Midnight Man
Contents
About
Based in Hamburg, Germany, Midnight Man works at the design department of an airplane industry supplier. His nickname is taken from a Flash & the Pan song and linked with the time when he took the final step into active Rangerphilia and registered at the Acorn Cafe—on March 1, 2006, at midnight (Central European Time); for now, he prefers keeping his real name mostly secret.
He is also a Ranger Wiki contributor.
Ranger Code
RRC+ R- P--@ TH(A+;I;X;Hu!;Mu;My+;R!;P;Su) ME--- Ix! CR>+ Cc++d+g+++m+z+f++t+fc+nrc- Ec+d@g++m-f@ D-> M++ Zm+ GH+ L Ge(61%) Pc++d-@o(Rat Capone)--- SSs(1>2)d(12)
Fan Fiction
The works are listed in chronological order of their release.
The Joyride
The Joyride was written and posted to test the author's capabilities of writing fan fiction, to find out the public's reactions, and to gain some first experiences. Save some contributions to spontaneous round robins at the Cafe, it is still his only written work in script format.
First released: Midnight Man's first released piece of fan fiction was completely written on March 13, 2006, and released at the Acorn Cafe in the evening (CET) of the same day. Starting out nameless, this extremely short story was given the title The Joyride about two months later on May 7.
Title references: The title simply describes what the story is about.
Part of series: The Joyride is independent of any series or Rangerverse.
Length: 146 words.
Rating: All ages
Synopsis
The story is a spoof on a German radio commercial. After some improvements on the Ranger Mobile, Gadget invites her friends to a joyride. The latter, however, come up with excuses why not to enter the vehicle which they don't really trust.
Important Characters
Canonical
Devices
External Links
Midnight At The Café
Following the example of some other Rangerphiles, Midnight Man wrote a self-introducing fanfic for the Acorn Cafe. After a first draft which was written on March 5, 2006, but discarded soon after, the work on the longest non-round robin self-introduction so far started around the middle of the month.
First released: The five chapters were released at the Acorn Cafe independently on May 19, 21, 26, 30, and April 1, 2006.
Title reference: The title refers to both the main character and the time he arrives at the Acorn Cafe.
Part of series: Midnight At The Cafe opens Midnight Man's Rangerverse, but it's regarded as one of his self-insertion supplements.
Length: 9,812 words (the whole work), 9,778 words (the story text only); five chapters
Rating: All ages
Synopsis
While Midnight Man has joined the fandom at midnight CET, his self-insertion character, Midnight, steps into the famous Acorn Cafe for the first time at midnight local time. He meets a handful of Rangerphiles that night who invite him to come back the next day to have breakfast. Besides, after they have found out that he is a musician, they ask him to bring his instruments and play.
So he does—the next morning, he is back at the Cafe, bringing his instruments—a set of synthesizers—and not only meeting even more Rangerphiles, but also the Rescue Rangers themselves plus Foxglove and Tammy. But Gadget's reaction on meeting him for the first time makes some problems concerning the future occur, and it is his duty to get things right.
Important Characters
Canonical
Inserted Rangerphile Characters
External Links
The story at the Acorn Cafe:
Too Huge To Be True
The idea of crossing Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers over with TaleSpin is almost as old as the oldest online CDRR fan fiction. But due to the differences between the two universes—not only the periods of time—no CDRR/TaleSpin crossover has ever been entirely written, let alone published, until 2006 when Midnight Man used a trick to combine these two universes—he made everything happen in a dream.
This story's working process started on April 1, just a few hours after the last chapter of Midnight At The Café had been released, and the last chapter was finished immediately before it was posted at the Acorn Cafe the night between May 20 and 21.
Something furthermore interesting about Too Huge To Be True is that Kevin Sharbaugh stated during the publishing process that he had more than just an idea concerning such a crossover, it was actually a story concept, and he even foresaw Geegaw Hackwrench appearing in the story.
First released: April 25 to May 21, 2006. The story was posted one chapter a day; days with no chapter were followed by days with two chapters and some hours between them. Only the last chapter was delayed a few hours.
Title reference: Huge refers to the aircraft engineer Howard Huge, his giant seaplane called The Marabou which plays a great role in the story, and the dimensions of the story itself which the author considers rather long for a crossover of that degree; To Be True means that almost the whole plot is a dream.
Part of series: Too Huge To Be True is the first regular story in Midnight Man's Rangerverse.
Length: 37,025 words (the whole work), 36,869 words (only the story text plus preface); 26 chapters and a preface
Rating: All ages
Synopsis
The Rescue Rangers have taken an afternoon off and spent it watching an 8-hour TaleSpin marathon. This doesn't lack consequences: That night, Gadget dreams herself and the other Rangers to Cape Suzette into the world of TaleSpin. This is where the problems start: The Rangers, about as tall as everyone else in this world, find out that they'll need money to get along. The Higher for Hire crew is in urgent need of help on a delivery for the preparations of a ball which Baloo and Rebecca will attend the same evening. And the crazy aircraft engineer Howard Huge has to retrieve the Marabou, the biggest bird he has ever designed, which has ditched in a desert on its second flight some years ago, and which has been so secret that nobody really believes in its existence.
Important Characters
Canonical (CDRR)
Lahwhinie – The correct spelling of her name is LaWahini, and the pronunciation is a tidbit different, too. Unfortunately, no-one except herself knows that or can tell the difference, so she is being called Lawhiney all the time.
Canonical (TaleSpin)
Baloo
Kit Cloudkicker
Rebecca Cunningham
Molly Cunningham
Wildcat
Louie
Don Karnage
The Air Pirates
Howard Huge
Original (CDRR)
Original (TaleSpin)
Ol' Rufus
Darren
Devices
Canonical (CDRR)
The Screaming Eagle – This story shows Geegaw's plane equipped with pontoons and converted into a seaplane, yet still capable of landing on solid ground.
Canonical (TaleSpin)
The Sea Duck
The Iron Vulture
The CT-37 Pirate Fighters
Original (TaleSpin)
The Rangergull
The Marabou
External Links
Too Huge To Be True's first release at the Acorn Cafe, interrupted by readers' comments
Too Huge To Be True at Chip 'n' Dale Online without interruptions
(These links will probably both be replaced with the RRDatabase link once the Database is back online)
A Hero That's None
The main purpose of A Hero That's None was to send Midnight, the author's self-insertion character, through a more Ranger-like adventure. The working process started on May 22, and the story was finished the evening before its release on the Acorn Cafe's story board.
First released: September 1, 2006, 12:00 am (Acorn Cafe server time). Originally, it was scheduled to be published together with its successor. But Midnight Man decided against this and in favor of releasing it on his half-anniversary at midnight. The entire story was released at once.
Title reference: Midnight doesn't regard himself as a hero, no matter what he does.
Part of series: A Hero That's None is a part of Midnight Man's Rangerverse; the self-insertion subsection, to be more precise.
Length: 25,578 words (the whole work), 25,517 words (the story text only); 10 chapters
Rating: PG (I'm careful with the showdown. Correct this if I'm too careful.)
Synopsis
To make seeing the Rescue Rangers and their fans easier, Midnight has moved to New York City and found a simple dwelling-place opposite the meeting place of the famous Cola Cult. One day, the Cult appears to be quieter than usual, and Midnight finds out that it has to do with Rat Capone who is about to enslave the whole Cult. Nevertheless, he tries to keep himself out of this case as far as he can. He alerts the Rangers—not by telling them, but by leaving anonymous hints for them. He then concentrates on the more beautiful things in life and sees a mouse girl he has met shortly before he moved. But this case won't leave him in peace...
Important Characters
Canonical
The Cola Cult
Inserted Rangerphile Characters
Several unnamed Rangerphiles
Original
Devices
Canonical
The Ranger Plane
The Ranger Wing
The Rangermobile
The Ranger Skate and the Bagpipe Express are mentioned but not used.
Original
External Links
A Hero That's None at the Acorn Cafe
Midnight Man's Rangerverse
Characters
Notes to Canonical Characters
Like in many other Rangerverses, there have been some additions to what makes the canonical characters themselves in Midnight Man's Rangerverse, too. For example, the four male Rescue Rangers all have the same frequently used set of last names assembled by the J.A.M. for Death of a Comedian.
Chip
Not only has Midnight Man used the well-known last names established by Michael Demcio, but he has also declared "Chip" a nickname. So the full name of the Rescue Rangers' leader is Charles Maplewood.
Chip has started dating Gadget in 1990, shortly after Dale has met Foxglove. But it is hard for the two of them to reveal their feelings to each other and to establish a relationship.
Dale and Foxglove
Like Chip, Dale has the last name which had been given to him for the first time in Rhyme and Reason, Oakmont.
It was easy for Foxglove to conquer his heart after the events of Good Times, Bat Times. Chip and Foxglove have been a loving couple since then.
Gadget
Gadget has the same romantic interests in Chip as he has in her; they have developed since he has started dating her. However, in a strong contrast to her technical and scientific knowledge, she has learned way too little about love in her youth to be able to judge her own feelings.
Monterey Jack and Zipper
They both have last names now, too. Colby (for Monterey Jack) has been used by several writers before and is based on the name of his ancestor, Sir Colby, whereas Lightringer (for Zipper) is a creation of Natasha Kashefipour.
Tammy and Bink
The two squirrel girls have grown up to be young women by the time most of Midnight Man's stories take place. Bink goes on living her obsession for the Ranger Plane: Gadget gives her flying lessons. Besides, Tammy and Bink have a last name, too: Chesnutt.
Original Characters
Midnight
Midnight is Midnight Man's self-insertion character. He appears in Midnight At The Café, but he has also been inserted by RangerReady23 into some of his Acorn Cafe Adventures.
Dawn van Zant
There are actually two Dawn van Zants. One of them appears in Too Huge To Be True only, and therefore, she is nothing but a creation of Gadget's subconsciousness. She is a young archaeologist striving for jobs in Cape Suzette and an almost exact Gadget look-alike.
The other one appears in A Hero That's None for the first time. She has a remote resemblance to Gadget, too, and although she is not yet another "Gadget clone", she is still cute enough to draw Midnight's attention. Her parents, Franklin and Stephanie van Zant, run a restaurant called The Morning Sun.
Devices
Rangergull
The Rangergull is a Conwing L-16 seaplane like Baloo's famous Sea Duck, but it lacks the countless nifty improvements, it even still has its old REV-1 engines. In fact, it hasn't been moved for years until the Rangers bought it for incredibly cheap. Although even Wildcat has pronounced it run down and damaged beyond repair, Gadget manages to get it running again and calls it the Rangergull for its white color. The plane serves the Rangers on several occasions throughout the story.
The Rangergull appears exclusively in Too Huge To Be True.
Marabou
Between the Spruce Moose and the Titanium Turkey, Howard Huge has conceived yet another oversized seaplane, even larger than his other two creations. The Marabou is a freight aircraft with two cargo decks which, due to the immense fuselage diameter, are big enough to carry a number of complete, ready-to-fly standard seaplanes such as the Conwing L-16 plus their cargo. The cockpit has seats for four pilots, and the twin-tailed behemoth is powered by a dozen 12-cylinder engines which are heavily modified former marine diesels made of aluminum to reduce their weight, running on gasoline and being aspirated by superchargers. Fitting its name, it is painted cherry red.
The Marabou project has been kept absolutely secret so that aviators are making fun of those who believe in it. This is why nobody has ever tried to retrieve it in the Great Uslandic Desert where it had to ditch on its second ever flight some years before. But now, Huge wants his plane back as he would be almost broke if there wasn't still a certain amount of cash hidden in that bird.
The Marabou appears exclusively in Too Huge To Be True.
The Storm
The Storm is a rodent-sized replica of a North American P-51D "Mustang" built in 1957 by the Ultra-Flite Laboratories. It used to be the property of Jefferson van Zant, but after his death, his son Franklin stored it. The old warbird-style plane hasn't flown since then, even after it has been passed on to Midnight.
Its hull, rudders and wings are all black, and the name is written in white letters under the canopy. The aircraft is powered by a genuine scaled-down Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 combustion engine. As it was never intended to be a fighter, it lacks any kinds of weapons. Instead, it has a baggage space behind the cockpit. Although it has spent most of its time under a cover and not been moved at all, time didn't pass by this old plane without leaving its marks.
The Storm premiered in A Hero That's None and is limited to self-insertion stories. Furthermore, it has been used in several round robins and roleplaying situations at the Acorn Cafe in which it has revealed that its technical equipment has decayed about as much as its exterior.
Song Parodies
The works are listed in chronological order of their release. All first releases were at the Acorn Cafe.
My Head's In New York City
Just some random Rangerphile thoughts, kind of matching the original lyrics.
Parody of: My Head's In Mississippi by ZZ Top
First released: March 21, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Still On Duty
A song for the Rangers and the Rangerphiles. Highly re-written, yet highly recognizable.
Parody of: The Heart Of Rock'n'Roll by Huey Lewis & the News
First released: April 13, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Acorn Café
The Cafe needed a song of its own.
Parody of: Hard Rock Café by Carole King
First released: April 13, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Tad Gave Chip And Dale To You
A hymn for two chipmunks, and an incentive for fans to be creative.
Parody of: God Gave Rock And Roll To You by KISS
First released: May 26, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Lady Ranger
Dedicated to Gadget Hackwrench.
Parody of: Lady Writer by the Dire Straits
First released: May 26, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Clarice
Clarice isn't even a character from the show, it was the Rangerphiles who put her into the world of the Rangers in several ways. Nevertheless, changing only a handful of words in the lyrics of this song (the second verse stayed entirely untouched) made it a kind of hymn for the rabid stalking Claricephiles.
Parody of: Marliese by Fischer-Z
First released: June 10, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Monterey Jack Is Waiting
Monterey Jack deserved a song of his own. The idea came easy, and so did the chorus.
Parody of: Robert De Niro's Waiting by Bananarama
First released: June 17, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Fat Cat Fever
If there's a villain about whom a song should be written, it's Fat Cat.
Parody of: Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent
First released: June 29, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
Widget Hackwrench
Something unusual: This is a song about a fan fiction character.
Parody of: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie
First released: July 11, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe (Warning! This song parody is based on John Nowak's fan fiction Under the Bridge and contains spoilers.)
The Ballad Of Gadget Hackwrench
Midnight Man's 10th jubilee parody. Unlike most other song parodies, it is very moody as it deals with Gadget's suffering from the loss of her father.
Parody of: The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan by Marianne Faithfull
First released: August 16, 2006
External link: Acorn Cafe
