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

[Dartz]

Technically there're mountains to the South. Occasionally there's snow

They're not high, but close to a warm coast. And you'll be guaranteed there's no-one there.

I've taken the Mazda up there in the middle of winter - to avoid a traffic jam caused by an accident. Didn't know how bad it was until I got there..... It does get snowy.

[robkelk]

And Ottawa has a hill, not a mountain. Yes, we can and do ski on it, but the run's shorter than most folks are used to.

[robkelk]

I think it'd help if I'd watched whatever series they were from so I'll probably never guess it.

Mentioning the series name would be a giveaway hint.

Labster did play fair with everyone - there really are enough clues to figure out her identity, and there are no "tomato surprises" - no keeping something hidden that should be obvious.

[Labster]

See, that's the thing.  You've convinced you didn't see it, so you're missing all the clues.  I'm pretty sure most if not all of you have seen the appropriate anime.  It's really quite popular.

A final clue though, for those who are interested.  I'd kinda like to get the game wrapped up before I get back to the U.S. and have writing time again.  I did say that it was inspired by Sailor Moon.  In fact, this guess is the closest you can possibly get to being correct while still looking at the wrong story:

I was thinking Tsukino Usagi using the disguise pen

I probably wouldn't have thought to do it at all except that Takeuchi-sensei came up with it first.  In particular it was inspired by an event in Pretty Guardian

Spoiler

Sailor Stars

, in particular the

Spoiler

manga version

, specifically

Spoiler

Sailor Chibi-Chibi

and why

Spoiler

she decided to visit Azubu

.  And then think of someone else who can do the exact same thing.  (Spoilers in order of increasing specificity.)

[robkelk]

I'm sure that if people return to the post where Labster pointed out the clues, and read them again, you'll get it.

[Dartz]

There's your problem. You've mistaken me for someone intelligent.

[robkelk]

I just added this fragment to the Halloween Party page, and marked all the places where unwritten and partially-written story should go in boldface.

[robkelk]

Writing more of Mimi's self-inflicted predicament, but not enough to post a scene yet. Have a snippet, from when Mimi and Mimi are playing jan-ken-pon to see who stays and who goes (and repeatedly tying because they still think alike) instead of eating.

"Mimi, stop playing with yourself during lunch."

Jayne snickered.

"Okay, that came out wrong."

[Black Aeronaut]

Pfffftt!!!

Ben would be sorely tempted to follow that one up with something. As it it, Jayne wouldn't be the only one cracking up, though Ben will apologize to Mimi.

"I know, I'm terrible, but I was raised by terrible people!"

[robkelk]

I am the kind of person who likes to decorate for Christmas, a lot.  So Brent is likely to go overboard a bit with the lights and the trees and such.  That should be good for comedy.

And at the end of it all, Rob asking who invited the Griswolds...

[Black Aeronaut]

Snrk.

I am now imagining some uncouth person emptying their black water tank in a nearby storm drain, just to have it explode later on when someone deserving of it lights up a cigarette.

[Labster]

Well, you see, the Griswolds were on their way to Wally World anyway, so while they were here…

[Labster]

Okay, no more guesses made, and the other writers need to know the answer for their own writing.  I guess I'm better at mysteries.  I won my last Clue[do] game by determining that Mr. Boddy was in fact still alive, as the person shuffling the cards had put in two rooms and no murder weapons.  Oops. Sometimes you need lateral thinking.

So therefore, I will declare that the mysterious passenger was Sakura Kinomoto using The Return card in the gondola.

There was actually one clue in another story too -- Nadeshiko looks oddly familiar to Akari because she looked so much like her last passenger.  The bigger clue would have been in the previous story which is still unfinished, where Sakura uses the Return card to create an effect in the present.

She called out to Watery again, sending out more power as she did.  The spirit surged in front of her, and flowed towards the house in front of her, cutting back the flames.  This worked for all of five seconds.  Cinder Fall let loose another barrage of flame toward Sakura, instantly turning half of Watery's back into a cloud of steam.

"Is this all you can do, little girl?"  She sent forth another burst of flame, and this one she felt the blistering heat from inside the shell of her shield card.

Sakura was holding out against the Fall Maiden, just so.  So close to an ocean, and there was just not enough water.  Not enough to tackle the conflagration, or the living magical inferno creating it.  The thing that disturbed Sakura the most is that these were people's homes being destroyed, every object that they held dear being destroyed by this woman's blind wrath.

She needed more water, and needed it fast.  The Wave would probably hurt more than it helped -- nobody needed a tsunami in the middle of town.  She was running out of options.

She wished that this neighborhood still had canals, like it used to in the old days.  That would be enough to fight the conflagration, for sure.  Coincidentally, Alicia had told her all about that today, how Venice had filled in its oldest canals for these streets.  But the past would stay in the past... or maybe not, she thought?

"It's almost a shame to lose a promising young magician like you to the fire.  Almost."

"No way.  I'm going to stop you, and your fire!" the cardcaptor declared, knowing that everything was going to be all right.

"You wish."  Cinder shot another blast towards Sakura, wreathing the force field around her in flames.

In the center of the inferno, Sakura held two cards in front of her, and invested all her hope in them.  "Make my wish come true!  Return these streets to their original form," she turned them face forward and shouted their names: "EARTHY, RETURN!"

[Rajvik]

Sorry guys, haven't been able to work on anything for the last couple of weeks, not even the stuff my muse has been pushing.

[robkelk]

Here's a "feel good" news item that I think Brent might want to read. 25 years ago, an 11-year-old joined the Cirque du Soleil. (She didn't run away; her parents joined, too.) She's performing in the same show this year that she performed in when she joined.

There's some background information about how being in a circus doesn't get you out of attending classes, and how that's handled... which might possibly be of use when writing about Sora and Marion in California.

Just a thought.

[robkelk]

Anybody have any plans for Halifax? Asking for a friend.

[Black Aeronaut]

Nope. Too fraggin' cold up there for my southern bones. :V

[Rajvik]

Nope.  Too fraggin' cold up there for my southern bones.  :V

Amen to that

[robkelk]

On second thought, Halifax is too big. Gotta pick some place in Cape Breton instead.

[Labster]

Still trying to figure out what in the green gables you want to do in Halifax.

Ah, I see that in Canada "feel good" features are actually feel good rather than the cluelessly depressing stories in the U.S.

Not just those Sora and Marion though, I've got a few amazonesses who may join the circus too. And since they spent a few years not growing up in Neverland, they'll need to go to school too. Or was it millennia? Nailing down the Sailor Moon timeline is hard.

[robkelk]

Still trying to figure out what in the green gables you want to do in Halifax.

Something that was discussed in a couple of PMs - BA, Bob and I are the only three in on it so far. Give it a week.

Nailing down the Sailor Moon timeline is hard.

There's a timeline?

[Bob Schroeck]

Not just those Sora and Marion though

Of course not! You need Rosetta, too!

[Black Aeronaut]

Still trying to figure out what in the green gables you want to do in Halifax.

Something that was discussed in a couple of PMs - BA, Bob and I are the only three in on it so far. Give it a week.

Ahhhh, that.  Pretty sure you guys will like that.

[Black Aeronaut]

I meant to post this here the first go around, but I got my tabs mixed up and accidentally dropped it into Hangar 13.

D'OH!!!

Anyhow, here it is...

This....  is so VERY meta to us here....

https://www.crunchyroll.com/amazing-stra...irl-782960

Basically, 1/6th scale figurine girls come to life and have to deal with the fact that they're fictional characters.

Shenanigans ensue.

12 Episodes at about 13 minutes a piece.  Have fun!

EDIT by Bob: Fixed link.

[robkelk]

You've got a bad link there, BA - it's trying to find "amazing-stra...irl"