Kawaii Cataclysm (Inactive)

Game Master BastianQuinn

Heads up: Finals week is here, and I both work at and attend college.

Good luck!

Hey guys, I'm really sorry for holding up the story. I'm in the middle of some serious drama right now but I'll try to post something until tomorrow.
Also Bastian, I wish you the best of luck.

It's all good, You're sufficiently separated from the action for me to move forward, it's just slow going on my end.

I'm like, 67% done with the next update and I have some time today to write.

I'll admit my writing's been sparse of late, as well.

To put it mildly.

Lemme know if I missed something.

It must be my birthday (it is)

Juno: you're going to have well over a 12, is there anything specific you'd like to accomplish? Mechanically, I'll give you as much as 3 Hits or 2 Hits and a +1 Ongoing to each attack on Olympia while the army is out. Alternatively, 2 Hits and getting Naiad clear of the snek.

Fictionally, you're welcome to embellish the spell to your heart's content. You have access to Japanese and American military forces circa 1930's as well as some older, edo-period Japanese warriors. Mostly archers and marksmen, but plenty of outliers. You can name an ancestor to keep as an NPC until the battle's over.

Out of ideas on how to react to being pinned.

Been trying since the post went up.

Got.

Nothing.

Be like water, my friend. It can flow... or it can crash. :)

Happy Birthday!

Caveat lector: I'm old.

Just a though that occurred to me: @Naiad, have you ever seen Disney's sword in the stone? How does Merlin defeat mad madam Mim?

@Bastian: I have not, no.

Caveat Lector

Ah, happy belated birthday!

That was definitely a good one to roll high on. Hmm... Largely the idea is to create a line of powerful warriors to match the phantoms pound for pound so Naiad, Yuki and I can focus on the real threats of Brigit and the snake. As such, I think the second option suits my needs the best.

I don't think I necessarily need any one of them to be developed fully into an NPC, but if you have a particular idea in mind feel free.

Oh, I have the best idea ever.

That's... an incredible coincidence in naming. When did you notice that and how long have you had this idea in your pocket? o.O

Back when Junpei joined, I asked if anyone else had siblings. You were both open to long-lost relatives. He had a military family, you had a single mother. I did a little research and poof! That's when this ended up in my notes.

I should mention now that I've been hiding spoiler links in i's for months. (The i in Naiad)

Loved Juno's non-reaction.

That...was sneaky. I'm going to have to pay more attention from now on.

I'd go back and check for more things like this, but that might be an exercise in madness.

Willing to say if we missed anything else? Obscure hints if we're lucky?

I mean, you don't have to look far...

Juno's other surprise has been revealed.

One of the oldest spoilers was Tiresias'. Posted in May. It has to do with Trigun and Batman.

...I may have to check on my brother. Crap.

Looking back at those spoilers, I'm going to have to keep a careful eye out now.

@Naiad: You're both born leaders.

@Bastian:

By no means should anyone feel rushed to post. We're in the Nightmare now, so time's allowed to be weird.

BastianQuinn:

Naiad: Yes.

Combat here is an abstraction of complex obstacle clearing. With your desperation roll, you made enough "hits" to reach a victory without collateral while avoiding going overboard and killing the caterer.

Cleansing with the Purity domain will have a different effect in the fiction than burning with the Fire domain, but both will produce one quanta of success, or one "Hit".

Hope I have my numbers right, things flying fast and thick now, and thanks for picking up that direction that we were both kind of flailing around and not hitting on the mark.

Should have a post up today -- was kind of waiting for Juno to go but what I was going to do next will only help her do her thing...

More insight into how deep the rabbit hole goes: at midnight, Emi started singing 50 Shades of Evil, a song by Kobra and Lotus.

I was just about to post, then it occurred to me... Juno saw Sakura's mother in the flashback sequence way back in the first chapter. From Juno's perspective, is the woman in the flower not recognizable as the same person?

I don't think Kiyomi was paying much attention at the time, but yes. That totally happened. Hearing Sakura call her mom might have shaken something loose.

I haven't been doing a good job of gathering thoughts the last few days. The stuff that's going around has me really blech. I'll post when I can get into character again, but right now, Tenshi's just coming off ridiculously dismissive when I try to post - and that's not really the character talking, but me being all 'don't-wanna'.

I haven't been doing a good job of gathering thoughts the last few days. The stuff that's going around has me really blech. I'll post when I can get into character again, but right now, Tenshi's just coming off ridiculously dismissive when I try to post - and that's not really the character talking, but me being all 'don't-wanna'.

I blame the 'holi-daze', personally. My problem has been looking at it and going 'don't want to be over-the-top' at the same time being true to the genre..

S'all good. I'll be here when things clear up. =)

Found when Alex and Kiyomi became siblings.

Still alive, still blending the things...

Let us just hope our MG do not end up like this...

Avert The Eyes, Quick!

I am seriously wondering how much I've managed to break and how much what I've done shall annoy Juno.

I don't know what's about to happen, but I really really want to .

Anyone have any bets on what's about to happen?

I've got the plotpoints, I just gotta really sit down and give it the time it needs.

For your enjoyments, the promised oracle scene (largely unedited since I first mentined it):

The hooded girl taps the faded deck of cards against the table, finishing the bridge shuffle. It changes nothing. The last gasping struggles of a dying node. We continue with our plans. With the wave of a hand, she dismisses the tiny figure.

From the deck, the girl deals the hermit, inverted, and across it, the knight of cups. Ah, of course. This one. So lonely. He has so much potential. The five of cups is played below. That would be the sister, then. The root of the problem. The nine of pentacles is placed on the left, inverted. He’s thrown himself into work until now. The Magician, a major arcana, is placed above. As expected, these talents have changed things... and what have we in our future? The six of clubs is placed on the right. A portentous reunion. Perhaps he is ready...

The cards are returned to the deck, and shuffled. The Tower is drawn with the Queen of Pentacles laid across it. A disaster in the great house. The ten of pentacles is laid below. She has so much to shoulder now. The five of wands takes the left. It’s always a competition with those girls. I for one am glad that chapter is over. Next is the Ace of Cups above. Potential love. How sweet. Finally, the two of swords, inverted on the right. A difficult choice, hesitation, she can’t afford to put things off. Come now, Mother Void, you know for whom I scry.

Again, the cards are shuffled, sliding through deft fingers. The Fool is played, inverted, with the ace of wands laid across it. Who is this? Below it, the three of wands, inverted, and on the left, the page of swords, inverted. Someone naive, embarking on a new venture, with a lack of foresight, frequently all talk, at least in their past... The Magician signifies the present. A talent... The Tower slides from the deck and into place on the right. The woman chuckles and reshuffles the cards.

The Empress, inverted, with the ace of pentacles across it. Hashimoto-chan, how long can you hold off your dreams in the name of self-reliance? You can’t afford to squander such bountiful opportunities. The Seven of Cups is played below, and the girl pauses for consideration. She rapidly plays the next three cards: The six of wands, the two of swords, and the Hierophant, inverted. I don’t think they will accept that. She’s fought too hard to establish this city. You’ll break that tenuous truce if you so challenge the status quo...

Next, the Hanged Man, inverted, with the page of wands across it, and the two of wands below. The tag-a-long. At odds with her own adventurous spirit. Too cautious. Too quiet. The world portends the past, and the eight of wands, the present. You’ve come a long way, and now things are moving too fast. Last, the knight of pentacles takes the right position, inverted. Stagnancy. Such a waste. These are not the souls I need guidance on.

Death, inverted, and the Three of Swords. No. She’s done. There will be no future for this one. She will not get up after that fall. The Two of cups, inverted takes the bottom position. I don’t care if she has unfinished business. The eight of swords portens the past. -and she’ll return to seclusion. Next, the Sun takes the top position. How? She can’t even walk outside without crumbling into tears. How could she stay positive in the face of his death- in the face of their certain doom? The king of wands portends the future. The woman simply scoffs and begins to reshuffle.

While the cards are being shuffled, they slip from the girl’s hands and scatter across the table. After a shocked hesitation, the girl sweeps the bulk of the cards out of the way to reveal an intact cross. High Priestess, inverted, the ten of swords across it. The eight of cups at the bottom with the Emperor, inverted, the six of cups, and the king of wands. No. They’re not coming back. -and if they don’t come back, he won’t become their leader. You taunt me, Mother Void. Show me my Sakura!

The cards are gathered, and the girl shuffles three times. After cutting the deck into six piles, she draws the top card of each deck, using both hands to build one final cross. The Devil, crossed by the queen of cups with the three of swords below it. There’s my girl. The two of Pentacles takes the left position of the cross, Judgement takes the top. Yes, yes. The final card is drawn, and the girl looks at it in her hand for a long moment. -of whom? The card is placed, the ten of swords. Betrayal of whom... The girl leaves the table, the cards left as they are.

I'd actually pegged Sora as the High Priestess and Bubbles as the Hanged Man to be honest. :)

Juno was somewhere between Emperor and Empress simultaneously for me.

That's where the major cards started to fall apart, though. :) (Like, Chariot fit for very different reasons for both May and the wheelchair powerhouse that left. :P)

I was honestly leaning strongly towards Death for May, because Death is about change.

The empress reversed speaks to a disharmony of spirit and social connections which is causing the subject to fail to live up to their potential.

The inverted high priestess suggests the subject is ignoring their internal voice.

Everyone sees Juno as a part of Aratani's story. Hence, the tower and the queen of pentacles.

May's story has been a challenge for me. She comes across as a phlegmatic version of Card-captor Sakura's Tomoyo, and it's been difficult to make that pop.

Bear in mind, I'm not a tarot reader, I only know what I know through casual butterfly-learning nature (that flower's pretty... and so is this one!).

It might just be a gamer perspective, but I see Aratani as an extension of Juno's story. Juno draws on her lineage, not the other way around. :)

Meanwhile, I didn't have them inverted when I was messing around and assigning cards - mostly because I viewed them as choices, rather than direct nods. The High Priestess is about wisdom, about understanding things that can't really be known. When inverted it's about ignoring your heart and letting the world, with its facts and figures, win - at least to me.

Death was an especially fitting card to me for May because it represents two things - upwards, change, and downwards, stagnation. The way things have been playing out, she seems very trapped in much the opposite way that Tenshi is, by her role. Tenshi has fluidly embraced it as an opportunity to be unique when she'd been struggling to fit in and return to a normal life. May is clinging desperately to the understanding that she's built over a lifetime, and is struggling to relinquish the rules she knows to be true. I see something very different from phlegmatic sakura here. The character feels very constantly ungrounded, to me. More like a game or show where the main character is thrown into something way over their head, and either has to go through the motions... or die.

*shrugs*

I don't know how to bring Sakura back, and I doubt Juno would either, healing isn't anywhere in her jurisdiction. Anyone else have any ideas before Juno accepts the inevitability of her failure?

I don't know how to bring Sakura back, and I doubt Juno would either, healing isn't anywhere in her jurisdiction. Anyone else have any ideas before Juno accepts the inevitability of her failure?

I think between at least the two of us we could do it, but I need to sleep on it.

Probably better that you guys don't know just yet.

It might just be a gamer perspective, but I see Aratani as an extension of Juno's story. Juno draws on her lineage, not the other way around. :)

Part of Kiyomi's story will be to get out from under all of the strong female role models she has who are constantly doing things "for her own good".

Speaking of which...

He's standing in a dark room with a very large weapon leveled at Sora's friend, Emi, who is holding an injured man.

How is he lifting that thing, let alone wielding it from the sounds of it? Geez, Lys. If he survives, there's some stuff I've gotta talk to him about.

I'm not so sure you know what weapon that is. SO's and their hobby clubs, ammirite?