Puella Magi Odessa Magica (OOC/Suffering)

[Rupudska]

魔法少女オデッサ☆マギカ
MAHOU SHOUJO ODESSA MAGICA
Ч А Р І В Н А ☆ Д І В Ч И Н А ☆ О Д Е С А ☆ М А Г І Я

The Revolutionary City

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
W. B. Yeats, 'The Second Coming', 1919

* * *

MAYOR PETRO IVANOVYCH LIASHKO

My daughter is dead, and no matter how much political weight (or money) I throw around, the doctors will not tell me why. Not even my old friends in the KGB can help, and they live in truly high places; many of them were with me in China, Cambodia, and Africa. Perhaps they do not know. I suppose a more superstitious man would consider it a sign of the times.

Yuri Andropov is leader of the Union, but neither I nor many others in the Ukrainian Soviet believe he will hold that position long. He is a sick man; with kidney failure having put him in the hospital in just the past month. I only know because I was in the same hospital with a leg injury. A ruthless man, especially when he was at the helm of the KGB. Perhaps it was disease that moderated him, perhaps he is the odd case of power reversing corruption. Who knows, such talk is for philosophers.

My purpose is Odessa. We recently passed one million inhabitants here, and with most of the Jews leaving for Israel that means more Russians, Caucasians, and Bulgarians - and we already had a lot of Russians. Many of my daughter's schoolmates spoke Russian first at home. For the longest time, Odessa was mostly Russians despite firmly being in Ukraine - Ukrainians were third behind Jews until the fascists came and slaughtered them like pigs.

Apologies, my own father was in the Great Patriotic War in Odessa at the time, and his stories were... less than pleasant. Odessa. Yes.

Odessa is the Soviet port on the Black Sea. Virtually anything that leaves the Soviet Union via the Black Sea leaves it via Odessa, often on ships built in Odessa, fueled by oil refined in Odessa, eating food processed in Odessa. Many who don't work in those often works in the chemical industry, or in working metal into things besides ships.

Still others work in fishing, which has been a staple of Odessa almost as long as the black market has. You think I don't know about that? I worked for the KGB for twenty years, there are not many things in Odessa being done by adults that I do not know. Black markets are a sad fact of life in the Union, as for some the temptation of money for money's sake is too great to resist even here, where the spark of the Revolution was lit. It attracts the weak, but even the strong can be led to it by hard times and dumb luck. Even the purest Communist has moments of weakness. Sometimes it is because they cannot wait for something in a queue. Sometimes they simply do not want to wait, and don't know the right people to get it quickly.

And then, of course, there are tourists. Ironic, isn't it? The city of the Battleship Potemkin is now a hotbed for one of the most bourgeoisie activities there are. But lately it has been seen as a good thing for the country - it helps garner attention to remote places where industry is inconvenient, provides trade unions something to reward their hardest and most loyal workers, and allows us to show Westerners the glories of socialism and the beauty of our lands - as long as they stay where they're supposed to of course!

For the average citizen, life goes on. The newspapers and radio (and television for those who have such things) tell them of the glories of the Union while hiding the murders and deaths and such horrible things that Western reporters seek out like vultures, and they hope that things stay calm enough that such good news can continue. They wait in queues, hoping for the day they can be moved to a more expedited queue. They listen for any news about fathers, brothers, uncles, and comrades in Afghanistan, hoping that they are safe. They hope for Andropov's recovery, or for a man like him to weed out corruption, or at least steer the Union safely through the changes on the horizon, perhaps to a better socialist state.

In such times, hope is perhaps the most precious and most despicable thing to cling to.

The Messenger

For those such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ, and no wonder - for even the Adversary doth transform himself into a messenger of light; no great thing, then, if also his ministrants do transform themselves as ministrants of righteousness -- whose end shall be according to their works.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15

* * *

INKYUBEYTOR

Hello there! My name is Kyubey! Would you like to contract with me and become a Magical Girl?

What's a magical girl you ask? Well, I must admit it's no servant of justice like in those Japanese - oh, you really don't know. Well, I suppose the Soviet Union would restrict such types of cartoons from the public... maybe not anti-communist but possibly 'unsuitable'. I guess I would have to explain what a magical girl is, then.

A magical girl is any girl who has formed a contract with me, or another messenger of magic like me - though we all share the same mind, so perhaps they're all contracted to me. In exchange, I grant one wish of theirs, and the ability to use the magic of their soul to fight monsters called witches.

I can tell you're skeptical - and don't worry about others overhearing, we can speak telepathically, and the only people who can see me are those I want to be able to see me. But yes, magic is very much real. Most humans don't know about it because only a few dozen or so humans in history have actually learned how to access it on their own, and all of them lived before your species discovered the scientific method. That is evidence enough for magic, yes? Humans are quite incapable of telepathy otherwise.

The form your powers will take? That's a tricky question. Uniforms tend to be based on the magical girl's imagination, but in a way that 'fits' with their powers and weapons. Mostly, your magic will be based on your wish - I knew a magical girl who wished to make her father's words reach people, and she could create illusions. Another wished to heal her sister's eyes, and her abilities mostly involved light and optics. Sometimes the relation is not immediately apparent - girls who wish simply to live, often while injured, end up with abilities involving ribbons or chains - being 'tied to life' in such a way.

Weapons are even harder to answer - unless a magical girl's wish relates directly to combat in some way, even I can't always tell what form their weapon will take. It can truly be anything - muskets, whips, swords, musical instruments, heavy tomes, even things like cameras or wheels. Often they have no apparent relation to the wish, though in that case they usually have secondary forms that do.

Once you're a Magical Girl, you'll get a Soul Gem, which is the source of your power. It's very, very important that you keep it near you and that you don't break it, so I've made it so it turns into a ring when you're not using it. You should also be sure to keep it nice and clean - using too much magic or letting yourself get too sad will make it dark, and that'll weaken your magic! I won't lie - this is a dangerous job, but I'm sure you'll be strong enough to handle it once you're a magical girl. And it's an important job, too - Witches feed on and spread despair, and like to lure people to their deaths or into their labyrinth to feed on their hopelessness.

You want to wish for worldwide communism? I've had many girls wish that in the past few decades, and I've said the same thing: I certainly could, but it's against my policy to meddle in human politics unless it's necessary. And someone else would just wish to reverse it, and I'd have to spend precious time I could be using to help magical girls deciding which wish to keep fulfilled. Besides, surely there's something more personal you would wish for? It can truly be anything, if your soul is strong enough - I can even raise the dead!

So, what will your wish be?

The Fool

And the SERPENT saith unto the woman, 'Dying, ye do not die, for GOD doth know that in the day of your eating of it your eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good and evil.'
Genesis 3:4-5

* * *

MARYNA VASYLENKO

There there, comrade, you're safe now - the witch is gone, its labyrinth collapsed. See? I have its Grief Seed right here. Take it, you've earned it, and it was strong enough for both of us. That was very brave of you, jumping in to help an elder magical girl like you did. Very stupid, but very brave.

But I'm sure you saw what happened - I could see it in your face. You saw Iryna die, live, then die again. Kyubey didn't tell you anything like that would happen, did he? Of course he did not. There are many things that white rat does not tell prospective magical girls, otherwise he would not be able to turn anyone into a magical girl, and that'd be bad - for him.

The reason for that is very simple - 'Soul Gem' is not just some fancy name for a pretty gem resembling the Faberge Eggs in the Kremlin Armory. It is a very literal term for what it is - your soul, given physical form. Monster? Oh, comrade, there is no need to worry about something like that - your soul may be out of your body, but you are still you, still as human as before you contracted.

Kyubey has his reasons - one of the few things he has a good reason for, actually. A normal human could not possibly survive against a witch, not with anything short of a tank to protect them, and even then. As a magical girl you are far faster, far stronger, far nimbler, and most importantly far more durable than any regular human could hope to be.

And most important of all, with your soul outside your body, you can withstand wounds that would kill any man. A punctured lung, a crushed windpipe, a decapitated head, an exploded gut - all these can only slow a magical girl down and force them to heal their wounds. As long as the Soul Gem is intact, a magical girl can survive anything. And as long as it stays within 100 meters of the body, they will stay alive. Sure, when a Soul Gem is farther away than that, a magical girl will become 'comatose', but just touching the Soul Gem to the body will bring them back to life.

But it is absolutely important - beyond anything else - that the Soul Gem stays safe. It can take some hits, but to shatter it is death, and nothing short of another wish can bring a girl back from that. I... I have never seen it happen, but I have been told it is possible. But it must be done quickly - a magical girl's soul fades to wherever it is souls go when they die faster than a regular human's, and there are no ghosts for them to turn into should they still have things to do in life. Kyubey has said he does not know, and he says if one waits too long though, it becomes beyond his power for all but the strongest of potential magical girls to grant such a wish. Regular humans are easy to bring back to the dead - his exact words. He does not lie about such things.

He does not lie at all, or so he says, but a lie of omission is still a lie, and he lies in such a way better than any capitalist politician. It is important - very important - that you never take anything he says at face value. He is a master manipulator, down to his appearance - even that is just a cover to make girls more willing to trust him. He grants girls wishes without giving any real advice as for what to wish for, nor does he tell them anything about what really happens to them when they become a magical girl.

There is more that he lies about, comrade, but... it is late, even for magical girls. Our bodies do not truly need rest, any more than we need food or water, but the health of the mind is of crucial importance to a magical girl, and rest, food, and water are important to that. And I believe you have had enough distressing things to think about for one day. I will tell you of Kyubey's other lies when you can better handle it.

How do I know so much, you ask?

Well... do you believe in angels?

The Repentant

But who prays for Satan? Who in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most, our one fellow and brother who most needed a friend yet had not a single one, the one sinner among us all who had the highest and clearest right to every Christian's daily and nightly prayers, for the plain and unassailable reason that his was the first and greatest need, he being among sinners the supremest?
Mark Twain "Mark Twain's Autobiography", 1924

* * *

HOMURA AKEMI

An angel? I suppose there are certain angels I could be compared to - 'Homura' does mean 'flame', after all. But no, I am no servant of the Christian God, if that is what you are asking. I serve a... different deity. One involving magical girls directly. One who wishes to wait before introducing herself in full to magical girls, to minimize the Incubator's chance of hindering her - he has tried before, in other worlds.

One who has been far more forgiving than I deserve.

But I digress - you wish to know the truth of the magical girl system? I prefer not to tell anyone who hasn't found out thems- ah. Your friend died before she could tell you. I understand. Though usually it is Sayaka or Mami who tells magical girls who do know of us these things. They are more... personable. I have been told I can be blunt to the point of rudeness.

Firstly - do not believe a word 'Kyubey' says. Incubators are consummate liars by omission and will do anything - anything - to make you contract. Force other magical girls to attack your friends, engineer witch attacks, it has even cooperated with non-magical girls to engineer disasters on numerous occasions.

The Incubator has had a long time to practice its art of lying to humans. It and those of its species have walked with humans since we were naked apes living in caves, beasts with the ability to speak. It likes to think it was responsible for raising humanity beyond that humble beginning. There were days when I thought it would be better that we had stayed there.

It omits most of the truth of being a magical girl because the truth is horrifying. Soul Gems are your literal soul he rips out of you, and your aging slows to a crawl as you enter adulthood. Magical girls cannot die by normal means. This is not a blessing.

But the most heinous lie is the true nature of witches. Have you ever truly looked at Grief Seeds, the 'eggs' of witches you use to drain the grief from your Soul Gems? They are quite similar in appearance and function, are they not? That's because Grief Seeds are not 'like' Soul Gems for witches, they are Soul Gems. When a magical girl's Soul Gem becomes completely blackened by despair or exhaustion, they become a witch. Then new magical girls kill them, fill their Grief Seed to capacity, and the Incubators harvest the leftover energy. It claims it's the 'most efficient' way to reverse entropy.

It calls it utilitarianism. It says it's being humane by allowing magical girls to live in blissful ignorance. As if we are cattle - which it has compared us to. It only gives us the damned courtesy of asking before taking because we are 'marginally more intelligent compared to his species' than cattle.

It is disgusting, and it is why I devised the plan that is why I and the other magical girls some refer to as 'angels' are here. It took some convincing, but the Goddess came to agree that if she can bring salvation to one timeline, it is only right that she bring it to others. We are here to ensure she can do so safely, as we suffer from no delusions that she is immune to harm.

And I will ensure she is protected, and that our plan, of a world free from the Incubators, comes to fruition. I will do whatever it takes to ensure Madoka's safety. If that requires further blood on my hands, so be it.

[Rupudska]

RULES AND GUIDE
ПРАВИЛА ТА ПОСИЛАННЯ

OOC

• If you are involved in this RP, then this is an open OOC. Feel free to discuss anything and everything, whether it has to do with the story or not.
  
  
• This RP is set in the USSR, starting in March of 1983, one month after the hospitalization of Yuri Andropov, in Odessa. I will try to portray the Soviet Union relatively accurately (even if the nitty gritty of the USSR is not the point of this RP). While not the point, this will likely provoke discussion in the OOC about the formerly existing superpower. So long as it keeps to discussion and not fighting, that's fine.
  
  
• People have RL issues. People have scheduling issues. This is fine, I have them too, and have become quite notorious for it in recent ages. But if you do expect to be gone for a while, at least let me know in the OOC or over Discord, and try to keep active in the OOC - even if it's simple banter/discussion.

The Roleplay

• I think I did a good job explaining in the OOC, but I'm sure there are some people at least a little confused. So I'll tell you - this RP is a Puella Magi Madoka Magica (or Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica depending on who you ask) RP set in an alternate universe from canon, and in Odessa in the early 1980s instead of the fictional Japanese city of Mitakhiara in circa 2011. You will be playing magical girls living in and around the port city of Odessa, one of the more diverse cities in the USSR at the time. This is not a happy setting, and putting it in the USSR in a time of that nation's decay doesn't make it any happier.
  
  
• Your characters are either new magical girls or recent veterans, most of whom most likely do not know the truth of being a magical girl - that your soul gem is your literal soul, that witches are simply magical girls overcome by despair, or that Kyubey (the Incubator) is harvesting you like grain. In fact, I would prefer to have as few characters who know the truth as possible. It'll make their despair that much tastier. Most will be between 13 and 16; I will accept characters as young as 10 and as old as 17. Girls only for main characters.
  
  
• Regarding this RP's position in the Madoka chronology, it takes place centuries after the end of Rebellion from the character's perspective. It borrows somewhat from the fanfiction Fargo, in that Madoka, who attained godhood and rewrote the universe at the end of the Madoka anime in order to prevent magical girls from becoming witches, uses deceased magical girls (especially her friends in life) effectively as angels are used in the Bible. Homura in Rebellion sealed Madoka in a human-like form out of a twisted, selfish form of love, and like in the fanfiction Fargo was forced sometime post-Rebellion to realize how much of a monster she had become. From her perspective centuries have passed, and while she is an agent of Madoka's will, she does not forgive herself - the mission as she described is part of her self-inflicted atonement.
  
  
• You do not know it yet, but the Incubators are up to something. I and my Co-OPs (most likely just Wolfenium for now) will use canon characters, acting as agents of the Goddess Madoka, to move the plot along at times. Whether your character survives to the end or not, that's entirely up to you.
  
  
• Magical girls do not all come from happy, rich families. They don't all come from destitution, either - they come from anywhere, and the Incubator isn't picky so long as their soul has potential. Madoka's wish in the first few timelines was to save a cat, and Sayaka wished to heal the hand of a boy she liked. Both were leading happy, normal lives beforehand, and Madoka is implied in every timeline to be rather well-off financially - not as rich as Homura, but still. On the other end of the spectrum, Kyouko wished that people would pay attention to her priest father, Mami simply wished to survive her car crash, and at least one magical girl in a semi-canonical side story literally wished for money. Kyouko ended up homeless when her father realized the ruse and killed himself and the rest of her family, and Mami lived a lonely life on will money.

The Rules

• Something something respect my authoritaah or I throw you to the witches.
  
  
• MSMM is not a happy-go-lucky series. There is blood, there is horror, there is violence, but this forum is PG-13 and you WILL keep your IC posts that way.
  
  
• Read the OP in full si будь お願い. If you still have questions, feel free to ask me, Wolfenium, Agritum, or anyone else in the OOC who seems to be sufficiently a weeb - Madoka is a very popular series, and has a well-made wiki. If you have a question about the setting not related to the family, then post it here in the OOC, and I will put the answer in the FAQs below. If it’s a really minor thing, just go ahead and make it up. I’ll let you know if there’s an issue.
  
  
• I don't do post length requirements anymore, just please keep it grammatically correct and avoid one-liners unless you're bouncing dialogue back and forth. Even so, if you keep it up for too long I may ask you and whoever you're dialogueing with to co-write a post.
  
  
• Have fun, and for the Glory of the Motherland, stay frosty.

[Rupudska]

APPLICATION AND DRAMATIS PERSONAE
ЗАСТОСУВАННЯ ТА ДІЙОВІ ОСОБИ

Application:

Code: Select all

    [floatright][size=200][background=black][color=#FFBF00](SURNAME, INITIALS)[/color][/background][/size][/floatright]
        [floatleft][box](Image go here, optional, you can also use Appearance below instead if you want, recommend a pic less than 500 pixels wide or tall)[/box][/floatleft][blocktext][b]+++Name:[/b] (Include nicknames and titles)
        [b]+++Age:[/b]
        [b]+++Gender:[/b] (it's FEMALE)
        [b]+++Sexual Orientation:[/b] (Keep in mind that being openly homosexual or bisexual in this time period will cause issues for your character, but in no way are characters barred from being oriented wherever they please)
        [b]+++Physical appearance:[/b] (Mostly optional if you have a picture, but put in height and weight regardless; describe your magical girl costume if it's not in the picture))
        [b]+++Identifying Marks:[/b] (Mostly optional if you have a picture, but describe anything hidden in the image, like tattoos)

        [b]+++Ethnicity:[/b] (Odessa wasn't 100% Ukrainian, Jewish, and Russian at any point)
        [b]+++Religion:[/b] (Remember that the USSR still has state atheism but has relaxed somewhat since Kruschev, at least as long as you're Orthodox or to a lesser degree Muslim or Jewish; non-Abrahamic religions were exceedingly rare)
        [b]+++Birthplace:[/b] (Where you were born)
        [b]+++Family:[/b] (If any that are worthy of significant mention. In the case of spouses and family, feel free to RP them as a supporting NPC. Alternatively, ask another player to fulfill some weird rich familial dynasty fantasy with you)
        [b]+++Criminal History:[/b] (Optional, but nothing too heinous. The Party will Know otherwise.)
        [b]+++Skills:[/b] (Don't go overboard, not your magical ones)
        [b]+++Abilities:[/b] (These ARE your magical powers, and they MUST be in some way related to your Wish.)
        [b]+++Weapons:[/b] (Your magical girl weapons - can be pretty much anything you can carry, and that includes howitzer cannons!)

        [b]+++Psychological analysis:[/b] (Personality)
        [b]+++Weaknesses:[/b] (I want human characters. You might be a stone cold bitch, or whatever, but you do have your deficiencies. Could be a disease, an addiction. Maybe a serious personality flaw or mental illness. Perfectly happy AND sane magical girls are a near-impossible rarity. Be realistic; your character has flaws)
        [b]+++Likes/dislikes:[/b] (Optional)
        [b]+++Interests:[/b] (Optional)
        [b]+++Fears:[/b]

        [b]+++Equipment:[/b] (I understand that for some of you, your characters own a lot of shit. In this space, give me what your character would be inseparable from on any given day. Don't count your Soul Gem here.)
        [b]+++Biography:[/b]
        [b]+++RP Sample:[/b] (If I know you, then you know that I know you. Feel free to insult me, if you have known me for a while)
        [b]+++Your Wish:[/b] (What you wished for.)
        [b]+++Theme Song:[/b] (optional)
        [color=#ef8289][b]#ViolatingThermodynamics[/b][/color] (DO NOT REMOVE)[/blocktext]

Dramatis Personae:

[Deutschess Kaiserreich]

So... communism and anime? Sounds like my thing!

[The Empire of Tau]

A surprise, but a welcome one.

[Wolfenium]

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ { become meguca )

[The Empire of Tau]

Question, how big and bad are witches?

[Rupudska]

Question, how big and bad are witches?

If you've seen the anime, they'll run the gamut from pushovers (like Gertrud) to forces of nature (like Walpurgis).

If not, well... Just don't do anything stupid and you should survive long enough to make a difference.

[The Empire of Tau]

Question, how big and bad are witches?

If you've seen the anime, they'll run the gamut from pushovers (like Gertrud) to forces of nature (like Walpurgis).

If not, well... Just don't do anything stupid and you should survive long enough to make a difference.

As for wishes, can one be to have stronger will?

[Rupudska]

If you've seen the anime, they'll run the gamut from pushovers (like Gertrud) to forces of nature (like Walpurgis).

If not, well... Just don't do anything stupid and you should survive long enough to make a difference.

As for wishes, can one be to have stronger will?

This wish can reverse entropy, so yes.

[The Empire of Tau]

Another question, how long do magical girls last?

[Rupudska]

Another question, how long do magical girls last?

The global average is two years.

[The Empire of Tau]

Another question, how long do magical girls last?

The global average is two years.

That's awful low. Has any magical girls ever went pass two years?

[Rupudska]

The global average is two years.

That's awful low. Has any magical girls ever went pass two years?

It's exceedingly rare; though there is a witch in the series implied to be the witch of a magical girl who made it well into adulthood.

[Danceria]

Smash the bourgeois incubators for the glory of the Puella Magi Proletariat, and tag this thread today!

[The Empire of Tau]

Smash the bourgeois incubators for the glory of the Puella Magi Proletariat, and tag this thread today!

You gave me a idea. I'll make my weapon a copy of Daz Kapital.

[Rupudska]

Smash the bourgeois incubators for the glory of the Puella Magi Proletariat, and tag this thread today!

You gave me a idea. I'll make my weapon a copy of Daz Kapital.

Sadly witches don't really care about economics, or starving.

[Khasinkonia]

My, how tantalising. We shall see if I can produce an app...

[The Empire of Tau]

You gave me a idea. I'll make my weapon a copy of Daz Kapital.

Sadly witches don't really care about economics, or starving.

Well, that's a sad fact but I'll forcefully ensure that the people's will is fulfilled. Are psychic attacks viable?

[Rupudska]

Sadly witches don't really care about economics, or starving.

Well, that's a sad fact but I'll forcefully ensure that the people's will is fulfilled. Are psychic attacks viable?

Nope! And magical girls are pretty much immune to mind control. You can use it to bzort magic at them though.

[Minroz]

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ { become meguca )

I'm thinking of playing two girls. One is cheerful Russian girl who is daughter of a senior KGB official and the other is Chechen orphan who seeks revenge on the KGB officer who murdered her family.

[Danceria]

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ { become meguca )

I'm thinking of playing two girls. One is cheerful Russian girl who is daughter of a senior KGB official and the other is Chechen orphan who seeks revenge on the KGB officer who murdered her family.

[no, meguca is suffering|

My girl will be your typical several punch puella. Perhaps of Buddhist origin just to mess with the KGB

[Rupudska]

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ { become meguca )

I'm thinking of playing two girls. One is cheerful Russian girl who is daughter of a senior KGB official and the other is Chechen orphan who seeks revenge on the KGB officer who murdered her family.

[no, meguca is suffering|

My girl will be your typical several punch puella. Perhaps of Buddhist origin just to mess with the KGB

You realize the USSR actually has its own martial art, in the form of Sambo, right?

[Danceria]

[no, meguca is suffering|

My girl will be your typical several punch puella. Perhaps of Buddhist origin just to mess with the KGB

You realize the USSR actually has its own martial art, in the form of Sambo, right?

...Now I do, and I know what build I'm doing.

[Rupudska]

Should I make a Discord server/subserver for this?