Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

Higure said:

Actually...what does happen if someone Contacts a spaghetti-soul?

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Oh.

So that's how it feels.

It's Oriko, saturating the world around you. Every good memory of savory red sauce, every bad memory of soggy pasta muted by the simple comfort food you've always enjoyed. You can feel the faint taste of spice and garlic buried not so deep, and you can feel the meatballs, cooked for exactly the right amount of time. It calls to mind Oriko, the perennial chef you love and the apron she always wears.

"I hate cooking!" Oriko protests.

"Knees weak," you find yourself mouthing. "Arms are heavy."

Firnagzen said:

Overconfidence is a slow an insiduous killer.

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Should be "slow and insidious"

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Anyway, it seems like keeping a ribbon bracelet on our person is a useful tool, for doing this for Mami from time to time, especially when she feel upset or anxious.

Also, we most definitely have to share it with Oriko and Kirika, as well as Kazumi, Kaoru, and Umika. Hell, we could even suggest it to Sakura, if she wants to try it out with Rin at some point.

Oh, and we can suggest it to Akemi and Noriko, once they arrive at Mitakihara and have a chance to settle in. Madokami knows they're going to need it, given what they're going through.

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Also, while the others are doing homework, we should see if Kazumi can copy the effect of soul gem cleansing. And our Grief wings (for flight). And Grief-hax railguns.

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And let's not forget to tell Sayaka that she did damn well today. Her actions with the clones probably saved the life of that woman, and saving one life is like saving an entire world, according to (IIRC) the Talmud (Jewish religious text). Not only that, she's come from "falling flat on her ass just from forming a clone" to "actively using clones to scout and fight in a Barrier" in a few days. That's an incredible rate of growth. We should tell her that she's already pulling her weight despite being a meguca for less than a week--we're damn proud of her.

Advanced ribbon testing for the SCIENCE pile:
-How fast can Grief move along the ribbon?
-Mami's ribbons can be made intangible while still remaining present (c.f. Mami vs. Homura in Rebellion)-- does this interrupt the connection of us to her/of the grief to the ribbon?
-Since they're both also powered by her magic, the Grief should be able to persist out of our range as long as they're touching her body or Soul Gem, not just the ribbons.

First battery; Sabrina -> Mami:

Test A: Mami stands outside of our control radius with a ribbon tied to her that extends inside our control radius. While connected, snake a grief nano-wire from the ribbon to her soul gem.
Worst case: Grief can only persist with direct contact to magical link-effect. Best case: We can cleanse her Soul Gem, cover her in Grief nanoparticles that can instantly solidify into reactive armor, or manifest other such useful effects from effectively unlimited range.

Test B1: As above. While connected, cover the ribbon (and surrounding area, as applicable) with Grief, then turn the ribbon intangible.
Test B2: As above. As Test B1, but pass the intangible ribbon through a solid object.
Worst case: Grief outside our range dissipates instantly; solid objects are impassible for Grief. Best case: Objects intangible ribbon passes through are connected to it, allowing Grief to crawl around obstacles. Being able to run the ribbon in a straight line vastly reduces grief transit/reaction time.

Test C1: As above. Instead of sliding solid grief along ribbon, attempt to infuse Grief into ribbon.
Test C2: As above. As Test C1, but turn the ribbon intangible.
Worst case: It doesn't work at all and/or Mami suffers deleterious effects from the Grief. Best case: Even more effecient transmission, particularly in the likely event that Test B fails.

Second Battery; Sabrina <- Mami:

Test D: Test continuity of connected Grief marble. How does the connection react to marble being transformed, divided into smaller constructs, merged into larger constructs, or dissipated?
Worst case: Any transformation disrupts/interrupts the connection. Best case: Mami can link to the entire Grief Cloud.

Test E: See if Mami can manifest and control ribbons from a grief marble/construct she's connected to.
Worst case: Doesn't work. Best case: Unlimited, self-perpetuating ribbon/Grief node web makes us stupid fucking overpowered.

Third Battery; Sabrina <-> Mami:

Test F: Under supervision of a spotter, attempt a two-way magical connection.
Best case: Harmonization reduces/cancels out overwhelming sensations/otherwise improves efficiency of connections. Best/Worst case: WAFFLE (Warm And Fluffy Feedback Loop Event) occurs.

defenestrator said:

On one hand, Oriko's still busy unspaghetti-ing her soul. On the other, Kirika would probably not want to stop when they do it.

...I'm getting Red Soul Quelaag flashbacks. Let's not Quelaag our friends.

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My mental calculus here is very simple: Literally having your girlfriend in your head > Self-rejection.

If there is potential harm involved, more well traveled magical girls (Hi Naida!) will probably know about it. Failing that, we could look it up online. If it's this simple its pretty unlikely we're the first pair of magical girls to find out about it.

My own thoughts on bad possibilities are that if what we see here is in fact the same thing that happens when we try to magic a witch then the results of our attempting to do so implies it's also possible that two girls could feed into each other's grief spirals. Even in the absolute worst case however that can be kept at bay by fastidious cleanliness and the amount of leeway could range from "a little bit" to "As long as one of you isn't actually a witch."

A bit less hypothetically, there's also the explicit note that memories can be shared over the link to contend with, which could play in to infohazards.
... We should probably tell Kazumi about that possibility if she's going to attempt this.

Actually, those three were listening in while we experimented weren't they?

Higure said:

Actually...what does happen if someone Contacts a spaghetti-soul?

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"Hello, Sabrina," greeted Oriko as she slid open the glass door.

"Hi!" chirped the Kirika latched onto Oriko's waist.

"Hello, experimental subjects one and two," greeted Sabrina back.

Blue-green and orange eyes turned to pierce into blue ones in eerie synchronization.

"I mean," the white haired girl took a step back, "I mean willing experimental subjects... I mean you'll love what I'm about to tell you, I'm sure of it!" she finished with an uncertain smile.

Oriko and Kirika shared a look between themselves, before Kirika carefully disentangled herself from her Ojou.

It ocurred to Sabrina that Oriko and Ojou both start with 'O'. Coincidence...?

Before she could delve into it, Oriko gestured for her to step in, moving to let her pass.

Sabrina entered the Mikuni household with a grateful nod, and...

"Uh, how are you doing, Kirika?" she asked the girl walking maybe a mere inch away from her.

"Doing good," nodded Kirika, eyes eyes not leaving Sabrina for a second.

"That's good, that's good..." nodded the white haired girl, taking seat in the living room, as had become normal by now.

Then Kirika plopped down right beside her.

Sabrina fidgeted for a moment under the berserker's intense gaze. "Wouldn't you rather sit with Oriko...?" she asked.

Kirika shook her head. "Sabrina, you're really a nice girl, right?"

Said nice girl blinked at the non-sequitur. Slowly, she nodded at the girl intruding into her personal space.

Kirika hummed. "However, Oriko knows all about your quirks, because she's awesome like that."

"You flatter me, dear," said Oriko from the kitchen.

"But it's true!" Kirika's eyes turned towards her Ojou's voice but for a second, before boring back down on Sabrina. "Anyway, you understand that when you come in without your Ojou and say strange things about 'experimental subjects', we'd be kind of worried, right?"

Sabrina squirmed, deeply aware of Kirika's elbow prodding into her ribs. "I was just distracted," she tried to wave her off, "you know, had a brain damage moment?"

The black haired girl nodded wisely. "The thing is..."

"We've been waiting for this moment," finished Oriko, placing a full tray on the table.

"Now, we're not saying you're gonna betray us," commented Kirika, munching on a croissant.

Sabina blinked, wondering when she had grabbed the pastry.

"But at the same time, if you were to finally have snapped, it would be safest for us if Kirika was close enough to restrain you, wouldn't it?" Oriko asked rethorically.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sabrina raised her hands in a warding gesture, "I was joking! I swear! I'm not about to suggest you do something dangerous... I think," she finished lamely.

To her frustration, Oriko nodded in understanding. "Worry not, Sabrina. We are all friends, here."

"And friends don't let each other experiment on their friends," smirked Kirika.

"Gahhh..." the white haired girl covered her eyes with her hand.

"We knew your quirkiness might come to a head one day," continued Oriko.

"But we're ready to accept you as you are."

"Even if it means you need to be handled with care."

"Specially when your Ojou is not around to keep you grounded," chuckled Kirika.

"Who knows, this might not be the day you snap," Sabrina heard Oriko shrug.

"It's hard to tell, though, you know, with the brain damage."

Sabrina slowly let her hand drop, glaring at the couple.

"I think you're a reasonable girl," the Seer nodded sagely, "so as long as we keep an eye on you and communicate openly, you should remain stable for a long time."

"Don't worry, we'll tell you when you look like you're about to snap," Kirika giggled.

Sabrina poked the shorter girl's ribs.

"Eek!" she squeaked, flinching.

Then Sabrina poked her again. And again and again and again.

"S- agh- eek- stop!" laughed Kirika, finally grabbing hold of Sabrina's poking hand. "Or I'll poke you!"

Sabrina laughed softly. "Back to your Ojou," she shoved at Kirika with her shoulder instead, "off. Now."

"Yeah, yeah," Kirika finally got up, sidestepped the table, and threw herself against Oriko, immediately cuddling onto her.

Oriko smiled easily, sipping at her by-now-ready-to-drink tea.

"Anyway," said Sabrina, "I'm not gonna make you do this, but here's what I came to share today..."

It took only a couple of minutes, a few teacups' worth of tea, and all the remaining croissants -though most of them went to Kirika- for Sabrina to explain the magic sharing trick and its... effects.

When she finished, a bright eyed Kirika was hanging onto her words, at the edge of her seat.

"But, but, but, you can, really, it's..." she babbled, before turning hopeful eyes on Oriko, "... can we...?"

"I don't know if Oriko's..." interrupted Sabrina, "... rather borked soul would have a detrimental effect when doing this, that's why I said I'm not sure if it's dangerous," she shugged.

Oriko hummed. "I don't think it's a problem, I haven't felt that... pain for a while."

"So we can?" Kirika bounced in place, causing the girl she was attached to to smile in delight. Oriko nodded. "Yesssss!" Kirika tightened her hug for a moment, before resuming her hyperactivity mode. "So we're gonna need something from each other to push magic onto! I can use one of your marbles, you can use one of my claws?" she frowned. "... Aw, that's not romantic at all... maybe my eyepatch?" she blinked.

Oriko patted her girlfriend's head fondly, shaking her head.

Innocent orange eyes stared up at her in inquiry.

The Mikuni heiress simply grabbed one of Kirika's hands with her own, the black haired girl quickly doing likewise.

An fleeting, eternal moment passes while they beheld each other's eyes.

Then a push of magic-

A deafening roar struck Sabrina as she covered her head with her arms, blinded by a sudden bright light, buffeted by torrential winds; she grunted as the tray and cutlery was blown away, a teacup striking and breaking against her ribs.

Then it was over.

The winds died down, and the light enveloping Oriko's and Kirika's figures dimmed down, to reveal...

In the middle of the abruptly trashed living room, one tall, regal, voluptuous woman stood, her posture straight and confident, arms akimbo; she smiled down at the half-crouching, half-standing, baffled Sabrina, strangely speckled green-orange eyes looking at her patronizingly, yet graciously.

The white haired girl blinked. She stood straight, examining the woman closer. Besides her eyes, her hair was strangely coloured, too, mostly white, but with some streaks of black.

"I don't blame you for staring," winked the woman, her voice managing to sound regal, yet mischievious.

Sabrina didn't raise to the bait.

"You know," she said, "somehow..." she mused, watching as the fusion inspected her new Soul Gem, coloured in a twisting pattern of blue, silver, and orange, "I'd like to say this was entirely unexpected..."

"But it isn't, is it?" the woman laughed softly.

Sabrina palmed her own face, the smacking sound attracting the Oriko-Kirika fusion's attention.

Slowly, Sabrina let her palm slide down her face...

"How am I gonna explain this to Homura?"

Onmur said:

"Hi!" chirped the Kirika latched onto Oriko's waist.

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I know what you meant, but I was hopeful for a moment that this was a story where Kirika had learnt how to make chibis.

Onmur said:

A deafening roar struck Sabrina as she covered her head with her arms, blinded by a sudden bright light, buffeted by torrential winds; she grunted as the tray and cutlery was blown away, a teacup striking and breaking against her ribs.

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For an enthusiastic practitioner of SCIENCE! she needs to work on her reflexes. She didn't even try to leap behind the sofa, let alone start out there when experimental subjects one and two initiated the experiment.

Onmur said:

"How am I gonna explain this to Homura?"

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"Good news, Homura! The individuals known as Kirika and Oriko no longer exist (by some definitions) and thus will be unable to harm Madoka! Haveadistractioncakebye!"

The Phoenixian said:

My mental calculus here is very simple: Literally having your girlfriend in your head > Self-rejection.

If there is potential harm involved, more well traveled magical girls (Hi Naida!) will probably know about it. Failing that, we could look it up online. If it's this simple its pretty unlikely we're the first pair of magical girls to find out about it.

My own thoughts on bad possibilities are that if what we see here is in fact the same thing that happens when we try to magic a witch then the results of our attempting to do so implies it's also possible that two girls could feed into each other's grief spirals. Even in the absolute worst case however that can be kept at bay by fastidious cleanliness and the amount of leeway could range from "a little bit" to "As long as one of you isn't actually a witch."

A bit less hypothetically, there's also the explicit note that memories can be shared over the link to contend with, which could play in to infohazards.
... We should probably tell Kazumi about that possibility if she's going to attempt this.

Actually, those three were listening in while we experimented weren't they?

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Infohazards aren't a concern. The only memories shared are ones that both individuals experienced together, and the focus is on the togetherness part of it. It's a focus on the bond, not the information.

Magic soul hugs sound really amazing...

Is the Meguca body enough of a magical construct that it works too?

Votes are open, by the by.

The Phoenixian said:

My mental calculus here is very simple: Literally having your girlfriend in your head > Self-rejection.

If there is potential harm involved, more well traveled magical girls (Hi Naida!) will probably know about it. Failing that, we could look it up online. If it's this simple its pretty unlikely we're the first pair of magical girls to find out about it.

My own thoughts on bad possibilities are that if what we see here is in fact the same thing that happens when we try to magic a witch then the results of our attempting to do so implies it's also possible that two girls could feed into each other's grief spirals. Even in the absolute worst case however that can be kept at bay by fastidious cleanliness and the amount of leeway could range from "a little bit" to "As long as one of you isn't actually a witch."

A bit less hypothetically, there's also the explicit note that memories can be shared over the link to contend with, which could play in to infohazards.
... We should probably tell Kazumi about that possibility if she's going to attempt this.

Actually, those three were listening in while we experimented weren't they?

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Salty has the right of it here - it's focused on the togetherness.

[x] Godwinson

I'd recommend telling the Pleiades about Walpurgisnacht soon, too. They'll be happy to help, and it's concrete progress to show Homura.

[X] Clear the Seed and give it to the Pleiades. Since there's seven of them...
[X] Ask if you can all join in the homework session. Us truants promise to not make too much of a racket.
[X] But first, tell Kazumi and Sayaka to try and copy this:
-[X] Make a privacy sphere.
-[X] Pull Sayaka inside and metabomb her. Subtly check if she's aware of the Law of Cycles.
--[X] If she successfully copied the privacy effect, ask her to let Hitomi know later. Madoka already knows.
[X] Try to divide your time helping Mami with her homework and making sure the Pleiades don't get bored.
-[X] Ask Umika about her writing. Offer help?

?

Any ideas how specifically prod Sayaka to reveal she's an angel/secretary?

Onmur said:

Any ideas how specifically prod Sayaka to reveal she's an angel/secretary?

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"Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Firnagzen said:

Salty has the right of it here - it's focused on the togetherness.

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Is it also overwhelming to Sabrina or would one of the quirks of her brain allow her to function during it?

Testing
[] Redshirt Army

I Will be editing this depending on results.

[X] Onmur

Godwinson hasn't voted yet.

[X]Onmur

Fully Automagic. Eat your heart out, Butcher!

Firnagzen said:

slow an insiduous killer.

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Spelling


...

...

AAAAAA KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

[X] Onmur

Onmur said:

Any ideas how specifically prod Sayaka to reveal she's an angel/secretary?

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Show her a few models of Homura's barrier (the water towers with musical instrument plumbing where the two confronted each other for instance) and/or models of Clara dolls. Ask if it jogs anything. (This is predicated on telling her outright that we've been wondering if she half-remembers some of the same things we do.)

So... we're meeting Shizuki parents tonight, then!

... Should we just take a gander a tell them about magic and how we could help each other?

-[] Ask Umika about her writing. Offer help?

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Uh... what? Why?

Muramasa said:

Uh... what? Why?

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Because... why not? It's just something to do?

Brina could help Umika bounce ideas if nothing else.

EDIT: Just throwing it as an idea, btw. I hope more people come up with better ideas of things to do.

Firnagzen said:

To be clear? It's intimate, and it's distracting, but there's nothing sexual about it.

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Spectral Waltz said:

It's like a soul/mind-snuggle.

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So late reply, but I saw this as equivalent to dæmon-touching from His Dark Materials*: literally coming into contact with someone's soul, in a way that is emotional intimacy of the highest order. While it may be done between couples, it's not sexual in any way (since it's is baring your soul, not body to another) and may also be done between parents and children, incredibly close non-romantic pairs, such as incredibly close sisters-in-arms. It's beautiful and emotionally moving.


* Someone really needs to get onto this crossover at some point.

Firnagzen said:

Oh.

So that's how it feels.

It's Mami, saturating the world around you. Every good memory you've shared with her, every bad memory muted by the simple closeness the both of you enjoy. You can feel the faint terror of abandonment buried not so deep, and you can feel her adoration, the simple devotion to you. It calls to mind Mami, the hugs you share and the times she cried on your shoulder.

"Oh," you find yourself mouthing.

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Musical accompaniment:

Karnewarrior said:

Musical accompaniment:

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"Hey everyon- Why do I hear an orchestra?"
"Oh, Mami and Sabrina are soul-snuggling again."
"... And?"
"You know how most people automatically blush in the right circumstances? Apparently Sabrina instead starts playing the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture when suitably Mami'd."

Onmur said:

"You know," she said, "somehow..." she mused, watching as the fusion inspected her new Soul Gem, coloured in a twisting pattern of blue, silver, and orange, "I'd like to say this was entirely unexpected..."

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FUSION IS JUST A CHEAP TACTIC TO MAKE WEAK SOUL GEMS STRONGER!!1!

Zarohk said:

So late reply, but I saw this as equivalent to dæmon-touching from His Dark Materials*: literally coming into contact with someone's soul, in a way that is emotional intimacy of the highest order. While it may be done between couples, it's not sexual in any way (since it's is baring your soul, not body to another) and may also be done between parents and children, incredibly close non-romantic pairs, such as incredibly close sisters-in-arms. It's beautiful and emotionally moving.

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The HDM parallel is a pretty good one, but now I wonder what would actually happen if people with more adversarial relationships tried soul-touching/magic-touching...

Or, in other words, is the apparent soul-snuggliness of the thing a natural consequence of the intimacy, or is it a reflection of how snuggly and intimate Sabrina and Mami already are with each other (and how snuggly they want to be)? If two meguca who hated each other touched their magic together, would they get a psychic impression of all of their worst moments and feelings towards each other? Et cetera.

And even more than that...

• Is there any way at all to get this to work on muggles-? At least, can a muggle get an impression from a meguca?
• If Madoka (as a muggle) got impressions from Homura, would those impressions extend to former timelines?
• How deep is the mutual sharing-of-context?

Mmm, part of me vaguely thinks that there has to be some awesome exploit lurking behind the intimacy of the magic-sharing, beyond just "being able to extend our range via Mami's ribbons". But no, it still seems too situational and limited. Maybe a regimen of testing would pick something more up?

And I guess intimacy is a pretty awesome superpower anyways​