Tourney Review: Edgar/Locke vs. Cloud/Marlene

Because there wasn't...Actually any real damage given out here, I'll give my best to give a reasoning behind my choice regardless. Seeing Edgar and Locke's pride essentially rendered to shambles due to facing off against a mere child, and subsequently having to switch the flow of combat to...Color pictures only pushed this damage to pride even further. And then there was Cloud, who thoroughly showed the Arena floor who was boss by stabbing his blades in it not once, but twice, describing actual damage to the concrete under their feet was the only PHYSICAL damage in this entire thread.

On top of this, Cloud's constant preparedness for combat since they entered the arena proper left him with a definite combat dominant presence, with his readying of blades and constant thought on what it would take in order to protect Marlene while fighting. It's for these two reasons I have to give them the win in this category.

Another difficult one, but both Edgar and Locke showed a very nice and amusing style going on the entire time. it was a hard pick between Cloud's descriptive nature of his weapon preparation, Marlene's clear hesitance of how her weakness affected Cloud, and Edgar and Locke's descriptive listing off of their own weaknesses and strengths. But ultimately I have to choose Edgar and Locke.

They both wrote out their strategies quite well; what they were going to do and how they intended to try and win, like Locke using his map drawing skills as a strength to give him an edge at drawing, and Edgar's lance being used to take into account the reach of Cloud's sword. As well as their weaknesses, such as some of Edgar's stronger attacks being too risky with a child around, and Locke's reluctance to stop fighting for a coloring contest alongside his uncertainty in what was considered a better end result. It's because of this, and the fact that Edgar's reluctance to use weapons that could put his ally and an innocent person in danger feeling very in-character that I have to give them the win in this category.

Again, this is one where I feel both would have won, Cloud described his actions regarding his weapons very well. Even listing off what he was doing with his swords below the meat of the post, and both he and Marlene displayed a level of sportsmanship I appreciated. and Edgar and Locke were the ones on the receiving end of the innocent child shenanigans, it's just very hard to choose an absolute winner here. Having been around mostly RP forums that get super competitive, someone potentially giving up a chance to win in order to play along and write out a fun story is something I DEEPLY respect. They all chose to have fun instead of going straight for a victory, and - Beyond a few missed words here and there were absolutely no strangers to understandable writing. As far as I witnessed from this short exchange, they also stayed well within character. Ultimately since I can only really choose one though, I have to give this one to Cloud and Mar. Their dynamic of child and caretaker is absolutely adorable and played out in a way that's understandable and feels very in-character. This duo definitely shines together.

Well, there wasn't much of a fight here before the match ended, sadly. But you could tell that neither Edgar or Locke really wanted to fight a kid, that was quite the blow to their pride. We did see the beginnings of a fight, but still, no real damage that took place for either combatant. The closest we get to it is Marlene's idea to enter the tournament proving so devastating to Edgar and Locke, and Cloud damaging the floor with this sword. So... Congratulations to Cloud and Marlene!

Edgar seemed very much aware of the fact that his various tools and skills could prove dangerous to Marlene, and knowingly restricted himself in order to not take that risk, even if it would give him a disadvantage against Cloud. Cloud, on the other hand, has a repertoire of skills he could readily make use of, and I think he could pull off the win in this 1v1 bout. For Locke vs Marlene... Tougher call. There's no doubt that Locke would have some actual artistic skill due to drawing maps, but a coloring contest isn't exactly in his field of expertise. Plus let's be honest here, he isn't going to try and steal Marlene's coloring tools. You think he'd risk making her cry? Naaah. Jokes aside, it's honestly a tough call that is made even harder by the fact that the match ended so prematurely. But I think I'll give the point to Cloud and Marlene.

Everyone stayed perfectly in character, and all of the writing was perfectly legible and easy to understand. I will give points to Edgar and Locke operating out of a sense of fairness to Marlene, a little girl with no combat skills. But I also respect that Cloud believes he could protect Marlene from both fighters if it came down to it. And heck, Marlene herself was going to help out as much as she could. It's pretty hard to decide on, but I will give favor to the sportsmanship that Edgar and Locke showed!