Sailor Moon Step - the muse has whispered in my ear...

[robkelk]

...but in order to know whether the short omake will make sense in-universe, I have to ask:

Bob, what characterization are you using for Minako? First-season and first-half-of-R ultracompetent, remainder of series goofball, Shadowjack's take on her where she's got the weight of responsibility on her shoulders until she passes that weight to Usagi and gets to loosen up, or something else?

(After I get an answer to that, I'll then need to do some research... by watching a few episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

Rob, we'll talk in email when I'm less likely to pitch forward and wake up with keyboard face.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

Sounds good. g'night... (logs off)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Evil Midnight Lurker]

(After I get an answer to that, I'll then need to do some research... by watching a few episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle.)

"And as the sun sets on Frostbite Falls, three questions remain to be asked: Who is this strange man spying on our heroes?  Where did he get that motorcycle?  And why is his animation budget so much higher than the rest of this show?  Be with us next time for 'Loon Over Miami,' or 'Ragnarok and Roll!'"
--Sam
"No brain... no effect!"

[robkelk]

(After I get an answer to that, I'll then need to do some research... by watching a few episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle.)

"And as the sun sets on Frostbite Falls, three questions remain to be asked: Who is this strange man spying on our heroes?  Where did he get that motorcycle?  And why is his animation budget so much higher than the rest of this show?  Be with us next time for 'Loon Over Miami,' or 'Ragnarok and Roll!'"
--Sam
"No brain... no effect!"

Cut to commercial, come back to Fractured Fairy Tales: Harry Potter and his Order of a Phoenix, Medium-Rare...

More seriously, the Bullwinkle re-watching is so I know I'm riffing off the correct wording.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

We never did get back to each other about this... but that's okay - I wrote the sidestory anyway. Enjoy

---

The poor girl looked so tired, as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders for so long and didn't know how to react once it was gone.

Which is accurate, after all. She was the only Senshi operating in Europe for months. But it wasn't good for her long-term health.

So I decided to do something about it, starting with tonight's training session. Which is why I was wearing the cheapest shirt I could find.

"All right, ladies, the session tonight begins as a four-on-two battle. The idea is to contain and take prisoners - let's at least try not to hurt each other. Aino-san, you're with me."

As the others left, Minako turned to me. "Is four-on-two really a fair fight?"

"We do have more combat experience than they do. Besides, I said that it *begins* as a four-on-two battle, not that it'll stay that way."

"You're planning on conjuring up some reinforcements."

Smart girl. "One particular reinforcement that they aren't expecting. I hit on these songs last week... now what was the code again?" Then I grinned. "Hey, Venus, watch me pull our Rabbit out of my hat! Nothing up my sleeve..." I ripped the arm off of that cheap shirt, then keyed in the code for Flamethrower. "Presto!" As I expected but Minako didn't, a duplicate Sailor Mars appeared in front of us. I grinned apologetically. "Oops."

*****

I looked at the girls. Everyone who had actually taken some burn damage (which was everyone but Rei and Minako) was fully healed, but they were looking at Sailor Mars with some new-found respect. "Last night's session worked so well that we're going to do it again." Before anyone could complain, I added, "And, no, I won't conjure up a duplicate Sailor Mars. Off you go, ladies."

Minako and I watched them take their positions. "If you aren't going to call up Rei, who are you going to call?"

I almost answered with the usual movie title, but went with the routine instead. "Hey, Venus, watch me pull our Rabbit out of my hat!"

"Again?"

Hmmm. Maybe she did know my reference. I keyed in the code for Knock on Wood. "Presto!" Of course I didn't get Sailor Moon; instead, a duplicate Sailor Jupiter appeared in front of us. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

Minako giggled, and I kept myself from smiling.

*****

"Hey, Venus, watch me pull our Rabbit out of my hat!"

"But that trick never works!"

She did know my reference. I keyed in the code for Venus. "Presto!" To the surprise of neither of us, a second Sailor Venus appeared beside Minako. "Maybe I need a new hat."

She looked at me, then looked at the other Senshi (who had decided to remain nearby and spy on us while we were making our plans). "And now here's something we hope you'll really like!" Both Venuses continued in unison. "Crescent Beam!"

*****

"Mister Sangnoir, what was the whole point of the Bullwinkle references?"

As the others stretched to recover from being treated with I'm Alive three nights in a row, I sat down on the lawn beside Minako. Since she had asked in English, I replied in the same language. "I thought you'd already figured it out, since you were taking part in the routine this evening."

"Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to double-check."

I nodded. It had taken the girls long enough to learn that lesson that I didn't want to send them the opposite message even for something this minor. "We were preparing for combat, but we were still having fun. As long as all the important matters are covered, we don't have to be deathly serious." Hexe would probably kill me for giving a trainee that advice, but Minako wasn't a trainee. Good thing we were speaking English, though - at least Rei and Makoto couldn't understand us.

"So that means I can lighten up and still fight effectively."

I just nodded.

"Are you telling me that I should lighten up?"

"That's up to you. But I will tell you that you're likely to hurt yourself if you don't."

She frowned. "Changing my whole attitude to combat isn't something that's easy ... but I'll think about it."

That's all I expected, this early in the process. "Thank you, Minako."

[Bob Schroeck]

We never did get back to each other about this...

And my apologies for forgetting about it entirely.

but that's okay - I wrote the sidestory anyway. Enjoy

And enjoy I did. I'll have to put that up on the staggers page one of these days, when I get my act together and add all the new stuff I have.

As for Minako's personality, I have to admit I like Shadowjack's take on her, and would probably have followed along those lines -- competent, but willing to relax. Helping her learn to relax, well, yeah, that's definitely a Doug thing. And I would think that -- with her still calling him "Mr." -- this is very, very soon after she joins up with the rest of the senshi. (When that is, I'm still not sure -- I have to see if there is a canon date that she returned from England; it'll be shortly after that.)
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

I'll have to put that up on the staggers page one of these days, when I get my act together and add all the new stuff I have.

If it's going to be stand-alone instead of being incorporated into the actual Walk, then we'd better give it a title. Hmmmmm...

"Too Many Sailors Aboard", or "A Rocky Road to Self-Realization"

(No, that isn't multiple choice - the entire thing is the title. Unless, of course, somebody else can come up with a better one.)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

If it's going to be stand-alone instead of being incorporated into the actual Walk

Well, in my mind, that's the difference between "sidestory" and "here's a scene for you to use".
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Labster]

It struck me that I had already told you to change Minkao to Minako before, but nope, that was in an entirely different fic.  The website needs fixed too.  "A" is the only letter in that name on the left hand of the keyboard, isn't it?

Not that Minkao would be a bad name, let's say it's these kanji: 明顔, "bright face".

[Bob Schroeck]

Thanks for pointing that out! When I get home from work tonight, I'll fix the page.

[robkelk]

You couldn't have mentioned this seven years ago, eh?

Thanks.

[itsune9tl]

"Be with us next time for 'Loon Over Miami,' or 'Ragnarok and Roll!'"

'Loon Over Miami' Sounds like Some form of breakfast.

Waffle, Ham, Waffle, Eggs (scrambled) Waffle, Canned Fruit Cocktail, Waffle, Chocolate Syrup, Pancake, Egg & bacon face. Serve with Juice, and Coffee.

"Ragnarock and Roll" is basically Death Metal with actual singing...

[Labster]

I mean, I would have mentioned it 7 years ago, but back then I wasn't aware of the Walk, and Looney Toons was just "that other bloke who's editing UndocumentedFeatures/Characters" on TVT.  My path to getting here was:

• My college flatmate recommended Irregular Webcomic to me
  
• The author, David Morgan-Mar, lists a ton of TVT links, so I started reading TV Tropes
  
• The creator of the Perl programming language, Larry Wall, recommended Revolutionary Girl Utena during a lecture, so I watched that
  
• Bob recommended Undocumented Features on Utena's Fanfic Recs page
  
• We were editing the same page when Eddie pulled his fast one, so I ended up here in 2012.
  

So just one year too late to catch your typo, Rob