If I haven't responded to your e-mails yet, it's because I'm going to a
con this weekend; I'll be back on Monday. :p
Process of Elimination -- Book One -- Omake + Author's Notes
-----------------------------
Well, it's been one HELL of a ride, hasn't it? Nearly a year, and easily
my longest project to date, PoE was an experiment to prove that I could
do something that someone said I couldn't do.
It's now halfway over, and the results _seem_ to be in my favor.
First off, I've used a hell of a lot of sources for this fanfic, and here
they are in a semi-random order:
The big three: Ranma 1/2, by Rumiko Takahashi, Tenchi Muyo!, by Masaki
Kajishima, and Sailor moon, by Naoko Takeuchi.
Major Cameo roles: 3x3 eyes (Sazan Eyes), Bannou Bunka Nekomusume
Nuku-Nuku (All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku-Nuku) and Blue Seed were
all created by created by Takada Yuuzou, Goldenboy was created by
Tatsuya Egawa, Inu Yasha was created by Rumiko Takahashi, Love Hina was
created by Ken Akamatsu, Fatal Fury was created by Takashi Yabara, and
You're Under Arrest! and Ah! Megami-sama were both created by Fujishima
Kosuke.
Minor Cameo roles: Hitomi from The Vision of Escaflowne (Sunrise, TV
Tokyo/Bandai Entertainment), the three Magic Knights -- Hikaru, Umi, and
Fuu -- from Magic Knights Rayearth (CLAMP, Kodansha), Yohko Mano, from
Devil Hunter Yohko (Miyao Gaku), and I believe that's about it.
Deleted cameo roles: Ifurita and Makoto, from El Hazard, created by
Hiroki Hayashi and Ryoei Tsukimura.
Anything else never made it off the cutting room floor....
-----------------------------
Chapter 1 Omake
This one was Mr. Sommer's:
Ranma running around laughing, "Now I don't gotta pick any of 'em!"
-----------------------------
It's too short to be real omake (not many people want to waste that much
time on it ;) but I was amused.
Process of Elimination was the first fanfic where I really worked at
making fight scenes. I think I've gotten the hang of it -- I'm not told
the fight scenes are confusing, though I'm sure I haven't excelled, yet.
More work on that to go... but later. For a while, a break from the
fighting.
-----------------------------
Chapter 3 Omake
Ryouga and Mousse wait for someone to mention Ukyou. Konatsu breaks the
fourth wall, and then everyone waits for someone to mention Kodachi. No
one does.
-----------------------------
I _really_ wish I could remember who this was attributed to, but I seem
to have lost the e-mail that had the omake originally!
But that brings me to my next point: PoE is not a very good fanfic. If
you think that it _is_, then it's probably because you helped me out by
C&Cing -- a lot of people have sent me helpful C&C over the course of
the story's chapters.
In no particular order (and with many thanks!) here are the people who
have helped me with this story to date (brace yourselves and take a
_deep_ breath):
DB. Sommer (every chapter so far, one at a time -- what a guy!)
Bjorn Christianson (you are too a good writer!)
KPJAM (I owe you a lot of C&C, my friend!)
Rezantis (viva la Refuge!)
Andrew Norris (still think I can't do it?)
Paul "Unseen" Durant (there's a bit of Mookie in all of us)
The Evil-Twins (Slacker, Aaron Nowack -- you guys are the best evil twins
a guy could ask for)
CyMage (excelent in-depth C&C, and FAST on those later chapters!)
Druid (thanks for forgiving me for the Unbroken Circle)
Ginrai (got more CtL ready yet? ;)
Corwin (I couldn't have done this without you)
Mad Hamlet (erm... we may disagree on points, but that doesn't mean we
can't be friends)
Patchmonkey (I will someday find that missing Monkey Destruction Switch.
Until that day, I am in your debt, noble simian)
Nanashi (where _are_ you?)
DFRoeder (got more of Heart's Healing _yet_? ;p)
Angus MacSpon (I lost you in the later chapters!)
Michael A Chase (thanks for the grammar comments on theoretically
'completed' chapters >_<)
Chan Wei Lik (you're much nicer when I don't try and write A!MG fanfics)
William Dix (thanks for being so supportive!)
John Cope (sorry about the headache ;)
Seaver (I didn't always have a use for every comment you made, but they
were still great to read!)
James M. Zema (you're smarter than me, that's for sure ;)
CCMax and Aleh(at)aol (good eyes on that Tenchi information)
Dan Julicher (thanks for the support, and you were right on with your
comments)
The Wanderer (who would have thought -- a websoft to calculate the
effects of nuclear fallout!)
Yanslana (you have had many insightful comments over the course of this
story, so thank you for your time ;)
Tonyloco (thanks for the encouragement, and yes, there will be a book two)
Eden Lost (your comments were astute, and to-the point. Good C&C all around)
Rai-kun (I made the same error twice, and you caught it both times >_<)
Trunkboy (thanks for the support, and I'm sorry about DR. Maybe in a few
months....)
Grookill (very detailed and thorough C&C -- I was lucky to have your help
in this project!)
Dracos/Kind Fearless Leader (thanks for the support, and good comments
throughout!)
Siaru (thanks for your support and patience -- you're really smart, and
very helpful)
Jason Miao (thanks for your C&Cs, they were a nice refreshing change of
pace, and quite funny;)
Gabrial Blessing (excellent broad comments, focusing less on grammar and
more on story flow)
Nemesis Zero (very good grammar comments)
Oola the Mok aka Peter (thank you for your concise grammar commentary --
I'll learn the English yet)
Howard Melton (more good comments)
RSS (smart catches, the suggestions you posed)
Benjamin Goldberg (your comments were very accurate -- thanks for your help!)
David Smith (good eyes for those grammar snafuus)
Fido/David Lindquist (you blow'd up real good -- thanks for the comments ;)
Jonathan Rosenbaugh (reaver plushies rule!)
Alexander Primus (more additional great comments)
And last but not least.... Larry F (for hosting, comments, and support
throughout)!
WHEW!
And now that the individuals have been named (I'm sure I forgot a few in
there >_<) the groups that really helped me improve the story:
The Refuge: Some of the _best_ C&C I've ever gotten has come from you
guys, and you all _rock_.
FFML: Mr. Sommer chief among all C&Cers, but not the only good one by a
long shot, this story would not have been half of what it was without
your help.
#void: You guys are like a second family to me. Without you, I would have
given up a long time ago.
-----------------------------
Chapter 7 Omake:
This one is (of course) Corwin's.
Ranma running around, laughing carrying a nuke and yelling 'What a haul!'
-----------------------------
I learned a lot from this experiment, and I had a lot of fun in the
process; some days it seemed like my muse was out to get me, though.
There was just so much in my head I needed to get written down... whew!
It was madness, I tell you!
But I guess in the end I was lucky; I got to learn more about writing
_and_ have fun. This story allowed me to come to terms with my
self-loathing and suicidal tendencies. I've got a long way to go, but
this is putting me on the path....
-----------------------------
Chapter 8 Omake:
Ran-oh-ki eats the Deep Aqua Mirror.
-----------------------------
I can't remember who this one is attributed to, either, but I know that
several (nearly a dozen people) suggested it.
Deleted scenes:
Over the course of the fanfic, quite a few scenes were deleted -- most
just to be consigned to the eternal void of the circular file -- but a
few lived on awaiting a day they'd some day be useful. That day never came.
Never posted:
Amatera Omiki explaining her story to Ranma.
Omiki trying to challenge Tokimi and some exposition on the original bargain.
Yakumo and Ranma griping about women troubles together (this was kind of
rewritten into the main story -- you can see what it became in the bus
conversation).
Omiki trying to seduce Ranma (don't ask. Just... don't. It made sense at
the _time_, but...).
A clever Chinese soldier named 'Yang Wen-Li' killing a few reavers before
the reavers destroyed all the Chinese rockets (sorry, Pavel).
Posted in a distributed rough draft at some point:
A fight scene between Ranma and Herb featuring a really stupid stretch
trying something with a writing style I shouldn't have.
A scene involving Ifurita and Makoto (from El Hazard) in chapter two.
Ranma trying to convince Washuu to follow him to a valley filled with
reavers (this was deleted with extreme prejudice on grounds of extreme
stupidity).
And... that's about all I can remember for that.
-----------------------------
Chapter 9 Omake:
Courtesy of Thermopyle.
Something you could do for an outtake is have everybody sitting around,
and Nuku-Nuku looking nervously at the rat, who is staring at her and
having his tongue flick out every few seconds. After a few minutes of
this, she'd yell, 'Papa-Ranma-san, Ran-oh-ki's (maybe little brother,
instead? ^_^;) looking at me! Make him stop!', Ranma would blink and
wonder aloud why that is, then Washu would comment that the rat probably
figured out that Nuku-Nuku is made of metal. Nuku-Nuku would go 'eep!'
and run away, then Ran-oh-ki would start chasing her. ^_^;
Or even not as an outtake, although it's probably too late to have this
happen before Ran-oh-ki transforms and no longer (I'm presuming) needs
to eat metal. Of course, he could like it as much as the other two
cabbits like carrots, and continue to do so anyway.
-----------------------------
Another thing that PoE is rife with is references.
From the first Maze reference (Sasami calling Ranma 'Ranma-nee-niichan')
on... let's see if I can remember some of them, though I suspect I can't
remember them all....
'Ranma-nee-niichan' was from Mill (from the Maze OAVs).
Nonoko was a (kind of) homage to Nonoko Yamada, of one of my all-time
favorite Ghibli films: My Neighbors the Yamadas.
Joudai Arashi means 'stormkeeper' -- this is Rakhal Stormwarden, who
works on the Index, just like Arashi did.
Ginraii is not a cameo of Ginrai. Genoh is.
Eimi offering to sing to Terry is a reference to HAL from 2001: A Space
Odyssey.
Andrew Norris is a friend of mine (and a C&Cer, on rare occasion).
Tokimi's first speech to Ranma contains some snippets from SHODAN's
speech to the Hacker from System Shock (the original).
Durant is Paul "Unseen" Durant, a close personal friend.
The foxtail on the nuclear warning sign is... well, you know. ;)
Durant's "Do not cross the beams." reference is right out of Ghostbusters.
Ray Ericson and Eric Thompson are from New Yniss Jihad, though Eric had
to lose the Trench, and Ray had to lose his MareWaever abilities, since
it would have made them far too powerful.
Jim Dew is Jim Dew, the 5000th visitor to my website.
Patterson is the roommate who lived in my apartment for nearly a month
before I was introduced to him.
Pavel is Pavel (of #void -- the only man who would order a scrambled
reaver and actually eat it. And live).
Don Hai is, in fact, the same Don Hai that ordered Ranma revived and used
as a biological weapon in Compass Points (go figure).
Kura-Wan is Azalyn, Jian-Di and Pei-Lin are Rouge (Legend of the Last
Labyrinth) and Rei (NGE) respectively.
Kohito is KPJAM.
Maintainer Shiname is Shizumu (#void).
One of the mentioned killed Marines is Jon, which is Jon Rosenbaugh.
The Rickenbacker and Von Braun are the names of the ships from System
Shock 2.
And DA calls the entire thing a massive SI by proxy scheme.... Well, the
alternative was to create what could just as easily be termed ANCs, so I
take what I can get. :/
-----------------------------
General purpose insanity (by me, but not that impressive -- really):
Three crystals for the Starlights under the sky,
Four for the Outer Senshi in their halls of stone,
Four for Inner Senshi, doomed to die,
One for Tokimi from her dark throne
In the land of China where the reavers lie.
One crystal to rule them all, One crystal to find them,
One crystal to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the land of China where the reavers lie.
Three fiancees for the Martial artist under the sky,
Seven for the Juraian lord in his halls of home,
Nine for Keitaro doomed to die,
One for the Panda Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Nerima where the shadows lie.
One Fiancee to rule them all, One Fiancee to find them,
One Fiancee to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the land of Nerima where the shadows lie.
-----------------------------
And that's about that -- this is long-winded enough, really. I'd like to
thank everyone who helped me make something of this story -- this story
is not _mine_ as much as it is _ours_ (now that the darned thing is
complete, and I can USE what you gave me to help complete the story). I
owe all of you... well... everything in this story. :p
I'd like to dedicate this book to Bjorn, Aaron Nowack, Corwin, Ginrai,
Unseen, and my mother. Thanks, guys (and mom!).