Sirocco put an update up for this thread yesterday.
So let's talk about where it can go from here.
Wow, according to the comments people didn't like the removal of the portal all that much. I suppose that it is tied into the premise for the thread, but it's rather already done what it needs to do in turning the plot into the direction it has taken...
Unless of course, we do something else with it? I mean, it's quite one thing for the Sailors to go into the real world. What if someone from the real world arrived in the world of Sailor Moon? Pft, nah. That would rapidly devolve into the self insert kind of stories that I have no real interest in writing.
It might also be worth setting up Rei's introduction to the series beyond that episode, particularly in setting up how the others meet up with her.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this one. What do you think should happen?
Ok, first of all, what sort of positive use could be gotten from the portal other than some RW character?
ReplyDeleteFirst possibility, RW artifacts - just normal RW items, except because they have a greater reality than everything else they have a drastically greater effect, possibly with mechanisms to increase that even further.
One example might be Makoto picking up a nice RW kitchen knife, only the first time she uses it, it slices through the food, the cutting board and the counter she's working on.
A slightly different approach might involve Usagi looking to pick up something in a toy store, only to discover on returning that in her home fictional universe, RW toys based on fiction gain their fictional powers. On Ami's side, it could be interesting to see her pick up a few perverted video games, only to discover they can actually affect her home reality.
Not to mention if they were to acquire an object even more mundane and commonplace that could make them at least like wizards, at most Gods:
DeleteA humble pencil and eraser.
Just a thought.
Or go the Tono Shiki from Tsukihime route where a knife can be used to destroy the EXISTENCE of an object.
Hell, a music player playing the right "theme song" could radically alter the world around it.
A mirror could reflect/rebound any attack that strikes it.
An ouija board could actually tell the future/commune with the spirits.
Photocopiers that make actual copies of whatever they scan.
Bandages that can instantly heal any wound, no matter how fatal.
A bar of soap/mop that can purify things.
Medicines/drugs that gain near mystical properties like steroids (even some of the more benign legal versions) giving temporary superhuman strength, Ritalin giving one hyper-clarity and reasoning, painkillers making one temporarily impervious to pain and damage, Viagra giving ANYONE a powerful erection, etc.
Honestly the possibilities are almost infinite, just a story based around such a premise could make for an interesting setting...
Wow, all I could think of was costumes that change your personality.
DeleteAs for the story a different approach that still uses the Real World could be that the Scouts previous uses of the portal weakened the boundaries between the two worlds so another portal(s) opened somewhere else.
On one hand, I agree that the comedy-anime deflection from the hole is out of place. It just being sealed is plenty.
ReplyDeleteI'm not as big a fan as some here of a lot of stuff having superpowers from the real world. The small twists cascading are far more fun, and have led to why this story is so amusing to follow. The almost played straight nature of the enormously curvy scouts and hentaish environment.
Given that ep, I'd only expect them to be more stubborn the next day, but it seems like if the desire is to close it off, it should just be gone rather than have a circus around it (which isn't playing it straight anymore).
Given where it is, perhaps an elaborate plan to get there followed by it just being clear and open the next day? Joined up with going and just directly talking with Rei (perhaps her panicking erotically due to the sex goddesses coming into her shrine?)
With multiple people unhappy with the tone of the last episode, I think I owe everyone an explanation as to why I wrote what I did. Personally, when I'm watching a movie, nothing irks me more (not bad acting, not even story inconsistencies) then having my suspension of disbelief snapped. So I can definitely sympathize with the frustration experienced with the latest episode.
DeleteIt's certainly true that the end result could have been reached if the portal had merely been sealed, or had more reasonable/logical roadblocks been introduced. The obstacles that were erected to keep the scouts from the portal were definitely over the top.
However, I designed the barriers to be increasingly over the top on purpose, for two reasons. The lesser reason is that as we are currently between story arcs (Jupiter's arrival and whatever happens next), I felt the time was right for a little levity.
However, the primary reason is that the absurdity of the barrier was supposed to be a clue for Usagi and the others that something fundamentally wrong just occurred. Whoever was responsible for the removal of the portal was so desperate to at first deter the scouts, and ultimately get rid of it that they were willing to make a farce of reality just to keep the girls from succeeding.
Obviously, I failed miserably to convey this when I wrote the episode. Were I to rewrite it at this point, I would keep the barriers the same but make it clear just how incredulous and gobsmacked the girls are at the end.
To everyone who was disappointed with the story, I'm sorry I let you down. Hopefully I'll be able to restore your faith with a future episode. For those upset that the portal was taken away, I will say that I am not personally against any visits to the Real World. However, whether the Real World turns out to be the supplier of powerful artifacts, or simply a source of prescience for their home world, visits there are significant game-changers. Therefore, in my mind any future trips to the Real World by the gang are going to have to be *earned*.
But how are they earning it? What activities could they be doing that would be earning momentum toward a trip? It doesn't seem to be something that falls naturally into an Earned Reward setup.
DeleteI do get the philosophy. It's this macGuffin of See Future that's been added that changes things around. It doesn't have any inherently limiting features that would make its regular use unable.
It's also not their only way to show it to Makoto. They did bring stuff back with them as I understand it? The doujinshi brought back by Usagi in her first trip were explicitly visible and readable in the beginning of Ami's story, as an example of the whole thing being weird too.
Truthfully, I think it's the wrong way to go about it. The real world has something far more prevalent to convince them to not go there regularly:
Every time they go there it's changed their world. Usagi at least is very aware of this at this point, and Ami might be at least a little. Going one more time and having something else dramatic occur is probably sufficient "This is a bad thing to do" territory to avoid it moving forward unless pressed into needing it. What that dramatic thing would be is harder to say, but...
Well, maybe because they go, they read about Rei getting kidnapped by the Negaverse (and that happens?)? I suppose its established that time isn't moving, but if they brought back a doujin like that, they might not be able to stop the original kidnapping since they strengthened its reality.
Or maybe pull something of a different genre or setting in (Why is there suddenly Lum in my Sailor Moon)? Usagi gets fiancee'd by bringing it back and puts a solid veto on more trips since they've "already ballooned my chest and gotten me a girlfriend".
I dunno. But basically, having them denied it from an external source makes the existence of a modifying narrator more and more present. This is less fun than playing it that things are just ending up this way, since it's saying '4th wall here, managing the puppet show with my troublesome puppets'.
Whereas just having them avoid it because it screws up their world when they check it out, makes it something internal to the characters to decide.
I guess what this boils down to then is a more fundamental disagreement that came up several chapters ago. The way I see it there are two directions this story can take:
DeleteOption #1 is that the focus of the story is almost entirely reactive. Basically, the Real World has had A, B, and C effects on the storyline, so lets play it out, see how things changed, and maybe revisit the Real World to add effects D, E, etc. to keep things spiced up. The main thrust of the plot is open-ended, with no real final goal other than hitting as many familiar story points along the line as possible.
There are a lot of 'reactive' stories currently on the addventure. Heck, I've written quite a few. The long-running Bimbo Nabiki is the first example to pop into my head. These stories often follow the same format. More and more things get changed, things start to spiral out of control, and then the thread is abandoned for the next reactive story.
I don't say that to denigrate those threads; they are a tremendous amount of fun while they last. I think a lot of people have approached and enjoyed RWSM believing that it is one of those kind of stories as well. In this light, every objection you have raised is more than reasonable. I'd agree with you in fact. But, at the end of the day, this is not the type of story I am interested in writing here.
Option #2 is that the focus of the story is on one specific conflict. A problem arises at the start, a conflict is established, and at the end of it all, however far down the road it lies, there is a final confrontation. I cannot speak for Lumitiel or Cross C, the other authors in the thread so far. But, for me, I have written my RWSM episodes with the belief that the storyline will eventually climax with one outcome: Usagi confronting AR:SM.
I don't know how the storyline will end up getting there; I don't even know that it will go on that long. I have no intention of ending RWSM anytime even remotely soon. But I am firm in my belief that the storyline needs to be written with this long-term goal in mind, and where appropriate I will advance the plot towards that goal.
In the most recent episode, I felt it appropriate between arcs to raise the stakes. For the first time, Usagi is now aware that there is a sentience behind the changes in her world (or if she's not, Ami will make that clear soon). Not all episodes will be as blatant as the last one. My previous episode dealt pretty much entirely with the current Negaverse threat, and frankly, I'd rather keep the AR:SM development on a slow burn to allow for as many fun RWSM stories as possible. There's no reason the story has to conclude after all of the scouts are introduced, or even after Queen Beryl is defeated.
So, that is basically all of my cards on the table. Personally I believe the end goal of Usagi vs. AR:SM will give the story focus and momentum, but if you disagree then I hope at least the episodes have been and will continue to be entertaining enough to read regardless of the outcome. I do especially want to thank everyone for voicing their opinions; I'd much rather take the time and try to address concerns than continue ignorantly plowing forward.
I don't mean to go off topic. but are the three sizes for the sailor scouts the same? or different?
ReplyDelete*admits he loves hints on that stuff in the chapters too :3*
DeleteYes I do! But I'd like to focus on Rei.
DeleteSince she's been "Pornified" what's her little quirk? that she's Tsundere about wanting to be Ravished by men and women? To feel the fires of lust without actively saying that she wants to feel that?
Either way. Im pumped.
Lumitiel and I have discussed what Rei's quirk might be, but I at least would certainly still be open to suggestions along those lines.
DeleteAs for Rei's sizes, I'm embarrassed to admit that I deliberately left it vague whether Rei had even been altered yet physically in order to give Lumitiel or the next author more flexibility when writing the next chapter.
huh? why? pretty much every girl has a very large chest, why not her? you can make her ass look huge if not in the chest.
DeleteSorry for not clarifying. I'm certain Rei will have an enhanced figure. The question is whether the change has happened to her yet. In the past girls except Usagi were modified when they were brought into the storyline or when they were exposed to others who were altered. It's not clear whether either has happened yet (although with Jedite briefly selling charms at her temple, there's a pretty good case to be made that it has.)
DeleteSO we don't know if Rei has an enhanced figure. we don't know how she's been Pornified is what your saying?
DeleteNow all we need is Lumitiel's opinion. It was his first idea for an option in the last episode to go back to the real world...
ReplyDeleteWell, I was toying with the idea that maybe it was Rei that would go into the real world for a little bit via a new portal popping up at the temple. Fairly new idea, occurred to me just now while reading comments. Perhaps she doesn't actually discover Sailor Moon and has a different sort of experience in there?
DeleteAs for Rei's pornification... It's very likely she'll either 1: Notice her enhanced figure and freak out or 2: Completely fail to notice her own enhanced figure, but notice it in others and simultaneously try to purify them while lusting over them.
On a rather simple-minded level, I think it seems only fair that each of the girls gets to experience the Real World at least once. That’s all I have to contribute to this discussion.
DeleteThis has been my favorite story ever...of all time. what ever you guys choose with Rei, I hope it lives up to the hype. either:
ReplyDeleteA. Rei's trip to the Real World makes things more sexual or at least mixes the genders of everybody turning them into hermaphrodites. but unless people besides me want this route don't take my word for it.
B. She's Unaware of her enhanced figure, even though she may have the largest curves of the 5 girls (yes, Jupiter canonically has the largest bust i.e. "her Talent"). I hope she'll get frisky when she's "purifying them of their sinful needs".
Judging by the authors who are working on this thread I wouldn't hold out much hope for hermaphrodites. Lumitiel only involves them rarely and usually in response to a different author introducing them. Sirocco has never worked with them. Cross C has a lot but has only done one episode on this thread.
DeleteAs its a common theme in hentai, there'd be a place for some of that in this storyline but most likely not everybody being hermaphrodites. Maybe just one Sailor or its a temporary thing dealt within the confines of an episode.
Yeah I'm not holding my breath on that one. and it just occurred to me that the Mars Symbol the circle with the arrow is depected as the symbol of man. It would be nice if it did happen. Rei being Sailor Mars is a futanari. born a woman, but...you get the idea. btw, this is a very popular thread! lots of comments!!!
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