I myself have been exploring the notion of a dystopian Crystal Tokyo although my skills are lacking yet in properly depicting such an event but here is what I have thought of so far. Its not much but it might help.
Remember Davies' fic where the Church of Serenity was around (Together Again 2097)? Just imagine where the ENTIRE populace was like that in having deified the Sailor Senshi. Look at it from their point of view, civilization as they knew it ended in some sort of cataclysm and here come these magically powerful, eternally youthful messiac figures to lead them into a utopia. Why aren't they gods?
Now look at it from the senshi's perspective, they fought long and hard to bring about their utopia and in the end they succeeded. However the populace has become dependent, horrifically dependent on their immortal guardians. They are unwilling to do anything unless it has the sanction of the senshi, they base their civil laws off a book of aphomorisms that quote Serenity or the senshi.
Then things get really ugly. Telling people NOT to worship you never works, especially when you are so obviously superhuman. Sectarianism starts to take hold with devotees of each different senshi (although in the end they all worship Serenity as Head of the Gods) emphasizing different virtues. Then they decided to *prove* themselves to their goddesses by living lives that they feel the senshi would approve of. No harm there.......until the idea that people who don't do so are "misguided". Then comes conversion wars, sacrifices and what have you to prove that their devotion to their particular senshi is "purest" and to convince people to join their particular faction.
In other words a society where people defer their individual freedoms by subsuming them to the will of the divine. The Church of Mercury might devote themselves to study ahead of anything else while Jupiter worshippers might form the bulk of the armed forces. For many of the senshi I doubt that this is what they set out to do. They've created a society literally shaped in their image. None of the senshi can retire without an entire populace starting bloodletting ceremonies to convice them to stay. (No don't ABANDON US Mercury-sama! Oh we have sinned! Let us prove our worthiness!) Let alone Serenity herself (which would cause mass hysteria) who finds herself trapped in her imperfect utopia.
An examination of this line of thinking from the viewpoint of the senshi might be interesting. Imagine having millions hanging on your every word, living their lives by the examples you set. I'm sure some megalomaniacs would get a kick out of that but this would wear any responsible person down, always having to live up your image rather than be your natural self.
As for kidnapping otaku from the past it might be their idea of a *reward*. After all Crystal Tokyo is their ideal of perfection, a populace protected, fed and clothed by goddesses that walk the land. For those they can safely remove from the timestream why not bring them to heaven on Earth? Perhaps the Church of Mercury or Pluto would have the means and motivation to do so. Perhaps its still in a trial basis. Or perhaps all those who have come over eventually killed themselves and the good people of Crystal Tokyo are trying to find out why......
Regards,
Gary
If the list could possibly supplement my literature review, and
point out
a fanfic of substantial merit that _has_ explored a dystopian
Crystal Tokyo
in some detail, I'd appreciate it. If not, it would be easy for an
SI
character to get to Crystal Pyongyang--send spies to the 21st
century,
posing as SM cosplayers, who seduce and kidnap luckless otaku with
few
friends outside fandom who'll be mostly unmissed (and won't affect
the
timeline much), pace kidnappings of Japanese by North Korea.
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