Would you Distort or manifest EGO?


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But also, the Author noted that said Apocrypha isn't possible anymore, so again, like they said, we shouldn't bank on it.

This particular ending isn't possible anymore, and it's easy to see why, because Homura will never turn to her devil form (already being a distortion makes it impossible) and Madoka is unlikely to wish to be the Law of cycles anyway after our reminders to take care of herself we gave.

The parts that aren't possible anymore have nothing to do with us being able to control the rusting, that part is absolutely confirmed.

And seeing a laser gun actually helps in making one, by simply confirming they can exists, until now, there were people saying we shouldn't even try because it was impossible anyway, now we have confirmation it is, and that means we can search for ways to do it instead of doing nothing and dying for no reasons.

It's a change in paradigm, we know there's a way, and humans are very good at inferring solutions in this kind of case, at worst we can try trial and error with Angela, family time and experiments time, win-win.
 
We were going to try and find a solution anyway, the point is that we shouldn't take it as given that we'll be able to find one. Knowing it's possible doesn't mean we'll be able to do it.

And even then, we'll be juggling quite a few plates, between dealing with the Adult, looking after the children, and undistorting Homura and Kyouko, who's to say that "Solving" X's abnormality nature will even rate high enough on the priority list to be sufficiently dealt with?
 
Knowing it's possible doesn't mean we'll be able to do it.

Quest, narrative convention says *if it can happen, it will*.

Plus, this is a cross between PMMM, who is ultimately about hope and *fuck the current system, I'll make a better one!* and Project moon who is... about hope and *fuck the current system, I'll make a better one!*. Add to that that we are the literal representation of the struggle to make that better system, not being able to do it is completely and utterly countertheme to every parts of this quest.

Edit:

Also, *maybe we won't be able to do it so why bother* is how you stagnate and die, so do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage, against the dying of the light.
 
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I'm not arguing that we should give up, I'm saying we shouldn't take it as a given. And that we should keep in mind the chance for failure and account for that when we pursue such options, so please stop putting despair in my mouth, it tastes bad :V
 
I'm just saying that we shouldn't take this Apocrypha as a sign that X should turn into the Daughter and start giving her kids peak White ALEPH-level hugs.

While accepting that X is now an Abnormality is important, it's unwise to use this as an example that means that our X can turn into the Daughter without harming everyone around her now.

Atleast get some practice first before trying it. Especially since this X got some practice of her own while she was away.

Don't go doom posting about us giving up on it. It's on the to-do list for a while now, we just never got the time to get around to it between everything that needed to be done.
 
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The long and short of this ending is that X relied too much on her Abno powers without actually accepting them and ended up incapacitated during Walpurgisnacht, forcing Madoka to make her canon Wish to save everyone. Things were slightly better than canon for a while with X being there to help prevent Homura's unraveling in the aftermath, but eventually the Rejection got too much and she had to go off on a multiple-year multiverse pilgrimage to find a way to stabilize herself. Rebellion happens while she's away, and she comes back to this.

This specific method of becoming a "stable" Abnormality is infeasible in-story, and whether or not such a thing is possible without highly unique circumstances is up in the air. It's just too big of a plot point for me to give away in a non-canonical story. It is possible, but consider that to be the "Golden Ending" for this story. Don't expect to be able to reach it without all the pieces in place.
 
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Clearly the answer is to reach 100% abnormality dissolution! Quick, what's some other terrible truth we can reveal for Censored since the witchbomb didn't work?
 
You know, if one of the conditions was reveal a mind-breaking truth beyond comprehension...we would have fulfilled that with Nothing There with the Spear of X's Human experiences since that would be a truth beyond it's ability to comprehend that it was forced to understand
 
This specific method of becoming a "stable" Abnormality is infeasible in-story, and whether or not such a thing is possible without highly unique circumstances is up in the air. It's just too big of a plot point for me to give away in a non-canonical story. It is possible, but consider that to be the "Golden Ending" for this story. Don't expect to be able to reach it without all the pieces in place.
This makes me think of the Department Head stuff we've got. Clearly if their identities are already set, then we're unlikely to get all ten in the scope of the story.

Example: If someone already dead like Nagisa is "supposed to be" head of something (obviously Welfare lol), then this whole route is already closed to us, barring the unlikely prospect of somehow allying with the Adult, and the even more unlikely one of fixing whatever's wrong with her resurrection.
 
...Technically speaking...

There are candidates still for the department heads.

We just need to atleast start obtaining them first. All our kids are still just employees. We aren't even sure if they are department heads or not yet.

Welfare being someone guilty of their own selfishness would kind of fit Kyoko surprisingly. Discipline would fit Sayaka (How surprising, the color is switched).

There are other slots we would need to fill (who would be our Binah, or who would be our Netzach for example) but we aren't lacking in allies on this particular front.

Of course, this is all hypothetical. As said before I don't think we have yet to display the ability to make department heads instead of just employees.
 
You know, if one of the conditions was reveal a mind-breaking truth beyond comprehension...we would have fulfilled that with Nothing There with the Spear of X's Human experiences since that would be a truth beyond it's ability to comprehend that it was forced to understand
X didn't have Censored at the time, and that particular revelation didn't exactly stick. Even if it had, it wouldn't have been what's needed to get Censored's Sapling to completion. I believe I commented on it a few times previously hinting at the method, but they're buried by now and I'm not up to sorting through more than a hundred pages of replies.
This makes me think of the Department Head stuff we've got. Clearly if their identities are already set, then we're unlikely to get all ten in the scope of the story.

Example: If someone already dead like Nagisa is "supposed to be" head of something (obviously Welfare lol), then this whole route is already closed to us, barring the unlikely prospect of somehow allying with the Adult, and the even more unlikely one of fixing whatever's wrong with her resurrection.

...Technically speaking...

There are candidates still for the department heads.

We just need to atleast start obtaining them first. All our kids are still just employees. We aren't even sure if they are department heads or not yet.

Welfare being someone guilty of their own selfishness would kind of fit Kyoko surprisingly. Discipline would fit Sayaka (How surprising, the color is switched).

There are other slots we would need to fill (who would be our Binah, or who would be our Netzach for example) but we aren't lacking in allies on this particular front.

Of course, this is all hypothetical. As said before I don't think we have yet to display the ability to make department heads instead of just employees.
Who will end up as a Department Head isn't set in stone, but by this point all of the kids who are expected to face combat have a Department assigned. That said, when trying to match characters to Qliphoth/Sephirot positions, I would advise against using either the original Facility's jobs or the actual symbolism of the original positions and recommend you pay attention to what parts of the Seed of Light they contribute, since that's the metric I used.
 
I suppose there is something to be said about knowing the conditions...Have we ever made a decision explicitly to fulfill one of those conditions? Because if we haven't, then figuring it out probably wouldn't change anything, unless the act of figuring out the condition itself fulfills the condition it probably won't matter. Either we fulfill it on the way while doing things or it was a condition we never would have fulfilled anyway, Like if one of the conditions was BETRAYAL, APATHY, or TRAGEDY we would never go out of our way to fulfill such a condition.

But regardless of the questionable benefit, I'll give it a go anyway

OK, So I'm going to list out some of the conditions so far and try to figure out how the conditions are derived

First Abno, Blue Star
DEVOTION/ACCEPTANCE/TOGETHERNESS
Devotion, Acceptance, and Togetherness is make sense as it is sort of the idea of committing suicide to reunite with loved ones, but is there any other themes that could have been derived from it? (enough Devotion to die for it, Acceptance in this case being the accepting death, Togetherness in death)

Given it's a religious abno WORSHIP and FAITH might be seen as free spaces however there are other more appropriate abno's for those two, Such as White Night, Flesh Idol, and One Bro

DEATH would seem appropriate, however Price of Silence, Mountain of Smiling Bodies, or Funeral of Dead Butterflies might be more appropriate, also, Blue Star alludes but doesn't want to state that you just die

One could make an argument for BLUE or STAR or LEGS or HEART...but none or those are really themes so much as physical description, and the fact that none of the conditions are ever about the physical description of an entity remains true throughout. It tends to be a Emotion, Experience, or Feeling, or at the very least something Abstract and not found Physically (See Death's Speech in The Hogfather about where to Justice and Mercy).

Ok so how about END or SALVATION, to say that it is the end of suffering, thus salvation? again Funeral of dead butterflies, though Blue Star makes a good case... except White Night again has a good case for that too...

Ok, so every other theme that it could have has some other Abno that could make a good enough argument, heck, one could argue it's own Condition have other abno's that could make a argument for it. Such as You're Bald for all three conditions :V

But honestly, the idea of other abno's having the same condition probably doesn't matter given X and Big Bird have a condition that seems very similar

Big Bird
GUIDE/WATCH/SAVE

X
AUTHORITY/GUIDANCE/CALAMITY/COMPREHENSION/REVOLUTION

GUIDANCE vs GUIDE

So...an Abno having a condition doesn't prevent another abno from having practically the same condition but X is an exceptional situation so let's discount her

Schadenfreude
CRUELTY/WATCH/GLEE

Notably, shares one of the Exact same condition as Big Bird, so we can't just cross conditions off just because another abno might have them, meaning all the themes mentioned earlier as possible conditions for Blue Star remain possible conditions.

One thing to keep in mind is that all these single word themes are shorthand for a moral/human experience.

[CENSORED] is representative of the idea that some things you are better off not knowing, or are simply beyond a Humans ability to comprehend or rationalize.

You don't want to walk in on your 90 year old grandparents fucking, you might be academically aware of it, but you neither want nor need to see it, it's a truth that you can only take damage from knowing.

As such, certain themes that it may have could be SECRET, FORBIDDEN, INCOMPREHENSION, INSANITY, TRUTH, ELDRITCH, nothing to suggest that it's a lie but everything to suggest that you shouldn't look.

Of course, this suggests that if we were to look directly at it, we'd probably fulfill some of the conditions. Or if we were to subject someone to X's 'true form'.

You know...despite such a thing being entirely immoral, I wonder what a newborn baby would see when they look upon it, as they would lack any context to make such any knowledge painful...Maybe they would see it as normal, and everything else as something worthy of mindbreaking incomprehension.

I'll continue this another day

EDIT: Thought caught me, SACRIFICE, could be another for both the obvious reason and the fact that in it's file, someone was sacrificed in an attempt to understand it and is sacrificed to appease it somehow
 
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So...an Abno having a condition doesn't prevent another Abno from having practically the same condition
Not Practically. Only Technically.

The condition for Schadenfreude's WATCH is likely different from Big Bird's WATCH.

They are similar, but the former is more on the side of a stalker. While the latter is more on the side of authoritarian control.
 
Just moved in. I'll be uploading one, maybe two new chapters in the next few days. In the near future, you shall have:
- Family drama
- A relatively normal dinner conversation
- Sleepover with minimal time travel
 
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You know, contemplating [CENSORED] reminds me of a dream I once had, in it, I was in a rush to tell people something. I was aware I was in a dream, but I had seen something that made me believe magic, the afterlife, the extraordinary, it was real. Note; I was aware I was in a dream, I knew that that I wasn't experiencing something real, and yet, in spite of that, or even because of that, whatever I had seen made me believe in Magic all the more and I was in such a rush to tell people.

I still don't remember what I had seen, But I wish I did, if it was something that could change my entire perspective like that.
 
Sidestory 17 - Those Who Seeks Sorrow
Sidestory 17 - Those Who Seek Sorrow

Darkness.

There was darkness everywhere. It was thick and heavy and pressing into Corbeau's body from every direction. How had she gotten here? Everything was a blur. She couldn't see herself, not through the overwhelming weight of whatever surrounded her. It was a fluid of some sort, and she could feel ripples and waves through it beating against her skin, but nothing she could think of would fit the description of the inky void she was floating in. Her thoughts were too muddled by confusion. It wasn't pitch black, but instead a sort of very dark mix of colors that swam and swirled like the patterns you might see if you closed your eyes. Staring out into that endless expanse, the thought struck Corbeau. Though her current situation was still an unknown, the stuff she was sinking in was familiar.

Grief.

She was drowning in Grief. Funny, Corbeau had never really felt the fear that came with her magic running out before. Her unique Magic had always ensured that she never had to worry about that sort of thing. That terror, the feeling of your sole lifeline on the battlefield slowly fading away, was better reserved for the pitiful souls who found themselves as her opponents. In the moment, she had laughed at them. Corbeau had cackled and jeered and mocked as her opponents died slowly and painfully before her. And why shouldn't she have? They were enemies, they would've killed her and her sisters if they had the chance. What would the point be in showing mercy or pity to somebody who wouldn't do the same? The difference between her and them was that she was strong, and they weren't. That was just the way of things.

And yet, this feeling was familiar. Corbeau could remember something, a blurry and indistinct memory of fear and confusion that cut off without warning. She focused on the memory. It was uncomfortable, and something inside her squirmed unpleasantly thinking on it, but it was the last thing she could remember. Whatever had happened that had finally scared her had led to her ending up here.

Where was here, anyways? She was surrounded by Grief, but that just brought up more questions. Something like this shouldn't be possible. Had Mother decided she wasn't done with her?

The raven-masked woman blinked in the murky depths. Where had that thought come from? Her mother was…

The thought drifted away before Corbeau could grasp it. There was just too much there, too many feelings tied to the memory of the person her mother was for her to summon up now. Instead, she continued to drift.

There was movement now. Corbeau still couldn't tell whether she was rising or sinking, but she was going somewhere. And that was better than just floating in the middle of nothing. And she wasn't just moving, she was being pulled. Someone- or something- was dragging the veteran Magical Girl through the mire surrounding her. Whatever it was, Corbeau was grateful. Being stuck here was already starting to wear on her.

Without warning, she reached the surface. The mass of Grief clung to Corbeau's body in an oily film as she emerged, slowly sloughing away to let her free. It hissed as it went, as though it were angry that Corbeau had slipped from its grasp. Petty as it felt, Corbeau smirked at the pool being denied its prize.

Corbeau scanned the area she had just been dragged into. The pool of Grief she had been immersed in appeared to be some sort of bath or spring, surrounded by steps descending into the iridescent darkness. The ground was some sort of reflective stone polished and cleaned into a perfectly flat, practically mirrored floor. The walls and ceiling too were the same strange stone, and an ominous green light drifted down from up above. The ceiling was rather high, and between that and the heavily-decorated walls Corbeau could've believed she was in some sort of cathedral.

What mainly drew her attention, though, was the machinery. Pipes and gears and basins of all sorts filled the space of the room, overlooked by rows and rows of balconies. A horrible grinding sound filled the room, and to Corbeau it sounded less like a machine and more like somebody screaming. She would know, after all. It was a sound she'd grown accustomed to. As the sound faded to echoes, the last few drops of oily fluid fell from the chute in the machine's bottom and poured into the pool Corbeau had been freed from.

It was only after all that that Corbeau noticed the people in the room with her. Lapin, her eldest sister, was smiling excitedly at her from not far away. The sight reassured Corbeau. She was still confused about what was going on, but Lapin's presence could only be a good sign. Not too far away was Mother, placidly standing aside with eyes closed. That brought up a great deal of more complicated emotions in Corbeau, but she couldn't parse them now. No, she was far more occupied with the person who had just dragged her out of the pool.

Her younger sister, Minou.

The person who killed her.

"Ah, Corbeau. It's good to see you again." Minou greeted as though nothing was wrong. Her words rang in Corbeau's ears. How could she do that? Just act like nothing had happened?

Corbeau pulled away from her sister, retreating to a safe distance while Minou and Lapin stares at her in confusion. Could she escape? The only exits from the room she could see weren't on the floor level, and by the time she jumped up to one Minou could easily reach it with a portal. Not to mention she had no idea where she was. No, fleeing wouldn't be possible.

"Hey, Corbeau, it's alright." Lapin coaxed, care and concern overriding her uncertainty. "We're safe now. The war's over." The sound was nearly enough to sooth Corbeau's worries, but her killer standing barely more than arm's length away ended any hope of calm.

"There's no need to be afraid. We've been given a second chance. Things will be different this time." Minou assured. Her voice was smooth and confident, exactly like Corbeau remembered. If it weren't for the barest tremor in her words, Corbeau might have been able to believe it.

"You can't say that. You can't act like nothing's wrong." she protested in disbelief. Why was Minou acting like this? She couldn't really expect her to just forget what had happened?

"Corbeau? What's wrong?" asked Lapin, growing more worried by the moment.

The words burned in her throat. Even after seeing it, living it, a part of Corbeau just can't accept it. Can't accept that Minou had decided she was a traitor because she was loyal to her sisters and not a mother who threw them against the French armies as weapons. For all that it hurt, the truth made its way past Corbeau's lips.

"She killed me. Minou betrayed us."

Lapin's expression changes to one of utter disbelief, while Minou frowned sadly. She didn't even have the decency to look guilty. Just disappointed.

"That can't be right. You're just confused. It was one of the French Magical Girls, right?" Lapin refuted, looking to Minou for support and growing more agitated each second it does not come. "Right?"

"It was hardly that simple. Corbeau lost her loyalty to Mother. I only acted accordingly." Minou said. Corbeau growled at the callous dismissal her sister had just made. Lost her loyalty? Acted accordingly? Corbeau had always been loyal to her sisters first and everyone else, even Mother, second. Though she had never held any illusions that her sisters were the same, they were still family. She had never dreamed they would end up as enemies. And even then, she could never have imagined how little she really meant to her sister.

"Minou…" Lapin's voice trailed off nervously, unable to believe what she was hearing. Corbeau hadn't been able to believe it at the time either. She had lain there, paralyzed in shock as her little sister took her life without hesitation. "Did you actually..?"

"Didn't you hear her? She admitted to it. Look, she doesn't even regret what she did!" Corbeau spat, the mess of feelings insider at last resolving into brittle, sharp anger.

"I do regret it, Corbeau." Minou refuted, though her voice told a different story. "I regret that it was ever necessary. Had you still been there, maybe things would've been different. But none of that matters anymore. We have all been given a second chance at life, and we will not waste it obsessing over the failures of the past."

"Obsessing? It's hardly an obsession if I don't want to forget that I died because of you!"

"But we are alive now. The mistakes of the past are gone."

"Maybe we should slow down and go over everything before we-" Lapin interceded, though neither of her sisters were listening. Even if they had been, the eldest's protests were quickly ended by a fourth voice joining the conversation.

"It is just as Minou has said. There is little point in waiting on the errors of the past, not when we could instead look towards the future that awaits us."

The sound of her Mother's voice was like a bucket of cold water being poured over Corbeau. The heat of anger was extinguished without mercy, leaving only a cold and empty chill behind. Mother was still here, so nothing was different. Whatever had happened after Corbeau's death didn't change the facts. Lapin and Minou would follow Mother anywhere, and Corbeau had no way to stop them. She could only follow along, hoping that she wasn't deemed "disloyal" a second time.

A second realization struck her, filling the hollow where anger had once been. If Lapin and Minou were here too, if they had also been brought back, then they had also died. Corbeau had failed to protect her sisters, first because of her weakness and then because she had cared about them above all else. They had both been killed because of her failure.

Distantly, Corbeau could hear Mother's voice. "I will forgive you, Corbeau, for your previous disloyalty. It was with no joy that I gave the order, and it would break my heart to hurt my children in such a way again. So please don't make me do such a thing again."

Corbeau nodded mutely. What else could she do?

"Excellent. Now, we have much to do. We must reestablish our strengths, and I have a new business partner that I would like to introduce you to."

What else could she do?
 
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Sidestory 17 - Those Who Seek Sorrow
This is the first of two Sidestories, partitioned according to the time they take place. I was originally going to just have one, but this event happens before the others do it just made the most sense to separate it.

Oh, and voting won't be closed until after the next Sidestory.

"Human Resources" Shouldn't Be This Literal: A PMMM/ProjectMoon Quest
 
What would the point be in showing mercy or pity to somebody who wouldn't do the same?

*Sigh*

Corbeau, showing them mercy or pity is because they could do the same, and you benefit from the reputation long term, mostly by having less chances of being summerly executed.

Someone- or something- was dragging the veteran Magical Girl through the mire surrounding her. Whatever it was, Corbeau was grateful.

The Adult who says lies is very happy you feel grateful, makes you easier to manipulate.

it sounded less like a machine and more like somebody screaming.

Probably because it is less a machine, and more someone screaming.

"That can't be right. You're just confused. It was one of the French Magical Girls, right?" Lapin refuted, looking to Minou for support and growing more agitated each second it does not come. "Right?"

Totally! Also, the tooth fairy called, she has a gift for you!

What else could she do?

Carmen: "Hey girl, wanna hear a great plan? I promise you'll feel perfectly fine after it's finished!"
 
Who will end up as a Department Head isn't set in stone, but by this point all of the kids who are expected to face combat have a Department assigned. That said, when trying to match characters to Qliphoth/Sephirot positions, I would advise against using either the original Facility's jobs or the actual symbolism of the original positions and recommend you pay attention to what parts of the Seed of Light they contribute, since that's the metric I used.
We already have know two of them thanks to their Marks of Qliphoth. Their names are of the demons that oppose specific Sephriah, so knowing which Qliphoth opposes which Sephirot helps.

Lilith is the counterpart of Malkuth, and Homura struggles with a perceived lack of self-worth like Elijah/Malkuth did.

Tagimron shadows Tiphereth and governs hope and the perception of beauty. Lisa/Tiphereth lost hope in the world and did not see how things can get better, while Kyoko lost hope in herself and can't see herself as anything other than a mess that ruins anything she touches.

For the others, I'd say Yuma is a shoe-in for Netzach, with her unending resilience in the face of hardship.

Sayaka looks like she is shaping up to be Hod's counterpart. Her deal in this timeline isn't about a helping a crush, it's about feeling left behind and wanting to catch up. Basically she hopes to be better. Mostly as a magical girl, but hopefully also as a person.

Madoka, assuming she doesn't get something special like Keter or Daat, probably is Chesed. Her deal was always about kindness and helping others, as a magical girl, a normal girl, goddess, and even as a Witch. Her counterpart in the Qliphoth can represent apathy and an absence of kindness, but it can also represent wastefulness and excessive love, kind of like a smothering mother. Which sums up her Witch pretty well.

Mami is a bit more unclear, but from my perspective is that she always wanted connections with other people, and now she has a mother, a sister and friends, so she's over the moon. But now things are going down that threatens to take away that happiness so the challenge could be to see if she can keep her cool and don't lose her head (sorry not sorry). I guess she slots into Yesod, which is fitting because Yesod is literally a connection between Malkuth, which represents the mundane physical world, and the rest of the more spiritual Sephirot, and Mami is someone who both wants (emotional and social) and makes (physical and magical) connections, and takes up the position of a teacher for introducing newbies into the world of magic. Also she's someone who presents a cool and composed demeanor but is more unstable and emotional on the inside like a certain eggplant.

Everyone else I dunno. Hitomi doesn't have enough screentime to know her trajectory in the quest and I don't even know if she's gonna be more relevant. And unless we're showing up with something unpredictable like reformed Argalia or emotional Kyubey I don't think we know enough people.
 
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"It is just as Minou has said. There is little point in waiting on the errors of the past, not when we could instead look towards the future that awaits us."
Oh look, it turns out vague aphorisms about past and future can, with a little bit of verbal finesse, justify some questionable attitudes. I'm sure Isabeau would feel right at home in the Extraction Department.

We already have know two of them thanks to their Marks of Qliphoth. Their names are of the demons that oppose specific Sephriah, so knowing which Qliphoth opposes which Sephirot helps.

Lilith is the counterpart of Malkuth, and Homura struggles with a perceived lack of self-worth like Elijah/Malkuth did.

Tagimron shadows Tiphereth and governs hope and the perception of beauty. Lisa/Tiphereth lost hope in the world and did not see how things can get better, while Kyoko lost hope in herself and can't see herself as anything other than a mess that ruins anything she touches.

For the others, I'd say Yuma is a shoe-in for Netzach, with her unending resilience in the face of hardship.

Sayaka looks like she is shaping up to be Hod's counterpart. Her deal in this timeline isn't about a helping a crush, it's about feeling left behind and wanting to catch up. Basically she hopes to be better. Mostly as a magical girl, but hopefully also as a person.

Madoka, assuming she doesn't get something special like Keter or Daat, probably is Chesed. Her deal was always about kindness and helping others, as a magical girl, a normal girl, goddess, and even as a Witch. Her counterpart in the Qliphoth can represent apathy and an absence of kindness, but it can also represent wastefulness and excessive love, kind of like a smothering mother. Which sums up her Witch pretty well.

Mami is a bit more unclear, but from my perspective is that she always wanted connections with other people, and now she has a mother, a sister and friends, so she's over the moon. But now things are going down that threatens to take away that happiness so the challenge could be to see if she can keep her cool and don't lose her head (sorry not sorry). I guess she slots into Yesod, which is fitting because Yesod is literally a connection between Malkuth, which represents the mundane physical world, and the rest of the more spiritual Sephirot, and Mami is someone who both wants (emotional and social) and makes (physical and magical) connections, and takes up the position of a teacher for introducing newbies into the world of magic. Also she's someone who presents a cool and composed demeanor but is more unstable and emotional on the inside like a certain eggplant.

Everyone else I dunno. Hitomi doesn't have enough screentime to know her trajectory in the quest and I don't even know if she's gonna be more relevant. And unless we're showing up with something unpredictable like reformed Argalia or emotional Kyubey I don't think we know enough people.
The canon five are already assigned, see here -
Control Department - Lilith Lilith: ??? Information Department - Gomaliel Gomaliel: ??? Training Department - Samael Samael: ??? Safety Department - Gharab Gharab: ??? Central Command Department - Tagimron Tagimron: ???
- though, honestly, I can't say I understand the reasoning behind most of these.
 
Oh look, it turns out vague aphorisms about past and future can, with a little bit of verbal finesse, justify some questionable attitudes. I'm sure Isabeau would feel right at home in the Extraction Department.
Not sure I want her anywhere near us or our people, but she's gonna need a lot of character development before then.
The canon five are already assigned, see here -
...well I feel dumb now.
Ah well. Thanks for finding this. Appreciate it.
- though, honestly, I can't say I understand the reasoning behind most of these.

Lillith is the counterpart of Malkuth, the source of the Will to Stand Up Straight. Malkuth took unreasonable risks that led to both herself and other people getting dying because she felt she needed to prove that she was good enough, that she need outside validation to substitute her own perceived lack of self-worth.
Homura pretty much already started at zero self-worth and then got worse as she continuously failed to save Madoka and her friends, which grinded her down to considering herself mostly as a tool to protect Madoka and not a person with her own worth.
Both struggle with a sense of fundamental worthlessness and seek to prop themselves up through external sources, be it praise or devotion.
Homura needs to recognize that she is a human being with all the rights and worth that entails, and that being herself has a fundamental meaning that cannot be replaced, an aspect that does not rely on outside sources but can stand all by itself, independent and inviolable.

Gomaliel corresponds to Yesod, who offered the Rationality to Maintain Discretion. Yesod was someone who promoted safety and proper protocols in the name of reducing needless death and suffering, but he also tried to cope with tragedy by suppressing his grief and embraced only logic, which eventually drove him to madness and suicide.
Sayaka is an emotional young girl who while striving to be a Hero of Justice was unable to handle both the terrible revelations shown to her and the circumstances surrounding her wish, which led to her spiraling farther and farther until she becomes a Witch.
They're both someone who tried to do good but was unable to process their intense emotions in a healthy way until it compromised their sense of reason.
Sayaka needs to learn how to process her emotions in a healthy way without compromising her decision-making skills, that what she feels isn't necessarily what she thinks, and what she thinks isn't what she is, but rather what she chooses to do.

Samael is the shadow to Hod, who learned the Hope to be a Better Person. Hod restlessly works hard at her job and offers to help anyone, but it is less out of genuine altruism and more as a way to attain atonement for her past sins, which later devolves into a desire for recognition for her efforts and rage when she feels like she isn't rewarded as she deserves.
Madoka is a kind and gentle soul who is willing to extend a hand to those who need it, but that kindness is partially fueled by a belief that she is weak and useless, and that by helping others she can assuage her sense of worthlessness. Her kindness is refreshing, but in the face of the mounting trials she finds herself sidelined and unable to contribute, leading to a feeling of helplessness and a desire to do more. This feeling often causes her to consider herself expendable and make a contract in order to fight as a magical girl or to sacrifice herself, believing that doing so can give her worth. It kind of did, in the worst way.
Both are generally good people who do good deeds, but their actions are tainted by a desire for something they believe their good deeds will give them, which warps their priorities to value the "result" or "reward" they get instead of the good deed itself.
Madoka is supposed to reaffirm her desires to help without being compromised by her sense of helplessness. She's doing pretty well so far.

Gharab is connected to Netzach, who attained to Fearlessness to keep on Living. Netzach subjected herself to fatal human experimentation on the chance that it would revive his friend. It failed, and he died for nothing. Eventually he is revived but not his friend and is given a job in charge of a group of people. After that he finds himself in an environment where mass suffering is mandated, failing to save others is a regular occurrence, and dying needlessly is the norm. This drives to give up on his job, on his coworkers, on himself, and on his life.
Mami is a girl who made a contract to live after an accident robbed her of her family and almost her life. She saved herself, but not her family. She took up a role as a teacher in order to fill the void, but eventually all her proteges left her. This loneliness took its toll on her mentality, and in certain timelines she succumbs to her isolation and becomes a Witch or breaks under pressure and tries to take out everyone she knows in a mass suicide.
Both are primarily motivated by their connections with others, and the loss of those connections. They existed in harsh situations for an extended period of time with no hope of lasting change, which eventually drives them to despair.

Tagimron opposes Tiphereth, the Expectation for the Meaning of Existence. Tiphereth is a young girl who survived in an exceedingly harsh environment that led to her developing a pessimistic outlook on life, save for the one person who was also with her. When her other half dies, her hope in the world is snuffed out with her, and she becomes critical and disbelieving of anything that comes her way. Her words after her friend's death sparked a tragedy that would shake the world.
Kyoko was a devout worshipper and a faithful daughter. She made a contract because she believed in her father's ideals and wanted to help her family, but her words sparked a tragedy that robbed her of her family, of her faith in God, and of her faith in herself, leading to her being antagonistic and bitter with those around her.
Both had a tragedy rob them of their loved ones and left them jaded and bitter, without hope that the world can be better.
 
Adhoc vote count started by Lepidoptera on Sep 25, 2023 at 8:58 PM, finished with 75 posts and 3 votes.


I'm still settling in, so don't expect the next chapter anytime soon, but it is in the works.
 
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