Author's notes (Updated with each new chapter):
Having problems with this fic? That's what this is here for. Hopefully it will answer some of your questions.
Why do I add so many weird time-related details? As much as I hate the season 2 ending, I like to try to keep my stories true to the original story line. By adding the details, it shows how, hey, this COULD have happened logically. And neither Toei nor Fox Kids said what happened to the Season 2's when they were in high school or the Season 1's when they were in college (or in that age bracket). In this fic, Yamato and Taichi are going to the same college, Yamato majoring in Music Performance and Taichi in International Business. Takeru is on the basketball team because he so kicked Daisuke's butt on that one episode. Daisuke and Ken are both on the soccer team, but I opted to have Daisuke as the captain rather than Ken, because Ken's focusing on more important stuff, while Daisuke's free to obsess. Yolei's in Drama because she's the ultimate drama queen and oh so depressing (don't shoot me, I have been to the Drama side and survived, I know what I'm talking about!) Hikari's on the Cheerleading Squad because she turns into a brat towards the end of 02, and she's used to having boys fall all over her. Takeru's in French because his grandfather lives in Paris (duh!) and Ken's in Spanish because during the world tour he already spoke a little bit. Oh, and since the Dark Spore's gone and he has friends at the public school, I'm thinking that Ken ditched private school for the public high school (besides, anyone who says that private schools are better than public schools can look at my two cousins and kiss our @$$es). Any marriages of characters happen after my stories, and if the character happens to be homosexual, just pretend it's an arranged marriage (yes, believe me…it still happens, even in America, so it probably happens all over).
All the music terms I used? Well, to start with, the title is a music term. Good Boys Do Fine Always is the mnemonic for the line noted of the bass clef. My friend Aly-chan pointed out to me that that was a limited reaction reference. Yes, those are real songs Takeru's playing. In fact, those are songs I play. You've probably heard Bach's Minuet; you can download or listen to it almost anywhere if you haven't. Kuhlau's Sonatina is the most evil song in the world…I've been trying to learn it for 3 years and still haven't gotten it. Fur Elise is that really repetitive song by Beethoven that they play all the time at Christmas…okay, remember that one Schroeder started to play before Lucy made him play Jingle Bells on the Charlie Brown Christmas special? Yeah, that one. Takeru's piano, with a very specific brand and model type? That's my baby I'm talking about. When I started playing 10 years ago, I had this POS reconverted player's piano almost as tall as my living room (think old Western saloon piano). It finally kicked the bucket (aka it broke a string while it was being tuned and it would cost more to fix than my mom wanted to pay), and I got a brand spanking new piano that looks like a parlor piano should: small, black, shiny, three pedals instead of two, and a matching bench (I'm boring the heck out of you, aren't I?). The sustain pedal is the far right pedal that makes the notes sound more legato (smooth) and holds them out longer. And no, I don't think that liking show tunes automatically makes you gay…I just thought it would be kind of funny.
I really didn't want to make this a songfic, but I just…I couldn't help myself! The song was "This Is the Moment" from Jekyll and Hyde. I always associated the song with Ken anyway, and Ken's voice (at least the American voice actor's voice) sounds like it would be the most gorgeous Tenor/Baritone voice in the world. I may write other chapters that aren't songfics…then again, they may be songfics, too! The song Ken sings at the coffee shop is "To Make You Feel My Love" by Billy Joel, as sung by Garth Brooks, from "Hope Floats". I know, long credits. I honestly had no clue what song to have him sing, and I'm on a Country kick, so I went to his website and looked until I found a good song. It was between this and Shameless. This won. I thought that having Daisuke sing "I Will Survive" would be both humorous and serve as a bit of foreshadowing. Yolei sang Pink's "Don't Let Me Get Me" because it fits her depressing b*tchy character.
Oh, that thing with the San Antonio girls at the beginning? I needed something to talk about in the beginning. At school, on their birthdays, these girls always walk around with dollar bills pinned to their shirts. I think it's some Mexican tradition, but it's just something that some girls do. I thought it would be cute if someone put dollar bills on his backpack because, come on, I would, Takeru's just too cute! And the spanking thing…that's a choir thing. These two guys would hold the person (usually a girl) off the ground, and two girls would do the spanking, then the bigger guy would let go and do the last one. I'm not being perverted, I swear!
Mrs. Kupermann was my piano teacher from the time I was 8 years old until I quit. She is a very, VERY strict disciplinarian. I didn't have to do a rehearsal sheet, but I did get my fingers hit with that metal stick of hers, and yes, I had to do arpeggio exercises. Those are very, very evil and difficult, and that's all I'm saying.
The drinks they have are all drinks from Starbucks from one time or another. I gave Hikari low-fat because she's a "cheerleader"! A little scrawny anorexic cheerleader…(can you tell I don't like cheerleaders?) Daisuke's is kind of…meh. Just there. Yolei's got a hot chocolate because the LAST thing theatre people need is caffeine (once again, I speak from experience). Takeru and Ken's Caramel Mocha Frappuccino (*drool*) is my personal favorite that THEY DON'T CARRY ANYMORE! :*( Teardrop.
I'm not going to tell you why I made Daisuke gay. I'll let you figure it out in later chapters.
Should I write more? Tell me! Please Read and Review, and I'll know whether or not anyone's interested in hearing about…oh, what Daisuke's going to do now, or will they become public, or will Yamato approve (come on, you know the answer to that one (coughs) *Taito!*) and who knows how far my muse and Agent Blorange will let me go with the yaoi thing… Or any number of interesting ideas floating around in my brain… -Jackie (Ken's Dark Angel)