[OOC] From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

[Rothurage]

Hey, I'm interested in this idea. If you're still accepting, I'd love to join. Just gotta figure out what kind of character I want to play for this.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Strosivadan: Aye, still open at the moment.

[Ever Faithful]

Name: Eustace Bagge
Gender: Male
Appearance:
Personality: Grumpy, Cantakerous, and Miserable are the three words to describe Farmer Bagge. He's characterized by his cynical attitude and tendency to complain about everything around him. Eustace is also depicted as somewhat cowardly himself, often relying on Courage to protect him from the various supernatural threats that plague their farmhouse. Despite his rough exterior, there are occasional moments where Eustace shows a softer side or displays moments of vulnerability.
Brief History: Eustace Bagge is a loathsome and lazy elderly farmer living in rural Kansas with his wife, Muriel, and their pet dog, Courage. Throughout the show, Eustace's grumpy demeanor and tendency to mistreat Courage are evident, reflecting his troubled upbringing and strained familial relationships, particularly with his abusive mother. Despite his harsh exterior, there are occasional glimpses of vulnerability and kindness, especially towards Muriel, highlighting his complex character. Eustace serves as both a comedic antagonist and a source of occasional sympathy, adding depth to the dynamic within the show's quirky and supernatural setting.
Universe of Origin: Courage the Cowardly Dog
Equipment: Wooden mallet, beartraps, shotgun, Green Mask, Chair, Truck, Hat, and wallet
Abilities:
Superhuman strength - Despite his old age, Eustace is more than capable of lifting and swinging his giant mallet as a weapon
Superhuman durability/recovery - He's survived, or healed from, all manner of ridiculously painful and deadly injuries daily. All his deaths are subject to negative continuity. He had been subject to demonic possession, alien experimentation, and getting eaten alive and still comes out fine for the next episode.
Superhuman sleep - In "Profile In Courage", Eustace slept through all the methods Courage used to wake him up, including a bomb.
Intimidation - With his green mask, Eustace can strike fear even in the hearts and/or minds of eldritch abominations and supernatural creatures.
Other: Despite his rough personality and exterior, Eustace Bagge does deeply care for his wife, Muriel, and his dog, Courage. He lashes out at everyone due to his rage built up from his miserable childhood and abusive family.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Ever Faithful: I'm going to reject this form out of hand for a variety of reasons, detailed below.

• Eustace is, on a fundamental level, a character who does what he is able to do simply because of the nature of the medium he is from. Courage the Cowardly Dog is a comedy at heart—one that centers around a dog that is able to overcome all odds against all manner of horrors and supernatural beings, granted, but a comedy nevertheless. To claim that a character would be able to perform superhuman actions based solely off of the fact that the medium that he is from (more specifically, a cartoon comedy show that plays with extreme violence for laughs and wild gags for comedy) is ignoring the context in which the character is presented. By the same logic, could Tom and Jerry (from the titular cartoon) not be as gods unto men (or, well, cats and mice in this case) despite the comedic violence they are famous for being little more than just that?
  This is hyperbole, of course, but when everything else in the world (and all the characters therein, both from it and not) plays by similar rules, would it not be reasonable to assume that anything that so exceeds the threshold for one's suspension of disbelief that it wholly breaks immersion would not lend itself to breaking the semi-cohesive setup that is already reliant upon some basis in feasibility to function? A character needs to be presented as serious enough so as to not simply devalue or ignore the cohesion of what has been presented and what every other person involved in the RP has "bought into", so to speak. On that note...
• The character does not mesh with the cast as far as I can see, nor does he have any reason to mesh with them nor any reasonable willingness to follow along with their actions, whimsical or otherwise. Eustace is, as you have noted, a crotchety, grumpy old man who is prone to weakness and cowardice at his core. He's stubborn and seldom cares about anyone beyond himself, Miriam, and maybe Courage at times. In what world would someone like that ever be willing to place themselves on the front lines and fight instead of just letting someone else resolve it for him, especially when they show themselves to be more capable of handling what has been thrown at them?
  This is ignoring the fact that Courage the Cowardly Dog, as a cartoon show aimed at children, does not present Eustace's actions as anything more than comedy that oftentimes result in his comeuppance. Nobody is ever meaningfully hurt, nobody ever dies; who is to say that a person with those traits mentioned above—and who might otherwise may as well be a "normal" human at heart—could ever survive in a world like this to begin with?
• Linking back to the first point: being from an episodic show with no intent on continuity beyond the occasional two/three-part stories (after which everything returns to status quo anyways) does not, in my eyes, present itself as a valid argument for abilities in stories where the world is persistent and the actions of characters have meaningful, long-term consequences. Eustace is abused and ends up in ridiculous situations (often of his own making) because the setup of the show often desires it. It's not "fun" to see a character so mean to a protagonist and everyone around him escape consequences, so the show punishes him for his hubris. But with so many of those punishments being so meaningfully damaging both physically and mentally (and occasionally emotionally), retaining those results would change Courage on a fundamental level—because it is a gag show that has no intent of being bogged down in character development beyond the tropes that present the main trio as the archetypes they fit within (literally within the opening blurb of every episode, might I add) and nothing beyond that. Arguing that they should be taken seriously outside of that context—again, because the show must always return to the status quo for the next incident—does not mean that the character has anything that would given him those powers inherently, but rather that the medium is presented in such a way that the viewer doesn't have to care about what happened before.

[Eviledd1984]

@PKMNB0Y

I would be intersted in joining, I have a few characters I was thinking of playing. Let me know which one would be a good fit for the RP.

1. Duke Nukem
2. Seigfried from Soul Calibur
3. Alucard from Hellsing
4. Ash Williams from Evil Dead
5. Sora from Kingdom Hearts
6. Caleb from Blood
7. Frank West from Dead Rising
8. Jotaro from Jojo's Bizzare Adventure
9. Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star
10. Kiryu Kazama from Yakuza
11. Kuma from Tekken
12. Deadpool

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Eviledd1984: Well, putting aside how placing the onus on the GM to study twelve characters from twelve franchises is a bit rough (to put things lightly)...

I think that the only ones workable off that list are Siegfried and Jotaro (maybe?), as a majority of that list otherwise is either "normal person with guns", "normal person", or "too insane/insanely strong to function in context of the world without heavily altering their powerset".

Even then, Jotaro's iffy because Star Platinum the World is... Not something I will ever willingly consider. Then there's all the other crazy stuff that Star Platinum can do normally, and well... Problems can arise if he isn't pulled in line.

[Izurich]

@PKMNB0Y

I would be intersted in joining, I have a few characters I was thinking of playing. Let me know which one would be a good fit for the RP.

1. Duke Nukem
2. Seigfried from Soul Calibur
3. Alucard from Hellsing
4. Ash Williams from Evil Dead
5. Sora from Kingdom Hearts
6. Caleb from Blood
7. Frank West from Dead Rising
8. Jotaro from Jojo's Bizzare Adventure
9. Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star
10. Kiryu Kazama from Yakuza
11. Kuma from Tekken
12. Deadpool

@Eviledd1984

I personally like 2, 5, 9, and 11. 🙂

[Lugubrious]

Playing Kuma would be super hilarious since he's just a bear. A bear that knows martial arts, but still.

[Eviledd1984]

@Eviledd1984: Well, putting aside how placing the onus on the GM to study twelve characters from twelve franchises is a bit rough (to put things lightly)...

I think that the only ones workable off that list are Siegfried and Jotaro (maybe?), as a majority of that list otherwise is either "normal person with guns", "normal person", or "too insane/insanely strong to function in context of the world without heavily altering their powerset".

Even then, Jotaro's iffy because Star Platinum the World is... Not something I will ever willingly consider. Then there's all the other crazy stuff that Star Platinum can do normally, and well... Problems can arise if he isn't pulled in line.

@PKMNB0Y

You make a fair point boss. How do you feel about number 11? A bear that is skilled in martial arts? It's much different from normal guy, guy with gun, and guys who are OP.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Eviledd1984: Problem with Kuma is that he, uh... Can't speak... Normally?
Comedy gold given how Tekken has everyone be natural polyglots, but still.
I am also unsure how well he matches up to, uh... Everyone else in the cast. Even if he can throw out electrics (and is—and let's be honest here—Heihachi's actual favorite child), I'm not sure if he has the combat power or a "vibe" that meshes with all the PCs currently in play.

[Eviledd1984]

@Eviledd1984: Problem with Kuma is that he, uh... Can't speak... Normally?
Comedy gold given how Tekken has everyone be natural polyglots, but still.
I am also unsure how well he matches up to, uh... Everyone else in the cast. Even if he can throw out electrics (and is—and let's be honest here—Heihachi's actual favorite child), I'm not sure if he has the combat power or a "vibe" that meshes with all the PCs currently in play.

@PKMNB0Y

Okay, I would be okay with playing as Siegfried or if you will allow me I could play as Ivy from Soul Calibur. Or since there are a few Touhou characters I wouldn't mind playing DIO Sakuya Izayoi if you will allow it.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Eviledd1984: Uh... No Sakuya. Nah, ain't gon' let timestop fly, and Sakuya without timestop ain't Sakuya in my eyes.
I will admit that I'm not suuuuper well versed in Soulcalibur stuff, but both of those characters seem fine to me after a brief glance at info stuff? Would have to see how that pans out, though.

[Eviledd1984]

@PKMNB0Y

I will also think of some other characters i could play, if you want to of course.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Eviledd1984: Honestly, if there's nothing you feel strong enough to just try and ask for the committal go-ahead, it might be worth spending some more time to consider what you might want to run (especially in the context of the cast as it stands right now).

[Eviledd1984]

@PKMNB0Y

Thanks boss. I'll think up a list of characters i wanna play as.

[Izurich]

Or since there are a few Touhou characters I wouldn't mind playing DIO Sakuya Izayoi if you will allow it.

@Eviledd1984

Pssst, Touhou has literal hundreds of characters, so... maybe pick another one? 😁

[Rezod92]

Y'all still open? I got character that you won't see comin'.

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Rezod92: Aye, still open. Would like to be aware of what's cooking, though.

[Raineh Daze]

Form

• Name: Fujiwara no Mokou
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Mokou
• Personality: Despite being a loner who doesn't really start conversations with strangers, she can be surprisingly lively with anyone that's come along for a fight--even though she's generally past the days where she'd go around to seek those things out. It puts her in a rather odd spot, because she's legitimately a violent maniac and fan of fighting... but also one of the nicer people in Gensokyo if you need help because you're lost. Despite the excessively long hair, she's also generally tomboyish in demeanour.
  Despite having an ongoing obsession with seeing if something can actually kill her for good (as hopeless as that is), she seems to be enjoying her life. Weird girl.
• Brief History: Born to the Fujiwara Clan, back when being such a noble house was vastly more important than it would be for most of Japan's history, Mokou's position in the family is a little vague. Most likely, she was the fifth daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito, given his likely inspiration for Kuramachi no Miko from the Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter. Although seemingly an unwanted child--or perhaps just an embarrassing one for some reason--it wasn't like she would have had a poor life, except that her father was humiliated by Kaguya for presenting a fake rather than the impossible request asked for.
  Taking offence at this, when Mokou heard that Kaguya's gift to the Emperor was being transported or to be destroyed, she set out to retrieve it... and, being a random girl completely under-equipped for this, got noticed by the party sent out to burn said gift. Rather than leave her to die, they had Mokou tag along on the journey, which went quite wrong by offending a goddess, leaving only herself and Tsuki no Iwasa.
  At this point, knowing that the gift was a medicine to grant immortality, Mokou killed him and took it for herself. She later quite came to regret this.
  Being ageless and unkillable fits in rather poorly with human society, and she eventually found herself ostracised entirely. This eventually lead to a rather unpleasant three hundred years, where she simply killed anyone that she happened to come across, until that became boring, too. So she then did... nothing. Absolutely nothing. For centuries. But then, then, she found that Kaguya was still on Earth, and decided to start up a rivalry--supposedly because of the insult to her family, even though she'd entirely forgotten about her up to this point--that mostly amounts to killing one another constantly as a way to pass the time.
  Aside from fighting Kaguya, she generally just spends her time showing people out of the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Not that she's against making friends, she just seems to not leave the place much.
• Universe of Origin: Touhou Project
• Equipment: Well, the hakama (and the ribbons in her hair) appear to be fireproof. The shirt? Much less so.
• Abilities:
  
  • Flight: To get the obvious out of the way. A Touhou is a Touhou.
  • Danmaku: Again, Touhou.
  • Fire: Whether it's a natural talent and ability or a specific form of magic learned over the years, Mokou's primary offensive abilities all seem to revolve around fire in one way or another. Unfortunately, while she certainly has the ability to create fire, and probably some sort of skill around controlling it, her ability to put it out isn't anywhere near so good. She's also not fireproof, which is something she uses to her advantage--as bizarre as that might sound.
  • Sorcery: Exactly what she can do is... unclear, although it probably ties into why she has some fireproof clothing. It most likely explains both the flight and all the various non-fire related bullets--certainly, even without the fire, she's more than a match for youkai despite being (for most purposes) still human.
  • Immortality: Mokou cannot die. Ever. Having taken all three doses of the Hourai Elixir, the very concept of death has been permanently removed from her being--and given the power that went into creating it, attempting to reinstate that would probably be actively negated again. At its most extreme, this has the odd ramification that if entering some place would count you as technically dead, she might as well be running into an impassable wall to approach it.
    Aside from the absolute nature of it, this manifests as extremely rapid healing for serious injuries--they'll pass in a few days--as well as no need for such mortal concerns as food or sleep (although the hunger pains get annoying eventually) and, most importantly, restoring herself to life from fatal injury immediately. Conveniently, this means healing can be accelerated just by burning herself to death and allowing that to reset everything. Complete destruction of her body by some other source would have a similar effect.
    She also doesn't age and is immune to all disease and illness, which is convenient.
  • Possession: Although the possession in one of her spellcards is intentional, it's still part of the spellcard system. The fact that she could possess people at other times... well, she's done something like that, but was deep in meditation at the time. And didn't have a clue.
  • Fragility: Not really a 'skill', but between just letting immortality deal with it and not bothering to eat, Mokou's general condition does seem to be extremely weak... aside from all the magical stuff. She actually dies from danmaku, which is the sort of thing normally only reserved for the weakest fairies, if that. She just comes back a lot.
• Other: The immortality is technically obtainable if you eat her liver.

i return with something

less serious?

[FujiwaraPhoenix]

@Raineh Daze: Mokotan ok. Gotta figure out how to handle the Saria stuff, but we can probably do what we did for Lily or something.

Do believe that we're at capacity for Touhou characters now though. Honestly did not expect this many to begin with, but, well, here we are now.

Only thing to note might be how the possession in this case isn't a one in the traditional sense and doesn't take direct control of the possessed, but regardless.