And her problems with the gender role of 'girl' seem to have to do with the same kind of sexism that a lot of 'tomboys' who are firmly female-identifying would already have anyway.
Holy shit, that's what I've been saying this whole time. Occam's Razor! Don't make mountains out of molehills! Don't look for smoke signals at a cigarette store! Things don't always have to be the super-complex explanation, when a very simple one exists: Minako is a sporty tomboy who has the ability to actually become a boy. She doesn't care about the bring-a-boy part, only the treated-like-one-of-the-guys part.
"Then I'm less worried about interference than when we planned this out on Friday and Saturday. Or about watchers calling down an attack on us here. And… I'd rather we get the search going sooner than later, Evans." Kaoruko wrings her hands. "Youichi- you remember-"
He nods. "Yes." Of course, she'd told him about her son and his family, but… It ate at her.
"They and their little girl Tsubomi are moving back to town this coming weekend. Coming up fast, now. I'm not sure how to tell them to stay away, but-"
"Believe me, I understand. Hostages to blind chance and enemy action." Sir Frederick sighs. "We can do what we can. Move it up, try and tell the little fairies the coast is clear, and hope they find someone." Sir Frederick glances at Coupe. "Tomorrow, you think? Or tonight?"
Kaoruko looks at Coupe too, taking a deep breath and weighing things over in her mind. "I'd be happier if he had one more day to bounce back from that burn he got fighting 'I, Kumojacky.' "
When Coupe blinks very firmly at her, she huffs. "Well I think you need the time!"
"Peace, peace, you two... We'll go tomorrow, then."
Outskirts of Kibougahana
Just After Noon, June 10, 1992
Sir Frederick Evans hoists a piece of plank with a local folding road map pinned to it, balancing it carefully and trying not to let the compass wobble around too much. This brings him back to old Willys jeep misadventures, but Kaoruko's Capella behaves itself a lot better than the jeeps ever did.
Granted, it's not all improvements. Getting into the back seat became a grunting bit of adventure when his back, tired of working at a bench these past few days, decided to threaten to go on strike for better working conditions. But he managed with a little help from Coupe with the labor negotiations. Then the elder fairy- still in the guise of the spitting image of old Hanasaki Sora, not looking a day over thirty, climbed into the front left seat, and Kaoruko took the wheel.
Even in human form, language doesn't seem to come easily to Coupe anymore. His voice, once a frantic, squeaky, voluble thing, now usually comes out in low, distorted rumbles. From what Kaoruko says, Coupe prefers not to even try to speak at all to most people, given his impediments. But when he tries, Kaoruko's able to keep track of what he's saying somehow- and a good thing too.
Asking Coupe to rate how strong his awareness of the younger fairies' worry is on a scale of zero to ten isn't the most precise way to narrow down a location, to be sure. But with a local road map and a pencil, matters begin to come together. 'Somewhere on the north side of town' came easily- good, because Coupe's fairly sure they weren't there the last time he looked. And twenty minutes of zig-zagging back and forth across the railroad tracks at one level crossing after another helps rather more. And at last-
"I think we'd better stop and get out, Mrs. Hanasaki. They're most likely somewhere in those woods, and that's about the best we'll do. I'll get my spells ready. Coupe, do you want to come along?"
The great friendly creature- the man, Evans finds himself thinking of Coupe in that moment- shakes his head and mumbles. Kaoruko waits until she's braked the car to a stop by the roadside to respond. "It'll be fine. You'll be with me, and they know me."
Evans snorts. "Or you can just go back to being a great fuzzy galumphus. Change back and come in the car after. Or don't bother, and teleport back. How I'd do it if I were you, the year being what it is. But suit yourself."
And Coupe turns to him and nods once, solemnly, and starts to get out of the car.
At his age, with so very little open-country fieldwork these past few decades, Evans has no more chance of slipping through a forest silently without cheating than he would of flapping his arms and flying to the moon. But he's been cheating for a long time and isn't about to stop now.
Coupe is hopeless- no instinct for it. A creature formed out of raw light and magic to defend a sacred site will at best struggle to match the cumulative instincts inherited from millions of years of simian ancestors who only sometimes fell out of the trees head-first. Evans smiles thinly at the realization, and resolves to cheat for the old warhorse too- and an old warhorse Coupe surely is, even if he's younger than either of his two human companions.
Kaoruko? She might just be able to pull it off, even without his help, even at sixty-seven. Maybe especially at sixty-seven. She has an affinity for the underbrush of a forest that goes beyond the sorcerous, well beyond mere elementalism. Something's going on there, even if she says she's never once cast a spell in all her years since fighting Dune back in '47. The local terrain spirits still seem to know her. Lady Flower, that bunch he conjured up called her, even now. It's been a while, even for them, so if they still care that much, maybe a few of them are looking out for her.
But whatever special grace the land's love gives Hanasaki Kaoruko, she isn't alone and doesn't have to rely on it alone. Just as well, given that she's saddled with the clumsy creaking and clumsy crashing of the louts that accompany her. Evans and Coupe's own presence would give her away, so Evans tidies up the loose ends, occasionally making a pass with his left hand to punctuate his efforts. Unless there's someone more woods-wise than he expects to see about, that'll do nicely.
The three walk the forest in a tight clump under a cloak of magical silence just porous and small enough to keep from being conspicuous by the absences it makes. And Evans murmurs direction to the others, lightly twirling his wand and keeping his sixth sense extended. A dim modern-style triplex circle, lightly held, makes a good frame for him to keep the old Sinti dowsing spell firmly in his mind. It'd work better in the original Sanskrit, but he's no good at all with the language, for all its usefulness in grand magic. There's a passable Latin version, and it's good enough.
Chypre 10 + 4 + 10 (La, Sir, I Am But A Humble Plushie) + 3 (Difficult Terrain) + 0.5*4 (Magical Teamwork)
CRITICAL SUCCESSES YOU RIGHT BACK!
Evans has two lines on the little fairies through the law of sympathy- the more literal than usual law of sympathy, by virtue of traveling with old mates who know them well and wish them well. And Coupe's gotten him to within no more than four hundred yards of their hiding place.
Given how long the Desert Apostles have spent looking for them, Chypre and Coffret must be better at hiding themselves, or escaping pursuers, than he'd have dared to hope. Fairly good, all things considered.
But throwing this at them, without warning, without prior experience of covering against search magic? If this wasn't a relief expedition, it'd be downright unfair.
Then again, if this wasn't a relief expedition, he wouldn't be able to do this. Sometimes having a decent cause has its advantages.
Evans snorts. Nice change of pace from some older days, that. He clicks his tongue softly, getting the others' attention. "We're close."
His old comrades nod… and then Coupe stops, motioning them on. Kaoruko stops to look at him quizzically, but he just repeats the gesture.
Kaoruko frowns. "Not yet? What do you mean, Coupe?"
Gurgle, growl.
"Their feelings, you say… do you mean that that will let them fool the spell if we go in now?"
Rumble, rumble.
Kaoruko turns to Evans. "Not for very long at a time, he thinks."
Evans shrugs. "Well, they're, what, two or three years old? Can't be very woods-crafty. How hard can it be?"
Rumble, repeating gurgle.
Evans sighs. He doesn't even need to have Kaoruko translate that one. "You're right, that was a stupid question. Still, I think we have to try, unless you two both disagree. I'd rather not wait out here all day until they're sleepy and easy to catch."
Kaoruko nods. "I think you're right. Coupe?"
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
"He says 'sure, let's go find out. I'm curious what will happen too.' And that he'll concentrate on, ah… calming vibrations. And not getting bitten by as many bugs."
Evans looks at Coupe. "You're sure that will work?"
Gurgle, growl.
"He's absolutely sure the bitten by less bugs part will work. The other part… hopefully. Poor things must be very afraid of a trick…"
Kaoruko leads on, leaving her fairy companion behind.
A few minutes later
Kaoruko bends oddly in mid-stride and somehow a tangle of thorny vines seems too polite to pluck at her. It scrapes uselessly against his service jacket's wards as he follows behind. "In that stand of bamboo, I think."
The little hollow the bamboo is growing out of would make a good hiding spot for creatures as tiny as young Heart Tree fairies, and… yes. There. He points. Kaoruko cups her hands. "Chypre? Coffret? You can come out now."
Silence.
"Come on, the Desert Apostles are nowhere near here, sweeties! You'll be safe with us!"
Still nothing.
Evans begins re-casting his dowsing spell, moving slowly and carefully around the bamboo thicket
Several minutes later
"I don't think they're in there anymore. Though I think they were."
"You're not sure?"
"I wouldn't have thought a three year old anything could baffle a trace like this, but no, what hints of them I'm picking up are too static, too… inorganic. One of our little friends must have flared their fluffy little magic enough to leave an imprint. They've probably moved on to a new hide. That way, I think."
Several minutes later
"They don't want to come out of this spot, either, I don't think… or it could be another trick."
"Well, I certainly won't be climbing the tree at my age."
"Me, neither."
"And Coupe would either scare them silly… or not be able to get up there."
"If he were a big green galumphus, they'd know it was him, right?"
"Maybe. Coupe? COUPE!"
A few minutes later
"Do you know? I think he's leaving us to it for giggles."
"You probably shouldn't have asked how hard it could be."
"I don't think they're at this tree, either."
"Well, if we're persistent enough, maybe they'll realize it's really me. I won't give up!"
"...Is that some cornerstone teaching of your order?"
Kaoruko chuckles softly. "I suppose so."
Several Minutes Later
"No. No, that right there is a quicksand bog. Fed by the same spring as that creek comes from, I've no doubt. I'm not stupid enough to go out there. Not nearly stupid enough."
"Do you think they picked this spot on purpose?"
"They can fly like Coupe, right?"
"Yes."
"And they're tiny. Would they even have a concept of quicksand?"
"Logically, I suppose not."
"Which means of course they picked this spot on purpose." Evans sighs.
"Is your spell still detecting them?"
"...Good question. I need to sit down either way. Uuugh."
Several Minutes Later
Sir Frederick Evans brushes his fingers against the wards of his service jacket, experimentally. Yes, time to reinforce them again, after a hundred little collisions with thorns and insects.
While he's doing that, Kaoruko, charmingly immune to most of the hazards of the forest for much less explicable reasons, smiles slowly. "We appear to be at an impasse."
"Indeed so."
"I have a plan."
Evans thanks whatever gods are listening, and his own on general principles, then nodded to her to get on with it.
Kaoruko cups her hands to her mouth.
"Chypre, Coffret? Come out! I'll make blueberry vanilla syrup seltzer for you!"
A bush on a little bump of ground surrounded by low tangles of undergrowth and spots of quicksand rustles. Rustles some more. And then two little creatures float out slowly from under a bush, shivering and glancing about nervously with tiny eyes. Their snow-white fur is so dirty it's almost camouflage in its own right, but that does little enough to change the first impression they make.
Evans got a few looks at the people of the Realm of Springtime during Operation Wardrobe. And they were so small, fluffy, and seemingly inoffensive as to make a man downright suspicious after some of the things Evans has seen out of the Seasonal Courts- apparently no relation, to the organization's great surprise.
But young Heart Tree fairies make the Springtimers seem practically jagged and fierce by comparison.
Chypre, left; Coffret, right
It's hard to imagine them putting on enough weight to some day grow into the more than man-sized great shaggy conoid that Coupe is these days. But then, the world's never been obliged to listen to the instincts of one Sir Frederick Evans, and maybe that's for the best in the long run.
They dart through the air, right into Kaoruko's arms. She sweeps them up into a hug, careless of the dirt on her practical old gardening jacket.
There's a sound from behind Evans- he spins as fast as old bones will let him.
Rumble, rumble.
With a massive rustle of the undergrowth. Coupe, bulkier and more awkward in his true form, shuffles forward like a great bear. The two little ones wriggle out of Kaoruko's embrace and flit over to him, quick as thought. They cling to the two-foot patch of pink that forms a heart on the cream-colored fur of Coupe's chest, almost burying themselves in it.
"Lord Coupe, were you looking for us-desu?"
"And Cure Flower too? We're sorry-desu!"
"We thought it was all some kind of trick-desu!"
"Is the stranger a friend of yours-desu?"
"He must be-desu!"
Kaoruko smiles benevolently, stepping up close to Coupe and reaching up with one hand to gently brush Chypre's little pink bow. "This man here with us is an old ally of mine from many years ago. He's collected a number of names, but we'll start with 'Kuroko' for him. Now, I'm very sure you can trust him, and I'm a little tired from all this walking around the forest.
"We're sorry-desu!"
"We're sorry-desu!"
"That's perfectly all right, dears. I'm just glad we found you. So why don't you get to know our new old friend for a moment, while I take a little time to sit on that old tree stump over there and admire the wildflowers? I won't be far away…"
She finally lets a bit of a limp show, and leaves Evans to the mercy of the fairies.
Evans looks up at Coupe. "Did you expect it to be this hard?"
Rumble, gurgle.
"We're flattered, Lord Coupe! Desu!"
"Thank you for believing in us-desu!"
Evans smiles at the two fluffballs now peeking out from Coupe's fur. "You led us on a merry little chase. I've fought full-grown Nazi ghost wizards who couldn't have managed that so well."
"Uh, thank you, mister Kuroko-desu!"
"I don't know what any of those things are-desu!"
"Just as well, just as well. Before your time and over and done with. Sufficient unto the day are the evils thereof, and all that. Still, I'm with, ah, Cure Flower. I'm glad you're safe. And yes, as she said, I'm an old ally of hers, from back in the day. We helped each other out a few times."
"Huuuh… Mister Kuroku, you definitely have some spiritual power-desu…"
"But… but… you don't look like a legendary warrior-desu!?"
"No offense-desu!"
Evans just puts on his best deadpan expression. "You know, little friend, I have to ask. Not that I don't believe you, not that I'm trying to argue, but what do you think a legendary warrior looks like?"
Coffret gestures vaguely towards Evans' bald pate. Evans grins and exhales in a puff, slightly ruffling his mustache, which appears to throw the fairies into confusion.
"And."
"Uhhh…"
The two look at each other, waving their tiny, tiny hands helplessly..
Evans smiles. "Let me guess, by your standards, a proper legendary warrior has more petticoats, lace, bows, that sort of thing."
"Exactly-desu!"
"No offense-desu!"
Evans takes a moment, then, to look from Chypre to Coffret, and back the other way. Her. Him. Her. Him. From the looks of these two little friendly squeaky fuzzy whozits… if he says "sexual dimorphism," they'll probably say something along the lines of "gesundheit."
So he makes the best of it.
"Well, you see, I'm from an obscure little island, far, far away from here. So far, in fact, that if it were any more distant, it'd probably be closer to here, by default. An island so primitive and generally benighted that when the Queen of the Celestial Spheres was passing out artifacts to make mighty champions out of the good and virtuous, we might as well have been still sitting around in a cave sorting out whether rocks were edible and trying to decide whether people want fire that can be inserted nasally."
"That sounds like a bad idea-desu!"
"Painful-desu!"
"Oh, absolutely, but try explaining that to the Colonisation Committee. Took ages. To make a long story short, we were completely passed over for artifacts like the Heart Perfumes. Didn't even find out about the Queen's summons or any of the rest till thousands of years later. So, regrettably, we have no Pretty Cures to defend our own realm directly. Only whatever happens to come through by coincidence. When things got difficult later on, we had to improvise." He taps the tip of his nose. "I'm afraid my sort's about all we've got."
"Oh no-desu!"
"I'm so sorry for you-desu!"
"Yes, well, what matters is that I was hoping to come to you from a bizarre far-off land with its peculiar customs to give you the little magical trinkets that can help you save the world."
"Wait, isn't that our job already-desu?"
"This is confusing-desu!"
"Fair, fair. That's probably why Cure Flower wanted to just hurry up and find you two. I shouldn't be trying to steal your work out from under you. Maybe Coupe can help you start a union local."
"Wait, you know Lord Coupe too?"
"Wait, you know Lord Coupe too?"
"...Desu."
Evans pauses for a moment. Delayed-action 'desu,' no less. They must have been well and truly surprised.
He smiles encouragingly at the little ones. "Oh, of course! Me and him go way back. I remember when he was about this high."
"Ohhh…!"
"Ohhh...?"
Coupe's calm stare dips to regard Evans levelly and, of course, unreadably. Evans meets it with an insouciant little wave. And the old sorcerer finds himself smiling honestly and deeply, with a genuine sense of joy, for the first time in many weeks.
This is getting downright relaxing.
This trip's been worth it. Not just necessary, but genuinely worth it.
It can be a fine life, if you survive the desus.
Finis
...
I cannot rest from travel; I will drink
life to the lees. All times I have enjoyed
greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
that loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
through scudding drifts, the rainy Hyades
vext the dim sea. I am become a name,
for, always roaming with a hungry heart,
much have I seen and known; cities of men
and manners, climates, councils, governments,
myself not least, but honoured of them all,
and drunk delight of battle with my peers,
far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met.
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades
for ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
to rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life! Life piled on life
were all too little, and of one to me
little remains. But every hour is saved
from that eternal silence, something more,
a bringer of new things, and vile it were
for some three suns to store and hoard myself,
and this gray spirit yearning in desire
to follow knowledge like a sinking star,
beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
...
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail.
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
souls that have toiled, and wrought, and thought with me—
that ever with a frolic welcome took
the thunder and the sunshine, and opposed.
Free hearts, free foreheads— you and I are old.
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.
Death closes all, but something ere the end,
some work of noble note, may yet be done,
not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks;
the long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep
moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
t'is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows, for my purpose holds
to sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down.
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
and see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides, and tho'
we are not now that strength which in old days
moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are.
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Once they've cultivated their image as much as they desire, they'll reveal the existence of the Ministry, portraying it in the worst possible light. A final enemy for the public to point their pitchforks as the Senshi consolidate their position as the undisputed leaders of all magic in Japan.
One can hope, but I'm pretty sure she's going to need to be clonked more vigorously with the sparkly magic of Love and Justice, rather than being exposed at a distance.
I think mostly what she needs is reassurance that surrender is a survivable option and that the destruction of everything and everyone she knows and loves isn't our end goal.
She is a teacher. She isn't going to give an inch so long as she is convinced that doing so will doom the children in her care.
While an impressive result, I do note that their base intrigue is 4. Not the worst stat we have seen, but rather close.
"Yes, well, what matters is that I was hoping to come to you from a bizarre far-off land with its peculiar customs to give you the little magical trinkets that can help you save the world."
"Wait, isn't that our job already-desu?"
"This is confusing-desu!"
Scheduled vote count started by Lunaryon on Apr 20, 2023 at 9:54 PM, finished with 212 posts and 30 votes.
[aino]
[X][Aino] Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story. If we are refused at the door, threaten to go to the police to report them for child abandonment.
[X][Aino] Plan Actually Plan
- [X][Objective] Figure out why the Aino family doesn't want Minako back
- [X][Team] Artemis, Sakurada, and anyone they recommend.
- [X][Preparation] Confer with team to develop a more detailed plan
- [X][Preparation] Remove NDA if possible
- [X][Approach] As Usagi, friend of Minako, and ask to hear the Aino parents' side of the story
[X][Aino] Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story. If we are refused at the door, call Sakurada and Artemis for backup.
[X][Aino] Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story. If we are refused at the door, threaten to keep asking to be let in loudly for as long as it takes well in view of the neighbors and any passersby.
[X][Aino] As Usagi, call the police. Ask for the detective working the Aino runaway case and say that you have a tip. Ask to meet them at the Crystal Millenium building. Have Minako share her side of the story, including her home life prior to running away and what her parents did when she tried to return home. Break the obligation on Superintendent Sakurada. Then with the Superintendent in tow, go to the Ainos.
[X][Aino] Plan Diplomacy is about saving their face.
-[X] Prepare by checking someone someone who is in the know is on call at The Crystal Millennium otherwise send Jupiter to be on call.
-[X] See if one of the Mao, and especially Artemis is on available to accompany you somewhere today. A Mao opening the conversation will hopefully reduce the chances of getting a door in your face.
-[X] Then go to the parents with Minako and a The Crystal Millennium business card to make it clear that Minako's absence had been due to magical stuff that really shouldn't be talked about out in the open.
-[X] Be clear that it's Usagi and not Sailor Moon, because Sailor Moon would cause an enormous spotlight on a delicate case and not because the Senshi aren't willing to do this in person.
-[X] Let the conversation flow from there.
[X][Aino] Plan Friends and Understanding, but with backup and preparation
- [X] Go as Usagi, friend of Minako, and ask to hear the Aino parents' side of the story
- [X] Bring along Superintendent Sakurada as another of Minako's friends.
- [X] Bring Artemis too, but let him introduce himself when and if he feels it's appropriate.
- [X] Have the other Senshi on-call at CM if possible, just in case
- [X] PRE: Talk this plan through with Artemis (and Sakurada, if we can remove the magic NDA, or it doesn't apply to us) beforehand
- [X] PRE: Attempt to remove the magical NDA from Sakurada
[X][Aino] Call Sakurada and Artemis for backup. Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story.
Scheduled vote count started by Lunaryon on Apr 20, 2023 at 9:54 PM, finished with 212 posts and 30 votes.
[aino]
[X][Aino] Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story. If we are refused at the door, threaten to go to the police to report them for child abandonment.
[X][Aino] Plan Actually Plan
- [X][Objective] Figure out why the Aino family doesn't want Minako back
- [X][Team] Artemis, Sakurada, and anyone they recommend.
- [X][Preparation] Confer with team to develop a more detailed plan
- [X][Preparation] Remove NDA if possible
- [X][Approach] As Usagi, friend of Minako, and ask to hear the Aino parents' side of the story
[X][Aino] Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story. If we are refused at the door, call Sakurada and Artemis for backup.
[X][Aino] Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story. If we are refused at the door, threaten to keep asking to be let in loudly for as long as it takes well in view of the neighbors and any passersby.
[X][Aino] As Usagi, call the police. Ask for the detective working the Aino runaway case and say that you have a tip. Ask to meet them at the Crystal Millenium building. Have Minako share her side of the story, including her home life prior to running away and what her parents did when she tried to return home. Break the obligation on Superintendent Sakurada. Then with the Superintendent in tow, go to the Ainos.
[X][Aino] Plan Diplomacy is about saving their face.
-[X] Prepare by checking someone someone who is in the know is on call at The Crystal Millennium otherwise send Jupiter to be on call.
-[X] See if one of the Mao, and especially Artemis is on available to accompany you somewhere today. A Mao opening the conversation will hopefully reduce the chances of getting a door in your face.
-[X] Then go to the parents with Minako and a The Crystal Millennium business card to make it clear that Minako's absence had been due to magical stuff that really shouldn't be talked about out in the open.
-[X] Be clear that it's Usagi and not Sailor Moon, because Sailor Moon would cause an enormous spotlight on a delicate case and not because the Senshi aren't willing to do this in person.
-[X] Let the conversation flow from there.
[X][Aino] Plan Friends and Understanding, but with backup and preparation
- [X] Go as Usagi, friend of Minako, and ask to hear the Aino parents' side of the story
- [X] Bring along Superintendent Sakurada as another of Minako's friends.
- [X] Bring Artemis too, but let him introduce himself when and if he feels it's appropriate.
- [X] Have the other Senshi on-call at CM if possible, just in case
- [X] PRE: Talk this plan through with Artemis (and Sakurada, if we can remove the magic NDA, or it doesn't apply to us) beforehand
- [X] PRE: Attempt to remove the magical NDA from Sakurada
[X][Aino] Call Sakurada and Artemis for backup. Go as Usagi. Say that Minako is currently staying with us for now, and we want to hear the parent's side of the story.
In a magical setting, there's also the option that they're individually very powerful nonhuman beings- the "I wonder if they're kami who like to dress funny" hypothesis, in other words. We've seen Onogoro nationals (TMP members, to be precise) consider this hypothesis 'on-camera,' so to speak.
Merely human mages couldn't conceivably be doing what the Senshi are doing without enormous preparation or a patron, but it's an entirely plausible hypothesis that the Senshi aren't human.
On the other hand, the Senshi hypothetically being nonhuman doesn't really make someone like Mistress Sato likely to assume that their intentions are benign.
If they are such a being the same question applies:
-How come they hadn't been seen before now? Most beings need time, resources and experience to get strong, while younger/newer magical beings tend to be relatively direct and simpleminded, which clashes with relatively sophisticated effects and having an understanding of human society.
So probably some ancient having laid low for centuries before emerging now, seemingly just to strategically kick dirt in Onogoro's face. OR some very young beneficiary of magical eugenics/inheritances being sponsored by a greater power
Well, that and with Onogoro's policies, any such being on their turf isn't happy either. Not that it'd have crossed their minds that events affecting them aren't personal anyway. Surely a country's government is too important to be simply a minor item on a checklist.
Well, it guess it's canon now. Cool. Guess I should really get working on the follow up, huh? I have figured that Mina's climb up Celeste would probably be more "puzzle platformer" than the "kaizo platformer" that Madeline's will be. She sees herself as stupid, so The Mountain will force her to see that she's not.
Well, it guess it's canon now. Cool. Guess I should really get working on the follow up, huh? I have figured that Mina's climb up Celeste would probably be more "puzzle platformer" than the "kaizo platformer" that Madeline's will be. She sees herself as stupid, so The Mountain will force her to see that she's not.
Well, if @Lunaryon 's been shuffling threadmarks there's SOME chance it could be a mistake for all I know, but there's absolutely no reason it shouldn't be canon for all that I can see!
Well, if @Lunaryon 's been shuffling threadmarks there's SOME chance it could be a mistake for all I know, but there's absolutely no reason it shouldn't be canon for all that I can see!
this point, I think you're splitting hairs on the terminology a bit much, to the point where it starts to cramp the proper use of the vocabulary. My understanding is that the key component of 'fludiity' is 'mobility, flexibility, lack of fixed position,' not 'intense desire to be in motion which becomes painful if not obeyed.'
The latter, evidently, does not describe Minako. The former describes Minako quite well.
I was thinking more "it IS in motion", rather than "HAS TO BE in motion". That Minako might be a boy one day, a girl the next, because of her desire to be those things, not because those things are just coincidentally useful.
So far, from Minakos own mouth, she has no active desire to be a boy, beyond the social and height advantages that come with it. She doesn't just wake up one day wanting to be a boy, or week, or anything.
Minako strikes me as someone who has a looser sense of identity than most. Mina seems to wear identities like costumes. It's not that she's genderfluid, it's more that she's identity-fluid, and that identity can include gender.
Honestly trying to ID Minako as having a specific label feels off to me - Yeah, she's definitely got some Gender going on in there, but like, the argument on whether or not she's technically Genderqueer is missing the important part - Minako is comfortable being a boy sometimes, but doesn't particularly dislike being a girl in comparison. That's really all that matters.
Let Minako be the one to decide what to call that.
Edit: The only thing I'll add is that whilst trying to label Minako's Gender Identity isn't something I'm fond of... well, Lunaryons already given us examples of Characters who are Gender nonconforming with Haruka and Naru/Sei. Minako's stuff is hardly new really.
So far, from Minakos own mouth, she has no active desire to be a boy, beyond the social and height advantages that come with it. She doesn't just wake up one day wanting to be a boy, or week, or anything.
Did she say "no active desire" or "it didn't hurt when I stopped for a while?"
And that's with me not even trying to touch on the broader issue of how Minako relates to things she's sacrificing for the sake of the mission.
Candidly, I agree with Corinthian about labels, but I also think it's a good idea not to try to draw such firm early conclusions about what a character isn't.
Especially not in areas that (historically) lend themselves to people feeling like a character has been derailed if their expectations for that character turn out to be incorrect.
Honestly trying to ID Minako as having a specific label feels off to me - Yeah, she's definitely got some Gender going on in there, but like, the argument on whether or not she's technically Genderqueer is missing the important part - Minako is comfortable being a boy sometimes, but doesn't particularly dislike being a girl in comparison. That's really all that matters.
Let Minako be the one to decide what to call that.
Edit: The only thing I'll add is that whilst trying to label Minako's Gender Identity isn't something I'm fond of... well, Lunaryons already given us examples of Characters who are Gender nonconforming with Haruka and Naru/Sei. Minako's stuff is hardly new really.
I assume @Lunaryon is simply merging them. It's not like the two plans are all that different, when you get down to it; The latter is really just the former with a few elaborations. Mostly the same goes for the two runner-ups, for that matter.
Thank you. I'm glad to have them in a separate place where they aren't leading to people grumbling that they break up the main quest thread experience. If, at some notional future time, it is feasible to link all the Man of Many Ways sidestories so that their threadmarks directly connect to each other, that would be appreciated. If doing this is impractical, that's fine; I will add in-line links to the text so that readers can navigate forwards from one chapter to the next smoothly.
I assume @Lunaryon is simply merging them. It's not like the two plans are all that different, when you get down to it; The latter is really just the former with a few elaborations. Mostly the same goes for the two runner-ups, for that matter.
The main difference is that one of them threatens to report them to the police, while the other one doesn't specify that.
(The threat is empty, of course, because Superintendent Sakurada already knows about the situation)
Usagimandias said:
I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? The police were notified days ago.
