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

[Black Aeronaut]

The nail. You nailed it.

[Labster]

Just for the record, I started the "News from the Metacontinuity" thread to provide links to real life news stories that would actually make more sense in the context of our fictional world than they do in real life.  Or they feel like the kind of thing that might be leaking across the universes back into our own.

Certainly asking the Forest Service to change Earth's orbit makes more sense if you have Funaho and Tsunami around.  Or Venus being habitable before a certain event in the past seems a lot more plausible with a Moon Kingdom.

In any case, interpreting the world around you as being slightly fictional is a good way to keep from going insane.

[Black Aeronaut]

Drosselmeyer has been on my mind on-and-off for a while now, and after a bit of research I've come to a rather interesting idea.

He is actually appalled by my character's past.  Reason being?  Well, even his most villainous characters - the ones that actually have any real development that is - had been raised knowing that they are valued by someone.  Even if instilling that sense of self-worth into them was merely a means to an end.  The idea of someone being raised to have no sense of worth to others is just plain messed up, even by his standards.

Thus, the whole thing with Nanoha and Fate was Drosselmeyer throwing Benjamin a bone... albeit in a way that would be scandalous and set them all to walking on eggshells.  After all, Benjamin's story was already a tragedy to begin with.  Making it even more so...

Yeah, he likes writing tragedies.  But that's the thing.  He's still a writer.  He crafts stories.  And he knows that starting out with an exposition like that and having it only get worse from there?  To continue to pull the rug out from under Benjamin at every turn until he no longer wants to get up?  When he's already so dangerously close to that point?  No, that is no story.  That's not even a parable simply because there is no point to that kind of suffering.

Which means he'll be kinda pissed off with Leonard's meddling, even as drama-inducing as it is.  And thus, we have Benjamin rolling a whole slew of Nat 20s as he completely obliterates the AMALGAM forces sent to take them out.  This would be Drosselmeyer's way of getting back at the "insolent little whelp."

Thoughts?

[Bob Schroeck]

Conflict between the bad guys is always fun. I'm just torn between showing Ben have Marty Stu-levels of success before the reveal that Drosselmeyer is giving them to him, or having the reader looking over D's shoulder as he nudges things Ben's way. I'm not sure which would work better.

[robkelk]

I'd prefer to make clear that Ben's getting help. The whole "Marty Stu" thing bothers me in fiction, to the point where I deliberately flawed my SI in a manner that curtails Mary-Sueism. ("Rob isn't wrong all the time." "But he's wrong this time.")

[Bob Schroeck]

Yeah, I suppose massive success followed by reveal might look to some readers like "oops, I went too far, have to justify it".

[Black Aeronaut]

And this can be easily done using the Drosselmeyer's Journal thread we got going. On top of that, we can have a few things happen where things simply don't go well for my character later on.... Though nothing too terrible, as it can be said Ben had some karmic credit after what Leonard did to him, and Ben's reaction while... extreme... was justified for the most part.

[robkelk]

(And if I get any urges to add more "friendly" characters to my corner of this, please whack me over the head with a paper fan. More foes are good; more people who I'll need to write on an ongoing basis are bad.)

Somebody hit me with that paper fan...

I stumbled across an ATT page for a novel that I haven't read yet, and I'm considering getting a copy to read and maybe add the protagonist to TNB. The book was published in 1980, though... but I've been lead to believe that the author is relatively popular, so it might still be available.

"McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

She looked straight at him. "And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Needless to say, the atmosphere became... somewhat heated.

In case that isn't enough to identify the character...

Spoiler

Charlene "Charlie" McGee, from Firestarter by Stephen King

[Black Aeronaut]

Oh man.  I remember seeing the film for that one when I was a kid.  IIRC, they even wound up making a miniseries sequel for it on the Sci-Fi Channel.

I wouldn't be adverse to it.  Firestarter is some great science fiction.  Though if anyone wants to bring in The Stand, then I'd say only as part of the Post-Apocalypse Earth, or something that gets sealed up and stomped flat like what happened with Cabin in the Woods.

[robkelk]

Ah, so that's where they are!

BA, your new short is now on the wiki. Please proofread it...

[robkelk]

Oh man.  I remember seeing the film for that one when I was a kid.  IIRC, they even wound up making a miniseries sequel for it on the Sci-Fi Channel.

I wouldn't be adverse to it.  Firestarter is some great science fiction.  Though if anyone wants to bring in The Stand, then I'd say only as part of the Post-Apocalypse Earth, or something that gets sealed up and stomped flat like what happened with Cabin in the Woods.

She kept running... until she bumped into somebody she didn't see because she was looking behind herself.

"Watch where you're going, kid."

"Please help me! Hide me! They'll kill me!" Then she saw that the person she'd bumped into was a teenager... and there was a girl about her own age walking with him.

"Tch. Why should I bother?"

The girl who was with him looked incensed at his attitude. "She needs our help!"

Then two of them stepped around the corner and stopped. "You two, step away from that girl and we'll let you live."

The teenager smiled - a scary grin. "Okay, that gives me a reason to help her."

Further writing on this will have to wait until I actually read the book...

[robkelk]

Sorry to leave that on a cliffhanger... There's still two big scenes (which might or might not be intercut with each other) and an epilogue to be written, but I promised myself that I'd post something before the week was out.

[Norgarth]

Sorry to leave that on a cliffhanger... There's still two big scenes (which might or might not be intercut with each other) and an epilogue to be written, but I promised myself that I'd post something before the week was out.

spotted a typo in the last line

Ben could her Shiro add,

underlined should be hear

looking forward to the next part

[robkelk]

Thanks.

Roughly half of the epilogue is done... but those two big scenes still need work.

[robkelk]

Did we ever decide whether we were going to include four-color supers in the setting?

Because if we are, we need to include these folks.

Yes, they're villains. But the folks at Blossom would probably end up on their side, if the matching heroes and their government support come along for the ride.

[Black Aeronaut]

Disclaimer: The following is not to shoot down the idea.  This is merely me providing some... verisimilitude on the premise.

One of the things that has always rubbed me wrong about deconstructions like The Boys and the rest like it is that it runs under the premise that absolutely none of the "Heroes" are actually heroes - they are in fact a bunch of bullies and negligents a la Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

But the thing is, this is the very antithesis to the four-color world.

Look at it this way.  In a traditional four-color setting, what happens to someone like Captain Hammer when he pulls his BS?  He gets called out as a villain.  And it's not like it hasn't happened before - there have been characters that claimed to be a hero (I'm to tired to think of any off the top of my head), but once their true nature is exposed, they're quickly relegated to the ranks of Villainy, and either become ignominious one-off characters, or among the most horrible of reoccurring villains.

But in works like The Boys?  Not only are all heroes universally bad, but the most powerful among them actively work to maintain this facade.

Now, I know that some people are thinking like, "But that's how real life is!"

Is it?

No.  Really.  Is real life actually that horrible?  Because last I checked, there's been a lot of pushback against this kind of horrible behavior in law enforcement.  And while there has been backlash, the pushback isn't something that's been going unnoticed or unremarked upon.  In some places, there's even been some real, actual progress in reforms and reorganization.

I suppose that the point I'm trying to make is that the grittier and edgier takes on the four-color world are no less realistic than the OG-Flavor four-color world.

That said, I can easily imagine a character like Bruce Wayne trying to get the main character from Hench over to his side.  Not only because she's good with managing the books, but also doing her own kind of detective work (something he REALLY admires), and that she wants to see actual justice be done.  She'd be a great asset to have working under Lucious Fox, managing that gray area of Wayne Enterprises that supplies Batman and prompts Jack Nichelson's Joker to say, "Where does he get all those wonderful toys?"

[robkelk]

Not to shoot down any of your argument, BA - just saying that the premise in Hench was used by Marvel Comics in 2006 in their "Civil War" storyline (and in 2016 in Captain America: Civil War in the MCU). So it isn't completely alien to the four-color paradigm.

[robkelk]

Sorry to leave that on a cliffhanger... There's still two big scenes (which might or might not be intercut with each other) and an epilogue to be written, but I promised myself that I'd post something before the week was out.

Well, the epilogue's finished... but I can't post it without the climax and the denouement. And the denouement barely has a couple of paragraphs of working notes and three actual lines.

[robkelk]

...or post the cutest fan art of other residents they come across on the Internet.

I'm calling it now... Yui has a wall of her room plastered with K-On! fan art after only a week.

And then somebody sneaks in and runs coloured strings between the pictures...

[robkelk]

I just added a section to Awaki Musujime's wiki page: "The Long Game, or, Why the Alamo City Wrecking Crew isn't allowed to just shoot her the first time she meets Ben."

[Black Aeronaut]

Just a thought, but what if Rob's geas precludes him from taking part in or even supervising activity of a morally ambiguous nature? After all, it's not terribly "heroic" to do anti-hero things.

[robkelk]

I hadn't thought of that...

Mind you, it is a Norse geas, and Odin was a real prick in some of the Eddas. But not enough of a prick to break his word, or completely ignore the rules.

[Black Aeronaut]

Which is part of why I think it would be better for that bunch to be under my character's care, and there's more than a few good reasons.

For one, having ITEM in San Antonio provides a neat bit of balance with Railgun, et all, in Ottawa.

For another, Benjamin is intimately familiar with the consequences of broken rules and broken promises.  As bad as he is at "subtle", he can see where the rules are doing nobody any favors and will not be adverse to breaking them.

"Rules only work when they're actually good rules in the first place, and even then only when people actually follow the spirit they were intended in.  The moment people start bending them to gain an unfair advantage over others?  That's where you'll see me, fucking up people's shit."

Also, Ben loves himself a bit of mayhem now and then.  And Mugino strikes me as the type who loves being able to 'cut loose' now and then.

Most importantly, Benjamin can shut down Espers at a moment's notice.  He's perfect in case one of them goes rogue for any reason.  And they'll probably be there for the St. Valentine's Eve Massacre, so they'll be agreeing with Accelerator afterward - they do not ever want to get into a straight-up fight with Ben.  Not even Meltdowner.  Though once they all get to know him, he'll probably attain "Best Boss Ever" status.  Especially from Frenda, as once her sister shows up, Ben will do what he can to reunite the two.

Mugino will probably also come to appreciate Ben greatly because like herself, he cares a great deal about his subordinates.  He will not only refuse to place them into positions where they'll be in undue danger, but he will heavily emphasize training to survive the unexpected.  "The day we have someone here crying over a casket will be the day I've failed as a leader."

PS: Strongly suspect that Mugino is actually an Aspie.  She's got issues with tact, tends to laugh off stuff others wouldn't (like Last Order commenting about Mugino's panties), is more emotional than people first surmise, can be devastatingly charming, and is a huge perfectionist (Shiage's comment about her not being able to finish a game without 100% completion).  If this is the case, then that alone is gonna lead her to desire mentorship under my character.

[robkelk]

Okay, so Meltdowner catches up to Shiage &co on February 12, as per my current notes. Then, instead of walking off into the sunrise, she and Saiai head to San Antonio instead... and the rest of ITEM joins them once Ben gives the all-clear once Meltdowner isn't likely to murder Frenda because Frenda did what she had to do to stay alive.

I can work with that.

[robkelk]

Just updated my notes on the wiki to match the two immediately-preceding posts here.

And I added something to the notes for The Academy City Job. Somebody's going to have to distract the Academy City Board of Directors while everybody else carries out their mission objectives...


"I know how to distract them."

Everybody looked at the normally soft-spoken member of ITEM. Shizuri was the first to speak. "I think I know what you're planning. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"It would draw the immediate and full attention of the Board of Directors."

"It would also paint a target on your back, basically," Frenda replied.

Shiage grinned. "Yeah, but Rikou can survive that now. Let's do this."

"Thank you," she replied as she gave him a quick kiss. Then she got out of the van and whispered "Invoke Accelerator" before continuing in a much louder voice, "I am Rikou Takitsubo and I demand an immediate System Scan to prove that I am now a Level 5 esper!"

Then she was joined by the leader of ITEM. "I am the Level 5 esper known as Meltdowner! I sponsor Rikou Takitsubo's call for a System Scan!"

Without taking her eyes off the Windowless Building in the distance, Rikou whispered to Shizuri, "You didn't need to do this. Thank you."

Shizuri whispered back, "Yes, I did; we're as much partners as Railgun and Shirai are. And you're welcome."


At which point the Board of Directors suddenly has what they consider to be a huge problem on their hands. At this point, it's been at least eight months since Washuu-chan started repairing the damage that Body Crystal did to Rikou's body and esper ability. And there are three Level 5 espers who for their own reasons hate Aleister and would be happy to help thwart his plans, so Rikou should already be Level 5 with their help and thus can copy the powers of any esper she's been able to study - including those three Level 5 espers (Accelerator, Railgun, and Meltdowner), and the Level 4 espers Mitsuko Kongo and Kuroko Shirai. Not a bad starting arsenal for little miss Multiskill, even if she's still at the point where she can only use one power at a time.