The 42nd Gecko

Grimoiric Heart

LILAC SHIMMER

Lilac jumped at the soft and warm touch of Burning Heart's tails along her back, before double taking between Burning Heart and the battlefield. "Ah! Ah, that is, of course. It is good to stand beside you." A smile, not for show, but something more, made itself at home on Lilac's face. To battle alongside another was warm, nostalgic feeling, like she had a team again. The lighthearted playfulness in the midst of even war made her feel like a Magical Girl. No matter the dark and twisted foe, the forces of good and light would prevail. It wasn't even in question, something you had to face with grim determination, but merely hope and optimism the victory a foregone conclusion.

And so Lilac's blade sang and Shimmered, like she had received Goodhope's blessing once again, fighting against the onrushing hordes at Burning Heart's side. Joyeuse took a liking to Burning Heart it seemed, and she would find her own attacks also 'augmented' by colorful displays and a bright spotlight, like Joyeuse was bringing the attention to the two stars of the show while not interfering with the 'pyrotechnics' of Burning Heart's flames.

But even as the Pageless where hurled back from the walls of Lilac's impromptu bastion, this feeling too came to an end. In the momentary lapse of battle, a pale nothing of emotion set itself on Lilac's face which had otherwise maintained positive emotion so far, at least in appearance. ~Of course, we aren't teammates. Just allies of convenience. She'll be gone tomorrow.~ Lilac set her sword hand to heart to steel herself and breathed in and out slowly. ~Getting too excited over common courtesy just exposes how pathetic you are. Just be polite and thank her nicely.~ She told herself.

"Thank you for your aid, truly, you are warrior of grace and skill." Lilac nodded to Burning Heart with a proper facsimile of a smile. Only to be shocked with the appearance of a newer, great and terrible... spinny wheel Pageless?

Once overcoming the surprise, Lilac figured that with her foes now merged into a single entity, all she had to do to be in between them and the civilians was attack. Drawing her sword once more, she gave chase to the animated abomination, quick to leap in to the air and cut asunder any pieces of rubble and detritus launched towards the civilians by its wild wheel as it chased the Grimoire.

Then, as Lumiere held the great Pageless back, Lilac jumped off a block of concrete she had just cut, in a dramatic downwards cleave aimed for its legs. Intended to be a hamstring blow to one of the unarmored ball joints, Lilac hoped she could make it vulnerable while Lumiere delayed its assault. Surely one of the many magical girls here could deal a finishing blow? Lilac didn't quite have a high enough opinion of herself, not anymore at least, to aim for it herself.

Grimoiric Heart

LILAC SHIMMER

"Oath? Ah-" Lilac hesitated for a moment, only to be pounced on and knocked down by a Pageless. It's sharp claws slashing for her face, barely held at bay by the steel beam she carried. But after the surprise wore off, she began pushing the bar up like so much exercise, "-I remember.. Captain Goodhope was it?" More Pageless leaped on, attempting to press down upon her as a group, and even her prodigious strength struggled against so many. "By Joyeuse, I shall not let you beasts lay a hand on any human!"

But resolved with the power of Goodhope's Oath, her strength prevailed and with one last exertion, she flung the Pageless into the air. "Lumiere, it seems Queen and Rose have given chase to the Pageless pursuing the Grimoire. I would be honored to have my senior's aide in vanquishing the foe before us." The Pageless now slowly beginning to fall about her, Lilac held her hand aloft and shouted, "Joyeuse!" A radiant light coalesced within in her hand, the kingly blade Joyeuse taking form once more.

Blade now in hand, she stepped forward to face the recovering foes, and cleanly sliced down the 'face' of the lead Pageless, rainbow colored light spraying from the wound like samurai movie blood. As its hands naturally flew up in shock to cover the painful but ultimately shallow wound, she pressed in and pierced what passed for heart among its ill begotten kind, following up with a kick to both free her blade and send the dying Pageless flying into the foes rushing to take its place to prevent them from mobbing her.

And so she continued the fight, a remarkably brutal and straightforward style, accentuated with extravagant displays of light.

Grimoiric Heart

Merry Christmas everyone.

I'll try to make another post sometime next week.

Grimoiric Heart

LILAC SHIMMER

"Woah! So many magical girls on the scene already? This must be a big deal." Lilac Shimmer surveyed the situation, hanging from a lightpole to get an elevated view. Her field of view was already full of brilliant flames and wings alight with justice. Taking her hand from her eyes and gripping the lightpole tight, Lilac built up momentum like gymnast, rotating around the steel. She launched herself forward, spiraling post Burning Heart, giving her a tip of the hat as she passed, "Keen thinking, fair fox!"

She landed next to a great pile of steel beams. "Time for some fortifications, for what king leaves their people without a castle to guard them! With such a fine moat of flame already, I know just the spot!" Lilac picked up one of the beams, hefting it like a child may pick up a stout stick when playing. A skulking pageless creeped over the pile towards her back, but was sent flying as Lilac then twirled the steel beam over her head.

Leaping effortlessly over Burning Heart's flames, Lilac set about planting the beams into the ground and bending them into walls to ward away any Pageless that might brave the fire to hurt the enraptured folks. Moving swiftly back and forth to gain more beams, it seemed Lilac had no concerns about property damage, figuring the construction site was a complete write off. Still, as long as Burning Heart's flames kept the civilians corralled for now, they would soon have walls of steel to shield them even further.

Grimoiric Heart

@Izurich Heh, and I stole your sheet formatting. A wonderful pair we make. :P

Grimoiric Heart

>Apped a character that can turn into a 1000 LB big cat and rip things apart with her claws.
>Is considered support.

@BrokenPromise

It doesn't matter how big of a cat you turn into, you're just going to find a sunny spot and take a nap, then be a morale boost to all nearby allies with fluffy cuteness as you yawn. The increased size only increases the range at which allies can see you and be boosted.

Grimoiric Heart

Oooh fun fun, we've now got two physical combat magical girls. I was worried with all those support characters with no one to support. :P

Grimoiric Heart

@Izurich I can definitely see how a Magical Girl who stayed by her mother's side till the end would have some interesting opinions on that regard. :)

Grimoiric Heart

Alright, settled on God Shattering Star and adding a Story beat about her worrying about her name. Can't go wrong with final boss music.

Grimoiric Heart

Bonnie Chance | Lilac Shimmer

LILAC SHIMMER

19 y/o | Female | 154cm (5'0.5")

Theme

FULL NAME:

Bonnie Chance

NATIONALITY:

Canadian

APPEARANCE:

Visual References

Casual Wear

Uniform

Part Timer

Bonnie is a French Canadian oft bearing a smile on her lips and a spring in her step, as long as there hasn't been a long night slaying pageless on a school night. She's a tiny bit short, but otherwise limber and athletic, and insists her next growth spurt is right around the corner, regardless of what any senior magical girls tell her. Her pride and joy is taking great care of her extravagant hair and hairstyle, which nicely frames her pale skin and sparkling lilac-pink eyes.

Lilac Shimmer strides on the battlefield garbed in radiant attire. The striking white core of her outfit serves to accept the colors of Joyeuse and live up to her name, shimmering finer than silk in the aurora of Joyeuse's power. And, one cannot forget Joyeuse himself, a kingly companion, a fine stout medieval longsword, no flippant rapier, crowned with a hilt of royal gold. In her hands the blade seems large enough to be wielded two handed, and at times she will, but as a Magical Girl she can nonetheless wield it with deadly ease in a single hand.

Inside school, Bonnie's outfit is not exactly kept to an exactingly formal standard. Comfort is more important for those mid-class naps. Outside of school or work, Bonnie tends towards tomboyish outfits, though one might occasionally find her aiming for a cute or elegant appeal instead of a handsome one. Relatively common is a mix and match, with a rather boyish top combined with a skirt. The exception to the rule is her extravagant work uniform.

GRIMOIRE:

Title: La Chanson de Roland

Classification: Fable

Description

The Song of Roland is an epic poem of medieval France, celebrating deeds of honor, kingship, battle and crusade. Dating back to the 11th century, it is a tale of some longevity, being quite popular in medieval France. It is a tale of court and crusade, justice and treachery.

In Bonnie's hands, the Grimoire grants her the sword of Charlemange. As for the reason the Song of Roland grants her Charlemange's blade, she's not sure, though Charles is prominently featured. Perhaps it has something to do with a right to rule? But if so, what does a mere magical girl rule? Bonnie does not yet understand the significance, still puzzling as to the deeper meanings.

While the Song of Roland is a historically important tale, oft credited with aiding the rise of French national sentiment, it certainly doesn't have worldwide reach. Durandal the blade of Roland is probably more famous than Roland or his song, simply for appearing as a legendary weapon in games. But it is little more than a name to most. How many do you know that actually read the Song of Roland? And perhaps more importantly, the modern world has little positive regard for crusades and wars of religion these days. As such, the Song of Roland is currently classified as Fable rank.

Abilities

The Song of Roland's primary ability is to summon for Lilac Shimmer the legendary sword of Charlemange, Joyeuse, a powerful longsword of shifting colors. While later legends might ascribe to it the power of Longinus, Joyeuse is not as mythical as that weapon. It is nonetheless peerless to any mortal blade and possesses a curious power.

While drawn, Joyeuse may be used to create colorful displays of vibrant, joyful even, lights. This power seems to act naturally when Lilac is enjoying the thrill of battle resulting in the battlefield being lit up like a festival.

Finally, as a melee type magical girl, Lilac Shimmer indeed possesses the typical physical suite of enhancements assumed of that type.

BIOGRAPHY:

Personality

Bonnie can be described as typically enthusiastic and bombastic, but still trying to find her place in the world. She will oft make bold declarative statements of truth, but internally doubt as to whether they really are so. If she's willing to share her doubts with you, it's a strong sign of her trust that she doesn't make for many.

Bonnie has a rather direct and immediate approach to most problem solving. Pageless? Transform, pronounce judgment, and strike! Need money? Go around and see who's hiring. Schoolwork? Ah, who cares, just write something down, a guess is better than a blank sheet. She tends towards decisively doing the most obvious solution, even if perhaps a bit more care should be taken to determine the proper solution.

The exception to this habit is relational issues, that instead have her shaking in her boots and taking no action at all or reacting defensively. The loss of her Magical Girl Team, not to Pageless, but simply drifting apart, has shattered her confidence in that regard.

Overall, she's still young, even if not quite as young as she looks, and puts up a brave front to try and hide a teeming mass of insecurities.

History

Bonnie's own story is not all that unbelievable or out of the ordinary. A bright young girl of 19 years, traveling to a university abroad to study. The subject of her study, being a magical girl, may certainly be out of the norm, but as a whole her past is not what troubles her, but the future.

Bonnie Chance was born an only child to French Canadians, not in Quebec, but in London. London Ontario that is. Bonnie still keeps in contact with her parents regularly, for as much they know, she is enjoying a full ride scholarship in a prestigious far off academy. Bonnie keeps back ups of every single message they share with each other across the pond, dreading the day when she has to break ties with them. A magical girls lot is not a mortals lot, and eventually the two worlds must shift apart.

Bonnie became a magical girl three years ago, while attending a camp in the woods. Tales and chocolates exchanged by firelight, interrupted by an eerie howl came from the darkness. The chaperone told them to stay as he would check it out, and they huddled close whispering whether it was beast or prank. A scream issued from where their chaperone investigated. The others fled in panic to their cabins, but something different steeled Bonnie. Grabbing a stout stick and the flashlight app on her phone, she set forth into the darkness.

What she found was one of the Pageless, this one a twisted beast both moose and man the size of a van and crowned in gore soaked horns. An impossible beast a thousand times her match. Yet she could not help but charge. From her lips spilled forth not a battle cry, but a song, a poem, in flowing words she knew not. Something French. The stick in her hands was not a stick anymore, but a glorious blade, and Lilac Shimmer cleaved the beast in twain.

But Bonnie was not alone that night, multiple Pageless had attacked different campers, and more than one Magical Girl was born that night, defending the woods. In the months after, they formed a small Magical Girl team, defending London and the surrounding area against the Pageless. Eventually, however, this team came to an end. Not because of the Pageless, but ironically, joining a 'greater' team. Eventually they were recruited into the Grand Ministry, and, amid that larger team, lost their smaller identity.

Having lost that solidarity of the smaller team in which she was a prominent member, Bonnie now finds herself questioning her place in the vast Grand Ministry.

ODDS AND ENDS:

Trivia

She doesn't know much of French culture, beyond some fragmented snippets of language and here and there. She knows enough to get the joke in her name, for example. She's been struggling to try and read her Grimoire in its original text, but so far has resorted to reading English translations. Given the French origins of her tale, she's a little disappointed Marrywell is in Britain as opposed to France.

Story Beats

Here are some places I'd love to see her story go. If you've got an idea for any of them, hit me up.

The Grand Ministry: Bonnie has mixed feelings. She's happy with the opportunity to study in Marrywell and the support they can offer her, but struggles with how she's effectively lost her smaller team as the former members seek position within the Grand Ministry.

The Song of Roland: Bonnie struggles to understand the moral she should take from the tale. It's not exactly time to reconquer Spain from the muslims, so the meaning must be something else.

The Nature of a King: Bonnie feels a desire to live up to the legend of Charlemange.. But it's not right for a magical girl to go around conquering countries right?

Two Worlds: Bonnie is putting off facing the fact that being a magical girl will eventually result in her walking very different paths to her parents.

The King's Court: Bereft of her former teammates, Bonnie feels alone in a crowd. She's worried it's her own fault for the group splitting up, and that if she was of greater charisma she could have kept them together.

In a Name: Bonnie came up with her magical girl name herself on a whim 3 years ago, and worries it's a bit childish for her knightly/kingly image she's aiming for nowadays. Is foolhardy pride to want a cooler name, or simply a matter of growth?