I don't think it's a bad time. Silly time maybe. I am sorry. I'll be waiting for your "BS epic". Those always sound neat.
Wait, how did we get into "Kisume is a wonder twin" anyway?
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
Kisume is a female breast?
Pulse, good luck with your epic. I hope your idea will be good, because Kisume... just doesn't do "epic", not the same way others might, at least.
I do have something neat a-cookin' for her, though~
Funny but not helpful
It took me a minute to remember that people use the term wonder twins as a sort of euphemism.
Anyway, I have a thing for Kisume I was planning to write. I vaguely hope it isn't the same as what you two are planning. It'd be like showing up to the party wearing the same dress.
Forever liveblogging the Avengers
One Winged Egret
Tell me about it. I remember the first time we did Tewi in the other thread. I had this whole thing written up months in advance when the thread was first created, but then it turns out that Fawriel's intro covered all my main points.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Or even worse, showing up to a fancy dress party in the exact same costume. Very embarrassing. Especially if the costume is incredibly bizarre (that was still part of the simile).
The Fool
My god, this took forever to write.
Ink-Flame
A good tsurube-otoshi will always be able to control some kind of flame. Typically, this will be a slightly bluish white, known as soulfire. Every so often, however, a tsurube will be born that instead manipulates a frightening black fire, like something out of a twisted ink painting. This terrible black flame is known as demon fire, and the bucket youkai unfortunate enough to be born with such a curse are ostracized from the main community of tree dwellers, and forced to the forest floor. The ritual casting out of the ink-flames, as they are called mockingly by the pure members of the race, are placed in a bucket, as a symbol of their inferiority, and are bound to it, so as to never forget that they failed by being born as such. They are then thrown to the ground from the highest tree in the area, and are told to never return, even as they fall. Such is their way.
This was, of course, something that the most recent outcast would be thinking about later. She was far too busy trying to dodge tree branches at the moment.
The green haired little tsurube crashed into the ground on her side... or rather, the side of the bucket she was currently trapped in. This was gonna take some getting used to. That, of course, was another thing she was going to have to think about later, as she was now too busy careening downhill at a terrifying clip.
The bucketed youkai awoke. It was late at night. This meant that she had been asleep for hours, at least, because the last thing she could remember was...
''Oh. That's right. I got banished. I'm cursed. I'm bad for the community. I'm a monster among monsters. My friends laughed as I fell...
That sucks.''
The youkai looked around herself. There were shadows creeping about. She didn't like that. It made her feel nervous. Why couldn't they just show them selves? Why? WHY?
"WHY!!!!!!!!!! Why won't you just do what you're gonna do to me already?! Why won't you?!"
She was then met with a brief bit of silence. Then the fairies showed up.
"Ohhhhhh, a bucket! Bucket bucket! Let's play with the bucket!"
The green-haired girl was terrified, and curled up, as small as she could make herself, at the bottom of her new prison.
"Hey, Flora! Catch!" The sleepy-looking fairy then, of course, tossed the frightened child youkai at the flower fairy she happened to be with. Flora was clocked on the noggin, and nearly passed out. The green-haired child was so frightened that she surrounded herself with demon fire, turning the general area into a bizarre ink blot.
"KYAA! Flora! Flora! Flor- " The sleepy fairy was engulfed by the inky flame before she could finish.
That was scary, the little bucket one thought. Not knowing what else to do, she started to try and head back to the forest. She was not, however, accustomed to flying, much less doing so with an awkward extra few pounds encasing her. She rose up many times, and she fell many times. But at last, she reached the edge of the forest, and began her search for her fellow outcasts. It wasn't easy. Vicious animals and unscrupulous youkai attacked regularly, for she was an easy target, powerful yet terribly inexperienced, barely even five. She was frightened by almost everything that appeared, and grew to fear anything new.
After a week of terror, she managed to find... a discarded bucket, somehow with a rope attached, trailing into the sky. She bumped it. The bucket shook and shuddered, and finally, a youkai popped out of it, like a mole emerging from the ground. She had her blue hair tied into four small ponytails, each tied with a pair of hair bobbles. She smiled and said-
"Hiya, pard! Ya new 'round these parts? Eh? Ya new ta the forest floor? Ya get thrown out jus' a bit ago? Well?"
"Ah, ah... I'm new, yeah. I don't know what to do right now, and everyone is so mean, and I'm scared and why did this happen and why did everyone get mad at meandwhyisthisgoningonandwhy-"
"Whoa, slow down thar, lil' miss. I've ner'seen one get sen' down so youn', but I'll make sure ya'll get taken care of, hun. Tell ya what, kid, big sis Kisumi 'll take care 'a ya. Tell you what: I'll jus' tell ery'one that you're mah lil' sis, howzat? 'N fact... "
Kisumi took off two of her hair bobbles and threw them at the younger tsurube-otoshi-
"How 'bout we put those in your hair, hon? We'll be like two peas ina pod! Ain't that right, Kisume?"
The green-haired girl was confused. "Kisume? Is that something to eat? Because I'm really hungry right now..."
"... I thin' we got a lotta catchin' up ta do, sis."
And with that, Kisume and Kisumi walked into the village of the feared and hated.
Years passed. Kisume grew very little, however, simply because forty is very young for a youkai. She was always shy around others, and was only comfortable around her Cool Big Sis Kisumi... even if she spoke a bit oddly. Kisume, however, was fairly happy with her new life... until one day... the day the rouge spiders came.
The earth spiders, also known as the tsuchigumo, are well known for their ability to control diseases, and many of them shared a surprisingly good relationship with humans, serving them as doctors. However, there were always dissenters among both tribes:the humans feared the potential of such a power, and the spiders looked down on the humans, and indeed, anything that wasn't one of them.
It was a group of these hateful spiders who brought a terrible disease upon one well in the human village, and had all of their kind driven away to the forest. Kisumi was unfortunate enough to be the the welcome party. She was afflicted with a terrible disease that the spiders told her would "Start as a tiny itch in the back of your nose, that will become twice as powerful a sickness tomorrow, and every day after that, until you may neither see nor hear nor feel. And yet, it is a much better fate than living forever, as such a despicable creature that even those who fish for food with buckets reject you."
Kisume heard it all. And she was very scared. What was worse, she could not think of anything to do...
"Except that... " Kisume whispered to herself, before firing off a blast of inky fire at the rouges who had dared to attack her village, her sister...
Though the flames were painful, there were nowhere near enough to destroy the spiders. It did, at least, get them to leave the forest.
"Sis!!" Kisume cried out, ant floated as quickly as she could to Kisumi, who turned towards her, and smiled sweetly, quietly saying-
"Kisume... you're always gonna be my lil' sis. Even when I'm gone, I'll always look after you, from wherever I am. So please, don't be sad."
Kisume couldn't take it. She had lost everything before, and she wasn't going to let that happen again. She grabbed the handle of Kisumi's bucket, and speed after the fleeing arachnids, hoping to find a friendlier spider, to save her...
They passed through the Human Village. It was a trap. When Kisme caught up to one of them, another snatched her and Kisumi in a web. One of them, presumably the leader, walked up to Kisume, and whispered in her ear-
"There is no way to save her. And there's no way to stop the plague we're givin' to the humans. We need to thin 'em out, and make the ones that are left as scared of us as we can. It's the fate of all nonspiders to fall to our disease, don't you think so? Tell ya what, kid; if you'll burn down a building, to scare the hell outta those humans, maybe we'll let you both go. After all, you're still young, and your friend will still be fine for a few years, she's started with such a minor case. What do you say?"
"... Fine. I'll do it. One building, no occupants. OK?" The bucket girl was on the verge of tears, but tried not to show it. She'd have to be in front of all kinds of people, and they would hate her for what she did... but she was too scared to die."
"Good. Over there-" the spider pointed "Is an old, abandoned house, made outta wood and oiled paper. It'll do nice. Now go! Before I change my mind!" The spider laughed and laughed to himself, almost madly.
Kisume flew over to the house. She peeked in all the windows, and saw no one inside. Outside, however, there were lots of people, some of them seeing her, but most to involved in their own lives to notice. She held her breath, and set the house on fire. It started small, on a patch of wood, but once it reached a paper wall, it was fully combusted. This was worrisome enough to all the humans of the Village, but even worse, the flames were pitch black, and danced like shadows. They all saw the strange girl in the bucket, and they all now knew of the tsurube-otoshi of the demon fire. They saw her panic, they saw her flee towards the the forest, they saw her talking top the spiders, they saw her grab another, stunned looking bucket, and they saw her leave. This was the last straw. Between the poisoned well and this terrifying flame, the spiders and the buckets had to go.
It was a true purge. Somehow, the humans found the main spider nest, and the Village of demon fire, and somehow they had driven them all away, even killing a few resisting spiders. The groups that got away were chased down a dark cave, and they never came out. Despite what the rouge spiders did to them, the tsubere-otoshi became fast allies with the main group of spiders, and assigned the duties of diplomacy to the leaders of the tribes; Kisumi and the tsuchigumo Yamami, who became fast friends. Kisume, however, was upset; she was the reason everyone was being forced down here, and she was the one who had ruined everything. Tears welled up into her eyes, and she began to cry. But then, a small tap on her shoulder from a taller youkai, this one a spider-
"So, you're Kisume, huh? Little sister of Kisumi, I take it?"
Kisume was startled. "Um... Ah... Yes, I am Kisume. What is your name?"
The spider gave her a small smile, and said "I'm Yamame Kurodani, daughter of Yamami Kurodani, Chief Diplomat of the Medical Earth Spiders. I've been a little lonely, but now I've got you, right? So, neither of us'll be alone down her, right?
Kisume felt herself smile for the first time in a long while. "Ah... Um... I guess so..."
Yamame grabbed Kisume's hand and happily stated "Ya know, I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"
Kisume silently thought to herself; Things can only get better from here on, right?
BS that I made up in two hours. Not in the middle of night this time, though.
Maybe I should write genuine fanfiction after all this is said and done. Hmmm....
Also, if this were in Japanese, Kisumi would have a Kansai dialect. So Yeah.
edited 30th Jun '11 8:54:22 AM by Pulse
I sure said that!
pirate girl
Not sure if this is relevant, kind of a random thought but....
do fairies have blood?
I ask becuase the thoguht popped inot my head while watching an LP of fairy wars (the commentator asked those fairies that fly at Cirno with knives on spring path what they wanted from him/Cirno.)
You know! That was actually really, really nice. In fact, the second paragraph was so nice it made me stop to smile and think about how that's a really nice paragraph.
There's some things I could criticize, like the fact that you used a wiki word, and that there were a couple typos... and I don't think you explained how Kisumi got healed? Though I guess that's implied in the alliance between the two peoples... I can also see why you turned off her accent for that one line, but I really would've liked it if she'd kept that! It would've been very charming. Don't be afraid of ugliness!
But yeah, the fact that I'm throwing criticism your way should really serve as more of a compliment than anything. That was already pretty much a small piece of fanfiction, so here be my literary criticism.
If they do have blood, surely it is hotter then the Earth's molten core.
edited 25th Jun '11 3:43:46 PM by asterism
Song of the Sirens
pirate girl
which might just explain Cirno being able to fight Utsuho AT ALL...
A pair of strong hands
One day, not too long ago, Yuugi's friend Yamame came to ask her for help. She had her first concert, and while she had the budget for some good equipment, there was nothing left for any roadies. "I hate having to ask you for your time because of such a small thing, but..." Yuugi agreed.
She has a pair of strong hands. To rest would only weaken them, and if they were going to be used, it might as well be for a good friend.
One day, just recently, a three-eyed woman approached Yuugi and demanded her friendship. A savage grin spread across the oni's face. She didn't remember seeing the woman before, but she knew how to deal with an oni... or rather, how not to deal with one if you value your life. She knew what she was getting herself into. The duel was declared. An oni's hands are strong. They only listen to those stronger than them. A normal oni's hands listen only to themselves and rampage with no direction. A weak oni's hands follow the stronger oni. A strong oni's hands follow the mind they belong to.
The battle was long and ferocious. Yuugi did not hold back. The longer the battle went on, as the frail woman dodged her attacks with unnatural foresight and countered with amateurishly aimed but determined fire, the more Yuugi's respect for her swelled up, and the more reckless her attacks became. The woman knew what she was getting into. She knew that she might die. She was there to challenge fate, to declare war against who she was and prove to her new self that she is strong enough to take on the strongest. To not give her all in this battle, to deny this woman the challenge she desired, how disrespectful that would be!
A manically brutal dash, a dodge, a trap. The oni was hit. It barely hurt her, and a step into the face of her weary adversary lying in front of her in the dirt, panting with her vision blurred from an exhaustion she'd never known before, would've put a quick end to this battle, and the small woman's life. But this battle of hearts was won by her.
Yuugi has a pair of strong hands. They listen only to the hearts stronger than them, because strength without a strong will behind it is meaningless.
One day, long, long ago, the oni migrated to the Underground. Humans, gods and other youkai, they were all too weak, and that weakness made them aggressive. Time and time again, they used treachery to get the best of the oni, who were thought too strong, too dangerous, too incalculable. No more, the oni said. A world with no friends and no honesty is a world that an oni can not live in. And so, they migrated to the Underground, where other hated youkai were sealed.
The weak oni were in an uproar. There's no honor in running away! We can kill them all! We're strong enough! We can't live here! This place reeks of mold and stale air! It's too cramped for all of us!
Amidst the commotion, Yuugi calmly walked up to a stone wall. She paused, drew in breath, pulled back her fist, and thrust it forward. The deafening crash made the crowd fall silent.
This is our world! This is a world of outcasts who only have themselves! This is a world of friends! And with these strong hands, we can shape it the way we want! Don't you see how lucky we are to have found this paradise!
The weak oni followed the heart stronger than theirs. Settlements were constructed and plants were grown to renew the air. Celebrations filled the night with newfound vigor.
Yuugi has a pair of strong hands. To hold together a community falling apart... there cannot possibly be a thing more joyful for them to accomplish.
One day, sometime in the future, the Bridge Princess returns.
The small woman called Satori demanded Yuugi's friendship. She demanded it because she had a goal: To reunite the Underground and the surface world.
Yuugi did not understand. The Underground is a perfect place to live. The oni enjoy themselves, and an oni needs none but their own kind to live. The other youkai of the underground never voiced any complaints to her or her kind. Doesn't it seem so idyllic?
But the three-eyed Satori knew better. She can see the unhappiness covering the underground land like a malevolent fog, a shared consciousness of discomfort, resentment, a yearning to see the true sky again, a feeling that expresses itself into the physical world through solemn jazz tunes of the night, and through bar brawls with the intent to hurt, not to participate in playful rivalry. Yuugi listened in awe. An oni needs none but their own kind to live. They are loving and selfish. How could she have known? It seems so hard to grasp.
The first thing the oni and the satori did was to visit the gate. It was long sealed, but if anyone was going to leave the Underground, it would be through the gate. To reach it, they would have to pass over the bridge... But the bridge was guarded.
The guardian refused to let them pass. She was weak. She would not listen to reason. She would not listen to a stronger heart. They soon left, before the oni's shackles would break. There is nothing in the world that could provoke an oni's anger more than such a person, so self-absorbed, so weak, so incapable of talking in clear terms.
But the three-eyed Satori knew better. She read the guardian's mind in secret. And so she told her tale to the oni. A tale of a being that was born for the protection of the people, was betrayed by a weak heart, grew lonely and afraid until her original being was consumed by resentment, was driven away and returned only to find that there is nothing in the world left for her. A being that was never meant to care for anyone but everyone else, that cared too much for one being, and that lost its love for everyone to one careless, weak pair of hands, leaving only emptiness. And yet, deep within this being, a quiet wish could be heard echoing. A yearning cry for the strong heart she saw in front of her, that strong heart that speaks no lies. A longing to be worthy of this strong heart's friendship.
They returned the next day, and the guardian agreed to let them pass. But instead of passing by, Yuugi took the guardian into her strong hands, and carried the screaming girl to the other side of the bridge in a rapid sprint. Many feet after they left the bridge, the screaming died down. After so many years, the guardian realized now that she was no longer bound to the bridge that she guards.
They met again and again. Yuugi showed the city to the guardian named Parsee. They drank together. They fought. Sometimes they laughed. As time moved on, it seemed as though Parsee tried to copy the mannerisms of her oni friend, then quickly discarded them again as she noticed what she was doing. Yuugi showed her the musicians of the night, the oni barflies, the lively concerts. As time moved on further, the laughter became more frequent. The former guardian stumbled over her words more and more as she had to discern between lie and truth within herself, and she got more and more flustered, until the oni put her hand on her shoulder time and time again to tell her, "don't worry about it. I got all the time in the world."
Eventually, one day, sometime in the future, the Bridge Princess returns.
The bridge calls for her protection. Her heart receives the call. The green-eyed monster that had been consuming her, this being that was her own weakness, has become small and insignificant. Her heart smiles tentatively, and looking deep into itself, maybe, it might dare to love again. To love these strong hands on her shoulders that stop her from trembling. And to be as strong herself.
Only a trace of doubt remains. Parsee looks silently into the clear eyes of her friend.
"If I return to my bridge... I will never be able to leave it again.
I won't be able to come with you to the city... The bridge will be my world again. I won't have the bars... the concerts... the streets... I will only have my task to protect everyone passing over the bridge. And... I... I don't mind it. But... despite all of that... even if I won't be able to go anywhere... and I won't have much time...
Can I ask you... please... please... do not leave me."
Yuugi smiles softly.
She has a pair of strong hands. After all that they've done, how shameful would it be to let go of something so precious.
edited 26th Jun '11 6:58:04 AM by Fawriel
Was that the project thing you mentioned a while back? That was good. I planned on having something more "not generic" to say, but I am not really good at at this whole "descriptive praise" thing. I am sorry if this sounds like unimportant asskissing.
Other Topic: Is it possible for any depiction of Kisume to be truly "in character"? Aside from her profile mentioning that she is shy (which doesn't say that much), she has no character. She has no lines, and is just there seemingly because the stage needed a midboss (except Parsee and Yuugi serve as the midbosses of their own stages so..?) At least a short conversation would have been nice.
Then again, the lack of dialouge could work to the "very shy girl" approach. She is so shy she only speaks with those very close to her, and thus would probably never speak to these strange girls from the surface who are shooting everything. Of course, who would she speak to then? I'd like to think Yamame, but that is just fanon talking.
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
Not the project, no. And don't worry about asskickin- err. Asskissing. That was a neat typo.
Is it possible to depict Kisume as out-of-character? Well... not strictly speaking, I guess, no. She's almost a blank slate, except that the slate is vaguely shaped like something that would suggest a certain kind of content. A shape that doesn't exactly suggest epicness, but which can be made to work even to that effect if you attach enough extra bits.
Similes!
By the way, speaking of the big project... actually, I'll be spending the next few hours fixing the technical problems I had with it. So wish me luck, and look forward to it~
I can't think of a time when a midboss has a chat before attacking. Some (Sakuya, Youmu, Nazrin) have a brief one-liner beforehand, but most save the talk for after the battle, especially if they're also the stage boss (Meiling, Mystia, Yuugi, Keine, Nitori, Ichirin...).
Song of the Sirens
It's time... to STOP!
Depends on your idea of whether or not it counts that it's the stage's midboss, but Eirin appears in Reisen's stage in IN.
I guess that only matters if you've 1cc'd the game though.
I have no horse, and I must ride. I accomplish unlockments.
pirate girl
...TECHNICAL problems? That sounds good.
Funny but not helpful
Great write-up, Faw.
Forever liveblogging the Avengers
![[awesome]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/minis/award_star_gold_3.png "[awesome]"){kind=small}
Funny but not helpful
Bravo, Faw. Bravo.
I think that's Reimu and Yukari and possibly Kanako. Are the two dudes just two dudes from the village?
Forever liveblogging the Avengers
pirate girl
First! and I basically typed what I thoguht was going on as the comment.
Kanako? I thought it was Alice...
Excuse my derp moment. I didn't recognise Kanako without her rope.
edited 26th Jun '11 12:17:25 PM by asterism
Song of the Sirens
Most likely the human village, tengu village (note the weird ears), Kanako and Yukari.
That was really great. The writeup really helps set it up too! And it got to me. Those expressions were just...so...faithful? Lifelike? Overall, it was quite touching...now excuse me while I get some tissues.
... Is this a bad time?
Anyway! I think I'll try to get another one of my BS epics out in about a few hours. In the meantime; after seeing one of Tacitus' imagedump pics, I now firmly believe that Kisume's demon fire looks like artsy ink brush fire.
I sure said that!