[RFC] Going beyond simply filing off the serial numbers?

[robkelk]

I just remembered: CLAMP didn't come up with the robot battle subgenre. Plawres Sanshiro is an early-1980s-vintage manga and anime. There were, of course, 30cm-tall (1:1 scale) soft vinyl robot toys available -- these are very rare nowadays.

So, yeah, you can have Juni say "They're like the robots in Plawres Sanshiro or Angelic Layer" if you really want. Then have her get upset when the person she's talking with draws a blank...

[classicdrogn]

Though they're autonomous AIs instead of operator controlled, I still have to say my favorite anime in that style is Busou Shinki Battle Masters (TV, the OVA is much more action-oriented) - it's somewhat short on actual battle sequences but full of lots of fun stuff about action-figure-scale beings trying to interact with the human-scale world, and world-shaking quests like "Bring master the boxed lunch he forgot to take!"

Pity the PSP games don't seem to have gotten a localization, or even a fan translation guide.

[Black Aeronaut]

I'll have to look into that last one, because that's exactly the sort of slice-of-life interaction I'm aiming for.

Oh, and how could I forget? What was that one, where pests had become so resistant to insecticide that they had to resort to tiny (and adorable!) autonomous robots to deal with it? And hilarity en-freakin'-sues.

[itsune9tl]

Google-Fu! : keywords = Bug Killing Robot Girls

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichigeki_S...HoiHoi-san

Was a play station game in japan Actually.
There was a single Manga as well.

Youtube has a bunch of Clips
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q...hoihoi-san+

[robkelk]

And there are some stills floating around the Net (of course).

HoiHoi-san and Combat-san:

[Black Aeronaut]

Yep, that'd be the one alright.

I still have a lot of work on the world building.  I seem to have a lot of various elements, but I need to fit them all together into a functioning whole.

World Wars I and II...  While the first one was bound to happen regardless, the Shadow Cabal definitely instigated WWII, as Musolini and Hirohito were among their members.

But not Hitler.  He was something entirely unexpected, and while it was intended that Germany go a-conquering, Hitler was so charismatic that he stole the show entirely - much to the detriment for their scenario.  While Hitler did indeed push things in the right direction, it is a foregone conclusion that his management of the military... well, sucked to be quite honest.

With that, everything cascaded into failure.  Russia was not conquered, thus enabling a critical linking of supply lines between Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, not to mention the resources of Russian oil reserves that was denied.

But that wasn't the only thing that went horribly wrong.

These conflicts were far too big for the supernatural aspects of Earth to remain hidden, and this was especially true when Nazi Occultists damn-near triggered an apocalypse, thus necessitating a response from the long-hiding druids and the fae.  The fae response was particularly nasty as the Unseele was more or less given free license short of plunging the world into further darkness.

Suffice to say, entire family lines disappeared in the night, never to be heard from again.

Japan...  Japan got a lot more than they bargained for.  Sages in China basically pleaded to their gods.  And then pretty much the entire Chinese pantheon descended on Japan, complete with their Holy Dragons.  This, however, didn't happen until after the Pearl Harbor attack and a righteously cheesed-off American Navy suddenly came a-knocking just in time for the fireworks to start.

By the time they made it to Honshu (which happened a LOT quicker than in original history), the civilians were practically running to the Americans for protection.  (This had some very interesting ramifications for military doctrine.  Battleships did not go 'out of fashion' as aircraft carriers weren't as badly needed when the Japanese encroachment was pushed back so easily.  Additionally, the Yamato and Musashi were taken as war prizes to help fill in the USA's suddenly flaccid battleship lines.)

Japan does get heavily Westernized as a result of this, but the Kami and Ayakashi of Japan have a resurgence in response to the Chinese Gods infringing on their turf.  While there are indeed a great many evil things that have to be dealt with, there are many more ayakashi that settle into their newfound prominence.  Suffice to say, Japanese nightlife is a lot more interesting with kitsune and shapeshifting tanuki thrown into the mix, and much more thought is given towards preserving the natural wilds of Japan.

In Germany...  Well...  Norse Mythology makes a huge comeback throughout Europe and the Catholic Church is forced into finding an uneasy coexistence with the suddenly resurgent Pagans.

This has the Royal Family of the UK kind of on a back-foot, as the Seele doesn't recognize the Parliament, but will recognize the Royal Bloodlines and Knights.  Queen Elizabeth, though, handles the situation with the aplomb that she becomes typically known for.  Though she does feel a bit chagrined for being forced into a position of actual temporal power.

Scotland and Ireland...  Well!  Let's just they they become even more so than they were before now that the fae are playing a much larger part in regular life.  Much stronger cultural identities than before.

The USSR doubles-down on their No Religion policy, but that only drives resurgent Paganism deep underground, becoming something of a secret society that aims to comfort those that benefit the least from the Communist system and maybe overthrow said system someday.

China...  China goes Communist as it did in the past.  Revenge, even that of a God's, does not rebuild a nation.  And this is much to those God's dismay, as the country suddenly industrializes in a very bad way.  The God's decide they'll have no part in this until the People of China come to their senses.  This won't be for a long time.

North America...  Things are a strange and wondrous blending of Norse and Native American Paganism, though the closer you get to Alaska, the less and less you see of the Norse side of things.  Although there was some downright WEIRDNESS when Coyote and Raven took pity on the Japanese in the internment camps and made those lands lush and fertile.  Along with all the other Native American reservations.

A lot of the Japano-Americans, in a fit of defiance, chose to stay at the sites of these internment camps, building them up into small farming towns that, while everyone speaks English and celebrates Christmas, are small concentrations of Japanese culture in America.  They've even had a few Kitsune show up and settle in.

South of the Border, though, in Latin and South America, the pantheons of the Inca, Mayans, and Aztecs have all come home to roost.

Weirdly enough, they left the statue of Jesus Christ in Rio De Janeiro alone.  "Swell guy, him," Quetzalcoatl was heard saying.  "If only his fan club actually practiced what he preached."

Oh, and Dio De Las Muertes... That holiday got a heckuva lot more interesting when the spirits of deceased came to their families to enjoy a family supper together.

Africa winds up typifying the Britishism of "Darkest Africa" with the sudden onset of all kinds of folklore becoming reality.  As tribes everywhere are forced to deal with the supernatural, they find that they don't have much time or energy to waste on petty squabbles that would otherwise lead to one people trying to wipe out another.

Egypt, though...  Ra is back, and he was most emphatically unhappy about what had become of Egypt.  He turned Bast, Set, and Anubis loose on the land, and the Nile ran red with blood for several days as they purged people with impure hearts.  Fortunately, things have settled down significantly since then, but Egypt itself has risen once again to become a power to be reckoned with - part of which is aided by the existence of the Suez Canal.  But make no mistake: Egypt is not the place to go if you are not at least willing to pay your respects to its Gods.

Islam, for the most part, maintains its hold in Northern Africa and Southeast Asia, happy to have remained relatively unmolested in these regions and it's practitioners are much more devout for this.  These regions remain highly tribal, but as with the rest of Africa, there are suddenly things that go bump in the night, and the fellowship of man is suddenly that much more important.  (Although there are times when someone learns the hard way that he who lives by the sword tends to die by the sword.)

In response to all this, the various nations of the world put together their own paranatural research and defense entities with varying levels of prominence in their government.  But most important of all is the international entity established as part of the UN itself - the Paranormal Investigation, Research, and Defense bureau, or PIRD for short.  (Pronounced PUR-DEE - the Americans won't stop cracking jokes about that.)

While most countries are permitted a great amount of leeway in how they manage their own affairs, PIRD exists primarily to coordinate interventions on an international scale.

----

External to Earth, there will be three major powers; two within the galaxy and one 'extra-galactic' power from the Magellanic clouds.  The ship that crashes on Earth is of Magellanic origin - it was part of a vanguard intended to establish a beachhead for the incursion into the main body of the galaxy.  The ship itself was abandoned due to have too much external damage and managed to drift over the next hundred or so years into the Sol system where it wound up on Earth.

In order to give time for things to come to fruition, I would say that the ship made landfall an uninhabited island in the Pacific - pretty much in neutral territory - sometime during JFK's Presidency.  Of course, this will butterfly Earth's history something fierce.

The Communist Bloc and the Western Bloc are still pretty much at each other's throats in the 50's and 60's, but as the ship is explored, it quickly becomes apparent that it's a war ship.

And an interstellar warship means unfriendly neighbors exist among the stars.  This makes both sides greatly uneasy and a mutual non-aggression pact is hashed out, with promises for further summits as deemed necessary.  (This, of course, also leads to an agreement that the island itself is solely governed by a UN committee and that all research, investigation, and experiments involving the alien hulk are in the public domain.)  Kruschev and Kennedy are very shrewd men, but they both see the writing on the wall: the Cold War, such as it was, was unofficially over.  The only real holdouts were the Chinese as they pushed for creating their own communist block out of pretty much everything east of India all the way to Malaysia, including Mongolia and Korea.

Needless to say, this puts buth the Americans and the Russians up in arms, and there is a brief but furious conflict where, for the second time that century, the USA and USSR set their differences aside to deal with a greater threat.

China is forced into a great many concessions, but the countries they had attempted to absorbed are permitted, by general elections, to decide whether or not they wish to become Communist states.  In this way, China gets something of what they wanted, but at a dire cost.  This is something that they are not going to forget anytime soon, and thus the attempt at virtually taking over the world by holding the world's telecommunications hostage.

Back to the USSR and USA - the Space Race is actually something that carries on, though this time it's utilizing technology derived from the alien hulk.  However, there is a lot less "Gotta beat the other guy there" and more "We're not the ones who's gonna get caught with their pants down!"  US and Russian outposts, stations, and eventually even outright colonies are established.

What sort of threat the aliens may pose is something of a mystery - they have that one ship, but it is still only one ship.  The military-industrial complex for both blocs goes gangbusters and the first mecha are made, with the Russians and Americans honing their edges by playing wargames against each other.

The Shadow Cabal, meanwhile, watches in horror - all their carefully laid out schemes utterly shattered by the arrival of that hulk.  Granted, they are all for preparing for what may be the inevitable, but to actually have the Communists and Westerners tacitly cooperating like this?  This was nowhere near the scenario they envisioned, even in the worst possible outcomes.

Even worse is the supernatural elements.  They are quick to catch on to subtleties, and it becomes difficult to destabilize smaller, more volatile governments.  However, they do make inroads with countries with Communist governments where the Supernatural has less influences.  And while these countries have cracked down hard on corruption this time around, a great many things can be shifted if it's done 'for the greater good'.

The world is still a very tense place.  They just need the right kind of straw to break the camel's back and trigger an all-out war-to-end-all-wars so they can take their rightful place as rulers of the world.

And then it happens again.

Aliens show up - actual aliens and not just some wreckage of a ship - and say that they're gonna conquer us...  If, that is, we can't beat one of their own going head-to-head.  They've been monitoring our media.  Looking through what's been in the news and who's making that news.

And the most outrageous news is that of a boy who seems to have been touched by Loki himself.  He can do amazing things like switch places with anyone or anything in line of sight that isn't nailed to the floor.  Become invisible.  Move with absolute silence. Take on the appearance of another - a full transformation that can fool any biometric sensor.  And with his incredibly nimble fingers and just the right tools, he can undo any lock set before him.

--------

Magical Girls/Knights

As part of the sudden resurgence of the supernatural, young women and men (primarily young women, though) have been empowered by local spirits, gods, or what-have-you in order to help police the less savory parts of the supernatural.  This trend started in Japan (where else? ) and began to spread as other supernatural beings began to follow suit.

Some of these persons are unimaginably powerful - so strong that even an army would fall to them.  Others can seem utterly ghastly at first - such as the Magical Girl known as La Muerte, who is actually an undead herself!  (In exchange for her unlife and revenge against those that killed her?  A thousand years of servitude.)

The few boys that are empowered are, strangely enough, not usually as powerful.  However, in their niches, they are very potent.  One example is a fifth generation direct descendant of Annie Oakley.  His abilities center entirely around an utterly unerring marksmanship, even able to strike targets behind cover using incredibly improbable ricochet shots.  He's also able to conjure rounds for whatever gun he has on hand, and his rounds can deal grievous harm to supernatural entities no matter what sort they happen to be.

The main character is considered to be one such person, and quite possibly the most powerful of all despite having no real attack capabilities.  He insists that he not hold a title, but people insist that he must be the second coming of Houdini, who in this timeline was a renowned occultist and escape artist.  (He was still known for outing con artists, but he would typically do so by getting actual results and not the pale imitations con artists used.)

So, thoughts?  Really, poke holes into this.  Like they say, unlike real life, fiction has to make sense.  

[classicdrogn]

My only suggestion would be to change the UN guys to the Paranormal and Alien International Research and Investigation Taskforce, aka PAIRIT(ee) since it's specifically about making sure both eastern and western blocs are defended from nightbumpers and get the benefit of the crashed ship's technology. You could make it Research, Investigation, and Defense Taskforce (PAIRID-T) without significantly affecting the sound of the acronym, or add an I- or E-something to the end instead of Taskforce if you can think of one. Those also lend themselves to being called "PARODY" by people critical of the effectiveness of its operations, too.

I was kind of hoping for some nonhostile Neuroi rather than the Oni Empire for currently-active aliens, but they might actually fall under the presumed heading of supernatural critters if it's just the ones that have been on an extended recon mission for the past few thousand years. If a mystically-enhanced WWII was already in progress with actual gods popping up to wreck some face the invasion hives might have decided to NOPE on past or just raid the Asteroid Belt or Saturn/Jupiter ring and moon systems, 'cause ain't nobody wants to deal with that.

That does potentially complicate your galactic situation even more depending on how you actually want to set it up, though there's no reason they have to be a major galactic player just because they might have been big trouble on a pre-space backwater like Earth. Having them be the truth behind the svartalfar of Norse legend and maybe the titans of Greco-Roman myth (after the "mysterious monsters rampaging" early days) could still be a cool way to integrate the concept. I mean, the bumpies have to come from somewhere, why shouldn't they have their share of extraterrestrials too?

edit:
With powerful magical girls appearing, you also have to include managing the MOE-gap (Magical Operative, Enhanced) in your treaty negotiations, possibly including shuffling some of them around to maintain acceptable balance of power since they can't exactly be turned out in factories. The cute new exchange student may well be there on a diplomatic visa... and diplomatic immunity could be a handy legal dodge to protect these valuable strategic counter-supernatural assets from trouble with the local authorites who have to deal with their quirks and possible collateral damage, come to think of it.

But mainly I'm just smirking at the idea of summit talks over the MOE-gap, not gonna lie.

[robkelk]

If I'm reading this correctly, you have three unicorns in your garden: the paranormal beings, the Shadow Cabal, and the aliens.

While they don't all need to be tied together, it would help if they have some preexisting connection - just so you have a good idea how they'll interact with each other.

Hmmmmm... Perhaps there was already a fey or two on the Council? That would mean they weren't blindsided by the supernatural interference in WW II, but in exchange they would also have some ability to influence the faerie realms. For a nice inversion of the usual conceit, have the fey on the council not be in charge.

Can't come up with any way to tie the aliens in - but you wanted them as an out-of-context problem, anyway.

[Black Aeronaut]

Nah, the Communists won't be interested, and for a very specific reason.

MOE will be, by their very nature, essentially paladins.

Think about it.

Each one is empowered by a specific powerful paranatural being such as a God or a very powerful fae (like, say... The Goblin King? ) or other powerful spirit.

And this would mean Religion, even if Pagan in nature. And the Communists are dead-set on Atheism - the only wisdom worth contemplating is that of the great Socialist minds. A MOE would be anathema to them. Never mind that the Baba-Yaga lurks in the mountains with her chicken-legged house, and a young woman-child, orphaned and ostracised from her village, as her disciple and apprentice. Nevermind that said woman-child appears in the dead of night, dressed bizarrely as a tsarevna, only armored and armed as one of Peter The Great's conscripts.

(In other words, they have them, they just flatly refuse to acknowledge them, as doing so would be to acknowledge the old Imperial Russian Tsardom. Same applies in other Communist countries. China doesn't apply because their pantheon has turned their back to the country as their country has turned their backs to their pantheon, and therefore there are absolutely no Magical Girls/Knights in China. Pity.)

As for the Neuroi idea... Well, keep in mind that I'm trying to keep this as distantly removed from other IP's as feasible. And the Neuroi are pretty unique to Strike Witches. Granted, there has been other similar things (such as Sky Girls), but that would be all the more reason for me to exercise caution. I feel that I'm pushing it with the clark-tech aliens - one might say that I'm cribbing a bit too much from Iain M. Banks's The Culture series. (With the man passed away only relatively recently, I have no idea how his estate is being handled.)

As for the Galactic situation.... I'm going to have it that most worlds have their own paranatural beings. Some of them will be well understood - respected, but not worshiped. (This will be the case with the benevolent clark-tech aliens.) Others.... Well, I'll work on that as we go. Kinda thinking of having one of the warring sides be the "We killed our gods!" kinda people.

Unicorns in the Garden Rule.... I knew I was forgetting something there.

Let me dwell on this for a bit, and I'll get back to it.

[classicdrogn]

Yeah, the Neuroi themselves are fairly distinctive, though it was more the idea of the "known for their magical crafting" segment of mythology actually be high-tech aliens who ended up on Earth for some reason that hooked me, aside from the possibility of X-11/Chi Juuichi getting a MOE cameo at some point. I'll just have to keep on living without her somehow if it doesn't fit with your world building, though.

Edit:
I suppose the Glorious Workers' Collective would prefer their Magical Operatives to be bog standard Comrade Citizens trained in a standardized, entirely secular style, drawing on the classical elements or (politically compatible) ideology such as the power of comraderie and collective effort for a common goal etc. No elitist bourgeoisie notions like certain individuals being "gifted" or "chosen" by fanciful mythic beings here, tovarisch!

[ECSNorway]

I suppose the Glorious Workers' Collective would prefer their Magical Operatives to be bog standard Comrade Citizens trained in a standardized, entirely secular style, drawing on the classical elements or (politically compatible) ideology such as the power of comraderie and collective effort for a common goal etc. No elitist bourgeoisie notions like certain individuals being "gifted" or "chosen" by fanciful mythic beings here, tovarisch!

I'm sure they would like that. Unfortunately, telling senior Communist Party officials "We must deal with the world as it is, not as we would like to to be" is not conducive to one's long-term survival.

[classicdrogn]

Aa, ничего, нечего. We pretend to cast spell, and they pretend to pay us. Sasha is the one who actually has the magic, but as long as we all say chant the замполи́т is satisfied, da?

[Black Aeronaut]

Pffft. Might make for hilarious bonus theatre.

Honestly, though, there will be such characters... but they'll be operating on the quiet because otherwise they'll be hunted down.

Though there are a few local leaders that turn a blind eye to their actions. They do this because what these girls and young men do is a great service to the people, religious influences be damned. (Hah!) Because when horrible things begin to creep up out of the darkness, no amount of diatribe from the musings of Lenin are going to fight them off, and sometimes guns will only piss them off.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay.  How's about this for a concession:

Anastasia and her siblings are still alive, and it is all thanks to the selfless bravery of Rasputin.

Here, Rasputin would indeed be an immensely powerful mage - perhaps even studied under Baba Yaga herself.  And he knew what was coming from his divinations.  As such, he went to the Tsar and found that his young daughters were magically potent - little Anastasia especially so!  But that only makes sense as magic dwells most readily in the young hearts that still believe in it.

In the time leading up to Red October, Rasputin spent as much time as he could educating the young girls in magic theory, and practical spells for defense and healing.  While it was not generally known what he was doing spending so much time with the Tsar's daughters, the Bolsheviks felt nothing good could come of it for them.  Rasputin, however, knew this day would come - he didn't even need to divine it to know it was coming.  It cost the Bolsheviks dearly, though.  Rasputin came prepared to fight his final battle and he took out an entire platoon before he fell.

When the Bolsheviks came for the Tsar and his family, Anastasia was famed for single-handedly holding off their attacks and keeping her sibling alive despite having seen her mother and father murdered before her eyes.

But Anastasia was always special that way.  Seeing her parents martyred only firmed her resolve and in that instant her power increased by an entire magnitude.

While she had no offensive spells, she was said to have glowed with a blinding light that, for several hours, left the attackers blind, deaf, and dumb.  This gave the White Russian Army the chance they needed to rally to the young Tsarenya and her family, and then sweep them away to the safety of Britain.

What's great is that Elizabeth and Anastasia should be relatively close in age.  And I cannot see any way these two wouldn't become fast friends.

Many years later, General Secretary Josef Stalin's personal memoirs will surface.  It will tell of a quiet chance meeting between Stalin and Anastasia during WWII.  (Stalin wrote that he was quite charmed by the Tsarenya, noting that she was the very model of a young woman of Mother Russia, and deeply regretted that he could not let her return home, for such was her charisma that he knew for certain that a revolution would spring up behind her in within a few short years and undo his life's work.

Not sure what the source of Anastasia's power would be, but I think it would be very fitting if it was the very spirit and soul of Russia itself.

[classicdrogn]

I do like it, but there's no need to "concede" anything. If it doesn't fit with how you want the story to go for there to be significant human magical practice in Russia, then you shouldn't force it just because some randos on the internet think it would be fun and/or funny.

[robkelk]

Oh, that's nifty: Anastasia, the numen of Russia.

Of course, despite the complete lack of evidence, a few people are going to look at the other girls and assume Anastasia is just like them.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, I guess in a ways it isn't *really* a concession, as it's going to be canonical that Baba Yaga has a young apprentice, and together they go hunting demons, monsters, and humans that would ally themselves with them.

OH!!!

THE DJINN.

...

So, initial research is... interesting. Djinn were not immortal. In fact, they were very human in appearance and nature. They lived in communities, had families, and needed to eat and drink. I would also imagine that they were immensely powerful, magically speaking.

Djinn, however, live much longer lives than humans. And I think that an idea sort of 'coming of age' experience that young Djinn must undertake is to find a human they can befriend, and be their boon companion for the next ten years.

Djinn communities would be few in number and not terribly populouse. This is kind of a good thing since having too many of them running around could be... troublesome. (I would hazard to say that at most given moments there are around fifteen or twenty in all that are undertaking this rite.) The purpose of this journeying out into the human world? So that they don't lose touch with humanity.

Although with the advent of radio and television, this became much easier. However, it also filled the hearts of young djinn with wanderlust and a strong desire to see the greater world in-person. Thus, the coming of age ritual continued to serve a purpose as a means to satisfy a young djinn's desire to see the world - much like the Amish and Mennonite Rumspringa.

Somewhere out there is a young prince - the son of a sheikh, thus granting him the title of sheikh as well - whose family was exterminated by a rival tribe. Almost. He remains, along with his infant sister. A young Djinn on his rite of passage meets the boy and his infant sister and feels a great sorrow for the young boy, for this Djinn was a very empathic person and only too easily imagined a similar fate befalling their community.

I'm sorry, did I say Djinn? I meant Djiniri. [dealwithit.gif]

She helps the boy raise his sister while they slowly take steps towards attaining revenge against the rival tribe. The boy traveled, visiting ancient tribes of Africa that had strong warrior traditions, and then traveling with reputable mercenaries to learn modern combat and tactics.

However, revenge never really came. In an ironic twist of fate, the rival tribe awakened a demon and sought to control it, like the stories of old.

Instead, the demon shrugged off the shackles, devoured the entire tribe, and became immensely powerful from the 'human sacrifice'. It was only a frantic effort to locate other Djinn on their Rite of Passage and bring down the monster.

It's a damn near thing. The Demon had its sights set on a large town that would have made it nearly unstoppable - after which it would have started going after the Djinn settlements and then Earth would have REALLY been fucked.

In the aftermath, our young Sheikh of a near-extinct tribe feels he's at a loose ends. So, after finding someone to care for his sister, he goes on and joins up with a mercenary group he'd heard whispers of. real paragons of virtue, these people. And they will only take the best of the best.

And our Prince had gotten pretty damn good.

But with a Djiniri at his side? This is definitely gonna be setting the cat amongst the canaries.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, two line items here today...

1) I've settled on the MC's new name: Arcus Kail.  Arcus in reference to arcus clouds, which are rarely seen dramatic low-level cloud formations that usually immediately precede a thunderstorm.  Fitting, yes/no?

2) I just had an idea for the Mahou Shoujo Girlfriend that is so fucking batshit crazy that it might actually work.

She is a Yakuza Princess, complete with an incredibly beautiful tiger tattoo, and she is very bitter and angry about these facts.

Thoughts?

[classicdrogn]

I can see being bitter about having a tattoo done while still young enough that it'll probably get distorted while you're growing and almost certainly by someone else's impetus, but what is her problem with her family? I can see several possibilities, from general discomfort with their side of the law to being under a lot of pressure from expectations, but specifically?

[Black Aeronaut]

It's more what the tattoo would represent. Besides, at the age of 16, most girls have done all the growing they're gonna do. They'll probably 'mature' a bit more, but that won't be enough to effect it if it's only on her back.

Though I suppose I could go the way of Shoko Tendo and the tattoo is actually a symbol of rebirth; acknowledging her beginnings as an Oyabun's daughter while representing her struggle to escape the cycle, become her own person, and survive the whole ordeal.  But at her age she would still be sorting through the emotional baggage.

This would make for a girl just coming into her prime who is ferociously independent and dismissive of most people's issues as paling in comparison to her own tribulations.

Interesting idea: the Tattoo is only partially done. She knew she wanted a tiger, and so that is there, but all the accents and supporting background are blank. Once her journey is complete, though (because despite what she thinks it's far from over), she'll know what she wants and it will tell the rest of her story.

Another interesting thought: each of Arcus's ladies will be a princess in their own right.  A Princess of Tigers, a Princess of the Stars, a Princess of Darkness, a Princess of Machines, and a Princess of Knowledge.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay.

I did what I do best and I just started writing dialogue.

Straight up dialogue.

We don't even know who is saying what.

But this is how I tend to work out these ideas.  I just start typing and let the characters speak for themselves.

And now?

Now I think I have the beginnings of a plot.

For the following, imagine that all the gods mankind has ever worshiped have been watching the events of World War 2, and just witnessed the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki....

So that is it then. We are irrelevant.

No! There are still those that believe in us!

Are you serious!? Did you not see what they did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki!? We'll be fortunate if we can even keep them from creating their own apocalypse!

Easy there. She's right. We still have some influence. And we can cultivate yet more.

What do you mean?

You know that interesting idea they got about Avatars?

Oh! That's a good one.

What about Paladins? Those seem fun.

I think I'd settle for a Priestess.

I think we're on to something here. Paladin, Cleric, Avatar...

Someone get some food and drinks in here. I think we're gonna be in here for a long time.

Hang on! To what end do we use these people? Really, they don't need us anymore. Should we really interfere?

...Those are our children down there. Even if some of them have forgotten about that fact, it doesn't change things. To be honest, I'm glad that they're growing stronger. But I want our children to actually survive. You've all heard the stories - of how others have had their worlds torn asunder by their children as they grew restless and rampant.

You're not suggesting we assert control over them?

Of course not! I simply wish to gently guide them to a better path.

I dunno. I think those Americans have got the right idea. Hitting them with those bombs was the right call.

How can you say such a thing!

How can you stand by while they shove their own children out there as suicide bombers!?

That's enough, all of you! ...Tensions are high now. This is understandable. But that is all the more reason for us to come together on this matter. Yes, they can probably use our guidance. But we must be careful. Too much and we risk them becoming fanatical - and we've already seen what that sort of fanaticism can lead to.

Ugh, please don't remind me. Those witch hunts were bad enough!

But still, it's obvious we all have different ideas about how to go about this.

Are they really all that different? Think about it. We want them to succeed. We want them to be happy. Dropping bombs like those.... Okay, look. I get it. It was a necessary evil. They had to send a message and they had to make sure it was heard loud and clear. That they had the power to destroy them with impunity. And that, yes, they will do it if their hand was forced. BUt I still don't like that it came to that. That is why we need to be there to guide them.

Hear hear!

I still think that good fences make good neighbors. And I like that Roosevelt guy. Speak softly and carry a big stick indeed.

I don't think it really matters. Yes, we all got different ideas on how to handle this. But we all want the same thing, right?

Absu-bloody-lutely, mate.

I agree.

Me as well.

Okay then. Let's just agree to disagree. Respectfully, that is. And we do the same with our followers.

But what about fanatics?

That's why we need to have our own agents out there. Paladins, Priests, and even Avatars. A Priest to be our words. A Paladin to be our hands. And an Avatar to be our very own will.

...You know that's not going to be an easy sell for some of these people.

There are those that will accept. Gladly even.

I dunno. I'm kinda worried that some people around here might abuse the privilege.

No. This won't be a privilege, but a right. We each have the right to make our voices heard among them.

But what if someone uses their power to hurt the children? What do we do about that?

..... We do nothing. It will be a test for them. How well can they stand on their own if they cannot fight back one of us when the need arises.

I can see the wisdom in it, but isn't that more than just a bit callous?

We won't get anywhere arguing about it. It's a matter that's far too political. I say we do this on a trial basis. See how it turns out. If things are good, then we carry on. But if things start to take a turn for the worse...

....Then we let them be.

... I suppose that would be fitting. What good are we, the creators of their kind, if we actively hurt them?
How about a middle-of-the-road option? We police ourselves. Two warnings. And on the third... you're done. No more involvement.

I would prefer no warning at all.

You know that we can't do this if we don't allow for some wiggle room.

I know. And I also know that there are some of us that will abuse that rule. 

It can't be helped, though. But like he said, if they take action against the malefactor, then there will be no reprisals.

So... is that it? We can all agree on the basic framework? .... Very well then. We have a rough idea of what we want. Let us begin drafting the formal rules.

Granted, this invalidates some of my other ideas, but I think I can rework things.  This feels much better.  Much simpler.  A god with a chip on their shoulder wants their avatar to be just as jaded as they are.

And then other worlds come into play with their own gods moving behind the scenes...

Some will welcome their new colleagues.  Others will not.  There have been a few... incursions in the past.  Nobody talks about whatever the hell went down in Miskatonic County.  They don't even like to think about it.

But whether they like it or not, things are about to start changing, and they will do so whether or not they have a clutch to help them handle it.

Thoughts?

[classicdrogn]

Nothing directly on the idea, as it's your call whether it fits with the story you want to tell or not, and how to do the file and hammer work to make it, but it doesn't sound horrible. Explicitly involving gods and such does tend to be a warning card since "deus ex machina" is considered a negative trope for good reason, but it certainly can be done in interesting and entertaining ways. Klingon style "We didn't like our gods, so we killed them" has potential as well, with the discussion about letting the mortals deal with bad actors to see if they still need gods at all.

As to the process of writing dialogue first and only adding action and narration later, I've found it to be effective because description and choreography come far more easily to me so it's a way of making sure I actually have the characters talk to each other more than one or two lines per page Just take care not to lean too far in the opposite direction, ne?

[Black Aeronaut]

Part of this is kinda inspired by The Gods Are Bastards web novel. Another part is inspired by the webcomic Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell where a myriad of 'Gods' have pretty much become working joes like you or I. I mean, the main character's case worker is freakin' Ganesh, he has a manticore as a 'pet', a bunch of constantly stoned angels as roomies (along with a tortured-artist and his girlfriend who is a muse), and a genuine satyr as his landlord.

Great comic. I highly recommend it.

Anyhow, my idea wasn't so much deus ex machinas abound, but more that the gods - all gods - have become diminished, and it's all they can do just to maintain a small handful of devout and try to gently nudge humanity along a path that won't have them obliterating themselves.

And in the midst of this, we'll have the main character who is taken in by one of these malefactors. Loki is indeed a mad god - and I don't mean angry here. He's gone off the deep end and snapped - badly enough that Hella, Fenris, and Jormungandr start doing what they can to spare him the worst of their father's rages. They more or less adopt him as a brother.

Fenris decrees that all mortal canines of Earth will come to his aid when he is in need.
Hella decrees that no illness or disease will ever taking him.
Jormungandr decrees that the Oceans will never claim his life.

And for the most part, his life is spent hiding from Loki, learning to use the powers that being his Avatar grants him, occasionally getting caught by the insane god, and being freed again by Loki's children.

This should prove interesting, to say the least.