HMG X Round 1 Bracket 2

Who takes your breath away?

Empusa

14.3%

Leprechaun

7.1%

Marid

35.7%

Noppera-bo

35.7%

Pariah

7.1%

14 votes

Jul 8, 2023 9:17 PM

tygertyger

Offline

May 2013

1472

Also don't forget to vote in the other voting brackets!
Bracket 1: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2104978
Bracket 3: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2104994
Bracket 4: https://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=2105002

EMPUSA

LEPRECHAUN

Family: Succubus
Type: Dwarf
Habitat: Forests, meadows, fields
Disposition: Cheerful, mischievous, lustful
Diet: Men’s essence

Leprechauns are a type of succubus that are always found wearing heavily green-themed articles of clothing, which typically includes suits, dresses, hats, and even shoes. They normally have bright ginger hair and are usually of short stature. A leprechaun is never seen far away from a large iron pot or cauldron filled to the brim with gold coins. They are famous for using their wealth to playfully tempt men into partaking in games, bets, or contests with the promise of sharing some of their gold as a reward. Leprechauns take great pleasure in coming up with ridiculous challenges.

Since their physical and sensory abilities aren't much greater than those of the average human man they avoid being overpowered and having their gold simply stolen through their ability to phase both themselves and their collection of gold in and out of reality at will; effectively being able to teleport short distances in rapid succession lets them avoid any would-be thieves. To facilitate the games and bets they challenge men to they can temporarily turn gold coins in their collections into almost any kind of non-magical items they want and simply turn them back when the game is done. They are also skilled with illusion magic.

When a leprechaun sees a man who strikes her fancy she places herself in his path and waits for him to “accidentally” happen upon her. She might create the illusion of a rainbow to help guide him if the man happens to miss her. When the man sees her she will usually sit waiting for him atop her pot of gold. Once their eyes meet she'll playfully invite him over, and soon after start trying to cheerfully tempt him into playing a game or making a bet with the prize for winning usually being some of her gold and the cost of losing normally being agreeing to indulge her carnal desires. The contests are innocent if bizarre at first, but as they continue the challenges gradually become more perverse. The leprechaun’s succubus nature slowly leaks through, both parties getting more aroused with each passing game or bet, until finally the man loses from lack of ability… or lack of effort. The contest ends with the pair surging in on each other to drown one another in ecstasy.

Name That Mamono: Allie

Allie sports wavy blonde hair instead of the more typical ginger curls. She's fond of wearing a green leather coat over a silk green dress with a green hat with optional green underwear (if she's cold). Allie also makes the effort of using her illusion magic to make her pot look green whenever she converses with someone.

An atypical passion of hers is absorbing as much popular fictional media as she can. Allie greatly enjoys spending her free time either reading novels or using teleportation magic to sneak into theatres to secretly watch popular plays. She makes a habit of speaking in quotes to the men she meets; she delights in their confusion when they don't understand what she's doing but adores it when they do understand and join in. Another hobby she loves to partake in is learning and singing different shanties from travelers and sailors from across the world -- she turns her gold coins into different instruments to help in her performance of said songs.

When she meets a man that strikes her fancy she'll often test him by quoting her favourite books and plays. If he knows where the quotes came from she'll invite him to a night together and gladly use her coins to make their time together more comfortable. This can be anything from turning her gold coins into instruments to aid in her singing for him to turning them into a tent to shield them from the elements and even turning them into a mattress, blanket, and pillows for when the time comes to indulge each other in carnal pleasure.

MARID

Family: Spirit
Type: Elemental
Habitat: Anywhere humans can live
Disposition: Rebellious, contrary, lustful
Diet: Spirit or demonic energy

Marid (mah-REED) are elemental spirits of darkness and confusion. As agents of chaos they revel in causing strife on any scale from a lovers’ quarrel to a world war depending on their talents and the scope of their ambitions. It’s fortunate for the world that most marids’ talents and ambitions tend toward the lower end of the scale.

A marid looks exactly like a human woman except for having hair and/or eyes in colors that are unusual among humans. Marid are quick to point out that they’re not humans, however. In fact they’ll boast about their “superior” nature at every opportunity unless they are in disguise, but marid enjoy deception so they frequently use disguises and false identities to perpetrate their schemes. When she isn’t in the midst of some charade one can often spot a marid by the contemptuous smirk that is her usual expression.

Marid have potent magical abilities, though far less so than their genie relatives. Some have been observed using curse magic, at which many of them excel, while others have been seen wielding magics as diverse as mind magic, necromancy, eromancy, and illusion. Marid aren’t forthcoming about which schools of magic come naturally to their kind and which they must work to learn, but scholars believe that each individual marid has a high aptitude for one or two schools of magic but only limited ability to learn any others. All of them can cast glamours to disguise their appearance. Marid favor subtle uses of magic over flashy offensive spells. They also have secondary abilities including disease immunity, poison resistance, and night vision.

Unlike most mamono marid never take husbands. They take concubines. A marid’s goal is to find a man and trick or blackmail him into becoming her plaything, and the more complex and dramatic the scheme the better. It is this love of drama that is a man’s best hope of escaping a marid’s clutches… or getting into them on his own terms. A marid’s rebellious nature is so strong that it makes her vulnerable to reverse psychology -- with clever wording, and if he’s not too obvious about it, a man can get a marid to do what he wants by suggesting that she do the opposite. After falling for such a deception a marid will be unwilling to admit that she was manipulated by “a mere human.” She will convince herself that she did what she wanted to do and that she wants to keep doing it. A marid will never be a meek and submissive wife, but a man who plays his cards right can convince her to make him her partner in crime. She might even be fine with that arrangement as long as she believes that she’s the senior partner.

Name That Mamono: Faiza (FIE-zah)

You can trust Faiza, she never lies. Those things you heard about her being a small-time grifter who uses magic to rig games of chance? Vicious rumors perpetuated by rivals who can’t match the scale of her ambition! And the claims that she is a 400-year-old virgin, and that she can’t even speak to a man if he can see her face? LIES! Faiza is no shy flower who gets tongue-tied at the sight of a man who is tall… and has a rugged chin… and pretty eyes… no, indeed! She is merely… selective, yes! Not just any man will do for a girl who wants one who is obedient… who will wait on her hand and foot… who will pin her down and ravish her… I mean, who knows his place! Faiza will have a man when she finds one who is truly worthy of her! That is the Lords’ own truth! You can trust Faiza, she never lies!

NOPPERA-BO

PARIAH

Family: Undead
Type: Ghost
Habitat: Desecrated lands, ruins, crypts, graveyards
Disposition: Tricky, playful, lustful
Diet: Spirit energy, wealth

A pariah is an odd variation of ghost that revolves around thievery and often travels alone. She has no appearance at first glance; she appears simply as a shadow within a cloak hidden from view and avoiding sunlight.

Pariahs are playful and impish. They are stricken with kleptomania and steal anything that is not nailed down… hearts included. The shade has no apparent advantage over an above-average human in the physical or sensory spheres, but she more than makes up for it in both physical and mental agility. The average pariah is light, so much so that she can scale walls with ease, and her dexterous fingers can slip into pockets without anyone noticing. Light feet can sprint without the slightest hint of footfalls, and they can sneak past the most alert of guards. All pariahs have the innate senses of master thieves, though it is unknown if this is because they were such in their previous lives. They have a sense for gold and currency, for they feed off of it to survive and keep themselves living comfortably; they require wealth to keep the shadows that fuel them fed.

They have an innate sense of shadows and control over them, blending into even the lightest of shadows with ease, which makes them exceptionally hard to spot in dimly lit areas. They can also create blades of shadow from their cloaks which deal no physical damage but leave a deathly chill where they sever the line between the body and its spirit energy or demonic energy. Successive cuts can lead to unconsciousness or death depending on how severe an attack is. All pariahs are weak to light magic, and they cannot defend against such attacks; they can only run and hide. Similarly, they are only confident when shrouded in their shadows, and they grow increasingly flustered while their faces can be seen.

A pariah is a thief first and foremost, but she is also an exceptional flirt and has a silver tongue to charm any being who catches her fancy. They see it as a challenge to steal men away from their wives, or vice versa, and will sometimes go out of their way to attempt such a heist of the heart and then steal away in the night. So long as her shadows remain complete she is a trickster and a flirt who will woo anyone and everyone, all the while stealing trinkets to remember them by and coin to survive.

Name That Mamono: Cykumi

Cykumi is a pariah who lives within Blackmoor. She works as an informant and steals the riches of pirates and ne’er-do-wells before turning them in to the local authorities. Whether anything gets done after that isn’t up to her. The only problem is that on her last job she ran into a sailor in the middle of her heist and he saw her face. Now she is utterly fascinated with him and cannot let him escape her grasp.

MetallumOperaturJul 16, 2023 12:31 AM

"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling

Jul 26, 2023 1:13 PM

tygertyger

Offline

May 2013

1472

HMG X Bracket 2 H-off: Leprechaun

Allie blew out a raspberry in idle boredom as she sat alone at a crossroads in the middle of the countryside, a single coin from her pot of gold being turned into a comfortable chair. The sun shone high in the sky without a cloud in sight, but there was a gentle breeze to help keep her cool. The tall green grass and reeds from the field she was sitting in helped to keep her out of sight.

She had spent much of the day sitting there lying in wait. Allie liked the idea of coming across interesting strangers out in the middle of the countryside -- or rather; she liked the dynamic of mysteriously appearing out of nowhere to greet interesting strangers that happened upon her in the middle of the countryside.

In Allie's experience people only came all the way out to places like this for one of four reasons: One, they're on the way to somewhere interesting. Two, they're trying to get away from somewhere interesting. Three, they themselves are trying to lie in wait for some interesting people... albeit for less wholesome reasons. Or four, they just have an insatiable wanderlust, which would not only make them interesting by default in Allie's eyes, but would also make them kindred spirits in a way.

So regardless of who she met all the way out here, to her they were pretty much guaranteed to at least be an interesting chat, but she usually managed to get a little more from the ones she took a liking to. The only problem was the inordinate amounts of time spent waiting in order to make such dramatic entrances and introductions possible. She blew another raspberry in growing irritation.

I need to get fresh books next time I'm in a town, she thought, but then paused as she tilted her head to the side. Are those footsteps I hear? Allie beamed with glee as she changed her chair back into a gold coin before dropping to the ground and carefully parting the grass to get a look at who was coming. What she saw was a tall, thin man wearing a long tatty coat. He had tanned brown skin, a black unkempt beard, long curly hair that was partially covered by a wool cap, and was carrying a small bindle over his shoulder. Alright, I can work with this, she thought in delight. He didn't look the type to be well-versed in the musical or literary arts, but he could still be a pleasant chat and a nice fuck. She waited to see which road he would choose. The man wandered to the centre of the crossroads before stopping to look up at the signpost. He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and turned to head down south. Show time, she mused.

Before the man had even taken half a dozen steps away from the signpost Allie had teleported her way to casually sit on top of it, turning one of her gold coins into a lute before beginning to strum it with her fingers. A light and playful tune emanated from the instrument that was soon joined by her lilting voice. The man spun with the abruptness expected of a man who had been snuck up on in the middle of nowhere, but he didn't try to run or pull any kind of weapon on her. Instead he merely watched in startled bewilderment as Allie sang her song.

https://youtu.be/JkLmV-sIBZs

When she finished her song with a flourish and a bow she waited for a moment, then abruptly lifted her head with a pout. "What? I don't even get any applause?" She asked with feigned dejection.

"Who are you?" He asked warily.

"Who would you like me to be?" She immediately retorted. "Because I could be a lot of things to you... a singer, a poet, a storyteller, a dancer, a drinking buddy, a fuck buddy... it all depends on you, really."
His eyebrows shot up at that, looking from side to side in order to try to spot if anyone else was going to just pop out of nowhere. Allie smiled down at him.

"No one else is here, darling, it's just you and me," She promised. "Are you in a rush to get somewhere?"

"No..." he answered hesitantly.

"Then why not stick around and keep me company for a while?" Allie pressed with a sly grin. "Sharing food, drinks, shelter, stories, and songs with interesting strangers is a hobby of mine."

"You think I'm interesting?" He asked in bafflement.

"I certainly do! I can tell just by looking at you that you're not really from around here... which means you've probably got more than a few stories to tell, and judging from the way you shrugged at this signpost here, you don't even care where you're going, do you? That has my interest piqued as well."

"Uh-huh. Speaking of curiosity, how do I know you're not going to try anything when my guard is down?" Allie's eyes twinkled before she vanished, teleporting behind him and swapping their headwear before teleporting back to sit back on top of the signpost again. The man quickly spun when he felt his wool cap leave his head, spinning even more when he felt Allie's own hat replacing it, before finally turning to face her again.

"Honey, if I wanted to rob or kill you, I could have done it without singing you a song first. Plus I already have a pot of magical gold with me, so there's that," she said while lifting up and shaking said bowl, the gold inside it clinking. The man hesitated for a moment.

"Fair enough. I assume that means I can have my cap back, then?" He questioned as he took off and offered up her own hat.

"Hmm... after you answer a question for me. Some men prefer to speak of their pasts, while others wish only to speak of their futures. Which would you rather speak of, past or future?" Allie asked.

"Honestly, I think I'd rather speak of the present," he answered, which made Allie smile again.

"As you wish," she replied with a widening smile. She turned two coins into comfortable chairs and then jumped down from the signpost onto one of them. "May I be so bold as to assume you meant speaking of me? I'm right here in the present with you after all... and I'm guessing that you've never met one of my kind before," she stated, playfully putting the tips of her fingers together in front of her chest.
"Nope, can't say I've ever met a girl like you before," he answered.

"Well then, ladies like me never pass up opportunities to speak about ourselves. Where should I start..." Allie mused.

"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling

Jul 26, 2023 1:18 PM

tygertyger

Offline

May 2013

1472

HMG X Bracket 2 H-off: Pariah

I find the waves of the dock quite relaxing, though most of my crew disagree. Sitting on the deck as the ship rocks with the gentle waves coming from far out at sea, lapping against the sides of the docks with gentle motions, I find it quite peaceful. And yet, Blackmoore is anything but peaceful. It’s a pirate city first and foremost; stolen goods, slaves, the works of illegal goods are sold here on a daily basis right under the nose of the governor… or maybe she knows the open secret of the place and just doesn’t care. Maybe she even deals in some of the stolen goods, not caring how they were acquired. Either way, it’s a hell of a place, and the captain hasn’t even told us what we’re doing here. We’ve unloaded our cargo -- whatever it was -- but now we’ve been stuck waiting for it to get processed, sitting on the dock just waiting for someone to come take it. I sighed to myself as I threw another bucket of seawater over the planks, swabbing the deck with the mop. As the only human aboard I was one of the only ones not tasked with guarding the cargo… not that I could do anything even if I wanted to. I sighed again as I threw water over the lower deck Ii was mopping.

Suddenly there was a figure running down the deck, having dropped from the cargo elevator that led to the hold I was currently in. There were shouts and a commotion behind her, but I was too focused on her to notice. She was running at a full sprint, her thick red cloak pulled down over her head, looking down as she bolted straight towards me. She had boots of some kind on, but they didn't make a sound, and there wasn't the rustle or sound of cloth or metal or anything on her. It was as if she were a phantom, nothing but a sight burned into my mind. I couldn't process it in time before she was closing in on me.

The first noise I heard was a soft cry of surprise as her foot landed on the standing water on the deck and slid out from under her. She hit the deck with a rather painful sounding thump. She rolled to a stop at my feet, grunting in pain with her hood laid back. Her face was a grimace of pain, lips pulled back in a tight line that showed slightly sharp canines -- the only thing that revealed her mamono nature. Her skin was pale, her eyes were closed so I couldn't see them, and her hair was a long luxurious black.

“Ow…” she groaned out, bright red eyes opening to look up at me. She froze, the panic building up in her gaze. She locked up, unable to move under her own power as if trapped by my gaze. Suddenly there was another crash as another body came down through the elevator hatch, stumbled, and fell flat on her face. It was one of the mercenary guards of Blackmoore, an anubis belonging to a pirate gang. The black and red leathers told me she was part of the Bonedogs. They were a vicious gang, run by a ruthless werewolf matron, that the captain had hired to help keep the ship and cargo safe. She was still reeling, much like the girl at my feet. There was naught but a few seconds of decision to be made, and the fight-or-flight response took over.

The cloaked woman was already getting up. I crouched down to assist without a single word, grabbing her by the shoulder and getting a hiss in response. I didn't listen though. I jostled her into the closet I had pulled the cleaning supplies from and closed the door as the anubis began to rise.

“Where is she!?” the anubis growled, shakily standing on her feet as she gathered up the dagger that she had been holding, her angry eyes glaring at me as her hackles were raised and her ears were alert.

“T-that way,” I said, thumbing behind me, down the corridor that led to the crew’s quarters, and with them the unloading ramp that would lead the anubis to think she got away. The dog girl’s eyes lit up and she began to run, her nails clicking on the deck as she bolted by me with the biggest grin on her face, no longer caring about her hard fall from earlier. She came to the corner and slipped on the wet deck, but her claws let her keep her balance, holding out a hand to push off the wall and bolt down the corridor away from us.

I let out a sigh of relief and turned to the closet wondering what I should do. On the one hand, the girl was trespassing and likely trying to steal cargo. On the other hand, if I turned her in she’d likely be killed or sold off as a slave. Neither of those things sounded good for her wellbeing, and I had to sit and contemplate it for a moment. When the door cracked open I couldn't see into the shadows of the tiny closet, but a voice reached out to me.

“Is she gone?” she whispered, barely even audible at this point.

“Yeah,” I responded, leaning my mop up against the wall of the vessel and looking at the closet.

“Thank the lords,” she muttered before the door opened wider and her hand shot out and snagged mine. I was yanked into the closet with a startled cry, only to be shushed by her as she pulled me into the closet.

“Quiet,” she urged, her red eyes literally shining up at me. “Don't alert the others with that pretty voice of yours,” she purred as she pressed against me. I couldn't see her, but I could feel her, her hands grabbing at my chest, gently pulling the clothing away from my skin. “After all, I need to reward you for saving me,” she cooed gently as I felt my shirt being taken off of me so fast I couldn't even tell how she’d done it. Those red eyes smiled up at me as her gloved hand wormed its way into the trousers I wore. “See? Aren’t you a good boy,” she cooed as the buckle was undone with her other hand and she dropped them to the floor. I couldn't help my reaction as she pressed against me, her much smaller frame looking up at me as she continued to disrobe me, leaving me nearly naked in a storage closet with her.

“W-what are you doing?” I finally managed to get out quietly, the stunned stupor wearing off as I looked at those eyes. She giggled evilly, and shook her head.

“Rewarding my prize, of course,” she purred sweetly. There was a thump as her knees hit the ground and she pulled my underclothes down. Her eyes closed and left me entirely in the dark to receive my “reward” for helping keep her out of trouble.

tygertygerJul 28, 2023 4:23 PM

"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling

Jul 26, 2023 1:38 PM

mugen91

Offline

Jan 2013

488

Now this is a tough one.

Just from the entries, I had a slight preference for the pariah, but these shorts are both very good and I have a hard time deciding.

The leprechaun short makes some nice use of her natural abilities and her hobbies.

I like how the pariah short depicts the events referenced in the NTM section. It also serves as a very nice opening to continue the story, perhaps from Cykumi's perspective.
Small nitpick is that the eyes in the reference picture are very much not blue :P

Jul 26, 2023 2:35 PM

tygertyger

Offline

May 2013

1472

I can't believe I missed that! Cykumi's eye color has been corrected in the narrative.

"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling

Jul 28, 2023 8:20 PM

tygertyger

Offline

May 2013

1472

This bracket was also difficult to judge because both stories were executed equally well IMPO. In this case I went with the one that I thought did a better job of showing off the female lead's personality as described in the NTM. So I call this one for... the leprechaun!

"When you have bought your own load of hooey, you know exactly what it is worth." -- Bruce Sterling

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