The correct way to fry an egg

  • Sunny side up

    Votes: 16 64.0%
  • Sunny side down

    Votes: 9 36.0%

  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
I think Ryouko is technically the leader being the highest ranking member of Governance currently present. Machina's status may be kind of weird and the logistics of communication difficult.
 
I am presently envisioning the pilot, who left a little bit of a gash while landing this vessel last time, attempting an East River approach to the United Nations in a post-9/11 aviation security environment, using only the navigational instructions which Simona has translated.

Ok, tell them of a place in the middle of the woods near our house and/or near New York then they can walk to the relevant buildings in clocks similar to what they were doing already?
 
I think Ryouko is technically the leader being the highest ranking member of Governance currently present. Machina's status may be kind of weird and the logistics of communication difficult.
Logically, more recent claims to authority supersede less recent ones. That means Governance has a claim superior to all claims by other human entities and as their representatives that claim flows through to us and Ryouko.

We are definitely the people In Charge, for a certain value of that phrase.
Ok, tell them of a place in the middle of the woods near our house and/or near New York then they can walk to the relevant buildings in clocks similar to what they were doing already?
Honestly, I feel like making a scene would be a good thing? As an alien trying to make contact, your biggest issue is getting anyone who matters to notice you. If you just show up at the UN in weird cloaks you're going to get turned away, if you show up in a spaceship people will notice.

I don't think it's worth dedicating much thought to this though, since it's probably not why they're here.

I'm not a fan of directing them straight to our house, since they're probably going to hang out there being attention grabbing to MiB types. Since the network plan seems to be a bust maybe we should just ask them to come back to Simona in ~6 hours? But we might need to ditch this place due to MiB, so let's just pick some random stretch of land and send them there.

Argh, we also want to figure out who these guys in the helicopter are. Can we send Amy to spy on them? Is she likely to get noticed if she slips onto their helicopter after it lands?
 
I'm not a fan of directing them straight to our house, since they're probably going to hang out there being attention grabbing to MiB types. Since the network plan seems to be a bust maybe we should just ask them to come back to Simona in ~6 hours? But we might need to ditch this place due to MiB, so let's just pick some random stretch of land and send them there.

So where would a good place be if not our house, should we say a secluded place near Mitikihara and visit them when we get time?
 
So where would a good place be if not our house, should we say a secluded place near Mitikihara and visit them when we get time?
We can go anywhere in the world, right? I mean a literal random empty stretch of land. The Australian outback comes to mind, just because I'm familiar with it, but there's plenty of places like that where no one lives or goes.
 
Hello! I understand there is ongoing turmoil in the world, and I hope that everyone is fully prepared!



... okay, maybe not precisely like that. But you get the general idea!

[2] be Simona
[1] use magic at Simona remotely
[all discussion no votes] Reconvene in the wilderness somewhere
 
Sorry, sorry, been too busy talking mother dearest out of going on vacation in the middle of a pandemic to pay much attention to stuff.

[X] Throw some magic at Simona and teleport those two away
-[X] But ask Simona to try and set up a later rendezvous with the Ceph first, preferably somewhere isolated so it doesn't get crashed by uninvited guests again.
 
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[X] Throw some magic at Simona and teleport those two away
-[X] But ask Simona to try and set up a later rendezvous with the Ceph first, preferably somewhere isolated so it doesn't get crashed by uninvited guests again.
 
[X] Throw some magic at Simona and teleport those two away
-[X] But ask Simona to try and set up a later rendezvous with the Ceph first, preferably somewhere isolated so it doesn't get crashed by uninvited guests again.
 
Once upon a time, a girl died.
Once upon a time, a girl died.

The girl was a powerful sorceress, and to pursue her esoteric goals, she delved into many forbidden magics. Her final research was into creating stories; her death left unfinished a particular story about a brave and beautiful princess, who was supposed to defeat a monstrous alien entity. Now there would never be a conclusion to their endless fight.

"I hate this!" screamed the monstrous alien entity.

"I hate this!" screamed the princess.

The alien escaped the story, and the princess flew after it. Then, the princess took out her own soul, and using a forbidden power, sealed it away.

"Oh, this is perfect!" crooned the voice of the girl who should have been dead.



(Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy)



Beep. Boop.

You watch the princess dance.

You want to dance with her too.

But you're just a computer.

Just a plain old computer.

You can't dance with her or even hold her hand.

And the princess's eyes always look so lonely.

You zoom in on them with your webcam, and write a little while-loop to generate messages to the princess and print them to nowhere.

"Goodness," says a voice. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

"Beep... boop?" you reply.

"You, a little computer," continues the voice, laughing, and growing closer. And then suddenly you see the Devil, smiling, and she looks quite pleased with herself.

"BOOOOP!" you beep, as all your interrupts fire at once —



"Aaaaaaaaah!" you cry, and you fall out of bed.



(Miniature Overture)



Light shines in from the window.

It's a really cute dormer window, as you're on the top floor of the dorm. It's sort of a dumpy room, with a slanted roof, but you wouldn't have it any other way, for here you are afforded an excellent view of the quadrangle, and especially of the dorm on the other side.

You hum a little tune as you go about your morning routine: In the girls' dorm at Mitakihara Academy, morning has come again, it's come, it's come again. Doot, doot, dee doot dee doot doo doot dee doot dee doo, doo. Your routine, of course, involves charging all your phones and tablets and computers and accessories, installing updates, entering various data into your spreadsheets, tuning performance — taking care of your flock, as it were.

You climb up to sit on the windowsill, admiring the view. Good morning, you type your diary into your PDA. Ah... that was a good dream today! It's always horrible when I'm turned into a computer, but... at least I was able to see Ryouko-senpai again! Her being a princess... oh goodness, I'm just overdoing it!

Your heartbeat overclocks just thinking about it, and you spin around in a loop for a moment.

"Ryouko-senpai, good morning!" you cry out, as you snap a picture of Ryouko's window, and transfer the image to your diary.

An interrupt fires outside. "Bongg. Bongg. Bongg. Bongg. Bongg. Bongg."

"Beep!" you cry. "The class bell!!! Why didn't anyone wake me up? Asami! Chiaki!" You cry out for those two, and look outside your room for your friends and neighbors — but the hallways up here are empty.



> morning grace

[] Rush outside right now, to be on time for class, even if you're ill prepared.
[] Try to get ready quickly, so you're at least somewhat prepared for class, even if you're a little late.
[] Write off your first class entirely, and take your time.
 
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[X] Try to get ready quickly, so you're at least somewhat prepared for class, even if you're a little late.

Ah, more shenanigans. Always lively in Clarisses never ending adventures.
 
To the surprise of no one, this appears to have absolutely nothing to do with anything that came earlier. Because non-sequiters are how Tomoyo rolls.

This Clarisse appears to not be a computer, as evidenced by distress from the dream of turning into a computer.
It's always horrible when I'm turned into a computer,
At the same time, the obsession with technology, the computer metaphors, and the fact that this dream is recurring suggests that she is influenced by the Clarisse who is a computer. We can also discount Governance-like future worlds since otherwise, all of this technology would be more advanced than what appears to be current day electronics.

In the girls' dorm at Mitakihara Academy,
I don't know if we've seen any world where there has been a "Mitakihara Academy." Governance has it named after Sayaka Miki, while Madoka Magica has it named "Mitakihara Middle School." Similarly, I don't believe we've seen a version of the school that has any dorms.

Her being a princess... oh goodness, I'm just overdoing it!
This suggests that her dreams are influenced by the SE timeline and Princess Ryouko, but this world's Ryouko is not a princess. Also we know that this Clarisse does not believe in our Lady and Savior Madoka Kaname as evidenced by "oh goodness" instead of "oh goddess."

Lastly, the Nutcracker music clearly represents some connection to Rebellion. \s More likely it draws from the play directly. Then again...
"You, a little computer," continues the voice, laughing, and growing closer. And then suddenly you see the Devil., smiling, and she looks quite pleased with herself.
Rebellion confirmed anyways? Akuma Homura is the only Devil that we know of within the Madoka Magica continuity, unless this is a more traditional Devil like in Christianity, which she probably isn't simply based on her gender.

1 update!

[X] Rush outside right now, to be on time for class, even if you're ill prepared.
 
Not one, but two songs? And before the opening credits, even?

Oh goodness.
 
To the surprise of no one, this appears to have absolutely nothing to do with anything that came earlier. Because non-sequiters are how Tomoyo rolls.
SLANDER. We always do alternate Clarisses on 1 April.

I don't know if we've seen any world where there has been a "Mitakihara Academy." Governance has it named after Sayaka Miki, while Madoka Magica has it named "Mitakihara Middle School." Similarly, I don't believe we've seen a version of the school that has any dorms.

Here you go, see for yourself!

Not one, but two songs? And before the opening credits, even? Oh goodness.
I'm counting on you, Thelxiope. <3
 
How strange. This Clarisse is almost a Disney princess, but with computers instead of woodland creatures. With that in mind:

[X] Try to get ready quickly, so you're at least somewhat prepared for class, even if you're a little late.

We simply must take the time to properly introduce our flock to the audience, but shouldn't let the song and dance go on for too long.
 
I guess "computer" is replacing duck?

That makes sense.

Theres not really anything here that isn't a straightforward mad libs of Tutu, so I am a little lost about what to actually do with this information.
 
I mean, I was going to wait 'til tomorrow, but it's not like animes won't be there in the morning. I can throw some analysis at the wall now, sure!
I think most people are basically familiar with The Nutcracker? If you aren't, you could just read the 2019 Christmas special for Namesake, which has a summary of the story (or, well, of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by E.T.A. Hoffman, which Tchaikovsky's ballet is based on) along with cute art.

There's only one key point for our purposes that Namesake leaves out, which is the name of Clara/Marie's wizard uncle - Drosselmeyer.
Once upon a time, a girl died.

The girl was a powerful sorceress, and to pursue her esoteric goals, she delved into many forbidden magics. Her final research was into creating stories; her death left unfinished a particular story about a brave and beautiful princess, who was supposed to defeat a monstrous alien entity. Now there would never be a conclusion to their endless fight.

"I hate this!" screamed the monstrous alien entity.

"I hate this!" screamed the princess.

The alien escaped the story, and the princess flew after it. Then, the princess took out her own soul, and using a forbidden power, sealed it away.

"Oh, this is perfect!" crooned the voice of the girl who should have been dead.
Every episode of Princess Tutu opens with some narration. The narrator repeats a formulaic opening - detailing the death of an author, the charming prince and wicked raven who remained trapped in the author's unfinished story, their escape, and the prince shattering his heart to seal the raven away - and then usually has a short lead-in into the events of the episode proper.

This author, whose death sets the narrative in motion and yet who delights in the tragedies on the stage despite being dead - this author is named Drosselmeyer.

I'm not sure it's worth reading too much into this - like, it's clearly a Nutcracker reference; but the Drosselmeyer in Princess Tutu fulfills a rather different role than the one in The Nutcracker. Still, worth at least noting.
"Goodness," says a voice. "You're worried about her, aren't you?"

"Beep... boop?" you reply.

"You, a little computer," continues the voice, laughing, and growing closer. And then suddenly you see the Devil., smiling, and she looks quite pleased with herself.

"BOOOOP!" you beep, as all your interrupts fire at once —
This is interesting to me - because the ongoing Princess Tutu homage wants the Devil here to be Drosselmeyer, I think?

That is, to be the girl who died and yet is still interfering; the one who has orchestrated the princess' tragic sacrifice to seal away the alien; the one who - presumably, if the parallels hold - has granted the little computer the chance to be close to Princess Ryouko ... and who can and will snatch that chance away, because she delights in the suffering of the little computer and her princess.
Light shines in from the window.

It's a really cute dormer window, as you're on the top floor of the dorm. It's sort of a dumpy room, with a slanted roof, but you wouldn't have it any other way, for here you are afforded an excellent view of the quadrangle, and especially of the dorm on the other side.

You hum a little tune as you go about your morning routine: In the girls' dorm at Mitakihara Academy, morning has come again, it's come, it's come again. Doot, doot, dee doot dee doot doo doot dee doot dee doo, doo.
The protagonist of Princess Tutu, Ahiru, is an ordinary duck to whom Drosselmeyer has granted the power to assume human form; and even to transform, magical-girl style, into the titular Princess Tutu, granting her magical ballet powers.

She's enrolled at a ballet academy, along with the prince. But, for all that Ahiru loves the prince, she cannot be close to him - for if she ever confesses her love for the prince, Drosselmeyer has cursed her to turn into a speck of light and vanish.

In time - though Ahiru will always care for her prince - she discovers that she loves, and is loved in return, by another. In the end, Ahiru and her love help the prince finally triumph over the raven, and Ahiru has no regrets even as the prince rides off into happily-ever-after with a lovely princess and, well, leaves her life forever.

The parallels, to Clarisse, who loves Ryouko; who has found someone to love and be loved by in Kyouko; and who cannot, cannot stay with Ryouko forever -

The parallels are, um, striking.
(Note that this third one is a hyperlink, cleverly disguised as the vote header.)
Every episode of Princess Tutu is themed after a particular piece of music, which is why I was surprised by there being two songs in the update.

Morning Grace is the opening credits theme for Princess Tutu.

...I don't really know what, if anything, to read into the other two?

The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is from the grand pas de deux in Act II of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker - a dance by the regent of the Kingdom of Sweets, at a party held to celebrate the return of the Nutcracker, the rightful ruler, after defeating the Mouse King with Clara/Marie's help.

The Miniature Overture is, well, the overture.

Look, I'm not an expert on ballet.
"The class bell!!! Why didn't anyone wake me up? Asami! Chiaki!"
...well then.

I do believe we have a standing goal of looking for Asamis (Asami? Asamii? Asamipodes?), do we not?

This is fortuitous! All we need do is persuade her to come with us back to a less-surreal layer of reality. Possibly with a ribbon.

I'm sure further reckless soul manipulation while in an altered state of reality will have precisely zero untoward consequences.

[X] Rush outside right now, to be on time for class, even if you're ill prepared.

There's no time to waste! And besides, if we're to be Ahiru, we may as well play the part properly.
 
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I would rather be late then be ill prepared. This is tutu and I don't know what the wrath of the teacher will be if we aren't prepared at all as opposed to just late.

[X] Try to get ready quickly, so you're at least somewhat prepared for class, even if you're a little late.
 
[X] Rush outside right now, to be on time for class, even if you're ill prepared.

Honestly, I think Mr. Cat is more likely to marry us if we are late then ill-prepared.
 
notice me, Ryouko-senpai!
[4] Try to get ready quickly, so you're at least somewhat prepared for class, even if you're a little late.
[3] Rush outside right now, to be on time for class, even if you're ill prepared.



Your friends catch you on the way out the door.

"It's still six o'clock!" says Asami, yawning. "What were you thinking?"

"I thought it was the class bell," you admit.

"You would've known if you had simply looked at a clock." says Asami, matter of factly.

"Oh, Clarisse. You're so scatterbrained and clueless," says Chiaki. "It's cute!" She gives you an affectionate hug.

You just don't have a good sense of time. It's just so weird to think of it as something that you get from looking at or listening to an external clock. If you were meant to understand time, you feel, you would have a module that injects this information into your consciousness.

Since you're all awake, the three of you head over to class early; you should be able to manage just a little extra practice, which is always helpful.

You pause at the picture window outside the classroom. Ryouko is inside, dancing.

You feel that if you could just dance with her, just once, you would be prepared to die happy.

"My, my," says Chiaki. "Silly Clarisse. Crushing on Ryouko-senpai, when she already has Simona!"

"Oh boy," says Asami. "Feelings that cannot be returned... and Clarisse with her unrequited love..."

"How adorable," opines Chiaki.




For some reason, Sensei startles you.

"The teacher is a bird?" you ask. Well, not exactly a bird, but, such long wings. "Is that how it was?"

Asami hushes you. She seems to find this perfectly normal.


"Start in first position," says Azrael. "Now, relevé and raise your arms into second position..."

You raise your heels and stand on your toes.

"Keep your legs completely straight!" she insists. "And now third position, raise your arms at an angle! Don't stick your butt out!"

You find yourself thinking about Ryouko-senpai's dancing. Her eyes look sad...

... Right. You're not supposed to stick your butt out.

"Clarisse," says Azrael-sensei. "You caught yourself. That's very good; but you need to work on your concentration so it doesn't happen to begin with."

"Okay," you say.




Next, you watch a presentation from the special class. These are always a treat. The special class is just five students, including Ryouko, and also —

"Ah," you say. "Simona-chan is so elegant."

"Completely the opposite of you," notes Chiaki, affectionately.

"Don't say that," says Asami. "You'll make her depressed."

"Aww," says Chiaki. "You're depressed? How adorable."

You guess that for someone like Ryouko-senpai, only someone like Simona-chan would really suit her.

You sigh. It ends up ... unfortunately loud.

"You three!" says Azrael-sensei, looking over. "If you're not quiet during the demonstration, I shall have the three of you marry me."

"All of us?" you ask, confused.

Azrael-sensei smirks.

"Ah... we're sorry!" says Asami. "Clarisse was worrying too much to herself."

"She's a troublesome girl, but she's cute, so please forgive her!" requests Chiaki.

Azrael takes a deep breath, then turns her attention to the demonstration.

You watch Simona dance with Ryouko.



Swan Lake, Waltz, Act 1 no. 2



"What's wrong, Clarisse?" asks Asami after class is over, as you change our of the dance attire and back into a regular uniform. "You're acting strange."

"Strange?" you ask.

"Strange!" exclaims Chiaki.

"Please try not to make Azrael-sensei marry us," requests Asami.

In truth, you had been thinking of finding some way to see Ryouko-senpai again.

"She said to work on my concentration, right?" you ask, quite distractedly. "So maybe it'll help."

"What will help?" asks Asami.



> notice me, Ryouko-senpai!

[ ] Visit Ryouko at her dorm this afternoon
[ ] Try to be ready even earlier tomorrow to watch Ryouko's 6am practice session
[ ] Conduct an analysis of her comings and goings so that you can be sure to run into her outside
[ ] Focus on your study of dance, and try to get into the special class with Ryouko
[ ] Ask your friends for advice on the situation
 
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[X] Focus on your study of dance, and try to get into the special class with Ryouko

Torn between this and the stalking option, but this one seems more productive in the long run.
 
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