His lordship Chaos presents The Paranoia Groove: Special Feature Rated not-quite-R THE PARANOIA GROOVE -author's notes- Q: Should I be reading this? A: Author's notes can sometimes be pages of long-winded prattling which, after reading, you realize didn't answer any of your questions and was actually an impressive waste of your time. Hopefully, these notes will be neither. I'm going to try to attempt to talk about the story and its evolution, as opposed to prattling on about how I should be worshipped by the masses. Which isn't a bad thing, I must confess, but this wouldn't be the time and place for it. That's what online forums are for. Though for the sake of "The Paranoia Groove" itself, I would recommend you read the story *before* you read these notes. Q: I haven't read "The Paranoia Groove" yet. Should I still be reading this? A: Probably not. I can't stop you (and if I somehow could, it would probably mean you were in dire need of downloading AdAware), but you'll probably enjoy the story less since spoilers will be abounding here. It's like getting halfway through a murder mystery, and then flipping to the end of the book to see who the killer is: you can get away with it, but dampens the spirit of the story, and you really don't win in the end. Q: Okay, fine, I've read the fanfic now. But didn't you retire? A: Yes, I retired in 2001. And confusingly enough, I am still a retired author of SM fanfiction. However, there were a few ideas that began to develop inside my head, and rather than let them torment me for years on end, I felt it was better to write the story that went with them. Hence, you are reading, or have just read a momentary blip on the radar of Chaos-penned fanfiction. With the exception of "Angel Electric", it probably won't happen again. So enjoy the unexpected treat! Q: Speaking of, what's going on with this great "Angel Electric" epic you've been teasing us with? A: "Angel Electric", as of these author's notes, is 350 pages and 6 chapters (completed) long. And it's reaching the point where I think it's safe to say I'm about two-thirds done. Somewhere in chapter 7, between scenes of Endymion desperately trying not to fall on his ass as he learns to skate for the first time, and Kunzite & Minako being surrounded by hordes of giggling Snow Dancers, I needed a break. Not just a break from the story, but from the mood of the story. While there's ominous undercurrents running through "Angel Electric" (after all, this is a Silver Millennium fic, and we know how that millennium ended), it's lighter, cheerful and more optimistic. Life has also taken me for some unexpected and unpleasant twists & turns these last few months too, so a hiatus was appreciated as well as needed. I wanted to write something different. Something darker. Something with really good uudon in it. And so I turned to "The Paranoia Groove." That's not to say I've given up on "Angel Electric." I will resume writing it soon enough. I hope to finish it before the end of the year too. But, as an update for those curious, there have been a few deaths thus far, though it's about to escalate into multiple digits. And there's still a whole kingdom upon the moon, and that has to go too. We are talking about an apocalypse, after all. Q: Hey, wait a minute! If you're back writing SM fanfics, even just a few of them, why aren't you finishing "The Paradise Army"? That's still unfinished! A: Yes, yes it is. And I hold doubts about whether or not I'll be able to one day go back and finish "The Paradise Army." It's not for a lack of wanting to, or for a lack of knowing what's going to happen. Fact is, I'd love to finish that project, and I also know exactly what's going to happen in the end-who's going to die, who the members of the Paradise Army are, and what they ultimately want from Serenity. What it comes down to is time and other projects. Time is something I have less and less of to myself. And that in turn affects the other projects I'm currently working on. Given the sheer size of all these other projects, another long story like the last half of "Paradise Army" will eat up considerable months that would otherwise be devoted to writing things that may one day pay the rent and food bills around the apartment. There's also the fact that my writing style has changed considerably in the last few years. Going back to "Paradise Army" will be like revisiting the past, but chances are I'd also have to revise the first four chapters I wrote before I could resume the story. I'm just a stickler for continuity in style as well as in plot, that's all. But, if it burns you that much not knowing how it'll end, I leave you with this: remember the two shadowy figures running the Paradise Army? You've met them already somewhere in the first four chapters. Kind of. In a roundabout way. To say anything else would really spoil the secrets. There are clues, but you probably won't see them unless I finish the story, and after reading it, you reread it again. Q: What, that's it? Just more tantalizing, and you yank it away from us again? A: Yeah, pretty much. Q: You're a cold, heartless bastard, you know that? A: Absolutely. Now go to the next question, or else I shall taunt you a second time. Q: Right. Back to this story, then. Just where did you come up with this idea? A: I'm tempted to use a ploy from a most excellent author, Neil Gaiman, and say something completely non-sequitur. Such as: "The Caribbean. I get most of my ideas from there", and leave it at that for your bewildered displeasure and my diabolical amusement. But in all honesty, "The Paranoia Groove" began as a concept for a Crystal Tokyo-based fanfic I'd abandoned long ago. All it ever was at that point was the idea of a Jack the Ripper-styled killer stalking the midnight streets of the city. From there, the idea of this Ripper mimicking the attacks made by old-season villains was brought into play. Originally, it was going to feature the survivors of "The Paradise Army", which also meant I had to finish that fic first. Not to mention if I tried making "The Paranoia Groove" a story unto itself, it also meant I had to completely refashion Crystal Tokyo, making it at least somewhat different from the Crystal Tokyo seen in "Army." I tried to leave it at that. I really did. The story didn't like this, and over the next year kept tapping me on the shoulder every now and again, politely asking in a scary little voice, "Are you through hiding from me yet?" About three to four months ago, I lost the battle of wills, and began work on "The Paranoia Groove." Suddenly Yurei showed up, and the Academy appeared in the middle of Yoyogi Park, and Hotaru was pleasantly psychotic. And from there, the story rampaged through the future with a mind of its own, and I just grabbed hold of its coattails in an attempt to hang on for the entirety of the ride. At the start, I guessed "The Paranoia Groove" would be maybe 30-40 pages, an easy effort on my part to write, and it would only take a short time to complete. The perfect distraction from "Angel Electric", it seemed. Roughly three or four months later, the story told me it had reached its end at page 134. Q: You can't write anything small, can you? A: No, not really. I've had to come to grips with this fact. I've been considering joining a support group, but there's this 200-page novel I'm working on that's just eating up the rest of my spare time at the moment. Maybe later... Q: Okay, moving on, then. So Hotaru is stark raving mad in this fic. Isn't she your favourite Senshi? A: Yep. Which makes it all the more fun and unnerving to write her the way she was in "The Paranoia Groove." I do have my favourites in the Sailormoon universe, but I hate playing favourites. As a writer, I fully believe that while the characters can surprise me, and I can really come to enjoy their company...I'm still in control of their fate. If they need to die, then I kill them. Usually quite viciously too, to drive the point home that they may be heroines, but they're still mortal. Truth be told, the original version of "Paranoia Groove" was supposed to end with Yurei killing Hotaru outright. There was going to be no resurrection, no redemption, no reunion between them. It was something I wrestled with for days, debating how clichéd it might seem to have Hotaru restored to her former self and have this "and they all lived happily ever after" feel to the end of a story that just gets darker with each page. The last thing I wanted to do was cheat anyone reading the story. On the other hand, given how deep the story itself spirals into darkness, ending it on an equally dark note didn't feel right either. It would have seen Yurei standing over the Archangel memorial, with Hotaru's name etched into it with the others. He would have found some degree of closure, but no peace. That, to me, felt just as wrong as giving into a deus ex machina and squeezing out a happy-joy ending. For as bad as things get, I still like to believe that there is a shred of hope in the world for everyone, no matter how small. It's there and it's worth clinging to. Ideally, I managed to find a balance between the two. So there you have it: the alternate ending to this story. If you think it should have ended with Hotaru's death, so be it. But at least you know I considered it, and didn't take her resurrection lightly. Q: Let's talk about Yurei instead, then. He's...Jadeite? I mean, the Jadeite? A: Yes, he's indeed the General who got frozen in that block of ice by Queen Beryl during the first season of the TV series. Q: So how did he get out from that block? A: Sailor Moon had a high-powered hair dryer and a lot of extension cords. Q: Smartass. Okay then, what made you decide to make 'Yurei' be Jadeite? A: It took me by surprise too, actually. Yurei was originally going to be an Archangel without any real sort of past, just someone who happened to be there at The End who helped out, got an extra dose of Vitamin G(inzuisho), and became an Archangel. About twenty pages in, I discovered Yurei was merely an alter-identity created by Jadeite. There's a lot of fanfiction out there on what happens when Jadeite escapes his ice prison. It's an oft-used plot device, I'll freely admit. In many of the stories, it works too. To set "The Paranoia Groove" apart from these other ones, though, I felt it better to hide the truth about Yurei's real identity until the very end. If you happen to reread the story one day, you'll see all the allusions I've dropped as to just who Yurei is. Instead of making Yurei a device, I wanted him to be a twist. Making Yurei into Jadeite also gave the story a new and welcomed aspect, one revolving around the fact that Jadeite has spent centuries now living in the shadow of the terrible things he did. Some of those around him have come to grips with it, forgiven and forgotten, but like a few of those around him, Jadeite can't quite forgive himself. This makes his discomfort with Crystal Tokyo all the more apparent, and it gave way to an unexpected bond between him and Hotaru. After all, they were both possessed by some form of infernal darkness when they were introduced in the TV series: Jadeite was under Beryl's control, and Hotaru was under Mistress 9's. The knowledge of what they've done, and subsequently the evil they're still capable of doing, segregates them from the Sailor Senshi who really haven't done any comparable sort of wrong. On the other hand, it served to bring Hotaru and Jadeite closer together. It probably started out as a friendship, as two people sharing kindred secrets and dark pasts. And then it grew from there. All the more tragic it becomes when Hotaru is attacked and becomes that which she feared she might one day become again. At its heart, "The Paranoia Groove" is about redemption and absolution: who needs it (like Hotaru); who already has it but still doesn't believe it (like Yurei/Jadeite); who believes in its power (like Serenity and Endymion) and who will discover that it's a double-edged sword (like Robin). Q: Robin seems vaguely familiar somehow. Haven't I seen her somewhere before? A: If you've watched 'Witch Hunter Robin', yes, you have. I borrowed the name and physical appearance of the titular character from one of my new favourite Anime series. I even gave Robin the pyrokinetic powers of her counterpart. Consider it my tribute to a series whose story helped inspire me, and whose soundtrack helped fuel some of the scenes found in "The Paranoia Groove." Q: What's the deal with The End? A: The End is exactly what it sounds like, what everyone refers to it as: the end of the world. If you didn't catch the bits and pieces scattered across the story, the events of the end of the world (at least, according to the Gospel of Groove) are as follows. A few years after the events in Sailorstars, Jadeite escaped his prison, and discovered that Beryl wasn't ruling the world and that the Senshi were even more powerful than before. He also came to discover that he had been possessed by Metalia, and been fighting for the wrong side. Burdened with this guilt, he helped the Sailor Senshi as part of his personal penance, but kept his distance. A year or so later, a new enemy appeared. It brought forth an army of youma who swarmed the entire world. The Sailor Senshi, with their friends and families, rallied together to protect as many survivors in Tokyo as they could. Somewhere during their last stand, Rei's grandfather sacrificed himself to buy the others time to get to higher ground. Jadeite had to drag Rei away from her grandfather, otherwise she would have died as well. Urawa, Ami's boyfriend from Season 1, sacrificed himself in a very similar way. To make matters worse, the true mastermind behind it all was due to arrive on Earth shortly. The inherent problem was that this entity was lurking in the core an incoming comet. Eternal Sailor Moon managed to destroy the entity, but was unable to stop the comet. It slammed into the planet, and triggered the Deep Freeze. Tokyo was just barely protected as the light of the Ginzuisho formed a barrier around the core of the city. While it was saved, everyone was lost to a deathlike slumber. When they awoke centuries later, it was as if they had only just fallen asleep moments earlier. No one had aged, but the world was destroyed and had been restored into a natural paradise untouched by humanity. All that remained of the old world was Tokyo. Work starts on rebuilding the city. Two hundred years later, the events of "Paranoia Groove" begin.... Q: Could you refresh my memory about the fates of the Archangels, please? Urawa would have made a great Archangel, but like Rei's grandfather, he sacrificed himself during the events of The End to save everyone else. Naru left the order decades before "The Paranoia Groove" began, to raise a family with Umino. Umino himself was the leader of the Archangels until he fell victim to an attack, and has since remained lost in a coma. Yuichiro is still alive, though the relationship he once had with Rei could best be described as 'estranged'. Motoki and his sister Uzumaki both survived The End, but were later killed during another youma invasion. Shinnozake (Makoto's best friend; we see him get attacked during the Doom Tree arc) survived The End, but was killed in a different youma invasion. Shingo, Usagi's little brother, is still alive. Momo, one of Chibiusa's classmates from the past (refer especially to the S and SuperS seasons), is still alive. Kyusuke, another of Chibiusa's classmates and friend with Momo, survived The End, but disappeared during the youma invasion that claimed the life of Shinnozake. It is unknown if he is alive or dead. Q: Rei is portrayed as bit of a bitch in this story, you know that? A: Yes, I know, but in her defence, she's been through a lot and at the time of the story, had a lot on her mind. Her devotion to Serenity and the Academy is fiercer than Yurei's devotion to the Angelus Order. Her hostility to the idea that a Candidate or Senshi is the one doing all the killing might as well be a slap in the face to her. Rei and Jadeite aren't exactly on the best of terms, either. She still doesn't trust him since he had been turned to evil before, and he was the one who stopped her from trying to protect her grandfather. For that matter, Jadeite hasn't exactly been helpful in mending the gap between them either. It probably stems back to the last time they had any sort of overt fight, which ended with her running him over with a Boeing jet. Plus, there needs to be a red herring in every murder mystery. And she was it. Q: I've been meaning to ask, but how does Chibiusa fit into all of this, despite her complete absence to the story? A: The truth of it is, having Chibiusa around would have added further complications to the story. Thusly, "The Paranoia Groove" takes place during her absence from the future. At the time the Candidates are being murdered, Chibiusa and Diana are back in the past battling the Dead Moon Circus. Q: But Hotaru went insane twenty years ago, according to the story. That means she was locked away during Chibiusa's childhood, during the Nemesis siege, and during the period where Chibiusa came back to the future at the end of Super. What did Chibiusa have to say about all this? A: Consider this for a moment: your young daughter returns from the past, gushing ecstatically about her new friend Hotaru, and how Hotaru was a Sailor Senshi. She then asks where Hotaru is, since obviously Hotaru must be somewhere in Crystal Tokyo with the Inner Senshi. She then asks why she hasn't ever seen Hotaru, or even Haruka or Michiru for that matter. How would you explain to her that her best friend in the past had since become possessed by an unnameable evil, murdered two of her fellow Soldiers, tried to end the world, and was currently locked away in a secret prison--all of this happening before your daughter had even been born? I imagine everyone told Chibiusa that, for all intents and purposes, Hotaru, Haruka and Michiru were all killed during an invasion before Chibiusa had been born. Better for Chibiusa to think them all dead than to have to come face to vicious face with a completely psychotic Hotaru. Q: There's also a lot of moments where you could have gone into greater detail with some of the other characters, to better flesh out the story as a whole. Why didn't you? A: The story's about Yurei. With the exception of two crucial scenes that needed to be written despite Yurei's absence in them (where Sumire reveals herself to Hotaru, and where the Archangels welcome Robin into the Order), everything is written from his perspective. For the most part, it's a limited omniscience; you're seeing the investigation and the world mostly through his eyes. Besides, it's a murder mystery. My official answer is that you can't have all the juicy secrets revealed by going into everyone's rooms; the mystery only works if you're allowed into only one or two rooms, and have to work through the rest. Unofficially, a mystery is one of the hardest styles of stories for me to write. I'm horrible at them. You may feel inclined to disagree, but it's a tremendous effort for me to know at the beginning who killed who and how and for what reasons. I tend to start with very little idea of how a story will end, and let the story take me where it wants to go from there. So as a result, writing "The Paranoia Groove" has had its share of difficulties. Q: This story is one of the darkest you've written. Almost as dark if not darker than "The Nocturnal Tour" and "1101." Any reason for this? A: Art reflects the hand that writes it. If not in entirety, then reflecting some facet of the mind of its creator. Everyone has a dark or darker period in their life. Some have them more often than others. Some seem to have one that never ends. At the time "The Paranoia Groove" was being written, life for me was becoming filled with unexpected stress and worries. Gory details omitted, it's hard to write something quirky and upbeat when you find it hard to truly smile each night. "The Paranoia Groove" became not just a story, but an exercise in catharsis. In order to purge the dark and brooding thoughts inside of me, I put them into my story, which in turn helped me. That doesn't mean it's wholly dark, or that I've sunk into depression. Like "The Paranoia Groove", there's still hope to be found in the situations I'm facing. That's why "The Paranoia Groove" is about the search for redemption. That's why it is a love story. A love story enveloped by very dark characters brooding about a very dark series of murders, mind you, but it's a love story nevertheless. Q: What sort of music did you listen to when you wrote this? A: A lot of different music, actually. The songs I listen to change with each new scene I write. Overall, I made gratuitous use of the Witch Hunter Robin soundtrack, as well as Rob Dougan's album "Furious Angels", and Klaus Badelt's score for the movie "Equilibrium." There's also been a mix of orchestral scores, ranging from "Navars" from the Matrix Revolutions; to "Lux Aeterna", which happens to be the music you heard a few years ago during the trailer for The Two Towers; as well as Yoko Kanno's "Moon" from Turn-A Gundam; and Origa's "Inner Universe" from the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series. Many of the songs used at the start of each section in the story were also used during the writing process at one time or another. Q: Now that you've finished "The Paranoia Groove", what are you going to do? A: Sit back, have a long, warm bath, and enjoy some warm Sake. Q: What sort of Sailormoon fanfics do you like to read? A: Short answer is, any written by these authors (in no apparent order) -Greenbeans -Ken Wolfe -Tim Nolan -Angus MacSpon -Sean Gaffney -Nightbreak -Meara -blue -Dejana -Andrea Hui -Saun There's also a considerable 'To Read' List, which includes fanfics written by Don, Starsea, Yumeko, Superkate, Sei no Bushi, Lois Fogg and a few others to boot. The paradox of being someone who likes to write a lot is that you spend almost all your spare time writing, which in turn sucks up all the spare time you could be reading. Q: I don't see any more questions after this one. Does this mean your author's notes are over? A: Yes, they are. Or haven't I prattled on enough yet? --His lordship Chaos. (October, 2004)