[IC][WIP][Arc 1] How I Managed to Quit Worrying and Love The Grief Seed

[Black Aeronaut]

Whoa!  A truly disarming story.

Pfft.

And definitely a better mall battle than in Stranger Things.

I haven't seen that, so I wouldn't know for sure. 

“Now it’s my turn!  Now I have the power to do something about this!”  She then held out a beautiful glowing green gem, caged in gold like a Faberge Egg.  Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of green light, and then the old Alisa was gone.

It looks kind of like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Ywem5d3oU

Watsonian: We can interpret this one of two ways - either there's some timey-wimey shenanigans involved here, or it's simply all in their head; either way, you get a sudden flare of magical light and then BINGO: instant mahou shoujo!

Doylist: I *really* didn't want to have to come up with a transformation sequence, and this sucker's been held back long enough.  Even worse, Puella Magi transformation sequences are all unique - you never see the same sequence twice, even from the same Puella Magi.

Ben reached up and opened one of the storage compartments in ceiling console, revealing a pair of buttons - one blue and the other green.

Alan Tudyk said that whenever he wanted to do something cool with the Serenity, you always have to hit the toggles above the chair.

Well, the ceiling console is about as close to "above the chair" as you can get.  It also has the advantages of 1) making sense from a standpoint of ergonomics - it's right there when you raise your right arm; and 2) being hidden in an otherwise ordinary looking compartment so "civilians" won't go "Hey, what are those for?"

But if they attack again, we’ll abandon the van and then scatter.

Not Athena!  I just learned her name, we can't abandon her!

Also you now have an Alicia and an Athena.  I would not be surprised if cyberpunk espers on motorbikes start appearing in San Antonio.  You brought this on yourself.

"No, Mii, he said 'cyberpunk espers on motorbikes' - you can put your bike back in the garage. Besides, there has to be at least two of them so they can shout each other's names instead of having a real conversation."

(And now I'm wondering where to find a post-disaster motorcycle shaped like a gondola.)

A challenger appears in the Bumblebee / Elan Vital race!

Okay, in order...

No worries, Athena will be returning - harder, better, faster, stronger.... 

Really, if Tetsuo and/or Kaneda do show up, Ben isn't gonna screw around.  He's gonna get Belldandy on that faster than white on rice.

If Priss, on the other hand, shows up, Mii is more than welcome to hang out with her - if for no other reason than to take turns shooting down Leon whenever he tries to make a pass.  Bonus points if certain Boomeroids are present as well. 

Hrm....  I wasn't aware that Volkswagen made motorcycles at any point in time.  Or that Bumblebee had a motorcycle alt-form.  Split the difference and let him use Volkswagen's GX-3 Concept?

OK this is now all boring proofreading stuff I'll just delete from the thread later:

Yeah, lots of gremlins to kill.  Someone get me the the 130,000 lux sun lamp...

with that year’s winter fashions.

If you need a date Rob, at least we know it's in the fall.

Starting one week after the Halloween party, too - which makes early November an eventful time for everybody.

Yes, this has to take place after the Halloween Party, as did the previous volume of How I Learned to Quit Worrying and Love The Grief Seed.  This gremlin is a result of me possibly committing a continuity error - if this is still technically fall, then it's very very last week or two of the season.  I've got my work cut out for me.

Keep in mind, I was never the one pushing for a Late Winter Seasonal Climax.  But I think I have partial fault in that I don't thing I ever really clarified what I meant when I started using the term "Seasons" to denote the major story arcs.

I never meant for it to map directly to the time frame of a season in-setting, but simply as a container for major story arcs - just like in television.  Certainly, they'll usually air during a season, but the in-story time frame rarely, if ever, maps to directly to that.

A good example of this in-action is the TV series, 24.  Each episode, which fits into a one-hour television time slot, covers an in-setting time frame 60 minutes, making it so everything is happening in real time (including whatever we miss during advertisement breaks).  But in the end, this means that each 24-episode season of 24 covers only a grand total of 24 hours within the setting - thus the selling point of the series: it tells a story in real-time that takes place over the course of 24 hours.

I'm still gonna let you guys set the in-story time frame for Season 1, but keep in mind how much I planned to have happen within Season 1.

You only need to look at how many residents I originally intended to have.

He ran to the back of the van, knowing he’d have only seconds, opened it, grabbed the large, flat, and heavy case from there, and cheesed it through the women’s department, only stopping to take cover in the midst of thickly packed racks of women’s clothes.

Gosh that's a lot of commas while still being grammatical afaict.

Yeah.  I was, perhaps, being a bit too careful there.  I'll see about trying to break it up while maintaining a sense of fast action.

right behind the Chik-Fil-A,

Chick-fil-A (unless you're on-purpose bland naming)

I've never been in one of those. Do they hand out Chick-fil-A Tracts?

Yes.

On a scale of Christian businesses from In-N-Out (1) to the Roman Catholic Church (10), Chick-fil-A is about a 7.  Other examples: Hobby Lobby (8), that local mattress store that paints bible verses on the outside as a sales gimmick (4), the local Christian bookstore (9).  I got to meet a Chick-fil-A executive long before I ever ate at one of their restaurants, and it was less than a minute before he started talking about Christian values.

* Black Aeronaut slips on his "Local Guide" hat...

The thing to keep in mind is that, with the exception of a small handful of stores that are directly operated by the Cathy family, nearly all Chick-fil-A stores are locally owned and operated franchises.

In other words, your mileage will vary.

The Cathy family is very strenuous in their vetting of who gets to own a franchise of their brand.  But in a ways, I don't see much fault in what they do because Chick-fil-A, no matter what you say about them as a company, has the lowest employee turnover rate in the fast food industry.

That said, the greater San Antonio metropolitan area has a very vibrant and politically active LGBTQ population, and I strongly suspect that there's a few that even work in the local Chick-fil-A stores.  By and large, you're not hurting anyone by patronizing one of the local chains here.  Instead, you'd only be depriving yourself of a pretty good chicken sandwich, tasty waffle fries, and some of the best lemonade to be had in a fast-food chain.

Do yourself a favor and, if you happen to visit a Whataburger, snag a few packets of their Spicy Ketchup (it's so popular here that they even sell it in the local grocery stores under the Whataburger brand).  It goes great with Chick-fil-A's waffle fries.