Anime Rival Quest (Very Meta)

Everyone in this thread has some wildly differing definitions on Bishie.

On the whole, I feel I should make it clear, my interpretation of Bishie is less about your overall beauty and more about how effeminate you look as a character. It's mostly a 'can Waltz write situations where the rival is mistaken for a girl for comedic effect' vote. If Bishie, yes. If no Bishie, then no.

Also you already pigeonholed yourselves as a Caster with your initial trait choices, so being super buff or muscular really isn't particularly in line with that. Just saying.
I'm voting against it just so we remove the comedic effect. Doesn't seem that funny to me, considering we're looking from The Rival's POV. And also so we have a moderately fit physique compared to small frame, which is what I interpret from what Spec's saying.
 
Ohhkay, feeling much better now. Tally tally on the wall, who shouts loudest of them all?

(Votes Closed.)

EDIT: Just noticed there's a tie between 'Song of Ancients' and 'Daughter of Flame' for the theme, so because I don't want this vote to run even longer I will use my executive QM powers to pick the song I like better.
Adhoc vote count started by Spectral Waltz on Feb 10, 2018 at 8:14 PM, finished with 126 posts and 41 votes.
 
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By the way, what's the minimum word count for an acceptable (or potentially canon-worthy) omake? 500 words? 1k?
 
By the way, what's the minimum word count for an acceptable (or potentially canon-worthy) omake? 500 words? 1k?

As many as you need to tell whatever story or snippet you choose to tell?

I mean... I guess minimum 500? Maybe? But if you can put together something funny, or interesting, or cute, in less than that, I'm not gonna discriminate purely on the basis of length.
 
Desperate Duel
Traps worked the first time so toss down another one. See if she's learned anything.
-Sneak in a second trap for when she avoids or breaks through the obvious one.




The ground under her feet craters with the force of her launch as she hurls herself at you, entire body ablaze with reinforcing magic as her sword comes in high. Her charge before had been fast, but here she crosses twice the distance in half the time.

"Idiot."

The trap blooms from where you set it in the floor, another paralyzing field to hold her down and stop her comeback cold,except even as the arcing bolts of power thrown off from the circle drag her to the floor, she keeps moving, running at you. For an instant, her speed is dragged down to something that resembles human, but even as you pour magic into the first trap and quickly shape a second -dual casting as your fingers burn from the sheer amount of mana flowing through them- she's speeding up again.

The next trap activates an instant later, magic trying to grab at her once more, but your eyes widen behind your helm as you realize the crucial error you've just made.

The Rule of Three...

The first encounter, a loss, the second, a draw, the third, a reversal. And you just threw down your third trap.

The fact that she's practically running on her heroic willpower after the pummeling you gave her earlier combined with the inherent character boost of her theme music means that you might be able to get her with traps again in another fight, but right now, it doesn't do a damn thing to help. The sheer weight of the magic she's throwing off with her battle aura blows your trap apart with a sound like shattering glass, and she doesn't even slow down, whipping her sword down in a vicious power-infused cut as you whip your arm out and fire to the right, using the recoil to accelerate your dodge.

For a moment, you wonder if you're about to up the show's rating by having your arm hacked off, but the sword misses your fingertips by inches, and instead slams into your blaster, hurling it out of your hand as you shout out in surprise and pain, two fingers breaking as the weapon is wrenched from your grasp and hurled across the darkened warehouse.

You jump back again, taking full advantage of your speed to create distance as she pursues you, your thoughts running a million miles an hour as you try to come up with a way to salvage this. You can't keep running for too long without turning this comedic, and given the tone so far that will just turn off the audience. You've lost your blaster though, and you don't know where to find it right now. Traps aren't going to work at all while she's like this, and even if you try once she's calmed down, she'll probably just use her protagonist powers to make sure that they won't even work next time. As it is you might still get some use out of them in future fights at least...

"Hmph!" You skid to a halt, trying to maintain your composure as she comes at you once more. You duck the first slash, feeling the breeze of its passage buffet the top of your head and acutely aware of the absolute bullshit that is a handful of crates behind you being turned into so much scrap by the air pressure of the attack. Then you spin and stand straight, evading a second slash as she whips the sword around into a rising vertical. You're running out of options though, and while you had her outspeeded before, her attacks are only getting faster in this state. "Stand still damn you!"

You have to regain the advantage now if you want to have any hope of continuing your original plan, but how?

Current Status: Disarmed/Ohfuckohfuckohfuck!/Broken Fingers, Bruised Pride

Current Tolerance: 3

[] Just a few more seconds of dodging. There has to be an opening somewhere you can exploit! (Cost: 1 Tolerance)

[] Fuck it, you're new, you can change things up. Grab her sword, stop her cold, then counterattack. (Cost: 3 Tolerance)

[] Pull out a new magic trick.
-[] Teleportation/Flash Step (Cost: 2 Tolerance)
-[] Conjure Magic Weapon (Cost: 2 Tolerance)
-[] Write in (Cost: Determined by QM)

[] Change your plan entirely.
-[] Land the strongest hit you can on her while tanking her hit on you for the sake of the opening. Mutual KO, aims for a competitive rivalry storyline.
-[] Just take a fall and try to apologize, end the fight with your loss. Aim for an underdog rival storyline.
 
[x] Change your plan entirely.
-[x] Land the strongest hit you can on her while tanking her hit on you for the sake of the opening. Mutual KO, aims for a competitive rivalry storyline.
 
Hindsight makes me wonder why anyone thought the traps would work on the Heroic Willpower amplified, Tons of Mana character anyway.

To be fair, if you hadn't had the second trap written in there, it would have worked a lot better because you still would have had time to dodge or do something else before she got to you. It's because you had three traps total that you got caught out.

Remember, don't fuck with the Tropes. The Tropes are king here.
 
My gosh, something that absolutely no one saw coming! Who could possibly have guessed that the Trap option that failed the first time was, my oh my, going to fail a second time! ...I'm bitter about this.

[X] Pull out a new magic trick.
-[X] Teleportation/Flash Step (Cost: 2 Tolerance)


Ugh. Maybe we can leverage this into hitting her from behind and using her momentum against her, otherwise grab our weapon again, or just leave.
 
...Screw it
[X] Fuck it, you're new, you can change things up. Grab her sword, stop her cold, then counterattack. (Cost: 3 Tolerance)
Go big or go home!
 
I think we should stop treating it as a situation that we can get out of by pulling more weaponized rabbits out of the hat.

At this point it will feel like an ass pull. The music is playing, and the audience expects a whooping.

We can... say, attempt to deprive her of her Heroic Willpower.

By recalling or hinting at something sensitive/embarassing and changing the mood of the show yet again as she realises we know her Terrible Secret. Would probably require us to do retroactive reseach on her, and cost us some tolerance.

Edit:
Yeah, why not.

[x] Change your plan entirely.
-[x] Stop her dead in her tracks by hinting at your knowledge of her Terrible Secret (Cost: Determined by QM)
 
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[X] Pull out a new magic trick.
-[X] Ability to adapt to an opponent's fighting style mid-battle and increase physical stats as the fight goes on, especially when you get injured. The upper limits of this will be judged by what's deemed appropriate to the narrative.

This is the first fight, so I think an asspull like this will probably be not too egregious

Also, it should be incredibly obvious why I want this
 
Omake: Mentorship
:V

Mother and Mentor can be interchanged very easily if that would make it more canon or something.

---

You realize in something of a moment of clarity. You have gotten to used to your mentor's fighting style.

You don't let it slow you're opening actions though, your blaster training on her.

As expected her sword deflects every shot, though only deflects instead of reflecting them.

Her steps are calm and utterly unstoppable, each one bringing her closer as you drift back in a fighting retreat. Your blasts keep her sword busy, but even then the occasional swipe sends a blade soaring past you as you jink and dodge by as little as you can afford.

Her foot stomps instead of steps right on top of where your traps started and they all detonate at once, lighting, ice, bindings, and explosions scattering in the air above the street in a chaotic mess that obscures your vision.

You're already dodging to the side, head low to avoid the swipe and arms crossed in front of you blocking the follow-up kick. Another trap detonates under both of you, sending you flying farther than you would have otherwise. A second, much smaller and more controlled explosion occurs off of your armor, sending you spinning into an alley as opposed to the building you had been flying at before.

A series of shots leave your blaster, bouncing off the walls around you and into your mentor at the entrance of the alley.

As expected, she blocks every shot.

Also as expected, she kicks off the ground and is in front of you, the traps along the walls all exploding behind her.

And so this is where you lose.

You dodge the swipe, bending forward right into her knee. Out of breathe and rising off the ground she swings her fist forwards and you blac-

You blink awake staring at the trail of destruction even as the wall you're sitting in breaks apart and de-materializes, showing an undamaged and empty room.

Damn, at least thirteen walls that time.

Your mentor stands over you, eyeing you as you sit on the ground catching your breathe, "Hmm... no injuries. You were distracted."

Your shoulders raise and fall in a shrug, "I'm too used- to fighting- you."

Your mentor looks past the wall in front of her before heaving out a sigh, "You're right. I'll figure something out. Go clean up, you have school tomorrow."

You nod and let your head fall back on the wall behind you.

When you next wake up, the sun is shining in your eyes, you're in your bed, and you have school in a couple of hours. More than enough time for a shower.

... At least she didn't change your clothes.

---
 
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I think we should stop treating it as a situation that we can get out of by pulling more weaponized rabbits out of the hat.

At this point it will feel like an ass pull. The music is playing, and the audience expects a whooping.

We can... say, attempt to deprive her of her Heroic Willpower.

By recalling or hinting at something sensitive/embarassing and changing the mood of the show yet again as she realises we know her Terrible Secret. Would probably require us to do retroactive reseach on her, and cost us some tolerance.
That's literally what Tolerance points are for.

We will not ever be stronger than her if we don't use them. Yes, Discord.
 
[X] Fuck it, you're new, you can change things up. Grab her sword, stop her cold, then counterattack. (Cost: 3 Tolerance)
 
[X] Fuck it, you're new, you can change things up. Grab her sword, stop her cold, then counterattack. (Cost: 3 Tolerance)
 
Actually...I think I have an idea;

[X] Change your plan entirely.
-[X] It's clear that at this fate, she's going to win. That means you have to flee...but that doesn't mean you have to let her know why you fled
-[X] Summon your blaster back to your hand and fall back while putting her down with as much disgust in your voice as possible
-[X] "Just as I thought; a mindless berserker. Attacking with no regards for her surroundings. Unable to think about anything but killing her foe" Point to wrecked crates "What if those had be people!? Would you even care!?" Scoff "With all of the noise that came from here, someone's bound to investigate sooner or later, and I'll be damned if I let them get get killed by another of your failed attempts to kill me." Turn away "Maybe you should think about why you really took up that sword." Leave
 
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And yes, tolerance is literally a measure of how much power you can just pull out of your ass before the audience gets fed up with it.

It literally exists for you to pull stuff like this.
 
And yes, tolerance is literally a measure of how much power you can just pull out of your ass before the audience gets fed up with it.

It literally exists for you to pull stuff like this.

Hmm... interesting. So is it possible to get more if we do something like a training montage or is it always fixed?
 
Hey now, it worked just fine the first time.

Not when she broke out of it swiftly afterwards. When an opponent has shown that they have the capacity to defeat our traps and are continuing to exhibit the magical/emotional/narrative state in which they did so, it is not a good decision to do the exact same thing all over again. That's just begging to be put in the exact situation you put us in, and I am disappointed in all those who voted to do so.
 
On the bright side I won a bet I had about the traps not working.

[X] Fuck it, you're new, you can change things up. Grab her sword, stop her cold, then counterattack. (Cost: 3 Tolerance)
 
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