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Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:48 am
by Miron
paarfi wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:22 am
That sounds like Miho had the power and was giving some to Moeko, not Miho stealing power for herself.
Or... Miho gaining power in exchange for life?

I mean, in Megatokyo it seems that pretending to be someone, hijacking their story, can make you connected to that person. Like Miho was able to perceive something about Kimiko being intimate with Piro (Miho became fulstered in [1520] because of something she has been feeling as a result of Kimiko assuming her persona).

Maybe Miho pretending to be Moeko was something that the latter could actually feel? Maybe she experienced the waking world through Miho's senses? On the other hand assuming Moeko's role could empower Miho. Moeko could be a magical girl throughMiho.
Also, welcome to forums Miron.
Thanks! I've been occasionally lurking for some time now. I think I began reading the comic around strip 599.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:51 am
by cryum
paarfi wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:22 am

I'm not sure about that. Moeko says:
You made me the magical girl they all said I could be if I ever woke up. You've got so much life, you gave some of it to me!!

That sounds like Miho had the power and was giving some to Moeko, not Miho stealing power for herself.
I don't see it that way. In the same way that Erika didn't "steal" Moeko's power, assuming Moeko's identity would not steal anything from her. It only connects you like what Miron mentioned.

So by doing magical girl stuff "as Moeko", Miho made Moeko the Magical Girl realer than any VN possibly could. That's what I take "giving life" to mean.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:00 pm
by darrin
Hecatombe wrote:
Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:24 pm
Miho has a lot of enemies.
But hopefully is gaining a few friends this time around. (Even more hopefully, in a way that would not subject said friends to the "people that love her die" problem.)
Teddy-Werebear wrote:
Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:57 pm
Noooooo... please do die.
AND STAY DEAD THIS TIME!
Teddy man, I love you like a brother, but... you are sounding more and more like the villain in a Die Hard movie (or Taken for whoever leans that way :lol:). The more stridently they cry for someone to get rid of Bruce (or Liam) the more plot anvils end up headed their way. :(
You made me the magical girl you all said I could be
Hmm, ok, so... Stability takes an existing MG, or even potential MG (perhaps the coma doesn't reduce her sparklogen reading? How else would they find her and be sure she's magical? Did she do magical things and then fall in a coma? Was the coma deliberately engineered as Invisigoth claims?), and then puts out a fictionalized version of the MG and her story (Moebo for Moeko, Nurse Angel Ririka for the actual Ririka etc.). Presumably to control the fanboys in some way, and/or distract from and provide plausible deniability for the actual MG's exploits as needed. Or possibly other motives, there have been hints so far but nothing certain as far as I recall.

And the analogue fits into this... how? Providing some kind of extra "fuel" in situations that demand it? Maybe Meimi and Ririka would be "easier" to write stories for, having actual exploits to fictionalize... whereas a girl in a coma who "was never healthy enough to do much of the magical girl stuff" would present a greater challenge? (I now find it significant that Ririka says "much" instead of "any", but as usual don't yet know what to do with that hint.) I am really looking forward to seeing how much of the "mechanism" involved Fred ever chooses to make explicit, or if the bulk of the ambiguities will be left occult to the very end. (To be clear, as a huge SF fan with occasional taste for weird psychological drama, I would be happy either way. :lol:)

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:20 pm
by paarfi
darrin wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:00 pm
And the analogue fits into this... how?
I think it's that the analogue provides the Story (or the story archetype) for the magical girl, idol, or other (like Kotone) to be a character in. Miho has shown a connection to characters in her Story before. I think when Kimiko pretended to be Miho, it established that same kind of connection, though much more direct because she was pretending to be Miho herself rather than some other character of that Story.

Or maybe not. I think we're getting closer to really understanding, but we're not quite there yet. Go go speculation!

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:56 pm
by darrin
paarfi wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:20 pm
I think it's that the analogue provides the Story (or the story archetype) for the magical girl, idol, or other (like Kotone) to be a character in.
That certainly makes sense. I get the impression though that something more concrete has to be involved; Miho hints (frustratingly vaguely but watcha gonna do :lol:) about the story "driving" the fanboy horde; the story is somehow "making" her, and them, do things, and attempting to "steer" that story in other directions requires either tremendous effort on her part, or just plain doesn't work (i.e. causes something worse to happen). So, some kind of "magic" or "energy" (to the extent magic or energy can be considered "concrete" :?) causing the story to actually play out in real life.

Or... I am just reading too much into it, and all this "driven fanboy horde" stuff is just Fredaphors for "story or story archetype" as you say. :lol:
Or maybe not. I think we're getting closer to really understanding, but we're not quite there yet. Go go speculation!
Yeah definitely agree there. I mean in my question above I didn't mean I have no idea how the analogue fits in, just... nothing I can back with in-comic evidence yet, or narrow down the hypothesis space. The search ninja will obediently confirm that the only things we know for sure yet about "analogues" are the tipsy ramblings of Junko's flaky father, and a few curt questions from a grumpy TPCD inspector.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:20 pm
by Liminaut
In Megatokyo, stories have power. Or more specifically, stories have fans, and that fandom generates power. One use of this power is to keep the stories themselves, and the focal points of the story, alive. The power of story has been keeping Miho alive for about a century, and also allows her to do crazy magical shit as necessary.

Moeko is part of the Miho story family -- a young girl tragically struck down by illness before she could really live. Never mind that Miho didn't really fit into the Miho story family that well. The power of that story kept Moeko alive to the point where she generated her own magical girl story.

Exploring this idea a bit:
The Ninjas needed to manage these stories, so they started mystic N1nj4 stories that gave them their own power source.

Magical girls can be magical because of magical girl stories. So magical girls generate magical girl stories, and then the MG stories instantiate more magical girls.

I wonder when Yuki is going to get an anime series?

Piro is getting some notoriety. I wonder if he is going to start generating stories? Maybe MT the comic is Piro's way of generating story power for himself.

Stories in Endgames drive stories in Megatokyo drives stories in unMod. The whole world is really an ecosystem for stories to thrive in, with the people simply food sources for stories. What happens when stories fight for the same niche in the ecosystem. Can one story wipe another out? Is that why there is a ninja contract out on the head of the foxes -- the foxes and ninjas are actually fighting for the same story turf.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:33 pm
by Mamma Peach
I'm inclined to agree with Miron's interpretation, though I was rather shocked that the creepy girl actually was Moeko. They must have really done her over for the consumer public, even more than Ririka. Is the fact that both of their stories contained tragedy what made it possible for Miho and Moeko to connect at such a metaphysical level? (And yeah, it's not very clear how or what that connection was, only it's awfully personal.) I like the fact that even though Moeko was so jealous her words merge with Yaku's into "Please don't die."

Also, in looking through some of the links in this thread (and a number of pages following them) it sounded like grandma fox was at the love hotel, not some distant shrine or something. I wonder where she actually is.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:43 pm
by Invisigoth
Saying that Miho tried to impersonate Moeko is rather like saying that Elvis became and Elvis impersonator and formed an Elvis tribute group.....it can't possibly work like that..

Given what we know of the parameters I can see both Idols and Magical Girls acting as a sort of containment and dampening mechanism for the stories and their attendant CA's

Just consider the term Idol, an idol is a symbolic stand in for some diety or demi-god in a religion. Using living Idols would allow Stability to manage and control the stories and the associated masses. Magical Girls are likely an unwanted side effect of this Idol use.

However, by tightening the controls on the Idol they very likely can also keep the MG's contained to a point, edit the story and you eventually have the ASF where the CA's always end up for "treatment"

I'm sure that until Erika went offline at the height of her person power that they had Miho very nicely convalescing in her hospital room at the ASF with Moeko totally out of the picture and in a coma.

If you could assure peace and stability and all you needed to do to achieve if for a city of 10's of millions was to keep one woman perpetually on the edge of death and then dying and a young girl in an indefinite coma is that really too much of a price to pay for the greater good? I know what TWB's answer would be as Miho dying miserably all alone, in pain and terrified suits him just fine and then there are all the mourners...

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 2:17 pm
by darrin
Invisigoth wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:43 pm
However, by tightening the controls on the Idol they very likely can also keep the MG's contained to a point, edit the story and you eventually have the ASF where the CA's always end up for "treatment"
Yeah, one way or another, it always ends up at the same "offer you can't refuse":

"Throw me the idol, and I'll throw you the whip." ;)
If you could assure peace and stability and all you needed to do to achieve if for a city of 10's of millions was to keep one woman perpetually on the edge of death and then dying and a young girl in an indefinite coma is that really too much of a price to pay for the greater good? I know what TWB's answer would be as Miho dying miserably all alone, in pain and terrified suits him just fine and then there are all the mourners...
I have for literally years now been unable to shake the idea that Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" was the perfect archetype for what's been going on in the above senses. Now is as good a time as any for me to mention it explicitly I guess.

Teddy-Werebear, if you've never read that one, I highly recommend it. If you have, I'd highly recommend a re-read.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:34 pm
by IrwinFletcher
Eight months and counting since Piro entered that shower.

10 more months and Fred will break the "trapped in the bath house" record!!!

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:58 pm
by paarfi
IrwinFletcher wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:34 pm
Eight months and counting since Piro entered that shower.
10 more months and Fred will break the "trapped in the bath house" record!!!
Piro will have very wrinkly skin. But man, the water bill.

Welcome (or welcome back) Fletch.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 5:16 pm
by Invisigoth
paarfi wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:58 pm
IrwinFletcher wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 3:34 pm
Eight months and counting since Piro entered that shower.
10 more months and Fred will break the "trapped in the bath house" record!!!
Piro will have very wrinkly skin. But man, the water bill.

Welcome (or welcome back) Fletch.
Wrinkly skin and a three year grin....

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 5:33 pm
by darrin
paarfi wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 4:58 pm
Piro will have very wrinkly skin. But man, the water bill.
"Big pink raisin discovered in local love hotel... American artist's whereabouts unknown..."

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:07 pm
by jkhartl
Invisigoth wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:43 pm
Saying that Miho tried to impersonate Moeko is rather like saying that Elvis became and Elvis impersonator and formed an Elvis tribute group.....it can't possibly work like that..

Yes it can. Haven't you seen Bubba Ho-Tep?

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:57 pm
by Invisigoth
jkhartl wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:07 pm
Invisigoth wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:43 pm
Saying that Miho tried to impersonate Moeko is rather like saying that Elvis became and Elvis impersonator and formed an Elvis tribute group.....it can't possibly work like that..

Yes it can. Haven't you seen Bubba Ho-Tep?
I was referring to a real event where Elvis attended a gathering of Elvis impersonators where his singing and stage presence weren't considered up to par. He thought it was hilariously funny.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:50 pm
by darrin
Liminaut wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:20 pm
Piro is getting some notoriety. I wonder if he is going to start generating stories? Maybe MT the comic is Piro's way of generating story power for himself.
He is definitely in the thick of things as far as the Story (or Stories?) is concerned. What's really amazing is how much those "things", or at least our understanding of them, have changed since the early chapters.

In 781, if this were a particular type of action anime, you'd literally be able to see the lines of force centered around Miho and roiling around the gathered fanboys. Certainly it looked sinister enough at the time (and still does to those determined to lean in that direction no doubt), her "manipulating" the gathered fanboys to direct their angry energy against the hapless Piro, as retribution for him thwarting her attempt the previous night to torment poor Largo. But in light of what we've seen in the last few chapters, framing it that way now seems to be missing the big question: which way are those lines of force directed?

I didn't get a lot of feedback last thread on my "Miho as Stability's foie gras" question. But without buying into all the details, I would hope it would at least be possible to consider the alternative hypothesis: it's not her manipulating the fanboys there (or in many of the other places in early chapters she's seen as manipulative), it's them and their pooled emotions driving her "story" and her along with it. If she latched onto Piro's emotions because they were providing a pull in a different direction, a relief from the fanboy horde driving her in a particular direction, then perhaps Largo was doing the same thing in a different way. Sure, in his case those emotions were disdain, hate, fear etc.; but they'd still provide relief from the fanboy emotional onslaught, and by pretending to go along with his "queen of the undead" rantings, she'd be encouraging and amplifying those emotions in him (and thus the relief in her). It might not even be a conscious decision on her part, more of a gag reflex (continuing the metaphor of the fanboy horde emotions being constantly shoved down her throat).

To the Anti-Miho Bandwagoneers: if she never chose it, and can't control it, and is in constant pain because of it, then... what exactly do you want her punished for? If any of the strange and wondrous things we've seen coming to light in recent chapters are remotely true (and yes, many of them came directly from her mouth, I'm not saying grains of salt aren't needed here, just that they need to be applied in both directions ;)), then her life has already been a punishment, for what unspeakably horrific past-life crime we may never know. Meta-punishing her for that may be viscerally satisfying to those absolutely convinced of her (again, nameless) guilt, but personally I'd kinda like to see some kind of basis or justification.

One of the worst omissions in the Lord of the Rings movies was dropping Gandalf's brilliant and beautiful "Then do not be so hasty in your judgment." :(

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:29 pm
by Rapierman
Suddenly, I'm reminded of this:


Image


(No copyright infringement intended. Fair Use in play.)

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:31 pm
by Teddy-Werebear
darrin wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:00 pm
Teddy man, I love you like a brother, but... you are sounding more and more like the villain in a Die Hard movie (or Taken for whoever leans that way :lol:). The more stridently they cry for someone to get rid of Bruce (or Liam) the more plot anvils end up headed their way. :(
Well... at least you did not equate me to Elmer Fudd. :lol:
If you could assure peace and stability and all you needed to do to achieve if for a city of 10's of millions was to keep one woman perpetually on the edge of death and then dying and a young girl in an indefinite coma is that really too much of a price to pay for the greater good? I know what TWB's answer would be as Miho dying miserably all alone, in pain and terrified suits him just fine and then there are all the mourners...
Ohhhhhh... their tears would strengthen me like drinking water from the Fountain of Youth out of the Holy Grail while bathing in the Lazarus Pool. :D
jkhartl wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:07 pm
Yes it can. Haven't you seen Bubba Ho-Tep?
I both love and own that movie! Great little flick.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 10:25 am
by richvh
paarfi wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:13 am
Miron wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:04 am
Also is that name just a pun? Combining "moe" with suffix "-ko"?
I think it was meant that way when Fred first came up with it. A stereotypical name for a magical girl. Now we know there's a real Moeko, so presumeably her parents actually named her that. I guess it's no weirder than some names that people give their kids.

Also, welcome to forums Miron.
Moeko is a genuine girl's name, written with various kanji for the "moe" portion, few using the base kanji for the anime/manga stereotype, though writing the whole thing or just the "moe" portion in kana is also listed in enamdict.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:05 am
by paarfi
Rapierman wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:29 pm
Suddenly, I'm reminded of this:
My mother had that bleach spot years before Rogue was first drawn. It must have been a thing in the late 70s.

Or did you mean that Moeko is poking Miho with her wand and whapping her with the bear because she might absorb Miho's character analogue status if she touched her?

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:37 am
by darrin
Teddy-Werebear wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 10:31 pm
Well... at least you did not equate me to Elmer Fudd. :lol:
No indeed. If I were going to make a rabbit-themed cartoon analogy it would be a Watership Down one.

"All the world will be your enemy, Pirate Princess with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you...

... But first, they must catch you."

And if you deliberately choose to take on the General Woundwort role, well, not much I can do about that either...

"Get back here, you fools! Magical girls aren't dangerous!"

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 2:37 pm
by paarfi
Mamma Peach wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:33 pm
Also, in looking through some of the links in this thread (and a number of pages following them) it sounded like grandma fox was at the love hotel, not some distant shrine or something. I wonder where she actually is.
I don't think so. Megumi's (non-foxgirl) grandma was at the Foxhole. Mugi's 9-tail grandma was at the shrine, or at least she was sometime earlier when Mugi and Yaku visited her. The ninjas were taking Miho to the Foxhole so Miho's story could continue and thereby preserve the Stability, not because they thought Mugi's 9-tail grandma was there.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:36 pm
by Zandra
Liminaut wrote:
Wed Oct 31, 2018 1:20 pm
In Megatokyo, stories have power. Or more specifically, stories have fans, and that fandom generates power. One use of this power is to keep the stories themselves, and the focal points of the story, alive. The power of story has been keeping Miho alive for about a century, and also allows her to do crazy magical shit as necessary.

Moeko is part of the Miho story family -- a young girl tragically struck down by illness before she could really live. Never mind that Miho didn't really fit into the Miho story family that well. The power of that story kept Moeko alive to the point where she generated her own magical girl story.

Exploring this idea a bit:
The Ninjas needed to manage these stories, so they started mystic N1nj4 stories that gave them their own power source.

Magical girls can be magical because of magical girl stories. So magical girls generate magical girl stories, and then the MG stories instantiate more magical girls.

I wonder when Yuki is going to get an anime series?

Piro is getting some notoriety. I wonder if he is going to start generating stories? Maybe MT the comic is Piro's way of generating story power for himself.

Stories in Endgames drive stories in Megatokyo drives stories in unMod. The whole world is really an ecosystem for stories to thrive in, with the people simply food sources for stories. What happens when stories fight for the same niche in the ecosystem. Can one story wipe another out? Is that why there is a ninja contract out on the head of the foxes -- the foxes and ninjas are actually fighting for the same story turf.
Here si a scary thought...what if Miho suddenly becomes normal,and THAT is why there is not going to be a happy ending. Time will start moving for her again,and Death will finally get his shot at her eternal soul. I bet she crumbles to dust in Piros arms with her shooting the bird at him.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 12:33 am
by cryum
Zandra, I'm pretty sure that's EXACTLY what Miho's worried about, and why her attempts at saving herself generally involved other idols/stories instead of adding realism.

Re: [1541] Something to say to you

Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 3:57 am
by cidjen
Zandra wrote:
Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:36 pm
Here si a scary thought...what if Miho suddenly becomes normal,and THAT is why there is not going to be a happy ending. Time will start moving for her again,and Death will finally get his shot at her eternal soul. I bet she crumbles to dust in Piros arms with her shooting the bird at him.
If this was to happen, i'd say this is why Fred used to hint that we're not gonna like Piro after all this any more: because he would be perfectly ok with this... He will bid her farewell and maybe a few tears, but he will be happy that she finally let go to find peace.

Or he would put up a face to make her go peacefully, and then, when she's gone, Kimiko will be his 'regret cushion'... Or he'll clumsily treat her like so and get rejected, back to Ping ? ... Too scary to be afraid of such resolution...