McFazzer

Grimoiric Heart

I realised how unclear I was with the whole ‘tragic vibe’ part. I think it was really just poor wording on my part. It’s not that Chinami is a misery guts or depressed, but the tragic vibe that ‘I am the lone hero who can truly save this situation’. I’ll think of a better way to express that and edit as required, and of course get rid of the grimoire line. I might not get to it immediately as I’m about to go to work, but before the end of the day I’ll get everything fixed

Grimoiric Heart

@Lewascan2 I’ll fix that up then. The third paragraph itself was more out of Tesni’s natural dislike for people acting noble, but I’ll wipe all references to it being grimoire and manipulation specific since that’s clearly meta knowledge that I overlooked in my proofread. And I’ll do the same with paragraph four, making it more about Tesni’s personal read of Chinami and airing grievances rather than specific discussions about her beliefs

Edit: Scrubbed references to grimoires and manipulations by the powers that be. I think I kept the tone consistent without them though (hopefully).

Grimoiric Heart

Tesni is my first real attempt at writing someone so... abrasive. Please let me know if anyone feels like I overstep when doing so. If you have any questions or feel something needs further explaining, likewise give me a poke and I'll happily do so :3

Grimoiric Heart

Tesni

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuugh! I hate patrols, it’s just running about wasting energy almost hoping something bad happens." Tesni pulled out a can of cola and chugged half of it as if somehow the more she drank the less annoyed she'd be. She wasn't correct, but at least it tasted good. Pulling herself away from her soothing potion, Tesni went right back to sounding her frustrations.

Also! Why is miss ‘Don’t Wannabe Arthur’ the leader?! I mean, I kinda get not making me the leader, the big bosses would probably call me selfish, or impulsive, or utterly incapable of taking care of others during combat, or say something like ‘Tesni, why do you even want to be the leader? Last time we offered it to you, you said it was a hassle and to never ask you again’. And yes, that is all true… but why do I have to take orders from the most indecisive of all magical ladies?!” gulping down the last of her can of cola she tossed it to the ground, stomped it into a flat disc and kicked it into the nearby trash can. Some random passerby in a school blazer shouted something about how she should join a team, Tesni briefly turning away from the group to say if a sports team needed her for anything they must really be in trouble, waving and ignoring them. Turning to Chinami, Tesni decided to be even more straightforward… even though she hadn’t exactly been subtle with her words till now.

“I know you can hear me Chinami, so why are you the leader? You finally getting into the swing of things, becoming a glorious king? I’m actually shocked you accepted. Does your knightly nobility prevent you from disobeying such a request, do you worry about that? Being a knight seems like it’s soooo stressful, well at least we all know chivalry isn’t dead with you about I guess.” rubbing her temples as if she was trying to get rid of a headache, Tesni felt that while she was at it, she might as well make herself crystal clear to the Arthurian magical girl.

“Chinami, I like you well enough as a person, but I’m gonna get really blunt so brace yourself, alright? I don’t know if this is right, but for the longest time you’ve given off this tragic hero vibe. Like you're the lone hero that will save all of us from the terrible fate of having become magical girls. Which is peak arrogance. So, I’m saying that we won’t achieve anything by showing off our misfortune to each other! ‘This awful thing happened in my past that made me onto a Magical Girl’, guess what? We all have that exact same story! It’s all pointless compared to our current situation anyways!” Taking a deep breath she tried to calm down, slow down her words so they didn’t come out so fast no one could understand because she felt this was important.

“Chinami. I don’t care about your situation. Do you know why? Because we are all in the exact same goddamn situation! And it’s not like you will sympathize with another person for having a similar past as you either. Because everyone thinks they’re the hero of their own story, everyone sees others as side characters in their grand narrative so therefore everyone thinks their own personal tragedies must be the most tragic, right? Especially since our powers literally come from heroes of stories!” Pulling out another can of cola she shoved it into Suzuya’s hands.

“And you, uhhhh… Suzie!” the gears in Tesni’s head were almost audibly clunking along as she struggled to remember the girl’s name, failed to do it, then stuck a nickname on the girl in a last-ditch effort to not have to embarrassingly ask for it.

“If you have something wrong, at least try and solve it. Drink something if you have a sore throat or whatever… damn I’m tired and nothing has even happened yet!” Tesni went back to rubbing her temples as if trying to massage away a headache.

Grimoiric Heart

<Snipped quote by McFazzer>

Heck yeah, welcome back to the party. Been a while since that first post, huh? Things sure got busy after that!
Also, is it just me, or is Dynasty Queen's Grimoire "mental pollution" rather sinisterly strong, especially given this line (and others besides that were sprinkled about)?

“Well I don’t die at the end of my legend... and I actually succeed at the quest!”

Is that just a slip of the tongue, or are we looking at some Monkey King persona sneaking in shenanigans? Because that's definitely the takeaway Camelot would have if these sorts of things slip into her dialogue often. She definitely comes across as someone who believes they may be the Monkey King reborn.

I guess what I'm actually asking is how much of that sort of talk does she casually slip into her dialogue (whether she believes it or not). I'm working on my next post, and given that Dynasty Queen just directly engaged in conversation with Camelot, you better believe she's getting an introductory segment of paragraphs dedicated to establishing Camelot's current thought process regarding her.

@Lewascan2

I always read it as Tesni/Dynasty Queen had such an easy time with her grimoire early on that now that she’s reached a mental roadblock she’s stuck and having trouble improving. So she started looking deep into the story and culture surrounding it, I mean what else could she do? No two grimoires are the same and the relationship to each person is just as unique.

I’m not sure if the grimoires choose their wielder/user/host based on compatibility or what, but what if a grimoire and host are so compatible from the start? At that point if you can’t tell where the person stops and the story begins does it matter who is in the driving seat?

Grimoiric Heart

<Snipped quote by McFazzer>

Time to change into a new PC, maybe? :O

@Izurich

I'm no coward. I've watched/read enough wuxia stuff to fake it until I make it!

Grimoiric Heart

Journey to the West may have been a rough choice. It's hard to sound enlightened when you yourself... aren't :P

Grimoiric Heart

Dynasty Queen

Tesni had honestly lost herself in the rhythm of her fight. She no longer cared about the Grimoire, or the maiden. She was here. She was now. And the Pageless were present. So, with a ruthless pace and a mad glint in her eye, the Monkey King had massacred her way through the horde. Her staff shooting out and retracting like a cannon, blasting the fodder and scarring the earth. The sweat and dust mixing, caking her skin, was more refreshing than any shower. Deep in her soul she felt that this was what she was meant to do; dancing on the knife’s edge between life and death so perfectly that she couldn’t be touched. The now, the impulsive and self indulgent now. How strong her legend was in the past wasn't going to save her now. How strong she could be in the future wasn't worth worrying about as it would come naturally to her, it was all flowing and the battle... the battle made sense. Instinct and senses were mixing and blending, she felt she was on the edge of a cliff and was about to leap off the edge and just fall into some kind of enlightenment.

It was in this ecstasy of having almost achieved a goal that she didn't even realise she had that Tesni foolishly ignored the signs around her… and most importantly she ignored the torrent of water that swept the battlefield clean. Unable to save herself from being drenched, Tesni did manage to stop herself being swept away, slamming her staff down as a pillar, diverting the flow around her. Disappointed and soaked, but strangely content, the Welsh girl sat on the ground with a bittersweet sigh.

“I was so close… I felt it, at the edge of life and death… where 'now' is the only thing that matters, that’s where my next level is. I’m using my powers well, but if feels like I’m not quite using them right.” Staring at the flowing water Tesni stood up and plucked her staff up as easily as someone would a flower and shrunk it slowly so as to not cause a cracking sound that the appearance of a sudden void where an indestructible and giant staff used to be. As she put it behind her ear the hulking Pageless corpse shredded to pieces revealed itself to her. She was frankly impressed that she had managed to miss it.

“I was sooooooo out of it. When did that get there? When did the ‘once and future king’ show up? Who’s the new gir- you know what? Never mind. It doesn’t matter. While I was off enjoying myself, the goals were all achieved and in the end a good deed for the day was done.” Looking over at Camelot, Tesni as always couldn’t help but compare her to them. Both heroic figures tied to a specific culture with an iconic weapon, given the title of ‘king’ and famous for having gone on quests…

“Well I don’t die at the end of my legend... and I actually succeed at the quest!” Cracking her neck she wandered over to the knightly magical girl and looked up at the new witch dangling from on high.

“Why would she need help? She tore the Pageless to pieces, so I’m sure she can either tank the fall or otherwise control her fall.” When the most angelic of magical girls gracefully lowered the recruit to the ground Tesni did have to stop herself from rolling her eyes but couldn’t help herself from grinning.

“Ya gonna carry her down from every high place from now on? Ah well, newbies should get eased into this as much as possible. Home time and a sleep in is in order I think, that was a rough bit of exercise and don't worry newbie, I won't hold you getting me drenched against you, everyone goes a little wild their first time.”

Grimoiric Heart

Dynasty Queen

She saw an ominous red glow on the horizon, like a blood red flame burning the construction site. A sinister flame only Tesni could see it as the feeling of smoke stung her eyes.

“I’m not sure what’s more of a slave to cliché, the Pageless or us. The monsters emerge in the dead of night, the radiant heroes arrive to save the day, all the while in an isolated area where little real damage can be done… can’t say I’m not thankful though, hurray for clichés making my job easier!” arriving at the outskirts of the construction site, Tesni let the red haze fade from her vision and the cool night air soothe her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she reached behind her ear and dropped what looked like a toothpick at her feet. Casually stepping on it, suddenly an enormous golden pillar appeared, carrying her into the sky. She held the top of the golden pillar as if she had climbed a flagpole to survey the scenario the Pageless were writing. Watching the swarming mass writhe deeper into the construction site, the walls and protections of her fellow magical girls she briefly wondered how they expected to destroy all the Pageless and not take all night… before remembering that the Ministry had sent Tesni for a reason.

"Jeez I'm an idiot sometimes, thinking this isn't my problem." chuckling, she shrunk her staff to half its height and tilted it forward, altering the angle towards the head of the swarm, and rapidly expanding it once more using it like a pogo stick.

Launched through the air Tesni brought the staff with her by shrinking it towards her instead of growing it away from her, carrying it as a relatively normal sized bo staff. The staff twirled and spun as she fell through the air, making it appear as if a golden comet was falling… and with an impact, landed in the middle of the swarm, cleanly blasting some away and leaving the swarm split into two packs, those still running towards the birth of a new story and those who couldn’t anymore thanks to an annoyingly physical magical girl. As the dust was forcibly cleared with a swing of her staff, there was a steely glint in Tesni’s eye, she knew her role.

“Damnnit! Undershot it!... Uh, Hi! Lovely to see you all! Now I don’t want to put a damper on all ‘ya good work but correct me if I’m… wrong!” she thrust her staff out like a spear behind her,

"Don’t all three missions have the same solution, really? Destroy Pageless, protect civilians, and find the grimoire… person. Destroying the Pageless-” swinging the staff back over her head down to the ground like an axe, flattening the middle of the pack of Pageless as it tried to swarm her.

“Will make the other two so much easier, right? No Pageless, no threat to the people!” she swung her staff in an arc swatting the creatures closest to her back before shrinking it again.

“No Pageless, no threat to little miss grimoire, letting us search for her in our own time! C’mon, tell me I’m wrong~” Tesni wasn’t really suited to protecting civilians, nor was she suited to locating whatever new Grimoire was being born. She was an idiot with a heavy metal stick and didn’t need to be anything more than that. Or frankly, was incapable of being more than that. She had no faith in herself that if the civilians were left in her care that an errant swing wouldn’t… break something. So she let others cover that particular weak point of hers.

Grimoiric Heart

Don't you know? The hero always arrives late, so don't worry about it :3

EDIT: posted, if something needs changing tell me and I'll get to it as soon as I can. I posted this just before going to bed so my tired eyes may have missed something but I didn't want to leave you all waiting :)