Puella Magi Imperatrix Mundi, or: Wherein Half Of Japan Tries To Kill You
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Chizuka may be grief-spiraling right now. Even if she isn't, she'll keep taking hits as we take her back to the border and her friends. I think that managing her mental state is a major concern right now. To deal with this, hmm. Something like this?
[x] Escort Chizuka back to the border, as planned.
- [x] Let Chizuka know that she can use her magic again, first.
- [x] Maiko and Minami keep to hidden-but-within-spying-range as backup.
- [x] Reassure Chizuka. Even if her entire group doesn't want to join you, you can probably take her at least, take some of the load off them.
- [x] While walking, ask her about her teammates.
- [x] Talk to her teammates a bit, if possible.
-- [x] Cheerful introductions. Explain that you have for them a delivery of one (1) Chizuka, slightly scuffed but with no serious damage, following a terrible misunderstanding involving exactly where people who don't work for you are allowed to ambush others with high speed giant floating metal spikes. No hard feelings.
-- [x] Make sure they know that they should really not be crossing the Tokyo-Nagamioka border without sending you a brainmail or text or something about what exactly they're up to and getting your approval.
-- [x] In fact, Chizuka had some concerning things to say about recent events in their territory and you'd be very interested in hearing more about that, if they're willing to share. Try to figure out their team social dynamics while getting the news.
-- [x] You have an interest in having a secure Nagamioka with stable border territories, and in making friends who share those interests- which they probably do. If some or all of them care to move, you're also in the market for reliable subordinates who don't mind living in Nagamioka. You'd like to see if you can cut some deals.
[x] Minami can keep scanning for calligraphy girl's new location if it's not a serious magic cost or distraction from supporting you in escort and negotiations. Otherwise, wait until Chizuka is gone and you can focus properly on finding her while working together.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Um. You have a strange way of reassuring people by telling them they are the ballast that others would readily get rid of, given the opportunity.
Any talks of having Chizuka join can't be held until she is assured her team will be safe from the invasion at the very least. And I think her loyalty to them stretches further than that.
She wants to be helpful to them, and jumping ship is probably not the only way she can achieve that.
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Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
She's not. Yui's magic sense can see when the void of non-magic inside a Soul Gem is actively growing--there was a single obvious spike when she tried to approach Chizuka at first, but nothing major after that.
[] Convince Chizuka to go witch hunting with you.
Without even
UbeOne
Daydreaming CPU
- Location
- Philippines
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It's a fast way of building camaraderie and friendship.Without evenbuying her a drinkthrowing her a tea party? That's awfully forward for Yui.
- Location
- Ural, Russia, Earth
Considering that her team is low on Seeds and we have tons of Witches, it's actually good idea.[
Unlucky Bibliophile
Meganekko
Without evenbuying her a drinkthrowing her a tea party? That's awfully forward for Yui.
Holding Chizuka's hand would be awfully forward of Yui. And it only gets lewder from there.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
What exactly is the benefit of this approach over just giving her a Grief Seed, if we are so inclined?
(Which we might, since she'll probably get chewed out for wasting lots of magic on a fruitless fight - but that might be remedied by the offer we make. After all, if not for her stupid and reckless move, we would not know her team are in a bind, and now they would have paths open to them that they didn't before.)
If we let them stay, we should probably do a team assessment, like we did with Rio's group. Otherwise, we are a bit pressed for time, and she has no reason to hunt in our territory before they agree to the conditions that are laid out.
- Location
- Ural, Russia, Earth
She'll receive more than one Seed, it should mollify her team.
She'll receive them not because we are so nice, but because she earned them (and because we are so nice).
Also, more time with her = more information about her and her team.
I'm a little wary of the narrative load of trying to track three new characters in my head.
Recruitment is fine, but it's got to get to the point where most of them are background mob characters. I can't handle quest decision-making on the relationship dynamics of thirty girls.
Recruitment is fine, but it's got to get to the point where most of them are background mob characters. I can't handle quest decision-making on the relationship dynamics of thirty girls.
- Location
- The Surface Of A Hostile Planet
Nagamioka can support 30-40 meguca even before special hunting rotations to maximize efficiency. Any additional territory we claim will only increase that.
Sorry to say it, but the quest is going in that direction, and I can't think of a way to avoid it without giving up on the central premise of the quest. At best we can try and delegate responsibility for relationship handling to lieutenants under us, but the dynamics will still be there, below the surface.
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
I mean, you're kind of already at a point where new meguca aren't necessarily going to be core characters (unless you decide to go out of your way to do stuff with them). Like, calligraphy girl has her weird magic and maybe two personality traits, that's basically it. If you want to do stuff with her because her magic is interesting I'll flesh her out, of course, but relationship dynamics are pretty much only going to be as complicated as whatever you guys vote for Yui to get involved in.
- Location
- Here
I think we really do need to start thinking in terms of developing trusted lieutenants, though. People or teams with well-rounded skill-sets to whom we can hand off tasks and trust that they'll be taken care of, or they'll get Yui's attention for troubleshooting. This solves two key problems:
- Whenever we make an important decision, it's a significant burden to do so, so lieutenants who can take care of things to the point that they only come to our attention as assignments and solved problems leaves us to focus that attention on bigger issues.
- Yui is just one person, and will apparently be waylaid a quarter of the time when she even travels to the location to deal with something. Her actions-per-day is only so high, and days count especially right now.
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
Well in terms of lieutenants, Maiko is the obvious choice, but would require her to go public. Not to mention she isn't the best people person. Asami is a good leader, but isn't an MG yet and lacks experience. Yumi has the expertise, but lacks in raw power and plenty of the girls already here have issues with her. We've got two cliques sort of forming already, Rio-Fuuka-Kiyomi and Himari-Haruka-Koharu. We could formalize those with Rio and Himari in charge, and try to add to them, but that would take time. Tomo, Shinobu, and Minami don't really strike me as suitable for leadership at this time. Sayuki maybe, but she's a newbie and isn't sure where she's going yet. Chou will likely never be a people person, but she may want to be in charge of something just to satisfy her own paranoia. Anyone I'm missing?
Edit: We could always put Naoko in charge- *is shot*
Edit: We could always put Naoko in charge- *is shot*
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Aoinfinity
Unlimited Blue Works
- Location
- a blue Infinity
Each is two kanji. Sufficient Velocity would be four kanji and a preposition, 十分な速度 (juubun na sokudo).
To be fair, food-type is also super-effective against Kyouko type. It's just that food-type attacks, instead of doing damage, increase aggro.
So half of MGs is still closer than half of the entire population!
Logic!
- Location
- Ural, Russia, Earth
Maiko and Minami are our Information Center. CIA?
Shinobu will be pretty limited in her communication thanks to her brainwashing even when she'll be fully integrated.
Tomo could be Yui's bodyguard. She's big and silent, and have knock out attack good both against megucas and familiars.
Yumi... We really need to find Yumi something to do. It's not right that she's chill out somewhere while we are working!
We should ask kalliguca apply it to computer.
In the best case we acquire our own Dragon.
In the worst case we acquire SkyNet and it will nuke Tokio.
Win-win situation.
Shinobu will be pretty limited in her communication thanks to her brainwashing even when she'll be fully integrated.
Tomo could be Yui's bodyguard. She's big and silent, and have knock out attack good both against megucas and familiars.
Yumi... We really need to find Yumi something to do. It's not right that she's chill out somewhere while we are working!
心 <- this kanji means "heart, soul, mind" or something similar.She can use any single kanji on any inanimate object large enough to stick the paper to. The result depends on both the kanji and the object. And yes, if you want to give her suggestions, I am going to require that it be actual kanji, not just "some kanji that means X".
We should ask kalliguca apply it to computer.
In the best case we acquire our own Dragon.
In the worst case we acquire SkyNet and it will nuke Tokio.
Win-win situation.
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Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
Except Blueberry attacks, which have a 50% chance of causing "infatuated" status, obviously.
In the best case we acquire our own Dragon.
In the worst case we acquire SkyNet and it will nuke Tokio.
Win-win situation.
Geez, Maiko already has three possibly-self-aware magical murderbots sitting deactivated in the basement, what more do you want?
Well, she does have a built-in maid outfit...
Aoinfinity
Unlimited Blue Works
- Location
- a blue Infinity
I do think that getting Chizuka a Grief Seed, whether through Yui's charity or her own sanctioned efforts, is the right call here. It emphasizes the carrot part of our carrot-and-stick approach a lot more than the vague promise of permission to join our "organization" would, and Chizu doesn't seem to be a Naoko-type where she'd intuit weakness from kindness. I'm voting for the default option on this, but if anyone wants to votecraft or merge it with the "follow" option, I wouldn't mind switching my vote.
[x] Tell Chizuka there are girls waiting near the border, and let her return on her own.
- [x] Give her one of your smaller Grief Seeds as a token of goodwill, since it sounds like her team is low and she might need it.
- [x] Trail her out of sight to make sure she leaves.
Thoughts on the lieutenant thing later once I've had time to write them up.
[x] Tell Chizuka there are girls waiting near the border, and let her return on her own.
- [x] Give her one of your smaller Grief Seeds as a token of goodwill, since it sounds like her team is low and she might need it.
- [x] Trail her out of sight to make sure she leaves.
Thoughts on the lieutenant thing later once I've had time to write them up.
- Location
- Lasha Tumbai
We really need to convince her to write us a list of her potentially useful devices, it won't be too long though I guess because she probably won't be willing to tell us about most of them.Geez, Maiko already has three possibly-self-aware magical murderbots sitting deactivated in the basement, what more do you want?
- Location
- Home
She'll be a big burden due to her seed use. Probably not a good idea to keep her, Yui isn't Sabrina and can't just keep as many Meguca as she wants.
- Location
- Here
On lieutenants: I agree that Yumi is a good choice as far as diplomacy and thinky-ness goes, so we should compensate for her drawbacks by attaching a bodyguard to her who's better in a fight. Choices:
I think the DarkLight vote is a solid choice. I added the colored bit because I'd like to do a little psychological warfare while we take her to the border. The intent is to establish a bit of a rapport with her and to emphasize that fighting Yui is a bad choice.
[x] Escort Chizuka back to the border, as planned.
- [x] Let Chizuka know that she can use her magic again, first.
- [x] Reassure Chizuka that she made a thoroughly respectable attempt on your life, although you don't approve of the way she demolished a building to do it, and that the whole shut-down-magic thing was supposed to be one of your trump cards. She seems dependable, besides being good in a fight, and you'd totally trust her to have your back if she were on your team.
- [x] Maiko and Minami keep to hidden-but-within-spying-range as backup.
- [x] Talk to her teammates a bit, if possible.
-- [x] Cheerful introductions. Explain that you have for them a delivery of one (1) Chizuka, slightly scuffed but with no serious damage, following a terrible misunderstanding involving exactly where people who don't work for you are allowed to ambush others with high speed giant floating metal spikes. No hard feelings.
-- [x] Make sure they know that they should really not be crossing the Tokyo-Nagamioka border without sending you a brainmail or text or something about what exactly they're up to and getting your approval.
-- [x] In fact, Chizuka had some concerning things to say about recent events in their territory and you'd be very interested in hearing more about that, if they're willing to share. Try to figure out their team social dynamics while getting the news.
-- [x] You have an interest in having a secure Nagamioka with stable border territories, and in making friends who share those interests- which they probably do. If some or all of them care to move, you're also in the market for reliable subordinates who don't mind living in Nagamioka. You'd like to see if you can cut some deals.
[x] Minami can keep scanning for calligraphy girl's new location if it's not a serious magic cost or distraction from supporting you in escort and negotiations. Otherwise, wait until Chizuka is gone and you can focus properly on finding her while working together.
- Tomo, with the axiomatic drop-kick of safely rendering the target unconscious. Seems like an excellent choice.
- Shinobu, with her axiomatic tell-people-what-do. Unfortunately, she's still more of a crisis than an option
- Koharu, who's supposed to have excellent offensive power, whom we can probably count on to be daring and heroic.
- Himaruka, veterans who work well together.
- If we had Chizuka, I'd put her with Yumi and call it a team.
I think the DarkLight vote is a solid choice. I added the colored bit because I'd like to do a little psychological warfare while we take her to the border. The intent is to establish a bit of a rapport with her and to emphasize that fighting Yui is a bad choice.
[x] Escort Chizuka back to the border, as planned.
- [x] Let Chizuka know that she can use her magic again, first.
- [x] Reassure Chizuka that she made a thoroughly respectable attempt on your life, although you don't approve of the way she demolished a building to do it, and that the whole shut-down-magic thing was supposed to be one of your trump cards. She seems dependable, besides being good in a fight, and you'd totally trust her to have your back if she were on your team.
- [x] Maiko and Minami keep to hidden-but-within-spying-range as backup.
- [x] Talk to her teammates a bit, if possible.
-- [x] Cheerful introductions. Explain that you have for them a delivery of one (1) Chizuka, slightly scuffed but with no serious damage, following a terrible misunderstanding involving exactly where people who don't work for you are allowed to ambush others with high speed giant floating metal spikes. No hard feelings.
-- [x] Make sure they know that they should really not be crossing the Tokyo-Nagamioka border without sending you a brainmail or text or something about what exactly they're up to and getting your approval.
-- [x] In fact, Chizuka had some concerning things to say about recent events in their territory and you'd be very interested in hearing more about that, if they're willing to share. Try to figure out their team social dynamics while getting the news.
-- [x] You have an interest in having a secure Nagamioka with stable border territories, and in making friends who share those interests- which they probably do. If some or all of them care to move, you're also in the market for reliable subordinates who don't mind living in Nagamioka. You'd like to see if you can cut some deals.
[x] Minami can keep scanning for calligraphy girl's new location if it's not a serious magic cost or distraction from supporting you in escort and negotiations. Otherwise, wait until Chizuka is gone and you can focus properly on finding her while working together.
We've got like 10 meguca in a territory that can easily support 40. And she looks pretty well able to earn her keep from the competence of her attempt to kill Yui.
Aoinfinity
Unlimited Blue Works
- Location
- a blue Infinity
Let's keep Maiko as the shadowy left hand for now. Having the mysterious ally is good for us for building myths, and even when and if she comes out of hiding eventually, the mystique would have helped our initial efforts to build up a reputation in the mahou-shoujou world.
Asami is probably the best candidate for our public right hand, with these admitted caveats. She seems likely to contract, but we shouldn't push her. If she decides to keep her focus on Student Council, she might arguably be happier. If she does wish then I can't help but imagine she'll be just as powerful a leader for our magical girl team as she has been for the student government. (Hey, isn't she more or less actually in charge despite being Vice President? It's a good thing Yui isn't jealous with her power.)
I feel like it would be a good idea to observe each of these teams a bit more, and get to know the potential leaders, before formalizing it. It's not a bad mid-to-long-term plan though.
Agreed on Tomo and Shinobu. The former hasn't shown any inclination to lead, and the latter has specific issues that would need to be worked through before we could even introduce the idea. Minami, though, I think would be a great "operator" type, acting in conjunction with a field leader as coordinator/operational support. She doesn't have the personality to command a team directly, but she could definitely observe the situation and give orders when appropriate.
Probably best to keep her out of our plans unless she makes the decision herself to stay in Nagamioka. Frankly, I think the idol route is probably more beneficial for her, even with Tokyo the way it is. The idol magical girls have a long tradition of making it work, after all.
Seems unlikely. She's an introvert, and we've already given her quite a bit that she can be in charge of without having to interact with people. With Chou's specialties, though, she's best as a solo information-gatherer and perhaps, if she's willing to use her plants in active battle zones, barrier specialist. It's not out of the question that she could work in a team, but it seems more useful to keep her in reserve for a situation where her particular abilities would be useful.
Yumi doesn't fit into any of the above boxes, but it doesn't seem wise to me to push her into teaming with someone else. Let's see if she drifts towards forming a team on her own.
Echo
Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
- Location
- "echolocation" dur hur hur
We really need to convince her to write us a list of her potentially useful devices, it won't be too long though I guess because she probably won't be willing to tell us about most of them.
"--and here's the device I used to inject corruption into the soul of a little boy who was dying of cancer."
"What."
"Long story. So, uh, moving on..."
Well, Yumi has currently sorta-kinda attached herself to Maiko and Minami. You could encourage that, especially now that Minami has new stuff only she can do because of her magic. Yumi did express a desire to avoid fights if possible, as well.
Asami herself would probably be most comfortable as a field commander. She's good at organizing things, but prefers to be out doing stuff directly rather than delegating.
Haha, Tomo and Yumi as partners would be hilarious. Like some sort of surreal buddy-cop dynamic with an idealistic newbie and jaded veteran except they look like a superhero and a maid.