Alternate Universe

So... last night I was thinking about the alternate universe and here are a few things I've come up with.

1. Maplewood Academy is still in existence. A few of the teachers from Maplewood are still there (ie, Candace Pruitt, Josiah Alton). Yes, they were characters at RHS, so that's not too odd.

This presents a bit of a problem, as Maplewood required Latin for all its students. There is no Latin teacher at RHS (he retired around 1990, which is about fifteen years before Once Upon an AU takes place).
My solution? Well, we know that Sharpe is fluent in Latin (and took at least three years of it in university). I'd like to get him teaching Latin. But that would leave us without a chemistry teacher at RHS, right? Wrong. Both Candace Pruitt and Josiah Alton are definitely capable of teaching science classes. Candace used to be the chemistry teacher at Maplewood (in the CU), whereas Josiah taught biology. Neither of them really teach anymore by the time the RHS stories take place. Candace is working in the office as the vice-principal and Josiah works with other administration stuff... and occasionally substitutes for other teachers.

2. Hideaki needs to transfer to Maplewood partway through the year. He can't be there in the beginning, but he has to come into the storyline somehow.

If he does end up staying with the Liu family, this could potentially be interesting. This takes place their sophomore year of high school, which would mean that Kiran is staying with Michael's family. If Hideaki joined them, there would be seven kids in the house; that's quite a lot!
If this was not AU, this could cause some potential problems with the general timeline of the other stories. Hideaki isn't supposed to get to know anyone in the fellowship (Michael, Scott, Sam, etc.) until the end of their junior year. However, he does know Emiko quite well by that point.

3. Keith Chandler, Aislynn Celeste, Rem Argentium and Seven McAllistair?

I need to figure out some way to bring these four characters in. Aislynn helps Hugh Avery run the after-school math program at RHS, so she'd probably do something similar at Maplewood. I was thinking that Rem Argentium is the new history teacher. I am not so sure about Seven and what he could do, other than he could potentially come in and fix computers or something like that. And... Keith. I have no idea where he's going to come in. Same thing with some of the Alcanthan students (ie, Callisto Verity, Hana Rei and Donovan Isaacs... and some of their friends).

4. Since this is the AU, then I can give my characters cool powers... maybe. Or maybe not. *shrugs* I've been debating back and forth with that for quite some time and weighing the pros against the cons of the situation.

I already know that Seven has a photographic memory, but that's not too special. And he's always had that; it was part of his original character concept. I'll have to figure out how "realistic" I want to make it. The more realistic it ends up being, the fewer characters who are able to do crazy things will be running around. Though a certain character still needs the ability to disguise herself extremely well...

And those are just a few of the things I've been thinking of recently. Hopefully this piece might actually get written for once, instead of just sitting there with nothing to do. But it'll all depend on how much I figure out about this particular version of the AU I want to build.

KC

So... I finally figured out where Keith comes from and how he's connected to the rest of what I've written thus far. That requires a little bit of background info, though.

In the chess story I am planning out, various students at RHS are competing for the top slot in the school, but I've never really said what that means. Whoever wins the RHS final match will meet the school champion from Northpointe Academy. The Northpointe champion is Keith Chandler.

This actually makes a lot of sense because he's told me that he knows Rem Argentium (who graduated from Northpointe) and I know he's related to Aislynn. She tends to mimic other people's physical looks and mannerisms, but he does that with personality and quirks, so it would make sense if they're related.

The champion between RHS and Northpointe will then go onto play against the champion of the Alcantha vs. Melanthios match. Hmm... this makes me wonder if Callisto is going to show up somewhere because both she and Hana (Emiko's half-sister) go to Alcantha. I don't know yet.

But I was sitting at some meal over the past couple of days when I realised where KC comes in. It was totally wierd because I did not know that before. Yes, most people call him KC.

I still don't know where Seven McAllistair comes into all of this. I know he's really good with computers and it wouldn't surprise me if he had also gone to Northpointe at one point or another. Northpointe is located in British Columbia, Canada; it's a magnet school for the gifted and talented, especially those who live up north and on the western half of the USA. Melanthios works the same way for those who live on the East Coast and Alcantha is similar for those who live in (or around) the UK.

Hoorah for random new characters and the fact that they actually fit into the story!!!

Thirty Pieces of Silver, Anyone?

I've been plotting for Once Upon an Alternate Universe, also known as the continuation to this piece (go read that first!) and I have something really cool in mind for Aislynn Celeste. Simply because she is who she is and I'm planning to take advantage of that, as any author would. Basically what happens is that Sharpe's life ends up being one giant lie for a good cause, Emiko must ignore her father's wishes and take matters into her own hands as far as her life goes and Kiran Shasthri and Nate Winters go on a secret mission to uncover what really happened to Ackerman. Meanwhile, the Fellowship (Michael, Scott, Sam, Hideaki, Evan, Tyler and Marie) must decide where they're going to stand in the conflict and remember that betrayal comes from within their ranks... and with thirty pieces of silver.

Starring
Sharpe
Emiko Takahashi
Peter Screwtape
Aislynn Celeste
Kiran Shasthri
Nathaniel "Nate" Winters
Donovan Isaacs
Tetsuya Takahashi
Hideaki Sato
Michael Liu
Scott Adams
Samantha Adams
Marie Wilson
Tyler Martin
Evan Saunders
Featuring
Shaun Ackerman
Dr. Shasthri
Laura Clarkson
Hugh Avery
Sophia McAllistair
Ming-Yue Tam
Callisto and Ali Verity
and many, many more...

No, but seriously... this is going to be so much fun to write!!! I'm really excited to actually get around to writing it. I've been planning some out as ideas have come (mainly at meals when I've had a few extra minutes and my notebook with me). I have huge plans for certain characters and I am greatly excited about that... particularly for Aislynn Celeste. I know what I'm going to do with her and how I'm bringing her into the story.

This piece is going to involve a lot of my characters, not only from second generation, but also from first generation and from abroad. Like the teachers at Riverdale (Laura Clarkson, Hugh Avery, Ackerman and Sharpe are the only ones metioned specifically) will be making appearances or be in the story. Peter Screwtape is the principal of RHS. Dr. Shasthri (Kiran's aunt) was Sharpe's university physics professor. I'm not sure what she'll be doing in the story, but it'll be interesting. Callisto, Ali and Donovan live in the UK. Sophia is from Arizona, but she knows Donovan. Ming, Kiran and Nate are all from New York. Laura Clarkson is originally from Texas and Aislynn's originally from Canada somewhere. Sharpe was born on the East Coast, but moved to California when he was a teenager. I'm pretty sure most of the other characters are SF Bay Area California local.

Oh, do I love playing around with symbolism, allegory and the meanings of names!!!

Since other characters come into this story, I guess I should mention the sister schools. There's four of them.

Maplewood Academy:
Location: California.
School Colors: Burgandy and Silver
Mascot: Gryphon
Known Students: Sharpe, Tetsuya Takahashi, Shaun Ackerman, Jonathan and Jeremiah Liu, Rose and Felicia McGonigall, Mac O'Brien (et al.)
History: Was founded in 1953. First Dean of Students was Angel Carlston. Lost ability to exist due to lack of funding and was forced to close in Spring of 1999. Campus is now the site of Riverdale High School.
Culture: Maplewood is the only one of the four schools that is not a boarding school. It schools kids from sixth through twelfth grade. Uniforms are required.

Northpointe Academy:
Location: Canada
School Colors: Dark Purple and White
Mascot: Falcon
Known Students: Aislynn Celeste (also her father)
History: Northpointe was founded in 1950.
Culture: Most students here are exceptional at various forms of art. School uniforms are not required for most purposes. Classes are taught in both French and English; nearly all students who attend are bilingual. This is a mandatory boarding school: starting at age ten, students are offered dormitory rooms to share with others their age.

Melanthios Boarding School:
Location: New York
School Colors: Green and Black
Mascot: Vikings
Known Students: Kiran Shasthri, Nate Winters, Ming-yue Tam (et al.)
History: Founded in 1909, Melanthios is by far the oldest of the four schools in the coalition.
Culture: Melanthios places a high priority on academics. They accept students from seventh through twelfth grade with suggested (but optional) boarding. School uniforms are casual, but must be worn to most classes and on special occasions. When students are not in uniform, there is a fairly strict dress code to follow. Classes are small and there are approximately 500 students attending Melanthios at any given point; about 450 of those are boarding students. Melanthios was originally only a boarding school, but opened its doors in 1972 to become open to daytime students, as well (hence its full name).

Alcantha Instructional Institution:
Location: Northern England
School Colors: Navy Blue and Gold
Mascot: Sharks
Known Students: Callisto and Ali Verity, Hana Rei, Donovan Isaacs (et al.)
History: Alcantha was founded in 1949 and houses students mostly from the UK.
Culture: If nothing else, they're strict. To attend Alcantha, boarding is required. Students must wear uniforms at all times outside the dorms, except if official permission is given; they are not allowed to wander the halls at night and there are many more rules. Many students who attend here come from rich families. Alcantha leans neither towards academics nor arts nor athletics.