BrokenPromise

Grimoiric Heart

The faculty and psudo-faculty members at Marrywell Academy were an eccentric lot. Yes, to the magical girl community at large, Marrywell was the best place a magical girl could hope to go. Loads of like minded friends, tuition for your magical and mundane life, the works. But anyone who spent even a moment behind its shiny walls knew that the faculty wasn't quite right. Likely an artifact from living hundreds of years. Most of the time it was innocent. Maybe they would choose to take the form of a cat at all times or look younger than most of the attending students. Other times it manifested itself in less kosher ways. Maybe they drank on the job, maybe they believed they served a cosmic horror. But this was the first time Stripes could remember being used as bait to lure out a dangerous magical girl who controlled pageless... so that they could talk to her.

That wasn't to say Stripes didn't have faith in Ozma. If she really felt that talking to someone like this was the best way to go forward she'd trust it. But it wasn't an ideal place to have a chat. Stripes hadn't initially thought about it, but there was a weird coincidence here. Even though Ozma seemed to think they were flying around and drawing out the pageless earlier, Ozma had chosen to "ambush" the masked woman in her lair. Was this intentional or just happenstance?

She listened and observed. Everyone had a right to react with hostility. They weren't exactly on even footing here. The masked woman was a lone magical girl, but she had an untold number of pageless under her command. Everyone seemed to be taking the situation pretty seriously except for Eternal Rose, but that was pretty much expected from Olivia at this point. But it was impressionable sorts like her that needed to be looked after. The real star of the show though was the masked woman, monologuing like a villain. No one interrupted her. Ozma had started to give her opinion on it and press for more questions when Stripes squinted her eyes.

"...Seriously?" Stripes looked incredulous. Her mouth hung open just enough to show her tongue. "You're going for the 'oh please, just think of the pageless!' shtick?" Stripes's voice was perfectly monotone, as per usual. But there was no hiding how repulsed she was in her words. "Even if we ignore the countless human lives that pageless would take without our intervention we are sworn enemies." She extended her arms towards the small army of pageless behind Roma. "Pageless, eat, grimoires." She swung her torso to get her arms pointed in the other direction at Lupin, but did not take her eyes off the masked woman. "Magical, girls, need, those, to, transform. They, eat, our, stories. They, eat, us." Another exaggerated hand motion. Her finger cracked like a whip as Stripes pointed at Nessie. "Before you suggest we feed our stories to the pageless or some other appeasement ritual, that girl over there hadn't even seen her grimoire yet and the pageless were going to eat her. If I had fed my grimoire to a pageless, if I had never picked it up-" Stripes lowered her finger and stared off into space. "It's just a dumb thing to suggest." She looked back at the mask wearing magical girl. "A magical girl that sides with pageless is like a tabby that befriends vermin."

Just in case Stripes's opinion on the matter hadn't shined though her words, she summoned four magic missiles that hovered over her head.

Why I Roleplay Female Characters (As a Cisgender Man)

Meant to respond a bit sooner but "lol internet trouble."

And yes I'm one of the ones who thought @BrokenPromise was the opposite gender. But hey, it turned out he thought I was a guy so, *shrug*

@Majoras End

But I guess that's what I'm trying to get at. I thought you were a guy because your first character was a young edgy assassin chick, which is something I could see a lot of teenage boys wanting to play. That and you were into Touhou which is something that a lot of guys are into as well. I was never entirely certain. It was never stated on your profile page and we never really sat down to talk about your other hobbies more extensively. But that was what lead me to think that. What may have confused you about me was my love of creating (and ending) ships as well as the types of characters I played. A a well mannered nanny doesn't really strike me as the sort of character most guys would want to play. My guess is if I had a certain "perverted pink-haired ronin" in our first RP you may have suspected I was a guy.

I can see the thoughts of the opposite gender being miswritten though. But honestly, everyone will only ever see the world from their own perspective. I have seen a few men written by woman that are maybe a bit more emotional or submissive than I would expect them to do, but I never felt their actions and thoughts didn't make sense as characters. I can't even say that the writers being the "wrong" gender to write their characters factored into this. Teenagers tend to be fairly emotional people, and character written by them and for them are also prone to mood swings and such.

<Snipped quote by Ammokkx>
<Snipped quote by BrokenPromise>

This is incorrect. I am the cutest on the 'other' side of Eorzea.

But then my main is a rich Lala boi so naturally I win twice. Anyways RPG FC anyone?

@Exit

Ehh...

Look Exit, you're a pretty cool guy and everything. Is her picture aesthetic? Yes. Is she hot? Also yes. But does she have that cute appeal that Ammokkx and I are trying to cultivate? Not really. I feel like she'd step on me if she was given the chance. Like, I'm almost scared of her. Also there's nothing cute about having a lala sugar daddy buy all of your nice clothes. I have a lala anyway.

But maybe we don't need to be the cutest mi'qote. Maybe the real cutest mi'qote is the friends we made along the way.

Grimoiric Heart

Can't wait to respond.

But I guess I'd better wait for our GM.

Grimoiric Heart

@TheWendil

I think we've gotta wait for both of @Lonewolf685's peeps and @Majoras End's Lupin. @FrogRFlowR's Maria has yet to activate but they technically posted twice last time so they may be chilling. But when does Satan ever just chill?

Why I Roleplay Female Characters (As a Cisgender Man)

@PatientBeanThe one that got banned is my guess.

Why I Roleplay Female Characters (As a Cisgender Man)

@Crazytrini85

I don't feel like it's in the spirit of a discussion that's in the RP section, but why not? Here's why males play females in videogames:

-Females can receive better treatment and are more frequently gifted items in MMOs. Picking a female avatar helps sell the illusion.

-Female characters often have access to more aesthetically pleasing designs, or might lean towards an aesthetic the player desires. This does not always mean it's sexual but it certainly can.

-They want to see more kickass female leads in the world, so they make their own. Alternatively, said game is oversaturated with male characters.

-Cis guys are guys 24/7/365. They may wish to pick a sex that is not their own because they are looking for escapism.

A more interesting question I feel is why woman don't play as male avatars as much. This is so prevalent that Leauge of Legends has been releasing female champions pretty regularly. They discovered most female players weren't selecting male champions, like, at all. That's a game where certain abilities are tied to specific champions, so by not playing as certain champions you could hamstringing your team. There hasn't been a lot of discussion on why this is. But I digress.

I put no stock in twitter accounts dedicated to picking apart how some men choose to write woman. Most of the time the writing being "critiqued" is from a novice or the writing's intended audience is men anyway. People do have fantasies and sometimes wish the opposite sex behaved a certain way. Much like how men in harlequin romances are total badasses up until it's time for the female PoV to tame them.

I'm going to side step the argument that men (or even most men) cannot write female characters. But I'll say from personal experience I get called "her" on nearly every message board I'm on. This is from people who have watched me write female and male characters for years. Even woman have make this mistake.

Alty Chan Fan Club

Okay. With this summer drawing we know a bit more about her.

The line art is a lot more clean on this one and we can see that she has short hair. Her thinner shirt also leaves her proportions far less ambiguous. I would have liked to have seen a summer hat with her summer outfit, but I do like the kind of low effort approach to a summer outfit. We can also see that she does not really enjoy the heat that much. maybe the reason why she is smiling in the hoody is because she likes warmer weather. Her eye shape and short hair makes me think she's an older woman. Like late 20s/early 30s as opposed to being a high schooler.

Anyway I think this image is a real treasure for our collection.

Symphony of Espers

The heavens wept blood, but the earth demanded more.

”Fable! Fight me! You coward! You coward!“

If anything, Betty had become even more frenzied since she last met Finn. But her single mindedness made her actions predictable. None of the other agents impeded Betty’s movements and she had no interest in fighting anyone other than Finn. His goal to draw Betty away was working. Finn was a speedy esper, but he needed every bit of that to stay ahead of Betty.

By the time they got in the middle of the roof, her melody activated. Black particles swarmed around her body. This was the second time Finn had seen her do this. She had cast a protecting melody on herself to absorb his attacks. But before he could think about what to do next…

This is what the great lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.

— Exodus 8:1–4

The diver raised its blood soaked cross in the air and waved it about. Joining the rain of blood were frogs. Hundreds of them. They fell from the sky and landed all over Pax Septimus. Most did not survive the trip. They hit the ground with a splat, leaking their corrosive bile onto whatever they hit. But other frogs got lucky. They came out of the gutters and the drains, invading homes en mass. Some screamed, some hid in their living room, but not the Gemini espers.

Fable and Betty were granted an audience of frogs. They climbed over the precinct wall and jumped towards them. Finn couldn’t run forever. Certainly not with so many frogs around. But Betty was still charging. He would need to think of something fast.

His allies were in trouble too.

While Ashly had jumped out of the way of Betty’s sword, she was not out of danger. Pac-A-Fist’s projectile had tracking capabilities and it wasn’t going to get juked by a single hop. It continued to make its digital “om-nom” sounds as it drew closer. But the only thing it got to taste was Jacqueline’s cold steel. It blew apart into pixels.

”Gunther? It’s raining frogs.”

”I can do something about that!”

The vehicles that Gunther’s spirits had picked up started to shift around. Two police cars flooded lengthwise under a van, which hovered between the police cars and a dumpster, while two other cars floated on either side of the dumpster, and a sport car floated above the entire mess. With a bit of imagination it looked like a giant robot. While Samuel did try to restrain one of the vehicles, it was too heavy. Even a considerably strong melody was only enough to restrain a human of average strength. Holding down a vehicle that weighed several tons was beyond the capabilities of his melody.

”Can’t say I relate. I was never alive to begin with.”

Pac-A-Fist climbed into the sports car while Gunther floated inside the robot’s chest. The tower of metal surged forward as Pac aimed a gun at the espers and fired. It looked like one of those light guns you’d find in an arcade, only it fired lazer beams.

Su did her best to protect her allies. But there was only so much surface area to her shield, and even that wasn’t going to stop the wall of cars from rolling towards them. Worse still was that the frogs were making their way towards these espers too. “Move!” was all Su said as she prepared her next melody.

The building across the street was also having a frog problem. Justin had jumped off of the vehicle he was riding and onto the stone dragon Su had made. Bloody projectiles descended on Marrie’s position. She was running out of room to maneuver. A single projectile struck her but it was absorbed by Ashley’s barrier. The blast from her wand smashed into Justin’s shield and opened a hole in it. But as it continued to rain blood, the hole grew smaller. He rotated the barrier so that the hole was facing away from both Ashley and Marrie.

”And I couldn’t care less about your goals. Brandish a knife in my presence and you’ll see my fangs!“

The blood barrier around Justin formed spikes as he surged towards Marrie. What few places Marrie had to jump to were covered in frogs. What would she do?

Why I Roleplay Female Characters (As a Cisgender Man)

Don't worry, I'll do it for you.

One of the reasons this is so prevalent in the 1x1 section is because some of those RPs tend to be more... personal, than group RPs. For some people, it makes them feel awkward to engage in "romantic" acts with a character that is not being played by a genuine member of that sex. I think we've all seen a story involving a super hot/cute girl avatar seducing men and it turns out to be some ugly dude. Learning to separate people from their characters is a skill and most new role players don't have it. There are even really good roleplayers that can't do it simply because doing romantic stuff like that is a sensitive topic.

Another reason is that the player is simply part of the fantasy. The idea that granting the character some sort of gratification is also granting that gratification to their player. Other times it's the opposite. Maybe they feel guilty about a certain type of fantasy they want to play so they seek out someone with a different gender than their character.

I am the single cutest miqo'te this side of Eorzea and nobody's gonna stop me from being that.

@Ammokkx

Good thing I reside on "that" side of Eorzea less I have to challenge you for your title, as there is no miqo'te as cute as me!

If I ever get back into this game we should meet up and touch tails.

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

"My first ever post!”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy IRON MOUSE

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Cradle
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Overcity Shift, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Cradle Supply, Connected, Gifted Item (Aigorost) | Monstrous Form, Exposed, Mercy, Distrust
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03
+46
STR: 20 | AGI: 20 | VIT: 20 | MAG: 20 | LCK: 20

Earnings this post: Zilch

Remaining: 8 Gold, 30 Silver, 39 Bronze
Total: 12 Gold, 162 Silver, 183 Bronze

"Hi Justine! For a former menace of society your cheeks are looking awfully pinchable!” "Iron Mouse" had her arm extended towards the angelic magical girl, but Justine's cheeks were safe for the time being. "Hey Finn-Again! You must be that dark brooding anti-hero I’ve heard so much about. I need to get a better look at you but just by looking at you from behind…” She hummed. "Nope! Oliver is still the cutest boy in Penrose! You have a more mature kind of charm though. I’d say you’re more handsome.” She then scowled. "And you should be sorry, Oliver! Shame on you for letting your clones run around like that! I mean…” She wrapped her arms around Oliver again. "We may be magical girls, but we’re still girls. Our bodies are tough but we’re still emotionally vulnerable. You need to take it easier. On us.”

The tomfoolery came to an end when they were approached by a car. Just another car filled with weirdos. While Justine conversed with the magical girl, Mac used her third eye to see if she could pick up anything interesting on the vehicle or its inhabitants. It was magical, but how had it been enchanted? Was it just a magical car, or was it under the effect of an illusion? What were the specializations of the inhabitants? When she gained everything she could from a glance, she turned to Endless Eclipse to try and divine the girl’s past. Where had she been minutes ago? An hour? A day?” Mac just wanted to see what this girl was like before today. Was she someone who fought monsters or preferred combat with other magical girls? Only so much could be learned on the fly, but it was better than nothing.

But even if Mac was busy, she still had to be Iron Mouse.

"Well hey! We’re going to Penrose too!” She blurted out before hopping off the bike. "The directions are kind of hard to explain though. If you don’t mind traveling with us, maybe we can make the trip together. We just need to make a brief stop at Bolorton, which is on the way there. And if you were there and came here, hah! Then you must have taken a wrong turn.” Iron Mouse seemed to be looking through her phone messages, but Mac was really just looking into Endless Eclipse. "Tell you what? Our bike is a little overloaded. If you wouldn’t mind giving me a ride, we’ll gladly take you to Penrose! Right guys?”

But the Cradle agents would hear Iron Mouse say something else in their minds.

"I need more time to discern their intentions. I think it’s best if they stick with us for now. If they don’t have ill intentions they’re going to need a hand surviving in good ol’ Penrose. Not only that but I think their ride might be faster than ours.”

---

The guards at Beacon HQ had their weapons drawn. It wasn’t often they were met with outsiders due to the secretive nature of their base, and what few outsiders that did appear looked this menacing.

Not that Bonnie did it on purpose. Her armor made her an imposing figure. Not to mention her cannon was the length of three magical girls. Though they were likely more concerned with the wolf ears that poked out of her suit.

”At ease, warriors of light. Do you think I would engage you in close quarters combat with a weapon such as this?” No response. It was what Bonnie expected from a bunch of faceless dogs of Beacon. ”Your allies to the north couldn’t get a message out, so they instead entrusted their message to me. It may seem odd, but that should explain how dire their situation is. They trusted a monster to deliver a call for help.” S

he drew a piece of paper and held it out for the guards. This was just met with more confusion. The menacing trusts of a few weapons, but their quivering legs couldn’t hide their fear. Bonnie allowed the note to fall to the floor and started to walk backwards. That was when the smallest of the guards came forward. She snatched up the paper and ran back towards the door. The other guards gave her space. What if the note had a hex on it? But when the little girl tried to open the note, she found that she couldn't. A wax line shaped like a capricorn held the letter closed.

”In time, little one. That message can only be opened by Alicia Hayden. Maybe one day I will give you such a letter. Though I would not wait for that day with any joy.” Bonnie turned around. ”No rush. I will contact her when she is ready to depart.”

The rain pelted her armor as she walked back to the CAPRICORN. None of the guards would hear it, but she whispered a single word under her breath.

"Xenophobia."

---

To the North: Quicksilver Knight Mare

It is not often that Beacon is attacked openly by other patrons. Huld, one of Odin’s mistresses, has done just that. Beacon’s New York branch has had some of its magical girls come under a horrific spell. Regina, Abigail, and Tonya have all fallen into a deep slumber. Attempts to access their minds don’t work, almost as if they aren’t dreaming or thinking. The only sign of the contrary is that Regina occasionally calls Alicia’s name. Enter Huld’s layer and get her to remove her curse from the beacon girls. Losing the girls or failing to awaken at least one of them will result in failure.

This hunt can only be undertaken by Alicia, but she may bring one other magical girl with her so long as they are not a dark magical girl, a monster, patron a horror, or are otherwise an enemy of Beacon. to conform with the Ascendancy’s policies. Ideally it would be another member of Beacon.

Challenge Rating: SS
Notes: Huld’s primary agents are mares, but she also employs magical girls with empathic magic.