[OOC][PLOT] The Third Thread of Planning for Arc 1 - Arrivals

[robkelk]

While the armed forces are duty-bound to truthfully answer any defense-related question asked by the CinC, is the CinC going to know enough to ask anything about mecha (or metahumans, or the Metacontinuity)? Don't forget, this is a person who avoids facts that don't agree with his personal reality.

(Tangent: And that phrasing makes me wonder what his esper Skill is.)

And a whole new weapons platform is going to be kept under tight wraps and described in the most general terms possible. Trump might not even realize there's a mecha in San Antonio

Rob, you do remember that Obama was president during this time frame right

I'm being good bob

BA specifically asked "how much you wanna bet its gonna stay hushed once Trump takes office?" Once Trump took office, Obama wasn't president any more.

[Rajvik]

Sorry, I must have missed that

[Labster]

December 2, 2016

Tomo wandered into the common room, and saw Alice at one of the desks writing out a letter in longhand.  "Whatcha doing?"

Alice replied, "Writing a letter to Santa Claus.  I've been a giant good girl this year."

"At your age?  Oh, dear.  Hasn't anyone told you…" Tomo paused dramatically, "that Santa isn't real?"

Alice eyed her suspiciously, "So you believe in goddesses and wizards and espers and aliens now, but Santa Claus is a sleigh too far?"

"Huh, when you put it that way…"

"I guess everyone has to choose a hill to die on."

Tomo stood still, eyes downcast in thought, while Alice continued writing.  A couple minutes later, she asked, "Uh… do you have any extra paper?"

"I'm writing a giant letter."

"For goodness sake?"

"Fine, here," Alice held out a couple sheets behind her back, nonchalantly.

Tomo sat down next to a table and started scrawling out her own dreams into ink.  She started off by relating that a friend of hers had made her promise to be a better person, and how she had really been trying to live up to her oath.

Then came the fun part.  "Do you think Santa can get us anime figurines of ourselves?"  Alice ignored her.  "That would be super-cute!"  She added them to her list.  "I guess I could use a bike light, too."

Yomi came down to the common room about this time. "Hey, are you writing, Tomo?"

"Yep!  I'm writing to Santa Claus!"

"You?  Really?" she was incredulous.

"Oh, Yomi, hasn't anyone told you yet?  Santa Claus is 100% real!"

[Black Aeronaut]

Good news.  While my my brother (the one that's currently in the Marines) was over, we looked at satellite maps of Camp Bullis in Google Maps and figured out a likely chain of events given the local topography.  So we can expect some new material from me relatively soon here.

I'll try and wrap up this arc soonish, and then we can roll right into MGLN.

BTW: does anyone have anything to say about my idea about basically just having MGLN and MGLN: A's replay themselves here in San Antonio?  Just to recap, the Takamchi, Tsukimura, and Bannings families will be planted into Olmos Park without anyone really noticing due the the Metacontinuity's malleability (as long as it's nothing truly outrageous, it will fly under the radar as causality itself changes to allow for their existence).

For certain, HAL will twig to the existence of the Midorya... that is if HAL knows about MGLN.  And unless I'm mistaken, HAL will have just passed his probationary period (just over two weeks after the First Arrival).  And even HAL will need time to get its digital paws on all things fictional.  And even if it does get ahold of everything, sorting it all out should take quite a bit of CPU time.

So, the Managers won't know right away.  Until shit starts going down with Jewel Seeds activating.

Playing with the idea of how they get there in the first place, I think I'll have it that Precia tried something... and instead of Al-Hazard, she gets the Metacontinuity.

Whoops.  

Thoughts?

[robkelk]

Falling through the cracks in the Garden of Time? I like.

Again, if they start becoming active September 26, then Ottawa won't know and come in via Sailor Teleport until October 1 at the earliest. (And Brent's busy receiving new boarders on September 27.) You'll be on your own to begin with, unless Pensacola or Montreal check in.

And that state of affairs would give people the idea that there really should be some sort of warning system that doesn't rely on managers checking in with each other, just so we're all Good Neighbors.

[robkelk]

Reading the "World List for Garrick Grimm" thread over in Hangar 13 reminded me that Ail & Ann and the Doom Tree are Sailor Moon anime characters, and thus might be out there somewhere.

So... the Doom Tree. How many generations is it away from Tsunami, again?

Hah!

I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunami decided she wanted to adopt it. 

After doing a bit of research, I think the Doom Tree would be the equivalent of a third-generation Juraian tree... or maybe stronger if Ali and Ann find more of their kind to share their lives with the tree.

[Black Aeronaut]

And that state of affairs would give people the idea that there really should be some sort of warning system that doesn't rely on managers checking in with each other, just so we're all Good Neighbors.

I can only say one thing to this....

   

[robkelk]

It's a pity we don't have a residence in Toronto...

---

Mii knelt and looked at the crack in the wall... then looked through the wall. "There's a tunnel on the other side. It heads down ... and twists a bit ... and keeps going - oh!"

"What's wrong?" Rob asked.

"I saw something that I didn't recognize. It moved away, out of range of my clairvoyance."

Her x-ray vision, Rob thought. "Can you sketch it?"

Mii accepted Rob's help in standing up. She pulled a notebook and pencil out of her pocket, and sketched for a few minutes. "It looked like this."

Rob took a look at the sketch, pulled out his Passport, connected to the Internet and did an image search. "Is this a photo of it?"

"That's more a puppet version of it, but yes."

Rob turned to their host. "I don't know how to tell you this... may as well say it straight out. You've got Fraggles."

[Black Aeronaut]

Reading the "World List for Garrick Grimm" thread over in Hangar 13 reminded me that Ail & Ann and the Doom Tree are Sailor Moon anime characters, and thus might be out there somewhere.

So... the Doom Tree. How many generations is it away from Tsunami, again?

Hah!

I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunami decided she wanted to adopt it. 

After doing a bit of research, I think the Doom Tree would be the equivalent of a third-generation Juraian tree... or maybe stronger if Ali and Ann find more of their kind to share their lives with the tree.

Sorry, only noticed this when I checked back.

I'm very much amenable to that idea.  Although it suddenly occurred to me just how much Ail and An look like Abh. 

(And yes, those are the correct spellings - I just checked.  The romanization for Ail's name is Eiru while An's is simply An.)

It's a pity we don't have a residence in Toronto...

---

Mii knelt and looked at the crack in the wall... then looked through the wall. "There's a tunnel on the other side. It heads down ... and twists a bit ... and keeps going - oh!"

"What's wrong?" Rob asked.

"I saw something that I didn't recognize. It moved away, out of range of my clairvoyance."

Her x-ray vision, Rob thought. "Can you sketch it?"

Mii accepted Rob's help in standing up. She pulled a notebook and pencil out of her pocket, and sketched for a few minutes. "It looked like this."

Rob took a look at the sketch, pulled out his Passport, connected to the Internet and did an image search. "Is this a photo of it?"

"That's more a puppet version of it, but yes."

Rob turned to their host. "I don't know how to tell you this... may as well say it straight out. You've got Fraggles."

HAH!!! Brilliant!  And at any rate, whos to say they didn't get shuffled off to where their antics can at least be monitored? 

[robkelk]

Reading the "World List for Garrick Grimm" thread over in Hangar 13 reminded me that Ail & Ann and the Doom Tree are Sailor Moon anime characters, and thus might be out there somewhere.

So... the Doom Tree. How many generations is it away from Tsunami, again?

Hah!

I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if Tsunami decided she wanted to adopt it. 

After doing a bit of research, I think the Doom Tree would be the equivalent of a third-generation Juraian tree... or maybe stronger if Ali and Ann find more of their kind to share their lives with the tree.

Sorry, only noticed this when I checked back.

I'm very much amenable to that idea.  Although it suddenly occurred to me just how much Ail and An look like Abh. 

(And yes, those are the correct spellings - I just checked.  The romanization for Ail's name is Eiru while An's is simply An.)

Thanks. (Anime-only characters, after all - can't keep track of them all.)

Hmmmmm... Maybe Ail and An were the templates for the Abh? No, of course not - but Lafiel might think there's some sort of connection between them.

It's a pity we don't have a residence in Toronto...

---

Mii knelt and looked at the crack in the wall... then looked through the wall. "There's a tunnel on the other side. It heads down ... and twists a bit ... and keeps going - oh!"

"What's wrong?" Rob asked.

"I saw something that I didn't recognize. It moved away, out of range of my clairvoyance."

Her x-ray vision, Rob thought. "Can you sketch it?"

Mii accepted Rob's help in standing up. She pulled a notebook and pencil out of her pocket, and sketched for a few minutes. "It looked like this."

Rob took a look at the sketch, pulled out his Passport, connected to the Internet and did an image search. "Is this a photo of it?"

"That's more a puppet version of it, but yes."

Rob turned to their host. "I don't know how to tell you this... may as well say it straight out. You've got Fraggles."

HAH!!! Brilliant!  And at any rate, whos to say they didn't get shuffled off to where their antics can at least be monitored? 

Hey, if anybody wants this, feel free.

[robkelk]

D'oh! (facepalms)

How long ago now did I give my SI that power-up? And how long have I been trying to figure out what to call it?

I just realized: SI-Rob is a waterbender.

[robkelk]

Hey, BA, since the Lyrical Nanoha girls are going to be showing up for the Halloween party, do you think we can talk Fate into going as Galaxy Fraulein Yuna?

Yes, of course this is because I saw some fanart.

[Black Aeronaut]

D'oh! (facepalms)

How long ago now did I give my SI that power-up? And how long have I been trying to figure out what to call it?

I just realized: SI-Rob is a waterbender.

HAH!

You do realize, of course, we are now obligated to bring in the whole gAng, plus Zuko and Iroh, and possibly Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee? Heh-heh-heh...

Though the whole group would probably get split, with the gAng for the most part hanging out with you, and the firebenders would all hang their hats here in San Antonio.

Thoughts?

Hey, BA, since the Lyrical Nanoha girls are going to be showing up for the Halloween party, do you think we can talk Fate into going as Galaxy Fraulein Yuna?

Yes, of course this is because I saw some fanart.

Snrk.

"... It's great, but I think you MAY wanna add some leggings to that costume because it's just one accident away from becoming horribly ecchi."

"But Ben, what could-"

"STOP!!! Rule Number One!"

".... 'Don't tempt Murphy, because he's a cold-hearted bastard.'"

"Rule Number 1-A."

"'Knowing about Murphy's Law does not mitigate it by itself.'"

"And One-B."

"'If in doubt, see Rule One.' Okay, Fate-chan, let's go ahead and fix it."

"Haaiiiiii..."

[Labster]

Got a few ideas for Halloween costumes from fan art:

Well, I'm thinking that Yomi and Tomo need to be wearing these outfits.  There's a fic with this image that has additional costume suggestions, too (Tomo/Yomi).  I had thought a bit about a little DP action for them -- it was literally the premise of my previous fic -- but it looks pretty good on Kagura and Sakaki, too.  And well, given the events of Halloween for Tomo, maybe the clothes make the woman?

I don't know why but I really like this IJN Osaka.  The seiyuu joke is for Sakaki-san here, but Chiyo as Miku looks fun (but age her up to 13).  Still looking for Kaorin.  I think that maybe if Tomoyo had known her for more than a week she would have suggested a catgirl, because reasons, but even she can't figure out relationships that fast.  She probably does pick up on Brent, Tomo, and Yomi enough to make the above outfits, but we all wear our hearts on our sleeves.

For Aria characters, well, most of the images I've seen are characters cosplaying in Aria outfits, not the other way around.  This Aria/Alice in Wonderland cross looks promising (I legit have no idea what's up with the Ritz crackers though).

Haven't looked for Sakura yet -- the problem is that everything looks good on her.

Does Index keep an extra set of robes around?

And, just an average day in Venice (Arc 2) (somehow this picture didn't include Lum, how did this happen?)

[Bob Schroeck]

You do realize, of course, we are now obligated to bring in the whole gAng, plus Zuko and Iroh, and possibly Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee? Heh-heh-heh...

Though the whole group would probably get split, with the gAng for the most part hanging out with you, and the firebenders would all hang their hats here in San Antonio.

Thoughts?

Why not have them appear in culturally appropriate places? Firebenders in Japan (?), Waterbenders among the Inuit, Airbenders in Thailand (maybe) and Earthbenders in Korea (if I recall the sources correctly). Oh, and Ty Lee in Ringling Bros/Barnum and Bailey's summer home in Florida.

[robkelk]

And that would give SI-Rob a chance to take the people complaining about the temperature some place where it actually is cold...

[robkelk]

Does Index keep an extra set of robes around?

The set she has is literally held together with safety pins... so, no. And Touma accidentally used his power to disenchant Index's robes way back in episode 1. Oh, Sakura-chan, how are you at re-enchantments that don't involve cards?

[Black Aeronaut]

You do realize, of course, we are now obligated to bring in the whole gAng, plus Zuko and Iroh, and possibly Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee? Heh-heh-heh...

Though the whole group would probably get split, with the gAng for the most part hanging out with you, and the firebenders would all hang their hats here in San Antonio.

Thoughts?

Why not have them appear in culturally appropriate places?  Firebenders in Japan (?), Waterbenders among the Inuit, Airbenders in Thailand (maybe) and Earthbenders in Korea (if I recall the sources correctly).  Oh, and Ty Lee in Ringling Bros/Barnum and Bailey's summer home in Florida.

The same could be said for just about everyone else that doesn't come from another planet. 

And I think Ty Lee might have some of the folks at RBBB at their wits end after the first week. 

[Bob Schroeck]

All the more reason to do it, then. <grin>

[Labster]

Does Index keep an extra set of robes around?

The set she has is literally held together with safety pins... so, no. And Touma accidentally used his power to disenchant Index's robes way back in episode 1. Oh, Sakura-chan, how are you at re-enchantments that don't involve cards?

Why aren't you asking for Tomoyo?  This sounds more like carding than cardcapture, and clothing is her wheelhouse.

The only power I can think of is well, she can Lock the safety pins?  I gotta do something about that in general.  I really don't think of Sakura as a battle mage, but you look at her cards and geez, there's a lot of evocation and conjuration in there.  A decent mix of illusion and abjuration, but almost all of her transmutation is very targeted, or things like buffs.  Enchantment -- the mind magic version -- is pretty much only Sleep.  Libra is the only divination, though the cards as a set can be used for divination.

The main answer to your question is that Sakura is going to learn how to make magic permanent from the Ginzuishou when they make the extra apartment building.  She could learn from Belldandy or Skuld too, but I doubt they'll be around her much.

One of these days I suppose I need to watch an episode of Avatar or two.  I've actually seen more of the movie -- two minutes, enough to confirm it's terrible -- than of the series.

Airbenders in Thailand (maybe)

Well, we do have the Lagoon Company in Thailand to keep them company XD

[robkelk]

Does Index keep an extra set of robes around?

The set she has is literally held together with safety pins... so, no. And Touma accidentally used his power to disenchant Index's robes way back in episode 1. Oh, Sakura-chan, how are you at re-enchantments that don't involve cards?

Why aren't you asking for Tomoyo?  This sounds more like carding than cardcapture, and clothing is her wheelhouse.

The only power I can think of is well, she can Lock the safety pins?  I gotta do something about that in general.  I really don't think of Sakura as a battle mage, but you look at her cards and geez, there's a lot of evocation and conjuration in there.  A decent mix of illusion and abjuration, but almost all of her transmutation is very targeted, or things like buffs.  Enchantment -- the mind magic version -- is pretty much only Sleep.  Libra is the only divination, though the cards as a set can be used for divination.

Good point - this is a team effort. Somebody needs to stitch the pieces of Index's robes back together, and somebody needs to restore the defense enchantments on them. And the enchantment on Index's robes was very much a buff: not be harmed by any attack that should by all rights land her in the hospital (in essence, a permanent mobile Shield).

Although...

"Tomoyo-chan, I doubt Index wants all those frills. This is a religious garment. You wouldn't put frills on a miko's outfit, would you?" She didn't answer right away, and Rob realized she was actually considering the idea.

The main answer to your question is that Sakura is going to learn how to make magic permanent from the Ginzuishou when they make the extra apartment building.  She could learn from Belldandy or Skuld too, but I doubt they'll be around her much.

One of these days I suppose I need to watch an episode of Avatar or two.  I've actually seen more of the movie -- two minutes, enough to confirm it's terrible -- than of the series.

Airbenders in Thailand (maybe)

Well, we do have the Lagoon Company in Thailand to keep them company XD

Which brings up something I should and will take to the Worldbuilding thread.

[robkelk]

Refresh my memory, please: Are the Madoka Magica girls showing up at the 2016 Halloween party?

"Why?" Because if they aren't, Rui-chan finally has a costume.

[Black Aeronaut]

Ah, no. I don't believe so. The furthest along I can imagine us being at by Halloween is Nanoha A's, and only barely if I go all-out on the pacing.

[robkelk]

Sounds goood.

Speaking of the Halloween party, does anybody other than me have anything else to add to the story?

[robkelk]

Hmmmmm...

Hmmmmmmmmm...

...
Doesn't everybody want a mini-Azu-nyan? (Much more adorable than a mini-Washuu-chan.)
...

Speaking of "much more adorable than a mini-Washuu-chan", there's this image.

And now I'm seeing a market for custom-made persocoms who look like their owners. (EDIT: Or, for couples, persocoms who look like the owner's sweetheart.) Has anybody called dibs on Chobits / Angelic Layer yet?