One of my favorite Film Directors, in a blatant display of artistic integrtity, said that "great artists don't do homages... they steal."
So before anyone accuse me of ripping-off this work or that one, I plan to be right upfront about the influences that inspired this as well as the often obscure cultural references that I will drop from time to time.
You know... purely as an homage. LOL
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The Tablet: The single biggest inspiration in thie story comes the Notebook in Death Note. (Although since it's more like a computer, I think the accusation of it being a Hell Girl rip-off would be more accurate.) In any case, I won't deny being a huge fan of both series, and that both the Notebook and the Hell Correspondence Website were inspirations for Luci's tablet. Other than that there is very little else that those series share with this story. There are no parallel characters, and the motivations of our respective casts are completely different. In any case, if anyone wants to call me out for ripping off the idea from one of those two works? Don't bother. I've seen both, and I'll happily admit that they're both influences on my work.
The Last Word: The idea for the last word actually comes from Planescape. It was first mentioned in The Great Modron March, and was central to the plot of Dead Gods. In the game, it's a word that had the power to kill a God. Any mortal that used it would be instantly destroyed by it, and even seeing it written or perceiving it in their minds would cause them great pain, and quite possibly serious harm. In the stories, it was slowly killing the demigod (Orcus) who was using it to kill other deities in his quest for power. I've amp'ed up he word's power in this case, to the point that only the one true God would ever be able to actually ever say it in it's entirity, and that it would end everything if he did. But the idea is still very similar.
The Rush Limbaugh Program: The excerpt playing on the radio in Chapter 9 was an actual quote, taken from the transcript of the 11/23/2010 Rush Limbaugh Program. Yeah - he actually said that. For any sticklers out there, I'm actually technically using it a day early, since Chapter 9 takes place on 11/22/2010, if anyone's counting.
Hanntiy: The interview with Sarah Palin that Edward and Epihpany watched 'together' in Chapter 9 was all taken from transcripts of Sean Hannity's program on Fox, which aired on 11/22/2010. There are some part that are omitted but tho the best of my judgement, none of the context of what was changed said should have been altered because of it. What I used was used in the correct order and the missing parts for the most part fit fairly well into the time that Edward and Epiphany were talking to one another, and not paying direct attention to it.
Warning: The Song that kicked on in Chapter 10 when Epiphany grabbed the stereo's remote instead of the television is called Warning, and it is on Black Sabbath's 1971 self-titled debut almum. You can hear the entire song here. And, yes, there is some symbolism to it.
