[Commentary Thread] Dear Sweet Kami-sama, Why Do You Hate Me So?

[Black Aeronaut]

I just had a sudden thought.

Alright, so I've already put it out that the Ayakashi Sisters were, in the Alternate Timeline that Zeke will be in, scientist and engineers that were like lieutenants under him when he creates Tomorrowland.

And it just now hit me:

THEY KNOW HIM.

THEY HAVE MEMORIES OF HIM.

THEY KNOW HOW HE THINKS.

Sun Tzu said that when you know yourself and you know the enemy then your victory will not stand in doubt... but what do you do when your enemy knows you as well?

This time around, Zeke is going to be at a huge disadvantage because the Ayakashi Sisters know that the best thing to do is to throw everything they got at him, especially now that he (and the Senshi) have stumbled across two of their plots.

Admittedly, going the same route I did in the original incarnation seems like the way to go... only just a bit more so. I'm thinking that this time around it's going to be a full-blown EF-5 and only because he he's following the rule of artillery: You don't bring artillery to the battle unless you want to destroy EVERYTHING.

Any thoughts or other ideas?

[robkelk]

No other ideas, just a thought: Zeke is going to be second-guessing himself whenever he goes up against them.

"They know how I think, but they don't know how you think -- I think -- so if I let you take over, they won't know what's coming ... unless they remember that I let you take over, so they'll know exactly what's coming, so maybe I should stay in charge ... unless that's what I actually did ... oh, screw it. We're going with -"
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Black Aeronaut]

A little bit... But Zeke will probably come to the conclusion that while they know him for sure, they don't really know themselves too well.

Of course, he only knows them so much, what with half of their past experiences being something of a mystery to him. He knows now that in an alternate time-line they worked under him, but he can only guess at what kind of people they were based on what we see of them in the rest of Sailor Moon's 2nd Season.

Anyhow, he'll figure that he can go ahead and use the confusion that having two sets of memories like that may cause to his advantage. He'll have to watch for 'triggers' though.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay, so I've been doing a bit of homework on Princess Kurama...
The trouble is that she appears in 4 or 5 episodes throughout all of Urusei Yatsura.  And that's about it.

That's not much to build a long-term character out of.

So, I've come to the decision to just pretty much flush the UY characterization down the toilet and come up with my own.

In general, she'll be a very normal girl on the surface - goes to school and everything - but the reality is that behind the scenes she has been raised to be every bit the Princess she is supposed to be - strategist, statesman, politician, leader...  She'd be to Zeke's harem what Noike is to Tenchi's.

She'd probably be one of Rei's classmates at TA Academy for Girls - and probably the one person there that can rival Rei.  (This, of course, will cause Rei no end of tsuris.)

As for how Kurama herself feels about things...  Well, as far as she'll be concerned, it's the will of her God.  Which it won't, actually.  Raven made no such prompting or command of the Coronian Princess... but given that it was common for two members of the Trinity (that being the Monarch, the Senshi, and the Avatar) to be wed to one another, Kurama sees it as critical to the revitalisation of her people that she be married to Zeke as well.

And really, in a ways, she's absolutely correct in that assessment.  Ever since the Fall of the Silver Moon Empire and the passing of the last Avatar, the Coronians in hiding on Earth have only had their Monarch to lead them without the aid of their Avatar for spiritual guidance, and without their Senshi to provide a sense of well being.  Seeing their Avatar and their Monarch together will rally the Coronians that are currently 'awake'.

(What she doesn't know, however, is that it will take the restoration of their Senshi - the Mantle of which is still held by Sailor Lead Crow and Galaxia.  Zeke could Awaken individuals if they knew which ones were actually Coronians, but the restoration of their Senshi will 'sound the clarion call' as it were.)

Of course, even if she does have this connection to Zeke, Seto is still going to test her mettle.  But she will be found to be more than worthy by the Jyurian Elder - Kurama is the diligent sort, perhaps more so than anyone else in the harem.  In fact, such will be her patience and calculation that she will be the last member of Zeke's harem, and introduced by none other than Seto herself.  What will be particularly telling about the setup will be that Seto will drop the bomb during a meeting of the Masaki family elders where Zeke and his harem are called down to the carpet.  This will take place after a particularly flagrant disagreement within the harem itself and it becomes obvious that Seto was waiting for something like this to happen so she can use Kurama to put the other girls into their proper place.

Now, Kurama won't be the Principal Wife (and we know that this is a thing in Jyuraian families because those marks on Funaho's and Misaki's foreheads are not decorative - they denote the pecking order between the two).  Again, this is something she's not terribly happy with, but accepts all the same.  That honor will be Rei's because she is Yosho's Great-Granddaughter.  And Rei will be very much galled by the whole situation - that all this time Kurama had been hiding in plain sight as one of her very own classmates.  Of course, Rei wouldn't have been terribly familiar with Kurama, bet she knew her by name because I'm going to have it that she is the Class President at TA Academy.  What will be especially bewildering for Rei for the first month or so will be the fact that Kurama, in her due diligence, defers politely and respectfully to Rei's whim at every turn.

And, this being Rei, she won't get it worked out of her system until she finally throws down with Kurama.  Which will end in a stalemate.  After which, Rei will come to grudgingly respect and accept Kurama, saying, "It's not her that I dislike.  It's actually very difficult for me to say I hate her because she is a very decent person.  In fact, she is every bit the woman her reputation makes her out to be at school - the consummate civil servant.  What I do hate is the situation we're in.  I think she and I can find common ground in that."

[itsune9tl]

just a note: Where Yosho is introduced Usagi/Serenity, her reply to Yosho needs a touch up, maybe? the grammar is slightly confused I think.

[Black Aeronaut]

I'll take a look. Anything specific or is it pretty obvious?

[itsune9tl]

I think it's a tense problem but I could be wrong. It's more of a "Who" is making the answer type of thing.
"unless it needs it" - Usagi"Unless it is needed" - Serenity
Both give the same information, one sounds like it is coming from an adult.
I would be more prone to say that Usagi has a similar problem to Zeke's with her "Imperial" personality, except that they (Usagi/Serenity) are the same person. with the Serenity Persona being the more Formal/Mature, to Usagi's Schoolgirl. 
But then It's just me.

[Black Aeronaut]

I just had a sudden insight to Zeke's character that is reflective of the person I am and my own experiences.

Weirdly,the pacing in DSKS reflects my own life in how quickly WTF-level problems tend to daisy-chain with each other. No, not the whole magic and aliens BS, but just how normal setbacks most anyone might encounter in their own lives happen to occur with frightening frequency and timing to me.

So, the next time someone asks my about the pacing, I'll first tell them about how a lot has to happen in-story in order to get where I need to be... and then I'll tell them about how shit goes downhill in flames in my real life.

"Dude, are you fucking kidding me!?"
"Nope. Really happened. In fact, I actually left out quite a few details. Life fucking hates me for some reason."