Ah yeah, I was thinking the "Gremlin Miyako starts in universe shipping to deal with emotional problems" button, so out of the pre-written option, the Koyomi teen manga would be the closest, but moving beyond that there inverting the attempt to broaden her social field and just having the two of them bond by gossiping over Koyomi, or Miyako proposing some kind of activity and volunteering Koyomi to come along. (Not exactly a date, but more of a family activity, I suppose. Koyomi might be growing into her role, but neither Yumemi's nor Asahi's attempt at being Miyako's second mom worked out great. Probably because they're mostly in it for the custody battles. )
Koyomi might be growing into her role, but neither Yumemi's nor Asahi's attempt at being Miyako's second mom worked out great. Probably because they're mostly in it for the custody battles. )
(Not exactly a date, but more of a family activity, I suppose. Koyomi might be growing into her role, but neither Yumemi's nor Asahi's attempt at being Miyako's second mom worked out great. Probably because they're mostly in it for the custody battles. )
Though if asked, Miyako would say Koyomi feels more like an aunt than a mother, being a little hesitant to use that term given her own family history (and also doubling as another Polgara reference on my part, on top of the white hair streak when transformed).
And yeah, if there's one plotline that's easier to do in a Magical Woman story than a regular MG one, it's magical custody battles (Sfira being another example).
[X] Introducing her to more people around Hinodeharu besides Koyomi, help her be less alone.
[X] The authors, artists, and author-artists that had made her want to be a mangaka in the first place.
Also, about Emi being pressured to switch from Shoujo to Shonen due to the latter making more money, I admit that plot point's based more on me speculating than having any hard numbers. I assume Shonen publications make more money since Shonen works get more public attention, though of course mangaka wages are mostly paltry either way.
If Shonen making more than Shoujo isn't true though, guess I can always pull the 'alternate timeline' card
The biggest shonen are international multimedia juggernauts; the biggest shoujo, not so much. Sailor Moon was pretty big, but it's no Dragon Ball. So the ceiling is definitely higher. Not sure about the median manga, though.
It wouldn't be the first time that media executives made demands on art-creators based on their own personal vibes about what they think is true of the market sector they work in, even though those vibes contradict the measurable facts.
"Girls don't buy comic books." That sort of thing.
And there's been a trend of "shoujo-like" shonen stuff, like Skip and Loaf, because some people will ignore anything based on a shoujo mag for weird reasons.
Thinking back to WallFlower's Egg in the Freezer, in hindsight I do think it captures an important aspect of Blue Lotus. Namely, that while he may appear smooth, unflappable, and above-it-all on the inside, that this is a front covering for his more pitiable and desperate self.
I still can't call it canon due to other details, but I've been thinking of swapping out the terms 'canon' and 'non-canon' for omakes in favour of something less strict and more fluid. 'Plausible' and 'non-plausible' is what I'm thinking, though I also thought of 'mainline' and 'speculative', that sort of thing.
Thinking back to WallFlower's Egg in the Freezer, in hindsight I do think it captures an important aspect of Blue Lotus. Namely, that while he may appear smooth, unflappable, and above-it-all on the inside, that this is a front covering for his more pitiable and desperate self.
I still can't call it canon due to other details, but I've been thinking of swapping out the terms 'canon' and 'non-canon' for omakes in favour of something less strict and more fluid. 'Plausible' and 'non-plausible' is what I'm thinking, though I also thought of 'mainline' and 'speculative', that sort of thing.
I think that I could try to make a more cannon version, if you want. Still a civilian front, but having one of the mega corps be his source of income shouldn't change that much. It might take some time though, I'm not a very fast writer.
[X] Introducing her to more people around Hinodeharu besides Koyomi, help her be less alone.
[X] The authors, artists, and author-artists that had made her want to be a mangaka in the first place.
"Hey, no problem!" Miyako said at Emi's gratitude, "And I don't think there's anybody in the world that anybody doesn't care cares for, Daimon-sama," she smiled, but then twitched as if her last sentence was just begging someone to come in and contradict her. Or correct her grammar.
"Ah, someone like me really don't deserve to be called '-sama'," Emi had to say.
"Well, you mean so much to me that I couldn't imagine calling you anything else," Miyako smiled at her, "You've earned it." She then extended a hand to help Emi up off her slump on the basement floor. Hoping to continue her spirit-lifting streak, Miyako asked, "Hey, how about I show you around town, introduce you to some people I know? Since, er, it looks like you might be sticking around here for a while."
"You mean take time off?" Emi said in a rush, biting her lower lip. But she then steadied herself and said, "Oh, that's right. No deadlines, no services for Kamizono-sama, no... well nothing really. Ah yes, going out sounds like a good idea then."
And by that very logic, Emi was already taking time off by talking with Miyako anyway.
"Alright, let's go!" Miyako chirped, though was still caught a little off-guard by Emi's reaction.
Stepping outside, Emi had to flinch and cover her eyes being out in that much sunlight again. It took her some time to adjust, but soon enough she was walking down the dusty road to town like normal.
When she was able to get a good look at Hinodeharu, Emi said, "I suppose this really is where I'll be for the foreseeable future. I-I don't think any mangaka or assistants at Shonen Sublime will want me staying over, nobody would want the shame of associating with someone who got fired and was in a cult," the possibility of the Purified pulling Shonen Sublime's strings going unmentioned, "Plus, they wouldn't even have space in their apartments for me.
And... I can't go back to my family, it's too shameful to come crawling back at forty. And well, Kamizono-sama told us to cut ties with any family member who wouldn't join, and I don't know how I'd ever repair them," she then said while trembling, which made her metal hands whir.
As someone who didn't ever want to go back to her family, Miyako struggled to find a response. The spine-chilling part was how this talk of cutting off family got her thinking that, if not for Koyomi, she could've easily ended up an Earthly Purified cultist too. She oh so badly wanted to meet a magical girl, after all, and one of her favourite mangaka was a member too.
I mean, if I did join, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. Like, unlike Arisugawa-sama, I never got to see how they operated in person, she thought. But it only took one look at Emi's sunken face to let Miyako know that yes, it would have been that bad. And there was everything she'd been told about Freesia to boot.
On a milder note, it was weird to hear that Emi was older, however slightly, than Koyomi. Miyako kept assuming it was the other way around, what with Emi still calling Arisugawa 'sama'.
Anyway, with all that heaviness, Miyako settled for just bringing up something positive. "Hey, Daimon-sama. Forget those mangaka who won't give you a room," she said, regardless of if they even could, "What about the mangaka who inspired you, made you want to be one in the first place? Think you mentioned them in an author's note, but that was a while ago."
"...They wouldn't give me a room either," Emi had to say. She then of course went "Sorry, it's just it's hard for me to remember that far back, when being a mangaka was just a dream of mine, I've been through so much since."
Looking pensive as she thought on it, she said, "Er, is Tezuka-sama too obvious? Ishinomori-sama, the Year 24 group, Watanabe Hisako... it might be way too hard for me to narrow down when it comes to mangaka," her eyes actually lighting up despite this conundrum, "Might be quicker if I talked about western works, less daunting. Hmm, though they rarely have author and artist share roles over there, do they? Ooh, except Herge, if you go outside America. Okay, I remember liking Grant Morrison, I think their name was, and I also picked up The Umbrella Academy after I was told who wrote it."
"Wait, The Umbrella Academy was a comic?" Miyako had to ask, somehow not knowing that despite who she'd named her fanfic after.
Emi just went along with that, then added, "It's not really comics, but I think my favourite western illustrator would have to be Quentin Blake. His rough and sketchy makes me feel not so bad about my own work, y'know? Ah, not that I say that to demean him!" she gulped and swerved to correct. And Emi's attempt at a new manga in the basement had been all too rough and sketchy, despite claims her prosthetic hands were 'cheating'.
Still, since the name barely got a nod out of Miyako, Emi said, "He's most known for illustrating Roald Dahl books. Er, they're probably not someone you'd want to bring up about Arisugawa-sama," she looked downcast again.
"Uh, okay," Miyako took her word for it, with what context she had. "As for me, well I wanna say you but yeah, that's obvious. So my other answer would be CLAMP, even if all their classics were from before I was born, and it's kinda cheating since there's four of them. But still."
Emi nodded and smiled, but had to wince when the word 'cheating' happened to come up, given what her publisher had told her in the past.
Being a fair walk into town, Emi started to sweat and pant. But any time Miyako stopped to ask how she was going, she'd immediately insist that she was fine.
"Are you sure?" Miyako kept asking.
"I'm sure," Emi said, then muttered, "Really, no need to worry about... someone like me."
"Well, if you say so," was Miyako's only response.
The funny thing was, she was almost starting to forget she was talking to one of her favourite mangaka as they went down the road. It felt like she was just talking to her new friend Emi. Granted, that might've had something to do Emi being way cheerier in her sidebar notes than she was in person, but Miyako couldn't blame her for that given, well, everything.
Miyako's first thought after that was to track down Kazuya, who apart from some small catch-up talk she hadn't seen in a while. It didn't help that the last time she had was, well, after everything that went down at Taito Base. The problem, well the additional problem, was where to even find Kazuya. Even if his parents didn't care who he met, their mansion wasn't exactly easy to get into, as Miyako remembered uncomfortably vividly. The other places he could be was hanging out with Reiji, or going job-hunting again, hopefully with more success now he had his emotions back. Hopefully.
Ooh, if he is job-hunting, maybe he and Daimon-sama could look together? Miyako thought.
The simpler solution turned out to be finding Reiji first, the more noticeable of the two by far, for Kazuya then followed. Specifically, Miyako spotted the two on a park bench, Kazuya staring spacily out over a pond while Reiji kept pointing to a newspaper.
"Kazuya, are you paying attention?" Reiji had to raise his voice. When Kazuya slowly turned his head back around, Reiji then got all deferential with, "Sorry. It's just, with how little your parents support you despite it being well within their means, you can see why finding a job's important."
"Funny, I recall you saying you never wanted any job outside of the theatre," Kazuya said.
"I assure you; I wouldn't dream of anything else but the stage. Especially not retail," Reiji's face scrunched up at that last word. He then sighed, "But facts are facts, with the theatre as it is right now, we can only pay so much there. One play alone, even of a Kuramazov work, can't save us. Ugh, my own parents kept pestering me to find a side-job," he huffed, like now was his chance to take all that out on Kazuya. Then he pointed at him and said, "Besides, I recall you saying you didn't think much of acting!"
"Not personally, no. I just felt... strange up on stage, having to feel something for something else while I had a whole audience feeling things about me. I was feeling things again, I guess that's good, but I cannot say if it was anything I was now proud to feel," Kazuya went over. Before Reiji to react, Kazuya did know to say, "No offence to your field, just that what I feel is what I feel. And it's not the worst thing I have felt lately..."
"Huh, what do you mean?" Reiji asked.
"...Nothing, nevermind," Kazuya said in return, edging away a little.
The onlooking Miyako however knew all too well what Kazuya meant. Though would it even count as classified information anymore, since Reiji had now met no less than a Pathragadan? Ah yeah, still need to introduce Kazuya-kun to Sfira, er, Sfira-san? Sfira-kun? Sfira-chan? Don;t think we ever sorted that.
"I think Arisugawa-sama told me about him," Emi said as she took note of Kazuya, "He had a Heart Leech stuck inside for most of his life till she thawed him. I don't think I would've ever been able to pull that off, not with the Cultivar I have," her voice sank again, "Though Arisugawa-sama did say she almost killed him, but no, I can't believe it, that has to be an exaggeration," she clutched her head.
Knowing it was very, very true made Miyako squirm. She also made a mental note to not tell Emi about Kazuya shooting Koyomi, accident that it was. There'd be no telling how Emi would react.
"Still, I know it's wrong of me to say, but I kinda envy him for having a Heart Leech in him for so long. I've thought more than once that my work would be so much easier if I could just have a Leech cancel my own feelings," Emi said, before shame again struck her. "No, I shouldn't ever say that! Not with Blue Lotus still at large b-because of me, not after Izumi-sama..."
If Miyako could spot a silver lining to Emi's dark cloud, to reference her own manga, it was that saying such a thing showed she and Hayato weren't so opposed after all. Granted, she could easily see why Emi would feel that way, whereas the only reason she could picture for Hayato speculating on leech-induced emotionlessness was his father's death.
"Why is Kazuya honestly still hanging around with that boy?" a voice interrupted from behind, it belonging to Ryoichi being no surprise. "I understand not having emotions means not being utterly and thoroughly embarrassed by him, but now that's over, I don't see how Kazuya could put up with him for a second. And who does one of his stature think he is to lecture a Kai about employment?"
Along her being plenty embarrassed by Ryoichi, hypocritically enough on his part, Miyako also tensed up as something came back to her. Emi had said the Earthly Purified told their followers to cut ties with any non-Purified family member. So what did this say about Kazuya and Ryoichi given their parents, and given Ryoichi trying to actually do something about the cult? No, Kazuya's parents wouldn't cast aside another son... would they? Miyako gulped.
Article:
But as for right now, it looked like things could get messy if she didn't try to intervene between Reiji and Ryoichi. The damage control plan she came up with on the spot was:
[ ] Distracting Ryoichi, giving Emi space to introduce herself to Kazuya.
[ ] Have Emi distract Ryoichi by offering to draw his picture.
[ ] Getting Kazuya away from the two by saying they had a date scheduled right now. Emi could be their chaperone.
[ ] If Reiji and Ryoichi lost it at each other, she'd make them settle their differences by daring them to date her, then declaring the winner.
[ ] Challenge Reiji and Ryoichi to see who could find Kazuya, and even Emi, the better job.
[ ] Just let them at each other, worse that would happen is a shouting match, annoying as that'd be. [] Threaten Ryoichi off with Emi's Cultivar. she wouldn't use it, but Ryoichi didn't know that. [Miyako has too much Emotional Intelligence for his.]
[ ] Write-in
[X] Challenge Reiji and Ryoichi to see who could find Kazuya, and even Emi, the better job.
[X] Getting Kazuya away from the two by saying they had a date scheduled right now. Emi could be their chaperone.
Miyako just nodded at that. Then before Koyomi could accuse her of anything, she said, "Like, you know I know the manga industry's bad and stuff? What with overwork and strict schedules and stuff," but then had to admit, "I'd heard all those things, but… knowing something who went through all that, it feels a lot, y'know, heavier. Think that's the word."
I'm honestly surprised that Emi isn't a more notable figure. She's practically a living avatar of the manga industry's injustices - literally destroying her hands through overwork, going to desperate lengths in order to have them replaced with robotic prostheses so she could continue working, and then being fired anyway?
Especially given the presence of mind-body unitarianism* in Japanese culture, her life practically grabs you by the lapels and demands to be made into an award-winning documentary on the evils of the manga industry.
IE, your physical flesh is an inextricable part of "you", and any damage to it causes damage to "you" on a more spiritual level - from what I understand, that idea's presence in East Asian culture is part of why the lichbomb in PMMM is meant to be so devastating. The horror lies in the idea of Kyuubey tricking them into sacrificing their original bodies, which would make "them" not really "themselves" anymore, on some level. I'd also point to how in Dororo, the blacksmith turned prosthesis-maker would journey to battlefields, find corpses which were missing limbs, and attach his prototypes to the stumps so that the spirits of the dead would be at least somewhat "whole" in the afterlife.
(I'm no expert on this, but I think there may be connective tissue with how some incarnations of premodern Confucianism emphasised that your body was a gift from your parents, and therefore it must be honored and protected.)
In that light, Emi essentially offered up her own hands - and thus, symbolically, her ability to create and pursue her dreams - as a kind of blood sacrifice to the industry, only to be cast aside like trash.
I guess this coming from Confucianism makes sense, since my first thought was it doesn't sound like anything from Buddhism. While Buddhism does talk about taking care of the body, it's usually firmly against identifying too much with the body. There's even schools of Buddhism like Yogacara which outright say there's nothing beyond the mind.
The unitarianism might possibly be a Shinto thing too, given its stress on purifying and cleanliness rituals and aversion to death and disease
I guess this coming from Confucianism makes sense, since my first thought was it doesn't sound like anything from Buddhism. While Buddhism does talk about taking care of the body, it's usually firmly against identifying too much with the body. There's even schools of Buddhism like Yogacara which outright say there's nothing beyond the mind.
The unitarianism might possibly be a Shinto thing too, given its stress on purifying and cleanliness rituals and aversion to death and disease
It made me think of how during the historical era in which the legend of Mulan takes place, it was common practice in China for people to avoid cutting their hair and keep a box for their fingernail and toenail clippings, because even those auxiliary components of the body were part of the 'gift' given to you, and treating them like trash would be an implicit insult to your parents.
"And... I can't go back to my family, it's too shameful to come crawling back at forty. And well, Kamizono-sama told us to cut ties with any family member who wouldn't join, and I don't know how I'd ever repair them," she then said while trembling, which made her metal hands whir.
As someone who didn't ever want to go back to her family, Miyako struggled to find a response.
I suppose someone whose life got safer once she amputated their gangrenous arm would have trouble relating to someone forced to lop off their perfectly healthy arm.
"Wait, The Umbrella Academy was a comic?" Miyako had to ask, somehow not knowing that despite who she'd named her fanfic after.
Miyako continuing to succumb to the ditz allegations.
[X] Challenge Reiji and Ryoichi to see who could find Kazuya, and even Emi, the better job.
I like these shenanigans better than fake date shenanigans. Plus, we were denied a tournament arc by our attempt at getting people to respect Sfira's human rights.
So a heads up that I'm gonna be away for roughly five days starting tomorrow. I should still be able to access the internet, but Fool Bloom's update rate will most likely slow down during that time.
I suppose someone whose life got safer once she amputated their gangrenous arm would have trouble relating to someone forced to lop off their perfectly healthy arm.
So I have an iPad handy to post updates with during my trip (without having to resort to phone-typing), though between my appointment and visiting family, I'm not sure how much free time I'll have till I get back home
And there's been a trend of "shoujo-like" shonen stuff, like Skip and Loaf, because some people will ignore anything based on a shoujo mag for weird reasons.
Hit a snag as the iPad's keyboard wouldn't work, but the good news is I'll be home tomorrow to start writing the next update then. It was a rough trip since I was in hospital getting my varicose veins operated on, but I'm out now and managing!
On a related topic, I've been talking in other threads about organising a crossover between various Original Magical Girl stories on SV, whether something simple like a PreCure movie or more elaborate like Super Robot Wars.
I've hence compiled a list of all the SV original MG works I'm aware of, let me know if I've missed any:
)
