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A Little Vice (Trans Magical Girl fic)

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God this is fantastic. I wonder when Temperance having been Gula will come out. The other saints clearly know already.

God, I am cackling at C's mental gymnastics. Yeah, there's a new beast and you dream about being a beast at the same time they fight her. Clearly these things are unrelated because the the details don't match.
 
I'm just waiting for when C gets held hostage by the new beast.

Shadell said:
Her friendship was definitely unique. For one, she'd started giving me odd little gifts. One morning, she brought me a set of watercolor paints. A few days later she dropped a burnt tennis ball into my hands. I had no idea what drove the odd array of nick-knacks she shoved on me as "mementos." She refused to offer more than a toothy grin by way of explanation.
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These are totally from the attacks the new beast had been doing huh?
 
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Elderlichlord said:
Ehhhh. This thing Claims to be the archangel Michael, and it is turning children into child soldiers to fight against a corrupting sinners influence? I am highly skeptical of their intentions here.
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A Little Vice is more inspired by the Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon traditions of the Magical Girl genre than the more recent Madoka Magica-style ones, so I think the idea is that Michael is meant to be more of a benevolent mascot type figure than an Incubator-style Faustian one.
 
Shadell said:
On the other hand, these made Inessa insanely jealous, and, while it wasn't a nice thought, something about her looking at me with that kind of agonized want was just oddly invigorating.
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There's a lot I could talk about in this update but I'd like to focus on this because of the sheer number of brain worms it set off (and also because I think it's really clever).

Inessa is envious of the friendship that C has with Lupin and C finds that invigorating. That's a very telling word choice. There are a lot of potential reasons for this.

C's headspace is a little confused and more than a bit unhappy right now so Inessa, who's the most important female figure in C's life (she's C's best friend and there is no mother in the picture) being jealous could simply feel good because C's been subconsciously and consciously envious of Inessa (their mental first port of call for what a girl/woman/someone who has their life together looks like) for a lot of things over a long time.

It could be the sin-resin-seed-thing beginning to nest deeper in C's personality; or it could simply be C's dark magical powers beginning to grow and thus being able to draw strength from envy.

It could be C desperately finding psychological catharsis wherever they can because of their unhappy headspace (as happens within the totally-not-evil-magic-dreams).

It could be all of the above and more.

And I really wanted to call this out because with a single, short paragraph, you've managed to make me concerned about C, concerned about C's relationship with Inessa, demonstrate that C's undergoing some form of psychological growth (whether it's beneficial or not remains to be seen - I suspect the answer will be 'it's complicated') - thereby making me hope that C gets into a better headspace soon and also laying out a hugely thematic little clue that can fuel rampant speculation.

All with one single, short paragraph. Wow.
 
AlicePresentHell said:
it's interesting how Ida-centric a lot of the episode descriptions are.
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Well yeah it's her arc. She's gonna keep starring in episodes until she finally learns her lesson.

Shadell said:
"I wouldn't say it quite like that," Inessa clarified, "But she felt like she needed to hold up everything everywhere at once, and now she'll know she can rely on others too!"

"Yes," said Temperance even more woodenly than normal. "She will definitely learn her lesson this time."

Inessa poked the other girl in the cheek, "Unlike a certain someone who had to be taught her lesson how many times?"

Temperance did not dignify that with a response.

I had no idea what the exchange was about, and happily filed it away under the long list of things that would make my friends panic, lie, and then feel guilty about lying to me if I asked.
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C's plot is a slow burn... C plot. Ida's episodic lessons at the hands of the monster of the week and the broader issue of "what's the deal with The Dark Forest?" take up the majority of the screentime.
 
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AlicePresentHell said:
it's interesting how Ida-centric a lot of the episode descriptions are.
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She's the deuteragonist who shares top billing with Inessa ofc, so she has a lot of focus episodes.

And Inessa has her whole subplot building with that one childhood friend character, so she's obviously going to get most of the screen time there!

Poor Temperance though, barely getting her own stuff since episode 8.
 
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You know I've yet to read the chapter but I'm going to predict that the dark secret is that the painter is actually a Kamen Rider I pray I am right because I need more Kamen Rider related fanfiction

Edit: just finished reading the chapter have no evidence for or against this theory well I have to trust in now Jashin

Edit after the roll:

Jashin says Henshi

Iris-Iven-Ibis threw 11 100-faced dice. Reason: ~Rider Ti~me~ Total: 622
93 93 68 68 46 46 51 51 83 83 32 32 16 16 59 59 99 99 17 17 58 58
 
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C apparently hasn't told Inessa who Avaritia is, so there's definitely something weird going on. Either mental influence from outside, or an impressive case of self deception.
 
I think it's a combination of the magic that prevents people from figuring out people's transformed identities, as well as C's own absolute cluelessness. Lupin sems to assume that C does know. Unfortunately for em, C is a fool. An idiot. A buffoon. A dumbass. A moron. It's not an ideal condition to be in, and should be addressed with skirts, jewelry and makeup immediately.
 
Honestly, I think it would make it a lot easier for her to think straight.

Well, straight might or might not be the right word.

You know what I mean.
 
Chehrazad said:
I think it's a combination of the magic that prevents people from figuring out people's transformed identities, as well as C's own absolute cluelessness. Lupin sems to assume that C does know. Unfortunately for em, C is a fool. An idiot. A buffoon. A dumbass. A moron. It's not an ideal condition to be in, and should be addressed with skirts, jewelry and makeup immediately.
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C: "hey, I usually get very good grades! I'm just taking hard classes and it's been a tough year" (immediately feels guilty about making excuses)
 
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