Author's Notes: Hit and Run

***HIT AND RUN***

**CHAPTER ONE: COLD SHOULDER**

This chapter is my fourth attempt/iteration at the “Hit and
Run” story beginning, which I think is a personal record. The first one started
with just… Kraken losing a training match, already AT the academy. The second
was the most similar to this, with the characters outside the NFA, and the
third started with Kraken saying “screw the system” and entering a physical
fight instead of any other exam to actually get into the NFA. This idea was
dropped because I wanted to place less emphasis on the school part of the
academy. Like, I don’t think a written exam is necessary to join the army?
(Though I could be wrong, to be honest. I haven’t checked.)

I remember grappling with exactly WHO Kraken was going to
meet on the bus – he’s always been the main character of this story, but the
side cast has varied a bit over the iterations. I ended up choosing Ruby, Plue
and Aaron because I decided on Ruby as a deuteragonist, and because Plue and
Aaron would both become very significant characters (within the entire series!)
in their own right (and it would only be suitable to introduce them early).

**CHAPTER TWO: TOUR GONE WRONG (ALMOST DIED)**

I had a LOT of trouble coming of with the title for this
chapter, and I think it shows. In any case, I had wanted to include a scene of
a character going crazy on a tour – just so I could write the quip “Great tour
so far” – after seeing Reviving Bionicle 3 (part 2). It was in the second
iteration of the scene, and then I left it out of the third one because it
didn’t fit, and then I wrote it back into the fourth edition for my own
satisfaction. So appreciate (or loathe, whatever) Aaron’s line “Great tour so
far”, because it’s the entire reason this scene exists.

**CHAPTER THREE: CONSPIRACY THEORIES**

Why Duke Exeter instead of some mook? Two reasons. One, I
wanted to humanize him after how quickly he got killed off in Maelstrom. Two, I
wanted to emphasise the prior influence of Kraken’s mother, who was a renowned
member of the Nexus Force. I also wanted to add some weight to the incident
(which is also why Kraken ends up hospitalised and scarred). Also… you know…
some juicy setup and foreshadowing.

**CHAPTER FOUR: DORM OMICRON**

Will gets a bit of an elongated introduction because I
wanted anyone who read Maelstrom before this to be sad.

Also, I got all of Aaron’s “bro” names from either Broforce
or the internet (the point is that I can’t take credit for them either way).

Now, one of my key influences for this story became the
anime “The Pet Girl of Sakura Hall”, which is not nearly as creepy a show as
the title would imply. (As a matter of fact, it’s a neat commentary on the idea
of hard work versus natural talent combined with a whole load of fluffy
wholesome scenes of characters interacting and drawing closer to one another.
Plus one of the main characters could be perceived as autistic (specifically a
savant)… I could go on. But I won’t.) It’s where I got the idea of “hall”
Omicron as opposed to “dorm” Omicron or anything similar. There is also a
supervisor of questionable reliability who is sensitive about her age… I’ll say
no more. But if you’ve seen that show, its influences ought to be fairly
transparent.

**CHAPTER FIVE: DEMONS**

A fair chunk of this chapter is ripped from the previous
iteration of this story (and, I mean, why not).

The teacher was originally called “York” as a reference to
Red vs Blue, but I changed the name to Chromes as an homage to the YouTube
channel JerBear, and the character of Indiana Chromes.

I wanted to establish Kraken as something of an artist. As
readers will later discover, it’s something of a family trait. (The idea
originally started with a headcanon of mine that Norik draws for therapeutic
reasons once he joins Pandemonium’s Bane.)

Why *does* Ruby
care? Good question. I have experience (from both sides) of one person pushing
another to take better care of themselves just for… like, the sake of health.
To anyone wondering why Ruby would care so much about Kraken so early on? She
doesn’t necessarily. But at this point she respects him enough as a human being
to give him some earnest advice, and look out for his better interests. That’s
just the kind of person she is.

Also, watch this demon-shaped space.

**CHAPTER SIX: NEWCOMER**

In iteration one of this story, Plue had basically no
character. In iteration two of this story… I really don’t remember. I didn’t
get very far, and she wasn’t prominent from the beginning. In iteration three
of this story, she was SUPER timid. I wanted to create a contrast between her
then and her come the beginning of Maelstrom, but I basically *way* overdid it. This time round, I still
wanted her to be a lot less commanding and confident than she comes across in
future stories, but I wanted her attitude to be something that could
realistically change over the course of a year (how long I wanted the story to
take place over).

Also – though I tried to kind of hammer this home in “People
Skills” – Plue has joined an ever-increasing line-up of characters who I’m
writing as autistic. Yes, diversity is important or whatever, but
autism/Asperger’s is the one point of marginalisation, difference, and social
commentary that I can actually write about based on experience. I’m not a person
of colour, I’m not a woman, I’m not gay or LGBT in general. But I AM autistic,
and feel as though I’m a bit more qualified to address the issues that come
with being that way. (Not that I’m not going to include characters who are POC,
female, or LGBT, but it’s rule number 161: you can write marginalised
characters, but don’t write about marginalisation unless you’ve experienced it.)

As some bonus trivia, other autistic characters are Iamos (as
previously stated) and Lux – but the one other who is very relevant to this
story is none other than our main character, Kraken himself. (Or, at least, I’m
writing him as though he were.) He and Plue have, I think, more in common than
either really realise, and its interesting to see how they interact – especially when they’re on the same wavelength, in a lot of ways. Muhaha.

And yeah, why *is* Plue in a military unit when she doesn’t know how to properly throw a punch? I
mean, experience wasn’t necessary, but she has a drive of her own that should
be explored in the future.

**CHAPTER SEVEN: LESSON ONE**

I tried hard to press the… relationship between Aaron and
Plue in this chapter. As one might or might not) have guessed, they’re not
romantically involved at this point. Hard to imagine, right? In any case,
exactly how they got together is a little thing I hope to explore.

Also… INTREPID. In this story’s third iteration, Intrepid
and Kraken had a far more over-the-top rivalry, with them both physically and
metaphorically butting heads several times (and getting into a fair share of
fights, both as allies and as enemies). He was a contrast to Kraken in that he
was extremely loud and over-the-top - though also quite amicable. That being
said, they had similarities (such as being extremely driven and tenacious) that
were supposed to bring them together as proper rivals/friends in the end.

This time round, I actually had a long think about whether I
even WANTED Intrepid in this version - the full dorm Omicron had already been
established in my head, and I wasn't sure how I felt about another cast member.
So, I made him the member of another dorm. :P

In any case, Intrepid is a more subdued character this time
round, because there's going to be enough craziness without someone else
bouncing off the walls. He's still someone I want to contrast with Kraken, as
kind of reflection-but-also-inversion of him. I've also tried to make him truer
to the original Intrepid, my friend Talmid's character. I don't know too much
about the character, but I've gone off what I could find on his wikia page - if
only so it isn't as jarring to anyone who reads both this and the Stromling
Saga.

Final point: it’ll be a little different, obviously, but I’m
basing the Aaron/instructor dynamic of that of Holt and Wuntch from Brooklyn
Nine-Nine.