MagnusMagneto Q+A 1
[Hey everyone. I ran a couple of polls / journals that indicated people were interested in a Q+A. Ultimately, didn’t get very many questions. As a result, I’m just going to compile all the ones I did get, add in a couple old ones, and release it as one deviation.If you have any questions you’d like answered in a future one, let me know!]
General Story Related Questions:
Q.) What’s with Ultra Gainer+ / What’s with the magic protein shakes?
A.) There are no magic protein shakes in any of my stories (Jennifer’s modified shake halfway through that series comes close though). Ultra Gainer is a brand I made up and use in multiple series as a self-referential nod.
It’s not magic. It’s meant to be something from the near-future of our world: an ultra-effective protein powder / supplement that helps bring someone to their full natural potential after a workout. All of the girls who benefit tremendously from it pretty much have genetic mutations or something else going on. That’s to say, Kelly, Tara, Jennifer, etc – their bodies are able to utilize nutrients super effectively and grow regardless, Ultra Gainer is just a lot more efficient than eating some chicken.
Jennifer’s protein powder that she invents halfway through is meant to be this taken to a further extreme. With her genius, she pinpoints the precise nutrients that stimulate and accommodate muscle growth, and brings them to their extreme.
Q.) Who is the strongest MagnusMagneto girl?
A.) As of writing this, going off of the original stories alone (and leaving the fanfiction stuff like Supergirl out), Fortuna is definitely the most powerful, especially in the second ending. Grace, Violet, Kristi, Maria, Rose, and Edana all have a ridiculous amount of potential and could theoretically surpass her. Every woman in the world in the Red Sun/Day at the Beach universe is stupendously strong. Many other girls could theoretically end up in a position where they start reaching the godlike level of strength – Mizuki, Stacy, Vala, Anya, Lyris, Sarah, and The Trouble with Magic girls all fit under that category; worth noting that all of those girls are in ongoing series as of writing this, heh. (Except for Sarah, she was in a complete story, but I have some sequel ideas.)
Q.) Who is the smartest MagnusMagneto girl?
A.) I’m pretty sure it’s Jennifer. Maria, Emma, and Tiffany are also up there. Many of the girls with developing minds haven’t had their series finished, so characters like Tara, Chalsey, the Meta High girls, Rose, and a few others, may have something to say about that later!
Q.) Who is the most morally evil MagnusMagneto girl?
A.) Honestly, none of them are actually undiluted evil, except for Cindy, who is more of a caricature than a character (since it’s Meta High). If you truly think that any of the other girls are pure evil, then you need to take a closer look at the world around you, sorry.
That said, Cindy aside, Alternate Kelly was pretty nasty/cruel in terms of abusing her power – but she did let Alternate Brian live, and even promised to protect him; I suppose she wins by default. Fortuna, Grace, Penny, and Violet are all clearly extraordinarily power hunger, but, none of them have done anything evil. (I was careful to write Grace as never killing anyone, and when she did hurt people, it was usually their own fault.)
There may be evil girls coming in the future.
Q.) Who is the most morally good MagnusMagneto girl?
A.) Jennifer is meant to be a flat-out Mary Sue, so by my intentions, she is. Tara, particularly in Rebirth, certainly is up there, as are Jessica, Kristi, Mizuki, and The Duchess – those are the girls who, in my mind, go above and beyond the call to be righteous, in that they actively improve the lives of those around them.
Most of the girls are good natured.
Q.) What were your favorite stories to write?
A.) My personal top-tier favorites: Legend of the Desert (looks rough when I read it now – really want to update it, I LOVE this story’s concept), Day at the Beach, Mother Knows Best Rebirth Chapter 4, and Sarah.
I also really enjoyed writing: Brian and Kelly Chapter 2, Mother Knows Best chapter 4, Mother Knows Best Rebirth 1, The Trouble with Magic, Legend of the Crystals, The Transmogrifier, DatBiceps Interview, Mizuki, Kryptonian Heritage, and Valentine’s Day.
Q.) Who are your favorite girls you’ve written?
A.) My favorite MagnusMagneto girls are Fortuna, Isabella, and Sarah.
Fortuna, I felt, was just really sexy, fun, and chaotic.
Isabella, was also really sexy and fun, but also had this pleasant grounded moral sense to her.
Sarah, is like the fantasy/nightmare come true. A bratty, sassy girl who keeps spouting inane nonsense, and it all keeps coming true. Every time you try to explain why she’s wrong, it ends up just giving her new ideas, and she suddenly becomes even more powerful.
Q.) Any changes the in stories that deviate from your original vision due to commissioner’s wishes?
A.) Off the top of my head:
– I wanted Jennifer to lose the arm-wrestling match with the coach so she would be motivated to train harder, then win later in a rematch. (This one was a bit of a back/forth argument between me and the commissioner)
– The other women in Jennifer’s family were all going to grow more muscular as well.
– Jennifer’s inventions were going to be more advanced. (This was the result of some comments from the commissioner that her inventions like the battery were already a bit too advanced – I had wilder things planned for later.)
– Kelly had blonde hair at first. (One of the chapters was published like that, then the commissioner pointed out she was supposed to be brunette so I changed it. In my mind she’s still blonde, lol)
– Mizuki was going to kill the thug at the end of chapter 1. (I wanted to show that Mizuki was truly overcome by bestial bloodthirst, and I thought that a literal rapist was an okay target to do so)
– Mother Knows Best original had a lot of changes, and tone inconsistencies (mostly my fault) so many that I got frustrated and rebooted the whole thing.
– Terry’s name was originally Tom. (Commissioner pointed out that Uncle Tom was an old slur)
– A Duchess’s Duty had a lot of various things edited by its commissioner (that’s why it’s the only story with an “edited by” tag)
– I pitched a ton of various ideas for modifying Proteus Effect. The intention was never to use all of them, just possibly some. Examples included: letting Eric continue to make changes to the women through the game; introducing a bleed-through effect from the virtual world where monsters could appear for the girls to fight; giving the girls varying magic abilities, or for magic items to appear in the world (from an expansion pack to the game); having some of the girls physically fight each other; making one of the girls evil and more powerful than the rest (likely Selina) so the others had team up and stop her. Ultimately, we ended up just going with the outline as-is.
– At one point during planning for Proteus, there was going to be a celebrity on TV who was recreated by Eric in Live-Sim. She would occasionally appear on television looking more muscular than the last time Eric saw her. The intention was to have a couple of fun scenes, and to act as ‘proof’ to Eric that recreating people in Live-Sim altered them in real life. This was taken out mostly due to time/space constraints (already had five girls in the story)
Q.) What stories had the most commissioner direction?
A.) Proteus Effect has a very, very extensive outline – though I have/am deviating a bit from it here and there. A Duchess’s Duty had a pretty strict outline and guidelines that were followed pretty much to a T as far as I can tell. Big Things had a lot of very specific things dictated about it (for instance, Jennifer’s measurements for most of the chapters were outlined by the commissioner), plus the aforementioned vetoed story ideas.
Q.) What stories had the least commissioner direction?
A.) Brian and Kelly series was really open, as was the alternate one. Mizuki has been really open too (the whole vampire thing was my idea – it was going to be a transfer story where she only stole from criminals. I had recently played Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodline, and was itching to write a vampire FMG story). Kryptonian Heritage has been extremely open.
Story Specific Questions:
Q.) What is the canon ending to Legend of the Desert?
A.) Whichever you prefer, honest! Personally, I think I like the first one better, since it’s a clearer reversal of what Richard originally desired.
Q.) What did Jennifer wish for?
A.) To become strong and smart enough to change the world.
Q.) Is Jennifer’s wish the reason why she’s so powerful?
A.) That’s up to you to decide. For what it’s worth, at one point in development, I was going to have Jennifer’s muscle gain be a genetic thing coming from the mother’s side of the family. This would result in Jennifer’s mother, sister, cousin, and maternal aunt becoming inspired by Jennifer and all gaining various amounts of muscle. That was vetoed by the commissioner; I still snuck in other FMG with Jennifer’s paternal aunt (The idea being that her father’s sister would mess with him). I kind of wanted to make Jennifer’s mother the strongest of the family, while keeping Jennifer the genius of the family, then after the time-skip, Jennifer would be the strongest in the world.
Q.) Can you better elaborate on the science behind Geneaology of the New Women?
A.) Sure. It’s been confirmed that our lifestyle choices can change our DNA, including that of our offspring. It’s also been confirmed that environmental and social factors can influence a child’s physical development growing up. Geneaology takes that to its extreme. The idea is the Instagram culture of girls chasing gains becomes the new norm, as a result, female bodies are changing the DNA of their eggs, and young women growing up are encouraged to get huge.
Q.) What made Jessica grow?
A.) Love