I apologize. I didn't have my act together, and I created this whole thing on impulse without really thinking it through. Still, I'm grateful to @bunnybluegirl and @spilledinkpot for participating. You guys have been wonderful, and I appreciate you so so so much!
Frankly, I didn't participate to nearly the extent I should have. I fell apart, and based on my repeated history, I should have seen that coming and not played it off in my head like, "Oh, it'll be different this time! I'm so motivated right now!" I'm sorry for not being there like I should, but again, thank you for being awesome. I'm glad I got to meet you guys :)
Oh, and spilledinkpot, I WILL revenge you. It might take a while, because I'm disorganized as fuck, but I swear I'll do it >:D
These are characters from one of my stories -- Wild Cards: The Lucky Ones, which can be read here.
Before I get into the characters, Iâll give you a brief rundown of the story so far: itâs a dark magical girl story with a playing card theme, with each magical girl using a certain card suit. The world is like our own, at least at first glance, but on the Other Side of the mirror, thereâs another world, a twisted wreck that is a dark reflection of the real world and its structures. A pitch-black river runs through the center of the Other Side; instead of water, the river is made up of all of the things the current human societies consider bad and/or wish to push away â malice, hatred, spite, secret freakish desires, internal divisionsâŚthat sort of thing. Every so often, the river spawns unageing magical boys known as Shades, the enemies the magical girls are recruited to fight. Shit goes down.
I really havenât posted many chapters yet, so Iâll make sure not to spoil future eventsâŚmuch.
Refs below the cut!
Okay, I was rushing to get this out before July, so I just wrote up the magical girlsâ refs. Iâll update this post with the Shadesâ refs soon! Also, I used this picrew to make chest-up pictures of the characters (untransformed), and each character has a playlist of songs I associate with them!
Suravi Rahman (playlist)
Suravi, AKA the magical girl Lucky Spade, is the main protagonist. At the beginning of the story (after the prologue), she finds herself falling from the sky on the Other Side, then quickly winds up passing through a mirror into San Francisco, a city on the other side of the world from her home in Dhaka. The last thing she can remember before her fall is the car crash that killed her mother and older sister (Sabi) and almost killed her as well. Sheâs found by Tarot, a Shade, then rescued by Jessica, a magical girl, and from there on out becomes involved in the battle between magical girls and Shades. Though initially reluctant due to fear, she finds that she canât just go back to a normal life â not only is her family dead, but she has a Trump Card (cards magical girls use to transform) embedded inside her, and her eyes have turned a weird shade of gray. Teaming up with Jessica, she embraces her magic in order to protect the city, and find out just what happened to her back in that crash as well.
Every magical girl has a Virtue that their powers are meant to embody, and Suraviâs Virtue is hope. She wouldâve preferred something like independence or self-reliance, but sheâll take what she can get. One of her goals is to one day get to a point where she wonât have to rely on anyone; as such, back in Dhaka, she was very diligent with her studies, and upon hearing that English was her best subject, she devoted extra energy to that, thinking she could perhaps become an English teacher someday. Sheâs not really all that passionate about teaching, but she canât think of any job sheâd be genuinely enthused about, and whatâs important is the salary, right? When she was very little, her father just took off one day and never came back, leaving a huge dent in the remaining family (little Suravi, her mother, Sabi, and her paternal grandmother) both emotionally and financially. The family wound up moving to Dhaka, and the situation improved as Suraviâs mother quickly moved through the ranks at her new job, but Suravi could still tell that the experience had deeply scarred her mother and Sabi (Suravi herself has little to no memories of her dad, and sheâs pretty sure that her grandmother was always a cranky, disapproving woman, although sheâd never say that out loud), and as she got older, she vowed to grow up to be a woman who could stand on her own even after marriage. Of course, as loath as she is to ever admit it, Suravi was affected emotionally by her fatherâs departure, though it was mostly in the form of feeling embarrassed and jealous while hearing about her classmatesâ big households and close extended family. To avoid judgment and gossip, she developed a habit of vaguely speaking of her father as if he was dead (and only when absolutely necessary), but never explicitly saying that heâd died, in order to maintain somewhat plausible deniability.
Over the course of the following years, her grandmother died, then Sabi got married and moved in with her husbandâs family. Though she didnât let it show much, Suravi missed her terribly, and with her mother working long hours, she felt lonely in the apartment by herself. While she still had some good friends at school, she felt increasingly separated from her classmates as they got older â for some reason, they kept wanting to gossip about boys more and more, and she just couldnât relate, as the things they seemed to find so attractive held no appeal for her. This got her increasingly labeled as immature and/or holier-than-thou â the latter was particularly false, as Suravi has never been all that devout. She was also considered stuck-up and distant by some of her classmates, and even before this, sheâd always been a bit socially awkward, seen as too serious too often. These issues were made worse by her sister-in-law Rukhsana, who seemed to be well-liked by everyone except Suravi, who she would demean and bully. Even with all these struggles, Suravi misses her old life and having a home to go back to.
Suravi is ultimately a compassionate girl who doesnât want to see others suffer, especially if itâs her fault in some way. She has a strong dislike of unfairness, and resents it when people say things like âlife isnât fair,â or âthatâs just the way it is,â without trying to change anything, though she might not always immediately confront them about it. She can get pretty uncomfortable in big social groups, especially around people she doesnât know, and tends to retreat into herself during these times, perhaps going off into a corner to read. Suravi doesnât have the same strict moral code that Jessica subjects herself to, and, combined with being a naturally cautious person, is usually the more pragmatic one as a result; however, Jessica knows a lot more about how to survive on the city streets, and her practicality in those matters can surprise Suravi. Suravi also has somewhat of a stubborn streak, is often blunt without meaning to be, and can be argumentative at times. When sheâs been bottling up resentment and irritation for too long, she tends to take a lot (but not all) of it out on the closest object of annoyance.
As the magical girl Lucky Spade, Suravi fights with a calligraphy brush, and she has an ink theme. She can attack with arcs of ink, and the brush can also be used as a bludgeoning weapon. At first, she fights only out of obligation, viewing herself as a lousy excuse for a heroine because sheâs not as brave as Jessica, and because she wasnât chosen by the fairies like other magical girls are. However, she takes some comfort in protecting others, reasoning that she doesnât have to be a cookie-cutter hero in order to help people. She also is a bit suspicious of the fairies, as well as the story given for what the Shades are and why they have to be fought; she suspects thereâs more to the story, and sheâd like to talk to a Shade outside of battle in order to hear their reasoning. Not Tarot, though, because even without taking the mind control stuff into account, heâs a dick.
Jessica Martin (playlist)
Jessica, AKA the magical girl Lucky Clover, is Suraviâs partner. She became a magical girl about three weeks before the story begins, and sheâs known to be weak, even compared to previous inexperienced magical girls. In truth, she wasnât exactly the first choice to wield the Clover Trump Card, but Chip, the fairy whoâd been tasked with finding the next Lucky Clover, was caught up in a battle en route to a promising candidate and wound up injuring her right wing, leaving her unable to really get around. Jessica found her hobbling around San Francisco, hopelessly lost, and decided to take care of her until she could fly again; she knew about fairies since her older sister, Addison, whom she idolizes, used to be Lucky Clover. During Chipâs recovery, she was shocked by Jessicaâs generosity; Jessica had no home, no idea where her next meal would come from, and no one who could help her, but she still treated Chip with the utmost gentleness, shared what little she did have, and acted optimistic and hopeful to boost Chipâs spirits. However, when Chip was fully mobile again and ready to continue on with her mission, Jessicaâs facade shattered, and she begged the fairy to let her be Lucky Clover. Chip, while thinking that Jessicaâs kindness made her a great candidate, tried to stick with the high-ranking fairiesâ ruling at first, saying that magical girl duties would make her already-dangerous situation extremely likely to turn fatal. Jessica responded by pouring her heart out to Chip, telling her about how she was kicked out by her parents after being inadvertently outed as trans; how she tried couchsurfing for a while, alternating between friendsâ houses and still trying to attend school until all the support dried up and sheâd clearly overstayed her welcome; how she took to the streets full-time after that, even though it was terrifying to be so alone, with no one to help her when she was mugged, when she had nothing to eat, when her teeth began to rot, when she got sick from bad food and started throwing up so violently she feared she would die, when it grew dangerously cold and rain started pouring down and she had nowhere to escape toâŚ
Then she talked about Addison, whoâd let Jessica in on her secret magical girl life when she was younger. Addison always told Jessica (quite embellished) tales of her battles, her exploits, how she defended the city alongside her partner, Lola, and to Jessica, Addison was a true hero; she wanted to grow up into a young lady just like her. One terrible night, however, Addison came home with a nasty lump on her head and told Jessica that Lola was dead, killed by a Shade named Conquian. Lola had been like a second big sis to Jessica, and so this event led her to have a personal vendetta against Conquian.
Beyond all that, however, Jessica wanted to be a hero. She admitted that sheâd come out to her friends in the first place because it seemed like something a brave heroine like Addison would do, and though it led to pain in the long run, it did feel wonderful to have her friends call her Jessica. What she really wanted, she told Chip, was to have something come out of all of her tribulations, something worthwhile. She wanted to do something more than just survive; she wanted to do something meaningful, help people, shine brightly as a light of some kind to people who felt like they were drowning in the worldâs darkness. If she could achieve that, then what happened to her in the end didnât matter. Better to burn out fast and bright than to slowly fizzle out. Awed by her resolve, Chip defied her orders and gave Jessica the Clover Trump Card. This got her in a lot of trouble once the higher-ups found out, but in the end, they agreed to let Jessica serve as long as she could.
As it turned out, Jessica was even weaker than Chip expected, especially in comparison to her talented older sister. Jessica feared that she was lacking in magical potential due to being AMAB, but Chip reassured her that this wasnât the case, and thereâd been trans magical girls before; some girls simply had more potential than others, and there wasnât always a reason. Jessica didnât take this information well at all, fearing that she could train as much as possible and give her all in every fight and it still wouldnât measure up to girls who were born more lucky. She also began to police her words, actions, and even thoughts much more strictly, wanting to be a âtrue heroâ in all aspects. During her first three weeks, she couldnât save many people, and even when she did, Chipâs memory modifications made it so that they didnât remember. Jessica logically knew that regular humans couldnât be involved in magical conflicts, but she couldnât help wishing for more recognition â something that made her angry with herself, as âtrue heroesâ didnât do what they did for fame or rewards, but simply to help others. She also tended to get lots of injuries during her fights.
Chip still thinks that if it werenât for Suraviâs timely arrival, Jessica wouldâve died within a month or two.
When Suravi joins up, Jessica is eager to be the guide, the experienced one, for a change. She tries to be as lighthearted about her situation as possible when she shows Suravi the ropes of unhoused survival, showing off her skills at snatching uneaten fast food before it gets thrown away like itâs all a game. (Sheâs also very adamant that itâs not stealing, because it would just get thrown out anyway, even though Suravi doesnât question it in the first place.) Her main source of (tiny amounts of) cash comes from collecting as many used cans as she can carry and redeeming them for five cents each, but she playfully calls herself a public sanitation hero when telling Suravi about it. In general, sheâs trying to make her life seem fine, even fun, when itâs very clearly miserable.
Even in the most desperate of circumstances, Jessica refuses to steal even the smallest things, and she wonât deceive anyone either. She has a very black-and-white definition of what a hero is, and she holds to it like a lifeboat. This attitude can lead to conflict with Suravi, whoâs willing to break the rules if necessary and has reservations about whether the Shades are really pure evil like they were told. Still, Jessica is very fond of Suravi, viewing her as a treasured companion, and will always be grateful for whatever stroke of luck let her find and save her in time.
Jessica is always talking about Addison, gushing to Chip and Suravi about how she aspires to uphold her legacy. However, this also comes from a place of denial, and it covers up a cruel realityâŚ
As the magical girl Lucky Clover, Jessica has an idealized feminine body, and she feels more like herself while transformed than when sheâs in her normal form. Though she does have a bit of a flower motif, fire is her real forte. However, it can spread quickly and be hard to control. She wields a magic rod from which she can shoot bursts of flame. In general, Jessica is very aggressive and reckless in battle, hitting her enemies again and again with all sheâs got, even though her weaker magic makes that fighting style impractical. She also tries to give Sailor Moon-style pre-battle speeches, to little effect.
Unsurprisingly, Jessicaâs Virtue is justice.
ATTENTION! The characters beyond here are ones whose backgrounds and motivations are much more spoiler-y than those of Jessica and Suravi, so their descriptions will be shorter, to fit with the chapters Iâve released so far.
Aiko Hirose (playlist)
Aiko and her best friend Yukari (Lucky Joker) were partners, defending Tokyo together. Yukari had the power to scry the past and future with her magic crystal ball, and so sheâd predict where the Shades would strike next and hurry there with Aiko to prevent any destruction. Although they were very successful in taking down the monsters the Shades commanded, they never managed to kill an actual Shade. Aikoâs Virtue was love, and she started out very idealistic to the point of naivete. She was also rather shy, relying on the more confident Yukari to help her feel comfortable in social situations.
At a certain point, she became involved with Tarot and tried to keep it a secret from Yukari, as well as the duoâs fairy, Jack. Yukari found out quickly and tried to keep Aiko away from Tarot, to no avail. Aiko had entered the relationship with the intention of reforming Tarot through love, but she quickly became addicted to his very presence. He showed her places and experiences sheâd never even dreamed of, and she felt secure when she let him take charge and lead. When she was around him, she felt like her inhibitions had disappeared; she tried all sorts of new things, from walking around Harajuku in full gothic lolita coord like sheâd always been too nervous to try, to confronting Yukari about her controlling behaviors, toâŚuhâŚfucking. In a few different locations, including the Other Side and a stolen car. When Jack found out, he started to panic. He and Yukari had never really gotten along that well, so even though they were on the same side, they disagreed on how to best deal with the situation, with Yukari highly dubious of any of Jackâs suggestions almost on principle. Jack disappeared abruptly one day, leaving behind a note saying that he thought Yukari and Aiko could handle themselves without him. Aiko never forgave him for abandoning them, especially after she learned of Tarotâs true colors, the nature of his powers, and how heâd been using her all alongâŚ
The whole affair left Aiko with a heavy dose of cynicism. Yukari, on the other hand, became more and more reclusive, to the point where she spent every waking hour of her last days scrying. One fateful day, the day Aiko and Yukari were supposed to thwart the Shadesâ predicted bombing of the Tokyo Skytree, where Aikoâs parents worked, Aiko got a message from Yukari that she needed backup at an abandoned theater. It was a trap, of course. Yukari was long dead, having gone deep into the Other Side all alone, and the Shades took this chance to beat the shit out of Aiko. Then the bomb went off, destroying a chunk of the Skytree and killing many people, including her parents. Aiko felt like all her struggles had been for nothing, like she was a total failure of a magical girl and a friend. In that instant, in her darkest hour, she decided that she wouldnât let herself die until sheâd killed the four Shades for what theyâd done, and if all the love in her heart couldnât do the job, then sheâd rely on hatred instead. This triggered a dark transformation, and the Shades retreated.
Aiko sent a brief message to Addison, telling her that Yukari was dead, that the Joker Trump Card was in Shade possession, and that she was leaving Tokyo. This was her last message, and her current status and whereabouts are unknown. However, she was known to have healing powers, so Tarot suspects she might have had something to do with saving Suravi from that crash and putting the Spade Trump Card securely in her bodyâŚ
Tarot, Conquian, Pinochle, and Piquet will be added soon!
âThis whole magical girl thing is bullshit,â Jessica said suddenly, voice slurred from the late night hour.Â
âMm?â
âI mean, I get to be a magical girl, and then suddenly, Iâm thrown into this mess and I have to deal with it or Iâm not good at my job!âÂ
Suravi nodded, âYou uh, you thinkin' straight?âÂ
âAnd Iâm not even good at my stupid job!â She fell back against the chair, cup still in her hand. âIâm weak. And everyone else gets slowed down by my âhelping.ââ She coughed a few times before continuing. âIf I donât do a good job, people die. Thatâs fucked up.âÂ
âLetâs head back to bed, yeah?âÂ
âI just wanted to be a hero.â She mumbled quietly. âBut heroes donât let people die. Heroes donât get injured in every battle. They grow. And I havenât done that. All I wanted to do was help people, but I canât even help myself.âÂ
Suravi hummed, âCome on, you know that's not true.âÂ
âWould it have been different if I were different?âÂ
âWhat do you mean?âÂ
She sighed, âI mean, if I were a real girl, would I be stronger? Would I be able to help more people? I mean- magical girlâ
âYou are a real girl.âÂ
âWell, biologically or whatever-â
âItâs magical girl, not magical person who has a uterus and female hormones and female attributes or whatever people define a girl as nowadays. Itâs magical girl. And you are a girl.âÂ
Jessica nodded slowly. âSo itâs me then.âÂ
âWha-â
âIâm bad at my job because itâs me. Not because of external factors or because Iâm-âÂ
âCan you shut up?âÂ
Jessica turned, wide-eyed.Â
âGod- youâre being annoying. Itâs not ideal for any of us. This whole war is doing nothing but killing people. And I didnât exactly have a perfect magical girl moment either when I was chosen, ok? Itâs not all about you.â
âI didnât say that.âÂ
âWell, you sure act like it sometimes. Everyone has problems. No one is perfect, no matter how much they try to make it seem like they are. So get your ass up and decide whether or not youâre magic enough to help us in this war.â She stretched her hand to Jessica, ready to help her out of the chair. â Because like it or not, we have to fight, or people die, and it doesnât matter how strong we are, because weâre always going to be stronger than the people weâre protecting.â
~
I tried but idk that I quite grasped your world :(
A petite humanoid (approximately 140cm) with gray chin-length hair and long bangs. They wear clothes suitable for travelling in different weather conditions, all in muted browns and purples. Their face is plain and their skin is a sickly white.
Personality:Â
Ysh is a kind person, willing to share and to help people when they can. They don't like being stagnant and would rather do odd jobs than find stability and settle down.
Backstory:Â
They had a fairly standard childhood, raised in a small mountain village alongside others of its kind by loving parents and a tight-knit community. They always loved exploring and would map areas around their village in their early years.
As they grew up they became more and more antsy and decided to gather as much of their life as they could carry and to go become an adventurer.
They set out on their journey and during a short rest at a village on the plains they found their companion, Dust.
Dust was a very young furred raptor who also wasn't satisfied with her life and hungered for adventure. She grew over the next two years to a size of nearly two Meters at the shoulder and became a valuable asset in addition to being a good friend.
Ysh blinked against the sunlight filtering through the window, groaning as Dust stirred outside. They leaned against the headboard of the empty hostel and pulled their journal out, quietly noting where they had stayed for the night, so as not to make their way back to somewhere they had already visited.Â
Dust chirruped again, and Ysh pushed the covers away, standing up slowly. They ran a hand through their hair and pulled their boots over their feet, quietly humming. Dust continued to rustle by the window, watching Ysh get ready.Â
âIâm almost ready.â They mumbled, setting their meager possessions in their bag. âJust hold on a second.âÂ
Dust huffed, her tail wacking against the hostel in her agitation.Â
They took a long drink from the blackberry mead by their bedside. Sweet warmth blossomed through their chest, and with it, the memory of the last village he had visited, filled with hot summer afternoons picking berries. A pang of loneliness struck them.Â
A nomad, though free from pressures that come from staying in one spot, was susceptible to being a stranger to all places they traveled, no matter how friendly they were. A person who does not stay, is simply a story told.Â
Their hands went to their throat, to the buttons that fastened their cloak closed. Just to check that it was secure.Â
âLeaving so soon?âÂ
Ysh nodded sheepishly, âGotta get back to it,â they chuckled, turning so the half-drawn map in their pack was showing.Â
The hostel owner nodded back. âBe safe, child.âÂ
Smiling, Ysh walked out the door and headed to Dust, who was busy clawing at the dusty ground. They tsked to get her attention, nuzzling her feathered head as they undid the rope. âReady for today?âÂ
Dusk blinked, eyes bright as she looked to the horizon, the sun barely creeping over the edge. Ysh patted her head as they inhaled the fresh scent of the field. Spring was blooming with each day they traveled. Almost as if it were following them, sprouting flowers with each step Ysh took forward into the unknown.
heres some refs. Nyx is the only character I really have fleshed out, so y'all have fun with him. Put him on the torture wheel or something, he'll be fine probably.
Nyx: his name was Pollux, but he now goes by Nyx ( darkness). He is coping after the loss of his siblings and is NOT doing well. His current job is an enforcer, meaning he makes sure the people of the council follow all of the strict rules. Their parents split up because they were never in love, making the whole thing harder on Pollux. He turns to substances to keep his mind from thinking about his siblings. He blames himself. He sits in his room and lies there listening to music or staring into nothing. He goes on routine city sweeps to fight crime. (Because his twin, Kastor, was such a prevalent part of his life, and his name was a mirror of that, he changed his name to Nyx.) So heâs basically just like a robot trying to get through his day and follow orders without making too much of a fuss. ( or fall apart)Â
World: The USA, but wrong. Thereâs a whole lotta Greek symbolism in my characters, but yaâll ainât gotta worry about that, coz Iâm super loose about it lol. After the fall of democracy, a group called the Council rose to power. They created an âevilâ to make the people afraid and allow themselves to stay in power. This evil is controllable and basically a beast that is tame, but looks really scary. They fake a prophecy to keep the morale of the people up. coz telling them theyâre all gonna die if they donât follow all the rules exactly is not great for mental health prolly. Having a savior to look to makes it easier to keep them under control without them panicking.Â
The prophecy is below
~
By the breath of the dawn of the seven hundredth year of the reign of the counsel
 A great evil shall bloom from the shadows.Â
Hellfire and destruction shall reign
When the flames are fanned, who shall protect the land?
 Past and present blurred, an evil never deterred.Â
A light from the darkness will spring.
One born to face the shadow, power in their veins to break the chains.Â
The counsel will once again be king.Â
Remedy and wrong intertwined to form a single vine.
~
Go wild squad >:)
Ooh, the world looks so interesting! This all looks so cool!!
I know Iâve been neglecting writefight, but I figured there wasnât really any interest. Seeing this in the morning made my day. We can still do stuff!! August isnât over yet!
(For anyone interested, we are still accepting refs!)
I'm sorry. I should've never started this in the first place.
Bunny, I want to apologize to you in particular. You went through all the trouble of sending in refs for a hope that would never be realized. I'm so, so sorry.
We really need refs, submissions, story links, anything.
So far, besides myself, one other person has submitted. The entire reason I created this blog and started organizing stuff was because people expressed interest in a writefight after my initial post on my main blog thinking about the subject. But now it seems like that interest has faded, and Iâm getting radio silence from the people who made me want to do this in the first place, and itâs really disheartening. Iâm sorry, I know I shouldnât be saying this stuff, itâs unprofessional and immature, but
I mean, do you guys not want to do this anymore? We canât really do this if we donât get more submissions. Two people (including myself) just isnât enough to make it work. Iâd prefer it if people told me that this was a bad time, or that theyâd prefer a different format, or really anything that isnât radio silence, but I also know that you owe me nothing. This is the internet, and I shouldnât expect anything from strangers. Iâm sorry, Iâm acting very childish. I know I most likely wonât get any responses to this post, but Iâll reblog it to my main nonetheless.
Well, when I originally put all this together, I assumed that itâd be joined by people like me â writers who arenât also artists, and therefore arenât participating in artfight. However, it seems that a lot of people are busy in July, or perhaps I just didnât give enough time before the event actually started, becauseâŚ
To be honest, we really need more people to submit refs, or just links to their stories, or anything. Aside from myself, only one person has submitted refs, even though multiple other people expressed interest. So I was wondering if, in order to have more time to get refs in and still be able to send attacks and such, we should extend writefight into August.
It would go until August 31, and until then, people would be able to post refs and attacks and revenges and anything they want :D
Well, when I originally put all this together, I assumed that itâd be joined by people like me â writers who arenât also artists, and therefore arenât participating in artfight. However, it seems that a lot of people are busy in July, or perhaps I just didnât give enough time before the event actually started, becauseâŚ
To be honest, we really need more people to submit refs, or just links to their stories, or anything. Aside from myself, only one person has submitted refs, even though multiple other people expressed interest. So I was wondering if, in order to have more time to get refs in and still be able to send attacks and such, we should extend writefight into August.
It would go until August 31, and until then, people would be able to post refs and attacks and revenges and anything they want :D
(well, actually, itâs probably been July for hours now for people in different time zones, but still! Itâs just starting for me!)
Remember to post refs and links (if you have a story online)! Just a link is okay if youâre unsure of how to write refs! Iâll reblog them all, just make sure to mention this blog and/or tag #writefight! Same goes for attacks, once theyâre done: mention, tag, reblogged :D
These are characters from one of my stories -- Wild Cards: The Lucky Ones, which can be read here.
Before I get into the characters, Iâll give you a brief rundown of the story so far: itâs a dark magical girl story with a playing card theme, with each magical girl using a certain card suit. The world is like our own, at least at first glance, but on the Other Side of the mirror, thereâs another world, a twisted wreck that is a dark reflection of the real world and its structures. A pitch-black river runs through the center of the Other Side; instead of water, the river is made up of all of the things the current human societies consider bad and/or wish to push away â malice, hatred, spite, secret freakish desires, internal divisionsâŚthat sort of thing. Every so often, the river spawns unageing magical boys known as Shades, the enemies the magical girls are recruited to fight. Shit goes down.
I really havenât posted many chapters yet, so Iâll make sure not to spoil future eventsâŚmuch.
Refs below the cut!
Okay, I was rushing to get this out before July, so I just wrote up the magical girlsâ refs. Iâll update this post with the Shadesâ refs soon! Also, I used this picrew to make chest-up pictures of the characters (untransformed), and each character has a playlist of songs I associate with them!
Suravi Rahman (playlist)
Suravi, AKA the magical girl Lucky Spade, is the main protagonist. At the beginning of the story (after the prologue), she finds herself falling from the sky on the Other Side, then quickly winds up passing through a mirror into San Francisco, a city on the other side of the world from her home in Dhaka. The last thing she can remember before her fall is the car crash that killed her mother and older sister (Sabi) and almost killed her as well. Sheâs found by Tarot, a Shade, then rescued by Jessica, a magical girl, and from there on out becomes involved in the battle between magical girls and Shades. Though initially reluctant due to fear, she finds that she canât just go back to a normal life â not only is her family dead, but she has a Trump Card (cards magical girls use to transform) embedded inside her, and her eyes have turned a weird shade of gray. Teaming up with Jessica, she embraces her magic in order to protect the city, and find out just what happened to her back in that crash as well.
Every magical girl has a Virtue that their powers are meant to embody, and Suraviâs Virtue is hope. She wouldâve preferred something like independence or self-reliance, but sheâll take what she can get. One of her goals is to one day get to a point where she wonât have to rely on anyone; as such, back in Dhaka, she was very diligent with her studies, and upon hearing that English was her best subject, she devoted extra energy to that, thinking she could perhaps become an English teacher someday. Sheâs not really all that passionate about teaching, but she canât think of any job sheâd be genuinely enthused about, and whatâs important is the salary, right? When she was very little, her father just took off one day and never came back, leaving a huge dent in the remaining family (little Suravi, her mother, Sabi, and her paternal grandmother) both emotionally and financially. The family wound up moving to Dhaka, and the situation improved as Suraviâs mother quickly moved through the ranks at her new job, but Suravi could still tell that the experience had deeply scarred her mother and Sabi (Suravi herself has little to no memories of her dad, and sheâs pretty sure that her grandmother was always a cranky, disapproving woman, although sheâd never say that out loud), and as she got older, she vowed to grow up to be a woman who could stand on her own even after marriage. Of course, as loath as she is to ever admit it, Suravi was affected emotionally by her fatherâs departure, though it was mostly in the form of feeling embarrassed and jealous while hearing about her classmatesâ big households and close extended family. To avoid judgment and gossip, she developed a habit of vaguely speaking of her father as if he was dead (and only when absolutely necessary), but never explicitly saying that heâd died, in order to maintain somewhat plausible deniability.
Over the course of the following years, her grandmother died, then Sabi got married and moved in with her husbandâs family. Though she didnât let it show much, Suravi missed her terribly, and with her mother working long hours, she felt lonely in the apartment by herself. While she still had some good friends at school, she felt increasingly separated from her classmates as they got older â for some reason, they kept wanting to gossip about boys more and more, and she just couldnât relate, as the things they seemed to find so attractive held no appeal for her. This got her increasingly labeled as immature and/or holier-than-thou â the latter was particularly false, as Suravi has never been all that devout. She was also considered stuck-up and distant by some of her classmates, and even before this, sheâd always been a bit socially awkward, seen as too serious too often. These issues were made worse by her sister-in-law Rukhsana, who seemed to be well-liked by everyone except Suravi, who she would demean and bully. Even with all these struggles, Suravi misses her old life and having a home to go back to.
Suravi is ultimately a compassionate girl who doesnât want to see others suffer, especially if itâs her fault in some way. She has a strong dislike of unfairness, and resents it when people say things like âlife isnât fair,â or âthatâs just the way it is,â without trying to change anything, though she might not always immediately confront them about it. She can get pretty uncomfortable in big social groups, especially around people she doesnât know, and tends to retreat into herself during these times, perhaps going off into a corner to read. Suravi doesnât have the same strict moral code that Jessica subjects herself to, and, combined with being a naturally cautious person, is usually the more pragmatic one as a result; however, Jessica knows a lot more about how to survive on the city streets, and her practicality in those matters can surprise Suravi. Suravi also has somewhat of a stubborn streak, is often blunt without meaning to be, and can be argumentative at times. When sheâs been bottling up resentment and irritation for too long, she tends to take a lot (but not all) of it out on the closest object of annoyance.
As the magical girl Lucky Spade, Suravi fights with a calligraphy brush, and she has an ink theme. She can attack with arcs of ink, and the brush can also be used as a bludgeoning weapon. At first, she fights only out of obligation, viewing herself as a lousy excuse for a heroine because sheâs not as brave as Jessica, and because she wasnât chosen by the fairies like other magical girls are. However, she takes some comfort in protecting others, reasoning that she doesnât have to be a cookie-cutter hero in order to help people. She also is a bit suspicious of the fairies, as well as the story given for what the Shades are and why they have to be fought; she suspects thereâs more to the story, and sheâd like to talk to a Shade outside of battle in order to hear their reasoning. Not Tarot, though, because even without taking the mind control stuff into account, heâs a dick.
Jessica Martin (playlist)
Jessica, AKA the magical girl Lucky Clover, is Suraviâs partner. She became a magical girl about three weeks before the story begins, and sheâs known to be weak, even compared to previous inexperienced magical girls. In truth, she wasnât exactly the first choice to wield the Clover Trump Card, but Chip, the fairy whoâd been tasked with finding the next Lucky Clover, was caught up in a battle en route to a promising candidate and wound up injuring her right wing, leaving her unable to really get around. Jessica found her hobbling around San Francisco, hopelessly lost, and decided to take care of her until she could fly again; she knew about fairies since her older sister, Addison, whom she idolizes, used to be Lucky Clover. During Chipâs recovery, she was shocked by Jessicaâs generosity; Jessica had no home, no idea where her next meal would come from, and no one who could help her, but she still treated Chip with the utmost gentleness, shared what little she did have, and acted optimistic and hopeful to boost Chipâs spirits. However, when Chip was fully mobile again and ready to continue on with her mission, Jessicaâs facade shattered, and she begged the fairy to let her be Lucky Clover. Chip, while thinking that Jessicaâs kindness made her a great candidate, tried to stick with the high-ranking fairiesâ ruling at first, saying that magical girl duties would make her already-dangerous situation extremely likely to turn fatal. Jessica responded by pouring her heart out to Chip, telling her about how she was kicked out by her parents after being inadvertently outed as trans; how she tried couchsurfing for a while, alternating between friendsâ houses and still trying to attend school until all the support dried up and sheâd clearly overstayed her welcome; how she took to the streets full-time after that, even though it was terrifying to be so alone, with no one to help her when she was mugged, when she had nothing to eat, when her teeth began to rot, when she got sick from bad food and started throwing up so violently she feared she would die, when it grew dangerously cold and rain started pouring down and she had nowhere to escape toâŚ
Then she talked about Addison, whoâd let Jessica in on her secret magical girl life when she was younger. Addison always told Jessica (quite embellished) tales of her battles, her exploits, how she defended the city alongside her partner, Lola, and to Jessica, Addison was a true hero; she wanted to grow up into a young lady just like her. One terrible night, however, Addison came home with a nasty lump on her head and told Jessica that Lola was dead, killed by a Shade named Conquian. Lola had been like a second big sis to Jessica, and so this event led her to have a personal vendetta against Conquian.
Beyond all that, however, Jessica wanted to be a hero. She admitted that sheâd come out to her friends in the first place because it seemed like something a brave heroine like Addison would do, and though it led to pain in the long run, it did feel wonderful to have her friends call her Jessica. What she really wanted, she told Chip, was to have something come out of all of her tribulations, something worthwhile. She wanted to do something more than just survive; she wanted to do something meaningful, help people, shine brightly as a light of some kind to people who felt like they were drowning in the worldâs darkness. If she could achieve that, then what happened to her in the end didnât matter. Better to burn out fast and bright than to slowly fizzle out. Awed by her resolve, Chip defied her orders and gave Jessica the Clover Trump Card. This got her in a lot of trouble once the higher-ups found out, but in the end, they agreed to let Jessica serve as long as she could.
As it turned out, Jessica was even weaker than Chip expected, especially in comparison to her talented older sister. Jessica feared that she was lacking in magical potential due to being AMAB, but Chip reassured her that this wasnât the case, and thereâd been trans magical girls before; some girls simply had more potential than others, and there wasnât always a reason. Jessica didnât take this information well at all, fearing that she could train as much as possible and give her all in every fight and it still wouldnât measure up to girls who were born more lucky. She also began to police her words, actions, and even thoughts much more strictly, wanting to be a âtrue heroâ in all aspects. During her first three weeks, she couldnât save many people, and even when she did, Chipâs memory modifications made it so that they didnât remember. Jessica logically knew that regular humans couldnât be involved in magical conflicts, but she couldnât help wishing for more recognition â something that made her angry with herself, as âtrue heroesâ didnât do what they did for fame or rewards, but simply to help others. She also tended to get lots of injuries during her fights.
Chip still thinks that if it werenât for Suraviâs timely arrival, Jessica wouldâve died within a month or two.
When Suravi joins up, Jessica is eager to be the guide, the experienced one, for a change. She tries to be as lighthearted about her situation as possible when she shows Suravi the ropes of unhoused survival, showing off her skills at snatching uneaten fast food before it gets thrown away like itâs all a game. (Sheâs also very adamant that itâs not stealing, because it would just get thrown out anyway, even though Suravi doesnât question it in the first place.) Her main source of (tiny amounts of) cash comes from collecting as many used cans as she can carry and redeeming them for five cents each, but she playfully calls herself a public sanitation hero when telling Suravi about it. In general, sheâs trying to make her life seem fine, even fun, when itâs very clearly miserable.
Even in the most desperate of circumstances, Jessica refuses to steal even the smallest things, and she wonât deceive anyone either. She has a very black-and-white definition of what a hero is, and she holds to it like a lifeboat. This attitude can lead to conflict with Suravi, whoâs willing to break the rules if necessary and has reservations about whether the Shades are really pure evil like they were told. Still, Jessica is very fond of Suravi, viewing her as a treasured companion, and will always be grateful for whatever stroke of luck let her find and save her in time.
Jessica is always talking about Addison, gushing to Chip and Suravi about how she aspires to uphold her legacy. However, this also comes from a place of denial, and it covers up a cruel realityâŚ
As the magical girl Lucky Clover, Jessica has an idealized feminine body, and she feels more like herself while transformed than when sheâs in her normal form. Though she does have a bit of a flower motif, fire is her real forte. However, it can spread quickly and be hard to control. She wields a magic rod from which she can shoot bursts of flame. In general, Jessica is very aggressive and reckless in battle, hitting her enemies again and again with all sheâs got, even though her weaker magic makes that fighting style impractical. She also tries to give Sailor Moon-style pre-battle speeches, to little effect.
Unsurprisingly, Jessicaâs Virtue is justice.
ATTENTION! The characters beyond here are ones whose backgrounds and motivations are much more spoiler-y than those of Jessica and Suravi, so their descriptions will be shorter, to fit with the chapters Iâve released so far.
Aiko Hirose (playlist)
Aiko and her best friend Yukari (Lucky Joker) were partners, defending Tokyo together. Yukari had the power to scry the past and future with her magic crystal ball, and so sheâd predict where the Shades would strike next and hurry there with Aiko to prevent any destruction. Although they were very successful in taking down the monsters the Shades commanded, they never managed to kill an actual Shade. Aikoâs Virtue was love, and she started out very idealistic to the point of naivete. She was also rather shy, relying on the more confident Yukari to help her feel comfortable in social situations.
At a certain point, she became involved with Tarot and tried to keep it a secret from Yukari, as well as the duoâs fairy, Jack. Yukari found out quickly and tried to keep Aiko away from Tarot, to no avail. Aiko had entered the relationship with the intention of reforming Tarot through love, but she quickly became addicted to his very presence. He showed her places and experiences sheâd never even dreamed of, and she felt secure when she let him take charge and lead. When she was around him, she felt like her inhibitions had disappeared; she tried all sorts of new things, from walking around Harajuku in full gothic lolita coord like sheâd always been too nervous to try, to confronting Yukari about her controlling behaviors, toâŚuhâŚfucking. In a few different locations, including the Other Side and a stolen car. When Jack found out, he started to panic. He and Yukari had never really gotten along that well, so even though they were on the same side, they disagreed on how to best deal with the situation, with Yukari highly dubious of any of Jackâs suggestions almost on principle. Jack disappeared abruptly one day, leaving behind a note saying that he thought Yukari and Aiko could handle themselves without him. Aiko never forgave him for abandoning them, especially after she learned of Tarotâs true colors, the nature of his powers, and how heâd been using her all alongâŚ
The whole affair left Aiko with a heavy dose of cynicism. Yukari, on the other hand, became more and more reclusive, to the point where she spent every waking hour of her last days scrying. One fateful day, the day Aiko and Yukari were supposed to thwart the Shadesâ predicted bombing of the Tokyo Skytree, where Aikoâs parents worked, Aiko got a message from Yukari that she needed backup at an abandoned theater. It was a trap, of course. Yukari was long dead, having gone deep into the Other Side all alone, and the Shades took this chance to beat the shit out of Aiko. Then the bomb went off, destroying a chunk of the Skytree and killing many people, including her parents. Aiko felt like all her struggles had been for nothing, like she was a total failure of a magical girl and a friend. In that instant, in her darkest hour, she decided that she wouldnât let herself die until sheâd killed the four Shades for what theyâd done, and if all the love in her heart couldnât do the job, then sheâd rely on hatred instead. This triggered a dark transformation, and the Shades retreated.
Aiko sent a brief message to Addison, telling her that Yukari was dead, that the Joker Trump Card was in Shade possession, and that she was leaving Tokyo. This was her last message, and her current status and whereabouts are unknown. However, she was known to have healing powers, so Tarot suspects she might have had something to do with saving Suravi from that crash and putting the Spade Trump Card securely in her bodyâŚ
Tarot, Conquian, Pinochle, and Piquet will be added soon!
Iâm sorry that my refs are taking so long! I know that since Iâm running the blog, I should have had mine out early, as an example, and to encourage others, but it seems that a million things and issues have had to be dealt with between then and now. Itâs also been tricky to describe my characters through my own lens, not just write about them from their own point of view, or that of another character. Still, Iâve ironed out some issues, and tomorrow, Iâm gonna lock in and finish them before the final day of June ends.
Excited for writefight to truly begin in July! Letâs all do our best!!
But seriously, if anyone is having the same issues, I feel like a link to the story in question, if you have one thatâs posted, is the best ref you can have. Beyond that, you donât really need anything fancy, just a simple list of the characters youâre including. The level of detail is up to you!
A petite humanoid (approximately 140cm) with gray chin-length hair and long bangs. They wear clothes suitable for travelling in different weather conditions, all in muted browns and purples. Their face is plain and their skin is a sickly white.
Personality:Â
Ysh is a kind person, willing to share and to help people when they can. They don't like being stagnant and would rather do odd jobs than find stability and settle down.
Backstory:Â
They had a fairly standard childhood, raised in a small mountain village alongside others of its kind by loving parents and a tight-knit community. They always loved exploring and would map areas around their village in their early years.
As they grew up they became more and more antsy and decided to gather as much of their life as they could carry and to go become an adventurer.
They set out on their journey and during a short rest at a village on the plains they found their companion, Dust.
Dust was a very young furred raptor who also wasn't satisfied with her life and hungered for adventure. She grew over the next two years to a size of nearly two Meters at the shoulder and became a valuable asset in addition to being a good friend.
 a furred wyvern with feathered wings and long horns curved backwards. Her colouration is reddish brown with lighter brown wings and head and a couple of white specks on her face. About the size of a fox.
Personality:
very devoted and religious.Â
She doesn't particularly like others, but is a worshipper of the God Of Hospitalityâ˘ď¸, forcing her to politely interact with anyone who crosses her path. She is not antisocial, and chose that path herself. She is just asocial and an appreciator of calm and silence.
Backstory:
Chime has a genetic condition making her nearly twenty times smaller than a healthy individual of her species.
She was not excommunicated or treated unfairly, she simply got tired of the ruckus created by a whole family of creatures so much larger than her.
She left just after fledging off the tall cliffs of her younghood, not bothering with long-winded goodbyes, to find her own little corner of the world. Fully intending on building home-y nest way up in the canopy she ventured into the forest below, only to find a lone human, looking to be on death's doorstep.Â
After some hesitation she glided down to it, and instead of asking for food, water or shelter, the human just asked for a prayer - a prayer to him - claiming he was a god, that his last worshipper was gone. It asked her to pray for a home, as if it knew of her predicament.
With some doubt, the little raptor did, and right there at the crossroads, as though manifesting out of the shade of the trees, there was a little house, all wood and stone, perfectly inviting, perfectly suited for the humanoid and his new feathered companion to host a group of travelers.
They live there since, right where the road seems to have gone on too long to bear, home ready for guests.
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