Kyouko and Oscar. Art by The One Moiderah.
Red Soul
, by thagguy, is a SpaceBattles.com Gamebook Crossover between Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Dark Souls. It is told from the second-person point of view of Kyoko Sakura.
This story provides examples of:
- Alternate Universe : A few oneshots of a AU where Sayaka came to Lordran instead of Kyoko, and their roles are reversed. Also, a Mami x Deus Ex: Human Revolution oneshot.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Kyoko is the main viewpoint character, but segments, both with voting and without, have been told from the perspectives of other characters, including Pre-corruption Artorias, Ciaran, and Sayaka/Oktavia.
- Awesome by Analysis: Andre, despite not working with magical weapons, is able to quickly figure out how Kyoko's spear summoning functions with a simple experiment. Oscar is quite impressed.
- Badass Normal: Oscar may not be able to hang in the same weight class as Kyoko or the more powerful entities of Lordran, but he can hold his own in a fight, and Kyoko would have died or Witched several times already if it wasn't for his help.
- Berserk Button: Don't ignore Oscar when he gives you advice. Don't throw away food when Kyoko's present. Don't ever insult Sayaka/Oktavia if Kyoko is around to hear it. When Lord's Blade Ciaran asks you to do something? Don't dawdle.
- Body Horror: Unlike the game, Dusk does NOT come out of Manus perfectly normal. Instead she's mutated halfway into a bloated creature.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Kyoko is usually just playfully rude, but it almost cost her dearly when she fully slipped into this. When she slips into this again when she and Oscar got into an argument, she blows Oscar off to go "see" a friend.
- Broken Bird: Kyoko occasionally lapses back into this state. She snaps out of it quickly, though. Being in Lordran doesn't help, though, especially when Everything Is Trying to Kill You.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Solaire: even more weird, and even more awesome, than in the game.
- Chest Monster: Kyoko falls prey to this, just like most newbie players"One thing's for sure: every treasure chest you see from now on's getting the shit stabbed out of it."
- The Corruption: The Abyss.
- The Corrupter: Manus, Father of the Abyss.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Most of the fights pre- Oolacile have been like this so far. The ones that weren't...really weren't.
- Dragonslayer Ornstein vs. the Hellkite Wyvern.
- Dame Swears-a-Lot: Kyoko, naturally.
- Deuteragonist: Oscar, instead of dying in the game's tutorial level is saved by Kyoko and virtually becomes the other main character of the story.
- Early Game Hell: Shockingly, the Abyss arc forces its way into the story ridiculously early. As in, before even setting foot in Blightown or venturing into the Depths. The Abyss arc features the arguably-hardest bosses in the entire game, as well as highly dangerous enemies in general. In-story, the entire Abyss and Eldritch Location feel makes it particularly threatening to a Magical Girl with very limited experience in the world of Dark Souls. To give a stark contrast—Kyoko solos the Hydra in the Darkroot Forest with no trouble, and any enemies that weren't bosses or Black Knights were hardly threatening to her unless she got careless. In Oolacile, the first experiences with enemies that she gets are nearly being killed by the Sanctuary Guardian's lightning blasts, followed by Kalameet making an entrance, scoffing at her in disdain and not even bothering to attack Kyoko like a human wouldn't bother to stomp on an ant it passes by on the sidewalk. In other words, Kyoko has to fight the Everlasting Dragon of Calamity before she ever encounters the Gaping Dragon.
- Eldritch Abomination: Manus, Father of the Abyss. His Zalgo text-speak and deep, otherworldly (and seemingly sourceless) voice just makes him all the more terrifying and alien. On top of that, he can literally reach through time and grab/kill/take whomever and whatever he's after. Even amongst the gods of Anor Londo, he is The Dreaded.
- Elemental Embodiment: The generic Everlasting Dragons, such as the Stone Dragon, are this. Most of the unique Dragons are the embodiments of concepts or emotions, like Extinction or Calamity.
- Implausible Fencing Powers: Lord's Blade Ciaran can cut out someone's tongue as they are speaking, and they won't notice until they realize their mouth is filling with blood.
- Interface Screw: Manus speaks in Zalgo text.
- It Seemed Likea Good Idea At The Time: Testing explosive weapons before entering a bossroom. Sounds like a good idea, right? Until said boss hears you doing that right outside his bossdoor, leading the Lighting Bruiser boss to leave his room and stab you in the back. The author himself Lampshaded it to the players after the fact.
- In fairness, however, the quest had previously demonstrated that the fog walls and boss arenas actually functioned like they did in the game. It would have turned out just fine even then, however, if Chester hadn't worded his warning like a hostage-taker.
- Another example: attacking the Black Knight in the Undead Burg. Being perfectly in-character for Kyoko at the time, though, made the action pretty much inevitable.
- Killed Off for Real: Lautrec was defeated by Kyoko and killed by Oscar, and Alvina was murdered by Manus's hand (literally).
- Lightning Bruiser: Artorias, naturally. After he uses his Abyss power-up, he becomes this even more. Dragonslayer Ornstein as well, and Kyoko, if not to the same degree. Manus is also an example, though it's more of a case of being exceptionally agile for something of his size.
- Our Souls Are Different - Many forms. The "souls" currency (explained as a essence-like thing), Humanity (actual souls), and Kyoko's soulgem and soul, alien to the first flame and the dark soul, the titular Red Soul
- Outside-Context Problem:
- Kyoko, to an extent, but much more limited than most examples of this trope.
- Manus, so damn much. Not only is he this in-story, he's this in a meta sense, too: he pops up in the story far, far earlier than he should, and throws the entire situation from before his appearance out the window.
- Papa Wolf: Oscar is growing into this, with a bit of Big Brother Mentor.
- Parental Substitute: Oscar is becoming one for Kyouko. When they learn about the fate of the Chosen Undead, she doesn't take it well.
- Person of Mass Destruction: According to
Word of God, Priscilla's lifehunt is far deadlier then what Dark Souls players believe it to be, and Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, at full power was more powerful then Walpurgisnacht. - Poor Communication Kills: Almost happened in the tutorial. When Kyoko hears of souls being used as currency, she nearly witches in anger.
- Retcon: This was changed in the Story-only thread, as the author believed that this was too OOC.
- Shout-Out: During Ornstein's duel with Quelaag the latter paraphrases bits of The Rains of Castamere.
- Smug Super: Kyoko had a moment of this. It didn't end well.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the game, Oscar exists only to give a bit of exposition and an Estus flask to the player. Here, he's the Deuteragonist.
- Death by Adaptation: But Alvina is not so lucky.
- Back from the Dead: But after Kyoko learns how to clone herself, she discovers what happens when you put a collected soul into a soul-less clone...
- Death by Adaptation: But Alvina is not so lucky.
-
Unexpected Character: Dragonslayer Ornstein coming out of nowhere and killing the very-hated Hellkite Wyvern, aka, that bridge dragon who burns players to death constantly. Manus appearing far earlier then he's suppose to, taking our heroine back to the past long before she's supposed to. - Wake-Up Call Boss: The Capra Demon, responsible for the first bad end hit in this story—not because it killed Kyoko, but because it killed Oscar, causing Kyoko to Witch. Artorias also proves to be this, dealing the players two bad ends—though this is more because the entire Abyss arc forces its way into the story very, very early on, pitting several of the most dangerous bosses in the game against an early-game player, so-to-speak.
