[OOC][PLOT] Planning for Arc 1 - Arrivals

[robkelk]

Taking things out of order...

many of the bullet points on Ben's list: Youthful, but not underage; tiny; very intelligent; and incredibly dangerous.

If it wasn't for the first and last criteria on that list, I'd be wondering what Ben thinks of Nakano Azuza from K-On!. (And Azuza isn't going to be underage for too much longer, although I expect she'd be more interested in college than marriage once she graduates from high school. Her lack of power (other than the Power of Rock™), OTOH...)

Have you forgotten how I've made perfectly normal girls into outrageously dangerous little vixens while somehow keeping them entirely within character? Minmei comes to mind, though I had a lot of wiggle room there.

True that. Azuza might need a bit more steel in her backbone, too - while she's the no-nonsense one in Hokago Teatime, she's still willing to go along to get along.

Really, the more I bring in, the harder this is for Ben. And few people would really understand how bad it is for him.

If Rei mentions anything to Usagi - and I suspect she would - then Ben can expect a personal intervention after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Yes, Fate (not Nanoha's Fate) has dealt Ben a shitty hand. Yes, Ben's life has been miserable. But there is absolutely no reason why it needs to remain miserable. Ben has friends now; Usagi noticed how Ben and Tenchi got along at the Halloween party, just for one example. Ben's doing useful work and has the respect of his peers. And Usagi is willing to help Ben, or even just give him a shoulder to cry on, whenever he asks.

Oooh. Ben's gonna pull the Kirk defensive here...

"Ben, you have to let me do this. It's killing you!"

"Usagi... You know that I love you all, right?"

Tears forming in her eyes, Usagi nodded.

"Then you understand, while I can love you as sisters, I could never..." his voice faltered and he steadied himself. "I could never have what I really want. It's not my place."

"But... at least I can take you pain away."

Benn shook his head slowly. "No. This pain... it's part of what I am, part of what makes me me. Yes, I've made mistakes. Every morning I wake up alone and I confront those mistakes again and again. But if I didn't make those mistakes in the past, would I be the person I am today? Would I have the strength of character to stand up to the likes of Ryouko and tell her to chill? Or to look down at Teletha and tell her she needs to ease up? Or sweet little Nanoha, telling her that she needs to relax and be a kid while she can enjoy it? Would I have the courage to do these every day things if I didn't have this pain?"

"You made Rei-chan cry," said Usagi softly. "I've never seen her cry like that before. I couldn't believe it. Something inside of you frightened her so much that I'm afraid of letting you see her again. And what's so terrible about that is that I cannot see how you can hold something that horrible inside of you when you are the sweetest, most kind, gentle, and loving man I have ever seen since my Mamourou or Rob-san."

"I know," he said, feeling like he was a thousand years old as he put his head to the doorway, his eyes screwed shut. "I am so sorry that I hurt her. I shouldn't have talked to her. I should have just kept my distance. As for what she saw? She saw my soul. She saw how it hungered for warmth - so much so that it feels like a black hole trying to pull you in. That is what scared Rei - that I might consume her completely."

"Then... can we at least talk?"

Benjamin shrugged. "What is there to talk about? I've had my loves. I either made mistakes, or they couldn't handle my intensity. The one that I wish..." He sighed and sat down on the couch. "She couldn't leave her family behind. She chose that over me. She and I... I could feel how we matched. She not only handled my intensity, she let it fuel her own passion. We'd make utterly bed-breaking love to each other, then tell me how much she loved it even though it made her sore. And her mind was utterly diabolical. She was studying psychology and wanted to be a profiler for serial killers - to get into their heads and discern what they were thinking. She was twisted, in a ways. Perverted, you might even say. But it was something I could love and appreciate.

"And I had to leave her behind.

"And that was just the cleanest breakup I've ever had. There's also my childhood. I can go on and on about all the horrible things I've had to live through. How half of my brothers were verging on being psychotic while we were growing up. How my step-dad would berate me in front of said siblings, and then demand that I be a leader to them. You would not believe the vindication I felt when my step-brother from my step-dad's first marriage called him out on how he treated me! He could hardly believe his own dad would do that, but it happened right before his eyes and it disgusted him."

Benjamin then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You take my pain away, you're going to lobotomize me. Because so much of my life has been hurt and suffering that taking it all away would leave me a mere shadow of myself. I'd be just a child - naive and weak willed. Yes, I would be happier. But I also wouldn't be able to do even a tenth of what I do now."

And then to Usagi's surprise, he got up and then pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you for trying anyways.... little sister."

That was it. The straw that broke the camel's back. Usagi started bawling against his chest.

The world really was a horrible place. Because not with youma, but instead with everyday people, had this man been made to suffer. And she could do nothing about it. But Ben knew, as she wailed pitifully, that this was just how life was. And for this bit of pain? Usagi herself would be a stronger, wiser person for it.

Ben only hoped that his own stamina would hold out until someone would come along, strong enough to help him shoulder the burden.

And then, just because I haven't punched you in the feels hard enough, we go out on this little gem of a classic...



Egads, I'm such an evil cuss.

Eh, maybe.

Usagi: I understand, Ben... but isn't there anything I can do? Even just listen while you talk?

Since it's come up: What I'm thinking for my SI's building - and plans change as stories are written - is the dynamics settle down into a few different families, official or not. Usagi would insist that laws regarding polyamourous relationships apply to everyone equally (not just the nobility), and she and Mamoru together have the power and lineage to make their claim to the Sol system stick if the Juraians complain. Whether that means group marriages for everybody or for nobody remains to be seen.

Really, I think that polyamory in general is more or less, if not the norm, then socially acceptable in the greater galaxy in the Tenchi-verse.

In the Tenchi-verse, certainly. But that's just one 'verse out of many that are being added to this mix on an irregular basis.

• First Family (with a Head of State and everything): Usagi, Mamoru, and Rei, with Chibi-Usa as a dependent.
  
• All alone because of that thrice-dammed curse: Minako. (Just ask her. Everyone else will consider her to be part of the building's first family, especially Usagi, Rei, and Mamoru.)
  
• Second family: Luna and Artemis, with Diana as a dependent. Yeah, going with canon here - there aren't a lot of talking cats out there to add to this dynamic, and they seem more comfortable in feline form than in human form.
  
• Third family: SI-Rob, Mii, Ami, and Makoto.
  
• Fourth family: Kamijo Touma (who hasn't shown up yet), Mikoto, Kuroko, and Misaka Niiko (sister 10032), with Index (who hasn't shown up yet) as a dependent. Touma/Minako is canon. Touma/10032 is strongly shippable by canon; he saved her life specifically and the other clones' lives generally, she was the first person who he ever gave a gift to, and she canonically has feelings of some sort for him.
  
• Fifth family: Ruiko, Kazari, and ... somebody. (Not Accelerator.)
  

Makes sense to me, except the bit with Venus. What's this curse that you speak of? I may have heard it before, but it's slipping my mind...

It was at the end of Codename: Sailor V - the big bad told Venus (while dying in her arms) that she would never find love as long as she had her duty. She took that comment as a dying curse instead of a blatantly-obvious observation... and she hasn't had a boyfriend since, because she's been self-sworn to her duty to Usagi.

As for the Jack of Kinrowan characters, Jacky's canonically in an on-again-off-again relationship, Kate is single and wants a relationship, and Finn hasn't expressed an opinion on the matter.

I'm gonna have to go find these books...

As I post this, Amazon has the omnibus edition in stock.

I don't know (or am not sure) what to do with Accelerator, Misaka Kokono (10339), Misaka Nana (13577), Misaka Rei (19090), Misaka Misaka (20001, a.k.a. "Last Order"), and Kazakiri Hyoga (who hasn't shown up yet but by canon has a connection to Misaka Misaka). All I am sure about is (a) Misaka Misaka and Kazakiri Hyoga stay together, and (b) that Accelerator isn't about to marry the sisters of the clones girls he killed, even if he does Get A Clue™ and stops being an asshole all the time. (Luckily for him, it's canon that helping to look after Misaka Misaka is giving him at least part of that much-needed clue... but he might end up alone anyway.) It would be reasonable for spoilers-regarding-canon to include a Misaka Sister in each of the first, third, and fifth families listed above; the girls might even be interested.

Accelerator kinda strikes me as the natural loner anyhow - the one who is just fine being on his own, and having only limited contact with people. Though I'm sure Misaka Misaka won't let him get away with that entirely.

Yeah - I've revised my local copy of the scene I posted earlier where Academy City shows up in the setting, and Misaka Misaka makes the big puppy-dog eyes in an effort to keep Accelerator from immediately going back and kicking ass.

(And if I get any urges to add more "friendly" characters to my corner of this, please whack me over the head with a paper fan. More foes are good; more people who I'll need to write on an ongoing basis are bad.)

Kek. I'll keep that in mind.

---

Dartz, the new story post looks great! I love where you're going with it.

---

Rob, just saw your new one, too. Hoo boy, he's about to have a whopper laid on him by those two, isn't he?

Yeah, and just before he has to go pick up Rin at the train station, too.

I might be sufficiently evil to not write that scene, merely refer to it in later dialogue... EDIT: Naaahhh...