Ill Met By Starlight - Author's Notes and Annotations O, For a Muse of Fire, that would ascend The brightest Heaven of Invention.... -Shakespeare, Henry V Well, the collaboration from hell is finally over. Mostly over. We're continuing to add to our art gallery, collection of TASS Awards, and the short story page shows signs of being up in a few weeks. A group is even trying to adapt the fic into a Realaudio radio play... yes, we're bemused by it all too. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun to write. What kind of a fic was it? People tend to call it a darkfic, which I disagree with. Certainly it has a lot of dark elements, from death to insanity to grief and angst, but these are more aids to the plot rather than the plot itself. Is it a comedy? You gotta be kidding. A psychological thriller? This perhaps comes closest; we've tried to keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat the entire way through, never letting up on the tension until the end. So maybe that's a good description for it. But, above everything else, it's a story about Ranma and Akane. There aren't really any 'good guys' or 'bad guys' in this fic. The sides are not clearly drawn. Everyone we've spoken to has had their own different idea of who was in the right and who was wrong, their own idea of who the real villains were. There weren't any real villains. Well, except for us, the writers. ;) ------------ Annotations: ------------ Chapter 1 - Here's Ranma: The shortest one, which is as it should be. You all know how Ranma's arrival goes; all you needed to know were the changes. Hopefully it wasn't too abrupt. Tone is still uncertain. The quotes: The first is a line from the Greek Theses. The second is from the collected writings of the little-known 20th century philosopher John Wells. The third comes from Goethe's Faust; it translates as "Two souls, alas, dwell within me." Chapter 2 - Perchance to Dream: The title comes from Hamlet's soliloquy. Chapter quotes were not yet being used. We hadn't quite gotten a unified tone for the piece, and the humor element is perhaps overplayed. Certainly it dominates much more than in the later chapters. We also have the first appearance of ditzy weird Kasumi, the unsuccessful attempt at compromise between two wildly different interpretations of the eldest Tendo sister. Ranma's dreams are proof that, even at this date, we knew what was wrong with the boy. Chapter 3 - Brothers in Arms: The quote's from Queen's 'One Vision,' and doesn't fit now as well as it did then. We started the piece writing to Queen, and ended it writing to Cohen. The title has no particular meaning, except to hint at the odd Ranma/Hibiki relationship. Mariko makes her first appearance here, originally intended as a throwaway line. Her addition is either a good or bad thing depending on several wildly varying opinions. The Akai no Kasa coffeeshop (Japanese for 'Red Umbrella') appears in the Pastpresent episode 'Beautiful Friendship' as the site of Soun and Nodoka's date. Chapter 4 - ...What Are Friends For: The title refers to both Akane/Mariko and Ryouga/Ranma. The quote, from Leonard Cohen's 'I Can't Forget', is a veiled reference to Koji's identity. Kasumi makes the 'Complete psychopath' comment, which is OOC and knowledge she shouldn't have. To be edited out in the revision. Tone moves closer towards the series norm as the writers begin to comfortably meld styles. Close examination of the email scene will reveal that Nabiki corresponds with Urd from A!MG and Devon Edwards from the preread crew. Closer examination with reveal that Hikaru's last name begins with a T, and that he isn't Gosunkugi. Which we should have made clearer. In the revision... Chapter 5 - Idle Conversation: The title is a reference to Ranma's talks with Nabiki and Akane, and Nabiki's pact with the Hibikis. The quote is from the Flash Girls, a folk/rock/gothic band which includes author Emma Bull and has songs written by Neil Gaiman, and alludes to Shan's arrival. Cologne's prophecy is left as an exercise in deduction; although, to be fair, the man with the beam of light never showed. Hundred-year-old matriarchs aren't infallible, and neither are we. Chapter 6 - I'm Happy To Be Here: The title is the refrain from 'Cactus-Flower Town', a song by the Brisbane group Mythica. It is one of the most obscenely perky pieces of music ever written, and is hideously inappropriate for this chapter. Which is why it was put in. The quote is from the Aberwyvern Chronicles, a delightful series following a cheerful young fellow being hunted across time by half the civilized world. The Ichishi Building is completely fictional, although graphed out and designed by Mike. Mike would like to note that he used to want to be an architect before learning that it requires math skills, and has always wanted to blow up an office building. The Japanese name of the building - 'One Death' - is a Red Herring courtesy of the authors. The name Tsen Wu has no significance at all. Chapter 7 - Faust: The title is, of course, a reference to Goethe's Faust, in which the title character enters a deal with the devil to reach his highest pinnacle of ability. It refers both to Akane and Ranma's training pact, and to Shan's assumption of Tsen; both are deals that they may, ultimately, find came at too high a price. The quote is from the same work, and refers both to Akane and Ranma. The concept of Tsen is ripped off by Catbert25 in a scribbling of his. He also, in the same work, appropriates the name 'Reiraku' from Mr. Willmore's R2096 series. Sincerest form of flattery, we guess. :P Chapter 8 - Escalation: The title refers to the alliance between the Hibikis and Tsen, Nabiki's murder attempt, and Ukyou's arrival. The quote, by the Flash Girls, applies to both Akane and Ukyou's view of Ranma, and their questions and doubts. The Ooni Temple, the Ooniyama, and the entire region are fictional. A slightly different version of the Ooni Temple appears in the fanfic Ghost Story. The name Genma gives to Ukyou's father is different from the one given by Ukyou in Chapter 9. Our bad. Chapter 9 - A Gathering of Ravens: The title refers to the forming alliances, and the cloud of doom which follows Nabiki the entire chapter. The quote is from Lorca's Novena, a requiem by the Pogues. The authors make a brief cameo here, riding the bus with Nabiki. The paper crane symbolizes her. Tai Park, a fanfiction and MU* convention, is named here for the first time in the fic. The various Tai Parks are all tributes to David 'Daav' Tai, co-creator of Daigakusei no Ranma. Masamune Shiro and his schools are fictional. The song Nabiki listens to is 'Pillar of Davidson', by Live. The end of the chapter is nonfiction. Writing helps lay a lot of demons to rest. Chapter 10 - Things Fall Apart: The title is a line from Yates' poem 'The Second Coming', depicting a world in upheaval and changing for the worse, and refers to the shattered lives and plans in the wake of the accident. The quote is from Live, and alludes to Ranma's growing control over Akane in the emotional devastation wrought by Nabiki's accident. The policeman's name means 'Burglar' in Japanese. Who says we don't make jokes in IMBS. Akane's 'friend' who she quotes is James 'Zen' Bateman, who has a fondness for the phrase. With friends like these... The fluttering scrap of colored paper from the paper crane, sinking, represents the removal of Nabiki from the board. Chapter 11 - Heart of Darkness: The title is a reference to the Joseph Conrad novel of the same name, in which brutal surroundings and actions wear away the morality and ethics of the protagonists, and is aimed at both Mariko and Ranma. The quote refers to Mariko's growing savagery, and her fear over how much of herself enjoys what she is doing. 'Miyabi' is a reference to Miyabi Saotome, created by Caroline Seawright for her Nibunnoichi series and Converging Series. Just one of them cosmic coincidences. Chapter 12 - The Tempest: The title is both a reference to the storm and the flurry of connsumation which ends to chapter. The quote, of course, refers the the two pairs of lovers. The Chapman was a real ship, serving as a fisheries vessel for the United States government. It has since been decommissioned. The reef and cave are both fictional. Akane's Bakusai Ten-Ketsu training in IMBS occurred in tandem with her training in Relentless. All three of us are a bit bemused by it, putting it down to great minds thinking alike. It is correctly pointed out that we have a female Shan standing in the rain. Whoops. Chapter 13 - The End of the Matter: The title means exactly what it says. The quotes are, respectively from the movie Face/Off and 'For it All' by Cats Laughing. That latter group is a very literary band; musicians include Emma Bull and Steven Brust, author of the Jhereg series. Hashima Island, more commonly known as Gunkanjima, is real and has been faithfully presented in both history and appearance, with the following exceptions. The real Gunkanjima is located off Nagasaki harbor, not Tokyo. Jigoku- Kado is largely invented, although accidents with the furnaces and forges did kill dozens upon dozens of workers. An excellent online source of information about Hashima is Brian Burke- Gaffney's essay 'Hashima - The Ghost Island'... presumably no relation to fanfiction author Sean Gaffney. Epilogue 1 - Jabberwocky: Title refers to Lewis Carroll's poem beastie; often seen as an allegory of nameless fear given form. Ranma's haunted by his own Jabberwock; not real, yet all too real. The first quote is from the Pogues' 'USA', and alludes to Things One Was Not Meant To Know. The end quote is from 'Draw the Curtain', by Cats Laughing. There have been a lot of Neko-ken scenes, and this probably isn't the best of them. We do what we can. Epilogue 2 - Silverblue: The title quote is from 'A Long December' by Counting Crows. The title is the name of a song by Roxette, which Susan insists is Ranma and Akane's happy ending music. The 'Gekihou' is from Rod M.'s 'The More Things Change', being an umbrella-based attack of Ryo Muhoshin. Ah, the irony of a Hibiki using it... The Tofu bit is drawn almost entirely from a comment he makes in the moxibustion point episode - "I haven't seen this in a hundred years!" - that makes you wonder about the good doctor... Yes, Akane and Mariko are the Ranma/Ryouga of the ending. By Epilogue 2, the constant oneupsmanship has built Akane into nearly the equal of Ranma as a fighter. The end quote is from a christmas letter written by Fra Giovanni. Epilogue 3 - A Vase of Cherry Twigs: The title is self explanatory. The quote is from Dante's Inferno, and consists of dialogue spoken by a damned soul in Hell. The translation, for those of you who can't read Italian, is: "If I thought that you would ever return to the outside world, I would remain silent. But since, if what I hear is true, no-one has ever escaped this pit, I shall tell my story truthfully without fear of disgrace." ----------------- Fighting Ability: ----------------- Note that the views of the OM (original manga) characters are those held by the author, not gospel truth. Feel free to disagree. The more ---, the higher the approximate skill. OM Ranma (beginning Manga) ------------------------------- IMBS Ranma (entire fic) -------------------------------------- OM Akane (& beginning IMBS) ---------- IMBS Akane (At Chapter 13) --------------------- IMBS Akane (epilogue 2) --------------------------------- IMBS (OM?) Nabiki --- OM Ryouga (first appearance) ---------------------------- OM Shampoo (entire manga) --------------------------- IMBS Shampoo (after arrival in Nerima) ------------------------------- Koji ------------------------------- Mariko (Chapters 3-13) ------------------ Mariko (epilogue 2) --------------------------------- OM & IMBS Ukyou ------------------ *Why is IMBS Ranma better than beginning manga Ranma? The IMBS version fights all out, unhampered by concern or sense of style. He also took the martial arts more seriously than OM Ranma - his control centered around it. Once OM Ranma enters the highly competitive environment of the manga, however, and is forced to regularly fight against superior and equal foes, picking up new techniques and moves as he does, he quickly outstrips IMBS Ranma as a fighter. *Why does Akane advance so quickly? Is it just because you like her? No. Takahashi canon (NOT RL martial arts, we hasten to add) holds that fighting against a vastly superior opponent and learning special techniques will vault you ahead in skill to an astonishing degree. Look at Ranma and Ryouga. Their first two major fights - their first battle and the skating rink - end in arguable draws; it's pretty clear that the two are almost evenly matched. Then Ranma trains/fights Cologne. All of a sudden, Ryouga's attempts to fight Ranma are laughable. Ranma beats him without effort. Until _Ryouga_ trains with Cologne, suddenly putting him back on a near-equal footing with Ranma. Throughout the later part of IMBS, Akane trains with and fights opponents vastly better than her. She learns the Bakusai Ten-Ketsu from Shan. In effect, she's in the same highly- advancing situation that Ranma is in in the original manga. We do know that Akane has the potential to be vastly better than late-manga Ranma (see the Battle Dougi arc). We also know that she's practically the only one of the fighting characters who has a life aside from martial arts - Shampoo was trained from birth exclusively as a warrior, Ranma and Genma did nothing but train for 12 years, Ukyou's life revolves around okonomiyaki and the accompanying style, Ryouga spent years on his extended training trip hunting for Ranma. Akane just does it after school as a hobby. Her lack of skill compared to the others can largely be explained by the fact that she hasn't applied herself as hard as them. *Why do you have Ukyou ranked below Shampoo? Based on the evidence we can find in the manga, this seems to be the case. It is, however, worth noting that Ukyou's style is most effective when on the defense, and the two girls aren't that far apart in skill. *Why do you assume Nabiki to be a (rusty) black belt, let alone a martial artist at all? It would stand to reason that Soun would train all of his daughters in the basics of the Art; after all, how else would he find out who had the most aptitude and ambition for it? It certainly is a useful thing for Nabiki to know; the knowledge that you can defend yourself is quite a confidence-builder, and a regular workout doesn't hurt one's figure. Canonically, Nabiki is agile and fast enough to trip Ranma on more than one occasion, something implying that she has at least a modicum of skill. That said, any of the real martial artists of R1/2 could beat her in seconds with both hands tied behind their backs. At most, Nabiki is your generic black belt, and not a very good or practiced one. And it's entirely possible that she's never so much as put on a gi; all evidence of martial arts abilities in her is circumstantial at best, with a great deal of room for interpretation. *Is Tsen a better fighter than Shan? It's the same situation as with Ranma. Tsen is stronger, but Shan is faster. -------------------------------------------- Soundtrack - Musical Themes and Written-to's -------------------------------------------- MBS Main Theme - Broken Arrow, "Brothers" Hibiki Theme - I'm Your Fan, "I Can't Forget" Mariko's Theme - Broken Arrow, Deakins Motif Akane in the Elevator - Mythica, "Cactus-Flower Town" Nabiki's Demise - Hunt For Red October, "Plane Crash" Ichishi Showdown - Hunt For Red October, "Kaboom" Ranma's Theme (long Industrial Version) - NIN, Pretty Hate Machine album Ranma's Theme (short Industrial Version) - Machines of Loving Grace, "Perfect Tan" Ranma's Theme (Modern Classical Version) - Henry V, "The Boar's Head" Ranma's Theme (Antihero) - The Cure, "Burn" Ranma and Akane's Theme - Live, "Iris" Akane's Theme - Flash Girls, "Signal to Noise" Nabiki's Theme - Broken Arrow, "Greed" Nabiki Forges On - Live, "Pillar of Davidson" After Nabiki - Live, "I Alone" Akane and Mariko's Theme - Mac+2 soundtrack, "Jade" Shampoo's Theme - Flash Girls, "Prince Charming Comes" Mariko and Tsen's Theme - Mac+1 soundtrack, "Bees and Honey" Ukyou and Tsen's Theme - I'm Your Fan, "Avalanche IV" Ranma & Akane's End Theme - Roxette, "Silverblue" IMBS One-CD Soundtrack - Broken Arrow Soundtrack -------------------------------------------------- Answers to Frequently Asked Questions and Comments -------------------------------------------------- * Why is IMBS Akane so NICE to Ranma? In the Manga she'd be beating his head in. - Actually, it's not hard at all to see why she's so devoted to him. Start with the fact that the two are literally destined for each other - it's the whole love a first sight thing, so to speak, just as in the manga. Fate (Takahashi) made them two halves of a whole. Start with that. Then look at the manga, where they still fall in love (abeit much slower). Akane's a bit insecure. She can't cook, she's inept at most of the traditional 'female' tasks, her view of men/women has been terribly skewed by Kuno and the morning hentai brigade. She's understandibly proud of her martial arts abilities, and largely focuses her identity around that. She's the heir to the dojo, and the best martial artist in Nerima. Enter Ranma. He promptly sees her naked, embarrasses her, rejects her as a potential wife. Not the ideal start. It gets worse. He's so much better than her as martial arts that it's stupid. He verbally tells her that she's inept at this, the most important thing in her life, and that she's ugly to boot. And he's right, in a way. She can't deny that he's a far better martial artist, and that his female form comes closer to ideal standards of beauty. She desperately wants his approval, and never gets it. He demeans just about everything she does, and then does it better than her. He attracts suitors who she feels she can't possibly compete with - all 'better proportioned', all better fighters, all better cooks- and he never insults them. Only her. She still falls in love with him. And they do come to an understanding, by the end of the manga, mostly by her realizing that he's just as intimidated by her as she is of him. Now, let's look at IMBS Ranma. He admits to needing her. He praises her skills, and tries to make them better. He treats her like she's the most important thing in the world to him. Is it any wonder she's devoted to the point of blindness? * Ukyou didn't deserve to get killed like that, I was disappointed. - Ukyou certainly didn't deserve what she got. In fact, she got shafted pretty bad; a nasty death for trying to help out a friend and get some closure on her love/hate relationship with Ranma. People don't always get what they deserve, and dramatic necessity is a bitch. * The Hibikis deserved worse than they got, especially considering what happened to Shan and Ukyou. - Maybe. Again, people don't always get what they deserve, and who appointed you God? Part of life is that rewards don't always fit deeds, and this can be a good thing. Don't decide what other people should have got unless you want someone to look pretty critically at what YOU deserve. Considering the amount of the world living in poverty, and our own high-tech, adequately-fed state... are you SURE you deserve all this? * Ranma gets off awfully easy.. - Ranma spends the better part of the next few years being ripped to pieces by imaginary cats. I suppose you could call that easy. * Was Ranma evil? - Yes and no. Calling anyone 'evil' is hard, just as hard as calling anyone 'good'. People themselves are not good or evil; they're people. The actions they do, the thoughts they think, the things they cause; all those can be good or evil. Ranma is insane, this is the first thing to realize. He's spent 8 years with an imaginary horde of undead cats who want to rip him to pieces. About the only thing that keeps them away is strict, absolute control of both himself and his surroundings. Over the years, he's gotten used to thinking of himself as a sort of monster. It's easier not to care about anyone than to be a scared, frightened, tormented 16-year-old boy. He commits acts which are undeniably evil, and the fact that he is insane does not offer total absolvement. There is a dark, cruel, sadistic streak in him that enjoys causing people pain. He pushes Nabiki off the curb, he tortures Shan to death. At the same time, he hates himself for what he does, he feels pity for Nabiki even as he hates her, and he loves Akane very much, which is horrifying to him. The most important thing in his life is that wall of control, and love is something one has very little control over. At the end, he has a choice between killing Akane or dropping his control, letting the madness take him completely. It's what he fears most. He can't just surrender, any more than you could take a needle and slowly stick it into your eye. After 8 years, he's too far gone to do it. He loves Akane more than he fears the madness and the treatment. He releases his controls, and Akane is able to easily pummel him into submission. Love is not an absolution. It is, however, a first step. Given a long, long time of both treatment and support from Akane, he'll probably eventually be able to live something close to a normal life, and he might somehow atone. It isn't going to be an easy thing. At the very least, it will be five to ten years before the hospital feels he's stable enough to re-enter society. It could be 20, or 30, or he might never recover enough to leave the institution. Akane might have to accept that the person she loves - and who she'll probably marry, eventually - will be in an insane asylum for the rest of his life. It won't be easy for her, either. Even if he does get out, eventually, there's the rest of the Tendos. Should Nabiki recover, I think it's safe to say that the two of them will never meet again. Even if they have to take elaborate precautions to avoid it. The same goes with the Hibikis. Ranma has a lot of evil to answer for, and the road to atoning for it is going to be rough. But he did take the first step, finally finding something in him that was stronger than fear and hate and need for control, and every beginning is a beginning. * I liked how we didn't know whether Ranma was good or evil, and that got spoiled in Chapter 13. - We've said all along that we'd answer all questions by the final epilogue. It would be rather unfair, after keeping people in suspence over questions for 13 chapters, to just leave them unanswered. Uncertainty and suspence is fine for the body of a story, but endings require closure and answers. * Is Mariko's reappearance at the end a bit of a cop-out? - Well, not really. We were tempted to kill Mariko off - but her and her brother are a package deal; kill one, you'll need to kill both. Or the other one will go on a berserk killing spree til Ranma or they are dead. :) Mariko's survival is foreshadowed during Ranma and Akane's conversation in the furo. Yes, we plan ahead. *Does Nabiki live? - You decide. *Will there be a sequel? - No. At most, we might do a short story set a few years down the road. There are, however, other people writing sidestories; watch the page for them. ------------------ Acknowledgements ------------------ The authors would like to thank the following people for Prereads, MST3ks, and Exceptional C&C: Kergma Krista Perry Bob Barnes James 'Zen' Bateman Rod 'RpM' M. David 'Daav' Tai Jeremy Walker Trisha 'Foxtrot' Sebastian Alan Harnum Taleswapper Travis Butler Raphael See Lara Bartram Mercutio Elizabeth 'Mr.' Christian Dan 'DaR' Root Matthew Trotter Kurt Jakeson We'd also like to thank the following artists for graciously bringing our vision to life: Adrian Wong Chris Willmore Carrissa Merz Rod M. Katrine Lvovsky Vilja... Vilja... Vilja who's last name my display refuses to render. :) Thanks to the people who, in a 3AM typing job, we forgot to mention. You deserve better, but you got us. Extra Special Thanks to the Keep Rats ("Spacong! Evil like a bearded Spock! But is she a voice actress?"), the Conser Albatross Channel ("The CURSE! THE CURSE IS UPON US!"), the Cabal ("We control the vertical. We control the horizontal. We control the FFML."), the SML (broadcasts of chirping crickets 24/7), BML Productions (Mike @solos, "It's not my fault! It's not my fault!"), Cardinal Wild Dogs ("Arf! Arf!"), the Brisbane Five ("Hanson blows, music or politics!"), Rick the Virtual Bartender ("It's quite simple, Suse, you're a freak."), the usual suspects at NERVmux ("Machiavelli was too naive."), the happy admins of thekeep.org ("Incant the following at the login prompt...") and zerlargal.humbug.org.au ("Quiet, stickboy.") and the entire population of the third planet from the sun. Ill Met By Starlight is dedicated to the memory of Roger Zelazny. -Mike Loader mike@thekeep.org -Susan Doenime wendigo@humbug.org.au