[OOC][PLOT][ARC 3] Planning for Arc 3

[robkelk]

Mod note: We've pulled some posts out of the pre-retcon "Planning for Arc 3" and "Planning for Arc 4" threads and moved them to the post-retcon threads, before sending the remaining work -- Black Aeronaut's overall plots, which we've been asked to not use -- to his writing subforum.

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Just pulling a couple of things from a couple of threads together, to remind myself that we thought this might be a good idea...

First, the image thread:

Sailor Moon Infinity is a doujin self-published by Naoko Takeuchi in 1997. Like many other doujin, the book contains "guest art". Thumbnails of the entire book can be found in the Wayback Machine - be warned that page 2 is NSFW in North America. Some of the pages have larger copies saved.

As for what we can use...

{snip}

Page 30... There has to be a story behind page 30. Maybe they're AU versions of the characters. Maybe they're taking part in a holodeck novel. Maybe they're jumping from universe to universe and are visiting the United Kingdom of a Sakura Wars timeline. Any ideas on how we could use it?

Mechanic!Usagi is an interesting idea...

Isn't she, though.

Maybe that's our key to using this in TNB. We have no idea what she might end up majoring in, after all - only that she'll end up becoming Queen.

Add this from the fifth Planning for Arc 1 thread:

Well, Skuld can teach Usagi how to make robots, and Urd can teach her how to pick up guys.

[Black Aeronaut]

.... Does Usagi really need to know how to pick up guys? I mean, what with her being betrothed to Mamorou and all...

If anything, I could see Skuld and Urd teaching these things to Chibi-Usa.

[Dartz]

Why does Usagi have to go with Mamoru? He's just a weirdo in a mask?

I don't know. One of the better things about Fenspace was all the 'Lookalikes' had their own identities, independant of their template. They had room tro grow and could even be offended by people thinking they didn't. They had agency.

If I ever bothered to finish that ongoing 33-S story it was basically going to be Sylvie pissed off at having to work for a living rather than being able to do anything amnd asking why the hell they couldn't just do something else, why couldn't they be free and this really isn't the life they wanted while Meg is very much, this is how 99% of humans actually live and they all feel the exact same way.,

[robkelk]

"So. We're in Montreal." Konata stated, desperate to rejoin the conversation on a positive note.

"You are," Rin agreed.

"And we're in a Narō novel."

"They're called 'isekai' now," commented Kazari. "And, yes."

"And I'll bet we're not getting power-ups right away. If ever." Konata sighed. "Let's talk about our quest over lunch. We're getting a quest to save the world, right?"

Kazari looked puzzled. "Not as far as I know... but we could ask our friends whether there's anything like a quest that you could go on."

"No quest? That takes all the fun out of being in a Narō novel - sorry, in an isekai novel." In a quieter voice that she thought nobody else could hear, Konata continued, "Oh, well. It looks like I'm going to miss winter Comiket this year."

Now that I've posted that... I see a few ways that we can run with this situation.

Option the First: The girls from Lucky Star get power-ups and join the Forces of Good. Aside from deciding what sort of power-ups they get, this is the easy way to get them into the adventures that their apartment-mates are and will be having... but it's also been done so many times that it's a cliché.

* robkelk glances at the V&V rulebook that Epsilon left behind, specifically the character-creation chapter

Option the Second: The girls remain normal girls, helping out as moral compasses and reminders of just who the other displacees are fighting for during Arcs 2, 3, and 4. It's an unusual option for isekai, and it requires Konata to be Wrong Genre Savvy instead of Genre Savvy... but if it's done well (e.g. Saten-san in canon) and they find a niche that only they can fill, it makes for good stories.

Option the Third: Send them on a quest. Bog-standard isekai - another cliché. But we aren't doing bog-standard isekai anywhere, despite all of the characters other than the managers being Trapped in Another World.

Option the Fourth: Other - fill in the blank. _____

The fact that I'm posting this in the Arc 3 thread instead of the Arc 1 thread shows I'll looking at the long view here.

Thoughts?

[Labster]

Let me summarize

Lucky Star in an isekai situation

Now that I've posted that... I see a few ways that we can run with this situation.

Option the First: Space opera powers

Option the Second: Stay normal/canonical slice of life.

Option the Third: Bog-standard isekai

Option the Fourth: Other - fill in the blank. _____

The fact that I'm posting this in the Arc 3 thread instead of the Arc 1 thread shows I'll looking at the long view here.

Thoughts?

I thought we were trying for deconstruction, and while we can go straight down a genre, I have a few option fours that play with it a bit more:

Option Four-One: The girls do learn some magic, but it's pretty tame, and can only do things like "clean room" or "summon cosplay outfit".

Option Four-Two: Only some of them get major powers, but they still manage to stay friends. Maybe special twin magic, I don't know.

Option Four-Three: They do get major powers, but don't like using them. Canonically, Tsukasa wants to be a bride when she grows up, but of course doesn't have a boyfriend or anything in high school. A bride without a lover is pretty silly, but, and just bear with me: Wedding Peach. Get magic powered forms, with the only drawback of having to wear something ridiculous like a wedding dress. Makes the power cost less points in during character build, as Konata would point out.

Finally, an option five:

Option Five: Starting a Moon Kingdom is going to need a lot of people. One Moonbase is not a state, though it's certainly a start. Maybe ordinary people can find ordinary jobs... in space.

[robkelk]

Option Five (which is a subtype of Option Two, if I'm not mistaken) does look good.

Canonically, Miyuki wants to be a doctor and Kagami wants to be a lawyer - and they have the grades to get recommendations/scholarships.

Tsukasa ... Appartments Mont-Royal is described as having a professional kitchen with attached dining room, but the list of displacees (after trimming the characters nobody still writing in TNB knows well enough to be able to write) doesn't include a professional-level chef. Or anybody who really knows how to cook other than Shirou, for that matter... except for Tsukasa and Konata, and Konata's interests lay elsewhere. So Tsukasa sees the kitchen, is told almost nobody uses it, says "Does that mean I can have it? I'm in heaven...", and instead of pushing herself into an academic program at McGill University ends up taking the Professional Cooking course at LaSalle College - and is a much happier person than she would have been if she forced herself to become a lawyer like her sister. (And if we want to flip this to Option Four-One, well... Tsukasa likes baking sweets, so bring Yumeiro Patissiere into the Metacontinuity and pair her with a Sweets Spirit.)

Which leaves Konata - who is the one who wanted to go on a quest since she's in another world. Learn to live with disappointment, go to college, and get a job with Bethesda Games Montreal, Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal, Ubisoft Montreal, or one of the other game companies in the city, perhaps?

[Black Aeronaut]

There is a name for the sort of magic you mention in Scenario 4-1: Lifestyle Magic.

And in isekai settings, the protagonist usually finds interesting way to abuse the holy fuck out of lifestyle magic to become the sleeper-hero.  (That is, the one everyone disregards because all they have is common lifestyle magic, but somehow become even more OP than the recognized hero.)

Not that I think it should be the way we go.  But it does provide other interesting avenues to pursue.

Take Brent's "Option 5" (or, tentatively, Scenario 2-2)... They can have these powers that are considered "normal" or "average", but they learn how to use them in some very unconventional ways that makes them OP as hell... but as with quite a few isekai protagonists, they just want to live a laid-back sort of life.

Of course, once their "talents" become noticed, it's very likely they'll find job offers for positions in the government... something like the level of a magistrate, but specialized in specific fields.  Such as a magistrate-level position where their focus is medical care, or education, or some other public service.

(The idea that I'm cooking up here is that an actual magistrate would just be a figurehead - rather like some of the mayor-council municipal governments in real life.  Actual planning is done by these subordinates, and the magistrate simply coordinates their efforts and chairs their council sessions.  Granted, that is a fair bit of power for a local governing official, but it would have its checks and balances.)

Thoughts?

[robkelk]

It might be worth going that way if we discover we aren't using the characters at all.

Shifting gears... something else for Arc 3, if not Arc 4. Most displacees are going to find Significant Others among the "mundanes", if they don't find love within the residences (or had already found love, for example Belldandy+Keiichi).

I was reminded of that by this image.

[Bob Schroeck]

It might be worth going that way if we discover we aren't using the characters at all.

Shifting gears... something else for Arc 3, if not Arc 4. Most displacees are going to find Significant Others among the "mundanes", if they don't find love within the residences (or had already found love, for example Belldandy+Keiichi).

I was reminded of that by this image.

I'll just note (again, I think) that I'm setting Sawa-chan-sensei with Mark Thackeray... so I'm already helping on that front.  <grin>

[Black Aeronaut]

Second Third verse, same as first stay the course!

[robkelk]

Nobody's who is still actively writing has done any public planning for this part of the story, so I'm switching the "sticky" bit off on this thread.

We can put a spotlight on this if and when it's actually needed.

[robkelk]

This spamfic is still valid post-retcon.