It's been two, maybe three updates between Miho admitting her parents probably wouldn't be present to drive her to the hospital if needed because they work overtime and on weekends; and Kikuko & Kichirou's dad admitting to realizing that he's been too much of a workaholic, and needs to step back and reassess his priorities. What a juxtaposition
If we ever get all the MG parents in the same room there's a decidedlly non zero chance of drama and 100% chance of someone putting their foot into it. (Though part of that is between our expected Pink canidate and suspected Yellow I'd be utterly unsurprised if someones ends up being defacto adopted if the parental situation is non existent and or bad enough.) Because yeah when you put it that way Miho admitting that if she needs to be driven to the hospital a new teammate not friend's mother just reflects so harshly with the empty place at the table.
And let me be brutally honest. None of the girls are in fully healthy positions most likely. Kikuko was struggling socially, her head was above water but she was very lonely for all that she also had less of a need for social interaction than others.
Kikuko's parents were running out of time to talk to Kikuko about that as she was almost out of the house. Something that was probably rammed home with how there wasn't friends at Kikuko's funeral. How long it took them to realize Kikuko was late coming home because there was no one there to notice her being missing. And possibly if a delay in someone finding her hit by a car and thus calling an ambulance tipped the balance for Kikuko surviving...
She was alone heading out of that library. And there were no witnesses because the only person who knows that Kikuko looked both ways is Kikuko. And given that whoever did run her over hasn't been caught they weren't the ones to call emergency services.
If Kikuko was very lucky she died on impact if the alternative was slipping into the dark in pain, terrified and alone.
The sound of screeching tires and the sensation of wind knocked from you by a sudden impact and an abrupt stop. The creeping feeling of burning pain and numbness and the sight of the blue sky turned red and the taste of copper and the wetness in your lungs…
Fighting for the air to scream, you manage to drag in a long, shuddering, painful breath, and croak out "help me…"
If we ever get all the MG parents in the same room there's a decidedlly non zero chance of drama and 100% chance of someone putting their foot into it.
While thankfully most of them would not earn such a response, Ruruka Yukimura would have to be actively restrained by her husband from committing a severe felony or two, if she met a specific few among the other girls' parents.
Though primarily because the legal repercussions would not be worth it, rather than out of any actual disagreement with the sentiment.
While thankfully not all of them would earn such a response, Ruruka Yukimura would have to be actively restrained by her husband from committing a severe felony or two, if she met a specific few among the other girls' parents.
Though primarily because the legal repercussions would not be worth it, rather than out of any actual disagreement with the sentiment.
Sounds about right. With Yellow who I fully am still convinced is the one threat coming into the city, it's really easy to see things starting with a poor (quality) family life.
Which I guess is one reason to vote for immediately revealing Kikuko. It enables fun shenanigans of the "Dragging teammates that need a better home well home" type. And voluntelling someone that they now have a younger brother to keep out of trouble.
Hotaru would be great at the role and we all know it. No one would dare mess with Kichirou. (And it'd probably take a little bit for him to get comfortable enough to ignore her warnings to not go to X).
[X] To Tell Them Now (You're already a mess and even more unprepared than with Kichirou, but maybe you really should just rip off the bandaid while the opportunity is here. Making them wait could be too much. Whatever it was you promised to Death can wait another night.)
Ngl, it's pretty funny to me that right now the vote is six in favour of telling them now, six for telling them later and the one vote that is committed to neither of those two options is to not decide at all
I did a re-read of some of the quest and I changed my mind on the vote. Death asked us to take care of a poltergeist in a town called Mittsutakaihashi. It doesn't seem urgent and it hasn't really come up in the quest since it was first mentioned, so I want to pull on the current thread and talk to our family now instead of later. It may be emotionally painful, and we may be tired and unprepared, but I don't see it getting easier if we put it off.
Narrator: Death
Ebenezer Scrooge: Masami Shimizu
Bob Cratchit: Midori Kazane
Tiny Tim: Nel
Jacob Marley: Miho Kasai
The Ghost Of Christmas Past: Kichirou Yukimura
The Ghost Of Christmas Present: Pallavi Varma
The Ghost Of Christmas Future: Kikuko Yukimura
Once upon a time, on a cold December morning -
Shimizu-san immediately awoke, seeing where her strange dream was going, and refusing to play along from the outset. The end.
Shimizu-san: "I refuse to let my subconscious mind guilt-trip me over my ex-friend through some needlessly elaborate Dickinson pastiche. Or through any other means, for that matter. My subconsciousness has no idea what it is talking about."
As a reminder, due to the holidays, I will not be closing votes until at least January 2 at the earliest. If anyone who wishes to has yet to vote, there is still ample time to do so.
As a reminder, due to the holidays, I will not be closing votes until at least January 2 at the earliest. If anyone who wishes to has yet to vote, there is still ample time to do so.
Thankfully, rather than all of that, there is a much more convenient scapegoat for your ire. "Alien-san wants as much stuff kept under wraps as possible, for some reason.
Your stiff stance quickly melts, and even with your arms pinned at your sides, you find a way to return the embrace. Neither of you were especially inclined towards close contact like this, and you'll start getting uncomfortable if this lasts too long, but just this once you can make an exception. Exhaling, you lean your chin on the top of his head to hide your fond grin, and feel a little piece of that hollowness from before fill back up. For someone you were never too eager to spend time with before, you suddenly realize just how much you've missed him these past few days.
You notice him taking occasional glances back at you, though, and you're not sure whether he's checking on you, or checking to make sure you're still there at all. Most likely both. He doesn't say anything, and neither do you, the silence stretching wide and heavy.
He pauses, giving you time to notice his crumpled business clothes, and a few grey strands (dull and flat, as opposed to the gleaming silver you and Mom share) in his short black hair that you don't remember being there before. His voice is low and quiet as always, but something about it is heavier, more exhausted, than you have ever heard it before, and his blue eyes are dull and downcast.
"I hope you know that I love you. Both of us do." With your brother standing almost between you and him, you can almost imagine that he's looking your way, that you're being addressed as well. He shuts the door behind him, Kichirou locks it again, and the room blurs with tears.
This may be kicking the problem down the road, perhaps, but despite feeling annoyed with yourself, you see no good point in breaking tonight's apparent streak.
Grif: "You do realize you just doomed us to certain death just so you could insult me, right?" Sarge: "Heh, if we do get killed at least we'll go out on a high note. Well, everybody but you. But that's to be expected: you haven't had a high note in five years! (muttering) Why break the goddamn streak…"
On the whole, I like it. The conversation-tree completionist in me is wishing we got to discuss more of like, what to do going forward, but that's not where the votes fell, and this was a pretty solid getting-him-up-to-speed scene.
IIRC, that was mainly to get our attention again to go deal with the bodybuilder monster, without blowing our cover, I think? 'Cause we wandered downstairs where our parents were after doing chargen stuff, so Nel probably doored back into our room, saw we were gone, and had to think fast. At least, the vibe I remember getting from the Q&A was that Nel didn't seriously expect to need to talk to them after that. Which I guess kinda supports your point, really.
Probably for the best, since otherwise you'd have had to explain how she knows both her mysterious new teammate's brother, and the entity in her own plane of existence that nobody can perceive unless they die. : P
Ngl, it's pretty funny to me that right now the vote is six in favour of telling them now, six for telling them later and the one vote that is committed to neither of those two options is to not decide at all
I see this has since fallen out of balance, time to bring it back towards being even : V
[] To Wait Until Later
(But for real, I'm kinda feeling like we have just spent the better part of this past day since first seeing Kichirou in a state of low-level emotional distress, that's erupted into a meltdown in the forest and a panic attack during the meeting, and then now just this like, glancing encounter with dad left Kikuko a sobbing mess. I think she needs a chance to mentally/emotionally reset before continuing down this road, as much as I do wanna keep going down it.)
(On top of that, while I was kinda annoyed at first by the prospect of the family up and leaving for the next two days' worth of story just as we were making headway with them, now I'm thinking differently. Like I said above, given how well things went with Kichirou, that just makes me paranoid that trying to press our luck with the parents right now is bound to backfire horribly. Even if they seem like pretty good people, there's still the chance that they're not yet in a state where this wouldn't risk really fucking with their heads, and even in a non-worst-case scenario, they might just not believe what they're seeing or something. They're doing this vacation specifically to get sorted out emotionally, and while that may mean moving on, it might also let them move on enough for Kikuko's reappearance as a ghost to not like, convince them they've gone nuts or something.)
All that being said, I'm also a fan of Storyteller's vote to just like, keep putting it off, feels the most consistent with Kikuko so far. Might be convinced to switch to that if it starts looking more viable XD
We might be able to partially out of the casket when the time comes. Visibly haunting our room, and using our art supplies to create post cards to leave behind and all that. People frequently talk about how dead relatives are watching them from heaven, so sending a postcard is just a small step from that perspective. Nothing could go wrong.
At least, the vibe I remember getting from the Q&A was that Nel didn't seriously expect to need to talk to them after that. Which I guess kinda supports your point, really.
Alright, onto more serious topics… Last night, you talked to my parents posing as a member of the school board. Was that only to contact me again, or did you actually want to talk to them too? If it was the latter, what did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, right, that." Nel shrugs. "That actually was mostly just to get your attention. I did want to open a line of contact with them in case the need ever arose, just like the families of the other girls, but for now there's nothing directly to talk about. What with you being a ghost, I'm not sure the need to speak with them may ever arise at all, but it's an option all the same."
just quoting for reference. Nel-san overestimates our detachment from our family. I've no doubt they'll find out we've told them eventually. If they manage to walk in on Kikuko's talk with the parents, it will only make the situation that more surreal.
[X] To Wait Until Later
I'm happy with any option but the points raised above are convincing.
Probably for the best, since otherwise you'd have had to explain how she knows both her mysterious new teammate's brother, and the entity in her own plane of existence that nobody can perceive unless they die. : P
Everyone knows what the grimm reaper is, at least conceptually.
But yes, she would be wondering who that random boy was. The alternative was to make the Ghost Of Christmas Past be Miho's younger self, or the Pink candidate. Since the latter is obviously not ready yet, and the former felt redundant when she was already Jacob Marley, Kichirou was the next-best thing.
Perhaps someday, once the story has progressed further, I may be tempted to revisit this and properly write A Phantom Christmas Carol.
Early on, I was talked into making a music post with some song recommendations relating to particular characters. Looking back on it now, it is... not very good. While some choices have remained the same, I no longer agree with some others, as certain characters have developed significantly since. More importantly, I felt most of the characters warranted more than just a single song to summarize them. So, I decided to redo it now, though this time only focusing on the magical girl team and adjacent characters; I may redo the villains as well at a later date. But like the first time, I have shuffled them out of order. Make of them what you will.
It also appears, rather inconveniently, that I am no longer allowed to include more than five embeds in a post, even when they were in spoiler boxes, so these will all have to be links instead.
I will be closing votes in approximately 48 hours. We seem to have developed a tie again.
Adhoc vote count started by SpoopyGhost on Jan 1, 2024 at 12:36 AM, finished with 35 posts and 18 votes.
[X] To Tell Them Now (You're already a mess and even more unprepared than with Kichirou, but maybe you really should just rip off the bandaid while the opportunity is here. Making them wait could be too much. Whatever it was you promised to Death can wait another night.)
[x] To Wait Until Later (Maybe telling Kichirou sooner was good for him, but you don't know that the same will apply to your parents. Let them have their vacation to figure things out, and hopefully buy yourself the time to be better-prepared as well, and then try to find a good opportunity once they've come back. Kichirou will have to survive the weekend without saying what he knows, but you won't make him wait too much longer than that. In the meantime, you have a corrupted spirit to defeat.)
[X] To Abstain From Deciding (You still don't know what you want, but what you do know is that you've already committed to work with Death, and you don't intend to break that promise on the first real job she's given. You're not in a good state to be making big decisions about your parents right now; it's better to bury yourself in your work and come back to this when you've had more time to think. This may be kicking the problem down the road, perhaps, but despite feeling annoyed with yourself, you see no good point in breaking tonight's apparent streak.)
[X] To Tell Them Now (You're already a mess and even more unprepared than with Kichirou, but maybe you really should just rip off the bandaid while the opportunity is here. Making them wait could be too much. Whatever it was you promised to Death can wait another night.)
[X] To Tell Them Now (You're already a mess and even more unprepared than with Kichirou, but maybe you really should just rip off the bandaid while the opportunity is here. Making them wait could be too much. Whatever it was you promised to Death can wait another night.)
throwing my hat in the ring. I couldnt decide so I flipped a coin heads means tell and tails not to tell.
Got two tails in a row. Luck wants me to tie this so here you go
Edit: you know what fuck it. I cant be that cruel to my family like that and as such I will do what is right. You got a second chance now is the time to do it!
Somehow I did not entirely expect this option to be the outcome, but it still made too much sense not to include, and now we all have to live with that. I do not often do this, but this time, I really do feel the need to preemptively apologize for the next update.
Adhoc vote count started by SpoopyGhost on Jan 3, 2024 at 12:50 AM, finished with 38 posts and 20 votes.
[X] To Tell Them Now (You're already a mess and even more unprepared than with Kichirou, but maybe you really should just rip off the bandaid while the opportunity is here. Making them wait could be too much. Whatever it was you promised to Death can wait another night.)
[x] To Wait Until Later (Maybe telling Kichirou sooner was good for him, but you don't know that the same will apply to your parents. Let them have their vacation to figure things out, and hopefully buy yourself the time to be better-prepared as well, and then try to find a good opportunity once they've come back. Kichirou will have to survive the weekend without saying what he knows, but you won't make him wait too much longer than that. In the meantime, you have a corrupted spirit to defeat.)
[X] To Abstain From Deciding (You still don't know what you want, but what you do know is that you've already committed to work with Death, and you don't intend to break that promise on the first real job she's given. You're not in a good state to be making big decisions about your parents right now; it's better to bury yourself in your work and come back to this when you've had more time to think. This may be kicking the problem down the road, perhaps, but despite feeling annoyed with yourself, you see no good point in breaking tonight's apparent streak.)
Telling our parents about our agreement to become a servant to otherworldly forces whose names are unspeakable to extend our live beyond the natural. Didn't go as planned I'm guessing.
Look, mr and mrs Yukimura, you could have prevented this all by spending a little more time with your children to teach them about the circle of live, the natural order of things and the dangers of contracts with friendly bunny-cats offering power beyond anything you've ever imagined at your lowest point.
Telling our parents about our agreement to become a servant to otherworldly forces whose names are unspeakable to extend our live beyond the natural. Didn't go as planned I'm guessing.
it was! I really enjoyed the new intro. I know I lurk more than not but I'm glad you've still been working on this, its been in the back of my mind lately.
And also thank you for posts like this, it gives fun speculation and new artists to look up. interesting that Nel and Death are called by name, but there are 8 in the MG mystery box this time. hmmm.
