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

[robkelk]

Old thread is old
Older thread is older

---

Recap of the important points:

• Rajvik is on leave from the writers' circle. (Temporary? Don't know yet. Rob hasn't changed Rajvik's wiki rights. EDIT: No, that's bad security. Rajvik's wiki rights are now lowered to what Bob has.)
  
• BlackAeronaut wants the SIs to get abilities of some sort. Dartz is still a 33-S. BA will be developing his "mages can't sense him" trick, and has plans for "Squishy" to give him an arm cannon. Rob's been to Hvergelmir and is now all wet (and has been geased into having a third girlfriend). Labster... seems to be having trouble coming up with something for Brent.
  
• The PiratePad document has proven itself to be unstable; we have a wiki now for notes. We still need something for real-time collaborative works.
  
• We're still working on the Halloween party story.
  
• Lensman Arms Races are off-limits.
  
• Rob needs to give Luna, Artemis, and Diana more spotlight time. (Diana, Chibi-Usa, and Last Order as a band of junior do-gooders? They all have powers, and they're all 6 years old or equivalent. TMB stories for the pre-tween set, or in that style?)
  
• "What if Jareth the Goblin King was running around?
  
• Idea for later: a permanent portal network between cities with displacees. Portals? Will there be cake? (chokes down the stock response because Makoto Kino's gone starry-eyed.)
  
• River Tam's trying to learn how to be normal, so no front-line combat for her for a while.
  
• Rob wants Brent to watch Ai Yori Aoshi. Brent wants Rob to watch Murdoch Mysteries.
  
• Brent's looking for "someone beautiful" to take a gondola ride.
  
• Rob needs to get better numbers for Mikoto's abilities, to determine how much power she can generate.
  
• Towers with observation decks... In Space! And other appropriate Googie architecture, too.
  
• Ginormica vs. Ultraman Belial, once the secret's out.
  
• BA goes bugs.
  
• Were we going to do anything with the "race what you bring" league? (this post and the seven following it)
  

(And what turned into the running gag of the second thread: Rob still can't find an image of Mii in a Bunny outfit.)

[robkelk]

• Brent's looking for "someone beautiful" to take a gondola ride.
  

Would Belldandy be an acceptable "someone beautiful", or are you looking for somebody that the undines haven't met yet?

She would probably appreciate taking a quick break from saving the universe.

[Labster]

The whole point of the story is the degree to which Akari can be oblivious to the special things going on around her, because she thinks that every day is special.  I need someone who she doesn't recognize, but who a reader will pretty obviously.  The premise is that Akari is writing for her blog, and her conclusion will be that even ordinary days can be fun, when three of the things that happened to her were clearly extraordinary.  I'm kind of swirling between Peorth, Fujiko Mine, Taylor Swift, and Scarlett Johannsen.

From the last thread: Tying together Rob's unpleasant thought and Ravjik's mistake, I suggest Ryoga=FUSE.

I'm sad to see Rajvik go.  I think we'll still want to write as if he was there, because he had good choices in characters.  But I think this increases the chance we'll have Christmas in California, rather than Florida.  The ski to surf day is always an option.

Besides the previous swan things in Venice, I just saw an episode of Murdoch Mysteries with a swan themed murderer, then went outside and saw Cygnus in the sky.  I'm seeing it loud and clear, muse, but that still doesn't mean I know what to even start writing.

On the other hand, I have watched the first season of Ai yori Aoshi now.  (And I've been getting it confused with events in Outlander of all things because both have plot-significant key and plot-significant back injury.)  I think I can use them; I think Tomoyo could use someone good at photography (and hopefully cinematography).  They all have problems that we can deal with, where we're not really equipped to deal with the mental problems of anyone in the Pensacola set.  The Ottawa set would have these problems too if not for their resilience, especially Usagi, Rei, and Misaka.

[Labster]

Here, this has been in my notes file for like a year or something. It will be in my next chronological story, which may not be the next one published.

"Hey Akari, you're from Japan, right?" Osaka wondered.

"Yep, born and bred on Japan, Mm-- Earth. Japan, *Earth*." Akari's insistence on being a real earthling had no visible effect on Osaka.

"Well, that being the case, why do you have pink hair?"

"Huh?"

"I would have thought you were from Finland with pink hair."

"There are lots of people in Japan with pink hair, right?" The sentence had started with a lot more surety than it had ended.

Chiyo interjected, "Osaka, that's just because she dyes her hair."

"Nope! My hair is 100% natural. It really suits my personality, doesn't it?" She twirled around joyfully.

It was Chiyo's turn to look stumped. "But I don't think melanin comes in that color. That's the family of chemicals that gives us hair and skin colors," she explained.

Alice rolled her eyes. "It's probably because her ancestor had her genes modified for pink hair. It's pretty common. My mother has a natural blonde color, but my father had his hair changed to blue before I was born. So, this." She pointed her right hand at her pale green hair.

"Wow, you can do that? The future sounds so cool!" Chiyo beamed.

"So let me get this straight, you get the genes from people in Finland and stick 'em in regular people?"

"Racist remarks are forbidden!" Aika pointed at Osaka.

[robkelk]

Oh, dear. "Finland."

In Ottawa, having naturally bubblegum-pink hair means you've got some Fey blood in your ancestry (for example, Jemi). Which of course means that Akari and Jemi will need to meet at the Christmas party and compare notes.

[robkelk]

It's amazing what I discover when I look for official art.

Something to read and laugh about at the Halloween party:

1. Page 1 of 4
   
2. Page 2
   
3. Page 3
   
4. Page 4
   

Yes, this is official. (However, it is not necessarily canon.)

Speaking of official art: Westwoods Apartments, September 28. (Note that I'm not specifying the year.)

And these are going onto the wiki:

• Nanoha
  
• Fate
  
• Yuuno
  
• Arf (and Fate)
  
• Shamal, Signum, Vita, and Zafira
  
• Alicia and Precia Testarossa
  

(No, I didn't forget Hayate. She already has an image on the wiki.)

EDIT: And they're up.

Still need to find images from Tenchi Muyo!, Cardcaptor Sakura, Firefly, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Ai Yori Aoshi. (And the properties that Seraveil reserved... if we're still holding them for him.) Firefly will be tricky, since I've already set the precedent of using fanart instead of a still for Data. And the building managers will have to figure out what images they want for their SI pages.

[robkelk]

Something I'm debating whether to add to the Halloween party thread. It might be OOC for Rob.

"Oh, right - before I forget again..." Rob reached into his pocket, pulled out a coin, and tossed it to Tomo. "Here you go."

"What's this?"

"It's a Canadian 25-cent piece."

She looked at it. "What's this?" she asked, looking at the coin's reverse.

"That's a reindeer. Although we call them caribou in Canada."

She threw it back at Rob. "You can keep your stupid reindeer!"

[Labster]

Well, it's not OOC for Tomo.  She'll be actually angry at you, but get over it by the next morning.  (The difference here is that you're actually insulting her stupidity, as opposed to insulting her intentionally stupid comedy.)  If you do this, she'll ask for the 25¢ the next day.  Bonus points if you use the phrase, "We already know what kind of man you are, now we're just haggling about the price."

Probably the fey ancestry is the correct answer for Akari, I just didn't know to ask the question.

Edit:
Alice is still a pair at the opening of our story.  I feel like she should have a different official nickname than Orange Princess, because:

• She's not working at Orange Planet
  
• Mars is actually the Red Planet
  
• Princess Mars lives in Ottawa
  

Any other ideas?  The "Princess" part is good.  (I think I know how Akira felt that one time.)

[robkelk]

After a night's sleep, I'm thinking that the scene is definitely OOC for Rob – unless Tomo has pissed him off and he wants her to go bother somebody else, but that's unlikely the first day they've met face-to-face.

As for Alice ... hmmmmm ... As far as I know, she's the only person on Earth with that hair colour. "Emerald Princess", perhaps?

(EDIT: Hey, this is my post #15,500. <deadpan>yay.</deadpan>)

[Labster]

Yeah, I mean, who else has emerald hair?  It's a good idea for a name, though.  "Pacific Princess" is coming to mind too.  Earth's largest feature is named after peace, so maybe that's a cool name.  Let me just google that and... The Love Boat, seriously?  I've never even seen that show.  Actually let me google "Emerald Princess" and... also a cruise ship.  OK then, how about "Orange Princess"?  Apparently she is named Catherina-Amalia.


OOC ideas are what omakes are for.

[robkelk]

Yeah, I mean, who else has emerald hair?  It's a good idea for a name, though.  "Pacific Princess" is coming to mind too.  Earth's largest feature is named after peace, so maybe that's a cool name.  Let me just google that and... The Love Boat, seriously?  I've never even seen that show.  Actually let me google "Emerald Princess" and... also a cruise ship.  OK then, how about "Orange Princess"?  Apparently she is named Catherina-Amalia.


OOC ideas are what omakes are for.

Okay, now I feel old. I remember watching The Love Boat in its first run.

[Bob Schroeck]

Likewise. "Love Boat" was my first thought when I saw "Pacific Princess" in this thread.

[Labster]

Yeah, The Love Boat went off the air when I had just turned 4; most of the syndication would have wrapped up before I was a teenager.  I'm assuming that anyone younger than me won't recognize, but for older, it evokes a strong meaning.  You can get away with doing that, like Sheriff Harry S. Truman in Twin Peaks.  So it's a question of if I want to set up the cognitive dissonance and play with it, or just avoid it.  I'm not seeing evidence of a Japanese release, so it's entirely possible no one in my group would know about it, but passengers would, it's L.A. after all.  But it would be extra work for not much payoff, unless other people can think of jokes.

I have a wire-haired fox terrier named Shasta -- anyone from my grandparents' generation will pick up on the pun right away, but it goes over most people's heads (and they assume he's a bitch).

[robkelk]

I just edited the Mimi Hanyu introduction story to reflect the events of "Donaldson en Kazakiri".

And, yeah, I agree that she'd be foolish not to move to L.A., just because there's a much larger market for her acting skills there than in Ottawa.

So... does she get her own apartment at Aria House, or does she share an apartment with somebody? (looks at the room plan on the wiki) I see Shaoran's apartment has an empty bedroom. Okay, okay. I see Kaorin's apartment has an empty bedroom.

But there's a chance that the Ai Yori Aoshi main cast might be moving in, too. Let's see... Taeko and Chika share an apartment because they're cousins. There'd no longer be any reason for Aoi and Karou to hide their relationship; do they share an apartment? Assuming "yes," that leaves Miyabi, Tina, and Mayu. As much as putting Tina and Mayu into the same apartment would generate story conflict, that's a dekkai bad idea for maintaining harmony in the building. So, Miyabi/Mayu and Tina/Mimi, or Miyabi/Tina and Mayu/Mimi? (Or Miyabi/Mayu, Tina/Kaorin, and Shaoran/Mimi? )

EDIT: Or, to echo a typo that I just fixed on ATT's "Characters" subpage for Ai Yori Aoshi, Kaori/Kaoru.

[Black Aeronaut]

Rob, I'm having trouble finding the story of Mimi's arrival at the Blossom.  You sure you got it up in the wiki?

Also, after having linked it elsewhere in the forum, I think this will be Ben's wake-up juice of choice.  Yes, specifically the Dr. Dinosaur brand, because he's a nut like that.

(Keep in mind, I'm the person that, upon finding that a roomie had smashed a spider on the kitchen wall and left it there, got a yellow post it note, stuck it next to the spider remains, and then drew in a speech bubble that read, "WHAT'D I DO!?  WHAT'D I DO!?"  I can wear a game face like the best of them, but if the whimsy catches me and I see the perfect opportunity then I won't pass it up.)

[robkelk]

It isn't on the wiki yet. Give me a couple of days...

Forum thread here

[Dartz]

Actually managed to get into one of the building's on Henrietta St the other day - on a work related matter. There isn't much I can say about it but they're in a lot better condition than I thought. 7's weathertight, has power and water and is used by a few artists as a studio. It's aso the cheapest bit of real estate going in Dublin at the moment onm a €/m2 basis. It'll just take around and about 1.5 million or so to restore it 'properly'.

But it's a lot more habitable than I thought.

The walls are maybe a meter thick so of brick and stone - despite being a *bit* draughty - once the windows are properly sealed up it's got so much mass in it it's basically like a cave inside. Especially down in the cellars. Once these old buildings are properly heated up and sealed - they stay hot and dry out. They get cold and damp when they're allowed sit idle - but keeping the heat in it keeps the building alive an inhabited.

Also, damp is an Irish meme. Everything is damp here. Damp, dank and mouldy. If Japan is hot and humid - Ireland is cold and humid. It rarely snows, but it's always wet and cold. Air conditioner coils freeze in winter - we buy Japanese aircon units because they work so much better in higher RH environments. It means it doesn't matter what you wear - the cold still gets through. Even temperatures that wouldn't phase Canada are somehow colder here because everything is just that little bit damper and wet clothes are awful.

Making it comfortable is just a matter of keeping the fires lit and getting water boiled.

There's also a place around the corner that does amazing - and cheap - Breakfast Rolls called Declans Deli - worth portalling in for if you don't mind gaining a few stone. They make their own pudding and everything. And Dublin City Comics which is the best 'nerd' shop in Ireland becauise it's run by real fans.

Out the back windows you can see an old stone priory - and the Rotunda hospital. Just down the road is The Spire - a giant needle to serve as a monument to the city's main industry - heroin.

At the end of Henrietta St is The King's Inns - the home of Ireland's Barristers-at-law - an arcane society that feels at times more like a college of wizards in its closed and secretive nature where the testaments of Law and Precedent are shared between Barristers and their devils over grand society dinners while watched over by paintings of the greatest legal minds of the last six centuries. It's motto, Nolumus Mutari, should give an idea of how 'traditional' it is.

Across the river, there's the Dead Zoo. Cabinets and galleries house the carefully cruated species of Ireland and the World. It's almost a museum of a museum - it hasn't changed much since it was built in 1856. It backs on to the parliament of Ireland - where another collection of fossils go about their business.

[Labster]

In theory (Kaoru+Aoi)/Miyabi would make sense, why would a married, er, engaged couple need separate rooms?  Although the sound insulation, and reasons.  (Aside: How did Kaoru afford that apartment in the first episode anyway?  It looks like it's 10 tatami -- I mean, I had apartments that large in college, but I went to a farm school, not Tokyo.)

Mayu can be pretty annoying, gotta be careful with her.  I wonder if, having lost on Kaoru, she turns her attentions to Touya?  He seems to attract those types.

Mimi seems like she's in a situation quite similar to Liza Broadbank.  I didn't want to steal your character, but I did think that she would choose time away from everything she knows.  I doubt she'll resort to piracy, though.  Mimi/Mayu sounds fine (but not for shipping purposes).

I got to visit my apartment complex a week ago too -- not enough to go inside, but to get a pretty good look at the place.  There was a sign on it reading "Oceana Apartments", which gets a thumbs down from me, for reasons including "oceana" is not a word.  I'm sticking with Aria House for now, or maybe something with "Hall" in the name to get a collegiate feel.  The sign also mentioned one and two bedroom apartments.  But I still think there's enough space to put in all 2 bedroom units based on the measurements, so I'm not going to retcon that either.

I described it as needing a paint job in the early chapters, as it looks on Google Maps.  The building now looks newly painted in boring gray.  It may end up yellow, or possibly white with blue highlights in the story.  On the coast, you have a constant battle between paint and salt, so the building change colors a lot.  The back alley side of the building has more than enough wires to look like a proper Evangelion scene.

The downstairs level has a small mail room, which is something I hadn't thought of at all.  I mean, who needs snail mail when you just arrive in a universe?  The garage on the ground floor you can go straight through from the back to the front, so there's definitely space to fit 10m gondolas, considering how few of us drive.  How long is a Tomoyo-wardrobe-limousine, anyway?

One thing I hadn't counted on was how much car traffic there was in the neighborhood, even on a weekday.  It was rush hour time, but some of it was obviously tourist traffic.  Also there are electric scooters everywhere, with the app rentals.  I got hit in the back by a girl on a scooter speeding down a sidewalk, which I think makes me an honorary resident of Venice.

Moving off the beach, the canal area is really eclectic architecturally, you got your modernist, your Victorian, some half-timbered stuff, a couple 2-bedroom ranch houses, a Craftsman or three, some Mission and some Mediterranean Revival, and whatever the heck you call current architecture with the different colored boxes.  The parcels are too small and the area too rich to generate proper McMansions, it's actually a really cool area.  (If you aren't reading McMansion Hell, you really should.)

North of here, on the coast, is Muscle Beach.  Weight lifting equipment on the beach, along with tennis, basketball, and handball courts.  And a pretty decent public skate park.  Even the homeless shacks have colorful graffiti here.  Also near Venice Boulevard is the boat launch to get into the canals -- the sluice gate is too small to permit craft access from Marina Del Rey at the other end.  I'm okay with giving the undines access to the open seas, though.     There are a ton of pot shops here, which I can assume were marijuana dispensaries in 2016.  Fun fact: in Europe, a green cross denotes a pharmacy.  In the U.S., a green cross denotes a pharmacy specializing in a certain drug that isn't 100% legal.

You can see my apartments from the end of the Venice Pier.  This will be relevant later.

[robkelk]

"Liza Broadbank"? (checks DuckDuckGo) Ah. One of these years, I'll have to actually start reading UF.

Mimi definitely needs time away from the Senshi - she knows them only as foes, and they'd be reminders of her time as Mimete. And in the Metacontinuity, one apartment is as good as another... but we're definitely going to have to get a permanent portal set up, because (as mentioned in-story) Kazari and Mimi have at least one thing in common that they don't have in common with most of the other known displacees, and there's only so close you can keep in touch by text-messages and Skype.

I'm liking the idea of Mimi/Mayu. I'm not sure why, but I'm liking it.

[Black Aeronaut]

Speaking of official art: Westwoods Apartments, September 28. (Note that I'm not specifying the year.)

I meant to reply to this a lot sooner.  Ben will appreciate the sentiment very much, but at the same time he'd be sweating bullets.

"My ladies...  Are you aware the of the implications the outfits you're wearing have?"

Nanoha made a somewhat confused and worried look.  "Washu-chan said that girls wear clothes like this so they can look nice for the person they like.  She didn't trick us again, did she?"

Ben opened his mouth, then closed it, opened it again, and repeated the process a few times before he finally said, "She isn't wrong.  And you two are gorgeous in those outfits.  But those outfits are intended for... adults.  For adult reasons.  And not generic adult reasons.  I mean ADULT reasons."

Fate and Nanoha looked at each other, and then they both shrugged.

"We'll go and change then," said Fate diplomatically.  "Besides, we can put them away until we are old enough."

Ben didn't have the heart to tell them that by the time they were old enough they wouldn't be able to fit in those outfits anymore.

---

Dartz, I could almost see the place from how well you described it.  Though it probably helps that I spent a lot of time in a place that is arguably every bit as wet and moldy: The Puget Sound in Washington State.  (As I often like to say, Seattle is called the Emerald City not because of the architecture, but from all the mold and moss that grows there.  Only we don't have the luxury of man-built caves to stay warm in.   )

[Labster]

On the upside, they won't fit into those outfits for adult reasons.

If you ever read UF, you can just start with Symphony of the Sword. The main thing you miss by reading it first is realizing the extent to which Utena is slowly revolutionizing the entire sprawling setting.

On Rob's latest story: To paraphrase our American President, "One Corinthians, that's the whole ballgame." Also, is it illegal to marry your half-clone on Jurai? There aren't really as many reasons to have hang-ups about these sorts of things if you have access to genetic engineering.

I just don't think of Ami being quite that flirty. Also, if Makoto knew there was going to be some date-like activity, are there some convenient bushes outside of the pizza joint to hide behind? I seem to remember this being a favorite activity of the Sailor Senshi.

[robkelk]

On the upside, they won't fit into those outfits for adult reasons.  

If you ever read UF, you can just start with Symphony of the Sword.  The main thing you miss by reading it first is realizing the extent to which Utena is slowly revolutionizing the entire sprawling setting.

On Rob's latest story: To paraphrase our American President, "One Corinthians, that's the whole ballgame."  Also, is it illegal to marry your half-clone on Jurai?  There aren't really as many reasons to have hang-ups about these sorts of things if you have access to genetic engineering.

I just don't think of Ami being quite that flirty.  Also, if Makoto knew there was going to be some date-like activity, are there some convenient bushes outside of the pizza joint to hide behind?  I seem to remember this being a favorite activity of the Sailor Senshi.

What makes you think Hyoga is Rob's half-clone? Just because that's a theory they've come up with doesn't make it correct, and Rob's already poked some holes in that theory. Spoiler (which will be revealed by Washuu in the next post): Hyoga's genetic pattern is at most 1/64th a match to Rob's; that's like having one great-great-great-great-grandparent in common.

This particular pizza joint is in the middle of a strip-mall parking lot. EDIT: Although it is only a 10-minute walk from the apartment., so somebody might have stopped by to snoop. Then again, the seating is open-concept with few places to hide and listen. RE-EDIT: Oh, and the windows are closed - it's Ottawa in late December, and nobody wants to freeze.

As for Ami being flirty:

• Ami's had a few months to relax;
  
• she knows that she's the one that Rob first approached and first trusted to not freak out about learning the truth about the Metacontinuity, which left an impression; and
  
• as Mii implied in-story, medical school has been a bad influence on her.
  

Pick one, two, or all three.

---

Changing topics somewhat...

I just updated the "Everything's Better with Chocolate" page on All The Tropes by adding an example. Thus, the end of the "Anime and Manga" section now reads:

• Black Butler's Sebastian Michaelis, butler of the distinguished and noble House of Phantomhieve, proves that even curry can be better with chocolate. (I still need to summon up the courage to test whether this is a case of Truth in Television.)
  
• Ai Yori Aoshi has Taeko experimenting with chocolate curry and chocolate tempura. She says it's really good; nobody else is willing to try her fusion cooking.
  

It should be obvious why I'm mentioning this here.

[Labster]

Oh, Yomi will definitely try, she's the gourmet of our group. Also chocolate in mole sauce is kinda normal here -- not that moles are super popular, but chocolate has always made sense in savory dishes. (and it wasn't your typo, I see)

I seem to have a recollection of the Sailor Senshi wearing skirts in the arctic near D-Point. Just sayin'. I don't even know what a half-clone is, man, it just sounded funny.

I will say that your choices are surprising me, which means I'm engaged with the story. Looking forward to what happens next!

[robkelk]

Thanks!

(I slipped in a hint of a fourth reason for Ami being flirty: feedback from Hyoga's desires going through a bidirectional connection between them. This can't possibly cause problems later, right? )

And "half-clone" sounds like something a Mary Sue would be.

[robkelk]

Since I took a scene out of the Christmas Party thread to use in my latest side-story, I just added a different (and longer) scene to the Christmas Party thread to be fair.