intended to write her -- considerably more malevolent than Lum wound up being. Ukyou's illness: This is canonical; it shows up in volume 37 of Ranma 1/2, and despite Ukyou's statements, Akane also tried to help out. Which says something about her, I think. "Ucchan, you're my best friend in this whole crazy world!": Yes, Gary, we know that this is a debatable point. Has the possibility that Ranma might *believe* this to be the case, regardless of the reality, ever occurred to you? "No, they sold him to the Tokyo Zoo with instructions to only bathe him in cold water.": Borrowed, loosely, from several "Genma sold Ranma as a child prostitute" stories. Possibly the only fun thing about the genre. "Me and Akane get along *great* now that we never see each other.": Borrowed from Cybill Shepherd's explanation of why there's never been a Moonlighting reunion movie, dammit. "KYOUSUKE looks sadly at the unset place at his family's table.": Reservations for this event are made a few years in advance, so Kyousuke's father was still alive when it was being planned. (The voice actor died, and the character wasn't referred to in the Shin KOR movie.) "`De Vermis Mysteriis'": A Cthulhu mythos reference. I'm not sure if the Cthonians actually exist in the Together Again continuity ... " Is that the aerial battle fortress made out of tin foil or the one made out of balsa?": The Fuji battle fortresses, from "Fight! Iczer-1", blow up with disastrous ease. "Kunikida": "Blue Seed" reference. In his own ficton, the director of the Terrestrial Administration Centre. "I think my cousin has been dating a vampyre as well.": A reference to the first episode of "Phantom Quest Corporation", in which a young lady named Mizuno winds up doing just that. "Do we *really* want a repeat of what happened in a certain park three years ago?": A reference to "Five Minutes". Bartholomew: Bartholomew "Bart" Stoker was a vampyre member of the PDF's main team until his untimely destruction several months before this story began. "Linda Maverick": Aunt to Lebia Maverick, of "Silent Mobius". "SEELE": Conspiratorial group responsible for the creation of the secret agency "NERV", in Neon Genesis Evangelion. A bunch of evil old men, basically. The Hellifortress: The design of this particular mecha comes from SHIELD's Hellicarrier. It's considerably smaller, however. "Silmarils": Three gems containing the light of the Two Trees, from J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Silmarillion." I am not going to go telling that story here. Go, read, bask in one of the most vividly created worlds of all time. ACT III The Vimogorge's appearance: I created the Vimogorge for "Bubblegum Crisis: Apotheosis". Its design was mostly suggested by the traditional "Knight vs. Dragon" ideal, but I warped it to make it more horrific than dragons, either Western or Eastern, usually are. " At last ... a worthy opponent ...": Stolen from David Eddings. The guy who says it in "The Hidden City" gets killed too. "WHAT IS THIS DOG MEAT THAT COMES BEFORE ME?": Stolen from "The Destroyer" novels. " A man, being chased by a ferocious lion, came to the edge of a ravine, over which hung a cherry tree. He climbed up onto the tree, and moved out onto one of the branches, in hope of leaping to the other side of the ravine. Suddenly, he saw on the other side of the ravine a lion, equally ferocious. Then the branch began to crack. The man ... plucked a cherry from ... the tree and ... said ... `How ... sweet ... this ... is ...'": This is a real Zen story -- no, not something from the strange guy who hates Akane and talks about himself in the third person, but a Zen Buddhist proverb. It puts Kunou's usual behavior into something of a different framework, if you look at it the right way. Explanation for Roswell: This comes more or less verbatim from GURPS Warehouse 23, while the Alephae are derived from GURPS Illuminati/Atomic Horror's "Alphans", which are in turn derived from "The Greys". My explanation for why the Alephae are doing this comes out of listening to Harlan Ellison discuss (rant about) alien abduction -- he pointed out that there isn't any reason to believe that they're seriously trying to get medical information from human beings. I immediately thought, "Maybe not *biological* medical information ... but what about psychiatric?" This gradually evolved into a theory that suggests that "they", if they exist, are actually conducting psycho-sociological experiments ... "Positive treasure trove of sage advice, our dad.": No, they're not actually the Almighty's daughters. "Our dad" is simply an informal way of saying "Our Father". "Because I love him. I love him more than springtime. I love him more than sunlight. I love him more than anything in the world. I love him more than God.": Taken from a line spoken by Maid Marian (played by Audrey Hepburn) in "Robin and Marian", one of the best Robin Hood movies ever made. Human turnip: Asuka calls Shinji this in an episode of "Neon Genesis Evangelion". I thought it was one of the funniest things I'd ever heard. "You're having a few of the Fukanokami-ryu martial artists over for drinks or something?": The Fukanokami-ryu martial artists are the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists from "Big Trouble in Nekonron, China". "I ultimate weapon.": A "Fifth Element" reference. "Typical Shampoo lies, in other words.": Actually, it was the story of how Shampoo had been sexually molested for a year. But Akane didn't care to find that out. "She told me that she wanted to name her first child Akira.": Yes, the child of Kent Masefield and Kasuga Akemi would have been *that* Akira. I was quietly freaked out by Ken Wolfe's use of an alternate version of that character when this was in the planning stages ... "Mmmm ... rapture ...": Taken from "Scramble Wars", my introduction to the Super-Deformed style ... which also caused me to start seriously thinking about megacrossovers. "Just as SERENA abruptly detransforms.": This is unprecedented, and it did get a few complaints. The Senshi have essentially dragged Tenchi and crew through hyperspace with them (as Ryouko was not in full control of her teleportation, she didn't give it all the power she had, instead fighting against the *pull*) while they were at reduced power. They detransform because they've never been so weak before this. ACT IV "Wherefore art thou, Ushiko-san? Wherefore art thou, Umao-san?": This is a strange little KOR-derived joke. Periodically, throughout the KOR series, a couple appears and each says half this line to the other. It's apparently derived from Shakespeare's "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" Now, Ranma knows *nothing* about Shakespeare, beyond what Kunou spewed at him occasionally (in the dub -- in the original, he is actually saying Japanese poetry, as befits a samurai wannabe). Since he is using Kunou's style, he automatically seizes on a mock-Shakespeare expression as his way of announcing an attack. As I said, it's a strange little joke ... Other Sailor Senshi: Sailor Sun and Sailor Earth are two depressingly common "new senshi" from fanfic. (Now, if one were using a Pre-Copernican model of the Solar System, it would make sense for there to be a Sailor Sun.) I believe Sailor Comet Belt has only surfaced in jokes, but I would not be surprised if somewhere, out there among the gigabytes of Sailor Moon fics, there was a whole team of Sailor Senshi named after comets. "`And OI'LL goh dew somefing PRO-duktif!'": Luna's voice, in the Sailor Moon dub, has a very upper-crust British accent. It is one of the things I love best about the dub. Vesta: Vesta is the Roman name for the Greek goddess Hestia, who was the goddess of the hearth and home. I'm not sure if she had a lunar aspect, but it wouldn't surprise me. (Vesta is also the name of an asteroid -- a "minor planet") The story of the Silver Millenium character Vesta is hinted at here, and more will be revealed in the "Panorama" storyline. Kasumi's refusal: To the best of my knowledge, no one has *ever* outright refused the offer to become a Sailor Senshi in fanfic -- or at least, if they have, they've eventually thought better of it. "RAMIA": This is the name of Tsunami's rival for the position of Queen of the Magical World in "Magical Girl Pretty Sammy" -- which in the Together Again continuity is actually a series of unusually vivid dreams that Sasami had been having for a while, based on the growing synthesis between her mind and that of Tsunami. Exactly what this *means* will be explored in greater detail in "Together Again: The Silver Millenium Chapter." Minako and Yohko's friendship: This has its beginnings in a story I've yet to tell, naturally ... which will also tell the story of how Minako developed the Venus Lovely Blade attack. "AZUSA looks sadly at YOHKO who is staring confusedly at MINAKO.": To the best of my knowledge, I'm the first person to speculate that Azusa has a crush on Yohko ... her *hero-worship* is not in dispute, however ... The Demon Reproductive cycle: Bits of this are borrowed from demonic biology in David Eddings novels, while other parts come from the Aliens series of movies. "We see that she has grey eyes with flecks of gold.": A pointer to being related, somehow, to Kent. "`Who is to be blamed for my failure to do my best?'": A quote from the opening lyrics of "Magical Knights Rayearth." "-- in a language in which you've given me no instruction? That I'm expected to learn as some sort of punishment for dragging you out of your retirement?": Various explanations have been suggested for Shampoo's seeming lack of ability to learn Japanese despite living there for quite some time -- from a speech impediment to the possibility that she's just *faking* her inability. To the best of my knowledge, it's never been suggested that she hasn't learned Japanese because she isn't being *taught* it. "telelinguistics -- the ability to mentally translate languages, and to project thoughts that convey the meaning of what we say in the listener's native language.": This was suggested by a proposed new GURPS psychic ability, which was in turn suggested by the late 70s-early 80s BBC science fiction program "The Tomorrow People". "You know the opinion of each and every one of the Japanese, huh?": This is based on my reaction to a number of stories that have recently been posted to the FFML by a bunch of hysterical bigots -- no names mentioned, of course -- which have various members of the Ranma cast acting like Japanese stereotypes. I hate stereotypes. "Because all four of them are `only' part-Japanese.": Serena is part-Canadian, Minako is part-British, Amy is part-Swiss, and Lita is part-Greek. (In case you're curious, Michelle (Neptune) is part-New Zealander, while Raye, Lydia (Saturn), and Erica (Uranus) are all mostly Japanese (although Lydia and Erica have Chinese and Norwegian ancestry, respectively, several generations back.) "SASAMI is *very* startled, and stares at KEIICHI without responding.": Keiichi has the same voice actor as Tenchi, and so their voices sound the same. "Her full name is Jessica Drummond.": The Drummond derives from her mother's last name, as her mother was the illegitimate daughter of the famous adventurer and psychotic bigot Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond. See Kim Newman's "The Bloody Red Baron: Anno Dracula 1917" for examples of what I'm talking about. "it seems, at times, that it is the responsibility of children to either continue the work that their parents left undone ... or to make amends for the mistakes of their parents' lives ... or as often as not, both." This is actually a very common theme in anime ... if you want to get technical, even Ranma 1/2 deals with this topic, with mistakes made by Saotome Genma coming back to haunt his son years later. "Please allow me to introduce myself.": I'm sorry. I couldn't resist having Belldandy make an entrance with the first line of "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones. "Ku-Len Sing resembles has long, greenish-black hair, with earlocks." She resembles Shampoo, in case you're curious. (And no, I don't know why I didn't catch this mistake in the version that went to RAAC.) "TAROU": A minor and otherwise unimportant character from Ranma 1/2 who would probably not have appeared in this story had not a loud-mouth named Chris McNeil decided that he was worthy of worship. In other words, what happens to him is all Blade's own fault. "Just as two shots ring out.": The Colt Peacemaker is a single action revolver; it requires the hammer to be cocked by a separate action before the trigger can be used to fire the gun, and can normally only be fired once per second. A shootist trained in "slipping the hammer" -- holding the trigger pressed back in the firing position, while pulling the hammer back with the thumb -- can double this. This, obviously, is what Andrew has done. This interesting anecdote supplied so that the gun nuts don't go after me for having Andrew shoot twice with a single-action. Oh, and Blade? I don't care if Tarou can dodge automatic fire, no one on Earth can dodge bullets at point blank range if he doesn't know they're coming. Cope. "But do you really think that it's a good idea to engage him to one of your grand-daughters without telling him?": Nothing's going to come of this, although it might make for an interesting side-story ... The Sagu-demon: The design of this one is derived, obviously, from the "Zaku" mobile suit. The Sagu/Marcher fight: Bits of this were derived from "Neon Genesis Evangelion", particularly the "slamming on the head" sequence. "We will talk about this more, later.": Nothing will come of this either, although Nabiki could probably give Ryouko and Ayeka some frightening moments. "He made several breakthroughs in biotech and nanomechanics.": Talk about breakthroughs. According to GURPS Bio-Tech, one of my primary references for information about biotechnology, this sort of "reconstruction" -- referred to as a "Proteus Nanovirus" -- should take at minimum several *hours* to accomplish its changes, not seconds. The gradual changes to the basic patterns are a way of compensating for it, but it's still very advanced beyond the theoretical. Stengovitch's reaction: This intended to be slightly -- okay, *very* ironic, in that he's horrified at the idea of someone doing something like this to their own daughter, and he winds up doing something just as horrible to his own. We don't always learn from mistakes. "wall of mind": From the literal translation of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Wall of mind is the term Kaoru uses to describe an AT-Field. Don't read too much into this, okay? "The goddess probably did something to make it safe for her `friend' to enter.": Nope. The Woman's Voice: This is Ku-Len Sing speaking. "and if it's the big guy ... tell him from me that he sucks.": From "Hudson Hawk." Okay, it was a goofy movie, but Hudson was possibly the most likeable criminal since Arsene Lupin III. ACT V "the five days that shook the world": Borrowed from "Giant Robo". Evangelion -- only better. "Harmony": Taken from Spider Robinson's "Callahan's" and "Lady Sally's" stories, this is an idyllic, post-industrial, far future setting. The words used by McGovern to describe it ("Nobody's hungry, nobody's angry.") are taken directly from "The Mick of Time". "another fresh white scar added to several old ones.": Obviously, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. "Bradey": Bradey Hawkes, the title character of Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" telemovies, inspired by the song of the same name. The next lines are a quote from the chorus of that song. Discussion of ESPer genetics: Some of this was derived from Julian May's "Galactic Milieu" series of novels, particularly the idea that latent psychics add to the potential strength of their actively psychic children. The Girl in New York: Obviously, this is Hiyama Hikaru, the losing third of the KOR love triangle. Tunguska: Tunguska, a remote location in Siberia, was in 1908 the site of a massive explosion which appears to have been nuclear in nature. This interpretation of the event is loosely borrowed from "Akira". "KASUMI: I'd probably ask her why she had done that.": Before anyone goes after me for making Kasumi a lesbian, she's talking about her sisters. She doesn't love anyone else. The Differing Interpretations of the Silver Millenium: In a way, this view of history reflects my own division between my religious sentiments and my humanism. As I find a balance between the two impulses, the truth of the matter is somewhere in between. "Panorama: The Most Complete Vengeance" revealed that Beryl (the one given to anger and grief) was of "godling" ancestry. "Tulkas": One of the Valar of J.R.R. Tolkein's Silmarillion -- the last of them to enter Arda, in the war against Morgoth. Also one of the Defender's incarnations. "Morgoth": The "fallen" Valar of the Silmarillion, predecessor to Sauron as the Great Enemy. "If it cannot be measured to significant figures, it is not fact ... it is an opinion.": From the collected sayings of Lazarus Long, possibly paraphrased. "the work becomes corrupt": From Babylon 5, "Comes the Inquisitor". The full form of the proverb is, "If you do the right deed, for the wrong reason, the work becomes corrupt." I'm not so sure this is correct -- the fact that it's a Vorlon sentiment might have something to do with that. If you'd like to have a debate about it, let me know. "Do you think that I'd break the rules by not asking first, Urd?": The correct answer is yes. "the markings of a demon": I don't intend to speculate about this incarnation of the Defender. "a vest with many pockets and no sleeves": One of Doc Savage's battle vests, natch. "`the centipede's dilemma'": This term is taken from Spider Robinson's story of the same name. The author referred to is Spider, and the bar is none other than Callahan's. Guenhumara: The original form of Guinevere, queen to Arthur, King of the Britons. Marian: Maid Marian, beloved of the Robin i' the Hood. Guillaume: Generic French name, since I haven't been able to find the name of the husband of the woman known to history as Jeanne des Armoises, who claimed to be Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans. Rumy: The last survivor of the Solenoid race, and mother of humanity, from "Gall Force". Kaoru-dono: Kamiya Kaoru, whom Himura Kenshin refers to in this extremely formal form of address, in "Rurouni Kenshin". (It means, roughly, "Lady Kaoru".) Mara: Mara Jade, the adversarial love interest of Luke Skywalker, in Timothy Zahn's continuation of the Star Wars storyline. "fifteen hundred yen toy replica": This is probably inspired both by Washuu's use of dolls to escape pursuit on several occasions, and by Pluto's use of a toy to prod Noa Izumi into psychic operancy in "Dance of Shiva" by John Biles. And also probably by all the crappy Sailor Moon merchandising out there ... Kent's face and the language: Kent's face is that of an old Luke Skywalker. The language is the Basic of the Star Wars galaxy. "you heartless, sadistic, fatalist, *bitch*": God, that was fun to write. "Sauron": The fallen Maiar, who was the Enemy during the time of J.R.R. Tolkein's "The Lord of the Rings". "Angur Boda": A witch figure from Norse myth, mother to the Midgard Serpent, the Fenrir Wolf, and Hel. Mara's reference to herself as a daughter of hers is roughly the same as my referring to myself as a son of Adam. (No EVA jokes, please.) "Come to me ... you gruesome son of a bitch.": A steal from the first Batman movie. "the Almighty, Manwe, and to his Maker, Iluvatar": The chief of the Valar, and the creator figure, from J.R.R. Tolkein (again). "my failure will be complete": A "Star Wars" quotation. The failure Aethan refers to is his failure to save the Shadows. "the Orb of Rheannion": Rheannion is the mother of Endymion in the Panorama stories. The Silver Crystal originally belonged to her. "Did you worry about things like that when you --": Another reference to "Five Minutes". "Because I want you to live. And suffer." And now you know why Raye reacts the way she does to Ranma making the exact same comment in 2937. Discussion of combined magical effects: Bits of this come from "Tokyo Babylon". "I used to play the drums a bit": A KOR injoke. Kyousuke is based on Matsumoto Izumi, the creator of KOR, who played the drums in one of the KOR opening songs. " Serena. Let us help you, or I'll *never* speak to you again.": These are the words that Raye spoke during the final battle in the English language adapatation of the final episodes of the first season of Sailor Moon. " Now you know how the rest of us usually feel.": This and other comments along the same line are references to the fact that in the "big" storylines of Ranma -- such as the first two movies, which are *really* bad in this regard -- Ranma winds up standing alone against the opponent, and his "friends" are reduced to the status of a cheering section. Aethan's speech: From the first volume of John Milton's "Paradise Lost"; words spoken by a fallen Lucifer that define, for me, Aethan's character at this moment. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, die in agony.": This is actually taken from John M. Ford's version of the Klingon version of the proverb ("Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, prepare for doom.") in the Star Trek novel "How Much For Just The Planet?" The Motivation of the Adversary: This is derived from the Arabic version of the story of the Fall. Eblis loved Allah too much to bow down before man as Allah ordered all the angels to do when man was created from dust -- and was thus banished forever. Ayeka joining the Gestalt: All triangles have three points ... and three lines connecting them. Kent's final address: Bits of this are borrowed from the play "Death Takes A Holiday". "Damn you. Damn you for being so damn cruel to him.": This scene was foreshadowed in the first draft of "Celebration", but people complained that it was too confusing, and since I didn't know when I'd be writing this, I cut it. Skuld's computer tracking of nexi of probability: Mihoshi seems to be the worst "reality offender" around, but Keiichi is actually *much* worse, and Skuld can't track him at all ... "I am a big fan of Menudo.": I have no idea of any incarnation of Menudo has ever made it to Japan, but it's still not the sort of thing one should admit to ... "She's this Greek woman who can fling lightning bolts big enough to make your Sailor Jupiter feel insecure.": This is an alternate universe version of Dmitra Poulis, aka Argurous Astraph (Silver Lightning), the commander of the United Nations International Super Teams in the GURPS IST world, created by Bob Schroeck. "some of them had extremely strong mental shields around their memories, like Ryouga does": Who here *seriously* thought I was gonna let her know that Ryouga is P-chan? "Cut to a hand, writing in a book. It writes the last part of AKANE's line, then sets down the pencil, closes the book, and rests her hand on it.": A quote of the last scene of Superdimensional Fortress Macross. "Our point of view slowly climbs the side of the building she looked at earlier. When we reach the top, we see that the being who was KENT is standing on it, looking down.": This is a quote of the last scene of the Batman movie. "Father": According to Milton, Death is Lucifer's offspring by Sin. No comment beyond that. "Sorewa Himitsuyo": Means "That is a secret", in slightly broken Japanese. I don't know who'd sing this. AND NOW ... OMAKE: Things That Got Left Out of Together Again: 1996 Chapter Every fanfic, particularly those of this scale, has some scenes that either don't make it to the final cut, or don't even get "filmed". The original plot involved the characters of Tokyo Babylon. (Including Hokuto, as a (very vocal, and very cheesed off) ghost.) I decided that four series and the original characters I was bringing into this one were enough. There were "storyboarded" scenes involving ... ... Kent riding a horse through downtown Tokyo. (Possibly a music video sequence set to Paul Gross' "Ride Forever") ... A fight near a construction site, in which a young girl from Hokkaido on her senior high school trip -- none other than Izumi Noa -- manages to help out Our Heroes using one of those new-fangled construction labors. (NOA: GEKKIGAN ... PUNCH!) ... Cameos of Tenjou Utena and Himemiya Anthy (or reasonable facsimiles therof). ... Kent calling a friend of his in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police to set up a cordon around Nerima -- one Goto Kiichi. ... A brief appearance by Gigelf Liqueur, talking with Stengovitch. ... Rather than being in an airport, Aethan is shown to be fooling around with an old girlfriend (Anna Romanova?) when he phones Minako, and wondering aloud (after hanging up) why he doesn't feel guilty about lying to her. ... Kent asking Belldandy about the ward he thinks she removed; she honestly knows nothing about it. (This sets up the revelation in the concluding AMS scene.) ... Kent recounting his version of how he and Aethan met -- which jibes exactly with what Aethan said. (So as to counterpoint the radically divergent interpretations of the Silver Millenium given by Kasumi and Belldandy.) ... Kent briefly appearing to Ranma as Himura Kenshin. ... Belldandy, afterwards, wondering if Mara was *really* motivated by hatred, as she claimed, or by something that might have been love if she wasn't a demoness -- and realizing that the hell of it is that she'll never know. The original conclusion had Patricia and Shinobu being picked up by Bran and Stengovitch, and discussing much of what was revealed about Andrew in the Epilogue, before getting stopped by Miyuki and Natsumi for not stopping at a stop sign, while the Godai family (Yuusaku, Kyouko, and ten year old daughter Haruka) wander past. (In one second, you can get a photograph of the genesis of the Knight Sabres.) The draft of the Patricia's walk to the site of the last battle was a music video, using "My Heart Will Go On," by Celine Dion. (I like it. Sue me.) There were other Silent Mobius references that I can't remember right now. Also, Giant Robo injokes. McGovern was supposed to have a scene which quoted Go-sensei's exposition in Giant Robo episode 5, possibly involving the fate of Patricia's father. Chris Davies, Advocate for Darkness, Part-Time Champion of Light. "WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?" -- Death, in "Reaper Man", by Terry Pratchett. http://www.ualberta.ca/~cdavies/hmpage.html