Re: [1558] Getting through
Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2019 8:24 am
Taking a stab at how this all works in practice.
Story -> CharacterAnalogue -> RealPerson -> Performance -> Fans
So in this particular case, we have:
TragicDyingGirl -> Miho -> Moeko -> Erika -> FanHorde
but there's also:
MagicalGirl -> ??? -> Ririka -> PrettyLittleBlondeGirl -> AnimeFans
MagicalGril -> ??? -> Lavandula -> LovliesOfLavender -> AnimeFans
and presumably many others.
The story flows from left to right, and power or "life" flows back to the left, which is what powers magical girls (and presumably others) in general and keeps Miho alive specifically.
We know that Moeko is a "potentially catastrophic grade" magical girl. I suppose some of that might be because she embodies two Story archetypes (TragicDyingGirl and MagicalGirl) and that caused a stronger resonance with fans that provided more power feedback. Though storytelling often doesn't work that way. Maybe Erika's skillz helped there too. The more the fans like the anime, the more power feedback. This might also explain Erika's semi-magical ability to unlock handcuffs [1110].
That doesn't explain Yuki though, who doesn't have any anime or real fans yet, other than Yutaka. Presumably some of the power that gets back to the Story is used as to power new magical girls who don't yet have Fans. If it didn't do that, then a Story would die out.
There appears to be the potential for a mental connection between the different parts of that chain. Miho seems well aware of the portrayals of her Story, as with Kotone and Miho's awareness of Kimiko when Kimiko was pretending to be Miho. Kimiko's connection with Kotone is easier to explain in muggle terms, but it could easily be more. We can see that as well with Moeko's ability to talk to Miho and Erika. Reading between the lines [1500], I'd think Moeko can talk to Ririka and other magical girls as well, and maybe having a common Story is what permits that.
I think the long chain between Story and Fans provides a few things. It allows for some variety -- even a good Story can get dull and old if told the same way every time. It allows for creative interpretation, which allows it to be told more effectively, as with Sayuri's writing for GirlPhase [1113]. It allows for the hiding of things that might make the Story less appealing to fans, like the Lovelies real age [1418], Ririka's real appearance and attitude [1499], and Miho's full real story [1326].
But just as importantly, I think that long chain provides some needed isolation and dampening. The love of the Fans is powerful and can easily get out of control [597]. That's why we also have Stability, the TPCD, MagicalGirl Detectors, the Notspital, and such. It's a public danger, and something that needs managed. I think that's why Miho was so terrified of the Fans finding all those pictures that Ping took and building a "real me" [1287]. That would remove the buffer layers that she normally has between her and most Fans. She does have some direct already with the folks at the CoE like Kenji and Mugi, but that's a small and manageable. To expose her directly to the love of the FanHorde would probably be a disaster. That seems to be what happened at the school [1386]. And that is likely what happened even more so a couple of years back when Erika quit and Miho stepped in directly [800]. Masamichi says it was "the one time I almost lost Tokyo" [806].
edit: fixed some things and added the school link
Story -> CharacterAnalogue -> RealPerson -> Performance -> Fans
So in this particular case, we have:
TragicDyingGirl -> Miho -> Moeko -> Erika -> FanHorde
but there's also:
MagicalGirl -> ??? -> Ririka -> PrettyLittleBlondeGirl -> AnimeFans
MagicalGril -> ??? -> Lavandula -> LovliesOfLavender -> AnimeFans
and presumably many others.
The story flows from left to right, and power or "life" flows back to the left, which is what powers magical girls (and presumably others) in general and keeps Miho alive specifically.
We know that Moeko is a "potentially catastrophic grade" magical girl. I suppose some of that might be because she embodies two Story archetypes (TragicDyingGirl and MagicalGirl) and that caused a stronger resonance with fans that provided more power feedback. Though storytelling often doesn't work that way. Maybe Erika's skillz helped there too. The more the fans like the anime, the more power feedback. This might also explain Erika's semi-magical ability to unlock handcuffs [1110].
That doesn't explain Yuki though, who doesn't have any anime or real fans yet, other than Yutaka. Presumably some of the power that gets back to the Story is used as to power new magical girls who don't yet have Fans. If it didn't do that, then a Story would die out.
There appears to be the potential for a mental connection between the different parts of that chain. Miho seems well aware of the portrayals of her Story, as with Kotone and Miho's awareness of Kimiko when Kimiko was pretending to be Miho. Kimiko's connection with Kotone is easier to explain in muggle terms, but it could easily be more. We can see that as well with Moeko's ability to talk to Miho and Erika. Reading between the lines [1500], I'd think Moeko can talk to Ririka and other magical girls as well, and maybe having a common Story is what permits that.
I think the long chain between Story and Fans provides a few things. It allows for some variety -- even a good Story can get dull and old if told the same way every time. It allows for creative interpretation, which allows it to be told more effectively, as with Sayuri's writing for GirlPhase [1113]. It allows for the hiding of things that might make the Story less appealing to fans, like the Lovelies real age [1418], Ririka's real appearance and attitude [1499], and Miho's full real story [1326].
But just as importantly, I think that long chain provides some needed isolation and dampening. The love of the Fans is powerful and can easily get out of control [597]. That's why we also have Stability, the TPCD, MagicalGirl Detectors, the Notspital, and such. It's a public danger, and something that needs managed. I think that's why Miho was so terrified of the Fans finding all those pictures that Ping took and building a "real me" [1287]. That would remove the buffer layers that she normally has between her and most Fans. She does have some direct already with the folks at the CoE like Kenji and Mugi, but that's a small and manageable. To expose her directly to the love of the FanHorde would probably be a disaster. That seems to be what happened at the school [1386]. And that is likely what happened even more so a couple of years back when Erika quit and Miho stepped in directly [800]. Masamichi says it was "the one time I almost lost Tokyo" [806].
edit: fixed some things and added the school link