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Before I created this Web Domain, and named it Phantasia, Phantasia was a BBS in Houston, Texas. It was mainly devoted to Role Playing, Anime, and Science Fiction. There was a message board called the Golden Unicorn Tavern, and I had a great deal of fun hanging out "in character" in the Tavern, and telling my stories.
Phantasia eventually closed down, the Internet proving to be too much competition for the old BBS communities. But I miss those days, when a computer and a little time was all it took to create your own little world, where people could gather to tell stories and play games together. In memory of the old Phantasia, I created this one, and I still hope to recapure that idea, to help people who want to just create little private sites like this one. Unfortunately, it still isn't possible for us to compete with the big commertial sites, at least not yet.
Most of the stories I've written here as the Guardians of Atlantis got their start on the Phantasia BBS, where I "tested out" the final characters and storyline I will use here. I have also saved some of the stories the other members of the BBS told, and have posted many of them in my Tavern Tales section. Be sure to check it out.
Alan Midnight was originally a character that I envisioned as a spaceship pilot, in a future universe. I often used the character for role playing games. Eventually, I joined a game based on a cyberpunk universe online (on the Phantasia BBS, actually) and came up with the idea of crossing a cyberpunk character with a film noir detective.
Alan is clearly based on Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, he even acknowledges that connection in his first story. The relationship between Alan and Rachel, however, is based very much on Stacy Keach's Mike Hammer, and Lindsey Bloom's Velda.
Rachel is also partially inspired by the character of Rachel Raccoon, created by Les Dietz. Lez Dietz's art was itself inspired by Eric Schwartz, so I definately consider Eric Schwartz's artwork to also be an inspiration for Rachel. Despite this connection, Rachel is not intended to be either Rachel Raccoon or any of Eric's characters, and no copyright infringement is intended.
The Crime Fighters was mainly developed as a daily project assigned by my English teacher when I was in Junior High. The project was to write a page on any subject every day. I ended up writing something very similar to this page, I would start with an idea for a series of stories, and write each story a page at a time. I returned to the Crime Fighters a number of times, although they were not really good stories back then. :)
The character of Blue Diamond was originally created by Robbie Castro, a classmate of mine at the time. He suggested the character while we were making up various superheroes, and I ended up using him when I began writing the stories.
You may have noticed that the titles of all Crime Fighters adventures are lines from Shakespeare. This is intentional, and in fact there are two other "running gags" in the Crime Fighters stories. The first is that the chapters have titles, which echoes a line from that chapter. The second is that Element Dog, or occasionally one of the other characters, will always end each episode with a pun.
The Shakespeare and chapter title references developed over time, as I wrote the stories both back in school, and in later versions. Element Dog's punning, however, has been with the series from the start. One of Element Dog's primary inspirations was Mr. Peabody, from Peabody's Improbable History. Note that a humorous story ending in a pun, like the original Peabody adventures, is called a "Feghoot". Although my Crime Fighters stories are more serious in tone, I consider them in the spirit of a Feghoot.
As I mention on the Guardians page, Guardians of Atlantis was originally a series of Dungeons and Dragons cames that I played back in High School. The various stories actually continued until well after college, so I have a lot to draw on.
The characters of Foryncia, Aowyne, and Morgwaine (to appear later) were created by my sister, Felicity Ryley.
The characters of Arianna and Kalgon were created by my mother and father, Patricia and Richard Ryley. My father also wrote the story of the Devil's Iceberg, and created Ragon and Morgon.
The character of Relissan was created by Gayle Simon.
The character of Angus Buchanon was created by Jim Wills.
The stories listed here are Copyright © Richard Ryley, commertial rights reserved, as listed on each of the individual story pages. The stories posted here may be distributed freely, as long as they are not modified in any way, and proper credit is given to myself and this website. I would like to be notified by email if you wish to reprint or post any of my stories, but otherwise this will be allowed free of charge, as long as such posting is not for profit and includes the proper credit and notice of copyright. Any organization that wishes to publish one of my stories may negotiate with me by email.
Although my fanfiction is not covered by the same copyright laws as my original stories, I do allow distribution of these stories as allowed by law, and would like to hear from anyone who likes them or decides to repost them. Of course, proper credit should be given. Rules for the use of fanfiction are probably more completely covered by fanfiction.net.
Use of my fan artwork is covered under the same rules as my fanfiction. My original artwork (my werewolves, as well as drawings of Patty Smyth I have posted on her fan page) may be posted or reprinted in newsgroups or non-profit fan sites, as long as I am contacted for permission. (You do not need to, as long as it is not for profit, but I would appreciate knowing anywhere my artwork is reposted) Note that the other fan artworks on Patty's web page are the property of their owners. Please email me if you wish to contact of one them.
If you wish to use any of my original characters in fan works of your own, please contact me. I would welcome this, as I'd like to see other takes on my characters, as long as they are handled responsibly.
If you would like to comment on anything on this page, send me an email.
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