Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Carnival ❯ Author's Notes ( Chapter 2 )

Author's Notes:

The Title: Okay... yes, I am aware that this title has been used before ('Dark Carnival' was a film in 1998, as far as I know), but believe me, I came up with title and concept of this fic before I knew that (and no, I have not seen the film). Argh, I hate it when I think of something cool and it turns out someone else has already done it. Such a kick in the head. Um, yeah. I thought that needed to be mentioned.

"Aisling"?: I discovered this label on www.babynames.com of all places. Go figure. It's an old Gaelic name and it means "Vision" or "Dream". Seemed appropriate.

Ye Tri-Cranial Canine: The three-headed dog "Cerberus" is actually straight out of Greek mythology. Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld, was a humungus dog with three heads, each representing a different sentiment (i.e. joy, sadness, and anger). In Carrot's case, the dog's three heads represented his father, mother, and brother. Manga readers know how much Onion likes to pick on his 'idiot son', and also what a strict (but loving) mother Apricot was. And yes, I know Marron loves his brother very much, but I can't help but feel that Baby-Glace is sometimes... put-out by Carrot's antics (hence the "Brother, you idiot" in the OAV's). This wasn't the real Marron anyway, it was a fraggin' dog's head! The proceedings I choose for Carrot seemed appropriate because the purpose of this fair was to hit the Hunters where it hurt, so keep that in mind before you rag on me for being a big, evil meanie to poor widdle Cawwot.

"a double madrigal flex": I borrowed this term from Tenshi no Korin's fic, "No Friend Like A Brother". I don't know beans about muscle-man terminology, so I had to mooch it off someone else. Sorry about that. On that note, if you haven't already, please do make a point of checking out said fic along with the wonderful others at www.bishonenink.com. Llamajoy and Tenshi are both very talented writers.

Chocolat's rather unpleasant experience: Any avid Sorcerer Fan knows the Misu sisters' history. However, manga readers know the more gruesome side of it. Before Tira and Chocolat were adopted by the Glace family, they were under the care of Sacher (Zaha) Torte. He was a good guy at first, but one day, he went nuts and killed all of his children. Only Tira and Chocolat survived. Since they are 'haunted' by these memories, I figured that a haunted house was the way to go. What better place to prey upon her deepest fears than an old spooky house where her worst memories would be brought into full, vivid view? I thought it fitting. Anyhoo, that's what the point of that was.

"I find it hard to believe that nobody's selling anything,": Simple. A dream costs nothing.

Mirror, mirror on the wall: Any manga fan knows that Gateau doesn't have the most modest of hobbies. A house full of mirrors seemed like his bag. Only this time, it wasn't so enjoyable, now was it? Basically, the purpose of Gateau's venturing into the (un)fun house was to show him what he feared most: that he wasn't as beautiful as he thought he was. Keep in mind that that was the purpose of pretty much everyone's encounters: To scare the bleedin hell out of them with exaggerations of what they dread or loathe.

...So then, what was the point of Milphey and Marron?: Hm, they didn't have very much ::koff:: 'fun' in this fic, did they? Well, to be quite honest, I really didn't know what to do with them. I don't know enough about Milphey's character to build upon his fears in any accurate sense. As for Marron, yes, I know Carrot means the world to him. I probably could've done something interesting with that, but enough was going on in the story already, so I didn't see the need. I also needed two characters to play the "break-through" people (the first to realize what in holy hell was going on), and since those two seem to be the most spiritually aware of the six, Marron and Milphey got the parts.

The pwetty horsie: Those of you who suspected that Gateau's horse was (or at least represented) Marron get a cookie. That was, indeed, my intent, and if I didn't make it clear enough I'm sorry. Anyhoo, Marron was the first to leave the 'dream world' and the one to wake Gateau up. Thus, in all essence, he 'brought' Gateau back to reality. That's the story behind that. ...What? Oh yes, I do realize the rather yiffy double entendre associated with Gateau ::achem:: riding Marron, and I know this was supposed to be as free of shipping as possible, but... Oh sod, the idea was too sweet to pass up. I couldn't resist ^_^;;;

Soooo, did it really, you know, happen?: Actually, I'm kind of leaving that for you to decide. What I think happened was that they went into a new world during the time they were down and out. So, how did it happen in under two minutes? Different dimensions have different rules and the Hunter's... well, I'll call it a 'vision', transcended time and space. In other words, what could take hours in one world could pass in seconds in another. I truly believe that there are other worlds out there where we are living other lives simultaneously. I suppose this fic was an expression of my beliefs in that sense. Ah well. What really happened is up to you.