EVENT: The Berserker Tournament

[zenderael_mods]

Who: Open
When: Friday, June 3rd to Friday, June 10th
Where: Pakerion
Before/After: --
Warnings: Violence.

[ This is a catch-all post for tourney shenanigans throughout the week. Use the subject line to indicate when a particular scene is taking place.

If you'd like to log your character in a match, please indicate the match, tier, and day in the subject line.

Interview thread!

Friday & Saturday brackets.
Sunday & Monday brackets.
Tuesday & Wednesday brackets.
Additional brackets forthcoming. ]

Comments

[bantambrawl]

What a question, Ravidnra. Virelai's energy came back in full force as she beamed at nothing in particular. "Marlene is nice! And really pretty! She's a spellsword, and she uses support magic, but she's strong and smart. When things go wrong or get bad, she knows how to handle it and help everyone else handle it."

Virelai began to fidget her fingers together, afraid to look up. "And, um, she's... assertive. I wish I could be assertive like Marlene." But imagining saying the kinds of things Marlene did would make Virelai nearly faint.

[paladont]

That matched with the brief glimpse he'd gotten of her through their conversation. The 'big sis' stuff and the offer to help if he needed it, even the advice she'd given, which he'd taken to heart even if he'd been reluctant to hear it.

Maybe he should talk to Marlene more often...? She didn't seem so bad. Virelai certainly liked her, and he trusted that when Virelai approved so wholeheartedly of someone, it was someone worthy of that approval.

The nervous admission got a faint smile out of him as he looked to Virelai. "I wish I could be assertive, too," he admitted.

[bantambrawl]

"Maybe we should ask Marlene to teach us." She had said it in jest, her grin a touch playful before it fell to a calmer smile. "But I think she would be the person to ask about something like that."

She reflected further, brow furrowed in deep thought. "Maybe... ask what Marlene would do..."

But then her face turned red and she stared at the ground.

[paladont]

...Uh.

He didn't understand why that would be so embarrassing, unaware of Marlene's penchant for strong language and Virelai's aversion to it, so her reaction just left him puzzled and uncertain of how to respond.

"...What would she do?" he asked. Maybe that would shed some light on it.

[bantambrawl]

"She said if I met someone giving me a hard time, that I should... I should..." Virelai narrowed her eyes, trying to look angry (but mostly, she looked confused) and direct her not-quite-rage at an invisible person in front of her.

"I should tell them to f-- fff... fffffff..." She was beginning to sound something like a hissing cat. "To fffff...." The more she tried, the further she wilted, until she was slouched and whispering with a squeak in her voice. "Fuck off..."

[paladont]

He listened intently, growing increasingly curious just from how difficult it was for her to get the word out. The quieter she got, the closer he leaned in to try to hear it. And still, he could just barely make it out once she finally forced herself to say it.

He straightened, trying to suppress an amused smile. So Marlene was that sort of assertive. "Maybe you could try the same sentiment with different words," he suggested, setting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

[bantambrawl]

The redness in her face faded with time, and she remembered to breath and the world had righted itself again. Different words. Her brows knit together for another round of deep thought.

Go have sex somewhere, while presumably synonymous, could not convey the same meaning, and go away lacked that assertive kick...

This was so hard.

"Can't I hit them with my hammer instead?" She already knew the answer to that.

[paladont]

"I don't recommend it." It was such a berserker alternative, though. He couldn't help smiling at it. "You could try 'get lost', maybe?"

[bantambrawl]

"But they might have somewhere they need to b-- oh." Right. This was being assertive and when people were in your way, it was fair if they were a little late to their appointments. They probably should have thought about that before messing with Virelai the Nameless.

"Get lost," she repeated. "I can do that."

[paladont]

God damn Virelai how do you be so adorable. He ruffled her hair. Couldn't help it. She was just begging for it. And no pigtails to mess up by doing it! "There you go," he told her. "Perfect."

[bantambrawl]

Virelai beamed with a special kind of pride because she had earned hair ruffles. Yes, excellent. These were the rewards of the assertive path. Virelai would conquer it.

"Thanks, P-- Ravi. And maybe where it's hard for you to be assertive, we can come up with different things, too!"

[paladont]

His smile dimmed a bit, because it wasn't quite as simple for him as just finding a different way to phrase things. Actively disagreeing with people you wanted to please was hard, and he hadn't figured out how to do it without upsetting anyone, and the answer to that was a little trickier than just finding language he was comfortable using. It wasn't the same as telling someone who was giving you a hard time to fuck off.

But he didn't want to kill her mood, so he said, "Maybe," and tried to sound like he actually believed it.

"I should get back to my friends." He stood, looking down to her. "You're all right now?"

[bantambrawl]

Yeah, maybe. It'd be okay, Ravindra, you'd see!

"I'm all right now," she confirmed. "I should report to the Ahura." Translation: Rhys I bit a guy on a scale of tripping to throwing someone, how awesome do you consider this behavior.

"Be careful on your way back." Not that there was anything to worry about, but she wanted something to say...!