Welcome to Gaia! ::

That's something I'm still figuring out, and something I will be having much fun exploiting.

But seeing as how I'm not expecting to get this any time soon, I have time to think it over. Which I hope to be doing tomorrow or after Christmas. *nodnod*

But thank you for bringing that up!

Just a random drop-by because the thread caught my eye.

Congrats on Melody surviving Barren Pines! You'll need to pick another school for her in your app. I love her personality, she was really fun to watch during BP! n.n

I would just be careful in making your attacks too literal for the power sphere. Rose and Natsu have said before that they didn't want animal power spheres to have attacks be "summon that animal", and that seems to be what is happening here, just for flora instead of fauna. I would look into the meanings and myths of sakura and try to base at least one of the attacks around those, instead of one (and the powerup) summoning the blossoms and the other summoning the full tree.

Hey there Bunni! Congrats again on having Melody become a senshi! Before she can be awakened, though, your attacks need a bit of tweaking.

Her attacks are... pretty spread out, and don't really have much to do with cherry blossoms specifically, aside from their appearance. Perhaps consider remaking attacks to specify cherry blossoms? As they are, the attack could be used by ANY type of flower petal.

Her super attack should be an upgrade from her first attack. Currently, her super attack looks like a whole new ability. I can see where you're going with having Lacrimosa being able to prevent an enemy from attacking, first by blinding them (scout-level attack) then by binding them (super), but there's too much difference between blinding and binding to validate it as being connected.

Finally, for her eternal attack... I don't see how it relates to cherry blossoms at all aside from summoning a cherry tree? Since she summons a TREE which can slow down an opponent and heal a party member... That in itself is WAY too much, not to mention doing TWO things as an ability -- slowing something down AND healing.

In all honesty, I really like that her super attack forces her opponents to slow down. It gives ties to the heavy symbolism of cherry blossoms being fragile and fading quickly -- by slowing her opponents down, it's as if she's going hey you slow down and enjoy life! Perhaps make this her first attack? A torrent of cherry blossoms that impede movement before dying quickly, then with super being a cherry blossom-chain lasting for a minute or so before wilting and fading away?

For her eternal... You could, perhaps, have her summon a storm of cherry blossoms to swirl around an ally to heal them? Cherry blossom folklore has a LOT to do with the intensity and shortness of life -- it might be wise to take a stroll around Google's collection of links on the subject for more ideas. smile

Finally, I advise against having Japanese words as the attack. "Flower!" and "Flower at Night!" don't relate to the attacks at all. If you need some ideas, here is a handy generator. The results aren't the best, but it's a place to start? :3

Attacks have been updated~

Okay, took a moment to collect my thoughts, talked with a friend and reworked/rewrote the attacks. Here's to hoping they fit better <3

I like what you have for your first and second attack, but your Eternal attack still needs some tinkering with, I don't see it having enough to do with cherry blossoms to fit. XD

Have you thought about an Eternal attack that's related to their brevity? Cherry trees are a poetic thing not just because their flowers are pretty, but also because the blossoms only last about a week or so (IIRC) before they've faded away completely - it's very much a "Nothing Gold Can Stay" sort of idea.

Hey Bunni! Wanted to see if I could help out <3

One thing that I notice in your attacks is that you're very cinematic in your approach. This isn't a bad thing - in RP, it'll certainly have some dramatic effects - but I think it may be confusing you when it comes to designing them, because while the visual design of the attacks surely demonstrates your character's sphere, the actual powers themselves tend to have nothing to do with them. For example, in the Eternal attack you did: What does a protection-based attack have to do with cherry blossoms? What logic or lore is being used to justify cherry blossoms being able to protect someone from harm?

It might help you out to remove, temporarily, all mention of what the attack looks like, and focus only on what it does. If you do this, this is what you're left with:


NAME: Sakura Rain!
Ranged attack. Serves as a distraction as well as slowing the foe down. Withers on contact.

Pros: Impedes the enemy's movement and distract. Easily flammable and can be prevented by fire from even reaching their target in the first place.
Cons: Lasts only a few seconds, is easily dodged. Can be burned or knocked off. Small drain of her own energy, however minute. It depends on the closeness of the enemy on how much the drain is. Can leave her vulnerable for a couple minutes herself as her energy rebuilds from the assault.

Attack #1a
NAME: Sakura Storm!
Almost web like, can cling to the target. Scent of cherry blossoms can become overpowering if the attack makes contact, which distracts the target. The attack lasts up to thirty seconds before they wither away, taking the scent with it.

Pros: Impedes the enemy's movement and distracts. Scent can distract them if the attack hits and prevents the target from avoiding the rest of the attack. Easily flammable and can be prevented by fire from even reaching their target in the first place.
Cons: Lasts half a minute, is easily dodged. Can be burned or knocked off. Small drain of her own energy, however minute. It depends on the closeness of the enemy on how much the drain is. Leaves her vulnerable for a couple minutes herself as her energy rebuilds from the assault.

Attack #2
NAME: Transient Sakura~
Acts as a shield, defending allies that are near enough a quick route of escape or enough time to put together a quick change of tactics, keeping the enemy at bay. Anywhere from 15-45 seconds, attack will vanish. Wind in the area can effectively quicken loss of attack strength. Fire also easily removes them from the picture.

Pros: Protects anywhere from 2-4 allies if they are near enough (max five foot radius) from incoming attacks by the enemy. May keep the enemy from launching an effective attack so she and her allies can escape or pull together a new plan. This attack is especially effective if the enemy happens to have allergies.
Cons: Direct drain on her own energy, fewer allies to shield, less energy is required. Loss of attack strength is quickened from the petals being attacked or set aflame. May take longer to burn in this attack, but still burn away before proving to be very effective.


So let's regroup the ideas, see what you're looking at. In attacks 1 and 1a, you're leaning on the distracting qualities of the cherry blossoms, which makes sense; in that regard, you're pulling on established convention in order to support the attack concept. But you have some extra things tossed in that don't make much sense. For example - why would cherry blossoms become sticky and cling to a target? There's no reason I can see, within the power sphere, to include this, so cut it out of the attack and focus on what relates to the sphere. Also, you should support the "slowing down" effect in attack 1 better. I saw that someone mentioned a rationale you could use, regarding that an attack might make enemies realize how short life is and make them slow down; I think that's a really clever way to include the mortality symbolism in an attack, so you might consider weaving that into the attack description so that you can support this effect.

Now, for the eternal attack. As I mentioned, there's no lore that I can think of that would justify a protection-style attack; you really ought to start this one from scratch. When you look at this attack now, I don't want you to think specifically about cherry blossoms in design, try to avoid getting into visual design - you've got some great ideas there already and an obvious talent for it, so do the hard stuff first and trust your strong suit to carry you through after! Instead, think about the different themes and symbolisms you might base an attack off of, and work from there. A couple quick themes I can suggest for cherry blossoms, along with maybe an attack use or two:

*Mortality. The main fascination of cherry blossoms is their fleetingness, how quickly they're blown away in the spring. You already have the basic idea of this theme in all your attacks, putting a strong emphasis on the fading of things, but you can also apply it more directly in an attack. For example - I think I remember someone discussing an idea like this somewhere - what if you had an attack that caused an enemy (or ally) to temporarily "bloom" into youth and strength - and then withered them to weakness for a more extended duration?

*Beauty. Cherry blossoms fade quickly; but during that time, are so beautiful it hurts. An illusionary/distraction technique which allows an enemy to see great beauty in life and the things around them, but only for a short duration before it is faded away, could make for an interesting attack.

*Love. Depending on what culture you're looking at, this can have a lot of meanings; in China, cherry blossoms are more of a female sexuality thing, but in the US, it's a lot more of a young couple deal. A buffing attack that uses this aspect of cherry blossoms to empower an ally based on any feelings of love they might nurture - or even just strengthens their resolve! - would be a neat way to capitalize on this theme.


I really hope that this helps out <3 Good luck! I hope we get to see your gorgeous girl in play soon!

Speaking from experience, I have a cherry tree in my backyard -- the only time cherry blossoms "stick" is after it rains, whereupon the blossoms take on a wet toilet paper effect and are near impossible to scrape off/get rid of because the water itself weighs it down and is sticky.*

For her senshi and super attacks, you are so close! I think if you just drop the sticky effect you're good, as a ton of blossoms = VERY distracting. Perhaps her attacks could be akin to Sailor Mercury's Sabão Spray/Mercury Bubbles Blast where she creates a HUGE flurry of cherry blossoms that hide the battlefield, but she herself can move in freely to trip/pull on hair/falcon punch/etc her enemies?

As for her eternal... What sort of ability are you looking to give her? Supportive, offensive, defensive...?

Other then that, I really love the visual effect of the cherry blossoms losing their color and wilting -- I think it's a nice touch. <3

*Yes, water IS sticky. Right when you turn the water off in the shower, does the water suddenly fall off of you right before you step out? Nope! It clings and therefore is sticky, just not "sticky" enough to be an annoyance like honey. Or gum. >_> Stupid gum.