So, lost my job recently. They said it was budget issues. I'll buy it, since in my experience, both the head of facilities and the supervisor really suck at budgeting, and beating myself up over what I could've done better has never really helped me in the past.

The worst part is this means applications, aka #1 Anxiety Trigger. And job interviews, which us autistic people tend to do poorly. In addition, I have awesomely green hair now, which, while it is completely awesome and I have no desire whatsoever to go back to brunette, I am entirely aware it will limit possible job prospects. Then again, any place that can't accept me with awesomely green hair is probably too closed-minded a working environment, anyway. I mean, if they really want all their employees constantly pretending to be bland kiss-asses to keep a steady paycheck, I'm fine letting those employers run themselves into the ground from lack of innovation and too many yes-men. Just a shame so many of the consequences fall on the employees. (/tangent)

Anyway, that shit's happening. It sucks. Bleah.

So, as a consequence of finding out I can actually appreciate Clef/Umi when it's part of a threesome including Ascot, another strange AU seems to be taking shape...

Vaguely Merlin-esque AU: Umi gets lost in a magic forest that no one ever comes out of. Said magic forest is the result of an epic falling out between an esteemed wizard and his apprentice quite some time ago. Or so claims that talking tree. Course, that tree also told her not to trust the little boy with the beasts, and he turned out to be just fine. Really, what does a tree know, anyway?

Hey, started this thread a while back, never posted any of my own, go figure.

High Palu Vue: Palu Vue is a mid-to-high proficiency summoner who ended up in the rank of High Palu mostly because so many other palus died either trying to defeat Zagato/save Emeraude or as a result of one of the new disasters befalling the land. Despite the new responsibilities, she still teaches beginner-to-intermediate summoning, and as part of Ascot's 'probation', he has to take classes from her.
It's a disaster. Vue knew most of the Palus that died, some were her teachers, some were her students, and it's practically impossible for her not to resent Ascot for his part in their deaths (the fact that he's already better at summoning than she is doesn't help, either).
Needless to say, they never get along. Both are relieved when Clef eventually takes over Ascot's instruction.
When not dealing with people she can't forgive, she's a perfectly reasonable, patient instructor who most of her students speak well of, if not fondly. In her High Palu responsibilities, she is competent enough.
If anyone else wants to use her somewhere, just let me know. Currently she's just standing by until I actually get somewhere in Mid Knight Skies.

Psychiatric Ward AU in which Ascot has Dissociative Identity Disorder/Multiple Personality Disorder, and all the other personalities he shares a body with (the beasties) are really nice/fun/harmless, but Ascot's the one that starts all sorts of shit every time he comes out and they think he might've killed his parents, so, yeah, not getting out of there any time soon.

Connected the dots on something a while back, and kept meaning to make another post, but for some reason or another, I kept putting it off. I'm honestly kicking myself for not catching it sooner.

It's the gems.

We've seen before that gems in Cephiro can have storage capability. They might very well be able to hold live creatures. But then, what if the gems had limits to what they could hold? Whether we're talking physical space limitations or data limitations, giant living creatures would probably be one of the most space consuming things to store.

In other words, that gem sash Ascot wears in both the first and second season ain't just bling, my friends. It's got a purpose other than winning him the Cephiro's Most Bejeweled designation.

This also alters one of my other theories (but it was an iffy theory anyway), my idea of what would happen to beasts not out if their Summoner dies. Since they're linked to the gems, as long as nothing happens to those, it should be possible to recover beasts from dead Summoners. Might require some magic hacking, though, cause come on, you wouldn't want to make it easy for anyone else to summon your beasties.

UPDATE THE SECOND: Cards have been successfully exchanged via post. VK now has a slightly more complete collection, and I have more cards with Ascot on them, so win-win.

Now I think the only card I have that VK doesn't is my Umi di-cut, but hell if I'm giving that up. I will, however, leave it to you in my will, VK.

Have her claim to be an ambassador from another country or pose as somebody else's foreign servant, perhaps?

It sounds like you have a pretty good idea what you want to do for Umi and Hikaru, so let's talk about Fuu. You want to change things up, so yes, sending her to Chizeta is one option. You could also do something like make her the only one who makes it back to Earth or send her back in time. But, for now, let's go with the 'Fuu ends up in Chizeta' idea.

When I'm plotting, it helps me to establish the facts. So, you've got Fuu showing up in Chizeta. She doesn't have Hikaru or Umi with her, and she's most likely still an emotional wreck over what just happened in Cephiro. Now, she doesn't have a clue where she is or how she got there (though it might take her a moment to realize this because, you know, emotional wreck). Eventually, I assume you want her to reunite with Umi and Hikaru. The most plot convenient way of doing this would probably be getting onboard the Bravada. Questions to answer: What part of Chizeta does she suddenly appear in? How does she find out where she is? How does she end up on the Bravada? Figure out the answers to questions like these, and a lot of times, you find the plots writing themselves.

Hope that helps.

UPDATE: Via shady back-alley dealings, an agreement to trade cards has been reached. This is a momentous occasion that deserves commemorating, and if you have cake available, you should eat it now. Thank you.

Realized I neglected to mention another very important aspect of his character.

Lafarga is a swordsman. Not just a swordsman, but one who only fights by the sword. This, to me, implies that him not using magic is entirely a choice rather than any lack of ability. Would he be good with magic if he tried? I think he'd be generally proficient, a good well-rounded jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none magician. But, really, using the sword is where his talent lies, and he probably feels trying to cultivate any magic ability would only hinder that.

Just depositing another two cents into this fandom's bank.

Out of all the original manga characters (excluding the Magic Knight families), I think Lafarga is the one with the least developed character in just about any given version of Magic Knight Rayearth. Yes, we know less about him than we do about Alcyone. Not that there isn't a character there, mind you, just that you have to dig a lot deeper into less info to figure it out. Well, as it turns out, that's my specialty. The Ascot character-mining came naturally, Caldina was a good warm-up, so now I think I'm ready to tackle some of Lafarga's character.

You know what non-Rayearth scene Lafarga brings to mind for me?  In the Doctor Who episode "Doomsday," there's a character, Yvonne Hartman, who, despite getting turned into a Cyberman, still manages to override the programming and take some other Cyberman down with her. The last words we hear from her are, "I did my duty for queen and country." (You can see that bit here) Now, just to clarify, Yvonne Hartman herself doesn't remind of Lafarga, just that one scene, that repeated "I did my duty for queen and country" as if it was the only thing keeping her going.

I feel like Lafarga is the character who believed in what Cephiro was the most, and as such, is the one that probably felt the most shocked and betrayed when everything fell apart. He probably knew Zagato and Emeraude personally, but likely didn't know about their feelings like Clef or Lantis did. He was devoted to protecting the pillar, to the point that he would face Zagato head on, to the point that Hikaru's mentioning of the Princess momentarily frees him from Zagato's control. So, given that much, how do you think such a devotedly patriotic heart is going to handle the news that Emeraude chose to do this? How is Lafarga going to take the realization that by trying to save her, he was actually fighting against her? The pillar system, this country, it's probably most, if not all, he's known and believed in his entire life, unlike Caldina, who's been all sorts of places. Also, unlike Ascot, the system was working very well for Lafarga personally, so he had no reason to really question the foundations. You know, stuff like this is why I think Mid Knight Skies is what needs to be written more than any other epic MKR idea I have (and believe me, there are tons).

Moving on, what else do we know about Lafarga? Well, he seems to bear a bit of a grudge against Lantis, understandably enough. Given the whole patriotic part, he's not gonna think too well of someone who left their country knowing a crisis was imminent. And, of course, him and Caldina are a thing. Would've been nice to get some more development on that in any version. I can think of loads of scenes that could be cut from the anime to make room for a few good flashback sequences showing what happened instead of the two of them just telling us in that one scene. It's just a matter of deciding what should be cut first, really.

Anyone else with Lafarga thoughts to share?

dhiver and ezkas, welcome!

dhiver, I'm one of those Ascot/Umi shippers your momma always warned you about, but no worries, I try to play nice. You do you.

ezkas, your recognition of my Ascot Authority is most satisfactory. You will die last er, I mean, I'm sure you'll go far when the time comes I'll give you a head start I mean, no, none of us here are anything to worry about! Especially not me! *takes holy water, dumps it on self* See? Nothing to- DEAR MOKONA IT BURNS!!

Quote from: Revolutionaren on April 07, 2016, 12:40:59 PM
Who's most likely to live in a room with a suspiciously murdery window?

My first thought was Caldina, but then I realized, no, Caldina might live in a place where somebody was actually murdered, but not a place that looks like it.
I'm gonna have to go with Clef. It keeps kids off his lawn and discourages door-to-door salespeople.

Who's most likely to show up late with Starbucks?

MY HAIR IS GREEN NOW!

QuoteNext: Who comes up with the most embarrassing 'pet' nicknames for their significant other?

Caldina, no contest. It's always been my headcanon that she comes up with all sorts of ridiculous pet names for Lafarga (and Ascot) just because. Lafarga still can't get over the time she called him 'Squeegee Buns' during a council meeting.

Next: Who would have the most 'incriminating' internet search history?