The basic plot premise has been seen a thousand times, but this fic takes Characterization Marches OnUp To Eleven, giving each of the former Duellists incredible amounts of credible character development, having some trying to improve themselves, and others falling to new lows, but always retaining connection to what they were in the series. Anthy is without doubt the most spectacular example; not only has she found bucketloads of confidence after leaving her brother, she eventually manages to become at least as frightening supernatural force to be reckoned with as he could ever hope to be, all while retaining her humanizing connection to Utena. The fic is sadly left permanently unfinished; Harnum by his own words was unable to express the emotions he wanted with his prose, though it's also possible that he wrote himself into a corner. Nevertheless, what exists of this story is well worth reading - hell, it would be worth writing another fanfic to make your own version of the nonexistant conclusion. It's at least as big a Mind Screw as the original series was, in a good sense. Kunihiko Ikuhara couldn't have done a better sequel.
Comment by Lightice
The basic plot premise has been seen a thousand times, but this fic takes Characterization Marches On Up To Eleven, giving each of the former Duellists incredible amounts of credible character development, having some trying to improve themselves, and others falling to new lows, but always retaining connection to what they were in the series. Anthy is without doubt the most spectacular example; not only has she found bucketloads of confidence after leaving her brother, she eventually manages to become at least as frightening supernatural force to be reckoned with as he could ever hope to be, all while retaining her humanizing connection to Utena. The fic is sadly left permanently unfinished; Harnum by his own words was unable to express the emotions he wanted with his prose, though it's also possible that he wrote himself into a corner. Nevertheless, what exists of this story is well worth reading - hell, it would be worth writing another fanfic to make your own version of the nonexistant conclusion. It's at least as big a Mind Screw as the original series was, in a good sense. Kunihiko Ikuhara couldn't have done a better sequel.