Some fun...

[Bob Schroeck]

Okay, I wrote the following passage a couple weeks ago just as a gag, after rereading Skysaber's "Otaku 3 -- Eva Revolution". Those of you not familiar with this fic, it's one of Jared Ornstead's "Skysaber" self-inserts, but because of the baggage Skysaber brings to the Eva world, the fact that he's taking the place of Shinji, and the tactic he chooses to derail Gendo's plans, it turns the plot of Eva onto a hilarious and wildly divergent path. Even though Skysaber's work is always uneven (there are moments of brilliance and there are times when you want to strangle him), I highly recommend it; the good parts outweigh the bad parts.

Anyway.

I wrote the following as a gag, and as a tip of the hat to Skysaber, in much the way that there are tips of the hat to other authors in DW2. I sent it off to my prereaders, whose unanimous silence was overwhelming... so I'm posting it here, at least to see if it's the humorous bit I think it is. There's no promise that this will actually go into DW6, but then again, "Sailor Loon" was originally a gag bit written just for laughs and never intended to be actually used...

-- Bob

The current tape in his DAT player at its end, Shinji drifted out
of his room to the kitchen in search of a snack. Opening one
cabinet after another, he surveyed their contents half-heartedly,
knowing that he wanted to eat *something*, but not *what*.
Finally, he selected a bag of wasabi peas that Misato had opened
a couple of nights earlier, then followed the sound of the
television out to the living room.

Asuka and Rei were sprawled on the floor, intent on an anime that
seemed to focus around several girls wearing short, flouncy
dresses in bright primary colors. "What are you watching?" he
asked.

Both girls looked up at him with a simultaneity he found eerie.
"'Cutie Emerald and the Gemstone Girls'," Asuka replied with a
grin.

Shinji settled himself onto the couch behind them and begin
undoing the twist-tie on the bag. "Mahou shoujo show?"

"Yes," Rei replied, as both girls returned their eyes to the
screen. "It is... interesting."

"It's fun, is what it is," Asuka corrected, and Rei slowly
nodded. "Hey, Shinji," the redhead continued, "take a look.
Don't you think Magical Soldier Cutie Emerald looks like Misato?"
She waved a hand at the screen, where a green-clad 14-year-old
blasted her enemies with a beam of glittering power.

He tossed a few wasabi peas in his mouth and studied the smiling
face as he chewed. Then he wrinkled his nose. "No way. She's
*blonde*. The hair is all wrong."

Asuka hmphed, clearly disagreeing. "What do *you* know? You
probably don't think Cutie Sapphire looks like me, either."

"To be honest," Rei said, "the resemblance is not very strong."

Asuka made a rude noise.

"However," Rei continued, unperturbed, "*I* am clearly identical
to Cutie Ruby."

Shinji shook his head. "You two are both nuts, you know that?"
he said around another mouthful of peas.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Star Ranger4]

Um...
Doesn't work for me either, Bob. I know it's supposed to map to SM in some way, but I guess I'm just not familiar enough with Skysaber's stuff to get the joke this time."I was an Otaku before those kids came along and changed the meaning of the word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Bob Schroeck]

Okay, let's see if I can summarize this well enough. Skysaber's tactic is to act like a delusional nutcase who's convinced he's the star of a sentai series, and treats the rest of the cast like they're, well, the rest of the cast. Couple this with some inside information on the Evas, plus what he knows of the show's plot, and he starts convincing the other people around him. In the process he makes some wild off-hand comments, like one about Misato being a former magical girl driven to despair, whose powers are suppressed by alcohol.
Later in the story, some reinforcements he's called in from his "home office" show up, and they include Washuu from Tenchi Muyo!, who promptly decides to make his off-the-cuff comments true, just for the fun and chaos factor of it. Here's the first relevant passage from Otaku 3 (chapter 7); I hope Jared doesn't mind the excerpting.
"The MAGI predict the battle will last no more than two minutes, without a significant chance for Sky Lord to get a victory." Aoba regretfully reported, reading his boards. Faces paled in the command center as Jared dodged another blast. Pen Pen leaped up onto her desk. "Misato quick! Transform into Pretty Katsuragi and save Jay-chan! You're the only one who can do it!" Everyone stood frozen, gaping at the penguin. Misato had a HUGE sweatdrop on the side of her head and her eyelid twitched, mouth hung open. Ritsuko was clutching her chest like she might have a heart attack any moment. Ignoring the stares it was receiving, Pen Pen continued to gaze in open hope, only seeing Misato, focusing all his considerable powers of cuteness on wearing her down. Misato blinked. "Do I really have to do this?" On seeing Pen-pen nod, she winced, and started twitching. "Oh... this stinks." The bridge tech Hyuga couched into his hand, saying loud enough to mention. "The choice between being a comic sidekick or a fighting team player only comes once, Major." Maya didn't have the energy to glare, still busy staring at the reformed neo-penguin. "How can you be so calm about this?" Hyuga coughed again, speaking lowly. "Uhm, Aoba and I are writing a manga series on the side, based on our experiences here. We were actually kind of expecting this." Aoba gave a calm confirmative nod. "Yah, it was either have it happen for real or make it up on our own, and so far it's been more interesting to let the real stuff outpace the fake. I know I couldn't come up with something this weird." Ritsuko was obviously strained near her breaking point to ask the inane question she did. "How is it selling?" "Really well, so far. I guess we're going to have to include that part about Gendo being a surgically altered monkey anyhow." Hyuga gladly admitted. "I thought that was too weird, but with Misato being a magical girl..." Misato resumed twitching. Pen Pen pleaded with her using all of the force of cuteness a magical (or in this case, Washu-enhanced) mascot could cram into liquid, trusting eyes. Misato squirmed. "But isn't that kind of a stupid name? I mean Jared gets to be 'Sky Lord' and all I get is 'Pretty Katsuragi'? What about when I get married?" Pen Pen leaped into her arms and warbled. "Pretty mode is just what we call it when you change. Your combat name for fighting evil is Magical Soldier Cutie Emerald!" "Yaaahh!" Hyuga and Aoba broke into simultanious applause. One of them had produced party hats out of nowhere and the other had inflated balloons. Somehow even Ritsuko had a hat on and joined them in snapping party favors. It was the flash of an explosion as seen from the monitors that decided Katsuragi as to the course she should be pursuing. She clenched her fists to both sides in determination, leaning down to ask her pet penguin. "Okay, now what do I do?" Pen Pen leaped, performing a cute little mascot twirl and flip, which just happened to serve as the call beacon to the lab of The Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe, who had been waiting for such an eventuality, and with a ripple of disturbed dimensions, a green gemstone in a fancy necklace appeared to fall into Misato's suddenly outstretched hands. "Have you been taking any alcohol?" Ritsuko demanded of her friend seriously. Misato was too stunned to properly reply. "Huh?" Doctor Akagi folded her arms. "Jared was the one to tell us that your powers were inhibited by alcohol. I'm not sending a magical girl into battle with her powers impaired." Aoba wondered aloud to Hyuga if Fuyutsuki really was a robot in human guise over the bowl of punch that had been set on the table. Celebratory streamers hung overhead. Misato paid no attention to them, shaking her head. "No, I haven't been able to touch a drop since I moved in with... Jay-chan??" She directed a stunned look towards her neo-penguin, aka magical mascot. Said penguin gave a very professional nod. "Then that means he must have broken the curse that was put on you by Cyber Jew. The Gemstone Girls are getting ready to be together again! It was said that only True Love could break the spell, but since here you are again, it must have been he that did it! Now that their leader has been cured the rest of the team can be gathered! But first you *gotta* save Jay-chan!" Aoba and Hyuga gave very firm nods, toasting with their drink glasses. "True love?" Ritsuko sweated. "Him and her? Talk about age difference." Maya's mind was just boggling. Hyuga helped her to a little slice of 'Remember The Love' magical girl memorial cake they'd had delivered. Misato hurried to put the necklace on, then froze, sweatdropping, unable to believe she was doing this but going forward anyway. "Ugh, are there words that go with this? You know, trigger the transformation or something?" "They should come from your heart." Hyuga and Aoba both echoed professionally. Feeling clumsy, but having her sense of reality revoked moments ago when this all began, Misato shoved a fist at the heavens and shouted. "By the Power of Love!!" A burst of emerald green light shot forth from the crystal on her chest, expanding in a ring of change that swept over her. The uniform she'd been wearing was replaced by a green outfit with lots of very feminine appeal, tons of ruffles and ribbons combined into a beautiful style like you might see on an idol singer going all out for a cute look. Jewelry and accessories, along with a pair of pretty green shoes, completed the ensemble. Her hair had aquired two perky green bows on either side of her head and her hair had turned blonde all over. She could have faced against Azusa Shiratori for a cute contest. "Tame, but adequate." Aoba leaned over and calmly marked the day on his Doctor Ritsuko Akagi Swimsuit Calender. Hyuga had finished with snapshots and was now taking notes. Pen Pen jumped up on Misato's shoulder and explained. "The hair color change will keep *anyone* who knows your civilian guise from knowing who you are when you're in pretty mode. That is unless they see you transform." "The skirt could be a lot longer." Maya primly complained. "Actually that's in genre. The power of magical girls could almost be compared to the shortness of their skirts." Ritsuko observed, asking. "So, how do you feel, Cutie Emerald?" Misato was taking stock of her new earrings and whatnot. "Huh? I feel alright, I guess. Though I get the sneaking suspicion that I could fold rebar in my fist." As an experiment she reached out and twisted a steel plate in her grasp, actually surprised that she could do it. Pen Pen hopped up high and flapped his flippers hard enough to be actually flying in a sustained hover before her face, which almost astonished people as much as his talking earlier had done. "No time for that now, Cutie Emerald! Now you've got to use your magical powers to save Jay-chan! Hurry up and get in one of those giant robots so you can go out and enter the fight! Your true love is counting on you, Emerald!" Misato swallowed all lingering doubts about reality and took off running. Maya was slowly shaking her head. Watching the neo-penguin fly after her interim commander, she groused. "When did we all fall down the rabbit hole?" The two other techs shared a look, then united in chorus. "You mean this Geofront?" Maya's face fell into her hands, groaning. In her lab, eating popcorn, Washu began to laugh herself SICK! The antics of Jared were just too hilarious! She *never* would've thought to perform a joke like this without his having set it all up in advance! But it was so humorous! Her scheming mind was already working on other angles. The alterations to Pen Pen had to be pretty extreme, making up a past history and all that so the little animal wouldn't even know about his own part being fabricated. Luckily, she had a machine that would do that. She'd just fed in a few copies of Neon Genesis Evangelion for the characters and a coupla issues of Sailor Moon and Cutie Honey for genre, and already what it spit out was rocking her sides with laughter!
After this point, the modified Pen-Pen (and his new counterpart, Pan-Pan, who is of course first seen standing on a Little Caesar's pizza box) hand out necklaces to a number of the female Eva cast, revealing that they, too, supposedly were Gemstone Girls in an earlier life -- Asuka and Rei are Cutie Sapphire and Cutie Ruby, respectively.
And that's the core of reference in the passage.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Aleh]

Yeah. It's funny, but I doubt that anyone who hasn't read Otaku 3 will get it.

[Valles]

It's mildly amusing in its own right, and relevant in the sense that it's a nice slice-of-life-and-this-is-how-they're-getting-better-as-time-goes-by sort of bit.
Blessed be.
-n
(Hasn't read the relevant, errr, fic.)
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[Rod.H]

I agree with Nathan in that for that purpose it's a great scene but those that don't know Skysaber's stuff mightn't get it.
Then again you can't use Magical Armoured Princess Evangelia for it either as that's EVA and SM thrown in a blender, set to puree...
--Rod.H
Currently listening to: 'Tainted Love' The Living End

[drakensis]

---

I agree with Nathan in that for that purpose it's a great scene but those that don't know Skysaber's stuff mightn't get it.

---

I fail to see the problem. Those that recognise it will laugh. Those who don't can be directed to it via the concordance.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Bob Schroeck]

Well, yeah, it's a bit more obscure than "Sailor Loon" but then again, so are most of the other author references... The real challenge for me was how to envision a friendly argument between Asuka and Rei that kept both in character. Just the concept of Rei participating in an argument almost threw me...

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[The Wanderer]

Okay, I wrote the following passage a couple weeks ago just as a gag, after rereading Skysaber's "Otaku 3 -- Eva Revolution". Those of you not familiar with this fic, it's one of Jared Ornstead's "Skysaber" self-inserts, but because of the baggage Skysaber brings to the Eva world, the fact that he's taking the place of Shinji, and the tactic he chooses to derail Gendo's plans, it turns the plot of Eva onto a hilarious and wildly divergent path. Even though Skysaber's work is always uneven (there are moments of brilliance and there are times when you want to strangle him), I highly recommend it; the good parts outweigh the bad parts.
-- Bob Schroeck
I've read some of Jared Ornstead's work and liked it, but the only thing I've been able to find except in fragmentary form is - I forget what it's called; the Sailor Moon one (at least I *think* it's the only one), looks from internal context like the first but I think it's numbered otherwise. Where might I find "Eva Revolution", and possibly other Skysaber fics?
(And while we're at it, is there any particular reason why I'm not seeing on the "add reply page" the buttons identified on the "Using ezPost" page? The only reason I care is, as things stand I can't quote properly.)

[Bob Schroeck]

---

I've read some of Jared Ornstead's work and liked it, but the only thing I've been able to find except in fragmentary form is - I forget what it's called; the Sailor Moon one (at least I *think* it's the only one), looks from internal context like the first but I think it's numbered otherwise.

---

If that's the one where he comes to a world with only Sailor V because Usagi's birth was delayed by a few years, I think that might have been the one he wrote first, but it's not the first "chronologically" within the series.

---

Where might I find "Eva Revolution", and possibly other Skysaber fics?

---

Google turns up two locations, one of which I already knew about: First, Studio Asynjor I believe is supposed to have the entire contents of the late, lamented Studio Aesir mirrored. I know for a fact that it has Otaku Reflected 3 -- you can reach the chapter I quoted above directly at http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/ornstead/s0307_otaku.txt
Drakensis the Red also appears to have an archive of Studio Aesir. The link to the same chapter is http://www.megspace.com/entertainment/d ... ku3-09.txt and you can probably work out the rest yourself.
And remember what I said. Jaren can be incredibly entertaining, but he's also very uneven. You'll find annoying dross scattered among the gold. In his later writings he has taken to embedding crypto-libertarian/conservative/??? political screeds into his stories by placing them in the mouths of his characters, often with little regard to what's going on in the story around them. Sometimes, oddly enough, they work (a Talmudic argument, of all things, late in Otaku 3 is actually one of my lesser favorite moments in the story), but sometimes they're both badly-done and infuriating at the same time.
You Have Been Warned.
Oh, and in case I haven't said it before, Otaku 3 is incomplete. It's what he was writing most recently before vanishing from the net for a while. As it is, most archives (including mine) lack the most recent chapter, but to tell the truth, it's not a huge loss in my opinion.

---

(And while we're at it, is there any particular reason why I'm not seeing on the "add reply page" the buttons identified on the "Using ezPost" page? The only reason I care is, as things stand I can't quote properly.)

---

I'm not sure, but it might be because you're unregistered. With all the recent changes to the board software, I've lost track of what's allowed at what level.
But you don't need the buttons to quote properly -- I never use them. I just enclose the quoted material in between a "quote" and a "/quote" (these commands are of course inside square brackets themselves).
Hope this helps.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bob Schroeck]

Studio Asynjor seems to be requiring IDs and passwords for the fics now. I don't know why...
Go instead to the Studio Aesir page at Drakensis' site. The direct URL is www.megspace.com/entertai...aesir.html
Otaku 3 is listed "Otaku Revolution" there; there are also a number of other fics by Jared, and a few by Metroanime, too.
Enjoy.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[drakensis]

Thank's Bob. Nice of you to plug my site.
Jared is back on Fanfiction, using the usual (Skysaber) tag, but hasn't uploaded the 'Otaku' stories for whatever reason."How can I be this kick ass strong?! Powerful! Handsome! Charismatic! Gorgeous! Oh, Gods... Why do you burden me with such a heavy karma!"
- Dark Schneider, Bastard!!! #20
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.

[Bob Schroeck]

---

Thank's Bob. Nice of you to plug my site.

---

Not a problem. As I recall, I found your site one of the best sources for some of the really off-the-wall fics that I like. Why not share it? Although I had forgotten that you were hosting the Aesir stuff -- it took a Google search to remind me.

---

Jared is back on Fanfiction, using the usual (Skysaber) tag, but hasn't uploaded the 'Otaku' stories for whatever reason.

---

Yeah, I know -- the fact that they're not there is why I didn't reference his page when trying to point folks to a copy of O3.
But for people who would like to see other stuff by him, go to www.fanfiction.net/profil...erid=40569
Of the stuff there, let me recommend the following:
Mirrors Multiplied, Original Version is a wild romp through a whole passel of parallel universes with a horrendously-overpowered Ranma. I find it quite fun.
Shampoo's Revenge is incomplete, but it's well done and I'm looking forward to more. The core concept: what if someoone in Ranma 1/2 used their canon resources intelligently?
Astrild's Restaurant is also incomplete, but shows a lot of potential. Also has another powered-up Ranma, and some genuinely hilarious bits.
Go forth and enjoy.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Krazed]

I'm not sure you should use this. Jared... is not too popular right now. He used some of Shade's characters without permission and has generally just been an ass one too many times.
On a side note, I've lost two accounts to this forum and only managed to post one message from both.

[Bob Schroeck]

---

I'm not sure you should use this. Jared... is not too popular right now. He used some of Shade's characters without permission and has generally just been an ass one too many times.

---

You know, honestly, I don't particularly care. If being an asshole was a valid reason to ignore someone's work, half of all literature would be missing. Jared's stuff entertains me, and that's all I care about. And by the time DW6 actually starts appearing on people's screens, whatever flap is going on now is going to be ancient history, even for Internet Time.
I'm not going to tailor my work to suit someone else's snit.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Krazed]

From what I've seen and heard of jared. I like his work and dont see any fault except for the borrowing another fics characters sans permission but that can be attributed to a mistake on his part and please considering all fanfics are done with out the authours permission no writer who posts fics is innocent of that crime.
Oh well thats my 2 and a half cents...

[Bob Schroeck]

No problem at all, Krazed. I admit I'm of two minds on the topic myself. On one side, we are all contributing to a massive shared mythology, after all; why shouldn't other people's characters be just as valid for use as the originals? On the other hand, people have a right to own and control their original work and creations. It's a delicate dance between the two sides.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Krazed]

Its nice to find a place like this with rational disscussions, and where the participants dont seem to seek the common lowest denomenator... I would ask a favour does anyone know if skysaber is still writing? and if so where is he, and is he even, posting his work?
Also how does one go about registering into this group?
I enjoy discussions about anime and their resulting fanfics, though the fact that there is a KOTC out there frightens me.....
once again my 2.5 cents
Krazed

[Star Ranger4]

Hmm... Should be a link to the register page either at the top or bottom somewhere...
Don't exactly remember since I registered over a year ago for another board and happened to have chose a global signup instead of a local"I was an Otaku before those kids came along and changed the meaning of the word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[Bob Schroeck]

Damn, I keep forgetting to do this. I'll go look about where to register, Krazed and post a message about it in General/General.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Kaze no Ryuu]

Including a known case of Skysaber plagiarizing.
Also, when Shade emailed him about removing his character, Skysaber's reply was threat to sue.
(DISCLAIMER: The Internet is a medium for the exchange of ideas. Thoughts and concepts are shared there. It is possible that people who use it may begin thinking about things they never did before. If this idea disgusts, frightens, or revolts you, please refrain from using the Internet in any way, shape, or form.)

[Bob Schroeck]

Kaze, a little more context, please? I think I know what part of the topic this links back to, but I'm not sure.


-- Bob
---------
And all the girlies say I'm pretty dry for a wet guy...

[classicdrogn]

I'm confused too, so I second Bob's request, - and can you cite the example, and the character? I'll confess it's been a while since I read any of Jared's stuff, because it's been a while since he WROTE any, but I can't remember anything that seemed like a direct lift from another story. CHaracters, eh, I dunno.
- CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[Krazed]

I believe, although I may be misremembering, that the cause of it all was his use of the character "Frost", who is essentially Rei Ayanami raised by Chinese Amazons. I've seen her used in a couple of other places since, too, although I can't remembere where offhand.

[Kaze no Ryuu]

*does some old thread searching on another forum*
It was Shadow, the Guardian, the Bard, and Rowan Phoenix. I dunno what the EXACT email Shade sent was, but I have seen Skysaber's reply, since Shade posted it. It wasn't pretty.
The plagiarism thing is harder to show, since the fic is long since taken down. A lot of people SAW it though, and someone may have a copy. It was a fic on ff.net called "Moon over Wands", and he copied an entire scene from Jonathon Ford's "The Phantom and the Silence".

---

(DISCLAIMER: The Internet is a medium for the exchange of ideas. Thoughts and concepts are shared there. It is possible that people who use it may begin thinking about things they never did before. If this idea disgusts, frightens, or revolts you, please refrain from using the Internet in any way, shape, or form.)
(DISCLAIMER: The Internet is a medium for the exchange of ideas. Thoughts and concepts are shared there. It is possible that people who use it may begin thinking about things they never did before. If this idea disgusts, frightens, or revolts you, please refrain from using the Internet in any way, shape, or form.)