The big one: Character discussions!

[Asrana]

No feline love for Hotaru-chan! ;_;

Got played up a little with how utterly brief Artemis' pit stop at the Tomoe home was, and the 'can you tell me the color of my sheets?' snippies.

I dunno, do Hotaru and Reiko just repel the cats?>_>;;

I think Luna's been at the Tomoe home more often in the various lesbian omakes (and I do mean specifically the lesbian omakes) than in main game, if I think about it. <_<;

[Merc]

On Kensuke - He never really had much of a chance, since to the girls, they were all really just monsters and evil guys until Nior's betrayal by Arietta. That was essentially where we started learning a bit more about Gaia and the fact that these were people, not just monsters, and started holding back to a degree. So poor bastard. >_>

On Artemis - While he might have been able to put Ami in her place at times, the reverse held true just as much. Ami gave as good as she got. =p

But seriously, playing against Arty was fun, and he was the NPC I liked hanging around the most. He was the NPC I hung around the most, really, even more than Kotono or stalker-Rei, when they popped into the scene.

Plus he just didn't know when to talk and when to shut up sometimes. ^_^

[Anastasia]

No feline love for Hotaru-chan! ;_;

Got played up a little with how utterly brief Artemis' pit stop at the Tomoe home was, and the 'can you tell me the color of my sheets?' snippies.

I dunno, do Hotaru and Reiko just repel the cats?>_>;;

I think Luna's been at the Tomoe home more often in the various lesbian omakes (and I do mean specifically the lesbian omakes) than in main game, if I think about it. <_<;

Heh. Hotaru slipped my mind there, honestly. I still don't have any particular reason for how Arty's visit to Hotaru's place went. Maybe it was just a quirk of schedulings or GM's attention, but it amounted to very little. Don't worry, Hotaru and Reiko don't have cat repellent naturally. I think.

Luna's apperances are generally random in omakes. <_< I won't make a joke there. Really.

[Anastasia]

On Kensuke - He never really had much of a chance, since to the girls, they were all really just monsters and evil guys until Nior's betrayal by Arietta. That was essentially where we started learning a bit more about Gaia and the fact that these were people, not just monsters, and started holding back to a degree. So poor bastard. >_>

On Artemis - While he might have been able to put Ami in her place at times, the reverse held true just as much. Ami gave as good as she got. =p

But seriously, playing against Arty was fun, and he was the NPC I liked hanging around the most. He was the NPC I hung around the most, really, even more than Kotono or stalker-Rei, when they popped into the scene.

Plus he just didn't know when to talk and when to shut up sometimes. ^_^

Kensuke had a chance on paper. However, one stipulation nipped him in the ass regardless - he didn't work out on this end, nor did he get a chance to show any other side. I'm not sure he had much of a realistic shot of living and was designed as such, but I wanted to do more to foreshadow how things were. That's where Kensuke failed and failed badly, Ami-chan.

I'd also argue Nior started showing and hinting what Gaia was from his first apperance, but that's here nor there.

Anyway, for Artemis? You two have a good back and forth, yeah, and I have a blast with you and him. So something to do more!

[Anastasia]

Entry # 6

Shinji

Source Material(s): A few cues from this and that - some nerdology and a few dashes of Tenchi from Tenchi Muyo in base design. It didn't really show through, however. Hotaru-chan, does he have any particular source on your end?

General: Shinji had very limited screen time. Why? I had planned for him to be a classmate of Hotaru's; someone to show up in school scenes periodically and build on that. From that I made him socially awkward but attached to Hotaru as a friend, which developed into a mild if obvious crush. So everything looked good. We did his first scene and it worked rather well. He came to Hotaru before class started and chatted it up.

Bonus points to you if you already know what's wrong with that picture. Here's a hint - Shinji has a PENIS. O_O No, that's not a Hotaru is gay joke. Remember, she goes to the Thomas Aquinas Academy for Girls. This, as we say, was a faux pas. Amazingly, this made it through my five hole the entire time of development, as well as Hotaru's sensors. If Usagi hadn't mentioned this after a couple of days, it may have managed to slip through our collective radars in a massive clusterfuck.

So anyway, that scene gets retconneed and I'm back to square 1. I manage to use Shinji around the neighborhood a few times but he only sees limited action. My base concept got rocked pretty bad, and I never quite got him back to balance. I still like the concept - a semi friend for Hotaru with a semi crush, able to develop as they interact. I rather want to bring him back with a new perspective at some point.

Notes: Has a massive geek collection ofmilitary and military esque items. Has handled a hunting gun before and has an inkling of which end is which. I considered using him in a few situations - Misuki's museum attack and as one of Balder's boosted servants. The former was discarded from being a big plot issue since I used Hotaru's uncle for it. The latter just never happened since Balder wrapped early. For some reason I find the idea of Shinji and Ami together and talking oddly compelling and amusing all at once.

Also, for some reason, I so see him already having a few dirty magazines. I have no freaking clue why.

[Asrana]

Source material? Shinji something or other from Full Metal Panic to some degree. One of my friends from high school (we could talk totally different angles of WW2 at each other for ages and ages...and barely learn a thing from each other).

And...yeah, that weird sort of 'oops!' point in the beginning with him kind of broke things apart, and turned 'classmate' into 'the son of her dad's work friend (Dad has any other friends?) and neighbor'. So it did kind of level him quite a ways. This was partly because her school ahdn't been decided, and when asked, I made an impulse choice on T*A (Rei-chan!). So it actually wasn't present to be discovered in the creation process, I was just nervous, jumpy, and unthinking at the beginning of the game. >_>;

Mmm. That said, I did like the scenes with him, maybe the second more than the first. What were those scenes? Shinji watching his kid sister and her friends, and a small running conversation there, and then he stumbled across Hotaru unconscious when she first tried teleporting. I do kind of want to feel out where it goes with Hotaru maturing rapidly, and wherever he's getting too. Also be interesting to play on one of the few non-senshi related things Hotaru has left to her. >_>;

Dirty magazines? Perverted Ana! Shinji no Hentai! And so on and so forth. It'd be amusing for Hotaru to discover that down the road, if she ever somehow ended up in his bedroom. (Anybody's guess)

[Anastasia]

Source material? Shinji something or other from Full Metal Panic to some degree. One of my friends from high school (we could talk totally different angles of WW2 at each other for ages and ages...and barely learn a thing from each other).

Oh, okay. Makes sense, though the FMA reference misses me.

Mmm. That said, I did like the scenes with him, maybe the second more than the first. What were those scenes? Shinji watching his kid sister and her friends, and a small running conversation there, and then he stumbled across Hotaru unconscious when she first tried teleporting. I do kind of want to feel out where it goes with Hotaru maturing rapidly, and wherever he's getting too. Also be interesting to play on one of the few non-senshi related things Hotaru has left to her. >_>;

Dirty magazines? Perverted Ana! Shinji no Hentai! And so on and so forth. It'd be amusing for Hotaru to discover that down the road, if she ever somehow ended up in his bedroom. (Anybody's guess)

Mmm. That wasn't a bad scene at all. It's part of why I want to bring him back - even if he's damaged, the foundation is still uncorrupted. Moreso since he's one of the few non Senshi aspects of her life, yes. I have no idea where the magazines come from, but that's a potentially amusing scene to be had.

[Anastasia]

Entry # 7

Nationalist boy

Source Material(s): None of note. A tiny bit of Hotaru to be reactive to her, but that's about it.

General: *Snicker*

The concept was simple - a rough and early attempt to play off of Hotaru's military interests. I'd came up with him a little before his apperance. I'd wanted to test the waters with Hotaru on a lot of levels, and he was a nice duck. It so didn't work out, but I learned about how Hotaru frames and references her preferences.

Plus, he should so play Hearts of Iron 2. Right, Hot-chan?

Notes:  He's mainly included as a throwaway. He wasn't quite meant to be so extreme, but I think he bounced off the conversation that way. He had mixed feelings after talking to Hotaru, but forgot all about her the next day.

[Anastasia]

Entry # 8

Makoto's old boyfriend.

Source Material(s): The SM canon and two games worth of jokes. I don't think I need to beat around the bush with this one. You can cite both Mako1 and Mako2 here if you like.

General: Makoto's old boyfriend has been a running joke throughout the anime. Both Makotos chose to integrate this in - the first crush and romance, one that dumped Makoto and created something of a comparison complex. We all know this on the surface. However, back in the day around when Alan and Makoto were snuggling together, I started really considering this mysterious figure. What was he like? How'd the shit go down? Why? This is a little kernel that began to ever so slowly grow into a fully formed idea plant.

This was a long process - it never really came up in SM game 1. By game two it was ready, and Makoto used her old boyfriend fairly often. So it was ripe, and it was just a matter of time. I played with her awhile, building up to that and soaking up how she tended to paint the entire situation. As the game went on, it became clear that it was a short, hormone fueled affair - kiss, tell, gossip, dump. A nice guy on the surface that did wrong to Mako-chan on the way out. Nastiness all around there, really.

So I played with that - the duality of the situation interested me. While this is clearly a biased viewpoint with Makoto(If you say an ex isn't biased, you're an idiot.), the concepts latched onto me. It made me think of old Cyprine and Ptilol - two sides of the same coin. This lead to a lot of the design for ol' sempai; a nice guy with a vicious undercurrent. This also inspired his 'enhanced' form.

For the actual encounter and acting I played it by ear beyond a few guidelines; don't describe his normal form past a very rough outline to perserve the magic, and make sure that he says something for Makoto to chew on depending on how the battle goes.  His apology to Makoto was a rather nice counterpoint and twist to all the bottled up feelings Mako has about him. At least I thought so, anyway, and the drama around it was interesting to see unfold.

Notes: As a humorous aside, I had more fun with the cakewalk with Ami and Mako-chan than RPing Sempai. Not that the latter was bad, but go figure. That giant sheet cake was fun!

I'm half toying with him showing up for Makoto at some point, but we'll see. I left the initiative in her ballpark there back when this went down. Now that I remember it, I rather like how Rei told Mako-chan to go for it, even if her advice wasn't used. It's also interesting if he remembers everything that happened - circumstancial evidence about the hypered state Balder can put people in leans towards no.

For some reason I like the guy, the rumor mill trashing of Makoto aside. I suppose it's the natural modern male response to symphasize with any guy getting trashed by a modern girl, deserved or not.  That's an interesting cultural tangent, but not one for here.

I'd had the image of him asking Makoto to dance but being so affected by what Balder's done to him that he didn't know or care it was Makoto. Imagine that - freaking out Makoto and cool sempai, dancing away in the middle of the dancefloor. Balder watches on, ready to give the word and begin the attack. Dramatic, no?

[Bean Bandit]

It's funny you should put it like that, really. I had visions of him being a basically nice guy, too.
Makoto doesn't know what drove him, so all she knows is something sweet and wonderful...the best thing that had ever happened to her went horribly wrong, and she still doesn't know why.

I had to have a rough idea of what happened to play my reactions to him right, so as far as my loose idea of the situation goes, it happened like this. Makoto tends to stand out among her age group, and to a sempai, she's probably pretty hot. >_> *Blushes* I hope so, anyway.

So, he's interested, and things go well...and I'm barely thirteen...maybe even not thirteen, yet. He's good to me, and Handsome, and I like him...it MUST be love.

So I work up the nerve, and get ready...and decide that he can go as far as he likes. But 'Sempai' is...rather young himself, comparitively. So, a young, inexperienced guy gets his hands on my *Blush* Early launch, as they say.

He hesitates, and I turn out to be enjoying it despite my worries...and I press him to know what's wrong...and wounded pride takes over, and things end badly. Very badly. And it snowballs when his friends ask about me the next day, into the sitation I've decribed to Balder and the others.

>_> Not that you should feel constrained to this, but I thought it would be interesting if Makoto ever found someone else that he come back and start messing things up as he tried to 'apologize'.

[Anastasia]

Mmm. No, you're pretty much on track with what I was thinking for the neutral view. It's a mess, it's probably blameless mistakes of youth, and it's rather sad. The only thing I'd be inclined to change from that? I like the idea of a duality to him, it exemplifies the underlying currents and themes of the entire mess.

I imagine he's attractive, yes. Let your imagination roam, Mako-chan!

[Bean Bandit]

Oh, no doubt. I imagine it snowballed with him, too.

Once he decided what his excuse was going to be for running away like that, he probably even believed it. Which was why the rumor spread so far, so fast.

And yes, he was completely yummy. *Shivers* Why do you think no one stacks up well against him?

[Anastasia]

Oh, no doubt. I imagine it snowballed with him, too.

Once he decided what his excuse was going to be for running away like that, he probably even believed it. Which was why the rumor spread so far, so fast.

And yes, he was completely yummy. *Shivers* Why do you think no one stacks up well against him?

Pretty much. The ol' cause and effect in full force. It's a regrettable incident for all concerned. You-hm? Oh, because you're clearly gay for Hot-chan! Or not? <_<

Jokes to the side, that makes sense.

[Bean Bandit]

Oh, I am, It's just that I like the boys, too. *Nods*

Soon enough, after another, gentler breakup, I'll decide that girls are easier on my heart. *nodnod*

[Anastasia]

Entry #9

Luna

Source Material(s): The SM canon, as well as SM game one. We all know where she comes from, so let's move on, shall we?

General: First and foremost I'm going to refer to Arty's entry several posts back. His touches on a lot of the themes and ideas with the Mooncats, so I'm going to focus mainly on Luna and effects thereof.

The idea with Luna was to use the following - her caring but ever so slightly prissy outlook mixed with a very elementally cat based perspective. I feel these aspects compliment each other - c'mon, you know cats can be the most arrogant looking fuckers in the world. I gave Luna-chan a very mild take on this; I see her as a bit more of a cat nanny than a real bitch.  This manifests in little ways - not liking being called -chan and having an aversion to using her 'cute magic' too much.

All the above has been played for generally lighter notes, and I'm happy with how they've gone by and large. Luna's resistance and hiding of her magic is usually quite amusing - Usagi gets a good kick out of it and it's fun to tease her about. Plus it lets me keep such powers in reasonable check.

Of all the girls, Luna is closest to Usagi and Makoto. Usagi was found first and is Sailor Moon; a surrogate Princess of the Moon and reminiscent of Queen Serenity. Makoto is more earthy - a good friend, both better and worse than Usagi in tandem. Usagi started very canocionally - the lazy girl that's a chore to keep after. But as the game went on, Luna became more accepting and understanding of her. As she took up the burdens Queen Serenity gave her, annoyance matured into respect. Luna cares very much for Usagi now - both as a friend and as someone to look up to.

Makoto is simpler. Not to knock how she views Usagi or vice versa, Luna is a little more comfortable around Makoto. She's more mature, self maintaining and a great cook. All the things needed for a worn out mooncat to relax, really. Toss in some naturally good chemistry and you have a cute 1-2 punch. Luna look sforward to spending time with both of them - Makoto first, probably, now that the battle is over and she's spent a lot of time with Usagi recently.

As for the other girls? Luna likes Ami, but Arty kind of claimed her. She's also fond of Hotaru, but a little distant about it. She knows full well what Hotaru's powers are, and it's easy to let herself keep a distance there. Kotono? Well, she spent a day or two with her and while she doesn't dislike her outright...well hell. She doesn't like Kotono that much. Imagine Usagi on a smarter, hyperer and more oblivious scale. Luna does vaguely like Rei, but they don't get much time together. Oh, she really really gets annoyed by Rei's grandfather. It dents her ego to be called an oni or a kitsune!

Notes: I tried to avoid the term 'Mau' this game. It became emblematic of what Luna and Artemis were last game. This is an effort to help seperate the two incarations on a more subtle level. It's kind of a pain, since Mau's short and fitting. Ah well.

While Luna and Artemis slowly had guardian duties and training taken over by others (Queen Serenity and Jun late game), they still consider themselves as such. It's just that the students have outdone the masters. Go you?

Now that everything is over, will Artemis and Luna get together? I don't really know yet, but it'll be intereting to see and decide!

(If you have any questions or other notes about the cats, fire by all means.)