Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Hijiri's problem is the worry that she's a "doll" and "disposable".
Gemming her will demonstrate to her that we consider her a toy to be turned off at will if she inconveniences us.
In canon, the single reason she was such an asshole to everyone is that she saw the Pleiades gemming magical girls that they fought. Before that she just had a nasty grudge. And we've already seen that Hijiri. We can deal with that Hijiri. She's whiny and emo and pathetic, but she's not crazy or evil. After seeing the freezer, she becomes a psycho. It's not just inferred or implied; she says it flat-out. It's the single event that defines her character arc and motivates her, the same way that Batman is defined by his parents' death and how Homura's character is defined by Madoka's death in that first loop.
If we gem her, we will define her character to be exactly the person that everyone is worrying about. Right now she has a bit of a grudge, and one that we can deal with. Oriko was a bigger challenge. If we gem her, she will turn into the psycho that the other party thinks they're dealing with right now, the one that is willing to kill anyone and everyone and will try to make sure they suffer as they die. We can't deal with that.
The thing is, she doesn't have to become that person. People change. Just because someone can be a certain way doesn't guarantee that they are that way. Mumi isn't tetrising right now. Sayaka isn't witching out. Kyouko isn't talking shit about eating people or feeding witches. And we can still social Hijiri. She's not even as bad as Oriko! Look at how much progress we've made with her! Just in the last real update, before Sabrina said something that nobody was actually voting for, look at her body language and what she was saying! She's hunched in on herself, she's telling us to cut it out - not to stop playing games, or that she doesn't need to pretend any more. We've actually been getting through to her. And now we have an opportunity.
"I can't help you."
"Yeah, what I want is impossible."
"X and Y and Z all say that it's possible, you've just given up. I can't do it for you, but you can do it for yourself if you get your shit together and try harder."
"...Oh."
There's no "Trying the same thing over and over" here. We've been making progress the entire time and we have a chance here to finish it. Look at my proposed vote. I expect to hit her hard enough with this last speech that she turns around and comes back to us. That's how vulnerable I think she is right now. That's why I think "gem her" vs. "let her go" is a false dichotomy. That's why I'm so fucking dismissive of both of those parties. I think that we can fix her and we can do it right now.
And even if we don't? If she keeps running away? I think that it'll hit her hard enough that she'll just slink back to her cave and cry to herself for a while. And then we're going to go find her in six or eight hours and she'll be all softened up and ready for Social-Fu Round Two.
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