<cricket's chirp>
Feh. Don't listen. Be that way. ;) But here's where you'll find a bunch of irrelavant musings and such about Circle's Edge.
First of all, a list of people to thank:
Silvestris, of course. Without her I would never had gotten further into the world of Slayers than the first tape of the first season. It's thanks to her that I finally discovered how great a series it was. For that, I'll be eternally grateful. Also, if she hadn't been there when I was first dreaming up this fic, it would never have gotten written. And she's been supportive from the first words that I set down on paper--even if it did mean encouraging and suffering through my Lina/Gourry obession. ;) Thanks, Silvy! KRAM!!
Kamui-san, fellow hentai and Lina/Gourry groupie. We've become great friends, Kamui and I, and she was there for me to bounce ideas off of when I got stuck and helped provide a lot of insight into the characters while I was writing as well as just being there for lots of goofy fun in email. Hug-o, Kamui! :)
Stacy, the Crazy Hentai, another great online friend who provided a lot of inspiration, plus was a blank slate for reactions cuz I hadn't pitched any of my ideas to her before sending her sections to read. Plus, she sent me wonderful lemons in return and she's a gifted writer herself, so she helped inspire me. It's been said that when elephants compete, the grass suffers. When artists (or writers) compete, inspiration strikes. ;) Thanks, Stac! Have a Gourry cookie!
The Queen of Swords for indirectly being responsible for both Silvy and I becoming involved in the Slayers universe with her fanfic (both Slayers and Inuyasha), especially Zelgadis on the Couch and Zelgadis on the Road.
Alyson, Astra, Rocky, Neko-chan, Ai-chan and all the others on the Slayers message boards I frequently haunt for just being great people and believing. :) Thanks, minna-san.
And lastly, but probably most importantly, Kim McFarland, with whom I've been writing for and with for several years. I've learned a lot from her. I only wish she'd taken more of a liking to Slayers than she did. Oh, well. <:)
Now that's out of the way, onto some other things. Lots of things helped shape and influence this fic, starting and ending with Slayers. But there's also other things, too. The attentive reader will recognize references to Terry Pratchett's Discworld books, Roger Zelazney's Amber series, as well as influences from Tolkien and other more obscure authors. Some I've even forgotten at the moment. Oh, well. Gourry and I share a lot in common when it comes to memory--or lack thereof.
Couple caveats about the story:
I've used no Japanese in writing this fic--or any of my Slayers fics--because I think it sorta detracts from the story and interrupts the flow when writing in English. After all, it's my belief that they're not speaking Japanese at all--or English for that matter, but hear everything through the Universal Translator.
However, having said that, I did break that rule in how Amelia, Philionel and Xellos address the others. I've kept the "-san/-dono" ending when these people address others mainly because I think it's more formal sounding than translating it as "Mr," or "Miss." <shrug> That's just me. Your milage may vary. ;)
Lastly...I had something else to say and I seem to have forgotten it. Damn memory again. Oh, well. I'm sure I'll remember it eventually and I'll post it here. ;)
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed/are enjoying the story!
Ja!
Pairaka