- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
do the other voters for me agree? If you lot do I'll add it in.
"I... am not a Witch, and this is fact, confirmed by a Magical Girl with Soul Manipulation powers!"
"I don't believe you," instantly answers one Tachibana Sakura.
"... Fuck you."
None of these change except for the day to day living and power use - I'll peg the former at solidly a marble or so and the latter at anywhere from virtually nothing to triple digits. Keep in mind the caveat that power use covers a very large range of effects from party tricks to suicide attacks, hence the large range.@Firnagzen In light of your clarification on the capacity of soul gems, does that at all impact your description of accumulation rates?
Day to day living - A fraction to a marble-ish.
Power use - Anywhere from three or four to double digits.
Emotional trauma - Lots.
Disassemble a Witch - All da marbles
We don't actually know anything about the Iowa group's motives, and we know very little about Akiko's.But it's the difference between Iowa Group and Akiko -- motives are, in this case, much of the question.
"OK, we're in complete privacy."Who can blame you, Sakura? Certainly, not me.
We totally are a Witch. Specifically, the Witch ofDespairHopeGriefHugs.
The most terrifying Witch of them all.
"OK, we're in complete privacy."
"Are... are you sure?"
"Yes, don't worry. What did you need to talk about?"
"If you're sure... We need to talk about something, Sabrina."
"Wha- Madoka?!"
Madokami smiles.
"This is very important, Sabrina, so I need you to listen carefully."
Sabrina nods.
"The truth is you are not a Witch, Sabrina. Wanting to share hugs with many people is not such an eldritch, strange thing as to make you a Witch."
"I don't follow."
"You... are just a nice girl who likes hugs, and making people feel better."
"... As a way to manipulate their feelings-"
"I know you don't believe that. Making people feel better is simply a nice thing to do!"
"But I do this so people will like me better! And to feel good myself!"
"That's just nice, there's nothing wrong or Witch-like in it."
"So I'm..."
"Just a nice, dorkly, maybe overly affectionate girl."
"..."
"I'm glad we had this talk, but I need to go now..."
In an instant, Sabrina's grabbed Madokami in a bear hug. The normal girl turned goddess laughs, returns the hug, and pats Sabrina's head as they let go.
Sabrina remains... pensive.
"Goodbye, Sabrina. Take care..."
"..."
"Ah, is it safe to exit the... bubble?"
"..."
" Do I just walk out...?"
"... Wow."
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah, yeah, just a lot to take in... Yeah, you can walk out, actually, allow me."
The Privacy Sphere fizzles out.
"Well, see you later!"
"See you... Wow. Obsessively hugging people doesn't make me a Witch... it just makes me someone who obsessively likes hugging people. Wow."
...
"... I got to tell Mami."
"It's not true!"... You do realize Madokami just lied to make Sabrina feel better, right?
————————
Somewhere in the Shaft Studio, a ridiculously over-the-top laughter resounded through the building and the souls of its employees. It was that moment, when Akiyuki Shinbo realized: they done fucked up.
"MUAHAHAHAHA! Pain, suffering, despair! Bittersweet ending! And now, on to my greatest creation of all! A symphony of madness! An aria of endless ruined childhoods!" The man paused, a sinister smile over his lips. "The Witch of... Hugs!"
Wait, what.
"...What the fuck are you talking about, Urobuchi?" Shinbo pinched his nose in exasperation. A raving lunatic. A talented lunatic, he had to admit, but still.
Deconstructing the Magical Girl genre? Sure. Deconstructions are all the rage now.
Magical zombie girls? Creepy, but why not?
Time travel? He'd come to accept it. Actually, it was nicely done, all in all. Adds "depth" to the final product, and all that.
However. A Witch of Hugs? The line had to be drawn somewhere, and better it be done on the Witch of freaking Hugs than something even more ridiculous, like Homura deciding she didn't like the ending and gaining power to retcon it out of existence.
He drew a breath, and said:
"No."
"But-"
"No, Urobuchi! How many times do I have to tell you, we will not portray human contact as something eldritch and arcane! It really is not."
"Tell that to Anno!" In his agitation, Urobuchi stood up and started pacing his room. "Have you ever watched the End of Evangelion? I haven't looked at hugs with the same eyes since then..."
He trailed off, shuddering.
Akiyuki shuddered in sympathy. Yes, he has watched Evangelion. May Kami have mercy on him...
"Even more so," Akiyuki nodded with conviction. "We will not traumatize our audience..." Urobuchi looked at him, unimpressed.
"More than necessary for good sales." He amended.
Urobuchi opened his mouth, – to agree or continue marshaling his arguments, we will never know –, but the sound never came. An unfortunate mishap, too quick a turn in the narrow confines of his room, a broken window handle: the circumstances arranged themselves incomprehensibly, almost as if by divine mandate. Everything for the wind to take the pages of the blasted script away on its merciful wings.
Akiyuki found that he could say only one thing. All in all, he felt it was... appropriate.
"Thank Madokami."
Somewhere in Mitakihara.
"Everything is going according to the Scenario." She smiled, savoring the words. Once again, her eyes fell on the script, and her smile grew wider. "I shall call you... Sabrina!"
"What was that, Oriko-chan?" A voice came from the kitchen.
"Nothing, dear."
But everything changed when the Raiseth nation attacked.
Ok, wow. Votes have changed considerably since I was last here. I still prefer redshirt's original plan over aranfan's or kaizuki's.
Honestly though, I'm pretty indifferent about what wins. At this point nobody is trying to kill anybody or provoke a fight or insulting her to her face in a hypocritical claim to the moral high ground.
We're all pretty much on the same page here, with different opinions about how to succeed in our shared goal. That's fine. It's all valid.