cleelczipsybane
Old enough to remember the NES. Pathfinder 2E DM. Fascinated by folklore, religion, mythology, and occultism. World's biggest Bushido Blade 2 fan. Really liking what's happening with indie animation lately.
142 posts
Latest Posts by cleelczipsybane
WLC 7.2: Tail Combat
The twins drag Ling down the dark corridors. The pink one, holding Ling's left arm, barely keeping herself from giggling. He sister, on the other hand, is equally attempting to conceal her anxiety.
"Ya don't have to," says Ling, "If ya don't want to." With purple's confused grunt, Ling continues, "I know my daughter put ya up to this."
"What? No," says the anxious twin, "I'm honored to be here tonight."
"Pinky," says Ling, turning her head, "What're we going to do tonight?"
"You're going to eat me," says the giggly twin in a raw raspy voice, then she growls, "then I'm going to eat you."
"Beauty," says Ling, turning back, "See, your sister's got a good time planned."
"I'm not going to leave this to her alone," says the lighter voiced twin, as a maid spots the trio and darts off.
"But sister, Natya will be-"
"Not there."
"Do ya two have a pair of doors to be guarding?" asks Ling, her tail wiggling its way out from her robe, "Pinky, if I asked your sister what ya would say your name is, what would she say?"
"What are you talking about?" asks the purple one, as her sister attempts to decode the question.
"Naleemi," she says, "She would call me my name." She giggles. "Sister, what would the doctor say if-"
"We're not playing this game," interrupts her sister, "and to save you time, Dr., I am Nataki."
"Nice to meet ya, Nataki," says Ling. "Glad ya can answer honestly. Now, how many are waiting for us?"
"None," says Nataki, "It's j-"
Ling slaps Nataki's butt with her tail. "Who's Natya, Naleemi?"
"She's my girlfriend," giggles Naleemi, "She's so smart. She's always planning."
"She's always scheming," mutters Nataki.
"Where's she from?"
"The North Pole!" shouts Naleemi as the twins drag Ling around a corner. "Sister's friend, Emera is from up north too."
"Solar elves?"
"Nyata is," says Naleemi, as the group reaches their destination, "Emera is a northern tree elf."
"The proper names are the horakty and the osisi," chides Nataki, opening the door into a dark bedroom. A pair of elven figures are barely visible within.
"I told you before," says a tanned elf clad in a yellow outfit otherwise identical to the twins (unlike they're bun, her hair is cut like a long bob), "if I killed your loser boyfriend, I'd be rubbing your filthy nose in it. I tell you all about how pathetically he died." She twirls a bladed tonfa. "But I didn't and I know you're only blaming me because your jealous that I'm with a princess while you hold your tongue, waiting for-"
"Jealous of a snake like you?" yells a green-clad elf of far darker complexion, her hair braided to her knees. "Princess Nataki is my friend. Friendship, have you heard of it? Is that concept too alien to you. Exploiting Naleemi is going to-"
"Friendship? Friendship, again?"
"Lmaoth, help me," mutters Nataki, as Naleemi clears her throat.
"G'day" says Ling, "Nyata and Emera, I presume."
WLC 7.1: Accidentally Posted Early
With dinner and the stories over, Empress Jevoi rings a phantom bell. "Let us retire then," she says, "As promised, I have agents ready to accompany you to bed, Mum."
Ling feels arms grab onto hers: lithe arms, yet a firm grasp; two people, nearly identical. Ling turns to see one then then the other.
They are a pair of vrow, but subtle traits in the eyes, brow, and ears hint at orc descent. They have a slight green tint to their violet skin,long raven hair, and shimmering yellow eyes. Both are clad in leotards with long gloves and boots and masks covering their mouths. One is in purple, the other pink.
"G'day," says Ling, "Didn't think ya were real."
"I made a promise," says Jevoi. She gestures to the ladies. "You know what to do."
"G'night, Dalini," says Ling as they haul her away, "Got some wizarding to do."
"G'night, Nana," yells Dalini, lifting her face off of her plate. "Have fun with your friends." She resumes sucking the plate clean.
After Ling has been removed from the room, Jevoi sighs. "This was a terrible mistake."
"It's not going to work," says Angustias.
"No," says Jevoi, alert again, "I mean the cake." She points to Dalini jittering about, now trying to eat the plate.
WLC 6.H: The Kids are Alright
Ling forces the passage stone back into place. The smears of viscera weigh upon her mind. "Thanks for... something, ya b*****d."
J: Why would you be upset about him dying. L: Because nobody had to die. I didn't want him dead. I wanted the witches to give up; they hadn't killed anyone yet. They could have ...cleaned the forest? Something to make amends. J: Seems like it worked out just fine.
Ling hurries down the corridor. "Yo, Outie," she yells, "Where're the kids?"
"In time, Wizard Lizard," says a booming voice, "First, the promised boon must be granted. It is unwise for one such as I to remain indebted to one such as you."
"Same."
As Ling approaches the portal, a red stone, with several indentations, the size of her head is launched from it into her claws.
"This seed, once planted, will grow into a tree bearing any material it is first coated in as fruit," says the voice, "May it aid you to your dream."
Ling twists and turns it, inspecting it's odd shape. "Thanks, mate," she says, sliding it into her cloak, "Now, about those kids."
Out of the portal pops seven kids: two smallgoblins (the boy with spiky growths), two kobolds (one is red, the other white), a teen dwarf (with a poorly shaved beard), an elf (with hair of gold), and an orc (fingers covered in burn scars).
"Ripper, the lot's all here," says Ling, before clearing her throat, "We're getting out of this cave, back to town, stop by Gizzard King, and get ya all home. How's that sound?"
"Gizzard King!" yell Hanzy and Grater the smallgoblins, throwing their hands up, "Thank you, Jevoi's Mom."
"I don't..." mumbles the orc presumably known as Matches, "I don't have a home."
"Then I'll find ya one," says Ling, leaning down to eye level. "No worries, got it?"
Loxi (elf) whispers to Genette (dwarf) and nudges her forward.
"Dr. Ling," Genette begins awkwardly, "I- I don't want to go."
Ling almost begins speaking, but looks across the other kids first.
"They know."
"Okay," Ling whispers to herself. After everything thus far, this should be easy. "I can't make ya go back, Genette, but I don't know what ...uh?" Ling realizes she doesn't even know where that sentence was supposed to be going.
"I want to work for Uncle J."
"Who?" Ling conjures chairs for everyone.
"I believe the child refers to me," says the booming voice, "I am in need of new liaisons to your world."
"And why should I allow that?" Ling stares at the portal.
"Besides you," says Genette, sitting down "He's the only adult willing to listen." She sighs. "And I know you only did because you knew no one else would. You never told me that I'm bad or weird for how I feel."
"I'm not going to lie," says Ling, awkwardly laying forward in her backward chair, "Even knowing some others that went thr- are th- ya know what I mean." Ling rubs her head in frustration. "But just 'cause I was the first doesn't mean I'm the only one who'll treat ya the way ya deserve to be, the way everyone deserves to be. See, when I first moved to Rankedge, no one could understand me; I was that fast-talking wizard from Ozzel -er, Ozzelia. And back in Ozzelia, I was that weird lizard from the surface."
Ling takes a moment to look at the kids; while the teens understand, the younger ones are a bit confused.
"No worries, though," says Ling, "Because I always found people who didn't see me that way. Always found mates that treat me right, and that's why I try to pay that forward."
J: Yet you mock me for "walking like an elf." L: 'Cause it reminds me of the drongo I used to be, thinking looking like a mammal would make them see me as a person. It didn't work, like I told those kids back then.
"I don't know if me saying this is helping ya," says Ling. She takes her wig off and puts it into her cloak, "But it's honestly helping me."
"So why don't you trust Uncle J?" asks Genette, "Why judge him like that too?"
Ling thinks for a second and, finding no answer that would sound out of place coming from Mr. Geneson or the late sheriff about her, concedes. "I'll have faith in your faith, but if Uncle J acts up, ya call Aunt Ling."
"Can we join too?" asks Rosen the red kobold.
"Yeah, I think our boss here's... you know," says Graupel, pointing down.
"I guess there's your coven," laughs Ling, "Now, le-"
"Wait," says Genette, leaning forward suddenly, "You said you knew others like me? Who do you know? Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"I didn't know if that'd help," shrugs Ling, "One's a bloke in a billib- swamp, a ways away. Another's a vrow sheila that... may not be a great role model. Then th-"
"Well, maybe I need a bad role model," says Genette with a smirk.
"Ya cheeky little..." Ling tassles Genette's hair, then gets serious. "Why'd ya come out here anyway?"
"I thought my aunt Gudrun would let me stay with her," says Genette, mood falling again, "But her crazy girlfriend dumped me in that portal."
"Aunt Gudrun?" Ling maintains a calm facade. "Anyone else know about her?"
"Mom hates her," says Genette, pulling on her scratchy almost-non-existent beard, "She says we can't let anyone else know about her."
Ling continues to stay calm in front of kids. "I'll let the deputy know."
Loxi interjects. "Deputy? The guards are here?"
Ling nods. "Yeah, hopefully she'll deal with your dad," says Ling to Genette, "I'm still thinking of what to say if he comes knocking."
"Just tell him the truth," says Loxi, wagging her finger, "He's not going to ask about Genette."
Ling laughs, "Just like your aunt..." She whispers to the dwarf, "She's a keeper, girl."
The teen dwarf sputters and fails to come up with coherent series of words.
Ling smiles, "Find mates that'll treat ya right; that's all I'm saying."
Loxi smiles at Genette, who blushes and fidgets awkwardly.
"Are we still going to Gizzard King?" yells Grater.
J: What was the point of this story, Mum? That I should feel bad about killing that lousy sheriff? "Prejudice is bad;" I already know that. L: What message could a yarn about an awful person in power not always bring that way have for an empress? Ya really think I care about that creep that used ya to blackmail me into her bed? J&L: ... J: Mum... L: Let's stop here.
Mimikyu looks like a little gift bag.
Ghost Type Pokemon Trainer Dizzy and Her Ace Mimikyu!
for a colab ^_^
WLC 6.G: Magic Duel 3v3
L: The first rule of magic duels is don't get into magic duels. The second is to remain calm; if ya lose your s***e, ya soon won't have s***e left to lose.
The first to move is Tanglepork. Dodging an opportune swipe of Ioana's claws as she runs away, she reloads her gun. She quickly turns and fires, but her nerves betray her and the bullet barely misses the lycan's head.
Ioana's fierce gaze remains locked on her prey as she commands the air to twist around her. It becomes like a miniature tornado as she chases after the gnome.
Gudrun locks eyes with the minotaur. "Obey me," she says, her eyes alight.
L: The third rule of magic duels is to know what your opponent can do and prepare to counter it.
"Not this time, b***h," says Honeycrisp, shaking off the force trying to insert itself into his mind.
Gudrun pulls out a silver wand. "Fine."
Honeycrisp focuses and magic courses through his body, accelerating him. Sparks dance upon his horns.
L: Corollary: Know what your opponent knows ya can do and don't do it.
Ling raises a wall of ribs, splitting a third of the room away, isolating the lycan and the deputy from the rest of them. The massive ribs connecting ceiling to floor have gaps too small for most of the room's occupants. "This way, Porky," commands Ling, as she positions herself by the passage to the portal room.
J: How many wall of bones spells do there really need to be?
"Ling," whines Zingiber, "You're supposed to be fighting me." She releases a blast of glittery fire into Ling's face, but the gex licks her eyes clean.
Tanglepork takes a liking to the idea of people not seeing things and turns invisible, then attempts to sneak around Ioana to reach the bone wall. Her steps are calculated to match the rhythm of the other fighters.
Ioana sniffs about and detonates a burst of fire where she believes the gnome to be hiding, but by some gnomish trickery (possibly breakdancing), the deputy remains unharmed.
Gudrun fires a purple beam from her wand, but Honeycrisp defects it with his horn. "S***e," she says, calmly. Foreseeing the sheriff's next move, she conjures a shield in front of her.
Honeycrisp charges forward, his horns smash open the shield. While his target is unharmed by that, the hook to her face makes quite the impact, knocking free a tooth, which explodes. The shrapnel then defies physics and embed themselves in the dwarf's neck.
Ling conjures a facsimile of a dryad -a type of tree nymph- that wraps her arms around the elf. "Hey there, cutie," says the dryad with a wink.
L: Preventing your opponent from casting at all is the strongest option. A lot of magic requires somantics.
Zingiber forces an arm free. "Getting off on this, Dr. Ling?" She gestures wildly. "Then check this!"
Unfortunately for Zingiber, her spell fails for multiple reasons: Tanglepork is out of the area, Honeycrisp (bull) and the dryad (plant) don't have the targeted anatomy, and Ling, because of her experiences in Wizard School, always begins the day with protective spells like Genital Mirror Shield. Thus, the caster herself is the only affected person.
Zingiber clutches her guts as her Ovarian Explosion nearly rips apart her insides. "Mistake."
J: Who even crafted that? Why make that?
"Serves ya right," shouts Ling.
Invisible, Tanglepork sneaks up to the ribs while quietly reloading her weapon and squeezes through. Aiming back through, she takes another shot breaking her disguise. The bullet, buffeted by the wind, glances the lycan's shoulder. "Oh, come on," the deputy grumbles.
If Ioana were the beast she looked like, she'd just run up to the ribs and try to smash through, but the witch is smarter than that. The bones form a fence she can cast through and, with the wind making her a difficult target, she's free to do so. She condenses a suffocating cloud around the gnome. "You can't escape," she growls.
"Help me," demands Gudrun to Zingiber, taking a defensive step away. She locks eyes with Ling and a mental bomb causes her to recoil in pain.
J: How many counters do you have? L: One more than I think I'll need.
"Time to put you b***hes in your place," says Honeycrisp.
"Can you shut your f**king mouth for five b****y minutes!" yells Ling.
"Great idea!" Honeycrisp forms a zone of silence around himself and lunges headfirst into Gudrun, impaling her on his horns and lifting her off the ground.
L: A lot of magic requires incantations too.
Now unable to hear, the false dryad looks to Ling for instruction. Ling gestures for her to keep Zingiber in that area close to the sheriff. Ling then condenses the cloud around the deputy into a shield of water.
Zingiber punches and knees the dryad, bashing onto bark-coated flesh. Breaking free, she scrambles out of the inaudible zone.
Tanglepork peers around the shield (reloading) and focuses on that first bullet, the one that's still in the back of the lycan's skull. The tiny piece of lead becomes hotter, burning its way into the witch's brain.
Screeching with pain, Ioana draws in through the floor as much spiritual energy as she can. The sheriff cannot avoid having part of his soul drained and the dryad wilts, while Tanglepork's fidgeting about causes her to be less effected and Ling avoids it entirely by hopping onto the wall, taking note that Zingiber is casually unaffected.
Gudrun thrashes about, desperately trying to free herself from the horns. Her punches and kicks are not enough, however.
A bright light flashes the room as Honeycrisp channels electricity through his horns and Gudrun's body. He then charges at Zingiber slapping her across the room with her dwarven cohort's charred, but still living body.
L: Anything is a weapon. Everything is a weapon.
Ling takes a moment to think. Two of these witches should be dead now; why aren't they? It must be that contract. She commands the weakened dryad to grab the elf again (which she does). Ling yells, "Porky, we need to leave."
Zingiber once again forces her arms free to aim another spell and then shoves the dryad away. The sheriff collapses as his muscles detach themselves from his bones. Ling recognizes her own spell, Tendon Tearer.
As Tanglepork continues to burn a hole through Ioana's head, she yells to Ling, "How?" She takes another shot from the other side of the shield, sinking a bullet into the lycan's chest. "Eat that!"
Ioana retreats to the entrance door, as if daring her enemies to try to get through her. She stomps on the ground, causing the already misshapen cubes of the room to twist around becoming a series of crude pyramids. Now even just standing here is an issue.
Gudrun pries her body off of the sheriff's horns and pathetically crawls away. Her bleeding, burnt body struggling to cross the threshold of sound due to the floor's sudden shift.
Honeycrisp sends a message via vibration directly through the floor and wall to Ling's ear bones. While she doesn't know the exact meaning, it isn't hard to guess the intent.
J: Why would you keep saving him? L: Because it's the right thing to do. A: Meat shield.
Ling restores the sheriff's ability to move -his muscles reattaching themselves- and orders the dryad to muzzle the elf; the dryad's solution is to shove her hand into Zingiber's mouth.
Zingiber bites the hand and pulls a brown jewel out of her robe. She stabs it into the dryad's ear and detonates it. The dryad's mostly headless body dissipates.
Tanglepork pulls a glass bottle out of her pocket and lodges it into the barrel of her gun. The special bottle is launched by the force of her shot and explodes on impact with the lycan, whose whirling winds erupt into flame. "Give up already!"
Ioana quickly draws the moisture in the air (and the water shield) onto her person, suffocating the fire. Realizing her wind had burned away, she conjures a shield to deflect further gunfire.
Gudrun crawls further from the sheriff and attempts to scramble his brain, but cannot tell what effect she actually has.
Honeycrisp leaps with intent to crush the elf, but his vision is blurred and wobbly like a drunkard, and he smashes his fist centimeters away from her head. She weaves around the following blows.
Ling continues to rack her brain. She kicks off a burst of mental energy, accelerating her thoughts. Zingiber mentioned several construction-related spells and this lair is blatantly artificial, that entity needs mortals to interact with this world, and the witches seemed to have thought that sacrificing children into the portal was the point. ...Maybe they built the portal? So, having them harm it would break the contract?
"Porky, this way," she yells as she forms an arrow of light pointing to herself in front of Honeycrisp, "Pull back!" Ling hopes that the witches will follow after them.
While Honeycrisp is distracted, Zingiber sees an opportunity. The sheriff's horns are covered in her friend's blood. Reaching up and grabbing them, the elf drives the blood like knives into his skin and rips his face off.
A: I like this woman. Obviously became a demon.
"You f**king b***h!" Tanglepork's rage cannot penetrate the muted bubble the elf remains in, but her bullet can, barely grazing Zingiber's nose.
"Time to end this," says Ioana, teleporting right behind the deputy. A swipe of her claw slices open the gnome's backside.
"Help me," calls out Gudrun, putting pressure on her bleeding wounds. She tries to lock eyes with the deputy, but the gnome is too wrought with emotion.
Bleeding profusely, Honeycrisp slams his fists into the elf's guts, sparks passing through her organs with each strike.
"Can't get near the k**bhead," Ling grumbles. She calls upon the sheriff's flesh to mend itself, stealing pieces of Zingiber's hands in the process.
Zingiber dodges another swing as she rolls out of the silent bubble and does a wild swinging display spraying her own blood about into floating runes that drive themselves into the sheriff. On contact, the pieces of herself stuck in his face explode, taking his head with them.
Screaming with rage and grief, Tanglepork races toward Ling across the crooked, spiky floor and tries to shoot the blood-dancing elf. The bullet comes nowhere close.
Ioana chases after and commands pieces of the stone floor to erupt as a cage around the gnome, but the agile deputy leaps to freedom.
"Stop," demands Gudrun, but the deputy refuses.
L: But the most important rule of a magic duel is:
"We're getting the kids," yells Ling, ostensibly to Tanglepork, "And then we're getting the f**k out of here." She conjures a massive potato to block the lycan's path.
"No, you're not," yells Zingiber forming further runes. With a great forceful push, the corpse of the sheriff is launched at the doctor, who dives out of the way. The body tumbles into the corridor and explodes, collapsing the tunnel.
L: Never forget why you're fighting.
"Zingiber, you fool!" yells Ioana, but it is too late.
"The final line has been crossed," announces a booming voice, "No simple task was beneath your ability to fail. The violation of the contract has ceded all boons I have blessed upon you."
From the liquid metal in Ioana's brain and the burnt, ruptured organs in Gudrun's body, the two die with no fanfare.
"What?" Zingiber staggers forward in confusion, the blood-loss killing her slowly. "That's not fair."
Tanglepork stops running. Ling and she carefully walk toward Zingiber. "You killed my boss," says Tanglepork, out of breath.
"Whatever," says Zingiber, focusing on Ling, "Going to kill me, Ling? Plenty of ways to make me suffer. You could sta-"
"I'm talking to you," says the deputy.
"I don't want y-"
BANG
The deputy helps Zingiber paint the ceiling a delightful new shade of pink.
"Bl'ell, Porky," mutters Ling, "You didn't-"
"It's over." Tanglepork sits down.
Ling turns to the collapsed passage. "I'll get the kids..." She looks around at the bloody mess that was once three witches. "...And ya... deal with this?"
Regret
I apologize for putting such a poorly written bad guy (technically not a villain) like Honeycrisp out here. I thought I had an idea going here, but it just fell flat. He won't be in the story much longer.
Nothing in this child-kidnapping witches plot is meant to represent anything in the real world. There's no political intent here.
WLC 6.F: One Last Shot
The lycan, Ioana, stands in her nightgown wearing a simple jacket, Ling's wig in hand. "What is going on down here?"
"Oi, my hair." Ling holds up her hands in front of her, inviting Ioana to throw it her way. "Thanks for that."
"Deputy, where are the others?" asks the sheriff, "Also, my knife?"
"I'm the only one, sir," says Tanglepork, saluting, "And it's in the pond, sir."
"Then why didn't you grab it?"
"The fair lady will only give it to its owner: you."
"A man's got to do everything around here."
"Shove it, mate," says Ling, adjusting her wig, "First is the witches. We con-"
"Oh, new guests!" shouts Zingiber, twitching with excitement, Gudrun right behind her.
"Which one do ya want, Doctor?" asks Gudrun, "Ya've earned it."
"The bl'ell are ya spouting now?" yells Ling.
"Wait, who's what?" sputters Tanglepork.
"Deputy, get the men," says Honeycrisp, his nostrils flaring, "I'll handle this brainjacking b***h."
"Ya took control of him?" asks Gudrun.
"Are you throwing us under the cart?" asks Zingiber.
"Officer," whispers Ioana to Tanglepork without looking away from the witches, "I think we need to get out of here."
"What are ya trying to pull, Gudrun?" Ling adjusts her cloak.
"Porky." "Deputy." "Officer." "Gnome." "Little thing." The voices blended together, contradictory commands overlapping pulling the gnome's attention apart in a dizzying cacophony.
BANG
"Oh," says Ioana, stumbling forward, "Why?"
Tanglepork's gunhand trembles as she stares into the hole in the back of Ioana's head. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Yes," growls Ioana, turning to face her attacker, her face contorting savagely, "I do."
"Why did you do that, idiot?" barks Honeycrisp, "You really trying to kill an eldritch witch with a gun?"
"Bl'ell, everyone wait," says Ling, "I talked to your boss, witches. The kids are alive; we can work this out."
All attention turns to the doctor.
"Why would you trust it?" asks Honeycrisp, "The thing's helping these-"
"It said... something that meant it was talking to the kids," says Ling, nervously, "Or, at least, knew them."
"Is this about the brat you're selling drugs to?"
"I'm not selling drugs."
"Right," says Honeycrisp, "Giving drugs to."
"Not the time, Sheriff."
J: Why didn't you ever just use that surgery spell you crafted on her? L: Because she didn't want it? J: ...Valid.
Zingiber interrupts. "Oh, if they're still alive, we can kill them ourselves!"
"The screaming was nice," says Gudrun, fondly, "We can make a whole choir this time."
"Hate to waste that meat," mutters Ioana.
"What is wrong with ya?" yells Ling, "I'm trying to get ya c**ts out of this!"
"If you think I'm letting these c**ts go," yells Honeycrisp, "You'd best be ready to share a grave with 'em!"
"Ugh, so glad my son doesn't talk like this," mutters Gudrun as the doctor and the sheriff resume cussing each other out. She turns to her elven cohort. "Ioana's got the gnome, I'll take Captain Bulls***e, and-"
"Dr. Ling will feed me my own a**e," says Zingiber with a chipper enthusiasm more appropriate for boarding a carnival ride.
"Or ya could try winning," says Gudrun, exasperated.
"Love the confidence, and I will try," says Zingiber, "But she's going to destroy me, just like she did earlier."
The deputy is unfortunately not forgotten in this mess. The lycan looms over her. What they have to say transcends language, visible by a glance: Ioana expresses an intent to eat and Tanglepork expresses a need to change her pants.
And thus, the fight begins.
Baffling that tumblr thinks character face sprites and game manual pages are "mature", but death gifs aren't.
I can give you this design sketch of Katze, but you've probably already seen it.
curse of favourite character being from an obscure game with no fanart from years ago that no one plays
Thanks for Looking at My Blorbo
This has been the first, and only, Mikado Monday. I don't think any other character is going to get this much love from me, but I'm thinking of who to post about next.
Mikado has taken back the Yugiri.
It can be hard to tell, since it's a palette-swapped nodachi, but if you look close, you can see the hilt is red.
Mikado Fan Art
I don't feel comfortable posting other people's fan art, especially without their permission, and most of it is obviously from Japan. So, I'm linking to the other sites. If any of the artists want me to remove these, I will.
This second link is actually three pictures of increasing realism. The artist also has a few Bushido Blade comics, including the next link.
This artist's blog includes a cute chibi Mikado (in which she is identified by another role her voice actress performed "Currypanman"): http://okirakustudio2.web.fc2.com/analogue/a_022.htm
The also did a cute valentine's picture of the four ladies: http://okirakujuraku.blog97.fc2.com/blog-entry-2353.html
Mikado Mirror
There are so many death animations in Bushido Blade 1 and a few in the sequel. For some reason (probably demons), I recorded Mikado ending herself for more than six minutes straight.
Just screaming and dying for six minutes.
Execution
In the first game, surrender leaves you open to attack and ends the fight after a set time, but in the sequel, it's a cutscene.
Here's that bloodstained versus Mikado accepting her fate.
And so, the bandaged story Mikado cannot outlive herself.
This location, by the way, is a story scene exclusive: outside the Tatara Shrine. (Not the Tatara Shrine Path stage.) You normally cannot fight here.
Just Give Up
In both games, the player can surrender. In the first game, it could only be done if your leg was broken. In the second, you can just... give up.
POV: The enemy would rather die than fight a child (that's you).
POV: She is adamant about this fact!
POV: Your friend wishes to die with honor, but you have terrible aim.
Story Mode (Japanese)
For comparison's sake, here is the video of all the scenes with Mikado in Bushido Blade 2 with the original Japanese audio. Again, her VA here is Michiyo Yanagisawa.
This is still an edit, as the other five starting characters appear in their versus outfits, but this time Mikado wears her Story outfit as intended. The order of the scenes is exactly the same as the English video.
Bushido Dance
In the second game, the characters have a set of special kata performances they can do for certain achievements. The dance in question changes based on weapon.
Beating 20 opponents in Vs CPU mode, winning in Group Battle Mode, or beating Story mode without dying will show you something like this.
Obviously these aren't the locations they're supposed to do this in. This second location is the secret "Samurai Mansion" stage in the POV Link Battle Mode.
This is one of the training rooms.
Victory Pose Double Feature
In Bushido Blade 2, victory poses are locked to characters, but I've found a way to make everyone be able to strike all those poses.
This video is of Mikado first and her Shainto counterpart Kaun second doing every victory pose except their own in their Versus mode outfits.
This video is the same arrangement, but with Story mode outfits.
YELLING
Isohachi is an angry old man and his lungs are a weapon.
POV: Some little girl is in the way of the repose of your ancestors.
Isohachi's yell has limited "ammo" shall we call it. It's actually in the code separately from sub-weapons, actual gun ammo, and the gun reloads. Unlike Chihiro's frog, Isohachi's yell startles everyone.
POV: This dam woman is in your dam way.
The final set of Vs sprites. We've got Tsubame and Katze, Nightstalker and Tony, Sazanka and Highwayman, and the secret characters. This first pair is actually unused in-game because Tsubame and Katze can only be selected in Vs mode (and Group Battle mode, which uses no sprites).
The secret duo, Otomaru and Ohomaru, are also only in Vs.
Character Select Face
On the right here, is the game's Story mode icon, which itself is a frame from the game's intro movie. Left to right: Gengoro, Jo, Kaun, Tatsumi, Mikado, Kannuki. Below are the Vs sprites for those five.
Due to a few characters' asymmetrical designs, they get two different vs screen sprites.
FROGS
Chihiro is troublesome little boy. He likes to throw frogs at people.
POV: The enemy leader is afraid of your pet frog.
Mikado, Red Shadow (also known as Hotarubi), Jo, and Hongou all react to this frog in this over-dramatic way. This behavior is tied to their movelist, so any character can be made to react this way.
POV: A grown woman, who is also a samurai assassin (and might be able to hear the dead), is afraid of your pet frog.
POV: You found the only ninja that doesn't like frogs.
POV: That one girl in class thinks she's so cool.
POV: You found the guy that's bullying your brother.
POV: That girl came back! She's friends with the bully!
In their defense, it's a big frog. It also continues to move around the stage and can jump off ledges. It is a pain to pick back up in first person mode.
Further, nothing is stopping any character from picking the frog up and throwing back into Chihiro's face.
Mikado Story (Injured)
In both games, getting hit in Story mode will give the player character battle damage in future scenes. These are the four limbs and either the head (BB1) or torso (BB2).
Here's those Mikado scenes from the first game, but this time both Mikado and the other playable characters are fully damage. I only recently discovered you could even apply the damage effects to NPCs. It's an exploit anyone can do: using the secret P2 option in Story mode (R1+R2+L1+L2+Start+Select almost anytime on P2's controller while in Story mode), any NPC in P1's story that is defeated while controlled by P2 will be fully damaged when they reappear. No gameshark codes or other data manipulation required at all.
Making Characters Act
Since the cutscenes of Bushido Blade 2 are handled in-engine, it's super easy to put different actors on different stages with repurposed animations.
For example, this is Mikado and Jo reenacting part of Kannuki's ending in the Shainto Group Battle Stage. Jo is even using a different weapon from Mikado, unlike how Tatsumi wields the same as Kannuki.
The way Tatsumi falls in Kannuki's ending is so stiff; it's a very low-budget fall.
By contrast, "Tatsumi's" attack is a complete whiff in Mikado's ending, but the fall is more dramatic.
There's a few hiccups to the process of making this, but I can mostly make anyone in this game do anything someone else can do.
Here are even more sprites. In order Utsusemi and Hongou, Red Shadow (Hotarubi) and Chihiro, Matsumushi and Utamaru, and Suminagashi and Isohachi.
Now play spot the difference with these last two.
Character Select Face
On the right here, is the game's Story mode icon, which itself is a frame from the game's intro movie. Left to right: Gengoro, Jo, Kaun, Tatsumi, Mikado, Kannuki. Below are the Vs sprites for those five.
Due to a few characters' asymmetrical designs, they get two different vs screen sprites.
Locking Swords
Blade clashes in Bushido Blade 2 are more interesting visually than the first game. The character who is winning actually pushes the loser around in a far more obvious way.
POV: You've locked blades with the leader of the enemy clan on a castle roof.
POV: You've locked blades with a shrine maiden on competition grounds.
POV: You're just gals being pals when she just lets you win.
The motion of actually flinging the loser is something I'm sad the sequel lost, but the clarity of who is winning is more important.
This Adorable Lady
Look at that face.
Two of the eight weapons' art features Mikado. Oddly not the naginata, but instead the heaviest weapons.
Once again, I got these pictures from FightersGeneration, but I don't know where they got them.
Character Select Face
On the right here, is the game's Story mode icon, which itself is a frame from the game's intro movie. Left to right: Gengoro, Jo, Kaun, Tatsumi, Mikado, Kannuki. Below are the Vs sprites for those five.
Due to a few characters' asymmetrical designs, they get two different vs screen sprites.
Mikado Endings
I mentioned earlier that the original Bushido Blade has a secret tenth fight. Beating that gives the second (actually canon) ending.
Here are the two endings for Mikado. Her Japanese VA in both games was Michiyo Yanagisawa.
Showing Off
Every normal character in Bushido Blade 2 has a subweapon (except Isohachi who yells loud enough to be a weapon). Mikado has throwing knives.
Look at how Hongou, one of the strongest warriors, is kept pushed back from the strength of the shrine maiden.
Check out the sweet dodge I did by accident while recording Mikado's Skyward Strike.
Throwing and Battle Damage
Mikado sadly only knows one of the possible throws. With the Naginata, her signature weapon, she can break her opponent's neck. I can cheat her into using the others, but let's talk about a Story mode oddity first.
Neck breaker demonstrated by a fully battle damaged versus Mikado on a clean story Mikado.
In the second game, all four limbs and the torso can be damaged. This is marked with either bloodstains or bandages.
Story damage is in the game's files and code, for all six starting characters' versus outfits and the four unlockable characters from Slash mode, too. This is despite that none of them should be in Story mode.
Uno Reverse Card! This is what Mikado's story outfit looks like with all five damage points.
Mikado, that illegal! You can't use throws in Group Battle Mode!
Story Mode (English)
In Bushido Blade 2's Story Mode, the starting six characters (including Mikado) have different outfits than they use in the rest of the game.
I know how to switch it back, though. I said I was a dirty little hacker.
This video is every scene she's in. Video is my own; made it a while back. Her English VA is Wendee Lee, who also voices Jo.
The first part of the video is her role in other characters' stories. First as an enemy, then as a friend. The second part of the video is her own story route. The Narukagami crew only have one ending each in this game, while the Shainto have a choice at the end of theirs.