#layla stays unaffected at least; at least to my eyes

[shiningstages]

okay i can't get it out of my mind - tini dump about kate cinderella girls, and my dreams for both international girls and the producer ( aka developing oc man )

the international / foreign girls in imas: cinderella girls (as far as i'm aware) are Frederica Miyamoto (french-japanese, voiced), Yao Fueifuei (hong kong, unvoiced), Clarice (vague european (personally french or dutch inspo), unvoiced), Anastasia (russian-japanese, voiced), Layla (Dubai / UAE, voiced), Kate (London / England, unvoiced), Helen (vague european / american (personally italian / mexican inspo), unvoiced), Natalia (Rio de Janeiro / Brazil, voiced), Eve Santaclaus (Greenland, voiced), Cathy Graham (american-japanese (born in new york but has lived in japan) unvoiced), and Mary Cochran (San Francisco / America, unvoiced). I don't include Shiki here because, although she studied in American, she's Japanese and isn't from anywhere over there. I also don't include the three Korean-exclusive deresute characters since they're discontinued after that server shut down (but also shoutout to them I love them too). However they are all side characters, just not a part of the project.

Kate is my favorite unvoiced girl, specifically because our names are similar, as well as slight backstory stuff (her love for her parents; "She's an exceedingly friendly and social person, often greeting everyone she passes by. She's also very touchy in comparison to other idols, enjoying giving others hugs or kisses to show her affection." from her wiki page / events, very me coded). So, in my International Girls imas cingirls idea, Kate is the true protagonist, with Natalia being the leader of the group and acts like a dual protagonist. While she's not the first of the international girls to be voiced (that order being Anya > Freddy > Natalia way later > Layla > Eve most recently as of literally Christmas; congrats to her cingirl first place), I wanna give Natalia bunches of love and more spotlight to get fleshed out as a character as well, as well as her and Kate becoming besties. The International Girls story would just be them forming into a unit, learning to appreciate their differences as well as come to feel like a cohesive unit despite them, and ultimately proving themselves as idols on the stage.

The Producer for that idea, in my mind, is Lotus Juice (LotusP, if you will), since he's proven himself in his own field, is from New Jersey and fluent in both english and japanese, and is also in a duo unit with TakeP aka Takeuchi Shunsuke aka the producer for cinderella girls, so it all just make sense in my mind. Story-wise - LotusP gets invited to the job after TakeP offers it to him as a friendly favor, since they both went to college together and / or went up in the ranks together before TakeP started raising idols / doing his cinderella girls "power of smile" project. Inspired by him, and not wanting to look a gifted horse in the mouth, the rougher and older man accepts, with TakeP being his occasional talking partner for advice. LotusP, in my mind, is suddenly named Austin in my mind (don't ask why idk). And he just kinda acts like Lotus Juice (chill older guy who seems kinda gruff, but is really mature), yet also has like a rough tsun thing going as he's not at all good with taking compliment, and gets dragged into scenarios and forced to play the straight man for gags. It's almost like he doesn't want to be a producer, but he needs a job and wants to stay in the music biz, but he ultimately takes his job (taking care of all the girls' and their schedules, as well as personally helping with some of their songs' production) very seriously.

Another thing I wanted to look into for a bit of drama is idol v school life, specifically as Kate is an international study abroad uni student that becomes an idol. In the end, like in her stories, she proves to her dad that she can be an idol and go to school, and at the very end she graduates and becomes an idol full time. Freddy is also in college for design; she can graduate too as a treat. It also makes me want to make Kate/Nat/Freddy triple protags, as it fills out the kind of NewGen-esque protags the original cingirls had, as well as I think they'd make good friends.

(Also, if anyone asks, Layla's backstory of running away from a planned marriage to Japan with the support of her mother but keeping the father in the dark...I literally just learned that TODAY, which was WILD, and yes in my plotline idk if I wanna explore that or just ignore that so! Hmm!!!!)

Also the eleven full group's unit song would be titled "Universal Parade", after the unit in the mobage game (which originally consists of CathyNatKateMaryFreYao), and their outfits would be similar to the unit "Your Friends" (NatKateMary) outfit set in the original mobage as well (without the fluffy bit or with the fluffy bit reincorporated somehow).

Also the actual outfits for NatLayla's unit "Sol Qamar" is very cool.

[renegadesrpg]

Dark Angels: Creation. Part 24, Investigations

Sin: *We reformed in the woods near the cottage Layla inhabited in Caldwell. Though reapers are essentially disembodied souls as we manipulate time and space to travel through the half-world, I’d still had a brief, but uncomfortable sensation, as we passed through the mhis Layla had described.* This is where Layla was attacked. I felt the mhis as we went through it. How did you fare, Declan? Declan: *my hand had immediately dropped from Sin’s shoulder to my sword after we reformed. We’d traveled like this with Sin often, but my wolf hadn’t liked what it had just felt and was pushing against my skin to get out.* Like someone was walking over my bloody grave. I can see why it would keep out most creatures, but not ghosts or reapers. It’s uncomfortable, but I think more effective against the physical than the metaphysical. Sin: *Nodding* I agree. As with ghosts, reapers are essentially disembodied souls. But it would be highly effective against the physical. The forms we manifest are projections of that soul, but nonetheless have corporeal substance. I suspect it would be effective against us if we attempted to find this place in this form. The question is why are those inhabitants inside its protection unaffected. It bears further investigation. Declan: Layla called it an illusion. Maybe that’s all it is, with a side of creepy thrown in, and if you know about it, you can’t be fooled. It feels like it has a physical form to it on the outside, but from this side, you don’t see anything but a low lying fog. I wonder what it looks like to people looking in. Sin: Perhaps we shall investigate that another time. For now, it is enough that we know it is effective against demons. *Curiously, I walk towards the white mist laying knee high across the ground. As I enter deeper into it, it does indeed feel as though it is a physical barrier. And the further I go, the higher the mist rises until I am surrounded by it. It is vaguely disorienting. I can hear Declan’s urgent voice calling for me as though at a great distance. I had moved so quickly that we’d gotten separated but it should not have been as far as the sound of his voice indicated. I call out loudly.* Declan, I am well. See if you can use that wolf nose of yours to find me in this and demat to me. I wish to see what happens when we attempt to use our talents while in the mist. Declan:*I lift my head and inhale deeply. I’d be able to scent him even better in wolf form but the uncertainty of what would happen if I transformed inside this magical barrier had me telling him to settle down. When I had Sin’s direction, I ghosted out and reformed at his side.* So it doesn’t affect our ability to transport within it, although I’m still a little disoriented. My wolf can always sense the directions, but it feels like one of those ball compasses on a car dashboard that goes nuts while you’re driving. Sin: *I raise an eyebrow at him and answer mildly* I am not in the habit of using automobiles. I know you and Celia have an affinity for motorcycles, but when have you ridden in a car? Declan: *I can’t help but grin.* We’ve only been in your service the last 30 years Sin. Cars were around before we died, although we did prefer motorcycles even then. We still enjoy a fast ride when we aren’t babysitting you. But since my death I’ve discovered a passion for Ferarri’s. You have some very wealthy neighbors in Hawaii who like them as well. When you don’t have us busy, I might have taken a few midnight “test drives” in theirs. Ferrari’s don’t come with bobble compasses like the old Chevy trucks the pack had for supply transport in the 1980’s, but they make up for it in speed. Sin: *I let out a seemingly disgruntled sigh at the “babysitting” remark, but in reality Declan’s insouciance was one of the reasons I had offered the pair of them the opportunity to serve me rather than to move to their next lives. That and the fact that their love for each other shone like a white fire in their souls, so passionate and connected were they. More than soulmates and rarer still. Twin flames. And it had reminded me so much of the way it had been with my Eve that I did not want to risk the chance they would be separated again in their final lives before ascension.* I can see you have been spending too much time with Sean and Zav. I shall endeavor to keep you too busy to engage in such mischief in the future. *Turning around in the fog, I cannot but marvel at it. I, also, have a vague sense of disorientation and discomfort, but not such that I cannot make my way out.* Put your hand on my shoulder Declan. We shall mist back to where we reformed when we entered. *After he has done so, I dematerialize us into the half-world, leaving behind traces of the black mist that is the essence of a reaper to mix with the mhis. Briefly, I wonder if that residue will have an effect upon it, but no matter. Only time will tell me that. Reforming at the spot we had initially arrived on, I survey the barrier once again.* I believe the mhis is only effective when one is unaware of what it is. Else those that live on the grounds would have difficulty in finding their way in again when they leave it in physical form. It disorients and causes foreboding even when passing through it in a dematerialized state. I do not believe vampires in their molecular forms would be able to pass through it if they did not know what lay on the other side. However, it is not completely impenetrable even to the corporeal. If they wander in and stay long enough they might eventually find their way through if they had something to focus on here on this side of it. Thus, this must not be the only warning system around the mountain. I surmise that more modern surveillance is also used and the mhis serves as deterrent, sensory block, and early warning system for its creator. However, given Layla’s experience, it is not effective against reapers. The half-world we travel in must negate those effects and fails to trip the warning system. I sense Annalise’s hand in this, or at least her power. It makes sense that it would not work against us. She had always intended reaper contact to be minimal with the species she created and, given our benign purpose in the grand scheme of the universe, would not think we could be a threat. She was wrong. *Silently surveying the mhis again, I inhale and close my eyes, calling on my power. Lifting my hand, I utter ‘zarman ol’ -’show me’- in the gutteral Enochian language of the angels. Immediately, the mhis lights up, angelic symbols of ethereal magick floating dimly among the vampiric magickal fog. Opening my eyes, I adjust them to see the half-world between life and death. There the symbols hang in the air glowing brightly. The mountain has been well-protected from reaper and demon, though I wonder at Zav’s choice not to ward against angels as well. And then it comes to me. Annalise had stepped down and her chosen successor had been an angel that I had been given to understand resided with the King of the species. No angel would infringe upon the new deity’s territory. Not when it had risen from their ranks. Even a direct command from the white god himself would not sway them. Declan: *My eyes narrow as the glowing symbols seem to hover dimly in the air* Are they at full power? They don’t seem bright enough. Sin: You cannot see with my eyes, Declan. Zav posted them in the half-world that runs parallel to this one. They are so strong there that they can be revealed even here, if one knows the words. Layla will be quite well protected now. I will notify Sean he can take her home. I believe we have learned all we can for the moment. Now, attend me and we shall go. Declan: *I move behind Sin, placing my arm on his shoulder to travel with him, though I didn’t need to in order to go somewhere I’ve already been.* Home or the house in Brazil? Sin: Neither. We are going into Caldwell. #TBC