#but then I'd have to create some MacGuffins myself and like... what and how and stuff lol

[true-blue-sonic]

I recall you mentioning a Time God AU involving Silver before that you've been working on? If it's not gonna be trouble, could I ask to learn more about it? 👉👈

Sure thing! ^-^

So, the ideas I have right now aren't a hundred percent solid, so to say. But Silver is a Guardian of Time/some kind of godly-ish spirit or being, who is tasked with protecting the Time Stones. This is the Silver from '06, who got erased from time when Sonic and Elise blew out Solaris' flame: whatever deities are out there in the world of Sonic took pity on him and allowed him a new life as a protector of the time stream. This does mean that he's very far removed from actual living people and kind of has a very big important duty he must do (protect the time stream from shenanigans and protect the Time Stones), but Silver is naturally curious and thus seeks out society all the same. He meets with Espio when Espio is mere seconds away from dying through getting ran over by a car, and he uses his godly powers to intervene and allow Espio to safely get away. However, somehow the Time Stones scatter (I don't have an idea yet why, though. I do really need something, but I just don't know why they would disappear, and considering the whole plot hinges on this it's a bit of an issue😅), which means Silver needs to go look for them with Espio's help. Once Espio has accepted that the time guardian is real and not just a hallucination from the what-was-meant-to-be last moments of his life, he takes Silver with him to the Agency, and from there onwards I'm not sure yet what they can do other than search for the time stones together. And of course fall in love, hehe.

Also you can have the draft of the whole first chapter, since that is basically finished :> I hope you like it! ^-^

~~~~

Espio woke up without knowing his life was meant to end that day.

That was something most people did not know when waking up, he would have reasoned when looking back ages later, but that morning he got out of bed like he always did and went through the motions as usual. “What do we have for upcoming jobs?” he inquired at the kitchen table like every other day as well, and the shrug from Vector was nothing out of the ordinary either.

“One case of a missing person, but that seems more like a runaway little child than anything else. And some sleuthing for a transport company in the harbour, to see if another is reliable. That’s it.”

“Better than usual,” the chameleon smiled, helping Charmy fill up a bowl of cereal while the little bee was chanting something along the lines of marshmallows. “How will we divide the tasks?”

“I’ll take Charmy to find that kid, they’ll hit it off immediately. Harbour for you, then?”

“That works for me,” the chameleon agreed, and breakfast had gone by just the same as it usually did. With no odd feelings or worries at all Espio left the Agency, something akin to a little smile on his face as he briskly stepped his way over to the dock at the ocean. The spring weather warmed the world around him, they finally appeared to have some decent jobs, Eggman was behaving – for however long that would last – and the world was filled with happy chatter and cheerfulness; what did he have to fear?

To such calm future prospectives his thoughts drifted as he investigated the company at the harbour, meeting with their client and helping make sense of legal documents and past descriptions of others who had worked with the same people. “A good day,” he spoke out loud at the end of it, permitting himself a few moments to bask in the light of the setting sun and nodding contently at the orange glow shimmering on the waves of the ocean. With an envelope of money in his possession and a grateful client assuring him they were more than willing to ask the Chaotix for their services again, he could only be happy.

Except something nagging sparked up in his chest, something that made him blink amidst the idyllic scenery.

And as soon as it had appeared, it was gone again.

Strange, Espio noted to himself, scrutinising the whole harbour for any danger and finding none. His ninja senses were honed sharply and his intuition had never failed him before… but there truly did not seem to be something here to cause him trouble. “An omen of things to come?” the chameleon mumbled under his breath, turning around briskly and stepping home even more quickly than he had been on his way this morning. If something were to occur, he wanted to be with his colleagues for it.

The worries the odd nagging had elicited refused to leave his mind, Espio flicking his tail as he mingled inbetween the people making their way home after a long day of work. Curling his lip the chameleon sidestepped around them all, ignoring the busyness as best he could; having so many people around was far too stifling, his eyes flickering around to find a way that did not trap him right into a short burst of rush traffic. Across the street stood a bench, that part of the roads much less crowded…

Nimbly flicking his way around some of the people taking up too much of his personal space Espio came to a halt at the traffic light, ramming his pinkie into the button. Almost immediately his light became green; a perk of being a pedestrian, he smiled to himself as he stepped onto the road while first looking left before his gaze drifted right… and he could not even react to the car that was rushing at him at a speed that would make Sonic jealous.

And then, time froze around him.

Espio stared, yet nothing moved. He blinked, yet the way a frightened man reached out to him on the sidewalk was just as motionless as the scream on another person’s lips.

And someone was behind him on the road, someone who floated above it in a silver-hued light with seven glowing rocks circling its body while looking surprisingly calm compared to the horror of the people on the streets.

“You have to move,” the creature spoke. “The Time Stones can only do so much- it won’t be like this for much longer, and you’ll get hurt. Move.”

“…Oh! Apologies.” And with that Espio finally managed to kick his legs into movement and scamper over onto the sidewalk, and with a blink of an eye his surroundings came alive once more, the chameleon grunting at the gust of wind tugging at his body from the car racing past without stopping or the cries of fright around him.

“Hey- you! Boy! Are you okay?!” The man who had reached out to him raced over, Espio flinching as he was snapped out of his stupor. “That… that driver nearly hit you!”

“…Yes,” the chameleon retorted. “Yes, they… they did.”

Only able to stare bleakly at the road he merely hummed at the man’s fussing, other people beginning to mingle in as well- but he could only stare at where his life surely had almost come to an end.

He could have sworn something shimmering and glowing hovering over it.

“Are you sure you should not go to the hospital-“

 “I am fine,” Espio spoke up unexpectedly calmly, turning around and nodding his head at the man. “Truly. Thank you for your concern, and my apologies for worrying you.”

“Yes, but you-“

“Merely had to take some moments to stop reeling.” Nodding at everyone crowding around him the chameleon took a quick step back, scales prickling at their fussing. “Which I have now, so I must continue on my way. Be careful out there.”

Keeping his movements calm and deliberate Espio kept his face as neutral as possible, the people around him trading nervous glances still- but inwardly he kept his fingers crossed the calm of his words would convince them, and his shoulders sagged just barely as the group eventually let up. “You should be happy with such quick reflexes, they really saved your life. It was as if you’re teleported, you came to the sidewalk so quickly,” the man eventually spoke. “Well, take care out there yourself. I am glad you’re okay.”

“Yes… I am grateful, too. I will.” Though, the question kept burning on his mind… “Pardon, but did you… see someone behind me, when the car nearly struck?” he asked the man more quietly.

“Someone- no, it was just you, luckily.”

“Odd. I could have sworn- well, nevermind. Surely that was simply the stress.” Nodding politely at the confusedly-frowning man Espio quickly turned around in full to make his escape- that had been much, much too close, and that one second of frozen time and odd people telling him odd things had just been an imagination of his mind while he’d long made it to the sidewalk already and was simply reeling from the stress, nothing more.

It couldn’t be anything more.

Right?

A sudden wave of anxiety barrelling into him Espio tensed, gaze drifting over to that one spot where his life nearly ended before he could help it. The road looked just like it usually did on any other spot in the city, grey with white paint drawn over it and the occasional car or cyclist coming past; absolutely nothing that pointed towards the accident that had nearly occurred.

And yet, and yet…

Espio could have sworn something in that particular spot was glimmering still. Not the same glow of silver as the odd person had had around them, but…

Peeking around to see if anyone who had concerned themselves with him was around still Espio set a few more paces until the coast was clear, the streets having gone quiet anew after the small rush of people. The button for the pedestrian’s crossing was pressed quickly enough, its ticking noise changing to indicate he had green light, and a tentative pace onto the grey road followed suit…

And Espio’s eyes widened at the glowing object that laid on the pavement, a rock that had the exact same shape as those that had floated around the creature.

And he was still standing right on the streets.

Reaching down and grasping the rock from the asphalt Espio darted over to the side he came from again, the ticking noise of the traffic light slowing down anew as he leaned as closely against the buildings as he dared. Almost bashfully he studied the rock; it was shaped along the lines of a hexagon with two parallel lines elongated, with a front and six sides moving down. Not a Chaos Emerald, the chameleon decreed immediately, but there still was some sort of power running through it, that his well-trained senses did not miss…

And he had seen them around the creature, he was sure of that.

“Nonsense,” Espio spoke out loud, ignoring the odd looks from some people making their way through the city across the road as he turned on his heels and briskly stepped back towards where the Chaotix’ Agency was. Surely that stone had always been there on the road and he merely had not seen it, or someone had dropped it in the few minutes of his distraction or it had fallen from a car- he had hallucinated the creature and it had been his quick reflexes that had led to a good ending, after all, so there was no way the rock in his hands meant anything.

But as he walked over the pavement and flinched at every single noise of a car driving past the chameleon could not help himself and sent a single glance over his shoulder, where the cyan glow was no more, and he could not help shake the feeling it hadn’t been his reflexes that saved him after all.

[comicaurora]

If you still have Sailor Moon on the brain, did watching it at all give you any options you wish to share about other magical girl esk media you wish existed or your own take on how you would create a story in that media space?

If not, then maybe, if you're inclined to, recount some interesting findings about the connections that exist between shojo and shonen media?

(If neither then please disregard, sorry for imposing)

It was interesting! I was surprised at how much it had in common with shonen action anime. Half the boss battles get resolved with a beam clash and the only difference between Super Saiyan and Neo Queen Serenity is whether the hair or the outfit changes.

The one part I found myself sliding off of - due to personal writing preference - is how Usagi is the defacto center of the universe and everyone else is very explicitly playing support. That's part of why I liked the Outer Senshi so much - because they've all got their own ludicrously OP stuff going on, they feel more like equals to Usagi than glorified bodyguards. The inner planet senshi get their own character arcs, which is excellent, but after a while it's pretty clear that none of them can ever finish a fight without Sailor Moon. And that's fine, that's the pretense of the story - their jobs are very explicitly to protect the turbopowerful demigoddess moon princess while she gets her act together enough to remember she can win - but I prefer writing an ensemble cast where everyone feels like the hero of their own story, not the support in someone else's, and that's pretty much antithetical to the core premise of the show.

It also has a lot of the hallmarks of a soft magic system that I personally struggle with - the old "you win by believing in yourself" thing basically means "you win when the plot demands it would be most interesting for you to win" - but again, they can get away with a lot by letting the actual core premise of the universe's power system be stuff like "a pure heart gives you strength" and "the power of love will legitimately make you more powerful." And I respect that the show doesn't just give people powerups whenever - one of the parts I found most emotionally impactful was in the finale of season 3, when Sailor Saturn is going to fight the big bad all by herself and will 100% definitely die in the process, and because Sailor Moon has sacrificed the season's macguffin, she can no longer transform into her powered-up form to help - which doesn't stop her from screaming the transformation phrase over and over, because she is desperate to save Sailor Saturn even if she's been told it can't possibly work. When she gets her The Most Purest Heart Ever powerup at the last possible second, that feels excellent because it's a profoundly impactful character moment that's being supported by the plot with a tangible powerup. It's pretty telling that we don't even see the final bossfight; it's not about the spectacle or the beam clash, it's about the character arcs that surround them. I think that's a really interesting way to handle it and to add depth to an otherwise basic "whose number is bigger" style struggle.

I'm also deeply fond of paragons, and as the seasons go on I really like how Usagi's ultimately kind personality drives her to constantly help, no matter the personal cost or how aggressively people try to dissuade her - and I like that she gets angry and frustrated and even says or does harsh things sometimes, but will ultimately always do what she thinks is right. It makes her feel like a real human being, and the "weaknesses" and flaws in her character - aka the parts that make her something more complicated than a perfectly stoic problem-solving machine - are a lot of fun to watch.

Personal preference, I'd like to see more magical girl stuff where the central pillar of the plot is not a constant will-they-won't-they het romance - but I also like how Sailor Moon as a series is legitimately aware that this is not actually the de facto most important relationship for everyone. Surprising multitude of gay characters aside, I recently caught a season 2 episode where Makoto donates blood to save a close friend, and explains to Usagi that she isn't in love with him, but they have an incredibly profound friendship that's more important to her than any boyfriend, a concept with startles and confuses Usagi. It seems to be a case where the heroine has a Foundational Romantic Subplot that defines the course of her life and the plot, but the rest of the characters get to have more complicated dynamics where their life goals aren't "omg boys", and I liked that a lot!

When comparing and contrasting it to shonen action anime, I think the magical girl genre manages to integrate the lower-stakes slice of life elements significantly more smoothly, and to great effect - the 90% of the show that's silly and ridiculous makes the 10% of it that's extremely serious and gutwrenching much more impactful. That's something that a lot of shonen series struggle with, where the tone goes from "moderately serious with the occasional goof" to "extremely serious with major character deaths." The magical girl genre going from "the dumbest episode premise you've ever heard" to "extremely serious with major character deaths" is a much more precipitous plunge into icy water, as it were.

When I think about how I would write a magical girl story, I basically just smack into the premise of Exalted. Its worldbuilding has exactly what I want - an interesting system of powerset-reincarnation into worthy hosts that allows for complex interpersonal dynamics through varying levels of memory preservation, several different flavors of magical transforming person including Evil Versions, and the one thing I prioritize in my own writing - a world that feels like it can have a lot of main characters and heroes of their own story. Everyone in Exalted has their own shit going on and their own past-life drama, including former friend groups/adventuring parties, soulmates (both regular and evil versions), and anyone who might've previously killed them. Most importantly for my preferences, there's no default main character of the universe. If I were to make an urban fantasy magical girl setting, I'd probably use an extremely similar premise because I find the ramifications of it unbelievably interesting in a way the system itself is not designed to explore.