Tidbit from the Utena Step

[Bob Schroeck]

...if I ever write it, that is. The following scene occured to me this morning. It has no context at the moment, although I know roughly where in the current embryonic plot it would go.
I really ought to share this with my prereaders first, but it's really not enough to bother them with.
Enjoy!
-- Bob
PS. Oh, and there's a semi-spoiler for a minor thing that happens in the remainder of DW2 here -- but it's nothing that a sharp reader wouldn't already be expecting as a matter of course.
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I pulled up to the balcony railing and let the cycle hover as I looked over at four teenagers in white military-style uniforms gathered around a wrought-iron table. They were deeply absorbed in whatever it was they were doing and had yet to notice me. I chuckled and keyed on the helmet PA system. Then I yelled "Excuse me!", more to get their attention than anything else, since the gravity drive on the cycle was, as always, all but silent.As one, four heads pivoted toward me, revealing four young facesin identical pop-eyed, mouths-open expressions of disbelief."I'm looking for Deputy Chairman Akio Ohtori," I continued, in somewhat softer tones. "Might any of you know where I could find him?"One of the four recovered enough to raise a hand and point shakily upward, toward the top of the tower.I mimed tipping a non-existent hat, shouted, "Thank you very much!"and gunned the vertical on the gravdrive. A glance below as I shot straight upwards confirmed that they were tracking my every movement.God, I love doing stuff like that to people.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[zojojojo]

So this'll be near the beginning, then, eh? It looks like the setup for Doug getting a teaching job at Ohtori A.... Will he head the new Sorcery Department, making good use of his stint as the DARA teacher at HSWW?
And it's nice to see he had the time to kludge a grav drive for that bike of his...
-Z, Post-reader at Medium
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If architects built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.

[offsides]

Where have I seen this before? I only ask because I could swear I've seen something very close to this before, and I don't know if it's just my fertile imagination giving me Deja Vu All Over Again...
Offsides
Drunkard's Walk Forum Moderator and Prereader At Large

[Bob Schroeck]

Honestly, Josh, it's absolutely brand new. You must be remembering something else...

-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[offsides]

Ahh well, it's probably just my wierd precog talent that occasionally shows me not particularly important things that I'll run into in the future just to make me say "huh?"
Offsides
Drunkard's Walk Forum Moderator and Prereader At Large

[Star Ranger4]

heh. Maybe because its a varient on the old SCA Wheeze about "freaking the Mundanes"?
And does this mean Doug has nicknamed his bike 'Doobie' now?
"I was an Otaku before those kids came along and changed the meaning of the word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[offsides]

No, freaking the mundanes is omething I'm extremely familiar with, given that I hag out with geeks, techies, scadians, singers and sci-fi fans. I just feel liek I've seen this scene before in some variation or another. I feel like it was horizontal and not vertical, but the rest was pretty much the same...
Offsides
Drunkard's Walk Forum Moderator and Prereader At Large

[Bob Schroeck]

For some reason, that comment about it being horizontal reminds me of the "Darth Vader on a motorcycle" scene in Ernie Fosselius' "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind"...
"You're blocking the road!"
(Oh, and if you've never seen any of Ernie Fosselius' short films -- the most famous of which is "Hardware Wars" -- do so. They all get a Double-Doug Thumbs Up.)

-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Rod.H]

Maybe his Deja vu's running into the RCW 'How do we -remove- Akio Ohtori' thought train.
--Rod.H
"in the Tower, by X with a Heavy Plasma rifle & Flying Power Armour"

[Bob Schroeck]

My favorite variation on the SOTS "removing Akio" thread was, "hover the Valiant right next to it and launch a photon torpedo".
-- Bob
("Anthy, in the observatory, with the lead pipe.")
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bob Schroeck]

My muse gave me an Utena-related kick in the head on the ride in this morning; I've got it about half typed in right now. I think I have a couple of new major characters for the Step, plus I have a way to get Utena in that white "prince's outfit" with the puffy sleeves and legs that she wears in silhouette in the opening narrations, plus a public Rose Duel between Doug and Utena, plus... well, I can't say any more. I don't want to jinx it.
But it's all very cool.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bob Schroeck]

...about the initial tidbit at the top of this thread.
Given some of the stuff that goes on around them during the Student Council meetings, Doug's appearance on a flying motorcycle would seem tame, almost ordinary to the Councillors. If I use this scene, it'll get a substantial rewriting.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Draconan]

First of all let me disclaimer the following post with this: the only exposure to RGU I've had is the first two eps and the works of the Eyrie Crew (which, of course, rocks).
I thought it would be mighty amusing that the 'power to revolutionize the world' actually turned out to be a sentient, physical form. A form that, while acknowledging the summoner _some_ control, only perfomed works within Cephiro's best interests. Wouldn't that tweak ol' "End of the World"'s shorts? Observe:
--Who hast summoned Me, the Power of Change; of Revolution?--
--Think carefully, Tenjou-san. For to change the world...even the tiniest of changes...you must destroy what exists.--
--I am that which your kind most despises, most fears. I am Truth.--
--Know this, Akito. I suffer neither fools nor dead things. You are BOTH.--
Draconan
"Ho ho ho. Doug-Hunters are da cwaziest peoples."

[Bob Schroeck]

Interesting idea, Draconan. I started thinking about lacing an extended dialogue between Doug and Utena about the nature of the "Power" throughout the Step this afternoon. I've got an idea what that power will be in the context of this Step, too... not much like yours, but still it's interesting to see another viewpoint. (And you're right, that would be very fun.)
However, just as a point of info...

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A form that, while acknowledging the summoner _some_ control, only perfomed works within Cephiro's best interests.

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The original Revolutionary Girl Utena takes place entirely on some version of 20th Century Earth -- there's mention of Ohtori's sister school somewhere in Europe (Amsterdam, I think). The whole Cephiro thing came from Gryphon blending RGU with Magic Knights Rayearth, which is mostly set in the magical world of Cephiro.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Draconan]

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The original Revolutionary Girl Utena takes place entirely on some version of 20th Century Earth -- there's mention of Ohtori's sister school somewhere in Europe (Amsterdam, I think). The whole Cephiro thing came from Gryphon blending RGU with Magic Knights Rayearth, which is mostly set in the magical world of Cephiro.

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Whoops. Good thing I had the foresight to include that disclaimer then. Though it does give me reason to go after the remaining eps with a club. SCORE! *grin* Thanks for the correction.
Draconan
"Ho ho ho. Doug-Hunters is da cwaziest peoples."

[Bob Schroeck]

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Though it does give me reason to go after the remaining eps with a club.

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I recommend DeepDiscountDVD.com or Buy.com -- most of the time they give some extraordinarily good prices. At the very least use MySimon.com to comparison-shop. You'll be surprised how much you can save if you don't demand instant gratification.
In any case, I highly recommend buying the series. Although Peg and I have fansubs of the last third of the series (they start about halfway through the latest disk), we intend on getting the rest of the series on DVD -- in general, the dub is that good, as are most of the extras and whatnot. (Okay, I still hate Leah Applebaum's voice for Nanami, but I can deal, mostly...)

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Thanks for

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No prob.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.