Hey guys! Like I promised, here are the deleted scenes, if you're curious. (: Maybe you guys will find how different I at first intended the story to be like interesting? Haha, I hope you enjoy!
Deleted Scenes
1. Odd takes Jérémie's role as Ulrich's best friend.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. In the book, Will Darcy (Ulrich) and Charles Bingley (Jérémie) are best friends in the all-boys school that parallels Kadic in this story. The two are foils to each other. Will is dark, mysterious, and quiet—meanwhile, Charles is the complete opposite: a socialite, kind, and awfully romantic. Sounds like Odd would fit more as the role, right? But, if I did give him the role as Charles, then that means that Jérémie would have to take the part as Yumi's co-worker (in which the role would become even more unfitting, considering he would have to be good friends with William), and that would practically make Jerlita impossible in this story. So, I just changed Charles so he became more of the awkward, nerdy type, but still relatively sociable. Now, that was obviously a tweak in Jérémie's character as well.
2. Yumi's scholarship at Lyoko Academy was for her talent in singing rather than dancing.
I got this idea from episode 2, "Seeing is Believing." For those of you that don't remember, Yumi was the lead singer of their band. (: I didn't go through with this idea because you can't really use imagery to describe someone's voice for the reader to enjoy it without sounding a bit redundant. So, I just took advantage of her talent in acrobatics. This may also be the time to note that their band from the show was what also inspired me to make Ulrich a talented pianist. He was playing the keyboard, but close enough. XD
3. Have Mathias Burel take Hervé's role as the geek that would go after Yumi.
I had this idea at first after thinking about episode 43, "XANA's Kiss." If you remember, there was the scene where the polymorphic spectre kissed Mathias while in Yumi's form. After that happened, he was evidently breathless, AND he clearly enjoyed it. XD But, I needed the guy to be smart and capable of conducting 'nerd rants,' so I eventually thought Hervé to be the better 'role player.'
4. Yumi intervenes with the fistfight Ulrich and William had outside of Du Gourmand.
The reason why I didn't add this was because it would most likely result in William's 'true identity' being revealed much earlier than intended.
5. Sometime during "Walks", Ulrich confesses his feelings and asks Yumi to prom (she rejects).
This was a scene from the book. I took it out due to fear of redundancy and ambiguity arising in Ulrich's character. It wouldn't make sense if he asked Yumi to prom, then told her later in the story that he had no intention to, right?
6. Yumi flies back to Japan over the spring break.
Basically, I had this plan of Yumi flying back to Japan to see her family again, and to take the Pencak Silat lessons her dancing instructor procured for her there. Once back in Tokyo, she grudgingly finds out that Ulrich will be her sensei, and how he offers private lessons in Japan from time to time. He has a second home there as well (Having rich characters makes things a lot easier, am I right? LOL.). Anyway, there are a few reasons why I took this out: 1) Pencak Silat is Indonesian, not Japanese; 2) Unless Aelita, Milly, and William flew to Japan or Yumi and Ulrich take a last minute flight back to France, the whole subplot with Milly running off with William could not happen; and 3) My knowledge of Japan is even more diminutive than my knowledge of France, unfortunately.
7. Yumi shows Tamiya around Japan.
This deleted scene corresponds with the one before this. During the Pencak Silat lessons in Japan, a near kiss happens after one trips over the other and their faces become only mere inches apart. Blushing ensues, then Tamiya enters and unknowingly breaks apart their intimate position. The younger girl then asks Yumi for a tour of Japan, and she agrees to it for Ulrich. But then again, my knowledge of France AND Japan is paltry, so yeah.. That pretty much explains it, LOL.
8. William loses Yumi to Ulrich in a less...graphic and squeamish way.
Like how I get angered at some Oddlita stories tearing Jérémie's character to shreds (and making him do atrocious acts to make Aelita run off with Odd), I really didn't want to be hypocritical by having William mess with Milly and Tamiya so that Yumi would have reason to end up with Ulrich. This would explain why I felt REALLY guilty for doing this to his character—and I KNOW William would never do that! But, it was either this, or have the story be deprived of some of its biggest plot elements: Ulrich's well-known feud with William, and basically anything that happened during chapters 16-20. I'm also not very good with OC's.
9. Aelita and Odd first meet at the coffee shop.
Aelita has exciting news about Jérémie and couldn't wait, so she just goes to the coffee shop herself and tells Yumi there. Odd, eyeing her, compliments her pink hair and begins to flirt with her. Aelita then kindly rejects him by letting him know that she already has a boyfriend, and he cutely backs off. (: Also, I first intended Odd to introduce himself to Ulrich during one of the many times he visits Yumi during her shifts (refer to "Walks" if you don't remember those visits). Ulrich is initially annoyed by the blonde, but can't seem to shake him off—similar to the events happening at the beginning of "XANA Awakens Pt. 1." Things didn't turn out like this because I just couldn't find a spot to put it in, haha.
10. Ulrich has a separate performance at the recital.
It's self-explanatory, and the reason for taking it out is simple: I just thought it would be a bit more romantic if Ulrich and Yumi performed together. (:
So, yeah. (: Not as much as "The Shadow's Fighters,"—but then again I DID base this off of another book.
There are also some things I need to clarify: I made a mistake in Milly's age. Actually, she's supposed to be a freshman in high school while Odd, Hervé, Ulrich, Aelita, Sissi, Laura, and Jérémie are sophomores. Therefore, that makes Yumi, Emily, and William in the eleventh grade. And of course, there is also the whole situation with William. What happened to him? Well, he's not in jail, but he isn't completely off the hook. Like mentioned in "The Second Occurrence," he came off with a few restraining orders and hits to his reputation. Simple as that. (:
Also, Annette is not Ulrich's mother's real name that I got from the show; it was made up by me. The reason for this was because I really didn't want to keep referring to her as "Ulrich's mom," or "Ulrich's mother."
And, asked by one of my lovely reviewers, JuLiO48: Have you thought about making a sequel? First of all, I'm very touched that you still want the story to continue. (: But, unfortunately, I'm very sorry to say that "Rich Man, Poor Man" ends here. There really is nothing to expand on for this story—William is done with, Ulrich and Yumi are together, Jérémie and Aelita are together, and Odd and Sam are somewhat together. (: Life is good. (:
I am, however, working on new story ideas. ((: "Reformed Anew" is one of them. If you want to know, it's an AU Ulumi-centric story, with many additional pairings that I ship. Although, considering the plot line I have planned for it, writer's block is prone to hitting me in the face many, many times. I also plan to get back to writing more "action-packed" fics, preferably one that has to do with spies, or archaic fighting gear with cool, outdated outfits. So yeah, samurais, black jumpsuits, geishas, and all that fun stuff. (;
The prologue for "Reformed Anew" is done with, though. I'm going to refrain from posting it until I'm sure I want to go through with it—I don't want to discontinue it in the future because of my inability to go any further. If you want to read it, though, I'll be more than happy to send it to you through forms of PM or email. All your choice. (: Just ask, and it's done. (:
This may also be the time to mention that most of my future works will be published mostly during my school breaks. I've tried balancing schoolwork and writing times before, with failed results. XD
Like always, thank you all so much for your lovely support and kind reviews—they always serve as an auxiliary motivator for me to write. (: And, I'll say this again, even though I mentioned this many times before: I love you guys! :D Seriously—you all are amazing. You guys have been outrageously patient with me, and dealt with my tendency to obnoxiously leave off at cliffhangers without much complaint. (: This many views, reviews, favorites, and follows was way beyond my expectations for this story. In fact, want to hug each and every one of you right now. XD
And, of course, even though you've chosen to just silently read without any means of reviewing, favoriting, and/or following, I still deeply appreciate you. The amount of views this story has is "through the roof," no matter how cheesy it sounds. XD So, no matter what, you're contributing to my happiness and joy in writing...just silently (: Like I said before, I really don't mind if you don't review—it's always your choice after all.
Well, that's it for "Rich Man, Poor Man!" :') Once again, I love you guys, and until my next fic, I'll see you later!
-toastedCroissants