One Winged Egret
A Subterranean Rose, perhaps?
I actually hadn't read your write-up for her in a while (for obvious reasons; that was almost a year ago), so it was surprising how similar it was. Given what I was arguing around the time, I must have been heavily influenced by your write-up.
...kinda makes me feel that it was pointless to write it.
So, what exactly are we doing with the TD characters? I have a lot of things I'd like to say about Seiga, but I don't know how much I'm supposed to save for when we officially do her
Repeat things if you like. I believe we're just trying to get a basic feel for her character. What she can do, what she did and what she's like.
Song of the Sirens
One Winged Egret
At this point I'd just bring up interesting trivia, backstory, or bits of dialog. Just the facts, as it were. Overall character interpretation can come later after all this has had time to stew for the others. That's how I'm imagining it anyway. Not sure how much sense that actually makes, but this is an experiment. Mostly I was afraid that if we actually managed to get a vote through for a TD character no one would have anything to say...
edited 3rd Oct '11 1:37:03 PM by Clarste
The Fool
The Eye of Truth
5:00 A.M.
Palace of the Earth Spirits
"Nyaaa~!"
Mornin', Mistress!
A black cat with a blood red streak running down either side came running up onto the only occupied bed in the bedroom of the Palace. She was cheerfully thinking to her owner, trying to rouse her from her sleep.
"Moumph. Morning, Orin..."
Satori was more than a little depressed- her younger sister had torn out one of her arteries and ran away, never to be seen again. Oh, and she and her oldest pets got beaten up by a shrine maiden and a witch a few days ago.
But it was the former that really ate at her insides.
The cat rubbed her head against Satori's face, a soft purr coming from her throat.
"Alright, alright, I'm up. You're so stubborn, Orin."
The mind-reader got up on her feet, put on some slippers, and marched through her spacious home, several cats, dogs, and ravens flocking near her, their minds all abuzz with worry- Satori had been getting even worse lately.
"Chow's up."
The small, pink-haired girl took out three large bowls, filled each one with a type of food corresponding to her three main animal populations- all specially made by a personal supplier, an oni and a tsuchigumo- placed them on the floor, next to a small waterfall-bowl, and went to her white rose garden, to eat her breakfast with a special pair of pets.
"Ohhh, Miss Satori! How are you today?"
The satori was pounced on by a taller, more... developed girl, with dark hair and a pair of wings on her back, a yellow metal canister strapped to her waist.
"Uts-Utsuho, that's enough! You're choking me!"
The raven-girl stepped back from her owner, blushing from her overbearing hug.
"I made the three of us scrambled eggs. I hope you enjoy them... Where's Orin?"
"Unyu?"
The winged girl turned her head quizzically at her master, her face covered with bits of egg.
Satori tried to stifle a laugh. Okuu could be so cute!
"I'll just go look for her. Could you please keep our eggs warm?"
A nod of the head let Satori know that Okuu understood her, and Satori walked off.
She had a very strong hunch about where Orin was, and headed off in the direction of the piano room.
There, she found Orin, now in her human-ish form, reading a book, labeled The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works, by Sigmund Freud.
Oww. This is makin' my head hurt.
"It can't be that hard. I mean, Koishi figured it out."
"Oh, Mistress Satori! What're you doin' here?"
"Looking for you. Okuu is keeping our breakfast warm."
"Oh, it's gotten that late?! I'm so sorry! Let's get goin' then!"
The master and pet began their walk to the garden, holding a conversation on the way-
"You're missin' her bad, huh?"
"Mmm. I can't forget about her, especially since she just disappeared. I'm very concerned."
"Well, I think I got somethin' that'll cheer ya right up!"
The kasha ran ahead of Satori, shouting something indecipherable once she got far enough away.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
The girl with a third eye began hovering a little over the ground, hoping to speed up by flying.
What she saw when she got to the garden was quite a-
"SURPRISE!"
A small gathering of youkai from the underground had assembled in the midst of the white roses, each holding something for a feast.
"... What are you all doing her?!"
A strong voice responded, coming from the tall oni present, one Yuugi Hoshiguma.
"Well, Orin here told us you were acting all sullen, so I got some of my friends together and tried to give you a little party!"
"... Thank you. This is..."
"Hey, save it for later, girl! We still got one more, but we're gonna have to get you out of here to see her!"
The oni picked up a pickax she had left nearby, put on a helmet, and motioned for everyone to follow her, military style.
They had all left before Okuu, who hadn't been clued in, accidentally melted both the eggs and the plates they were on. In a panic, the raven threw the blobs of liquid into a far-flung corner of the garden, then took off after the rest as quick as she could.
Satori saw her catch up, and strode onwards, the tiniest smile creeping onto her face, as she and her five friends began to walk towards the bridge to the surface.
Freud's book titles can be a bit creepy.
edited 2nd Nov '11 3:32:56 AM by Pulse
I sure said that!
People did write ups! Cynicmuffin, asterism, Clarste, Metaflare, good job! I liked those, though I never was good on details. Anyway, I had this idea. So I wrote it. Let's see if it doesn't suck.
Warning: Long. And kinda sad.
The Disappearance and Birth of the Violet Boundary, and the Girls Who Watched Over Her
25 years, 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 3 seconds ago
"Ran-sama! Is it true? Is Yukari-sama leaving?" The cat youkai came running in crying, dashing into the nine-tailed fox's arms. Their master, Yukari Yakumo, had been doing a lot of traveling recently, visiting old friends, putting flowers on old graves, making up with old enemies. Rumor began to spread that she was trying to close all the loose ends in her long life, as if she was ready to finally fade into the Netherworld. The thought horrified Chen.
"It can't be true! Yukari-sama can't die! She has transcended life and death! Necrofantasia and all that! Tell me it isn't true Ran-sama!" Chen looked up at Ran, tears running down her cheeks. The look in Ran's eyes gave Chen no hope. Ran sighed and pulled Chen up onto her lap, as if to tell her a story.
"Chen, you've probably realized this, but Master Yukari has always been an enigma. There is no record of her birth, and the people her power closest resembles are not youkai like you or me, but humans who live in the outside world. For the longest time, I had assumed that Yukari simply was. But that is absurd. All things have a beginning, and they all have an end. It just so happens, that Master has chosen that her beginning and end are to be simultaneous."
"What do you mean?"
"According to Master, the person who will one day become Yukari Yakumo will be born in about 1 hour, 13 minutes, and 54 seconds. When that time comes, Master will finally step to the other side of the Boundary that she can only cross once."
"The Boundary of Life and Death?"
"The Boundary of Existence and Nonexistence. Her body, mind, and spirit will cease to be; the only trace of her will be the actions she has done over her long life, the people she has touched, the memories she has made. Crossing the boundary won't erase her from history, records will still show that a 'Yukari Yakumo' once existed, but she will be among us, in life or death, no longer. She claims this is the only way to avoid a paradox. Two Yukari Yakumos cannot exist together, can they?...can they? ...can..."
With this, Ran started to cry as well, and the two shikigamis joined in an embrace and cried together. Yukari had mentioned that she would return to them someday, "a little younger and a little dumber" as she has said, but they knew it wouldn't be the Yukari who had lived with them for all these years.
The following day, Ran and Chen Yakumo officially, and reluctantly, began duty as the caretakers of Gensoukyou in their master's absence.
Month *, Day !&, Year 21X6. Tuesday. 10:45 PM.
Once again, the University Necromancy Club, or, as they preferred to call themselves, the Sealing Club, found themselves traveling to the old Hakurei Shrine. The club consisted of only two members: Maribel Hearn, Mary to her friends, a girl who had moved to Japan some time before and had inherited her clan's power to see the boundaries that rode across the world; and Renko Usami, the campus's resident physics major who was rumored to have connections to the occult.
After a period of inactivity from the club, Mary had suggested that they look through old newspapers, magazines and web archives on the occult, to see if there was some unsolved mystery that had some promise to them. After about a week of wading through useless gossip, Renko had come across an article in a century old tabloid about how a local drunk would go up to the shrine and leave booze, and, according to one of his friends, the booze would be gone the next day. Normally, Renko would ignore such trash, but the shrine in question was that shrine that came up in their investigations over and over again. The Hakurei Shrine.
As they walked up the now familiar mountain path, Mary was humming a joyous tune. Her partner slowed her pace so that they were walking side by side.
"Geez Mary, you seem to really think this will work, huh?"
"Of course! A strong boundary sits right atop the Hakurei Shrine! Someone, or something must be walking through to take the beer."
"How do you know the drunkard didn't just drink it himself when his friend wasn't looking?"
Mary looked to the sky in thought. "Well, I don't really. But if it doesn't work, we can drink it ourselves!" With this, she held up the cooler filled with beer that she was carrying, almost knocking Renko down with it.
"Careful!" The two then stopped to catch their breath, as Mary was tired from carrying the cooler, and Renko from carrying the camping supplies. Renko looked up at the moon above them. "If we resume now, we should be there in about 3 minutes, 54 seconds."
Mary smiled. "So we will make it there before midnight! I wonder, do you think we will see the beer disappear?"
"It's possible. Come on, let's move."
As predicted, the two reached the Hakurei Shrine at 10:50, and began to set up camp within the shrine grounds. Once that was done, Mary eagerly carried the cooler in front of the shrine, and began unloading the bottles of booze into the dilapidated offering box.
"The people of Gensoukyou will love us for this!"
"Maybe. Do they even have beer made from synthetic wheat and barely over there? It might taste like garbage to them."
"Hopefully not. I'd think their isolation would also isolate them from our problems,"
Renko pulled out her portable heater, a preferred, environmentally friendly alternative to setting things on fire, and two sat around it. They began to talk about their school lives, but neither of them were really paying attention to each other, instead focusing on the shrine. The beer didn't move.
Even if the trip was turning out to be a dud, Mary was happy. She scooted herself next to Renko and whispered in her ear. "Thank you Renko. This is the best present I could have gotten."
Renko smiled. "Of course. Happy birthday Mary."
The two couldn't last til midnight, and eventually crawled into their sleeping bags and drifted into slumber.
Month *, Day !|, Year 21X6, Wednesday. 5:19 AM.
Renko was the first to stir, having had a bizarre dream about being devoured by the moon. She quickly pulled her hat onto her head and crawled out of the sleeping bag. Perhaps it was just her waking mind playing tricks on her, but she could have sworn the beer looked like a cat. She stumbled towards the offering box, and indeed, there was a cat there!
"It seems the booze thief is a cat lover? Or maybe this is the thief."
Suddenly, the cat spoke. "I'm no thief!"
Renko jumped back. She then leaned forward, staring at the cat. She now noticed that it had two tails. A nekomata. Great. "So, Miss Kitty-Cat, is there any reason you are here, if not to claim our booze?"
"Please leave."
"Uh, OK? I'll just get Mary and..."
"The paradox girl stays."
"Paradox? Wha? What are you going to do with Mary anyway?"
"I'm going to resolve the paradox! I'm gonna kill her! Then master can finally come back!"
Renko straightened her posture and clenched her fists. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. There is no way I am going to let some cat kill my best friend."
The cat hissed at Renko. "Why won't you let me bring Master back?"
"Just who is your master anyway? And how will killing Mary bring her back?"
"My master is Yukari-sama! And this girl is the reason she went away! Paradox, she said!"
"Yukari who exactly?"
"Yukari Yakumo!"
"Yakumo...? Wait, as in Koizumi Yakumo?"
"Who?"
"Really old writer, born Lafcadio Hearn. According to Mary, they aren't related."
The cat just stared at Renko, puzzled. For about 2 minutes. Then a look of realization came on her face. "Wait, this Koizumi fella, he was Hearn, then became Yakumo?"
"Think so."
"...I see." With this, the cat vanished.
Renko had realized the same thing the cat had. This "Yukari Yakumo", apparently a being powerful enough to have shikigamis such as that nekomata, was somehow linked to Mary. Renko walked back to camp and sat next to the sleeping Mary. The way the cat had called her "paradox girl", it got Renko thinking. Could it be possible that this Yukari was somehow Mary? Renko couldn't really see a way this could be possible, as Mary, despite her supernatural abilities given by her bloodline, was clearly human, 25 years of age as of yesterday. Unlike herself, Mary wasn't one for secrets, so Renko would know if Mary was somehow living a double life; after all, Mary would always tell her about her dream visits to Gensoukyou.
Mary began to stir. "Ah, Renko? You're up early!"
"Morning Mary. Sleep OK?"
"Uh huh." She sat up and looked towards the shrine. "The booze is gone! Did the people on the other side leave anything?"
Renko sighed. "...Sorry. Nothing but an empty offering box. Say, Mary, you want to stick around a bit?"
Mary rose to her feet, pulling her hat onto her head, and then began stretching. "I'm fine. At least we know that things in the shrine can somehow slip through. That will be enough for now. We are one step closer to Gensoukyou, Renko!"
"Yeah. One step closer..."
I am pretty proud of this one, though I hope this doesn't "jinx" anything. I tried to write Mary as, not really a ditz, but noticeably more "out there" than Renko, who would be the more serious one. I feel kinda iffy on putting an exact year to the Renko/Mary stuff, but wanted to do the whole date thing, so I just went with a Homestar Runner reference (specifically, Stinkoman and his 20X6), plus 100.
edited 4th Oct '11 6:14:02 AM by Otherarrow
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
One Winged Egret
I miss my cat...
Well, not this cat.
edited 3rd Oct '11 1:43:27 PM by Clarste
Observations? I can work with that
Seiga really likes the colour blue. More than Remilia likes red. Almost everything she wears is blue, all of her danmaku is blue, her hair and eyes are blue (die/contacts?) and it's even in her name. I'm kind of surprised she doesn't make Yoshika wear blue
She's mostly gone native, adopting the Japanese pronounciation of her name. Not sure what being called 'Niang Niang' implies, though
She has the second least ridiculous headwear of the TD originals
'Niang niang' means empress or consort. My guess it it's what her students called her, maybe? Or perhaps her servants.
Song of the Sirens
One Winged Egret
Conversely, all her spellcards and her theme song are written in Chinese, using Katakana. I'm sorry Meiling, Seiga is more Chinese than you.
She turns red when using magic though.
edited 3rd Oct '11 1:50:56 PM by Clarste
stark raving lunatic
argh, jeez
>post bannana phone >wait until i pass out, seeing no updates >wake up to 4 pages of updates
it also had the unique affect of giving me flash backs to when i needed therapy.
i feel like posting something for Kasen, also my list of top 5 favorites is getting cramped
Just another passerby
Anyway it's time for a CRAZY FAN THEORY!!!
Maribel and Yukari are possibly the same person. But did Renko cross over and take on a new name as well? Well, this particular crazy fan theory is that she did and the person she is now iiiiiiisssssss....
Yuyuko Saigyouji.
CRAZY FAN THEORY!!!!!
To be taken semi seriously, and twice daily with food. Consult your doctor in case of accidental overdose.
edited 3rd Oct '11 1:53:50 PM by asterism
Song of the Sirens
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Glad you liked it. I think you may have misunderstood me a bit, though. I meant that I felt horrible writing it more in a "this is terrible, why am I doing this to her?" sort of way 
Otherarrow: That was amazing. My favourite piece of writing from you so far, certainly. Thanks for posting it.
Huh. That's an interesting way to pair up both worlds. Though personally, I consider them the Reimu/Marisa pair of the outside world. What with one being born special, and the other being really smart (that's how her "know time and location wherever I am" thing works, right?), plus they even have the same first parts of the names (Ma and Re respectively). Though I doubt that last one works in kanji.
stark raving lunatic
oh, well in that case it was bad and you should feel bad? (i don't know what i should say!!)
edited 3rd Oct '11 2:00:35 PM by JacktheSnowman
Just another passerby
^x4: Yuyuko's backstory makes that basically impossible. You're going to need more than shipping
Well, I got your opinion on the story/writeup, which is kinda what I hope to hear when I post this stuff.
But yeah, that voice is absolutely horrid.
edited 3rd Oct '11 2:04:36 PM by Cynicmuffin
One Winged Egret
Time travel.
I'm gonna go with 'time travel'. That and Yuyuko's power is manipulation of death, and Renko is a necromancer. And also that Yuyuko's hair supposedly was darker when she was alive. And that Yuyuko has forgotten her past but has been friends with Yukari for a loooooooong time.
Also, crazy fan theory.
Song of the Sirens
Except, don't people remember her as Yuyuko though? And I'd think Renko would have noticed if she had a death power by now.
Also, Renko is a necromancer in name only. She is more of a detective of the supernatural,
Cynicmuffin: Thanks a lot! Good to know you are enjoying my write ups! I know I like yours.
Pulse: Oh! Didn't notice that write up! I liked that, really. Made me smile.
edited 3rd Oct '11 2:18:44 PM by Otherarrow
Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
stark raving lunatic
i feel like playing a round of Lo L but those take half an hour minimum, whats that translate to in forum time? 3 pages? 4?
Just another passerby
Needs more zeroes.
One Winged Egret
I'd probably join the Necromancy club.
1.5 pages in my experience.
edited 3rd Oct '11 2:21:05 PM by Clarste
Wow, you people are going crazy right now with the creativity, aren't you? Didn't read the latest few things yet, but now I want to try and say what I've been meaning to say about Seiga. Screw limitations, I already said this before in the other thread, so now I just need to try and recall that.
At some point, Seiga rather grew on me because the image that formed in my head from the story told in her profile is one that is surprisingly natural.
Her father left her as a child. She never saw him again and she was left with a book that taught her about a world without death. This is what he left her with. Of course, she grew fascinated with it.
She grew up, fascinated with ideas of endless life, the dichotomy of life and death, a world out there where her father is probably doing amazing things right now. Of course she was not a happy person. She was capable of acting normal. She learned how to behave just fine in the company of others, and she was beautiful and sociable enough to marry. But like many other women, her marriage just wasn't a happy one, because she was not a happy person. She ate at the dinner table, wearing a fake smile, exchanging pleasantries, but when she returned to her room, with time for herself, she just felt discontent with it all, yearning for that something out there that she can't place her finger on, and she searched for that something in the study of taoism. And then she ran.
It just seems so natural that, now, this girl has grown up into a woman fascinated with death, who has resurrected the corpse of a lovely young woman and now treats her as a daughter, or a lover, or god knows what else. Whatever kind of love she feels for Yoshika, it's a telling sign of what she's become: A woman fascinated with the morbid, with death and decay and how to combat these things. She made herself the central character of an eternal romantic era style painting. Her own little disturbed, but so understandable, horrible utopia.
... This ended up a lot more write-uppy than I intended, haha. Sorry about that.
Safety jacket yellow was just snark. The purple was a reference to Yukari.
The indigo was an inadvertant reference to Ran.
Song of the Sirens