Sedna Email

Dear Kris,

Unrelated to the previous emails, yes, but this is a question that various people have been asking about. Among the most vocal, as per usual, are myself, Doc, and Adri. Sorin doesn't say as much mainly because he says "it's interesting" (this is what he says to most anything).

What exactly does Sedna have to offer to the Collective if she joins? You say she'll be "out doing things for them", but there's no talk of what those would entail, or how they couldn't get their less suspicious nameless servants to do such things if it's minor shopping or something. Far and wide, I think an adaptation of JFK's quote fits here: It's not about what the Collective can do for its members, but about what its members can do for the Collective. I seriously doubt, and so do Adri and Doc, that the members would allow someone who they really don't need to basically just stay around in the place.

Ignis is the leader and helps break down enemies. Dani hypnotizes their servants to stay with them. Scarecrow helps Ignis with his illusions and magic, and also helps keep subjects down, not to mention he has more experience than the other members (seeing as he has several decades of comics and failed plans to back him up), and also gets other materials to strengthen members (Mad Hatter's tea for Dani, for instance). Rikka has her White Knights to protect others and owns the White Night where they stay. Azumi works as Rikka's personal servant and has connections to other heroes.

Sedna, on the other hand has a hate for Yuki, but really not much else. For all intents and purposes, the only concern she really has is abusing and subduing Kitten, which...really doesn't mean anything to the other members at all save Azumi.

From what I can tell, the reason why she'd be kept in the Collective and allowed by anyone but Rikka is basically just so that Azumi has less restricted access to Kitten. And in all honesty, why would Sedna do that? I would think she wouldn't go into a situation where there is pretty much nothing to gain (she could easily ally with people against Yuki without joining) and only things to lose instead.

Kitten's development is another issue there. You tell me that "Azumi gives her hope". But you also say that she will only free herself from Sedna when she has all of her summons, and it appears that all of them will actively fight against Sedna. So how would Azumi's input being extended by time in the Collective really mean anything? It seems evident that your planned arc for Kitten doesn't really involve the ODST having much, if any, actual impact, and I understand that, but id leaves the reason we'd let Kitten stay sort of pointless as well.

Does Sedna have a purpose, a unique attribute that the group as a whole would like to have? Because far and wide, her real only attribute we've seen is the Psycho Lesbian, which wouldn't have much of a benefit to anyone else.

===

A related, but not quite connected question.

We spoke about giving Kitten's development more (read: any) involvement from other people, and allowing people to lose or win legitimately. I have a method that can possibly take out the blatant Villain Sue aspects (which make many people just not want to do any topics with her or Kitten), but it depends on something from your end. At worst, the vague itch thing.

Have you written the "Kitten gets her tattoo hurt and summons Sedna whenever she's apart too long" thing into canon? If not, I think it would be best to completely scrap that aspect for a few reasons, including from three sides.

Kitten's side first: Letting her legitimately be away from Sedna will allow her to actually develop. The average reader response to her is "why is this person talking to a living couch". If she's actually away and Sedna isn't always there, all times, no question, nothing, she can actually become a person instead of breathing furniture.

Sedna's side: Having her not always be with Kitten at all time will allow you to develop other aspects of her personality other than "controls Kitten". Currently, she seems pretty one-note, with everything connecting to "controls Kitten", from her interactions with anyone else to her arguments. A one-note villain is not often seen as a good one. Could she still search for Kitten? Sure. But not always no matter what stuff.

Most importantly, the other authors' side: Having everyone repeatedly fail no matter what happens completely disregards the framework of the forum itself. The forum is interactive, not one author writing everything how she wants to. You tell us that Kitten is impacted by people around her, but far and wide it isn't a lot, and even if it is, it amounts to nothing. I again bring attention to two scenarios, one being this one, one being an analogue.
1. Sedna and fighting her. If people lose to her, she takes away and rapes Kitten until she surrenders again. If people win against her and rescue Kitten, Kitten summons her back, and she takes her away and rapes Kitten.
2. Reflections, Sorin's plot, especially the final thread. Want to make a barrier around M. Jess and have her crash into it because it's stationary and she's not? She continues to run with it around her because why not. Want to have a character with super speed catch up to her and throw her to the ground when she's running? She'll run faster, even not having super speed, and dodge her. Want to have everyone fight her? She'll dodge half the attacks, ignore the other half, and run away.

Does one give more choice? No. Because everything amounts to the same thing. Heads, you win; tails, we lose. You tell us that Inters shouldn't attack Sedna, but you can't tell them not to. There is no heroic Interference who would just let Kitten be abused by Sedna without any repercussions. You tell us not to have people interact with Sedna and instead interact with Kitten, but we remain at a previously stated problem. Kitten is essentially furniture with a mouth and the self assurance of a can of beans. Sedna interferes with any and all attempts to communicate with Kitten, rendering the even futile attempt to speak with her even more pointless.

You have a character interfere with any attempt to do the one thing you tell us to do, and yet you continue to tell us to do such a thing. I turn to Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." The only thing keeping this from being true to us is that we don't expect anything different. We expect to repeatedly fail, have no impact, and render entire topics useless and a waste of time. This does not mean that we will continue. If anything, various users, myself included, will refuse to do any topics with Kitten or Sedna unless there's actually a chance of actually allowing character development that isn't entirely mandated by when you feel like getting her her summons.

The originally planned arc only worked in a fanfic format. That is to say a single author planning everything, using everyone at once. Not multiple authors. While I do have major developments only occur when a character is in a certain topic or sees a certain event, I don't completely erase any attempt for anyone else to have any impact whatsoever. Isaac talks to people and has become less cruel over time. Greg has become more understanding, but also less soft. Naito has turned from a scared kid to a competent, if socially awkward, teenager. Kira has turned from a complete misanthrope to liking a few people.

Others' characters have impacts. The need to, or nothing can or will develop, and people will not deal with your work. They will hate Sedna, not for her actions, but for how she is badly written. There is no other way to say it. A Villain Sue is horrid writing, and no matter what you say, everything points to her being one. Like any Sue character, a Villain Sue repulses authors, not just characters, in a kind of irritation, not revulsion at the actions (not to say that rape is to be taken lightly, but it shows just how bad it is that we can completely overlook the act and instead look at a character).

I send you this to help you. If you haven't done that one thing mentioned above with the tattoo, you should probably scrap it. If you have, it might be best to change how it works and make it more difficult to use.

Your friend and fellow RPer,
Greg