Now that I’ve finished “A New Senshi” I have to admit I’m pretty sad. I’ve grown pretty close to my characters over the last month and a half that I’ve spent with them and it feels like I’m saying good-bye to a dear friend. That being said though I’m also very proud of myself for getting here. Until “A New Senshi” I had never written anything of this length and had never written a fan story before. It was actually a bit overwhelming when I sat down to start this. Pure determination actually was the only thing that really made me do it, proof to myself that I actually could. I also drew a lot of support and inspiration from knowing that as I posted this story to my writer’s blog, there were people reading it. I didn’t want to let them down either. Thank you for that.
There are a few things I think should be known about the worlds I drew from as well. I admit to taking quite a lot of liberties with the characters from the worlds I drew my inspiration from, the biggest liberty came in the form of Edward Elric and if you’ve ever seen or read Fullmetal Alchemist you know just how much liberty I took. I’d like to think that I explored a side of Ed that we never really got to see while journeying with him and his brother as they fought to find the philosopher’s stone and get their bodies back. That being said, the rest of these notes will be more about the exact worlds I drew from and some insights into why I chose them.
Sailor Moon – Naoko Takeuchi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Moon
This is the first anime and manga I was ever fully exposed to and to this day remains one of my favorites. I worked primarily in 30th Century Crystal Tokyo as I knew it from the manga. When crafting Natalie’s rules and powers I drew very much on the way the outer scouts had been set up. It was actually a lot of fun to have my own sailor scout to play with. Believe it or not, even the rules I set for how Edward could gain Natalie’s life span were pretty close to truth from the original Sailor Moon story.
xxxHolic – CLAMP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XxxHolic
Holic is one of the two mangas responsible for my obsession with CLAMP. The other is Tsubasa: The Reservoir Chronicle. For those that have read Tsubasa you will actually understand the reference I made to Sakura and her party in Section 10.2 when James is explaining to Natalie where he’s been. These two stories go very much together. Using Yuko and her shop just seemed very natural to me given that Yuko is the Time/Space Witch. I worked from the world established in the manga as I do enjoy the managa more than the anime that was created from it. It is decent though and I would definitely tell anyone it’s worth checking out, but the manga in this case was far better.
Fullmetal Alchemist – Hiromu Arakawa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullmetal_Alchemist
This one is very easily and very quickly becoming my favorite anime/manga story yet, even passing Sailor Moon. I pulled from everywhere for this one, the two animes (Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), the manga, the movie (The Conqueror of Shambala), and even the second PS2 video game (Curse of the Crimson Elixir). When I set out to pick which Edward to use it was a tough choice between the one from Brotherhood and the one from the original anime. I had actually thought that saving the original anime Edward would be the reason for Natalie to meet him and the reason why he would travel with her. The more I thought about it though the more I didn’t want to do that. My reason was simple; I thought it would be too complicated given that Alphonse was also trapped in the alternate world with him. He wouldn’t leave his little brother there. So I decided to use the Edward from Brotherhood instead. I know I probably pissed off every person who thought that Edward and Winry belonged together too. I didn’t think so, not in Brotherhood anyway, and that was also a part of the reason why I picked that Edward to be the one who fell in love with Natalie. I actually thought that the Winry in the original anime deserved to get him more than the Winry in Brotherhood did so I took the liberty of setting that little bit straight. As for the reference to the game I made, well that was a small one. The ring that the original Edward gave to the Brotherhood Edward, it was the ring that Edward picks up and uses in the Curse of the Crimson Elixir game. (The game is based on the original anime story.) In the game he loses it but hey I was already taking liberties so why not one more right?
Black Butler – Yana Toboso
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Butler
The smaller part of this world that played into my story is drawn from both the anime and manga for this story. I admit to only including this because I wanted a chance to write a little for Sebastian. I also figured given Natalie’s abilities, it would be fun to have a ferryman meet a demon. When I originally set out to write this though, I had more planned for the Black Butler world, even a meeting with the Grim Reapers. In actually writing though I just felt it was too much. I may go back someday and add it all in though, but I wouldn’t count on it too much.
Negima! Magister Negi Magi – Ken Akamatsu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negima!_Magister_Negi_Magi
This is probably the most fun manga I’ve ever read even given how dark and serious it can be. I just loved the idea of being able to have my characters play around during the school festival so I had to work this one in. There are two animes for this as well but if you’re going to indulge yourself in this world as I have the manga is the only way to do it. The portion of the world that I used came exclusively from the manga. The ball here was probably the biggest liberty I took since in the manga this doesn’t happen but I thought it would fun to be able to manipulate Negi in his teen-age form even if it was only briefly. I also loved the idea of making my own pactio contract. At first I thought Natalie would make it with Negi and that would be the point where Edward got jealous but then I got the ball idea and liked that more. I couldn’t abandon the pactio idea though. Oh and if you’re wondering how a permanent contract is made, well, sadly you will have to wait right along with me as Akamatsu-san has yet to even write about it enough to know too much about it.
Bleach – Tite Kubo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach_%28manga%29
This one is just all sorts of butt-kicking fun and I had to use it. I didn’t want to make this about Ichigo though and it actually stemmed from a joke my husband I made about Toshiro. I forget now exactly what brought it up but I ended up describing the shopping scene as part of the joke. I loved it and wanted to use it too. I have to admit thought to only having this really here as a way to move Natalie and Edward’s relationship.
Thank you everyone who stuck with me for this, I appreciate you all.
Vee – The Sailor Midnyght Alchemist
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