Offsides

#include <stdsig.h>

A while? I still feel weird about it. Contrary to popular belief, I don't like to do that kind of thing to characters, at least not any more. What happened to Kate reminded me of the kind of thing I would have done back in my Black Period (roughly, 1992-1994) just for some perverted approximation of "fun", and it disturbed me immensely to think I might be going back there, until I realized that there was a major difference this time around: I didn't want it to happen, and wouldn't have consciously chosen that course. Ironically, that indicated to me that it must be the right way to go.

Writing is a very strange activity sometimes.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I was just making sure I didn't exaggerate. You were visibly in an odd mental state for a while, there. Now, it's harder to tell without asking.

--truss.

Well, that's the difference between feeling weird and feeling terrible. As I said at the time, I felt like a bloody-handed tyrant for a while there.

Now I'm just digging out old Asia live records and regressing to the 1980s while I consider the most fantastically star-crossed character relationship it has ever been my privilege(?) to be the conduit for.

--G.
[don't cry now that I have found you / don't cry take a look around you]
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

TRB

"I wish I was reaper, culling lost souls. I wish I could cast them into deep and lonely holes."

Oh, I know that feeling. It took me something like two full weeks to write the final part I did write to the Chessmen story 'Death in the Cathedral'. I KNEW I was going to kill off Max Bishop. I knew just how it would happen. I could see it in my mind's eye, I'd played the film a dozen times, but for the love of GOD, I couldn't get it on paper. It took my co-author Bill Crawford's eulogy of the character to finally kick me into writing it down.

And then I had people screaming at me as to how the HELL I could do that, what was I THINKING, I blew the entire series up, there was no way out of this. (I'm sure Gryphon knows just what sort of thing I'm talking about.)

Now, back to _CR_.

1) Kei was frighteningly in character in this, in all the ways we've seen her. I think that if Odin Himself had gotten in the way, she'd have tried to go him. "Tho hell should bar the way..." I was in a situation similar to hers once - very unpleasant - and the only thing that kept me from turning the bacterium involved into a buffet for worms was, literally, three people sitting on me until I calmed down just a little bit more.

2) The character interplay was great - Many of these people have known each other for an extremely long time and at this point, they don't even need to react to each other to know what they're thinking. Martin, indeed, I could see pointing out the true stupidity of what Mr. C did and that it was now coming out into the family. And precisely what that meant with her having parents who have things like, oh, a Cosmic Rod... one of the finest swordsmen in the entire UPF AND the most dangerous suit of powered-armor too... or her parents' good friends, any one of whom could reduce him to monomolecular dust or something similar pretty much on a whim. And him 'convincing' him to join the Legion is the kind of thing Martin would do - punishment that would either get him killed or turn him into a better person, AND hide him just in case someone decided, what the hell, he doesn't deserve to live anyway. (Sadistic thought: "Welcome to Klendathu, boys!")

3) The kids have personalities. You can tell the differences between them.

4) Nall... dear god, I was almost afraid we'd find out he's got the middle name Sebastian. He's sarcastic enough...

5) "So You've Just Arrived From A Parallel Dimension". Why do I have the feeling there's copies of that thing, done in various unusual materials, all over the UFP in those just-in-case sorts of places? And of course, who better to write it?

6) Zoner being there when Utena pops up... this is no coincidence. There's something moving behind the scenes here, but we don't have an idea of the shape of it at all. (If it's an eight-headed dragon, tho, I'm hoping to GOD one of you gets a Shermie Spiral. Wait, you'd probably enjoy that. Never mind.)

7) Lesser Mazinga! Whee!

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

Yeah, someone like the authors.

(Let's head off one question before it even gets asked... no, you will never see or hear from Mike Carpenter again. We don't know what happens to him from here on out. Neither do we care. So don't ask.)

>5) "So You've Just Arrived From A Parallel Dimension". Why do I have
>the feeling there's copies of that thing, done in various unusual
>materials, all over the UFP in those just-in-case sorts of places?
>And of course, who better to write it?

Who better, indeed?

FYI, that volume is part of Derek's bestselling "So You..." line of reference books. You'll probably get a chance to see some of the others later on. :)

--truss.

I'll prefer to believe he fell in a Sarlacc pit.

>FYI, that volume is part of Derek's bestselling "So You..." line of
>reference books. You'll probably get a chance to see some of the
>others later on. :)

• So You've Just Been Spontaneously Mutated
  
• So You've Just Arrived From The Distant Future
  
• So You've Just Arrived From The Distant Past
  
• So You've Just Discovered That You're The Last In A Royal Line Possessed of Immense Power
  

Any others? :)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

Hmm... not sure this one has hit the shelves, yet.

>So You've Just Arrived From The Distant Future
>So You've Just Arrived From The Distant Past

I suspect that those are probably section headings from "So You've Just Arrived from Another Time."

>So You've Just Discovered That You're The Last In A Royal Line
>Possessed of Immense Power

Oo. I like this one.

--truss.

Other popular titles in the series include So You're Not the Master Race, for civilizations who had ion drives together and thought they were The Shit until their First Contact turned out to be with the Vulcans or somebody; So You're Dead: A Non-Survivor's Guide to Valhalla (props to Kris Overstreet for that one) and So You Don't Get this Technology Stuff, which is often packaged as a double set with So You've Just Arrived from Another Time.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Trigger Argee
trigger_argee@hotmail.com
Manon, Orado, etc.
Denton, never leave home without it.

Target audience is way too narrow. Not to mention that the target audience is the author.

> * So You Decided to Join the Zardon Far Legion

You won't have time to read.

> * So You Called The Lovely Angels That Name
> * So You Recently Died and Went to Valhalla

These would be the same book. ;)

--truss.

Nah, it's the author's autobiography. So You Discovered That You're A Bugrom God: The Life and Times of Derek Bacon. Perpetual #1 on the Hiveworld's bestseller lists, required texts for all Advanced Dumb Luck and Beginning Divinity Skills courses in the galaxy, and voted Funniest Book of the Millennium by the New York Times.

>
>> * So You Called The Lovely Angels That Name
>> * So You Recently Died and Went to Valhalla
>
>These would be the same book. ;)

Somehow I doubt those worthies calling the Angels by that name would be going to Valhalla. Hel, maybe... but then, what do I know? ;)

>--truss.

Mr. Fnord, has a reading list and knows how to use it!
--
The Jihad to Destroy Barney the Dinosaur
http://www.jihad.net/
"WE'RE STILL HERE, GODDAMMIT!"

You've got a point there. I think it'd actually be So You Accidentally Became a Bugrom God, in that case, but still.

Since I'll probably never get around to writing the actual story involving the incident, maybe I should do a UF-H2G2 entry about Derek's apotheosis sometime soon. :)

--G.
(yeah... as soon as I finish the one on New Avalon... )
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Enh, semantics... ;)

>Since I'll probably never get around to writing the actual story
>involving the incident, maybe I should do a UF-H2G2 entry about
>Derek's apotheosis sometime soon. :)

Just my $0.02, but I'd say the story of Derek and the Bugrom should be a full-fledged story and not just a H2G2 entry. Throw it on the back burner and let it simmer, sooner or later the stars will be Right.

Don't mind us fanboys, we'll be sitting in the corner, waiting patiently for more SoS or... well, anything else UF, really. :)

>--G.
>(yeah... as soon as I finish the one on New Avalon... )

Mr. Fnord, not a drooling fanboy. I have far better manners than that!
--
The Jihad to Destroy Barney the Dinosaur
http://www.jihad.net/
"WE'RE STILL HERE, GODDAMMIT!"

------------------------
"We are totally fluxed."
------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

Yeah, and they'd all go under the title of So You're a Dumb Fuck.

Matrix Dragon
"Is it just me, or does Carpenter seem dumb enough to call them by that name? After all, it's not like it'd make any difference in his case."

Funny that someone in here mentioned a Shermie Spiral...I myself was wondering what would have happened to the bastard if the person guarding the door was Orochi Yashiro.
"Well, officer, I'd rather not discuss the condition of the body. But as you can see, there's a few dents in the asphalt..."
"In -rock-?"
"Um, yes. Needless to say, it's going to be a closed-casket funeral."

>Trigger Argee
>trigger_argee@hotmail.com
>Manon, Orado, etc.
>Denton, never leave home without it.
Dear lord almighty, you mean there's a -second- person in the known universe who reads James Schmitz?

--"I invoke the rites of fiery Muspelheim, and give thy soul up to the inferno's embrace..."

>
• So You've Just Discovered That You're The Last In A Royal Line
  >Possessed of Immense Power
  >

• So You Want To Be A Wizard
  
• So You're Turning Into An Eldritch Horror
  
• So You're A Boomer Messiah
  
• So You've Just Been The Subject Of An Unethical Scientific Experiment
  
• So You're Forced To Share Your Body With An Alien Bountyhunter
  
• So You've Just Unwillingly Become A Mecha Pilot
  
• So You've Just Discovered You Have A Grand Destiny
  
• So You're An Avatar Of Chaos
  
• So The Little Blue Men Keep Hitting You With Frozen Fish
  
• So You've Just Found A Copy Of "The Universe Of The Four Gods"
  
• So You've Just Acquired An Amorous A.I.
  
• So You Just Found Out You're A Magical Girl
  
• So You've Just Picked Up This Book And You're Wondering What It's About
  
• Sew Your Own Fashionable Clothing (Oops, wrong series)
  

-- Bob
---------------
Come to the Wired. Ask for Lain. I will help you.
-- from Serial Experiments Lain: The Legend Continues

Heh heh heh. I know at least three characters who'll need this one fairly soon. :)

--truss.
Well... four, actually. But the fourth has nothing to do with the three I was thinking of. And anyway, the idea is the important thing.

Make it five, then, probably... I was thinking of a character with his own series who had a brief intersection with the UF multiverse back in his first fic.

-- Bob
---------------
Come to the Wired. Ask for Lain. I will help you.
-- from Serial Experiments Lain: The Legend Continues

>
• So You've Just Picked Up This Book And You're Wondering What It's
  >About
  >

I never met Derek, but from everything I've read about him, this sounds like something he'd do just for the perversity of it... Hmm........

Offsides

#include <evilideas.h>

One more...

• So You've Had To Resort To Plan 9
  

-- Bob
---------------
Come to the Wired. Ask for Lain. I will help you.
-- from Serial Experiments Lain: The Legend Continues

>
• So You've Just Been Spontaneously Mutated
  >
• So You've Just Arrived From The Distant Future
  >
• So You've Just Arrived From The Distant Past
  >
• So You've Just Discovered That You're The Last In A Royal Line
  >Possessed of Immense Power
  >

So You've Just Pushed The Red Button

So You've Just Discovered That A Hypothetical Spaceship Is Hovering Over your Backyard

So You've Just Arrived At Milliways

So You've Somehow Managed To Get Into The Hippest Place In The Known Universe

Benjamin Brill
who lives near one of the (former) largest cities of the world and is still as far away from civilisation as Tatooine.

D, AMN.

That had better be a really short book. ;)

--truss.
Chapter One: RUN!!!!!!!!!

*hides*

Patrick Chester
"...could you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Morden?"

Indeed. Corwin has already been kind enough to sum up for me what I would like to do, and I created the character in the first place. I still feel vaguely soiled for having done so.

I won't be as absolutely definite as Truss, because I know better the vagaries of inspiration, but I'll fight any attempt by my creative process to do anything more with Mike Carpenter ever again.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

And if he turns up again, it'll probably be on the wrong end of a blaster or something... And most likely as a throw away reference...

"Private Carpenter!"
"Huh? Wha..." *ZORT!*
"They got Mike!"

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

J. Random Trooper: Fritz? They got Fritz! Those heartless, bloodthirsty faeries!

Berk Watkins
Student of Quantum Bogodynamics...

"Cool! Let's throw'em a party!"

-- Bob
---------------
Come to the Wired. Ask for Lain. I will help you.
-- from Serial Experiments Lain: The Legend Continues

And there was much rejoicing. (Yay)

Matrix Dragon

Gryphon ,
if you ever do use him again

4 WORDS -
Terminate with Extreme Prejudice

And by this I don't mean 'inhume with an axe ' but the
second explanation .
Hell , I bet there are a great many people out there who think
that way to .

EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO SEE THE GUY DEAD , PREFERABLY BY WAYS OF
A VERY SLOW AND GORY ORDEAL , POST , POST , POST .
(It may not be much use , after all it is Gryph's decision , but
believe me , you'll feel better . Detailed descriptions of demise
welcome .)

-Griever
or you could just hire Lobo .

>EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO SEE THE GUY DEAD , PREFERABLY BY WAYS OF
>A VERY SLOW AND GORY ORDEAL , POST , POST , POST .

Feh.

I'd greatly prefer to never see or even think of that character again. I don't even want him to get the "screen time" that a death scene or offhand reference would require. He doesn't deserve it.

And let me tell you... lobbying for a death scene to be written will have less than no effect. (Well... except to irritate me. And probably Gryph, but I won't presume to speak for him.) This isn't a democracy.

--truss.

Do NOT do this.

If this happens:

Step 1 will be locking the thread.

Step 2 will be suspending accounts.

We don't need a damn cascade about this.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

So spamming EPU mercilessly will make them like you and do what you want?

I'd imagine this "seemed like a good idea at the time", but I really can't think of any time that this wouldn't, well, seem like spamming EPU mercilessly. ;>
-Eliot "'Sides, it's their universe, and he's gone anyways" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendance Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

Oh, for Christ's sake. If you must do this, do it in a separate, clearly marked thread so I can avoid reading it, huh? I don't want to deal with this character any more. I hate him. He makes me feel dirty and cruel. Understand?

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Sorry .
It's just that I finished reading CR five minutes before
writing that one and I sorta , well , got carried away .

(mental note to self: think first , post later)

Sorry if it pissed you guys off .
Won't happen again .

-Griever
The idea with the big K was nice though .

No. No, no, and no.

First of all, this is rabidly, stupidly pointless, as Gryph has already said he wants nothing further to do with this character, and I'm going to respect that.

Secondly, I'd rather <i>not</i> have any further canonical description of his fate. If it's undescribed, it's that much more horrible, as we can imagine it a thousand different ways, each more painful than the last.

In the meantime, I'll continue to believe that he fell in a Sarlacc pit.

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

He is a part of EPU's past. He is no longer a part of the present, and I doubt there's even a shred of a reason to include him as part of EPU's future. Other than perhaps a passing obit 20 years (real time!) down the road in a different story arc, I see no reason to ever mention the name again.

And that's the last I'm gonna say on this too, for the same reasons as above.

Offsides

#include <nexttopic.h>

Benjamin Brill
who lives near one of the (former) largest cities of the world and is still as far away from civilisation as Tatooine.

I (mis)quote Kurt Vonnegut in this instance: "No matter how much you may like a character, it is your obligation to be a sadist towards them."

There can be no maximum level of cruelty shown to characters. You have to be willing to have bad things happen to them - often really bad things. Even if you're writing about your favorite character on the face of the planet, you have to be willing to put them through hell, because that's what makes people look up to them. The farther you fall, the more impressive and amazing it is when you manage to climb back up.

Of course, that doesn't mean it feels very good at the time.
-Eliot "Speaking from experience" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendance Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

Or, as the leader of a writers' workshop I was in some 15 years ago used to say, "Get'em up a tree and throw rocks at'em."

-- Bob
---------------
Come to the Wired. Ask for Lain. I will help you.
-- from Serial Experiments Lain: The Legend Continues

Heh... I've now got a picture of Edward crouching in a tree, wings outstretched, while Nina throws rocks at him to get his attention, saying "It worked last time!"

(It's an on20 joke. If you don't read it, you won't get it. It's funny with any characters, but since Nina's done the rock-throwing thing before and she's a good character for jokes like that...)
-Eliot "Was that a shameless plug? I hope not. It wasn't supposed to be." Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendance Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

Hey, I laughed, once I parsed in the right characters. The first time I read it, I was wondering when the little hacker from SoS got wings, and who the heck Nina was. But then, I've been reading on20, so I know about the "last" time ^_^.

(Speaking of which... where the heck did the title on20 come from, and what the heck does it mean?)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
"It's not easy being green." -- Kermit the Frog

Okay, the joke works with any characters but not necessarily any characters with the same names as those mentioned, accepting that there are many characters named Edward but a relatively small number with wings. ;>

>(Speaking of which... where the heck did the title on20 come
>from, and what the heck does it mean?)

The title of on20 came to me in a moment that can only be described as divine inspiration. Really, I thought of it very early on, when calling it "a collection of story ideas" would have been extremely generous - the only thing that survives of it from that time are the "feel" of the series and the title graphic. Much as I'd like to give a neat story about its creation, I'm afraid it's similar to Matchbox Twenty - I just made it up.

As for what it means... I'm not telling. Because, well, it doesn't actually mean anything. I've played with a few attempts to have it mean something, but those came to nothing. The only halfway decent meaning ever ascribed to it is from Erin, who suggested that all of the characters in the story are going on 20. Except that Mark, Jim, and Clemens are already 20, Samantha is at least 24 (she used to be younger, but then she also used to be in the army and a student), and the scope of the story goes on until graduation (at which point even Chisato, the youngest member of the current cast, is going to be 22). So it's mostly just a title that sounds cool.

Well, maybe it does have ONE meaning - every season has exactly twenty active cast members (not counting spiritual entities or other weird phenomenon). But that came after the title, so it's hardly the intended meaning.
-Eliot "Being honest rather than inventing a convincing cover story" Lefebvre
-=()=-
We're only given a little time in our lives to waste. Make the most of it.
Electronic Transcendance Productions
Producer of, um, stuff for an unspecified time-period.

>Writing is a very strange activity sometimes.
>
If it's only very strange sometimes you have an even more warped persoective than I though you did :)

Offsides

#include <stdsig.h>

Heh.

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

Pretty good, considering last time I heard that song I was about 6.

I really enjoyed this chapter, even moreso than the last. Not "enjoyed" as in "was made happy by", but more "emotions touched by". I had bit of confusion with the characters, as there are a skillion new ones to keep track of. They all seem like they have fairly concrete personalities, though, so it shouldn't be a problem. I may just have to go back and reread all of UF again, just to refresh my memory.

When's Utena gonna get a real sword? I want to see her kick some more ass.

Random theory: since Cephiro is a world of will (at least in the original), does Utena's own desire pull people over? No, nevermind... if it was Anthy would already be here.

-Nightmare Butterfly
"Hooray for new math, new-hew-hew math..."

Patience...

>Random theory: since Cephiro is a world of will (at least in the
>original), does Utena's own desire pull people over? No, nevermind...
>if it was Anthy would already be here.

heh heh heh... <M-x singsong-voice> I'm not tellin'...

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

>When's Utena gonna get a real sword? I want to see her kick some more
>ass.

hee hee hee hee heeeeeeee...

(Technically, she still has her old one, but circumstances conspire to make it rather less than helpful.)

>Random theory: since Cephiro is a world of will (at least in the
>original), does Utena's own desire pull people over? No, nevermind...
>if it was Anthy would already be here.

Not quite, not quite; but you're onto something there... :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Berk Watkins
Student of Quantum Bogodynamics...

>Utena is no longer in a world of will.. so it would be those in its
>desire to go to her that would draw them to her?

Yeah. I'm sure Saionji was just aching to see her again.

Um, no.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Berk Watkins
Student of Quantum Bogodynamics...

yes, but when she wanted....needed Miki...he ended up with her.
So there is defenitely some sort of tie...having not seen Utena (the anime) I don't know how their world work...
pardon me while I add it to my list of "Things to watch"...

regardless, Miki was brought over due to (I assume) great need...
is it potentially possible that Utena 'needed' Sainoji...to metaphorically (and, unfortunately, semi-literally) kick herin the head?

only time (and the authors) will tell, i suspect...

Hmmm... I think we're forgetting something. UTENA didn't need Miki. Kate did. Could it somehow be a manifestation of Kate's will? She didn't have any way of knowing about Miki's existance, but then again - if she is in fact pulling people over - she didn't know about Utena either, and here she is. Maybe a subconcious reaching through the universe? This would also account for why Anthy hasn't shown up yet, as Kate may be afraid that she'll take Utena away from her.

No, that still doesn't account for MegaZone's apparent involvement. He said something along the lines of "I've been asked to look out for you" when he first met Utena... maybe Eris is looking after Kate, sending her friends shen she needs 'em? She's the only one I can think of who would put Zoner in charge... still doesn't account for Saionji's appearance, though...

On another note, tangently related, just how much is this Cephiro like the one in MKR? I want Utena to get a... whatzitmajigger. The mech things from Rayearth. Starts with an M, I think. Also, if it is the same world as that in MKR, who gets to be the pillar? I have a feeling that would answer many questions.

Hey, maybe Corwin's doing it! Maybe he can't control his powers right, or something.

Or maybe it's Chu-chu! In coalition with Nall and Mokona!

Arrg! Brain... hurting...

-Nightmare Butterfly

Well, I thought of it, and I couldn't resist sharing it... No, I don't think it's the true story - I have my opinions on that, but I would prefer to be left in the dark and let it be revealed with some sense of timing.

Now, off to work!

-Craig

actually, the passage I was referring to was this one:

An image came suddenly to her mind's eye: a gentle, kind, and
beautiful soul whose brilliance and passion for music equaled Kate's
own. Many were the times when Kate, seated at her piano, had called
him to Utena's mind, and now his face was as clear to her as if he,
not Kate, were lying in her arms. If he were here, he could help, he
-would- help, without asking a lot of painful questions, with all his
considerable heart. It was in his nature. Utena could see him, hear
him, almost -feel- him - the concern written on his earnest face, the
deftness of his hands at the keys, the instinctive understanding in
his heart for the pain of a fellow musician.
But he couldn't help. He was out of reach, separated from the
place where he was needed now by the same unfathomable gulf that had
left Utena Tenjou with only half a heart.
Cursing the universe, Utena fell asleep with his image still
burning in her brain.

(apologies for the semi-large quote, but there's not nice/appropriate place to break there)

That's all Utena thinking, not Kait...sure, Utena wanted Miki for Kait, but it was still Utena wanting...

and as she fell asleep to...I don't recall what she was thinking of the night before she got sick and psycho-boy showed up....hmmm........

>On another note, tangently related, just how much is this Cephiro like
>the one in MKR? I want Utena to get a... whatzitmajigger. The mech
>things from Rayearth. Starts with an M, I think. Also, if it is the
>same world as that in MKR, who gets to be the pillar? I have a feeling
>that would answer many questions.

It is Cephiro from MKR, except with a somewhat higher tech level to accommodate the events of the canon Utena series (cars, telephones, computers). Kind of "what if Cephiro were a bit more like Autozam", if you've read/watched MKR2. As for who the Pillar is and what bearing that has on Utena's situation, that's very relevant - too relevant to tell you. :) It's all plotted and in development, though we won't get to it for a little while yet.

The giant robots which the Magic Knights command are called either Mashin or Mazin in the original Japanese, I forget which; AnimeWorks translated this to "Rune God", which is the phrase I'll be using for them when they appear. (What, you thought I'd introduce Cephiro and the Magic Knights wouldn't be appearing sometime? I can't even call that a minor spoiler. :)

I can't even conceive of what the Rune God of the Rose would look like, though, except that it would probably be mostly white.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

And here, all this time since I first saw MKR in fansub, I thought that that was just an English carry-over and that they were really just called "machines". Huh. Although I don't doubt that the multilingual pun appealed to the creator of the series...

-- Bob
---------------
Come to the Wired. Ask for Lain. I will help you.
-- from Serial Experiments Lain: The Legend Continues

Just got done re-reading the first two movements of SotS, and had a thought...
The Pillar is, more-or-less tied to Cephiro as far as wants/desires go (which is why, if I recall correctly, all the badness happenned in the original series).

what if Utena is the pillar?
She leaves Cephiro...and everyone forgets her??
Not only that, but every time she dreams of one of her schoolmates, they get pulled over? (as pointed out elsewhere in the thread, just because we haven't seen Anthy yet, doesn't mean she's not in this world)

I seriously expect an answer of "we're not answering this" from the writers/editors (if any answer at all), but I wanted to get this all down, since I have just finished re-reading (that would make it the..hmmm...third, I believe, complete re-read so far :)

Then Cephiro is destroyed, because she hasn't been praying for its safety for over four months.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

well, ok...that would suck

I suppose I should go watch MKR before commenting further on cephirean metaphysics. Although I thought Hikaru left Cephiro while pillar, and all was (more-or-less) ok...

Ah, well, yet another DVD box set I must spend money on...

IIRC, Hikaru gave everyone a (tiny) portion of the power of the pillar, so everybody had a responsibility for the well-being of Cephiro instead of just one person.

Zack Seaholm - Anime fan, weathernut, worshipper of the goddess Belldandy.

That theory would work, assuming that:

1. Utena can only pull people from Cephiro.
2. Anthy left Cephiro before Utena was coherent enough to transit somebody in.

As a side note, there's always the "this ability didn't work until she got a fever" theory...

Peter Eng
--
Canon? No canon here, people. Move along...

Who says she's not? Remember, Miki didn't remember Utena at first, when he saw her - Anthy very well may have been shifted over, somewhere that the two didn't see each other, and gone wandering off in confusion. Maybe on Earth, maybe on (in?) New Avalon.

Nothing's been said to say she /can't/ be there... Just that she's not in the author-attended and reader-surveyed sector of the UF universe at the moment.

>-Nightmare Butterfly
>"Hooray for new math, new-hew-hew math..."

-Khirsah the Deranged
"Trust me."
"The last time you said that we woke up the next morning nude on the White House lawn."

And I look forward to more of the Utoniums. ;)

Ard

Ard Sumhenner
Ronin Research, Silicon Valley, CA

I think that was the single most frightening line in the entire story for me. Of course, I was waiting for Selene to drop in, too...

OH DEAR GOD o.o Nooooooooooo......

I just had a bad thought. I am not going to say it. You can assume what you want from what I just said. But it was bad.

--
Geoff Depew - Mephron
"Big O! Showtime!"

(Technically, it should probably be "Utonia", but... :)

The three Utonium sisters (Blossom, Theresa, and Theodora) are, like Leonard, Corwin, and the Shannon twins, destined to be members of the Friedrich Koopman Memorial High School Class of 2409. You begin to see why I feel for that institution's intrepid faculty and staff. :)

>OH DEAR GOD o.o Nooooooooooo......
>
>I just had a bad thought. I am not going to say it. You can assume
>what you want from what I just said. But it was bad.
>

OK, I'm gonna have to put "don't do this kind of thing" in the AUP now that Zoner's implemented that function.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

AUP?

Also, what possessed the government of New Avalon (or whoever makes such decisions) to let Aztechnology anywhere near their city? Or is this a "kindler, gentler" Aztechnology?

As to the rest... very nicely done as usual.

Eric J. Heckathorn
ericjh@stargate.net

Acceptable Use Policy. "Don't be a twink. No w4r3z. Shut up about Jesus already." That sort of thing.

>Also, what possessed the government of New Avalon (or whoever makes
>such decisions) to let Aztechnology anywhere near their city? Or is
>this a "kindler, gentler" Aztechnology?

Hey, we've got a GENOM Tower, too.

Anyway, it's a pretty building, and that stuff about their Board of Directors doing human sacrifices on the rooftop helipad is just an urban legend. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Yes, well, they've reformed.

>Anyway, it's a pretty building, and that stuff about their Board of
>Directors doing human sacrifices on the rooftop helipad is just an
>urban legend. :)

Of course, now that I think about it, I don't imagine that the Big A's stupid or crazy enough to do Really Bad Stuff right in the WDF's living room.

Also... did Kate start carrying the zatoichi around right after the "incident" with Mike?

Eric J. Heckathorn
ericjh@stargate.net

Probably not immediately, no - she received the sword when she passed a test of advancement in Katsujinkenryuu to achieve the level of Journeyman, the first grade at which one is entitled to carry a live weapon. She was in no condition to pass such a test right after that, so it probably didn't happen until Christmas vacation 2403, a year before Christmas Rose, or possibly during the summer of 2404, right before Wounded Rose.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Berk Watkins
Student of Quantum Bogodynamics...

Selene?

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay

The name Iczer-2 ended up picking for herself, if memory serves.

Eric J. Heckathorn
ericjh@stargate.net

Pretty close to it - I only broke ground on the Symphony in early May, a week or so before Anime Central. It's proceeding extremely well, which is making me a little nervous. :)

Basically, I was sitting around the living room looking at Zoner's DVDs, and Utena wandered up, plunked down on the sofa, and said, "Remember last year when you watched the first episode of my show and had to go away and decide if you liked it? You liked it. Here's where I fit into UF."

Maybe I should do Another Encounter at Shamrock House. :)

Anyway, you're welcome. I'm glad this cycle is lasting as long as it has, and I hope it continues for some time to come.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

Do not question the muse, it's working just fine. :)

I'd also like to take this opportunity to compliment Kate on her choice of sleepwear. Dig the tiger stripes. :)

------------------------
"saaaausaaaage... "
------------------------
Chad Collier
Digital Bitch
J. Random VFX Company

:)

I'm a sucker for a girl who wears pajamas. There's just something so huggable about 'em.

Zoner had this horrifying suggestion that Corwin's aunts could have given her their own interpretations of tiger pajamas for her birthday or Christmas; Aunt Bell's would be sort of the tiger equivalent of Lain's bear costume, and Aunt Urd's wouldn't be suitable for family viewing. Zoner frightens me sometimes. I don't know which of those frightens me more, though.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

I think what *really* broke your brain was when I suggested a 'playful' evening would involve her wearing Bell's gift over Urd's gift...

-MegaZone, megazone@megazone.org
Personal Homepage http://www.megazone.org/
Eyrie Productions FanFic http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
See what I'm selling on eBay