Matt’s Museum of Musings
So, I finally did it. A webpage. My God, what has the world come to?
A bare bones affair right now, I don't even have the stories in HTML yet. Heck, I don't even have all the stories up yet! Eventual plans call for other fonts, potentially some pics, and perhaps some sound (voices or reading of some dialogue?) for some stories-- but not in this lifetime!
El Hazard Fanfics
I like El Hazard. I fell in love with it from the very start, and it remains one of my favourites in anime to this day. But I had these questions, you see. I pondered things, such as 'why this way?' and 'how did it come to pass?' Very dangerous, you see.
No matter what fanfics I do, how many I write in other series, I'll still consider myself an El Hazard fanfic writer first and foremost.
My first ever fanfic, actually. Undergone some revisions since its initial conception, due to the second series of OAVs. I believe it to be the second pure El Hazard fanfiction to ever pop up on the internet-- Chris Davies' Eleventh Night being the first, to my knowledge. The title is self-explanatory, I would think.
Genetic Engineering and Re-engineering in El Hazard
A sequel to On the Creation of Demon Gods, this has been released to the FFML, but is still in its first stage form. The long awaited Bugrom disc finally got done about two years after I first came out with the Demon God one. Gee, I wonder how long it'll take me to get around to doing the third and final one speculating on the Eye of God? Just finished a minor revision (05/05/99)
An extremely short work, this is something I thought of one day while going over On the Creation of Demon Gods. Just a quick little thing, that's all, and I don't think I got it quite right, but I like it all the same.
Perhaps my most famous El Hazard story, although not, I fear, my best. Another extremely early work (perhaps the third El Hazard fanfic around, I think), it probably isn't quite as polished as some of the others, with some typos and such that I'm rather embarrassed of. Still, I do like it, and there's some nice prose, scattered in and about. The one thing I do maintain, however, is that Hayashi is a somewhat possible character. There are references in the first OAV, you see-- references which gave me my idea. Hayashi of the Science Fiction Club, for example (the name pops up twice, I believe, Katsuhiko Jinnai mentions him-- one of Nanami's letters --and Masamichi Fujisawa mentions him also), and as for Oracle? Well, Lune/Rune Venus is going to see the seer/psychic for advice on the whereabouts of her sister, yes? I just think the word oracle is so much more evocative. At any rate, the thought came to me, "What if they were the same person?"
Part two of Oracle entails Hayashi's life at the palace, and ends with… well, I think you can figure it out.
Oracle: The Advent of the Oracle
The endings of one story and the beginning of other stories. The culmination of Hayashi's journey to become the Oracle. I think I liked this part best-- some nice scenes which were fun to write for me.
A sequel to Oracle-- people said I should do one, and one day, sometime after seeing the second OAV series, I got an idea. Takes place after the second OAV series. Hayashi's quest for knowledge and desire to once again relate to humanity join together in a journey to talk to Ifurita, but he does not go alone. Stylistically about the same although there are some notable differences (such as the ever unstable tenses), and I'd say technically superior to Oracle. After writing this, keeping the tenses the same for other stories became a lot harder for me for a while-- and in this one I kept wanting to make them the same. Strange, eh?
Speculations on Powers in El Hazard
Not quite a fic, but then again not quite not a fic, I call it a pseudo fic. The entire entry of Hayashi's recording, of which only part of was shown in Second Sight (you'll know what I mean if you read Second Sight). Basically, some thoughts on how the powers of various people, native and non-native, might work in El Hazard. It is plausible to me, at least. Not to be taken as fact, or canon for El Hazard, but it does explain certain things nicely, I think.
El Hazard-- The World of Too Many Authors Part 1
Also known as Da Fic. Good, clean fun-- well maybe not exactly clean... and that good part is debatable, but fun! Well, okay, so it's a supreme act of hubris, but what else would you expect from me? Done on a lark, because Dave Eddy saw El Hazard, the idea came to me from a conversation on FFIRC. Must be seen to be believed, and even then....
El Hazard-- The World of Too Many Authors Part 2
Part two of Da Fic, Murphy's Law is in full effect. Matt does not make an appearance Awwwww! although his presence is still felt. Bigger than usual for me.
Tenchi Muyo
Some short Tenchi Muyo stories. Tenchi Muyo fanfics, well, the writing of them at least, is a fairly new development for me. What can I say? Just never had any ideas, and then one day: fantoosh! I got something.
My first ever Tenchi Muyo fanfic, it takes place strictly in the OAV series. An introspective piece focusing on everyone's favourite cyan-haired space pirate, and a choice that she makes. I do not think I quite got the ending right-- I know there's a better way to say it-- I had the perfect way-- but it slipped before I could get it down and so we have this. Still, it isn't too bad.
Ahem. Yes. Told from a different perspective and a different style of narration (I like toying with narration and narrators, as you may find out), this deals with what happens immediately after Ryoko's Choice. I think I did a nice job with the choice of point of view and narration, myself-- I would say that's the best thing about it. Oh yeah, and the ending image is kind of nice, too. I think I got that one right, this time.
This one is strictly Tenchi TV series. In response to a challenge to do a WAFF (Warm and Fuzzy Feeling) fic about/with Tenchi and Kiyone (who I will actually admit liking-- not something I usually will tell people-- which characters I like, that is), and I wondered why everyone seems to equate WAFF with romance and romantic inclinations. That is only one aspect of love, and I decided to do something a little different. People seemed to like it, and I must say I do as well. Short, sweet and to the point-- it really isn't much more than a scene, but then it does not need to be. Sometimes a single scene is all you need to convey everything you want. Did I mention everyone, even the characters who don't appear directly in it, are very in character? A nice relaxing read as you're winding down, someone once said.
Oh My Goddess
There's not too many Oh My Goddess stories around, are there? A pity, that, because it's just such a nice, feel-good series.
One of my earliest efforts, though it took some time to complete, and only recently has it seen final revision. Oddly enough, I intended it to be somewhat whimsical, like the song where I stole the title from. The song, in fact was the genesis of the story-- it seemed perfect for a story focusing on Skuld. Odd then that Skuld, though she plays an important role plot-wise, does not really have that huge a role story-wise. There are still some elements of the song in there, I suppose, but the story just did not quite want to go that route. So what's it about? Basically, due to a Bug in the System, Skuld gets a wish, which retroactively changes Keiichi's wish. Bugs are funny things, aren't they?
Visions of Escaflowne
Escaflowne is currently one of my favourite series. For a long time I had wanted to do an Escaflowne story, but could never quite come up with one-- the closest had been a quick crossover with El Hazard (which one day I'll give the treatment it deserves)
.There has to be a story behind Folken's facial tattoos, doesn't there? A short fic, and one which I am in the process of revising.
Ranma One Half
What kind of an anime fanfic author would I be without doing some Ranma fics? Oddly enough, I seem to have done it bass ackwards. Y'see, a lot of people start out writing Ranma fanfiction, and then move on, or branch out at any rate, into other series. I started writing in other series (one of the first to write El Hazard or Blade of the Immortal, I might add!), and eventually started to write some Ranma stuff. Odd, that. Of course, I tend to have a different take on Ranma fanfics, and for those who say that theRe are no new ideas in (Ranma) fanfiction, I say that you are just lacking in imagination. Using that as an excuse to pan it-- laziness or slackness of thought and nothing more. Note: these, like most stories on this page, are not necessarily grouped in chronological order.
A parody of various fanfic cliches and conventions and characterisations involving the Ranma cast. Good for a laugh or two, at any rate.
The same type of thing as Saint Ukyo, but with a slightly different focus.
Okay, so I admit it-- I get tired of seeing the same characterisations/motivations/conventions/cliches over and over again. People just seem to naturally focus in on certain events sometimes, and even if it is not repeated put a lot of stress on it-- perhaps too much stress on the particular event. This one happens to be about Akane's smile, as told from Ranma's perspective.
And now a subsection of my Ranma fics, we come to a series, entitled When Ranma Was Two An alternate universe story, the change here is that Ranma did not fall into Drowned Girl Spring, but instead fell into the Drowned Twin Spring. Initial conception was wondering how the Twin Spring would work-- I came up with four different but plausible ways off the top of my head, but this one worked best for a story. Also I must admit that a big part of it was people saying they're doing alternate universe stories, making one initial change, and then basically follow the story of the original series. You must remember that a change will have consequences, and to take that into account. Similarly, if done properly, there is no need to introduce further, unrelated changes or crossovers or what-have-you later on, just so you do not follo too closely to the original storyline. Just remember that when you change one thing that causes other things to change, and as events differ, so will the characters as their experiences will be different. Fun to write, and hopefully fun to read-- lighthearted fun and whimsy, at least somewhat in keeping with the flavour of the original series. I like it.
When Ranma Was Two, Part the First
Origins and beginnings. Ranma and Genma at Jusenkyo. Arrival at the Tendo dojo, first day at school, and meeting with Nodoka. Is being twice the man everyone else is manly enough?
Part two in the series, this has the entrance of Ryoga Hibiki and his curse (well, technically a curse). Fights and sparring. Akane begins training with Ranma, Genma gets a job. More pronoun confusing fun!
Part three in the series, it has: Ryoga popping back in, Kodachi's entrance, the uttering of forbidden words. Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics match, the Neko-ken, and oh yes, I almost forgot, what you've all been waiting for: the entrance of Shampoo! Probably not what you're expecting from her, though it does make perfect sense.
Part four has actually been started, will be called something like "When Ranma was Two Squared" and will answer all questions about Shampoo. No ideas what else to put in it though, so you should not expect anything anytime soon.
Rurouni Kenshin
I'm a pretty large Rurouni Kenshin nut. For the longest time, it seemed there was no or at least next to no Kenshin fanfiction around. Not so anymore. For some odd reason I don't read much Kenshin fiction-- perhaps because the series (manga) is still ongoing, or because I just did not get into the habit of reading Kenshin fics, having found a pittance when I actively looked for them. It could also be because most of the fanfiction I read comes from the FFML (FanFiction Mailing List)-- and to a lesser extent the RAAC (Rec.Arts.Anime.Creative) newsgroup, and both experience an extreme dearth of Kenshin fanfiction.
"You never lose the smell of blood, nor the pleasure of killing."
Kenshin said that in (I believe) episode 10 of the anime (introduction of Jine Udo). I find it a rather disturbing line, considering the source: Kenshin, who has sworn not to kill, and has done so for the last ten years. Thus, we (or I, and now you, having read it), get this.
Blade of the Immortal
As few Oh My Goddess stories as there are, there are even fewer Blade of the Immortal stories around. Perhaps partially because it is not an anime, or not yet an anime, at least, and only a manga (available from Dark Horse, if you wish to know). A pity that there are so few, because it is truly an interesting series.
Blade of the Immortal is a story about Manji, a swordsman rendered immortal by the Kessen-chu and who will become mortal again if he slays one thousand evil men, to atone for his killing of one hundred men. This is a story-- nothing more than a scene and a feeling, really, of just before that last kill. Again, one of my earlier works.
Crossover Central
Not really the type of guy to do crossovers, although I do read some and enjoy them (many times the stories I thoroughly enjoy are the types that I myself would not or do not write-- I suppose that's because I can always write them myself if I want to), but here's a few favourites of mine:
Sometimes You Just Can't Catch a Break
A crossover between Blade of the Immortal, and you'll have to guess (or you could just read it, you know). Another fairly early piece, it's just a bit of whimsy on my part-- just a bit of fun, that's all.
A crossover between Ghost in the Shell and Bubblegum Crisis. This has the distinction of being the first fanfiction to incorporate Ghost in the Shell on the 'net, to my knowledge (via the FFML). A lot of fun to write, with its pastiche and almost collage-like format. I think it fits. Wicked Tribe is especially fun, and if I ever put sounds/dialogue in a story here, it is Wicked Tribe who will get it.
This, if you haven't figured it out, is my counter. I wonder exactly how many are mine?
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