BrokenPromise

Symphony on High

@TaintedMushroom Yup, because we have EXP share on and we're one operation in.

Symphony on High

Should I joke that he's Elroy Jr or a confused Maverick?

@TaintedMushroom Like Ponn pointed out, long guns are locked to physical, and I'd like to see what glamors are which grades. You should have 1 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze. Make those edits and I'll talk it over with May Jay.

Synphony on Highschool

@FamishedPants I love it! What an absolutely mesmerizing sheet! Tsugumi is sutable waifu material. Unfortunately, I'm presently going through Fruit of Grisaia, and I stalled after having all my progress wiped. It wouldn't take long to get back in the game, but the censorship to the steam version of the game robbed a lot of my motivation to continue. I'm fine with some level of censorship, but when you totally alter scenes to the point where characters are doing and saying different things than the original it becomes sort of ehhhhhhhhh...

Slap them in the character tab, and thanks for getting this done in such a timely fashion! Maybe you can reply to our 1x1 RP some day too!

Symphony on High

In memory of all the frogs that were slain during the diver attack. You'll be missed, my green bumpy friends.

Synphony on Highschool

Sullivan Academy was relatively modest in scope. Yes, it was effectively a castle with a rickety tower slapped on the back, but that was all it needed to be. Most extradimensional observers would look over such a modest offering, if they didn’t choose to mock it instead. If Silvia was so great, surely she could have an entire continent. Her magic could fuel countless arcane wonders. She could have castles that float in the sky, waterfalls that tumble sideways, cobblestone walkways that outshine the stars. Perhaps she could cultivate underground forests lit by bioluminescent creatures, giant toadstools that can be lived inside, portable homes that rest on the backs of dragons. But why stop with things that are so ordinary? She could move on to make an army of chipmunks that were actually monks, whales that cruised around space and gobbled up galaxies, or conjure room mates that aren’t totally annoying. There was no limit to what she could conjure. But she decided to pick something so mundane, so basic, so laughably phoned in for such a powerful spellcaster that one couldn’t help but question her intent.

But maybe she just didn’t see the need to start a post with three-ish paragraphs of technobabble to gloss over. It wasn’t truly possible to grasp Silvia’s power anyway.

Far more important was what she was doing. She was splitting her attention between nuking eldritch horrors out of existence and examining an ongoing conversation. Watching along with her was a robot with a monitor for a head. He did not look too impressed with either display on the orb’s glossy surface. Half of the orb was dedicated to observing horrors to nuke, while the other spectated two interdimensional travelers. One of which looked like a character from “Date A Live” and the other a Steinsgate scientist. A loli scientist to be precise. They themselves were observing another dimension from what seemed to be a mega city, or at least a lab the size of a megacity, which was the size of a continent. And scaled into space.

The principal sighed. "Not to my tastes. "

"It’s no Botopia, that’s for sure." The robot agreed. "It would have been so easy to go all in on the tech angle, but it’s techno-organic. There’s no refinement or synergy here, it looks like a kid’s lunchbox. "

She looked over the two individuals they were spying on. "I just find their abode to be unnecessarily large. Technology gets smaller as it gets more sophisticated, so there’s no reason to have something so big."

"But if you’re going to go big, why not go bigger?" P03 snorted. "But I guess not everyone can digitize reality itself. That’s what the pros do."

"Quiet now. They’re talking."

"You can listen to all of us at once, or is that beyond the omnipotent Silvia’s abilities?" The robot chided. "I suppose if I’m going to mock these people properly, I should learn a bit about them.." Their “face” transformed into a series of loading bars that appeared and filled up instantly. All while flashing file names just above them. After a few seconds, P03’s monitor returned to normal. "So the child-like scientist is Nykannis, Queen of the Mad Scientists. Her base is exactly what I’d expect from someone who looks like a toddler. And the girl that can’t shut up about ‘him’ must be Jen. I have no idea why interdimensional observers always need to congregate and nod at each other’s opinions. I guess self-validation is hard to come by when you’re effectively a mouthpiece no one can listen to. Why are you interested in them anyway?"

"Nykannis and Jennifer have remained around a specific reality plenum located in the Penrose Arious cluster. It neighbors a few other multiverses. To my knowledge, Jen fled Penrose Arious and Nykannis should still be confined there until her plans are realized."

"So you’re just baffled at an irregularity?"

"That, and they’ve shown up in the Quassus Symphony Multiverse. This suggests that she’s already free. Though there are a lot of nebulous details about that world I can’t perceive.”

P03 raised an eyebrow, but then downloaded a few more assets. His screen promptly displayed a smug face. "Appearing there was a total misplay on their part. I hope they don’t expect that ‘Contrivance Engine’ to do anything. That would only ever work in Penrose Arious. That place doesn’t even follow its own logic. But if they want to become true singularities, that’s certainly one way of doing it. Maybe they know more than they let on.

But I doubt it."

For just a moment, Silvia looked at P03 "You understand the nature of Quassus Symphony?”

"It’s mysteries are an open book to me. And since you’ve been such a gracious host, I’ll share some of its secrets with you. How does that sound?"

"I would be willing to listen.”

"Fantastic." A barrel fell out of the ceiling and landed beside P03. "But I don’t think you’ll be able to grasp the full truth, not without the right visual aids." Two batteries floated out of the fifty-five gallon drum and landed on Silvia’s table. "I’m told humans like to eat their food for nourishment, but batteries are a more efficient, less gross version of human food. They supply energy directly to the system they’re powering, can be reused, and don’t prompt any emotional irregularities as I charge." P03 placed a hand on both batteries. "In order for a universe to do anything, it needs a force to move things through it. We will call this force time." He patted the batteries. "Unless we cheat, and we will be cheating later, time moves in one direction. From positive to negative. Or from negative to positive. Depends if you’re talking about conventional current or electron flow. With very few exceptions, it doesn’t matter, except for when it does. And it will most certainly matter later. Things also get even weirder when you introduce AC and DC current, but we won’t bother your brain with that yet."

"So time is like the battery’s current?”

"Or it’s flow! But regardless of which, it needs to flow through a conductor. Electricity flows through wires, but what prevents time from spiraling out of control is causality. Causality is a little hard for humans to compute, so let’s just call them ‘time lines’." Various wires floated out of the barrel and arranged themselves over a battery. "But you can’t just connect one end of a batter to the other. The battery would explode, unlike a universe's time, which would instead implode everything into itself. But that’s because we haven’t added the universe itself to the equation yet. Which we will do by adding a small glass covered filament encased with some gas."

"A lightbulb?”

"That’s the borning name for it, but sure." A lightbulb seemed to appear among the mess of wiring and started to glow. "And this would be enough if we were just going to talk about a universe, but we’re dealing with a few different multiverses so we need to make a few alterations. I’m going to see if I can replicate the Penrose Arious cluster with this model." The bulb was cast aside, and a jumble of Christmas lights were put in its place. "Something we need to remember about that particular cluster is the ‘gods’ that preside over it have a lot of different ideas about how stuff should work, or simply change their mind and retcon things in and out of the multiverse. So you end up with a multiverse that looks like this." The Christmas lights looked pretty old, with many of the wires spliced together with mismatched wires and solder. Some of the solder joints had even detached or were repaired with hot glue, bubblegum, and electrical tape. Most of the lights lit up, but turning the wires one way or another caused some of the lights to blink out and others to light up. Sometimes there was even smoke. "We’re almost there. Illustrating something that’s infinitely vast is difficult with this model, but let’s just…." Several more bundles of Christmas lights were shoved into the mix, just as old and ill-repaired as the last ones. "Now we just need to work something in to act as a sort of ‘contrivance engine’ and we’re set. How about…" P03 plugged the main wire coming off the negative terminal into a christmas light controller, which then fed the rest of the lights. "Yea! I think that’s going to work!"

Silvia raised an eyebrow. "So what’s the connection to Quassus Symphony?”

"Hold on, I need to make sure you understand something else about circuits, because this, too, is just like time and causality." He pointed at ‘Penrose Arious’ before continuing. "These Christmas lights are wired in series. This means that power goes from one light to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next, until it finally gets back to the battery. So if I do this…” He pulled out a bulb, and the lights went out. "The entire circuit goes out. Time cannot flow when there’s an ‘opening’ in causality. However, not all multiverses are wired like this. Let’s take a look at this thing.” He pulled a twenty foot metal ladder out of the three foot tall barrel and leaned it up against a wall. Something that made the ladder interesting was its rungs were all tube lights. Using the second battery, he attached the ladders left and right sides to the positive and negative terminals of the second battery. "Now time can flow between each of these universes at the same time. This is what they call a parallel circuit. A nice advantage to this over a series circuit is that if a light were to blow out-" One of the tube lights cracked in half. Yet the rest of the ladder still lit up. "Most multiverse clusters are made using both types of causality circuits. Sometimes one world can’t exist without another, and other times they are entirely different things. This is ultimately what decides if a circuit between two universes is parallel, in series, or there at all."

"Interesting.”

"Right? Now we’re going to do the ‘difficult’ task of constructing a model of Quassus Symphony. Unfortunately, the time frame for when this all has to go up is limited, so I cannot go into detail for every component I add. So for anyone listening in, just use google if I say something unfamiliar." P03 disconnected the second battery from the ladder and started to run more wires. "We’re going to start by running the wires directly from Penrose Arious to the one being used by Quassus Symphony. This is to illustrate time’s influence on all universes not only in a multiverse, but the greater omniverse. But time does not influence Quassus Symphony directly. It instead goes through a warp, which can be easily replicated in our model with a prototyping chip. I’m using an Arduino Uno, but as long as it has at least 12 digital pins, four of which should feature PWM, and then 4 extra analog input pins. Otherwise, anything will work. But the warp is manifolded, so you’ll need to run those pins into a few multiplexores. Run 8 of your digital pins to the signal wires on 4 multiplexores. Your PWM pins should each be simulating different analog signals and run to the inputs across all of the multiplexores. If you’re capable of thought you likely realized I was referring to ‘4x1 MUX’ multiplexores specifically. Anyway! The output wires run from the multiplexores into a single RNGLED bulb before looping back to the battery. But we’re not done yet. Quassus Symphony is affected by a lot of different parameters, and how it appears to outsiders can change at a moment’s notice! That’s why the prototyping chip needs to make use of its analog inputs via various sensors. For our model, the type of sensor doesn’t really matter. Let’s grab a yaw sensor, a temperature sensor, a light sensor, and a motion sensor. These will represent some of the ways Quassus Symphony monitors and reacts to the greater omniverse!"

"But how does it do that? What are these sensors representing?”

"Don’t interrupt. But yes, Quassus Symphony might look relatively simple and tidy, at least to me. But you need to keep in mind this is a very simple model of the thing. You could probably build ten of these models and entwine them and not get the full picture." Sure enough, 9 identical models of Quassus Symphony sprung out of the barrel. It meshed with the present model so completely that it started to look like one big ball of wires, circuit boards, and a few lights. "And then we need something to represent all the random anomalies.Oros the Mad’s medaling will be represented by this banana split. Nykannis and Jennie’s observations will be represented by this weight. The presence of nearby realities can be represented by, well, more lights. Some of these things don’t interact directly with Quassus Symphony's circuitry, but don’t forget all the sensors we have! Just by existing they cause things to change!"

"That does sound hard to manage.”

"But even this model doesn’t let you truly grasp the nature of Quassus Symphony. For that, you’ll need me." His face changed to a recording of both models. "Now the model is totally digitized. This may seem like a small change, but that’s only because you don’t know how I’’m going to edit it yet! I can alter colors, splice in a commercial break, all kinds of cool stuff. This might seem unfair, but try to remember the quantum nature of atoms. While the final recording might look totally different, the electrons are likely being shared with the original, as well as the rest of the world!”

"What is this…”

"There we go. I just turned the video into a videogame and uploaded it onto steam. It’s about dumping atrazine into frog infested waters. And that’s it. That’s the simplified version of Quassus Symphony! I get a chuckle out of watching gamers like yourself struggling to put together something that’s so simple No wonder everything Nykannis does turns to ash, no wonder your school is so empty, no wonder-”

Suddenly, and without warning, a pair of hands seized P03’s head and snapped it off his shoulders. There were a few sparks before his body went limp. Silvia could only look on. It was rare for her to be shocked by anything, but this had certainly done it. How long had it been since Silvia had been surprised by something.

"Uh, thanks. He was kind of annoying.” Silvia blushed slightly. "But who are you, and why did you do that?”

What stepped out of the darkness first appeared to be a druid. Covered head to toe in faded leaves and vines. But then he introduced himself.

"I’m Alex Jones. And as for why I offed that robot, I don’t like ‘em putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin’ frogs gay!"

Very Good and Original 1x1 RP ideas (No Stealing)

This thread is going to be closed permanently, because while I was unable to find a 1x1 RP, it did serve to start a group RP which is better than any 1x1 RP to have ever existed. Yes, even that one. Yes, even that one. But I'll leave it up so that future 1x1 rpers can know what real RPs and real interest checks are suppose to look like. Have a nice day.

---

Do you like fast posting speeds?

Do you like raunchy S M U T?

…Then get the hell outa here.

What’s up everyone? If you don’t know who I am, just look at my Bio. Anything I feel like sharing with random internet people can be found there. So-called novella/low-advanced/high-casual writers can also use it to scrutinize my writing and see if I pass muster. Same for those “new to the forum, not new to RPing” types.

Myself? I’m not really that picky when it comes to who I write with. Gender, age, occupation, creed, culture, base of operations, device for posting, favorite waifu and/or husbando, status as a “stay at home wife/single mom”, it shouldn’t be an issue while we pretend to be characters on the internet.

Oh what? You want something more dramatic? Fine…

Valentine's day was a month or two ago. While most of you were moaning about how single you are or worrying about how you’re going to impress your SO, I was thinking about cringe RP ideas. Normally my ideas are pretty based, and I can run them for years and years provided my players tolerate me that long. But part of running based RPs is knowing which of your ideas are cringe and keeping them in the confines of your mind. Some stories aren’t good enough to get told. But just because these ideas are cringe doesn’t mean I don’t want to play them. It took me a moment to realize cringe is a spectrum. These ideas may seem cringe when compared to my group RPs — or any group RP — they may be more based to the uninitiated denizens of the 1x1 section. I’m sorry if you regularly RP here, but you have to admit there isn’t much innovation. Every other RP is a hot hookup, part of the unholy Vampire/Werewolf/Mafia trinity, a sub looking for a dommy mommy/daddy, or some mix of those. Maybe that’s the point? I don’t know.

With that ramble out of the way, I have some expectations for any RP we do together. Yes, I have standards.

-- Long term RPs are great, but that’s not what I’m looking for. Anything we do will last a few months tops as opposed to the multi-year stories I typically run, as you're probably not worth it.

– I post once a week. Sometimes more, but don’t expect me to. I’ll hold you to the same standard. I’d also prefer if you could let me know if you’ll be absent for posting or want to drop. OOC chatter isn’t necessary, but I do have a discord. That said, I do not hand it out freely, and I tend to not chat for long stretches of time. Again, you're probably not worth it.

– Post length doesn’t matter to me too much, so long as it’s at least a paragraph or two. I can usually work with that. Provided what you produce can be read without much issue.

– I’m not too picky when it comes to artwork for your character’s face claim, if that’s something you even want to do. I’m also not serious enough about these ideas to warrant a character sheet. If you care, let me know. I might not care, but I'll listen to you.

– I’d prefer to RP on the forum proper, but we can do so in PMs if you insist on it. That said, don’t expect PM RPs to get lewd. I ain’t a prude but I won’t be writing anything especially saucy. I would also like to put the plot before any sex scenes we write. It would be kind of weird if we just kept fading to black all the time. I don’t think it would make for a good RP.

If you read this far, you must be thinking something like: “Wow, I can’t believe we, the 1x1 subforum RPers, finally have a gigachad like Broken Promise to RP with! I’m sure even your most cringe ideas are to die for!” And to your hypothetical thoughts, my response is. “Have a look.”

---

Idea #1: Suki’s Revenge

While I GM most of my RPs to completion, every once in a while I make the mistake of joining someone else’s, and the often don’t finish. It’s just a matter of time before the GM throws in the towel or decides I’m too toxic for their sheltered RP group. In the case of the latter, the RP usually dies without my continued support. I’ve got big shoulders.

Why is this important? Because sometimes I genuinely enjoy these RPs and make characters that I’d like to explore more. It’s not always possible to just slot them into other projects. For a dark magical girl RP I made a (this will shock you) dark magical girl that I thought was a load of fun to play. It’s not required reading, but here’s her character sheet. Basic idea is “Awkward delinquent can turn into a confident and cute blood witch while still retaining the baggage that makes her undesirable.”

Oros the Joyful

• Appearance:

Mundane

Former

Corrupt

• Name: Oyama, Suki “Trixy”

• Title: Oros the Joyful, formerly Nurse Joy

• Age: That age where kissing any of the other characters isn’t considered gross.

• Emblem: A gothic heart tattoo located just a few inches under her belly button, right over her intestines.

• Devil Arm: Formerly, Suki’s sweet arm was a set of heart shaped IV bags that she could control with her mind. Now she wears a bleeding hair pin. Her hands, legs, and dress are always soaked in blood, effectively making them magical weapons. She rarely fights with her pin directly, but can form the blood into other things like claws, blades, and tendrils. Effective range is just a bit longer than the length of her arms, while her tendrils can reach a meter or so further. The more wounded she is, the more numerous her attacks become.

• Magic: When Suki was a pure magical girl, her magic was based around love. Now it’s based around lust. Instead of enabling her allies as a nurse, she disables her enemies as a vampire or succubus. Though most just take to calling her a blood witch.

Anything she touches is slowly overcome by a “geas” that makes them charmed by her presence. The geas can be resisted for a time, but if Suki holds on long enough, even the most resilient magical girl will fall to her charms. She also has vitality sapping kisses, and kissing someone on the lips or neck greatly accelerates the geas, provided they have those features. Once she lets go of someone, the geas fades and her charms slowly wear off.

Miseria react strangely to Suki's lust magic. It confuses them rather than charms them, and her kisses can cause a backlash that charges up nearby monsters.

• Background:

Despair

Some girls should have never been magical to begin with.

Suki was not born into a stable family. Her father was a detective that was never home. When he was around, her parents used that time to argue with one another. It was no secret that her father wasn’t faithful, but they stayed together. Mr. Oyama didn’t want to split his assets with his wife, and Mrs Oyama couldn’t support herself without his lucrative job. This made Suki an undesirable symbol of their unhappy union. Her mother did the bare minimum she needed to keep Suki alive, and otherwise let her fend for herself. This made Suki a very needy girl.

Her parents failed to provide her with any self worth, so she tried to find validation in others. Her desperate behavior was a red flag to most, except to those that weren’t above using her. She fell in with the wrong crowd and became a delinquent. Her parents would scold her, but at least she was getting their attention. She would dye her hair, get piercings, and get into whatever trouble she could. She smoked her first cigarette when she was 11 and had her first beer when she was 13. But the other delinquents didn’t stick around forever. Most of them wised up and started taking school seriously, leaving Suki alone again. She still liked the negative attention she was getting from her parents, and pressed on alone.

Suki would get a reprieve from her mystery when she was greeted by a mascot. Naturally, she wished to be loved. The mascot already had a few magical girls under its wing, and they treated her with respect. What followed were the best years of her life. She was part of a team and was making a change for good. She saved people, even her friends sometimes. They helped her break her alcohol and nicotine addiction. They played arcade games and had sleepovers in place of causing property damage and petty theft.

But Suki wasn’t going to be a girl forever. She was turning into a woman, and her emotional needs were evolving. It wasn’t enough to be loved by a group of friends. They all had boyfriends (or girlfriends) and Suki didn’t want to be left out. She wanted to feel romantic love. The kind of love Suki had never known. She had seen how cruel the real world could be, and knew she had to pick someone from her group.

Suki set her eyes on Lada. She was a foreign transfer student, and a relatively new addition to their group of magical girls. She was kind, confident, and easy on the eyes. A real foreign beauty. When everyone talked about relationships, Lada was silent. Suki talked to the other magical girls and they were all pretty sure she was still available. Suki set out to have Lada join her on a surprise date. She was going to take Lada to a concert and then return to their hangout to ask about their relationship. She spent months saving her money for those tickets. Her other fellow magical girls were in on it, but she insisted on getting the money for the tickets herself.

Lada was surprised that Suki wanted to go to the concert, but it wasn’t hard to convince her to come along. They had a great time, and it seemed like it was all going well. But when Suki asked Lada about being her girlfriend, Lada laughed. She swiftly apologized, then informed Suki she wasn’t into girls. That was devastating on its own, but what was worse was that this all happened in front of her friends, who were hiding around the hangout. Once Lada left for the night, they all came out to cheer her up. But as kind as their words were, they couldn’t cease their snickering. She was just a joke to them.

They had never really been friends..

The following day she relapsed into her old habits as she let her despair fester. It only took a day for her dark emotions to corrupt her, and Nurse Joy became a blood witch: someone that didn’t need to receive love. She could make people love her. With Suki’s new powers, she immediately conspired to get that kiss Lada had denied her. It didn’t take a lot of stalking to find out where she was and jump her. Suki wasn’t good at stealth though, and the ensuing fight was messy. But in the end, Suki got what she wanted.

It didn’t take long for her friends to find out what happened. Suki fled to Hibusa Town where she suspected she would never be discovered, and joined the delinquent club after trying to seduce one of their members.

• Sample Post:

First kiss

It felt like everything that happened in Suki’s life led up to this moment.

Lada’s room was a mess, but that was bound to happen when two magical girls fought in a small space. The bed had been overturned, the closet doors laid on the floor, and Lada’s dressers were reduced to wood and fabric, scattered to the four winds. In the center of the room sat the victor with their prize.

Lada’s sword had cut Suki deep. The wound ran from the center of her chest down to her right hip. It was a grievous wound, and she wouldn’t had survived it if she wasn’t a magical girl. Lada, comparatively, had no wounds to speak of. But Suki didn’t need to wound her prey to win a fight. She was sitting on Lada’s stomach, with a pair of tendrils reaching out of her wound to pin the girl’s arms over her head. Lada could kick her legs, twist her arms, but she wasn’t getting free. Suki’s hands closed around her face.

”That was a nice fight!” Suki’s voice was sickeningly sweet, but her body lacked any kind of malice. She used her thumbs to follow the curvature of Lada’s cheek bones, then the bridge of her nose. She dragged her index finger down the center of her face, riding over her lips. ”Such beautiful contours, just like the wound you gave me!”

”Don’t.” Was all Lada could manage. Her breathing was becoming ragged. The geas was taking its toll on her mind, but she resisted. That wouldn’t last for long.

”Oh Lada! I couldn’t bring myself to hurt something so pretty! But we’re wasting time, and the anticipation is killing us.” Suki giggled. ”I know your first time is a little scary, but it’s my first time too! So just relax and let it happen.”

Suki closed her eyes and closed the breach between their faces. Lada’s eyes went wide, but if she could have escaped she would have done so already. She opened her mouth to make one last plea, but Suki plunged her tongue inside. Her eyes dilated and her back arched, only for Lada’s eyes to flutter shut. Her entire body relaxed as Suki probed every inch of her mouth. The tendrils released her arms, and she wrapped them around Suki.

Suki pulled her head back with a gasp. ”Oh sweetheart, that was magical!” She wiggled on top of Lada’s stomach. ”Your skin makes me want to cry! You glow like a goddess! You taste like a strawberry! Well, maybe a little more subdued than a strawberry, but-” Suki kissed Lada’s cheek. ”See? You shouldn’t have said no! We could have been having all this fun yesterday!”

”I-” Suki wouldn’t stop laying kisses along Lada’s neck and shoulder. ”I’m sorry, I didn’t, know it, would feel like, this.” Her eyes were half closed. ”But, I’m glad, you-”

Suki placed her finger over Lada’s lips. ”I forgive you. The important part is you came around!” Suki leaned in to give Lada one more kiss, only to notice she fell unconscious in her arms. ”What? We didn’t even get to the spicy part yet!”

But their alone time would be interrupted. The other five members of Suki’s magical girl team piled into the room. They already had their weapons drawn and were ready to fight.

Suki shrugged. ”Yea, she decided to take a nap. I think-”

Penny, the leader of the unit, closed the distance with a swift punch. Powerful enough on its own, more so when you considered the cyborg girl’s fist was powered by its own afterburner. Suki careened into the adjacent wall, and Penny caught Lada in her arms.

”She’s secure!”

Suki didn’t even have time to stand back up before the other four girls stood in front of them. She placed her hand on the window sill to stabilize herself. ”Good evening!”

Penny stepped between the other magical girls and looked at Suki. ”You’ve got ten seconds to tell us what you did to her.”

”Well.” Suki struggled to stand upright. ”I kissed her? A lot? But it kind of tuckered her out? I’m a little new to these powers, so I might have gone overboard. I think she’ll be fine with some rest!” The newly arrived wouldn't notice it, but Suki's wound from earlier had completely healed.

”Not what I meant, but I’m glad that’s the case.” Penny raised her fist and leveled it with Suki’s head. ”Answer this next question very carefully. Were you involved with Nurse Joy’s disappearance?”

Suki tapped her chin. ”Only that we’re the same person.”

Penny’s body tensed up as her allies gave each other confused glances. ”You’re her? Prove it!”

”Let’s see…” Suki looked over her former team. ”Lily’s favorite animal is a wolf, and she still sleeps with stuffed animals. Her boyfriend Alexander got her a plush wolf about a month ago and she wouldn’t shut up about it. Maura likes flowers, but is too shy to tell anyone because she thinks it will ruin her tough girl persona. Samantha wet the bed about a week ago, but she swore me to secrecy. Sorry girl, you understand right? Then there’s-”

”Why?” Penny’s fist was shaking. ”Why did you do this to yourself?”

”I did this?” The corners of Suki’s lips twitched. ”The only reason why I signed up to this outfit was so that I could be around people who loved me. Come on, Penny! You were my friends! I healed you, I helped you out, we did so much stuff together! don’t expect you to get it. Everyone loves you, but me? I can’t get my parents to look at me unless I do something bad. I took Lada to see a concert and the first thing she does is blow me off when we get back. You all laughed at me. A-and I get it, it was sort of funny!” She sniffed, but shed no tears. ”But you’re no different than my parents. You ignore everything I tried to do for you, but the screw ups? The mistakes? the bad behavior? Ohhhh, that’s gotta get corrected right quick! No one’s gunna make you look bad!”

Penny pursed her lips. ”I see.” She closed her eyes. ”Nurse Joy is dead.” When her eyes opened, they were glowing neon blue, and every afterburner on her body fired up. ”The least I can do is avenge her.”

”Oh, uh...” Suki touched the tips of her fingers together. ”Can I have a do over or-”

The speed in which Penny moved could be compared to teleportation. Her metal frame slammed into Suki with enough force to launch her out the window. The shattered glass haloed the blood witch’s form as she was thrown into the darkness. They never found her body, but she was never seen in town again.

• Other: I’m not sorry.

The setting was just your generic magical girl fanfare and wasn’t all that interesting. The characters made it interesting. I’m more interested in seeing how a romance between our characters would play out than partaking in magical fights against monsters. Is it possible for someone to endure Suki’s shenanigans? Can she change before they lose interest?

Because Suki is “lonely sexual” you can play just about anyone and she’ll obsess over them. A fellow dark/light magical girl/boy, a normal straight “A” student, new kid in town, etc. I’d like to avoid taboo relationships such as one with a faculty member. Otherwise, I’m fine putting Suki in almost any country and we can go for a highschool or college setting. Could also be talked into basing the RP around a part time/entry level job like a fast food franchise.

---

Idea #2: Love for Kaiju

I don’t think this idea needs a huge write up. When you’re fifty-stories tall and everyone regards you as a monster, is it possible to find love? We’d play as two Kaiju that are ready to fight each other but then something magical happens. Maybe their initial fight is an attempt to impress each other? Maybe it only looks like a fight to the civilians who can do nothing but run for their lives. I’d be fine playing whatever for this, and I’m not too picky as to what you want to play. Just nothing lame like a giant human. I mean okay, I guess “Attack of the 50 ft woman” was a classic, but I’d prefer we go more on the weird side. I wanna see lizards and robots holding hands as they walk into the ocean together, you know? Alternatively, we could do a King Kong; One of us is a human and the other one is a Kaiju that takes them for a joy ride. It could be fun to get in the head of characters that can’t verbally communicate with one another.

---

If anything here interests you, which something should if your tastes don't suck, I would prefer you show interest here first. Unlike those pretentious players that beg you to GM their games, I don't mind if you bump my thread with your interest. People should know what a proper interest check looks like, and embrace it.

Symphony on High

When Dr. Moller entered the room, Ashley immediately snapped to attention, her full focus shifting to the director of G.E.M.I.N.I. operations in Pax Septimus. Two items were announced, the first being that Betty had just been cured of the last vestiges of her vampiric thralldom, a major accomplishment, if ever there was one. However, the second item was a bit more concerning. Apparently, Mika had captured a person of interest, and from the non-verbal clues Dr. Moller was providing, the director wanted Ashley to oversee this individual’s interrogation. It wasn’t exactly something she had a great deal of experience with, if she was being perfectly honest, but she supposed it was yet another sign of the trust the enigmatic director had in her.

“Understood,” Ashley confirmed with a nod, before heading for the interrogation room, her mind running through all the myriad possibilities of who she might find waiting for her there, even as she seamlessly shifted into her esper form.

One of the nice things about having your top secret HQ located near a police precinct was that you could share resources. Parts of GEMINI HQ and the police station were linked together, which allowed GEMINI to make use of the interrogation rooms. Convicts could be brought to the police station and then agents could meet them without revealing their base of operations.

The interrogation room wasn’t nearly as interesting as the ones Ashley had seen on TV. It was a small brick room with a table dividing the room in half. One side faced a wall, which was where suspects would sit. The other side was for the interrogating police officer, and also faced the door. There was a tiny window that allowed someone in an observation room to look at the ongoing interrogation. It was barely the size of Ashley’s head.

Binky was peering through the small window when Ashley entered. She whipped around as soon as she made her presence known. ”Take a look. This is what Mika brought back.” When Ashley looked through the window, she’d see Sovereign and Mika in the room together. ”Fritzi had me do a little digging on her. She calls herself Sovereign and doesn’t have the tidiest background. She was a loan shark and loves money more than anything else in the whole world. On the other hand, she’s been very agreeable and is so transparent with what she wants, I can’t imagine her pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes.” Binky sighed. ”She claims to have encountered Oros. I’ve more or less just been spectating this um, discussion Mika is having with her. I was instructed to follow your orders, but my advice would be to relieve Mika soon. I think we’ve had enough bad cop for an entire evening.”

”Did you even see Oros’s little sister?” Mika narrowed her eyes on Himiko. ”Maybe you were lied to. That’s all you and the people you follow are capable of doing.”

Leaning back in her chair, the front two legs of it off the ground, with her own legs propped on the table. Himiko let out a yawn as she rocked back and forth, balancing herself from tipping over as she turned her gaze towards Mika. “Lied to? People that I follow? I hate to break it to you Puddy, but I don’t follow anyone, I only follow one thing, and one thing only if I have not made that clear yet, I’m after things of value, objects, treasures, money and rare collectibles” Letting the chair fall back to the ground as she took her feet off of the table.

Leaning forward, planting her elbows on the edge of the table as she laced her fingers together in front of her masked face. Golden eyes glowing as they peered over them towards Mika. “As for Oros’ little sister, and whether I’ve seen her or not, well that all depends on perspective…but she does exist if that is what you are worrying your little furry head about…” letting out a little amused laugh at the end. Finding Mika’s personality to be quite funny with her pure agitation and impatience. Starting to develop a soft spot for the feline esper, despite her stubborn refusal and their earlier battle.

Outside the interrogation room, Ashley couldn’t help but frown as she watched the scene before her continue to play out. On the bright side, Mika didn’t appear to have physically assaulted “Sovereign”, as the Knight of Tomorrow had initially feared based on Dr. Moller’s vague remarks, but the interrogation really didn’t seem to be getting anywhere fast. It definitely looked like it was time for a change in tactics, but Ashley was still unsure about the ultimate objective to be achieved, and it was imperative she knew that information before she took any action of her own.

“Yes, I think it would probably be for the best if I took over,” the Knight of Tomorrow replied to Binky. “But what, exactly, are we hoping to discover here?” she inquired. “And how did Mika come across her in the first place?”

”Mika encountered her on a routine patrol this morning.” Binky explained. ”She attempted to bring Mika to St. Bianchi’s church, apparently at Oros’s request. She also seemed to insinuate that she was Oros’s little sister. Our goal is to discern if Sovereign is a threat, and if what she says is true. Oros having a sister is highly suspect, but if she approached Sovereign for help it could mean something.” Binky stepped away from the window. ”We’ve noticed that there have been some espers that have been growing in power at an exponential rate. We’ve noticed it in the GEMINI squad, and even Betty has demonstrated abilities far beyond a first time esper. It’s curious that Oros wants to get Mika to go to a location, but it might suggest that Sovereign is a person of interest as well. As Finn has taught us, Oros has a complex relationship with GEMINI. If Sovereign is being even partially honest, this could lead to something big.”

Mika pointed at Himiko. ”Call me ‘puddy’ one more time, speak one more riddle, and I’ll have to smack you until you start making sense!”

“I see…” Ashley murmured, her mouth forming a thoughtful frown even as she heard Mika clearly reaching her breaking point in the chamber beyond. “Guess that’s my cue,” the Knight of Tomorrow noted with a weary sigh.

Opening the door, she took a step forward.

“Pardon the intrusion, Agent Cerberus,” Ashley began. “But I think it might be best if I took things from here.”

Himiko let out a laugh as she was clearly smirking behind her mask“Oh, what's the matter? Not enough nip this morning to keep you from being a cranky little kitty?”Golden eyes shifted towards the door as someone new and unfamiliar to Himiko entered. “Need reinforcements so soon? Can’t handle me on your own huh? Every time we try to talk you always try to scamper off and call in support, but worry not Puddy, I’ll be there for you when you need it” Waving Mika off with a nonchalant gesture of her hand. Giving her a little wink as she stuck in one last jab before Mika could leave the room and let the newcomer take over.

Focus now on Ashley as Himiko took a good look, scanning her from head to toe as she sized her up. She leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms and started to hymn quietly as she kept her gaze locked on Ashley. Collecting her thoughts after a moment's time “So, what are you supposed to be? The expert interrogator? Are you going to break my fingers? Maybe bust a knee cap? You stick out like a sore thumb with that bright neon green and that white, though maybe that means your one of those bloodless types, would be a royal pain in the ass to dry clean that outfit if you get blood on it during every interrogation, though I s’pose we have something in common with our style preference” Pausing briefly as she leaned her head over to the right side as she squinted.

“I know puddy was having some trouble with the process, but I don’t see the need for you to be here honestly speaking, I’m going to give you the same answer that I gave her, unless of course you intend to ask different questions then the same ones she kept repeating, intrigue me, give me something fresh to work with….” curious as to why they had sent Ashley in to take over for Mika. Though Himiko surmised they had some other plan in mind, and wanted to try a new approach in hopes of a breakthrough.

Mika’s eyes slowly shifted over to Ashley. ”Good luck.” And with that, she stepped out of the room. Now it was just Ashley and Himiko, though it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that Binky and Mika were watching from the other room.

“I’m Agent Orion,” Ashley replied to Himiko’s question as she took her seat. “As you may have noticed, Agent Cerberus isn’t exactly a people person,” the Knight of Tomorrow explained with a small smile, wisely choosing not to address the freelancer’s various other quips. “And we thought it might be better if you interacted with someone a bit more personable. As for my questions, I’d primarily like to know how you first encountered Oros, as well as if she mentioned why she wanted you to escort Agent Cerberus to St. Bianchi’s. Also, since you seem to value financial compensation above all else, I’ll talk with my superiors about arranging some form of remuneration for you if you choose to cooperate with us,” she added.

Letting out a sigh as she hung her head, Himiko gave a shrug “In this particular case, you could say the first time I met her was during a operation to fetch some stolen water from a bunch of cultist, after she dismantled that cute as a button friend of yours, after helping Finn, I was able to learn about how to locate Puddy, as I have told Puddy before, Oros isn’t the type to give out information about her reasoning, she told me what she wanted, then she left, but not without taking a arm as a bit of payment, I’m sure she has her reasons, but she won’t just volunteer those reasons, she is a bit mad, as the name suggests…the only thing that matters to me that is Puddy comes with me to St.Bianchi’s, though…..” bringing her right hand up to her chin as she rubbed it in thought. Judging Ashley to be far more reasonable, patient and agreeable then her feline friend.

“If you are promising some kind of compensation as well, I s’pose I could work with you on some sort of deal that would be agreeable and profitable for the both of us, as long as it doesn’t interfere with meeting with Oros at St.Bianchi of course, what do you say….agent…Onion was it?....Whatever, that's not important….sooooo about that financial compensation you mentioned….” A bright glow in her golden eyes as she extended her right arm and hand across the table holding it out towards Ashley. If she didn’t have a mask on, she wouldn’t be able to hide her greedy little grin. A sense of giddiness rushed through her. Eager to come to an agreement, wanting to keep Ashley to her word with a handshake. She couldn’t believe her luck, it felt like everyone was willing to just throw valuable rewards at her. Just the mere mention of potentially having something to gain filled her greedy heart and soul with utter joy.

Ashley simply stared at the extended hand with an impassive expression. Clearly, this young lady enjoyed getting a rise out of people with her various juvenile antics, making her probably one of the worst people for the high-strung Mika to interact with. Yet, the Knight of Tomorrow wasn’t about to play along with the greedy freelancer’s games.

“As I stated previously, potential compensation will only be offered in the event that you provide your full cooperation,” Ashley replied, her voice calm and cordial. “And on that subject, what exactly did Oros offer you to gain such steadfast dedication on your part?” she inquired. “I imagine it must have been quite substantial.”

Himiko kept her hand out for a moment longer, before finally retracting it with a laugh. “Oh, a tough bargainer eh? Fine, we can do things this way if you prefer…” Leaning back into her chair, propping her feet back onto the table as she crossed her across over her chest. Settling her thoughts and trying to keep her greedy joy to herself, before answering Ashleys question.

“As for what Oros offered, I don’t know what she intends to give me, but that is part of the excitement of the deal, not knowing what the reward can possibly be, waiting on the edge of your seat as your adrenaline and anticipation grabs hold of you. Waiting and wondering just what reward you are about to receive, what possibilities, what surprise that waits in store for you…..I’m sure you can understand that concept at the very least, that is what gets my blood pumping, you must have something that does that for you? So what gets your engine revving, eh Agent Onion?” Her giddiness still not leaving her, thoughts of what potential reward she could get from Oros rushing through her mind. It almost made her mouth water at the potential profit that was at stake.

She doesn’t even know what her reward will be? an increasingly bewildered Ashley wondered. This woman clearly has even more issues than I initially assumed…

“The thought of this troubled city finally achieving a long-overdue peace,” the Knight of Tomorrow replied in an even tone. “But let’s return to your deal with Oros. To confirm, she didn’t even tell you what your reward would be, yet you still agreed to work for her, and were so persistent in completing the assignment she tasked you with that you went so far as to allow yourself to be taken into government custody. You do realize that Oros the Mad is a Depraved, or dark web esper, correct?” Ashley continued. “Simply associating with her is enough to place you on multiple watch lists, and as her name suggests, her sanity is highly suspect. There is a very good chance that her purpose for having you bring Agent Cerberus to St. Bianchi’s is to employ her as a ritual sacrifice, leading to not only her death, but quite possibly yours as well. I fully understand your obsession with the accumulation of items of great value, but I wasn’t aware you were so eager to throw your life away for the mere promise of possibly attaining them.”

Snapping her fingers before pointing towards Ashley “There you go, finally someone is willing to spill their desires other than myself, that is an honorable choice, one that I can respect as something to desire, that is far more than I can say about most ” Giving a curt nod of her head, satisfied with the answer she was given. Falling silent as Ashley returned the conversation back towards the deal she had made with Oros, bobbing her head as she went along.

Laughing as Ashley finished what she had to say “Well, that is part of the excitement, who knows what I might obtain in return for working with Oros, whether it is good or bad, the risk is worth it if you ask me, I have this gut feeling, something deep in the pit of my stomach that tells me Oros won’t kill us, Oros doesn’t seem the type to do things the long and arduous way, if she wanted either of us dead, she would have already come to collect on that wish” Rocking back and forth on the two hind legs of her chair as she paused in thought. She may be driven by pure greed, but she made calculated decisions based on gut instinct and logic. Though it was clear that Ashley did not understand her thought process.

Letting the front legs of her chair hit the floor as she leaned across the table. Her golden eyes peered deeply into Ashley’s. Judging and reading her reactions, her potential thoughts, gauging what Ashley might say or do next. “You never know what you missed out on, if you never take the shot, life is far more interesting if you are willing to break the shackles of normality, of fear, of hesitation. Whether she is considered a dark web esper, one of the depraved, or even completely insane, that does not mean that I’m also all of those things, I have calculated the risks, and the risk are worth the potential gain, I figured you Gemini folk would want to get every chance they could to learn more about Oros, but if you worry so much about what might happen, you will just keep spinning those wheels with no end in sight” Sharing her thoughts on the matter at hand, she understood Ashley’s concerns. But those concerns and those risks only upped the ante for Himiko. Which only gave her more anticipation and excitement to find out what the reward was going to be.

At first, Ashley couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this woman just as crazy as Oros? Risking so much just for the promise of some nebulous reward was completely insane. That said, it also meant that manipulating her would be a rather straightforward process. As long as the Knight of Tomorrow offered the greedy freelancer some vague form of compensation, she would do practically anything, regardless of the danger to herself.

“Perhaps you’ve heard of the saying, ‘Who’s more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows them?’” Ashley replied. “You claim you’re not completely insane, yet you would also willingly risk your life, or at the very least possible imprisonment, all to attain what might very well amount to nothing more than a previously-chewed piece of bubblegum,” the Knight of Tomorrow added, not even attempting to hide her skepticism. “I’d say that doesn’t exactly paint a picture of someone in full possession of their mental faculties. However, you are correct about our interest in Oros’s activities,” she continued. “And with that in mind, I would like to propose a counter arrangement. You provide us with viable intel on Oros the Mad, and we will provide you with a suitable reward.”

Sighing as she shook her head, a frown spreading across her face underneath her mask “There is a difference, I’m greedy, extremely so, it's in my nature to obtain things that are rare, that have value, regardless of the risks and the costs, that is not what I’d call insane, if the reward is as lowly as a previously-chewed piece of bubblegum, that of course isn’t worth the risk, or worth being desired, but by that same logic, the reward could be more valuable than any other treasure currently known to the public, this is Oros we are talking about after all, sure it's a gamble, but it's a gamble that my gut tells me will be worth the extreme risks and my gut is hardly ever wrong when it comes to this kind of stuff” Trying to dissuade Ashley from the notion that she wasn’t thinking. That she was just as insane as Oros. Himiko was a lot of things, but insane was not one that she would consider for herself.

“As for Oros activities, that is easy enough I s’pose, after all most of what you seek is just under your noses without any of you ever realizing it, but if you are willing to provide me a suitable reward, I’d be willing to help obtain viable and valuable intel on Oros the Mad, as I mentioned to Puddy before, you lot are just spinning your wheels in the wrong direction, taking blind shots in the dark, all this time without even knowing that Oros even has a sister to show for your efforts” Finding it a suitable deal if Ashley was willing to go through with it. Himiko was surprised by just how much GEMINI didn’t know about Oros. She figured a big organization like that would surely have dug up some dirt on such an important figure. Especially since she was one of the Depraved and had already caused issues for Finn who was amongst the ranks of GEMINI.

Great, back to the sister thing again, huh?

“Forgive my skepticism, but I highly doubt you and Oros are related,” Ashley replied. Of course, anything was possible, it was just extremely unlikely. “Unless, you mean that in a metaphorical way, as in, you’re a member of her cult,” she added, giving Himiko a pointed glare.

“Careful, with a look like that you might cut me…plus if you keep that look on your face, that pretty face of yours might get stuck like that forever, didn’t your parents ever warn you…” Briming from behind her mask “I’m not part of any cult, and especially not of her cult, as for being related to Oros, well that is an assumption you have made yourself about my knowledge of her little sister, though I won’t confirm or deny that assumption, it’s much more fun that way, but if I was to be her little sister, I have my own agenda and my own goals completely and totally unrelated to anything that Oros the Mad desires'' bemused by Ashley's response and her skepticism. Himiko had finally pushed the right buttons and gotten the desired reaction she sought.

“I see,” Ashley replied. “It would seem I misunderstood your earlier insinuation to that effect. In any case, I believe we’re done here,” she added, rising from her chair. Heading to the door, she stopped for a moment to look back at Himiko. “Thank you for agreeing to cooperate with us,” she told the freelancer, before stepping out of the room.

Giving a wave of her hand as Ashley left “Done so soon? Tell Puddy I said hi, and as for helping it is my pleasure….”

When Ashley returned to the monitoring room, Mika was glaring through the one way glass at the girl on the other side. If her stare was any colder, one might be able to see their breath in it. Binky on the other hand turned to Ashley as soon as she returned.

”Thanks for dropping by. We don’t have any proper interrogators since Sam left, and the police aren’t really qualified. You did a good job.” She quickly glanced at Mika before approaching Ashley. ”Between the random sleep spells on Finn and this redirection on Mika, Fritzi wants to start getting to the bottom of these attacks. The question is do we trust that Sovereign is being honest and, if so, is it safe to give her what she wants?”

“I think she’s telling the truth,” Ashley replied after a moment’s thought. “Although she doesn’t currently seem to have much information to provide,” she added with a disappointed frown. “As for what she wants, I think simply a vague promise of future compensation is all it will take for her to fully commit herself to a task. And even if she’s lying, and Oros did tell her what she’d be receiving in return for her services, she should still be useful as a means of gaining further intel on Oros’s activities.” Lowering her voice, she continued. “That said, keeping Mika safe should be our top priority. Whatever Oros wants with her, I doubt it’s anything good…”

”The doctor has all the details, but she wants to start investigating these leads relatively soon.” Binky folded her arms. ”Sovereign has made her stance clear. One option is to send a squad along with Mika and her to make sure everything goes smoothly. I doubt we’ll get Sovereign’s cooperation otherwise. Do you feel that’s too big a risk? I’m curious how you would handle this situation if it was up to you.”

“Sending in a squad to serve as backup would be my suggestion as well,” Ashley replied. “Although they would have to conceal their presence until such time as they were needed, and that would depend upon the ultimate goal of the operation,” she added. “Would it simply be an intelligence gathering mission, with the response squad on hand in the event Mika was placed in danger, or would this be an attempt to capture Oros herself?”

”Most likely this will be an intelligence gathering operation.” Binky concluded. ”At present, we don’t have the manpower to deal with a target like her. Not when we’re spread so thin. Stealth has proven to be relatively ineffective against her in the past. We believe she has some sort of divining magic to tell when such threats are approaching.” She made her way down the hall. ”We can discuss this further with Fritzi. I’m sure she has more details she wishes to share.”

Once Binky was out of the room, Mika turned to Ashley. ”I’m not afraid. You don’t need to keep me safe.” She looked back out the window. ”But I don’t trust her.”

“She’s an amoral mercenary,” Ashley replied. “It would be foolish to put much trust in someone like that. But if we know what motivates her, we can hopefully use that to exert some measure of control over her, at the very least,” she added. “As for your safety, while your lack of fear is commendable, with the possible exceptions of Binky and Dr. Moller, no agent currently active in the city is capable of fighting Oros one on one. If she does turn hostile, I want to ensure we don’t lose another agent,” the Knight of Tomorrow explained.

Mika spun around to face Ashley. ”Really now?” She bit her lip as she made her way past Ashley. Their shoulders touched, but Mika just shoved her way past. ”Mom always said you guys were her friends. She thought you had her back.” Mika pushed her thumbs into her waistband while she walked away. ”I’m not going to make her mistake.”

Ashely inhaled sharply as Mika’s words struck her like a sudden punch to the gut. “We…!” the Knight of Tomorrow began, before giving voice to a defeated sigh. _{“We tried…”} she whispered, her shoulders slumping and head facing the floor. _{“We tried…”} she repeated bitterly, hands clenching into fists and eyes glistening with tears, even as Mika continued to walk away.

Symphony on High

Finn didn’t have a chance to respond before Fritzi came back into the room. She wasn’t an easy person to read, but it was clear she had been in high spirits. She looked at the espers present and nodded slowly.

”There’s been a development.” Her smile didn’t waver for a moment. ”Cerberus encountered an interesting individual on her morning patrol. She wanted to interrogate them. I gave her the go ahead.” The corners of her lips twitched. ”I make mistakes sometimes. Anyway, Binky has the situation under control, but it might be nice to have someone a little less emotionally charged just in case.” While she spoke to everyone, her eyes seemed to be resting on Ashley. ”Also, Betty’s fully recovered, and we’ve since administered a cure for her vampirism. She might be a little out of it, but she’s down the hall with Faith. Don’t be long if you choose to see her.” This time her eyes rested on Finn, and she winked? ”Bring Mika back with you. I’ll be setting things up for the briefing when you return.”

---

”I just don’t understand the big deal.“ Regina placed a hand on her hip. ”What’s so important about your distinction as a demiboy? There are only two genders, so-“

”NO!“ Mary proclaimed. Regina only laughed, but she continued. ”First of all, people can be born intersex.“

”Are you intersex?“

”I’m not finished. Secondly, it’s just rude to call someone something that they don’t want to be called! You wouldn’t like it if I called you a guy, would you?“

”Interesting example. In order for me to not like being called something, I have to care enough about the person saying it. And in your case, I don’t care about anything you say!“

Elroy only sighed as the “disagreement” continued behind his head. The nun lowered her newspaper to look across the tables at him. ”The kids are misbehaving again?”

Elroy gave the nun a nod and a smile before looking ahead. He really just wanted to talk with the espers about the water truck incident, but none of the Freelancers on that operation were coming in. Pac wanted to grab one of them for an interview, and Elroy had some questions about the homeless.

”Slow day.“

The doors to the Great Escape swung open, and the silhouette that came through was almost as big as the doorway itself. His steps sounded like far off thunder, and the cross on his chest glinted in the interior lighting. As he came into view, his attire was a combination of a catholic priest’s vestments and a knight’s armor. His gauntlets were massive and swung with every step. Other espers slid their seats in as to not get in the man’s way. Behind his aviator sunglasses was a piercing gaze, and nobody wanted to be in the way. Once he got to Elroy’s table, he placed a hand on one of the seats.

”May I?” As soon as Elroy nodded, the man took a seat. He had to turn the chair sideways to avoid hitting it with the massive cross on his back. Elroy was known as the immortal volcano, but the man before him was a true mountain. Compared to that, he looked more like a child’s science experiment. But he wasn’t intimidated.

”Raphael the Righteous Hearted?“ With a shrug, a grin crossed the esper’s face. ”Does that mean the inquisition is getting involved with Pax?“

”Not yet.” Raphael Placed an arm over the back of the chair. ”I was contacted by a freelancer and told that Patricia was in danger. Once I confirmed that the rumor was true, I made my way here as fast as I could.”

Elroy looked to the nun, but she was turned the other way now, with the back of her head pointed towards Elroy. He shrugged before addressing the newly arrived. ”Welp, thanks for coming, but we managed to recover her. Trisha is safe now.“

Raphael tipped his head. ”I was not under the impression that the city was safe yet.”

”Ah, well-“

Mary raised her voice. ”And I’m just saying a cisnormative hetronormative white supremacist patriarchal society oppresses everyone! As a woman you should be able to see that!“

”Who even talks like that!?“ Regina managed to wheeze her words through her laughter.

Elroy scratched the back of his head. ”I imagine you have strong feelings about America’s culture war.“

”I do.” Raphael confessed. ”But now is not the time to discuss it. Where is Marrie Knight?”

Symphony on High

We had a few spaces open up. Take a look, and ask for a discord link if you're considering joining.

Gush about your favorite characters!

*Deep Inhale*

I think Indiana Jones has got to be one of my favorite characters of all time. It’s not often something you watched as a kid is just as magical when you return to it as an adult. That said, I think the reason why I liked him has changed a bit over the years.

When I was quite young, I pretended to go on crazy adventures with my brothers. Most of these adventures were inspired by whatever videogames we were playing at the time, comic books, bad tv shows, and often included our stuffed animals as adventuring companions. Despite our adventures being filled with weapons (you know, the extra hard FF7 bosses?) We somehow found a way to work Indiana’s more grounded style of adventuring into our play sessions. Without getting too philosophical, I think a lot of life’s challenges can be summed up as adventures, and Indiana was just so cool when he was doing his thing. His outfit is iconic, and he’s so badass that he can take on Nazis, cannibals, and ancient ruins with just his fedora and a whip. He couldn’t fling fireballs, he didn’t ride a motorcycle, he wasn’t anything like Spawn or Cloud, but he didn’t need to be. And he wasn’t just cool, he could be funny without reducing himself to a clown. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that scene where a big guy with a sword stands in his way, and Indie effortlessly dispatches him by drawing a gun and firing. I don’t even think I understood what an archaeologist was when I first saw the fedora-wearing adventurer.

As I grew older, I think I started to appreciate other aspects of Indie’s character. I went through a period where I prized highly intelligent characters, and while Indie isn’t infallible, he is resourceful and uses his wits to overcome his opponents most of the time. This is what enables him to enter an area filled with Nazis, traps, and SNAKES, yet still come out on top. We’ve already talked about his whip, but have you seen his hands? His whip is a little hokey, but his hands mean business. Somehow, in an adventure where almost everyone has guns, he still finds time to regularly get into fisticuffs with his opponents. And when he’s not punching people in the face, he’s pointing at them. Seriously, Indie has so many scenes where he just points at people that are going to get their comeuppance. Go watch the original trilogy if you don’t believe me.

Harrison Ford is a person, and like all people, he has some flaws. Maybe you like him, maybe you don’t. But he was absolutely the right person to play Indie during the original trilogy. Few people can do roguish archetypes like he can. Just look at Han Solo from Star Wars if you don’t believe me. But you should, because that original trilogy was an objectively good series. If you’re going to argue that point just save your breath. But I digress. Harrison Ford has that cheeky little smirk and a slew of undeservingly ignored one liners. We all know “Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” but what about…

“I don’t know, I’m making this up as I go.”

“It’s not the years, honey, it’s the mileage.”

“Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory.”

“Water, water, water! Water!”

“It belongs in a museum!”

“X never, ever marks the spot.”

“No Ticket.” (When explaining to everyone on a blimp why he threw someone overboard. Naturally, everyone pulls out their ticket to show Indie.)

But if it was just Indie’s effortless cool, intelligence, and Harrison Ford’s superb acting, he would have been a good character. But what makes him a great character is that the writers understand he needs to fail sometimes. He doesn’t always win, and when he does inevitably lose, its often for reasons way out of his control. One movie opens with him making “deals” with some very dangerous people. While he plays all his cards right, he ends up drinking a poisoned drink. Indie then has to chase down the cure instead of what he initially came for. Though perhaps the best demonstration of an Indie failure is when he tries to recover an idol from a temple filled with booby traps. He gets by all but the last one. He correctly assesses that the idol he wants to take is on a weighted platform, but he guesses the wrong weight and it triggers a rolling boulder trap. What ensues is a dramatic escape scene in which Indie runs through pressure plate traps, gets betrayed, avoids falling to his death, and runs away from a boulder. The boulder scene in particular is iconic and I’m pretty sure every adventure movie was doing it for the next decade or so after that. But even after all that, Indie still doesn’t get to keep the idol. Because even though he did everything in the temple right, the whole business of raiding tombs is filled with unscrupulous individuals. As soon as he gets out, he’s held at arrow point and made to surrender the idol he nearly died for. What makes Indie a great character is that he is flawed. His failures may seem unearned and even unfair, but that’s what endears us to him. If indie perfectly navigated all the traps, got out with the idol, or avoided the poison, there would be no stakes. I’d know that Indie was above and beyond everything around him. But it’s these setbacks that makes him human. He’s often paired with people he doesn’t fully trust, which makes sense given his line of work.

And I really think that’s it. He’s got a cool factor that anyone can admire. He’s flawed and fails on occasion, but he always tries his best and rises above those failures. He’s funny and charismatic, and we can laugh at him without him becoming a clown.

He’s cool, he’s funny, he’s flawed and relatable.

He’s Indiana Jones.