The big one: Character discussions!

[Ebiris]

Sempai Stuff

Well, that finally explains a great mystery I always had. It never quite made sense why a guy would have a girl like Makoto eating out of his hand, get to near enough second base, and then suddenly bail and trash her reputation on the way out.

Sure, there's the 'she was horrible at it!' excuse, but considering the influence of her auntie, I really can't buy that. Besides, I'm pretty sure most guys wouldn't mind if Makoto just lay their like a sack of potatoes, considering how she looks.

But that explanation about him getting too excited and then wounded pride taking over makes a lot of sense. Poor Mako-chan!

Luna Stuff

Usagi does enjoy teasing Luna - probably why the cat likes Makoto more, but she really can't get enough of puncturing that prissy exterior. It's all in good fun, though - Luna's own barbs pretty much roll off Usagi like water off a duck's back, she just enjoys the interaction.

Besides, the fact that Luna's an adorable little cat and lots of fun to pet does make her bossiness a lot easier to stomach.

[Anastasia]

[quoteWell, that finally explains a great mystery I always had. It never quite made sense why a guy would have a girl like Makoto eating out of his hand, get to near enough second base, and then suddenly bail and trash her reputation on the way out.

Sure, there's the 'she was horrible at it!' excuse, but considering the influence of her auntie, I really can't buy that. Besides, I'm pretty sure most guys wouldn't mind if Makoto just lay their like a sack of potatoes, considering how she looks.

But that explanation about him getting too excited and then wounded pride taking over makes a lot of sense. Poor Mako-chan![/quote]

It does make sense, doesn't it? I'm rather fond of the fact that Mako-chan and I both came up with roughly the same conclusion. It fits.

Usagi does enjoy teasing Luna - probably why the cat likes Makoto more, but she really can't get enough of puncturing that prissy exterior. It's all in good fun, though - Luna's own barbs pretty much roll off Usagi like water off a duck's back, she just enjoys the interaction.

Besides, the fact that Luna's an adorable little cat and lots of fun to pet does make her bossiness a lot easier to stomach.

Exactly. That's a whole lot of why the dynamic works so well. It also works in tandem with Makoto - the two relationships buttress each other and balance out the aspects of Luna' spersonality nicely.[/quote]

[Anastasia]

Entry #10

Misuki

Source Material(s):

http://toychest.diamondcomics.com/toys/02_05/NG-001-Taki.jpg

http://www.kamikaze-taki.de/taki8.jpg

http://www.playfrance.com/images/downloads/ps2/artworks/186139269/zoom/3076.jpg

Taki from Soul Caliber is obviously a fairly big influence. I had the idea of Misuki and tapped Taki for the visual effects. This was due mainly for having easy source art handy for her; I suspected she had a pretty good chance of sticking around. Notably I did play down her chest for obvious reasons. (Those things have got to be so un aerodynamic, yeah?) Beyond Taki, Misuki owes bits and pieces to a few other ninjas. Mizuki from Suikoden 4 contributed a partial hairstyle and some of her various tricks were taken from general ninja lore.

The Mizuki and Misuki name simliarity is totally coinicidental. When I stumbled on Mizuki it was too delicious not to tap in due to the name irony.   Go figure.

General: This is the point where I need to get into some underlying game theory. All of the commanders represented an aspect against Jadeite, Gaia and the entire situation therein. Taking this as an accepted given, Misuki's roll was that of the well meaning fanatic. She has many good traits - a sense of duty bordering on the obsessed, feelings of love, and a slowly emerging compassionate side when she connects with a person. On the other hand, the man she loves and swears fealty to uses her as nothing more than another tool. She was bred from childhood to serve him silently; Misuki's body was torn asunder at his touch to better that aim. Jadeite used her feelings for him with utter contempt and disregard to motivate her, yet her feelings never waivered.

I'll go into a lot of the above later in a game theory discussion. The long and short is that Misuki loved Jadeite and was used by him. This is a neat little package when you consider what he's done to her - perfect for an interesting character build. This could be expanded as she got more screentime, making Misuki a tragic and yet relatable person. Everyone has had or knows someone that's had a really shitty boy/girlfriend, you know?

This is also why her being relatable in other ways was vital. This is what was begun with Hotaru at the dance ball; for this to work for the PCs they had to see her as more than a fanatic of Jadeite. Her interaction with Hotaru was excellent overall and heralded many good chances there. The concept of building on that was starting there - but we all know what happened that night.

Shifting gears backwards, Misuki was designed to last a good while. Her offensive capacity(Or lack thereof!) combined with her defensive skill made it unlikely she'd die easily or kill another Sailor Senshi. However, I gave her other things to compensate - sleeping gas and various toxic tricks can be as scary as 50 points of damage when used right. Combined with this and a few good battle scenarios, I tried to keep her interesting on the combat end of it. Not only does this make combat a lot more fun, but keeping Misuki unpredictable makes the PCs not take her for granted mentally. This was desired, too.

In fact, everything with Misuki was going gold. I hadn't had a single scene with her I didn't like and several I loved. She was the evil twin of Kensuke and I was thrilled with every moment of it. Then she died. Yep. Kaboom! Ahem. I'm not going to rehash that plot point here - we're all familiar with how it went down, the Tiara Enclose dicing incident, and Hotaru's 2-6 critical.

I will say in all my times in gaming this is the one time I was truly tempted to utterly ignore the dice and the numbers -completely- in favor of throwing an NPC a break. (Sure, I fudge things on occasion, but that goes without saying as a GM. This is different.) I suppose that says a lot of how I feel and still feel about Misuki. It was a damn waste - I had a lot planned for her ahead.

So, what if Misuki had lived? My plans worked around this idea - I was going to have her start getting closer to the Sailor Senshi as the plots went on. I wanted to make her a figure starting to be torn - between that she's starting to have real compassion for those she's fighting and using, while coping with her feelings for Jadeite. Combine this with chances for purification and you have all sorts of interesting scenarios. Imagine how she'd defend Jadeite and interact with Balder, for example. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too. I had some ideas for Misuki and Queen Serenity interacting. This is unrelated to the idea of ressurecting her, that'll be gotten into in Queenie's post.

Powerwise? Misuki would've taught various ninja like traits and tricks. Even without direct powers she had a helluva pool to draw from. Imagine you girls learning to be little ninjas!

Notes: Misuki-Hotaru and Misukibot basically came into life because I didn't want to let Misuki go. Sometimes I really do wonder if I should've given her a break.  Misuki has a rack, but taped them down when at work. They weren't Taki like, but she was a typical anime girl. Misuki was the first NPC that I'd brazenly broken the ACV/DCV ratio for beyond some minor twinking. I think it worked pretty well overall. I toyed around with giving Misuki crits on 2-3, but having her have an equal chance of a critical vs a normal hit was stupid. Queen Serenity spared Misuki from the Beast Lord doing an Arieta on her - a small mercy for me, I suppose. Besides, I'm a little scared to see what he'd come up with from her soul.

[Ebiris]

Misuki Stuff

I think of all the senshi, Usagi probably had the highest opinion of Misuki. The main reason being that despite her somewhat scary front, probing a bit deeper revealed that her bark was a lot worse than her bite. Case in point, her propensity for using knockout gas - sure, that could really mess us up, but considering she could be using poison or something nastier, it showed she wasn't an out and out killer.

This was further confirmed the time she had Hotaru and Rei hostage at the museum. Usagi went in alone, and when she proved unwilling (more like unable, but let's look at this from Misuki's perspective) to hand over the Lunar Staff, Misuki promptly attacked the combat ready Sailor Moon, while leaving her two defenceless hostages completely alone.

Because of the above, Usagi had decent hopes of reasoning with Misuki when she took Hotaru hostage (again) at the Shrine. I won't get sidetracked on that, but basically, Misuki seemed a lot easier to deal with on a personal level than Arieta or Kensuke, blind devotion to Jadeite notwithstanding.

Then came the fun at the ball. From an OOC perspective, having her escape from a tiara bind via secret GM magic as I was in the middle of typing a "Moon Restoration" line (Usagi greatly preferred convincing someone to abandon Jadeite before purifying them, as she did with Janna, but it was a somewhat desperate situation, and was preferable to killing her) really did piss me off. Hotaru promptly one-shotting her to death was immensely satisfying, OOC-wise.

IC, Usagi was a a bit sad at the senseless waste of life, and had she been given the choice Hotaru was given, probably would have taken it. But since Hotaru said no, I didn't want to step on her toes by volunteering.

A pity, since Misuki would have been fun to keep around, had she been purified. Learning ninjitsu doesn't really appeal (especially if it requires having your vocal chords mutilated), but her interactions with Beck and Balder probably would've been priceless...

[Bean Bandit]

Mmm. Makoto didn't have as high opinion of Misuki as Usagi did. Knockout gas and stuff was more evidence of sneaky bitchery than being a softy at heart (She could have snuck back and slit our throats and stuff)

Basically, Makoto saw her as someone unable to stand up to the Senshi in straight fighting, and was horribly devious in compensation, which made her much more dangerous...Hence the willingness to charge straight in when Misuki had Hotaru Hostage.

Thusly, Makoto shed no tears when finding out she died. She seemed as unsympathetic and horrible as Arieta.

[Anastasia]

Because of the above, Usagi had decent hopes of reasoning with Misuki when she took Hotaru hostage (again) at the Shrine. I won't get sidetracked on that, but basically, Misuki seemed a lot easier to deal with on a personal level than Arieta or Kensuke, blind devotion to Jadeite notwithstanding.

Good. I'm glad that shone through, that was the point of the exercise. That's what I was trying to paint; even if using deadly poison would be a lot less interesting from a purely gaming perspective. She was able to start 'talking' to you just before she went, too.

Then came the fun at the ball. From an OOC perspective, having her escape from a tiara bind via secret GM magic as I was in the middle of typing a "Moon Restoration" line (Usagi greatly preferred convincing someone to abandon Jadeite before purifying them, as she did with Janna, but it was a somewhat desperate situation, and was preferable to killing her) really did piss me off. Hotaru promptly one-shotting her to death was immensely satisfying, OOC-wise.

I didn't really want to rehash that again since it's been done to death in PM. Oh well, too late now. OOC wise, it me having her dice in another room since I was on a kick of 'you know, it would be nice if I could do some rolling off screen'. For what it's worth she did outright pass the check.

Anyway, yeah, sorry about that.

A pity, since Misuki would have been fun to keep around, had she been purified. Learning ninjitsu doesn't really appeal (especially if it requires having your vocal chords mutilated), but her interactions with Beck and Balder probably would've been priceless...

Yes. Once the early bumps and bruises were resolved, I had high hopes for that situation. Beck would've been amusing, and Balder would have been pricelessly insane headbutting. Imagine how he'd deal with someone that wanted to keep Jadeite alive or save him, hm?

No vocal cord mutilation is needed, that was just Jadeite being Jadeite. Rawr.

[Anastasia]

Mmm. Makoto didn't have as high opinion of Misuki as Usagi did. Knockout gas and stuff was more evidence of sneaky bitchery than being a softy at heart (She could have snuck back and slit our throats and stuff)

Basically, Makoto saw her as someone unable to stand up to the Senshi in straight fighting, and was horribly devious in compensation, which made her much more dangerous...Hence the willingness to charge straight in when Misuki had Hotaru Hostage.

Thusly, Makoto shed no tears when finding out she died. She seemed as unsympathetic and horrible as Arieta.

Mmm.

I can see that, too. It's a matter of perception and which way you want to take her actions. Was she devious? Hell yes. I did try to give her a humanity that showed beneath the surface, albiet if she died before she got to fully explore it. Between that and a few scenes with her and Jadeite, I really did try to pump that up.

Questions, Mako-chan:

With that mind frame, would you have been willing to learn from Misuki if she'd survived?

How would Makoto have processed and reconciled someone loving Jadeite, especially as more and more was found out about him?

I'm curious, since your view point is another good one and different from mine.

[Bean Bandit]

Questions, Mako-chan:

With that mind frame, would you have been willing to learn from Misuki if she'd survived?

How would Makoto have processed and reconciled someone loving Jadeite, especially as more and more was found out about him?

I'm curious, since your view point is another good one and different from mine.

It really depends. There were a few times where I simply wasn't with the Senshi, and that hurt my ability to try and get to understand her-if I could have anyway. It would be entirely in Misuki's court to try and win my trust.

Makoto, of all people, can understand not being able to control who you love - See the lingering affections for her old sempai. Despite everything.

[Asrana]

Hotaru? Didn't think Misuki was necessarily cruel, but didn't think she ahd anything good at heart, either. She used poison, hostages, deception, and other such sneaky efforts that put the rules of war on even further hold.

Having been on the business end of two such happenstances didn't exactly assist the positive opinion.

Then came the ball, which DID paint Misuki in a new light, if not a particularly favorable one. While it added humanity, it was very much a religious fanatic kind of thing. She expected Misuki to never stop, never give in, and never compromise when it came to her mission for Jadeite, and there was no way short of brainwashing they'd get her to not become yet another threat.

Thus, sacrificing her one virtue in combat to any degree ti ressurect an opponent she expected would not pull a Nior wasn't really an option. Misuki was annihilated, it was a relief, and she wouldn't change that.

[Anastasia]

Hotaru? Didn't think Misuki was necessarily cruel, but didn't think she ahd anything good at heart, either. She used poison, hostages, deception, and other such sneaky efforts that put the rules of war on even further hold.

Having been on the business end of two such happenstances didn't exactly assist the positive opinion.

Then came the ball, which DID paint Misuki in a new light, if not a particularly favorable one. While it added humanity, it was very much a religious fanatic kind of thing. She expected Misuki to never stop, never give in, and never compromise when it came to her mission for Jadeite, and there was no way short of brainwashing they'd get her to not become yet another threat.

Thus, sacrificing her one virtue in combat to any degree  ressurect an opponent she expected would not pull a Nior wasn't really an option. Misuki was annihilated, it was a relief, and she wouldn't change that.

The ball was a start. The start of trying to show her differently, anyway. I wasn't intending for it to be an end all be all redemption on the spot, but another stepping stone on that possible road.

Annyway. Hotaru's take on it is interesting. I never deeply considered that view of her tactics, though I should have considering Hotaru. True enough with the next point- Hotaru had a trick of running afoul of her schemes like that. One shame on you, twice shame on me or something?

Mmm. What's your take on the questions I asked Makoto, too?

[Anastasia]

Questions, Mako-chan:

With that mind frame, would you have been willing to learn from Misuki if she'd survived?

How would Makoto have processed and reconciled someone loving Jadeite, especially as more and more was found out about him?

I'm curious, since your view point is another good one and different from mine.

It really depends. There were a few times where I simply wasn't with the Senshi, and that hurt my ability to try and get to understand her-if I could have anyway. It would be entirely in Misuki's court to try and win my trust.

Makoto, of all people, can understand not being able to control who you love - See the lingering affections for her old sempai. Despite everything.

True enough on all counts there, really. It's a shame there was never a chance to explore that aspect between the two women.

[Asrana]

"With that mind frame, would you have been willing to learn from Misuki if she'd survived?

How would Makoto have processed and reconciled someone loving Jadeite, especially as more and more was found out about him?"

Since you requested I take these on...

Learn from? Yes. Hotaru's already picked a handful of ideas out of Jadeite's bag of tricks that she's seen, not to be applied directly, but still. She'll learn from whatever she can.

Reconciled? She wouldn't. People loved Hitler, people can be misled, humans are mentally malleable given the right pushes at the right times. Part of why she easily considered Misuki a fanatic that'd have to be killed and not reasoned with.

[Anastasia]

"With that mind frame, would you have been willing to learn from Misuki if she'd survived?

How would Makoto have processed and reconciled someone loving Jadeite, especially as more and more was found out about him?"

Since you requested I take these on...

Learn from? Yes. Hotaru's already picked a handful of ideas out of Jadeite's bag of tricks that she's seen, not to be applied directly, but still. She'll learn from whatever she can.

Reconciled? She wouldn't. People loved Hitler, people can be misled, humans are mentally malleable given the right pushes at the right times. Part of why she easily considered Misuki a fanatic that'd have to be killed and not reasoned with.

Mmm. Okay, fair enough.

[Anastasia]

Entry #11

Yuko.

Source Material(s): Hotaru's character sheet and an NPC from Persona 2. I can't remember the girl's name, but she's one of the photographers or journalists that works with Maya. The one with black curly hair - she gave me a lot of my mental image for Yuko.

General: Yuko was done quick and dirty - I took the writeup from Hotaru's sheet and meshed it with a preexisting mental profile. I think it came out pretty well for her first scene and her later one. She feels like a yuppie.

She knows Ami's father by passing coincidence of working in the same fields. Despite Hotaru making a few jokes about Yuko and Ami's father, they're nothing but business colleagues. She met Akira, her fiancee, half through him. Funny how those things work out, isn't it?

Notes: If this game ever ends up in L territory again, I'm half fooling with her having some college experiences to play off Hotaru. I had that inkling for a long time - maybe I'm just projecting from the Persona 2 template, but there's something a tiny bit queer about Yuko.

I wanted to do a little more with her here and there, so she'll probably pop up again at some point.

[Asrana]

Notes: If this game ever ends up in L territory again, I'm half fooling with her having some college experiences to play off Hotaru. I had that inkling for a long time - maybe I'm just projecting from the Persona 2 template, but there's something a tiny bit queer about Yuko.

This just plain made me snicker. >_>

Overall, I liked Yuko a lot, one of the more 'normal' influences on Hotaru I'd probably like to see more of. (No, Reiko isn't normal, she's a cynical politic. This doesn't subtract from my immense love for mom, though!)

She didn't take part much in the second one, though she might get another appearance with the reunions (I hope?)?

It's not every day your child comes back from saving two worlds!

Note: Yes, I thought she and Ami's dad were going out or something for a moment or three. It was back when I had an overactive sense of paranoia. Though it did resurface when I heard she had a fiance! Only for a moment, though! *hides from Ami*