BrokenPromise

The Secret Lives of Schoolteachers - A Magical Girl Mix-up RP

This could be fun.

I'm tempted to go Gym, but Home Economics could be fun because of how obscure it is.

Kurai Majokko-A Magical Girl RP

My Isekai Costumed Adventurers - Fantasy-anime roleplay

...why would any omnipotent cosmic power with the ability to transcend and bend reality and dimensions ever bring individuals who are more than willing, or completely indifferent to, causing harm and damage to the new environment in which they are placed... And then bestow them superpowers. And let them run loose. Unsupervised.

@Xaltwind

I see that you haven't watched much battle royale anime.

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

"Sorry, no autographs! But you can buy a signed copy of my memoir ‘The Underboob of Penrose’ In 4 easy payments of $29.99! If you purchase before the next post cycle, you’ll also get access to ‘Me & the Dolphin: Forbidden Love in Another Dimension’ which documents my beach vacation, including pictures of my spicy encounter with Veronica. Only available while supplies last!"

— Chloe Irving

Chloe Irving

03 03 03 03 03
10 10 06 17 04
23/12 | Babe/Baby | Spirit
Mystic orb, Gauntlets | Third Eye, Focused Assault | ?????
Wings, Enhanced Outfit, Big Damn Hero, Blood Magic, Interdimensional Home, Enhanced Transformation
Dominator | Dark Weapon
??????????????????????????????

6 Gold, 9 silver, 13 bronze

The first person to hail Chloe was Lily. Likely because Chloe had arrived too early for most of Penrose’s inhabitants to witness her stunning entrance. Lily seemed spooked (wonder why?) but put away her weapon in the end. But Chloe didn’t care about that.

"Pretty cute, isn’t it?" Chloe grabbed the end of her scarf and rubbed it between her fingers. "It came with my promotion. It’s just a bit big for little ol’ me. Maybe I could wrap myself and someone else up in it. Then they couldn't escape if I wanted to nuzzle! fu fu fu fu!"

As soon as Sonia flourished her daggers, Chloe turned her attention to her subordinate. "I know you hate what she’s become, but try not to make a spectacle of yourself. Then again…" She leaned a bit closer to Sonia before examining her jaw line. "You’re awfully cute when you make that face. Just have a little faith in me." Chloe chose to not mention that she’d get Justine back eventually. In present company, that was better implied than openly stated.

Alexander started talking, and so did Alicia. But she was only half listening. There were too many cuties to talk to. Jumping straight to business would waste so many great opportunities! A girl with a phallic-looking shield had placed herself between Chloe and Lily, boldly stating that they wouldn’t hurt them, but wouldn’t let any harm come to their VIP. "Oh? Why single me out? Am I the most frightening one here?" A ghoulish gauntlet appeared over her hand. She then sensually traced her finger along the edge of Pentius-04’s shield. "You don’t have to worry about me stirring up any trouble. I thankful for the opportunity Lily gave me, and I wouldn’t want to put you through any undue stress." Chloe retracted her finger and put it over her own lips. "It would hurt my chances if I wanted to go on a date with you later! So how about it? Will you spend some time with me if I can keep my murderous urges in check?"

But as much as Chloe would have loved to get an answer, Angel of Hope had commented on her pet, and she immediately hopped closer to the startled girl. "Oh, don’t let him frighten you. " She patted the creature’s leg. "Casper here is just a Gothizzar Harvester. He’s supposed to be frightening, but that’s just as a deterrent. His primary function is to carry the dead off the field and…" She looked at his giant scythe arms. "...And the dead need to be protected, right? So he’s just well armed to um, make sure the bodies aren’t desecrated! Most of its arms are just to get corpses off of the dirty ground and into that comfortable bone cage on its back. If you want a ride, I think you’ll find it a lot less scary."

Like a child with ADD, Chloe lost interest in the Angel of hope when she spotted Penny. Unlike the mechanical monarch, the junior coin broker was not shy about approaching. "Changed again, huh?" Chloe tipped her head, but her grin only got bigger. "I’ll admit, you were my least favorite of the two. But I’m not upset to see you doing well for yourself. If you’re queen of Penrose, I can only wonder where better Penny is." The corner of her lips twitched, and her hands balled into fists. "After all the work I put into splitting you apart, I know you wouldn’t do something as heartless as merge with her again. Or kill her off so that you could take her power like some vulture. That would be heartless! Something I’d expect a monster or someone without a soul to do." Chloe raised her palm at Penny and concentrated. After a few seconds, the spirit specialist lowered her hand. "I guess you technically qualify for both of those, but I still believe my darling Penny is out there somewhere." She winked.

Chloe was about to turn and walk away when she noticed MDP, and her expression brightened. "Oh wow! Look at you! So cute and pink, just like cotton candy." She wiggled her fingers. "I could just eat you up! But I probably shouldn’t. I might be going on a date with that green haired cutie with the shield, and even if that falls through, I’ve got some business to conduct with the daughter of Covington industries." Chloe sighed. "She is so boring and rigid. I bet she’d be an aweful magical girl. Unless she completely changed her personality. Oh!" Chloe stifled a laugh. "Wouldn’t it be funny if she was actually you? That would be wild!" With a sigh, she started to turn away from MDP. "I’m rambling again. We should exchange phone numbers later."

Unfortunately, not everyone was gathered here to talk to Chloe. Some importance was put on discussing ways to make the upcoming battle easier. Many topics were covered, from a suggested evacuation, to doing something about the nexus, and even deploying an army of their own. Chloe clapped her hands and walked towards those that were discussing things.

"Wow, look at all we can accomplish when we put our heads together!" Once Chloe was situated in front of everyone, she placed her hands on her hips. "So let's see, our plan is to use what scare time we have left to get everyone evacuated. Then once wonderland arrives with their nigh infinite supply soldiers, generals, and the queen herself, we’re going to deploy our limited number in an attempt to turn the tables in our favor. And we're so confident in our success that we've already started discussing what to do after we win. We're going to take the nexus, some source of power no one knows the location of or even what it looks like, or even what it does, and just, make it less appealing." After freezing in place for exactly three seconds, she clicked her tongue. "I’m all for dabbling in powers I don’t understand, but let’s focus on a strategy that’s actually going to work?"

"You tell ‘em!" Aurora punched the air, only to shrivel into a nervous mess as soon as someone looked at her.

"How was Justine originally defeated? What was the downfall of the Soth? It wasn’t waiting for them to make their move. We attacked them mid-ritual, and that’s what we need to do here." She walked up to Alicia and turned her back to her. "See? a huge body count doesn't make the ideas it produces any better. Wonderland can produce as many soldiers as they like, and none of you thought about attacking them preemptively.“ She turned on her heel and looked at Alicia. "Once again, Beacon is a disappointment.“ After shaking her head, Chloe spun again, casting the back of her hand in front of Alicia’s face. "In fact, I happen to know when they’re going to attack, and with what.“ Once again, her hands came to rest on her hips. "Do we have anyone in attendance that fought the Oz Squad? They came from a conjuration egg. My sources tell me that they have four such conjuration eggs that they plan on deploying On Penrose in three days. Lucky for us, they’re all stored in a single location that I happen to no the whereabouts of.“

"Y-you tell ‘em!" Aurora punched the air with caution, then hid inside the harvester’s bone cage. "It is comfy in here!" Aurora had snuggled down into place. But in looking up at the sky, she saw an unusual plane flying overhead. "What the heck is that?"

Chloe made sure to position herself closer to the Gothizzar Harvester and Sonia. "But you know, there isn’t much in it for Mint if we save Penrose.“ She waved her hand dismissively at Penny. "Our great, illustrious queen has made her hate for us known, and do I even need to mention Beacon? These are just magical girls that want to pay off their debts and rejoin society, but they can’t do that with how ruthlessly your lot hunts us down. It’s not like we have a reprieve of any kind. We can’t get in our star ship and fly away, nor can we just hide behind the ascendancy.“ She sighed. "The Mint may be a massive organization spanning several universes, but it’s a business first, and we deal in secrets and loans. I can’t justify giving away information that will save Penrose unless I have something to show for it. It needs to pay us back in the long run.“ She was grinning ear to ear by this point. "So how about we give the Mint a slice of the Penrose pie, hmmmm? Penny has her kingdom, Beacon has their territory, and the Mint should have their own zone as well. There’s a nice little cluster of business that borders Wakum Harbor, and just a bit south of that are a few schools. I think it’s roughly twenty percent of Penrose? Anyway, that area should belong to the Mint. That means no Beacon patrols, no war charges from Penny, no randoms trying to be the hero. Just a nice cozy hangout where we can be ourselves and don’t have to worry about your lot crushing us into nothing. Once we have that, I’ll tell you where the eggs are. And don’t worry.“ A yellowed sheet of paper appeared in one of Chloe’s hands, and a quill appeared in the other. "We’ll get it all in writing, so let's negotiate.“

---

While Summer and the gang were watching TV, an unfamiliar girl entered the room. She was wearing an oversize shirt covered with satanic symbols, and had painted her nails jet black. Despite her gothic attire, she had soft lavender hair and lacked the number of facial piercings/tattoos required to be eternally stuck working a minimum wage job. But Summer could just glance at Aria and know who it was with her power. She could look deeper into it if she wanted to understand her change, but this was Penrose. Magical girls changed looks at least once a season, so Aria was due for something like this.

She pulled a gourd out of her pocket and with a shake, a lawn chair tumbled out of it. It even finished tumbling in the upright position, allowing Aria to just sit in it. ”Don't mind me.”

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

"Yea, you'd better run!"

— Luana Roycroft

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin

Light.

Once the drake backed off, Luana was entirely in view. Her spear looked like a dead festive tree, topped with a spear head. The branches were all split and broken, some collapsing to the ground once their prey backed away. She locked eyes on the drake, who looked back at them. Neither one wore an expression. The drake had nothing smart to say this time, and just rolled away. Luana dropped her shoulders. She hadn't let go of her spear yet.

But maybe she could help her friend up.

Luana took her time strolling up to where Ethelred had fallen and offered her hand. "Thanks for the save you two. I didn't feel like breaking my hip again." Her fingers wiggled as she waited for Ethelred to pull himself up.

While Lonan assessed the situation, Luana returned her spear to its normal shape. "If we can't kill it, then maybe it would be best to return to the castle. At the very least, we learned normal weapons aren't too effective on it. Any trap we construct will need to be powerful enough to cut clean through its limbs, or blow it to smithereens." She was grinning from ear to ear. "A hunt is never a waste so long as you learned something new." She dropped her eyebrows. "And maybe those other two weirdos can lend us a hand next time."

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

"You can’t run and you can’t hide! B-but neither can I!

— Luana Roycroft

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin

It was faster than her, it was stronger than her, and it could rip through her spells. The only known exception being if she contested the creature’s magic directly. The drake hardly needed to do that to end Luana’s life. A single bite in the right place was all it would take to do in the human. Her dreams of meeting an elf dashed in an instant. But Luana wasn’t scared. She had been afraid of the drake earlier, but she had forgotten what she was. Luana wasn’t just a hunter, she was a pack hunter. A tiger was strong, but couldn’t contest the might of an entire wolf pack. She didn’t have to be stronger than her prey, they had to do that together. Luana would not run this time, even if it was an option.

Luana crouched as low as she could while keeping her spear pointed towards the drake’s mouth. Her spear sprouted branches all over to make its profile wider. The branches buckled and cracked under the pressure exerted by its jaws, but Luana didn’t let go of her spear. She had to keep things growing, and switch over to keeping the curse at bay once things started to wilt. This wasn’t going to last forever. The broken branches were being pressed against Luana’s form. The Drake didn’t have to pierce her with its teeth, it could crush her inside her own protective barrier. She exhaled to make her form smaller. Her eyes closed while her back serged with pain. She survived being stepped on by a tree, she could take being chewed by a lizard. At least long enough for Ethelred and Lonan to do something. Maybe...

STORYCRAFT: For Roleplayers

Mary Sues, God Modding, and the Quest for a Cool Character: Part Two

In the last part, we talked about Mary Sues and went over a method for turning crazy character ideas into usable character sheets. This time we’ll be talking about making a strong character that’s likable in post. But first, I’d like to clarify something about Mary Sues.

What makes a Sue a Sue doesn’t always crop up on a character sheet. You can have someone who seems to fit in the setting, but then circumstances cause unusual things to happen. Maybe a junior detective can single-handedly solve a case that baffled his superiors. Maybe an inexperienced hero turns the tables on an experienced villain. A character who never swam a day in their lives is a better swimmer than everyone else at the race. In a vacuum these examples could be flukes, but they challenge a reader’s suspension of disbelief every time they happen. The issue with Sues and God Modders is they do this all the time.

You may wonder why someone would do that if it’s so hated. Inexperienced writers might not know any better. Everyone loves an underdog story, but the novice writer is not aware of the nuances that make the event memorable, and fails to make it feel earned. Alternatively, they may want escapism. The character can be perfect in all the ways the player wishes they were. Their character can have existent social skills, be smart, and never face adversity. In a role play setting where everyone has their own characters to play, their wish fulfillment fantasies often come at the expense of other players, if not the plot as a whole.

The best strategy to avoid writing a Sue is to get experience and not use your character for pure escapism. Making something that suits the world is a great first step, but we’ve already covered that. Moreover, a character sheet is a starting point. We’ll need to take our characters the rest of the way by writing posts.

There are some things that storycraft dictates we should do to create strong, memorable characters. There is no litmus test that can tell us if a character is strong or not. A strong character is simply a well written one. A Mary Sue may have traits that make them likable, but that does not mean that they are a strong or interesting character. let’s look at some elements that we can use to see how well written a character is.

Those elements would be their…

-Character Arc
-Motivation
-Activity Level
-Struggle/Flaws
-Likability

Let’s explore these in depth.

Character Arc:

You want your character to have an arc. They start in one place, and as the story progresses, they learn and grow into someone else. At the end of the RP your character should not be the same person they were at the start. This is the mark of a character that can reflect and change their outlook as things move on. This can master some difficult skill, or learn to overcome a negative part of themself. They don’t have to become a totally different person, but their experiences should change them. These changes do not always have to be for the better.

In most situations, a Mary Sue will start off perfect. They do not have an arc because there is nothing to change, as any change would only make them worse off.

Motivation:

Characters should have their own core drives. A father might do anything to protect his family, a nurse might be motivated to save every life she encounters, a monster may wish to be seen as a person. Their core values should dictate what they do in the RP, and be strong enough that they drive their important decisions. This helps decide the people they work with and the people they avoid.

A Mary Sue typically won’t have a drive like that. Their actions are dictated by the plot and what needs to happen.

Activity Level:

Related to motivation, Activity Level is all about how frequently your character takes initiative. A sign of a strong character is one that is compelled to do things. They don’t just sit around and wait for things to happen. They make choices, often without being prompted, and do not passively react to everything. Nobody can be active all the time, but most of your character’s actions should be a result of their decision making.

A Sue does not need to make choices often. They are reactionary creatures, often stumbling into conflicts and allowing the situation to dictate their actions.

Struggle/Flaws:

Most characters will spend more time winning than losing. Otherwise D&D campaigns would be a lot shorter. But how easy do your character’s victories come? Everyone has a set of skills that they are especially good at, but they may have a weakness and/or come across tasks that are difficult for them. Everyone struggles with something, be it physical or mental. Characters that struggle to complete tasks, or even fail while doing them, earn our empathy and endear us to them.

A Mary Sue does not struggle often, if at all. They are equipped for nearly every situation they come across. If they have flaws, they are often meaningless flaws that never prevent them from getting what they want.

Likability:

This one is a bit more complicated… and one some Sues get right!

Michael Hauge is a renowned Story consultant and script doctor. He’s worked on a lot of Will Smith’s projects, before Will decided to slap Chris Rock. He’s also on the Board of Directors of the American Screenwriters Association and the Advisory Board for Scriptwriter Magazine in London. Most notably for our uses, he wrote a book called “Writing Screenplays That Sell”, where he lays out four character elements that make audiences instantly like a character. Those are:

-Make a character good at what he/she does.
-Make the character funny.
-Make the character the recipient of an undeserved misfortune.
-Give the character a strong moral code.

These are all traits that endear us to real people, and they work just as well with characters. Half of these are built into most Mary Sues. A Sue is often good at everything they do. While not all of them are funny, many of them have a tragic backstory, and have no issue following their moral compass. This is why some Sues can be likable even if they are poorly written.

---

With those basic elements outlined, let’s take a look at one of the Rilla Müller sheets in part one and decide how we’re going to develop her.

Picture

Rilla Müller

Backyard Tech Superstar

Age 21 | Female | 120 LBs | 5’
Mechsuit | Engineer | German

Rilia is an up and coming engineer that built her own steam powered mech suit in her father’s workshop. Her suit uses pressurized steam to fire brass steaks and has a steam thrower for boiling targets that get too close. Lastly, her suit is capable of using its hot steam to propel her as she runs and jumps, increasing her speed and mobility.

We’ll just go down the list.

Because I wrote a pretty bare bones character sheet, there’s not a ton of stuff we can use to determine what her character arc could be. But for those of you that read my article on dialog, Rilia’s name may look familiar. That’s the girl that was arguing with her sister. If you remember it, you probably also remember her hatred for the Italian fascists that killed her parents. I like the idea of her having cognitive dissonance because while she thinks the best of humanity as a general rule, she also believes that Italians are the true scum of the earth, effectively becoming a racist. She would have many opportunities to see the error of her ways. Maybe one of the other players is playing a defecting Italian that she doesn’t trust initially, or she could have repeated encounters with Italian civilians. Either way, she’ll come to change her view on Italians and learn to separate them from the acts of their heinous dictator.

I should probably mention that this type of plot won’t work in every RP. Racism isn’t something every GM wants to tackle, even if they tolerate other dark themes. If you’re unsure, you may wish to talk it over with the GM before you dedicate time to writing a character they won’t let you play. But this is a war drama, and racism/nationalism is sure to play a big part of the story.

With the arc taken care of, motivation falls into place. She’s motivated by her need for revenge, which is secondary only to her desire to save her people. Before her arc concludes at least. If there’s an Italian soldier that wishes to defect or surrender, she is going to be the most insistent that they kill him rather than keep him alive, even if he has useful secrets.

To make her active, we just need to make sure Rilia isn’t passive in the RP. She will take orders from her superiors, but she should be self motivated and not always need to be told what to do. If two of her squad mates are shot in front of her, she needs to decide if she’s going to help neutralize the threat or focus on evacuating her allies. Being told how to handle the situation removes her agency.

Now we move onto any flaws she may have, and anything she could struggle with. I think it should be noted that in order for a flaw to feel impactful, it needs to actually inconvenience the character. So while it would be tempting to write off her unbridled hatred for the Italians as a flaw, she’s in a war zone. Having contempt for her enemy is not a flaw that’s going to hold her back in all but a few situations. It would be a different story if she had to butt heads with an allied Italian, but I think I’m going to give her something else just in case. I have two ideal picks for her. We could give her another moral flaw and make her vain. She’s a nice person, but she needs to show off and frequently does things that are way out of her freaking element. This makes certain situations more challenging, as she won’t reliably follow orders and overestimates herself. Alternatively, we give her a physical flaw. Maybe she’s not good at fighting due to her inexperience, or she’s a paraplegic and can’t walk without her mech suit. If you’re going with the latter, make sure there’s a time when such a flaw can show itself. Remember, flaws do not have to stick with the character forever. Over time they can grow and change, and her lack of fighting skill or oversized ego could be resolved with time. That might even be a more interesting arc than her overcoming her racism.

Now all that’s left to worry about is her likability. She joined the mech suit unit because she was a good mechanic. Even if she isn’t as good at fighting as other characters, her skill in crafting crazy gadgets for her mech suit, ability to sing, and clever word play is sure to sell Rilia’s skills. There will also be opportunities to do funny things with her. Do note that a character doesn’t have to turn themselves into a joke to be funny. She might just have comedic chemistry with another character or have a really good pun game. As described previously, her parents were killed when the Italians attacked, which is her undeserved misfortune. And her strong moral code comes from her underlying belief that no human deserves to suffer the horrors of war, which will get even stronger once she decides Italians are humans too.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you go about playing a strong character that almost everyone will love. We give our characters flaws, because they are strong enough to overcome them. We make them competent, but not perfect. We also ensure we don’t upstage other player characters unless it makes sense to do so.

I could end the discussion here, but there’s an elephant in the room that has yet to be addressed. Some of you are likely wondering if it’s possible to have something like a predetermined arc or direction to grow. You’re not penning a story by yourself. Your character is subject to the whims of the GM and other players. Doesn’t this make determining things like who your character is in the future kind of challenging?

In a word: Yes.

I think I’ll share another one of my war stories with you. I was once in an RP with a character called Benny. Benny was kind of strong. They were able to fight as well as the strongest characters in the setting, had lots of friends, and had a tremendous amount of political power because why not? They were a Sue, without question.

I was invited onto the GM team to help determine the direction of the RP. I had a lot of ideas, and voiced my concerns about Benny’s strength. While I was acknowledged and systems I created were implemented, the GM would always make sure to add a little loop hole that Benny could use to exploit said system. I stepped down form being a GM, and left not long after that. I was pretty fed up with Benny and their player.

About a year later, I met Benny’s player out in the wild. We just had a nice talk about Benny and we didn’t allow our past experiences with each other make us salty. I learned two things talking to Benny’s player. The first was that they didn’t understand basic storycraft. But the second thing was that Benny being this political,physical, and social power house was largely because of the main GM. Benny was only ever supposed to be a powerhouse of a fighter. Unfortunately, their powerhouse status made them quite desirable to all the player characters, and everyone wanted to be friends with them. This was further exacerbated by the GM, who refused to challenge the character. At one point Benny snapped at a powerful, irritable character that was looking for an excuse to attack Benny and the rest of the players. But rather than capitalizing on the opportunity, they were all “I admire your passion and why you’re doing this.” Like, what? Even Benny’s player was a little miffed about the whole thing. Benny had been caught in a trap where they could do spectacular things, but none of it interesting. Their character had become a Mary Sue.

The lesson to be learned is that your character’s development isn’t totally in your hands, but there are workarounds. You can have a plan B or just be adaptable. As the RP goes on you can decide if the events your character is experiencing will shape your character differently. Your plan is merely a roadmap to help guide your character in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to take detours if they look interesting. Maybe Rilia doesn’t overcome her racism through interactions with good Italians. Maybe it’s seeing her own behavior mirrored by evil Italian officers that causes her to snap out of it. Alternatively, you can talk with the other players and GM about the direction you’d like to take your character in. I love being part of another character’s journey, and everyone that helps your character grow will be more endeared to them because of it. Also, sometimes desires change. After roleplaying a character for many years, you may decide to take them in a different direction.

And there you have it, a few elements to keep in mind as your character moves about the RP they’re in. It’s not the end of the world if your character is missing a few of these elements. Even something as seemingly important as a character arc does not need to be present for a character to do well. There is a concept involving “round” and “flat” characters, but I’ll talk more about that later. For now, just strive for strong characters, and readers will never accuse them of being a Mary Sue.

EDIT: I forgot to include this in my article somewhere, but @BangoSkank made a few interesting points on using your initial concept for further character development, which is worth a read and can be found here.

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

"Time to TP the dragon's house!

— Luana Roycroft

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin

An ambush was coming, but from where was the question. The lower light and familiarity of the cave would have made a great spot for an ambush. Though the point of an ambush was to catch your opponent off guard, and performing an attack at the mouth of the cave did just that. The drake had retracted its claws and hid in some fresh vegetation to conceal its tracks. Or perhaps it had enough time to enter the burrow and come out the other side to wait for an ambush. Either way Luana was able to detect the drake in time, and thanks to Ethelred 's suggestion, they had a defensible position. That didn't mean Luana could dawdle.

Every second counted.

"It's here!" Luana swung her spear into one of the freshly grown trees to alter its growth. With a jolt of her drudic magic, Its lower most branches expanded outwards to obstruct Lonan's back from the incoming predator. She didn't stop with just one tree, she smacked another, and another, always trying to keep some branches between Lonan and the drake. She didn't imagine he would need to be told where the drake was, with the branches snapping and decaying behind him.

On the last tree, she had it launch a branch straight out towards the Drake's head and attempted to make it wrap around its face. But Luana held her hand against the trunk of the tree this time. This wasn't to manipulate the tree's growth in a meaningful way, but she was sure it would try to claw the branch off of its face. If she focused her magic into the branch, could she actively fight the drake's cursed claws?

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

"Time to TP the dragon's house!

— Luana Roycroft

@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin

"I would love a horse!" While Luana could turn into a steed and keep up with everyone, she couldn't risk wearing herself out before reaching their target. She didn't say anything during the trip over, and didn't speak up until Lonan spoke up again.

"Hmmm?" Luana turned to look at him. "My druid abilities? There's no harm in clarifying. We haven't worked together or anything, so I wouldn't expect you to know! Like your purple hair, I have no idea if it's natural or not. It wouldn't be wise to just assume you're going gray early." But she understood why he was asking in an overly polite manner. Sorcha had told Luana to do something before and she reacted, mmmm, a bit unfavorably. But she was sworn to work under Sorcha, who should have familiarized herself with what all of her knights were capable of. Lonan didn't even know Luana existed before today, so it would be silly to get upset with him. "Honestly, I've only used druid craft to change shape and grow plants, and I do very well with both of those. But as my queen has shown me, there may be other utilities for my magic as well. It would be my first time using druid craft to directly contest dark magic like that. So I'd say it would be reckless to expect much out of it, but I could attempt it in a pinch."

Ethelred made a good point. But would it be that simple? "Most burrowing animals that I've faced have many passages into their den. I doubt he would back himself into a corner, so I'd be ready to face a labyrinth of tunnels or other such traps. But!" She reached into her pouch. "It wouldn't hurt to be a little prepared if the fight came out this way, would it?"

Luana chucked a few acorns at the path leading into the cave, and some trees sprouted. They wouldn't be difficult for a human to walk past, but a drake would have to claw (or roll) their way through the trees to leave. The ground was also covered in thick vines that might trip up a large, rolling lizard. "Please please please wash your boots before handling them if you're walking inside. If you touch the vines with your hands, wear gloves or gauntlets, and do not touch your face!" Luana had dismounted her horse and was walking towards the mouth of the cave. "Ethelred, if you would stand in front of me, I'm going to see if I can get a clue as to what that thing is doing." Endless eclipse couldn't pinpoint the drake's exact location, but she should at least know what it was doing and if it was above or below ground.

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

"I’m ready for my close up."

— Chloe Irving

Most magical girls had long forgotten what being an actual girl was like. Provided they were one to begin with. But it was something Chloe had never forgotten. You really couldn’t when you were the star of the show all the time. The world was a stage, and she was the lead character. Thus, she needed to look as good as she possibly could. Her magical girl outfit was the only thing she’d bother wearing, but she had her choice of accessories to adorn herself with. Or rather, her scarf would change into whatever it was that she desired. But now it was a hat, if only for a moment before becoming a collar. It would continue to change shape while she applied her makeup.

Her attention was fixed on a body length mirror on her apartment’s wall, but her phone was a short distance away. The Glimmr app was open, with Lily’s message taking up the majority of the phone’s screen. There was also enough room for an ad about banana scented shampoo. But who wanted that?

"Alright, lovelies." Chloe turned around to face Sonia, Viper, and Aurora. "Your brave, beautiful, and fearless leader’s plan is coming together swimmingly! I know we have a few things baking in the oven, but there’s no reason to concern ourselves with that now." She grinned. "Once everything runs its course, we’ll be that much closer to getting what your little heart desires."

"Boobs?" Aurora’s head perked up, but Chloe was quick to pinch her cheek between her fingers.

"I was talking to the other two."

"Awwww…"

"I have some muscle on reserve, so once Sonia drops Aurora and I off, she and Viper can do whatever they wish. Which I’m ready for, by the way." She snapped her fingers.

---

No sooner did Nykannis’s recording stopped playing did Chloe burst onto the scene. Sonia brought Chloe and Aurora to the location. The trap was holding a red carpet, which she rolled out immediately. Chloe strut across the carpet as souls rose up from either side of it.

"Hello Penrose! It is I, Chloe Irving, here to converse with the rest of the magical girl community. I don’t care who you serve, I think we all need to come together to fight our common enemy. And also…"

The ground behind Chloe moved aside as something burrowed out of the earth. It was a bony abomination, one with the head of an alligator and limbs from long extinct animals. Its torso was made up of at least five different ribcages, and was filled to the brim with glowing bones. If that wasn’t enough, the thing’s limbs were clad in plate armor and it’s main arms had runic scythes for hands.

"...Lily’s not the only one with a security detail. So let’s not try anything, eh?"

---

"I ruined everything.”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy

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

Oliver was talking to Mac, but she was only half listening. She went through her morning routine, worked out, took a shower, if only to get her headspace right. But while a shower could wash away the grime of brisk exercise, it couldn’t clear her head.

Mac had done some horrible things, but was always able to justify her actions. It was a good cause, for the greater good, that was all it took to get her to deal with cutthroats, thieves, and everything else being an undercover cop entailed. But it never involved people she knew. Even if Mac hadn’t known the people at Cradle long, she hadn’t been this close to anyone since she arrived in Penrose ten or so years ago. And even if she wasn’t, Nothing she ever did was as deplorable as what Aria put him through. She knew Finn had a sister at some point, but didn’t know the details about her. It almost felt like Aria went above and beyond to psychologically torture him. And for what? Even if she knew more than Oliver, she didn’t know the full story. But she’d be okay. Unlike Finn, she didn’t deserve a rest.

"Um, yea. I get that.” Mac nodded. "We’ll just give him some space. And, um, I guess I need a persona for this.” With a snap of her fingers, she turned into a rodent monster girl. She looked like iron mouse, but dressed to go crash a mosh pit at a punk concert. Spiked pauldrons, skirt, torn socks. It’s not a phase, mom.

"You may have heard of Iron Mouse, but I’m ’Metal Rat’.” She hadn’t even bothered to change her voice. "I use gravity magic and, um, you know it’s probably not necessary to get too invested in this. Let’s get moving.”

---

"I may be dead, but my memory lives on!”

— Sakura

The one thing Sakura missed most about his old Yakuza life was the respect he used to get. His fellow yakuza treated him like a brother, his family loved him, and his enemies feared him. Even as he approached his senior years, he still “had it.” But then he became a magical girl and subsequently a laughing stock. He tried to change that sorry state of affairs every chance he got, but to no avail. It was that pursuit of greater respect – that rejection of her current reality – that made things end poorly.

But death was not the end for magical girls.

When you’re just a soul, your ability to perceive the physical realm is not that great. She couldn’t see tangible objects, only the neon glow of other spirits. They moved and swirled in the darkness. She noticed only a few at first, but as she looked around she could see hundreds and thousands of them. They were all different colors and swirling like galaxies. It was as mesmerizing as it was haunting; Each of those lights was a dead magical girl. Was this anything more than a dream?

Before long, Sakura was swept up by a current. Some invisible force was pushing her along, moving her closer to the collection of lights. She was a little unnerved by this, but it wasn’t like she could resist. Moreover, she found herself being comforted by it. Given how badly she had screwed things up, it was probably best that something else decided where she was going.

But Sakura was not alone. While most of the spirits were far away, one floated closer to her. As it got closer, Sakura could see a shape inside the light. It looked like a small person, wearing more clothing than most magical girls do. Come to think of it, she kind of looked like a captain. Maybe even a pirate captain.

“Ahoy, there!” The tiny pirate greeted Sakura. “You seem to be freshly released. You wouldn’t happen to be from Penrose, would you?”

“I am.” Sakura was shocked at how easy it was to speak. She must have had an incorporeal form like this pirate. “Did you want to know what was going on?”

“Nah, I can’t say I care about that now. I mean, we’re dead, right?” The pirate grinned, but it felt less happy and more smug. “Besides, it’s hard to remember much as a spirit. I can’t even remember the last ten people I talked to. I’m sure you noticed how dream-like everything feels?”

“This is real then?”

“Unfortunately.”

“F-” Sakura sighed. “A big Oppai maid angel told me some things, and I think I may end up in a bad underworld.”

“Bad underworld? Oppai?” The pirate raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what either of those things are, but we’re magical girls. Our patrons aren’t going to let us check out that easily. It may take a decade or so, but we’re going to get resurrected the second we acquire enough mana to do so. You probably noticed how hard it is to move. After a while, you’ll collect enough ambient mana to be able to fight the soul stream and collect even more mana. After a while, you’ll have enough mana to rebuild your physical body… I think.”

“You think?”

“You probably noticed they don’t give you a manual when you get here.”

“Fucking hell…” Sakura would sigh if she still had lungs. “How long have you been doing this?”

“I haven’t seen as much as a clock or calendar since I got here. But let’s not worry about that too much. The one nice thing about being here is that you get to meet all kinds of other souls.” The pirate pretended to clear her throat. “I’m Amber, but the magical girl community knows me as Shining Scale.”

“Sakura. But don’t let the name fool you. I was a man before turning into a magical girl.”

“A man, huh?” Amber barrel-rolled to the other side of Sakura. “What did you do for a living? I was a hardware store manager.”

“Yakuza.”

“Really?”

“I was one of the good ones.” Sakura was glad she didn’t have a form capable of blushing. “B-because I met a good woman! Our daughter is the greatest thing I’ve ever produced.”

“Oh, a family man.” She laughed. “I never met my mister right. But I bet that makes the magical life even harder, huh? Abstaining from making other connections like that.”

“Yea…” Sakura couldn’t keep Emily or that kiss he gave her out of his head. “Um, are those other souls ahead?”

“Oh yea! Looks like a few more recently deceased. I wonder if they’re from Penrose too.”

The next two souls looked like a mobster and an old, timely detective. They were holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes. Sakura and Amber remained quiet until their forms vanished from view.

“You didn’t say anything to them?” Sakura inquired.

“No point spoiling their moment.” Amber chuckled. “It’s kind of a good thing that they both went together, you know? A decade or so is a long time to be away from the person you love. They’ll do alright regardless of how much the world changes. Can’t say you or I are going to have it as easy.”

“I don’t know. I think everyone I know is better off without me.”

Amber raised her pimp hand. “If we could physically interact with each other, I’d smack you!”

“Oh!” Sakura was a bit taken back by how quickly the pirate lady got angry. She was probably not too fun to work under. Then again, all the yakuza bosses were short tempered too. “I was just feeling sorry for myself.”

“Hey!” A sudden shout came from an absolutely massive soul. Clearly it belonged to a very old, very powerful magical girl. She had an unsettling grin on her face and wore a crown. “Don’t be sad, be mad! Get angry! Realize that someone sent you here, and while they may have bought themselves a decade or so to live, you’re going to go back there and absolutely crush whatever killed you!” The beastly magical girl withdrew into her own thoughts. “Next time, Connie, it’s just going to be you and me, and I won’t let anyone get in the way.. So don’t die before I can get to you, my perfect prey!” With a laugh that shook the underworld, the massive soul took off like a jet, throwing Sakura and Amber threw the soul stream.

“Fucking hell!”

“I’ll say!” Amber managed to stay near Sakura. “But that’s why you need to return as fast as you can. Because there’s always a few nutjobs like that waiting to come back.”

“I see that now!”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong.” Amber looked ahead. “Sometimes I wish death was a bit more permanent.”

Now it was Sakura who was ready to get annoyed. “Didn’t you say you’d smack me for talking like that?”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” She clarified. “We need to make the best of a bad situation, but it can feel a little pointless sometimes. We fight forever. Us, our enemies, all to be pawns in some sadistic game. With a finite lifespan at least we could see our friends in the appropriate afterlife. I’ll never see some of my friends again. And there’s the possibility that when I come back, the people I know as a magical girl will have moved on. Ten years is a long time, and if they didn’t die, they might have changed. Maybe ten years is all it takes for the world to forget about Shining Scale.”

This was one of those rare moments where Sakura stopped to think about what to say. “If you don’t think you’ll be remembered, or see your friends again, why continue?”

“Partially because we don’t have a choice. But also, well, it’s not my first rodeo.” Amber grinned. “It wasn’t a literal death, but getting turned into a magical girl hit the reset button on my life. Everything I knew about hardware was useless, everyone treated me like a kid again, and I had all of these new responsibilities and powers I knew nothing about. I was only able to keep up for a year or two, but by the time I died I rallied a bunch of magical girls together and initiated a raid. I built new connections and learned about my new life, and when I return I know I can do it all again.”

“Huh…”

“But I think I’ve drawn in enough mana from this area, so I’ll be going now.”

It took Sakura a moment, but she realized that the pirate… the woman… who was she talking to again?