Alright, I'm just gonna close it up here. It's a tie, but the "simplify" voters gave arguments such as "it's better for Kermie's enjoyment" "clarity is key" "I don't even read the combat logs lmao" while the "keep" voters gave arguments such as… uh…
"It's the same as before and there's no need to fix the thing that Kermie's been thinking might need a fix" and also… uh, most of the keep voters didn't really bother to convince me ngl.
So uh, be back in a few minutes with an informational when I fix things up. I won't make it entirely like Project Prometheus but I'm glad to ditch the D&D/CK2 unholy fusion.
Scheduled vote count started by Kermie on Jan 11, 2025 at 9:57 AM, finished with 23 posts and 12 votes.
While I did like the system as it was even if I didn't have any insightful commentary to provide, though I'm fine either way, ultimately, it really is up to you in the end since it's your quest.
Eh, I didn't notice this vote was happening anyway. I would've voted to keep it, but if it's better for Kermie all power to him. Her. Them. Whichever you are at the present moment.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I really don't think any of you wanted to see this, but here I am. This is a public announcement that I'm gonna finish up the first Eiganjo mission, that's two more updates, and then stop writing this story.
I don't really want to do this, but after some serious consideration (over the course of the last two weeks ever since New Year's Eve), I've realized that I'm tired of writing this story. It's not because of the mechanics, and not because of you voters. It's not because of any of that. Heck, the mechanics vote just now was a last ditch effort for me to rekindle my own interest in my own story, and I still couldn't muster up any interest. Any Sidestories that I've tried to write have died out as well.
I've looked at this entire story, reread multiple times over, and I'm tired. Like, genuinely tired. I have rewritten this one fucking scene with Aiko and Akemi, five times now, and writing for PLoMJ currently feels more like a chore where you have to walk on broken glass while doing it now.
I love each and every one of the characters that I've written. Writing Dokuro (his name is Arashi btw), Himari, and Akemi have been some of the greatest fun of my life. Same with Michiko (Senkesha) and Jun, but it's not clicking anymore. These characters interacting feels incredibly contrived to me, and there's not any logical reason for them to interact with each other and cause any conflict. Rei could just flee the country with her friends right now and that could be the end of the whole story. Not counting Sidestories, Arashi has just been like… a ghost. You know, the main arc villain. He feels like a ghost.
Aside from that, I don't feel like I've been writing the magical girl side of this weird crossover(???) well? There's not enough equal representation of both sides of the paradigm and not enough tribute to the tropes that this story was supposed to be a love letter to. I really wanted to read this kind of story, but I'm starting to realize that I'm not the right person to write it, Y'know?
All of the above is also not helped by the fact that I've been making most of this shit up as I've been going along.
Literally, 85% of this story is improv. I literally asked the voters to create the setting in the first vote, and I still have no idea how Japan got here to 2080 in the first place. Mai was always supposed to be a psychic, but I still have no idea how that'll make her a magical girl witch or smth? There's supposed to be a whole old woman yuri subplot with her and Yuki but I have no idea how Rei or Akemi would event end up getting involved in that. I still have no idea what Takeshi's deal is, he's just an OP mentor figure without a mentee. Himari only became Kirata's sister because I noticed that I made them both have spiky teeth in their Picrew, and that was decision was after the whole 1.7 fight. The whole Night Market subplot/area with Jun? Completely made up on the spot within 30 min for one sidestory. Realm, you might understand my own magic system better than I do: I don't even remember why I gave it a memory component myself. Oh, and Will was also made up on the fly and is totally an EGO ripoff.
Also, the reason why I've been so vague about Purrson is that I don't even know what he is. I literally have him down as Former God(???) and Rei's Former Imaginary Friend(???) in my notes. And the entire Assassin's Guild, and the entirety of all the Yu-Gi-Oh elements were shoehorned in and don't make sense with either Kamen Rider of magical girls! Why the fuck—
I am tired of having to pretend to you all like I'm writing out an actual setting and a serialized plot when all you've been seeing is a repeated series of ass pulls, thought up at maximum three days before update publish, that will inevitably lead into plot holes deeper than the Mariana Trench. There are supposed to be 6 Arcs, not counting Origins. About halfway through Arc 1 and I've realized that I physically will not be able to take writing this weird psuedo-urban fantasy Japan for more than a month longer. This is not a quest like Divided Loyalties or any quest longer than 200k that I love, a quest that can last for years. It was lucky to last for more than 3 months.
I'm not interested in writing out Akemi, Rei, and Himari (and practically anybody in this story).as Kamen Riders and magical girls anymore. I'm interested in writing all of them as good, multifaceted characters. In this story, they're not.
So. The next vote is going to be narrative only. After that, I'm going to end this quest. It will might return in the future for a reboot like the one I occasionally consider for Space Oddity, or if any of you are interested in writing this story to its conclusion I'll send you my three pages of notes.
So; TL;DR:
Story ends at 2.16 Pt. 5. Next two updates will be narrative only.
I haven't made this the genre love letter I wanted it to be.
I've been making up 90% of the plot threads in the fly and I'm tired (I've written more than 100k words of narrative, that's more than the average novel! I'm real tired!)
Story is up for adoption (DM me) otherwise it's going into the archive for a possible reboot a few years down the line.
If I make another quest, I will attempt to transfer over any omake rewards that you all got but didn't get to spend. I will also think out the goddamn mechanics.
Also, I'm prob gonna be taking a break from writing on this site in general. I'm gonna finish up one more Project Prometheus omake and then I'm just going to start on a story for myself, a more traditional novella. The next time I post something original it'll be fully finished and releasing daily.
...Sad to see it go. But its YOUR Quest as Morrowlark said, if you dont enjoy it its your decision. I really did like what you were writing, but if you are getting burn out and dont like writing it anymore its completely understandable, not finding you in what you are doing is not good. So dont apologize, just know that what you created was great.
I really hope you eventually write something you can be trully passionate about and I hope to be able to read it. Just make sure to mention it once you start so i dont miss it k'? (Lol)
It been a blast Kermie and it also has been a blast Rei.
Also, I'm prob gonna be taking a break from writing on this site in general. I'm gonna finish up one more Project Prometheus omake and then I'm just going to start on a story for myself, a more traditional novella. The next time I post something original it'll be fully finished and releasing daily.
It takes courage to step back from something for your own mental health. I'm proud of you for admitting that you're unsatisfied and want to take a break.
I do fully intend for the characters or at least the character archetypes of the non-voter created characters (Himari, Michiko, Dokuro/Arashi) to come back in a future story. I really loved Sen/Doku and I think I'll be returning to them someday. One day, perhaps.
Also, if you have any lore questions I'll answer them tomorrow if nobody offers to take over this story. While I don't have much for the lore of the world Dokuro and Senkesha are both fleshed out enough I don't want their PLoMJ backstories to be gone forever.
Thank you for everything you've written. For all the trials and tribulations, you should give yourself some credit that you did write a story that brought a lot of joy to us readers. I hope you find the break rejuvenating and whatever you write next more fun. No matter what, I'll always appreciate this story for having given me a great author to follow
Welp, I honestly don't blame you- hell! I've been doing the dam same thing for The Library believe it or not! And look, no shame in Ad-libbing. Even if you don't think so, it is INCREDIBLE you've been able to do it so much and still write out an interesting story! Even if some of it was "What if this was cool to put in there" which lead to some issues, it's an incredible skill for DM's and any sort of Game Master to have!
People, like me as you very much know, are creative little gremlins who can and will create up insane plans on the dime that throws so many wrenches into a GM's plans (I am still so very sorry to Repi for me being me), so being able to look at plans, find good ways to react to them, it's a WONDERFUL skill!
You should be proud that you've been able to do so, the fact you've been able to do it without a ground to stand on is a good thing- well... maybe not for the story, but still good for well YOU. And it just means you'll learn from this! Creative arts, of any kind really, are always a learning process. I know you'll come out of this a far better writer than you were before, with a bunch of characters that you dearly adore!
And while I'm here: Don't feel bad for those plot holes, about the antagonist and Rei just being able to dip. Honestly, I feel like they are more cool openings to flesh out the world and all that. For instance- why wouldn't the Arc Boss just jump in on a random mission, isn't he super pissed at Rei? And the leaving thing- maybe it could be "Oh noooooooo, Akemi's whole void deal thing is actively killing her when she gets to far from the place she contracted! We can't leave!" and it would be a nice moment if you gave that option!
Just like: Hey, you wanna spend a Minor AP to try and leave the country/city? Sure! Fuck around and find out!
None of that is to say you should continue working on something that makes you go Bleh. If you're burn out, you're burnt out. Go drink some nice water and eat some food, get comfy and cozy and enjoy yourself. You deserve it Kermie!
Realm, you might understand my own magic system better than I do: I don't even remember why I gave it a memory component myself. Oh, and Will was also made up on the fly and is totally an EGO ripoff.
Huh- well I mean maybe? To be fair we never explored it fully- maybe I'll write a short story for it, that seems fun! Also like EGO's are cool, I do not blame you for wanting EGOs in your story.
Either way, care for ya deeply bud, and rest well!
11:07 AM
A few minutes before Akemi's call to Rei
Eiganjo Shopping District - Heartful Boutique
You are Kaneko Akemi. You haven't heard anything from Rei, which probably means that she's doing her part of the mission just fine. As for what you're doing on this mission, you're getting an in with a member of the populace you're trying to infiltrate…
And also looking at dresses and making a new friend. Look, the only people that you've been interacting with for the past two weeks were a cat, a hacker who's mostly always at work, and a former assassin like you. You need this.
You're waiting for Aiko, who's inside the dressing room. Purrson sits at your side, just out of sight of any of the employees walking around. He's gently nibbling on a chocolate bar— where did he find that?
"So, what do you think about Aiko now?" he asks, still nibbling on that chocolate. You'd probably ask for a bite as well, but you still have no idea if his level of cleanliness can be compared to an actual cat or not. It's probably better to be safe then sorry.
As for the pointed question, you mull it over in your head. You still hate rich people with a passion, but it's pretty clear that Aiko isn't one of those billion dollar babies who never gets told "no". Actually, she reminds you more of an upper middle class person. Maybe both of her parents are doctors and lawyers and one of them's on temporary assignment up here.
Well now that you think about it, you're friends with a surprising amount of rich people. Jun's got a comfy condo and is a noticeable asset of the underworld, while both Himari and Kirata belong to some big business family if what Rei told you was true. Weird.
Aiko pops out of the dressing room, dressed in a modest pink dress. "Hey, I need your opinion on this. How do I look?"
"Eh, pink isn't a good color for you," you respond, "I think green or blue would look better on you?"
Aiko sighs, dives into the dressing room again, and returns with her normal outfit on after a few seconds. "Blue looks good on everybody though. Same with black. I'd go with yellow, but I wear that way too much."
You really want to ask what that last comment means, but you're going to respect the silent agreement between both of you to not bring up magical girl business. Instead, you just lean against the wall. 'Well, I can't really magically whip up a new color for you to look fabulous in, so this is probably where my fashion advice for you is going to end. Though to be honest…"
"What?" Aiko asks.
"You're definitely more creative than I am, and way more of a fashionista." you reply "Why'd you bring me along as someone to give advice on your fashion binge? You can do that yourself just fine."
Aiko blushes, before shaking her head. "No— it's not like that! I just thought that you'd like looking in a place like this, I just didn't…"
She sucks a breath in between her teeth, and averts her eyes from yours. "...Uh, I didn't remember how expensive the prices were up here. I thought you'd at least be able to get, like, a pair of earrings."
You look over at one of the racks. Yeah, a pair of earrings might work if you sell only one of your kidneys. You turn your attention back to Aiko and shrug. You reach out to shake her hand when—
POW!!!
Something explodes in the distance, outside of the shop you're currently in. Shit. Purrson leaps out of your purse. "Akemi! I think that was the Void—"
You don't even stop to consider any other options. You rush out of the building, with Aiko right behind you. She looks like she's screaming with her eyes and she runs behind you, but she doesn't seem like she's running away,
As you walk outside, there seem to be… goblins? Yeah, goblins with construction worker outfits. Something something Void Glyph on the wall, scared people running away… yeah you've seen enough. More Shades, more targets to kill. Easy enough.
You look towards Aiko, as Purrson jumps onto your shoulder. "Hey. You're a magical girl, right? You seem like you'll be able to help me. I know you can."
[Social Check; DC 40/100]
[59+20+10(A Fellow Connoisseur Of Fashion)+15(Magical, in the way that matters)=100. Success!]
Aiko blinks in surprise, before nodding and pulling her hand out from behind her back. A shiny ring on her middle finger gleams brightly. She begins to speak something, and you can't help but follow along.
"Noble Coronation!"
"Voidlight Consume!"
While Aiko begins to strike a pose as her ring shines, you immediately start wading into the horde of goblins and duck one's swing and decapitate another with Voidcutter as your outfit manifests. As you sense another creeping up behind you, you duck. Just in time for a beam of radiant light to shoot through the crowd and turn it into dust.
You get back up, looking back while blocking some poor goblin's pipe club. Aiko wades through the pooling purple blood, dressed head to toe in a white and amber-yellow dress, decorated with a mixture of frills and jewels. Atop her head is a similar frilly headpiece, though you can't quite figure out if it reminds you of one of those stereotypical maid headpieces or a tiara before she ducks a goblin attempting to tackle her: When she looks at you, you can't help but notice how her eyes seem to shimmer like jewels. "So, you're also a Magical Girl. Good to have confirmation on that."
You turn your attention back to the fight, breaking the clash and letting the goblin's pipe hit the floor, before you decapitate it with one clean slash. Purrson floats through the floor, clawing one of them in the face before floating back to your shoulder. You address Aiko again, though this time without looking at her. "It's a bit complicated, but yeah. Me, Rei, and Purrson over here have our own business with the Void. I assume you do too. That makes our goals the same for now."
You stab the goblin through the guts, with it disappearing into a haze of black mist. With inhuman perfection, you seem to dance more than you run through the horde, letting them collapse onto each other as they fail to tackle you, before you dash to the left towards Aiko.
And as you jump over Aiko to clobber one of them with the butt of your sword, Aiko ducks and dashes below you to cover one of your blind spots. She grabs a goblin's face with one of her hands, and it turns into petrified stone before she shoves it and it shatters on the floor.
You kick off the dissipating Shade, landing with your back to Aiko's. Up close like this, it's honestly like night and day between you two. Is this what magical girls are supposed to look like? Bright, shining and warm? Because if so, then you might have to consider renaming whatever you are. And also, you can sense that while Aiko might not be as drenched in blood as you are… this isn't her first fight. Not even close.
"Hey, rich girl. Don't slow me down."
"I could say the same about you, crazy lady!" She smirks, but there's no smugness behind it. "I'll let you take charge though. Tell me what to do and I'll listen."
You nod, slicing away at another goblin Shade as Aiko blasts another away with a quick kick. You nudge Purrson off of your shoulder, taking your phone out from under your kimono and passing it to him. While you don't trust yourself around most tech, it only has 3 contacts pre-saved on it and nothing else so you're somewhat sure that it won't break. "Alright. Aiko, follow my lead! Purrson, get away from here and contact Rei! Go quick, and don't break that phone or Himari's gonna kill me."
"I don't have opposable thumbs though?!"
"Use your tail! Figure it out! Aiko, cover my blind spots!"
"Alright, just watch out and don't hit me with that crazy sword!"
With that, you sheathe your sword, and with Aiko right behind you, charge headfirst into the horde of Shades.
Akemi gains +2 to her Social!
Author's Note:
This. Fucking. Chapter. If I even started on how many things seemed to be consistently preventing me from getting into the right headspace to write it, we'd be here until the next New Year's. Shoutout to Tyler The Creator, Ado, and a variety of Japanese city pop artists for being on my writing playlist that allowed me to barely tolerate writing this. I kinda want to get a quest with a short, daily update schedule up one day, but that just doesn't really seem to work with this quest.
Next chapter story's done. Gimme a minute to post it.
You are Rei Maruki. With a deep breath, you get up from the couch. Where were you… ah, right! You, Akemi, and Aiko (side note, you should get her and her family under some protection for that gala. Ah, future Rei's problem.) all fought those goblin Shades, and then both you and Akemi passed out, too many pipes to the head. After that…
Hey, look up!
You rub your eyes open. Jun and Himari are both looking over at you, over their shoulders. They're both typing in on their laptops, without a single care in the world.
"Morning, princess! Took me a while, but I managed to get you all out of there on Jun's recommendation. Apparently, my brother was hanging around up there. I got his contact, and I've been doing my best to explain the situation. He's only threatened murder once! We've got Jun vouching for us and also Kirata and her coworkers, so we should be able to get the Guild off our ass with enough money." Himari explains, typing something down into her laptop. When you look over her shoulder, it looks like she's typing something into her group chat. Looks like she just sent some prank malware to Kirata and her "siblings". Checks out.
>She'll go far. I just know she will.
Jun opens the curtains, letting the sunlight in. It's a beautiful winter morning. "I'm just glad you're safe, Rei. Akemi's not up yet though, but…" Jun trails off, as Akemi walks out of her bedroom, messy bed hair and all. She looks nice when she's not so overdressed.
…do you wanna examine those feelings?
Maybe, when there's time to relax.
[GOOD ENOUGH]
Akemi yawns. "Hey there, Rei. Hey there, Jun, Himari. Any counter-Umbra or anti-Guild things scheduled for today, or…"
Jun shakes his head. "Looks like you guys teleporting into their partner's offices scared them a bit. I haven't heard Umbra's name for the past 24 hours. They're going dark for a good while. Everybody, wanna take a break?"
"Protecting our personal safety never takes a break—" Akemi starts, before you and everybody else, including Purrson, meaningfully look at her, "…but I suppose that we all need some resting time every once in a while."
Himari raises her hand. "I've got some anime recommendations! Heck's Paradise and Bachikagura are getting some new content."
"Don't talk so loudly, I still wanna enjoy my chocolate!" Purrson exclaims, sitting up from his cat bed.
Aye, a creature of good taste.
You smile. "Alright, alright! I think I can schedule my shift today for the graveyard shift, so what're we going to talk about today?"
And as all four of you chat the day away, the world keeps on turning.
Over on the other side of Tokyo, three Archmages and one old Kamen Rider raise a glass to another successful week of surviving. A few miles to the south, a psychic brother and sister duo pour a glass of their own. Business in the Sunshine Bar is booming as always.
Up in the clouds, a rich heiress calls up her friends. Even if she only knew a certain swordswoman for one day, it was still another unreplicatable experience to treasure. Down in the sea, one Kamen Rider with a few of his own spirit friends finally finishes his thesis and gets a long-deserved break.
And all the way down in Tokyo, two lost people come to an agreement. They toss their bugged phones off a skyscraper, and if Umbra wants to find them to take them back, they'll have to try to get past their partner to even try.
"Hey there man. You still looking forward to killing that girl?"
"Yeah, but I've got bigger problems. Maybe someday way down the line, but for now I want a comfy life away from Umbra. No more Void crap, I just wanna get some funerals done. Also, I gotta keep you from trying to put all the magical girls outta commission."
"Heh. We'll keep each other in check then, Dokuro."
"Call me Arashi— oh, and same here, Michiko."
Somewhere in the streets, Rei Maruki walks out of her job, a month's worth of danger, insanity, and if she had to be honest? Fun, all coming to an end. Walking beside her is a man in a red coat, and brown hair. Maybe they've seen each other. Maybe they haven't.
But in the end, they've both got loved ones to go back home to. So they walk right on, right past each other.
In the end, the earth keeps on spinning on, heroes, villains, and Void alike.
The End (…for now?)
Author's Note:
Explanation as to why this story ended so early here.
Thank you all for enjoying Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice. It was truly a fun experience for me and hopefully you.
For instance- why wouldn't the Arc Boss just jump in on a random mission, isn't he super pissed at Rei? And the leaving thing- maybe it could be "Oh noooooooo, Akemi's whole void deal thing is actively killing her when she gets to far from the place she contracted! We can't leave!"
First one he didn't know where to even start looking aside from Animate and doing that had a decent chance of him getting arrested.
Second one, good point. Probably would have fallen under the "I'm making so much up on the fly rn" thing from my POV tho.
Oh, and thanks for what you said! I really hope that I'll get to write a story for all of you again someday.
Well its been a blast everyone! We laughed, we cried, we shipped. Hopefully we can see all eachother again some day.
As for those I leave in the omakes?
To Young Rei and Akemi, you two will grow into bad asses, just keep moving forward.
To that little shit in the game store? May your library be bountiful.
For Sol Crystal? May your deck be and duelist spirit never waiver.
For Crystal and Piggie? Play on you two, dont let your guild down.
Tetsuya my dude? Rock on with the ferocity of the animal kingdom.
Huntress Atelier, Im sorry for hurting you. I know you can becom more, you just need to try.
For Poke Rei? Keep fighting young Champion.
For B.Warrior Rei? Keep your Heart alight oh Razewing, the hunt continues.
For Tamer Rei? Keep trucking Digi Destined.
For Net battler Rei? May you and Raye. Exe mature into wonderful net warriors.
For Yokai Watch Rei? May you summon more friends each day.
For Star Spirit Rei? Im glad you made friendsand recovered your powers. Now kick Bowsers and Dokuros butt!
For Miyabi (and her alters) and Yorumi? For Voids sake just Fuck already! Your practically married!
...and for Weaving Harlequin? You were hurt and that is sad. But that doesnt grant you permission to hurt others in turn. Light Chronicle and Fairy Lily are at your door step. Prepare yourself.
And for you two who i did Not weave a tale. Just know that I believe in you. Kick that clowns ass.
Its been fun everyone, keep that hope in your heart and keep having fun.
Solar Gem X is out!!!
Hey there, guys. No, this isn't a reboot announcement, expect that circa-late 2020s. Sorry.
I just wanted to tell you that after a reminder from my friends, I've unlocked the thread so that if you liked this quest you can say your goodbyes/give your last thoughts. I dunno why I locked it, I guess I was just feeling emotional on that day. Sorry.
Also, if you have any lore questions I'll answer them tomorrow if nobody offers to take over this story. While I don't have much for the lore of the world Dokuro and Senkesha are both fleshed out enough I don't want their PLoMJ backstories to be gone forever.
While there was a LOT of made-up on the fly shit (and a lot of placeholder/blank names in my google docs, Jesus) there were some things that I did somewhat plan out beforehand. Notable examples include the finale arc, Takeshi's counterpart/MG organization, the Nobelles, and all three "Introductions" actions that were coming up next in-game Week. Feel free to ask me anything you have, and I might answer. There are a lot of things that you guys missed.
Oh, and if you want to continue reading my content here on SV, check out my bi-weekly manga review. Try it out for the first four chapters at least, I promise you won't regret it!
IM honestly ok with not knowing, but if you are offering.
Who is Takeshis counterpart?
Can we know who the leaders of Umbra and the Guild were?
Did you have a vague Idea about what you wanted for Rei's eventual Super form?
Other than that Im fine. Again thanks for such a interesting quest Kermie. Hope you only the best in your future.
Who is Takeshis counterpart?
Can we know who the leaders of Umbra and the Guild were?
Did you have a vague Idea about what you wanted for Rei's eventual Super form?
Takeshi's counterpart would have been called Usagi Takeuchi. Similar to how Takeshi was named after Kamen Rider 1 and the author of the first Sentai and Rider, Usagi would have been named after… Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon's author. She would have been a bit more approachable and share some vague tragic backstory with Takeshi and Archmage No. 1. More about that later.
The leader of the Guild was, I shit you not, literally just, Rei's origin's counterpart in the Yu-Gi-Oh Sky Striker lore yadda yadda, Raye. The whole idea would have been that the Guild was (originally) a family business, and Raye was the latest groomed child in a centuries-long bloodline. Rei was supposed to be her clone, who was put through "normal" Guild training as some sort of twisted experiment— that's why Rei was able to gain power and Will so easily compared to somebody like Fuji.
Meanwhile, while Umbra's leader was supposed to be "A Chuuni?" (Yes that's all my notes say. What was I cooking) The "Wizard" behind the "Grand Leader" was actually Archmage No. 1, Yamaguchi Izanagi. After the Great Magical War (which again, I didn't have notes for) he became disillusioned and after training four other Archmages to take him down in case he went too crazy, he went crazy and tried to use the Void along the Great Leader to return the billions of people who died in the GMW. Yamaguchi and the Great Leader would have had toxic yaoi.
It was supposed to be [LOVE/JUSTICE/LIFE] and would have been gained after Rei locked tf in during Awakening Day. It was supposed to be a mini version of Zeke, essentially a proto Will Seed combined with Void Burst.
