Narrative Evolution
Apr. 14th, 2010 04:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dagas_isaOr Babblings About How My Mary-Sue-Me-And-My-Friends-Insert-Sailor-Moon-Fanfiction turned into an Orignal-Fic-Sandbox-Plus-Lego-Block-Worldbuilding-Extravaganza.
Which actually sums up what happened really well, though considering at this point the very first bit started in March 1999 at the age of 14, and my last major retooling happened in March 2009, just before I entered my current fandom in full force. So from the original idea to the latest incarnation, there's been approximately 10 years, through which I've graduated middle-school and high-school, earned an Anthropology degree with some fun forays into Medieval Literature, Japanese, Psychology, and Plant Biology among other subjects, played way to much of an MMO, met someone and got engaged to him, enrolled in a Graduate program. Fandom-wise, I moved from Sailor Moon, to Fushigi Yuugi, to Kingdom Hearts, to Final Fantasy X/X-2 with a few other minor fandoms interspersed here and there.
So, in other words, there's also a personal history that developed between the original fanfiction and the latest incarnation, that by necessity will show up behind the work.
Phase 1 (1999-2000): "Genso no Senshi" Think Sailor Moon self-and-friends insert fanfiction, only instead of planets, based on the elements (a combination of both western and eastern) Fire, Water, Wind, Stone, Wood, and Metal. Metal being the "Sailor Moon" analogue. The most notable thing, for the purpose of this story evolution was that there was a woman, Inori who was the "Good-twin" to the main villain's "Evil-twin", and her four teenage boy workers who would assist the cast and serve as love interests to four of the senshi. Inori also had a son taken away by her sister and a husband killed by her sister. Oh, and there was also an evil lieutenant who would be redeemed Sailor Moon style by the power of love.
Oh, btw, my "self-insert" of the group was not the Sailor Moon analogue, but her best friend and all around grumpy one. Just want to say that right now, even though it's not important.
Phase 2: "IDT History" (2001-2002)This is actually posted on Fictionpress, although *ugh* it's kind of a time machine thing right now and the first trace of this process. It's also the only "completed" story to actually come from all this work. I'm not linking it, because it's pretty horrible and I'm really bratty (and use fangirl Japanese) in my profile, but anyone who actually wants to look at it can certainly search for it.
The spin-off came from the fact that Inori and her boys (called the IDT for Inter Dimensional Taskforce because I was creative acronymer at the time) were more interesting than the Senshi-rip-offs, who were being made into their own original characters for a fantasy story that didn't get off the ground.
So the story was basically the four "brothers" (who were raised together, but were distant cousins at best) being rescued by Inori and her two goons Jin and Kato, and then growing up and eventually flying across the universe on her errands, with the ending of course supposed to lead into the sequel but ended up delving into a prequel based on Inori's past and what happened with her sister, her husband, and her son.
New characters that were added: Jin and Kato who ended up being one of the major heroes and the major villain respectively. Lai, a healer and best friend of one of the boys. The villains both had a name change Sasori to Sekhen, and Warui (yeah, bad in more ways than one 0.0) to Nozomi/Zomi. It took place in space, not on a planet. Sekhen was no longer a lieutenant exactly of Zomi, who really only showed up in one place in one of the side stories to assure us that yes, she still existed, she's still evil, and she still has Inori's son.
Not much else was changed in a fannish sensibility. It was sci-fi where all the science worked based on the Rule of Cool, that would segue either into the original fanfic (which was the intention) or go into an original story where the Senshi would show up with their serial numbers filed off.
Phase 3: "Axis 1.0 -- Earth in name only" (2002-2004): Of course Inori was Japanese. So she basically lived on the Earth of the far past (what would be the Far future to us) and Japan was nigh unrecognizable, like something out of Sim Tower but with most of the cultural history and background completely erased. So Japan in name only. I think I was also awesome here in at least leaving out the fangirl Japanese. There were also Shadows in this world, who were ghost like creatures who could see the future(and Inori's husband was, and always would be Kage, who was actually a blind Shadow--in the sense that he couldn't see the future--who was supposed to fill a prophecy that would unite human and Shadow, only it didn't go so well and destroyed the world instead).
This is where I think some of the other characters started to evolve a bit, and other major characters, who still show up in the current version, were born. Kozan, who was the representative of the tower where all this took place, and who was secretly building a space ship. Kage, of course. Landra, foreign exchange student, Nozomi's best friend, and Kozan's love interest (she majored in Poli-sci, which made no sense, considering how apolitical that environment was), and Shadow hunters Natalia and Mier.
Since some of these were all new characters, and I love playing around with connecting the original story to the new story. Kozan and Natalia would eventually get married and be the distant ancestors of Sekhen. The ship that went up in space (and the people with it) would also become the foundation of the villain's organization in IDT History. Inori was still going to end the story having her child, but another half of the original son character was represented oddly enough by Mier, who carried the physical representation of her son, and who would actually become a Shadow.
Somewhere along the line, I think I realized that all of this needed reframing, that it couldn't possibly happen on Earth, and that I would have a lot more fun developing the world if I snipped Axis free. Also, by that time I was an Anthropology major. And well...
Phase 4: "Axis 2.0 -- The world is my sandbox" (2004-2009):
The biggest change is really the focus of my story from the "Who" to the "Where" and the focus of figuring out how all the various and sundry groups of people ended up at that "Where"
"Where" is two places, the planet in general, and the tower around which all the action revolves.
The planet started getting features and histories. I know the geography (including the parts that none of my characters know), and how the groups of humans spread. I know the general history of the humanity--two major waves of colonization from Saiden, the eastern continent, which ended badly for all involved, and now several centuries later where "everyone" are living in a semi-peaceful, post-political (though not utopic by any means), cool-but-cordial interaction when they have to with each other. I also knew that the Shadows lived, beneath it all, waiting for the time when they could reemerge and reunite with human beings.
That's the short version.
The tower, Utame, and her surrounding landscapes became central to the story, as it's an intersection of the edges three distinctly different cultural groups. First, to the Saidenese, it's in Kozan's family, the place given to the powerful but eccentric members whose thoughts don't quite fit into the mold of governing. To Kozan, and many of the people who live there, it's a beloved place. Second, to the Shadows, one of the vents--the physical space connecting the surface world to the underworld--is located maybe a three hours away if one walks at a steady pace, which means that humans can discover it, and that it going to be a likely place for shadows to emerge from. Third, to a group of nomads who fall outside the quoted "everyone" above, the fields and lakes represent a safe place, because those at Utame don't kill nomads on sight the way other towers do.
Again, the short version.
So my story in it's current incarnation revolves around one act of violence (which, so far is the only act deemed necessary to my story so far) that happens at Utame, and the way it causes major changes to all those groups.
Some of the characters from GNS/IDT show up as members of the different nomadic clans. Two of the brothers, Jin and Lai are among the members of a small clan. Sekhen, the Sailor Moon analogue, and another of the Senshi are members of one of the largest and most powerful clans.
But despite the high-level of awesome women in this version, there's very little that remains of the Sailor Moon fanfic from ten years ago. Most of the "magic" and "powers" of the original story have been turned into something more subtle (though probably more influential). Actually, perhaps the only thing that actually connects back to the original fandom is the emphasis on the Power of Love. Though in a different way.
Which actually sums up what happened really well, though considering at this point the very first bit started in March 1999 at the age of 14, and my last major retooling happened in March 2009, just before I entered my current fandom in full force. So from the original idea to the latest incarnation, there's been approximately 10 years, through which I've graduated middle-school and high-school, earned an Anthropology degree with some fun forays into Medieval Literature, Japanese, Psychology, and Plant Biology among other subjects, played way to much of an MMO, met someone and got engaged to him, enrolled in a Graduate program. Fandom-wise, I moved from Sailor Moon, to Fushigi Yuugi, to Kingdom Hearts, to Final Fantasy X/X-2 with a few other minor fandoms interspersed here and there.
So, in other words, there's also a personal history that developed between the original fanfiction and the latest incarnation, that by necessity will show up behind the work.
Phase 1 (1999-2000): "Genso no Senshi" Think Sailor Moon self-and-friends insert fanfiction, only instead of planets, based on the elements (a combination of both western and eastern) Fire, Water, Wind, Stone, Wood, and Metal. Metal being the "Sailor Moon" analogue. The most notable thing, for the purpose of this story evolution was that there was a woman, Inori who was the "Good-twin" to the main villain's "Evil-twin", and her four teenage boy workers who would assist the cast and serve as love interests to four of the senshi. Inori also had a son taken away by her sister and a husband killed by her sister. Oh, and there was also an evil lieutenant who would be redeemed Sailor Moon style by the power of love.
Oh, btw, my "self-insert" of the group was not the Sailor Moon analogue, but her best friend and all around grumpy one. Just want to say that right now, even though it's not important.
Phase 2: "IDT History" (2001-2002)This is actually posted on Fictionpress, although *ugh* it's kind of a time machine thing right now and the first trace of this process. It's also the only "completed" story to actually come from all this work. I'm not linking it, because it's pretty horrible and I'm really bratty (and use fangirl Japanese) in my profile, but anyone who actually wants to look at it can certainly search for it.
The spin-off came from the fact that Inori and her boys (called the IDT for Inter Dimensional Taskforce because I was creative acronymer at the time) were more interesting than the Senshi-rip-offs, who were being made into their own original characters for a fantasy story that didn't get off the ground.
So the story was basically the four "brothers" (who were raised together, but were distant cousins at best) being rescued by Inori and her two goons Jin and Kato, and then growing up and eventually flying across the universe on her errands, with the ending of course supposed to lead into the sequel but ended up delving into a prequel based on Inori's past and what happened with her sister, her husband, and her son.
New characters that were added: Jin and Kato who ended up being one of the major heroes and the major villain respectively. Lai, a healer and best friend of one of the boys. The villains both had a name change Sasori to Sekhen, and Warui (yeah, bad in more ways than one 0.0) to Nozomi/Zomi. It took place in space, not on a planet. Sekhen was no longer a lieutenant exactly of Zomi, who really only showed up in one place in one of the side stories to assure us that yes, she still existed, she's still evil, and she still has Inori's son.
Not much else was changed in a fannish sensibility. It was sci-fi where all the science worked based on the Rule of Cool, that would segue either into the original fanfic (which was the intention) or go into an original story where the Senshi would show up with their serial numbers filed off.
Phase 3: "Axis 1.0 -- Earth in name only" (2002-2004): Of course Inori was Japanese. So she basically lived on the Earth of the far past (what would be the Far future to us) and Japan was nigh unrecognizable, like something out of Sim Tower but with most of the cultural history and background completely erased. So Japan in name only. I think I was also awesome here in at least leaving out the fangirl Japanese. There were also Shadows in this world, who were ghost like creatures who could see the future(and Inori's husband was, and always would be Kage, who was actually a blind Shadow--in the sense that he couldn't see the future--who was supposed to fill a prophecy that would unite human and Shadow, only it didn't go so well and destroyed the world instead).
This is where I think some of the other characters started to evolve a bit, and other major characters, who still show up in the current version, were born. Kozan, who was the representative of the tower where all this took place, and who was secretly building a space ship. Kage, of course. Landra, foreign exchange student, Nozomi's best friend, and Kozan's love interest (she majored in Poli-sci, which made no sense, considering how apolitical that environment was), and Shadow hunters Natalia and Mier.
Since some of these were all new characters, and I love playing around with connecting the original story to the new story. Kozan and Natalia would eventually get married and be the distant ancestors of Sekhen. The ship that went up in space (and the people with it) would also become the foundation of the villain's organization in IDT History. Inori was still going to end the story having her child, but another half of the original son character was represented oddly enough by Mier, who carried the physical representation of her son, and who would actually become a Shadow.
Somewhere along the line, I think I realized that all of this needed reframing, that it couldn't possibly happen on Earth, and that I would have a lot more fun developing the world if I snipped Axis free. Also, by that time I was an Anthropology major. And well...
Phase 4: "Axis 2.0 -- The world is my sandbox" (2004-2009):
The biggest change is really the focus of my story from the "Who" to the "Where" and the focus of figuring out how all the various and sundry groups of people ended up at that "Where"
"Where" is two places, the planet in general, and the tower around which all the action revolves.
The planet started getting features and histories. I know the geography (including the parts that none of my characters know), and how the groups of humans spread. I know the general history of the humanity--two major waves of colonization from Saiden, the eastern continent, which ended badly for all involved, and now several centuries later where "everyone" are living in a semi-peaceful, post-political (though not utopic by any means), cool-but-cordial interaction when they have to with each other. I also knew that the Shadows lived, beneath it all, waiting for the time when they could reemerge and reunite with human beings.
That's the short version.
The tower, Utame, and her surrounding landscapes became central to the story, as it's an intersection of the edges three distinctly different cultural groups. First, to the Saidenese, it's in Kozan's family, the place given to the powerful but eccentric members whose thoughts don't quite fit into the mold of governing. To Kozan, and many of the people who live there, it's a beloved place. Second, to the Shadows, one of the vents--the physical space connecting the surface world to the underworld--is located maybe a three hours away if one walks at a steady pace, which means that humans can discover it, and that it going to be a likely place for shadows to emerge from. Third, to a group of nomads who fall outside the quoted "everyone" above, the fields and lakes represent a safe place, because those at Utame don't kill nomads on sight the way other towers do.
Again, the short version.
So my story in it's current incarnation revolves around one act of violence (which, so far is the only act deemed necessary to my story so far) that happens at Utame, and the way it causes major changes to all those groups.
Some of the characters from GNS/IDT show up as members of the different nomadic clans. Two of the brothers, Jin and Lai are among the members of a small clan. Sekhen, the Sailor Moon analogue, and another of the Senshi are members of one of the largest and most powerful clans.
But despite the high-level of awesome women in this version, there's very little that remains of the Sailor Moon fanfic from ten years ago. Most of the "magic" and "powers" of the original story have been turned into something more subtle (though probably more influential). Actually, perhaps the only thing that actually connects back to the original fandom is the emphasis on the Power of Love. Though in a different way.
