The big one: Character discussions!

[Anastasia]

That's right. It is time, time at long last!

As you know, I've made more NPCs than I can easily count or remember from Redux. From minor piece set characters to full realised NPCs, Sailor Senshi and foes; I've done gallons of work making the people of this world tick. So it's time to finally talk these over - from source materials inspirations, motivations and more! I intend to do one or two every day. Will I? Probably not, but I do intend to get every single one done.

Feel free to reply to any posts here. In fact, I encourage it. Please do. Please. <_<  Anyway, to kick us off, I'm going to start with a few soft balls, and then end with THAT MAN for today. Each will get a post dedicated to them, be it a one paragraph entry or ten pages.

[Anastasia]

Entry #1

Makoto's bakery crush - Mr. Tight Buns.

I said I was starting with a softball.

Source material(s): Makoto. I'm fairly sure she fed in as much to him as I did. I want to say I did the actual description for Tighty, but past that it was a small group effort. No particular inspirations or source arts beyond that.

General: A vaguely nice guy, cute and with a killer ass. That's about the long and short of it. He has a girlfriend, likes anything Makoto bakes indirectly, and knows how to show off his body. Also not gay. His purpose is manifestly simple, eye candy for Makoto and later Hotaru. He worked fabuously at it, with no possible complaints except that Mako-chan hasn't managed a move on him. <_< For some reason he has a very deep voice to me - relaxed and charming, but deep. Think Barry White.

Notes: I gave him a name in passing once. I know I did, but I forgot to write it down. So you see; I can't remember his name or find it in the logs. Mako-chan or anyone, if you remember it could you fill me in? Thanks, this has been bugging me a long time.

Ana rating 9/10. Bit character, but has done exactly what he needed to.

[Asrana]

That angle never really got played up. >_>;

After Mr. Nationalist, Hotaru was going 'Boys? You mean they have a purpose other than to tease our brains and make my friends cry? A mystery!'

So really, she tried to pay him little attention. Well, and he like...never said a thing besides courtesies. Ever. To my knowledge, anyway.

He was walking sex-meat. *nods*

[Anastasia]

Entry # 2

Naru's Father.

Source material(s): He was patterened after a stereotype. You know those meek Swiss gemcutters or bankers or whatever? A vaguely befuddled and distant nice guy on the surface, really. I don't have a picture handy, but imagine an old man with a handlebar mustache, an old style cap and a kindly face like a grandfather.

General: Broke up with Naru's Mom a few years back. He helped get her into the jewelry business, and what happened during that is what often happens. Naru and a ring followed, more or less, and life went on. It wasn't to be, and a bad divorce meant he fell out of Naru's life almost entirely. It was to the point that he didn't really contact Naru when he was passing through Juuban. Rather sad, no?

This was remedied by Usagi. While it wasn't a perfect fix, it at least got them talking because her friend made the effort. They're communicating by phone ever few nights now as well as writing longer letters. It's not perfect, but it's an improvement.

Notes: He got slightly overshadowed by Misuki's first apperance, as well as the Naru storyline not quite feeling right. It's not a huge deal since I feel that this story works better in retrospect. He named the Osa-p, for those of you curious. His business sense and work, while eccentric, is solid and is why Naru's mother maks a good living for her daughter.

Ana Rating: 7/10. Worked.

[Anastasia]

That angle never really got played up. >_>;

After Mr. Nationalist, Hotaru was going 'Boys? You mean they have a purpose other than to tease our brains and make my friends cry? A mystery!'

So really, she tried to pay him little attention. Well, and he like...never said a thing besides courtesies. Ever. To my knowledge, anyway.

He was walking sex-meat. *nods*

It wasn't played up aggressively by me, no. He was walking sex meat, as you so delicately put it. It was up to the player to react to him how they would - and hey, nothing wrong with eye candy. He was a cute guy who liked the food at your bakery, so he said a few nice pleasantries as he passed by. <_<

And probably fueled Makoto's five sisters sometimes, too! *Flees*

[Ebiris]

Naru's dad was kind of an oddball...  I wasn't too keen on getting overly involved in that situation, mainly because I wasn't so keen on Naru at the beginning. That said, Naru herself did seem to gel better with me over time, but I'll leave that for her entry!

I also think I recall something about those ribbons I bought from him being meant for Naru, since you asked if I was wearing them once when I met Naru. Sadly I wasn't so the mystery was never solved!

[Anastasia]

Entry #3

Kensuke - the first of Jadeite's commanders.

Source material(s):

http://home.swbell.net/gioliver/pkusana.jpg

http://queen_mellow.tripod.com/MiakaTamahome03.jpg

A few visual cues on general apperance and hair were taken from Kusanagi from Blue Seed and Tamahome from FY, respectively. The general cast was just that - a bit of a pretty boy. A certain aloof, precise feeling to him - the clinic battle with Usagi played this up. This game from the general genre of bishonens. His name has no relation to Evangelion, despite a few comments about that back in the day. I pulled that name out of my ass, and I've never seen much of Evanglion.

General: Mmmph. It's been stated that I didn't really care for how Kensuke turned out. Indeed, he often came off as a stock and menacing bad guy and little else. This wasn't bad on the surface, especially since he was designed to be someone for the PCs to cut their teeth on. However, I'd wanted to play up the human aspect of Gaia from the getgo, but I never really managed it with Kensuke until the very end. I meant to, but shit happened and it never quite worked out.

The above really did vex me - instead of being a bit of a cool pretty boy that hinted at more than just being a monster commander, he was simply a RAWR badguy. That wasn't what I planned, so Kensuke became something of a hair up my butt. This translated in a few ways - Jadeite ended up really having an extra bit of contempt for that man. Further, he pretty much became canon Jadeite, stuck in a rock and a hard place between his boss and the Sailor Senshi. He had no choice but to engage them in a desperate battle, and so he died.

So, who was that man? He was 24, single, dedicated to his work. He enjoyed photography(One of his few facets that made it out at the end), reading and hiking. A bit of a nature man, so his last mission was a merciful decompression. At least he croaked around a lot of what he liked.

Notes: He really did like Yuko - Kensuke thought she was cute. He manipulated her mentally because of that. No, he wasn't a rape freak, he just did it like how a normal person might try to pick up a girl they like. Says something about how altered his thoughts were in the end - par for the course in the Jade Legion.

He wasn't gay. I swear someone made that as a crack back in the day.

Usagi's 'that man' description for him honestly annoyed the piss outta me at first. While I've grown to be amused with it considerably, it did tend to summarize my grievances with how Kensuke turned out. It's also vaguely ironic, since I was playing Guilty Gear XX at the time of this arc, if I remember right.

On the chance Kensuke had gone very well, there was a chance the Lunar Staff could have appeared far earlier. This would've probably changed the tone of the game markedly, for better or for ill. If he survived he'd teach the Sailor Senshi about charm magic and forms, as well as a few other illusionary tricks. Considering he tended to set off estoric senses, these abilities may have come to light earlier.

[Anastasia]

Naru's dad was kind of an oddball...  I wasn't too keen on getting overly involved in that situation, mainly because I wasn't so keen on Naru at the beginning. That said, Naru herself did seem to gel better with me over time, but I'll leave that for her entry!

I also think I recall something about those ribbons I bought from him being meant for Naru, since you asked if I was wearing them once when I met Naru. Sadly I wasn't so the mystery was never solved!

Oh, he was eccentric. That's a given with the description. Anyway, your'e right - this did a lot to make Naru closer and more accepting of Usagi. This was an interesting change, since at first Naru was meant to be less of an element in Usagi's life. But enough of that, it's for Naru's entry!

The ribbons were a small forgotten plot end. Oh well.  They were vaguely meant for her as I recall, but it slid away from our attentions.

[Ebiris]

Kensuke Stuff

Heh, sorry about the 'That Man' bit. I thought it was funny...

Anyway, yeah, Kensuke really did scream out 'Generic Bad Guy' right from the get go, as far as I could tell. He really was just... empty.

It didn't help that I genuinely wasn't expecting any kind of human face to Gaia. We didn't even find out about Gaia till Nior, so I saw him as a Jadeite-lite - viewing it in terms of the Dark Kingdom, with him being below the Generals but above the youma rabble.

[Anastasia]

Kensuke Stuff

Heh, sorry about the 'That Man' bit. I thought it was funny...

Anyway, yeah, Kensuke really did scream out 'Generic Bad Guy' right from the get go, as far as I could tell. He really was just... empty.

It didn't help that I genuinely wasn't expecting any kind of human face to Gaia. We didn't even find out about Gaia till Nior, so I saw him as a Jadeite-lite - viewing it in terms of the Dark Kingdom, with him being below the Generals but above the youma rabble.

That man was quite funny. It also hit too close to home at the time. Hell, now that it's past it's a favorite of mine, so it's all good. There was stuff going on beneath his surface, but it never made it out at all. Compare him to Arieta - who was designed to be like that with added cruelty, and you'll note a difference. (I'll go into that in her writeup.)

This is true. Expectations played into this, which is why Nior came out when he did. I reckon he quickly helped amend that belief.

[Anastasia]

Entry # 4

Unazuki Furuhata

I suspect that Usagi took her as an NPC since she was never at work in game 1. <_<

Source material(s): The canon SM. She's almost unchanged from it - I don't recall if she went to T*A in it, however. Do you know, Usagi-chan? I only remember her from that episode where she gets a ride from Mamoru.

General: A cute and perky 16 year old high school student, Unazuki is both hot and possesses an excellent body. She wears a really cute waitress uniform and works in the Crown Fruits Parlor! She doesn't have a boyfriend, but with that body, I bet she won't be a virgin for long!

Ahem. On a more serious tack, that's about it. I played her pretty closely to what Usagi gave me. She's a nice girl, really, and I have fun whenever i trot her out. A great bit character to be used to fill out scenes in the Crown.

Damn, she's hot. Did I mention that?

Notes: She's stunning!  I was toying around with getting creative with her or having her do a serious of boy hunting scenes with Usagi and a few other girls (Makoto or Ami came to mind here for whatever reason), but those never came to be. For some stupid reason I never used her at T*A for events there. It always slipped my mind. >_<

Ana Rating 10/10. She did perfectly for the task I gave her.

[Ebiris]

Source material(s): The canon SM. She's almost unchanged from it - I don't recall if she went to T*A in it, however. Do you know, Usagi-chan? I only remember her from that episode where she gets a ride from Mamoru.

Actually, that's the only time we see her in the T*A uniform. I'll dig up a pic.

Although I'm surprised you'd remember that more than the episode where she tried to kiss Makoto...

Anyway, yes, I really like Unazuki. My original intent was to have her as Usagi's best friend rather than Naru - didn't quite pan out. Naru managed to raise her standing while Unazuki didn't quite appear often enough... I still like Unazuki more, though.

Interactions with her were fun, though. She tries so hard to play the 'experienced older sister' archetype, but is nearly as clueless as Usagi at some things. Also she really messed me up in the Lesbian omake. Dammit.

[Anastasia]

Source material(s): The canon SM. She's almost unchanged from it - I don't recall if she went to T*A in it, however. Do you know, Usagi-chan? I only remember her from that episode where she gets a ride from Mamoru.

Actually, that's the only time we see her in the T*A uniform. I'll dig up a pic.

Although I'm surprised you'd remember that more than the episode where she tried to kiss Makoto...

Anyway, yes, I really like Unazuki. My original intent was to have her as Usagi's best friend rather than Naru - didn't quite pan out. Naru managed to raise her standing while Unazuki didn't quite appear often enough... I still like Unazuki more, though.

Interactions with her were fun, though. She tries so hard to play the 'experienced older sister' archetype, but is nearly as clueless as Usagi at some things. Also she really messed me up in the Lesbian omake. Dammit.

Could you? I'd love to see that picture. It's a little detail that never stuck - like the kissing Makoto episode. That was in SuperS, wasn't it? I only saw that once and a third or so, and a lot of the episodes didn't stick. Well, that and CN hacked the everloving fuck outta that part, I imagine.

Oooooh. That was a lightbulb clicking on - your intent with her makes a lot more sense now. Unazuki as Usagi's best friend never fully gelled, but she was still achingly solid. So it's all good, really. Oh, and elaborate on the lesbian omake comment? <_<

[Ebiris]

Actually from S.

As for the lesbian comment... well, she was both so very tempting, and yet at the same time so perfectly able to pierce my lecherous intentions with an arrow of guilt at taking advantage of her.

[Anastasia]

Ooooh. I just suck at remembering that episode, then. Anyway, I'll save the omake comments for the proper topic and time - I need to stay on track!

---

Entry # 5

Artemis.

Brace.

Source Material(s): Canon SM and watching a lot of housecats. A few of his lines have been quotes of other characters at times, but they're too scattered to be credited.

General: Aaah, Artemis and Luna. The noble feline companions of the Sailor Senshi. Those brave cats that will risk life and limb so that their charges stay safe. They dispense wisdom and powerups, doing their best to aid the girls, as well as being really cute pets. I worked off this theory from the get go, using several modifying factors.

First, the cats got extremely human like in SM1.  I wanted to turn the scale back - while they can talk, they're still felines and think like them. They bathe themselves, sleep in the sun, hunt prey and so on. I wanted to integrate this in and it went well. Secondly, I had to tweak them based on the setting. The scrambled egg memories were designed so they couldn't spoil the complex plot right off the bat - and having the benefit of keeping the events of that last battle somewhat indistinct even when they did remember. Thirdly, they had the mandate to train and watch over the Senshi. This turned into them playing house merry go round awhile - I enjoyed this, even if they tended to favorites after a good while.

As a mental note, I need to swap Luna back over to Makoto's. That's overdue. Maybe move Arty a little later down the line, too. Let him spend a week with Kotono and then come back to Ami-chan? <_<

Anyway. The intent was to blend all of the above together into a dazed but determined whole. They were in effect the vanguard for Queen Serenity, finding her Sailors and trying to protect and mend the present. This overall worked out well; there was nothing like the Dark Kingdom on the Moon incident this game.

As for Artemis? He's still a smartmouth. In fact, Ami tends to draw this out. He's a crude male cat with a glib tongue. I have a complete ball playing Artemis when he's on. No one else quite annoys Ami so perfectly, nor can deflect her words and actions skillfully. Now that I consider it, between Ami and Luna, Arty knows how to keep his hos in line! <_< >_> That line perfectly crystallized Artemis for me. Does anything else need to be said about him?

Notes: Luna and Artemis have feelings for each other, but have put them aside on agreement until peace is found. Even if they do banter like mad, they care about each other. Artemis has a taste for mice in general - he'll gladly tell you that wild mice beat the hell out of tamed or apartment mice for flavor. Don'ta sk him about roaches - they're no fun to claw up and they taste bad. He still likes salmon - he also picke dup a taste for being on the kitchen counter simply because it annoyed both Chikako and Ami.

He does believe cats are better evolved than humans, though he's not that serious about it. How can you argue with feline grace, agility and awesomeness? Besides, Queen Serenity would so give him a LOOK if he got caught saying that at the wrong time.

Officially, Artemis and Luna function as specialised detectors for the Supernatural, have hypnotic and charm abilities, and have subspace pockets of a sort. They also have a decent stack of HP for a pair of cats.