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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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Mister Bad Guy said:
Happy 2000 pages, Firn.

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This doesn't make any sense.

Kirika gripped Mikuni's hand tightly, as if she'd let go at any second.
This has to be a joke. Some kind of prank.

Mikuni was carefully, impassively steering her down the street. Kirika inwardly realized that this was one of the richer parts of the city.
She's leading you astray. Any second, she's gonna turn around, and start throwing things.

Mikuni seemed a lot quieter than earlier. Her face was comparatively straight and solemn, compared to the smile she'd had before. Her walk was straight-legged and deliberate, and her gaze seemed to be fixed on the road.
Does she even care? One first impression, and you trust her? I thought you'd learned from Erika.

Kirika spared a glance at Mikuni's face. The other girl's eyes flicked to her, widened for an instant, and then moved back to the road.

She looked over her shoulder. Maybe someone was following them. Maybe this Mikuni girl had friends. That sounds right. Fortunately, it didn't look like anyone was behind them. Kirika's eyes returned to the sidewalk – where she saw someone at the end of the block.

It was an older man, wearing a suit. Kirika shrugged – even a Shirome student probably wouldn't have employees. She didn't expect him to be in on the other girl's schemes.

She also didn't expect the man's reaction. When his gaze met the pair, he immediately glared, as if he was looking at something disgusting. Kirika's first thought was that they were still holding hands, but she realized the man wasn't looking at her; he was looking at Mikuni and Mikuni alone.

More unexpected still was Mikuni's own reaction. The moment the man's eyes fell on her, Mikuni seemed to transform. Her back went poker-straight, her gait developed a dancer's rhythm, and her overall body language seemed designed for poise. Kirika supposed that, if you were looking at her even at a distance, you'd see she didn't care what the guy thought of her.

But Kirika wasn't at a distance. She wasn't the most social person, but she could usually tell when someone was being false. And up close… she saw all the bits of fear in the other girl. In the second before she'd shifted, Kirika had seen her pupils dilate, heard her breath quicken, and with Oriko's fingers still intertwined with hers, she felt the other girl's grip tighten. Just for a second, before she seemed to realize what she'd done and immediately loosened it. But that was enough. She was scared… and even if she was faking, that wasn't right.

Kirika immediately changed course. This time, she was pulling; the girl was surprisingly strong, but after a moment of recognition, she seemed to relent to Kirika's new direction, as Kirika pulled the pair of them across the road. The guy in the suit watched them with some irritation, but he didn't look interested in following them.

Once across the street, Mikuni visibly relaxed. "…Thank you for that," she murmured, her fingers still interlocked with Kirika's. Kirika just shrugged.

"What was that about?"

"I'm… not especially popular in this town lately." The other girl's eyes drifted to the sidewalk.

Kirika shrugged. It looked like Mikuni had some secrets. She could respect that.

The walk up the block was comparatively brisk, at which Mikuni turned… and then Kirika saw the house. Her eyes widened. She wasn't sure what she'd expected… but it probably wasn't a house this big. It was a massive mansion, painted white, the sort you saw on those TV shows about old European people. The garden alone was bigger than the apartment she lived in, and full of rosebushes that looked to be immaculately kept.

As Kirika, still gawping, let Mikuni pull her up the garden path, she found her eyes wandering to the little details of the place. With a wince, she noticed it wasn't quite as nice-looking up close. Half the windows looked to be broken, there was trash on the lawn, and the front door, a lovely-looking wall of oak, was marred by graffiti. Kirika squinted at the door, as Mikuni rummaged for a key. Not much of it was promising.

Swindler.

Criminal.

Liar.

Die.

Kirika honestly had no clue what to make of this. Was the girl some kind of crazy person or criminal? Was there something weird going on behind the scenes that she was missing? She'd seemed nice, but serial killers were nice, right?

But at the same time, she didn't feel any kind of danger from the girl. At worst, she'd been merely impassive. At best, there was… something else. Something she honestly… liked.

Despite herself, Kirika found her other hand wandering, patting Oriko on the shoulder. She felt the other girl flinch for an instant, before relaxing into her and leaning against her. Kirika felt a strange feeling where Oriko touched her, halfway between a burning sensation and a pleasant tickle. Instinctively, she felt a need to pull away – what was with this girl, she was so touchy-feely – but at the same time, she found herself enjoying it, and she let Mikuni lean into her as the door opened with a click.

The entrance hall was similarly opulent, with a dozen portraits lining the wall. However, where the exterior looked wrecked, the interior was worn and looked poorly-kept. There was a clear film of dust over the walls and floors, and the house itself was eerily quiet. At first, Kirika wondered if it had been abandoned... but then she caught a whiff of something.

"Oh, my," said Mikuni, dragging Kirika down the hall and into the kitchen, "is it burning? Please, don't be burning, please," she mumbled, as she pulled an oven mitt off the counter and swung the oven door open. She pulled her fingers from Kirika's with some reluctance (on both their parts, Kirika silently noted), and lifted out a fluffy sponge cake. "Ohhhh..." she said plaintively, looking at the slightly blackened edges of the cake with some disappointment. "I thought I was on a timer."

"It's okay," Kirika found herself saying, despite herself. "We can just cut those bits off, I don't mind."

At those words, Mikuni's face immediately seemed to brighten up. She set the cake on the counter, and lifted two aprons from one of the drawers. "If it's not too much," she said, a smile creeping its way across her face, "I could use some help with decoration."

Kirika fought the butterflies in her stomach, which now seemed back with a vengeance at seeing Oriko cheerful, and nodded. "Sure, I guess." She took one of the aprons from Mikuni's hand, and pulled it on.

"I can help you tie it," Mikuni said, and Kirika frowned slightly. Okay, seriously, nobody was this nice to her. This girl was a liar, and she'd be... Oriko looked slightly crestfallen at her expression, and Kirika's feet, unbidden, turned her back to Mikuni to present her with the apron strings. Turning her back also helped conceal the growing blush, as Mikuni's smooth, slender fingers worked their way at the small of Kirika's back. Kirika didn't realize what was going on. Why is she doing this? Does she owe me a favor? Does she... is she...

"Now do me, " Mikuni said, breaking Kirika from her reverie. She'd turned around herself, and it was only now that Kirika realized the weight of the knot hanging where Mikuni's fingers had been working not long ago. She, rather unsteadily, stretched her hands forward, and quickly tied the knot. Mikuni nodded her thanks. "Now," she said, "do you want to get to work on this cake?"

It was only when Kirika looked at the cake now that she realized how small it was. This wasn't a party cake, this was the kind of cake her mom bought when report card day came and she wanted to drown her sorrows. It was barely big enough for two people... and then Kirika's eyebrows raised. "Wait a minute..."

"Ah..." Mikuni murmured. "I am so very sorry about the deception." She shook her head. "When I said a small party... I meant just us two. I had something important to tell you... but I think I got too into it, and then I started making food, and I haven't had someone over in so long, so..." She shrugged. "I doubt I can excuse myself. This is a poor way to start off."

Kirika just stared. The girl had been confusing before, but this was just plain bizarre - and it wasn't like Kirika was a paragon of normalcy, either. Who invited random people into their house for cake? Wait, was it really random? What was going on? Kirika's eyes darted left and right, as if scoping for exits... but then they focused on Mikuni herself.

Mikuni's face had that same fear that she'd seen earlier, that same blanched terror. Her pupils were twitching, her hands quivered, and her legs shifted unsteadily, as if she was uncertain whether to run forward or back away.

"I apologize," she said. "It's so complicated... things have been changing... a few days ago, I could have asked this easily, but..." She shook her head. "You are free to leave."

Kirika just stared at the girl. Nothing she was saying made sense... but at the same time, she couldn't just leave her. Even if the circumstances had been a bit weird... she had invited her over. She'd made her a cake. She honestly wanted to talk to her. That was more than anyone had done for her in months.

And she couldn't help but think that Oriko felt the exact same thing..

She clapped the other girl on the shoulder. "You know, that cake's gettin' cold."

Through her fingers, she felt the muscles in Oriko's shoulder relax. The worry seemed to vanish from the other girl's eyes in seconds. A smile seemed to be showing in the corners of her mouth, though it was quickly stifled as she straightened her face to the same impassive look she'd had while walking. She jabbed her thumb toward a bowl on the counter. "The frosting is over there. Shall we get to work?"

Despite herself, Kirika nodded.
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You're a Bad Guy, Mister Bad Guy. You make me feel guilty for beating up Oriko and Kirika and threatening Kirika...

MissingJimbo said:
2,000 pages. And here's to 2,000 more!
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[Firn takes fatigue damage]
 
Ugolino said:
Again, not actually happy.
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They are happy, in the simplest sense. The endorphins are a-flowing. Even Sayaka acknowledges that it's nice to see Hitomi and Kyousuke again. A junkie strung out on uppers is happy too, as long as the high lasts.

That's the whole point of Homura's world, far as I can see. She's made a nice little box for the megucas, comfy and safe and full of friends. They'll be happy and content in their little box, as long as she makes sure they never learn there's a big, scary, exciting world outside that box.

Homu's gonna keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby,
Of course Homu's gonna help build the wall.
 
So, basically, Mom-cifer is completely ignoring their wishes and right to the truth because she wants them to be happy, and she know's what's best?

...The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh...
 
Onmur said:
I does feel like page 1000 wasn't that long ago, doesn't it?

...

Page 0001 - 05/19/2014
Page 1000 - 01/12/2015 (+7.75 months)
Page 2000 - 06/04/2015 (+4.75 months)

Thread's picked up some speed.
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Onmur: Prepare thread for lightspeed.
Ugolino: No, no, lightspeed is too slow.
Onmur: Lightspeed too slow?
Ugolino: Yes, we are going to have to go right to LUDICROUS SPEED.

Five days later, SV collapsed from the black hole that was Puella Magi Adfligo System's massive index.
 
Maybe I'm just being anti-fun here, but is anyone else starting to get tired of the "mom" jokes? It was kind of funny at first, but seeing it over and over again, it's kind of beginning to get annoying.
 
Agent Whiskers said:
Maybe I'm just being anti-fun here, but is anyone else starting to get tired of the "mom" jokes? It was kind of funny at first, but seeing it over and over again, it's kind of beginning to get annoying.
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Well, I've tried to dial back on them some for this reason too.

Plus, there is the real risk that us spamming them too much may cause Sabrina to accidentally say it to Homura or Madoka, sort of like what happened with "meguca". We had a very close call with Homura just two updates ago...
 
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2000 pages!
Well done, Firn!
Ugolino said:
So yeah, Homulucifer is a BAD END and worse role model.
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To be fair, at the point when Homu does the Milton thing Madoka's Law of the Cycles is looking pretty shaky (or at least it does to me).
The Incubators know conclusively that Madoka exists, that Homu was right, and that Witches are the way to go. QB itself says that they don't need Homu anymore - they have proof of concept.
Anyone who thinks that they aren't going to be doing the same isolation field trick over and over to every remaining Meguca until they're able to make good on their stated goal (to observe, then interfere, then control Madokami) is kidding themselves.

Madoka wished to end every witch (thus being hope to every Meguca) - she's not allowed to play favourites with Homura in that respect - thus unless she comes up with a workaround she's going to be going through more isolation fields to rescue the trapped Megucas, continually being exposed to the Incubators - thus giving them multiple chances to stop her.

I don't see that ending well for anyone. Nigh-omnipotent as she may be, QB implied that they believe it likely that they could eventually overcome her and I believe it when it says that.

Someone had to do something, or we'd end up with ULTIMATE BAD END where girls become witches all over again and everything Homura and Madoka went through is rendered utterly meaningless.
Homucifer and her Lotus eater machine (for all their faults) are a significant step downwards in degrees of Badness when compared to a return to the pre-Madokami system.
TL;DR: Not saying that Homucifer's actions are not immoral/unethical/wrong/just-plain-creepy - cause they are - just saying that the Devil is (ironically) the lesser of two evils.
Omegastar said:
I'd say we keep at it. It's the same as "Sabrina haz brain damage" so lets keep going.
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Don't forget 'Microwaved Tea' and 'SCIENCE!!' (as opposed to lowercase 'science').
 
PhantomFractions said:
TL;DR: Not saying that Homucifer's actions are not immoral/unethical/wrong/just-plain-creepy - cause they are - just saying that the Devil is (ironically) the lesser of two evils.
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The problem with your reasoning is A) Madoka knew about Kyubey's intentions and subverted his entire experiment with Sayaka and Nagisa, in such a way that he was genuinely befuddled, B) Wishes in PMMM always come true, so Kyubey can't exactly do jack shit about it. He lacks understanding of Madoka as a person, what she's actually capable of, and what she wished for in exact terms. He also doesn't even really know what a witch is. C) Things with Homura only worked because Homura invited Madoka, personally, into the Labyrinth. There's no POINT using the Isolation Field on any other magical girl in all of reality except for maybe Mami and Kyouko, who would be onto Kyubey's shit if he uses the same ploy.

Also, D) Madoka is an omniscient, omnipresent, atemporal cosmic being that is both immanent throughout and transcendent of the universe. Technology can only do so much against someone who can retaliate with "I exit the universe and abuse Zeno's Paradox to have infinity time to think around your tactics in the infinite time between every nanosecond."

However, everything you said is definitely what Homura believes to be true, and that's all that matters, because it's purpose in the narrative is to justify Homura's actions to herself.

It doesn't really matter how much Madoka needs saving; Homura has to be the one to do it for her own self-image.
 
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