Inexplicable Thoughts of a Formulator
Mamoru and Motoki were laying in bed with a sheet over them despite being clothed... Well shirtless in Motoki's case as his white shirt and tie was laid on the floor. They were relaxed as it was dark in the room with only a partly opened door providing light. Not the first time that they were in bed together but they were still inexperienced.
Mamoru as he was looking on a website on his tablet wondered, "I've noticed one of my authors seems to have disappeared."
"Well Monkey Punch did pass away last year Mamo", smiled Motoki.
"Not him even if I do miss him, the person is nameless but refers the person as The Author."
"You mean Naoko Takeuchi?", wondered the blond as he broke the fourth wall.
Mamoru shook his head, "She can't write, just like J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer. Detailed on the drawings though."
"I thought that she was a decent writer..."
Moving the tablet to the bedside table, Mamoru breathed out, "According to The Author, there is more than what it seems."
"Tell me more..."
"The person described the first story to be partly true, in terms of the bag of badges, the mental trauma and an exaggerated take on why Sailor Moon isn't aired in Italy anymore and it did indeed air on a morning on Rai. There are a lot of fan fiction with Usagi and I... There is a book called Sailor Moon Reflections and the series outside of the manga it seems flopped in the UK causing damage to MVM who distributed the anime and ITV who are just milking soap operas and fixed shows. It also happens to be the one first world region where Sailor Moon failed unlike the US/France/Germany and Japan obviously. Well most anime do fail but not like that, it took 30 odd years before they got the original Gundam and 42 until they got classic Lupin. There were also accounts regarding pulling DVDs/Blu-rays of the show..."
"Not part of the fanbase then..."
"That's the thing, The Author came from a Lupin background where the Lupin/Jigen pairing and the LoopZoop pairing, that's Lupin and Zenigata are common. It is towards the point where the fans frown if Lupin and Fujiko are paired up unless part of a poly even though Lupin and Fujiko arguably is part of the series, a dynamic between the two. Our fanbase however believe that Usagi and I are the one true pairing and usually write the other couples as incompatible with the generals because they are men, a joke or at least more on crack or speculation such as that one dance with Ami and Makoto."
"So heavily sided towards the right wing then while Lupin is on the left?"
"Hard to say without going through every single fan from America both of the North and the South, Germany, Australia and Asia with their likes, dislikes, political backgrounds, whether they are straight, bi, lesbian, pan, asexual or non-binary. For Lupin also ask the French, the Filipinos, the Italians and the British."
"If The Author came from the Lupin background, would it mean that it is a fresh perspective then?"
Mamoru nodded as he believed by not being in the fan base, it would give a different take than a fan who would write based on their knowledge.
"The Author doesn't see myself and Usagi as the one true pairing but rather a detached old fashioned idea of princes and princess with their happy ever after", explained Mamoru as he sighed, "I actually agree that love isn't like that, rather a complex series of emotions unlike the old royal stereotype that doesn't even work with royalty anymore at least judging by Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle."
"I'm guess that The Author isn't into fantasy...", thought Motoki as he looked up towards the bedside lamp.
"Precisely Toki, more into action sort like James Bond or Fast & Furious, cartoons, anime that are from the late 1970s-early/mid 1980s and games in general."
Motoki was ruffling the sheet to try to get closer to Mamoru however the black haired man moved slightly away, more closer towards the tablet than towards his shirtless friend.
The blond asked, "If The Author is from the Lupin background rather than the Sailor Moon background, then how come the Author has more stories about us than Lupin?"
"Actually have an answer right here, Lupin is a high quality series so The Author feels more pressurised to write something good otherwise it would feel let down. There are ideas but too afraid to write them. It is why no stories of say Max Payne or Space Adventure Cobra, the Sonic fanbase from the younger days before going off the series is full of teenagers trying to fuck hedgehogs that is off-putting, some of the stuff is very hard to write a story about. Writing about a racing game would be very hard... With Sailor Moon however there isn't as much pressure due to being a lone wolf and as I will get onto later, has qualities that are beneficiary."
Mamoru quickly showed Motoki the list of cues that The Author had used. It had car chases, funerals, love in the park or a park like setting, action regarding shooting something, mentions anime however they were more grounded. Barely any transformations or magical based attacks and if they were, they were dreams. Same thing regarding the Silver Millennium or Crystal Tokyo. Motoki had thought that The Author wanted to focus more on the characters without their powers while Mamoru smiled that Sailor Moon wasn't a "Moon Healing Escalation" OP character. There were attempts at humour but struggled to pay off. The blond smirked when he got towards a certain story where Mamoru was reinvented as a Green Jacket Lupin clone. Thinking about it, it would make sense since Mamo was cold and there were actually two Lupin villains called Mamo, he secretly wished that there were more.
Motoki nodded and pointed at the tablet, "There does seem to have some that are in a high school."
"The Author is not into high school drama either...", breathed out Mamoru.
As Mamoru was resting his voice, Motoki pulled the sheet closer towards his friend to keep him warm as he felt cold. He was shivering when he was explaining his last few thoughts. The black haired man smiled that his blond friend did it for him.
Motoki pulled Mamoru's black top and asked, "Not into high school drama?"
"According to some notes that I got from The Author, the high school era was pretty bad. Heavily bullied for being who... the person is. I have an early draft of the story, of course rewritten to protect the identity and to be set in Azabu-Juban to put it lightly The Author does not have a single friend in the life, the only friends that The Author had done a betrayal leaving permanent scars, as bad as Jigen and his dates", explained Mamoru in a strong yet depressed tone.
Thinking about what happened to The Author, Motoki looked underneath trying his best to hold the tears that someone in the world was badly treated. Not even Makoto of all people were like that.
"It is why The Author considers Usagi to be a privileged girl, having a good house with parents having respectfully paid jobs, having countless friends, crying and whining to get everything that she wants including a man, also very contradictory where she goes on moral lessons yet is lazy, eats junk food, vindictive and loves being naked or revealing."
Motoki laughed, "Did The Author actually watched an episode of... Sailor Moon?"
Straight away Mamoru had done a sharp nod, it was the sharpest nod that he made that evening knowing that it was true and serious as he was unable to cry.
"Got traumatised..."
Both Mamoru and Motoki looked down wondering how something as bubbly as Usagi can cause so much trouble. The Author could watch Lupin who was a cheeky character yet trying to wonder why. Was it the high school setting? Was Usagi annoying or was she actually out of touch with reality? Was it the transformations showing the characters being nude and fan service? Were they raped by a youma? Yet Fujiko was naked on Lupin... Unless The Author watched a censored version.
Mamoru breathed out and continue explaining, "The irony was that The Author didn't experience the series like many of the fanbase, it was not out of growing up or the characters having different names, it was one day online before streaming was a thing and the only things that you could find where tape or DVD rips that took a couple of weeks to download. The Author can only digest a small amount yet does have some pluses and even has a tier list."
"A tier list?", gasped Motoki.
Going back towards the bedside table, Mamoru got out his tablet and tapped the documents section with SMTierlist.txt. It read out:
Makoto (GOAT)
Ami
Haruka/Michiru (as a pairing and are equal to each other)
Motoki (Part 3)
Mamoru (Part 1)
Rei (neutral, the demon thing put The Author off)
Mikan (the real villain)
Every other character
Usagi
Minako
After looking at the list, Motoki gasped, "Makoto is the Game of All Time?"
"More like Girl of All Time, you see The Author considers her to be an inspiration and a more realistic role model towards women. Like no matter whether a woman is taller than the rest or stronger than society thinks, providing that the person has a good heart and personality is what matters. I mean a girl who fights back yet still feminine. The work from the Author basically how much praise of Mako you can get. She is so inspirational that her voice actress was inspired by her growing up", firmly explained while trying yet failing to keep his stoic expression.
"You can't get better than that, too bad we can't speak to Amanda."
"I think you better apologise for breaking Mako's heart first Toki before speaking to Amanda..."
"Well I find it strange that Minako is dead last, I expected Usagi before her..."
"From what I know, most people put Usagi or Ami first then Chibi-Usa then the others, maybe swap Chibi-Usa with Haruka/Michiru depending in region. A lot of people put Mako close to last unless it is a pairing with Ami and we're not even considered on the list."
"Fans normally shove me under a bus..."
"I have that exact feeling Toki... If it wasn't for the OTP, fans would shove me away as fast as Jigen thinking about being in the same room as Fujiko."
They both nodded in agreement, they rarely find people talking about them more so regarding Motoki. With Mamoru they try to push Usagi along but how many fans talk about Mamoru. Not as the dick Tuxedo Mask who according to Usagi "does nothing" or the misguided Prince Endymion, but as Mamoru without any Usagi or attachment to her.
Mamoru coughed and articulated, "The Author considers Chiba-Usa to be non-canon. Anything that happened that caused the Senshi to die at D-Point with the exception of Haruka and Michiru of course."
"Non-canon? But she is canon, she's Usagi's daughter!", excitedly defended Motoki.
"I think the Author actually agrees with the American fan base on that one, I don't like the idea of having a daughter at least for now..."
"I'm thinking that The Author left because of the past..."
"You're right for once Toki."
"If you hate Sailor Moon and Usagi so much, why do you have feelings for her?"
Mamoru looked away shyly, a subject that he doesn't want to talk about. He called her a "bun-head", a "meatball-head" and various other insults. Motoki grabbed Mamoru's tablet and flicked through the Authors notes that were typed, one of them gave him a smile as it was explaining a possible theory why Mamoru was attracted to Usagi outside of her personality.
Motoki cheesily grinned, "You're a chubby chaser Mamo!"
The thought that Mamoru was attracted to an overweight teenager startled him. Sure seeing Usagi sometimes makes him happy yet he didn't understand why.
Mamoru tried to stoically explain, "The attraction based on someones mass is pure speculation, my dear Motoki."
"You probably have thoughts of her figure right now. That cuddly, warm round tummy full of cakes and in your opinion where her power comes from. You want her to be Sailor Moon so she can moon at you with her ass", smiled Motoki while refusing to give the tablet back to his friend as he had it near his chest.
Mamoru snatched the tablet and screamed at the top of his voice, "Toki!"
"It gets better my darling Mamo, you want to rub her tummy and squeeze her ass so she farts, the delightful odour goes into your nose and...", teased Motoki however he was cut off.
"If I was huffing flatulence, I would be choosing Makoto and if I want someone teasing me all I have to do is find Minako", frowned Mamoru while crossing his arms. He wanted to leave the bed, furious that Motoki thinks that Mamoru has a sexual fetish regarding Usagi, "Well I'm glad that The Author came up with Alternative Universes among Alternative Universes otherwise you would be so down the road right now."
"I'm really sorry Mamo... I was only being jovial and I forgot what happened to you and Mikan...", sulked Motoki as he stroked his friend's hair to calm down as Mamoru did not want that image of Mikan and her ass, "Anything else that The Author left behind?"
"There are notes of a 2020 based story but since a large Coronavirus happened, much of it became an alternative universe. I die and so does Mako or so it seems but at least you found a boyfriend. Oh and something that might interest you Motoki, a detective series."
"A Detective series?"
"Elementary, after the Crystal Tokyo era you become a detective in Hokkaido. It is very removed from Sailor Moon but there are a few cameos and nods."
"Well I have to do something if the Crown is shut down."
In a strange move, Mamoru snuggled closer towards Motoki as he was feeling more confident and in his thought wanted that warm Usagi but thinking that Motoki would have to do.
"I found my last note, The Author has been poorly so..."
Before Mamoru was able to finish his sentence, Motoki decided to kiss his long term friend. It was more of a cheering up kiss rather than a passionate kiss, it was something that he wanted to do since 1992 but was not allowed to do it. Whether it was due to Mamoru being addicted to underaged chubby girls or dressing up as a poor man's Arsene Lupin mixed with Zorro and leaving roses to a confused love or just plain not thought of it.
Mamoru blushed that Motoki after all those years had the courage to kiss him, he wasn't sure whether the kiss that he got from Ami from the one day of studying, from Makoto or when he was drunk and apparently kissed Usagi but he couldn't remember. In confusion, he stroked his hair and kissed him back. Now Motoki loved the kiss, all those intelligent Mamoru particles had reached into his lips sinking into his body.
A man wearing a red jacket had entered the bedroom however he only left two photos by the bedside table as he took the tablet away. One of Red Jacket Lupin making a grin and the other was Makoto and Ami, not as a pairing rather Makoto was annoyed yet Ami was shy as she had problems looking directly into the camera. Unaware that Motoki and Mamoru moved onto passionate kissing, he planted plushes of Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter watching them. The plush of Sailor Jupiter had her hair stroked and the hair of Sailor Mercury was patted before leaving. It is unknown whether it was The Author or someone else acting for The Author.