THESE NOTES HAVE MAJOR SPOILERS FOR FATE. IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU READ THE FANFICTION BEFORE READING THE NOTES FOR THE SAKE OF CLARITY AS WELL AS PLOT.
Well, it's finally done. I promised a sequel to Butterfly's Sleep and I delivered...about twenty times as long as it took me to write Butterfly. Much of this has to do with the fact that school started about halfway through the fic and all fanfiction writing ground to a halt as I struggled to keep up with various classes. >
But that's done now, and so is Fate. Writing this has been an adventure, and I know that I couldn't have done it without the nagging of many people. Midway through the fic I was going to give up, simply because I was running out of ideas. The only reason I wrote this, in the beginning, was because people wanted me to do a sequel to Butterfly, and I thought it was a reasonable request. Halfway through it turned into a chore...but I'm happily surprised to say that the ending chapters were rather easy to write. I enjoyed writing them, and the ideas just kept coming.
A large part of the last couple of chapters of Fate were written with an interestine theory in mind: that Suzaku and Seiryuu together form a perfect whole, a balance. You'll notice this in Suzaku's words to Mitsukake and then Mitsukake's words to Nakago in chapters 8-10. There's also foreshadowing of this in earlier chapters, such as Marco's observation about being "drawn to the miko" and Denis' conversation on the phone with Pedro. As phoenix and dragon, the two gods complement each other perfectly with the Seiryuu being the dark side for the Suzaku's light. For more on this theory, go here.
As with the notes for Butterfly's Sleep, I will go through a part-by-part analysis below. Spoilers below!
I. Yami: Darkness I don't know what possessed me to make the chapter titles the names of elements, but it worked out. It was also somehow easiest to start out with Amiboshi, to show a "darker" side of him, if you will. His messy apartment and take-out dinner kind of describe my life as a college student...^^;;;
II. Koori: Ice If you notice, Keisuke and Tetsuya don't figure prominently in this story at all. This was the only part they appeared in, and it was only a cameo role. I wanted to focus on the seishi of both gods instead of pulling outsiders into the fic. Phillip Cartwright's encounter with the commander and his last-minute PCS notice (Permanent Change of Station) are rather typical of the United States Air Force. I'm in the Air Force, so I should know ^^; A lot of people have commented to me that they were surprised that Tamahome would not forgive Suboshi after all this time. I don't think he'd be as willing to forgive as people think...after all, this was the first time in this lifetime that he had met Suboshi.
III. Iwa: Stone The conversation between Jeff and Stephan is one of the more important in the fic. It basically sums up all the seishi's thoughts on reincarnation. I also established Marco in this part as a surprisingly lucid observer of what was going on around him with the reborn seishi. Fitting, since he was denied that in the first life. The reason that Yui couldn't reach Jeff on the phone was because he had been deleting all messages on the answering machine because of his ex-girlfriend. By the time Steven called Jeff, he had left New York.
IV. Hi: Fire This was where I kind of decided that EVERYONE needed to go to Tokyo for the fic to go any further. So if it was kind of rushed, blame the seishi ^^;; Hong and Denis were spur-of-the-moment creations when I realized that I needed seven Suzaku seishi and that Chichiri and Tasuki had not been given reincarnations in the mini-dramas since they were still alive.
V. Kaze: Wind I have never been to Tokyo in my life, so I'm guesing at the location of everything here. If I am totally off, just pretend that Tokyo is actually built the way it is in the fic...The first meeting in here was kind of a spontaneous thing. I wasn't exactly sure where the fic was going at this point, so I contrived a meeting. Though it worked. Same with Nikolas, Marco, and Phillip, though theirs is not as significant since they are all Seiryuu.
VI. Mizu: Water The transition between parts 5 and 6 IS choppy. This is because I wrote part 6 about two months after part 5 and some things had been...forgotten. Nakago in the accident was a nasty plot bunny that just wouldn't let me go. His conversation with Yui is a very relevant one also. Also, by the time I finished the chapter, I realized that it would be quite foolish of her to call everyone to the hospital in the middle of a raging storm. Oh well.
VII. Chi: Earth I made Chichiri regain the rest of his memories in this chapter because it was a nice tie-in with the flood. Amiboshi playing his flute to heal is also a turn-around from what he used it for in the series. I wanted to show the other side of Amiboshi.
VIII. Sora: Sky Mitsukake! Too late to get him to Tokyo, but I realized I'd need him for the rest of the story. This chapter has inklings of the "mirroring" effect that the Seiryuu and Suzaku experience throughout the series...namely, that the Seiryuu side is a dark mirror of the Suzaku side, and what happens to one side happens to the other in a way. This chapter also starts the "forgive and forget" tone of the last couple of parts.
IX. Ai: Love There is a lot of Suzaku in this one, but I needed it to support the theme of mirroring and counterbalance. More forgiving! I had a lot of fun writing the reunion scene between Jeff and Steven. I'm a twins fan, I admit it. ^_^
X. Hikari: Light If Seiryuu is the dark mirror of Suzaku, then together they must create a complete unity. Nakago's conversation with Mitsukake shows this. Nakago belongs with Soi, in my mind, and that's why I let him die. It also taught both sides something, don't you think?
There's a question of languages in Fate: namely that when the characters are all together, some of them can't speak the native languages of some of the others. So here's a quick rundown of some confusing spots where you might not be sure of the languages spoken:
II. Taka and Steven: Japanese. Taka can't speak English.
III. Yui and Steven: Japanese. Steven knows enough Japanese to speak it fluently and I'd imagine Yui would be more comfortable in her own language.
Marco and Nikolas: English. Italian and Greek don't leave much choice...
IV. Hong and Andy: Mandarin Chinese, since both of them are Chinese.
V. Hong and Denis: English. Denis is Bulgarian.
Hong and Stephan: English.
VI. Yui and Stephan: English, since Yui can't speak French and Stephan is not fluent in Japanese.
Yui, Jeff, Hong, and Denis: English. Jeff knows only one language.
Phillip and Yui: English
Nikolas and Yui: Japanese
Hong and Andy: Mandarin Chinese
Taka and Steven: Japanese
VII. Hong and Phillip: English. Like Jeff, Phillip knows only English.
VIII. Taka and Steven: Japanese
Hong, Duke, Phillip, Nikolas, and Marco: English
IX. Joe, Andy, and Denis: English. I'm guessing that Joe is American or British.
X. Jeff, Steven, Yui, and Taka: English, with Yui translating for Taka to Japanese
Mitsukake and Nakago: I'm not quite sure. I would say Japanese, since the whole conversation takes place in "FY space" instead of the real world, and they spoke Japanese in the series.
Fate was translated by me. All quotes at the beginnings of chapters are from Sun Tzu's treatise The Art of War, a wonderful read for anyone who is interested in the military or just wanting some tips and pointers for life.
As with Butterfly's Sleep, there was music that definitely influenced the writing of this:
Fushigi Yuugi: All the Seiryuu image songs and themes, as well as "Everything for You," "Perfect World," and "Legend of the Suzaku."
Heavenly, L'Arc~en~Ciel album
Glay: "Special Thanks," "Miki Piano," and "Rain"
The Visit, Loreena McKennit album
X Japan: "Say Anything"
EMU: "Hohoemi ni Kisu o," "Labyrinth," "Kotoba ni Dekinai Koi o Shiyou," and "Eien no Love Song"
SES: "Dreams Come True"
Saiyuki: "Open up your Mind"
And of course L'Arc~en~Ciel: "Fate" and "Butterfly's Sleep"
A BIG thank you to everyone who helped me during the 4? months that I was writing Fate:
The Fushigi Yuugi Mailing List for encouragement and interesting gender conversations...
Laurelgand, for corpse tea, seppuku suggestions, comforsting in times of need, and "kill-maim-hurt-Pedro-and-die" feedback
Quicksilver, my co-author of the Gundam monster fic. CRASH! GOODBYE, FILES!
Moonsong, who finally read it! ^_^ for encouragement and lots and lots of EMU. I kept my end of the bet, neesan! *nudgenudge*
Night-Mare for happy thoughts
Dreamwalker for Seiryuu support
Saishi for great comments on Butterfly that convinced me not to give Fate up
Lyra Stormrider, also for Sakura trees and corpse tea
I hope everyone has as much fun reading this as I had writing it...and perhaps a little more. And NO there will NOT be a sequel!!!! >
Seiryuu no Miko and the Seiryuu no seishi like comments at lordofmerentha@yahoo.com.
