Mission Statement
Mission Statement of Radiant Heart MUSH.
Radiant Heart MUSH is a Mahou Shoujo themed roleplay MUSH. What do we mean when we say that? A MUSH (Multi User Shared Hallucination) is sort of like an advanced chat server used to roleplay! Along with that, let’s look at what Mahou Shoujo means as a theme.
Mahou Shoujo is a genre of Japanese fantasy anime about young girls using magic - this is pretty straightforward. The part of it we’re most interested in really took off with the manga and anime Sailor Moon: solidifying the Magical Guardian Heroine and her Friends idea. But you didn’t come here for a history lesson - how does this define and drive Radiant Heart MUSH?
As in many kinds of fantasy, Mahou Shoujo heroes fight with amazing powers and triumph against amazing odds. This isn’t uncommon, but where we diverge from other fantasy, and where Radiant Heart MUSH begins, is that this magical power wells up from deep inside; from emotional power, from love and hope, rather than being granted a magical legacy, or training really hard. These things can help, but they act as focuses for the emotional strength.
This is a key, even vital, component of the MUSH. Every magical girl or boy draws their power from the emotions that well up from within them - from hope, from love, from their connection to their friendship. Most Antagonists will tap into the darker side of this spectrum to fuel their own powers; giving in to greed, hate, and eventually, despair. It is the crux of this emotional conflict that drives Radiant Heart MUSH, and this is what separates it from an all-anime style MUSH.
There are other things, as well - Radiant Heart MUSH is also a MUSH about relationships - both romantic, and friendships. It’s about a group of friends leaning on each other in an ice cream parlor, right after they’ve used that power of hope to turn a monster into sparkly dust. It’s about the way people can lean on each other to become stronger. This too, is a vital part of Mahou Shoujo and Radiant Heart MUSH itself - no person is an island. It’s about how groups of friends (sometimes MANY friends!) can stand up to the vicious desires of one person who would otherwise succeed.
Radiant Heart MUSH seeks to be as inclusive as possible within this framework: from the princesses-turned-warriors team of Sailor Moon, the Legendary Protectors of the Fairy Worlds in Pretty Cure, A look at the many types of magical girls will show you many aspects of the theme.
The goal is to include everyone that we can under this umbrella, as long as we can maintain those vital trappings of emotional strength empowering magic, the power of hope and friendship, the overall feel of a mahou shoujo anime; that of girls and boys dealing with everyday life at the same time they have to dig deep within themselves for the magic to literally save the universe from the corruption of Darkness. That delightful mix of slice-of-life and magical combat is something we wish to express and celebrate, and the power of emotions and heart at the forefront is also incredibly important.
