The big one: Character discussions!

[Anastasia]

Rei Stuff

I think the next step in their friendship was when she visited Usagi's house and the two hung out, reading manga and teasing each other - things seemed a lot more relaxed and friendly there, and after they both expressed their interest in Mamoru (oh, how the mighty have fallen...) it set up a nice 'rivals' dynamic.

Yeah. This set the stage for Usagi and Rei to hit it off. Both Usagi and Hotaru helped my Rei a fair bit by projecting on her and giving her chances to grow. The natural back and forth set Rei's more argreeable tone with Usagi. The rabbit managed to reflect back on Rei without sending her into meltdown.

After that things just seemed to evolve on the same course - Usagi and Rei are friends who constantly tease and compete with each other over pretty much anything, sometimes going to excessive lengths but never actually holding any grudge over it since they both recognise that it is all in good fun. I hope this continues into arc 2, even if I do have a odd image of the two flirting relentlessly with each other's boyfriends as a natural evolution of their competitive impulses...

Heh, heh, heh. I like that image a lot, Usa-chan. Hell, imagine if one gets a girlfriend and the other goes bi just to do taht to the other's girlfriend, huh?

But yes, I liked how Usagi and Rei developed. Out of all the girls Usagi managed the firewalking path, and tamed it. An interesting take.

[Anastasia]

Along the same lines, at first, I had high hopes for Rei as well. The bitchy parts didn't really show too badly at first, and Rei's interesting habit of matching Makoto in terms of Profanity, and the slightly jaded worldview she shares with Hotaru made me kind of hopeful Makoto and Rei could be friends. But she spent all her time with Kotono and Setsuna, and the ship kind of sailed, without anything coming of it. Rei was distant, but that's ok. Not everyone can be a friend magnet, and Hotaru likes her, so whatever.

Basically. I like Rei and Makoto together in theory. They never quite got to click for a few reasons - Hotaru and T*A takes a ton of her attention as it is, and Usagi/Ami grabs a lot of the free time vibes left over. Oddly, despite Hotaru being one of the closest and glommed onto Makoto, it didn't spread into Rei interacting that much with her. A pity there.

I do remember and like that movie night, though.

The camping trip is where Makoto's opinion of Rei began to dim. Kotono wasn't much of a riddle to her...she sort of understood the blonde, after the initial aggravation with her manner subsided. Makoto could not for the life of her understand why Rei was so vicious. Irritation and anger, she could understand, but Rei was...well, it was like kicking a puppy, with steel toed boots.

Yeah, that lead to Rei finally pushing Kotono too hard at the springs. That did get out of control for awhile - probably an extension of Rei's general frustation and my own. Even the line that did it wasn't intended to be such, but it came out harsh and cruel.

The scene after was okay and helped. On thinking about it, I think those two roughly function as outlets for each other. Rei's Kotono's outlet for a ton of her energy and weirdness, which turns Kotono into Rei's outlet for anger and steam. I wouldn't be surprised fi they have incidents like that every so often.

Of course, this looks understandably horrible to anyone outside of it. I'm too conflicted to give an unbiased answer to how cruel Rei is to Kotono relatively, but mmm.

And then came the little fight with Usagi in the stream that I had to blow up to stop. That was the real downturn, I think. Disagreeing with Usagi is one thing, but that was just plain horrible, especially since Usagi was defending Kotono. Not to mention that despite the fact that Usagi and I rarely agree, I think she's a sweetheart, and no one has any good reason to be that way to her. (Bring up Hotaru and Usagi's fights here at your own peril)

Like hell if I'm bringing in  Usagi and Hotaru's quibbles. <_<

Pretty much, yeah.

The competitive haughtiness really tamed Makoto's wilder streak. Looking at Rei being an overzealous hag made her examine herself and her moves more carefully, and settled her unease with her rate of progress. It's just NOT a competition, dammit!

For all of Rei's follies at the time, I'm glad you reflected off of her to get something good from that. Thanks!

Makoto's eased up in her dislike for Rei a bit since that fight. She's still kind of down on her attitude, but it's more mild disapproval, now that she understands Rei's just as emotionally disabled as Kotono, in her own way.

I -would- like them to be friends, but the main bone of contention is a problem. Even people Makoto doesn't like, she tends to smile and overlook the worst of it. Life's too short to obsess on things that bug you.

Rei zeroes in on faults and flaws like a laser guided ICBM. Unless she settles down a bit, I imagine Makoto and Rei will constantly be at odds...

So would I, Mako-chan. I think that's on the way now that they blew their loads of anger on each other. That was one of the nastiest fights I've ever seen relative to them. If Rei can grow up a bit and let off, I can see that settling down. Despite it all, Rei slightly looks up to Makoto - if for no other reason than the toy. She really was impressed and amused, pussybreath aside. <_<

Hell, she nearly used the same prank on Kotono. Shame Kotono's expo there got cut off.

[Ebiris]

Hell, she nearly used the same prank on Kotono. Shame Kotono's expo there got cut off.

No 'nearly' about it, as I recall...

[Anastasia]

Hell, she nearly used the same prank on Kotono. Shame Kotono's expo there got cut off.

No 'nearly' about it, as I recall...

Okay, fine. R rated version:

Kotono, Usagi and Rei sucked on Makoto's big, used vibe like a lollypop, slurping it all down. Happy? <_<

[Ebiris]

Kotono, Usagi and Rei sucked on Makoto's big, used vibe like a lollypop, slurping it all down. Happy? <_<

I do so love it when you talk dirty, Ana-chan!

[Anastasia]

Kotono, Usagi and Rei sucked on Makoto's big, used vibe like a lollypop, slurping it all down. Happy? <_<

I do so love it when you talk dirty, Ana-chan!

I cry and flee like the dickens. You're a scaaaaary rabbit that's giving Hot-chan nice Mako/Rei/Usagi/Kotono fantasies to do her dirty things with! O_O

[Asrana]

Rei...

By and large my biggest disappointment within Redux, I think.

Just...mm. She came on strong. Really strong. Older sister/sempai vibe early one right after getting into Mars. I think it was a scene right after we beat Balder that Hotaru keeps bringing up that really just hit her. And it was never a repeat perforamnce for Rei.

Just...mm. It was hard even to tell what she wanted from Hotaru as a friend.

I'm having trouble even looking back into it, and some scenes like brushing Rei's hair on Gaia, or others...mmm.

She and Hotaru crossed circuts, Rei turned Haughty, Hotaru was already half panicked after the counselor incident about what her friends thought, panicked, Rei's Rei, they came to blows.

It's a sincere and utter chaotic mess in Hotaru's head she just wants to break down and cry into Rei's shoulder over, but well...Rei-chan's Rei-chan.

Hotaru wants to be closer to her, but cant' figure out any way to manage that except to really pull away, and tryi to coax Rei into setting terms. She expects, and feels, that Rei would say good riddance and live on her life as distant friends.

Rei SCARES Hotaru. She's everything that could hurt her, and yet everything that tempts her, and at the same time has jsut enough caring and sense to keep Hotaru immobilized in indecision and anxiety.

And really Ana, you don't have to smack her with the not gay thing, Hotaru was coming to grips with it until you punched her in the face with an opposing PM.

I dunno how many ways I can say Rei's an emotional chaos warp or whatever for Hotaru, but she is. She draws in everything horrific and wonderful, and makes Hotaru hold it all in her head simultaneously.

[Anastasia]

Rei...

By and large my biggest disappointment within Redux, I think.

Mmm. She's not mine - that goes to Kensuke or Mamoru. I'm not thrilled with her, but I think she's mostly come into her own for better and for worse.

Just...mm. She came on strong. Really strong. Older sister/sempai vibe early one right after getting into Mars. I think it was a scene right after we beat Balder that Hotaru keeps bringing up that really just hit her. And it was never a repeat perforamnce for Rei.

Elaborate on the scene so we're all clear?

Just...mm. It was hard even to tell what she wanted from Hotaru as a friend.

That's something that I can answer and not at the same time. She wants a friend - she'd call Hotaru one, but I'm not sure she she'd fit the criteria at the same time. Look at how she reacts with Usagi. Different dynamic, but I think it's a peek into her mindset.

I'm having trouble even looking back into it, and some scenes like brushing Rei's hair on Gaia, or others...mmm.

Seconded.

She and Hotaru crossed circuts, Rei turned Haughty, Hotaru was already half panicked after the counselor incident about what her friends thought, panicked, Rei's Rei, they came to blows.

That fight is one of my least favorite scenes in Redux. Now Hotaru slipped up - she made a honest mistake. These things happen. Rei was just...oi. You know how she won't let Kotono go easily when she gets going? I think that's some of what happened, as well as playing up some older tendencies.

It's a sincere and utter chaotic mess in Hotaru's head she just wants to break down and cry into Rei's shoulder over, but well...Rei-chan's Rei-chan.

That's a point. Rei-chan is very much NOT a touchy-feely sort of person. I'm not sure why, but Hotaru's hugging/holding tendency just...mmm. A lot of times it rubs her the wrong way. She's not even sure why. Maybe it turns the sparring into something a little too close.

Hotaru wants to be closer to her, but cant' figure out any way to manage that except to really pull away, and tryi to coax Rei into setting terms. She expects, and feels, that Rei would say good riddance and live on her life as distant friends.

Push come to shove? Rei...she might do that in moments of heat, and even have a chance to stick to it in pride, but it's more likely she's break down. See how she started changing reactions when Mako told her to get out of her house to a small degree.

Rei SCARES Hotaru. She's everything that could hurt her, and yet everything that tempts her, and at the same time has jsut enough caring and sense to keep Hotaru immobilized in indecision and anxiety.

Funny how those things work out, isn't it?

And really Ana, you don't have to smack her with the not gay thing, Hotaru was coming to grips with it until you punched her in the face with an opposing PM.

Fair enough, okay.

I dunno how many ways I can say Rei's an emotional chaos warp or whatever for Hotaru, but she is. She draws in everything horrific and wonderful, and makes Hotaru hold it all in her head simultaneously.

Despite all that you claim Rei is one of your favorites. Is this chaos and mix why, or is it the allure that things could be so much better?

[Asrana]

Quote:

Just...mm. She came on strong. Really strong. Older sister/sempai vibe early one right after getting into Mars. I think it was a scene right after we beat Balder that Hotaru keeps bringing up that really just hit her. And it was never a repeat perforamnce for Rei.

Elaborate on the scene so we're all clear?

Ugh...someone was laying in one of the beds in the formerly haunted house, people were moving this way and that, Hotaru was sitting in the living room waiting. Hm...couldn't have been Beck, she stood the whole time that scene. Either the one before Usagi went to the hospital because she collapsed, or when we were letting Makoto heal, I dunno.

But Rei came out, sat next to Hotaru, and ended up hugging her. Then asked something like "Why's it so easy to end up holding you?"

That's the scene where it really shot Hotaru out past 'She's nice' into 'Rei-chan!'.

Quote:
I dunno how many ways I can say Rei's an emotional chaos warp or whatever for Hotaru, but she is. She draws in everything horrific and wonderful, and makes Hotaru hold it all in her head simultaneously.

Despite all that you claim Rei is one of your favorites. Is this chaos and mix why, or is it the allure that things could be so much better?

I actually tossed some of this into PM to store it, so...

Rei is second from the top for 'Who yanks on Hotaru's heart'. Hotaru's in love with Rei, but not really romantically, simply loves her, and is in fair grips with that fact.

Why she sticks to it? Look at Hotaru and her mother, then look at Hotaru and Rei. They aren't really parallel, but the experience of mingled negative and positive feelings held in hand and complete all together isn't new to her, it's not even associated with something 'bad'. It's a depressing state of affairs she wishes she could fix, but feels more fransfixed into the conundrum because Rei seems to reject any intense emotion not either clearly 'simple friends' or romantic. To Hotaru's own mind, Rei doesn't want to hear it, it'd only hurt what little she's trying to salvage more, and she's coming into a very resigned/morose internal situation concerning Rei.

This is also I feel the root of the romantic omake bait with Rei. There isn't a comfortable middle ground she can locate, so she goes for what might actually get what she feels out.

[Anastasia]

Ugh...someone was laying in one of the beds in the formerly haunted house, people were moving this way and that, Hotaru was sitting in the living room waiting. Hm...couldn't have been Beck, she stood the whole time that scene. Either the one before Usagi went to the hospital because she collapsed, or when we were letting Makoto heal, I dunno.

But Rei came out, sat next to Hotaru, and ended up hugging her. Then asked something like "Why's it so easy to end up holding you?"

That's the scene where it really shot Hotaru out past 'She's nice' into 'Rei-chan!'.

Damn. Rei'd forgotten all about that, and I nearly had as well. That's interesting and plays something up I was going to go into soon. Rei - if you look at her, she can seem like a different person depending on who she's interacting with. Kotono, Hotaru and Usagi have been gone into, and Makoto alluded to. Add in Ami - she really treats her well, to the point of getting Ami stalker jokes.

This begs the question of why. On thinking about it a few minutes, I think it's a byproduct of her general mindset. She's a Princess, and she'll treat you how she sees fit and how she slips into. Hotaru's something of the exception for a few reasons. I said before that Hotaru and Usagi both tended to project onto Rei. Usagi's was more firing back in a semi playful way, she managed to establish a very back and forth vibe. This suits Rei just fine.

Hotaru, on the other hand? To focus the point about not being touchy feely above, I think she's more open to it when she's in a good mood, and VERY against it when she's pissed off. Tie this into the fact that Hotaru pushes her buttons, as well as her brand of drama really rubbing her bad? Booooooooom. She can slip past this some and reply better to what Hotaru wants from her when she's in the mood, but when not?

I actually tossed some of this into PM to store it, so...

Rei is second from the top for 'Who yanks on Hotaru's heart'. Hotaru's in love with Rei, but not really romantically, simply loves her, and is in fair grips with that fact.

Why she sticks to it? Look at Hotaru and her mother, then look at Hotaru and Rei. They aren't really parallel, but the experience of mingled negative and positive feelings held in hand and complete all together isn't new to her, it's not even associated with something 'bad'. It's a depressing state of affairs she wishes she could fix, but feels more fransfixed into the conundrum because Rei seems to reject any intense emotion not either clearly 'simple friends' or romantic. To Hotaru's own mind, Rei doesn't want to hear it, it'd only hurt what little she's trying to salvage more, and she's coming into a very resigned/morose internal situation concerning Rei.

This is also I feel the root of the romantic omake bait with Rei. There isn't a comfortable middle ground she can locate, so she goes for what might actually get what she feels out.

Mmm. Hence the problem - she slips into how she interacts with her mother. Unlike Reiko, Rei has one helluva temper. Your mother's more cynical and even handed, Rei's a volcano ready to go off.

[Anastasia]

As an addendum, I'd place a bit of the blame on all the stress from Gaia. I meant to work that into the above, so I'll just fire it off as a standalone comment. I think you can relate to that pretty well anyway, Hot-chan.

[Asrana]

As an addendum, I'd place a bit of the blame on all the stress from Gaia. I meant to work that into the above, so I'll just fire it off as a standalone comment. I think you can relate to that pretty well anyway, Hot-chan.

Har. Hotaru pretty much pins pent up stress from Gaia as one of the biggest reason she was was batshit right after.

Mmm. Hence the problem - she slips into how she interacts with her mother. Unlike Reiko, Rei has one helluva temper. Your mother's more cynical and even handed, Rei's a volcano ready to go off.

Actually, this isn't really right. Hotaru's in outright panic reacting to Rei in this form, her mother is just...her mother. It's why I said it's very un-parallel and doesn't go past the coupling of negative and positive feelings in her mind at the same time.

She expects the argument from her mother. With Rei, she sees it coming, she panics, she can't seem to stop it, she panics MORE, and she starts losing it. The only time she's really itneracted with Reiko the way she's been interacting with Rei was when Reiko flew off the wall and retreated into her bedroom. This was when we were telling our parents we'd have to leave for a month to be on Gaia. And just before Usagi called me when I was explaining to dad, with makeup on (for context and scene exactness).

[Anastasia]

Har. Hotaru pretty much pins pent up stress from Gaia as one of the biggest reason she was was batshit right after.

True enough. I don't want to blame the entire thing on it since that would be a gross simplification, but it was a factor without a doubt. While making mistakes is good and helps keep your PC realistic, I really wish you hadn't made that one.

More and more, I really wish that fight hadn't happened.

Actually, this isn't really right. Hotaru's in outright panic reacting to Rei in this form, her mother is just...her mother. It's why I said it's very un-parallel and doesn't go past the coupling of negative and positive feelings in her mind at the same time.

She expects the argument from her mother. With Rei, she sees it coming, she panics, she can't seem to stop it, she panics MORE, and she starts losing it. The only time she's really itneracted with Reiko the way she's been interacting with Rei was when Reiko flew off the wall and retreated into her bedroom. This was when we were telling our parents we'd have to leave for a month to be on Gaia. And just before Usagi called me when I was explaining to dad, with makeup on (for context and scene exactness).

Mmm.

That helps explain the grand drama buildup and how crazy she went at Rei there? Elaborate a bit?

[Asrana]

That helps explain the grand drama buildup and how crazy she went at Rei there? Elaborate a bit?

It's what scares her the most: She has something with Rei, they'd both agree they're friends on some level, and she cherishes that. But she can't help think it can all go kablooie if she fumbles something. Rei's...REI. A haughty, demanding, bitchy princess. So what if Rei's standards aren't met? Will she walk off? What if Hotaru does something horribly wrong, isn't good enough, and loses even that friendhsip that feels so tiny?

It scares her so much she just...loses it. Loses any control and erupts as much as Rei does, but in a very betrayed manner.

[Anastasia]

Character Entry: #34

Jadeite.

Source Material(s): SM canon, obviously. Beyond that a shit load of creative thought and application.

General:

Where to begin? This gets into the very roots of Redux, as Jadeite's formation signifies so much of my mental energy on the subject. It started with a few things:

- A conversation with Liddo-kun to where he wondered what the Dark Kingdom was like past what little we saw of it in the canon.

- Taking the idea of Jadeite as the first villian and saying 'how can he be fresh and Redux like?'

- Pondering on game 1 Jadeite and the nature of redemption thereof, as well as the burdens of an infinite life span.

The original spark was from Liddo. We were bullshitting around in PM and the subject of the Dark Kingdom came up. The speculation on what it was like came up, and the conclusion that you have to wonder, and how interesting it would be if a world existed beyond the mere darkness. This laid much of the seed idea for Gaia.

Secondly, Jadeite. I'd decided early on I wanted to use him in some manner or another. His Game 1 fate, while interesting, was very stereotypical of the fanon and ultimately a vital but minor event. I wanted to play with this persona a little more. But how? That's where the third idea came in: The crux of Sailor Moon is about goodness and redemption versus horrific events. Sure, there's the panty shots and fluff that takes up 90% of the series, but the underlying themes are quite mature and worth pondering on a cold night. When Sailor Moon saves someone in a manner - say the Akayashi Sisters - what happens after the episodes ends? How does one reconcile such a life with normality? Can they ever? Further, even after change, can they maintain this new status quo?

So I ran with it - I imagined a Jadeite that escaped the Dark Kingdom's graps. One that was haunted by it, fought against it, lived against it.  But his fate was his fate, no matter how hard he struggled. The seeds Metallia had laid were potent, not to be defied so easily. So in response, he spends this countless lifetimes maturing, strengthening, overcoming. To a small degree the generalised concept of an 'overman' came to mind - the very best of humanity, created by the most sincere desires to be better, to be pure and right.

That's all well and good, but evil doesn't give up, does it? So what happens when that man is touched again? What happens when he fights on, blurring everything in the singleminded obsession to defeat his 'evil', or his Metallia? When everything around him becomes tools to an end no matter what, is he even human? Is he even better than Metallia ever was anymore? Is he worse than her? Can he redeem himself by himself?

You saw full well what he was and what he did, Sailors.

--

Prince Dei relied on being a near copy of Queen/Princess Serenity. The reasonings and influences are quite clear - who else would Jadeite look to for purity than the very perfect kingdom he helped bring to ruin? It was the goal that made the most sense, as well as offering obvious meaty RP connotations to all the girls, especially Usagi and Serenity.

I meant to spread out his buildup a little longer, but I still think he was quite effective for what he had to be.

---

For Jadeite to really work, I had to sell him like mad. Tons of buildup, displays of power, menance and instances of fear. Gaia itself was an excellent vehicle for this, as was everyone he touched. From the strongest Commander he had being -nothing- next to his power to his 'saved world' being another Fascist toned police state, his elements of controlling and using had to be upplayed. When a tool needed to be manipulated, he would without a second thought. (Misuki). In the cases where something had run out of usefulness, he attempted to destroy it in one last gasp of worth. (Nior.)

Yet dashes of creative madness were needed. The ironies around Balder and Serenity sold that as well. He's so far gone that he parodies what Dei stood for - he holds his Princess in a room of darkness and drives her mad. He takes her son as his own Prince and turns him into a monster. In his raw quest to dominate Metallia, he has done so to almost every living thing on Gaia.

I think all of that combined built him up to what he was. The final key were the displays of power - possessing Ikkuko, basting Serenity, nearly obliterating Sailor Moon in one shot, and the infamous critical on Balder. I can't claim credif or the last, but the others were calculated to have as much effect as possible.

Creating great works was another part of this. The Portal in particular - I think it was Usagi or Ami that outright said 'This is something we can't handle, it's beyond us', which only creates more reinforcement.

Finally, a few choice comments about upholding Serenity's legacy were just icing.

Notes: Jadeite's mood and movement in battle was always carefull considered. How he walked down in the air like stairs to Rei and Ami, how he deigned to take off his glove to grasp her and nearly siphon off her life, how he ripped the very sky apart at a whim. His 'perfect, unblemished body' was meant to play that up as well; just another inhuman aspect of what he had become.

Could he have been saved? This is something that was considered for awhile, but the plot elements for it to have a shot never happened. In short, not really short of amazing events. He was just too far gone in his own choices - if you had managed to get through to Dei enough?

I really wasn't sure. One of you girls said he'd better have the humility to kill himself after that, and I'd considered it if it happened. Otherwise, dunno.