3/30/2002
:cinder:

A discourse on the errata, lore, odd notes, and humbuggery
involved in  creating Ashes: A Cinderella Story.

As originally conceived Ashes was to be a story about Hiroshi,
leaving  Ranma and his friends as supporting cast.  The tale
began with a 'what if' - What if Hiroshi made a wish in such a
way that it could be mis-interpreted by Ryoga?  What if Ryoga
was, through no fault of his own, temporarily a fairy god-pig
capable of granting that wish?


There are several items which reccur frequently in Ashes:
threads,  ashes, dance, song, masks.

Threads are frequently mentioned in the lead-in poem which
introduces  each chapter.  Each poem contains two lines about
threads and weaving (in reference to Freya's loom) and two lines
tying in dance and interacting with other people (social
ceremony).

The story begins with a comment about 'three threads' (being the
events  connecting ryoga and basho, hiroshi and kidori, and urd).
Loki has disturbed the threads in Freya's weaving and has been
given the task of correcting his mischief.

A midsummer's knight: ------------------------------------------
I mention the term 'knight' several times in reference to the
samuarai.   This is, of course, misleading.  The European knight
was supposed to have been grounded in chivalry, dedicated to the
protection and love of women (which does not leave out the
possibility that they would focus on one fair maiden and treat
all others as scum, nor was it an iron- clad rule.  Rogues there
were, in armor, too).  The samurai, on the other hand, would not
allow his personal feelings to interfere with his sense of duty,
which was to serve as a warrior.  If cruelty served, he used it.

Now, about the ashes: -----------------------------------------
Cinders/Ashes.  The name Cinderella derives from  an old fairy
tale called 'Cinder Arse' about a girl who sat around in the
grime from a fireplace.  Yygdrasil, the great tree (and computer
from AMG), was/is an ash tree.  At the base of the great tree is
Urd's Well, from which the tree gets its water, so Urd is tied in
with the destiny of Yygdrasil.  In the story, Hainoko-chan
(Hiroshi's little sister) means 'ash child'.  The haunted mask
Kidori uses to assume her Primrose identity is made of ash wood.


There are several Cinderellas in this story: -------------------
The most blatant, of  course, is the girl-type which Hiroshi
becomes when he utters the magic phrase.  Not so obvious is
Kidori, who was raised by the cruel step- mother and is abused by
her ugly step-sisters. Hainoko, being 'Ash-Child' is a sort-of
Cinderella.  Can you spot another?

(answer and spoiler: The very time frame of the story is a
spoiler.  Ashes takes place between Chapter 35 and 36 of the
Ranma Manga, which places it just after Konatsu made his
appearance and before Ranma finally meets his mother as a man.  I
have always considered Konatsu and the tale of the Sexy Kunoichi
Sisters to have been a Cinderella tale, and I suspect that
Takahachi fully intended it as such.  All I did was to add
another step-child with a split personality and everything
developed from there. ^_^)


Non-canon issues, new characters: ------------------------------
Basho and Kidori/Primrose are totally new, with no link to the
Ranma series (other than Kidori's stepmother).  Hiroshi's family
was created out of whole cloth - Pops, Mom, and Hainoko.  As far
as I have been able to find out, Hiroshi does not have a family
name or even a family in either manga or anime.

For the story, Hiroshi calls his father 'Pops' but is devoted to
him.   His father has a blue-collar job, an apartment, no car, a
big heart and a fixed idea about what constitutes 'manly'
behavior.  Hiroshi loves his mother despite her eccentricities,
and it should be obvious that she is the ruling member of the
family.  Hainoko, being a little sister, has often felt shoved
aside or ignored, partly because she was withdrawn and quiet,
partly because she was jealous of the attention that Hiroshi was
getting as the oldest son.