Magical Girl Phantom Ascension

I want to puzzle over the mystery here, a bit.

SpoopyGhost said:

The window displays have a mix of recent releases and extremely old novels, and the door is cluttered with notices about local events and fundraisers; nearly buried beneath them is a sign giving the shop's hours, along with a handwritten note; An inclusive space, all are welcome here! Please remember that drinks are not allowed, and smiles are mandatory! : P

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This seems pretty genuine and sweet. I like the sense of the place already, and it's cozy.

SpoopyGhost said:

A few shelves later there's another jar like this, and another further down yet from that one; they also have the brown sludge, and also wind up behind his desk. Moving to the opposite wall, he finds the jars concealed there lack the sludge, and are put back in place instead of removed. That discovery seems to take the edge off his disappointment, and he quickly gets back to his normal cleaning, though he still seems a bit less enthusiastic than before. Your brows furrow as you look back over the shelves, noting the jars' locations; there are eight in total, and spaced evenly along each wall, though the three that got removed create a large gap on the one side.

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This could be collecting enmity, but he seems upset by it, not satisfied at something having worked? That and the even spacing make me think of it more like a protective ward, or like an air filter.

I wonder which side got the silt? The ones near the front where people were coming in, or?

SpoopyGhost said:

"Looks like they won't be a couple for long, either," his apparent sister notes with a dark expression. "I'm guessing they looked to all the world like the most inseparable pair?" You frown, leaning intently closer, confused by the accuracy of her guess, which Takuya confirms with a nod. She sighs, taking a seat behind the desk and continuing to massage her shoulders. "Great, one of those types. At least they didn't stick around too long. You gonna put up new ones?"

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This implies the corruption, whatever it is, came from just those two people. Either most customers are doing more okay and this is just the usual level from relationship troubles, or there's something special about the couple?

SpoopyGhost said:

She just gives him a lazy-eyed grin. "Maybe once you stop relying on emprunter?" At his exasperated sigh, she finally takes pity, patting him lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry, sorry, I'll let you take care of it. I should get all this put away upstairs anyway, and I can call règle dame with our mea culpa. It will be a decent shipment this month, I think, but not what she was hoping for."

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Quick translation: Emprunter is a gerund and is either "to borrow" or "to take". That fits with the jars capturing something, so it's almost certainly that.

I'm struggling more on regle dame with my rusty french, but it seems to be something like Ruling Lady? And mea culpa is basically an english term already. So either way, there's some boss lady they're reporting to, probably not with good news. And it sounds like they're sending in the enmity/corruption, whatever it is, but also something they were looking for.

That uncertainty is a decent argument for shadowing one of them, but since they haven't had success, I stick with my gut instinct to follow our brother and find out how he's involved and if he's at risk.

[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

Nothing's really been done with the family since our MC died, this is good a chance as any to start getting involved again.

ColdGoldLazarus said:

Did someone from a Godzilla movie accidentally wander into the wrong story?

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Having seen both 1984's Return of Godzilla and 1985's Godzilla 1985 many, many times, I can authoritatively state that while Return is a better overall film, Raymond Burr's character gives 1985 the more satisfying ending of the two.


That ending narration just knocks it out of the park, adding to the already-emotional ending score from Reijiro Kuroku to make one of only two times I've ever cried at the end of a Godzilla movie.

[X] Follow Takuya's sister (You need to learn more about just what's going on here, and listening in on her call may be the best way to do that…)

[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

Worrying about family transcends job expectations, magical girl or no. Too many things are wrong with this for us to just blow it off. We will always have more work to do, more info we could get. He could be doing nothing wrong and this would still feel more natural to me.

Anumi said:

Worrying about family transcends job expectations, magical girl or no.

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Wasn't sure how to vote for this one, but you've convinced me.
[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

I mean, worst case scenario (plot hook wise), our brother is just trying to fit in with the cool kids, skipping school and smoking pokemon cards or something.

If he's struggling to cope, we need to know, whether we act on that or not.

If he's actually into some shady business, that's a whole new ball game but still highly relevant to us.

The only way I see this going wrong is if it's a 'none of our business' type of problem, and even then disengagement shouldn't be hard for someone that's incorporeal.

Anumi said:

I mean, worst case scenario (plot hook wise), our brother is just trying to fit in with the cool kids, skipping school and smoking pokemon cards or something.

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Dude, smoking Pokemon cards is, like, so last year. All the cool kids are vaping their Beyblades these days.

SVS said:

Having seen both 1984's Return of Godzilla and 1985's Godzilla 1985 many, many times, I can authoritatively state that while Return is a better overall film, Raymond Burr's character gives 1985 the more satisfying ending of the two.


That ending narration just knocks it out of the park, adding to the already-emotional ending score from Reijiro Kuroku to make one of only two times I've ever cried at the end of a Godzilla movie.

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only twice? which one was the other?

OffBrandANON said:

only twice? which one was the other?

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The first time I watched vs Destoroyah, I cried as Godzilla was melting down.

[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

Happy to see this back!

NemoMarx said:

This could be collecting enmity, but he seems upset by it, not satisfied at something having worked? That and the even spacing make me think of it more like a protective ward, or like an air filter.

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They could be collecting positive emotions, and the relationship troubles may have poisoned the output?
Any business would want their clients happy, of course, but "smiles are mandatory" coupled with something spoiling at a first sign of negativity hints at a certain atmosphere they are trying to maintain inside.

NemoMarx said:

And it sounds like they're sending in the enmity/corruption, whatever it is, but also something they were looking for.

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SpoopyGhost said:

"Sorry, sorry, I'll let you take care of it. I should get all this put away upstairs anyway, and I can call règle dame with our mea culpa. It will be a decent shipment this month, I think, but not what she was hoping for."

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They are certainly sending the "dame" something, but if there is a connection between it and whatever is in the jars - which could be unrelated after all - the spoiled parts are regarded as unwanted and referred to as "mea culpa". Not something they intended to get.

I am curious enough about what is going on and what they are looking for to stay and observe. Another call to her employer (?) may not be due in a while, depending on whether there would be another incident.

[x] Follow Takuya's sister (You need to learn more about just what's going on here, and listening in on her call may be the best way to do that…)

In regards to our brother... what's the hurry? We can see him anytime. It's not like we got evicted from our house, we just... chose not to see them anymore? While personally I disagree with this decision, I find it strange that we are going back on it simply because we accidentally walked on our brother shopping for manga. There are probably better reasons to worry about him, like... I dunno, him grieving over the loss of his sister? It just comes off as weird for us to raise an eyebrow at him skipping school or wandering off when we have a massive elephant in the room we still haven't addressed.

[X] Follow Takuya's sister (You need to learn more about just what's going on here, and listening in on her call may be the best way to do that…)

[X] Follow Takuya's sister (You need to learn more about just what's going on here, and listening in on her call may be the best way to do that…)

The simplest solution to what our brother doing is that he went to his sister's funeral about two or three days ago, and in instead of falling into a bout of mourning and depression, has gone the other way and is turning rebellious and angry. There's some good character interactions there, I won't lie, I'd even like to see this.

But, this is an opportunity to sneak a peak at Takuya's and his sister's handler, and determine just how much of a threat they are to the city. And the pragmatist in me just can't turn that down.

Nevill said:

In regards to our brother... what's the hurry? We can see him anytime. It's not like we got evicted from our house, we just... chose not to see them anymore? While personally I disagree with this decision, I find it strange that we are going back on it simply because we accidentally walked on our brother shopping for manga. There are probably better reasons to worry about him, like... I dunno, him grieving over the loss of his sister? It just comes off as weird for us to raise an eyebrow at him skipping school or wandering off when we have a massive elephant in the room we still haven't addressed.

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I feel like a fish going after a worm, and your comment is the allegorical fish arm trying to hold me back.

I know you're right. It makes more sense to address the task at hand than chase after something that, to be honest, sounds like normal grief, and therefore shouldn't be too distressing.

But I can't convince myself not to worry about it, and I can't pass up the first chance we've had to interact with family- not when there's something wrong, however minor it might be. Even if we do go home every night, we don't know that we will have time to address it there.

[x] Follow Takuya's sister (You need to learn more about just what's going on here, and listening in on her call may be the best way to do that…)

We have to be responsible about our job. While I'm curious about the brother we can't just start making detours from work whenever something catch our eyes. I feel that if we do so we'll start falling info a bad habit which will bring trouble further down the line.

[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

Another thing to consider is that one way or another, we'll be coming back here tonight, presumably with Midori and Pallavi, and potentially the blue gal too. This does mean we'll get another crack at figuring out what they're up to, and we've observed enough to at least be sure they're up to something. So in that regard, it does mean we can follow our brother without necessarily going too far off the rails.

On the other hand, there's also the risk of missing out on important context. Returning tonight presumably means we'll have everyone else present too, making the conversation harder to control - especially if the blue gal is there this time. Whether we pose as civilians or go for a more direct confrontation, the shopkeepers will be more guarded with what they share, so we could end up with misinformation and stuff. Hard to say for sure, but I feel like this would be our best chance to keep listening and get an unadulterated glimpse into whatever's happening here.

On the other other hand, there is still the matter of our brother. My guess is that his behavior is tied to the fact that, yanno, his sister just died; but that still leaves the question of how well he's coping with it, and whether or not our involvement would help or hurt that. What he's actually doing doesn't seem that bad, just buying manga (And as @Anumi pointed out, there are much worse things he could be buying to cope with this) at a somewhat weird hour in a different part of the city than he's supposed to be. Depending on what the bus/subway/trolley system in this town is like, the last part may not even be as big a deal as it seems. At the same time, it's still outside the norm and his attitude definitely seems worrisome, so following could be a chance to address that. (And it's a chance we probably won't get again for a while, given how booked our evening is.)

Unfortunately, both of these seem like limited-time opportunities, making this a really difficult choice. However, under the assumption that we may get another chance at dealing with our brother at a later date just by virtue of him being our brother, I'm going to have to go with...

[X] Follow Takuya's sister (You need to learn more about just what's going on here, and listening in on her call may be the best way to do that…)

There are five scenarios that got chosen a while back, but in reality it's more like we have eight or nine different problems on our hands.

The Scenarios:
1: The thing hunting us, still on its way but whenever it shows up I feel like bad stuff is going to go down.
2: The monsters, which seems to be linked to the suspicious shadow nurse we encountered. Right now that's on hold until Midori can investigate, or Nel has us meet the hospital contact, or another monster shows up.
3: The clones thing, which we're investigating now.
4: The dragon
5: The portals, which sounds like it could be a really big deal

Then there's more personal stuff:
6: Our family and how they're dealing with losing us, which this seems like a hook for looking into.
7: Death's whole thing, and hunting the corrupted spirits and whoever or whatever is creating them. Right now we have the mission to the mountains, and at some point want to visit the library to look at death records and confront the site of our own passing.
8: Finally, there's the other teammates, which is six different kinds of daunting.
-8A: Midori is also a mess because of our death, and still has a crush on us. Even aside from that she seems difficult to get a bead on; I feel like there's more going on with her just based on our interactions so far. I could go into more detail on that later.
-8B: Masami? Blue gal. She seems to have strong opinions, and I feel like working with her is going to be pretty difficult unless she can get over herself a bit.
-8C: Masami's 'friend,' could be red or pink, who based on her testimony may or may not be unreliable, and has stronger reluctance to join for unknown reasons.
-8D: The other candidate, could be red or pink, who apparently Nel has not yet even approached?
-8E: The mystery of the missing Yellow ring. May or may not be linked to the hunting thingy, hard to say for sure at this stage.
-8F: Pallavi? She seems remarkably friendly and chill, but just based on the pattern there's probably some sort of drama with her, waiting in the wings. Her reluctance to lie may become a problem?

Hopefully I'm not missing out on anything else. This is... Yeah, we have a lot on our plate right now.

[X] Follow your brother (What's he doing so far away from school? You haven't even seen him since your death, and his behavior has you worried…)

ColdGoldLazarus said:

Hopefully I'm not missing out on anything else. This is... Yeah, we have a lot on our plate right now.

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SpoopyGhost said:

A Job More Annoying Than Purgatory

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When you put it all down like that, the title certainly fits.
I guess the good thing is, even if we chose all those at once, we aren't fighting them all at once, and there are moving pieces in our favor.

Our teammates have issues but they are also our biggest asset to keeping problems 1-5 under control. We just need to learn how to coordinate with them before things start colliding.

Current tally. I will be locking votes in approximately 24 hours from now.