[OOC][PLOT] Planning for Arc 2 - Crisis on Infinite Earths

[robkelk]

Also, who's Tuxedo Cybertron?

Who has the AllSpark this season? There's your answer.

Galaxia might have killed them all in her home universe, but I doubt they would have gotten Sailor Jurai.  My vote: Sasami, though a quick google search says that Ranma is also a popular Sailor Jurai, lol.

From my current work-in-progress:

"Misaka ... Misaka ... Misaka ... Misaka Misaka. It's hard to come up with a nickname, Misaka Misaka announces! Misaka Misaka Misaka Misa Misa...."

"Misa Misaka? That's not too bad." Hyoga tilted her head and lifted a finger to her chin. "No, wait, wasn't there something about a magical girl named Misa somewhere?"

So, yeah. Bishojo Senshi Pretty Sammy, at your service! With Misaka Misaka filling the role of Pixy Misa.

[Black Aeronaut]

Snrk.

[Norgarth]

A few ideas for 'Fictional' locales to pop in during arc 2:

Angel Grove (home of the Power Rangers)
The Takyo-3 Geofront (complete with Lilth and Reiquarium O_O )
Isla Nublar (Island from Jurassic Park)
Gilligan's Island
Sunnydale

On a sillier note:
Little Tokyo (Samurai Pizza Cats)
The City (The Tick)
Ponyville (MLP:FIM)
Radiator Springs (cars)

And for people/groups who can be discovered in various real locations...

the TMNT (New York)
The Winchester brothers

[robkelk]

Benjamin is going to be running through these castles, laughing like Babs Bunny with a Chainsaw, while gleefully and utterly annihilating everything creepy and crawly.  And Washu will tell everyone to just let him be for the moment and make sure nothing sneaks up behind him... though with the way he's absolutely terrifying the not-so-native wildlife, that's a slim chance.

Let him be? Heck, we're going to invite him along!

"Hey, Ben, it's Rob. Rei Hino and the Misaka sisters are going to go clean out her castle on Mars today. If you want to do a live-action run of DOOM for real, be here in fifteen minutes; that's when the Sailor Teleport leaves."

[Black Aeronaut]

Kek. You misunderstood. By 'let him be' I mean ge was already invited along... and THEN they saw the crazed look in his eyes before the laughing even started....

"Uhm, girls. Been has gone bye-bye. Rob, whaddya got?"

"I'm sorry Mikoto, but I am too terrified for rational thought."

[robkelk]

Nah, I wouldn't come along. SI-Rob, Kazari, and Ruiko are HQ staff, not line troops, and know better than to get in the way of those who are more capable of fighting.

And the Misaka sisters probably wouldn't care as long as Ben can be pointed at the enemy. So... "Ben's gone bye-bye; what have I got left, Rei?"

[Labster]

It's funny, but I think of Tomoyo as front line too.  Not because of her amazing combat skills, but because someone has to record Sakura's exploits.  She also knows Sakura's abilities, and can come up with tactics almost as well as Sakura does.

A climactic scene that will probably go in a story eventually

"I— I don't know what to do, it's too much!"

"Sakura-chan!"  Tomoyo's cry pierced through the din.  "Use your invincible spell!"

"Tomoyo… right."  Sakura's look of determination was stronger than any that Tomoyo had ever filmed before, and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Stars of the heavens, which shine ever against the darkness, lend your endurance!

"Heart of the moon, which guides our path through the night, lend your grace!

"Warmth of the sun, which always returns to us, lend your strength!

"May our power be bound together and named."

Power swirled before her, and gathered at the tip of her outstretched Star Wand.  At the center of the maelstrom, a glowing card began to take shape.

"Kitto daijoubu da yo!  FAITH!!!"

So far as my SI's special abilities, it's hard, because I don't think I'm great at anything in life.  Of course, this is because I know people who are better at me in most everything.  I'm good at a lot of things, though.  I'm one of those jack-of-all-trades people; I know a little about everything, and I know where my limits are.  But I learn fast, good enough to teach right away.  I was my community college's tutor for the astronomy class while I was taking the course for credit.  And, if I can learn just about anything, there's really no reason why I shouldn't be able to learn magic.  Lots of magicks.

[robkelk]

But I learn fast, good enough to teach right away.

That's a special talent in itself.

[Black Aeronaut]

Indeed. If you can learn magic -that- fast... Hrm.... Labster, have you ever seen Log Horizon? Because if not, put it at or near the close to the top for your priority watch list.

Thing is that you can be VERY much like Shiro, the so-called 'Villain In Glasses'. It's an affectionate nick name - he has quite a few people that are dear friends of his. It's just that he is a very high level support mage, and he has such an incredible tactical mind that his friends like to say he's like a glasses wearing villain. If you can learn magic as quickly as you imply here, then I can easily see you becoming like Shiro.

(And really? You'd effin' love LH if you haven't seen it already. Some people hate on it for not having enough action. But it doesn't need action. It's slice of life with intrigues, hidden powers, and world altering plots thrown in for flavor. Not unlike Sailor Moon, in a sense.)

[robkelk]

Just learned another reason why Ami (at least) would want to stay in Ottawa once SailorMoon!Azabu appears in the setting.

Tokyo Medical University entrance exam results have been manipulated to keep women out for at least a decade

Lawyers investigating bribery accusations in the admission of the son of a senior Education Ministry official said they concluded that his score, and those of several other men, were boosted "unfairly" — by as much as 49 points in one case.

They also concluded that scores were manipulated to give men more points than women and thus hold down the number of women admitted, since school officials felt they were more likely to quit the profession after having children, or for other reasons.

Reports of the incident prompted women to recount their own experiences of discrimination on social media with the hashtag, "It's okay to be angry about sexism."

Some referred to the potential costs exacted in an aging society.

"I'm 29 and will probably never get married," said one poster.

"Women are pitied if they don't, but Japanese women who are married, and working and have kids end up sleeping less than anybody in the world. To now hear that even our skills are suppressed makes me shake with rage."

Another said: "I ignored my parents, who said women don't belong in academia, and got into the best university in Japan. But in job interviews I'm told, 'If you were a man, we'd hire you right away.'

"My enemy wasn't my parents, but all society itself."

So, why would Ami want to go back to Japan? EDIT: Especially when we could invite her mother to emigrate to Canada and practice medicine in Ottawa, instead?

[Black Aeronaut]

Be it ever so messed up, there is no place like home.

No, really.  For all its flaws, Japanese women tend to get VERY homesick.  There's been a lot of cases in the past where a Japanese woman married to an American Serviceman will just suddenly up and leave for Japan, never to come back... and take the kids with her, too.  And given the Japanese legal system, they'll flat out refuse to recognize the father's parental rights simply because he's not a Japanese citizen.

Needless to say, this has been causing some friction in diplomatic relations, and it's only been recently that the Japanese have been starting to cave in on this.

Japan, even after all this time, is still very isolationist and xenophobic, sexist and misogynistic, and still has an utterly bizarre reversal of ageism combined with elements of an oligarchy.  And despite all that, it is exceedingly rare for a Japanese woman to want to live permanently from her home.  My advice, (and this can be what Ben says IC as well): Look into work that will allow you to divide your time up between Canada and Japan.  Your ladies will deeply appreciate your effort enough that they won't mind splitting their time between home for them and Canada.

Ben will be doing this himself.

(This is the main reason why Benjamin has been striving hard to make his complex into a little slice of Japan in America.  And the funny thing is they're STILL gonna get homesick.)

[Black Aeronaut]

Oh, and this suddenly came to mind.

Remember how I mentioned that the 'dungeon crawl' of the Senshi Castles would be that one moment where Ben finally gets to go all out and fucking scares the shit out of all the creepy crawlies?

I suddenly remembered a very memorable weapon from a certain game...

Ben: *Whips out an utterly bizarre looking gun with a shark's gaping maw for a muzzle*  "HEY GUYS!  CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!!!"
*POONT!*
Rei: ".... Nothing's happening."
Ben: *Psychotic grin on his face*  "wwaaaaiiiiiiiit for it...."



Ben: *Starts freakin' skipping like a schoolgirl as he cackles maniacally.*

Yes, an actual spoiler here.

Rei: "... You seriously want to be married to THAT!?"
Hotaru: *shrugs eloquently* "He's just relieving A LOT of stress.  Besides, most men were too afraid to even attempt to flirt with me back in the Silver Moon Empire.  You think he's at all afraid of little old me?"

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, this is starting to take on a life of its own, so I'm gonna shuffle the most relevant posts over to the rules discussion thread.

[Dartz]

It does beg the question about how the world finds out about things

How about a ship docking in New York?

Or, from the perspective of the ship's crew - things get progressively stranger after an unusual fog on the fifth night of her voyage. The wireless room looses contact with Cape Race - wealthy passengers steadily getting angrier with radio operators unable to get the latest socialite news from New York....

Overhead, strange clouds streak across the sky trailed by what appearrs to be high flying aircraft - far above what the current state of the art can be achieved. The seas at night are eerily quiet, with no shiplights on the horizon.

But still, her engines drive her towards her final destination.

So What happens in New York when the Titanic tries to dock?

[Black Aeronaut]

I would imagine lots of WTF, but they'll certainly get her tied off and squared away.

It will certainly take a while.  Shades of paranoia are present, but shouted down by cooler heads - if it is a conspiracy, then who benefits?  And to say nothing of the expense incurred!  Completely and faithfully remaking the Titanic?  Especially using old and faulty processes that supposedly contributed to her sinking?  Again, who benefits?  People claiming who they are the wealthy elite from the Titanic's passenger list, perhaps expecting to claim their due fortunes?  What fortunes?  It's all been passed on already, and getting it back would be a legal nightmare.

But eventually, after a year or so of investigation, they're forced to come to the conclusion that has been both wonderous and dreaded - that this IS the Titanic and these people ARE its passengers and crew.

And so the final, lingering question would stand: How?

Of course, that's assuming this were an isolated incident.  With more such incidents occurring, there'd be more corroborating evidence stacking up that much more quickly.

On another note, the way I have things set up would be such that if the Titanic never struck the iceberg, then it would have made it back to New York in its native time period and things would butterfly-out from there.

Unless your idea was that instead of definitively sinking, the Titanic disappeared, Bermuda Triangle style, and then reappeared just over a century later.

[robkelk]

Found this image while looking for pictures for the wiki. I expect it'll be Arc 2 before we first see this in the story.

Will you be behind them or in front of them?

[Labster]

Last night I woke with the thought, what if "All of these worlds are yours except Europa, attempt no landing there" applied to the Moon Kingdom too.

[robkelk]

I suppose it would... and we already have HAL 9000 in the setting.

[Black Aeronaut]

"All these systems are yours, except Sol. Attempt no trespass there."

[Labster]

Does it have to be Voyager?  Can't it be Defiant or Agamemnon instead?  I didn't even like watching half of the characters in Voyager.  (And did Chakotay really exist, or was he a figment of our imaginations?)  Enterprise E would be fun, though.

[robkelk]

If I'm reading BA's posts correctly, I suspect we'll end up with the entire fleet eventually.

Besides, I've already made the joke about a Galaxy class ship crewed solely by Misaka Sisters...

[Black Aeronaut]

I can easily imagine the Federation showing up, starting off with the monstrously huge Starbase 1, and then confusion setting in as suddenly there are four Enterprises in dock: the original pre-refit vessel, the rechristened post-refit ship, the Galaxy-class, and the Sovereign-class.

But only two crews between them - Kirk's and Picard's.

I think Picard would stick with the Galaxy-class Enterprise, the Sovereign is more Kirk's speed anyhow.

Funny mental imagery of characatures of D and E, one wearing a pith helmet and the other wearing a cowboy hat.

[robkelk]

"Admiral, with all due respect, I'd rather have the prestige of being the executive officer of the Enterprise than have my own command."
"You're getting command of the Enterprise, Riker."
"Is Captain Picard being promoted to the Admiralty?"
"No, he's keeping command of the Enterprise. Now, go say hello to Captain Kirk of the Enterprise and Captain Sulu of the Enterprise. The four of you need to work out which officers get assigned to which Enterprise."

[Black Aeronaut]

I think we need to start appending the last digit of their registry numbers to the names.

Except for the First One. That one is just 'The Enterprise'. "No bloody A, B, C, or D."

[robkelk]

Yeah. Kirk gets the original, Sulu gets A, Picard gets D, and Riker gets E.

I'm going to go start a Working Notes page for this, just for fun. (Yes, I know what I said about not filling the wiki with pages we'll never use. I'm allowed to change my mind.)