[OOC] Ignite Heart! A Magical Girl RP

[NightinGem]

@Feyblue Agree with this. I'll help, if I can, if anything I'm very good at adjusting abilities so they fit roleplay/canon/etc rules or don't overlap, something I totally don't have way too much personal experience with, nope.

[byteoflogic]

@byteoflogic Huh. Well, not to be rude, which I know I'm going to probably end up being anyway, so I pre-emptively apologize, but a slight change of focus might actually not be so bad. Her whole "reinforces body with dangerous amounts of magical energy to perform increased physical feats at the price of possibly sustaining damage" is already really similar to Aegis' abilities, especially since they both have boots as a focus.

If you switched out her focus to "magic guns" then you could still have a similar fighting style just by doing things differently. Namely, pull a Ruby Rose and send yourself flying all over the place with the recoil of firing magically-empowered guns, while also pulling functionally infinite firearms out of nowhere to keep going. Plus, a Magical Girl's transformation and armaments are based on the user's personality, so there's really no rule that says that your aesthetic has to be all cute and girly. They could easily look like normal firearms.

@Feyblue

I share your fear, so... please understand I'm not trying to be combative.

I can see the connect drawn between Effortless Bound and Push, but I never intended boots as a focus. In fact, they were more of an afterthought for an aesthetic justification. And... the way that she handles right now is faaar more limited than Aegis or Ruby. I quite like the limitation and I can remove the boots if you feel they're too close.

I'm sorry everyone...

Ugh, this is such a mess.

Maybe I should just scrap her :/

[NightinGem]

@byteoflogic No no no no, you spent so much time and effort on her, we can adjust her to the point where she works, it's okay. Please don't beat yourself up, everything will be fine.

[NightinGem]

Sigh. I hope everyone can just work this out, it feels like there is a compromise to this situation that would be attainable once we all cool down. Like, reckless filling of parts of the body with magical energy does indeed fit Akiko's character, and is distinct from gravity manipulation. Maybe Akiko needs to be changed slightly, but I don't think she needs to have her entire ability sacrificed? I hope this sounds clear and makes sense.

[Feyblue]

No, no, I'm not demanding that you change things. I'm just saying that there's an overlap and so that if you wanted to switch to magic guns, you could use that to do the same thing but in a completely different way through recoil-boosting. But, if you don't like that idea, I'm certainly not ordering you to scrap everything anyway. Do what you want. I just wanted to offer an alternative possibility that might make magical guns make more sense for her so that she could keep the gunslinger motif, which seemed like the most important part.

[NightinGem]

@Feyblue She was tailored in such a way that each bit of her powers was supposed to correspond with her personality, which is why Byte is so hesitant to change things. It's less the gunslinger motif as it is the abilities combined. I'm sorry things got this heated, but it seems communication has opened up enough that misunderstandings are being resolved? ^^;

[Feyblue]

I get that. I shouldn't have butted in without taking the whole focus into account. Again, I'm really sorry.

...I'll just shut up now. >_>

[NightinGem]

@Feyblue Nah, I think this is just a case of people not knowing/communicating enough and there being conflict as a result. If anything, talking it out further will help, though probably in PM rather than on the thread.

[byteoflogic]

Yea, everything has been worked out (for the better). Sorry everyone, for the disturbance.

And please don't shut up, @Feyblue. I value your input!

[Feyblue]

...Ok. 0w0

[NightinGem]

Everything worked out, I'm so happy!

[Crimmy]

Funeral tomorrow. Don't expect any posts then.

[VitaVitaAR]

I think I can get a post up today, though at the moment I slept in way too late so I'm having trouble figuring out who I can reply to where. ^^;

[Raineh Daze]

Notice me. ;~;

[NightinGem]

@Crimmy Do what you have to do, and and take care of yourself.

[BurningDaisies]

My Character

Name: Darwin Misaka
Magical Girl Title: Arcana Heart
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Appearance:

Hider

Magical Girl Appearance:

Hider

Personality:
She knows exactly who she is and makes no apologies for being herself. She is so comfortable in her own skin that it's strangely intimidating to some. A mix of carefree smiles, adventurous antics, and seemingly, baseless confidence, she acts like a force of nature: coming and going as she pleases, pursuing her interests with maximum effort, and through sheer charisma or grit gets what she wants. She dislikes failure, especially when it's her own fault, but she has a strong enough character to move on and learn from it. Surprisingly, despite her typical headstrong nature, she rarely makes the same mistake twice--a testament to her adaptability.

Many of her hobbies tend to feel empty and unfulfilling after awhile, so she's constantly on the lookout for something new and exciting--new foods, new games, new toys, new books, or whatever else she can get her hands on. The problem arises from her natural talent. Misaka is generally adept at anything she tries, and picks up new skills easily and frequently; however, she drops them just as quickly. She rarely feels a sense of achievement, regardless of how much time and effort she had committed, and her competitive spirit has been all but snuffed out by years of besting people in various sports and games. She likes a good challenge, but they are hard to find and fleeting.

Skills:
Given how often Misaka picks up new hobbies, she possesses a strange mix of skills, but she isn't an expert in anything and many of these skills she hasn't practiced in a long time. Anything from costume-making, trigonometry, and gymnastics to golfing, speaking classical Latin, and cooking.

If anything, she is resourceful and can invent solutions to problems quickly with whatever tools she has at hand.

Abilities:

• Arcane Evolution
  Misaka's magic puts her in a state of continual reaction, adapting to whatever the current situation demands. If placed in total darkness her eyes automatically adapt to allow her to see; if underwater, her lungs double as gills; if exposed to fire, her body becomes fireproof; if falling, her magic cushions the impact. The reactive changes are quick and seamless.
  
  Her magic's adaptivity only appears limitless. She lacks any kind of conscious control, and these adaptations are purely instinctive. Misaka's magic can only react to threats she is at least subconsciously aware of. Moreover, the protection her magic offers are temporary, and revert to normal within a few seconds once she is no longer exposed.
  
  Typically, she can only adapt to environmental effects. While this makes her particularly durable against physical attacks, heat and cold, and so on, there are some things that simply can't be adapted to, such as exposure to raw energy or pure destructive magic. A house fire, while dangerous, is manageable, the primeval flame of an ancient demon from beyond time and space is not.
• Grimoire Heart
  As Arcana Heart, Misaka As Halcyon Mystic, Misaka can instinctively tap into a wellspring of knowledge that exists beyond herself: magical constants, arcane formulas, mystic truths, and so on. This gives her access to a few useful spells.
  
  
  • Halcyon Daze
    This spell channels the feelings of warmth, nostalgia, and love she recalls from childhood into an opponent. It instills them with a euphoric sense of heartfelt joy and contentment as they suddenly feel emotional echoes from Misaka's happiest memories.
    Although it doesn't last but for a few minutes, it is typically enough to stun a lesser Negari, and daze the stronger ones. Elite Negari may feel sickened or fatigued by it, but otherwise suffer no ill effects.
  • Quicksilver Heart
    This allows Misaka to transform her scepter into (almost) any melee weapon or tool she can think of. Whether it's a greatsword, a crowbar, or a lock pick, Misaka can improvise and make what she needs. Unfortunately, the scepter can't transform into machinery or anything that couldn't conceivably be made entirely out of metal.
  • Dynamite Love
    While wielding her scepter (regardless of what form its currently in), Misaka can fire an enormous ruby heart made of pure positive-aligned magical energy, which explodes into a blinding display of rainbows and sparkles upon impact. The intense light affects everyone, but the explosion only damages Negari and maybe snuffs out a candle or two.

Weapon:
Misaka wields a silver scepter made from a nigh indestructible, presumably magical material. While it primarily serves as a focus for her magic, its shape and durability make it a suitable cudgel or mace when needed. It may look like a toy, but it is deceptively strong, capable of leaving dents in steel girders, holding heavy doors open, and smashing watermelons.

She can cast spells without the scepter, but they are nowhere near as potent.

Brief History:
Misaka's father, Loris, was a university physics professor. While he maintained he a reputation as a unapologetically critical man of academia, known for delivering blistering invectives against peers who published half-assed papers and shoddy work, he was a very present and loving father, and is the one who really inspired Misaka to just be herself even before she knew what that meant. She would often accompany him to the campus and watch him work. They would watch operas and plays together. He even taught her how to box. She had asked right after they watched a world championship together with boundless enthusiasm in her eyes. It's hard to say "no" to that.

Her mother, Saeko, while affectionate, was often distant and tired. Overburdened by work, she would be overseas for weeks on end. When she did come home, she was too exhausted to really mingle. The few times she tried reading Misaka bedtime stories or asking about her day, her mother would fall asleep within minutes. Misaka remembers tucking her mother into bed on more than one occasion.

Her childhood was fun and memorable, but when she was eleven, her mother's health started to decline and eventually quit work altogether. The doctor's said a change of atmosphere would do her the most good, so they moved from their flat in Wales to her mother's hometown of Kiyosato in rural Yamanashi.

Having lived for so long in the United Kingdom, she never quite fit in at school after that. Her interests never really matched up with the other kids. They had Judo instead of boxing. They had arcades instead of card parlors. Her fellow students went out of their way to be friendly and polite, but they all seemed to possess an unwarranted sense of superiority over her. That somehow her only being half-japanese made her half as competent. It was grating, and the atmosphere more oppressive than when her father was preparing final exams.

Misaka steeled herself and just tried surviving school in a way that would cause the least amount of stress for her parents as possible.

That's when she met Buttersnips. Her first real friend after coming to Japan.

Fairy Name: Buttersnips the All-Powerful
Fairy Appearance:

Hider

Fairy Personality:
Buttersnips the All-Powerful is a fairy with a larger-than-life presence. Despite her size, she can easily project her voice with enough volume to drown out a noisy cafeteria. She laughs loudly and fights fiercely, loyal to her friends and a menace to her enemies.
Unfortunately, as one could guess from her name, she has a slight ego problem. More accurately, if her ego was a Twinkie, it would be roughly thirty-five feet long and weighing approximately six hundred pounds.

Theme Song:

[BurningDaisies]

@VitaVitaAR
There we go. Finally got something thrown together.

Opinions and criticisms welcome~

[NightinGem]

Okay, so I, uh...please do not think I'm trying to be an ass, but I frequent a writerchat with many English majors and a few professional authors and may have run this character past them...here are my criticisms and suggestions, as supplemented by them.

Your character is sort of overpowered, in the sense that she has little limitation, few character flaws, none of which really balance her abilities, and that her abilities are obscenely multipurpose and effective. Having them only last for a few seconds is not a suitable limitation when they link seamlessly. She's crazily skilled at about everything and bores easily; that about sums up her character. Saying she's jack of all trades, master of none does not excuse this. If humblebrags are your character's only flaws, you should probably rethink the character.

I'm not saying I hate her, but she seems rather one-dimensional, as does her fairy. You have a good writing style, but I'm just not really seeing much that's going to be fun to roleplay with? A combination of overly adaptive and effective powers and a bland personality is just...not fun. Also, her powers seem to be very reminiscent of Darwin from X-Men First Class, though that's not really an issue.

[NightinGem]

She's not an unsalvageable character, she just has very very few character flaws, most of which are humblebrags, and is rather OP in terms of ability. I'm sorry for overexplaining and probably seeming like a pretentious asshole. (Actually, maybe I'm not? Like I'm sorry if I seemed like an asshole but overexplaining can be good for criticism). Points still stand, though. This is not a character who is conductive to a balanced roleplay, and a character who is unfortunately an archetype of what is known as the Mary Sue, or as the writerchat deemed it in TVTropes form, Power as the Plot Demands It Manic Pixie God Mode Sue.

[Eventua]

Name: Kenshin Tanaka
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Appearance:

My Hider

A tall, thin man of narrow jaw and short dark hair. He dresses in smart, modest clothing that's primarily blue, brown or beige. He is entirely unremarkable, and vanishes into a crowd with almost superhuman ease.

Personality: Calm, kind and focused. Normally a very polite, reserved and cautious person, Kenshin's personality becomes much bolder in dangerous situations - his keen mind is ever vigilant and observant of the smallest details, picking apart the world around him an array of perception that most can't seem to decipher.
Skills:
--- Eyes of Modest Truth: Seeing the world through mortal eyes and a mortal form that none-the-less focuses on the unusual and prenatural, Kenshin is able to quickly pick up on and discover things that most would fail to notice. With great cunning his eyes dart about as if possessed, the fragments coming together into an elaborate picture.
--- Silver Tongue: While not generally dishonest, Kenshin knows a thing or too about holding people's attention - even if it means the occasional spark of nonsense or redacting the less favourable aspects of a situation.
--- Moderate Income: Through living in a cheap, low-quality apartment and having a relatively steady part-time job on the side, Kenshin has resources that most high schoolers could only dream of.

Weapon(s):
--- A Nice Hat: Pictured alongside him, it's really very nice. It's also just the right size to obscure his face without making it seem obvious, if that's something he needs to do.
Brief History:

Growing up in a small and uneventful family, the son of a couple who ran a corner shop in their cozy seaside town, Kenshin rarely aspired to greatness. He had many natural talents, and the world seemed good. While he had few friends, he and his sister would tell each other everything, and they often stood up for each other - he'd help her with homework, she'd help him to overcome his shyness and make friends. When it came to bullies, they always had each other's backs...

And then one day a fairy came to town, and the bond grew distant.

She left for greener pastures, metaphorically speaking. No longer happy with her small town life, small town friends, small town dreams...

Small town brother.

...

[TO BE EDITED]

----

Cat Name: Kurumi
Cat Appearance:

My Hider

Cat Personality: Kurumi has a lovable personality when she's not murdering smaller animals and bringing them to Kenshin as gifts. She loves nothing more than eating tuna, snuggling by the fire, and sneering at her pet human or interfering in his work at the worst possible times.
Handily, though, she's got an even better eye for the strange and unusual than Kenshin does...

----

Theme Song: